Page:The lives of the poets of Great Britain and Ireland to the time of Dean Swift - Volume 4.djvu/278

268 In conſequence of this zeal for the new government, ſhewn at a time when they ſtood much in need of men of abilities, and ſo little expected from the young marquis, the king who was no ſtranger to the moſt refined rules of policy, created him a duke, the higheſt degree of a ſubject.

In the preamble to his patent, after a detail of the merit of his father, and his ſervices to the government are illuſtrated, his lordſhip’s behaviour in Ireland and his early endowments are thus mentioned.

‘When we ſee the ſon of that great man, forming himſelf by ſo worthy an example, and in every action exhibiting a lively reſemblance of his father; when we confider the eloquence he has exerted with ſo much applauſe in the parliament of Ireland, and his turn and application, even in early youth to the ſerious and weighty affairs of the public, we willingly decree him honours which are neither ſuperior to his merits, nor earlier than the expectation of our good ſubjects.’

As ſoon as the duke of Wharton came of age, he was introduced to the houſe of lords in England, with the like blaze of reputation, and raiſed jealouſies in the breaſts of the moſt conſummately artful, and beſt qualified in the houſe of peers. A little before the death of lord Stanhope, his grace, who was conſtant in nothing but inconſtancy, again changed ſides, oppoſed the court, and endeavoured to defeat all the ſchemes of the miniſtry.

He appeared one of the moſt forward and vigorous in the defence of the biſhop of Rocheſter, and in