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CHAPTER II.

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Attachment of the University of Oxford to the House of Stuart. Whig principles of the University of Cambridge.Dr. Trapp's epigram on the occasion. Sir W. Browne's retort. James Shepherd's attempt to assassinate the King.His execution.-Lord Chesterfield's remark on the subject.The King's good-humour, and love of music.-His aversion to pomp. Anecdote of his humour. Anecdotes of the Duchess of Bolton and of Dean Lockier. The King's liberality of feeling towards the House of Stuart.-Extract from Horace Walpole. The King's generosity towards prisoners for debt.-Horace Walpole presented to him, when a mere child. His account of the presentation.-The King's liaison with Anne Brett, daughter of the repudiated Countess of Macclesfield, by her second husband. Her insolence and ambition. Anecdote of her related by Horace Walpole.The King's superstitious feelings. He orders his wife's will to be burned. His hatred of her and his son, George the Second. His departure from England in 1727 for his Electorate.-Archdeacon Coxe's details of his last illness.-Extract from the Marchmont Papers. Romantic anecdote related by Lockhart.-The King's death in 1727.—His character as a man, and as a King. His indifferent education. -Anecdote of him. His daughter Sophia Dorothea married in 1706 to Frederick William, King of Prussia. - Her beauty and intelligence. Her husband's brutal treatment of her. -Her death in 1757.

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THE suppression of the unfortunate rebellion of 1715, though it imparted an accession of vigour to the existing government, added little to the

personal popularity of the King. Only two years after that event, the sprig of oak was again boldly displayed on the 29th of May, and the white rose publicly worn on the birth-day of the Pretender. The university of Oxford, in particular, whose devotion to hereditary right, has, at times, almost assumed the character of romance, gave such evident proofs of their reviving attachment to the House of Stuart, that the government attempted to frighten them from their principles, by quartering on them a military force. On the other hand, the University of Cambridge forgot the individual failings of the Whig monarch in their attachment to Whig principles; and as a reward for their adhesion to the existing government, received a valuable present of books from the King. It was in reference to the very opposite conduct of the two Universities that Dr. Trapp composed the following epigram :—

"Our royal master saw, with heedful eyes,

The wants of his two Universities.

Troops he to Oxford sent, as knowing why

That learned body wanted loyalty;

But books to Cambridge gave, as well discerning
How that right loyal body wanted learning."

These lines were retorted upon with singular felicity by Sir William Browne, whose composition not only excels, both in point and versification, the verses which prompted his rejoinder, but has also the merit of having been written impromptu :

"The King to Oxford sent a troop of horse,
For Tories know no argument but force.
With equal care, to Cambridge books he sent,
For Whigs allow no force but argument."

The circumstance, perhaps, is a curious one, that, notwithstanding the excited state of partyfeeling in the reign of George the First, and the fact that by nearly half the nation he was regarded merely as a usurper, yet that his life should only on one occasion have been in danger from assassination, and then from the hands of a mere boy, who had conceived an almost frenzied devotion for the Stuart family. The youth in question was named James Shepherd, a coach-maker's apprentice, who, it seems, communicated his project to one Leake, a non-juring clergyman; at the same time expressing his desire to receive the sacrament daily, till he should have accomplished his purpose. By means of Leake, the government was made acquainted with the project, and the person of Shepherd secured. When placed on his trial, he not only freely admitted his guilt, but, at the place of execution, declared that he gloried in the design, and died a willing martyr to his principles. Lord Chesterfield writes, about thirty years afterwards, to his son,-"I cannot help reading of Porsenna and Regulus with surprise and reverence: and yet I remember that I saw, without either, the execution of Shepherd, a boy of eighteen years old, who intended to shoot the late King, and who would have been pardoned, if he would have

expressed the least sorrow for his intended crime; but, on the contrary, he declared that if he was pardoned, he would attempt it again: that he thought it a duty which he owed his country; and that he died with pleasure for having endeavoured to perform it. Reason equals Shepherd with Regulus; but prejudice, and the recency of the fact, makes Shepherd a common malefactor, and Regulus a hero." Shepherd was executed at Tyburn on the 17th of March, 1718. Probably, though actuated by false principles, the youth may have sacrificed his life for what he believed the good of his country; and so far he merits the implied eulogium wasted upon him by Lord Chesterfield. He appears, however, by all accounts, to have been a mere fanatic, and more suited for Bedlam, than deserving a death on the scaffold, or a place in the temple of political martyrs.

Though occasionally obstinate and self-willed, George the First, when nothing of importance occurred to ruffle the evenness of his temper, appears to have been, what may be termed, an agreeable and a good-humoured man. In his own circle, and among his own friends, he could converse freely and laugh heartily, though, generally speaking, he preferred the pleasure of listening to the conversation of others to the labour of talking himself.* He delighted to divest himself of the cares of sovereignty with its trappings, and * Letter from Etough to Dr. Birch. Add. MSS. Brit. Mus. 4326, B.

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though neither his wit nor his conversation were of a very high order, he was, on these occasions, especially over his punch, a cheerful, and sometimes an amusing companion. Parade and observation were his particular aversion. Among his few redeeming qualities was a love of music, and whenever this taste led him to frequent the opera, instead of appearing in state in the royal box, he usually sat (in a box allotted to the ladies of the Court) behind the Duchess of Kendal and Lady Walsingham, where he could watch the performances without being observed by the audience.

Of the King's peculiar kind of humour, and of his practice of embellishing a slight incident, the following may be taken as a specimen: "This is a very odd country," he said, speaking of England, "the first morning, after my arrival at St. James', I looked out of the window, and saw a park with walls, and a canal, which they told me were mine. The next day, Lord Chetwynd, the ranger of my park, sent me a brace of fine carp out of my canal, and I was told I must give five guineas to Lord Chetwynd's man, for bringing me my own carp, out of my own canal in my own park."

A seasonable and well-turned pleasantry appears to have usually had the effect of putting him in a good-humour, a circumstance of which his courtiers did not fail to avail themselves. Among those who were in the habit of diverting him, either by exposing their own follies or retailing those of others, was the Duchess of Bolton,

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