Nor is it easy to find, in the lives of our monarchs, many instances of
that regard for posterity, which seems to have been the prevailing
temper of this venerable man. I have seldom, in any of the gracious
speeches delivered from the throne, and received, with the highest
gratitude and satisfaction, by both houses of parliament, discovered any
other concern than for the current year, for which supplies are
generally demanded in very pressing terms, and, sometimes, such as imply
no remarkable solicitude for posterity.

Nothing, indeed, can be more unreasonable and absurd, than to require,
that a monarch, distracted with cares and surrounded with enemies,
should involve himself in superfluous anxieties, by an unnecessary
concern about future generations. Are not pretenders, mock-patriots,
masquerades, operas, birthnights, treaties, conventions, reviews,
drawing-rooms, the births of heirs, and the deaths of queens, sufficient
to overwhelm any capacity but that of a king? Surely, he that acquits
himself successfully of such affairs may content himself with the glory
he acquires, and leave posterity to his successours.

That this has been the conduct of most princes, is evident from the
accounts of all ages and nations; and, therefore, I hope it will not be
thought that I have, without just reasons, deprived this inscription of
the veneration it might demand, as the work of a king.

With what laborious struggles against prejudice and inclination, with
what efforts of reasoning, and pertinacity of self-denial, I have
prevailed upon myself to sacrifice the honour of this monument to the
love of truth, none, who are unacquainted with the fondness of a
commentator, will be able to conceive. But this instance will be, I