entertainments: she endeavoured to increase the natural ease and freedom
of Tunbridge, by dispensing with, rather than requiring, those ceremonies
that were due to her presence; and, confining in the bottom of her heart
that grief and uneasiness she could not overcome, she saw Miss Stewart
triumphantly possess the affections of the king without manifesting the
least uneasiness.

Never did love see his empire in a more flourishing condition than on
this spot: those who were smitten before they came to it, felt a mighty
augmentation of their flame; and those who seemed the least susceptible
of love, laid aside their natural ferocity, to act in a new character.
For the truth of the latter, we shall only relate the change which soon
appeared in the conduct of Prince Rupert.

[Lord Orford's contrast to this character of Prince Rupert is too
just to be here omitted. "Born with the taste of an uncle whom his
sword was not fortunate in defending, Prince Rupert was fond of
those sciences which soften and adorn a hero's private hours, and
knew how to mix them with his minutes of amusement, without
dedicating his life to their pursuit, like us, who, wanting capacity
for momentous views, make serious study of what is only the
transitory occupation of a genius. Had the court of the first
Charles been peaceful, how agreeably had the prince's congenial
propensity flattered and confirmed the inclination of his uncle!
How the muse of arts would have repaid the patronage of the monarch,
when, for his first artist, she would have presented him with his
nephew! How different a figure did the same prince make in a reign
of dissimilar complexion! The philosophic warrior, who could relax
himself into the ornament of a refined court, was thought a savage
mechanic, when courtiers were only voluptuous wits. Let me