"Look on't again I dare not." He had thus far unbosomed himself and he knew that it would be reported to the public.

He meant, then, seriously to state, that when he said he was the author, he was the total and undivided author.

With the exception of quotations, there was not a single word that was not derived from himself, or suggested in the course of his reading.

The wand was now broken, and the book buried.

You will allow me further to say, with Prospero, it is your breath that has filled my sails, and to crave one single toast in the capacity of the author of these novels; and he would dedicate a bumper to the health of one who has represented some of those characters, of which he had endeavoured to give the skeleton, with a degree of liveliness which rendered him grateful.