POSTSCRIPT.
It will not perhaps be a very easy matter, at this period of the work, to recall the mind of the reader from fiction to reality, and to persuade him of the melancholy truth, thatthe Sexagenarian is now no more. The circumstances attending this event are of an interesting, almost even of an awful nature. To engage the attention more deeply in his narrative, and to relieve it of the egotism attached to self-biography, the Sexagenarian had adopted the third person instead of the first in many parts of the work. He had supposed that after his death a friend had discovered a number of scattered materials, from which these volumes were to be formed, and had so supplied the connecting links as to make the history complete. In adopting this plan, he was enabled to give the narrativemany little lively turns, which the natural playfulness of his mind suggested. In this manner he had proceeded, sustaining the character of himself and his friend, within a few pages of the conclusion of his work, and had even corrected the press down to the present sheet. Little perhaps did he think how prophetic was his plan, and that on his own death-bed he should in reality entrust to a friend that office, which in fiction he had supposed to have been committed to his care. To present these Memoirs to the world, and explain the peculiar circumstances under which they are published, was the dying request of the Sexagenarian to one who knew and who valued his worth. He had scarcely entered upon his sixtieth year, and had just entitled himself to the appellation which in his work he had assumed, when he was suddenly called from an existence of much bodily pain and suffering. His life had been chequered by various events both of a prosperous and of an adverse nature. In the paths of literature his exertions hadbeen attended with the most gratifying success. He had moved in the first circles of life; he had been fostered by the great, and rewarded by the good. No man, perhaps, of his age, possessed larger or more varied resources of curious and entertaining scholarship. In literary anecdote, he was rich and fertile; in neat and appropriate citations, he was unrivalled. His conversation was easy, elegant, and communicative; and no scholar could leave his company without an addition to his stock of knowledge. As a friend, he was respected and beloved; among his acquaintance, indeed, his good-humour was almost proverbial. His open and generous nature was too often a dupe to the treacherous, and a prey to the designing. His latter days were spent in retirement from those busy scenes, in which he had formerly borne a conspicuous part. In the last two years of his life, he amused himself with the composition of the preceding Memoirs, which display an extensive knowledge of the events and the characters of a formerday. Many of the personages there described, like the hand which records them, are now in the dust, and have left their name only and their memories behind.
Would the reader enquire the end of the Sexagenarian; would he know how a life so spent was concluded; let him be assured, that his last hours were those of a good and pious man; that he departed in the same faith and fear in which he had lived. And happy will he be, who, after a life so actively and so usefully employed, shall repose upon a death-bed so calm, and so Christian, as that of theSexagenarian.
FOOTNOTES[1]Pergræcari means to spend the day and night in drinking.[2]Here is an hiatus in our manuscript.[3]“Tranquillity.” See the tale called “Bathmendi,” in Popular Tales.[4]Emendat. in Ciceronis Tusc. Quæst. iv. 21.[5]Judges.[6]A scurrilous Ballad, entitledChristmas Gambols.[7]Edward Bacon, Esq. Member for Norwich.[8]Sir Armine Wodehouse, Bart.[9]The Rev. Mr. Brand.[10]Alluding to a ball at the Duchess of Beaufort’s, at which Miss C. assisted, and to which her Grace invited no young men, for fear they should captivate the heart of Lady Eliz. Compton.[11]Mr. Fanshaw, of the Guards.[12]The Rev. Dr. Brooke.[13]Lady J⸺’s old butler.[14]John Lombe, Esq. of Melton.[15]Mr. Hamond Alpe, of Fransham.[16]A piece of scandal on Mr. Leonard Buxton, of Easton.[17]The celebrated Voltaire.[18]Sir H. B. of Kirby, Bart.
FOOTNOTES
[1]Pergræcari means to spend the day and night in drinking.
[1]Pergræcari means to spend the day and night in drinking.
[2]Here is an hiatus in our manuscript.
[2]Here is an hiatus in our manuscript.
[3]“Tranquillity.” See the tale called “Bathmendi,” in Popular Tales.
[3]“Tranquillity.” See the tale called “Bathmendi,” in Popular Tales.
[4]Emendat. in Ciceronis Tusc. Quæst. iv. 21.
[4]Emendat. in Ciceronis Tusc. Quæst. iv. 21.
[5]Judges.
[5]Judges.
[6]A scurrilous Ballad, entitledChristmas Gambols.
[6]A scurrilous Ballad, entitledChristmas Gambols.
[7]Edward Bacon, Esq. Member for Norwich.
[7]Edward Bacon, Esq. Member for Norwich.
[8]Sir Armine Wodehouse, Bart.
[8]Sir Armine Wodehouse, Bart.
[9]The Rev. Mr. Brand.
[9]The Rev. Mr. Brand.
[10]Alluding to a ball at the Duchess of Beaufort’s, at which Miss C. assisted, and to which her Grace invited no young men, for fear they should captivate the heart of Lady Eliz. Compton.
[10]Alluding to a ball at the Duchess of Beaufort’s, at which Miss C. assisted, and to which her Grace invited no young men, for fear they should captivate the heart of Lady Eliz. Compton.
[11]Mr. Fanshaw, of the Guards.
[11]Mr. Fanshaw, of the Guards.
[12]The Rev. Dr. Brooke.
[12]The Rev. Dr. Brooke.
[13]Lady J⸺’s old butler.
[13]Lady J⸺’s old butler.
[14]John Lombe, Esq. of Melton.
[14]John Lombe, Esq. of Melton.
[15]Mr. Hamond Alpe, of Fransham.
[15]Mr. Hamond Alpe, of Fransham.
[16]A piece of scandal on Mr. Leonard Buxton, of Easton.
[16]A piece of scandal on Mr. Leonard Buxton, of Easton.
[17]The celebrated Voltaire.
[17]The celebrated Voltaire.
[18]Sir H. B. of Kirby, Bart.
[18]Sir H. B. of Kirby, Bart.