Footnotes: 
1.  John Sheffield, earl of Mulgrave, afterwards created marquis of
   Normanby, and at length duke of Buckingham, made a great figure
   during the reigns of Charles II. of his unfortunate successor, of
   William the Third, and of Queen Anne.  His bravery as a soldier, and
   abilities as a statesman, seem to have been unquestioned; but for
   his poetical reputation, he was probably much indebted to the
   assistance of those wits whom he relieved and patronized.  As,
   however, it has been allowed a sufficient proof of wisdom in a
   monarch, that he could chuse able ministers, so it is no slight
   commendation to the taste of this rhyming peer, that in youth he
   selected Dryden to supply his own poetical deficiencies, and in age
   became the friend and the eulogist of Pope.  We may observe,
   however, a melancholy difference betwixt the manner in which an
   independent man of letters is treated by the great, and that in
   which they think themselves entitled to use one to whom their
   countenance is of consequence.  In addressing Pope, Sheffield
   contents himself with launching out into boundless panegyric, while
   his praise of Dryden, in his “Essay on Poetry,” is qualified by a
   gentle sneer at the “Hind and Panther,” our bard’s most laboured
   production.  His lordship is treating of satire: 

     The laureat here may justly claim our praise,
     Crowned by Mack Flecnoe with immortal bays;
     Yet once his Pegasus has borne dead weight,
     Rid by some lumpish minister of state.

Lord Mulgrave, to distinguish him by his earliest title, certainly received considerable assistance from Dryden in “The Essay on Satire,” which occasioned Rochester’s base revenge; and was distinguished by the name of the Rose-Alley Satire, from the place in which Dryden was way-laid and beaten by the hired bravoes of that worthless profligate.  It is probable, that the patronage which Dryden received from Mulgrave, was not entirely of an empty and fruitless nature.  It is at least certain, that their friendship continued uninterrupted till the death of our poet.  The “Discourse upon Epic Poetry” is dedicated to Lord Mulgrave, then duke of Buckingham, and in high favour with Queen Anne, for whom he is supposed to have long cherished a youthful passion.  After the grave of Dryden had remained twenty years without a memorial, this nobleman had the honour to raise the present monument at his own expence; being the latest, and certainly one of the most honourable acts of his life.

Mr Malone, from Macky’s “Secret Services,” gives the following character of Sheffield, duke of Buckingham:—­“He is a nobleman of learning and good natural parts, but of no principles.  Violent for the high church, yet seldom goes to it.  Very proud, insolent, and covetous, and takes all advantages.  In paying his debts unwilling, and is neither esteemed