Thomas Lyttelton

“ Britton's theory (as to Col. Barré) may equally well apply to his own, namely, that it affords "a [another] curious instance of the delusion to which ingenious men may resign themselves, when they have a favourite opinion to uphold!" The reviewer, indeed, admits that he has "traced the parallel from the scantiest materials;" and in another passage repeats, that but "few materials exist for a sketch of Thomas Lyttelton's life." ”

“ The evidence afforded therefore by this volume, comes peculiarly in support of the dates and other circumstances put forth in the printed volume of Poems; and leads us inevitably to the conclusion, that it was utterly impossible for Thomas Lyttelton to have had any share in the Letters of Junius. He has enough to answer for on the score of his early profligacy and scepticism, without being dragged from the grave to be arraigned for the crime of deceit. His heart need not, according to the reviewer, be "stripped bare" by the scalpel of any literary anatomist ”

“ Sir George Lyttelton (1709–1773) , created Baron Lyttelton in 1756. He married, first, in 1742, Lucy, daughter of Hugh Fortescue, Esq., of Filleigh, co. Devon; and secondly, in 1749, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Robert Rich, Bart. His son, Thomas, born in 1744, succeeded his father, but died without issue in 1779, when the peerage expired. It was, however, re-created in 1794 in favour of a cousin, from whom the present owner of Hagley, Viscount Cobham, is directly descended.
[2] These trees were sent as a present to Queen Mary by a Dutch merchant. ”

“ On the death of his nephew Thomas, second baron Lyttelton [q. v.] , in 1779, when the English barony became extinct, he succeeded to the baronetcy and estates, and on 13 Aug. 1794 he was raised to the peerage of Great Britain as Lord Lyttelton, baron of Frankley. He was a friend of Johnson and Mrs. Thrale (Mrs. Piozzi, Autobiog., ed. Hayward, ii. 94) . He died at Hagley on 14 Sept. 1808. Lyttelton married twice: first, on 2 June 1761, Mary, eldest daughter of James Macartney of co. Longford; secondly, on 3 Feb. 1774, Caroline, daughter of John Bristow of Quiddenham, Norfolk. ”

“ LYTTELTON, Sir THOMAS (1596–1650) , royalist, born in 1596, was eldest son of John Lyttelton of Hagley, Worcestershire, by Muriel, daughter of Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas Bromley (Nash, Worcestershire, i. 493) . His father, ‘a man,’ according to Bacon, ‘much respected for his wit and valour,’ was implicated in Essex's rebellion in February 1600–1, and, after being convicted of high treason, died in prison. ”

“ Paul's in the year 2199 to a Friend settled in Boston, the Metropolis of the Western Empire. Also Sundry Fugitive Pieces, principally wrote whilst upon his Travels on the Continent,’ was published at London in 1780, 4to. Another edition of the same date has the title ‘Poems by the late Thomas, Lord Lyttelton, to which is added a Sketch of his Lordship's Character,’ 8vo. These poems are probably genuine. The principal piece is in blank verse, modelled somewhat awkwardly on Milton's. The others, in various metres, are spirited and occasionally coarse. ”

“ It might be thought that Lytton would be one of the men safely harbored from storms of depression and discouragement, for his life seemed ideally situated to enable him to get the best out of himself without worry or dissipation of energy in occupation with mere personal matters. His father had made a distinguished success as a literary man and a politician, had been raised to the peerage and the son began life with every possible advantage. ”

“ I believe there is not any one living whose approbation would give Lord Lyttelton so much pleasure; talents and virtues and extensive knowledge all in the highest degree join to make him a perfect judge, and his great reputation gives him a decisive authority; your Father is proud of his praise as a critick, and pleased with it on motives of friendship, which touch his heart more nearly than any where vanity has a part, tho’ he is an author and a poet. ”

“ Lord Lyttelton's Poems are the works of a man of literature and judgment, devoting part of his time to versification. They have nothing to be despised, and little to be admired. Of his "Progress of Love," it is sufficient blame to say that it is pastoral. His blank verse in "Blenheim" has neither much force nor much elegance. ”

“ Lyttelton, who is known as ‘the good Lord Lyttelton,’ was an amiable, absent-minded man, of unimpeachable integrity and benevolent character, with strong religious convictions and respectable talents. In spite of his ‘great abilities for set debates and solemn questions’ (Chatham Correspondence, i. 106) , his ignorance of the world and his unreadiness in debate made him a poor practical politician. ”

“ He was a generous and genial patron of these two kinds of literature, and attracted the companionship, and encouraged the labours, and stimulated the genius of eminent writers and artists. There are several monuments standing among the trees of the park, erected to some of these poets and men of mark. The present Lord Lyttelton, a greater, if not more productive, scholar than the ancestor who first won the title he has inherited, is a man of large and active ability, which he devotes to every good word and work for the well-being of the people, especially the working classes. ”

“ After leaving office Lytton ceased to take any conspicuous part in politics. Upon Lord Derby's return to office in 1866 he was raised to the House of Peers as Baron Lytton of Knebworth (gazetted 13 July 1866) . He meanwhile resumed his industry as an author. His love of the mysterious, already shown in ‘Zanoni,’ led to the ‘Strange Story’ (1862) , in which some attempt is made to give a quasi-scientific colouring to old-fashioned magic. ”

“ He was worth playing in any eleven in England for his bowling, fielding and hard work, and if he never made his runs, his share towards success was as great as those who made a score. The thing to ‘burn’ into a young player’s mind is, that unless he can concentrate all his thoughts on the match in which he is playing he will never be an English cricketer. He may, perhaps, by long practice acquire the knack of getting a lot of runs, and building up an average, but if that is all that he is worth, he had much better never have been in the eleven at all. ”

“ He shows so much ability and such sustained activity of thought that the critic feels some hesitation in disputing too strongly the claims of his admirers, and only regrets that he had not written at least one novel expressing his views of life frankly and vigorously, without aiming at the ideal or at the propitiation of the respectable. It might have been less edifying, but would certainly have been more interesting than his actual achievements. Lytton's works are: 1. ‘Ismael, and other Poems,’ 1820. 2. ‘Delmour, or the Tale of a Sylphid, and other Poems,’ 1823. 3. ”

“ Such was the tale that Lord Lyttelton delivered to his companions. They laughed at his superstition, and endeavoured to convince him that his mind must have been impressed with this idea by some dream of a more consistent nature than dreams generally are, and that he had mistaken the visions of his sleep for the visitation of a spirit. He was consoled, but not convinced; he felt relieved by their distrust, and on the second night after the appearance of the spectre, he retreated to his apartment with his faith in the reality of the transaction somewhat shaken ”

“ Lyttelton gave everywhere the impression of a noble character, strong in a faith held rigidly though without intolerance. In politics a liberal, ecclesiastically a high churchman, he was distinguished by broad general culture but attempted no specialised study. ”

“ But to politics and literature there must be an end. Lord Lyttelton had never the appearance of a strong or of a healthy man; he had a slender, uncompacted frame, and a meagre face; he lasted, however, sixty years, and was then seized with his last illness. Of his death a very affecting and instructive account has been given by his physician, which will spare me the task of his moral character:—
“On Sunday evening the symptoms of his lordship’s disorder, which for a week past had alarmed us, put on a fatal appearance, and his lordship believed himself to be a dying man. ”

“ He possessed a bulldog courage in whatever he undertook, and his contemporaries at Cambridge could scarcely believe that so strong a man could have caught a chill and died so quickly as he did some few years later while in full work as an energetic clergyman in the North of England. Shortly after Sims had gone in, Lyttelton was a second time missed, though fortunately for Oxford the mistake mattered little, for from a fine leg-hit he was grandly caught by Webbe close to the ropes while running at full speed. ”

“ At Oxford he employed himself upon English poetry; and in 1737 published a small Miscellany, without his name.
He then for a time wandered about, to acquaint himself with life, and was sometimes at London, sometimes at Bath, or any other place of publick resort; but he did not forget his poetry. He published in 1741 his "Judgment of Hercules," addressed to Mr. Lyttelton, whose interest he supported with great warmth at an election: this was next year followed by the "School-mistress." ”

“ The world is complaining that the House was turned into a bear garden. I do not envy my friend the glory of being the Figg or Broughton of it.' Pitt retorted that Lyttelton was a very pretty poet, and that there was no one whom he more respected pen in hand. 'But it is hard that my friend, with whom I have taken sweet counsel in epithets, should now reproach me with using them.' Lyttelton replied once more that it was not his fault if he and Pitt were not still friends. ”

“ All my Lord Lytton's infamy, and my fame as a patient Grizzle was pretty well established--and even acknowledge by the wretch who benefitted by it--for one day at a dinner at our house, when some vituperative humbug was going on about poor Lord Byron, and someone said, "No woman could have lived with such a man," my Lord Lytton pointed to me, and said, "There is one that could, for she has lived with me." ”

“ There is also an account of Lyttelton's dream in the ‘London Magazine,’ 1779, p. 534. Another in the ‘Gentleman's Magazine,’ 1816, pt. ii. 422, purports to be from a document preserved at Pitt Place, but cannot be of earlier date than 1785, when Hugh Fortescue, whom it calls Lord Fortescue, succeeded to the barony. Yet another account, drawn up by Lyttelton's uncle, Lord Westcote, and preserved at Hagley, bears date 13 Feb. 1780, and was published by permission of the fourth Lord Lyttelton in ‘Notes and Queries,’ 5th ser. ii. 401–2. ”

“ What Reade has in common with his greater brethren, and Lytton has not, is the light and shade of life. In Lytton all is polished glittering brilliance. The light is neither the sunlight of common day nor ‘the moonlight of romance,’ but the glare of innumerable gas lamps,—the rays from the footlights to which he was about to betake himself. All the softer shades disappear, and quiet effects are impossible. There is nowhere in these novels, and there is rarely in Lytton’s later works, that atmosphere of a home which we always breathe in the novels of the greater writers. ”

“ Wherever he has really written after the old model, there is something to be deprecated: in spite of all the spirit and freshness, in spite of his happy assumption of that cheerful acceptation of things as they are, which, rightly or wrongly, we come to attribute to the ideal fabulist, there is ever a sense as of something a little out of place. A form of literature so very innocent and primitive looks a little over-written in Lord Lytton’s conscious and highly-coloured style. ”

“ But the truth is that, in every field, athletic or social, legal or political, Lyttelton's greatest achievement had lain in being himself. Wherever he went he brought a personal charm which all sorts of men found irresistible. Nor was that all. There was also a character and an atmosphere which, though never obtruded, and often almost imperceptible, seldom failed to inspire and elevate any circle in which he moved. He was universally loved, and no one loved him without being the better for it.
[Edith Lyttelton, Alfred Lyttelton; an Account of his Life, 1917; personal knowledge.] ”

“ In these days Storer, Lilley, and Hunter are probably only a little better than Newton, M'Gregor, and Philipson; and the past ten years has seen such amateur giants as Alfred Lyttelton, Tylecote, Wickham, Kemble, Gay, Lewis, and Leatham, in addition to the above-named. Professionals are as good. ”

“ Talk to me in this style!—not the man for it, sir!—highly improper. Come, shut up the shop, and recollect yourself; and, perhaps, when Sir Thomas's library is done, I may let you go to town. You can't go to-morrow. All a sham, perhaps; eh, Hannah?"
"Very likely! Consult Plimmins. Better come away now, Mr. P. He looks like a young tiger."
Mrs. Plaskwith quitted the shop for the parlour. Her husband, putting his hands behind his back, and throwing back his chin, was about to follow her. Philip, who had remained for the last moment mute and white as stone, turned abruptly ”

“ Well, that woman to me is what a churchyard was to black Jean. No: if she is in London, I have but to go to her house and say, 'Food, shelter, money;' and I would rather ask Jack Ketch for a rope."
"How do you account for it, General? She does not beat you; she is not your wife. I have seen many a stout fellow, who would stand fire without blinking, show the white feather at a scold's tongue. But then he must be spliced to her—"
"Cutts, that Griffin does not scold: she preaches. She wants to make me spoony, Cutts: she talks of my young days, Cutts ”