His servants lived with him till they became friends, and he took care to pay so well the unfortunate servant whose sleep was broken by his calls, that she said that she would want no wages in a family where she had to wait upon Mr.Pope.Another form of self-indulgence was more injurious to himself.

He pampered his appetite with highly seasoned dishes, and liked to receive delicacies from his friends.

His death was imputed by some of his friends, says Johnson, to "a silver saucepan in which it was his delight to eat potted lampreys." He would always get up for dinner, in spite of headache, when told that this delicacy was provided.

Yet, as Johnson also observes, the excesses cannot have been very great, as they did not sooner cut short so fragile an existence.

"Two bites and a sup more than your stint," says Swift, "will cost you more than others pay for a regular debauch." At home, indeed, he appears to have been generally abstemious.