moment he had taken counsel of that which he mistook to be the voice of God, and could not but abide the consequences. Many unknown forces may have combined in this direction. “Though we may suspect, it is not in our power to relate, the secret intrigues of the palace, the private views and resentments, the jealousy of women or eunuchs, and all those trifling but decisive causes which so often influence the fate of empires, and the counsels of the wisest monarchs1.” But whatever the special arguments