AUTHORS. 



AMANUENSES OF AUTHOES. 



MILTON'S PARADISE LOST. 

 Milton was blind when he com- 

 posed that immortal work, the 

 " Paradise Lost." His daughters 

 were his amanuenses. Nor did 

 they merely write what he dictated; 

 "but they read to him from day to 

 day whatever classical or other 

 authors he might wish to consult 

 in the way of reference, or to relax 

 or invigorate his mind. But read- 

 ing to their father the Greek and 

 Latin authors must have been very 

 tedious to them, as it is said they 

 were quite ignorant of both those 

 ancient languages. 



GOLDSMITH'S TRIAL. 



A voluminous author was one 

 day expatiating on the advantages 

 of employing an amanuensis, and 

 thus saving time and the trouble of 

 writing. " How do you manage it?" 

 said Goldsmith. "Why, I walk 

 about the room, and dictate to a 

 clever man, who puts down very 

 correctly all that I tell him, so that 

 I have nothing to do more than 

 just to look over the manuscript, 

 and then send it to the press." 



Goldsmith was delighted with 

 the information, and desired his 

 friend to send the amanuensis the 

 next morning. The scribe accord- 

 ingly waited upon the Doctor, with 

 the implements of pens, ink, and 

 paper placed in order before him, 

 ready to catch the oracle. Gold- 

 smith paced the room with great 

 solemnity, several times, for some 

 time ; but, after racking his brains 

 to no purpose, he put his hand into 

 his pocket, and, presenting the 

 amanuensis with a guinea, said, 

 "It won't do, my friend, I find that 

 my head and hand must go to- 

 gether." 



DWIGHT'S THEOLOGY. 

 Dr. Timothy Dwight, of New- 

 liaven, prepared his System of 



Theology for the press in his old 

 age, when his defective sight no 

 longer enabled him to use the pen. 

 He dictated to an amanuensis that 

 long and eloquent course of sermons 

 on the various doctrines of religion, 

 which will carry down his name 

 through coming time, and spread 

 his influence over the world. 



WILBERFORCE. 



The style of Wilberforce's Prac- 

 tical View of the Prevailing ILC- 

 ligious System, on the appearance 

 of that elegant essay, was charac- 

 terized as possessing all the fluency, 

 ease, and grace of an unwritten ad- 

 dress, and all the author's skill in. 

 debate and Parliamentary tact. It 

 turned out that the work had not 

 been written, but dictated to an 

 amanuensis while the author walked 

 backward and forward in his study- 



SIR, WALTER SCOTT's AMANUENSIS. 



William Laidlaw (author of the 

 beautiful song of" Lucy's Flittin' "), 

 and John Ballantyne the printer, 

 were Scott's amanuenses, when', 

 suffering from extreme bodily pain, 

 he was composing the "Bride of 

 Lammermoor." He preferred the 

 latter, says Lockhart, on account 

 of the superior rapidity of his pen ;. 

 and also because John kept his pen 

 to the paper without interruption, 

 and, though with many an arch 

 twinkle in his eyes, and now and 

 then an audible smack 01 his lips, 

 had resolution to work on like a. 

 well-trained clerk; whereas good 

 Laidlaw entered with such keen 

 zest into the interest of the story 

 as it flowed from the author's lips r 

 that he could not suppress excla- 

 mations of surprise and delight 

 " Gude keep us a' ! the like o* 

 that ! eh sirs ! eh sirs !" and so 

 forth which did not promote des- 

 patch. I have often, however, in 

 the sequel, heard both these secre- 



