Page:Diary of the times of Charles II Vol. I.djvu/88

lxxvi he calls "a youth of extraordinary hopes, very learned of his age, and ingenious," he says; "happy were it could as much be said of the elder brother, the Lord Spencer, who, rambling about the world, dishonours his name and his family, adding sorrow to sorrow to a mother who has taken all imaginable care of his education." His end was a melancholy one, being caused by a wound which he received in a duel, the consequence of a riot in which he was engaged at Bury, of which he died, after lingering long, at Paris, in 1688.

To return to Lady Sunderland, some compensation for her disappointment in respect to this match was at hand, in the restoration of her Lord to his place, and to the favour of the King, which he had lost by the course he took with regard to the Exclusion Bill, and which he recovered through the influence of the Duchess of Portsmouth, who, jade as she was in the opinion of his Lady, was always a fast friend to her husband. Lord Sunderland retained his place as minister during the remainder of Charles's reign, and increased his influence during that of his successor. There are several letters of Lady Sunderland's, written to Evelyn during this period, among which the following