The Daily Cincinnati Republican, And Commercial Register

GENIUS IN PRISON

It was in prison that Boethius composed his excellent work on the Consolations of Philosophy; it was in prison that Goldsmith wrote his Vicar of Wakefield:--it was in prison that Cervantes wrote Don Quixotte, which laughed chivalry out of Europe;-it was in prison that Charles I. composed that excellent work, the Portraiture of a Christian King:—it was in prison that John Bunyan wrote his celebrated Pilgrim's Progress; it was in prison that Grotius wrote his Commentary on St. Matthew; it was in prison that Buchanan composed his excellent Paraphrase on the Psalms of David; it was in prison that Daniel De Foe wrote his Robinson Crusoe: (he offered it to a bookseller for ten pounds, which the liberal encourager of literature declined giving;) —it was in prison that Sir Walter Raleigh wrote his History of the World; it was in prison that Voltaire sketched the plan and composed most of the poem of The Henriade; it was in prison that Howell wrote most of his Familiar Letters; it was in prison that Margaret of France wrote An Apology for the Irregularities of her Conduct; it was in prison that Sir John Pettus wrote the book on metals, called Fleta Minor; it was in prison that Tasso wrote most of his affecting poems; it was in prison that Elizabeth of England, and her victim, Mary, Queen of Scots, wrote their best poems. With the fear of a prison how many works have been written?

Ladies' Magazine.

The list may be extended. Pelico's Memoirs are a recent example. [And Taylor's 'Diogesis' an example still more recent.]