As Lady Mountjoy was so doting kind
(Of calm demeanour, and of gentle mind,)
To her dear Arnold—him, her only son,
Whate’er he wish’d for, said: and it was done.
Too well she lov’d him, ever cross to speak;
Or e’er t’upbraid him for his boyish freak.[179]
But Arnold’s father felt that it was fraught
With disadvantage, and conceived (he thought)
An efficacious plan: matured the same,
Thus started Arnold on the road to fame.
At Court, Lord William’s influence was used.
(A favor ask’d by him was ne’er refused;
If that, solicited, could granted be,
Granted it was, and ever readily.)
So, for his son, h’ obtain’d a post, at once—
In the legation, at the Court of France.
In time, conversant with diplomacy,
He grew in favor,—e’en ’mong Royalty.
In Russia, Prussia, Austria, and in Spain,
The friendship of proud courtiers he did gain:
In India, China, Turkey, and at Rome,
A kind reception made him feel at home.
With great success he fill’d his place of trust,
In all transactions amiable and just,
His volubility and generalship
Soon gain’d a most distinguish’d consulship,
At one of Europe’s gay commercial ports,
Where sovereigns frequent, and where wealth resorts:
Known by his genius, gentleness, and wit,
Where sat the monarch, close did Arnold sit;—
A proud position, certainly, for one
Who had so young such reputation won.
[179] As reported in Lady Prew’s alarming letter.