[Footnote 3: The Countess of Suffolk.--_H._]

[Footnote 4: Sir Robert Walpole.--_Faulkner_.]

[Footnote 5: The post of gentleman-usher to the Princess Louisa was
offered to Gay, which he and his friends considered as a great indignity,
her royal highness being a mere infant.--_Scott_.]

[Footnote 6: The Duke and Duchess of Queensberry.]

[Footnote 7: A title given to every duke by the
heralds.--_Faulkner_.]

[Footnote 8: Counting the numbers of a division. A horse dealer's
term.--_W. E. B._]

[Footnote 9: Alluding to the magnificence of Houghton, the seat of Sir
Robert Walpole, by which he greatly impaired his fortune.
"What brought Sir Visto's ill-got wealth to waste?
Some Demon whispered, 'Visto! have a Taste.'"
POPE, _Moral Essays_, Epist. iv.--_W. E. B._]

[Footnote 10: These lines are thought to allude to some story concerning
a vast quantity of mahogany declared rotten, and then applied by somebody
to wainscots, stairs, door-cases, etc.--_Dublin edition_.]

[Footnote 11: He hath practised this trade for many years, and still
continues it with success; and after he hath ruined one lord, is
earnestly solicited to take another.--_Dublin edition_.
Properly Walter, a dexterous and unscrupulous attorney.
"Wise Peter sees the world's respect for gold,
And therefore hopes this nation may be sold."
POPE, _Moral Essays_, Epist. iii.
And see his character fully displayed in Sir Chas. Hanbury Williams'
poem, "Peter and my Lord Quidam," Works, with notes, edit. 1822. Peter
was the original of Peter Pounce in Fielding's "Joseph
Andrews."--_W. E. B._]

[Footnote 12: Sir Robert Walpole, who was called Sir Robert Brass.]

[Footnote 13: King George I, who died on the 12th June,
1727.--_W. E. B._]

[Footnote 14: Sir Spencer Compton, Speaker of the House of Commons,
afterwards created Earl of Wilmington. George II, on his accession to the
throne, intended that Compton should be Prime Minister, but Walpole,
through the influence of the queen, retained his place, Compton having
confessed "his incapacity to undertake so arduous a task." As Lord
Wilmington, he is constantly ridiculed by Sir Chas. Hanbury Williams.
See his Works, with notes by Horace Walpole, edit. 1822.--_W. E. B._]

TO A LADY
WHO DESIRED THE AUTHOR TO WRITE SOME VERSES UPON HER
IN THE HEROIC STYLE

After venting all my spite,
Tell me, what have I to write?
Every error I could find
Through the mazes of your mind,
Have my busy Muse em