high birth but most dissolute habits, who, having been rebuked, said, "Depend upon it, God will think twice before damning a gentleman of my quality." The Duc de Clermont-Sonnerre is also reported to have said in speaking of himself, "God will never dare to damn a duke and peer." B. 1650. JOHN CHURCHILL. D. 1722. MARLBOROUGH, when from his eyes "the streams of dotage" began to flow, exclaimed, as he passed before a mirror, "That was once a man.” B. 1667. JONATHAN SWIFT. D. 1745. IN one of his letters to Bolingbroke, Swift writes: "All my endeavors to distinguish myself were only for want of a great title and fortune, that I might be used like a lord by those who have an opinion of my parts; whether right or wrong is no great matter. And so the reputation of wit and great learning does the office of a blue ribbon or coach and six." After he became, as Johnson writes, "a driveller and a show," laying his hand one day upon the “ Tale of a Tub," he closed it with a deep whisper, "What a genius I had when I wrote that book!" Swift had thrice requested Pope to inscribe to him one of those Epistles by which the poet conferred honor and immortality on his friends. On the 3d of September, 1735, he again wrote to him as follows: "I have the ambition, and it is very earnest, as well as in haste, to have one Epistle inscribed to me while I am alive, and you just in the time when wit and wisdom are in the height; I must once more repeat Cicero's desire to a friend: Orna me." D. 1748. THIS author and reverend poet, distinguished by his "Hymns and Spiritual Songs wherever the English language is known, does not appear to exalt himself, or to give much prominence to his own existence, though perhaps according a trifle less to that of the rest of mankind. This is what he says: "There are a number of us creep Into this world, to eat and sleep; But only to consume the corn, Devour the cattle, fowl, and fish, And leave behind an empty dish. The crows and ravens do the same, Unlucky birds of hateful name; Ravens or crows might fill their places, B. 1684. EDWARD YOUNG. D. 1766. "AND what so foolish as the chase of Fame? And yet we find in the same poem the following words: "The love of praise, howe'er concealed by art, B. 1688. ALEXANDER POPE. D. 1744. PERHAPS no poet was ever more anxious to perpetuate his fame than Pope; and he began early and worked late. The complacency with which Pope accepted the admiration of his friends is very fine and sweet: "But why then publish? Granville the polite, UNIV. OF CALIFORNIA 101 OF NOTED PERSONS. Well-natured Garth inflamed with early praise, From these the world will judge of men and books, After Pope had published his "Essay on Man," angling for a compliment, he asked his friend Mallet, what new things there were in literature, and was answered, "Nothing worth notice; only a thing called an Essay on Man,' made up of shocking poetry and insufferable philosophy." "I wrote it!" cried Pope, stung with rage; and his friend blushed, bowed, and darted out of the room, never to return. 6 B. 1697. WILLIAM HOGARTH. D. 1764. HOGARTH'S reputation rests mainly on his success as a satirist, or comic painter; but he thought very highly of his portraits, and boasted that "he could paint equal to Vandyck, give him his time and let him choose his subject." This only places him in the same category with Milton, who esteemed “ Paradise Regained" superior to "Paradise Lost." But does not the owner of a pair of horses often most praise the poorest one? The weakest child is most caressed by the mother. B. 1697. RICHARD SAVAGE. D. 1743. IN Dr. Johnson's remarkable "Life of Savage," he observes: "Vanity, the most innocent species of pride, was most frequently predominant: he could not easily leave off when he had once begun to mention himself or his works; nor ever read his verses without stealing his eyes from the page, to discover in the faces of his audience how they were affected with any favorite passage." B. 1703. THIS distinguished preacher published anonymously his Dictionary, after Bailey, and prior to Johnson,— the title to which was, "The complete English Dictionary, explaining most of the hard words which are found in the best English writers, By a lover of good English and Common Sense." It was a very modest duodecimo of one hundred pages only, and yet Mr. Wesley speaks of it in rather a large way. "The author assures you," so he writes, "he thinks this is the best dictionary in the world." Then he adds, "Many are the mistakes in all other English dictionaries which I have yet seen, whereas I can truly say I know of none in this." |