Eustace Budgell was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 writer and politician.

Born in St Thomas near Exeter, Budgell was educated at Oxford University. His cousin, the writer Joseph Addison

Joseph Addison

Joseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was a man of letters, eldest son of Lancelot Addison...

, took him to Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and got him appointed to a lucrative office. However, when he lampooned the Viceroy, he lost his position.

Budgell assisted Addison with his magazine, The Spectator

The Spectator (1711)

The Spectator was a daily publication of 1711–12, founded by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele in England after they met at Charterhouse School. Eustace Budgell, a cousin of Addison's, also contributed to the publication. Each 'paper', or 'number', was approximately 2,500 words long, and the...

, writing 37 numbers signed X. In these he imitates Addison's style with some success. Between 1715 and 1727, he represented Mullingar

Mullingar (Parliament of Ireland constituency)

Mullingar was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons from 1612 to 1800.-1692–1801:...

 in the Irish House of Commons

Irish House of Commons

The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...

.

Budgell, who was vain and vindictive, fell on evil days; he lost a fortune in the South Sea Bubble and was accused of forging the will of Dr Matthew Tindal

Matthew Tindal

Matthew Tindal was an eminent English deist author. His works, highly influential at the dawn of the Enlightenment, caused great controversy and challenged the Christian consensus of his time.-Life:...

 at the expense of his nephew, Nicolas Tindal

Nicolas Tindal

Nicolas Tindal was the translator and continuer of the History of England by Paul de Rapin. Very few comprehensive histories existed at the time and Tindal wrote a three volume , a history of the Kingdom from the reigns of James II to George II...

. He committed suicide

Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...

 by throwing himself out of a boat at London Bridge

London Bridge

London Bridge is a bridge over the River Thames, connecting the City of London and Southwark, in central London. Situated between Cannon Street Railway Bridge and Tower Bridge, it forms the western end of the Pool of London...

. His suicide note

Suicide note

A suicide note or death note is a message that states the author has died by suicide, and left to be discovered and read in anticipation of suicide....

 famously said: "What Cato

Cato the Younger

Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis , commonly known as Cato the Younger to distinguish him from his great-grandfather , was a politician and statesman in the late Roman Republic, and a follower of the Stoic philosophy...

 did, and Addison

Joseph Addison

Joseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was a man of letters, eldest son of Lancelot Addison...

approved, cannot be wrong."