of Lady Oxford, and who, knowing his peevishness, could by no
entreaties be restrained from contradicting him, till their disputes
were sharpened to such asperity, that one or the other quitted the
house. He sometimes condescended to be jocular with servants or
inferiors; but by no merriment, either of others or his own, was he
ever seen excited to laughter.

Of his domestic character, frugality was a part eminently
remarkable. Having determined not to be dependent, he determined
not to be in want, and therefore wisely and magnanimously rejected
all temptations to expense unsuitable to his fortune. This general
care must be universally approved; but it sometimes appeared in
petty artifices of parsimony, such as the practice of writing his
compositions on the back of letters, as may be seen in the remaining
copy of the "Iliad," by which perhaps in five years five shillings
were saved; or in a niggardly reception of his friends, and
scantiness of entertainment, as, when he had two guests in his
house, he would set at supper a single pint upon the table; and
having himself taken two small glasses, would retire, and say,
"Gentlemen. I leave you to your wine." Yet he tells his friends
that "he has a heart for all, a house for all, and whatever they may
think, a fortune for all." He sometimes, however, made a splendid
dinner, and is said to have wanted no part of the skill or elegance
which such performances require. That this magnificence should be
often displayed, that obstinate prudence with which he conducted his
affairs would not permit; for his revenue, certain and casual,
amounted only to about eight hundred pounds a year, of which,
however, he declares himself able to assign one hundred to charity.
Of this fortune, which, as it arose from public approbation, was
very honourably obtained, his imagination seems to have been too