_.know the world; and that they should be 
an 
-#. 
1809.] 
refusal of his munificence, than if he 
had embraced his royal bounty.’ These 
royal offers proving vain, Lord Danby 
began to assure him, that the king had 
ordered him a thousand guineas, which 
he hoped he would be pleased to receive, _ 
til he could bring his mind to accept 
something better, and more durable. 
At this, Mr. Marvell renewed his usual 
smile, and said, ‘Surely, my good lord, 
you do not mean to treat me ludicrously, 
by these munificent offers, which seem to 
wnterpret a poverty on my part. Pray, 
my lord treasurer, do these apartments 
weer in the least the air of need? = =And 
as for my living, that is plentiful and 
good, which you shall have from the 
mouth of the servant :—= 
‘Pray what had I to dinner yesterday?” 
“ A shoulder of mutton, Sir.” 
* And what do you allow me to-day?” 
* The remainder hashed.” 
‘ And to-morrow, my lord Danby, 1 
shall have the sweet blade-bone broiled; 
avd when yourlordship makes honourable 
mention of my cook and my diet, I am 
sure his majesty will be too tender in 
future to attempt to bribe a man with 
golden apples, who lives so well on the, 
viands of his native country 
The lord treasurer, unable to with- 
stand this, withdrew with smiles; and 
Mr. Marvell, sent to his bookseller for 
the loan of one guinea. No Roman 
virtue ever surpassed this temperance; 
nor can gold bribe any man that is not 
bribed with laxury; and, with Doctor 
Samuel Johnson,* allow me to repeat 
these good words, which the temptation 
of a pension weuld not suffer him to 
adopt: ‘No man, whose appetites are 
his masters, can perform the duties of 
his nature with strictness and regula- 
rity; he that would be superior to in- 
ternal influences, must first become su- 
perior to his own passions.” 
_ That such a man should have enemies 
1S not to be wondered at by those who 
hitter, cruel, and inveterate, will not 
_ surprise any one, who is acquainted with 
: 
the history of that profligate and flagi- 
tious reign, during which he flourished, 
Mr. Marvell was fond of residing at 
Highgate, and this circumstance appears 
to have put his life in jeopardy more 
than once; for he was frequently threat- 
_ ened with murder, and even, way-laid. 
~~ Montury 
Sir John Coventry’s nose had been slit, 
for his daring to express his mind with 
* The Idler. : 
Mac, No, 188. Bi 
Memoirs of Andrew Marvell, 
4)- 
freedom ; and a still worse fate appears 
to have been reserved: for the subject of 
this memoir, who, fired at the indignity 
committed against a member of par- 
hament, had formerly lampooned the 
court on that very occasion, in some 
severe, Satirical verses, of which the 
following is the first stanza : 
6¢ T sing arueful ditty, 
Of a wound that long will smart—a ; 
And given (more is the pity): 
In the realms of Magna Charta 3 
Youth, youth, thou hadst been better slain 
by thy foes, : 
Then live to be hang’d, for a nothing—-a 
nose !” 
Mr. Marvell, however, was not a man 
of that stamp to be terrified by threats, 
or even by violence. 
tomed to remark, that he was more 
afraid of killing, than of being killed ; 
and that he was not so much in love with 
life, as to be unprepared for death. Tn 
a letter to a friend, in which he mentions 
“the insuperable hatred of his foes, and 
their designs of murdering him, he makes 
use of the following strong expressions, 
which are here quoted in the original, 
being a language in which he excelled, 
and in which he delighted to correspond, 
‘“« Preterea magis occidere metuo quam 
oceidi: non quod vitam tanti estimem, 
sed ne imparatus moriar.”” 
As he was distinguished for his scorn 
of corruption, on one hand, so, on the 
other, he could never be provoked to . 
revenge by eny personal resentment. 
His integrity, even amidst distress, has 
been sufficiently evinced, by an anecdote, 
He was accus- 
that would do honour to any age, or 
country; while it is evident, from the 
whole tenour of his correspondence, that: 
his dispute with his colleague, Colonel 
Anthony Gilby, never once betrayed 
him into any passionate invective or 
peevish expression. He was, .at the 
same time, a sworn foe to flattery, 
and very cautious, as well as very cir- 
cumspect, in regard to his friendships. 
Tlis enmitics were all generous, for they 
were of a public nature. Ile. most cor- 
dially hated and, detested those who 
basely crouched at the feet of power, or 
were the zealots of arbitrary government, 
Yet even here, the native magnanimity 
of his disposition was evident; for al- 
though he severely lashed the vices, both 
public and private, of the lascivious 
sovereign, who then bore sway; yet he 
could generously praise any of his ac-: 
tions which were commendable. 
This friendship for, and intimacy with, 
I’ Miulcon 
e 
