A morning-visit to the poor man's shed, Down by the beech-wood side he turn'd away : (Who would be rich while One was wanting bread?) And now behold him in an evil day And tears are falling fast-but not for grief:- Graver things Come in their turn. Morning, and Evening, brings Serving the State again-not as before, Like Hampden struggling in his Country's cause, (20) Went Sidney, Russel, Raleigh, Cranmer, More, All but from her who sits the pen to guide, (The lowliest servant calling by his name) That House with many a funeral-garland hung (18) Counsel of friends-all human help denied— -On the day destined for his funeral! -Soon through the gadding vine (19) the sun looks in, And oh, how changed at once-no heroine here, And gentle hands the breakfast-rite begin. Leaving that humbler sphere his fathers knew, But a weak woman worn with grief and fear, An hour like this is worth a thousand pass'd And now once more where most he loved to be, How oft from grove to grove, from seat to seat, shade Borne in thy hand behind thee as we stray'd; "Tis the sixth hour. And such, his labor done, the calm He knows, The light, that shines, reflected from the Past, In their long march, such as the Prophet bids, A strain breaks forth (who hears and loves it not?) And She inspires, whose beauty shines in all; O thou all-eloquent, whose mighty mind (27) "Look up, and faint not-faint not, but rejoice!" Trees he has climb'd so oft, he sits and sees Now in their turn assisting, they repay A feeling of enjoyment. In his walks, But there are moments which he calls his own. And now behold him up the hill ascending, When on his couch he sinks at length to rest, Tis past! That hand we grasp'd, alas, in vain! Then was the drama ended. Not till then, -When by a good man's grave I muse alone, Like those of old, on that thrice-hallow'd night, But the day is spent; And stars are kindling in the firmament, To us how silent-though like ours perchance Where some the paths of Wealth and Power pursue, NOTES. Note 1, page 11, col. 2. Our pathway leads but to a precipice. See Bossuet, Sermon sur la Résurrection. Note 2, page 11, col. 2. We fly; no resting for the foot we find. to know himself. He tells the proud and insolent, that they are but abjects, and humbles them at the instant. He takes the account of the rich man, and proves him a beggar, a naked beggar. He holds a glass before the eyes of the most beautiful, and makes them see therein their deformity; and they acknowledge it. O eloquent, just, and mighty Death! whom none could advise, thou hast persuaded; what none have dared, thou hast done; and whom all the world have flattered, thou only hast cast out and despised: thou hast drawn together all the far-stretched greatness, all the pride, cruelty and ambition of man, and covered it all over with these two narrow words, Hic jacet. RALEIGH. Note 3, page 11, col. 2. Through the dim curtains of Futurity. Fancy can hardly forbear to conjecture with what temper Milton surveyed the silent progress of his work, and marked his reputation stealing its way in a kind of subterraneous current through fear and silence. I cannot but conceive him calm and confident, little disappointed, not at all dejected, relying on his own merit with steady consciousness, and waiting, without impatience, the vicissitudes of opinion, and the impartiality of a future generation.-JOHNSON. After line 57, col. 2, in the MS. O'er place and time we triumph; on we go, Note 4, page 12, col. 1. -like the stone That sheds awhile a lustre all its own. See "Observations on a diamond that shines in the dark."-BOYLE's Works, i, 789. Note 5, page 12, col. 1. Schooled and trained up to Wisdom from his birth. Cicero, in his Essay De Senectute, has drawn his images from the better walks of life; and Shakspeare, in his Seven Ages, has done so too. But Shakspeare treats his subject satirically; Cicero as a Philosopher. In the venerable portrait of Cato we discover no traces of "the lean and slippered pantaloon." Every object has a bright and a dark side; and I have endeavored to look at things as Cicero has done. By some however I may be thought to have followed too much my own dream of happiness; and in such a dream indeed I have often passed a solitary hour. It was castle-building once; now it is no longer so. But whoever would try to realize it, would not perhaps repent of his endeavor. Note 6, page 12, col. 1. The hour arrives, the moment wished and feared. A Persian Poet has left us a beautiful thought on this subject, which the reader, if he has not met with it, will be glad to know, and, if he has, to remember. Thee on thy mother's knees, a new-born child, In tears we saw, when all around thee smiled. So live, that, sinking in thy last long sleep, Smiles may be thine, when all around thee weep. For my version I am in a great measure indebted Sir William Jones. "I have considered," says Solomon, "all the works that are under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit." But who believes it, till Death tells it us! It is Death alone that can suddenly make man to 25 Note 7, page 12, col. 2. "These are my Jewels!" The anecdote here alluded to, is related by Valerius Maximus, lib. iv, c. 4. Note 8, page 12, col. 2. "Suffer these little ones to come to me!" In our early Youth, while yet we live only among those we love, we love without restraint, and our hearts overflow in every look, word, and action. But when we enter the world and are repulsed by strangers, forgotten by friends, we grow more and more timid in our approaches even to those we love best. How delightful to us then are the little caresses of children! All sincerity, all affection, they fly into our arms; and then, and then only, we feel our first confidence, our first pleasure. Note 9, page 12, col. 2. -he reveres The brow engraven with the Thoughts of Years. This is a law of Nature. Age was anciently synonymous with power; and we may always observe that the old are held in more or less honor as men are more or less virtuous. "Shame," says Homer, "bids the youth beware how he accosts the man of many years." "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of an old man."-Leviticus. visit Sicily and Greece, when hearing of the troubles in England, he thought it proper to hasten home. Note 13, page 13, col. 1. And Milton's self. I began thus far to assent... to an inward prompting which now grew daily upon me, that by labor and intent study (which I take to be my portion in this life), joined with the strong propensity of nature, I might perhaps leave something, so written, to after times, as they should not willingly let it die.-MILTON. Note 14, page 13, col. 1. -'t was at matin-time. Love and devotion are said to be nearly allied. Boccaccio fell in love at Naples in the church of St. Lorenzo; as Petrarch had done at Avignon in the church of St. Clair. Note 15, page 13, col. 2. Lovely before, oh, say how lovely now! Is it not true, that the young not only appear to be. but really are, most beautiful in the presence of those they love? It calls forth all their beauty. Note 16, page 13, col. 2. And feeling hearts-touch them but rightly-pour Xenophon has left us a delightful instance of con Among us, says a philosophical historian, and wherever birth and possessions give rank and au-jugal affection. thority, the young and the profligate are seen continu- The king of Armenia not fulfilling his engagement, ally above the old and the worthy: there Age can never Cyrus entered the country, and, having taken him find its due respect. But among many of the ancient and all his family prisoners, ordered them instantly nations it was otherwise; and they reaped the benefit before him. Armenian, said he, you are free; for you of it. Rien ne maintient plus les mœurs qu'une are now sensible of your error. And what will you extrême subordination des jeunes gens envers les give me, if I restore your wife to you ?-All that I am vieillards. Les uns et les autres seront contenus, ceux- able. What, if I restore your children?-All that I là par le respect qu'ils auront pour les vieillards, et am able. And you, Tigranes, said he, turning to the ceux-ci par le respect qu'ils auront pour eux-mêmes." son, What would you do, to save your wife from MONTESQUIEU. Note 10, page 12, col. 2. servitude? Now Tigranes was but lately married, and had a great love for his wife. Cyrus, he replied, to save her from servitude, I would willingly lay down my life. Like Her most gentle, most unfortunate. Before I went into Germany, I came to Brodegate Let each have his own again, said Cyrus; and when in Leicestershire, to take my leave of that noble Lady Jane Grey, to whom I was exceeding much beholding. he was departed, one spoke of his clemency; and Her parents, the Duke and Duchess, with all the another of his valor; and another of his beauty, and the graces of his person. Upon which, Tigranes Household, Gentlemen and Gentlewomen, were hunting in the park. I found her in her chamber, asked his wife, if she thought him handsome. Really, said she, I did not look at him.-At whom then did reading Phædo Platonis in Greek, and that with as much delight as some Gentlemen would read a merry you look?—At him who said he would lay down his tale in Boccace. After salutation and duty done, with life for me.-Cyropædia, l. iii. some other talk, I asked her, why she would lose such pastime in the park? Smiling, she answered me, "I wist, all their sport in the park is but a shadow to that pleasure that I find in Plato."-ROGER ASCHAM. Note 11, page 12, col. 2. Then is the Age of Admiration. Note 17, page 14, col. 2. He goes, and Night comes as it never came! These circumstances, as well as some others that follow, are happily, as far as they regard England, of an ancient date. To us the miseries inflicted by a foreign invader are now known only by description. Dante in his old age was pointed out to Petrarch Many generations have passed away since our counwhen a boy; and Dryden to Pope. Who does not wish that Dante and Dryden could have known the value of the homage that was paid them, and foreseen the greatness of their young admirers? Note 12, page 13, col. 1. Scenes such as Milton sought, but sought in vain. trywomen saw the smoke of an enemy's camp. But the same passions are always at work everywhere, and their effects are always nearly the same; though the circumstances that attend them are infinitely various. Note 18, page 15, col. 1. That House with many a funeral-garland hung. 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 goit 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. 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 The persons here immediately alluded to lived husband of Terentia and "the father of Marcus felt more than a hundred years ago, in a reign which something on the subject, of which he was willing 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 |