Page:The lives of the poets of Great Britain and Ireland to the time of Dean Swift - Volume 4.djvu/83

Rh had formerly been their chancellor. Upon this occaſion Stepney wrote ſome good verſes, in anſwer to this queſtion;

Upon the revolution he embraced another intereſt, and procured himſelf to be nominated for ſeveral foreign embaſſies. In the year 1692 he went to the elector of Brandenburgh’s court in quality of envoy, and, in the year following, to the Imperial court in the ſame character. In 1694 he was ſent to the elector of Saxony, and two years after to the electors of Mentz, Cologn, &c. and the congreſs at Francfort. He was employed in ſeveral other embaſſies, and in the year 1706 Queen Anne ſent him envoy to the States General. He was very ſucceſsful in his negotiations, which occaſioned his conſtant employment in the moſt weighty affairs. At his leiſure hours he compoſed ſeveral other pieces of poetry beſides thoſe already mentioned; which are chiefly theſe,

An Epiſtle to the Earl of Hallifax, on his Majeſty’s Voyage to Holland.

A Tranſlation of the Eighth Satire of Juvenal.

To the Earl of Carliſle upon the Death of his Son.

Some Imitations of Horace’s Odes.

The Auſtrian Eagle.

The Nature of Dreams.

A Poem to the Memory of Queen Mary.

Theſe performances are not very long, nor are the ſubjects upon which they are written very conſiderable. It ſeems probable that the eminence to which Stepney roſe, muſt have been more owing to ſome