ession of the fancy. But it is blank verse. This he sold to Vaillant
for one hundred and twenty pounds. The first sale was not great, and it
is now lost in forgetfulness.

Mallet, by address or accident, perhaps by his dependance on the prince,
found his way to Bolingbroke; a man whose pride and petulance made his
kindness difficult to gain, or keep, and whom Mallet was content to
court by an act, which, I hope, was unwillingly performed. When it was
found that Pope had clandestinely printed an unauthorised number of the
pamphlet called the Patriot King, Bolingbroke, in a fit of useless fury,
resolved to blast his memory, and employed Mallet, 1749, as the
executioner of his vengeance. Mallet had not virtue, or had not spirit,
to refuse the office; and was rewarded, not long after, with the legacy
of lord Bolingbroke's works.

Many of the political pieces had been written during the opposition to
Walpole, and given to Franklin, as he supposed, in perpetuity. These,
among the rest, were claimed by the will. The question was referred to
arbitrators; but when they decided against Mallet, he refused to yield
to the award; and, by the help of Millar the bookseller, published all
that he could find, but with success very much below his expectation.

In 1755, his Mask of Britannia was acted at Drury-lane; and his tragedy
of Elvira in 1763; in which year he was appointed keeper of the book of
entries for ships in the port of London.

In the beginning of the last war, when the nation was exasperated by ill
success, he was employed to turn the publick vengeance upon Byng, and
wrote a letter of accusation under the character of a Plain Man. The
paper was, with great industry, circulated and dispersed; and he, for
his seasonable intervention, had a considerable pension bestowed upon
him, which he retained to his death.

Towards the end of his life he went with his wife to France; but after
awhile, finding his health declining, he returned alone to England, and
died in April, 1765.

He was twice married, and by his first wife had several children. One
daughter, who married an Italian of rank, named Cilesia, wrote a tragedy
called Almida, which was acted at Drury-lane. His second wife was the
daughter of a nobleman's steward, who had a considerable fortune, which
she took care to retain in her own hands.

His stature was diminutive, but he was regularly formed; his
appearance, till he grew corpulent, was agreeable, and he suffe