“What come ye for to see?”—The graves of Keats and Shelley—The church of San Paolo _fuori_—St. Peter’s rise from the dead—The tomb of the Scipios—The catacombs of the early Christians—The old cloisters of San Paolo—St. Peter’s palace, the Vatican—The Sixtine Chapel in which Michael Angelo re-creates the world 275
Faithful to England for a time—A summer passed at Ballenstedt—The castle of Blankenburg, the billiard-room and chapel—The situation of Ballenstedt: forest, hills, and lakes—Its vicinity to the Affenthaler valley—Reflections on paper—I am my own posterity—My writings since my eightieth year have delivered my message—The human comedy—I insinuate that I am the only English epigrammatist, _par excellence_—The general incapacity of appreciation—Short poems have often a biographic flavour—Further useless reflections—The almost imperceptible difference between man and man 280
The importance of religion, being a sermon preached to stones—I essay to hope backwards, and fail 286
Philographs of eminent medical men known to me in my day—Some of our scientists—The weak side of our great theorists, concerning the sun and conservation of energy 292
[Transcriber’s note: the errata have been corrected.]
Page 45, line 28, _for_ “that” _read_ “those.” ” 49, line 25, _for_ “equery” _read_ “equerry.” ” 79, line 1, _for_ “Breadalbine” _read_ “Breadalbane.” ” 89, line 2, _for_ “Tristam” _read_ “Tristram.” ” 147, line 10, _for_ “Lover” _read_ “Lever.” ” 158, line 6, _for_ “_vertueuse_” _read_ “_vertueuses_.” ” 202, line 18, _for_ “Marcel” _read_ “Marcet.”
Several literary men of eminence have from time to time suggested to me that I ought to write my memoirs, but I have long held the opinion that such works have scarcely a legitimate interest for one’s contemporaries. Now, however, that I have exceeded, by fourteen years, the age of man, I begin to regard the opinion of others, and to look upon myself as a sort of incipient posterity, and am disposed to make the experiment of placing some portion of my life on record.
Most people who attain to birth, parentage, and education, find the latter the most doubtful of the three, even the first being somewhat uncertain. For myself, there is a tradition in my family that I was born by candle-light on the 10th of March, 1809: it was at midnight, and in the town of Leeds.