come to any certainty beforehand foretelling the draught of water of a ship before she be launched." This was the first step, and an important one, in the science of shipbuilding.
If it be a fact that only a humorist is able to enjoy hearing his own follies satirized, then Charles was a true humorist. To illustrate briefly : One day he requested his witty favorite, the Earl of Rochester, to compose his epitaph, and this is the result :
"Here lies our Sovereign lord and King
Whose word no man relied on.
Who never said a foolish thing
And never did a wise one."
With his usual good humor Charles laughed heartily upon reading it. He deemed it an excellent joke. He remarked, however, that "The matter was easily accounted for, as his discourse was his own, his actions his ministry's."
James was a man who, to put it mildly, was self-contained; who took himself and everything about him quite seriously. Moreover, he does not appear to have had any of the brilliant and attractive mental qualities possessed by his brother. Some decidedly amusing stories are related that tend to illustrate the relationship existing between them: One of them is: One morning, after taking two or three turns in St. James Park, the King, attended only by the Duke of Leeds and Lord Cromarty, strolled up Constitution Hill to Hyde Park. While they were crossing the road where Apsley
