Monmouth, the friend of Locke, under whose advice he had proposed the

recoinage of money; then Charles Campbell, Earl of Loudoun, listening to

Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke; then Dorme, Earl of Carnarvon; then Robert

Sutton, Baron Lexington, son of that Lexington who recommended Charles

II. to banish Gregorio Leti, the historiographer, who was so ill-advised

as to try to become a historian; then Thomas Bellasys, Viscount

Falconberg, a handsome old man; and the three cousins, Howard, Earl of

Bindon, Bowes Howard, Earl of Berkshire, and Stafford Howard, Earl of

Stafford--all together; then John Lovelace, Baron Lovelace, which

peerage became extinct in 1736, so that Richardson was enabled to

introduce Lovelace in his book, and to create a type under the name. All

these personages--celebrated each in his own way, either in politics or

in war, and of whom many were an honour to England--were laughing and

talking.

It was history, as it were, seen in undress.

In less than half an hour the House was nearly full. This was to be

expected, as the sitting was a royal one. What was more unusual was the

eagerness of the conversations. The House, so sleepy not long before,

now hummed like a hive of bees.

The arrival of the peers who had come in late had wakened them up. These

lords had brought news. It was strange that the peers who had been there

at the opening of the sitting knew nothing of what had occurred, while

those who had not been there knew all about it. Several lords had come

from Windsor.

821

The Man Who Laughs