midnight
_ `` Art thou so bare and full of wretchedness , And fear ` st to die ? Famine is in thy cheeks , Need and oppression starveth in thy eyes , Content and beggary hang upon thy back ; The world is not thy friend , nor the world 's law ! '' _ How often at the Miter or Falcon taverns have I seen these little great literary men swell like a toad or puff like a pigeon at the flattery bestowed on them by fawning bohemians , meaner than themselves , who sought a midnight snack and a tankard of foaming ale . Of all the despicable and miserable creatures I have ever known it is the poor starving devil , with latent genius , who attempts to pay court to a cad , snob , or drunken lord around the refuse of literary or sporting clubs in midnight hours . William was always very kind to these threadbare wanderers , and although they often gave him pen prods behind his back , he never betrayed any recognition of their envious stings , but like the lion in his jungle , brushed these busy bees away by the underbrush of his philosophy . He mildly rebuked their pretense , but relieved their immediate wants , impressing upon them the study of Nature and not the blandishments of art , having the appearance of Oriental porcelain or Phoenician glass , when it was really crude crockery painted to deceive the sight and auctioned off to the unwary purchaser as genuine material . How many authors , artists and actors of to-day follow in the path of their London ancestors who blow , and brag , and strut in midnight clubs and taverns to the pity and disgust of their table tooters .