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AUTHORS. 



very exti'aordinary nature. He 

 was so reduced in his circumstances 

 that he petitioned James I. for a 

 license to collect alms for himself! 

 "as a recompense for his labour 

 and travel of forty-five years in set- 

 ting forth the chronicles of England, 

 and eight years taken up in the 

 survey of the cities of London and 

 Westminster, towards his relief now 

 in his old age ; having left his for- 

 mer means of living, and only em- 

 .ploying himself for the service and 

 .good of his country." Letters pa- 

 tent under the great seal were 

 granted. After no penurious com- 

 mendation of Stowe's labours, he is 

 permitted "to gather the benevo- 

 lence of well-disposed people within 

 this realm of England : to ask, ga- 

 ther, and take the alms of all our 

 loving subjects." These letters 

 patent were to be published by the 

 clergy from their pulpits ; they pro- 

 duced so little that they were re- 

 newed for another twelvemonth; one 

 entire parish in the city, gave seven 

 shillings and sixpence ! Such then 

 was the patronage received by 

 Stowe, to be a licensed beggar 

 throughout the kingdom for one 

 twelvemonth ! Such was the pub- 

 lic remuneration of a man who had 

 been useful to his nation, but not 

 to himself. (D'Israeli.) 



HONOUR TO THE BARDS. 



At a court held at Icolmkill, Au- 

 gust 23, 1609, by Andrew, Bishop 

 of the Isles, at which most of the 

 gentry of the neighbouring isles 

 were present, amongst other good 

 resolutions for reformation is the 

 following : 



" The which day it being consi- 

 dered, that amongst the remanent 

 abuses which, without reformation, 

 has denied the whole isles, has been 

 the entertainment and bearing with 

 idle bellies, special vagabonds, bards, 

 idle and sturdy beggars, express 

 coutrare the laws and laudable 

 acts of Parliament ; for the remedy 



whereof it is likewise enacted, by 

 common consent, that no vagabond, 

 bard, nor profest pleasant (fool by 

 profession), pretending liberty to 

 bard and flatter, be received within 

 the bounds of the said isles, by 

 any of said special barons and 

 gentlemen, or any other inhabitants 

 thereof, or entertained by them, or 

 any of them, in any sort ; but in 

 case any vagabond, bard, juggler, 

 or such like, be apprehended by 

 them, or any of them, he is to be 

 taken, and put in sure seizement 

 and keeping in the stocks, and 

 thereafter to be debarred forth of 

 the country with all goodly expedi- 

 dition. (Scotsman's Library.) 



DIBDIN'S POEMS. 



I have not the smallest preten- 

 sions to the "rhyming art," al- 

 though in former times I did ven- 

 ture to dabble with it. About 

 twelve years ago I was rash enough 

 to publish a small volume of poems, 

 with my name affixed. They were 

 the productions - of my juvenile 

 years ; and I need hardly say, at 

 this period, how ashamed I am of 

 their authorship. The Monthly and 

 Analytical Reviews did me the kind- 

 ness of just tolerating them, and of 

 warning me not to commit any fu- 

 ture trespass upon the premises of 

 Parnassus. I struck off 500 copies, 

 and was glad to get rid of half of 

 them as waste paper ; the remain- 

 ing half has been partly destroyed 

 by my own hands, and has partly 

 mouldered away in oblivion amidst 

 the dust of booksellers' shelves. 

 My only consolation is, that the vo- 

 lume is exceedingly rare ! (Kev. 

 T. F. Dibdin.) 



DENON AND MADAME TALLEYRAND. 



It is told of Madame Talleyrand, 

 that one day her husband having 

 told her that Denon, the French 

 savan, was coming to dinner, bid 

 her read a little of his book on 



