1694-1773
[Sidenote: _Life and Letters of Lord Chesterfield._]
“Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, was a slight-made man,
of the middle size; rather genteel than handsome either in face or
person: but there was a certain suavity in his countenance, which,
accompanied with a polite address and pleasing elocution, obtained
him in a wonderful degree the admiration of both sexes, and made his
suit irresistible with either. He was naturally possessed of a fine
sensibility; but by a habit of mastering his passions and disguising
his feelings, he at length arrived at the appearance of the most
perfect Stoicism: nothing surprised, alarmed, or discomposed him.”
[Sidenote: Hayward’s _Lord Chesterfield_. *]
“The name of Chesterfield has become a synonym for good breeding and
politeness. It is associated in our minds with all that is graceful
in manner and cold in heart, attractive in appearance and unamiable
in reality. The image it calls up is that of a man rather below the
middle height, in a court suit and blue riband, with regular features
wearing an habitual expression of gentleman-like ease. His address
is insinuating, his bow perfect, his compliments rival those of _Le
Grand Monarque_ in delicacy; laughter is too demonstrative for him,
but the smile of courtesy is ever on his lips; and by the time he has
gone through the circle, the great object of his daily ambition is
accomplished--all the women are already half in love with him, and
every man is desirous to be his friend.”
[Sidenote: _Blackwood’s Magazine_, 1868.]
“... Lord Hervey pauses in his story of Queen Caroline and her Court
to describe with cutting and bitter force the character and appearance
of his rival courtier.... ‘His person was as disagreeable as it was
possible for a human figure to be without being deformed,’ he says. ‘He
was very short, disproportioned, thick and clumsily made, with black
teeth, and a head big enough for a Polyphemus. One Ben Ashurst, who
said few good things though admired for many, told Lord Chesterfield
once that he was like a stunted giant, which was a humorous idea,
and really apposite.’... The defects of his personal appearance are
evidently exaggerated in this truculent sketch; but his portrait by
Gainsborough, which is said to be the best, affords some foundation for
the picture. The face is heavy, rugged, and unlovely, though full of
force and intelligence; and his unheroic form and stature are points
which Chesterfield himself does not attempt to conceal.”