Page images
PDF
EPUB

stitutional liberty and the interests of his country, his vote was always the free offering of a virtuous mind; and the part which he took in public affairs, was stained with no bias to sinister views of private interest. He boldly contended for settling such an annual income on Frederic prince of Wales, as would render him independent of the minister; and declared his opinion that the heir-apparent, or any other prince of the royal family, ought to have such a certain revenue as was consistent with his own dignity and that of the nation. He was likewise very instrumental in lowering the interest of the public debt, by taking advantage of the facility with which money might be raised without the smallest violation of public credit.

To particularize every patriotic effort of this distinguished citizen, however useful his example might be to such as aspire to the honours which he received, would extend this article too far. In the year 1738 he served the office of lord-mayor; and discharged the duties of this important station with the same assiduity, firmness, and impartiality, which had marked his former life. As a magistrate, indeed, his conduct was a perfect model for imitation. He was governor of several hospitals and other public charities: and was ever vigilant, active, and disinterested, in the discharge of those important trusts. In 1749 he became father of the city: but at length the infirmities of age suspended his honourable and useful services. He requested leave to resign his alderman's gown. The solemn thanks given him by the city of London on this occasion, were the best testimony of his merit, and will remain a lasting eulogy on his character. Among other qualities becoming a magistrate and a man, he was thanked "for his wise, vigilant, and impartial administration of justice; his unwearied zeal for the honour, safety, and prosperity, of his fellow-citizens; his inviolable attachment to the laws and liberties of his

country; and for the noble example which he had set, of a long and uninterrupted course of virtue, in private as well as public life."

With this enviable character sir John Barnard retired to his country-seat at Clapham; where he expired full of days and honour, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. As a further proof of the high sense which his fellow citizens entertained of his signal services, his statue was erected in his life time on the Royal Exchange, in his robes of magistracy.

GEORGE, LORD LYTTELTON.

Born 1708.-Died 1773.

From 6th Anne, to 13th George III.

Wealth, power, and titles,-pageants of a day,
Ungrac'd with merit, shed a feeble ray.
Soon sinks the fame not rais'd on true desert,
And all the praise that lives not in the heart;
Soon sinks the pride from ancestry that flows:-
The splendid villains are but public shows;
Awhile they blaze, and catch the simple eye;
Then melt in air like meteors in the sky.
Not thus nobility with worth conjoin'd,
Its lustre spreads, and leaves a track behind.
The gifts of fortune, in a good man's power,
Are but the needy wretch's certain dower;
They raise the languid, wipe affliction's tear;
To some give fame, in Lyttelton endear.

THIS illustrious and excellent man was descended from a very ancient family which had been seated for centuries in Worcestershire; and which had produced several dis tinguished characters at different periods, and among others judge Lyttelton, who flourished in the reign of Henry the Fourth. He was the eldest son of sir Thomas Lyttelton, by a sister of lord viscount Cobham: and was born at Hagley; which he found, when he came to his

inheritance, prepared by nature for the elysium to which his delicate taste converted it.

His birth is said to have been premature, and in consequence he was with difficulty reared. Gradually however gaining a tolerable strength of constitution, he was sent to Eton school; where he soon attracted the notice of his masters, by the superior manner in which his exercises were finished; and early discovered a taste for the beauties of poetical composition, an almost infallible mark of a refined and elegant mind. At that seminary he wrote his pastorals, and some other pieces; which would have given him a considerable rank in the train of the muses, independently of those advantages to which he was born, and which set off his natural endowments in the most conspicuous light.

Having removed to Christchurch college, Oxford, he pursued his academical studies with unusual avidity, and with a success correspondent to his application. Not satisfied with the mere performance of what was expected from him, his genius prompted him to court fame as a writer and his Blenheim," if it did not much enhance his reputation as a poet among real judges, yet, from the popularity of the subject, and the great man who was the hero of it, rendered him more generally admired. At the university too he sketched his Persian Letters, one of the most original of all his works; and which for purity of language, and the knowledge of life and manners which it displays, has gained him a permanent reputation. It may be considered as a classical English production, and will always be read with improvement and delight.

After a short stay at Oxford, he commenced his travels. At Paris he became acquainted with the British ambassa. dor, Mr. Poyntz: who was so struck with the uncom mon capacity of Lyttelton, that he warmly patronised him; and employed him in some political negociations, which he dispatched in such a manner as confirmed the

high opinion that had been formed of his talents and his address.

When he set out on his travels, he had formed a proper estimate of the useful purposes to which they might be applied; and he determined to derive from them all the benefit and improvement which an extensive intercourse with mankind is capable of conferring. He did not post through a country like a courier, nor did he indulge in the dissipation or frivolities of the people among whom he stopped. On the contrary, he associated only with men of rank, in the political or literary world, from whom he enlarged the stores of his mind; or, by observation and inquiry, traced the advantages and defects of public institutions, or the various modes of private life. In order to connect him more strongly with the country which was still dearest to him, and in which he had left some valuable friends, he kept up a regular private correspondence; and a poetical one in two epis tles to Dr. Ayscough and Mr. Pope.

Under the friendly and affectionate auspices of Mr. Poyntz, who seems to have loved him as a son, he remained some time at Paris. At Turin he was received in the most condescending and flattering manner by his Sardinian majesty. In the capital towns of Italy, particularly at Rome, he applied himself to the study of the fine arts; and such were the correctness and the purity of his taste, that he was justly esteemed an excellent connoisseur though so young a man.

His letters to his father, during his travels, which are still extant, evince his filial piety, and are models of du tiful affection. This point of character should not be overlooked; it stamps the amiable bias of his soul. He who is deficient in duty to his parents, may possess great, but can never be entitled to the praise of good qualities. He is not formed to relish the most solid satisfaction: he

can neither be perfectly happy himself, nor communicate happiness to others.

Returning to his native country in the possession of the most valuable attainments, he obtained a seat in parliament for the borough of Oakhampton, and soon entered the lists of opposition against sir Robert Walpole. His abilities as a public speaker were very considerable, and he was not averse to display his talents: no important debate arose in which he did not take a share. As he had joined what was called the patriotic party, (though true patriotism certainly allows no party-spirit.) he was soon introduced to the favour of Frederic prince of Wales; and in the year 1737 became principal secretary to his royal highness, in which capacity he served him with integrity and zeal.

But though he was now confessedly a politician, the brilliancy of his classical genius was not obscured. Indeed he had now a fresh cause of inspiration. Miss Lucy Fortescue, a young lady of uncommon beauty and merit, had taught him to feel the tenderest sentiments of love; and he breathed his attachment to her in some of the most delicate and elegant verses that ever poet penned to his mistress. The amiableness of his own disposition gave him the sincerest regard for similar qualities in others; and in the year 1742 he was united to the object of his fondest affection. As no cold suggestions of interest had joined them, their conjugal felicity was uninterrupted till the moment when it was closed for ever. In four short years, his lady, who was a model of domestic virtue, was called to another world; leaving him with an infant son and daughter, the pledges of their mutual affection. The grief which Mr. Lyttelton felt on this occasion was equal to the loss he had sustained. His beautiful monody to the memory of his lady will perpetuate her name and his own conjugal affection: it is one of the most pathetic pieces in our language. The follow

« PreviousContinue »