652 
several children, the eldest of whom and 
she subject of the present memoir, was _ 
born* 1672, and called Henry, after his 
father. Young St. John was at first 
edueated under the eyes of his parents, 
who afterwards sent him to Eton end 
Oxford, in succession, He distinguished 
himself while there, we are told, by great 
Sagacity in point of understanding, as 
well as by the astonishing facility with 
which he jearned every thing. His me= 
mory was prodigious. 
On his ewtrance into the world, he 
rendered himself remarkable by his 
handsome person, a certain noble and 
graceful aspect, an extraordinary fund 
of knowledge, together with an agreeable — 
mixture of wit and Jearning. He also 
displayed an intimate acquaintance with 
the best Greek and Roman authors, and’ 
could quote them in sucha manrer as 
not to savour of pedantry. Yet notwith- 
standing all these advantages, his family 
was ereatly alarmed by his ardent tem- 
perament and love of the fair sex. 
But his attachment to his pleasures 
never stifled in him the love of hterature, 
and a. certain passion for public affairs. 
In the midst of his foliies, he was ever 
ready to exclaim with Horace: 
Solve senescentem, mature, sanusequum re 
Peccet ad extremum ridendus, et ilia ducat. 
_ Ep.is v. 8 and 9. 
In the years 1698 and 1699, Mr. St. 
Jobn travelled on the Continent, with 
the view of completing his education; 
and in the course of his journey visited 
both France and Italy. During his 
youth, he formed an acquaintance with 
all the wits of his time, particularly Dry- 
den; and we are assured that he not 
only esteemed this great poet, but when 
William ITL. deprived him of his pension, 
fe assisted him with his purse and credit, 
and never ceased to give him the most 
convincing proofs of his attachment. 
Pope, Swift, and other celebrated men 
af jetters, were afterwards numbered 
ameng his friends. - : 
In the beginning of the year 1700, 
the relations of Mr-St. John prevailed 
on him to marry Miss Frances Winches- 
comb, a rich heiress, aud he was nearly 
at the same time nominated represen- 
tative for Wotton Basset, in Wiltshire, 
in which quality he sat during the filth 
parliament of William UT. At this pe_ 
* «<< On ignore méme en Angleterre, le 
date precise de lainaissancedu Lord Boling- 
broke.” 
Retrospect of French Literature—Biography. 
riod of his life he condemned the treaty 
for the partition of the Spanish monarchy. 
On the accession of queen Anne, the 
subject of this memoir began to distin- 
guish himself by his eloquence. Nature 
bad conferred on him many of the pro- 
perties of a great orator, and as the queen 
was sensible of his parts she courted his 
attachment. As a proof of the high 
devree of favour then enjoyed by him, 
he was one of the persons of quality se- 
lected soon after by her majesty, to ac- 
company her to Bath. * 
He now joined that party which was 
so well known by the appellation of the 
Tories, the principles of which, if not 
correspondent to his character, were at .~ 
least tavourable to bis views; and ac- 
cordingly, ‘although both his father and 
grandfather had been Whigs, he acted 
in direct opposition to their system of 
government. In 1704 he was nomina- 
ted a member of the administration, and 
became intimately connected with -the 
Duke of Marlborough, the first General 
of his age, who was then at the head of 
the British armies. © 9 
*¢ Descended from a noble family, but 
without being illustrious, and at the same 
time destitute of fortune, the latter had 
now attained the highesteminence which 
an individual couldaspire to. A friends 
ship between him and St. John had been 
originally formed at the little court of 
Anne, while. princess of Denmark, and 
it is not at all unlikely that the credit of 
Churchill and his wife, contributed 
greatly to make him a minister. It may 
be said of Marlborough that he had be- 
come a great warrior from instinct alone, 
for he had never either studied his art, 
or read any of the celebrated treatises on 
it. Most assuredly he had never perused 
Xenophon, and perhaps never lecked 
into, the narrative of any modern war; 
bunt daring his youth, he had served~an- 
der Turenne, and was distinguished by 
his notice.” 
On the disgrace of this great man, 
Bolingbroke, if he did not ‘take part 
against his friend, at least sided -with 
the court, and became secretary of state 
for foreign affairs ‘during the adminis- 
tration uf the celebrated Harley, earl of 
Oxford. Qn this occasion, be had not 
only the management of continental bu- 
siness, and of all the negociations for 
peace, but also of the House of Com- 
mons, of which his oratory,. and stilk 
more his influence, had rendered lim 
the oracle, Ile also was enabled by 
| means 
