LIFE OF MYTTON. 85 



of the man to the appetite of the brute ; and that 

 is, the attempt to divert grief which he has found it 

 impossible to subdue. As a balm for wounds which 

 can never heal, or under the accumulated pressure 

 of pecuniary difficulties, the bottle will be resorted 

 to so long as the world shall stand ; and who can 

 condemn the wretch that tries the experiment ? But 

 the subject of this memoir had not such excuses to 

 plead for his excess in drinking, neither will I endea- 

 vour to find them for him. It was, however, to him 

 the Circean cup — the bane of his respectability, his 

 health, his happiness, and everything that was dear 

 to him as a man and a gentleman ; and can this be 

 marvelled at? It is written of Hercules, that he 

 acquired his immense strength by feeding on the 

 marrow of lions ; and how powerful must have been 

 the stimulus of the almost unheard-of quantity of from 

 four to six bottles of port wine daily, on that volcanic 

 excitability of mind which was, not only by nature, 

 Mr. Mytton's, but which had been acted upon, and 

 increased, by a severe affection of the brain at an 

 early period of life ! Thus, then, although I 

 offer no excuse for his drinking, his drinking — for 

 men are tried by wine, says the proverb, as metals 

 are by fire — furnishes excuses, I should rather have 



