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Article ANECDOTES OF BENSERADE. Page 1 of 1
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Anecdotes Of Benserade.
ANECDOTES OF BENSERADE .
ISAAC BENSERADE was but six years old when the Bishop who confirmed him asked him , whether he would change his Jewish name for a Christian one : —Yes , replied the child , if they give me any thing to boot . The Bishop , surprised at the answer , said to those near him , Let him retain his name , he will render it famous . The Cardinal Mazarine told the King one evening in what
manner he had passed his 3 'outh at' the court of Rome . That he was fond of the sciences ; but that his principal occupation had been the study of the belles lettres and poetry , in which last he had succeeded tolerably well ; and that he was then at the court of Rome what Benscrade was now at the court of Paris . Some time after he withdrew from the king ' s closet and retired to his apartment ; Benserade arrived
an hour after . When his friends had acquainted him with what had passed he was overjoyed ,- and quitted them abruptly without saying a single word . He ran to the cardinal's , who wasjust gone to bed , buthe made so much noise with knocking at the door that they were obliged to let him in . . He threw himself on his knees at the bed ' s head of his eminence , and having asked him pardon a thousand times for his boldness , told him what he had just heard . He thanked him
( with an ardour hardly to be described ) for the great honour he had done him in mentioning his name in the manner he did . He added , that had his servants prevented him from coming in to express his gratitude , he would have expired at his door . His sensibility was very pleasing to the cardinal , who assured him of his protection . Its short , six days after he gave him a pension of two thousand livres * ,
and granted him after that more considerable gratifications . Benserade made profession of saying witty things , and in reality excelled in it . A few proofs will be sufficient . A courtier and a married man was greatly suspected of impotency , and much joked by Benserade and others on that account , which offended the gentleman very much , who had a quite different opinion of himself . Some
months after , meeting with the poet , " Sir , " says he , " notwithstanding yourjokes my wife has been brought to bed some days ago . " " Upon my word , sir , " answered he , " I never suspected your wife in the least . " Benserade was one day in a large company where a young lady was entreated to sing . Her voice was exceeding fine , but her breath somewhat strong . Benserade was asked his opinion of her singing ; he answered , the words were delightful , but the air good for nothing .
* About fourscore pounds .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Anecdotes Of Benserade.
ANECDOTES OF BENSERADE .
ISAAC BENSERADE was but six years old when the Bishop who confirmed him asked him , whether he would change his Jewish name for a Christian one : —Yes , replied the child , if they give me any thing to boot . The Bishop , surprised at the answer , said to those near him , Let him retain his name , he will render it famous . The Cardinal Mazarine told the King one evening in what
manner he had passed his 3 'outh at' the court of Rome . That he was fond of the sciences ; but that his principal occupation had been the study of the belles lettres and poetry , in which last he had succeeded tolerably well ; and that he was then at the court of Rome what Benscrade was now at the court of Paris . Some time after he withdrew from the king ' s closet and retired to his apartment ; Benserade arrived
an hour after . When his friends had acquainted him with what had passed he was overjoyed ,- and quitted them abruptly without saying a single word . He ran to the cardinal's , who wasjust gone to bed , buthe made so much noise with knocking at the door that they were obliged to let him in . . He threw himself on his knees at the bed ' s head of his eminence , and having asked him pardon a thousand times for his boldness , told him what he had just heard . He thanked him
( with an ardour hardly to be described ) for the great honour he had done him in mentioning his name in the manner he did . He added , that had his servants prevented him from coming in to express his gratitude , he would have expired at his door . His sensibility was very pleasing to the cardinal , who assured him of his protection . Its short , six days after he gave him a pension of two thousand livres * ,
and granted him after that more considerable gratifications . Benserade made profession of saying witty things , and in reality excelled in it . A few proofs will be sufficient . A courtier and a married man was greatly suspected of impotency , and much joked by Benserade and others on that account , which offended the gentleman very much , who had a quite different opinion of himself . Some
months after , meeting with the poet , " Sir , " says he , " notwithstanding yourjokes my wife has been brought to bed some days ago . " " Upon my word , sir , " answered he , " I never suspected your wife in the least . " Benserade was one day in a large company where a young lady was entreated to sing . Her voice was exceeding fine , but her breath somewhat strong . Benserade was asked his opinion of her singing ; he answered , the words were delightful , but the air good for nothing .
* About fourscore pounds .