Note 1450 — AN ESSAY ON MAN, IN FOUR EPISTLES (continued 3)
Reading edition
MS.:
Brave Sidney falls amid the martial strife, Not that he's virtuous, but profuse of life. Not virtue snatched Arbuthnot's hopeful bloom, And sent thee, Craggs, untimely to the tomb. Say not 'tis virtue, but too soft a frame, That Walsh his race, and Scud'more ends her name. Think not their virtues, more though heav'n ne'er gave, Unites so many Digbys in a grave. Fierce love, not virtue, Falkland, was thy doom, Her grief, not virtue, nipped Louisa's bloom.
The Arbuthnot mentioned here was Charles, a clergyman, and son of the celebrated physician. His death in 1732 was supposed to have been occasioned by the lingering effects of a wound he received in a duel he fought while at Oxford with a fellow-collegian, his rival in love. James Craggs died of the small-pox Feb. 14, 1721, aged 35. Virtue had certainly no share in his death, for he was licentious in private life, and in his public capacity accepted a bribe from the South Sea directors. Walsh died in 1708, at the age of 49. His virtue may be estimated by his confession that he had committed every folly in love, except matrimony. Lady Scudamore, widow of Sir James Scudamore, and daughter of the fourth Lord Digby, died of the small-pox, May 3, 1729, aged 44. She left only a daughter, who married, and hence Pope's expression, "Scud'more ends her name." The many Digbys united in one grave were the children of the fifth Lord, the father of the poet's friend, Robert. I do not know what is meant by the "fierce love" which was Falkland's "doom," nor can I identify the Louisa who died of grief.