Three poets in three distant ages born,
Greece, Italy, and England did adorn.
The first in loftiness of thought surpass'd;
The next in majesty, in both the last.
The force of Nature could no further go,
To make a third she joined the other two.
[64] Lord Chief Justice Mansfield incurred the loss, on this occasion, of one of the most complete and valuable collections of law books ever known, together with manuscripts and legal remarks, the result of his own industry and professional knowledge.
[65] Private correspondence.
[66] Private correspondence.
[67] This distinguished lawyer was a connexion of Cowper's, having married Mary, daughter of William Cowper, of the Park, near Hertford, Esq. After having successively passed through the offices of Solicitor and Attorney General, he was advanced to the dignity of Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and subsequently elevated to the Peerage by the title of Baron Walsingham.
[68] Verses on a Goldfinch, starved to death in a cage.
[69] Private correspondence.
[70] The Verses alluded to appear to have been separated from the letter.
[71] This letter concluded with the poetical law case of Nose, plaintiff—Eyes, defendants, already inserted.
[72] Private Correspondence.