Henry St John, Viscount Bolingbroke | Autograph letter, unsigned, to George Lyttelton, 1740

Henry Saint-John, Viscount Bolingbroke

Autograph letter, unsigned, to George Lyttelton

condemning Sir Robert Walpole and his government ("...this State is indeed unparalleled, for you are sacrificed not only to the interest & humour of one man, but even to his ignorance & incapacity. Princes & ministers have often maintained power, and some degree of reputation by rising, as it were, now & then, and upon extraordinary occasions, above their ordinary level. but Walpole's administration is one continued Scene of corruption trick, and banter, which no glimpse no appearance of great tallents have ever once illustrated…”), and expressing his hope that British politics could transcend factional divisions, 4 pages, 4to, Argeville, 6 May 1740, some light spotting, browned along fold lines

Henry St John, Viscount Bolingbroke (1678-1751), was a leader of the Tory opposition to Walpole. He was also the author of philosophical essays much praised by Pope, and his thoughtful articulacy is evident in this fine letter. By the time of this letter he was living in retirement in France, observing the slow collapse of Walpole’s government. Although his venom is directed at Walpole he also acknowledges the “dull obstinacy of the Torys”, and shares Lyttelton’s despondency on the impossibility of a coalition of the parties, which would be “the only means of restoring a wise & honest administration”.

PROVENANCE:

George, first Baron Lyttelton (1709-1773), thence by descent; The Lyttelton Papers: The Property of the Viscount Cobham, Sotheby's, London, 12 December 1978, lot 90