up the Buckler of the Peoples Cause,
Against the Crown; and sculk'd behind the Laws,
The wish'd occasion of the Plot he takes;
Some Circumstances finds, but more he makes.
By buzzing Emissaries, fills the ears
Of listning Crouds, with Jealousies and Fears
Of Arbitrary Counsels brought to light,
And proves the King himself a _Jebusite_.
Weak Arguments! which yet he knew full well,
Were strong with People easie to Rebel.
For, govern'd by the _Moon_, the giddy _Jews_
Tread the same Track when she the Prime renews:
And once in twenty Years, their Scribes Record,
By natural Instinct they change their Lord.
_Achitophel_ still wants a Chief, and none
Was found so fit as Warlike _Absalon_:
Not, that he wish'd his Greatness to create,
(For Polititians neither love nor hate:)
But, for he knew, his Title not allow'd,
Would keep him still depending on the Croud:
That Kingly pow'r, thus ebbing out, might be
Drawn to the Dregs of a Democracie.

70.

THE DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.

_George Villiers, second Duke 1628._

_Born 1628. Died 1687._

By BURNET.

The first of these was a man of noble presence. He had a great
liveliness of wit, and a peculiar faculty of turning all things into
ridicule with bold figures and natural descriptions. He had no sort
of literature: Only he was drawn into chymistry: And for some years
he thought he was very near the finding the philosopher's stone; which
had the effect that attends on all such men as he was, when they are
drawn in, to lay out for it. He had no principles of religion, vertue,
or friendship. Pleasure, frolick, or extravagant diversion was all
that he laid to heart. He was true to nothing, for he was not true to
himself. He had no steadiness nor conduct: He could keep no secret,
nor execute any design without spoiling it. He could never fix his
thoughts, nor govern his estate, tho' then the greatest in _England_.
He was bred about the King: And for many years he had a great
ascendent over him: But he spake of him to all persons with that
contempt, that at last he drew a lasting disgrace upon himself. And he
at length ruined both body and mind, fortune and reputation equally.
The madness of vice appeared in his person in very eminent instances;
since at last he became contemptible and poor, sickly, and sunk in his
parts, as well as in all other respects, so that his conversation was
as much avoided as ever it had been courted. He f