It happens to the princes of literature to encounter periods of varying duration when their names are revered and their books are not read. The growth, not to say the fluctuation, of Shakespeare's popularity is one of the curiosities of literary history. Worshiped by his contemporaries, apostrophized by Milton only fourteen pears after his death as the "dear son of memory, great heir to fame,"--"So sepulchred in such pomp dost lie, That kings, for such a tomb, would wish to die,"--he was neglected by the succeeding age, the subject of violent extremes of opinion in the eighteenth century, and so lightly esteemed by some that Hume could doubt if he were a poet "capable of furnishing a proper entertainment to a refined and intelligent audience," and attribute to the rudeness of his "disproportioned and misshapen" genius the "reproach of barbarism" which the English nation had suffered from all its neighbors. I have lost confidence in the favorable disposition of my countrymen, and look forward to cold scrutiny and stern criticism, and this is a line of writing in which I have not hitherto ascertained my own powers. Could I afford it, I should like to write, and to lay my writings aside when finished. There is an independent delight in study and in the creative exercise of the pen; we live in a world of dreams, but publication lets in the noisy rabble of the world, and there is an end of our dreaming. THEIR PILGRIMAGE [CW#6][cwpil10.txt]3102 Act of eating is apt to be disenchanting Air of endurance that fathers of families put on Anxiously asked at every turn how he likes it As much by what they did not say as by what they did say Asked Mr King if this was his first visit Beautifully regular and more satisfactorily monotonous Best part of a conversation is the things not said Comfort of leaving same things to the imagination Common attitude of the wholesale to the retail dealer Confident opinions about everything Couldn't stand this sort of thing much longer Designed by a carpenter, and executed by a stone-mason Facetious humor that is more dangerous than grumbling Fat men/women were never intended for this sort of exhibition Feeding together in a large room must be a little humiliating Fish, they seemed to say, are not so easily caught as men Florid man, who "swelled" in, patronizing the entire room Hated a fellow that was always in high spirits Irresponsibility of hotel life It is a kind of information I have learned to dispense with It's an occupation for a man to keep up a cottage Let me be unhappy now and then, and not say anything about it Live, in short, rather more for one's self than for society Loftily condescending Lunch was dinner and that dinner was supper Man in love is poor company for himself and for everybody else Nearsighted, you know, about seeing people that are not Not to care about anything you do care about Notion of duty has to account for much of the misery in life