virtues of a few plants.

Many a laugh, doubtless, had Buckingham at the expense of _Dr._ Cowley:
however, in later days, the duke proved a true friend to the poet, in
helping to procure for him the lease of a farm at Chertsey from the
queen, and here Cowley, rich upon £300 a year, ended his days.

For some time after Buckingham's release, he lived quietly and
respectably at Nun-Appleton, with General Fairfax and the vapid Mary.
But the Restoration--the first dawnings of which have been referred to
in the commencement of this biography--ruined him, body and mind.

He was made a Lord of the Bedchamber, a Member of the Privy Council, and
afterwards Master of the Horse,[5] and Lord Lieutenant of Yorkshire. He
lived in great magnificence at Wallingford House; a tenement next to
York House, intended to be the habitable and useful appendage to that
palace.

He was henceforth, until he proved treacherous to his sovereign, the
brightest ornament of Whitehall. Beauty of person was hereditary: his
father was styled the 'handsomest-bodied man in England,' and George
Villiers the younger equalled George Villiers the elder in all personal
accomplishments. When he entered the Presence-Chamber all eyes followed
him; every movement was graceful and stately. Sir John Reresby
pronounced him 'to be the finest gentleman he ever saw.' 'He was born,'
Madame Dunois declared, 'for gallantry and magnificence.' His wit was
faultless, but his manners engaging; yet his sallies often descended
into buffoonery, and he spared no one in his merry moods. One evening a
play of Dryden's was represented. An actress had to spout forth this
line--