STEPNEY.
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eorge Stepney, descended from the Stepneys of Pendegrast, inPembrokeshire, was born at Westminster, in 1663. Of his father'scondition or fortune I have no account[88]. Having received the firstpart of his education at Westminster, where he passed six years in thecollege, he went, at nineteen, to Cambridge[p], where he continued afriendship begun at school with Mr. Montague, afterwards earl of Halifax.They came to London together, and are said to have been invited intopublick life by the duke of Dorset[89]. His qualifications recommended him to many foreign employments, so thathis time seems to have been spent in negotiations. In 1692, he was sentenvoy to the elector of Brandenburgh; in 1693, to the imperial court; in1694, to the elector of Saxony; in 1696, to the electors of Mentz andCologne, and the congress at Frankfort; in 1698, a second time toBrandenburgh; in 1699, to the king of Poland; in 1701, again to theemperour; and, in 1706, to the States General. In 1697, he was made oneof the commissioners of trade. His life was busy and not long. He died in1707, and is buried in Westminster Abbey, with this epitaph, which Jacobtranscribed: H. S. E.GEORGIUS STEPNEIUS, armiger,Vir,Ob ingenii acumen,Literarum scientiam,Morum suavitatem,Rerum usum, Virorum amplissimorum consuetudinem,Linguae, styli, ac vitae elegantiam,Praeclara officia cum Britanniae tum Europae praestita,Sua aetate multum celebratus,Apud posteros semper celebrandus;Plurimas legationes obijtEa fide, diligentia, ac felicitate,Ut augustissimorum principumGulielmi et AnnaeSpem in illo repositamNumquam fefellerit,Haud raro superaverit.Post longum honorum cursumBrevi temporis spatio confectum,Cum naturae parum, famae satis vixerat,Animam ad altiora aspirantem placide efflavit. On the left hand, G. S.Ex equestri familia Stepneiorum,De Pendegrast, in comitatuPembrochiensi oriundus,Westmonasterii natus est, A. D. 1663,Electus in collegiumSancti Petri Westmonast. A. 1676,Sancti Trinitatis Cantab. 1682.Consiliariorum quibus CommerciiCura commissa est 1697.Chelseiae mortuus, et, comitanteMagna procerumFrequentia, hue elatus, 1707. It is reported that the juvenile compositions of Stepney "made greyauthors blush." I know not whether his poems will appear such wonders tothe present age. One cannot always easily find the reason for which theworld has sometimes conspired to squander praise. It is not very unlikelythat he wrote very early as well as he ever wrote; and the performancesof youth have many favourers, because the authors yet lay no claim topublick honours, and are, therefore, not considered as rivals by thedistributors of fame. He apparently professed himself a poet, and added his name to those ofthe other wits in the version of Juvenal; but he is a very licentioustranslator, and does not recompense his neglect of the author by beautiesof his own. In his original poems, now and then, a happy line may,perhaps, be found, and, now and then, a short composition may givepleasure. But there is, in the whole, little either of the grace of wit,or the vigour of nature. [Footnote 88: He was entered of Trinity college, and took his master'sdegree in 1689. H.] [Footnote 89: Earl of Dorset.]
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