P. 18, 1. 19. As now at VIRGIL's tomb Vows and pilgrimages are not peculiar to the religious enthusiast. Silius Italicus performed annual ceremonies on the mountain of Posilipo; and it was there that Boccaccio, quasi da un divino estro inspirato, resolved to dedicate his life to the Muses. P. 18, 1. 21. So TULLY paused, amid the wrecks of Time, When Cicero was quæstor in Sicily, he discovered the tomb of Archimedes by its mathematical inscription. Tusc. Quæst. v. 3. P. 19, 1. 7. Say why the pensive widow loves to weep, The influence of the associating principle is finely exemplified in the faithful Penelope, when she sheds tears over the bow of Ulysses. P. 19, 1. 23. Od. xxi. 55. If chance he hears the song so sweetly wild The celebrated Ranz des Vaches; cet air si chéri des Suisses qu'il fut défendu sous peine de mort de la jouer dans leurs troupes, parce qu'il faisoit fondre en larmes, déserter ou mourir ceux qui l'entendoient, tant il excitoit en eux l'ardent désir de revoir leur pays. ROUSSEAU. The maladie de pays is as old as the human heart. JUVENAL'S little cup-bearer Suspirat longo non visam tempore matrem, Et casulam, et notos tristis desiderat hædos. And the Argive, in the heat of battle, Dulces moriens reminiscitur Argos. P. 19, 1. 28. Say why VESPASIAN loved his Sabine farm; This emperor, according to Suetonius, constantly passed the summer in a small villa near Reate, where he was born, and to which he would never add any embellishment; ne quid scilicet oculorum consuetudini deperiret. SUET. in Vit. Vesp. cap. ii. A similar instance occurs in the life of the venerable Pertinax, as related by J. Capitolinus. Posteaquam in Liguriam venit, multis agris coemptis, tabernam paternam, manente formâ priore, infinitis ædificiis circundedit. Hist. August. 54. And it is said of Cardinal Richelieu, that, when he built his magnificent palace on the site of the old family chateau at Richelieu, he sacrificed its symmetry to preserve the room in which he was born. Mém. de Mlle. de Montpensier, i. 27. An attachment of this nature is generally the characteristic of a benevolent mind; and a long acquaintance with the world cannot always extinguish it. "To a friend," says John Duke of Buckingham, "I will expose my weakness: I am oftener missing a pretty gallery in the old house I pulled down, than pleased with a saloon which I built in its stead, though a thousand times better in all respects." See his Letter to the D. of Sh. This is the language of the heart; and will remind the reader of that good-humoured remark in one of Pope's letters-" I should hardly care to have an old post pulled up, that I remembered ever since I was a child." The Author of Telemachus has illustrated this subject, with equal fancy and feeling, in the story of Alibée, Persan. P. 20, 1. 1. Why great NAVARRE, &c. That amiable and accomplished monarch, Henry the Fourth of France, made an excursion from his camp, during the long siege of Laon, to dine at a house in the forest of Folambray; where he had often been regaled, when a boy, with fruit, milk, and new cheese; and in revisiting which he promised himself great pleasure. Mém. de SULLY. P. 20, 1. 3. When DIOCLETIAN'S self-corrected mind Diocletian retired into his native province, and there amused himself with building, planting, and gardening. His answer to Maximian is deservedly celebrated. If," said he, "I could shew him the cabbages which I have planted with my own hands at Salona, he would no longer solicit me to return to a throne." P. 20, 1. 7. Say, when contentious CHARLES, &c. When the Emperor Charles the Fifth had executed his memorable resolution, and had set out for the monastery of Justé, he stopped a few days at Ghent to indulge that tender and pleasant melancholy, which arises in the mind of every man in the decline of life, on visiting the place of his birth, and the objects familiar to him in his early youth. P. 20, 1. 8. To muse with monks, &c. Monjes solitarios del glorioso padre San Geronimo, says Sandova. In a corner of the Convent-garden there is this inscription. En esta santa casa de S. Geronimo de Justé se retiró à acabar su vida Cárlos V. Emperador, &c. PONZ. P. 21, 1. 3. Then did his horse the homeward track descry, The memory of the horse forms the ground-work of a pleasing little romance entitled, "Lai du Palefroi vair." See Fabliaux du XII. Siecle. Ariosto likewise introduces it in a passage full of truth and nature. When Bayardo meets Angelica in the forest, Va mansueto a la Donzella, Ch'in Albracca il servìa già di sua mano. ORLANDO FURIOSO, i. 75. P. 22, 1. 3. Sweet bird! thy truth shall Harlem's walls attest, During the siege of Harlem, when that city was reduced to the last extremity, and on the point of opening its gates to a base and barbarous enemy, a design was formed to relieve it; and the intelligence was conveyed to the citizens by a letter which was tied under the wing of a pigeon. THUANUS, lv. 5. |