SIR THOMAS MORE. 



251 



upon him. The poor fellow, quite at 

 a loss, stammered out some words. 

 " Enemy of your master ! " ex- 

 claimed the old man in a fury, " go, 

 seek for my cup ; I must have my 

 up, or 1 shall not dine to-day." 

 The cup could not be found ; and, 

 leaving the table in his passion, he 

 walked off to his apartment and 

 shut himself up. The guests were 

 confounded and disappointed by 

 the scene. At length it was agreed 

 that Mr. Villevielle, to whom he 

 was much attached, should go to 

 him and try to soothe him. He 

 knocked gently at the door. " Who 

 is there?" "It is I, Villevielle." 

 " Ah," opening the door, " it is you, 

 my dear Marquis. What is the 

 purpose of this visit ?" " I am here 

 in name of all our friends, who are 

 grieved at your absence, to request 

 you will come down, and to express 

 the regret of M. de Villette, who 

 has dismissed the simpleton who 

 was the cause of your anger." 

 " They invite me to come down ? " 

 " Yes, they implore you." " My 

 friend, I dare not." " And why so 1 " 

 "They must laugh at me below." 

 " Can you admit such a thought 1 

 have we not all our notions in such 

 matters 1 has not every one his own 

 glass, his own knife, his own pen?" 

 " I see very well you are anxious to 

 excuse me. Let us rather allow 

 frankly that every one has his 

 weaknesses ; I blush at mine. Do 

 you go down first, and I shall fol- 

 low." Voltaire re-appeared a few 

 minutes after, and seated himself 

 at table with the awkward timidity 

 of a child who has been detected in 

 something foolish, and fears to be 

 scolded. 



POETRY AND PRACTICE. 



1. It is a fine thing for children 

 to learn to make verso ; but when 

 they come to be men, they must 

 speak like other men, or else they 

 will be laughed at. It is ridiculous 

 to speak, or write, or preach in. 



verse. As it is good to learn to 

 dance ; a man may learn his leg, 

 learn to go handsomely ; but it 

 is ridiculous for him to dance when 

 he should go. 



2. It is ridiculous for a lord to 

 print verses : it is well enough to 

 make them to please himself, but 

 to make them public is foolish. If 

 a man, in a private chamber, twirls 

 his band-strings, or plays with a 

 rush to please himself, it is well 

 enough ; but if he should go into 

 Fleet Street, and sit upon a stall, 

 and twirl a band-string, or play 

 with a rush, then all the boys in 

 the street would laugh at him. 



3. Verse proves nothing but the 

 quantity of syllables ; they are not 

 meant for logic. (Selden). 



AKENSIDE AND ROLT. 



Akenside's Pleasures of Ima- 

 gination attracted much notice on 

 the first appearance" from the ele- 

 gance of its language, and the 

 warm colouring of the descrip- 

 tions. But the Platonic fanaticism 

 of the foundation injured the gene- 

 ral beauty of the edifice. Plato is 

 indeed the philosopher of imagina- 

 tion ; but is not this saying that he 

 is no philosopher at all? I have 

 been told that Eolt, who afterwards 

 wrote many books, was in Dublin 

 when that poem appeared, and actu- 

 ally passed a whole year there, 

 very comfortably, by passing for 

 the author. (Walpole.) 



The greatest of men are some- 

 times seized with strange fancies 

 at the very moment when one 

 would suppose they had ceased to 

 be occupied with the things of this 

 world. Sir Thomas More, at his 

 execution, having laid his head 

 upon the block, and perceiving 

 that his beard was extended in 

 such a manner that it would be 

 cut through by the stroke of the 

 executioner, asked him to adjust it 



