the nation by surprise.
His frame was naturally strong, and did not appear to have
suffered from excess. He had always been mindful of his health
even in his pleasures; and his habits were such as promise a long
life and a robust old age. Indolent as he was on all occasions
which required tension of the mind, he was active and persevering
in bodily exercise. He had, when young, been renowned as a tennis
player,208 and was, even in the decline of life, an indefatigable
walker. His ordinary pace was such that those who were admitted
to the honour of his society found it difficult to keep up with
him. He rose early, and generally passed three or four hours a
day in the open air. He might be seen, before the dew was off the
grass in St. James's Park, striding among the trees, playing with
his spaniels, and flinging corn to his ducks; and these
exhibitions endeared him to the common people, who always love to
See the great unbend.209
At length, towards the close of the year 1684, he was prevented,
by a slight attack of what was supposed to be gout, from rambling
as usual. He now spent his mornings in his laboratory, where he
amused himself with experiments on the properties of mercury. His
temper seemed to have suffered from confinement. He had no
apparent cause for disquiet. His kingdom was tranquil: he was not
in pressing want of money: his power was greater than it had ever
been: the party which had long thwarted him had been beaten down;
but the cheerfulness which had supported him against adverse
fortune had vanished in this season of prosperity. A trifle now
sufficed to depress those elastic spirits which had borne up
against defeat, exile, and penury. His irritation frequently
showed itself by looks and words such as could hardly have been
expected from a man so eminently distinguished by good humour and
good breeding. It was not supposed however that his constitution
was seriously impaired.210
His palace had seldom presented a gayer or a