Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Anecdotes Of Chapelain, A Great Miser.
ANECDOTES OF CHAPELAIN , A GREAT MISER .
C ' HAPELAIN was christened by some of the academicians , The Knight of the Order of die Spider ; because he wore a coat so pieced , and so very threadbare , that it appeared like a spider ' s web . On eday , in a large company assembled at the Prince of ' s , a monstrous spider was seen running on the floor ; every body was / irmly of inion it could not proceedfrom any corner of the
apartop ment , which was remarkably neat , but concluded unanimously it must have harboured in ' Chapelain s wig . The probability of this will appear , when it is known the wig was very bushy , never combed , and the only one Chapelain ever had . Balzac relates , that having had some dispute with CbapeUmi , he had not seen him in ten years ; but that at the expiration of that time they became again good friends ,
and going to see him found him alone in his apartment , with a spider ' s web traversing the whole in the same manner as at first . Chapelain , in order to save his napkins at meals , always- wiped his hands on a bundle of rushes . He wore a heavy cloak in the midst of summer , and being asked the reason , answered , he was not well : Cov . rart told him one day , I rather think your coat is indisposed . The avarice of Chapelain was so great that in the end it caused his death . One day
on the meeting of the academy he set out on foot , and was overtaken by a dreadful storm on the road ; not being willing to pay a halfpenny for passing a temporary bridge laid over a small rivulet , he determined to wait till the water should run off , but seeing by the churchclock on the other side that it . was already three , he waded the water , which came up to his knees . The fear he was in lest he should be suspected of what had happenedprevented him from coming near
, the academy fire ; . he sat down at a writing desk , and concealed his legs under it in the best manner he could . The cold seized on his stomach , and he died soon after of an oppression in his breast . Chapelain was boarded on very low terms , and when he was invited to dine or sup any where , he always deducted so much for every meal from his board . In . the sickness of which he diedhe possessed fifty
, thousand ecus in cash , and his usual pastime was , to have his strong box opened ; his bags of money placed on his bed , to have the pleasure of counting them . The day he died his bags were found in the same situation , which gave occasion to a wit of those days , in speaking to Mr . de Valois , to say , Do you know , sir , that our friend Mr , Chapelain died like a miller , in the midst of his sacks .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Anecdotes Of Chapelain, A Great Miser.
ANECDOTES OF CHAPELAIN , A GREAT MISER .
C ' HAPELAIN was christened by some of the academicians , The Knight of the Order of die Spider ; because he wore a coat so pieced , and so very threadbare , that it appeared like a spider ' s web . On eday , in a large company assembled at the Prince of ' s , a monstrous spider was seen running on the floor ; every body was / irmly of inion it could not proceedfrom any corner of the
apartop ment , which was remarkably neat , but concluded unanimously it must have harboured in ' Chapelain s wig . The probability of this will appear , when it is known the wig was very bushy , never combed , and the only one Chapelain ever had . Balzac relates , that having had some dispute with CbapeUmi , he had not seen him in ten years ; but that at the expiration of that time they became again good friends ,
and going to see him found him alone in his apartment , with a spider ' s web traversing the whole in the same manner as at first . Chapelain , in order to save his napkins at meals , always- wiped his hands on a bundle of rushes . He wore a heavy cloak in the midst of summer , and being asked the reason , answered , he was not well : Cov . rart told him one day , I rather think your coat is indisposed . The avarice of Chapelain was so great that in the end it caused his death . One day
on the meeting of the academy he set out on foot , and was overtaken by a dreadful storm on the road ; not being willing to pay a halfpenny for passing a temporary bridge laid over a small rivulet , he determined to wait till the water should run off , but seeing by the churchclock on the other side that it . was already three , he waded the water , which came up to his knees . The fear he was in lest he should be suspected of what had happenedprevented him from coming near
, the academy fire ; . he sat down at a writing desk , and concealed his legs under it in the best manner he could . The cold seized on his stomach , and he died soon after of an oppression in his breast . Chapelain was boarded on very low terms , and when he was invited to dine or sup any where , he always deducted so much for every meal from his board . In . the sickness of which he diedhe possessed fifty
, thousand ecus in cash , and his usual pastime was , to have his strong box opened ; his bags of money placed on his bed , to have the pleasure of counting them . The day he died his bags were found in the same situation , which gave occasion to a wit of those days , in speaking to Mr . de Valois , to say , Do you know , sir , that our friend Mr , Chapelain died like a miller , in the midst of his sacks .