Estimate of Greatness

Anecdotes Home

Pope was with Sir Godfrey Kneller one day, when his
nephew, a Guinea trader, came in. "Nephew," said Sir Godfrey, "you have the
honour of seeing the two greatest men in the world."--"I don't know how
great you may be," said the Guinea-man, "but I don't like your looks: I
have often bought a man much better than both of you together, all muscles
and bones, for ten guineas."

"Rejected Addresses."--The fame of the brothers James and Horatio Smith was
confined to a limited circle, until the publication of "The Rejected
Addresses." James used to dwell with much pleasure on the criticism of a
Leicestershire clergyman: "I do not see why they ('The Addresses') should
have been rejected: I think some of them very good." This, he would add, is
almost as good as the avowal of the Irish Bishop, that there were some
things in "Gulliver's Travels" which he could not believe.

Next: The Two Smith's

Previous: Pope the Poet

Report
Privacy

SHARE

ADD TO EBOOK

Viewed 2656

Random Anecdotes

Frederick The Great
Literary Pursuits
Dictionaries
Thomson And Quin
Maclaurin
Maximilian I
Sporting
Turenne
A Good Example
In July, 1849
Touching Recognition
Servant At Noyon
Bishop And His Clerks
Sir W. Scott
Mackenzie," Was The Reply
Ximenes
Treated So Cavalierly
Desertion
A French Mayor
Clans
Sion College
The Horse Dealer
Old Ambrose
The Sailor And The Actress
The Stocks