rls of Arundel and Pembroke, and the Lords Clifford and
Mordaunt; and while the King was hesitating as to the seventh, Sir Giles
Mompesson was suggested by the Marquis, and James, willing to oblige his
favourite, adopted the proposition. On the side of Prince Charles were
ranked the Marquis of Hamilton, the Earls of Montgomery, Rutland, and
Dorset, Lord Walden, and, of course, Sir Jocelyn Mounchensey. These
preliminaries being fully adjusted, other topics were started, and the
carouse, which had been in some degree interrupted, was renewed, and
continued, with the entertainments that succeeded it, till past
midnight.

Not a little elated by the high compliment paid to his prowess by the
Spanish Ambassador, and burning to break a lance with Buckingham, Sir
Jocelyn resolved to distinguish himself at the trial. Good luck, of
late, had invariably attended him. Within the last few weeks, he had
been appointed one of the Gentlemen of his Majesty's Bed-chamber; and
this was looked upon as the stepping-stone to some more exalted post.
Supported by the influence of De Gondomar, and upheld by his own
personal merits, which by this time, in spite of all hostility towards
him, had begun to be appreciated; with the King himself most favourably
inclined towards him, and Prince Charles amicably disposed; with many of
the courtiers proffering him service, who were anxious to throw off
their forced allegiance to the overweening favourite, and substitute
another in his stead: with all these advantages, it is not to be
wondered at, that in a short space of time he should have established a
firm footing on that smooth and treacherous surface, the pavement of a
palace, and have already become an object of envy and jealousy to many,
and of admiration to a few.

Possessing the faculty of adapting himself to circumstances, Sir Jocelyn
conducted himself with rare discretion; and while avoiding giving
offence, never suffered a liberty to be taken with himself; and having
on the onset established a character for courage, he was little
afterwards molested. It was creditable to him, that in a court where
morality was at so low an ebb as that of James I., he should have
remained uncorrupted; and that not all the allurements of the numerous
beauties by whom he was surrounded, and who exerted their blandishments
to ensnare him, could tempt him for a moment's disloyalty to the object
of his affections. It was creditable, that at the frequent orgies he