“You may tell Campbell that I hate him, but that he has written the best poetry that has been written for fifty years.”
Scott conveyed the message with fidelity, and Campbell replied,—
“Tell Leyden that I detest him, but I know the value of his critical approbation.”
Not Beyond Reach
Rev. Dr. Bethune asked a morose and miserly man how he was getting along. The man replied, “What business is that of yours?” Said the doctor, “Oh, sir, I am one of those who take an interest even in the meanest of God’s creatures.”
Limitation of Authority
Pope Paul IV. was so shocked at Michael Angelo’s undressed figures in his famous “Last Judgment,” that he employed Daniele da Volterra to clothe them; and he, in consequence, received the nickname of “Il Braghettone” (the breeches-maker). Michael Angelo, with his usual wit, punished Messer Biagio da Cesena, master of the ceremonies (who first suggested to the Pope the impropriety of nude figures), by painting him in hell, with ass’s ears, as Midas.
The story goes that Biagio implored the Pope to insist upon the removal of this caricature, whereupon Paul IV. replied:
“I might have released you from purgatory, but over hell I have no power!”