68
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 B. m. JAN. 27, 1917.
journalism began. The Friendly Intelligence,
which declared itself in its head-lines to be
" Published for the Accommodations of all
sober persons," advertised in its first number,
published Sept. 7, 1679, that
" All persons who are pleased to favour us with any Comical or sollid stories, may repair to the three Kings near Ludgate, and they shall have them carefully put in."
As this seems to have been the only number preserved of that journal, one regrets to be unable to trace the result of so interest- ing an editorial experiment.
ALFRED F. BOBBINS.
(gwrws.
WE must request correspondents desiring in- formation on family matters of only private interest to affix their names and addresses to their queries, in order that answers may be sent to them direct.
POEMS BY LORD CHESTERFIELD. In one
of his letters to his son, Lord Chesterfield
wrote :
" Next to the doing of things that deserve to be written, there is nothing that gets a man more credit, or gives him more pleasure, than to write things that deserve to be read. The younger Pliny
expresses it thus: ' Equidem beatos puto,
quibus Deorum munere datum est, aut facere scribenda, aut legenda scribere ; beatissimos vero quibus utrumque.'"
On another occasion the Earl told his son that
" The making verses well, is an agreeable talent, which I hope you will be possessed of ; for, as it is more difficult to express one's thoughts in verse than in prose [?], the being capable of doing it is more glorious."
To learn that he held this opinion, desired his son to write verse, and that " he divided his time between the pursuit of pleasures and fashionable amusements, and a close attention to his favourite study of poetry " (vide Maty's 'Memoirs'), inclines one to believe that he wrote poems himself ; and we are fortunate enough to have some direct evidence on which to base a belief that he actually wrote a considerable number of poems. How many of these are extant ? Personally, I am not aware of the exist- ence of more than two poems composed by Lord Chesterfield. For one, I am indebted to Dr. Matthew Maty (1718-1776), the founder of the Journal Britannique, and one time principal librarian at the British Museum, who (if not the first) was one of the earliest biographers of Lord Chesterfield. For the other, I am indebted to Mr. R. A. Davenport, poet, and editor of " Whitting- ham's Edition of the British Poets," and of " New Elegant Extracts : A Unique Selec-
tion, Moral, Instructive, and Entertaining,
from the Most Eminent British Poets, and
Poetical Translators. Chiswick : Printed by
C. and C. Whittingham. MDCCCXXVII."
(six volumes).
In vol. iii. (p. 254) of the latter work the? following ' Song ' is given :
When Fanny, blooming fair,
First caught my ravish 'd sight, Struck with her shape and air,
1 felt a strange delight : Whilst eagerly I gazed,
Admiring every part, And every feature praised.
She stole into my heart.
In her bewitching eyes
Ten thousand loves appear : There Cupid basking lies,
His shafts are hoarded there - Her blooming cheeks are dyed
With colour all their own, Excelling far the pride
Of roses newly blown.
Her well turn'd limbs confess
The lucky hand of Jove ; Her features all express
The beauteous queen of love ^ What flames my nerves invade
When I behold the breast Of that top charming maid
Rise, suing to be press'd !
Venus round Fanny's waist Has her own Cestus bound, With guardian Cupids graced, Who dance the circle round. How happy must he be
Who shall her zone unloose ! That bliss to all but me May heaven and she refuse.
EARL OF CHESTERFIELD.
Can any reader tell me whence Davenport is likely to have obtained this poem ?
The other poem (an epigram on a portrait of Beau Nash placed between busts of Pope* and Newton in the pump room at Bath)? appears in Section IV. of Maty's ' Memoirs of Lord Chesterfield,' prefixed to the second edition of the " Miscellaneous Works of the late Philip Dormer Stanhope r Earl of Chesterfield. London: Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly, in the Poultry, MDCCLXXIX." (four volumes) :
Immortal Newton never spoke More truth than here you'll find ;
Nor Pope himself e'er penn'd a joke Severer on mankind.
This picture, plac'd the busts between,
Gives satyre all its strength ; Wisdom and wit are little seen,
While folly glares at length.
I have read several ' Memoirs ' of this great genius, but, excepting a few vague references, have learnt nothing further concerning his poems. It is only fair,
