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 MKS. L. N. MONMOUTH. 439 the fatal mania which had lured so great a man to spoil a modest country house by incrusting it over with an eccen- tric, tawdry palace. A leaf from Mrs. Monmouth's book might have saved these men from misery and despair. She made the most of small means, and they made the least of large. In the midst of poverty she preserved her independence and her dignity ; with superabundant means, they threw both away.