The incident, perhaps, would hardly have been worth recording, except from the circumstance that this humble nest, built in a very obscure part of the kingdom, subsequently produced a splendid bookseller, who was succeeded by one equally splendid, but who might also be termed a Coxcomb Bookseller.
Possum etiam pergere sed non est operæ in istis diem terere, et sit mihi tempus aggredi ad cætera.
Jam ergo lector optime scito te non fabulam legere et a socco ad cothurnum ascendere.
CHAPTER XLI.
Surely, exclaims our Sexagenarian, in continuance of his scraps upon the subject, I shall find in the Metropolis, booksellers of a different calibre, men of enlarged minds, liberal ideas, and ample property, who, even for their own sakes, will be glad to promote literary industry, and encourage literary talent. To the metropolis he came, and almost the first person to whom he was introduced was a Dry Bookseller.
He was an extensive publisher on all subjects, and of all parties, from the most subtle and profound speculations on mathematics and philosophy, to the humble translation from a French romance.
His own principles were immutable, nor did he take any pains to conceal them. He was of the old Presbyterian school, and had imbibed its sourest manners. Yet he was far from wanting benevolence, though he generally wore a sort of Sardonic grin on his countenance; he often shewed kindness to needy authors, was not over hard in his bargains with them, and, what is matter of no trifling importance, would often give them a dinner.
His feelings on the subject of religion, and his political opinions, may as well be let alone. His principal fault, as far as authors were concerned, was a sort of reluctance to come to a final settlement, which on some occasions, of which our friend met with one example, was deferred to the Greek Calends.
Three different works were published by the S. in conjunction with this personage. The two first were of no particular interest. They were proposed on the one part from the res angusta domi, and acceded to on the other, because, from their subjects, they offered a reasonable probability of being, in some degree, successful.