"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. Page 19, line 15. 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. Page 19, line 17. 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." Page 19, line 21. 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. Page 19, line 22. 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 Carlos V. Emperador, &c.— PONZ. Page 20, line 21. 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. Page 22, line 1. 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. The same messenger was employed at the siege of Mutina, as we are informed by the elder Pliny.-Hist. Nat. x. 37. Page 22, line 10. Hark! the bee, &c. This little animal, from the extreme convexity of her eye, cannot see many inches before her. NOTES ON THE SECOND PART. PAGE 28, LINE 1. They in their glorious course TRUE Glory, says one of the Ancients, is to be acquired by doing what deserves to be written, and writing what deserves to be read; and by making the world the happier and the better for our having lived in it. Page 28, line 5. These still exist, &c. There is a future Existence even in this world, an Existence in the hearts and minds of those who shall live after us.* It is a state of rewards and punishments; and, like that revealed to us in the Gospel, has the happiest influence on our lives. The latter excites us to gain the favour of GOD, the former to gain the love and esteem of wise and good men; and both lead to the same end; De tous les biens humains c'est le seul que la mort ne nous peut ravir. -BOSSUET. for, in framing our conceptions of the DEITY, we only ascribe to Him exalted degrees of Wisdom and Good ness. Page 30, line 13. Ah, why should Virtue fear the frowns of Fate? The highest reward of Virtue is Virtue herself, as the severest punishment of Vice is Vice herself. Page 32, line 7. Yet still how sweet the soothings of his art! The astronomer chalking his figures on the wall, in Hogarth's view of Bedlam, is an admirable exemplification of this idea.-See the RAKE'S PROGRESS, plate 8. Page 33, line 2. Turns but to start, and gazes but to sigh! The following stanzas are said to have been written on a blank leaf of this Poem. They present so affecting a reverse of the picture, that I cannot resist the opportunity of introducing them here. Pleasures of Memory!-oh! supremely blest, * By Henry F. R. Soame of Trinity College, Cambridge. |