"Invocation to Chloe." "6 "To the same, weeping." "A Summons to a Ball at Knowle; by Caroline, Queen of the Fairies. A Song to the Tune of — Ye fairy Elves that be.' The first and the last of these may be offered as pleasing specimens of the duke's hereditary talent, which Dr. Maty praises for uniting originality of thought with elegance of diction and ease of numbers. "In vain with riches would you try For no less price than Love. "Riches, indeed, may give me power, Whilst joy and peace attend each hour "But should the lust of power or state I'd cringe at court, in senate prate, "Since then not wealth's deceitful shew Can tempt me to this chain, Try next, what gen'rous love can do: All other bribes are vain." 6 A ballad in praise of Chloe was sent by lady Hertford to lady Pomfret, and ascribed to lord Middlesex on his being obliged to leave the Moscovita. See Hertford Letters, vol. ii. p. 137. "QUEEN CAROLINE'S SUMMONS TO A BALL AT KNOWLE. "Ye elves and fairies all, Not one that haunts this place, Of elve or fairy race, Shall be excus'd upon the green This night to dance with me your queen. "From dairies, cellars, halls, Or from where else you dwell, Quick haste away whilst moon doth shine, "See, see, they come away, My summons to obey, All drest in decent pride, Their partners by their side, Hand in hand they trip along, "And see before the rest, Enlivening the dull night, And surely spright of truer grace Ne'er shew'd the moon her charming face. "The next that doth appear Is Selby, young and fair, She's led by Fletcher old; Who look, as they together move, "See Dashwood next advance With me, the queen, to dance, Which I want time to name; The stars shine bright, begin the ball. "And whilst we tread the ring, Let Berkley sweetly sing; Our steps will juster meet, Led by such music sweet; And let none dare retire to bed, Till Phœbus shews his glistering head." Sir E. Brydges observes to me, that this noble writer possessed the genuine seeds of a most elegant poetical genius, but his rank and dissipations scattered them to the winds.] CHARLES YORKE, LORD MORDEN, SECOND Son to the first earl of Hardwicke, is sometimes confounded with his brother Philip, the second earl, from having been his literary associate in early life, and from the congeniality of their enlightened minds. Charles was born in 1722, and had the office of clerk of the crown in the court of chancery conferred on him for life. He received his legal training in Lincoln's Inn, and was chosen member for Reygate in 1747.2 He was appointed solicitor-general in 1756, and attorney-general in 1761; was a fellow of the Royal Society, a trustee of the British Museum, and recorder of Dover. 3 In January 1770 he was appointed lord-chancellor *, and created a peer by the 2 On this occasion Jenyns addressed an imitation of Horace to him; and Edwards, the critical canonist, wrote a spirited sonnet, which closed with the following incentive to honourable fame : "Let Britain, let admiring Europe see, In those bright parts, which erst, too long confin'd, How sharp the spur of worthy ancestry, Of Somers' nephew and of Hardwicke's son." › Collins's Peerage, vol. vi. p. 114. fourth edition. + Hawkins Browne addressed an ode to the nominal chancellor, which is printed in Dodsley's Collection, and begins, "Charles, son of Yorke, who on the mercy-seat title of baron Morden: but dying suddenly in the same month, before his patent had passed the great seal, it did not take effect, and was never afterwards completed, though it had passed through the privyseal office, and every other form. 5 He had the character of being an amiable and a liberal-hearted man, far more so indeed than the rest of the chancellor's progeny; and biographical justice has not yet been done to his memory. His talents were said to be the pride, and his friendship the anchor, of his elder brother Philip, who drooped into decay after his death. In the British Museum are three editions of a tract by lord Morden, entitled, "Some Considerations on the Law of Forfeiture for High Treason: occasioned by a Clause in the late Act for making it Treason to correspond with the Pretender's Sons, or any of their Agents, &c. with an Appendix concerning Estates-Tail in Scotland.' Lond. 1745-6-8, 8vo. 6 As the hon. Charles Yorke, he was acknowledged for a principal coadjutor in framing the celebrated Athenian Letters7; and as a writer of elegant poetry, 5 Debrett's Peerage, vol. i. p. 256. On the morning of lord Morden's decease, he is reported to have put the seals to several instruments, but waved putting them to the patent creating him a baron, saying—" that would be soon enough."' 6 Mr. Reed informs me that a fourth edition appeared in 1775, assuming to be "corrected and enlarged." 7 See article of Philip, second earl of Hardwicke. |