The Pretender.

Louis XIV proclaiming James III, 1701

https://www.fotolibra.com/gallery/1550174/louis-xiv-proclaiming-james-iii-1701/

"Even the bronze of Davenant's forehead was not proof of the general reproach. He defended himself by pretending that Pousin, with whom he had passed whole days, who corrected his scurrilous pamphlets, and who had paid him his shameful wages, was a stranger to him, and that the meeting at the Blue Posts was purely accidental. If his word was doubted, he was willing to repeat his assertion on oath. The public however, which had formed a very correct notion of his character, thought that his word was worth as much as his oath, and that his oath was worth nothing." Lord Macaulay. History of England. Vol. IV. (Upon the death of James II)