bee loath to have him out of your
sight, set him aside beforehand.' On the authority of the above extract,
Gough has charged Bodley with being a suspicious character--or, in other
words, a thief; but the complete letter puts a very different complexion
on the extract. He tars with the same brush Dr. Moore, Bishop of Ely,
Dr. Rawlinson, and his friend Umfreville. In connection with the
first-named, Gough repeats an anecdote which crops up every now and then
as authentic, for these half-truths have an extraordinary vitality. The
anecdote runs as follows: 'A gentleman calling on a friend who had a
choice library, found him unusually busy in putting his best books out
of sight; upon asking his view in this, he answered, "Don't you know
that the Bishop of Ely dines with me to-day?"' There can be only one
inference, of course. As a matter of fact, we do not believe that there
is any truth in either rumour. So far as Dr. Moore, 'the Father of
Black-letter Collectors,' is concerned, there can be no doubt that he
had a fairly elastic conscience in the matter of book-collecting. He is
said to have collected his library by plundering those of the clergy of
his diocese, justifying himself by the cynical remark, _Quid illiterati
cum libris?_ We do not vouch for the truth of this anecdote, any more
than for the graver charge, but probably there is some foundation for
it. In the Harleian MSS. there is an interesting account of the several
libraries, public and private, which existed in London during the
earlier part of the last century. From this source we learn that 'in the
days of Edward VI., in the chapel adjoining to the Guildhall, called my
Lord Maiors Chapell, was a library well furnisht, being all MSS. Stow
says the Duke of Somerset borrowed them, with a design never to return
them, but furnisht his own study in his pompous house in the Strand;
they were five cartloads.'

Horace Walpole expressed his opinion to the effect that virtuosi have
been long remarked to have little conscience in their favourite
pursuits. A man will steal a rarity, who would cut off his hand rather
than take the money it is worth. Yet in fact the crime is the same. He
tells us of a 'truly worthy clergyman, who collects coins and books. A
friend of mine mentioning to him that he had several of the Strawberry
Hill editions, this clergyman said, "Aye, but I can show you what it is
not in Mr. Walpole's power to give you." He then produced a list of the
pic