g of the _Antediluvians_, there is, I
think, here and there a name worth resuscitating, possessing claims to a
_niche_ in our "Antiquary's Newspaper;" and for that distinction, I would
now put in a plea on behalf of my present subject, William Blake.

Although our author belongs to the _eccentric category_, he is a character
not only deserving of notice, but a model for imitation: the "_bee_ in his
bonnet" having set his sympathies in the healthy direction of a large
_philanthropy_ for the spiritual and temporal interests of his fellow men.

The congenial reader has already, I doubt not, anticipated that I am about
to introduce that nondescript book bearing the running title--and it never
had any other--of _Silver Drops, or Serious Things;_ purporting, in a kind
of colophon, to be "written by William Blake, housekeeper to the Ladies'
Charity School."[1] The curious in old books knows too, that, apart from
its subject, the _Silver Drops_ of W. B. has usually an attractive
exterior; most of the _exemplaires_ which have come under my notice being
sumptuously bound in old morocco, profusely tooled; with the name of the
party to whom it had apparently been presented, stamped in a compartment
upon the cover. Its value is farther enhanced by its pictorial and
emblematical accompaniments. These are four in number: the first
representing a heart, whereon {70} a fanciful picture of Charity supported
by angels; second, a view of Highgate Charity Schools (Dorchester House);
third, Time with his scythe and hour-glass[2]; and the fourth, in three
compartments, the centre containing butterflies; the smaller at top and
bottom, sententious allusions to the value of time--"Time drops pearles
from his golden wings," &c. These are respectable engravings, but by whom
executed I know not. After these, and before coming to the _Silver Drops_,
which are perhaps something akin to Master Brooks' _Apples of Gold_, the
book begins abruptly: "The Ladies' Charity School-house Roll of Highgate,
or a subscription of many noble well-disposed ladies for the easie carrying
of it on." "Being well informed," runs the Prospectus, "that there is a
pious, good, commendable work for maintaining near forty poor or fatherless
children, born all at or near Highgate, Hornsey, or Hamsted: we, whose
names are subscribed, do engage or promise, that if the said boys are
decently cloathed in blew, lined with yellow; constantly fed all alike with
good and wholsom diet; t