234 LIFE OF MYTTON. 



in rags, and nothing would have engaged him in dis- 

 honest practices. Oh no! He had a spirit which, it 

 is true, was " marred in its l^eauty," but, in this respect, 

 never foraetful of its own nobleness. He was faithful 



O 



to his friends, an indulgent landlord, and a most kind 

 master; and, last but not least in the novelty, with all 

 this consideration for the happiness of others, he 

 appears to have possessed very little for himself. 



But he is now, ill-fated man I safe in his urn ; and 

 let no one attempt to throw more stones at his monu- 

 ment. There are specks in the sun, straggling weeds 

 amongst the choicest flowers ; and until the sons of 

 Adam cease to be the sons of Adam, perfection must 

 not be expected from them. From a retrospect of his 

 ■career let this moral be drawn : — Life has been com- 

 pared to wine ; it vmst not be draiVH to the dregs : and 

 all who may have it in their power, as he had, to drain 

 nature to satiety, will find out at last — as I myselt 

 have at last found out— that tranquillity of mind and 

 liealth of body, which form the happiness as well as 

 the security of life, are not to be enjoyed under the 

 tyrant rule of passion, and nozvhcre without something 

 like discretion to guide and direct us in our ordinary 

 ■concerns and pursuits. 



