. 286-310) that we may be allowed to regret
such dilated statements; the more so, as, to the fastidious taste of
the English, the engravings, in the different articles described, have
not the beauty and merit which are attached to them by the French. Yet
does M. Renouard narrate pleasantly, and write elegantly.

In regard to the "_brush_ at the Decameron," above alluded to, I read
it with surprise and pleasure--on the score of the moderate tone of
criticism which it displayed--and shall wear it in my hat with as much
triumph as a sportsman does a "brush" of a different description! Was
it _originally_ more _piquan?_ I have reason not only to suspect, but
to know, that it WAS. Be this as it may, I should never, in the first
place, have been backward in returning all home thrusts upon the
aggressor--and, in the second place, I am perfectly disposed that my
work may stand by the test of such criticism. It is, upon the whole,
fair and just; and _justice_ always implies the mention of _defects_
as well as of excellencies. It may, however, be material to remark,
that the _third_ volume of the Decameron is hardly amenable to the
tribunal of French criticism; inasmuch as the information which it
contains is almost entirely national--and therefore partial in its
application.

[133] [Not so. Messrs. Payne and Foss once shewed me a yet _larger_
copy of it upon vellum, than even M. Renouard's: but so many of the
leaves had imbibed an indelible stain, which no skill could eradicate,
that it was scarcely a saleable article. It was afterwards bought by
Mr. Bohn at a public auction.]

[134] [It was sold at the Sale of his Aldine Library for L68. 15s. 8d. and
is now, I believe, in the fine Collection of Sir John Thorold, Bart,
at Syston Park. The Cicero did not come over for sale.]

[135] [In the previous edition I had supposed, erroneously, that it was the
Father, M. Renouard himself, who had invoked his name on the occasion.
The verses are pretty enough, and may as well find a place _here_
as in M. Crapelet's performance.

Je l'ai vu ce fameux bouquin
Qui te fait un titre de gloire:
Tout Francois qui passe le Rhin
Doit remporter une Victoire.]

[136] [M. Renouard obtained it at a public sale in Paris, against a very
stiff commission left for it by myself. A copy of equal beauty is in