ted_ IV
_Wharton_ II
_Wharton, Philip_ Duke of IV
_Wycherley_ III
_Winchelsea, Anne_, Countess of III
_Wotton_ I
_Wyatt_ I
Y
_Yalden_ IV
THE
LIVES
OF THE
POETS
* * * * *
EUSTACE BUDGELL, Esq;
was the eldest son of Gilbert Budgell, D.D. of St. Thomas near Exeter,
by his first wife Mary, the only daughter of Dr. William Gulston, bishop
of Bristol; whose sister Jane married dean Addison, and was mother to
the famous Mr. Addison the secretary of state. This family of Budgell is
very old, and has been settled, and known in Devonshire above 200
years[1].
Eustace was born about the year 1685, and distinguished himself very
soon at school, from whence he was removed early to Christ's Church
College in Oxford, where he was entered a gentleman commoner. He staid
some years in that university, and afterwards went to London, where, by
his father's directions, he was entered of the Inner-Temple, in order to
be bred to the Bar, for which his father had always intended him: but
instead of the Law, he followed his own inclinations, which carried him
to the study of polite literature, and to the company of the genteelest
people in town. This proved unlucky; for the father, by degrees, grew
uneasy at his son's not getting himself called to the Bar, nor properly
applying to the Law, according to his reiterated directions and request;
and the son complained of the strictness and insufficiency of his
father's allowance, and constantly urged the necessity of his living
like a gentleman, and of his spending a great deal of money. During this
slay, however, at the Temple, Mr. Budgell made a strict intimacy and
friendship with Mr. Addison, who was first cousin to his mother; and
this last gentleman being appointed, in the year 1710, secretary to lord
Wharton, the lord lieutenant of Ireland, he made an offer to his friend
Eustace of going with him as one of the clerks in his office. The
proposal being advantageous, and Mr. Budgell being then on bad terms
with his father, and absolutely unqualified for the practice of the Law,
it was readily accepted. Nevertheless, for fear of his father
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