The Old Bachelor
by William Congreve
Quem tulit ad scenam ventoso Gloria curru,
Exanimat lentus spectator; sedulus inflat:
Sic leve, sic parvum est, animum quod laudis avarum
Subruit, and reficit.
HORAT. Epist. I. lib. ii.
To the Right Honourable Charles, Lord Clifford of Lanesborough,
etc.
My Lord,--It is with a great deal of pleasure that I lay hold on
this first occasion which the accidents of my life have given me of
writing to your lordship: for since at the same time I write to
all the world, it will be a means of publishing (what I would have
everybody know) the respect and duty which I owe and pay to you. I
have so much inclination to be yours that I need no other
engagement. But the particular ties by which I am bound to your
lordship and family have put it out of my power to make you any
compliment, since all offers of myself will amount to no more than
|
