The best good man with the worst-natured muse.'

Still more celebrated as a beau and wit of his time, was John Wilmot,
Lord Rochester. He was the son of Lord Wilmot, the cavalier who so
loyally attended Charles II. after the Battle of Worcester; and, as, the
offspring of that royalist, was greeted by Lord Clarendon, then
Chancellor of the University of Oxford, when he took his degree as
Master of Arts, with a kiss.[10] The young nobleman then travelled,
according to custom; and then most unhappily for himself and for others,
whom he corrupted by his example, he presented himself at the court of
Charles II. He was at this time a youth of eighteen, and one of the
handsomest persons of his age. The face of Buckhurst was hard and plain;
that of De Grammont had little to redeem it but its varying
intelligence; but the countenance of the young Earl of Rochester was
perfectly symmetrical: it was of a long oval, with large, thoughtful,
sleepy eyes; the eyebrows arched and high above them; the brow, though
concealed by the curls of the now modest wig, was high and smooth; the
nose, delicately shaped, somewhat aquiline; the mouth full, but
perfectly beautiful, was set off by a round and well-formed chin. Such
was Lord Rochester in his zenith; and as he came forward on state
occasions, his false light curls hanging down on his shoulders--a
cambric kerchief loosely tied, so as to let the ends, worked in point,
fall gracefully down: his scarlet gown in folds over a suit of light
steel armour--for men had become carpet knights then, and the coat of
mail worn by the brave cavaliers was now less warlike, and was mixed up
with robes, ruffles, and rich hose--and when in this guise he appeared
at Whitehall, all admired; and Charles was enchanted with the
simplicity, the intelligence, and modesty of one who was then an
ingenuous youth, with good aspirations, and a staid and decorous
demeanour.