Note 19, page 15, col. 1. Soon through the gadding vine, etc. Mr. Attorney-General. Yes, a Servant. An English breakfast; which may well excite in others what in Rousseau continued through life, un gout vif pour les déjeunés. C'est le tems de la jour-it-State Trials, ii. née où nous sommes les plus tranquilles, où nous causons le plus à notre aise. The luxuries here mentioned, familiar to us as they now are, were almost unknown before the Revolution. 18 Note 20, page 15, col. 2. Like Hampden struggling in his Country's cause. Zeuxis is said to have drawn his Helen from an assemblage of the most beautiful women; and many a writer of fiction, in forming a life to his mind, has recourse to the brightest moments in the lives of others. I may be suspected of having done so here, and of having designed, as it were, from living models; but by making an allusion now and then to those who have really lived, I thought I should give something of interest to the picture, as well as better illustrate my meaning. Note 21, page 15, col. 2. On through that gate misnamed. Note 25, page 15, col. 2. Her glory now, as ever her delight. Epaminondas, after his victory at Leuctra, rejoiced most of all at the pleasure which it would give his father and mother; and who would not have envied them their feelings? Cornelia was called at Rome the Mother-in-law of Scipio. "When," said she to her sons, “shall I be called the mother of the Gracchi ?" Note 26, page 16, col. 1. Lo, on his back a Son brings in his Sire. An act of filial piety represented on the coins of Catana, a Greek city, some remains of which are still to be seen at the foot of mount Etna. The story is told of two brothers, who in this manner saved both their parents. The place from which they escaped was long called the field of the pious; and public games were annually held there to com Traitor's gate, the water-gate in the Tower of memorate the event. London. Note 22, page 15, col. 2. Then to the place of trial. This very slight sketch of Civil Dissension is taken from our own annals; but, for an obvious reason, not from those of our own Age. Note 27, page 16, col. 2. Oh thou, all-eloquent, whose mighty mind. Cicero. It is remarkable that, among the comforts of Old Age, he has not mentioned those arising from the society of women and children. Perhaps the husband of Terentia and "the father of Marcus felt something on the subject, of which he was willing The persons here immediately alluded to lived more than a hundred years ago, in a reign which Blackstone has justly represented as wicked, san- to spare himself the recollection." guinary, and turbulent; but such times have always afforded the most signal instances of heroic courage and ardent affection. Great reverses, like theirs, lay open the human heart. They occur indeed but seldom; yet all men are liable to them; all, when they occur to others, make them more or less their own; and, were we to describe our condition to an inhabitant of some other planet, could we omit what forms so striking a circumstance in human life? Note 23, page 15, col. 2. and alone. In the reign of William the Third, the law was altered. A prisoner, prosecuted for high treason, may now make his full defence by counsel. Note 24, page 15, col. 2. Like that sweet Saint who sate by Russel's side BEFORE I conclude, I would say something in favor of the old-fashioned triplet, which I have here ventured to use so often. Dryden seems to have delighted in it, and in many of his most admired poems has used it much oftener than I have done, as for instance in the Hind and Panther,' and in Theodore and Honoria, where he introduces it three, four, and even five times in succession. If I have erred anywhere in the structure of my verse from a desire to follow yet earlier and higher examples, I rely on the forgiveness of those in whose ear the music of our old versification is still sounding. 1 Pope used to mention this poem as the most correct specimen of Dryden's versification. It was indeed written when he had completely formed his manner, and may be supposed to Lord Russel. May I have somebody to write, to exhibit, negligence excepted, his deliberate and ultimate scheme assist my memory? of metre.-Johnson. 27 PREFACE. | Point out the green lane rough with fern and flowers, EVERY reader turns with pleasure to those pas- Its hives of sweets, and cabinets of art; We have admittance to Horace at all hours. We enjoy the company and conversation at his table; and his suppers, like Plato's, "non solum in præsentia, sed etiam postero die jucundæ sunt." But when we look On the home-prospects of my hermit-cell; round as we sit there, we find ourselves in a Sabine The mossy pales that skirt the orchard-green, farm, and not in a Roman villa. His windows have every charm of prospect; but his furniture might have descended from Cincinnatus; and gems, and pictures, and old marbles, are mentioned by him more than once with a seeming indifference. Here hid by shrub-wood, there by glimpses seen; And the brown pathway, that, with careless flow, Sinks, and is lost among the trees below. Still must it trace (the flattering tints forgive) Each fleeting charm that bids the landscape live. His English Imitator thought and felt, perhaps, more Oft o'er the mead, at pleasing distance, pass (1) correctly on the subject; and embellished his garden Browsing the hedge by fits the pannier'd ass; and grotto with great industry and success. But to The idling shepherd-boy, with rude delight, these alone he solicits our notice. On the ornaments Whistling his dog to mark the pebble's flight; of his house he is silent; and he appears to have re- And in her kerchief blue the cottage-maid, served all the minuter touches of his pencil for the With brimming pitcher from the shadowy glade. library, the chapel, and the banqueting-room of Far to the south a mountain-vale retires, Timon. "Le savoir de notre siècle," says Rousseau, Rich in its groves, and glens, and village-spires: "tend beaucoup plus à détruire qu'à édifier. On cen- Its upland-lawns, and cliffs with foliage hung, sure d'un ton de maitre; pour proposer, il en faut Its wizard-stream, nor nameless nor unsung: prendre un autre." And through the various year, the various day, (2) What scenes of glory burst, and melt away! It is the design of this Epistle to illustrate the virtue of True Taste; and to show how little she requires to When April-verdure springs in Grosvenor-square, secure, not only the comforts, but even the elegancies And the furr'd Beauty comes to winter there, of life. True Taste is an excellent Economist. She She bids old Nature mar the plan no more; confines her choice to few objects, and delights in Yet still the seasons circle as before. producing great effects by small means: while False Taste is for ever sighing after the new and the rare; and reminds us, in her works, of the Scholar of Apelles, who, not being able to paint his Helen beautiful, determined to make her fine. ARGUMENT. An invitation-The approach to a Villa described-Its situation-Its few apartments-furnished with casts from the Antique, etc.-The dining-room-The library-A cold-bath-A winter-walk-A summer-walk-The invitation renewed-Conclusion. WHEN, with a Reaumur's skill, thy curious mind Ah, still as soon the young Aurora plays, There let her strike with momentary ray, Here no state-chambers in long line unfold, Small change of scene, small space his home re- When from his classic dreams the student steals,' quires, (3) Who leads a life of satisfied desires. What though no marble breathes, no canvas glows, Soon as the morning-dream my pillow flies, At Guido's call, (5) their round of glory run! But could thine erring friend so long forget Selected shelves shall claim thy studious hours; There shall thy ranging mind be fed on flowers!' There, while the shaded lamp's mild lustre streams, Read ancient books, or dream inspiring dreams; (7) And, when a sage's bust arrests thee there, (8) Pause, and his features with his thoughts compare. -Ah, most that Art my grateful rapture calls, Which breathes a soul into the silent walls; 2 Which gathers round the Wise of every Tongue, (9) All on whose words departed nations hung; Still prompt to charm with many a converse sweet; Guides in the world, companions in retreat! Though my thatch'd bath no rich Mosaic knows, A limpid spring with unfelt current flows. Emblem of Life! which, still as we survey, Seems motionless, yet ever glides away! The shadowy walls record, with Attic art, The strength and beauty that its waves impart. Here Thetis, bending, with a mother's fears Dips her dear boy, whose pride restrains his tears. There, Venus, rising, shrinks with sweet surprise, As her fair self reflected seems to rise! Far from the joyless glare, the maddening strife, And all the dull impertinence of life, These eye-lids open to the rising ray, And close, when nature bids, at close of day. Here, at the dawn, the kindling landscape glows; There noon-day levees call from faint repose. Here the flush'd wave flings back the parting light; There glimmering lamps anticipate the night. Grata carpentis thyma Hor. 2 Posten verò quàm Tyrannio mihi libros disposuit, mens addita videtur meis ædibus.-Cic. Amid the buzz of crowds, the whirl of wheels, To muse unnoticed-while around him press The meteor-forms of equipage and dress; Alone, in wonder lost, he seems to stand A very stranger in his native land! O come, and, rich in intellectual wealth, No tuneful echoes, ambush'd at my gate, Catch the blest accents of the wise and great. (11) Vain of its various page, no Album breathes The sigh that Friendship or the Muse bequeaths. Yet some good Genii o'er my hearth preside, Oft the far friend, with secret spell, to guide; And there I trace, when the grey evening lours, A silent chronicle of happier hours! When Christmas revels in a world of snow, And bids her berries blush, her carols flow; His spangling shower when Frost the wizard flings Or, borne in ether blue, on viewless wings, O'er the white pane his silvery foliage weaves, And gems with icicles the sheltering eves; -Thy muffled friend his nectarine-wall pursues, What time the sun the yellow crocus wooes, Screened from the arrowy North; and duly hies 2 To meet the morning-rumor as it flies; Το range the murmuring market-place, and view The motley groups that faithful Teniers drew. When Spring bursts forth in blossoms through the vale, And her wild music triumphs on the gale, Nor boast, O Choisy! seat of soft delight, To hail our coming. Not a step profane Thus, in this calm recess, so richly fraught Rise, ere the watch-relieving clarions play, agros." Distant views contain the greatest variety both in themselves and in their accidental variations. Note 3, page 21, col. 1. 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 poco 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."-PHEDRUS, 1. iii, 9. These indeed are all that a wise man would 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." Note 4, page 21, col. 1. From every point a ray of genius flows! By this means, when all nature wears a louring countenance, I withdraw myself into the visionary Though each gay scene be search'd with anxious eye, worlds of art; where I meet with shining landscapes, Nor thy shut door be pass'd without a sigh. If, when this roof shall know thy friend no more, Through each he roves, the tenant of a day, gilded triumphs, beautiful faces, and all those other objects that fill the mind with gay ideas, etc. 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 favorite apartment, où l'on se retire pour être seul, mais où l'on ne boude point.—STRABO, 1. XVII. PLUT. in Vit. Anton. Note 5, page 21, col. 1. At Guido's call, etc. Alluding to his celebrated fresco in the Rospigliosi Palace at Rome. Note 6, page 21, col. 1. And still the Few best loved and most revered. The dining-room is dedicated to Conviviality; or, as Cicero somewhere expresses it, Communitati vitæ And, with the swallow, wings the year away!" (16) atque victûs." There we wish most for the society NOTES. Note 1, page 20, col. 2. Oft o'er the mead, at pleasing distance, pass. of our friends; and, perhaps, in their absence, most require their portraits. The moral advantages of this furniture may be illustrated by the pretty 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 temperance and virtue struck her Cosmo of Medicis took most pleasure in his Apen- with so lively an image of her own unworthiness, nine villa, because all that he commanded from its that she instantly quitted the room; and, retiring windows was exclusively his own. How unlike the home, became ever after an example of temperance, wise Athenian, who, when he had a farm to sell, as she had been before of debauchery." directed the crier to proclaim, as its best recommendation, that it had a good neighborhood.-PLUT. in Vit. Themist. Note 2, page 20, col. 2. And through the various year, the various day. Note 7, page 21, col. 1. Read ancient books, or dream inspiring dreams. Horace commends the house, " longos quæ prospicit his library. 1-dapes inemptas.-Hor. 2 Innocuas amo delicias doctamque quietem. Note 8, page 21, col. 1. sere in bibliothecis dicantur illi, quorum immortales Hence every artist requires a broad and high animæ in iisdem locis ibi loquuntur: quinimo etiam light. Hence also, in a banquet-scene, the most quæ non sunt, finguntur, pariuntque desideria non picturesque of all poets has thrown his light from traditi vultus, sicut in Homero evenit. Quo majus the ceiling.-Æn. i, 726. (ut equidem arbitror) nullum est felicitatis specimen, quam semper omnes scire cupere, qualis fuerit aliquis-PLIN. Nat. Hist. Cicero speaks with pleasure 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. And hence the "starry lamps" of Milton, that -from the arched roof Pendent by subtle magic, -yielded light As from a sky. Note 13, page 22, col. 1. Beyond the triumphs of a Loriot's art. Nor should we forget that Dryden drew inspira-duced those admirable pieces of mechanism, afterAt the petits soupers of Choisy were first introtion 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 Why, such and such. Note 9, page 21, col. 1. 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 aspectú solo, et sæpe illum amplexus ac suspirens dico: O magne vir, etc.-Epist. Var. lib. 20. Note 10, page 21, col. 2. Like those blest Youths. See the Legend of the Seven Sleepers.-GIBBON, c. 33. Note 11, page 21, col. 2. 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." wards 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, tom. ii, p. 43. Between 1. 10, and 1. 11, col. 1, were these lines, since omitted: Hail, sweet Society! in crowds unknown, They were written in 1796. Note 14, page 22, col. 1. So through the vales of Loire the bee-hives glide. An allusion to the floating bee-house, or barge laden with bee-hives, which is seen in some parts Another is also preserved at Chanteloup, the seat of France and Piedmont. of the Duke of Choiseul. Note 12, page 21, col. 2. 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 ædeis, Note 15, page 22, col. 1. Caught through St. James's groves at blush of day. Groves that Belinda's star illumines still, Note 16, page 22, col. 1. And, with the swallow, wings the year away! It was the boast of Lucullus that he changed his climate with the birds of passage.—PLUT. in Vit. A fashion as old as Homer!--Odyss. vii, 100. How often must he have felt the truth here in derà le particole de' corpi molto grate.—Tratt. della | culcated, that the master of many houses has no Plura di LIONARDO DI VINCI, c. xli. home! 31 |