course declared victor, and he
marched off, triumphantly, with the volume under his arm.
Lord Spencer has a fine copy of this first edition of
Shakspeare, collated by Steevens himself.]

[Footnote 451: We raise the column to the hero who has
fought our battles by sea or land; and we teach our children
to look up with admiration and reverence towards an object
so well calculated to excite the best sympathies of the
human heart. All this is well; and may it never be
neglected! But there are other characters not less noble,
and of equal glory to a great nation like our own; and they
are those who, to the adventitious splendour of hereditary
rank, add all the worth and talent of a private condition,
less exposed to temptation, and suited to the cultivation of
peaceful and literary pursuits. Such a character is GEORGE
JOHN EARL SPENCER! A nobleman, not less upright and weighty
in the senate than polished and amiable in private life;
who, cool and respected amidst the violence of party, has
filled two of the most important offices of state in a
manner at once popular and effective; and who, to his
general love of the fine arts, and acquaintance with
classical literature, has superadded the noble achievement
of having collected the finest private library in Europe!
The reader has already met with sufficient mention of this
collection to justify what is here said in commendation of
it.... In the deepest recess of Althorpe Park--where the
larch and laurustinus throw their dark yet pleasing
shade--and where

----pinus ingens, albaque populus
Umbram hospitalem consociare amant
Ramis--

let the Doric Temple be raised, with its white-marbled
columns, sacred to the memory of this ILLUSTRIOUS NOBLEMAN!
Let his bust, in basso-relievo, with appropriate
embellishments, adorn the most conspicuous compartment
within: and peace and virtue, and filial affection, will, I
am sure, be the guardians of so cherished a spot!

[Illustration: ARMS OF EARL SPENCER.

DIEU DEFEND LE DROIT]]

It must not, however, be forgotten that, if first editions are, in
some instances, of great importance, they are in many respects
superfluous, and only incumber the shelves of a collector; inasmuch as
the labours of subsequent editors have corrected the