was now six and a half, and, besides his great beauty, was remarkable
for dexterity, grace, and almost supernatural cleverness. Not only
could he read fluently, but he knew the doctrines of the Christian
faith as well as the master who had taught him. He could ride; could
fire a gun; and, more surprising still, I have seen him take a
crossbow and kill birds on the roof, and split a rolling ball with a
shaft, ten times in succession. He speaks English, French, and
Italian perfectly, and altogether he is the most ideal Prince I have
ever met in the course of my life.

'The Duke of York, His Majesty's second son, is two years old, and a
prodigy of beauty and strength.' {17b}

Gray, certainly no Jacobite, when at Rome with Horace Walpole speaks
very kindly of the two gay young Princes. He sneers at their
melancholy father, of whom Montesquieu writes, 'ce Prince a une bonne
physiononie et noble. Il paroit triste, pieux.' {18a} Young Charles
was neither pious nor melancholy.

Of Charles at the age of twenty, the President de Brosses (the author
of 'Les Dieux Fetiches') speaks as an unconcerned observer. 'I hear
from those who know them both thoroughly that the eldest has far
higher worth, and is much more beloved by his friends; that he has a
kind heart and a high courage; that he feels warmly for his family's
misfortunes, and that if some day he does not retrieve them, it will
not be for want of intrepidity.' {18b}

Charles's gallantry when under fire as a mere boy, at the siege of
Gaeta (1734), was, indeed, greatly admired and generally extolled.
{18c} His courage has been much more foolishly denied by his enemies