Payment In Kind
The Empress Catherine of Russia having sent, as a present to Voltaire,
a small ivory box made by her own hands, the poet induced his niece to
instruct him in the art of knitting stockings; and he had actually
half finished a pair, of white silk, when he became completely tired.
Unfinished as the stockings were, however, he sent them to her Majesty,
accompanied by a charmingly gallant poetical epistle, in which he told
made by a woman, he had thought it his duty to crave her acceptance,
in return, of a piece of woman's work from the hands of a man."--When
Constantia Phillips was in a state of distress, she took a small shop
near Westminster Hall, and sold books, some of which were of her own
writing. During this time, an apothecary who had attended her once when
she was ill, came to her and requested payment of his bill. She pleaded
her poverty; but he still continued to press her, and urged as a reason
for his urgency, that he had saved her life. "You have," said Constantia,
"you have indeed done so: I acknowledge it; and, in return, here is my
life"--handing him at the same time the two volumes of her "Memoirs,"
and begging that he would now take her life in discharge of his
demand.
* * * * *
More
-
Locke's Rebuke Of The Card-playing Lords
Locke, the brilliant author of the Essay on the Human Understanding, was once introduced by Lord Shaftesbury to the Duke of Buckingham and Lord Halifax. But the three noblemen, instead of entering into conversation on literary subjects with the phil... Lord Byron And My Grandmother's Review
At the close of the first canto of Don Juan, its noble author, by way of propitiating the reader for the morality of his poem, says:-- "The public approbation I expect, And beg they'll take my word about the moral, Which I with their amuse... Lord Byron's Apology
No one knew how to apologize for an affront with better grace, or with more delicacy, than Lord Byron. In the first edition of the first canto of Childe Harold, the poet adverted in a note to two political tracts--one by Major Pasley, and the other ... Lord Byron's Corsair
The Earl of Dudley, in his Letters, (1814) says:--"To me Byron's Corsair appears the best of all his works. Rapidity of execution is no sort of apology for doing a thing ill, but when it is done well, the wonder is so much the greater. I am told he ... Lord Byron's Vanity
During the residence of Lord Byron at Venice, a clerk was sent from the office of Messrs. Vizard and Co., of Lincoln's Inn, to procure his lordship's signature to a legal instrument. On his arrival, the clerk sent a message to the noble poet, who ap... Lord Elibank And Dr Johnson
Lord Elibank made a happy retort on Dr. Johnson's definition of oats, as the food of horses in England, and men in Scotland. "Yes," said he, "and where else will you see such horses, and such men?"--Sir Walter Scott. * * * ... Lord Hervey's Wit
Horace Walpole records Lord Hervey's memorable saying about Lord Burlington's pretty villa at Chiswick, now the Duke of Devonshire's, that it was "too small to inhabit, and too large to hang to your watch;" and Lady Louisa Stuart has preserved a pie... Ludicrous Estimate Of Mr Canning
The Rev. Sydney Smith compares Mr. Canning in office to a fly in amber: "nobody cares about the fly: the only question is, how the devil did it get there?" "Nor do I," continues Smith, "attack him for the love of glory, but from the love of utility,... Magna Charta Recovered
The transcript of Magna Charta, now in the British Museum, was discovered by Sir Robert Cotton in the possession of his tailor, who was just about to cut the precious document out into "measures" for his customers. Sir Robert redeemed the valuable c... Mathematical Sailors
Nathaniel Bowditch, the translator of Laplace's Mecanique Celeste, displayed in very early life a taste for mathematical studies. In the year 1788, when he was only fifteen years old, he actually made an almanack for the year 1790, containing all th... Miss Burney's Evelina
The story of Evelina being printed when the authoress was but seventeen years old is proved to have been sheer invention, to trumpet the work into notoriety; since it has no more truth in it than a paid-for newspaper puff. The year of Miss Burney's ... Miss Mitford's Farewell To Three Mile Cross
When Miss Mitford left her rustic cottage at Three Mile Cross, and removed to Reading, (the Belford Regis of her novel), she penned the following beautiful picture of its homely joys-- "Farewell, then, my beloved village! the long, straggling stre... Moderate Flattery
Jasper Mayne says of Master Cartwright, the author of tolerable comedies and poems, printed in 1651:-- "Yes, thou to Nature hadst joined art and skill; In thee, Ben Jonson still held Shakspeare's quill." * * * * ... Moore's Epigram On Abbott
Mr. Speaker Abbott having spoken in slighting terms of some of Moore's poems, the poet wrote, in return, the following biting epigram: "They say he has no heart; but I deny it; He has a heart--and gets his speeches by it." * * ... Mrs Southey
And who was Mrs. Southey?--who but she who was so long known, and so great a favourite, as Caroline Bowles; transformed by the gallantry of the laureate, and the grace of the parson, into her matrimonial appellation. Southey, so long ago as the 21st... Negroes At Home
When Lord Byron was in Parliament, a petition setting forth, and calling for redress for, the wretched state of the Irish peasantry, was one evening presented to the House of Lords, and very coldly received. "Ah!" said Lord Byron, "what a misfortune... Origin Of Bottled Ale
Alexander Newell, Dean of St. Paul's, and Master of Westminster School, in the reign of Queen Mary, was an excellent angler. But Fuller says, while Newell was catching of fishes, Bishop Bonner was catching of Newell, and would certainly have sent hi... Origin Of Boz Dickens
A fellow passenger with Mr. Dickens in the Britannia steam-ship, across the Atlantic, inquired of the author the origin of his signature, "Boz." Mr. Dickens replied that he had a little brother who resembled so much the Moses in the Vicar of Wakefie... Origin Of Cowper's John Gilpin
It happened one afternoon, in those years when Cowper's accomplished friend, Lady Austen, made a part of his little evening circle, that she observed him sinking into increased dejection; it was her custom, on these occasions, to try all the resourc... Origin Of The Beggar's Opera
It was Swift that first suggested to Gay the idea of the Beggar's Opera, by remarking, what an odd, pretty sort of a thing a Newgate pastoral might make! "Gay," says Pope, "was inclined to try at such a thing for some time; but afterwards thought it... Origin Of The Edinburgh Review
The Edinburgh Review was first published in 1802. The plan was suggested by Sydney Smith, at a meeting of literati, in the fourth or fifth flat or story, in Buccleugh-place, Edinburgh, then the elevated lodging of Jeffrey. The motto humorously propo... Pains And Toils Of Authorship
The craft of authorship is by no means so easy of practice as is generally imagined by the thousands who aspire to its practice. Almost all our works, whether of knowledge or of fancy, have been the product of much intellectual exertion and study; o... Patronage Of Authors
In the reigns of William III., of Anne, and of George I., even such men as Congreve and Addison could scarcely have been able to live like gentlemen by the mere sale of their writings. But the deficiency of the natural demand for literature was, at ... Patronage Of Literature
When Victor Hugo was an aspirant for the honours of the French Academy, and called on M. Royer Collard to ask his vote, the sturdy veteran professed entire ignorance of his name. "I am the author of Notre Dame de Paris, Les Derniers Jours d'un Conda... Payment In Kind
The Empress Catherine of Russia having sent, as a present to Voltaire, a small ivory box made by her own hands, the poet induced his niece to instruct him in the art of knitting stockings; and he had actually half finished a pair, of white silk, whe... Physiognomy Of The French Revolutionists
It is remarkable, (says Bulwer, in his Zanoni,) that most of the principal actors of the French Revolution were singularly hideous in appearance--from the colossal ugliness of Mirabeau and Danton, or the villanous ferocity in the countenances of Dav... Poetry Of The Sea
Campbell was a great lover of submarine prospects. "Often in my boyhood," says the poet, "when the day has been bright and the sea transparent, I have sat by the hour on a Highland rock admiring the golden sands, the emerald weeds, and the silver sh... Popularity Of Lope De Vega
Other writers, of the same age with Lope de Vega, obtained a wider celebrity. Don Quixote, during the life of its ill-requited author, was naturalized in countries where the name of Lope de Vega was not known, and Du Bartas was translated into the l... Popularity Of The Pickwick Papers
Mr. Davy, who accompanied Colonel Cheney up the Euphrates, was for a time in the service of Mehemet Ali Pacha. "Pickwick" happening to reach Davy while he was at Damascus, he read a part of it to the Pacha, who was so delighted with it, that Davy wa... Porson's Memory
Professor Porson, the great Graecist, when a boy at Eton, displayed the most astonishing powers of memory. In going up to a lesson one day, he was accosted by a boy in the same form: "Porson, what have you got there?" "Horace." "Let me look at it." ... Praise Of Ale
Dr. Still, though Bishop of Bath and Wells, seems not to have been over fond of water; for thus he sings:-- "A stoup of ale, then, cannot fail, To cheer both heart and soul; It hath a charm, and without harm Can make a lame man whole.... Quid Pro Quo
Campbell relates:--"Turner, the painter, is a ready wit. Once at a dinner where several artists, amateurs, and literary men were convened, a poet, by way of being facetious, proposed as a toast the health of the painters and glaziers of Great Britai... Reconciling The Fathers
A Dean of Gloucester having some merry divines at dinner with him one day, amongst other discourses they were talking of reconciling the Fathers on some points; he told them he could show them the best way in the world to reconcile them on all point... Regality Of Genius
Gibbon, when speaking of his own genealogy, refers to the fact of Fielding being of the same family as the Earl of Denbigh, who, in common with the Imperial family of Austria, is descended from the celebrated Rodolph, of Hapsburgh. "While the one br... Relics Of Dr Johnson At Lichfield
The house in which Dr. Johnson was born, at Lichfield--where his father, it is well known, kept a small bookseller's shop, and where he was partly educated--stood on the west side of the market-place. In the centre of the market-place is a colossal ... Relics Of Izaak Walton
Flatman's beautiful lines to Walton, (says Mr. Jesse) commencing-- "Happy old man, whose worth all mankind knows Except himself," have always struck us as conveying a true picture of Walton's character, and of the estimation in which he was ... Relics Of Milton
Milton was born at the Spread Eagle, Bread-street, Cheapside, December 9, 1608; and was buried, November, 1674, in St. Giles's Church, Cripplegate, without even a stone, in the first instance, to mark his resting-place; but, in 1793, a bust and tabl... Relics Of The Boar's Head Tavern Eastcheap
The portal of the Boar's Head was originally decorated with carved oak figures of Falstaff and Prince Henry; and in 1834, the former figure was in the possession of a brazier, of Great Eastcheap, whose ancestors had lived in the shop he then occupie... Rival Remembrance
Mr. Gifford to Mr. Hazlitt. "What we read from your pen, we remember no more." Mr. Hazlitt to Mr. Gifford. "What we read from your pen, we remember before." * * * * * ... Rogers And Junius
Samuel Rogers was requested by Lady Holland to ask Sir Philip Francis whether he was the author of Junius' Letters. The poet, meeting Sir Philip, approached the ticklish subject thus: "Will you, Sir Philip--will your kindness excuse my addressing to... Romilly And Brougham
Hallam's History of the Middle Ages was the last book of any importance read by Sir Samuel Romilly. Of this excellent work he formed the highest opinion, and recommended its immediate perusal to Lord Brougham, as a contrast to his dry Letter on the ... Sale Of Magazines
Sir John Hawkins, in his "Memoirs of Johnson," ascribes the decline of literature to the ascendancy of frivolous Magazines, between the years 1740 and 1760. He says that they render smatterers conceited, and confer the superficial glitter of knowled... Sale The Translator Of The Koran
The learned Sale, who first gave to the world a genuine version of the Koran, pursued his studies through a life of wants. This great Orientalist, when he quitted his books to go abroad, too often wanted a change of linen; and he frequently wandered... Sensitiveness To Criticism
Hawkesworth and Stillingfleet died of criticism; Tasso was driven mad by it; Newton, the calm Newton, kept hold of life only by the sufferance of a friend who withheld a criticism on his chronology, for no other reason than his conviction that if it... Sheridan's Pizarro
Mr. Pitt was accustomed to relate very pleasantly an amusing anecdote of a total breach of memory in some Mrs. Lloyd, a lady, or nominal housekeeper, of Kensington Palace. "Being in company," he said, "with Mr. Sheridan, without recollecting him, wh... Sheridan's Wit
Sheridan's wit was eminently brilliant, and almost always successful; it was, like all his speaking, exceedingly prepared, but it was skilfully introduced and happily applied; and it was well mingled, also, with humour, occasionally descending to fa... Silence Not Always Wisdom
Coleridge once dined in company with a person who listened to him, and said nothing for a long time; but he nodded his head, and Coleridge thought him intelligent. At length, towards the end of the dinner, some apple dumplings were placed on the tab... Sir James Mackintosh's Humour
Sir James Mackintosh had a great deal of humour; and, among many other examples of it, he kept a dinner-party at his own house for two or three hours in a roar of laughter, playing upon the simplicity of a Scotch cousin, who had mistaken the Rev. Sy...