this inconstancy, that I would willingly serve him in his new
amour, if Hamilton was not his rival: nor will your majesty take it ill,
if I promote the interests of my mistress's brother, rather than those
of your majesty's brother." "Hamilton, however," said the king, "does
not stand so much in need of assistance, in affairs of this nature, as
the Duke of York; but I know Lord Chesterfield is of such a disposition,
that he will not suffer men to quarrel about his wife, with the same
patience as the complaisant Shrewsbury; though he well deserves the same
fate." Here follows a true description of Lord Chesterfield.

[Philip, the second Earl of Chesterfield. He was constituted, in
1662, lord-chamberlain to the queen, and colonel of a regiment of
foot, June 13, 1667. On November 29, 1679, he was appointed lord-
warden and chief-justice of the king's forests on this side Trent,
and sworn of the privy-council, January 26, 1680. On November 6,
1682, he was made colonel of the third regiment of foot, which, with
the rest of his preferments, he resigned on the accession of James
IT. He lived to the age of upwards of 80, and died, January 28,
1713, at his house, in Bloomsbury-square.]

He had a very agreeable face, a fine head of hair, an indifferent shape,
and a worse air; he was not, however, deficient in wit: a long residence
in Italy had made him ceremonious in his commerce with men, and jealous
in his connection with women: he had been much hated by the king;
because he had been much beloved by Lady Castlemaine: it was reported
that he had been in her good graces prior to her marriage; and as
neither of them denied it, it was the more generally believed.

He had paid his devoirs to the eldest daughter of the Duke of Ormond,
while his heart was still taken up with his former passion: the king's
love for Lady Castlemaine, and the advancement he expected from such an
alliance, made him press the match with as much ardour as if he had been
passionately in love: he had therefore married Lady Chesterfield without
loving her, and had lived some time with her in such coolness as to
leave her no room to doubt of his indifference. As she was endowed with
great sensibility and delicacy, she suffered at this contempt: she was
at first much affected with his behaviour, and afterwards enraged at
it; and, when he began to give her proofs of his affection, she had the
pleasure of convincing him of her indiffer