George Lyttelton

George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton (1709-1773). Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

The Lord Lyttelton  PC
Chancellor of the Exchequer
In office 25 November 1755 – 16 November 1756
Monarch	George II
Prime Minister	Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Preceded by	Henry Bilson Legge
Succeeded by	Henry Bilson Legge
Personal details
Born	January 17 1709(1709-Template:MONTHNUMBER-17)
Died	August24 1773(1773-Template:MONTHNUMBER-24) (aged 64)
Nationality	British
Political party	Whig
Spouse(s)	(1) Lucy Fortescue (d. 1747) (2) Elizabeth Rich
Alma mater	Christ Church, Oxford

George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton PC (17 January 1709 - 24 August 1773), known as Sir George Lyttelton, Bt between 1751 and 1756, was an English poet, politician and statesman, and patron of the arts.

Life

Overview

Lyttelton, son of Sir Thomas Lyttelton of Hagley, Worcestershire, was educated at Eton and Oxford. He was the patron of many literary men, including Thomson and Mallet, and was himself a somewhat voluminous author. Among his works are Letters from a Persian in England to his friend in Ispahan (1735), a treatise On the Conversion of St. Paul (1746), Dialogues of the Dead (1760) (which had great popularity), and a History of the Reign of Henry II, well-informed, careful, and impartial, but tedious. He is chiefly remembered by his Monody on the death of his wife. The stanza in The Castle of Indolence in which Thomson is playfully described, is by Lyttelton, who is himself referred to in the poem. He took some part in public affairs, and was chancellor of the exchequer in 1756.

Youth

Lyttelton was born on 17 January 1709, the eldest son of Sir Thomas Lyttelton, bart., of Hagley, Worcestershire, by his wife Christian (2 daughter of Sir Richard Temple, bart., of Stowe, Buckinghamshire, and sister of Richard, first viscount Cobham).

He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated on 11 February 1726, but did not take any degree. He was distinguished as a scholar both at school and at the university. His tutor at Oxford was Francis Ayscough, who subsequently married his sister Ann.

Early in 1728 Lyttelton set out for the usual grand tour on the continent, returning to England towards the close of 1731. He was at Soissons during the meeting of the congress, and from Rome wrote the poetical epistle to Pope which is prefixed to many of the editions of Pope's Works. Lyttelton's letters written during this tour to his father are printed in his Works (iii. 209–303).

Career

Soon after his return to England Lyttelton joined in the opposition to Robert Walpole, and was appointed equerry to the Prince of Wales, whose "chief favourite" he quickly became (Memoirs, i. 51). In 1730 he wrote Observations on the Reign and Character of Queen Elizabeth, which remains in manuscript.

At a by-election in March 1735 he was returned to the House of Commons for Okehampton, Devonshire, a borough which he continued to represent until his elevation to the House of Lords. He made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 29 April 1736 upon the congratulatory address on the marriage of the Prince of Wales (Parl. Hist. ix. 1223–5).

In August 1737 he was appointed the prince's secretary in the place of Pelham (Works, iii. 312). In the same year he contributed 2 papers to Common Sense; or, The Englishman's journal (9 April and 15 October), and is said to have previously written some articles for the Craftsman. The government writers abused him for his opposition to Walpole, and were answered by Chesterfield in Common Sense for 4 March 1738 (Chesterfield, Works, 1853, v. 204–8).

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.

In appearance he was thin and lanky, with a meagre face and an awkward carriage, but "as disagreeable as his figure was, his voice was still more so, and his address more disagreeable than either" (Lord Hervey, Memoirs, 1884, ii. 99). Lord Chesterfield draws an amusing picture of Lyttelton's ‘distinguished inattention and awkwardness,’ which he holds up as a terrible warning to his son (Letters and Works of the Earl of Chesterfield, i. 316–17).

His powerful political connection was the chief cause of his importance in parliament. Through the marriage of his maternal aunt, Hester Temple (afterwards Countess Temple), with Richard Grenville of Wootton, Buckinghamshire, Lyttelton was first cousin to Richard Temple Grenville, earl Temple, and to George Grenville; while by the marriage of his sister Christian with Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc, Cornwall, he became connected with William Pitt, who in 1754 married Lyttelton's 1st cousin, Hester Grenville. With Pitt and the Grenvilles Lyttelton formed the small but powerful party which was known until the death of his maternal uncle, Lord Cobham, in 1749, as the ‘Cobhamites,’ and subsequently as "the Grenville cousins" or "the cousinhood."

Lyttelton married, in June 1742, Lucy (daughter of Hugh Fortescue of Filleigh, Devonshire, and his second wife, Lucy, daughter of Matthew, first baron Aylmer), by whom he had a son, Thomas, who succeeded him as 2nd baron Lyttelton, and 2 daughters: Mary, who died an infant; and Lucy, who married, on 10 May 1767, Arthur (afterwards 1st earl of Mountmorris), and died leaving issue in 1783.

Lyttelton was appointed a lord of the treasury in the Broad Bottom administration on 25 December 1744, and was immediately dismissed from his post in the household of the Prince of Wales. In 1749 he refused Pelham's offer of the treasurership of the navy in favour of his friend Henry Bilson-Legge.

Lyttelton's wife died on 19 January 1747, aged 29, and was buried at Over Arley, Staffordshire. He married, on 10 August 1749, Elizabeth, daughter of Field-marshal Sir Robert Rich, bart. This marriage was unhappy, and they subsequently separated. Lady Lyttelton survived her husband many years, and died on 17 September 1795.

On the death of his father in September 1751 Lyttelton succeeded to the baronetcy and the family estates. Lyttelton was descended from William, (eldest son of Sir Thomas Littleton , author of the Treatise on Tenures), and upon his father's death inherited the Hagley property, which had been in the possession of the family since 1564. On Pelham's death Lyttelton resigned his seat at the treasury board, and, having accepted the post of cofferer in the Duke of Newcastle's administration (April 1754), was admitted a member of the privy council on 21 June 1754.

Lyttelton accepted the post of chancellor of the exchequer in the place of Bilson-Legge (22 Nov. 1755), an appointment "which was resented with the greatest acrimony by the whole of the cousinhood" (Lord Waldegrave, Memoirs, p. 58), and occasioned Horace Walpole to remark that "they turned an absent poet to the management of the revenue, and employed a man as visionary as Don Quixote to combat Demosthenes" (Memoirs of the Reign of George II, ii. 63).

On 23 January 1756 Lyttelton opened the budget "well enough in general, but was strangely bewildered in the figures." Pitt's attack on his proposal to mortgage the sinking fund led to a debate which was "entertaining enough, but ended in high compliments’ (Walpole, Letters, ii. 500). On the 25 of February Lyttelton introduced his plan of supplies and taxes for the current year. His speech on this occasion must have been somewhat wanting in lucidity, as "he never knew prices from duties nor drawbacks from premiums" (ib. ii. 511). On 11 May Lyttelton moved for a vote of credit for a million, which led to an altercation between him and Pitt, who insisted on knowing for what the money was designed. The Duke of Newcastle reported to the king that Lyttelton showed the "judgment of a minister, the force and wit of an orator, and the spirit of a gentleman" (Memoirs, ii. 525).

On the resignation of the Duke of Newcastle in November Lyttelton retired from office, and on 18 November 1756 was created Baron Lyttelton of Frankley in the county of Worcester. He took his seat in the House of Lords on 2 December following (Lords' Journals, xxix. 6).

Lyttelton rebuilt Hagley, 1759-1760, with the assistance of Saunderson Miller of Radway, Warwickshire, an amateur architect (Harris, Life of Lord Hardwicke, ii. 456–7). The beauties of the place have been described in Thomson's "Spring" (The Seasons, 1744, ll.900–958),

During the prolonged attempt at the promotion of a new administration Lyttelton refused the offer of the treasury which was made to him by the Duke of Cumberland (May 1765). On the formation of Rockingham's first administration in July 1765 Lyttelton refused a seat in the cabinet.

Lyttelton in March 1767 sent George Grenville "a project of a ministry to be formed … by a coalition of the Grenvillians with the Rockinghams and Bedfords," in which he assigned himself the place of "cabinet councillor extraordinary" without office (Grenville Papers, iv. 8; see also Lord Albemarle, Memoirs of the Marquis of Rockingham, ii. 30–2).

He died at Hagley on 22 Aug. 1773, aged 64, and was buried in the parish church, where an inscription to his memory was cut by his desire on the monument erected by him to his first wife. The "very affecting and instructive account" of Lyttelton's last illness and death, quoted by Samuel Johnson in his Life of Lyttelton, was written by Lyttelton's physician, Dr. Johnstone of Kidderminster, to Mrs. Montagu, and printed in the Gentleman's Magazine for December 1773 (xliii. 604).

Literary circles

Lyttelton was a liberal patron of literature. His friendship with Alexander Pope, who refers to him in the First Epistle of the First Book of Horace (line 30) –

Still true to virtue, and as warm as true

– formed the subject of an attack upon him in the House of Commons by Charles James Fox in 1740 (Memoirs, i. 115–16).

Lyttelton befriended James Thomson, who describes his patron in the Castle of Indolence (canto i. stanzas 65 and 66), and whose own description in the same poem was written by Lyttelton (ib. stanza 68). Through his influence Thomson's posthumous tragedy, Coriolanus, was acted in January 1749 at Covent Garden Theatre for the benefit of Thomson's family. Quin spoke the prologue, which was written by Lyttelton, and contains the oft-quoted lines (Works, iii. 199):

Not one immoral, one corrupted thought,

One line which, dying, he could wish to blot.

An edition of the Works of James Thomson was published under Lyttelton's superintendence in 1750 (London, 12mo, 4 vols.). In this edition Lyttelton made many corrections, cutting down the 5 parts of "Liberty" into 3. From an interleaved copy at Hagley it appears that Lyttelton intended to make considerable alterations in The Seasons. A manuscript copy of them will be found in a volume of Thomson's Works (1768) now in the British Museum.

He assisted his old schoolfellow, Henry Fielding, who in return dedicated Tom Jones to him in 1749, and declared (preface) that the name of his patron would be a sufficient guarantee for his decency. Lyttelton also helped Edward Moore in the establishment of the World (1753-1756). He procured for Archibald Bower the keepership of Queen Caroline's library, and appointed Joseph Warton his domestic chaplain. Other literary friends were Glover, James Hammond, and Shenstone, who placed an inscription to him at the Leasowes.

Among his numerous correspondents, whose letters are preserved at Hagley, were Bolingbroke, Chesterfield, Doddridge, George Grenville, Marchmont, Pitt, Pope, Admiral Rodney, Thomson, Voltaire, and Warburton. Bolingbroke originally wrote his Idea of a Patriot King in the form of a letter to Lyttelton, who declined the honor (14 April 1748) on account of his close connection with many of Walpole's best friends (Memoirs, ii. 428).

Horace Walpole seldom lost an opportunity of sneering at Lyttelton, and Lord Hervey evidently did not appreciate him. Smollett, besides writing an unfeeling burlesque of Lyttelton's Monody, made offensive allusions to him in Roderick Random and Peregrine Pickle (where Lyttelton is caricatured as Gosling Scragg), for which, however, he subsequently apologised. Johnson's dislike to Lyttelton, which shows itself in the Lives of the Poets, has been attributed to their rivalry for the good graces of Miss Hill Boothby (Autobiography of Mrs. Piozzi, 1861, i. 32–4).

Writing

As an author Lyttelton had in his day a considerable reputation. He was painstaking and industrious, but never original. The most important of his prose works were: 1. Letters from a Persian in England to his friend at Ispahan, 1735. 2. Observations on the Conversion and Apostleship of St. Paul, 1747. 3. Dialogues of the Dead, 1760. 4. The History of the Life of Henry the Second, &c., 1767–71. The best of his poetical pieces is the Monody to the memory of his wife, 1747.

Miscellaneous

Lyttelton was author of:

1. Blenheim, a poem on the Duke of Marlborough's seat, London, 1728, fol., anon.
2. ‘An Epistle to Mr. Pope, from a young gentleman at Rome,’ London, 1730, 8vo, anon.
3. ‘The Progress of Love,’ in four eclogues, London, 1732, fol., anon.; London, 1732, fol. The first of these eclogues was dedicated to Pope, by whom they were corrected for the press. They "cant," says Johnson, "of shepherds and flocks, and crooks dressed with flowers" (Johnson, Works, xi. 380).
4. ‘Advice to a Lady,’ a poem, London, 1733, fol., anon.
5. ‘Observations on the Life of Cicero,’ London, 1733, 8vo, anon.; 2nd edit. London, 1741, 8vo, anon.
6. ‘Letters from a Persian in England to his friend at Ispahan,’ London, 1735, 8vo; 5th edit. 1774, 12mo. Printed in the 1st volume of Harrison's British Classicks in 1787 and 1793, London, 8vo. 4 of these letters which appear in the earlier editions are omitted in the 3rd edition of Lyttelton's Miscellaneous Works.
7. ‘Considerations upon the Present State of our Affairs at Home and Abroad, in a Letter to a Member of Parliament from a Friend in the Country,’ London, 1739, 8vo; 2nd edit. London, 1739, 8vo.
8. To the Memory of a Lady [Lucy Lyttelton] lately deceased: a Monody, London, 1747, fol., anon.; 2nd edit. London, 1748, fol.
9. ‘Observations on the Conversion and Apostleship of St. Paul. In a Letter to Gilbert West, Esq.,’ London, 1747, 8vo, anon.; 9th edit. London, 1799, 8vo; a new edition, London, 1799, 12mo; other editions, Edinburgh, 1812, 12mo; Edinburgh, 1821, 12mo; London [1868], 8vo; London [1879], 8vo. It was frequently attached to Gilbert West's Observations on the History and Evidences of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and was translated into French by l'Abbé Guénée, 1754, 12mo; by Jean Deschamps, 2nd edit. 1758, 12mo.
10. ‘Dialogues of the Dead,’ London, 1760, 8vo, anon.; 2nd edit. London, 1760, 8vo; 3rd edit. London, 1760, 8vo; 4th edit., corrected, to which are added four new dialogues, London, 1765, 8vo. Reprinted in Harrison's British Classicks, vol. vii. London, 1795, 8vo. 1st American edition from the 5th London edition, corrected, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1797, 12mo. Reprinted in Cassell's ‘National Library,’ No. 190, London, 1889, 8vo. Translated into French by Élie de Joncourt and by Jean Deschamps. 3 of these dialogues, viz. Nos. 26, 27, and 28, were written by Mrs. Montagu.
11. ‘Four new Dialogues of the Dead,’ London, 1765, 8vo, anon.
12. The History of the Life of Henry the Second; and of the age in which he lived, in five books: to which is prefixed a History of the Revolutions of England; from the death of Edward the Confessor to the birth of Henry the Second, London, 1767, 4to, 3 vols., viz. vols. i. and ii., and an unnumbered volume entitled ‘Notes to the Second and Third Books of the History of the Life of King Henry the Second, with an Appendix to each; 2nd edit. London, 1767, 4to; 3rd edit. London, 1769, 8vo, 4 vols. Vol. iii. London, 1771, 4to; 2nd edit. London, 1772–3, 8vo, 2 vols. This heavy but conscientious piece of work was the labor of the greater part of Lyttelton's life. Johnson says that "the whole book was printed twice over, and a great part of it 3 times, and many sheets 4 or 5 times,’ and that this ‘ambitious accuracy’ cost Lyttelton at least £1,000. His statement that 3 volumes were published in 1764 would appear to be incorrect. It was announced as "this day published" in the London Evening Post for 16 July 1767, and was reviewed in the Critical Review for July 1767, and in the Monthly Review for August 1768. Alluding to this book, on 31 July 1767 Horace Walpole cruelly remarks: "How dull one may be, if one will but take pains for six or seven and twenty years together" (Letters, v. 58).
13. "An Account of a Journey into Wales, by George, Lord Lyttelton," appended to A Gentleman's Tour through Monmouthshire and Wales, &c., London, 1781, 8vo.

The following have been ascribed to Lyttelton, but are not included in the 3rd edition of his Works:

1. ‘Farther Considerations on the Present State of Affairs … with an Appendix; containing a True State of the South Sea Company's Affairs in 1718,’ London, 1739, 8vo, anon.; 2nd edit. (with a somewhat different title) London, 1739, 8vo.
2. The Court-Secret: A melancholy truth; now first translated from the original Arabic by an Adept in the Oriental Tongues, London, 1742, 8vo, anon.
3. ‘The Affecting Case of the Queen of Hungary in relation to both Friends and Foes: a fair Specimen of Modern History, by the Author of “The Court-Secret,”’ London, 1742, 8vo.
4. A Letter to the Tories, London, 1747, 8vo; 2nd edit. London, 1748, 8vo. This pamphlet is signed ‘J.H., June 9, 1747.’ In reply Horace Walpole wrote anonymously A Letter to the Whigs, occasion'd by the Letter to the Tories (London, 1747, 8vo), and A Second and Third Letter to the Whigs, by the Author of the First (London, 1748, 8vo), while Edward Moore defended Lyttelton from Walpole's attack in The Trial of Selim the Persian for divers High Crimes and Misdemeanours (London, 1748, 4to).

Recognition

30 of his poems were included in Dodsley's Collection of Poems in Six Volumes by several hands.

His poem "Tell me, my Heart, if this be Love" was included in the Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250-1900.

Portraits of Lyttelton and his 1st wife, by Sir Joshua Reynolds and John M. Williams respectively, were exhibited at the Loan Collection of National Portraits at South Kensington in 1867 (Cat. Nos. 338, 335). A portrait of Lyttelton by an unknown painter is in the National Portrait Gallery. He appears in the celebrated caricature called "The Motion," which was published in February 1741 (Cat. of Prints and Drawings in the Brit. Mus. vol. iii. pt. i. pp. 369–72), and there are engravings by Dunkarton and others after a 4th portrait by Benjamin West.

In popular culture

The character of "a respectable Hottentot" in Lord Chesterfield's Letters was probably intended for Lyttelton.

Publications

Poetry

• Blenheim: A poem on the Duke of Marlborough's seat. London: 1728.
• An Epistle to Mr Pope; from a young gentleman at Rome. London: 1730.
• The Progress of Love: In four eclogues. London: G. Gilliver, 1732.
• Advice to a Lady: A poem. 1733.
• To the Memory of a lady Lately Deceased: A monody (anonymous). London: A. Millar, 1747
  • also published as A Monody: To the memory of Lady Lyttelton. Bristol, UK: William Bulgin, 1784.
• Poems. Edinburgh: A. Kincaid & W. Creech, 1773.
• Poetical Works. Glasgow: 1773; London: 1785.

Short fiction

• Letters from a Persian in England to his Friend at Ispahan. London: John Millan, 1735.
• Dialogues of the Dead. London: W. Sandby, 1760.
  • expanded as Dialogues of the Dead ... to which are added, Four new dialogues. London: W. Sandby, 1765.

Non-fiction

• Observations on the Life of Cicero. London: 1733.
• Considerations upon the Present State of Affairs. London: 1739.
• Farther Considerations. London: 1739.
• Observations on the Conversation and Apostleship of St Paul: In a letter to Gilbert West. London: R. Dodsley, 1747; Philadelphia: Joseph Crukshank, 1785; Boston: Manning & Laurel, 1800.
• The History of the Life of King Henry the Second; and of the age in which he lived. (4 volumes), London: W. Sandby & J. Dodsley, 1767.
• "An Account of a Journey into Wales", published in Henry Penruddocke Wyndham, A Gentleman's Tour through Monmouthshire and Wales. London: T. Evans, 1781.
• Political Tracts, 1735-1748. New York: Garland, 1974.

Collected editions

• Works (edited by G.E. Ayscough). London: 1774.

Translated

• The Court Secret: A melancholy truth. London: T. Cooper, 1743.

Edited

• James Thomson, Works. (4 volumes), London: 1750.

Letters and journals

• Letters of the Late Lord Lyttelton. (2 volumes), London: J. Bew, 1760.
• Memoirs and Correspondence (edited by Sir Robert Phillimore). (2 volumes), 1845.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

Tell Me My Heart If This Be Love - George Lyttelton poem read by Jordan Harling

See also

• List of British poets

References

•  Barker, George Fisher Russell (1893) "Lyttelton, George (1709-1773)" in Lee, Sidney Dictionary of National Biography 34 London: Smith, Elder, pp. 369-372 
• Burkes Peerage and Baronetage (1939), s.v. Cobham, Viscount

External links

Poems

• "Tell me, my Heart, if this be Love".
• George Lyttelton (1709-17733) info & 4 poems at English Poetry, 1579-1830
• George Lyttleton, 1st Baron Lyttleton in the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (30 poem)

Books

• Works by George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton at Project Gutenberg
• George Lyttelton at Amazon.com
• Works by or about George Lyttelton in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

About

• George Lyttleton, 1st Baron Lyttleton in the Encyclopædia Britannica
• George Lyttelton at English Poetry, 1579-1830
• George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
• LLyttleton, Sir George, 5th Baronet at History of Parliament Online

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, the Dictionary of National Biography (edited by Leslie Stephen). London: Smith, Elder, 1885-1900. Original article is at: Lyttelton, George (1709-1773)