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"was installed sub-dean of Exeter, in 1694, which office "he resigned in 1702; but after his successor, Lewis "Barnet's death, in 1704, he regained it. In the follo→ "wing year he became dean; and, in 1714, held with "it the archdeanery of Cornwall. He was consecrated

"bishop of Exeter, February 24, 1716; and translated "to York, November 28, 1724, as a reward, according "to court scandal, for uniting George I. to the Duchess "of Munster. This, however, appears to have been an "unfounded calumny. As archibishop he behaved with "great prudence, and was equally respectable as the guar "dian of the revenues of the see. Rumour whispered he "retained the vices of his youth, and that a passion for "the fair sex formed an item in the list of his weaknesses; "but so far from being convicted by seventy witnesses, he "does not appear to have been directly criminated by one. "In short, I look upon these aspersions as the effects of “mere malice. How is it possible a buccaneer should have "been so good a scholar as Blackbourne certainly was: he "who had so perfect a knowledge of the classics, (particularly of the Greek tragedians,) as to be able to read "then with the same ease as he could Shakespeare, must "have taken great pains to acquire the learned languages; "and have had both leisure and good masters. But he "was undoubtedly educated at Christ-church College, "Oxford. He is allowed to have been a pleasant man: "this, however, was turned against him, by its being said, "he gained more hearts than souls.""

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"The only voice that could soothe the passions of the "savage (Alphonso 3d) was that of an amiable and virtuous "wife, the sole object of his love; the voice of Donna Isa"bella, the daughter of the Duke of Savoy, and the grand"daughter of Philip 2d, King of Spain. Her dying "words sunk deep into his memory; his fierce spirit melted "into tears; and after the last embrace, Alphonso retired "into his chamber to bewail his irreparable loss, and to "meditate on the vanity of human life.” Miscellaneous Works of Gibbon, New Edition, 8vo, vol. 3, page 473.

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LARA.

CANTO I.

I.

THE Serfs are glad through Lara's wide domain,
And Slavery half forgets her feudal chain;
He, their unhoped, but unforgotten lord,
The long self- exiled chieftain is restored:
There be bright faces in the busy hall,

Bowls on the board, and banners on the wall;
Far chequering o'er the pictured window, plays
The unwonted faggots' hospitable blaze;

And gay retainers gather round the hearth, With tongues all loudness, and with eyes all mirth.

10

II.

The chief of Lara is returned again:

And why had Lara crossed the bounding main? Left by his sire, too young such loss to know,

Lord of himself;

VOL. II.

that heritage of woe,

H

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