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Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield. (1694–1773) (continued)

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Sacrifice to the Graces. 1

Letter, March 9, 1748.

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Manners must adorn knowledge, and smooth its way through the world. Like a great rough diamond, it may do very well in a closet by way of curiosity, and also for its intrinsic value.

Letter, July 1, 1748.

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Style is the dress of thoughts.

Letter, Nov. 24, 1749.

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Despatch is the soul of business.

Letter, Feb. 5, 1750.

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Chapter of accidents. 2

Letter, Feb. 16, 1753.

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I assisted at the birth of that most significant word “flirtation,” which dropped from the most beautiful mouth in the world.

The World. No. 101.

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Unlike my subject now shall be my song;
It shall be witty, and it sha’n’t be long.

Impromptu Lines.

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The dews of the evening most carefully shun,—
Those tears of the sky for the loss of the sun.

Advice to a Lady in Autumn.

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The nation looked upon him as a deserter, and he shrunk into insignificancy and an earldom.

Character of Pulteney.

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He adorned whatever subject he either spoke or wrote upon, by the most splendid eloquence. 3

Character of Bolingbroke.

Note 1.
Plato was continually saying to Xenocrates, “Sacrifice to the Graces.”—Diogenes Laertius: Xenocrates, book iv. sect. 2.

Let us sacrifice to the Muses.—Plutarch: The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men. (A saying of Solon.) [back]

Note 2.
Chapter of accidents.—Edmund Burke: Notes for Speeches (edition 1852), vol. ii. p. 426.

John Wilkes said that “the Chapter of Accidents is the longest chapter in the book.”—Robert Southey: The Doctor, chap. cxviii. [back]

Note 3.
Who left scarcely any style of writing untouched,
And touched nothing that he did not adorn.
Samuel Johnson: Epitaph on Goldsmith.

Il embellit tout ce qu’il touche (He adorned whatever he touched).—Fénelon: Lettre sur les Occupations de l’ Académie Française, sect. iv. [back]

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