, and Henry IV. of France; "the great and good Lord
Lyttleton," as he is called to the present day; John Howard,
Goldsmith, Sir Samuel Romilly, Franklin, Thomson, the poet,
Sheridan,[2] and Sir Walter Scott. The late Sir William Curtis was
known to be one of the best tempered men of his day, which made him a
great favourite with the late king. I remember a little incident of
Sir William's good-nature, which occurred about a year after he had
been Lord Mayor. In alighting from his carriage, a little out of the
regular line, near the Mansion House, upon some day of festivity, he
happened inadvertently, with the skirts of his coat, to brush down a
few apples from a poor woman's stall, on the side of the pavement. Sir
William was in full dress, but instead of passing on with the hauteur
which characterizes so many of his aldermanic brethren, he set himself
to the task of assisting the poor creature to collect her scattered
fruit; and on parting, observing some of her apples were a little
soiled by the dirt, he drew his hand from his pocket and generously
gave her a shilling.
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