Page:Poems of Anne Countess of Winchilsea 1903.djvu/41

Rh of the poem is Frances Bennett, the wife of the fourth Earl of Salisbury; while Jane Williams in Literary Women of England, says, with equal positiveness and equal absence of a citation of authority, that this "Salisbury" is the Lady Anne Tufton. Wordsworth suggested that the lines in question marred the poem and should be omitted. Such a course would certainly save controversy. With no actual proof at hand, only the probabilities of the case can be stated, and these are all in favor of Anne Tufton. The comparatively late date of the poem is indicated by the fact that it appears in neither manuscript. The latest possible date for it would be 1713, the date of its publication, and the earliest possible date, if Anne Tufton is the "Salisbury," would be 1709. In these years the young countess would be between sixteen and twenty, with Lady Winchilsea twenty-two years older, a disparity of age that might tell against a close friendship between the two countesses, but would certainly be no bar to an adroit compliment from the older lady to the daughter of her dearest friend. And there is no record of any friendship with Frances Bennett.

The Thynnes of Longleat

Another family closely connected with the Finches was that of the Thynnes of Longleat. Ardelia visited often at this noble estate, and the mansion, and especially the gardens, the most splendid and costly example of the formal garden at that time in England, never failed to arouse her enthusiasm. The Thynne family, also, both collectively and individually, received their meed of eulogistic verse. The poems run along from 1690 to 1714, and show a steadfast and intimate friendship. The death of young James Thynne is made the occasion for an enumeration of the renowned ancestors of the family. Of these distinguished persons none attracted Ardelia more than "that matchless Female," the Lady Packington, who was supposed by many to be the author of The Whole Duty of Man, and who