m.

Mrs. Delany, who was the niece of Lord Lansdowne, and lived with him in
her youth, says, in her Autobiography, that he was a man of an open
unsuspecting temper, that he had the greatest politeness and good-humour
imaginable, that he was magnificent in his nature, and wasted his
fortune to gratify his passion for display.[6] His predominant
characteristics were amiability and vanity. His love of distinction
incited him to become a dramatist, poet, and politician. He had
aspirations without ability, and in none of these capacities did he
exhibit any vigour of mind. His poetry was an imitation of Waller, "of
whom," says Johnson, "he copied the faults, and very little more."[7]
His plays reflect the worst qualities of the era of Charles II. In
tragedy he thought that to be dull and stately was to be classical; in
comedy that affected briskness of dialogue was liveliness, and indecent
double meanings wit. He made no figure in politics, and owed his posts
in the Harley administration to his wealth, family, and electioneering
influence. His literature, aided by his hereditary advantages, sufficed
to procure him a factitious fame while he lived, but his reputation was
at an end the moment his works lost the lustre they derived from his
social position.

Lord Lansdowne was at the zenith of his career when he persuaded Pope to
eulogise the Peace. A measure in itself wise had been made subservient
to the personal interests of the unprincipled faction in power. These
intriguers could not carry on the war without the commanding genius of
Marlborough, nor allow a political opponent to perpetuate his ascendancy
by a fresh series of victories. Certain that they would be driven from
office unless they could huddle up a peace, they were guilty of a
treacherous connivance with the enemy, and a flagrant breach of faith
towards their allies. They were compelled to grant terms to France which
were the boast of her minister, Torcy, and which Bolingbroke confessed
were not what policy or our successes required.[8] A man of more
enlightened views might have justly urged that hard conditions,
offensive to the pride of a great nation, were less calculated to ensure
a lengthened peace than lenient demands, which allowed the consolation
of an honourable retreat. No such plea was put forth by Bolingbroke. He
always retained the vulgar idea that France ought to have been "humbled"
and her "power reduced for generations to come." He lamented the