In the Sackville family a son of talents had frequently succeeded a father below mediocrity. The following epigram, founded on that circumstance, was ascribed to Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, but never acknowledged by him, or included in the manuscript copies of his poems. The last stanza was unjust, as well as severe; but there is so much arch humour in the first, that it is worth preserving:—
Folly and sense in Dorset’s race
Alternately do run,
As Carey one day told his Grace,
Praising his eldest son.
But Carey must allow for once
Exception to this rule;
For Middlesex is but a dunce,
Though Dorset be a fool.