CHAPTER V. 



THE END OF BUCKINGHAM. 



" The world has been severe in censuring his foibles, but not so 

 just in noting his good qualities. Of a most graceful mien and charming 

 behaviour ; a strong, tall, and active body, all of which gave lustre 

 to the ornaments of his mind ; of an admirable wit and excellent 

 judgment ; and had all the other qualities of a gentleman. He was 

 courteous and affable to all ; of a compassionate nature ; ready to 

 forgive and forget injuries ; and a man of great courage and presence 

 of mind in danger." — Brian Fairfax's " Life of Buckingham." 



" The companions of my former libertinism would scarcely believe 

 their eyes, were you to show them this epistle. They would laugh at me 

 as a dreaming enthusiast ; or pity me as a timrous wretch, who was 

 shocked at the apparitions of futurity ; but whoever laughs at me for 

 being right, or pities me for being sensible of my errors is more entitled 

 to my compassion than my resentment." — Buckingham's last letter. 

 There, victor of his health, of fortune, friends, and fame ; 

 This lord of useless thousands ends. 



Pope. 



At last, then, in this house at Kirbymoorside, under a 

 strange roof, and at the outset without a friend of standing 

 by his side, racked with pain, uneasy in body, still more 

 uneasy in mind, lay the clever, the witty, the at one time 

 handsome Buckingham. A man born a nobleman, reared 

 in an atmosphere of luxury, of lust, and filth, the claim to the 

 title was forfeited by him, as it was by almost every courtier 

 of the day. He was no black sheep of the flock of dancing, 

 pandering time-servers. They were all black together. 

 Thus the great possibilities of the man — and he had talents 

 far and away above the epoch in which he lived — were 

 never developed, or, if developed, were misdirected. He 

 admitted himself in his last letter : — 



There is nothing so dangerous as extraordinary abilities, and I 

 cannot be accused of vanity now, being very sensible that I was once 

 possessed of uncommon qualifications, especially as I sincerely regret 

 that I ever had them. My rank in life made these accomplishments 



