The highly flattering manner in which my work, entitled _Nollekens and
his Times_, was generally received, induced me to collect numerous
scattered biographical papers, which I have considerably augmented with a
variety of subjects, arranged chronologically, according to the years of
my life.
Some may object to my vanity, in expecting the reader of the following
pages to be pleased with so heterogeneous a dish. It is, I own, what
ought to be called a salmagundi, or it may be likened to various suits
of clothes, made up of remnants of all colours. One promise I can make,
that as my pieces are mostly of new cloth, they will last the longer. Dr.
Johnson has said:
“All knowledge is of itself of some value. There is nothing so minute or
inconsiderable, that I would not rather know, than not.”
Lord Orrery, in a letter to Dr. Birch, dated November, 1741, makes the
following observation:
“I look upon anecdotes as debts due to the public, which every man, when
he has that kind of cash by him, ought to pay.”