Part 2 (1/2)

SMOLLETT'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND

This an his History of England, wrote to the Earl of Shelburne, then in the Whig Ad, if the Earl would procure for his work the patronage of the Government, he would accommodate his politics to the Ministry; but if not, that he had high promises of support from the other party Lord Shelburne, of course, treated the proffered support of a writer of such acco principles with conteuished for its high Toryism The history was published in sixpenny weekly numbers, of which 20,000 copies were sold immediately This extraordinary popularity was created by the artifice of the publisher He is stated to have addressed a packet of the speciland, carriage-free, with half-a-crown enclosed as a coh the pews of the church: this being generally done,to the sermon, and the result was an universal demand for the work

MAGNA CHARTA RECOVERED

The transcript of Magna Charta, now in the British Museum, was discovered by Sir Robert Cotton in the possession of his tailor, as just about to cut the precious document out into ”measures” for his customers Sir Robert redeemed the valuable curiosity at the price of old parch been supposed to be irretrievably lost

FOX AND GIBBON

When Mr Fox's furniture was sold by auction, after his decease in 1806, ast his books there was the first volume of his friend Gibbon's _Decline and Fall of the Roe, it appeared to have been presented by the author to Fox, who, on the blank leaf, had written this anecdote of the historian:--”The author, at Brookes's, said there was no salvation for this country until six heads of the principal persons in administration were laid upon the table Eleven days after, this saentleman accepted a place of lord of trade under those very ministers, and has acted with them ever since!” Such was the avidity of bidders for the enius, that, by the addition of this little record, the book sold for three guineas

DR JOHNSON'S PRIDE

Sir Joshua Reynolds used to relate the following characteristic anecdote of Johnson:--About the ti at the Misses Cotterell's, when the duchess of Argyll and another lady of rank ca that the Misses Cotterell were too lected as low cory, and, resolving to shock their suspected pride, by ine they were low indeed, Johnson addressed hi, ”How et in a week if ere to work as hard as we could?” just as though they were ordinary mechanics

LORD BYRON'S ”CORSAIR”

The Earl of Dudley, in his _Letters_, (1814) says:--”To me Byron's _Corsair_ appears the best of all his works Rapidity of execution is no sort of apology for doing a thing ill, but when it is done well, the wonder is so s--certainly it did not take him more than three weeks He is a most extraordinary person, and yet there is G Ellis, who don't feel his merit His creed in modern poetry (I should have said _conte but Walter Scott I cannot say how I hate this petty, factious spirit in literature--it is so unworthy of a man so clever and so accomplished as Ellis undoubtedly is”

BOOKSELLERS IN LITTLE BRITAIN

Little Britain, anciently Breton-street, frone on that spot, in more modern times became the ”Paternoster-row”

of the booksellers; and a newspaper of 1664 states them to have published here within four years, 464 pamphlets One Chiswell, resident here in 1711, was the man” of his time: and here lived Rawlinson (”Tom Folio” of _The Tatler_, No 158), who stuffed four chambers in Gray's Inn so full, that his bed was ree John Day, the faate”

RECONCILING THE FATHERS

A Dean of Gloucester having sost other discourses they were talking of reconciling the Fathers on some points; he told them he could show them the best way in the world to reconcile them on all points of difference; so, after dinner, he carried them into his study, and showed them all the Fathers, classically ordered, with a quart of sack betwixt each of them