AN AUTHOR SOLICITING PATRONAGE. 



273 



him, told me that one day M. de 

 Grammont, who, at the Palais 

 Royal, was considered as one of 

 the family (having espoused one of 

 the Cardinal's nieces), and who, of 

 course, possessed the liberty of free 

 entry at all times, broke in upon 

 the Cardinal after dinner, while 

 amusing himself with leaping in 

 the great gallery. M. de Gram- 

 mont, like an able courtier, told 

 the Cardinal he could leap much 

 better than he, and immediately 

 began leaping five or six times. 

 The Cardinal, who was as accom- 

 plished a courtier as himself, per- 

 fectly understood his meaning, and 

 afterwards distinguished him more 

 than ever by his favour. 



SYMPTOMS OF UREATNESS. 



I flatter myself (says Seattle) I 

 shall soon get rid of this infirmity 

 [a distressing giddiness from which 

 lie was slowly recovering] ; nay, 

 that I shall ere long be in the way 

 of becoming a great man. For, 

 have I not headache, like Pope 1 

 vertigo, like Swift ? gray hairs, 

 like Homer 1 Do I not Avear large 

 shoes (for fear of corns), like Virgil ? 

 and sometimes complain of sore 

 eyes (though not of lippitude), like 

 Horace ? Am I not at this present 

 writing invested with a garment 

 not less ragged than that of So- 

 crates 1 Like Joseph, the patriarch, 

 I am a mighty dreamer of dreams ; 

 like Nimrod, the hunter, I am an 

 eminent builder of castles (in the 

 air). I procrastinate like Julius 

 Caesar ; and very lately, in imita- 

 tion of Don Quixote, I rode a horse, 

 lean, old, and lazy, like Rosinante. 

 Sometimes, like Cicero, I write bad 

 verses ; and sometimes bad prose, 

 like Virgil. This last instance I 

 have on tho authority of Seneca. 

 I aru of small stature, like Alexan- 

 der the Great ; I am somewhat in- 

 clinable to fatness, like Dr. Ar- 

 buthnot and Aristotle ; and I drink 

 brandy and water, like Mr. B?yd. 



I might compare myself in relation 

 to many other infirmities, to many 

 other great men ; but if fortune 

 is not influenced in my favour by 

 the particulars already enumerated, 

 I shall despair of ever recommend- 

 ing myself to her good graces. 

 (Dr Beattie to Hon. C. Boyd.) 



THE FAIR SEX, BY THE FAIIIEST OP 

 THE SEX. 



I have never had any great 

 esteem for the generality of the fair 

 sex ; and my only consolation for 

 being of that gender has been, the 

 assurance it gave me of never being 

 married to any one among them ; 

 but, I own, at present, I am so 

 much out of humour with the 



actions of Lady H , that I never 



was so heartily ashamed of my 

 petticoats before. You know, I 

 suppose, that by this discreet match 

 she renounces the care of her chil- 

 dren ; and I am laughed at by all 

 my acquaintance for my faith in 

 her honour and understanding. 

 My only refuge is the sincere hope 

 that she is out of her senses, and 

 taking herself for Queen of Sheba, 



and Mr. M for King Solomon. 



I do not think it quite so ridicu- 

 lous ; but the men, you may well 

 imagine, are not so charitable, and 

 they agree in the kind reflection, 

 that nothing hinders women from 

 playing the fool but not having it 

 in their power. The many instances 

 that are to be found to support this 

 opinion, ought to make the few 

 reasonable more valued but where 

 are the reasonable ladies ? (Lady 

 M. W. Montagu.) 



AN AUTHOR SOLICITING PATRONAGE. 



The distresses of authors, some- 

 times, on receiving patronage, are 

 as great as that which renders pa- 

 tronage necessary. On this subject, 

 a story is told of the eccentric 

 Wynne. 



A short time previous to his 

 publishing his History of Ireland, 



