228 HENRY KIRKE WHITe's REMAINS. 



And now, my dear Neville, I must give you the most 

 ingenious specimen of the invention of petty envy you 

 perhaps ever heard of. When Addison produced " Cato," 

 it was currently received, that he had bought it of a vicar 

 for £40. The Nottingham gentry, knowing me too poor 

 to buy my poems, thought they could do no better than 

 place it to the account of family affection, and lo ! Mrs 

 Smith is become the sole author, who has made use of 

 her brother's name as a feint ! I heard of this report 

 first covertly ; it was said that Mrs Smith was the prin- 

 cipal writer : next it was said that I was the author of 

 one of the inferior smaller pieces only, (" My Study ;") 

 and lastly, on mentioning the circumstances to Mr 



A , he confessed that he had heard several times 



that " my sister was the sole quill-driver of the family, 

 and that Master Henr}'-, in particular, was rather shal- 

 low," but that he had refrained from telling me, because 

 he thought it would vex me. Now as to the vexing me, 

 it only has afforded me a hearty laugh. I sent my com- 

 pliments to one great lady, whom I heard propagating 

 this ridiculous report, and congratulated her on her in- 

 genuity, telling her, as a great secret, that neither my 

 sister or myself had any claim to any of the Poems, for 

 the right author was the Great Mogul's cousin- german. 

 The best part of the story is, that my good friend, Ben- 

 jamin Maddock, found means to get me to write verses 

 extempore, to prove whether I could tag rhymes or not, 

 which, it seems, he doubted,* 



* * * * 



TO MR B. HADDOCK. 



Nottingham, 7tli July 1804. 

 My dear Ben, 



7^ Tf? 71? tI? 



The real wants of life are few ; the support of the 

 body, simply, is no expensive matter ; and as we are not 



* Por verses, see p. 100. 



