The Name "Philander"
Not ev'n Philander had bespoke his shroud,
Nor had he cause; a warning was deny'd:
How many fall as sudden, not as safe!
As sudden, though for years admonish'd home.
Of human ills the last extreme beware;
Beware, Lorenzo, a slow-sudden death.
How dreadful that deliberate surprise!
Be wise to-day; 'tis madness to defer;
Next day the fatal precedent will plead;
Thus on, till wisdom is push'd out of life.
Procrastination is the thief of time;
Year after year it steals, till all are fled,
And to the mercies of a moment leaves
The vast concerns of an eternal scene.
If not so frequent, would not this be strange?
That 'tis so frequent, this is stranger still.
- from The Complaint; or, Night Thoughts
by Edward Young, 1742
Philander. An unusual name, especially when you consider its Greek root "philandros" meaning "lover." Indeed, many unfortunate
souls (politicians, especially) become known as "philanderers" for the sexual exploits. This does not seem the
name of an upstanding Episcopal bishop.
Bishop Chase's father, Dudley, apparently very much loved Young's Night
Thoughts, and thus picked names from the epic poems to bestow upon his children, Philander being one of them.