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In this the lust, in that the avarice,

Were means, not ends; ambition was the vice.

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That very Cæsar born in Scipio's days,

Had aim'd, like him, by chastity, at praise.
Lucullus, when frugality could charm,
Had roasted turnips in the Sabine farm.
In vain the observer eyes the builder's toil,
But quite mistakes the scaffold for the pile.

In this one passion man can strength enjoy,
As fits give vigour, just when they destroy.
Time, that on all things lays his lenient hand,
Yet tames not this; it sticks to our last sand.
Consistent in our follies and our sins,
Here honest Nature ends as she begins.

Old politicians chew on wisdom past,

And totter on in business to the last;
As weak, as earnest, and as gravely out,
As sober Lanesborough dancing in the gout.19

Behold a reverend sire, whom want of grace

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Has made the father of a nameless race,
Shoved from the wall perhaps, or rudely press'd
By his own son, that passes by unbless'd:
Still to his wench he crawls on knocking knees,
And envies every sparrow that he sees.

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A salmon's belly, Helluo, was thy fate;
The doctor call'd, declares all help too late:
“Mercy! (cries Helluo,) mercy on my soul!
Is there no hope ?—alas!—then bring the jole.”

The frugal crone, whom praying priests attend,
Still strives to save the hallow'd taper's end,
Collects her breath, as ebbing life retires,
For one puff more, and in that puff expires.20

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19 An ancient nobleman, who continued this practice long after his legs were disabled by the gout. Upon the death of Prince George of Denmark, he demanded an audience of the queen, to advise her to preserve her health and dispel her grief by dancing.

[Viscount Lanesborough died at Dublin in 1736. Swift mentions his popular manners. He is often alluded to as the dancing peer in the Irish pasquinades of that day.]

20 [Warburton states that this fact was told the poet of a lady at Paris.]

"Odious! in woollen! 'twould a saint provoke, (Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke):21 No, let a charming chintz, and Brussels lace Wrap my cold limbs, and shade my lifeless face: One would not, sure, be frightful when one's deadAnd-Betty-give this cheek a little red."

66 'NOT THAT I CANNOT PART WITH THAT!"-AND DIED.

The courtier smooth, who forty years had shined An humble servant to all human kind,

Just brought out this, when scarce his tongue could stir, "If-where I'm going-I could serve you, sir ?"

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21 This story, as well as the others, is founded on fact, though the author had the goodness not to mention the names. Several attribute this in particular to a very celebrated actress, who, in detestation of the thought of being buried in woollen, gave these her last orders with her dying breath.

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"I give and I devise (old Euclio said, And sigh'd) my lands and tenements to Ned." "Your money, sir ?"-"My money, sir, what all? Why, if I must-(then wept) I give it Paul." "The manor, sir?""The manor! hold, (he cried,) Not that, I cannot part with that!"-and died.20

And you, brave COBHAM, to the latest breath, Shall feel your ruling passion strong in death : Such in those moments as in all the past,

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"Oh, save my country, Heaven!" shall be your last.

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22 [None of these death-bed illustrations are more characteristic than the politeness of Lord Chesterfield in apologising to his friend Dayrolles for the contortions which his pangs occasioned; and that of Charles the Second, in expressing his regret for the trouble he caused. "He had been," he said, 'a most unconscionable time dying; but he hoped that they would excuse it." "Euclio," mentioned in the next line of Pope's Epistle, is said to have been Sir Charles Duncombe, the " City Knight" who purchased Helmsley, and who divided his estates in Yorkshire and Wilts among different branches of his family. (See Imitations of Horace, Book II., Sat. II.) Duncombe had been a rich goldsmith in Lombard Street. Warton says, that Sir William Bateman "used those very words," assigned to Euclio on his death-bed; and the critic adds -"No comic nor satiric writer has ever carried his descriptions of avarice or gluttony so far as what has happened in real life. Other vices have been exaggerated; these two never have been."]

ADDITIONAL NOTES.

LORD COBHAM.

SIR RICHARD TEMPLE, the first Viscount Cobham, owes his historical celebrity to the poetry of Pope, and the magnificent gardens at Stowe. These have done more for him with posterity than the peerage or the army, though he was an opulent baron of an old family, and a brave soldier. The Temples were seated at Stowe in the time of Edward VI., and from this parent stem sprung the branch illustrated by Sir William Temple. James I., in the year of his accession to the English throne, conferred the title of knighthood on Thomas Temple, of Stowe. He afterwards made him a baronet, and this title, with the representation of the county, and the office of Lord-Lieutenant of Bucks, descended down through several generations. Pope's friend, Sir Richard, succeeded to his father in 1697. He entered the army when young, and rose through the several gradations of military rank to the dignity of Field-Marshal. He served with distinction under Marlborough, and, in acknowledgment of his gallantry at the siege of Lisle, in 1708, the Duke despatched him express to England, to convey to her Majesty the welcome tidings of the capitulation of that important fortress. On the accession of George I., in 1714, Cobham was raised to the peerage, under the title of Baron Cobham, of Cobham, in Kent, and, at the same time, he was declared Envoy-Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Emperor of Germany, Charles VI. Next year he was made Constable of Windsor Castle. In 1718 he was created Viscount Cobham. He was afterwards made a Privy Counsellor, and Governor of the Isle of Jersey. In Parliament, Cobham joined the Opposition against Walpole, and, voting against the Excise Bill in 1731, he lost his military commands. This, of course, confirmed him in opposition, but it also left him leisure for private pursuits; and it was at this time that he made his extensive improvements and alterations at Stowe. He laid out the grounds under the superintendence of Bridgman, the popular landscape gardener of his day, before Kent and Brown had arisen to contest the palm for the picturesque. Brown-usually called "Capability Brown," from his constantly talking of the capabilities of places-was at one time employed as a gardener at Stowe, and was liberally patronised by Lord Cobham. Many anecdotes of this improver will be found in Walpole, and Sir Uvedale Price's work on the Picturesque—a delightful book on a delightful subject. Politics were not wholly neglected by the munificent owner of Stowe. He continued to act with the Tory Opposition, and in 1741 he voted for the motion to remove Sir Robert Walpole from the King's presence and councils for ever. This memorable party movement was nearly successful

for the vast fabric of Walpole's power was, after repeated attacks, in a totterng state, but ultimately it was lost in both Houses. In a caricature of the time, representing Lord Chesterfield as postilion of the Opposition coach, driving furiously, and overturning the machine on its way to the Treasury, Cobham occupies the undignified post of footman, and is holding fast on by the straps. The combination was successful in 1742, and, after Walpole's retirement, Lord Cobham regained his military appointments, obtaining the colonelcy of several regiments. In 1745 he was named one of the regents

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during the King's absence abroad. His lordship died at Stowe, in 1749. Having no issue, the titles and estates devolved on his sister, Hester Gren. ville, widow of Richard Grenville, of Wootton. Viscountess Cobham (Anne, daughter of Edmond Halsey, a wealthy brewer, in Southwark), erected a pillar in Stowe Gardens, to the memory of her husband. This is one of the most conspicuous objects in the gardens, being 115 feet high, and surmounted by a statue the size of life. It is inscribed, "To Richard Lord Viscount Cobham, Field-Marshal of the British Armies, who served his country as well in

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