"Though he roared pretty well--this the puppy allows-- It was all, he says, borrowed--all second-hand roar; And he vastly prefers his own little bow-wows To the loftiest war-note the Lion could pour.
""Tis, indeed, as good fun as a "Cynic" could ask, To see how this c.o.c.kney-bred setter of rabbits Takes gravely the Lord of the Forest to task, And judges of Lions by puppy-dog habits.
"Nay, fed as he was (and this makes it a dark case) With sops every day from the Lion"s own pan, He lifts up his leg at the n.o.ble beast"s carca.s.s, And--does all a dog, so diminutive, can.
"However, the book"s a good book, being rich in Examples and warnings to lions high-bred, How they suffer small mongrelly curs in their kitchen, Who"ll feed on them living, and foul them when dead.
"Exeter "Change".
T. PIDc.o.c.k."
For the reply of Hunt or one of his friends, "The Giant and the Dwarf,"
see Appendix VI.]
[Footnote 3: William Sotheby (1757-1833), once a cavalry officer, afterwards a man of letters and of fortune, published his "Oberon" in 1798, and his "Georgics" in 1800 (see "English Bards, etc.", line 818, and "note"). The following pa.s.sage from Byron"s "Detached Thoughts"
(1821) refers to him:
"Sotheby is a good man; rhymes well (if not wisely), but is a bore. He seizes you by the b.u.t.ton. One night of a rout, at Mrs. Hope"s, he had fastened upon me (something about Agamemnon or Orestes--or some of his plays), notwithstanding my symptoms of manifest distress, (for I was in love and had just nicked a minute when neither mothers, nor husbands, nor rivals, nor gossips, were near my then idol, who was beautiful as the Statues of the Gallery where we stood at the time).
Sotheby, I say, had seized upon me by the b.u.t.ton, and the heart-strings, and spared neither. W. Spencer, who likes fun, and don"t dislike mischief, saw my case, and, coming up to us both, took me by the hand and pathetically bade me farewell, "for," said he, "I see it is all over with you." Sotheby then went away. "Sic me servavit Apollo.""]
[Footnote 4: See Catullus, xxix. 3:
"Quis hoc potest videre, quis potest pati, Nisi impudicus et vorax, et aleo, Mamurram habere, quod Comata Gallia Habebat uncti et ultima Britannia?"
See also xli. 4, xliii. 5 (compare Horace, "Sat". i. 5. 37), and lvii.
2.]
292.--To John Murray.
May 22nd, 1813.
Dear Sir,--I return the "_Curiosities of Literature_." [1] Pray is it fair to ask if the "_Twopenny Postbag_" is to be reviewed in this No.?
because, if not, I should be glad to undertake it, and leave it to Chance and the Editor for a reception into your pages.
Yours truly,
B.
P.S.--You have not sent me Eustace"s "Travels". [2]
[Footnote 1: The first volume of Isaac Disraeli"s "Curiosities of Literature" was published in 1791. The remaining volumes were published at intervals: vol. ii., 1793; vol. iii., 1817; vols. iv. and v., in 1823; vol. vi., 1834.]
[Footnote 2: John Chetwode Eustace ("circ". 1762-1815) published his "Tour through Italy" in 1813.]
293.--To John Murray.
May 23rd, 1813.
Dear Sir,--I question whether ever author before received such a compliment from his _master_. I am glad you think the thing is tolerably _vamped_ and will be _vendible_.
Pray look over the proof again. I am but a careless reviser, and let me have 12 struck off, and one or two for yourself to serve as MS. for the thing when published in the body of the volume. If Lady Caroline Lamb sends for it, do _not_ let her have it, till the copies are all ready, and then you can send her one.
Yours truly,
[Greek: Mpairon].
P.S.--H."s book is out at last; I have my copy, which I have lent already.
294.--To John Murray.