Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1855-08-18
Flaws In Diam ond..

pOnlt5 OF biographical WORKS. lney may De called
the coioring OF literary porraiture, and, being en-
dowed with an individual vitality, are found to
lnger enngest in the memory of the general
reader.
Having gathered together a number of these
personal anecdotes, we propose to pass away
gossipping, and not wholly Improbable, half
hour in relating them to our readers.
1t is painful TO reflect upon the inordinate van
ity which characterizes many illustrious lives
( When Caesar became bald, he constantly wore the
laurel-wreath with which we see him represented
medals, in the hope of concealing the defect;
and Cicero's egotlsm great, that he even
composed a Latin hexamiter in his own praise:
Oh fortunatam natam me Consule Roman.
ooh fortunate Rome when was born her con-
sulD--
line which elected the Just sarcasms of Juvenal.
Queen Elizabeth left three thousand different
\ dresses in her wardrobe when she died; and, dur
ing many years Of the latter part Of her life,
would not suffer a looking-g glass in her presence,
A Tor fear that she should perceive the rayages OF
time upon her countenance. Mgcenas, the most
gorgeous OF classic exquisites, is said to have
welded the Roman Empire with rings on his fin
gers. The vanity of Benyenuto Celn is too
well known to need repetition. Sir Walter Ra-
leigh was, perhapss the greatest beau record.
Ills shoes, on court days, were SO gorgeously
adorned with precious stones as to have exceeded
six thousand gulneas in value; and he had suit
OF armout, oi solid silver, with jeweled sword and
The great Descartes was very particular about
his wigs, and always kept four in his dressing
! closet; piece of vanity iii which he was imi-
tated by Sir Richard Steele, who never expended
/ less than forty gdneas upon one of his large black
| periwigs. Mozart, whose light hair was of a fine
quality, wore IT very long and flowing down be-
tween his shoulders with tie of coored ribbon
combining it ut the neck Poor Goldsmith 5 inno-
cent dandyism, and the story his peach-blossom
coat, are almost proverbial. Popes selflove was
| SO great, that, according to Johnson, he chad
been fattered till he thought himself one of the
moving powers in the system of life." Allan
| Ramsay egotism was excessive. On one occa-
| sion, he modestly took precedence of Peter the
Great, in estimating their comparative import
ance with the public: "But baud (hod) proud
Gar" he says, 81 wanda niilear (exchange)
I fame II Napoleon vain OF his small foot.
/ Salvador Rosa was once heard TO compare himself
with Raphael and Michael Angelo, calling the
former dry, and the latter coarse and Raphael,
again, was Jealous Of the fame and skill of Michael
Angelo. Hogarth's historical paintings, which
were bad--equalled, in his own opinion, those of
! the old masters. Sir Peter lely's vanity was so
well known, that mschievous w.t. resolving to
try what amount of ilattery he would believe told
! him one day that if the Author of Mankind could
have had the benefit of his Hely's) opinions upon
beauty, we should all have been materially bene-
ftted m point OF personal appearance; to which
the painter emphatically replied: Store Colt,
sare, believe you re right Bojardo, the Ital-
ian poet, ascribed SO high an importance to his
poetry, that when he had invented suitable
name for one of his heroes, he set the bells ring
ing in the village. kotsobue was so vain and
envous, that he could endure nothing celebrated
to be near him, though il were but a picture or
statue and even LamaTtine the loftiesl and finest
of French poets,. robs his charming pages of half
their beauty by the inordinate sefpraise of his
commentaries. Rosseau has been called ssthe
selt-torturing egotist;" and Lord Byrons life has
boar, Id
beginning to end. He was vain of his genius his
rank, his misanthropy, and even of his vices; and
| he was particularly proud of his good riding and
of his handsome hands.
Penurousness, unhappily, has been too COM
monty associated with learning and fame. Cato,
the censor, on his return from Spain, was so par
simonious that he sold his fiedhorse, to save the
expense of conveying the animal by sea to Italy.
Attius Reguus, at the period of his greatest glory
in Africa, entreated permission to return home
to the management OF his estate, which consisted
but of seven acres alleging that his servants had
been defraudng him of certain agricultural inn
| plements and that he was anxious to look after
his affairs Lord Bacon is a melancholy instance
/ OF the dominion obtained by avarice over great
| mind. Among artists, Nollekens and Northcote
were proverbially penurious Swift, in his old
| age, was avaracous, and had an absolute terror
OF visitors. "When his friends of either sex came
to him in expectation of dinner his custom was
to give every one shilling, that they might
please themselves with their provision. Of the
great Duke of Marlborough, it is said by Macau-
lay, that shs splendid qualities were mingled with
alloy of the most sordid kind. :"
We will now turn TO the errors of self-ndu-
gence. Socrates, Plato, Agathon, Aristophanes
and others of the most celebrated Greeks drank
| wine to surprising extent; and Plato says, in
| his Symposium, that Socrates kept sober longer
than any. Tiberius was much addicted to this
vice, that he had frequently to be carried from
/ the senate louse. Cato WAS FIND If ha hottla
Ben Jonson delighted in copous draughts of Can
| airy wine, and even contrived to have a pipe of
that liquor added to his yearly pension as poet
laureate. The fine intellect of Coleridge was
elouded over by this unhappy propensity Mon
| taigne INDUCED in sherry. The otherwise unex-
ceptionable morality of Addison was stained by
| this one error. Sir Richard Steele Fielding and
Sterne shared the prevailing taste for hard drink
| ing. Mozart was no exception to the rule.
ChurchhIil was very incorporate man; and
! Hogarth gave ludicrous Immortality TO the
satrist's love of porter, by representing BIN in
| the character of a bear with a mug of that liquor
| in its paw. Tasso aggravated his mental irrita-
bihty by the use Of wines, despite the entreaties
of his physicians. During his long Imprisonment,
he speaks gratefully in his letters Of some sweat
meats with which he had been supplied; and after
his release, he relates with delight the good things
that were provided for him by his patron the
Duke OF Mantua-"the bread and fruit the fish
and flesh, the wines, sharp and brisk and the con-
iecuons. Pope, who was somewhat of an epicure
when staying at the house of Lord Bolngbroke,
would lie in bed for days together unless he heard
there were to be stewed lampreys for dinner, when
he would forthwith arise, and make his appear
unce at table. DR.. Johnson had n voracious lik-
ing for leg of mutton. "At my Aunt Ford s."
he said, 81 ate so much Of a leg Of mutton, that
she used to talk of F" gentleman once treat
cd him to dish Of new honey and couted cream,
Of which he partook so enormously, that his en-
tertainer was alarmed.
Quin, the famous actor, has been known to
travel from London 10 Bath, for the mere sake of
dining upon John Dory. DIR. Parr, in a private
letter, confesses to his passionate love of hot boil
ed Holsters, with profusion of shrimp-sauce
Shelly was for many years vegetarian; and in
the notes to his earliest edition Of Queen NAB,
speaks with enthusiasm of dinner Of "greens,
potatoes, and tunips," Ariosto was excessively
fond OF turnips. He ate fast, and Of whatever
was nearest TO him. often beginning with the
bread upon the table before the other dishes came
Being visited one day by stranger, he devoured
all the dinner that was provided for both; and
when afterwards censured for his impoliteness,