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by (Joseph) Hilaire Belloc (1870 - 1953)

The nicest child I ever knew
Language: English 
The nicest child I ever knew
Was Charles Augustus Fortescue.
He never lost his cap, or tore
His stockings or his pinafore:
In eating Bread he made no Crumbs,
He was extremely fond of sums.
And as for finding Mutton-Fat
Unappetising, far from that!
He often, at his Father's Board,
Would beg them, of his own accord,
To give him, if they did not mind,
The Greasiest Morsels they could find -

His Later Years did not belie
The Promise of his Infancy.
In Public Life he always tried
To take a judgment Broad and Wide;
In Private, none was more than he
Renowned for quiet courtesy.
He rose at once in his Career,
And long before his Fortieth Year
Had wedded Fifi, Only Child
Of Bunyan, First Lord Aberfylde.
He thus became immensely Rich
And built a Splendid Mansion which
Is called "The Cedars, Muswell Hill,"
Where he resides in Affluence still
To show what Everybody might
Become by - simply doing right.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by (Joseph) Hilaire Belloc (1870 - 1953), "Charles Augustus Fortescue, Who Always Did What was Right, and so Accumulated an Immense Fortune", appears in Cautionary Tales, first published 1907 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Alan Bullard (b. 1947), "Charles Augustus Fortescue", published 1972 [ unison chorus or SA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Liza Lehmann (1862 - 1918), "Charles Augustus Fortescue", published 1909 [ vocal duet with piano ], from Four Cautionary Tales and a Moral, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 28
Word count: 162

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