New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-04-03
1Hl r.iycIES or 4r1HoES.


Clrnoadcs. the pri'o-ophcr. Seldom wrote With
ont dosing himself win lriich"rc .f'hN.
lus Eupolls CTtlurs ard hrnln- arc sam
never 10 law sat down Ia compose tI ;lcy were
intoxicated. Dryden often bad himself hlcd. ami
Ike Fusr ate raw meat To assist. 20 he sad his
Imagination. Shadwcil. De z duc'y I,A lmananzIr
beau Miner, Cncrdge aud Bishop llorsey. stnn-
lated themselves with opium. a. DE Mnsset was
helpless without ab,lnihc Gray seldom lat down
to compose without hfst reading through . so,ns
with the prrusal OF 'Lucan' Blac kStOne never
wrote without bottle Of port wine on his desk, nor
Schiller without flask NJ ltneni'h within eau.
When his imagination wac sluggish he wouid sIt
with his feet IN hot water drinking coffee to thaw
the frost on his wits" MOntagno was never happy
without his cat and win the pen ~ hlS tlgnt .anu
while the left smoothing the glossy back OF MS
favorte iabby, mcditItcd his ESSAYS Boxhorne,
the great Dutch scholar could never write word
without pipe in his mouth. and as nc preferred
long plpe and vet required the use Of both hands,
he bethought him of very ingenious dcvice' nc
had u hat with an enormous brln, which impended
i'm front Of his face: through this he made hole
10 support bis pipe. thus securing the donoie al
vantage of shading his eyes and enjoying without
Inconvenience his favorite luxury, ana IN mus way
he produced his volumiuons and valuable Writings.
Hobbies had the same weakness. ten or tweiye
pipcs with candle being his tnvarisbie concoin-
itants at the desk. and DR.. Parr was MOI les 90
pendent on tobacco. Southey could never write
Inc except nj his desk with his books round MIN
aid with familiar objects by.
Milton could, ne said never compose anyth,ngto
Satisfaction except between the yerna and an
tumnal e1unex. At those seasons hls poetry came
like an inspiration. At ok + times. in spite OF tho
most strenuous efforts lie would be- unable 70 bring
10 the birth single verse. n"mron non anu
Jolnson with his usual bluff common sense. ridl-
MES such fances, and calls them unworthy OF any
scns1ble inan-the good Doctors theory being that
n man who had the power Of writing always couih
wr,tc "If ne set himself docgedy to H." Crnbbe's
tancios about himself are curious that We VIII
nuote the massage in his SONS biography or nlm
which bears Oh the subject: " Tie fancied that
autumn WAS on the whole tho most favorable sea
snn for him in the composition OF poetry but there
that appeared 10 stimulate HIM In very extra0Tdi'
nary manner. II was during n great snow storm
that shut mn in his room he wrote almost cnrrtHs
caldrro his Sir Eustace Grey. Latteriy ne worked
chiefly M night after all the family had retired"
William Prynno, the volumInous anthor OF the
Ulstriomastrix,' WAS nothing without long
quilted cap which came an inch over his eyes
Ruifon was helpless without spotless shirt ana
starched frill. still stranger were the whins OF
Graham the author Of The Sabbath and Hogg,
the Ettrck shepherd, who, II we are TO believe De
Ouincey found their vein never ran happily unless
they sat down TO their taeks with boots ana spurs
on An eminent modern novelist mas MS pm anu
his Imagination poweress unless be sits srrounuoo
nv Lighted candles IN darkoned room. and Horace
Walpole tells us that Lord Orrery found no stimu-
ms 80 efficacious as a sharp TIT OF the govt Inc
grr a; Dutch scholar, lsaak Vossius, and our own
poet John Philipps. would employ servant 10
comb their hair whilst they medItsted their works;
Coleridge told Haztt that when engaged IN com
position he never found his vein 80 happy as when
is Wa walking Over Uneven ground or MAKING ns
Nay Trough q coppicc with the twigs brushing ns
saca. Wordsworth. on the other band, preferred .
strni. If gravel walk. where he could wander me-
chemically and without any impairment 70 aud FRO,
In this way almost all his later poems were com
posed Lord Bacon had q fancy for inhaling she
FUMES OF otte OF csret poured out on earth which
had been newly upturned.