-Thy muffled friend his nectarine-wall pursues, When Spring bursts forth in blossoms thro' the Still clad in bloom, and veiled in azure light ;— With wine, as rich in years as HORACE sings, With water, clear as his own fountain flings, The shifting side-board plays its humbler part, Beyond the triumphs of a Loriot's art. Thus, in this calm recess, so richly fraught With mental light, and luxury of thought, My life steals on; (O could it blend with thine!) Careless my course, yet not without design. So thro' the vales of Loire the bee-hives glide, The light raft dropping with the silent tide; So, till the laughing scenes are lost in night, The busy people wing their various flight, Culling unnumbered sweets from nameless flowers, That scent the vineyard in its purple hours. Rise, ere the watch-relieving clarions play, Caught through St. James's groves at blush of day; Ere its full voice the choral anthem flings Thro' trophied tombs of heroes and of kings. Haste to the tranquil shade of learned ease, 4 Tho' skilled alike to dazzle and to please; Tho' each gay scene be searched with anxious eye, Nor thy shut door be passed without a sigh. If, when this roof shall know thy friend no more, Some, formed like thee, should once, like thee, exInvoke the lares of his loved retreat, [plore; And his lone walks imprint with pilgrim-feet; Then be it said, (as, vain of better days, Some grey domestic prompts the partial praise) "Unknown he lived, unenvied, not unblest; Reason his guide, and Happiness his guest. In the clear mirror of his moral page, We trace the manners of a purer age. His soul, with thirst of genuine glory fraught, Scorned the false lustre of licentious thought. -One fair asylum from the world he knew, One chosen seat, that charms with various view! Who boasts of more (believe the serious strain) NOTES. Page 20, col. 2, line 25. Oft o'er the mead, at pleasing distance, pass, COSMO of Medicis took most pleasure in his Apennine villa, because all that he commanded from its windows was exclusively his own. How unlike the wise Athenian, who, when he had a farm to sell, directed the crier to proclaim, as its best recommendation, that it had a good neighbourhood!-PLUT. in Vit. Themist. Page 21, col. 1, line 8. And through the various year, the various day, Horace commends the house, "longos quæ prospicit agros." Distant views contain the greatest variety, both in themselves, and in their accidental variations. Page 21, col. 1, line 34. Small change of scene, small space his home requires, Many a great man, in passing through the apartments of his palace, has made the melancholy reflection of the venerable Cosmo: "Questa è troppo gran casa à si poca famiglia."-MACH. Ist. Fior. lib. vii. "Parva, sed apta mihi," was Ariosto's inscription over his door in Ferrara; and who can wish to say more? "I confess," says Cowley, "I love littleness almost in all things. A little convenient estate, a little cheerful house, a little company, and a very little feast."-Essay vi. When Socrates was asked why he had built for himself so small a house: "Small as it is," he replied, "I wish I could fill it with friends."-PHÆDRUS, iii. 9. These indeed are all that a wise man can desire to assemble; "for a crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love." Page 21, col. 1, line 37. From every point a ray of genius flows! By these means, when all nature wears a lowering countenance, I withdraw myself into the visionary worlds of art; where I meet with shining landscapes, gilded triumphs, beautiful faces, and all those other objects that fill the mind with gay ideas.-ADDISON. It is remarkable that Antony, in his adversity, passed some time in a small but splendid retreat, which he called his Timonium, and from which might originate the idea of the Parisian Boudoir, that favourite apartment, où l'on se retire pour étre seul, mais où l'on ne boude point.STRABO, 1. xvii. PLUT. in Vit. Anton. Page 21, col 1, line 53. At GUIDO's call, &c. Alluding to his celebrated fresco in the Rospigliosi Palace at Rome. Page 21, col. 1, line 60. And still the Few best loved and most revered The dining-room is dedicated to Conviviality; or, as Cicero somewhere expresses it, "Communitati vitæ atque victûs." There we wish most for the society of our friends; and, perhaps, in their absence, most require their portraits. The moral advantages of this furniture may be illustrated by the story of an Athenian courtesan, who, in the midst of a riotous banquet with her lovers, accidentally cast her eye on the portrait of a philosopher, that hung opposite to her seat; the happy character of wisdom and virtue struck her with so lively an image of her own unworthiness, that she instantly left the room; and, retiring home, became ever afterwards an example of temperance, as she had been before of debauchery. Page 21, col. 1. line 61. Rise round the board "A long table and a square table," says Bacon, "seem things of form, but are things of substance; for at a long table a few at the upper end, in effect, sway all the business." Perhaps Arthur was right, when he instituted the order of the round table. In the town-house of Aix-laChapelle is still to be seen the round table, which may almost literally be said to have given peace to Europe in 1748. Nor is it only at a congress of Plenipotentiaries that place gives precedence. Page 21, col.1, line 65. Read ancient books, or dream inspiring dreams; Before I begin to write, says Bossuet, I always read a little of Homer; for I love to light my lamp at the sun. The reader will here remember that passage of Horace, Nunc veterum libris, nunc somno, &c. which was inscribed by Lord Chesterfield on the frieze of his library. Page 21, col. 2, line 1. And, when a sage's bust arrests thee there, Siquidem non solum ex auro argentove, aut certe ex ære in bibliothecis dicantur illi, quorum immortales animæ in iisdem locis ibi loquuntur: quinimo etiam quæ non sunt, finguntur, pariuntque desideria non traditi vultus, sicut in Homero evenit. Quo majus (ut equidem arbitror) nullum est felicitatis specimen, quam semper omnes scire cupere, qualis fuerit aliquis.-PLIN. NAT. HIST. Cicero, in the dialogue entitled Brutus, represents Brutus and Atticus as sitting down with him in his garden at Rome, by the statue of Plato; and with what delight does he speak of a little seat under Aristotle in the library of Atticus! "Literis sustentor et recreor; maloque in illa tua sedecula, quam habes sub imagine Aristotelis, sedere, quàm in istorum sella curuli!"-Ep. ad Att. iv. 10. Nor should we forget that Dryden drew inspiration from the "majestic face" of Shakspeare; and that a portrait of Newton was the only ornament of the closet of Buffon.Ep. to Kneller. Voyage à Montbart. In the chamber of a man of genius we Write all down: Such and such pictures ;-there the window; the arras, figures, Why, such and such. Page 21, col. ?, line 5. Which gathers round the Wise of every Tongue, Quis tantis non gaudeat et glorietur hospitibus, exclaims Petrarch.-Spectare, etsi nihil aliud, certè juvat.-Homerus apud me mutus, imò verò ego apud illum surdus sum. Gaudeo tamen vel aspectû solo, et sæpe illum amplexus ac suspirans dico: O magne vir, &c.-Epist. Var. lib. 20. Page 21, col. 2, line 18. As her fair self reflected seems to rise! But hence away! yon rocky cave beware! In the dark centre of its inmost cell, Page 21, col. 2, line 21. These eyelids open to the rising ray, Your bed-chamber, and also your library, says Vitruvius, should have an eastern aspect; usus enim matutinum postulat lumen. Not so the picture-gallery; which requires a north light, uti colores in ope, propter constantiam luminis, immutata permaneant qualitate. This disposition accords with his plan of a Grecian house. Page 21, col. 2, line 35. Like those blest Youths, See the Legend of the Seven Sleepers.-GIBBON, c. 33. Page 21, col. 2, line 44. with knowledge health; Milton" was up and stirring, ere the sound of any bell awaked men to labour, or to devotion;" and it is related of two Students in a suburb of Paris, who were opposite neighbours, and were called the morning-star and the evening-star- the former appearing just as the latter withdrew-that the morning-star continued to shine on, when the evening-star was gone out for ever. Page 21, col. 2, line 52. Catch the blest accents of the wise and great. Mr. Pope delights in enumerating his illustrious guests. Nor is this an exclusive privilege of the poet. The Medici Palace at Florence exhibits a long and imposing catalogue. "Semper hi parietes columnæque eruditis vocibus resonuerunt." Page 22, col. 1, line 20. Sheds, like an evening-star, its ray serene, At a Roman supper statues were sometimes employed to hold the lamps. -aurea sunt juvenum simulacra per ædes, Lampadas igniferas manibus retinentia dextris. LUCR. ii. 24. A fashion as old as Homer !-Odyss. vii. 100 On the proper degree and distribution of light we may consult a great master of effect. Il lume grande, ed alto, e non troppo potente, sarà quello, che renderà le particole de' corpi molto grate.-Tratt. della Pittura di LIONARDO DI VINCI, c. xli. Hence every artist requires a broad and high light. Michael Angelo used to work with a candle fixed in his hat.-Condivi. Vita di Michelagnolo.-Hence also, in a banquet-scene, the most picturesque of all poets has thrown his light from the ceiling.-Æn. i. 726. And hence the "starry lamps" of Milton, that from the arched roof Page 22, col. 1, line 30. Beyond the triumphs of a Loriot's art. At the petits soupés of Choisy were first introduced those admirable pieces of mechanism, afterwards carried to perfection by Loriot, the Confidente and the Servante; a table and a side-board, which descended, and rose again covered with viands and wines. And thus the most luxurious Court in Europe, after all its boasted refinements, was glad to return at last, by this singular contrivance, to the quiet and privacy of humble life.-Vie Privée de Louis XV. ii. 43. Between line 30 and line 31, were these lines, since omitted: Hail, sweet Society! in crowds unknown, When in retreat Fox lays his thunder by, I. JACQUELINE. "TWAS Autumn; thro' Provence had ceased And from the Convent's neighbouring tower Up rose St. Pierre, when morning shone; By Turenne, when the Rhine ran blood. He slung his old sword by his side, And snatched his staff and rushed to save; Then sunk and on his threshold cried, "Oh lay me in my grave! -Constance! Claudine! where were ye then But stand not there. Away! away! Thou, Frederic, by thy father stay. And who but she could soothe the boy, Oh! she was good as she was fair. Her voice, whate'er she said, enchanted; At every meal an empty chair She, who would lead him where he went, Which, when a tale is long, dispenses In her who mourned not, when they missed her, The widow trims her hearth in vain. now, his little lesson done, With Frederic blowing bubbles in the sun; Barbe Bleue or Chaperon Rouge half-told Where once a wild deer, wild no more, II. The day was in the golden west; And, curtained close by leaf and flower, In Jacqueline's deserted bower; St. Pierre sat by, nor saw nor smiled. A father may awhile refuse; To stop the planet rolling round. The light was on his face; and there -When (faithful as that dog of yore? And looked and barked, and vanished thro'. The doves that still would at her casement D'Arcy so gentle and so brave! peck, And in her walks had ever fluttered round With purple feet and shining neck, True as the echo to the sound. That casement, underneath the trees, 1 Cantando "Io amo! Io amo!"-TASSO. Look up-why will you not?" he cries, For on that incense-breathing eve And true it was! And true the tale! My father-if not for his own, 2 Argus. Inly he vowed-'twas all he could; They loved-but under Friendship's name; Then what was Jacqueline to do? III. That morn ('twas in Ste. Julienne's cell, That morn, ere many a star was set, -And now, - her strength, her courage spent, Where, when Toulouse, thy splendour shone, So saying, thro' the fragrant shade While Manchon round and round her played: Where glow-worms light their little lamps at eve, (When Lubin calls, and Blanche steals round, Her finger on her lip, to see; And many an acorn-cup is found Under the greenwood tree) From every cot above, below, 1 Called in the language of the country Pas-de-l'Echelle. They gather as they go Sabot, and coif, and collerette, The housewife's prayer, the grandam's blessing! The lovely bride caressing; Babes that had learnt to lisp her name, And heroes he had led to fame. But what felt D'Arcy, when at length All, all the while-an awful distance keeping; And one, his little hand in hers, Then Jacqueline the silence broke. She clasped her father's knees and spoke, While D'Arcy as before looked on, "His praises from your lips I heard, Her bridal be her dying day. -Well, well might she believe in you! When she implored, and old Le Roc consented. -Nor canst thou, D'Arcy, feel resentment long; All things by all forgot, forgiven. And that dear Saint-may she once more descend To make our home a heaven! |