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.

.

Note i. P. 74, 1. 9.
Which gathers round the Wise of every Tongue,

Quis tantis non gaudeat et glorietur hospitibus, ex. claims 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.

Note k. P. 76, 1. 5.

Like those blest Youths, See the Legend of the Seven Sleepers. GIBBON, C. 33.

Note l. P. 77, 1.2. 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.

Another is also preserved at Chanteloup, the seat of the Duke of Choiseul.

Note m.

P. 78, 1. 16.
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,
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 DA VINCI, c. xli.

Hence every artist requires a broad and high light. 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
Pendent by subtle magic,

yielded light
As from a sky.
Note n.

P. 79, 1. 8. 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 refine

.

ments, 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.
Note o.

P. 79, I. 13.
So thro' 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 of France and Piedmont.

Note

p. P. 81, 1. 4.
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. Lucull. How often must he have felt the truth here inculcated, that the master of many houses has no home!

ODE TO SUPERSTITION.*

I. 1.

Hence, to the realms of Night, dire Demon, hence !

Thy chain of adamant can bind

That little world, the human mind,
And sink its noblest powers to impotence.

Wake the lion's loudest roar,
Clot his shaggy mane with gore,
With flashing fury bid his eye-balls shine;
Meek is his savage, sullen soul, to thine!
Thy touch, thy deadening touch has steeled the breast,
Whence, thro’ her April-shower, soft Pity smiled;
Has closed the heart each godļike virtue blessed,
To all the silent pleadings of his child.

At thy command he plants the dagger deep,
At thy command exults, tho' Nature bids him weep!

* Written in early youth.
+ The sacrifice of Iphigenia.

I. 2.

When, with a frown that froze the peopled earth, *

Thou dartedst thy huge head from high,

Night waved her banners o'er the sky, And, brooding, gave her shapeless shadows birth.

Rocking on the billowy air,

Ha! what withering phantoms glare! As blows the blast with many a sudden swell, At each dead pause, what shrill-toned voices yell! The sheeted spectre, rising from the tomb, Points at the murderer's stab, and shudders by; In every grove is felt a heavier gloom, That veils its genius from the vulgar eye:

The spirit of the water rides the storm, And, thro' the mist, reveals the terrors of his form.

I. 3.

O'er solid seas, where Winter reigns,
And holds each mountain-wave in chains,

The fur-clad savage, ere he guides his deer

By glistering star-light thro' the snow,
Breathes softly in her wondering ear