Memoirs of the Court of England: From the Revolution in 1688 to the Death of George the Second, Volume 3

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Richard Bentley, 1843 - Great Britain

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Page 155 - Here lies Fred, Who was alive, and is dead. Had it been his father, I had much rather. Had it been his brother, Still better than another. Had it been his sister, No one would have missed her. Had it been the whole generation, Still better for the nation. But since 'tis only Fred, Who was alive, and is dead, There's no more to be said.
Page 259 - Wharton, the scorn and wonder of our days, Whose ruling passion was the lust of praise: Born with whate'er could win it from the wise, Women and fools must like him or he dies; Though wond'ring Senates hung on all he spoke, The Club must hail him master of the joke.
Page 315 - I live a rent-charge on his providence: But you, whom every muse and grace adorn, Whom I foresee to better fortune born, Be kind to my remains; and oh defend, Against your judgment, your departed friend! Let not the insulting foe my fame pursue; But shade those laurels which descend to you: And take for tribute what these lines express; You merit more; nor could my love do less.
Page 259 - And most contemptible to shun contempt; His passion still to covet general praise; His life, to forfeit it a thousand ways; A constant bounty, which no friend has made; An angel tongue, which no man can persuade; A fool, with more of wit than half mankind; Too rash for thought, for action too refined ; A tyrant to the wife his heart approves; A rebel to the very king he loves; He dies, sad outcast of each church and state, And, harder still! flagitious, yet not great! Ask you why Wharton broke through...
Page 87 - Blest be the Great\ for those they take away, And those they left me; for they left me GAY; Left me to see neglected Genius bloom, Neglected die, and tell it on his tomb : Of all thy blameless life the sole return My Verse, and QUEENSB'RY weeping o'er thy urn!
Page 67 - The Prince's chamber, hung with purple, and a quantity of silver lamps, the coffin under a canopy of purple velvet, and six vast chandeliers of silver on high stands, had a very good effect.
Page 65 - A little after seven, he went into the water-closet; the German valet de chambre heard a noise, listened, heard something like a groan, ran in, and found the hero of Oudenarde and Dettingen on the floor, with a gash on his right temple, by falling against the corner of a bureau. He tried to speak, could not, and expired.
Page 363 - And be assured, the court will find him Prepared to leap o'er sticks, or bind them. To make the bundle strong and safe, Great Ormond, lend thy general's staff: And, if the crosier could be cramm'd in, A fig for Lechmere, King, and Hambden ! You'll then defy the strongest Whig With both his hands to bend a twig ; Though with united strength they all pull, From Somers, down to Craggs and Walpole.
Page 137 - Walpole informed me," writes Lord Hardwicke, " of certain passages between the King and himself, and between the Queen and the Prince, of too high and secret a nature even to be trusted to this narrative ; but from thence I found great reason to think, that this unhappy difference between the King and Queen and His Royal Highness turned upon some points of a more interesting and important nature than have hitherto appeared.
Page 68 - When we came to the chapel of Henry the Seventh, all solemnity and decorum ceased, — no order was observed, people sat or stood where they could or would ; the yeomen of the guard were crying out for help, oppressed by the immense weight of the coffin ; the bishop read sadly, and blundered in the prayers ; the fine chapter, Man that is born of a woman, was chanted, not read ; and the anthem, besides being immeasureably tedious, would have served as well for a nuptial.

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