HONOURS AND KEWAKDS. 



have called about him "the plea- 1 torian at a well-known tavern in 



sures of imagination," had probably 

 planned a house of literary repose, 

 where all parts would have been in 

 harmony with his mind. Such 

 residences of men of genius have 

 been enjoyed by some ; and the 

 vivid descriptions which they have 

 left us, convey something of the 

 delightfulness which charmed their 

 studious repose. (D 'Israeli's Cu- 

 riosities.) 



GIBBON AND LORD NORTH. 



Mr. Gibbon, in the general, pre- 

 face to the three last volumes of 

 his history, has the following pas- 

 sage, which we consider worthy of 

 notice, not less on account of its 

 elegance, than for the striking con- 

 trast it exhibits between Mr. Gib- 

 bon's original enmity of spirit to 

 Lord North, and his subsequent 

 expressions of friendship for that 

 nobleman : " Were I ambitious of 

 any other patron than the public 

 (says Mr. Gibbon), I would inscribe 

 this work to a statesman, who, in 

 a long, a stormy, and at length an 

 unfortunate administration, had 

 many political opponents, almost 

 without a personal enemy ; who 

 has retained, in his fall from power, 

 many faithful and disinterested 

 friends ; and who, under the pres- 

 sure of severe infirmity, enjoys the 

 lively vigour of his mind, and the 

 felicity of his incomparable temper. 

 Lord North will permit me to ex- 



Pall-Mall, and contrasting it with 

 Mr. Gibbon's political conduct 

 afterwards. "The author (it ob- 

 served) at Brookes's said, That 

 there was no salvation for this coun- 

 try, until six heads of the principal 

 persons in administration (Lord 

 North being then prime minister) 

 were laid upon the table. Yet (as 

 the observation added) eleven days 

 afterwards, this same gentleman 

 accepted a place of a lord of trade 

 under those very ministers, and has 

 acted with them ever since." This 

 extraordinary anecdote, thus recor- 

 ded, very naturally excited the at- 

 tention of the purchasers. Numbers 

 wished to have in their own pos- 

 session such an honourable testi- 

 mony from Mr. Fox in favour of 

 Mr. Gibbon. The contention for it 

 rose to a considerable height, and 

 the volume by the aid of this manu- 

 script addition to it, was sold for 

 three guineas. (English Review. 

 1788.) 



A MENDICANT AUTHOR. 



Even in the reign of the literary 

 James, great authors were reduced 

 to a state of mendicity, and lived 

 on alms, although their lives and 

 their fortunes had been consumed 

 in forming national labours. The 

 antiquary Stowe exhibits a strik- 

 ing example of the reward confer- 

 red on such valued authors. Stowe 

 had devoted his life, and exhausted 



press the feelings of friendship in | his patrimony, in the study of 



the language ot truth; but even 

 truth and friendship should be 

 silent, if he still dispensed the fa- 

 vours of the crown." For the sake 

 of contrast, one anecdote may be 

 added. In June, 1781, Mr. Fox's 

 library came to be sold. Amongst 

 his other books, the first volume of 

 Mr. Gibbon's history was brought 

 to the hammer. In the blank leaf 

 of this was a note, in the hand- 

 writing of Mr. Fox, stating a re- 

 markable declaration of our his- 



English antiquities ; he had tra- 

 velled on foot throughout the king- 

 dom, inspecting all monuments of 

 antiquity, and rescuing what he 

 could from the dispersed libraries 

 of the monasteries. His stupen- 

 dous collections, in his own hand- 

 writing, still exist, to provoke the 

 feeble industry of literary loiter- 

 ers. It was in his eightieth year 

 that Stowe at length received a 

 public acknowledgment of his ser- 

 vices which will appear to us of a 



