fifty pounds. Des Maizeaux was weak but not dishonest. He returned the money “convinced” as he says in a letter written Jan. 6, 1730, “that I have acted contrary to the will and intention of my dear deceased friend; showed a disregard of the particular mark of esteem he gave mo on that occasion; in short, that I have forfeited what is dearer to me than my own life—honor and reputation.” Seven years afterwards, on Des Maizeaux spreading a report that the MSS. had been betrayed to the Bishop of London, Mrs. Collins wrote him a sharp letter. He replied in a tone which spoke at once of his affection for Mr. Collins and his own remorse for his weakness. He concludes thus: “Mr. Collins loved me and esteemed me for my integrity and sincerity, of which he had several proofs; how I have been drawn in to injure him, to forfeit the good opinion he had of me, and which were he now alive, would deservedly expose me to this utmost contempt, is a grief which I shall carry to the grave. It would be a sort of comfort to me, if those who have consented I should be drawn in were in some measure sensible of the guilt towards so good, kind and generous a man.” The unpublished MSS. disappeared like those of Toland and Blount, and the second volume of Tindal.
