[Footnote A:  This appears in one of his interesting letters first published in the Literary Gazette, Oct. 20, 1821.—­[It is addressed to Adam Smith, dated July 28, 1759, and he says, “I signed an agreement with Mr. Millar, where I mention that I proposed to write the History of England from the beginning till the accession of Henry VII.,; and he engages to give me 1400_l_. for the copy.  This is the first previous agreement ever I made with a bookseller.  I shall execute the work at leisure, without fatiguing myself by such ardent application as I have hitherto employed.  It is chiefly as a resource against idleness that I shall undertake the work, for as to money I have enough:  and as to reputation what I have wrote already will be sufficient, if it be good; if not, it is not likely I shall now write better."]]

Amidst the repose and silence of study, delightful to the literary character, are the soothing interruptions of the voices of those whom he loves, recalling him from his abstractions into social existence.  These re-animate his languor, and moments of inspiration are caught in the emotions of affection, when a father or a friend, a wife, a daughter, or a sister, become the participators of his own tastes, the companions of his studies, and identify their happiness with his fame.  A beautiful incident in the domestic life of literature is one which Morellet has revealed of MARMONTEL.  In presenting his collected works to his wife, she discovered that the author had dedicated his volumes to herself; but the dedication was not made painful to her modesty, for it was not a public one.  Nor was it so concise as to be mistaken for a compliment.  The theme was copious, for the heart overflowed in the pages consecrated to her domestic virtues; and MARMONTEL left it as a record, that their children might learn the gratitude of their father, and know the character of their mother, when the writer should be no more.  Many readers were perhaps surprised to find in NECKER’s Comte rendu au Roi, a political and financial work, a great and lovely character of domestic excellence in his wife.  This was more obtrusive than Marmontel’s private dedication; yet it was not the less sincere.  If NECKER failed in the cautious reserve of private feelings, who will censure?  Nothing seems misplaced which the heart dictates.

If HORACE were dear to his friends, he declares they owed him to his father:—­

                 —­purus et insons
  (Ut me collaudem) si vivo et carus amicis,
  Causa fuit Pater his.

If pure and innocent, if dear (forgive
These little praises) to my friends I live,
My father was the cause.