MEMOIR OP JOHN KEATS.
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ealth, and with life oflTering all things that wereprecious to him." The increased ill-health of his brother Tom andthe determination of George to emigrate to Americacast much gloom over the comiDletion of "Endymion,**which was, however, dispersed by a pedestrian tourthrough Scotland, in the company of Mr. Bro^vn, aretired merchant, who had been Keats's neighbourduring the preceding summer, and whose sympatheticand congenial disposition he had much enjoyed, Mr.Reynolds' objection to a projected Preface provokedthe following spirited remonstrance : — "I have not the slightest feeling of humility towardsthe public or to anything in existence but the Eter-nal Being, the Principle of Beauty, and the Memoryof great Men. When I am writing for myself, forthe mere sake of the moment's enjoyment, perhapsnature has its course with me ; but a Preface iswritten to the public— a thing I cannot help lookingupon as an enemy, and which I cannot address with-out feelings of hostility. If I write a Preface in asupple or subdued style, it will not be in characterwith me as a public speaker. I would be subduedbefore my friends, and thank them for subduing me,but among multitudes of men I have no feel ofstooping : I hate the idea of humility to them. Inever wrote one single line of poetry with the leastshadow of public thought Forgive me for vexingyou, and making a Trojan horse of such a trifle, bothwith respect to the matter in question, and myself;but it eases me to tell you : I could not live withoutthe love of my friends; I would jump down Etna i
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