ny other place, yet he that reads them here persuades
himself that he has always felt them. Had Gray written often thus, it
had been vain to blame and useless to praise him.

LYTTELTON.

George Lyttelton, the son of Sir Thomas Lyttelton, of Hagley, in
Worcestershire, was born in 1709. He was educated at Eton, where he was
so much distinguished that his exercises were recommended as models to
his schoolfellows. From Eton he went to Christchurch, where he retained
the same reputation of superiority, and displayed his abilities to the
public in a poem on "Blenheim." He was a very early writer both in verse
and prose. His "Progress of Love" and his "Persian Letters" were both
written when he was very young, and, indeed, the character of a young
man is very visible in both. The verses cant of shepherds and flocks,
and crooks dressed with flowers; and the letters have something of
that indistinct and headstrong ardour for liberty which a man of genius
always catches when he enters the world, and always suffers to cool as
he passes forward. He stayed not long in Oxford, for in 1728 he began
his travels, and saw France and Italy. When he returned he obtained a
seat in Parliament, and soon distinguished himself among the most eager
opponents of Sir Robert Walpole, though his father, who was Commissioner
of the Admiralty, always voted with the Court. For many years the name
of George Lyttelton was seen in every account of every debate in the
House of Commons. He opposed the standing army; he opposed the excise;
he supported the motion for petitioning the king to remove Walpole.
His zeal was considered by the courtiers not only as violent but as
acrimonious and malignant, and when Walpole was at last hunted from his
places, every effort was made by his friends, and many friends he had,
to exclude Lyttelton from the secret committee.

The Prince of Wales, being (1737) driven from St. James's, kept a
separate court, and opened his arms to the opponents of the Ministry.
Mr. Lyttelton became his Secretary, and was supposed to have great
influence in the direction of his conduct. He persuaded his master,
whose business it was now to be popular, that he would advance his
character by patronage. Mallet was made Under Secretary, with 200
pounds, and Thomson had a pension of 100 pounds a year. For Thomson,
Lyttelton always retained his kindness, and was able at last to place
him at ease. Moore courted his favour by an apologetica