32 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 193. 



The reviewer, indeed, tells us that "just as 

 Junius concluded his great work, Thomas Lyt- 

 telton returned to his father's house, and Chatham 

 was one of the first to congratulate Lord Lyt- 

 telton on the event." This was in Februai-y 1772 ; 

 and in the Chatham Correspondence, vol.iv. p. 195., 

 is Lord Lyttelton's letter of thanks in reply. 

 The reviewer would evidently have it inferred, 

 that Thomas Lyttelton had returned home like a 

 prodigal son, after a temporary estrangement, and 

 from a comparatively short distance ; but surely, 

 had the volume of Poems been referred to, it 

 might or rather mtist have occurred to a candid 

 inquirer, that in February 1772 Thomas Lyt- 

 telton returned from his travels on the Continent, 

 after an absence of nearly three years ! But, per- 

 haps, the authenticity of the Poems may at once 

 be boldly denied ? Is this the case ? Chalmers 

 certainly includes them with the Letters, as having 

 been " disowned" by Lord L.'s executors ; but 

 says, " as to the Poems, they added, ' great part 

 whereof are uncloiibtedly spw'ious.^ " It is certain, 

 therefore, that soiae of the Poems are genuine ; 

 and it is a pity that the exceptions were not spe- 

 cified, as the discussion might then have been 

 confined within narrower limits. The editor of 

 the Poems, in his address " To the Reader," writes 

 thus in vindication of them : 



" There is scarcely a line in the collection which 

 does not bear testimony of its origin ; the places and 

 dates are also strong corroborations to such of his 

 friends as he corresponded with on his last journei/ 

 ■across the Alps. His style was elegant, and his ideas 

 so animated, that spurious productions would be imme- 

 diately detected." 



This is the testimony of one who " had the 

 honour of his friendship, which terminated only 

 with his death," and is not to be lightly rejected.* 

 My own conviction is in favour of the authenticity 

 of the whole ; but, at all events, I shall be able to 

 oflFer undoubted evidence as to the genuineness of 

 part of the volume, and additional proof that the 

 author was abroad at the precise time when, if 

 he were Junius, he must have resided in this 

 country. By Thomas Lord Lyttelton's will (dated 

 Oct. 30, 1777), he appointed as his executors his 

 brother-in-law Arthur Viscount Valentia, his uncle 

 William Henry Lord Westcote, and Wilson Ayles- 

 bury Roberts of Bewdley. To the latter he left all 

 his " letters, verses, speeches, and writings," with 

 dii'ectlons that, if published, it should be for his 

 sole emolument. The important Quei'y therefore 

 at once arises, what became of these manuscripts, 

 and were they destroyed or preserved f 



* In the Public Advertiser for January 1, 1779 [1780], 

 appeared a notice of the Poems, said to have been " pub- 

 lished yesterday ;" and although two pieces are extracted 

 at length, not a syllable of doubt is expressed as to 

 their genuineness. 



The above Mr. Roberts was an intimate per- 

 sonal friend ; and from his local influence as bailiff 

 and deputy-recorder of Bewdley, had no doubt 

 contributed towards Thomas Lyttelton's return 

 for that borough in 1768. His son continued to 

 keep up a close connexion with the Valentia fiimily 

 at Arley Hal! * ; and this fact, coupled with the 

 close proximity of Bewdley, Arley, and Ilagley, 

 and the circumstance of the co-executorship of 

 Lord Valentia and Mr. Roberts, would make us 

 naturally look to the library at Arley as a not 

 unlikely place of deposit for Thomas Lyttelton's 

 papers. This is not mere conjecture, and brings 

 me immediately to the point at issue : for, at the 

 sale of the Valentia Library at Arley Castle, in 

 December last, a manuscript volume made its ap- 

 pearance in a lot with othei's thus designated : 



" Original Diary of Travels [of Lord Valentia] 

 4 vols. ; Five Memorandum Books of Journeys and 

 Travels ; also Two Old Folio Volumes of Original Poetic 

 Pieces." 



One of the folio volumes thus catalogued subse- 

 quently came into my hands, and Is evidently one 

 of the manuscripts left by Thomas Lord Lyttelton's 

 will to the care of Mr. Roberts, since It consists 

 wholly of pieces in verse and prose of his compo- 

 sition, written either in his own hand, as rough 

 draughts, or copied (apparently by a female scribe) 

 and afterwards corrected by himself. Among the 

 poetry In this MS. I find the greater pait of the 

 long poem printed in the edition of 1780, p. 1., 

 entitled " The State of England in the year 2199," 

 which is without date in the MS., but in the edi- 

 tion bears date March 21, 1771 ; as likewise the 

 "Invitation to Miss Warb[u]rt[o]n," edit. p. 35., 

 which appears in the MS. without any name ; and 

 the "Extempore Rhapsody, March 21, 1771," edit. 

 p. 37., also undated in the MS., but which supplies 

 the name of " Yates," expressed in the edition by 

 asterisks ; and also six lines at the end, which were 

 omitted in the edition on account of their inde- 

 cency. There ai'e several variations In the manu- 

 script, which prove that some other copy was 

 followed by the printer ; and many typographical 

 errors in the edition may hence be corrected. 

 Besides these poems, the following pieces consti- 

 tute the chief contents of this manuscript volume: 



Draughts of four letters written hy Thomas Lyttel- 

 ton from Lyons, the first of which is dated September 10, 

 1769. 



Heads of a series of Dialogues, in imitation of 

 " Dialogues of the Dead," by his father George, first 

 Lord Lyttelton. 



Poetical Fragments, imitated from Lucretius. 



* The estate at Arley was left to the Hon. George 

 Annesley (afterwards Earl of Mountnorris), son of 

 Lord Valentia, by the will of Thomas Lord Lyttelton, 

 and Mr. Koberts was one of the trustees appointed. 



