The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 384, August 8, 1829 · Chapter 6The Gatherer
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A snapper up of unconsidered trifles.
Are unsightly insects—yet how many of them have been spared by the recollection of Shakspeare's beautiful lines—
—The poor beetle, that we tread upon.
In corporal suffering finds a pang as great
As when a giant dies.
Snails, though in England they cannot be mentioned as an article of food without exciting disgust, are esteemed in many places abroad a delicacy even for the tables of the great. In Paris they are sold in the market; they are much esteemed in Italy, and are of so much consequence in Venice that they are attended and fattened with as much care as poultry are in England.
Zeno, the philosopher, believed in an inevitable destiny, and acknowledged but one God. His servant availed himself of this doctrine one day while being beaten for a theft, by exclaiming, "Was I not destined to rob?" "Yes," replied Zeno, "and to be corrected also."
Theophile, the French poet, dedicated a book to James I. of England, in the hope of being personally introduced to that monarch, but being disappointed in this expectation he wrote the following lines on the subject:—
"Si Jacques Roi de grand savoir
N'a pas trouvé bon de me voir,
En voici la cause infallible;
C'est que ravi de mon ecrit
Il cout que j'etois tout esprit
Et par consequent invisible."
The English have two instances on record of remarkable longevity, that of Henry Jenkins, a Yorkshire fisherman, who died 1670, aged 169; and Thomas Parr, who died 1635, aged 152. The Russians appear to be the longest lived of any people, as a proof of this the following article from La Clinique, a Parisian medical journal, will be sufficient:— "Last year (1828) 604 individuals died between 100 and 105 years old; 145 between 105 and 110; 104 between 110 and 115; 46 between 115 and 120; 16 between 125 and 130; 4 between 130 and 135; 1 at the age of 137; and 1 at 160."
In St. Michael's Church, Crooked-lane, there is a handsome monument to the memory of Sir William Walworth, with this inscription:—
Here under lies a man of fame,
William Walworth called by name,
Fishmonger he was in lifetime here,
And twice Lord Mayor, as in books appear,
Who with courage stout and manly might,
Slew Wat Tyler in King Richard's sight,
And for which act done, and heere intent
The king made him a knight incontinent,
And gave him arms as here may see,
To declare his fact and chivalrie.
He left his life the year of our God,
Thirteen hundred fourscore and three odd.
Collins was never a lover, and never married. His odes, with all their exquisite fancy and splendid imagery, have not much interest in their subjects, and no pathos derived from feeling or passion. He is reported to have been once in love; and as the lady was a day older than himself, he used to say jestingly, that "he came into the world a day after the fair."
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Footnote 1: (return)
Fréron was an eminent journalist of the last century: his criticisms procured him many powerful enemies, among whom was Voltaire.
Footnote 2: (return)
Stow's Summarie of the Chronicles of England, p. 245.
Footnote 3: (return)
Lord Gilford, the Duke of Northumberland's fourth son, married Lady Jane, the Duke of Suffolk's daughter, whose mother being then alive, was daughter to Mary, King Henrie's sister, which was then married to the French king, and after to Charles, Duke of Suffolke. Also the Earle of Pembroke's eldest son married Lady Katharine, the said duke's second daughter. And Martin Keie's gentleman porter married Mary, the third daughter of the Duke of Suffolke. And the Earle of Huntington's son, called Lord Hastings, married Katharine, youngest daughter to the Duke of Northumberland.—Stow's Chronicle, p. 1029, edit. 1600.
Footnote 4: (return)
Strype's Stow, vol. ii. p. 576.
Footnote 5: (return)
Pennant's London, p. 120, 4to. edit.
Footnote 6: (return)
Stow's Chronicle, p. 975.
Footnote 7: (return)
Strype's Stow, vol. ii. p. 576.
Footnote 8: (return)
Howel's Londinopolis, p. 349.
Footnote 9: (return)
George III.—This incident actually occurred.
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