ter Abbey, who had studied Mr. Henry Purcel's works
and imitated his manner." It was not very grand poetry, but the little
soldier was delighted. It begins--

Hark! hark! the hostile drum alarms;
Let ours now beat and call to arms!

In 1696, after the discovery of the Rye House Plot, loyal addresses were
offered to the king by both Houses of Parliament, and an association was
formed to preserve King William or avenge his death, which was very
generally signed throughout the kingdom. The Duke of Gloucester and his
boys were eager to follow the public example. The duke composed an
address which one of his boys wrote down as follows:

I, your Majesty's most dutiful subject, had rather lose my
life in your Majesty's cause, than in any man's else; and I
hope it will not be long 'ere you conquer France.

(_Signed_) GLOSTER.

He also dictated one for his boys and his household to sign, which was
much to the point, and ran thus:

We, your Majesty's dutiful subjects, will stand by you as
long as we have a drop of blood.

The prince and his boys were closely associated in all their pursuits
and interests. Not only did they study the art of war, but they were
catechised together by Mr. Prat, the duke's first tutor. The child had
been carefully instructed in religion from his infancy. "He had early
suck'd in his mother's piety," says one writer, "and was always
attentive to prayers." One day in the catechising, Mr. Prat asked him
before his boys, "How can you, being born a prince, keep yourself from
the pomps and vanities of this world?" And the little fellow made the
simple and straightforward answer, "I will keep God's commandments, and
do all I can to walk in his ways."

[Illustration: DINING HALL, WESTMINSTER SCHOOL.]

He was a pretty boy. Something like his royal mother in her younger
days; for she is described as a "sylph-like creature" when a girl,
though she afterwards grew to be the mountain of fat we know in most of
her portraits. His face was oval; and for the most part glowed with a
fine colour. His shape was fine, his body easy, and his arms finely
hung.[115]

His disposition was naturally a sweet one; and he was admirably loyal to
his friends and attendants, always willing to take blame himself rather
than allow another to be scolded. But his weak health, a strong will,
and a hot temper made him liable to fits of passion in which he lost all
control over himself. Jenk