time, with no better success. Lord Ligonier refused to go in a third time at Lord Chatham's suggestion. He was, however, told that he should lose his place if he did not; and that, on his presenting the name to the sovereign, he should tell him the peculiar situation of the state of the expedition, and that in order to make any general completely responsible for his conduct, he should be made, as much as possible, inexcusable if he does not succeed; and that, in consequence, whatever an officer, who was entrusted with any service of confidence and of consequence, desired, should (if possible) be complied with. Lord Ligonier went in a third time, and told his sovereign what he was directed to tell him. The good sense of the monarch so completely disarmed his prejudice, that he signed the particular commission, as he was desired." Soon after Sir Robert Walpole had taken away his cornet's commission from this extraordinary man, he used to drive himself about the country in a one-horse chaise, without a servant. At each town to which he came, the people gathered round about his carriage, and received him with the loudest acclamations. Lord Chatham thought very highly of the effects of dress and of dignity of manner upon mankind. He was never seen on business without a full-dress coat and a tie-wig, and he never permitted his under-secretaries to sit down before him. A general officer was once asked by Lord Chatham, “how many men he should require for a certain expedition?" "Ten thousand," was the answer. "You shall have twelve thousand," said the minister, "and then if you do not succeed, it is your fault." The original of the character of Praxiteles, in Mr. Greville's very entertaining book of Maxims, is said to have been Lord Chatham. When Cardinal Stoppani (surnamed in the Conclave of Cardinals Il Politico) was informed that Lord Chatham had ceased to be minister of England, he told an English gentle man that he could not give any credit to it. "What heir," he added, "on coming to a considerable estate, and finding it excellently well managed by a steward, would dismiss that steward merely because he had served his predecessor?" SIR RICHARD FANSHAWE, MOST excellent and faithful servant of a careless and profligate master (Charles II.), on receiving his dismission from him as his minister at Madrid, wrote the following letter, published for the first time from the original manuscript, in the "Anecdotes of Distin guished Persons," printed in 1795. "MADRID, Thursday, 3d June, 1666. St. Loci. "By the hands of my Lord of Sandwich, who arrived in this court upon Friday last, was delivered to me a letter of revocation from your majesty, directed to the queen regent, and at the same time another with which your majesty honoured me for myself, implying the principal (if not the only) motive of the former to have been, some exceptions that had been made relative to the papers which I signed with the Duke of Medinas de los Torres, upon the 17th of December last past; a consideration sufficient to have utterly cast. down a soul less sensible than hath ever been mine of your majesty's least show of displeasure, though not accompanied with other punishments, if your majesty (according to the accustomed tenderness of your royal disposition, in which you excel all monarchs living), to comfort an old servant, had not yourself broken the blow in the descent, by this gracious expression in the same letter:-That I may assure myself your majesty believes I proceeded in the articles signed by me as aforesaid, with integrity and regard to your royal service, and that I may be further assured the same will justify me towards your majesty, whatever exceptions may have been made to my papers.' "In obedience to your majesty's letter abovementioned, I make account, God willing, to be upon my way towards England some time next month, having in the interim performed to my Lord Sandwich (as I hope I shall to his full satisfaction) those offices which your majesty commands me in the same, whose royal person, councils, and undertakings, God Almighty preserve and prosper many years; the daily fervent prayers of "Your majesty's ever loyal subject, "Ever faithful and most obedient servant, His recall is said to have broke his heart; he died soon afterwards. Sir Richard was a scholar in the ancient and modern languages. He translated the Pastor Fido of Guarini in the spirit of the original, of which Sir John Denham thus speaks, after having censured servile translations: A new and nobler way thou dost pursue Sir Richard translated into Latin verse that beautiful modern pastoral Fletcher's "Faithful Shepherdess ;" and wrote some original poems and letters during his embassies in Spain and Portugal. Sir Richard's person and disposition are thus described in the MS. Memoirs of Lady Fanshawe, which are addressed by her to her only son, and begin in this exquisitely tender and affecting manner: "I have thought it convenient to discourse to you, my most dear and only son, the most remarkable actions and incidents of your family, as well as those eminent ones of your father's and my life; and necessity, not delight nor revenge, hath made me insist upon some passages which will reflect on their owners, as the praises of others will be but just (which is my intent in this narrative). I would not have you be a stranger to it, because, by your example, you may imitate what is applicable to your condition in the world, and endeavour to avoid those misfortunes we have passed through, if God pleases. "Endeavour to be innocent as a dove, but as wise as a serpent; and let this lesson direct you most in the greater extremes of fortune :-Hate idleness, and avoid all passions. Be true in your words and actions. Unnecessarily deliver not your opinion; but when you do, let it be just, consistent, and plain. Be charitable in thought, word, and deed, and ever ready to forgive injuries done to yourself; and be more pleased to do good than to receive good. Be civil and obliging to all (dutiful where God and nature command you), but a friend to one; and that friendship keep sacred, as the greatest tie upon earth; and be sure to ground it upon virtue, for no other is either happy or lasting. "Endeavour always to be content in that state of life to which it hath pleased God to call you; and think it a great fault not to improve your time, either for the good of your soul, or the improvement of your understanding, health, or estate; and as these are the most pleasant pastimes, so it will make you a cheerful old age, which is as necessary for you to design, as to make provision to support the infirmities which decay of strength brings; and it was never seen that a vicious youth terminated in a contented cheerful old age, but perished out of countenance. "Ever keep the best qualified persons' company, out of whom you will find advantage; and reserve some hours daily to examine yourself and fortune; for if you embark yourself in perpetual conversation or recreation, you will certainly shipwreck your mind and fortune. Remember the proverb, 'Such as his company is, such is the man ;' and have glorious actions before your eyes, and think what will be your portion in heaven, as well as what you may desire upon earth. Manage your fortune prudently, and forget not that you must give God an account hereafter, and upon all occasions. "Remember your father; whose true image though I can never draw to the life, unless God will grant me that blessing in you, yet because you were but ten months old when God took him out of this world, I will for your advantage show you him with all truth, and without partiality. "He was of the biggest size of men, strong, and of the best proportion; his complexion sanguine, his skin exceeding fair; his hair dark-brown, and very curling, but not long; his eyes grey and penetrating; his nose high, his countenance gracious and wise, his motion good, his speech clear and distinct. He used no exercise but walking, and that generally with some book in his hand (which oftentimes was poetry, in which he spent his idle hours): sometimes he would ride out to take the air, but his most delight was to go with me in a coach some miles, and there discourse of those things which then most pleased him (of what nature soever). He was very obliging to all, and forward to serve his master (his king), his country, and friend. Cheerful in his conversation, his discourse ever pleasant, mixed with the sayings of wise men, and their histories repeated as occasion offered; yet so reserved that he never showed the thought of his heart, in its greatest sense, but to myself only; and this I thank God with all my soul for, that he never discovered his trouble to me, but he went away with perfect cheerfulness and content; nor revealed he to me his joys and hopes, but he would say they were doubled by putting them in my breast. I never heard him hold dispute in my life, but often he would speak against it, saying it was an uncharitable custom, which never turned |