master that ever was, sending him, every now and then, a haunch of venison, and dozens of excellent claret.-" O, my G―, man, (said he once to Vander Gutcht,) this old Jacob loves me; he is a very good man; you see he loves me, he sends me good things; the venison was fat."-Old Geekie, the surgeon, got several fine pictures of him too, and an excellent one of himself; but then he had them cheaper, for he gave nothing but praises; but then his praises were as fat as Jacob's venison; neither could be too fat for Sir Godfrey.-Pope.

Secretary Craggs brought Dick Estcourt once to Sir Godfrey Kneller's, where he mimicked several persons whom he knew; as Lords Godolphin, Somers, Hallifax, &c. Sir Godfrey was highly delighted, took the joke, and laughed heartily: then they gave him the wink, and he mimicked Sir Godfrey himself; who cried, Nay, now you are out, man; by G-, that is not me."

66

END OF SECTION IV.

SPENCE'S ANECDOTES.

SECTION V.* 1737-39.

HE noble collection of pictures in the Palais Royal at Paris, cost the Regent above a million of Louis d'ors. In particular the St. Joseph, little Jesus, and Virgin, cost fifteen thousand livres (or six hundred and twenty-five guineas), the little St. John, Jesus, and Virgin, thirty thousand livres; and the St. John in the Wilderness, fifty thousand livres. The picture of a Muleteer, in that collection, was painted by Correggio, and served for a good while as a sign to a little public-house by the road side. It has still the marks in the upper corners of its having been doubled in for that purpose. The man who kept the house had been a muleteer, and had on some occasion obliged Correggio a good deal, on the road. He set him up, and painted his sign for him. The persons who were sent into

* The fifth and sixth centuries (or sections), of these Anecdotes, according to Mr. Spence's division, are here blended into one; because it has been deemed proper to omit all those observations on Virgil by Mr. Holdsworth, which were printed in Warton's Virgil, or in the publication of Mr. Spence from Mr. Holdsworth's papers; and a few other articles on very unimportant or uninteresting subjects.-Editor.

Italy to collect pictures for the Regent, met with this sign, and bought it. It cost five hundred guineas.-This gallery was painted by (the best) Coypel. "Surely it is hardly worthy of him."-That is because it has bad neighbours. It might do very well in any other palace in Paris, but must look poor and unaffecting to you, after having passed through the other rooms. -"But I think those pictures on the roof are much better than these on the walls?"—That's very true: Coypel painted the roof first, and between the painting of the ceiling and the sides, he took to dram-drinking, which soon spoiled his hand: and so much the sooner, because he had previously been a water-drinker. The Officer who showed us the Palace.

66

[At the Count of Toulouse's gallery, the officer said, My Lord is the best of masters; but alas! he grows very old, and, I fear, can't last long: I would with all my heart, give ten years out of my own life to prolong his, if it could be done."-Upon seeing us affected by what he had said; he added: "that this was no great merit in him ; that most of his fellow-servants, he believed, would be willing to do the same: that the goodness of their master to them, and the greatness of their affection for him, was so remarkable and so well known, that a friend of the Count's once said to him; I don't know what it is you do to charm all the people thus about you; but though you have two hundred servants, I believe there is scarce any one of them that would not die to save your life.' That may be, (replied the Count,) but I would not have any one of them die, to save it.'"]

Mr. Addison stayed above a year at Blois.-He would rise as early as between two and three in the height of

summer, and lie a bed till between eleven and twelve in the depth of winter. He was untalkative whilst here, and often thoughtful: sometimes so lost in thought, that I have come into his room and stayed five minutes there, before he has known anything of it. He had his masters, generally, at supper with him; kept very little company beside; and had no amour whilst here, that I know of; and I think I should have known it, if he had had any.*-Abbé Philippeaux, of Blois.

"We have two millions of religious, (men and women of all sorts,) and only twenty millions of souls in France :" said a sensible priest of the order of St. Geneviève at Blois. -I said our computation was about two hundred thousand ecclesiastics for France. He laughed at that, as extremely short of their numbers; and, by his computation, made it one tenth part of the whole population, instead of one hundredth only.—Whereas our clergy in England, is but one four hundredth part of the people, computing the people at eight millions. How much would it tend toward the enslaving and impoverishing the country, should we ever happen to have a Popish prince, and grow as zealous Catholics as they are in France ?-Spence.

Father Courayer was the most amiable man, and was, in fact, the most generally beloved of anyone I know in our order. -I have heard the Abbé Bignon, (who is as good a judge of writing as any man living,) say "that he looked on

* [The strange story that the Abbé Morei told, as the cause of the redness in his cheeks::-a blow from an invisible hand, in an old castle in Normandy.-Spence. This hint follows the above article in the MS. B. so often referred to, whether it relates to Addison or not, does not appear. I have not been fortunate enough to meet with the original memorandum paper.-Editor.

Courayer as the best pen in France."-Courayer is, as Father Paul was before him, a Catholic by profession, but a Protestant in his particular tenets.*—The same Priest.

Rousseau is now grown old; he was, for a long time, our only poet: now Voltaire may share that honour with him ; and is next to him both in merit and reputation.--Abbé Boileau, at Tours.

Corneille's middle plays (for you know they are published in the order in which they were written), are his only good ones. He has a greater variety of characters, and those more distinguished than Racine's. One should set his good plays only against those of the latter, which are in all but six; and Corneille has nine or ten good ones.-Abbé B.

The Spectators, though there are so many bad ones among them, make themselves read still. All Addison's are allowed to be good, and many of Steele's.-Gulliver was received but indifferently, at first, among us; but pleased much after people had entered more into the humour of it.—Abbé B.

Ramsay wrote his Cyrus in imitation of Fenelon, and perhaps had some papers of his to help him in that work. That got him some reputation; but it is fallen again by the publishing of his Turenne. Everybody is angry with him for that history, because Turenne's is a favourite character among us; and everybody complains that he has not written up to the dignity of his subject.-The Commentaries of Turenne are much better written, and have a good deal of Julius Cæsar's manner in them.--Abbé B.

* His words were, "Paolo est, comme lui, Catholique en gros et Protestant en détail."