He multiplied his
precautions. We are told that he wore defensive armour under his clothes;
carried loaded pistols in his pockets; sought to remain in privacy; and,
when he found it necessary to give audience, sternly watched the eyes and
gestures of those who addressed him. He was careful that his own motions
should not be known beforehand. His carriage was filled with attendants; a
numerous escort accompanied him; and he proceeded at full speed, frequently
diverging from the road to the right or left, and generally returning by
a different route. In his palace he often inspected the nightly watch,
changed his bed-chamber, and was careful that, besides the principal door,
there should be some other egress, for the facility
[Footnote 1: Ibid. 153, 282, 295.]
[Sidenote a: A.D. 1658. July 27.]
of escape. He had often faced death without flinching in the field; but his
spirit broke under the continual fear of unknown and invisible foes. He
passed the nights in a state of feverish anxiety; sleep fled from his
pillow; and for more than a year before his death we always find the
absence of rest assigned as either the cause which produced, or a
circumstance which aggravated, his numerous ailments.[1]
3. The selfishness of ambition does not exclude the more kindly feelings of
domestic affection.
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