"lyet us not, then, lament over the decay and 

 oblivion into which ancient writers descend: 

 they do but submit to the great law of nature, 

 which declares that all sublunary shapes of 

 matter shall be limited in their duration, but 

 which decrees, also, that their elements shall 

 never perish. Generation after generation, both 

 in animal and vegetable life, passes away, but 

 the vital principle is transmitted to posterity, 

 and the species continue to flourish. Thus, also, 

 do authors beget authors, and having produced a 

 numerous progeny, in a good old age they sleep 

 with their fathers, that is to say, with the 

 authors who preceded them and from whom 

 they had stolen." 



W. IRVING. 



M'706'508 



