154 



POETRY AND POETS. 



sent for the poem, read it, and 

 sounded its praises wherever he 

 went. The next evening the pub- 

 lisher had not a single copy left, 

 and in a few weeks so many edi- 

 tions went off, that Churchill "found 

 himself richer than any poet whose 

 estate lay at that time on Parnassus. 



BLACKLOCK AND DAVID HUME. 



Blacklock, the poet, certainly 

 much better known for his blind- 

 ness than for his genius, happened 

 to call upon Hume, the historian, 

 one day, and began a long disser- 

 tation on his misery, bewailing his 

 loss of sight, his large family of 

 children, and his utter incapacity 

 to provide for them, or even to 

 supply them, at that moment, with 

 the necessaries of life. 



Hume himself was, at that pe- 

 riod, so little a favourite of for- 

 tune, from the smallness of his pa- 

 ternal estate, and the scantiness of 

 his collegiate stipend, being then 

 a member of the university, that 

 he had solicited, and just then re- 

 ceived, through the strenuous in- 

 terest of a friend, a university 

 appointment worth about forty 

 pounds per annum. 



The heart of the philosopher, 

 however, was softened by the com- 

 plaint of his friend ; and being 

 destitute of the pecuniary means of 

 immediate assistance, he ran to his 

 desk, took out the newly-received 

 grant, and presented it to the un- 

 happy poet, with a promise, which 

 he faithfully performed, of using 

 his best interest to have the name 

 of Hume changed for that of Black- 

 lock. In this generous attempt he 

 was finally successful, and, by his 

 noble philanthropy, had the plea- 

 sure of saving his friend and family 

 froto starvation. 



VOLTAIRE AND POPE. 

 "Voltaire, when in London, was 

 nety intimate with Pope: he was 

 familial- al his table, jiud intro- 



duced to the circle of his acquaint- 

 ance. But gratitude, and a respect 

 to the laws of hospitality, seemed 

 not to govern the conduct of Vol- 

 taire. 



One day, when he knew Pope 

 was from home, he called on his 

 ancient mother, who lived with 

 him, and told her that he should 

 be very sorry to do anything to 

 displease her, but really it was 

 very hard living in London ; that 

 he had a poem, a severe lampoon^ 

 upon her, which he was going to 

 publish, but which he would re- 

 commend her to give him a sum of 

 money to suppress. 



The fear of the poor old woman 

 at length prevailed over her indig- 

 nation, and she bribed him not to 

 publish, which he agreed to, on one 

 condition that she would never 

 mention the subject. She pro- 

 mised, . and she kept her word. 

 Having so well succeeded once, he 

 made a second attempt on the 

 yielding prey. The indignation of 

 the injured lady was at its height, 

 when Pope entered the room, and, 

 perceiving her agitation, insisted 

 on knowing the cause. She in- 

 formed him, in half-stifled accents. 



Voltaire had neither time to run 

 off nor to make up an excuse, when 

 the enraged poet, who was never 

 deficient in filial respect, flew with 

 resentment on the unfeeling French- 

 man, striking him vehemently. Vol- 

 taire, in the attempt to retreat pre- 

 cipitately, fell over a chair. 



CAMOENS. 



When Camoens published his 

 poem of the Lusiad, King Sebastian 

 was so pleased with it that he gave 

 the author a pension of four thou- 

 sand reals, on condition that he 

 should reside at court ; but this 

 salary was withdrawn by Cardinal 

 Henry, who succeeded to the throne 

 of Portugal, which Sebastian had 

 lost at the battle of Alcazar. The 

 bard of the Tagus was utterly ne- 



