ost. They kept their eyes fixed on England, and every murmur of
national discontent or disturbance became to them a new encouragement,
a fresh signal of hope, a reviving incitement to energy. In England
men were constantly hearing rumors about the dissolute life of the
Chevalier, and his quarrels with his wife, Clementina Maria, a
granddaughter of one of the Kings of Poland. The loyalists here at
home were ready to believe anything that could be said by anybody to
the discredit of James and his adherents; James and his adherents were
willing to be fed on any tales about the unpopularity of George the
First, and the tottering condition of his throne. Nor could it be said
that George was popular with any class of persons in {265} England. If
the reign of the Brunswicks depended upon personal popularity, it would
not have endured for many years. But the people of England were able
to see clearly enough that George allowed his great minister to rule
for him, and that Walpole's policy meant prosperity and peace. They
did not admire George's mistresses any more now than they had done when
first these ladies set their large feet on English soil; but even some
of the most devoted followers of the Stuart cause shook their heads
sadly over the doings of James in Italy, and could not pretend to say
that the cause of morality would gain much by a change from Brunswick
to Stuart.

[Sidenote: 1727--Death of George the First]

The end was very near for George. He was now an old man, in his
sixty-eighth year, and he had not led a life to secure a long lease of
health. His excesses in eating and drinking, his hot punch, and his
many mistresses had proved too much even for his originally robust
constitution. Of late he had become a mere wreck. He was eager to pay
one other visit to Hanover, and he embarked at Greenwich on June 3,
1727, landing in Holland on the 7th of the month. He made for his
capital as quickly as he could, but in the course of the journey he was
attacked by a sort of lethargic paralysis. Early on June 10th he was
seized with an apoplectic fit; his hands hung motionless by his sides,
his eyes were fixed, glassy, and staring, and his tongue protruded from
his mouth. The sight of him horrified his attendants; they wished to
stop at once and secure some assistance for the poor old dying King.
George, however, recovered consciousness so far as to be able to insist
on pursuing his journey, crying out, with sp