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GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. 
 
I 
 
 prtntetf at l^t mnihtxiitvi pre^iS. 
 
GEMS 
 
 OF 
 
 LATIN POETRY, 
 
 WITH 
 
 translations l)g barious ^utjors; 
 
 TO WHICH ARE ADDED 
 
 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS, 
 
 BY 
 
 ANDREW AMOS, Esq, . 
 
 AUTHOR OF 'THE GREAT OYER OF POISONING,' 
 NOTES ON FORTESCUE DE LAUDIBUS LEGUM ANGLIJE,' Ac. &c 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: JOHN DEIGHTON. 
 LONDON: J. BAIN, 1, HAYMARKET. 
 
 M.DCCC.LI. 
 

 
PREFACE 
 
 rFHE following Work is designed for Undergraduates. 
 
 -*- Within a very short period, I have published writ- 
 ings, and used strenuous personal exertions for severer 
 purposes, connected with organic changes in the admi- 
 nistration of national justice* and with the instaura- 
 tion of Academical Institutions in conformity with the 
 present exigencies of Society f . These works may 
 atone for a brief literary delassement at the abode of 
 my Alma Mater, my return to whom, after the turmoil 
 of public life, feels to me like the inhaling of a second 
 spring. 
 
 To my young readers, (many of whom are the sons 
 of my friends, and are pursuing at Cambridge the 
 honourable footsteps of their distinguished Fathers), 
 it will be a relief to hear that I do not propose to 
 vex their attentions by a selection of Gems from Virgil, 
 Horace, Ovid, Juvenal, or Persius |. The beauties of 
 
 * On the Expediency of admitting the Testimony of Parties to Suits. 
 A Sheet of Advice to County Court Judges. 
 
 t Introductory Lectui-e on the Laws of England, delivered at the 
 University of Cambridge. Letter to Dr Whewell on Education at the 
 Universities. 
 
 X These were the only Latin poets read at Eton when the Author 
 was an alumnus there ; Juvenal and Persius were not read in school, but 
 occasionally with tutors. Gray writes to West, that he first opened 
 Silius Italicus in the Alps. During the Author's undergraduateship, 
 many Etonians were indebted for their first acquaintance with Lucretius 
 to their College Deans, who shewed a preference to this author in 
 their impositions, because he was a stranger. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 these authors are all familiar to most Undergraduates of 
 promise. But I conceive that there are many Gems 
 of " purest ray serene " to be discovered in the works 
 of Authors not commonly read, or even looked into at 
 Schools or in the University. I feel sanguine that I 
 may present a collection of these to the notice of Under- 
 graduates, which may tend to implant in their minds 
 a predilection for what is noble, and a detestation of 
 what is base in conduct, a good-will towards mankind, 
 an admiration and reverence for the works of the Deity ; 
 or which, at least, by the creations of fancy, or even the 
 frolics of the Muses, may wean the mind from selfish 
 ruminations, the idolatries of fashion, or those " eating 
 cares," that are the lot of humanity. 
 
 There are several causes why the excursions of 
 Undergraduates among the Latin Poets have usually 
 been confined to a few authors. It unfortunately hap- 
 pens that the writings of nearly every one of the most 
 admired Poets of the Augustan aera contain passages 
 which the eye of youth should never see ! But if we 
 deviate from this flourishing period, and take, for an 
 example, Catullus, as that of an Author before Augustus, 
 or Martial, as that of a Post-Augustan Poet, we shall 
 find, indeed, occasionally, in their works, the most feli- 
 citous thoughts, conveyed in the most fascinating expres- 
 sions: but the objectionable filth which, at intervals, 
 offends the moral sense in Horace or Ovid, is in Catullus 
 and Martial the ordinary current of ideas, the phrase- 
 ology most familiar to their generally polluted, though 
 sometimes honied tongues. Ovid, Catullus, Martial, and, 
 we may add with regret, the refined Pliny, take pains to 
 
PREFACE. vu 
 
 expressly avow a most reprehensible doctrine, that, 
 although a Poet ought to be as moral as other people in 
 his life, he can never deserve blame for immoral verses*. 
 In other words, that if a Poet had been as immodest 
 as Rochester, and as beastly as Swift, (both angels of 
 light as compared with the Classics), he might lay a 
 flattering unction to his soul, that he had written 
 
 No line which dying he would wish to blot. 
 
 Such considerations may, in some measure, explain 
 an anomaly which defaces the system of modern educa- 
 tion. In the higher circles of society, the moral senti- 
 ments, the associations of ideas, and the taste of a Man, 
 are commonly formed on a close study of the Greek and 
 Roman Writers, to which his attention is almost exclu- 
 sively devoted till the age of nineteen, and sometimes 
 for three or more years beyond; whereas the number 
 of Females who can read a Latin book is infinite- 
 simally small f ; if, indeed, the Latin tongue be not an 
 
 * In Oldys's Epigrams, a.d. 1727, that editor writes: "We think the 
 coarseness and indelicacy of this epigram abundantly atoned for by its 
 poignancy of thought and pleasantness of conceit, which justly entitle it 
 to a place in our collection." 
 
 t The Author, in his Letter to Dr Whewell, writes : " You have 
 placed the immediate practical utility of classical knowledge in a more 
 striking point of view than I recollect ever to have contemplated it 
 before; and I wish to be understood as not controverting the general 
 scope of your observations, whilst I adduce a few grains of allowance, 
 with which, I apprehend, they ought to be seasoned. It is really veiy 
 gratifying to reflect on the happy family footing on which, it seems,'the 
 classically educated mutually stand. They have *a bond of mental 
 union,' ' a common store of thoughts, images, and turns of expression,' 
 * common intellectual possessions,' ' a community of sentiments arising 
 out of the internal constitution of human nature.' They are members 
 of a * common human family,' indulging in ' thoughts and expressions of 
 thoughts belonging to humanity in general,' ' on which the human mind 
 
viii PREFACE. 
 
 accomplishment which is sometimes suppressed by the 
 Fair Sex, as though it argued a propensity for inter- 
 dicted knowledge inherited from their Mother Eve. 
 
 Again, of that large portion of human thought which 
 in modern as well as ancient times has been expressed 
 in Latin Poetry, how much relates to exploded theories 
 and opinions, or to occurrences no longer subjects of 
 interest, or of which the traditions are faint and obscure ! 
 What a mass, for example, of unintelligible and value- 
 less rubbish is to be found in the works of Lucretius; 
 and yet, from amid the gloom of his bulky philosophical 
 poem, he occasionally darts forth rays of genius, than 
 which there is nothing brighter or more exalted to be 
 met with in the whole range of Classical Literature. 
 So the most eminent Poets of Modern Italy, who, during 
 a long period, composed in Latin verse, with a success 
 approaching to rivalry with the Augustan Writers, have 
 expressed many thoughts worthy of meditation in every 
 age ; nevertheless, there will, perhaps, be found scarcely 
 
 delights to dwell, and which are sympathized with throughout the world/ 
 And this liaison is made the more interesting and tender, by reason of 
 the classical languages being a * vehicle of emotion,' not less than of 
 thought. There is one drawback to these agreeable visions, and that is 
 a very serious one : — The Female Sex are not, in the present day, (to 
 speak generally,) brought up among the classics. Time was, when the 
 world was in possession of a Lady Jane Grey, and, in later days, of a 
 Madame Dacier. But I fear that ladies of this stamp afford a melan- 
 choly parallel to that bird of which the species is known to have existed 
 upon earth within human memory, but of which there is now no longer 
 any living specimen, ... I fear that we must be satisfied, by the aid of 
 classics, to have a bond of mental union with only half of human nature, 
 even among the educated classes ; to have common intellectual posses- 
 sions only with half (and to our sorrow, the less eligible half) of humanity; 
 and that we must seek some other ' vehicle of emotions,* and employ 
 some other go-betweens than the classic authors, in our intercourse with 
 the ladies of the human family.*' 
 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 one page out of a hundred in their works which is 
 calculated to afford edification or pleasure to a modern 
 reader. Perhaps there is not a single Undergraduate 
 at Cambridge, who knows more even about Vida (one 
 of the most extolled Italian writers of Latin Poetry) 
 than the lines, 
 
 Immortal Vida ! on whose honour'd brow 
 The poet's bays, and critic's ivy grow : 
 Cremona now shall ever boast thy name, 
 As next in place to Mantua, next in fame! 
 
 It must be confessed also that the search after ideas 
 at our Universities is confined within a narrow circle. 
 There is little encouragement, or indeed (practically 
 speaking) permission for the prosecution of more than 
 two branches of study; and those, perhaps, not pro- 
 perly occupying the first place in the minds of students 
 destined for general life, who have exceeded the age 
 of twenty *. But even in one of these branches, that 
 
 * When classical studies first obtained their present predominance 
 in our Universities, there was little of valuable information to be acquired 
 from other sources ; students were sent to college five years earlier than 
 at present ; and there was not the like rush of well-educated, though not 
 classically-educated, persons into every avenue leading to emolument or 
 honour. Milton, even at a period before many important sources of 
 modern information had been opened, thanks his father for having 
 persuaded him to extend his poetical studies beyond the narrow limits of 
 a Classical Tripos : 
 
 Tuo, Pater optime, sumptu, 
 Cum mihi Romulese patuit facundia linguae, 
 Et Latii Veneres, et, quae Jovis ora decebant, 
 Grandia magniloquis elata vocabula Graiis : 
 Addere suasisti quos jactat Gallia flores; 
 Et quam degeneri novus Italus ore loquelam 
 Fundit, barbaricos testatus voce triumphos ; 
 Quseque Palsestinus loquitur mysteria vates. 
 And if Milton had lived to the present day, he would not have passed 
 over the muses of Germany without the " meed " of a " melodious '* 
 encomium. 
 
 b 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 of Classics, the student's attention is less directed to 
 the acquirement of rules for conduct, or of arts to win 
 mankind, than to struggles with difficult constructions, 
 and the chirping of metres and accents, or to imitating 
 with servile and awkward pinion the flights of ancient 
 eagles or swans. It may, perhaps, be a question whe- 
 ther it be so necessary as formerly to rear a succession 
 of Scaligers, Bentleys, and Porsons ; now that, after a 
 running fight for centuries, most of the monsters of 
 corrupt or interpolated texts, or of passages that mock 
 all meaning and sense, may be supposed to have been 
 vanquished by the labours of those literary Herculeses 
 or Giant-killers. But there can be no doubt, as regards 
 Students designed for other than a scholastic life, that 
 something of the philological astuteness which is now 
 exacted or encouraged, may reasonably be dispensed 
 with, if they be thereby enabled to make a more excur- 
 sive range in quest of ideas, to know more of what the 
 Ancients wrote about, and to know something, besides 
 Mathematics, of what has transpired in the world for 
 the last thousand years and upwards. 
 
 It is hoped that although some accomplished Under- 
 graduates may find nothing new in these pages, yet that 
 there may be a number of others, who may reap benefit 
 from my placing before them what I have dug up, as 
 it were, from a literary Pompeii or Herculaneum, con- 
 sisting of selections from books, which, from one or 
 other of the causes above assigned, are not commonly 
 placed in the hands of youth. They are curiosities, with 
 regard to which I have endeavoured to perform the 
 part of a literary pioneer, clearing away the rubbish 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 with which they were covered, and divesting them 
 of a load of matters replete with depraved taste, false 
 wit, bad reasoning, obscenities, outrages on human 
 nature, and impieties; from none of which vices were 
 the Latian Muses, in their best days, averse, and amidst 
 which, in their decline, they were wont to revel. 
 
 With regard to the Poetical Translations in this 
 Work, they have been collected from a multitude of 
 sources, ancient and modern. The names of the trans- 
 lators are not commonly given, partly because they are 
 not known, or the references to them have been lost, 
 and partly because it has been thought that the Reader 
 would not care to be informed on the subject. The 
 Author's share in this part of the work has been very 
 trifling indeed, and chiefly confined to modifications for 
 the avoidance of gross literary blunders, or startling 
 eccentricities of diction and rhyme*. For the prose 
 translations, except some from Pliny by Melmoth, the 
 Author is responsible. French translations or imita- 
 tions have been adopted sometimes for their own merit, 
 and sometimes from the demerit of the Author, who 
 yielded to the temptation of saving himself trouble. 
 
 As regards the translations in general, they are not 
 
 * Several of those poetical translations, which are of the more humble 
 pretensions, are by Elphinstone, who translated all Martial. The list of 
 subscribers to his book is one of the most imposing ever published. The 
 work was apparently a long time in hand, for there is a numerous list of 
 subscribers, by way of postscript, who, Elphinstone writes, are " already 
 called to superior enjoyment;" thus modestly admitting tha,t their 
 enjoyment in heaven might be superior to that of reading his poetry. 
 He addresses his departed patrons thus : 
 
 Hail, hallowed friends ! whose names shall never die. 
 May ours, with yours, be registered on high ! 
 
 h2 
 
xii PREFACE. 
 
 a dainty dish to set before those Classical Scholars whose 
 object is to solve difficulties of construction, and to 
 study not the sentiments of Latin authors, but the Latin 
 Language*. All that has been attempted has been to 
 exhibit in an English dress the general scope of a 
 Poet's ideas; without aiming at that closeness of re- 
 semblance which would be requisite in an Academical 
 Examination. Many persons, however, who are capable 
 of relishing the beauties of the Classical Authors, are 
 not such proficients in the Latin tongue, (especially as 
 used by Poets who do not belong to the Augustan 
 period), but that a slight assistance towards the com- 
 prehension of a Latin piece of composition, would make 
 all the difference between their taking it up to read, or 
 not. Now although the lights here afforded to such 
 readers may now and then be deemed ignes fatui, it 
 will often happen that an individual may possess such a 
 competent knowledge of Latinity as to perceive where 
 a Translator is a blind guide, and at the same time 
 to feel indebted for his assistance where his own sense 
 may assure him that the way has been correctly pointed 
 out. If there be any Readers of this book who are not 
 acquainted with the Latin language at all, they will be 
 spared that exasperation which may be expected to 
 arise in the minds of classical scholars at the sight of 
 literary blunders committed by one whose life has 
 
 * The Author's College Tutor was often not content with consuming 
 half the lecture hour in laying prostrate all the difficulties to be found 
 in the Commentators about some unimportant matter, (as, for example, 
 the artful dodge of some scampish Heathen Divinity), but would cast his 
 eyes round the table, and say, with a chuckle, " Gentlemen, I hare found 
 another difficulty /" 
 
PREFACE. XIII 
 
 been spent among men, and not with books; whilst, 
 notwithstanding such faults, they may be edified with 
 many opinions, sentiments, and descriptions, which are 
 new to them, and which, though in particular instances 
 perhaps inaccurate as translations, may be in general 
 calculated to elevate the mind, and inspire it with 
 philanthropic dispositions. 
 
 With regard to the Notes and Illustrations of this 
 Work, it is hoped that they may impart an additional 
 interest to the Gems. Sometimes they may shew how 
 much several of the most esteemed English Authors have 
 been indebted to Classical sources for numerous bril- 
 liant passages in their works ; sometimes, by the process 
 of association of ideas, they may render the treasuring 
 of the original Gems in the memory a more easy and 
 agreeable task; and, generally, it is trusted that they 
 may tend to supply a desideratum in University Educa- 
 tion, by directing attention to English Literature, 
 modern events, and objects of daily interest, in a point 
 of view not conflicting with a regard to the beauties of 
 the Classics, but conspiring wdth them to imprint more 
 deeply on the heart the sentiments of Nature, and the 
 dictates of Virtue. 
 
 If this Work should, perchance, attract more notice 
 than is anticipated on the part of Undergraduates, I may 
 be induced to send to the Press another set of Gems 
 which I have already in my literary cabinet, regarding 
 more particularly those shrewd remarks of the Latin 
 Poets concerning ancient institutions, the conduct of 
 life, the nicer shades and varieties of character, and 
 the intercourse of society. It appeared to me that these 
 
XIV PREFACE. 
 
 subjects, although of greater interest than any thing 
 here offered to persons experienced in the ways of the 
 world, would not be so attractive to Undergraduates as 
 those which I have selected on the present occasion. 
 
 My intimate friends know how I have usually con- 
 fined the lighter lucubrations of my leisure hours to a 
 few printed copies for private circulation : that I have 
 deviated from my former course on the present occasion, 
 is because it appeared to me that an opportunity was 
 offered of scattering some good seeds on a very prolific 
 soil, and not from an ignorance that Cambridge was as 
 remarkable as ancient Rome for Rhinoceros' noses. 
 
 Majores nusquam ronchi, juvenesque, senesque, 
 Et pueri nasum Rhinocerontis habent. 
 
 My Undergraduate friends will, however, kindly bear 
 in mind the adage, " Never to look a gift horse in the 
 mouth." A work like the present can never be expected 
 to pay a quarter of its expences ; especially as there is 
 no likelihood of my having an opportunity of setting 
 questions out of it at any Academical examination. 
 I shall, however, consider myself richly compensated, if 
 these Gems shall instil into the minds of youth any 
 new incentives to virtue, or even impart to them any 
 moments of literary gratification. 
 
 Downing College, Cambridge, 
 March, 1851 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. Pope Julius casting into the Tiber the Keys of St Peter 1 
 
 n. Death of Xavier 3 
 
 III. Arnauld's Heart conveyed to Port Royal, and there 
 
 enshrined ...... 4 
 
 rv. Moliere's Death ...... 5 
 
 V. Death of the Emperor Otho . . . .6 
 
 VI. Festus's Suicide 8 
 
 Vn. Death of Politian 11 
 
 Vm. The Branding of Prynne 12 
 
 IX. Message from Philip II. to Queen Elizabeth . 13 
 
 Queen Elizabeth's Reply .... ib. 
 
 X. Presentation of Henry VIIL's Book to Pope Leo . 14 
 
 XI. Gunpowder Plot ...... ib. 
 
 XII. Franklin's Snatches 16 
 
 XTTT. Arria's Non dolet! (It is not painful !) . . 17 
 
 XrV. Death of Porcia, wife of Brutus .... 18 
 
 XV. Defence of Syracuse by Archimedes, and his death 19 
 
 XVI. Hannibal Swearing enmity to the Romans . . 21 
 
 XV II. Regulus's Tortures in a Cask . . . . 24 
 XVin. West's Cough 25 
 
 XIX. West on Gray's Return from his Travels . . 26 
 
 XX. Laberius's Prologue ...;.. 27 
 
 XXI. Mucins Scaevola 29 
 
 XXII. The FaU of Rufinus 32 
 
 XXin. Cruelties of the Roman Amphitheatre . . 34 
 
XVI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 XXrv. On the Women who fought with Wild Beasts in the 
 Amphitheatre ...... 
 
 XXV. Naumachise ...... 
 
 XXVI. Cato refusing to consult the Oracle of Jupiter Ammon 
 
 XXVII. Cato at the Floral Games 
 
 XXVIII. Csesar Passing the Rubicon 
 XXIX. Death of Pompey .... 
 
 XXX. Suttees 
 
 XXXI. Treatment of Slaves 
 
 XXXII. Martial's Manumission of a Dying Slave 
 XXXin. Assassination of Cicero . 
 XXXrV. Attempted Murder of Marius 
 
 XXXV. Iphigeneia's Sacrifice 
 
 XXXVI. Marseilles' Bishop : his Conduct during the Plague . 
 
 XXXVII. Hadrian's Parting Address to his Soul, when dying 
 
 XXXVIII. Metamorphosis of Matsys. , ... 
 XXXIX. StDunstan 
 
 XL. Sir Thomas More's Relation of a Monk thrown over- 
 board to hghten a ship of a crew's sins . 
 
 XLI. The Miracle at Cana . . . , . 
 
 36 
 ib. 
 37 
 41 
 42 
 46 
 49 
 51 
 63 
 55 
 67 
 68 
 61 
 62 
 64 
 
 66 
 67 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 I. Linacre ....... 68 
 
 II. Dr Pitcairn. (Invitation to a Ghost.) . . .69 
 
 in. Dante .72 
 
 IV. Michael Angelo. (Inscriptions on his Monument.) . 73 
 
 V. Raphael 74 
 
 VI. Annibal Caracci . . . . . . 75 
 
 VII. Poussin ....;.. 76 
 
 VIII. Frascatoro 77 
 
 IX. The Antiquary Vaillant ..... ib. 
 
 X. Parkyns, the Wrestler 78 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xvu 
 
 * 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 XL 
 
 Aretino ....... 
 
 79 
 
 XTT. 
 
 Mirandola ...... 
 
 . 80 
 
 XTTL 
 
 Nero ........ 
 
 ib. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Swift 
 
 . 81 
 
 XV. 
 
 Waller and Sacharissa . . . . . 
 
 82 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Cromwell, (by Locke.) .... 
 
 . 84 
 
 XVll. 
 
 James II. ...... . 
 
 85 
 
 xvm. 
 
 Machiavel ...... 
 
 . ib. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Ascham ....... 
 
 86 
 
 XX. 
 
 Silius Italicus, his pious cares for the Memories 
 
 of 
 
 
 Virgil and Cicero .... 
 
 87 
 
 XXI. 
 
 Lucan ....... 
 
 . 89 
 
 XXTI. 
 
 LeoX 
 
 91 
 
 XXill. 
 
 Pope Alexander VI. ..... 
 
 . 93 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 Csesar Borgia ..... 
 
 95 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Lucretia Borgia ..... 
 
 . 97 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 Luther ...... 
 
 98 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 Mary Queen of Scots. (Prayer repeated by her 
 
 m- 
 
 
 mediately before her Execution.) . 
 
 99 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 Lady Jane Grey ..... 
 
 . 100 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 Milton ' 
 
 ib. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 Milton compared with Homer and Virgil 
 
 . 101 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 Milton and his Father .... 
 
 102 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 Milton rusticated, perhaps flogged 
 
 . 103 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 Milton burnt ..... 
 
 104 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 Spenser ....... 
 
 . 106 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 Nsevius . . . . . . 
 
 107 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 Nigrina. A Funeral Urn. 
 
 . 108 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 Antonius Primus. Life doubled. 
 
 109 
 
 XXXVIII 
 
 Martial and Pliny . 
 
 111 
 
 ^ X \1X. 
 
 Nerva ....... 
 
 . 113 
 
 XL. 
 
 Sir Thomas More ..... 
 
 117 
 
 XLL 
 
 Sir Thomas More and his Children 
 
 . 118 
 
 XTJI. 
 
 Coke and Bacon ..... 
 
 119 
 
 XLin. 
 
 Sir Edward Coke's Diary .... 
 
 . 120 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 Sh: Edward Coke's Kitchen 
 
 122 
 
 XLV. 
 
 King James I. (his Visit to Cambridge) 
 
 . ib. 
 
 
 Present of his Basilicon Doron . 
 
 123 
 
i^ni 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 pIilGe 
 
 XL VI. 
 
 Cowley ........ 
 
 123 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 Cowley on his own Death .... 
 
 126 
 
 XLvm. 
 
 The Old Man of Verona 
 
 127 
 
 XTJX. 
 
 Coryat's Crudities ...... 
 
 129 
 
 L. 
 
 Scorpus the Charioteer ..... 
 
 130 
 
 LI. 
 
 Paris the Pantomime ..... 
 
 131 
 
 LII. 
 
 Latinus the Mime. ...... 
 
 132 
 
 Lin. 
 
 Csesar and Pompey 
 
 134 
 
 LIV. 
 
 Cato . . . . . . . . 
 
 138 
 
 LV. 
 
 Epicurus . . . . . . 
 
 140 
 
 LVL 
 
 Catullus at his Brother's Tomb .... 
 
 142 
 
 LVII. 
 
 Catullus and Cicero ..... 
 
 143 
 
 LVIII. 
 
 Young Torquatus 
 
 144 
 
 LIX. 
 
 Quintilian and Martial ..... 
 
 145 
 
 LX. 
 
 Cotta. (Who never knew a day's illness.) 
 
 148 
 
 LXI. 
 
 Sabidus. (Disliked, without knowing why.) 
 
 150 
 
 LXII. 
 
 Sulpicia. (The Model of « Grace" for Milton's Eve.) 
 
 151 
 
 Lxm. 
 
 Zoilus. (Unfa,vourable Physiognomy.) 
 
 153 
 
 LXIV. 
 
 Ligurinus the Table-Talker .... 
 
 156 
 
 LXV. 
 
 Canius the Laugher ..... 
 
 158 
 
 LXVL 
 
 Aeon and Leonilla. (Each beautiful, each one-eyed.) 
 
 160 
 
 LXVIL 
 
 Lais. (Her Looking-Glass). .... 
 
 161 
 
 LXVIII. 
 
 Glaucia. (His Premature Death.) 
 
 ib. 
 
 LXIX. 
 
 Lascaris ....... 
 
 163 
 
 LXX. 
 
 Augustus . . . . . 
 
 ib. 
 
 LXXI. 
 
 A Grammarian of Ghent .... 
 
 164 
 
 LXXII. 
 
 Nicholas. An Egotist . . . . 
 
 166 
 
 Lxxm. 
 
 Hobson ....... 
 
 167 
 
 LXXIV. 
 
 Fox's Vale to Eton . . . . . 
 
 168 
 
CONTENTS. XIX 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 L Venice . . . ' . . . . 171 
 
 II. The Grande Chartreuse 173 
 
 HI. Sirmio . 176 
 
 IV. Vesuvius 179 
 
 V. Mount St Bernard 186 
 
 VI. The Alps 189 
 
 VII. Fsesulse 192 
 
 VIII. Bai£e . .194 
 
 IX. A Formian Villa 195 
 
 X. A Tiburtine Villa 205 
 
 XL Domitian's Fishpond . . . . . 210 
 
 XII. The Hot Springs near Cicero's Academy . .211 
 
 XIII. The Po, with its Mythology .... 213 
 
 XIV. The Po frozen 214 
 
 XV. Building Account between Domitian and Jupiter . 216 
 
 XVI. The Palatine Mount 218 
 
 XVII. Colisseum 219 
 
 XVIII. Nero's Golden House, Titus's Baths, and Claudian's 
 
 Portico 221 
 
 XIX. Concourse of all Nations at Rome . . . 224 
 
 XX. America . . . . . . . . 225 
 
 XXI. Ancient Sights of London .... 226 
 
 XXII. Drunken Barnab/s Journal ..... 227 
 XXIIL Pope's Grotto 230 
 
 XXIV. The Rhine 233 
 
 XXV. Stonehenge 234 
 
 XXVI. On a Crystal containing a drop of water . . 237 
 XXVH. Insects in Amber ...... 238 
 
 XXVIII. Phenomenon produced by Snowballs . . . 240 
 
XX 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ARTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. Cromweirs Portrait presented to Queen Christina 242 
 
 II. Portrait of Antonius Primus .... 243 
 
 III. Portrait of Erasmus 244 
 
 IV. Picture of St Bruno, (founder of the Grande Char- 
 
 treuse) ....... 245 
 
 V. Ecce Homo, by Mignard .... 246 
 
 VI. Picture of Marillac, Doctor of the Sorbonne . . 247 
 
 VII. Picture of Shaftesbury 248 
 
 VIII. Picture of Belisarius 250 
 
 IX. Picture of the Resurrection .... 252 
 
 X. Picture of Venus Anadyomene .... 253 
 
 XI. Timomachus's Picture of Medea . . . 254 
 
 XII. Picture of Camomus's Son ..... 258 
 
 XIII. Ancient Picture of a Lap-dog .... 259 
 
 XIV. Picture of Titian, and his Wife, who died in child-bed 260 
 
 XV. Hogarth's Pictures . . . . . .261 
 
 XVI. Encaustic Painting 262 
 
 XVII. Painting in glass of the Nativity . . . .263 
 
 XVIII. Madame Schurmans, (a model in wax) . . 265 
 XIX. Tears of a Painter . . . . . . ib. 
 
 XX. Picture of Echo 267 
 
 XXI. TheLaocoon 268 
 
 XXII. The Venus of Cnidos 272 
 
 XXIII. Polycletus's Juno 274 
 
 XXIV. Lysippus' Alexander the Great . . . 275 
 
 XXV. Group of the Statues of Opportunity and Repentance 276 
 
 XXVI. Vindex*s convivial Statue of Hercules . . 278 
 
 XXVII. Statue of Lucretia 281 
 
 XXVm. The Statue of Niobe 283 
 
 XXIX. statue of Domitian as the Mild Jupiter . . . 285 
 
 XXX. statue of Domitian as Hercules . . . 287 
 
 XXXI. ^gis of Domitian 289 
 
 XXXn. Statue of Erasmus 291 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XXI 
 
 XXXIII. A Statue of Victory, at Rome, of which the wings were 
 
 destroyed by lightning 
 
 XXXIV. The Florentine Brutus 
 
 XXXV. Statue of the Duke of Welhngton in front of the Royal 
 
 Exchange ....... 
 
 XXXVI. The Bust of the Duke of Wellington deposited in the 
 
 Library of Eton College 
 
 XXXVII. Madame Langhen's Monument 
 
 XXXVIII. Praxiteles turned Sportsman . . 
 XXXIX. Pageant Figure of Queen Elizabeth, as Deborah 
 
 XL. A Statue of Somnus .... 
 
 XLI. Myron's Cow ...... 
 
 XLII. Toreutic Work 
 
 XLIII. On a Toreutic Cup ..... 
 
 XLIV. A Roman Bazaar ..... 
 
 XLV. The Great Tun at Heidelburg 
 
 XL VI. A Tree cut into the shape of a Bear . 
 XL VII. Growth of a Man of War from an Acorn 
 XLVIIL On a Shepherd's first sight of a Ship . 
 
 XLIX. Fragment of the Ship Argo .... 
 L. The Sphere of Archimedes 
 
 292 
 
 ih. 
 
 293 
 
 ih. 
 
 294 
 
 295 
 
 296 
 
 297 
 
 298 
 
 299 
 
 306 
 
 310 
 
 313 
 
 317 
 
 ih. 
 
 318 
 
 319 
 
 323 
 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 
 
 INSCRIPTIONS. 
 
 
 I. 
 
 Regnard at the Frozen Sea .... 
 
 . 325 
 
 II. 
 
 Selden's House ...... 
 
 ih. 
 
 III. 
 
 Ariosto's House ...... 
 
 . 326 
 
 IV. 
 
 Gil Bias's House 
 
 327 
 
 V. 
 
 Gorhambury, (Inscription over the Entrance Hall) 
 
 . 328 
 
 
 Inscriptions in a Banqueting House . 
 
 ih. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Emblems ....... 
 
 330 
 
 VII. 
 
 Stadt-house at Delft . . . ... 
 
 . 331 
 
 VIII. 
 
 The Arsenal of Brest . . . 
 
 332 
 
XXll 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 IX. A College of Surgeons, in the form of an Amphitheatre 
 
 X, The Criminal Comi; of the Chastelet 
 
 XI. The Clock of the Palace of Justice . 
 
 XII. Inscriptions at Theobald's in honour of James I. and 
 
 the King of Denmark 
 
 Xin. The Arsenal at Paris .... 
 
 XIV. Orangery at Chantilly 
 
 XV. Milton's Alcove 
 
 XVI. Assignation Seat 
 
 XVII. A Maze 
 
 XVIII. Water-Works at Marly 
 
 XIX. A Grotto near a Stream .... 
 
 XX. The Fountain of the Bridge of Nostre-Dame 
 
 XXI. The Fountain des Quatre Nations, (opposite the 
 
 Louvre) ....... 
 
 XXII. The Fountain of Petits-Peres 
 
 XXIII. The Fountain of La Charite 
 
 XXIV. The Fountain of the Market Maubert 
 
 XXV. The Fountain of the Rue de Richelieu 
 
 XXVI. The Fountain of the Quartier des Financiers 
 
 XXVII. A Fountain, in honour of Queen Anne and the Duke of 
 
 Marlborough ...... 
 
 XXVIII. Baptismal Font at Florence 
 
 XXIX. The Holy Cross 
 
 XXX. A Statue of the Virgin Mary at Rome 
 
 XXXI. The Gate of a Monastery of Black-hooded Friars 
 
 XXXII. A carved Head of St Peter 
 
 XXXIII. Luther's Glass . . . . . 
 
 XXXIV. An^olianHarp 
 
 XXXV. An Organ 
 
 XXXVI. D'Alembert's Treatise on the Winds . 
 
 XXXVII. Devices in Bellenden's book De Statu 
 
 XXXVIII. Medal to Louis XIV. applied to Queen Anne 
 XXXIX. Inscriptions by ancient Printers 
 
 XL. A Bottle buried, and dug up on Stella's Birth-day 
 
 XLI. Presentation Cups ..... 
 
 XLII. Ancient Lamp . . . . . 
 
 XLIIL Bells 
 
 PAGP, 
 
 332 
 333 
 
 334 
 335 
 336 
 
 ih. 
 337 
 338 
 339 
 340 
 ih. 
 
 341 
 342 
 
 ih. 
 343 
 ih. 
 ih. 
 
 344 
 345 
 ih. 
 346 
 ih. 
 347 
 ih. 
 348 
 349 
 350 
 ih. 
 351 
 352 
 353 
 354 
 355 
 ih. 
 
CONTENTS. xxiii 
 
 PAGE 
 
 XLIV. Diamond Heart, (presented by Mary Queen of Scots to 
 
 Queen Elizabeth.) 357 
 
 XLV. Satumalian Presents : 
 
 A leathern Roman Travelling-coat . . . 358 
 
 A Dentifrice ...... ib. 
 
 Ivory Writing-tables ..... 359 
 
 A plain Marriage- ring . . . . ib. 
 
 XL VI. Heraldic Arms of the Abbot of Ramsey . . 361 
 
 XLVn. The Lion's Head at Button's .... ib. 
 
 XLVIII. Medals of Queen Elizabeth .... 362 
 
 XLIX. Medal of James IE. and his Queen . , . . 363 
 L. Inscriptions at the Entertainment given by the Jesuits 
 at Rome in their Seminary, to the Enghsh Ambassa- 
 dor of James H. ..... 364 
 
GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. 
 
 It is proposed to divide this Collection of Gems of Latin Poetry 
 into five Chapters : 1. Concerning remarkable Actions and 
 Occm-rences — 2. Biography — 3. Places and Natural Pheno- 
 mena — 4. The Arts — 5. Inscriptions. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 
 
 I. 
 
 POPE JULIUS CASTING INTO THE TIBER THE KEYS OF 
 
 ST PETER. 
 
 Cum contra GaUos bellum Papa Julius esset 
 
 Gesturus, sicut fama vetus^ta docet ; 
 Ingentes martis turmas contraxit, et urbem 
 
 Egressus, ssevas edidit ore minas. 
 Iratusque sacras claves in flumina jecit 
 
 Tybridis, hie urbi pons ubi jungit aquas. 
 Inde manu strietum vagina diripit ensem, 
 
 Exelamansque truci talia voee refert. 
 '' Hie gladius Pauli nos nune defendet ab hoste, 
 
 Quandoquidem clavis nil juvat ista Petri." 
 
 Julius, as fame reports, resolved to wage 
 Fell war with Gaul, leads out a mighty army. 
 Girt with his sword, he into Tiber throws 
 The keys ; and, furious, loudly thus he cries : 
 " Since, Peter, thy famed keys in war avail not, 
 ril now unsheath, O Paul, thy mighty sword." 
 ^; . 1 
 
2 . GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 The Italian painters usually drew St Peter with keys, and St Paul 
 with a sword in his hand. Evelyn, in his Collection of Epigrams on 
 Paintings, has the following Epigram on a picture of Julius II. by 
 Raphael : 
 
 A countenance so strong and so severe, 
 Though but a shadow, raises awe and fear. 
 The picture breathes ; for this I can assure ye, 
 Here you may see of art the utmost fury. 
 His temples are begirt with triple crown, 
 To shew that kings before him do fall down. 
 Julius's power Raphael doth express, 
 But who can paint Julius's holiness? 
 
 Michael Angelo's mausoleum of Julius II. is memorable in the history 
 of statuary. What is more closely connected with the lines in the text, 
 is his colossal statue in bronze of the Pope at Bologna. On the artist 
 proposing to place a book in Julius's right hand, the Pope replied, " Place 
 in it a sword ; I am not a man of letters." To the irreparable loss of the 
 fine arts, this statue was broken to pieces in an insurrection of the 
 inhabitants of Bologna. It was converted into a cannon, called, after it, 
 the Julio ; but the head was preserved in the Ducal Museum of Ferrara. 
 It was upon this statue that the lines of Valeriani were written : 
 
 Quo, quo, tam trepidus fugis, Viator, 
 At si te Furise Gorgonesve, 
 Aut acer Basiliscus insequatur? 
 Non hie Julius, at figura Julii est. 
 
 Where, where, traveller, are you flying in such a fright, as if you were 
 pursued by Furies, Gorgons or Basilisks ? This is not Julius, it is only 
 Julius's statue. 
 
 Robertson, in his History of Charles F., mentions the military pontifi- 
 cate of Julius as having tended materially to facilitate the introduction 
 of the Reformation. The name of Julius was assumed in reference to 
 Julius Csesar. At the siege of Mirandola, the Pope mounted a scaling 
 ladder, and entered the city, sword in hand, through a breach in the walls. 
 He was the founder of the Papal States ; and his ruling passion was strong 
 in death ; for his last words were, " Out of Italy, French ! Out, Alfonso of 
 Este !" (See further concerning Julius II., Bayle's Diet, from the trans- 
 lation of which the above English version is taken). 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 3 
 
 II. 
 
 DEATH OF XAVIER. 
 
 Paupere sub tecto, maris udi stratus ad oram, 
 Viribus exhaustis, nuda tellure jacebat, 
 Suspirans vel adhuc Christo submittere Gentes, 
 Frustra ! deficiunt consumpto corpore vires, 
 Supplent vota, animus fervens praetervolat undas. 
 Cum gemitu flectens oculos, quam vellet adire 
 Indociles populos, et nescia pectora flecti. 
 Increpitat morbum, segues et plorat in artus, 
 Frustratus votis animam sub littore ponit. 
 
 Under a poor roof, upon the margin of the sea, ex- 
 hausted in strength, and stretched on the bare ground, lay 
 Xavier, still sighing for the conversion of the Gentiles to 
 Christ. In vain ! For the requisite vigor is wanting to 
 his emaciated body. Vows indeed are left him ; and borne 
 upon these his mind passes across the ocean. Turning his 
 eyes to its waves, he expresses with a groan how eagerly 
 he would visit savage nations, and encounter dispositions 
 which had never been known to yield. He chides his own 
 disease, he weeps over his failing limbs ; at last, unable to 
 fulfil the aspirations of his soul, he lays down his life on 
 the margin of the waters. 
 
 Xavier, on his way to convert the Chinese to Christianity, had arrived 
 as far as Sancian, a small island opposite to Macao. The emperor of 
 China permitted the Portuguese to land upon this island for the purpose 
 of trade. They were not allowed to build permanent houses, but only 
 temporary huts covered with mats and boughs of trees. While Xavier 
 was waiting for a vessel to convey him to the Chinese continent (an enter- 
 prise which the Portuguese discouraged, for fear of the Chinese) he was 
 taken violently ill with a fever and aching of his side. He was placed in 
 a hospital ship, unskilfully bled, and, from being unable to bear the heav- 
 ing of the vessel, afterwai'ds laid upon the shore. A hiunane Portuguese 
 merchant took him into one of the huts, where he lay upon the bare 
 ground, and in a few days expired. In his last moments he groaned forth 
 his regrets that he was thwarted in his attempt " to dispossess the Devil 
 of the largest empire in the world." 
 
 Dryden translated the Life of Xavier, as one of the firstfruits of his 
 
 1—2 
 
4 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 conversion to the Roman Catholic religion He dedicated his work to 
 James II. 's Queen, Maria D'Este : and, in that dedication he mentions 
 the fact, that her majesty had invoked the special aid of St Xavier to 
 secure for her a " Son of Prayers," or Roman Catholic successor to the 
 throne of England. 
 
 III. 
 
 ARNAULD'S HEART CONVEYED TO PORT ROYAL, AND 
 THERE ENSHRINED. 
 
 Ad sanctas rediit sedes ejectus, et exul 
 Hoste triumphato : tot tempestatibus actus 
 Hoc portu in placido, hac sacra tellure quiescit 
 Arnaldus, Veri defensor, et arbiter sequi. 
 lUius ossa memor sibi vindicet extera tellus : 
 Hue coelestis amor rapidis cor transtulit alis, 
 Cor nunquam avulsum, nee amatis sedibus absens. 
 
 Enfin, apres un long orage, 
 
 Arnauld revient en ces saints lieux. 
 II est au port, malgre les envieux, 
 
 Qui croyoit qu'il feroit naufrage. 
 
 Ce martyr de la verite 
 
 Fut banni, fut persecute, 
 
 Et mourut en terre etrangere, 
 Heureuse de son corps d'etre depositaire. 
 Mais son coeur toujours ferme, et toujours innocent, 
 Fut porte par I'amour a qui tout est possible, 
 
 Dans cette retraite paisible 
 
 D''ou jamais il ne fut absent. 
 
 Arnauld, one of the most celebrated characters in the religious history 
 of France, was the chief glory of the establishment of Port Royal. The 
 nuns of Port Royal obtained his heart from Brussels, where he died, and 
 interred it in their cemetery. They prevailed on Sarteuil to write the 
 Latin inscription in the text. An interesting account of Arnauld, in con- 
 nexion with Port Royal, will be found in Professor Sir J. Stephen's 
 Essays on Ecclesiastical History. 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 5 
 
 IV. 
 
 MOLIERE'S DEATH. 
 
 Eoscius hie situs est tristi Molierus in urna 
 Cui genus humanum ludere ludus erat. 
 
 Dum ludit mortem, Mors indignata jocantem 
 Corripit, et mimum fingere sseva negat. 
 
 The remains of Moliere, the French Eoscius, are de- 
 posited in this urn. It was his sport to make sport of 
 mankind. When one day, upon the stage, he was counter- 
 feiting death. Death, incensed at such an indignity, snatched 
 him away, and forbad a Mime to practise his fictions in 
 such serious matters. 
 
 There are various French epitaphs on Moliere, of a more complimen- 
 tary nature than that in the text. In the hall of the French Academy, 
 of which Moliere was not a member, his bust is placed with the following 
 inscription : 
 
 Rien ne manque a sa gloire, 
 II manquoit a la notre. 
 
 The lines in the text have reference to the circumstance, that Moliere 
 expired whilst acting the part of a sick person, in his own play of Le 
 Malade Imaginaire, who on certain occasions pretends to be dead. It was 
 the fourth representation of the play, when, feeling indisposed in the 
 forenoon, Moliere was earnestly pressed by his wife not to act that day : 
 but he answered, " And what then is to become of my poor performers ? 
 I should reproach myself if I neglected them a single day." 
 
 Various instances have occurred of deaths of actors upon the stage, 
 when acting parts in which their feelings have been greatly excited, and 
 after repeating passages having express allusion to death. The actor 
 Palmer died on the stage, immediately after repeating, in the play of The 
 Stranger, " God! O God ! there is another and a better word !" On a 
 tombstone at Bury St Edmunds is inscribed a passage in the play of 
 Measure for Measure. The person to whose memory the tombstone was 
 erected was a principal actor of the Norwich company, a.d. 1756. He 
 expired on the stage immediately after repeating the lines on his tomb- 
 stone : 
 
 Reason thus with life : 
 If I do lose Thee, I do lose a thing 
 That none but fools would keep ; a breath thou art ! 
 
6 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 V. 
 
 DEATH OF THE EMPEROR OTHO. 
 
 Cum dubitaret adhuc belli civilis Enyo, 
 Forsitan et posset vincere mollis Otho : 
 
 Damnavit multo staturum sanguine Martem, 
 Et fodit certa pectora nuda manu. 
 
 Sit Cato, dum vivit, sane vel Caesar e major : 
 Dum moritur, numquid major Othone fuit ? 
 
 While yet Bellona doubts the warlike doom, 
 And softer Otho might have overcome ; 
 He stops the costly charge of blood in war, 
 And by his sword falls his own murderer. 
 With Cato CsQsar living ne^er had vied, 
 But who than Otho e'er more greatly died. 
 
 Suetonius's account of the death of Otho is particularly interesting as 
 being derived from his own father, who was present at the battle of 
 Bedriacum. 
 
 " My father Suetonius Lenis was in this battle, being at that time an 
 Angusticlavian Tribune in the thirteenth legion. He used frequently to 
 say, that Otho, before his advancement to the empire, had such an abhor- 
 rence of civil war, that, upon hearing an account given once at table 
 of the death of Cassius and Brutus, he fell into a trembling, and that he 
 never would have meddled with Galba, but that he was confident he 
 might succeed in his design without a war. He was ultimately encou- 
 raged to despise life by the example of a common soldier, who bringing 
 news of the defeat of the army, and finding that he met with no credit, 
 but was railed at for a liar and a coward, as if he had run away from the 
 field of battle, fell upon his sword at the emperor's feet; upon the 
 sight of which, my father said, Otho cried out, * that he would expose to 
 no farther danger such brave men, who had deserved so well at his hands.' 
 Advising therefore his brother, his brother's son, and the rest of his 
 friends, to provide for their security in the best manner they could, after 
 he had embraced and kissed them, he sent them away ; and then with- 
 drawing into a private room by himself, he wrote a long letter of conso- 
 lation to his sister. He likewise sent another to Messalina, Nero's widow, 
 whom he had intended to marry, recommending to her his relics and 
 memory. He then burnt all the letters which he had by him, to prevent 
 the danger and mischief that might otherwise befal the writers from the 
 conqueror. What money he had left he distributed amongst his domes- 
 tics. 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 7 
 
 " And now being prepared and just upon the point of dispatching 
 himself, he was induced to suspend his design from a great uproar which 
 had broke out in the camp. Finding that such of the soldiers as were 
 making off had been seized and detained as deserters, ' Let us add,' says 
 he, * this night to our life.' These were his very words. He then gave 
 orders that no violence should be offered to anybody ; and keeping his 
 chamber-door open until late at night, he allowed all that pleased the 
 liberty to come and see him. At last, after quenching his thirst with a 
 draught of cold water, he took up two poniards, and having examined 
 the points of both, put one of them under his pillow, and shutting his 
 chamber-door, slept very soundly, until, awaking about break of day, he 
 stabbed himself under the left pap. Some persons breakng into the 
 room upon the first groan he gave, one while covering, and another 
 while exposing his wound to the view of the by-standers, he soon died. 
 His funeral was dispatched immediately, according to his own order, in 
 the thirty-eighth year of his age, and ninety-fifth day of his reign. 
 
 " The person and appearance of Otho no way corresponded to the 
 great resolution which he displayed upon this occasion : for he is said to 
 have been of low stature, splay-footed, and bandy-legged. He was, how- 
 ever, effeminately nice in the care of his person : the hair of his body he 
 took away by the roots ; and because he was somewhat bald, wore a kind 
 of peruke, so exactly fitted to his head, that nobody could have known it 
 for such. He used to shave every day, and rub his face with bread 
 soaked in asses' milk ; the use of which he began when the down first 
 appeared upon his chin, to prevent his having any beard. It is said like- 
 wise that he celebrated publicly the holy rites of Isis, clad in a linen 
 garment, such as is used by the worshippers of that goddess. All those 
 particulars, I imagine, gave occasion to the world to wonder the more at 
 his death, the manner of which was so little suitable to his life. Many of 
 the soldiers then present, kissing and bedewing with their tears his hands 
 and feet as he lay dead, and celebrating him as * a most gallant man, and 
 an incomparable emperor,' immediately put an end to their own lives 
 upon the spot, not far from his funeral pile. Many of those likewise who 
 were at a distance, upon hearing the news of his death, in the anguish of 
 their hearts, fell a fighting among themselves, until they dispatched one 
 another. To conclude : the generality of mankind, though they hated 
 him whilst living, yet highly extolled him after his death ; insomuch that 
 it was the common talk and opinion, ' that Galba had been taken off by 
 him, not so much from a desire to reign himself, as to restore Rome to 
 its ancient liberty.'" 
 
 The circumstances of Otho's death are also detailed by Tacitus with 
 particularity and great power in the second book of his History. He 
 relates Otho's speech to the soldiers, and a very remarkable argument 
 against suicide, addressed to the emperor by the commander of the 
 prsetorian guards. Tacitus observes, that the last action of Otho's life was 
 great and magnanimous, and would do honour to his memory. 
 
8 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch 
 
 In Niebuhr's Lectures, the following remarks are made on the subject 
 of the emperor Otho*s death. 
 
 " The last act of Otho is praised by Suetonius, and other historians 
 after him, as noble and virtuous ; but I look upon it in a diflFerent light, and 
 can see in it nothing but the action of a man who has sunk to the lowest 
 stage of effeminacy, and who is unable to struggle against difficulties, or to 
 bear the uncertainty between fear and hope. Such characters are met 
 with in the lower as well as the higher spheres of life. I look upon Otho's 
 putting an end to his existence with the same contempt with which Juvenal 
 looks upon it ; and it is quite certain that Tacitus too, in reality, did not 
 estimate Otho any higher than I do ; for we must well consider that a 
 great historian, in describing a tragic event in a man's life, rises to a state 
 of mental emotion, which is very different from his moral judgment." 
 
 Niebuhr's distinction between Tacitus's "mental emotion" and his 
 "moral judgment," is perhaps better suited to the atmosphere of a 
 German lecture-room than to English readers. And, moreover, Tacitus, 
 in the first book of his History, where he is not describing Otho's death, 
 and, therefore, not labouring under a suspense of his moral judgment, 
 writes that, " The mind of Otho was not, like his body, soft and effemi- 
 nate." Juvenal in his second Satire, gives a most animated description of 
 the effeminacy of Otho's looking-glass and other equipments for a cam- 
 paign, but he does not appear in any part of his works to allude to the 
 circumstances of Otho's death. 
 
 Plutarch recites as a part of Otho's speech immediately before his 
 death, " Believe me that I can die with greater glory than reign : for I 
 know of no benefit that Rome can reap from my victory, equal to that 
 which I shall confer upon her by sacrificing myself for peace and unani- 
 mity, and to preserve Italy from beholding such another day as this." 
 Plutarch observes, that "those who found fault with Otho's life are not 
 more respectable for their number or their reputation, than those who 
 applaud his death." 
 
 VI. 
 
 FESTUS'S SUICIDE. 
 
 Indignas premeret pestis cum tabida fauces, 
 Inque ipsos vultus serperet atra lues ; 
 
 Siccis ipse genis flentes hortatus amicos 
 Decrevit Stygios Festus adire lacus. 
 
 Nee tamen obscuro pia polluit ora veneno, 
 Aut torsit lenta tristia fata fame : 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 
 
 Sanctam Eomana vitam sed morte peregit, 
 
 Dimisitque animam nobiliore via. 
 Hanc mortem fatis magni prgsferri Catonis 
 
 Fama potest : hujus Caesar amicus erat. 
 
 AVhen the dire quinsey chok'd his noble breath, 
 
 And o'er his face the black'ning venom stole, 
 Festus disdain'd to wait a ling'ring death, 
 
 Cheer'd his sad friends, and freed his dauntless soul. 
 Nor meagre famine's slowly-wasting force, 
 
 Nor hemlock's gradual chilness he endur'd ; 
 But clos'd his life a truly Eoman course. 
 
 And with one blow his liberty secur'd. 
 
 Dr Hodgson says tliat he omits the two concluding lines, from their 
 degrading adulation of Domitian, as being unworthy the rest of Martial's 
 Epigram. These two lines import that Festus's death was more to be 
 admired than Cato's, for that life to him was less insupportable, inasmuch 
 as the reigning Caesar was his friend, whereas Cato had the Csesar of his 
 day for an enemy. 
 
 Martial has seyeral epigrams condemnatory of suicide ; observing that 
 in adversity it was easy to despise death and to acquire fame by suicide, 
 but that true courage was best exhibited in sustaining misery, and the 
 brightest fame was acquired by doing good whilst alive. (Fortiter ille 
 facit, qui miser esse potest : and again, Hanc volo, laudari qui sine morte 
 potest.) In this Epigram, and in that upon the death of Otho, Martial 
 testifies to the reverence in which the death of Cato (which Horace calls 
 the nohle death of Cato) was held in his day. Plutarch mentions seeing 
 Cato's statue at Utica, it had a sword in its hand, to commemorate the 
 manner of his death. Budgell, who made many contributions of consider- 
 able merit to the Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian, committed suicide, by 
 taking a boat at Somerset stairs, and, having ordered the waterman to 
 shoot London Bridge, throwing himself, whilst the boat was passing the 
 arch, into the Thames. He left the following sentence written on a slip 
 of paper : 
 
 What Cato did, and Addison approved. 
 Cannot be wrong. 
 
 Tacitus, in the Sixth Book of his Annals (sect, xxix), observes that in 
 the times he is recording, self-destruction was made the interest of man- 
 kind; for that those who died by their own hands, instead of waiting the 
 sentence of the law, secured the performance of funeral rites, and their 
 wills were held valid. Tacitus is there speaking of Labeo and his wife, 
 who opened their veins and bled to death. In the xvith Book of his 
 
10 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Annals (s. 34, 35), he gives an interesting account of the suicide of the 
 patriot Thrasea. And in the same book (s. 15), he relates the suicide of 
 Osterius. In the xith book of his Annals he relates the ineffectual 
 attempts of Messalina to commit suicide in the gardens of LucuUus, which 
 she had obtained by procuring the death of the former owner; the 
 exhortations of her mother are a curious part of the transaction. Sueto- 
 nius's account of the suicide of the emperor Nero (s. 48, 49) is particu- 
 larly interesting. The remarkable circumstances of the suicides of Brutus 
 and Anthony are related by Plutarch. Pliny (Lib. i. Ep. xii.) details some 
 singular incidents attending the suicide of his friend Corellius Rufus ; and 
 in another letter in the same book (Ep. xxii.), he mentions being called 
 with other friends to the bedside of Titus Aristo, who desired the com- 
 pany to inquire of the physicians, whether his complaint was curable or 
 not ; in order that, if they pronounced it incurable, he might voluntarily 
 put an end to his life : but if they entertained hopes of a recovery, how- 
 ever tedious and painful, he would wait the result with patience, for the 
 sake of his wife, daughter, and friends. Perhaps, after all the examples 
 that have been noticed, there is no instance of a more deliberate suicide, 
 and that by a woman, than is recorded in Valerius Maximus. 
 
 He relates, that " going into Asia with Sextus Pompeius, and passing 
 by the city of Julis, he was present at the death of a lady, aged about 
 ninety. She had declared to her superiors the reason which induced her 
 to quit the world ; after this, she prepared to swallow down poison ; and 
 imagining that the presence of Pompey would do great honour to the 
 ceremony, she most humbly besought him to come thither on that occa- 
 sion. He granted her request, but exhorted her very eloquently, and with 
 the utmost earnestness, to live. However, this was to no purpose ; she 
 thanked him for his kind wishes, and besought the gods to reward him, 
 not so much those she was going to, as those she was quitting. ' I have 
 hitherto,'* said she, * experienced only the smiles of fortune, and that by 
 an ill-grounded fondness for life I may not run the hazard of seeing the 
 goddess change her countenance towards me, I voluntarily quit the light, 
 while yet I take pleasure in beholding it, leaving behind me two daugh- 
 ters, and seven grandsons, to respect my memory.' She then turned 
 about to her family, and exhorted them to live in peace and unity, and 
 having recommended the care of her household, and the worship of her 
 domestic deities, to her elder daughter, she, with a steady hand, took the 
 glass that was filled with poison. As she held it, she addressed a prayer 
 to Mercury, and having besought him to facilitate her passage to the bet- 
 ter part of the receptacle of departed spirits, she with wonderful alacrity 
 drank off the deadly draught. When this was done, with the same com- 
 posure and steadiness of mind she signified in what manner the poison 
 wrought ; how the lower parts of her body became cold and senseless by 
 degrees. As soon as the noble parts began to feel the infection, she 
 called her daughters to do the last office, by closing her eyes. * As for us,* 
 says Valerius, ' who were almost stupified at the sight of so strange a 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AKD OCCURRENCES. 11 
 
 spectacle, she dismissed us with weeping eyes. For Romans think com- 
 passion in no way incompatible with fortitude.' " 
 
 Besides Roman suicides, the remarkable sayings and actions of Romans 
 when on the point of death not by their own hands, would form an inte- 
 resting collection. The opinions of the ancients upon suicide, especi- 
 ally the lines in the sixth uEneid, afford also excellent food for reflection. 
 Perhaps they contain nothing more poetically terse than the lines of 
 Spencer, in his Cave of Despair : 
 
 And he that 'points the centonell his roome. 
 
 Doth license him depart at sound of morning droome. 
 
 VII. 
 
 DEATH OF POLITIAN. 
 
 Duceret extincto cum mors Laurente triumphum, 
 
 Lsetaque pullatis inveheretur equis. 
 Kespicit insano ferientem pollice chordas, 
 
 Viscera singultu concutiente virum. 
 Mirata est, tenuitque jugum : fm-it ipse, pioque 
 
 Laurentem cunctos flagitat ore Deos. 
 Miscebat precibus lachrymas, laclirimisque dolorem. 
 
 Verba ministrabat liberiora dolor. 
 Risit et antiquse non immemor ille querelae, 
 
 Orphei Tartareae cum patuere vise. 
 Hie etiam infernas tentat rescindere leges 
 
 Fertque suas, dixit, in mea jura manus. 
 Protinus et flentem percussit dura Poetam, 
 
 Rupit et in medio pectora docta sono. 
 Heu ! sic tu raptus, sic te mala fata tulerunt 
 
 Arbiter Ausonise, Politianse, lyrae. 
 
 As the grim Conqueror rode in gloomy pride. 
 
 And great Lorenzo graced the captive train, 
 A bard in bitterness of anguish sigh'd, 
 
 Whilst wild distraction taught the faltering strain. 
 The tyrant hears : the sable rein he draws. 
 
 To mark the man that wept his noble prey, 
 And, madly raging 'gainst his ruthless laws. 
 
 To heaven appeal'd against the dread decree. 
 
12 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 He smiled, whilst memory renew'd the lays 
 
 Which Orpheus sung amid Tartarean gloom — 
 " And wilt thou too the proud rebellion raise, 
 
 And struggle 'gainst irrevocable doom ? " 
 He spoke, and sternly smote the weeping friend, 
 
 And closed the lips which glow'd with sacred fire. 
 Such, great Politian, was thy timeless end. 
 
 Thus fell the Master of the Ausonian lyre. 
 
 The Latin verses are by Bembo. Politian enjoyed the patronage 
 and friendship of Lorenzo de Medici, was tutor to Leo X. and his other 
 children, and attended Lorenzo on his death- bed Various accounts of 
 Politian's death are related by friends or enemies. The most favourable 
 is that it was occasioned by grief for Lorenzo de Medici, and the calami- 
 ties he anticipated from the reverses of Lorenzo's family. He appears 
 from all accounts to have died in a paroxysm of fever, whilst playing 
 some impassioned strain on his lute. 
 
 Mr Hallam, in his History of Modern Literature, assigns the position 
 occupied by Politian among the early Italian authors. In his epitaph at 
 St Mark's church in Florence, his fame is rested on his knowledge of 
 three languages : 
 
 Politianus in hoc tumulo jacet Angelus unum 
 
 Qui caput, et linguas, res nova, tres habuit. 
 
 Here lies Politian, who, strange thing indeed ! 
 
 Had when alive three tongues, and but one head. 
 
 vni. 
 
 THE BRANDING OF PRYNNE. 
 
 S.L. Stigmata Laudis. 
 
 Stigmata maxillis referens insignia Laudis 
 Exultans remeo, victima grata Deo. 
 
 S. L. The Stigmas op Archbishop Laud. 
 
 I return to my prison in exultation, an acceptable vic- 
 tim, as I hope, to heaven, whilst I carry on my cheeks 
 the branded letters which denote the persecution of Laud. 
 
 Prynne composed the above distich upon his return to the Tower, 
 after the barbarous execution of the second inhuman sentence of the 
 Star-Chamber, that he should have both his ears cut off, or so much of 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 13 
 
 them as remained after undergoing his previous sentence, and be branded 
 on the cheeks with the letters S. L., denoting Seditious Libeller, to which 
 letters Prynne assigns his own interpretation, " The Stigmas of Laud." 
 In executing the sentence a large piece of his cheek was cut off. Prynne 
 was moreover to be fined £5000, and to be imprisoned for life in a castle 
 at Jersey. Prynne, according to his first sentence, stood in the pillory 
 at Westminster and Cheapside, and had an ear cut off at each place. 
 This was for writing his Histrio-Mastix, which was burnt before his face ; 
 and the book consisting of 1000 pages, he was almost suffocated by 
 the smoke A painter was punished for circulating pictures of Prynne, 
 which were ordered by the Star-Chamber to be defaced and the frames 
 burnt. In the Long Parliament the proceedings against Prynne were 
 reversed, and he was conducted to London in triumph. After such bar- 
 barities perpetrated on Prynne, chiefly at the instigation of Archbishop 
 Laud, and with the sanction of Charles L, human nature in England 
 must not be censured too severely, if, in moments of retaliatory violence, 
 it beheld without compassion the severance of a mitred or of a crowned 
 head. 
 
 IX. 
 
 MESSAGE FROM PHILIP II. TO QUEEN ELIZABETH. 
 
 Te veto ne pergas bello defendere Belgas 
 QujB Dracus eripuit, nunc restituantur, oportet ; 
 Quas Pater evertit, jubeo te condere eellas, 
 Religio PapsB fae restituatur ad unguem. 
 
 QUEEN ELIZABETH'S REPLY. 
 Ad Graecas, bone Rex, fient mandata ealendas. 
 
 No longer, Queen, the Belgic rout befriend : 
 What Drake has plunder'd, back to India send. 
 Thy impious Father's sacrilege repair, 
 And bow thy sceptre to St Peter's chair. 
 
 Reply. 
 Believe me. Prince, I'll do thy high behest. 
 When in one week two Sundays stand confest. 
 
 This poetical correspondence is related in Miss Strickland's Life of 
 Q,u€en Elizabeth, and in Seward's Anecdotes, whence the translations are 
 
i4< GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 taken. Walpole*s NohU AutJiors is cited. Walpole cites Ballard's Me- 
 moirs of British Ladies. Ballard refers to Fuller's Hol^/ State, where the 
 verses are found with this translation : 
 
 Worthy king ! know this, your will 
 At latter Lammas we'll fulfil. 
 
 PRESENTATION OF HENRY VIII.'s BOOK TO POPE LEO. 
 
 Anglorum Rex Henricus, Leo Decime, mittit 
 Hoc opus, et fidei testem et amicitise. 
 
 Tenth Leo I Heni*y sends this book to thee, 
 Proof of his faith, and of his amity. 
 
 Henry VIII.'s book was presented to the pope in full consistory by 
 the English ambassador, with a pompous speech : it was entitled A Vin- 
 dication of the Seven Sacraments. In this work Henry entered the lists of 
 polemical controversy with Luther ; a controversy which the King and 
 the Christian reformer conducted as disputes are usually conducted at 
 Billingsgate The royal theologian was rewarded by the Pope with the 
 title of " Defender of the Faith ;" and an Indulgence was granted to 
 every one who should peruse the book. 
 
 XL 
 
 GUNPOWDER PLOT. 
 
 Purgatorem animse derisit Jacobus ignem 
 
 Et sine quo superum non adeunda domus. 
 Frenduit hoc trina monstrum Latiale corona, 
 
 Movit et horrificum cornua dena minax, 
 " Et nee inultus," ait, " temnes mea sacra, Britanne 
 
 " SuppHcium, spreta religione, dabis. 
 " Et si stelligeras unquam penetraveris arces, 
 
 " Non nisi per flammas triste patebit iter." 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 15 
 
 O quam funesto cecinisti proxima vero 
 Verbaque ponderibus vix caritura suis I 
 
 Nam prope Tartareo sublime rotatus ab igni, 
 Ibat ad sethereas, umbra perusta, plagas. 
 
 King James had derided the flames of purgatory. 
 But the Romish Beast, wearing a triple crown, shook its 
 ten horns with indignation at such alleged impiety. Then 
 uttered, " Briton, you shall not despise my sacred ordi- 
 nances, and the crime pass unavenged. If you are ever 
 permitted to reach the gates of heaven, your path shall 
 anywise be laid through flames." O how nearly were 
 those predictions verified ! for how narrowly did our king 
 escape being hurled aloft by an infernal combustion, and 
 passing into the ethereal regions as a shade in confla- 
 gration. 
 
 Some very important lights on the Gunpowder Plot will be found in 
 Mr Jardine's Criminal Trials. The printed State Trials (as explained in 
 the author's Great Oyer of Poisoning) are for the most part official will- 
 o'-the-whisps. Mr Jardine has inspected many of the original documents 
 concerning the Plot in the State Paper Office, which for the most part 
 belonged to the collection of Sir E. Coke's papers that were seized by 
 order of the Privy Council. The inventory of those papers specifies " a 
 black buckram bag containing papers about the Powder Plot." Among 
 other curiosities in the State Paper Office, are Guide Fawkes's examina- 
 tions taken under torture, with his signatures bearing the strongest 
 internal evidence of the application of the rack. In the last of the signa- 
 tures the pen appears to have dropt out of Fawkes's hand before he 
 could complete his name. Fawkes's lantern is shewn at the Bodleian 
 Library. Mr Jardine assigns reasons for inferring that notwithstanding 
 the popular belief which Milton has adopted in the above Latin epigram, 
 the Gunpowder plot was neither encouraged nor approved at Rome. 
 Milton wrote several other juvenile epigrams on the Gunpowder Plot; 
 but they are all, including the one in the text, more interesting as indi- 
 catory of current opinions, and as coming from his pen, than for any 
 intrinsic merit. 
 
16 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XII. 
 
 FRANKLIN'S SNATCHES. 
 
 Eripuit ccelo fulmen, sceptrumque tyranno. 
 
 Tu vols le sage courageux 
 Dont I'heureux et male genie 
 Arrache le tonnere aux Dieux 
 Et le sceptre a la tyrannie. 
 
 The Latin is by Turgot, and the French by D'Alembert. 
 
 " Franklin made his Kite of a large silk handkerchief and two cross 
 sticks of a proper length on which to extend it. He took the oppor- 
 tunity of the first approaching thunder-storm, to walk into a field, in 
 which there was a shed convenient for his purpose. But, desirous of 
 avoiding the ridicule which too commonly attends unsuccessful attempts 
 in science, he communicated his intended experiment to nobody but his 
 son, who assisted him in raising the kite. 
 
 " The kite being raised, a considerable time elapsed before there was 
 any appearance of its being electrified. One very promising cloud had 
 passed over it without any effect, when at length, just as he was beginning 
 to despair of his contrivance, he observed some loose threads of the 
 hempen string to stand erect, and avoid one another just as if they had 
 been suspended on a common conductor. Struck with this encouraging 
 appearance, he presented his knuckle to the key, when he instantly per- 
 ceived a very evident electric spark. Other sparks succeeded at short 
 intervals ; and when the string became wet with rain, electric fire was 
 collected in abundance." 
 
 Mirabeau pronounced a funeral oration upon Franklin from the tri- 
 bune of the National Assembly, where he moved and carried a resolution 
 that the Assembly should wear mourning for three days in honour of 
 Franklin. In America there was a general mourning for two months. 
 Mirabeau, in the course of his speech says, " Ne seroit — il pas digne de 
 vous. Messieurs, de vous unir a cette acte religieux, de participer, en 
 quelque sorte, a cet hommage rendu, a la face de I'univers, a I'homme qui 
 a le plus contribue a assurer les droits des hommes? L'antiquite eut 
 eleve des autels a ce vaste et puissant genie, qui, au profit des mortels, 
 embrassant dans sa pensee le ciel et la terre, sut dompter la foudre et les 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 17 
 
 XIII. 
 ARRIA'S NON DOLET ! (It is not painful !) 
 
 Casta suo gladium cum traderet Arria Pseto, 
 Quern de visceribus traxerat ipsa suis : 
 
 Si qua fides, vulnus, quod feci, non dolet, inquit ; 
 Sed quod tu facies, hoc mihi, Psete, dolet. 
 
 When Arria to her Paetus gave the steel, 
 
 Which from her bleeding side did newly part ; 
 
 From my own stroke, said she, no pain I feel, 
 But, ah ! thy wound will stab me to the heart. 
 
 The translation is by Sir C. Sedley. A multitude of ingenious and 
 spirited versions in print might be added of this celebrated epigram. It 
 would appear from Tacitus, Dio Cassius and other ancient writers, that 
 Arria said only " Psete, non dolet ! " — " Psetus, it does not pain me I" — 
 and that the sentiment in the last hue is the invention of Martial. Pa3tus 
 was terrified and hesitating, when his wife re-animated him by her mag- 
 nanimous example. The story is related in the Tatler, No. lxxii. There 
 is an extant antique statue upon the subject. Psetus is stabbing himself 
 with one hand, and holds up the dying Arria with the other. 
 
 Pliny in his Letters (Lib. III. Ep. xvi.), relates several particulars 
 concerning Arria (amongst others, dashing her head against the wall), 
 which he contends are more heroical than the so-much-talked-of " Psetus, 
 it is not painful \" And the letter ends with a reflection, that the most 
 famous actions are not always the most noble. Arria's daughter was 
 married to Thrassea, also immortalized by suicide. And her grand- 
 daughter, Fannia, appears from another letter of Pliny (Lib. VII. Ep. xix.) 
 to have rivalled her lady-ancestry in heroinism. 
 
 The conjugal magnanimity of Pollutia related by Tacitus (Lib. XVI. 
 s. 10, 11) is not less admirable than that of Arria. Pliny mentions an- 
 other remarkable instance of a wife committing suicide along with her 
 husband, whom she had instigated to suffer himself to be fastened to her 
 by cords, and thus to be precipitated together into a lake. Pliny (Lib. 
 VI. Ep. XXIV.) writes, " I was lately sailing upon our lake with an old 
 man of my acquaintance, who desired me to observe a villa situated upon 
 its banks, which had a chamber hanging over the water. ' From that 
 room,* said he, * a woman of our city threw herself with her husband.' 
 The cause was a disease of the husband which the wife deemed incurable. 
 Tacitus relates some interesting circumstances concerning Seneca and his 
 wife Paulina, after that philosopher was condemned to death by Nero 
 (Lib. XV. s. 62 — 64). Tacitus in the fourth book of his history pro- 
 
 2 
 
18 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 mises to relate how Sabinus lay concealed in caverns for nine years sup- 
 ported by the fidelity and attachment of his wife Eponina. Plutarch 
 relates that Eponina was ultimately discovered in a cave with her hus- 
 band, and put to death along with him by Vespasian, to the immortal 
 infamy of the emperor. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 DEATH OF PORCIA, Wlf^E OF BRUTUS. 
 
 Conjugis audisset fatum cum Porcia Bruti, 
 Et subtracta sibi quaereret arma dolor : 
 
 Nondum scitis, ait, mortem non posse negari ? 
 Credideram, satis hoc vos docuisse patrem. 
 
 Dixit, et ardentes avido bibit ore favillas. 
 I nunc, et ferrum, turba molesta, nega. 
 
 When Brutus' fall wing'd fame to Porcia brought, 
 Those arms her friends concealed, her passion sought. 
 She soon perceiv'd their poor officious wiles. 
 Approves their zeal, but at their folly smiles. 
 What though death's weapons all be laid aside, 
 Yet dream ye still that death can be denied ? 
 Me thought ye better knew, who knew my sire, 
 She said, and swallow'd down the living fire. 
 
 The following lines referring to Porcia*s swallowing the coals were 
 composed in honour of Yittoria Colonna, widow of Ferdinando D'Avilos, 
 Marquis of Pescara, who commanded the Imperialists at the battle of 
 Pavia, in which Francis was taken prisoner. After her husband's death, 
 she lived in retirement, and devoted her poetical talents, which were of 
 great celebrity, to eulogizing the character of her deceased husband, and 
 recording their mutual affection. Michael Angelo, who painted for her 
 many of his choicest pictures, paid a visit to her in the last moments of 
 her life. Upon returning home, he expressed his extreme regret, that he 
 had not on that occasion kissed her face or her forehead, as well as her 
 hand. 
 
 Non vivam sine te, mi Brute, exterrita dixit 
 
 Porcia; et ardentes sorbuit ore faces. 
 Davale, te extincto, dixit Victoria, vivam, 
 
 Perpetuo msestos sic dolitura dies. 
 Utraque Romana est, sed in hoc Victoria major 
 Nulla dolere potest mortua, viva dolet. 
 
 Flaminio. 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 19 
 
 Vittoria Colonna, who, upon the death of her distinguished husband, 
 resolved to live, and dedicate her life to his honour, surpassed Porcia, 
 (though they acted both Romanlike); inasmuch as it is the living, and not 
 the dead, who grieve. 
 
 Valerius Maximus apostrophizes Porcia in a high strain of eulogy, 
 representing her death to have been more magnanimous than that of her 
 husband Brutus, principally on account of its novelty. Some writers 
 suppose that, in reality, she had recourse to a common mode of suicide 
 among the Romans, and recently among the French, viz. that of being 
 smothered by the vapour of charcoal. Whereas Plutarch writes that, in 
 his day, there was extant a letter of Brutus to a friend, bewailing the 
 death of his wife Porcia, and giving the details of the lingering disorder 
 of which she died. 
 
 In the Galerie des Femmes Fortes there is a picture of Porcia taking 
 the coals which a Cupid is setting fire to with his torch. Beneath are 
 some French verses, dated 1647, by Pierre Le Moyne, a Jesuit. In allu- 
 sion to the device in the picture, he writes : — 
 
 Mais I'Amour de ses traits vint m'ouvrir le tombeau, 
 Et je pris pour mourir, manquant d'armes plus fortes, 
 Des charbons qu'il me fit avec son flambeau. 
 The deaths of Ama and of Paulina are, like that of Porcia, repre- 
 sented both in pictures and poetry in the Galerie des Femmes Fortes. 
 
 XV, 
 
 DEFENCE OF SYRACUSE BY ARCHIMEDES, AND HIS 
 DEATH. 
 
 Calliditas Graia, atque astus poUentior armis 
 Marcellum tantasque minas terraque marique 
 Arcebat, stabatque ingens ad raoenia bellum. 
 Vir fiiit, Isthmiacis decus immortale colonis, 
 Ingenio facile ante alios telluris alumnos, 
 Xudus opum ; sed cui coelum terrseque paterent. 
 Ille iiovus pluvias Titan ut proderet ortu 
 Fuscatis tristis radiis ; ille, haereat, anne 
 Pendeat instabilis tellus ; cur fcedere certo 
 Hunc afFusa globum Tethys circumliget undis, 
 Noverat, atque una pelagi lunseque labores, 
 Et pater Oceanus qua lege refunderet asstus. 
 Non ilium mundi numerasse capacis arenas 
 
 2—2 
 
20 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Vana fides : puppes etiam constructaque saxa 
 
 Foeminea traxisse ferunt contra ardua dextra. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Tu quoque ductoris laerymas, memorande, tulisti, 
 Defensor patriso ; meditantem in pulvere formas, 
 Nee turbatum animi tanta feriente ruina, 
 Ignarus miles vulgi te sorte peremit. 
 
 Thus Grecian policy and art excell'd 
 
 Their arms ; and both by sea and land repell'd 
 
 Marcellus. For One Man withstood his might, 
 
 Bulwark of Sicily in Home's despite : 
 
 One Man, his country^s everlasting fame. 
 
 Whose wit with ease all other overcame, 
 
 That then the world produced. Not rich; but one 
 
 To whom the Heavens and all the Earth was known. 
 
 He, by the Sun's obscured rays, at birth 
 
 Of day, could tell what storms would fall : if Earth 
 
 Were fix'd, or did instable hang : why bound 
 
 By certain leagues this Globe's encompass'd round 
 
 With Thetis' waves : the labours of the Sea 
 
 And Moon; what laws the Ocean's tides obey. 
 
 Nor is it vain to think that he the sand 
 
 Of the vast world could count ; who by the hand 
 
 Of a weak woman could, with so much skill. 
 
 Draw ships, and heaps of stones against a hill. 
 
 * - * * * * * 
 
 Tears for thee, likewise, from the general, 
 Thou fam'd defender of thy Country ! fell, 
 When drawing lines and figures in the sand. 
 Whilst in so great a ruin thou dost stand 
 Untouched, and ideas dost pursue. 
 By chance an ign'rant common soldier slew. 
 
 Plutarch, in his life of Marcellus, mentions three accounts of the death 
 of Archimedes, but they all coincide in the circumstance of his having 
 been killed by a soldier, whilst deeply engaged in his scientific lucubra- 
 tions. Polybius, nearly a contemporary of Archimedes, mentions his 
 contrivances for injuring the Koman ships by means of iron hands grasp- 
 ing their prows and lifting them out of the water, which occasioned Mar- 
 cellus to say to his soldiers, " He employs our ships but as buckets to 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 21 
 
 draw water." (Polyb. Lib. vin.) The current tradition of Archimedes 
 destroying the Roman ships with burning glasses is not mentioned, either 
 by Polybius, Livy, or Plutarch. Archimedes' screw, his Eureka, and his 
 lever, which only wanted a fulcrum for moving the world, have contributed 
 to give him a celebrity only inferior to our Newton. 
 
 About 136 years after the death of Archimedes, Cicero was Qusestor 
 of Sicily. He tells us, in his Disputations composed at his Tusculan villa, 
 that he went, accompanied by the principal citizens of Agrigentum, to 
 search for Archimedes' tomb among the multitude of monuments near 
 the gate of that city. He discovered the object of his search by observing 
 a sphere included in a cylinder, which was just discernible above the 
 brambles and high grass that concealed the rest of the tomb. The adja- 
 cent ground was forthwith cleared ; and, upon closer inspection of the 
 monument, some half verses were perceived of which the remainder had 
 mouldered away. The relics of the verses, however, exactly corresponded 
 with parts of a complete epitaph which Cicero had before possessed, that 
 had express reference to the sphere and cylinder found on the tomb. 
 These figures, it was stated in the epitaph, had been desired by Ar- 
 chimedes to be placed on his tomb in marble, to commemorate the dis- 
 covery of his problem for estimating their respective solid contents. 
 Cicero mentions his gratification that the tomb of Archimedes, of which 
 all memory had been obliterated amongst his countrymen, should after 
 the lapse of years have been brought to light by a " Man of Arpinum." 
 See further respecting Archimedes in Professor Donkin's Art. in Dr Smith's 
 Blog. Diet. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 HANNIBAL SWEARING ENMITY TO THE ROMANS. 
 
 Urbe fuit media sacrum genitricis Elissse 
 Manibus, et patria Tyriis formidine cultum, 
 Quod taxi circumi et picese squalentibus umbris 
 Abdiderant, coelique areebant lumine, templum. 
 Hoe sese, ut perhibent, curis mortalibus olim 
 Exuerat regina loco. Stant marmore maBsto 
 Effigies, Belasque parens, omnisque nepotum 
 A Belo series : stat gloria gentis Agenor, 
 Et qui longa dedit terris cognomina Phoenix. 
 Ipsa sedet tandem asternum conjuncta Sichseo : 
 Ante pedes ensis Phrygius jacet : ordine centum 
 Stant aras coelique deis, Ereboque potenti. 
 
22 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Hie, crine effuso, atque Ennseae numina divae, 
 Atque Acheronta vocat Stygia cum veste sacerdos. 
 Immugit tellus, rumpitque horrenda per umbras 
 Sibila : inaeeensi flagrant altaribus ignes. 
 Tum magieo volitant eantu per inania manes 
 Exciti, vultusque in marmore sudat Elissse. 
 Hannibal hsec patrio jussu ad penetralia fertur ; 
 Ingressique habitus atque ora explorat Hamilcar. 
 Non ille evantis Massylse palluit iras, 
 Non diros templi ritus, adspersaque tabo 
 Limina, et audito surgentes carmine flammas. 
 Olli permulcens genitor caput, oscula libat, 
 Attollitque animos hortando, et talibus implet : 
 Gens recidiva Phrygum Cadmese stirpis alumnos 
 Foederibus non sequa premit : si fata negarint 
 Dedecus id patria3 nostra depellere dextra, 
 Hsec tua sit laus, nate, velis : age, concipe bella 
 Latura exitium Lauren tibus : horreat ortus 
 Jam pubes Tyrrhena tuos, partusque recusent 
 Te surgente, puer, Latise producere matres. 
 His acuit stimulis ; subicitque baud mollia dicta : 
 Romanos terra atque undis, ubi competet setas, 
 Ferro ignique sequar, Rhseteaque fata revolvam. 
 Non superi mihi, non Martem cohibentia pacta, 
 Non celsas obstiterint Alpes, Tarpeiaque saxa. 
 Hanc mentem juro nostri per numina Martis, 
 Per manes, regina, tuos. Tum nigra triformi 
 Hostia mactatur divae, raptimque recludit 
 Spirantes artus poscens responsa sacerdos. 
 
 Amidst the city, circled by a grove 
 
 Of shady yew, that did all light remove, 
 
 A temple stood, built to Eliza's ghost, 
 
 And dreadful held to all the Tyrian coast. 
 
 Here (as 'tis said) the queen with her own hand 
 
 Herself from grief absolved : sad statues stand 
 
 Of father Belus, and, in order, all 
 
 His offspring, with Agenor, whom they call 
 
 The glory of their line ; Phoenix, whose fame 
 
 Gave to that land an everlasting name. 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 23 
 
 At length Eliza joined to her lord 
 
 For ever ; at her feet the Phrygian sword : 
 
 Next unto these twice fifty altars stand, 
 
 Built to the gods that heaven and hell command : 
 
 Clad in a Stygian vest, with scattered locks 
 
 The priestess here Ennsea's power invokes. 
 
 And Acheron : when from the trembling ground 
 
 Sad murmurs breaking, through the temple sound, 
 
 And flames from the unkindl'd altars rise. 
 
 Then, raised by magic songs, with horrid cries, 
 
 The wand'ring ghosts fly through the hollow air, 
 
 While Dido, in her marble, sweats for fear. 
 
 Hither comes Hannibal, commanded by 
 
 Hamilcar, who observed with curious eye 
 
 His face and gesture. Him no horrid rites 
 
 O' th' place, nor mad Massila's fury frights, 
 
 Nor the dark pavement stain'd with blood, nor flames 
 
 Arising at the sound of horrid names. 
 
 Stroking his head, his father kiss'd him, cheers 
 
 His early courage, and thus fills his ears. 
 
 An unjust nation, sprang from ruin'd Troy, 
 With their harsh leagues do Cadmus' sons annoy ; 
 If Fates deny the honor should be mine 
 To wipe ofl" this disgrace, may it be thine ! 
 Think on, a war may Italy destroy : 
 And may the Tyrrhene youth, my warlike boy ! 
 Thy rising dread ; and teeming mothers fear 
 Their children to produce, if thou appear. 
 
 Mov'd by this language, he replies. By sea 
 And land, so soon as years will sufler me, 
 With fire and sword the Romans I'll pursue, 
 And what Khaetean Fates decree, undo. 
 Neither the gods, nor leagues forbidding war, 
 Tarpeian rocks, nor Alps shall me debar. 
 This my resolve by Mars I swear, and by 
 Thy ghost, great queen ! — This said, to Hecate 
 Falls a black victim : the priestess enquires 
 The trembling entrails, as the soul expires. 
 
 The Latin is by Silius Italicus : the translation by Ross, temp. Car. II. 
 This remarkable occurrence of Hannibal swearing enmity to the Romans 
 
24 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 is related by Polybius : it is the subject of an admired painting by Sir 
 Joshua Reynolds, A poetical relation of it is contained in a collection 
 of poems called The Tribute. The following is Dr Arnold's account of 
 the transaction : 
 
 "When all was ready, the General performed a solemn sacrifice to 
 propitiate the gods for the success of his enterprise. The omens were 
 declared favourable : Hamilcar had poured the libation on the yictim, 
 which was duly offered on the altar, when, on a sudden, he desired all his 
 officers, and the ministers of the sacrifice, to step aside to a little distance, 
 and then called his son Hannibal. Hannibal, a boy of nine years old, 
 went up to his father, and Hamilcar asked him kindly, if he would like 
 to go with him to the war. The boy eagerly caught at the offer, and with 
 a child's earnestness, implored his father to take him. Then Hamilcar 
 took him by the hand, and led him up to the altar, and bade him, if he 
 wished to follow his father, lay his hand upon the sacrifice, and swear, 
 ' that he would never be the friend of the Romans.' Hannibal swore, 
 and never to his latest hour forgot his vow. He went forth, devoted to 
 his country's gods, as the appointed enemy and destroyer of their ene- 
 mies; and the thought of his high calling dwelt ever on his mind, 
 directing and concentrating the spirit and enthusiasm of his youth, and 
 mingling with it the forecast, the great purposes, and the deep and un- 
 wavering resolution of the maturest manhood." 
 
 XVII. 
 REGULUS'S TORTURES IN A CASK. 
 
 Prsefixo paribus ligno mucronibus omnes 
 Armantur laterum crates, densusque per artem 
 Texitur ereeti stantisque ex ordine ferri 
 Infelix stimulus, somnisque hae fraude negatis, 
 Quocunque inflexum produeto tempore torpor 
 Inclinavit iners^ fodiunt ad viscera corpus. 
 
 A cage they build 
 Of wood, whose grates, on every side, were fill'd 
 With equal pikes of steel ; which sharp and thick 
 By art, in order plac'd, erected stick. 
 All sleep by this invention was denied, 
 And when, through length of time, to either side 
 Dull slumbers him inclin'd, a row of pikes 
 Into his bowels through his body strikes. 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 25 
 
 There has been much discussion on the subject of Regulus's death. 
 Horace, in his description of Regulus's departure from Rome, after per- 
 suading the Senate to reject the treaty of his ransom, (perhaps the most 
 sublime and beautiful picture in that poet's works), represents Regulus to 
 have been subjected to tortures. Cicero in his Offices and other writings, 
 makes a similar statement. Niebuhr and Arnold consider the relation 
 of Regulus being tortured by the Carthaginians as doubtful, and, perhaps, 
 invented by way of pretext or excuse for cruelties inflicted by the Romans 
 on Carthaginian captives. The silence of Polybius on the subject is im- 
 portant. Dio Cassius, though he discountenances the common reports 
 concerning Regulus's cask, says, indeed, that he lost his sleep from being 
 shut up in the same place with an elephant. Regulus in the cask is the 
 subject of one of Salvator Rosa's most admired paintings. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 WEST'S COUGH, 
 
 Ante omnes morbos importunissima tussis 
 Qua durare datur, traxitque sub ilia vires : 
 Dura etenim versans imo sub pectore regna 
 Perpetuo exercet teneras luetamine costas, 
 Oraque distorquet, vocemque immutat anhelam. 
 Nee cessare lociis : sed ssevo concita motu 
 Molle domat latus, et corpus labor omne fatigat. 
 Unde molesta dies, noctemque insomnia turbant. 
 Nee tua, si mecum comes hie jucundus adesses, 
 Verba juvare queant, aut hunc lenire dolorem 
 Sufficiant tua vox dulcis, nee vultus amatus. 
 
 Above all my other maladies, a most troublesome 
 Cough wields its tyrannical sway in the inmost recesses 
 of my chest. It shakes my ribs with incessant strug- 
 gles ; distorts my countenance, alters my tremulous voice. 
 There is no intermission. My delicate side is subdued ; 
 my whole body is fatigued. Hence my day is wearisome, 
 my night sleepless. And although you, my cheering 
 companion, were present, your words would be unavail- 
 ing for my relief: and this acute suffering could not 
 be assuaged by the sweetness of your voice, or by your 
 beloved looks. 
 
26 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 West prefaces these lines on his Cough thus : " It was the production 
 of four o'clock in the morning, while I lay in my bed tossing and cough- 
 ing, and all unable to sleep." West died at the early age of twenty-six. 
 The composition by which he is chiefly known is a poem in imitation of 
 Tibullus, prospective of his own premature destiny His correspondence 
 with Gray, whom he so feelingly addresses in the concluding lines, will 
 be read with interest by all persons endued with literary taste. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 WEST ON GRAY'S RETURN FROM HIS TRAVELS. 
 
 O mese jucunda Comes quietis ! 
 Quae fere SBgrotuin solita es levare 
 Pectus, et sensim ah ! nimis ingruentes 
 
 Fallere euras. 
 
 Quid canes ? quanto Lyra die furore 
 Gesties quando hac reducem sodalem 
 Glauciam gaudere simul videbis 
 
 Meque sub umbra. 
 
 My Lyre ! the sweet companion of my ease, alleviator 
 of my sorrows, deceiver of my cares ! with what " ecstasy 
 will your living strings be waked" when you behold my 
 Glaucias returned from his travels, and rejoicing along with 
 me in the " cool sequestered shade." 
 
 West used to call Gray, in poetry, Glaucias, and Gray, West, in like 
 manner, Favonius. It appears from the text that Gray was right in his 
 belief that he had " gained from heaven a Friend.'* It may be noticed 
 that several of the most interesting gems of antiquity are the congratula- 
 tions to friends returned from travels. Of these Catullus's Ode to Veran- 
 nius, and Horace's to Fompeius Varus, are the most joyous. 
 
I.] REMAEKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 27 
 
 XX. 
 
 LABERIUS'S PROLOGUE. 
 
 Necessitas, cujus cursus transversi' impetum 
 Voluerunt multi effugere, pauci potuerunt, 
 Quo me detrusit poene extremis sensibus ? 
 Quern nulla ambitio, nulla unquam largitio, 
 Nullus timor, vis nulla, nulla auetoritas 
 Movere potuit in juventa de statu ; 
 Ecce in senecta ut facile labefecit loco 
 Viri excellentis mente clemente edita 
 Submissa placide blandiloquens oratio ! 
 Etenim ipsi Dii negari cui nihil potuerunt, 
 Hominem me denegare quis posset pati ? 
 Ergo bis tricenis annis actis sine nota 
 Eques Komanus lare egressus meo 
 Domum revertas Mimus : Nimirum hoc die 
 Uno plus vixi mihi quam vivendum fuit. 
 Fortuna, immoderata in bono seque atque in malo, 
 Si tibi erat libitum literarum laudibus 
 rioris cacumen nostrae famae frangere, 
 Cur cum vigebam membris prseviridantibus, 
 Satisfacere populo et tali cum poteram viro, 
 Non flexibilem me concurvasti ut carperes ? 
 Nunc meo quo dejicis ? quid ad scenam afFero ? 
 Decorem formge, an dignitatem corporis, 
 Animi virtutem, an vocis jucundse sonum ? 
 Ut hedera serpens vires arboreas necat, 
 Ita me vetustas amplexa annorum enecat : 
 Sepulchri similis nihil nisi nomen retinens. 
 
 For threescore years since first I saw the light, 
 
 I lived without reproach — a Roman knight. 
 
 As such I left my sacred home ; but soon 
 
 Shall there return an Actor and Buffoon. 
 
 Since stretched beyond the point where honour ends. 
 
 One day too long my term of life extends. 
 
 Fortune, extreme alike in good or ill, 
 
 Since thus to blast my fame has been thy will. 
 
28 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Why did'st thou not, ere spent my youthful race, 
 Bend me, yet pliant, to this dire disgrace ? 
 While power remain'd, with yet unbroken frame. 
 Him to have pleas'd, and earn'd the crowd's acclaim : 
 But now, why drive me to an actor's part. 
 When nought remains of all the actor's art : 
 Nor life, nor fire, which could the scene rejoice, 
 Nor grace of form, nor harmony of voice ? 
 As fades the tree round which the ivy twines, 
 So in the clasp of age my strength declines. 
 
 The circumstances of Laberius's Prologue are thus related in Cum- 
 berland's Observer. 
 
 " This Laberius was a Roman knight of good family, and a man withal 
 of high spirit and pretensions, but unfortunately he had a talent for the 
 drama : he read his own plays better than any man then living could act 
 them; for neither Garrick nor Henderson was yet born. P. Clodius, the 
 fine gentleman and rake of the age, had the indecorum to press Laberius 
 to come forward on the public stage, and take the principal character in 
 one of his own plays : Laberius was indignant, and Clodius proceeded to 
 menaces : — ' Do your worst,' says the Roman knight, ' you can but send 
 me to Dyracchium and back again' — proudly intimating that he would 
 suffer the like banishment with Cicero, rather than consent to his 
 demand ; for acting was not then the amusement of people of fashion, 
 and private theatres were not thought of. Julius Csesar was no less cap- 
 tivated with Laberius's talents than Clodius had been, and being a man 
 not apt to be discouraged by common diflOiculties, took up the same soli- 
 citation, and assailed our Roman knight, who was now sixty years of age, 
 and felt his powers in their decline : conscious of this decline no less 
 than of his own dignity, he resisted the degrading request ; he interceded, 
 he implored of Cscsar to excuse him : it was to no purpose, Csesar had 
 made it his point, and his point he would carry : the word of Csesar was 
 law, and Laberius, driven out of all his defences, was obliged to submit 
 and comply. Csesar makes a grand spectacle for all Rome; bills are 
 given out for a play of Laberius, and the principal part is announced to 
 be performed by the author himself: the theatre is thronged with specta- 
 tors ; all Rome is present, and Decimus Laberius presents himself on the 
 stage, and addresses the audience in the above prologue." 
 
 Cumberland gives a version of the Prologue ; that in the text is by 
 Dunlop. 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 29 
 
 XXI, 
 
 MUCIUS SC^YOLA, 
 
 (A) 
 Cum peteret regem decepta satellite dextra, 
 
 Ingessit sacris se peritura focis. 
 Sed tarn sseva plus miracula non tulit hostis, 
 
 Et raptum flammis jussit abire virum, 
 Urere quam potuit contemto Mucius igne, 
 
 Hanc spectare manum Porsena non potuit. 
 Major deceptae fama est et gloria dextrae : 
 
 Si non errasset, fecerat ilia minus. 
 
 "When that right hand which aimed a royal blow 
 
 Spent on a worthless slave its baffled ire. 
 It rush'd into the flames — but e'en the foe 
 
 Admiring snateh''d it from the sacred fire. 
 The pangs that fearless Scsevola sustain'd 
 
 Porsenna's eye endur'd not to behold : 
 Had it not err'd, that hand had never gain'd 
 
 So great a fame, or done a deed so bold. 
 
 Or: 
 
 The failing hand the greater glory found ; 
 Had it not err'd, it had been less renown'd. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Qui nunc Caosareae lusus spectatur arenae, 
 
 Temporibus Bruti gloria summa fuit. 
 Aspicis, ut teneat flammas, poenaque fruatur 
 
 Fortis, et attonito regnet in igne manus ! 
 Ipse sui spectator adest, et nobile dextrae 
 
 Funus amat : totis pascitur ilia sacris. 
 Quod, nisi rapta foret nolenti poena, parabat 
 
 Saevior in lassos ire sinistra focos. 
 Scire piget, post tale decus, quid fecerit ante : 
 
 Quam vidi, satis est hanc mihi nosse manum. 
 
 That which is now a spectacle of the imperial arena, 
 was, in the days of Brutus, a glorious achievement. Be- 
 
so 
 
 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. 
 
 LCh. 
 
 hold how his hand grasps the flames, and seems to receive 
 pleasure from its own punishment. The man is a spectator 
 of himself ; he is in love with the noble destruction of his 
 own right hand. His left hand also would have been 
 plunged into the fire with which his right was consumed, 
 but that the means of punishment were snatched from him 
 against his will. After such an exploit, it were a pity to 
 inquire into the crimes which he may have formerly com- 
 mitted. It is enough for me to know that hand which I 
 have witnessed with admiration. 
 
 (C) 
 
 In matutina nuper spectatus arena 
 
 Mucins, imposuit qui sua membra focis ; 
 
 Si patiens fortisque tibi durusque videtur, 
 Abderitanse pectora plebis habes. 
 
 Nam, cum dicatur, tunica prsesente molesta ; 
 Ure manum : plus est dicere, Non facio. 
 
 If you deem that Mucins, who recently thrust his hand 
 into the fire at a morning exhibition of the arena, a prodigy 
 of valor and endurance, you are as silly as the people of 
 Abdera. For if a pitchy tunic be brought near a culprit, 
 it is easier for him to obey a command to burn his own 
 hand, and thereby avoid death, than passively to refuse 
 to sacrifice^ and consequently have his whole body burnt. 
 
 The translation of the first Epigram is by the Provost of Eton ; but the 
 two concluding lines by Fletcher appear to express the original with 
 more closeness and spirit. Scaliger has an Epigram on the subject, in 
 which he makes Mucins disclaim his own hand because it had not proved 
 the hand of his country. 
 
 The exploit of Mucins Scsevola is related, or rather painted, by Livy 
 (Lib. n. ch. xii.). The historian mentions that Scsevola's mistake arose 
 from seeing the man whom he attacked delivering pay to the troops. 
 Upon being seized and brought before King Porsena, "Behold," said 
 Mucins, " what little account is made of the body by those who have in 
 view the attainment of great glory." Whereupon, thrusting his right hand 
 into a chafing-dish of coals which had been kindled for the purpose of a 
 sacrifice, he held it there to burn, as if he were void of all sense of pain. 
 On which the King, astonished by such undaunted courage, leaped from 
 his seatj and ordered the youth to be removed from the altar. 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 31 
 
 Mucius, from his intrepid sacrifice of his right hand, acquired the 
 name of Scsevola, which, in old Latin, signified a left-handed person ; and 
 he received for a reward a tract of land, which, in Livy's time, went by 
 the name of the Mucian Meadows. It is remarkable that Yhgil, in his 
 eighth uEneid, when enumerating the early heroes and heroines of Rome, 
 
 kand among them Horatius Codes and Claelia, distinguished by acts of 
 yalour in the war with Porsena, omits any mention of Mucius Scsevola. 
 Dr Malkin, in his Classical Disquisitions, notices that it appears from 
 Livy's relation of the achievement of Mucius, that he was ashamed of the 
 principle of assassination which it countenances. Livy remarks that the 
 ■desperate condition of the city justified the crime (Fortuna tum nobis 
 crimen adfirmante). 
 Niebuhr adverts to particulars in the story of Mucius Scsevola, which 
 appear to be standing figures of speech in most of the old lays of Rome. 
 Mr (Conversation) Sharpe, in his Essays, notices a saying of Home 
 Tooke, concerning intellectual philosophy, " That he had become better 
 acquainted with the country, through his having had the good luck some- 
 times to lose his way," observing with the text, " Si non errasset, fecerat 
 iUe minus.'' 
 
 The second Epigram is a striking example of the barbarities in which 
 the Romans took delight at their theatres; making theatrical repre- 
 sentations of horrible forms of death or torture. The action exhibits 
 extraordinary fortitude, and seems to have obliterated in the minds of the 
 audience all consideration of the malefactors' guilt. The occm-rence also 
 evinces the pride with which the Romans recurred to the exploits of 
 their early history. This Epigram is cited in the 177th No. of the 
 Tatler, as illustrating a reflection that true glory will never attend any- 
 thing but truth; and that the very same action done from difi*erent 
 motives may merit a very diff'erent degree of applause. 
 
 The third Epigram is very interesting, if it be susceptible of a meaning 
 which some critics think it bears, viz. that the expression, " Non facio," 
 means "I do not sacrifice." Whereas, when a Christian who had been 
 led out to be burnt, said " facio," he was immediately liberated. It is 
 known that a Christian was exempted from capital punishment if he scat- 
 tered frankincense upon an altar. The pitchy shirt was used for burn- 
 ing Christians. Nero, we learn from Tacitus, admitted the populace of 
 Rome into his gardens to witness a nocturnal illumination of Christians 
 burnt alive in pitchy tunics. Tertullian mentions that it was not uncom- 
 mon to bm-n Christians for the purpose of a spectacle, making a pitchy 
 shirt represent the poisoned vestment in which Hercules was tortured, 
 and compelling the Christian who was to be burnt, to act upon the 
 theatre the part of Hercules. 
 
 In the reign of Queen Mary, one Edward Underbill was burnt upon 
 Tower Hill for heresy. Shortly before his execution he was importuned 
 by Bishop Bonner to embrace the Roman Catholic religion, and thus 
 save bis life. But he replied that " when the spirit has once asserted its 
 
32 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 superiority over the flesh, the body can feel no pain ; and to prove that 
 I have no sense of suffering, I will myself administer the torture." So 
 saying, and raising with some difficulty his arm that had been stiffened 
 by the rack, he held his hand over the flame of a lamp that stood upon the 
 table before him, until the veins shrunk and burst. During this dreadful 
 trial his countenance underwent no change, and if Bonner had not with- 
 drawn the lamp, he would have allowed his hand to be entirely con- 
 sumed. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 THE FALL OF RUFINUS. 
 
 Saepe mihi dubiam traxit sententia mentem, 
 Curarent superi terras, an nullus inesset 
 Hector, et incerto fluerent mortalia casu. 
 Nam cum dispositi quaesissem foedera mundi, 
 Prsescriptosque mari fines, annique meatus, 
 Et lucis noctisque vices ; tunc omnia rebar 
 Consilio firmata dei, qui lege moveri 
 Sidera, qui fruges diverso tempore nasci, 
 Qui variam Phoeben alieno jusserit igni 
 Compleri, solemque suo : porrexerit undis 
 Littora : tellurem medio libraverit axe. 
 Sed cum res hominum tanta caligine volvi 
 Adspicerem, Isetosque diu florere nocentes, 
 Vexarique pios ; rursus labefacta cadebat 
 Eelligio, causajque viam non sponte sequebar 
 Alterius, vacuo qu^ currere semina motu 
 Affirmat, magnumque novas per inane figuras 
 Fortuna, non arte, regi ; quse Numina sensu 
 Ambiguo vel nulla putat, vel nescia nostri. 
 Abstulit hunc tandem Rufini poena tumultum, 
 Absolvitque deos. Jam non ad culmina rerum 
 Injustos crevisse queror : tolluntur in altum, 
 Ut lapsu graviore ruant. Vos pandite vati, 
 Pierides, quo tanta lues eruperit ortu. 
 
 Two adverse sentiments, with doubts combined, 
 Have oft divided my unsettled mind : — 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 33 
 
 K oe'r this orb the Powers above have sway, 
 
 Or man be blindly left to grope his way ? 
 
 For when the mundane harmony I knew ; — 
 
 The ocean limited : — the seasons true ; — 
 
 The regular return of day and night : 
 
 I cried — a God directs with prescient light. 
 
 The stars his laws observe ; — the fruits appear, 
 
 In turn, at different periods of the year ; 
 
 Inconstant Phoebe freely borrows rays ; 
 
 And Sol, his own resplendent beams, displays ; 
 
 The wavy waters are by shores controlled ; 
 
 And, balanced on its axis. Earth is rolled. 
 
 But when the lot of human kind I found 
 
 Involved in mazy darkness spread around ; 
 
 Crime revelling in joy and plenteous store. 
 
 While suif 'ring Virtue dire distresses bore : 
 
 Religion, weakened, lost again her sway, 
 
 And, with regret, I turned another way. 
 
 All Nature's elements, in empty space. 
 
 At random move and various figures trace ; 
 
 No heavenly pow'r, but Chance appears to guide ; 
 
 No gods ; — or mortals' actions they deride. 
 
 Rufinus dead! — my mind's at length relieved; 
 Absolved the deities by what's achieved; 
 No wretch, to honours raised, shall me appal : 
 The higher carried, greater is the fall. 
 
 This is what Gibbon calls "the beautiful exordium'* of Claudian's 
 poem on Rufinus. Gibbon adds, that the poet proceeds, in a subsequent 
 part of his poem, to " perform the dissection of Rufinus with the savage 
 coolness of an anatomist." Rufinus was the prime minister of the Em- 
 peror Theodosius. After a long enjoyment of power, which he exercised 
 with great treachery and rapacity, he was killed by the soldiers, who car- 
 ried his head and hand round the camp in procession, crying, " Charity ! 
 Charity ! to the hand that could never get enough." The transaction is 
 detailed by Gibbon with consummate talent for description. The philo- 
 sophical reflections of the poet are discussed in Bayle, Art. Rujin. The 
 doubts of a superintending Providence are a favourite theme with several 
 distinguished heathen poets; whether arising from the permission of 
 successful criminality, as in the case of Rufinus, the premature deaths of 
 illustrious men, as in the instance of Tibullus, according to Ovid, and 
 
 3 
 
34 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Pompey, according to Lucan, Quintilian's son, according to his father ; 
 or even from better fortune in monuments, as, according to Martial, 
 from Cato having a small tomb, Pompey none at all, whilst the barber 
 Licinus enjoyed a magnificent mausoleum. Milton, in his Sampson Ago- 
 nistes, contrasts the regularity of nature with the rises and falls of the 
 champions of the commonwealth. 
 
 XXIII. 
 CRUELTIES OF THE ROMAN AMPHITHEATRE. 
 
 Orpheus. 
 
 Quidquid in Orpheo Rhodope spectasse theatre 
 
 Dicitur, exhibuit, Caesar, arena tibi. 
 Repserunt scopuli, mirandaque silva cueurrit. 
 
 Quale fuisse nemus ereditur Hesperidum. 
 Adfuit immixtum peeudum genus omne ferarum, 
 
 Et supra vatem multa pependit avis. 
 Ipse sed ingrato jacuit laceratus ab urso. 
 
 Hasc tamen ut res est facta, ita ficta alia est. 
 
 The wonders Orpheus wrought on Thracian ground. 
 Great Caesar, in thy theatre are found. 
 To Music's sound tall rocks and mountains move. 
 And trees start up that match th' Hesperian grove. 
 The bestial tribes, through distant woods that roam. 
 Here meet in crowds, and wond'ring find a home. 
 And as in fiction once, so now in truth, 
 Orpheus is mangled by a bear's fell tooth. 
 
 Laureolus 
 
 Qualiter in Scythica religatus rupe Prometheus 
 
 Assiduam nimio pectore pavit avem : 
 Nuda Caledonio sic pectora prsebuit urso, 
 
 Non falsa pendens in cruce Laureolus. 
 Vivebant laceri membris stillantibus artus, 
 
 Inque omni nusquam corpore corpus erat. 
 Denique supplicium dederat necis ille paternae, 
 
 Yel domini jugulum foderat ense nocens. 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 35 
 
 Templa vel arcano demens spoliaverat auro ; 
 
 Subdiderat ssevas vel tibi, Eoma, faces. 
 Vicerat antiquse sceleratus erimina famse, 
 
 In quo, quae fuerat fabula, poena fuit. 
 
 Like as Prometheus was chained to a rock, whilst a 
 vulture with unassuaged voracity was devouring his breast, 
 so Laureolus on the stage, whilst he was stretched on a 
 real cross, presented his breast to be torn by a Caledonian 
 bear. He had probably been a parricide, or had killed a 
 master^ or had raised the torch of an incendiary to fire 
 Rome. His guilt must have surpassed in enormity any 
 thing recorded in the annals of crime ; since what was 
 designed for a drama was converted into a form of dread- 
 ful punishment. 
 
 The first Epigram indicates that the Amphitheatre was decorated with 
 scenery, so as to represent the rocky and woody region in which Orpheus 
 was fabled to have been torn to pieces. A malefactor was placed in the 
 midst of this scenery, habited as Orpheus, and was compelled to play 
 upon a lyre until he was mangled by a bear. 
 
 The machinery in the ancient amphitheatres was Tery surprising and 
 magnificent. Sometimes the whole arena suddenly disappeared, and 
 from the chasm formed by its fall rose orchards and forests filled with 
 wild beasts. These changes were produced by the application of various 
 machines called pegmata, which rose and swelled sometimes to a prodi- 
 gious extent and elevation. Claudian mentions exhibitions of flames that 
 played round the machinery without damaging it. Sometimes perfumes, 
 as balsam and saffron- water, were sprinkled in showers upon the audience. 
 
 Laureolus was the principal character in a favourite melodrama at 
 Rome. He was a robber, and ended his career by being crucified. Juve- 
 nal observes of a young patrician, who was fond of acting the part on the 
 public stage, that he deserved a i^eal cross. Martial represents a real 
 crucifixion of a malefactor who was forced to act the part of Laureolus. 
 It appears from other Epigrams of ^lartial, that the story of Daedalus and 
 Icarus was in a similar way often made tragical in the Roman Amphi- 
 theatres ; and Suetonius mentions that on one occasion Nero was covered 
 with the blood of Icarus, who, after his wings melted, fell too close to 
 the emperor. The emperors not unfrequently ordered persons to be 
 taken from their places in the theatre, and thrown to wild beasts on 
 account of some unguarded exclamation, or because they had mismanaged 
 the scenery entrusted to their care. If the victims protested their inno- 
 cence, they were sometimes fetched back from the arena, their tongues 
 cut out, and themselves cast again among the wild beasts. 
 
 3—2 
 
36 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 ON THE WOMEN WHO FOUGHT WITH WILD BEASTS IN 
 THE AMPHITHEATRE. 
 
 Belliger invictis quod Mars tibi saevit in armis, 
 Non satis est, Caesar, saevit et ipsa Venus. 
 
 Prostratum Nemees et vasta in valle leonem, 
 Nobile et Herculeum fama eanebat opus. 
 
 Prisca fides taceat : nam post tua munera, Caesar, 
 Haec jam feminea vidimus acta manu. 
 
 It does not suffice, O Caesar, that Mars brandishes his 
 arms at your command: Venus also becomes warlike. 
 History has celebrated the labour of Hercules in slaying 
 the NemaBan lion ; but, to strike antiquity dumb, at your 
 shows, O Caesar, such exploits are achieved by female 
 hands. 
 
 These female gladiators are noticed by Tacitus, Suetonius, and Juve- 
 nal. Statius thus celebrates their masculine exploits : 
 
 Mid the noise of this new unaccustomed delight. 
 See ! the women engage in a masculine fight, 
 As, astonished, their skirmishing light you behold. 
 In their weapons unpractised, but wantonly bold. 
 You would think that by barbarous Phasis afar 
 The fierce troops of Thermodon encountered in war. 
 
 I 
 
 XXV. 
 
 NAUMACHIiE. 
 
 Si quis ades longis serus spectator ab oris, 
 Cui lux prima sacri muneris ista fuit, 
 
 Ne te decipiat ratibus navalis Enyo, 
 
 Et par unda fretis ; hie modo terra fuit. 
 
 Non credis ? spectes, dum laxent aequora Martem 
 Parva mora est : dices, hie modo pontus erat. 
 
I] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 37 
 
 Be not deceiv'd though naval battles here, 
 And billows like the rolling main appear. 
 The sea thou now behold'st was land of late : 
 Believ'st thou not ? A few short moments wait 
 Till cease the ships to war, the waves to flow, 
 And thou shalt say, 'Twas sea not long ago. 
 
 Martial relates a variety of spectacles exhibited upon water intro- 
 duced into the amphitheatre The story of Hero and Leander was a 
 favourite exhibition on these occasions. One writer mentions a pegma in 
 the form of a ship, which, while floating in the amphitheatre, struck 
 the ground as if wrecked, and opening, let loose some hundreds of wild 
 beasts, mixed with aquatic animals, who swam, fought, or played in the 
 waters, till the water was suddenly let out, the beasts slain, and the ship 
 restored to its original form. Tacitus relates that in the ^aumachicB cele- 
 brated by the Emperor Claudius on the Fucine Lake there were 19,000 
 combatants, and about fifty ships on each side. Suetonius mentions that 
 the signal for charge was given by a silver triton, raised by mechanism. 
 He writes, that upon the gladiators on board the fleet crying out, " Fare- 
 well ! noble emperor, dying men salute you !" and his replying, "Fare- 
 well to you all," (avete, the last words used at funeral rites), they all 
 refused to fight, as if the emperor, in what he had said, had excused 
 them. Upon this incident Claudius was in doubt whether he should not 
 destroy them all by fire and sword. At last, leaping from his seat, and 
 running along the side of the lake, partly by fair words, and partly by 
 threats, he persuaded them to engage. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 CATO REFUSING TO CONSULT THE ORACLE OF 
 JUPITER AMMON. 
 
 Stabant ante fores populi, quos miserat Eos, 
 Cornigerique Jovis monitu nova fata petebant : 
 Sed Latio cessere duci : comitesque Catonem 
 Orant, exploret Libycum memorata per orbem 
 Numina, de fama tarn longi judicet aevi. 
 Maximus hortator scrutandi voce deorum 
 Eventus Labienus erat. Sors obtulit, inquit, 
 Et fortuna viae tarn magni numinis ora, 
 
38 , GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Consiliumque dei : tanto duce possumus uti 
 
 Per Syrtes, bellique datos cognoscere casus, 
 
 Nam cui crediderim superos arcana daturos, 
 
 Dicturosque magis, quam sancto, vera, Catoni? 
 
 Certe vita tibi semper directa supernas 
 
 Ad leges, sequerisque deum. I>atur eece loquendi 
 
 Cum Jove libertas : inquire in fata nefandi 
 
 Caesaris, et patriae ventures excute mores : 
 
 Jure suo populis uti legumque licebit, 
 
 An bellum civile perit. Tua pectora sacra 
 
 Voce reple : durae saltem virtutis amator 
 
 Quaere quid est virtus, et posce exemplar honesti. 
 
 Ille deo plenus, tacita quem mente gerebat, 
 Effudit dignas adytis e pectore voces. 
 Quid quaeri, Labiene, jubes ? an liber in armis 
 Occubuisse velim potius, quam regna videre ? 
 An sit vita nihil, sed longam diiferat aetas ? 
 An noceat vis nulla bono ? Fortunaque perdat 
 Opposita virtute minas ? laudandaque velle 
 Sit satis, et nun quam successu crescat honestum ? 
 Seimus, et haec nobis non altius inseret Amnion, 
 Haeremus cuncti superis, temploque tacente 
 Nil facimus non sponte dei : nee vocibus uUis 
 Numen eget : dixitque semel nascentibus auctor 
 Quicquid scire licet : steriles nee legit arenas, 
 Ut caneret paucis, mersitque hoc pulvere verum : 
 Estne dei sedes nisi terra, et pontus, et aer, 
 Et coelum, et virtus ? superos quid quaerimus ultra ? 
 Jupiter est quodcunque vides, quocunque moveris. 
 Sortilegis egeant dubii, semperque futuris 
 Casibus ancipites : me non oracula certum, 
 Sed mors certa facit : pavido fortique cadendum est. 
 Hoc satis est dixisse Jovem. Sic ille profatur : 
 Servataque fide templi discedit ab aris, 
 Non exploratum populis Ammona relinquens. 
 
 Before the temple's entrance, at the gate, 
 Attending crowds of Eastern pilgrims wait : 
 These from the horned god expect relief: 
 But all give way before the Latian chief. 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 39 
 
 His host (as crowds are superstitious still) 
 Curious of fate, of future good and ill, 
 And fond to prove prophetic Amnion's skill, 
 Intreat their leader to the god would go. 
 And from his oracle Rome's fortunes know : 
 But Labienus chief the thought approv'd. 
 And thus the common suit to Cato mov'd : 
 
 Chance, and the fortune of the way, he said, 
 Have brought Jove's sacred counsels to our aid : 
 This greatest of the gods, this mighty chief, 
 In each distress shall be a sure relief ; 
 Shall point the distant dangers from afar. 
 And teach the future fortunes of the war. 
 To thee, O Cato ! pious ! wise ! and just ! 
 Their dark decrees the cautious gods shall trust ; 
 To thee their fore-determin'd will shall tell : 
 Their will has been thy law, and thou hast kept it well. 
 Fate bids thee now the noble thought improve ; 
 Fate brings thee here to meet and talk with Jove. 
 Inquire betimes, what various chance shall come 
 To impious Caesar, and thy native Rome ; 
 Try to avert, at least, thy country's doom. 
 Ask if these arms our freedom shall restore : 
 Or else if laws and right shall be no more. 
 Be thy great breast with sacred knowledge fraught, 
 To lead us in the wandering maze of thought ; 
 Thou, that to virtue ever wert inclin'd. 
 Learn what it is, how certainly defin'd. 
 And leave some perfect rule to guide mankind. 
 
 Full of the god that dwelt within his breast. 
 The hero thus his secret mind express'd. 
 And in-born truths reveal'd ; truths which might well 
 Become ev'n oracles themselves to tell. 
 
 What, Labienus, would thy fond desire 
 Of horned Jove's prophetic shrine inquire ? 
 Whether to seek in arms a glorious doom. 
 Or basely live, and be a king in Rome ? 
 If life be nothing more than death's delay. 
 If impious force can honest minds dismay, 
 
40 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Or probity may fortune's frown disdain ; 
 
 If well to mean is all that virtue can ; 
 
 And right, dependent on itself alone, 
 
 Gains no addition from success ? — 'Tis known : 
 
 Fix'd in my heart these constant truths I bear, 
 
 And Ammon cannot write them deeper there. 
 
 Our souls, allied to God, within them feel 
 
 The secret dictates of the Almighty will ; 
 
 This is his voice, be this our oracle. 
 
 When first his breath the seeds of life instill'd, 
 
 All that we ought to know was then reveal'd. 
 
 Nor can we think the Omnipresent mind 
 
 Has truth to Libya's desert sands confin'd. 
 
 There, known to few, obscur'd, and lost, to lie — 
 
 Is there a temple of the Deity, 
 
 Except earth, sea, and air, yon azure pole ; 
 
 And chief, his holiest shrine, the virtuous soul ? 
 
 Where'er the eye can pierce, the feet can move, 
 
 This wide, this boundless universe is Jove. 
 
 Let abject minds, that doubt because they fear, 
 
 With pious awe to juggling priests repair ; 
 
 I credit not what lying prophets tell — 
 
 Death is the only certain oracle. 
 
 Cowards and brave must die one destin'd hour — 
 
 This Jove has told ; he needs not tell us more. 
 
 The first part of the English version is from Rowe, the latter part 
 beginning with the line, " What, Labienus, would thy soul desire," is from 
 Lord Lyttleton. The sentiments ascribed to Cato are very remarkable as 
 regards the theological opinions of the ancients. They were a part of the 
 philosophical system of the Stoics. 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 41 
 
 XXVII. 
 CATO AT THE FLORAL GAMES. 
 
 Nosses jocosae dulce cum sacrum Florae, 
 Festosque lusus, et licentiam vulgi, 
 Cur in theatrum, Cato severe, venisti ? 
 An ideo tantum veneras, ut exires ? 
 
 When thou didst know the merry feast 
 
 Of jocund Flora was at best, 
 
 Our solemn sports, how loosely free, 
 
 And debonair the vulgar be. 
 
 Strict Cato, why didst thou intrude 
 
 Into the seated multitude ? 
 
 Was it thy frolic here alone 
 
 Only to enter, and be gone ? 
 
 Valerius Maximus mentions that when it was wished to describe a 
 citizen as being remarkable for virtue, it was usual to call him a Cato. 
 And he relates the story of the floral games. He says that Cato having 
 learnt from Favonius who was sitting next to him, that the audience 
 were ashamed to call for certain indecencies to be exhibited which were 
 customary at the floral games, he walked out of the theatre. L^pon which 
 there ensued a general burst of applause ; whereby, observes Valerius, the 
 people confessed that greater respect was due to Cato than to all the rest 
 of the audience who remained to witness what they were unwilling should 
 be represented in the presence of Cato. This occurrence is the subject 
 of No. 446 of the Spectator. The third line of the Epigram is the 
 motto of No. 122 of the Tatler, with reference to the appearance of Mr 
 Isaac Bickerstaff' at Drury Lane theatre. The more remarkable demon- 
 strations of public feeling at the Roman theatres afford matter for inte- 
 resting reflection. The opinions concerning Cato, too, throw important 
 light on the moral sentiments of the ancients. Julius Csesar mentions 
 that persons who met Cato in a state .of intoxication, blushed, when they 
 discovered who he was ; adding, you would have thought that Cato had 
 detected them, and not they Cato. Pliny remarks, Could he place the 
 dignity of Cato in a stronger light than making him thus venerable even 
 in his cups ? 
 
42 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XXYIII. 
 C^SAR PASSING THE RUBICON. 
 
 Jam gelidas Caesar cursu superaverat Alpes, 
 
 Ingentesque animo motus, bellumque futurum 
 
 Ceperat. Ut ventum est parvi Eubiconis ad undas, 
 
 Ingens visa duci patriae trepidantis imago, 
 
 Clara per obscuram vultu moestissima noctem, 
 
 Turrigero canos efFundens vertice crines, 
 
 Caesarie lacera, nudisque adstare laeertis, 
 
 Et gemitu permixta loqui : Quo tenditis ultra ? 
 
 Quo fertis mea signa, viri ? si jure venitis, 
 
 Si eives, hueusque licet. Tunc perculit horror 
 
 Membra ducis, riguere comae, gressumque coercens 
 
 Languor in extrema tenuit vestigia ripa. 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 Fonte cadit modico, parvisque impellitur undis 
 Puniceus Rubicon, cum fervida canduit aestas : 
 Perque imas serpit valles, et Gallica certus 
 Limes ab Ausoniis disterminat arva colonis. 
 Tunc vires praebebat hyems, atque auxerat undas 
 Tertia jam gravido pluvialis Cynthia cornu, 
 Et madidis Euri resolutae flatibus Alpes. 
 Primus in obliquum sonipes opponitur amnem, 
 Excepturus aquas, molli tum cetera rumpit 
 Turba vado fracti faciles jam fluminis undas. 
 Caesar ut adversum superato gurgite ripam 
 Attigit, Hesperiae vetitis et constitit arvis, 
 Hie, ait, hie, paeem, temerataque jura relinquo ; 
 Te, Fortuna, sequor ; procul hinc jam foedera sunto. 
 Credidimus fatis : utendum est judice bello. 
 Sic fatus, noctis tenebris rapit agmina ductor 
 Impiger, et torto Balearis verbere fundse 
 Ocior, et missa Parthi post terga sagitta : 
 Vicinumque minax invadit Ariminum, ut ignes 
 Solis Lucifero fugiebant astra relicto. 
 Jamque dies primos belli visura tumultus 
 Exoritur : seu sponte deum, seu turbidus Auster 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 43 
 
 Impulerat, moestam tenuerunt nubila lucem. 
 Constitit ut capto jussus deponere miles 
 Signa foro, stridor lituum, clangorque tubarum 
 Non pia concinuit cum rauco classica eornu. 
 Rupta quies populi, stratisque excita juventus 
 Diripiunt sacris affixa penatibus arma, 
 Quae pax longa dabat : nuda jam crate fluentes 
 Invadunt clypeos, curvataque cuspide pila, 
 Et scabros nigrae morsu rubiginis enses. 
 Ut notae fulsere aquilae Romanaque signa, 
 Et celsus medio conspectus in agmine Caesar, 
 Diriguere metu, gelidos pavor alligat artus. 
 
 Now Caesar, marching swift with winged haste, 
 The summits of the frozen Alps had past ; 
 "With vast events and enterprises fraught, 
 And future wars revolving in his thought. 
 Now near the banks of Rubicon he stood ; 
 When lo ! as he survey'd the narrow flood, 
 Amidst the dusky horrors of the night, 
 A wondrous vision stood confest to sight. 
 Her awful head Rome's reverend image rear'd, 
 Trembling and sad the matron form appear'd ; 
 A towery crown her hoary temples bound. 
 And her torn tresses rudely hung around ; 
 Her naked arms uplifted ere she spoke. 
 Then groaning thus the mournful silence broke. 
 Presumptuous men ! oh, whither do you run ? 
 Oh, whither bear you these my ensigns on ? 
 If friends to right, if citizens of Rome, 
 Here to your utmost barrier are you come. 
 She said ; and sunk within the closing shade : 
 Astonishment and dread the chief invade ; 
 Stiff rose his starting hair, he stood dismay'd, 
 And on the bank his slackening steps were stay'd. 
 ***** 
 
 While with hot skies the fervent summer glows. 
 The Rubicon an humble river flows ; 
 Through lowly vales he cuts his winding way, 
 And rolls his ruddy waters to the sea. 
 
44 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 His bank on either side a limit stands, 
 
 Between the Gallic and Ausonian lands. 
 
 But stronger now the wintery torrent grows. 
 
 The wetting winds had thaw'd the Alpine snows, 
 
 And Cynthia rising with a blunted beam 
 
 In the third circle, drove her watery team, 
 
 A signal sure to raise the swelling stream. 
 
 For this, to stem the rapid water's course 
 
 First plung'd amidst the flood the bolder horse : 
 
 With strength oppos'd against the stream they lead, 
 
 While to the smoother ford the foot with ease succeed. 
 
 The leader now had pass'd the torrent o'er. 
 And reach'd fair Italy's forbidden shore : 
 Then rearing on the hostile bank his head. 
 Here farewell peace and injur''d laws ! (he said.) 
 Since faith is broke, and leagues are set aside, 
 Henceforth thou, goddess fortune, art my guide ; 
 Let fate and war the great event decide. 
 He spoke ; and, on the dreadful task intent. 
 Speedy to near Ariminum he bent ; 
 To him the Balearic sling is slow, 
 And the shaft loiters from the Parthian bow. 
 With eager marches swift he reach'd the town, 
 As the shades fled, the sinking stars were gone. 
 And Lucifer the last was left alone. 
 At length the morn, the dreadful morn arose. 
 Whose beams the first tumultuous rage disclose : 
 Whether the stormy south prolong'd the night. 
 Or the good gods abhorr'd the impious sight. 
 The clouds awhile withheld the mournful light. 
 To the mid forum on the soldier pass'd. 
 There halted, and his victor ensigns plac'd : 
 With dire alarms from band to band around. 
 The fife, hoarse horn, and rattling trumpets sound. 
 The starting citizens uprear their heads ; 
 The lustier youth at once forsake their beds ; 
 Hasty they snatch the weapons, which among 
 Their household gods in peace had rested long ; 
 Old bucklers of the covering hides bereft, 
 The mouldering frames disjoin'd and barely left ; 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 45 
 
 Swords with foul rust indented deep they take, 
 And useless spears with points inverted shake. 
 Soon as their crests the Koman eagles rear'd, 
 And Caesar high above the rest appear'd ; 
 Each trembling heart with secret horror shook. 
 
 The spectral apparition of the genius of Rome may probably have 
 suggested to Camoens his sublimer conception of the Spirit of the Cape. 
 It appears from Eustace, that there are two passages over the Rubicon, 
 a name which has been changed by the corruptions of centuries into that 
 of Rugone. Eustace fixes upon the nearer passage to the sea, in the 
 direct road between Ravenna and Rimini (Ariminium), as the one in 
 crossing which Csesar decided the fate of Rome. 
 
 Less interesting, indeed, in an historical point of view, but equal at 
 least in poetical merit, are two other passages in the Pharsalia, descrip- 
 tive of Caesar's exploits. In one of these Lucan draws a very sombre and 
 appalling picture of a sacred grove of the Gauls, inhabited neither by 
 fauns nor nymphs, and where no bird was heard to warble, but every tree 
 was lustrated with human gore. Csesar's soldiers were struck with 
 horror, and hesitated to obey his commands for cutting down the 
 grove : 
 
 Csesar perceived the spreading fear to grow, 
 Then eager caught an axe, and aim*d a blow. 
 Deep sunk within a violated oak 
 The wounding edge, and thus the warrior spoke : 
 " Now let no doubting hand the task decline ; 
 Cut you the wood, and let the guilt be mine." 
 
 The other passage is descriptive of the circumstance that Caesar, who 
 was in Epirus with a part of his army, and foresaw the probability of being 
 shortly attacked by Pompey, left his camp by night, and ventured over a 
 tempestuous sea in a small bark to Italy, that he might hasten the trans- 
 port of the remainder of his forces which were collecting at Brundusium. 
 Lucan is very great in relating Csesar's interview at night with the pilot, 
 his persuasions to induce him to put to sea, notwithstanding the threaten- 
 ing appearances of the sky, a terrific storm by which the little bark is 
 tempest-tost, and the encouragements of Csesar to his terrified com- 
 panion : 
 
 Let winds and seas loud wars at freedom wage. 
 And waste upon themselves their empty rage : 
 A stronger, mightier demon is thy friend. 
 Thou and thy bark on Ccesar's fate depend. 
 
46 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 DEATH OF POMPEY. 
 
 Jam venerat hora9 
 Terminus extremse, Phariamque ablatus in alnum 
 Perdiderat jam jura sui. Tum stringere ferrum 
 Regia monstra parant. Ut vidit cominus enses, 
 Involvit vultus : atque indignatus apertum 
 Fortunse prsebere caput, tunc lumina pressit, 
 Continuitque animam, ne quas eiFundere voces 
 Posset, et seternam fletu corrumpere famam. 
 At postquam mucrone latus funestus Achillas 
 
 Perfodit, nullo gemitu consensit ad ictum. 
 
 ***** 
 
 At Magni cum terga sonent et pectora ferro, 
 Permansisse decus sacrse venerabile formse, 
 Iratamque deis faciem, nihil ultima mortis 
 Ex habitu vultuque viri mutasse, fatentur 
 Qui lacerum videre caput. Nam saavus in ipso 
 Septimius sceleris majus scelus invenit actu : 
 Ac retegit sacros, scisso velamine, vultus 
 Semianimis Magni, spirantiaque occupat ora, 
 Collaque in obliquo ponit languentia transtro. 
 Tunc nervos venasque secat, nodosaque frangit 
 Ossa diu : nondum artis erat caput ense rotare. 
 At postquam trunco cervix abscisa recessit, 
 Vindicat hoc Pharius dextra gestare satelles. 
 Degener, atque operae miles Romanse secundae, 
 Pompeii diro sacrum caput ense recidis, 
 Ut non ipse feras ? o summi fata pudoris ! 
 Impius ut Magnum nosset puer, ilia verenda 
 Regibus, hirta coma, et generosa fronte decora 
 Caesaries compressa manu est ; Pharioque veruto, 
 Dum vivunt vultus, atque os in murmura pulsant 
 Singultus animas, dum lumina nuda rigescunt, 
 Suffixum caput est, quo nunquam bella jubente 
 Pax fuit ; hoc leges, campumque, et rostra movebat. 
 Hac facie, Fortuna, tibi, Romana, placebas. 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 47 
 
 Nec satis infando fuit hoc vidisse tyranno : 
 Vult sceleri superesse fidem. Tunc arte nefanda 
 Submota est capiti tabes, raptoque cerebro 
 Adsiccata cutis, putrisque effluxit ab alto 
 Humor, et infuso facies solidata veneno est. 
 
 Now in the boat defenceless Pompey sate, 
 
 Surrounded and abandoned to his fate. 
 
 Nor long they hold him in their power, aboard, 
 
 Ere every villain drew his ruthless sword : 
 
 The Chief perceiv'd their purpose soon, and spread 
 
 His Roman gown, with patience, o'er his head : 
 
 And when the curs'd Achillas pierc'd his breast. 
 
 His rising indignation close repress'd. 
 
 No sighs, no groans, his dignity profan'd, 
 
 No tears his still unsuUy'd glory stain'd : 
 
 Unmov'd and firm he fix'd him on his seat. 
 
 And died, as when he liv'd and conquer'd, great. 
 
 ***** 
 
 The bloody business now complete and done, 
 New furies urge the fierce Septimius on. 
 He rends the robe that veiPd the hero's head, 
 And to full view expos'd the recent dead ; 
 Hard in his horrid gripe the face he press'd. 
 While yet the quivering muscles life confess'd : 
 He drew the dragging body down with haste. 
 Then cross a rower's seat the neck he plac'd ; 
 There, awkward, haggling, he divides the bone, 
 (The headsman's art but then was rudely known). 
 Straight on the spoil his Pharian partner flies, 
 And robs the heartless villain of his prize. 
 The head, his trophy, proud Achillas bears ; 
 Septimius an inferior drudge appears, 
 And in the meaner mischief poorly shares. 
 Caught by the venerable locks, which grow 
 In hoary ringlets on his generous brow. 
 To Egypt's impious king that head they bear. 
 That laurels us'd to bind, and monarchs fear. 
 Those sacred lips, and that commanding tongue, 
 On which the listening forum oft has hung ; 
 
48 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 That tongue which could the world with ease restrain, 
 And ne'er commanded war or peace in vain ; 
 That face, in which success came smiling home, 
 And doubled every joy it brought to Rome : 
 Now pale and wan, is fix'd upon a spear. 
 And borne, for public view, aloft in air. 
 
 Lucan, in the eighth book of his poem, describes Pompey's flight after 
 the battle of Pharsalia, his meeting with Cornelia — after which he 
 represents Pompey as repairing to the coast of Egypt, where he is 
 induced by treachery to quit his ship and come into a boat. As the boat 
 is making towards the shore, Pompey is murdered in the sight of Cor- 
 nelia, his son, and the rest of his fleet. His head is cut off and carried 
 on a spear to king Ptolemy, who subsequently sends it as a present to 
 Csesar. Pompe/s body is found floating near the shore by one of his 
 freedmen, who collects a few planks from a shipwrecked vessel, and 
 performs the funeral rites. All these incidents, and the feelings of Cor- 
 nelia on her husband leaving her to enter the boat, and afterwards on 
 beholding his murder, are depictured with great poetical talent. 
 
 Martial has an Epigram regarding the circumstance that Pompey, if 
 buried at all, was buried in Africa, and his sons in Europe and Asia. 
 He observes that " so great a ruin could not lie in one quarter of the 
 globe." This idea is followed in an epitaph on Richard Co&ur de Lion, who 
 directed by his will that his heart should be sent to the cathedral of 
 Rouen, his "ignoble parts" be left among the rebellious Poictevans, and 
 that his body should be buried at the feet of his father at Fontevraud. 
 There is a monument at Alba, which goes by the name of Pompey's 
 tomb, and Plutarch relates that Cornelia buried his ashes there: but 
 Lucan considers it a reproach to Rome in his time, that it suffered Egypt 
 to possess the remains of Pompey the Great. 
 
 Comeille mentions, in the preface to his Pomp^e, that the perusal of 
 Lucan " m'a rendu si amoureux de la force de ses pensees et de la majeste 
 de son raisonnement, qu'afin d'en enricher notre langue, j'ai fait cet 
 effort pour reduire en poeme dramatique ce qu'il a traite en epique. Tu 
 trouvera ici cent ou deux cent vers traduits ou imites de lui." Corneille's 
 variations from Lucan may not be always thought improvements, as, for 
 example, in reference to the remarkable circumstance of Pompey veiling 
 his face : 
 
 D'un des pans de sa robe il couvre son visage, 
 
 A son mauvais destin en aveugle obeit, 
 
 Et dedaigne de voir le del qui le trahit, 
 
 De peur qu'il ne semblat centre une telle offense 
 
 Implorer d'un coup d'ceil son aide et sa vengeance. 
 
 Aucun gemissement a son coeur echappe, 
 
 Ne le montre en mourant digne d'Hrefrappe. 
 
 1 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 49 
 
 XXX. 
 
 SUTTEES. 
 
 Felix Eois lex funeris una maritis, 
 
 Quos Aurora suis rubra colorat equis : 
 Namque ubi mortifero jacta est fax ultima lecto, 
 
 Uxorum positis stat pia turba comis. 
 Et certamen habent leti, quae viva sequatur 
 
 Conjugium : pudor est non licuisse mori. 
 Ardent victrices, et flammae peetora praebent, 
 
 Imponuntque suis ora perusta viris. 
 
 II y a une loi en Orient bien favorable pour les maris, 
 e'est ou I'Aurore colore les peuples de la rongeur de ses 
 chevaux : car des que le dernier flambeau a mis le feu au 
 lit funebre, la pieuse foule des femmes ayant les cheveux 
 epars se tient debout, et se disputent a I'envi a qui se brul- 
 lera toute vive la premiere pour suivre son mari : et ce 
 leur est de la honte quand il ne leur est pas permis de 
 mourir. Les victorieuses se jettent dans les flames : et de 
 leur visage demi brulle elles donnent des baisers a leurs 
 epoux. 
 
 The suppression of the practice of Suttee throughout the British 
 dominions in India, is a victory of humanity over national prejudices 
 which the most sanguine philanthropists could scarcely have deemed 
 attainable, at least in a short time and without political convulsion. 
 The practice still prevails out of the pale of the British authority. In 
 an instance known by the author, which occurred in one of the petty 
 independent states of India, where there was an English Resident, it 
 came to the knowledge of the Resident that a widow would shortly burn 
 herself on the funeral pile of her husband. The Resident offered to 
 convey her away from her husband's relatives free of all expence, and to 
 take her to her own family, or settle her in any safe place she preferred. 
 The rajah or prince of the territory, performed, what was in the East a 
 great mark of condescension, a personal visit to the widow, in order to 
 join his entreaties to that of the Resident ; and he offered to give the 
 widow an annuity of just the same amount as the English government 
 chose to confer. But it was all to no purpose. The widow persisted in 
 burning herself, alleging that the subject had often been talked of be- 
 
 4 
 
50 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 tween herself and her husband, and she considered it a part of her faith 
 to him, that their bodies should be consumed by the same fire. 
 
 It is curious that a description of Suttees should be found in Pro- 
 pertius, from whom the Latin text is taken. There is an interesting 
 Latin poem on the subject by the Rev. G. Booth, in the Oxford Anthology. 
 Mr Richardson, an Anglo-Indian poet, has given the following description, 
 apparently by an eye-witness. 
 
 Her last fond wishes breathed, a farewell smile 
 Is lingering on the calm unclouded brow 
 Of yon deluded victim. Firmly now 
 She mounts, with dauntless mien, the funeral pile 
 Where lies her earthly lord. The Brahmin's guile 
 Hath wrought its will — fraternal hands bestow 
 The quick death-flame — the crackling embers glow. 
 And flakes of hideous smoke the skies defile ! 
 The ruthless throng their ready aid supply. 
 And pour the kindling oil. The stunning sound 
 Of dissonant drums — the priest's exulting cry — 
 The failing martyr's pleading voice have drown'd; 
 While fiercely-burning rafters fall around, 
 And shroud her frame from horror's straining eye ! 
 
 Gay, in a letter to Pope, mentions the incident of two lovers who were 
 struck dead by lightning whilst walking together in the fields. They were 
 found stiff in death, one of the young man's hands round the female's 
 neck, the other raised before her face, as if to screen her from the light- 
 ning. Pope wrote the epitaph on the occasion : 
 
 When Eastern lovers feed the funeral fire. 
 On the same pile the faithful pair expire. 
 Here pitying heav'n that virtue mutual found. 
 And blasted both, that it might neither wound. 
 Hearts so sincere th' Almighty saw well-pleas'd. 
 Sent his own light'ning, and the victims seiz'd. 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 51 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 TREATMENT OF SLAVES, 
 
 (A) 
 Proscriptum Famulus servavit fronte notatus : 
 Non fuit haec Domini vita, sed invidia. 
 
 A domestic slave, who had been branded on the fore- 
 head by his master, preserved the life of that master when 
 proscribed. I say that the master by that act derived less 
 of safety for his person than of opprobrium for his charac- 
 ter. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Unus de to to peccaverat orbe comarum 
 
 Annulus, incerta non bene fixus acu, 
 Hoc facinus Lalage speculo, quo viderat, ulta est ; 
 
 Et cecidit sectis icta Plecusa comis. 
 Define jam, Lalage, tristes ornare capillos ; 
 
 Tangat et insanum nulla puella caput. 
 Hoc salamandra notet, vel ssBva novacula nudet ; 
 
 Ut digna speculo fiat imago tuo. 
 
 A single curl belonging to a fold in Lalage's hair had 
 got out of place, from not being properly pinned. Lalage 
 perceived the crime in her looking-glass, and avenged it 
 with the same looking-glass on her waiting-maid Plecusa. 
 She felled the poor girl to the ground, and afterwards cut 
 off all her hair. Henceforward, Lalage, cease to employ 
 waiting-maids for adorning your locks. Cut them off with 
 a razor, or eradicate them with salamander's blood, so that 
 your looking-glass may (if justice be done the girl and you) 
 always reflect a bald head, 
 
 (C) 
 Esse negas coctum leporem, poscisque flagella, 
 Mavis, Eufe, coquum scindere, quam leporem. 
 
 When you gave your last dinner, Eufus, you protested 
 that the hare was underdone ; and you called for the whips. 
 
 4—2 
 
52 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 I am of opinion that you preferred cutting your cook to 
 cutting up your hare. 
 
 The master of the slave, who is the subject of the first Epigram, was 
 Antius Restio. He was proscribed by the triumvirate; and whilst his 
 house was being pillaged, he made his escape by night. He was, how- 
 ever, watched by a slave, whose face he had formerly disfigured by brand- 
 ing. The slave accompanied him in his flight, and, having killed an old 
 beggar whom he met on the road, and cut oflP his head, prepared a funeral 
 pile, and placed the corpse upon it. On the soldiers coming up, and 
 inquiring after Antius, the slave pointed to the pile, and told them that 
 his master was there burning in expiation of his cruelty to himself. The 
 presence of the pile and the decapitated corpse, and the letters branded 
 on the slave's forehead, obtained credit for the statement, and Antius's 
 life was thus preserved. Numerous other instances of the attachment of 
 slaves to their masters are mentioned by Roman writers, especially in a 
 chapter on the subject in Valerius Maximus (Lib. vi. c. 8), and in Seneca's 
 treatise On Benefits. Marc Antony, after his defeat at Actium, desired 
 his slave Eros to kill him : Eros drew his sword, but stabbed himself, and 
 fell at his master's feet. A freedman of Pompey prepared and kindled 
 his funeral pile, and conveyed his ashes to Cornelia. 
 
 The commentators give various representations of Lalage's cruelty : 
 several of them make her murder Plecusa. The enormities inflicted on 
 Roman slaves by their masters and mistresses, are forcibly depictured in 
 JuyensiVs Satires (Lib. n. Sat. vi. 1. 218 and 476. Lib. v. Sat. xiv. 1. 15). 
 The torturing of ladies' maids, which is in progress in the boudoir, whilst 
 the lady herself imperturbably continues to rouge her face, is described 
 with much vivacity, and the question is discussed whether a slave is a 
 man? In book xiv. sect, xlii., and following sections of Tacitus's Annals, 
 is the relation of a slave murdering his master, because his liberty had 
 been withheld after it had been contracted for. It appears that, by the 
 law of Rome, in such a case, every servant in the family was liable to 
 capital punishment. The populace were touched with compassion for 
 the fate of so many innocent persons of both sexes, and some of tender 
 age, and created a tumult. The subject was debated in the senate, and 
 Tacitus has preserved the speeches delivered on the occasion. The 
 majority of the senate was for letting the law take its course. The 
 populace attempted to stay the execution with stones and firebrands, but 
 the whole slave-family, men, women, and children, were put to death. 
 Pliny, in his Epistles (Lib. iii. Ep. xiv.), relates the details of a murder of 
 a master by his slaves in a bath. He notices that the master had been 
 in the habit of treating his slaves with a haughtiness and severity which 
 shewed him little mindful that his own father had once been a slave. 
 
 Cooks, like waiting-maids, were subject to severe castigations, since 
 they outraged the sensuality of men, as much as the Abigails ofibnded 
 against the vanity of women. The following extract from the descrip- 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 53 
 
 tion of a Roman supper by Petronius Arbiter will shew the prevalence of 
 the custom of scourging cooks on the spot in order to assuage the 
 disappointment of guests, though in the particular instance, the purpose 
 of the master was not that of blood, but of facetiousness. 
 
 " A full-grown hog was brought to the table. When Trimalchio, after 
 looking for a while upon it, said, ' What, are not his entrails taken out ? 
 No (so help me Hercules) they are not ! Bring hither, bring hither the 
 rogue of a cook.' And when the cook stood hanging his head before us, 
 he stammered out that he was so much in haste that he had forgot it. 
 *How, forget it?' cried out Trimalchio. ' Strip him:' when in a trice it 
 was done, and the cook was set between two torturers. However, we all 
 interceded for him, as a fault that might now and then happen. Where- 
 upon Trimalchio spoke to the cook : ' It seems you have a very short 
 memory ; let us see if you can do it now.' On which the cook, having 
 gotten his coat again, took up a knife, and with a feigned trembling 
 ripp'd up the hog's belly long and thwart, when immediately from its own 
 weight tumbled out a heap of hog's puddings and sausages. After this, 
 the company gave a shout, and cried out. Health and prosperity to Tri- 
 malchio ! The cook also was presented with wine, a silver coronet, and a 
 drinking-goblet on a broad Corinthian plate." 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 MARTIAL'S MANUMISSION OP A DYING SLAVE. 
 
 Ilia manus quondam studiorum fida meorum, 
 
 Et felix domino, notaque Csesaribus, 
 Destituit primos virides Demetrius annos : 
 
 Quarta tribus lustris addita messis erat. 
 Ne tamen ad Stygias famulus deseenderet umbras, 
 
 Ureret implicitum cum scelerata lues, 
 Cavimus ; et domini jus omne remissimus aegro : 
 
 Munere dignus erat eonvaluisse meo. 
 Sensit deficiens sua praemia, meque patronum 
 
 Dixit, ad infernas liber iturus aquas. 
 
 That hand to all my labours once so true. 
 Which I so lov'd, and which the Caesars knew. 
 Forsook the dear Demetrius' blooming prime : 
 Three lustres and four harvests all his time. 
 
54 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 That not to Styx a slave he should descend, 
 When fell contagion urged him to his end, 
 We free'd with all our rights the pining boy : 
 O that the convalescent could enjoy ! 
 He tasted his reward, his Patron blest. 
 And went a Freeman to eternal rest. 
 
 The following letter of Pliny (Lib. viii. Ep. xvi.) is an interesting com- 
 mentary on Martial's Epigram. 
 
 " The sickness which has lately run through my family, and carried off 
 several of my domestics, some of them too in the prime of their years, 
 has deeply afflicted me. I have two consolations, however, which though 
 they are not equal to so considerable a grief, still they are consolations. 
 One is, that as I have always very readily manumized my slaves, their 
 death does not seem altogether immature, if they lived long enough to 
 receive their freedom : the other, that I have allowed them to make a 
 kind of will, which I observe as religiously as if they were legally entitled 
 to that privilege. I receive and obey their last requests, as so many 
 authoritative commands, suffering them to dispose of their effects to 
 whom they please; with this single restriction, that they leave them to 
 some in my family, which to persons in their station is to be esteemed as 
 a sort of commonwealth. But though I endeavour to acquiesce under 
 these reflections, yet the same tenderness which led me to shew them 
 these indulgences, still breaks out and overpowers my strongest resolu- 
 tions. However, I could not wish to be insensible to these soft impres- 
 sions of humanity : though the generality of the world, I know, look upon 
 losses of this kind in no other view, than as a diminution of their property, 
 and fancy by cherishing such an unfeeling temper, they discover a supe- 
 rior fortitude and good sense. Their wisdom and magnanimity I shall not 
 dispute. But manly, I am sure, they are not; for it is the very criterion 
 of true manhood to fed those impressions of sorrow, which it endeavours 
 to resist ; and to admit, not to be above the want of consolation. But 
 perhaps I have detained you too long upon this subject, — though nob so 
 long as I would. There is a certain pleasure in giving vent to one's grief; 
 especially when we pour out our sorrow in the bosom of a friend, who will 
 approve, or, at least, pardon our tears. Farewell." 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 55 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 ASSASSINATION OF CICERO. 
 
 Antoni Phario nil objecture Pothino, 
 
 Et levius tabula, quam Cicerone, noeens : 
 Quid gladium demens Romana stringis in ora ? 
 
 Hoc admisisset nee Catilina nefas. 
 Impius infando miles corrumpitur auro ; 
 
 Et tantis opibus vox tacet una tibi. 
 Quid prosunt sacrae pretiosa silentia linguae ? 
 
 Incipient omnes pro Cicerone loqui. 
 
 O Antony ! revile no Pothin now : 
 In Tully more, than in a roll, accurst. 
 
 Of the sweet Roman tongue assassin thou ! 
 A Catiline thy horror never durst. 
 
 An impious bravo may by gold be won, 
 
 And opulence one voice supprest may buy : 
 
 But ah ! what has the dear-bought silence done ? 
 Mankind one tongue will now for Tully try. 
 
 Pothinus was the minister of Ptolemy, who killed Pompey, and pre- 
 sented his head to Caesar. Martial obserres that the whole roll of the 
 proscription of the triumvirs was less injurious to Rome than the loss of 
 Cicero. The concluding sentiment, that the whole world will rise to 
 speak for Cicero, is full of vigour. Dr Middleton thus relates the cir- 
 cumstances of Cicero's assassination. 
 
 " Cicero was at his Tusculan villa, with his brother and nephew, when 
 he first received the news of the proscription, and of their being included 
 in it. It was the design of the triumvirate to keep it a secret, if possible, 
 to the moment of execution ; in order to surprise those whom they had 
 destined to destruction before they were aware of the danger, or had 
 time to escape. But some of Cicero's friends found means to give him 
 early notice of it ; upon which he set forward presently, with his brother 
 and nephew, towards Astura, the nearest villa which he had upon the sea, 
 with intent to transport themselves directly out of the reach of their 
 enemies. But Quintus, being wholly unprepared for so sudden a voyage, 
 resolved to turn back with his son to Rome, in confidence of lying con- 
 cealed there, till they could provide money and necessaries for their sup- 
 port abroad. Cicero, in the meanwhile, found a vessel ready for him at 
 
56 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Astura, in which he presently embarked : but the winds being cross and 
 turbulent, and the sea wholly uneasy to him, after he had sailed about 
 two leagues along the coast, he landed at Circseum, and spent a night 
 near that place, in great anxiety and irresolution : the question was, what 
 course he should steer, and whether he should fly to Brutus or to Cassius, 
 or to S. Pompeius ; but after all his deliberations, none of them pleased 
 him so much as the expedient of dying : so that, as Plutarch says, he 
 had some thoughts of returning to the city, and killing himself in Csesar's 
 house, in order to leave the guilt and curse of his blood upon Csesar's 
 perfidy and ingratitude. But the importunity of his servants prevailed 
 with him to sail forwards to Cajeta, where he went again on shore to 
 repose himself in his Formian villa, about a mile from the coast : weary 
 of life and the sea, and declaring, that he would die in that country, 
 which he had so often saved. Here he slept soundly for several hours ; 
 though as some writers tell us, a great number of crows were fluttering 
 all the while, and making a strange noise about his windows, as if to rouse 
 and warn him of his approaching fate, and that one of them made its 
 way into the chamber, and pulled away his very bed-clothes, till his 
 slaves, admonished by this prodigy, and ashamed to see brute creatures 
 more solicitous for his safety than themselves, forced him into his litter 
 or portable chair, and carried him away towards the ship, through the 
 private ways and walks of his woods; having just heard, that soldiers 
 were already come into the country in quest of him, and not far from 
 the villa. As soon as they were gone, the soldiers arrived at the house, 
 and perceiving him to be fled, pursued immediately towards the sea, and 
 overtook him in the wood. Their leader was one Popilius Lsenas, a tri- 
 bune or colonel of the army, whom Cicero had formerly defended and 
 preserved in a capital cause. As soon as the soldiers appeared, the 
 servants prepared themselves to fight, being resolved to defend their 
 master's life at the hazard of their own : but Cicero commanded them to 
 set him down, and to make no resistance : then looking upon his execu- 
 tioners with a presence and firmness which almost daunted them, and 
 thrusting his neck as forwardly as he could out of the litter, he bade them 
 do their work, and take what they wanted : upon which they presently 
 cut off his head, and both his hands, and returned with them, in all haste 
 and great joy, towards Rome, as the most agreeable present which they 
 could possibly carry to Antony. Popilius charged himself with the con- 
 veyance, without reflecting on the infamy of carrying that head which had 
 saved his own : he found Antony in the Forum, surrounded with guards 
 and crowds of people : but upon shewing from a distance the spoils which 
 he brought, he was rewarded upon the spot with the honour of a crown 
 and about eight thousand pounds sterling. Antony ordered the head to 
 be fixed upon the rostra, between the two hands : a sad spectacle to the 
 city, and what drew tears from every eye ; to see those mangled members, 
 which used to exert themselves so gloriously from that place in defence 
 of their lives, the fortunes, and the liberties of the Roman people, so 
 
 I 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 57 
 
 lamentably exposed to the scorn of sycophants and traitors. The deaths 
 of the rest, says an historian of that age, caused only a private and par- 
 ticular sorrow, but Cicero's an universal one : it was a triumph over the 
 republic itself; and seemed to confirm and estabhsh the perpetual slavery 
 of Rome. Antony considered it as such, and, satiated with Cicero's blood, 
 declared the proscription at an end. He was killed on the seventh of 
 December, about ten days from the settlement of the triumvkate ; after 
 he had lived sixty- three years, eleven months, and five days." 
 
 Eustace says that the assassination of Cicero has been described by 
 several ancient writers, but has been painted only by Plutarch. He 
 visited the ruins of the Formian villa, from which Cicero was hastening 
 towards the sea when he was assassinated. These ruins are about a mile 
 from the shore ; and nearer the sea stands a disfigured obelisk, which tra- 
 dition reveres as Cicero's mausoleum, raised on the very spot where he 
 was assassinated, and where his faithful attendants immediately interred 
 his headless trunk. But there is no authentic historical account of Cicero's 
 obsequies and sepulchre. The above version of Elphinstone is indifferent. 
 Byron in a higher strain sings of the associations which are still attached 
 to the 
 
 Forum, where th' immortal accents glow. 
 And still the eloquent air breathes — burns with Cicero ! 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 ATTE^^>TED MURDER OF MARIUS. 
 
 Cum post Teutonicos victor Libycosque triumphos 
 Exul limosa Marius caput abdidit ulva, 
 Stagna avidi texere soli, laxseque paludes 
 Depositum, Fortuna, tuum : mox vincula ferri 
 Exedere senem, longusque in carcere psedor. 
 Consul, et eversa felix moriturus in urbe 
 Pcenas ante dabat scelerum. Mors ipsa refugit 
 Saepe virum, frustraque hosti est concessa potestas 
 Sanguinis invisi, primo qui csedis in ictu 
 Diriguit, ferrumque manu torpente remisit. 
 
 Yet to Minturnse's marsh the victor fled, 
 And hid in oozy flags his exil'd head. 
 The faithless soil the hunted chief reliev'd, 
 And sedgy waters fortune's pledge receiv'd. 
 
58 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Deep in a dungeon plung'd at length he lay, 
 Where gyves and rankling fetters eat their way, 
 And noisome vapours on his vitals prey. 
 Ordain'd at ease to die in wretched Rome, 
 He sufFer'd then, for wickedness to come. 
 In vain his foes had arm'd the Cimbrian's hand. 
 Death will not always wait upon command ; 
 About to strike, the slave with horror shook. 
 The useless steel his loosening gripe forsook. 
 
 Marius was dragged out of the water covered with mud, and with a 
 rope round his neck was delivered up to the authorities of Minturnse. A 
 Cimbric soldier, who had engaged to put Marius to death, entered with 
 a drawn sword in his hand the cell in which Marius was confined. The 
 part of the cell in which Marius lay was in the shade, and to the fright- 
 ened barbarian the eyes of Marius seemed to dart out fire, whilst from 
 the darkness a terrible voice shouted out, " Man ! dost thou dare to mur- 
 der Caius Marius ?" The barbarian immediately threw down his sword, 
 and rushed out of the prison, exclaiming, " I cannot kill Caius Marius." 
 It was after escaping from Minturnse, when Marius was again in peril of 
 his life at Carthage, that he uttered another memorable saying : " Tell 
 the Prsetor that you have seen Caius Marius sitting on the ruins of 
 Carthage." 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 IPHIGENEIA'S SACRIFICE. 
 
 (A) 
 Aulide quo pacto Triviai virginis aram 
 Iphianassai turparunt sanguine fede 
 Ductores Danaum delectei, prima virorum, 
 Cui simul infula, virgineos circumdata comtus, 
 Ex utraque pari malarum parte profusa est ; 
 Et msestum simul ante aras astare parentem 
 Sensit, et hunc propter ferrum celare ministros, 
 Aspectuque suo lacrumas effundere civeis ; 
 Muta metu, terram, genibus summissa, petebat : 
 Nee miserae prodesse in tali tempore quibat, 
 Quod patrio princeps donarat nomine regem 
 Nam sublata virum manibus, tremebundaque, ad aras 
 Deducta est ; non ut, solenni more sacrorum 
 
I.] REMAEKABLE ACTIONS AKD OCCURRENCES. 
 
 Perfecto, posset claro comitari hymenaeo ; 
 Sed, casta inceste, nubendi tempore in ipso, 
 Hostia eoncideret maetatu maesta parentis, 
 Exitus ut elassi felix faustusque daretur. 
 Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum ! 
 
 By that Diana's cruel altar fiow'd 
 With innocent and royal virgin's blood : 
 Unhappy maid ! with sacred ribands bound, 
 Religion's pride ! and holy garlands crown'd ; 
 To meet an undeserved, untimely fate. 
 Led by the Grecian chiefs in pomp and state : 
 She saw her father by, whose tears did flow 
 In streams ; the only pity he could show. 
 She saw the crafty priest conceal the knife 
 From him, bless'd and prepar'd against her life ! 
 She saw her citizens with weeping eyes 
 Unwillingly attend the sacrifice. 
 Then, dumb with grief, her tears did pity crave ; 
 But 'twas beyond her father's power to save. 
 In vain did inn'cence, youth, and beauty plead ; 
 In vain the first pledge of his nuptial bed : 
 She fell ; ev'n now grown ripe for bridal joy, 
 To bribe the gods, and buy a wind for Troy. 
 So died this innocent, this royal maid : 
 Such fiendish acts religion could persuade ! 
 
 (B) 
 
 Stetit 
 Devota, feralique vitta 
 
 Cincta comam, — tacitis parentem 
 
 Lustrans ocellis, visa tamen loqui : 
 Haesitque prensans brachia parvulus 
 Patremque non certis Orestes 
 Vocibus, eloquioque balbo 
 
 Patrem vocavit : sed Genitor pedem 
 Tulisse retro dicitur, et caput 
 Velasse, coUectaque veste 
 Implicitos tenuisse vultus ; 
 
60 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Oh. 
 
 Lapsam sub aras scilicet haud potens 
 Nexamque flexo poplite virginem 
 Spectare, et efFusum cruorem 
 Crinibiis, immeritoque coUo. 
 
 See how her near relations all lament 
 To lose a virgin fair and innocent. 
 The undermourners are so full of grief, 
 The painter's puzzled to express the chief: 
 He finds the pencil is for this too frail, 
 And therefore o'er his eyes he casts a veil. 
 Thus wisely covering Agamemnon's face, 
 He turns the art's defect into a grace. 
 
 It is to be feared that Creech (immortalized for his want oi flowers of 
 speech) does not give an adequate notion of the beauties of Lucretius. 
 The second piece is from a Prize Poem of Dr Wordsworth. The English 
 verses annexed are to be found in Evelyn's Epigrams on Painting. They 
 have been selected, as well as Dr Wordsworth's composition, with refer- 
 ence to the celebrated veiling of Agamemnon's face in Timanthe's picture, 
 celebrated by Cicero, Quintilian, Valerius Maximus, and Pliny the Elder. 
 
 The veiling of Agamemnon's face is disapproved of by Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds in his Eighth Discourse, but is vindicated with great ability by 
 FuseH, in his Lecture on Ancient Art. The Sacrifice of Iphigeneia is 
 treated of by -^Eschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Ennius, and Racine. The 
 circumstances under which Racine represents Agamemnon to have co- 
 vered his face, at a moment when two parties are on the point of 
 engaging .in conflict, have not been considered so natural as those under 
 which the same circumstance is introduced by Euripides : 
 
 Le triste Agamemnon qui n'ose I'avouer, 
 
 Pour detourner ses yeux des meurtres qu'il presage, 
 
 Ou pour cacher ses pleurs, s'est voile le visage. 
 
 Dr Wordsworth does not express all that was considered to be repre- 
 sented in Timanthe's picture, viz. the gradations of affection, from the 
 most remote to the closest link of humanity. It is related, that when 
 Lully was reproached with setting to music only the tame verses of 
 Quinault, he ran to his harpsichord, and, with an extemporary musical 
 accompaniment of unrivalled power, repeated the following lines from 
 Racine's Iphigeneia: 
 
 Un Pretre environne d'une foule cruelle 
 Portera sur ma fiUe une maine criminelle. 
 Dechirera son sein, et d'un ceil curieux 
 Dans son coeur palpitant consultera les Dieux. 
 
I.] REMAEKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 6i 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 MARSEILLES' BISHOP. HIS CONDUCT DURING THE 
 PLAGUE. 
 
 Vitae qui Prsesul et auri 
 Prodigus, assiduis animos et corpora curis 
 Sustinuit, mortem visus ealcare metumque, 
 Intrepido vadens per strata cadavera passu. 
 
 Profuse of life, and prodigal of gold, 
 
 The sacred pastor tends his sick'ning fold ; 
 
 Repose of body and of mind disdains, 
 
 To calm their woes and mitigate their pains : 
 
 Bravely despises death and every fear, 
 
 With holy rites their drooping hearts to cheer ; 
 
 Vast heaps of dead without dismay he views, 
 
 And with firm step his generous way pursues. 
 
 The name of this bishop of Marseilles, thus commemorated by Van- 
 niere, was M. de Belsunce. The plague of Marseilles occurred in the 
 year 1720. When the plague ceased he was offered by the Regent of 
 France the richer and more honourable see of St Laon, in Picardy; but 
 he refused it, saying, that he should be unwilling to leave a flock that 
 had been endeared to him by their sufferings. There is a picture in the 
 town-hall of Marseilles, in which the bishop is represented in his episcopal 
 habit, attended by his almoners, giving his benediction to the dying and 
 the dead that are at his feet. But his memory is, perhaps, more lastingly 
 perpetuated in the lines of Pope : 
 
 Why drew Marseilles' good bishop purer breath. 
 When nature sickened, and each gale was death ? 
 
 The following is a description of the plague of Marseilles, contained 
 in one of the good bishop's own letters to the bishop of Soissons. 
 
 "Never was desolation greater, nor was ever anything like this. There 
 have been many cruel plagues, but none was ever more cruel : to be sick 
 and dead was almost the same thing. What a melancholy spectacle have 
 we on all sides ! we go into the streets full of dead bodies, half rotten 
 through, which we pass to come to a dying body, to excite him to an act 
 of contrition, and give him absolution. For about forty days together 
 the blessed sacrament was carried everywhere to all the sick, and the 
 extreme unction was given them with a zeal of which we have but few 
 examples. But the churches being infected with the stench of the dead 
 
62 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 flung at the doors, we were obliged to leave off, and be content with con- 
 fessing the poor people. At present I have no more confessors. The two 
 communities of the Jesuits are quite disabled, to the reserve of one old 
 man of seventy-two years, who still goes about night and day, and visits 
 the hospitals. My secretary and another lie sick ; so that they have obliged 
 me to quit my palace, and retire to the first President, who was so kind 
 as to lend me his house. We are desolate of all succour; we have no 
 meat ; and whatsoever I could do going all about the town, I could not 
 meet with any that would undertake to distribute broth to the poor that 
 were in want. There is a great diminution," he adds, " of the mortality ; 
 and those that hold that the moon contributes to all this, are of opinion 
 that we owe this diminution to the decline of the moon. For my part, I 
 am convinced that we owe all this to the mercies of God, from whom 
 alone we must hope for relief in the deplorable condition we have been 
 in so long a while." 
 
 It is a gratifying circumstance that England can boast of a rival of 
 Marseilles' good bishop in the Rev. William Mompesson, rector of Eyam 
 in Derbyshire. Four-fifths of the inhabitants of this once populous vil- 
 lage were destroyed in one summer by the plague. The church was 
 deserted, and a pulpit chosen in an adjacent rock. This pulpit of nature, 
 and the temporary burial-place of the plague-stricken inhabitants, are still 
 visited among the curiosities of the Peak. Mr Mompesson's pious, cha- 
 ritable, and intrepid conduct during the plague, and his severer trials than 
 those of the bishop of Marseilles arising from the circumstance of having 
 a wife and children, are detailed in Hone's Every-Day Booh, Vol. in., and 
 the Gentleman's Magazine of Sept. 1801, and in a poem called The Deso- 
 lation of Eyam. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 HADRIAN'S PARTING ADDRESS TO HIS SOUL, WHEN DYING. 
 
 Animula ! vagula blandula, 
 Hospes, comesque corporis, 
 Qnae nunc abibis in loca ? 
 Pallidula, rigida, nudula, 
 Nee ut soles, dabis jocos. 
 
 Poor, little, pretty, fluttering thing, 
 
 Must we no longer live together ? 
 
 And dost thou prune thy trembling wing, 
 
 To take thy flight, thou know'st not whither ? 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 63 
 
 Thy humorous vein, thy pleasing folly, 
 
 Lies all neglected, all forgot : 
 
 And pensive, wavering, melancholy, 
 
 Thou dread'st and hop'st thou know'st not what. 
 
 Ma petite ame, ma mignonne, 
 
 Tu t'en va done, ma fille, et Dieu sache ou tu vas : 
 
 Tu pars seulette, nue, et tremblotante, helas ! 
 
 Que deviendra ton humeur folichonne ! 
 
 Que deviendront tant de jolis ebats ? 
 
 « 
 The translations are from Prior, and Fontenelle. Lord Byron also 
 translated the lines, and there is a prose as well as a poetical translation 
 of them by Pope in one of his letters to Steele. Hadrian's verses are 
 closely connected with Pope's dying Christian, and as such they are 
 adverted to in four of Pope's letters, and in No. 532 of the Spectator. 
 Pope's Ode was written at the desire of Steele, who wanted a version of 
 Hadrian's lines for music ; and in a letter to him on that occasion, Pope 
 writes, " You have it, as Cowley calls it, just warm from the brain ; it 
 came to me the first moment I waked this morning ; yet you'U see it was 
 not so absolutely inspiration, but that I had in my head not only the verses 
 of Hadrian, but the fine fragment of Sappho." Warton notices a stanza 
 from which Pope probably, though, perhaps, without being conscious of 
 it, borrowed. It is in the works of Flatman, an obscure writer in the 
 time of Charles 11., who appears to have had an eye on Hadrian : 
 
 When on my sick bed I languish 
 
 Full of sorrow, full of anguish, 
 
 Fainting, gasping, trembling, crying, 
 
 Panting, groaning, speechless, dying; 
 
 Methinks I hear some gentle spirit say, 
 
 Be not fearful, come away ! 
 
 Pope was of opinion that the diminutive epithets with which Ha- 
 drian's address abounds were by no means expressions of levity and indif' 
 ference, but rather of endearment, of tenderness and concern. 
 
64 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 METAMORPHOSIS OF MATSYS. 
 Connubialis amor de Mulcibre fecit Apellem. 
 Matrimony made an Apelles out of a Vulcan, 
 
 Evelyn, in his Epigrams on Painting, has the following verses upon 
 Matsys : 
 
 Since noise his mistress did offend, 
 To th' hammer-trade he puts an end. 
 And now does set himself to paint ; 
 An art more quiet and more quaint. 
 And doth by dint of love attain 't. 
 Venus has washed his Vulcan face, 
 And a clean pencil is his grace. 
 
 The Latin verse is the epitaph inscribed on the monument, in the 
 cathedral of Antwerp, of Matsys, the Flemish artist whose picture of 
 the Two Misers continues to draw admiration from visitors of Windsor 
 Castle. 
 
 Matsys followed the trade of a blacksmith till the age of twenty, 
 when he became enamoured of the daughter of a painter, who would not 
 consent to his daughter being married to any one but a painter. Matsys 
 obtained the hand of the fair one by exchanging his hammer for the 
 painter's brush, and became a principal ornament of the Flemish school. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 ST DUNSTAN. 
 
 Sic, ut Eoma refert, Sanctus Dunstanius olim 
 Candenti magnum prensavit forcipe nasum 
 Luciferi. Hie vasto prorumpit ab ore tenebras 
 Turbidus, inque atra livescunt sulphura nube. 
 Ter mugit, ter dira rudit, vocemque profundam 
 Cum gemitu attoUit ; ter frustra squallida regna 
 Kespondent Domino, planctumque retorquet Avernus 
 Stridet olens, fumatque ingens semiusta Proboscis. 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 65 
 
 Waked with this music from my silent urn, 
 
 Your patron Dunstan comes t' attend your turn. 
 
 Amphion and old Orpheus playing by. 
 
 To keep our forge in tuneful harmony. 
 
 These pontifical ornaments I wear, 
 
 Are types of rule and order all the year. 
 
 In these white robes none can a fault descry, 
 
 Since all have liberty as well as I : 
 
 Nor need you fear the shipwreck of your cause, 
 
 Your loss of charter, or the penal laws, 
 
 Indulgence granted by your bounteous prince 
 
 Makes for that loss too great a recompence. 
 
 This charm the Lernean Hydra will reclaim ; 
 
 Your patron shall the tameless rabble tame. 
 
 Of the proud Cham I scorn to be afear'd ; 
 
 I'll take the angry Sultan by the beard. 
 
 Nay, should the Devil intrude amongst your foes — 
 Devil What then? 
 St D. Snap, thus, I have him by the nose ! 
 
 The Latin is taken from a poem on a bull-bait in the Musoe Angli- 
 canoe. The English is from a Lord's Mayor's pageant, a. d. 1687. The 
 Lord Mayor, Sir John Shorter, belonged to the Goldsmith's Company. 
 St Dunstan was regarded as the tutelar saint of the company ; the legend 
 being supposed to have originated in the circumstance that St Dunstan 
 was expert in goldsmith's work. Amphion, the grand Sultan, the Cham 
 of Tartary, and the Devil, were figures in the pageant. At the steps of 
 the prelatical throne were a goldsmith's forge and furnace. (For further 
 particulars of the pageant, see Hone's Every-Day Booh, Vol. i. p. 674.) 
 The allusions to the forfeiture of the city's charter, penal laws, and royal 
 declaration of indulgence, are interesting from the deep political im- 
 portance of these measures which are thus glanced at in this contem- 
 porary and popular civic exhibition. Southey, in his Booh of the Churchy 
 dilates upon the miracles of St Dunstan. He mentions St Dunstan 
 having a forge at Glastont^ury, at which he was accustomed to work in 
 gold and silver. 
 
^6 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XL. 
 
 SIR THOMAS MORE'S RELATION OF A MONK THROWN 
 OVERBOARD TO LIGHTEN A SHIP OF A CREW'S SINS. 
 
 Cum tumida horrisonis insurgeret unda procellis, 
 
 Et maris in lassam ferveret ira ratem, 
 Eeligio timidis illabitur anxia nautis, 
 
 Heu parat, exclamant, hoe mala vita malum. 
 Vectores inter Monaehus fuit, hujus in aurem 
 
 Se properant vitiis exonerare suis. 
 Ast ubi senserunt nihilo sibi mitius sequor, 
 
 Sed rapido puppim vix superesse freto : 
 Quid miri est, ait unus, aqua si vix ratis exstat, 
 
 Nostrorum scelerum pondere adhuc premitur. 
 Quin Monachum hunc, in quern culpas exhausimus omnes 
 
 Ejicite, et secum hinc erimina nostra ferat. 
 Dicta probant, rapiuntque virum, simul in mare torquent, 
 
 Et lintrem levius quam prius esse, ferunt. 
 Hinc, hinc quam gravis est peccati sarcina, disce, 
 
 Cujus non potuit pondera ferre ratis. 
 
 A ship being in extreme peril from a storm, the sailors 
 imputed their calamity to the weight of their sins. Accord- 
 ingly they all made confession to a Monk. But the storm 
 did not in the least abate, and the sailors thought their 
 destruction inevitable, until one of the crew suggested that 
 they should throw the Monk overboard ; which was accord- 
 ingly done forthwith. The storm shortly afterwards abating, 
 the sailors believed that the ship had been lightened by 
 the accumulated weight of their sins being cast into the 
 sea at once in the person of the Monk. 
 
 The piece is curious as it displays Sir Thomas More's jocular vein ; 
 and shews that, although his head was stuck over London Bridge on 
 account of his attachment to the catholic faith, he had enjoyed merriment 
 at the expence of the Monks, and written with jocularity on the subject 
 of the Sacrament of Confession. 
 
I.] REMARKABLE ACTIONS AND OCCURRENCES. 67 
 
 XLI. 
 
 THE MIRACLE AT CANA. 
 
 Unde rubor vestris, et non sua purpura lymphis? 
 
 Quae rosa mirantes tarn nova mutat aquas ? 
 Numen, Convivas, prsesens agnoscite Numen : 
 
 Nympha pudica Deum vidit, et erubuit. 
 
 When Christ, at Cana's feast, by pow'r divine 
 Inspir'd cold water with the warmth of wine. 
 See ! cried they, while in redd'ning tide it gush'd, 
 The bashful stream hath seen its God and blush'd. 
 
 The Latin is by Crawshaw, the English by Hill. Though the point 
 of this epigram may be classed among conceits, it is a very ingenious and 
 not an uninteresting specimen of the genus. The concluding line of the 
 version has all the force of the original, and is the better for discarding 
 the nymph. Sidney Smith, in his lectures, censures the epigram for the 
 wit extinguishing its sublimity. 
 
 The following lines on the picture of the Marriage of Cana by Paul 
 Veronese, are in Evelyn's collection of poetical descriptions of pictures : 
 
 See an aspiring wit surmounting schools. 
 
 Above dull precepts and incumb'ring rules. 
 
 At this magnificent and famous feast 
 
 Every spectator is a kind of guest. 
 
 A great variety he soon descries 
 
 That entertains his thoughts, and feeds his eyes. 
 
 Most choice carnations, drapery well cast, 
 
 Truth, life, and motion, not to be surpast. 
 
 When we behold this noble piece we view 
 
 Paul's triumph and the pride of Painting too. 
 In an excellent sermon which the author heard at Cambridge when 
 the above was in the press, the preacher adverted to the applicability of 
 the miracle at Cana to some peculiarities of the present times. 1. As it 
 discountenanced the institution of monks and nuns, and the notions of 
 those fanatics, who, from religious scruples, shun all festive entertain- 
 ments. 2. As it was irreconcileable with the opinions of another set of 
 silly ones, who call themselves by the drivelling name of Tea-totallers. 
 3. In more immediate reference to the conyersation between Jesus and 
 his mother, preliminary to the performance of the miracle, as it exposed 
 the absurdity and impiety of the Roman Catholic Breviary, and of the 
 bulls of the last and present Pope, wherein the Virgin Mary is spoken 
 of as a gate of heaven, a foundation of hope, an advocate, an intercessor, 
 and an inspirer. 
 
 5 — 2 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 LINACRE. 
 
 DuM Linacrus adit Mormos, patriosque Britannos 
 
 Artibus egregiis dives ab Italia, 
 Ingentem molem saxorum in rupibus altis 
 
 Congerit ad fauces, alte Gebenna, tuas, 
 Ploribus hinc viridique struem dum fronde coronat, 
 
 Et sacer Assyrias pascitur ignis opes, 
 Hoc tibi, ait. Mater studiorum O sancta meorum, 
 
 Templum Linacrus dedicat, Italia ! 
 Tu modo cui docta assurgant cum Pallade Athense. 
 
 Hoc de me pretium sedulitatis habe. 
 
 When Linacre was on his return to his countrymen in 
 Britain with a mind enriched by the arts of Italy, he 
 erected a high column of stones on a mountain near the 
 gorge of the Mont de Cevennes. After strewing the erec- 
 tion with green leaves and flowers, and burning frankincense 
 upon it, he thus spoke. Italy ! this edifice is dedicated to 
 thee, O sacred Mother of my studies ! O thou who may'st 
 pride thyself on an Athens rising anew under the auspices 
 of Minerva, deign to accept this humble memorial of my 
 deep obligation for your fostering solicitude. 
 
 The verses are by James Vitalis : they may be thought a very curious 
 notice of Linacre, which is not commonly known. He was physician 
 to Henry VII., Henry VIII., Edward VI. and Mary, and was the founder 
 of the College of Physicians. He afterwards became a dignitary of the 
 Church. He undoubtedly, and the English nation through him, incurred 
 a debt of obligation to Italy, as well for a first acquaintance with the 
 ancient writers upon physic, as for imparting a taste for classical authors. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 69 
 
 Linacre was one of the first promoters of Latin and Greek literature in 
 England. He was in Italy at the period when refugees from Constanti- 
 nople had begun to kindle an enthusiasm among the revivers of learning 
 for the great writers of ancient Greece, a circumstance which is adverted 
 to in the text. He graduated at Padua, and, during his residence in 
 Italy, enjoyed the friendship of Lorenzo de Medici, Politian, and the 
 Greek exile Demetrius. 
 
 11. 
 
 DR PITCAIRN. 
 
 Invitation to a Ghost. 
 
 Lyndesi ! Stygias jamdudum vecte per undas, 
 
 Stagnaque Cocyti non adeunda mihi ; 
 Excute paulisper Lethsei vincula somni, 
 
 Ut pereant animum carmina nostra tuum. 
 Te nobis, te redde tuis, promissa daturus 
 
 Gaudia ; sed proavo sis comitante redux ; 
 Namque novos homines mutataque regna videbis, 
 
 Passaque Teutonicas sceptra Britanna manus 
 Unus abest scelerum vindex Rhadamantus, amice, 
 
 Di faciant reditus sit comes ille tui. 
 
 Lindesay ! who now for some years past hast traversed 
 the river Styx, and hast preceded me in forming acquaint- 
 ance with the pools of Cocytus : — shake off for a while the 
 chains of Lethean slumber, that my verses may penetrate 
 and pervade your mind. — Return, I implore you ; diffuse 
 those joys which you once promised to bestow after death. 
 But bring with you your ancestor so illustrious for loyalty 
 to the house of Stuart. — Eor when you come to earth you 
 will behold a new people, a new dynasty, the sceptre of 
 British kings wielded by a Dutchman. — Our nation has one 
 great desire, it is the presence of Rhadamanthus, the 
 punishing judge below, who alone can inflict ample ven- 
 geance on triumphant villany. — When you come to us, I 
 hope his infernal Majesty will permit Rhadamanthus to be 
 of your party. 
 
70 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Dr Pitcairn, the celebrated physician, when young, engaged with his 
 friend Lindesay (a descendant of Sir David Lindesay, the attached friend 
 of James V.) that whoever died first should pay a visit to his surviving 
 companion. It is related that soon after this compact Dr Pitcairn, at 
 his father's house in Fife, dreamed that Lindesay came to him, and told 
 him that he was not dead, as was commonly reported, but lived in a 
 very agreeable place, to which he could not yet carry him. In the course 
 of the next day, news came of Lindesay's death. Dr Pitcairn sometimes 
 related this extraordinary circumstance, and always with great emotion. 
 In most of his works published after the Revolution of 1688, he adverts 
 with great bitterness to that event, and in consequence of it, he left 
 Edinburgh, and accepted a Professor's chair at Leyden. 
 
 The following ancient ghost- stories are from Pliny : — 
 
 " The present recess from business we are now enjoying affords you 
 leisure to give, and me to receive instruction. I am extremely desirous 
 therefore to know your sentiments concerning spectres, whether you be- 
 lieve they have a real form, and are a sort of divinities, or only the false 
 impressions of a terrified imagination ? What particularly inclines me 
 to give credit to their existence, is a story which I heard of Curtius Rufus. 
 When he was in low circumstances and unknown in the world, he at- 
 tended the governor of Africa into that province. One evening as he 
 was walking in the public portico, he was extremely surprised with the 
 figm^e of a woman which appeared to him, of a size and beauty more 
 than human. She told him she was the tutelar power that presided over 
 Africa, and was come to inform him of the future events of his life : 
 that he should go back to Rome, where he should be raised to the 
 highest honours, and return to that province invested with the procon- 
 sular dignity, and there should die. Accordingly every circumstance of 
 this prophecy was actually accomplished. It is said farther, that upon 
 his arrival at Carthage, as he was coming out of the ship, the same figure 
 accosted him upon the shore. It is certain, at least, that being seized 
 with a fit of illness, though there were no symptoms in his case that led 
 his attendants to despair, he instantly gave up all hope of recovery ; 
 judging, it should seem, of the truth of the future part of the prediction, 
 by that which had already been fulfilled, and of the misfortune which 
 threatened him, by the success which he had experienced. To this story 
 let me add another as remarkable as the former, but attended with cir- 
 cumstances of great horror ; which I will give you exactly as it was 
 related to me. There was at Athens a large and spacious house, which 
 lay under the disrepute of being haunted. In the dead of the night a 
 noise, resembling the clashing of iron, was frequently heard, which, if you 
 listened more attentively, sounded like the rattling of chains ; at first it 
 seemed at a distance, but approached nearer by degrees ; immediately 
 afterward a spectre appeared in the form of an old man, extremely 
 meagre and ghastly, with a long beard and dishevelled hair, rattling the 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 71 
 
 chains on his feet and hands. The poor inhabitants in the meanwhile 
 passed their nights under the most dreadful terrors imaginable. This, 
 as it broke their rest, ruined their health, and threw them into distempers, 
 which, together with their horrors of mind, proved in the end fatal to 
 their lives. Even in the day-time, though the spirit did not appear, yet 
 the remembrance of it made such a strong impression upon their imagina- 
 tions, that it still seemed before their eyes, and continually alarmed 
 them, though it was no longer present. By this means the house was at 
 last deserted, as being judged by every body to be absolutely uninha- 
 bitable ; so that it was now entirely abandoned to the ghost. However, 
 in hopes that some tenant might be found who was ignorant of this great 
 calamity which attended it, a bill was put up, giving notice that it was 
 either to be let or sold. It happened that Athenodorus the philosopher 
 came to Athens at this time, and reading the bill, enquired the price. 
 The extraordinary cheapness raised his suspicion ; nevertheless, when he 
 heard the whole story, he was so far from being discouraged, that he was 
 more strongly inclined to hire it, and, in short, actually did so. When it 
 grew towards evening, he ordered a couch to be prepared for him in the 
 fore-part of the house, and after calling for a light, together with his pen 
 and tablets, he directed all his people to retire. But that his mind might 
 not, for want of employment, be open to the vain terrors of imaginary 
 noises and spirits, he applied himself to writing with the utmost attention. 
 The first part of the night passed with usual silence, when at length the 
 chains began to rattle : however, he neither lifted up his eyes, nor laid 
 down his pen, but diverted his observation by pursuing his studies with 
 greater earnestness. The noise increased and advanced nearer, till it 
 seemed at the door, and at last in the chamber. He looked up and saw 
 the ghost exactly in the manner it had been described to him : it stood 
 before him, beckoning with the finger. Athenodorus made a sign with 
 his hand that it should wait a little, and threw his eyes again upon his 
 papers ; but the ghost still rattling his chains in his ears, he looked up 
 and saw him beckoning as before. Upon this he immediately arose, and 
 with the fight in his hand, followed it. The ghost slowly stalked along, 
 as if encumbered with his chains, and turning into the area of the house, 
 suddenly vanished. Athenodorus being thus deserted, made a mark with 
 some grass and leaves where the spirit left him. The next day he gave 
 information of this to the magistrates, and advised them to order that 
 spot to be dug up. This was accordingly done, and the skeleton of a 
 man in chains was there found ; for the body having lain a considerable 
 time in the ground, was putrefied and mouldered away from the fetters. 
 The bones being collected together were publicly buried, and thus after 
 the ghost was appeased by the proper ceremonies, the house was haunted 
 no more. This story I befieve upon the credit of others ; what I am 
 going to mention I give you upon my own. I have a freed-man named 
 Marcus, who is by no means illiterate. One night as he and his younger 
 brother were lying together, he fancied he saw somebody upon his bed, 
 
72 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 who took out a pair of scissors, and cut off the hair from the top part of 
 his head, and in the morning, it appeared the boy's hair was actually cut, 
 and the clippings lay scattered about the floor. A short time after this, 
 an event of the like nature contributed to give credit to the former story. 
 A young lad of my family was sleeping in his apartment with the rest of 
 his companions, when two persons clad in white came in (as he tells the 
 story) through the windows, and cut off his hair as he lay, and as soon as 
 they had finished the operation, retm-ned the same way they entered. 
 The next morning it was found that this boy had been served just as the 
 other, and with the very same circumstance of the hair spread about the 
 room. Nothing remarkable indeed followed these events, unless that I 
 escaped a prosecution, in which, if Domitian (during whose reign this 
 happened) had lived some time longer, I should certainly have been in- 
 volved. For after the death of that emperor, articles of impeachment 
 against me were found in his scrutoire, which had been exhibited by 
 Carus. It may therefore be conjectured, since it is customary for persons 
 under any public accusation to let their hair grow, this cutting off the hair 
 of my servants was a sign I should escape the imminent danger that 
 threatened me Let me desire you then maturely to consider this ques- 
 tion. The subject merits your examination ; as, I trust, I am not myself 
 altogether unworthy to participate of the abundance of your superior 
 knowledge. And though you should, with your usual scepticism, balance 
 between two opinions, yet I hope you will throw the weightier reasons on 
 one side, lest, whilst I consult you in order to have my doubts settled, 
 you should dismiss me in the same suspense and uncertainty that occa- 
 sioned this application. Farewell." 
 
 III. 
 
 DANTE. 
 
 Hie claudor Dantes, patriis extorris ab oris. 
 Quern genuit parvi Florentia mater Amoris. 
 
 Here Dante, whom the lovely Florence bore, 
 Lies buried, exil'd from his native shore. 
 
 The poet was buried at Ravenna. The Florentines often endeavoured 
 to recover his remains, especially during the pontificate of Leo X. 
 Michael Angelo offered to execute a monument for Dante, to be erected 
 at Florence; but the people of Ravenna always refused to part with a 
 memorial of the asylum which they had afforded to Dante when living. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 73 
 
 The absence of the remains of Dante from the church of Santa Croce is 
 
 thus beautifully noticed by Lord Byron : 
 
 Ungrateful Florence ! Dante sleeps afar. 
 Like Scipio, buried by th' upbraiding shore ; 
 Thy factions in their worse than civil war 
 Proscrib'd the bard whose name for evermore 
 Their children's children would in vain adore 
 With the remorse of ages. 
 
 And Santa Croce wants their mighty dust ; 
 Yet for this want more noted, as of yore 
 The Caesar's pageant, shorn of Brutus' bust. 
 Did but of Rome's best son remind her more ; 
 Happier Ravenna ! on thy hoary shore. 
 Fortress of falling empire ! honour'd sleeps 
 Th' immortal exile. 
 
 Michael Angelo, in a sonnet to Dante, says, that Heaven expanded its 
 lofty gates to the Bard to whom his native land refused to open hers. 
 
 IV. 
 
 MICHAEL ANGELO. 
 
 Inscriptions on his Monument. 
 
 Michael Angelus Bonarotus, Nobilis Florentinus, An. 
 Mi. suae lxxi. 
 
 Qui sim, nomen habes. Satque est ; nam csetera cui non 
 Sunt nota, aut mentem non habet, aut oculos. 
 
 Reverse. 
 Quantum in natura ars, naturaque possit in arte, 
 Hie, qui natursB par fuit, arte docet. 
 
 To Michael Angelo Bonaroto, — a noble Florentine, in 
 the seventy-first year of his age. 
 
 You are here told who I am, by name. It is enough — 
 not to know the rest is to want understanding, or to be 
 blind. 
 
 Reverse. 
 
 To what extent Art may avail Nature, and Nature 
 may avail Art, this Man, who rivalled nature by his art, 
 instructs us. 
 
74 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 When in very advanced age Michael Angelo one day met Cardinal 
 Farnese among the ruins of the Coliseum, and told him that he should 
 not be surprised at an old man continuing to survey with earnestness the 
 remains of ancient art : for " I yet go to school, that I may continue to 
 learn something." And, in order to inculcate on young artists the neces- 
 sity of unabating attention to improvement, he invented a design of an 
 old man grouped with an hour-glass, and a child's go-cart, under which 
 he inscribed a motto, " I still go on learning." This was shortly before 
 M. Angelo's death, which occurred a.d. 1562, when, as appears by the 
 inscription in the text, he had exceeded the Psalmist's limit of threescore 
 and ten. Sir Joshua Reynolds concludes his lectures by saying that the 
 last words he wished to utter in the Royal Academy were Michael Angelo. 
 
 V. 
 
 RAPHAEL. 
 
 lUe hie est Raphael. Timuit, quo sospite, vinci 
 Rerum Magna Parens, et moriente, mori. 
 
 Living, Great Nature fear'd he might outvie 
 Her works, and, dying, fears herself may die. 
 
 Bembo's epitaph on Raphael, so closely copied by Pope, in his epi- 
 taph on Sir Godfrey Kneller, but without equal felicity with the Latin 
 of including the painter's name, was written by Cardinal Bembo, at the 
 request of Leo X. This Coryphaeus of painters died at the early age of 
 37, and was interred with great funeral ceremony in the Pantheon. 
 Warton has suggested a variation of the epitaph : 
 
 Here Raphael lies, by whose untimely end 
 
 Nature hath lost a Rival and a Friend. 
 
 It is mentioned in Spence's Anecdotes that Pope said to him : " I paid 
 Sir Godfrey Kneller a visit but two days before he died, and I think I 
 never saw a scene of so much vanity in my life. He was lying in his 
 bed, and contemplating the plan he had made for his own monument. 
 He said many gross things in relation to himself, and the memory he 
 should leave behind him. He said he should not like to lie among the 
 rascals at Westminster. A memorial there would be sufficient, and desired 
 me to write an epitaph for it. I did so afterwards ; and I think it is the 
 worst thing I ever wrote in my life." It would appear that Sir Godfrey 
 might not himself have deemed Pope's epitaph hyperbolical, if we may 
 credit the following anecdote. 
 
 " A night or two ago (said Sir Godfrey) I had a very odd sort of dream. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 75 
 
 I dreamt that I was dead, and soon after found myself walking in a nar- 
 row path that led up between two hills, rising pretty equally on each side 
 of it. Before me I saw a door, and a great number of people about it. 
 I walked on toward them. — As I drew nearer, I could distinguish St Peter 
 by his keys, with some other of the Apostles ; they were admitting the 
 people as they came next the door. When I had joined the company, I 
 could see several seats, every way, at a little distance within the door. 
 As the first, after my coming up, approached for admittance, St Peter 
 asked his name, and then his religion. — I am a Roman Catholic, replied 
 the spirit. Go in then, says St Peter, and sit down on those seats there 
 on the right hand. The next was a Presbyterian : he was admitted too 
 after the usual questions, and ordered to sit down on the seats opposite to 
 the other. My turn came next, and as I approached, St Peter very civilly 
 asked me my name. I said it was Kneller. I had no sooner said so, 
 than St Luke (who was standing just by) turned toward me, and said, 
 with a great deal of sweetness — ' What ! the famous Sir Godfrey Knel- 
 ler, from England?' — 'The very same, sir, (says I) at your service.' — On 
 this St Luke immediately drew near to me, embraced me, and made me a 
 great many compliments on the art we had both followed in this world. 
 He entered so far into the subject, that he seemed almost to have forgot 
 the business for which I came thither. At last, however, he recollected 
 himself, and said ; ' I beg your pardon. Sir Godfrey ; I was so taken up 
 with the pleasure of conversing with you ! — But, apropos, pray. Sir, what 
 rehgion may you be of?' — 'Why truly, Sir, (says I) I am of no religion.' — 
 ' O, Sir, (says he) you will be so good then as to go in and take your seat 
 where you please.' " 
 
 VI. 
 
 ANNIBAL CARACCI. 
 
 Quod poteras hominum vivos effingere vultus 
 Annibal, heu cito mors invida te rapuit. 
 
 Finxisses utinam te, mors decepta sepulchro 
 Crederet effigiem, vivus et ipse fores. 
 
 Death envied, Annibal ! thy wondrous art. 
 
 Life to each human visage to impart. 
 
 Hadst thou thyself thy likeness but pourtray'd, 
 
 The Fates themselves a kind mistake had made, 
 
 Had merely placed thy semblance in the grave. 
 
 And poVrs like thine, for once, been known to save ! 
 
76 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 It is said of Annibal Caracci, that when the conversation in which he 
 was engaged referred to any thing that could be made an object of the 
 pencil, he used to take a pencil to draw it, saying, that as poets paint by 
 words, so painters should speak by their pencils. His chief performance 
 was the frescoes in the Famesian Gallery. When Pope Paul III., at the 
 instigation of his jealous favourite Gioseppino, gave him no more than 
 two thousand crowns for his work, he drew an ass of a monstrous size, 
 magnificently accoutred, and decorated with the pontiff's arms: the 
 driver of this beast was proportionably large and tall, and represented to 
 the life the envious Gioseppino. One of his most distinguished pictures 
 is the Sleep of Jesus. The infant St John extends his hand to caress 
 Jesus, and is on the point of wakening him, when the Virgin admonishes 
 him by a sign not to disturb the repose of her child. When Annibal 
 Caracci found his last hour approaching, he desired to be interred by 
 the side of Raphael. 
 
 VIL 
 POUSSIN. 
 
 Parce piis lacrymis, vivit Pussinus in urna, 
 Vivere qui dederat, nescius ipse mori. 
 
 Hie tamen ipse silet ; si vis audire loquentem, 
 Mirum est ; in tabulis vivit et eloquitur. 
 
 Weep not for Poussin : he lives in the grave ! 
 How can he die, who life to others gave ? 
 Yet there he 's silent, would you hear him speak ? 
 His voice in his impressive pictures seek. 
 
 Nicholas Poussin's great work was the seven pictures now in the 
 Louvre, representing the Seven Sacraments of the Cathohc Church. The 
 picture of Marriage is considered the most inferior of the set ; which 
 gave occasion to a bon-mot : " Qu'un bon mariage est diflS-cile a faire 
 meme en peinture." He painted the Crucifixion, with several circum- 
 stances of horror which have not been noticed by any of the most 
 eminent painters. Some glimpses of the moon are visible from under a 
 black and lurid sky; and figures of the dead rise out of the ground, 
 which are seen by one of the soldiers, who, in an attitude of extreme 
 terror, draws his sword. Poussin's model was Domenichino. 
 
II. ] BIOGRAPHY. 77 
 
 VIII. 
 FRASCATORO. 
 
 Os Frascatorio nascenti defuit, ergo 
 
 Sedulus attenta finxit Apollo manu. 
 Inde hauri, Medicusque ingens, ingensque Poeta 
 
 Et magno facies omnia plena Deo. 
 
 Thine infant lips, Frascator, nature seal'd, 
 But the mute organ favouring Phoebus heal'd : 
 He broke the charm ; and hence to thee belong 
 The art of healing, and the power of song. 
 
 Frascatoro belonged to the first class of Italian scholars. He was 
 distinguished for his skill in medicine, as well as for Latin poetry. At 
 the time of his birth his lips adhered together in such a manner as scarcely 
 allowed him to breathe; but the defect was remedied by a surgical 
 operation. Scaliger, in his critique on modern Latin poets, places Fras- 
 catorius at the head of the band. The Latin is by Scaliger, the English 
 by Roscoe. Frascatoro's merits are considered in Mr Hallam's History of 
 Modern Literature, and by Jortin. Dr Hodgson gives a pretty translation 
 from Frascatoro's extraordinary chef-d'oeuvre. 
 
 IX. 
 
 THE ANTIQUARY VAILLANT. 
 
 Cernitis ? hie Vir hie est spoliis Orientis onustus, 
 Romanas et opes Argolicasque vehens — 
 
 Tot collecta mori cur non monumenta vetabunt, 
 Tot collecta vetat qui monumenta mori ? 
 
 Do you observe ? Here is a Man laden with the spoils 
 of the East, besides the treasures of Greece and of Rome. 
 — Surely so many collected antiquities will preserve from 
 oblivion one who preserved from oblivion so many col- 
 lected antiquities. 
 
 Vaillant was educated for the profession of Physic : but was induced 
 to make Antiquities the study of his life, from the circumstance of a col- 
 lection of old coins being accidentally found buried in a field belonging 
 
78 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 to his father. His peculiar turn was that of illustrating ancient history 
 by coins and medals : in pursuit of these he visited Egypt, Greece, Persia, 
 and other foreign countries. In the course of his peregrinations he was 
 on one occasion captured by a corsair, and made a slave. After his re- 
 demption from captivity, he narrowly escaped a second corsair. On this 
 occasion he swallowed fifteen medals in order to prevent their falling 
 into the hands of the Algerines. His biographers state that they were all 
 ultimately recovered, though at considerable intervals, and that he dis- 
 posed of them all provisionally, until he was enabled to complete the 
 bargain. 
 
 PARKYNS, THE WRESTLER. 
 
 Quern modo stravisti longo in certamine, Tempus, 
 Hie reeubat Britonum elarus in orbe pugil. 
 
 Jam primum stratus ; prseter te vieerat omnes ; 
 De te etiam victor, quando resurget, erit. 
 
 Here lies the famed British Wrestler, whom you, O 
 Time, after a long struggle, have laid low. He has never 
 been thrown down before ; he had overcome every one 
 but you ; and he will vanquish you when he rises again. 
 
 Concerning this memorable Wrestler and his books, there is a very 
 entertaining article in the eleventh volume of the Retrospective Review. 
 Parkyns' principal work was a treatise on the Cornish Hugg, or Inn-Play 
 Wrestling. He was a baronet, and the ancestor of a noble family, and 
 was educated under Dr Busby at Westminster. By Sir Isaac Newton's 
 invitation he attended that philosopher's lectures on the Laws of Motion 
 at Cambridge. In Parkyns' monument he is represented as standing in 
 his country- coat, and postured for a Cornish hug. On one side is a well- 
 limbed figure, lying above the scythe of Time, shewing that the wrestler 
 is in the pride of his youth. On the other side, is the same figure 
 stretched in his coflan, with Time standing, scythe in hand, triumphantly 
 over it ; whilst the sun is represented as just gone down, marking the de- 
 .cline of life, and the fate even of the strong man. Parkyns himself 
 directed this monument, or " marble effigies of Sir Thomas Parkyns," as 
 he called it, to be put up in the chancel of his church, in his life-time, 
 in order, as he observes, that he might look upon it, and say, " What is 
 life?" 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 79 
 
 XI. 
 
 ARETINO. 
 
 Condit Aretini cineres lapis iste sepultos, 
 
 Mortales atro qui sale perfricuit. 
 Intactus Deus est illi ; causamque rogatus, 
 
 Hanc dedit : Ille quidem non mihi notus erat. 
 
 Le temps, par qui tout se consume, 
 Sous cette tombe a mis le corps 
 De TAretin, de qui la plume 
 Blessa les vivans, et les morts. 
 Son encre noircit la memoire 
 De monarques, de qui la gloire 
 Est vivante apres le trepas : 
 Et s'il na pas contre Dieu meme 
 Vomi quelqu'horrible blaspheme, 
 C'est qu'il ne le connoissoit pas. 
 
 Francis I. presented Ai-etino with a chain of gold. Henry VIII. sent 
 him three hundred gold crowns. Charles V. allowed him a pension. 
 Julius III. by a papal bull appointed him a Cavaliere of the order of St 
 Pietro. He assumed the titles of IL DivinOi II Flagello de Principi. His 
 portrait was painted by Titian ; and medals were struck of him repre- 
 senting him decorated with a chain of gold, and on the reverse, the 
 princes of Europe bringing him tributes. He was, however, the subject 
 of many personal attacks which made Boccalini call him " the loadstone 
 of clubs and daggers." He was killed by a fall from his chair in a fit 
 of laughter at the relation of some act of profligacy committed by his 
 sisters. Before death, however, he seized the opportunity of improvising 
 an Italian verse to the priest who was administering extreme unction, in- 
 dicatory of his fear that so much grease would di-aw upon him the rats. 
 (See various other curious anecdotes of Aretino, in Roscoe's Leo X.) 
 
80 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XII. 
 
 MIRANDOLA. 
 
 Johannes jacet hie Mirandola : csetera norunt 
 Et Tagus, et Ganges, forsan et Antipodes. 
 
 Here lies John Mirandola. The rest is known to the 
 Tagus, the Ganges, and, perhaps, to the Antipodes. 
 
 Pope parodied this epitaph in the following lines : 
 Here lies Lord Coningsby ; be civil : 
 The rest God knows — perhaps the Devil. 
 
 Spence relates that Pope said : " You know I love short inscriptions, 
 and that may be one reason why I like the epitaph of the Count of Mi- 
 randola so well. Some time ago I made a parody of it for a man of a 
 very opposite character." The words "be civil," appear to be a hotchy 
 such as not unfrequently occurs even in some of Pope's most finished 
 compositions, exemplifying the distich of Hudibras : 
 Rhymes the rudders are of verses, 
 By which, like ships, they steer their courses. 
 
 Mr Hallam, in his History of Literature, relates various particulars 
 concerning Picus of Mirandola, who was called the phoenix of his age, 
 and considers him a much superior and more wonderful person than 
 the fabulous Admirable Crichton. Picus of Mirandola died at the age 
 of 31, A.D. 1494. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 NERO. 
 
 Quis neget ^Enese magna de stirpe Neronem 
 Sustulit hie matrem : sustulit ille patrem. 
 
 Who will deny that Nero is descended from the pious 
 and renowned ^neas ? They both took off their parents, 
 the one from the flames, the other by the sword. 
 
 Suetonius relates that it was remarkable that the Emperor Nero bore 
 nothing more patiently than scurrilous language and railing ; and treated 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 81 
 
 none with more gentleness than such as traduced him by abusive reflec- 
 tions and lampoons. Many things of that kind were posted up in the 
 town, or otherwise spread among the people, both in Greek and Latin, 
 Suetonius gives several instances of these ancient Pasquinades. The 
 distich in' the text is one of them. Among the remarkable sayings of 
 Romans, adverted to in a former page, is that of Agrippina, who when 
 she saw the assassins that were sent by her son to kill her, exclaimed, 
 " Strike my womb." 
 
 The lines in the text were applied to King William III. The imme- 
 diate occasion of them was the publication of Dryden's Virgil. The poet 
 was very indignant at Tonson his publisher (a keen Whig, and secretary 
 to the Kit-Cat Club) attempting to drive him into dedicating his trans- 
 lation of Virgil to King William; and, in a letter to his son Charles, 
 Dryden writes that Tonson had anticipated such a dedication by giving 
 iEneas a hooked nose in all the plates. Tonson's design of aggravating 
 -<Eneas's nose out of comphment to WiUiam the III., was the subject of 
 the following epigram, taken from the model of the Pasquinade on Nero 
 in the text : 
 
 Old Jacob, by deep judgment swayed. 
 To please the wise beholders. 
 
 Has placed old Nassau's hook-nosed head 
 On poor Eneas' shoulders. 
 
 To make the parallel hold tack 
 
 Methinks there 's little lacking ; 
 One took his father pick-a-pack, 
 
 And t' other sent him packing. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 SWIFT. 
 
 Vertiginosus, inops, surdus, male gratus amicis, 
 Non campana sonans, tonitru non ab Jove missum, 
 Quod mage mirandum, saltern si credere fas est, 
 Non clamosa meas mulier jam percutit aures. 
 
 Deaf, giddy, helpless, left alone. 
 To all my friends a burden grown ; 
 No more I hear my church's bell. 
 Than if it rang out for my knell : 
 
82 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 At thunder now no more I start, 
 Than at the rumbling of a cart. 
 Nay, what's incredible, alack! 
 I hardly hear a woman's clack. 
 
 The Latin and English verses are both by Swift. In the Countess of 
 Suffolk's Correspondence there are several letters addressed to that lady 
 by Swift, in which he alludes to his infirmities. In one letter, dated 
 19 Aug., 1727, when he was sixty years old, he writes : 
 
 " About two hours before you were born I got my giddiness by eating 
 a hundred golden pippins at a time at Richmond. And, when you were 
 four years and a quarter old bating two days, having made a fine seat, 
 about twenty miles further in Surrey, where I used to read and sleep, 
 there I got my deafness ; and these two friends have visited me, one or 
 the other, every year since, and being old acquaintance, have now thought 
 fit to come together. So much for the calamities wherein I have the 
 honour to resemble you : and you see your sufferings are but children in 
 comparison of mine ; and yet, to shew my philosophy, I have been as 
 cheerful as Scarron." 
 
 XV. 
 
 WALLER AND SACHARISSA. 
 
 ArcadisB juvenis Thirsis, Phoebique sacerdos 
 Ingenti frustra SacharisssB ardebat amore : 
 Hand Deus ipse olim Daphni majora canebat, 
 Nee fuit asperior Daphne, nee pulchrior ilia : 
 Carminibus Phoebo dignis premit ille fugacem 
 Per rupes, per saxa, volans per florida vates 
 Pascua ; formosam nunc his componere nympham. 
 Nunc illis crudelem insana mente solebat : 
 Audiit ilia procul miserum, citharamque sonantem, 
 Audiit, at nullis respexit mota querelis ; 
 Ne tamen omnino caneret desertus, ad alta 
 Sidera perculsi referunt nova carmina montes. 
 Sic non qusesitis cumulatus laudibus, olim 
 Elapsa reperit Daphni sua laurea Phoebus. 
 
 Thirsis, a youth of the inspired train, 
 Fair Sacharissa lov'd, but lov'd in vain : 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 83 
 
 Like Phoebus sung the no less amorous boy ; 
 Like Daphne she as lovely and as coy : 
 With numbers he the flying nymph pursues, 
 "With numbers such as Phoebus' self might use. 
 Such is the chase, when love and fancy leads, 
 O'er craggy mountains, and through flowery meads ; 
 Invok'd to testify the lover's care. 
 Or form some image of his cruel fair : 
 Urg'd with his fury like a wounded deer, 
 O'er these he fled, and now approaching near, 
 Had reacht the nymph with his harmonious lay, 
 Whom all his charms could not incline to stay ; 
 Yet what he sung in his immortal strain. 
 Though unsuccessful, was not sung in vain : 
 All but the nymph that should redress his wrong, 
 Attend his passion, and approve his song. 
 
 Like Phoebus thus, acquiring unsought praise. 
 He catcht at Love, and fiU'd his arm with Bays. 
 
 The Latin verses, it is believed, are an unique specimen of Waller's 
 composition in that language. The English version is also by Waller. 
 Sacharissa was the Lady Dorothea Sidney, eldest daughter of the Earl of 
 Leicester, who rejected Waller, and married the Earl of Sunderland. 
 Thirds had another Arcadian sweetheart in his Amoret, or Lady Sophia 
 Murray. He thus begins a very pretty poem addressed to Amoret : 
 
 Fair, that you may truly know 
 
 What you unto Thirsis owe, 
 
 I will tell you how I do 
 
 Sacharissa love, and you. 
 
 Waller afterwards married a third sweetheart. It does not appear 
 that this lady gave birth to any of his pastorals ; but he had thirteen 
 children by her. 
 
 Clarendon mentions that Waller was nearly thirty years of age when 
 he began to write poetry, and that he was regarded as a " tenth muse." 
 Waller's smoothness has been immortalized by Pope ; and Dryden finds a 
 charm in his " turns of expression," beyond any merit of the same kind 
 that he could discover in other English authors. He goes so far as to 
 say that English numbers were in their nonage until the appearance of 
 Waller: he must have closed his eyes to the full-blown beauties of 
 Spenser. 
 
 U — 2 
 
84 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 CROMWELL, (BY LOCKE.) 
 
 Pax regit Augusti, quern vicit Julius orbem ; 
 
 lUe sago factus clarior, ille toga. 
 Hos sua Koma vocat magnos, et numina credit : 
 
 Hie quod sit mundi victor, et ille quies. 
 Tu bellum et pacem populis das, unus utrisque 
 
 Major es : ipse orbem vincis, et ipse regis. 
 Non hominem e coelo missum te credimus, unus 
 
 Sic poteras binos qui superare Deos ? 
 
 A peaceful sway the great Augustus bore, 
 O'er what great Julius gain'd by arms before. 
 Julius was all with martial trophies crown' d, 
 Augustus for his peaceful arts renowned. 
 Rome calls them great, and makes them deities ; 
 That for his valour, this for his policies. 
 Thou, mighty prince, than both art greater far, 
 Who rule in peace that world you gain'd in war. 
 You sure from heaven a perfect hero fell. 
 Who thus alone two pagan gods excel. 
 
 Locke wrote this epigram at Christchurch, to which college he repaired 
 in the year 1651, and whence he underwent that memorable expulsion 
 concerning which Mr Fox observes, that it indicated some instinctive 
 sagacity in the government of the time, which pointed out to them, even 
 before he had made himself known to the world, the man who was de- 
 stined to be the most successful adversary of superstition and tyranny. 
 None of our Sovereigns have, like Cromwell, been honoured with poeti- 
 cal panegyrics by four such eminent authors as Milton, Dryden, Waller, 
 and Locke. 
 
IL] BIOGRAPHY. 85 
 
 xvn. 
 
 JAMES IL 
 
 Qui prius augusta gestabat fronte coronam, 
 
 Exigua nunc pulvereus requiescit in urna. 
 
 Quid solium — quid et alta juvant ! terit omnia lethum. 
 
 Verum laus fidei ac morum hand peritura manebit. 
 
 Tu quoque, summe Deus, regem quem Kegius Hospes 
 
 Infaustum excepit, tecum regnare jubebis. 
 
 In this narrow sepulchre, a heap of dust, lies one who 
 once wore a crown on his august brows. What is a throne 
 or royal dignity? Death levels all such distinctions. 
 Faith and virtue alone survive the grave. Hence thou, 
 Omnipotent God, wilst ordain that the unhappy monarch 
 to whom a French sovereign afforded refuge and hospi- 
 tality, shall reign with thee in thy heavenly kingdom. 
 
 This epitaph on the monument of James II. in the Church of St Ger- 
 main, appears to have been substituted in the year 1824 for one inscribed 
 on it in 1814, by the directions of King George IV. It would seem that 
 the French did not approve of a George claiming the merit of doing 
 honour to the ashes of the abdicator, to the disparagement of a Louis 
 who fed him when alive and destitute. There is a prose inscription at 
 St Germains, in addition to the poetical one in the text. And there is a 
 third inscription in the chapel of the Scotch College at Paris, on a monu- 
 ment erected by the Duke of Perth, a.d. 1703. On the top of this monu- 
 ment stood an urn, containing the brains of James IL (see Collect. Topgr. 
 Vol. VII.) 
 
 XVIII. 
 MACHIAVEL. 
 
 Quisquis adis ; sacro flores et serta sepulchro 
 Adde puer, cineri debita dona ferens. 
 
 Nam veteres belli et pacis qui reddidit artes 
 Jampridem ignotas regibus et populis. 
 
 Etruscae Machiavellus honos et gloria linguae 
 Hie jacet : hoc saxum non coluisse, nefas. 
 
86 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Whoever thou be that approaehest, bring ehaplets of 
 flowers and funeral gifts to the ashes which this sepulchre 
 contains. For they are the remains of one who restored 
 the ancient arts of war and peace, which had long fallen 
 into oblivion among kings and nations. It is Machiavel 
 that lies here, the glory and honour of the Tuscan lan- 
 guage. Not to pay reverence to this stone, is to commit 
 a sacrilege. 
 
 Few names have been so universally reprobated as that of Machiavel. 
 And Mr Hallam, in his History of Literature, adventures, perhaps not 
 altogether successfully, to palliate the perfidious doctrines inculcated in 
 Machiavel's treatise called The Prince. Mr Hallam points out the histo- 
 rical and political treasures that abound in Machiavel's works, and con- 
 siders his style eminent for " simplicity, strength, and clearness." He 
 places Machiavel at the head of the prose writers of Italy. The epitaph 
 is by Antonius Vacca. Butler, in all the editions of his Hudibras pub- 
 lished in his lifetime, very erroneously attributes the origin of the appel- 
 lation Old Nio (a Saxon deity) to Nic. Machiavel; though he may have 
 been more correct in assigning the palm of deceit to spiritual impostors. 
 
 Nick Machiavel had never a trick 
 
 (Though he gave his name to our Old Nick) 
 
 But was below the least of these 
 
 That pass in the world for holiness. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 ASCHAM. 
 (A) 
 
 Aschamum extinctum patriae Graiseque Camcense 
 
 Et Latise vera cum pietate dolent. 
 Principibus vixit charus, jucundus amicis 
 
 Ke modica ; in mores dicere fama nequit. 
 
 His country's muses join with those of Greece 
 And mighty Eome, to mourn the fate of Ascham; 
 Dear to his prince, and valued by his friends, 
 Content with humble views through life he pass'd, 
 While envy's self ne'er dared to blast his fame. 
 
II,] BIOGRAPHY, 87 
 
 (B) 
 Non minus est arcu quam lingua clarus utraque 
 Sic ornat patriam, sic juvat ille suam. 
 
 He is equally distinguished by his bow, and by his 
 knowledge of the Greek and Latin tongues. It is thus 
 he edifies, thus he delights his country. 
 
 The first epitaph is by Buchanan ; the English version is by the trans- 
 lators of Bayle. Of Ascham's Greek there is a well-known testimony of 
 a most interesting kind regarding his interview with Lady Jane Grey at 
 Broadgate, where she was reading Plato, whilst the rest of the company 
 were hunting in the park. Ascham's introduction to his treatise called 
 The Schoolmaster, though less known, is scarcely less interesting. He 
 was to read an oration of Demosthenes against JSschines to Queen Eliza- 
 beth at Windsor, during the plague in London. Previous to his lecture, he 
 dined with Lord Burleigh and the ministers of state composing the Queen's 
 court, and he relates the conversation that arose relative to an occurrence 
 which one of the party had learned the same morning, of some Eton 
 boys running away from school, to avoid whipping. Ascham's Toxophilus, 
 or treatise on Archery, is represented by him to be " pleasant for gentle- 
 men and yeomen of England for their pastime to read, and profitable for 
 their use to follow both in war and peace." The work contains an 
 exalted encomium upon an animal more highly venerated by the Romans 
 than the moderns, a Goose, 
 
 XX. 
 
 SILIUS ITALICUS, HIS PIOUS CARES FOR THE MEMORIES 
 OF VIRGIL AND CICERO. 
 
 (A) 
 Silius hsec magni celebrat monumenta Maronis, 
 
 Jugera facundi qui Ciceronis habet. 
 Heredem dominumque sui tumulive Larisve 
 
 Non alium mallet, nee Maro, nee Cicero, 
 
 Silius pays funeral obsequies at Maro's tomb, and is 
 the possessor of Cicero's farm. Surely neither Virgil nor 
 Cicero would have preferred any individual now alive for 
 the guardian of their lares or their sepulchres. 
 
88 GEMS OP LATIN POETKY. [Cii. 
 
 (B) 
 Jam prope desertos cineres, et sancta Maronis 
 
 Nomina qui coleret pauper, et unus erat. 
 Silius optatse sueeurrere censuit umbrae, 
 
 Silius et vatem, non minor ipse, tulit. 
 
 To honour Maro's bust and sacred shade. 
 One swain remain'd, deserted, poor, alone ; 
 
 Till Silius came his pious toils to aid, 
 
 In homage to a name scarce greater than his own. 
 
 Silius purchased an estate which had been the Academy of Cicero, 
 where that orator and philosopher composed his dialogue De Fato ; and 
 also a villa at Naples in which Virgil had formerly lived, and was adja- 
 cent to his tomb. Martial's epigrams in the text have been pressed into 
 the controversy concerning the authenticity of the site commonly as- 
 signed to Virgil's tomb, which mainly depends on the interpretation to 
 be given to a passage in Statius's description of the Bay of Naples (see 
 Addison's Travels in Italy , and Eustace's Classical Tour). A laurel, sup- 
 posed to have been planted by Petrarch near Virgil's tomb, has often 
 been celebrated in poetry. Niebuhr writes that he visited the tomb as a 
 pilgrim, and retained a branch of the celebrated laurel as a sacred relic. 
 De Lille's enthusiasm for the memory of Virgil is in accordance with that 
 of Silius. 
 
 Helas! Je n'ai point vu ce sejour enchante, 
 Ces beaux lieux ou Virgile a tant de fois chante. 
 Mais, j'en jure et Virgile, et ses accords sublimes, 
 J'irai : de I'Appennin je franchirais les cimes. 
 J'irai, plein de son nom, plein de ces vers sacres, 
 Les lire aux memes lieux qui les ont inspire. 
 
 An epitaph on the poet Sannazano (Sincerus) indicates that he was 
 buried close to Virgil's tomb : 
 
 Da sacro cineri flores, hie Ille Maronis 
 Sincerus musa proximus, et tumulo. 
 
 Upon thy sacred dust be flow'rets spread. 
 
 He sung like Maro once, he rests near Maro dead. 
 
 Silius, in his epic poem, expresses a beautiful eulogy on Virgil, where 
 he introduces the shade of the future poet to Scipio in the infernal 
 regions. There is a very interesting letter by Pliny concerning Silius. 
 Pliny writes, that at the age of seventy-five, Silius starved himself to 
 death, in consequence of being aflBiicted with an imposthume, which was 
 deemed incurable : and among other circumstances of his life, notices that 
 Silius had " several villas furnished with large collections of books, statues, 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 89 
 
 and pictures, which he more than enjoyed, he even adored ; particularly 
 the statue of Virgil, of whom he was so passionate an admirer, that he 
 celebrated the anniversary of that poet's birth-day with more solemnity 
 than his own ; especially at Naples, where he used to approach his tomb 
 with as much reverence as if it had been a temple." 
 
 The works of Silius Italicus were discovered by Poggius during the 
 sitting of the Council of Constance, at the bottom of a tower in the 
 monastery of St Gal, situate about twenty miles from Constance; the 
 works of Quintilian and Valerius Flaccus were discovered at the same 
 place on the same occasion. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 LUCAN. 
 (A) 
 
 Haec est ilia dies, quae magni conscia partus, 
 Lucanum populis, et tibi, PoUa, dedit. 
 
 Heu ! Nero crudelis, nullaque invisior umbra : 
 Debuit hoc saltern non licuisse tibi. 
 
 This is the Day, known by its mighty birth, 
 Which Lucan gave to thee, and to the Earth. 
 O cruel Prince ! more cursed in no decree, 
 This, at least, was not lawful unto thee. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Vatis ApoUonei magno memorabilis ortu 
 Lux redit, Aonidum turba favete sacris ! 
 
 Haec meruit, cum te terris, Lucane, dedisset, 
 Mixtus CastalisB Boetis ut esset aquae. 
 
 The Day memorable for the illustrious birth of Apollo's 
 Bard is returned. Hark, in silence, to the solemn rites of 
 the Muses upon that auspicious event ! Surely the river 
 Bcetis, which gave you, Lucan, to the world, merits to be 
 conjoined in everlasting fame with the waters of Castalia. 
 
 The expression, " This act at least ought not to have been within the 
 scope of your power," seems to have reference to a memorable saying of 
 
90 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Nero, That no emperor before him had been aware of the extent of his 
 own power. With regard to the river Boetis, it is remarkable how many 
 reputed Roman writers of eminence were, in fact, foreigners to Rome. 
 Lucan, Martial, Silius, and Seneca, were Spaniards. Terence, extolled 
 by Julius Csesar for the purity of his style, was an African. 
 
 There is extant an elaborate birth-day Ode on Lucan, by Statins. 
 These tributes to departed genius are the more interesting as indicating 
 a practice of keeping alive the memory of that poet by celebrating his 
 birth-day with " incense kindled at the Muses* flame." Statins concludes 
 his poem with an apostrophe to Lucan in the Elysian fields, accompanied 
 by Pompey, Cato, and the Pharsalian heroes, whence he beholds Nero 
 at a distance in Tartarus, struck with terror by the avenging ghost of his 
 mother. The poet admonishes PoUa that the time is come when her 
 very tears may be mingled with sweetness, and her sorrow with festivity, 
 for the husband whom she had lamented it was now permitted her to 
 adore. 
 
 The great stain of Lucan's character is that mentioned by Tacitus, of his 
 having impeached his own mother in an attempt to screen himself from 
 the consequences of a conspiracy in which he had been detected. Tacitus 
 contrasts this and similar acts of perfidy by other conspirators, with the 
 memorable example of fortitude and magnanimity exhibited on the same 
 occasion and under the same circumstances, by a woman of the name of 
 Epicharis (Tac. Ann. Lib. xv. s. 56, 67). She was put to the torture, but 
 neither stripes nor fire could extort a word from her to inculpate any one. 
 On the second day the executioners were conveying her again to the 
 place of torture, though her hmbs were rent and dislocated ; but she 
 took from her breast the girdle that braced her garment, and having fas- 
 tened one end of it, made a noose for her neck, and throwing herself 
 from her seat, hung suspended with the whole weight of her body : in her 
 mangled condition the remains of life were soon extinguished. Tacitus 
 relates that, " the famous poet Lucan," when the blood flowed freely from 
 him, and the vital heat had left his hands and feet, repeated the lines, in 
 his own poem, which describe a soldier dying in the same condition. His 
 own verses were the last words he uttered. Some, think the description 
 of Lycidas at the point of death, in the third book of the Pharsalia 
 (v. 635), were the lines Lucan repeated. Others contend for the four 
 lines in the ninth book (v. 811). 
 
 Lucan died at the early age of twenty-seven. His works are excluded 
 from the Delphin Classics, apparently in consequence of their Republican 
 tendency. Blair observes that "Lucan's sentiments are so high, and 
 his fire, on occasions, so great, as to atone for many of his defects ; and 
 that passages may be produced from him which are inferior to none in 
 any poet whatever." Racine used to call Lucan "Virgil ivre;" but Cor- 
 neille preferred him to Virgil. Mr Hallam, in his History of Literature, 
 observes that "Lucan was the favourite study of Corneille, and that no 
 reader can admire the one who has not a strong relish for the other." 
 
 I 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 91 
 
 Voltaire in panegyrizing the actress Clairon, writes, in allusion to Cor- 
 neille's imitations of Lucan's Roman characters : 
 
 Corneille, ce peintem' des Remains majestueux, 
 T'aurait vue aussi noble, aussi Romaine, qu'eux. 
 Lucan is made a redoubtable champion in Swift's Battle of the Books, 
 and he is conspicuous in Strada's celebrated Prolusion, of which a descrip- 
 tion is given in the Guardian. That prolusion is described in Numbers 
 115, 119, and 122. It represents a pageant on the Tiber for the amuse- 
 ment of Leo X., consisting of a floating mountain, made to resemble 
 Parnassus. Lucan and other celebrated Roman poets are introduced, and 
 recite compositions in imitation of the peculiarities of their poetic talents. 
 The exclamations and remarks of the audience, are, in fact, a lively form 
 of literary criticism. Lucan is made to rear higher upon Pegasus than 
 any of the other poets, but the bystanders are in constant alarm lest he 
 should slide oflF the horse's back. An ancient inscription, purporting to 
 have been dictated by Nero himself in honour of Lucan, is, if it be genu- 
 ine, a very curious memorial : 
 
 M. Annseo . Lucano . Cordubensi . Poetse. 
 Beneficio . Neronis . Fama . Servata. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 LEO X. 
 (A) 
 
 Delicise humani generis, Leo Maxime, tecum 
 Ut simul illuxere, interiere simul. 
 
 The refined pleasures of the human race, Great Leo, 
 as they first came to light with you, so with you they are 
 extinguished. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Saeva sub extrema si forte requiritis hora 
 Cur Leo non potuit sumere, vendiderat. 
 
 Leon sans sacramens expire. 
 Comment les auroit-il recus ? 
 Avant sa mort le Maitre Sire 
 Des long-tems les avoit vendus. 
 
92 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 The first epigram was inscribed on Leo's tomb in the church of the 
 Vatican. There are numerous Latin epigrams by contemporary poets, 
 both laudatory and condemnatory of Leo. His name (Leo, a Lion), as 
 well as that of his mother, who was of the Orsini family (Ursa, a Bear), 
 gave occasion to very extensive poetical punning. Perhaps there is no 
 poetical encomium extant by which Leo would have preferred being 
 recommended to posterity than by Pope's : 
 
 But see each muse, in Leo's golden days. 
 Starts from her trance, and trims her withered bays. 
 Rome's ancient genius o'er its ruins spread 
 Shakes off the dust, and rears his reverend head. 
 Then sculpture and her sister arts revive. 
 Stones leap'd to form, and rocks began to live. 
 With sweeter notes each rising temple rung, 
 A Raphael painted, and a Vida sung. 
 
 The sale of Indulgences by Leo, as it gave occasion to the first efforts 
 of Luther which ultimately led to the establishment of the Protestant 
 Reformation, impart an historical importance to the second epigram. 
 Roscoe mentions the current report that Leo's last illness was so sudden 
 that there was not time to administer to him the sacrament of extreme 
 unction. There is a curious complimentary poem addressed to Leo by 
 Valeriani, not noticed by Roscoe, from which it appears, by a particular 
 description of the poet, that there was then at Rome a monster very simi- 
 lar to that of the Siamese Twins. This the poet compares to the opposi- 
 tion Council then sitting at Lyons, which had been assembled at the insti- 
 gation of the Spanish Cardinal Carvajal, and for the purpose of overruling 
 which the Lateran Council was convened at Rome. Valeriani insists that 
 the imbecility of the monstrous union of a Gallo- Spanish assembly is 
 indicated by the monstrous twin-birth of which both the parts were 
 infirm and unhealthy ; and which was also prophetic of the Pope, in his 
 capacity of lioUf destroying every kind of monster. 
 
 The three memorable papacies of Alexander VI., Julius II., and 
 
 Leo X., have been described in a manner that will remind the reader 
 
 of Dryden's Secular Masque, and Addison's Mythology of English Kings : 
 
 Olim habuit Cypris sua tempera ; tempera Mavors 
 
 Olim habuit ; sua nunc tempera Pallas habet. 
 
 Once Venus ruled, next Mars usurp'd the throne. 
 Now Pallas calls these favour'd seats her own. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 93 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 POPE ALEXANDER VI. 
 
 Vendit Alexander claves, altaria, Christum. 
 
 Emerat ille prius ; vendere jure potest. 
 De vitio in vitium, de flamma transit in ignem : 
 
 Roma sub Hispano deperit imperio. 
 Sextus Tarquinius, Sextus Nero, Sextus et Iste : 
 
 Semper sub Sextis perdita Roma fuit. 
 
 Alexander exposed for sale the Keys, the Communion, 
 Christ himself. A Purchaser of the Papal See, no marvel 
 that he should sell what he had bought. — Tarquin was the 
 Sixth King ; Nero the Sixth Emperor; so our Pope assumes 
 the title of the Sixth — Rome has always been ruined by 
 Sixths. 
 
 This is one of the earliest instances of Pasquinades. Pasquin was a 
 tailor, whose shop was the resort of a set of persons who used to banter 
 those who passed by it (as the Greeks were accustomed to do from the 
 pubHc bridges). After Pasquin's death, a mutilated statue, supposed to 
 be the torso of Menelaus, was dug up near his shop, and was again erected 
 where it was found. People called it the statue of Pasquin : and it was 
 considered allowable to stick upon it any libel against any body. In 
 these libels Pasquin was often made to address another statue called 
 Manforio, which replied in a manner equally scurrilous. This conver- 
 sation between statues has been imitated by Andrew Marvel and by Swift. 
 The following is a Pasquinade on Pope Pius VI., whose arms were a 
 double-headed eagle, two stars, a lily, and a boy blowing its leaves. 
 
 Redde aquilam imperio, Gallorum lilia regi, 
 Sidera redde polo, csetera sume tibi. 
 
 Give the eagles back to the Emperor, the stars to the sky, the lilies to 
 the French king, and keep the puff for yourself. 
 
 Adrian VI. ordered Pasquin's statue to be thrown into the Tiber, but 
 revoked the fallible order. 
 
 Alexander purchased the Papacy by such open bribes, that he sent 
 four mules laden with silver to one cardinal, and presented another with 
 five thousand gold crowns; of twenty cardinals, only five were not 
 bought. The mules laden with silver may remind the reader not only 
 of Pope Alexander, but of Alexander Pope's " bulky bribes" and " en- 
 cumbered villany," for which Paper Credit is a modem substitute. The 
 character of Pope Alexander is thus drawn by Roscoe. 
 
94 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 "Were we to place implicit confidence in the Italian historians, no 
 period of society has exhibited a character of darker deformity than that 
 of Alexander VI. Inordinate in his ambition, insatiable in his avarice 
 and his lust, inexorable in his cruelty, and boundless in his rapacity; 
 almost every crime that can disgrace humanity is attributed to him with- 
 out hesitation, by writers whose works are published under the sanction 
 of the Roman church. He is also accused of having introduced into his 
 territories the detestable practice of searching for state oflfences by means 
 of secret informers ; a system fatal to the liberty and happiness of every 
 country that has submitted to such a degradation. As a pontiff, he 
 perverted his high ofl&ce by making his spiritual power on every occa- 
 sion subservient to his temporal interests; and he might have adopted 
 as his emblem that of the ancient Jupiter, which exhibits the lightning in 
 the grasp of a ferocious eagle. His vices as an individual, although not 
 so injurious to the world, are represented as yet more disgusting ; and the 
 records of his court afford repeated instances of a depravity of morals, 
 inexcusable in any station, but abominable in one of his high rank and 
 sacred office. Yet, with all these lamentable defects, justice requires that 
 two particulars in his favour should be noticed. In the first place, what- 
 ever have been his crimes, there can be no doubt but they have been 
 highly overcharged. That he was devoted to the aggrandizement of his 
 family, and that he employed the authority of his elevated station to 
 establish a permanent dominion in Italy in the person of his son, cannot 
 be doubted ; but when almost all the sovereigns of Europe were attempt- 
 ing to gratify their ambition by means equally criminal, it seems unjust 
 to brand the character of Alexander with any peculiar and extraordinary 
 share of infamy in this respect. Whilst Louis of France and Ferdinand 
 of Spain conspired together to seize upon and divide the kingdom of 
 Naples, by an example of treachery that never can be sufficiently exe- 
 crated, Alexander might surely think himself justified in suppressing the 
 turbulent barons, who had for ages rent the dominions of the church 
 with intestine wars, and in subjugating the petty sovereigns of Romagna, 
 over whom he had an acknowledged supremacy, and who had in general 
 acquired their dominions by means as unjustifiable as those which he 
 adopted against them." 
 
 ^annazarius and Guide Posthumo in their Latin verses, especially their 
 epitaphs on Alexander VI., have loaded the memory of that Pope with 
 accusations of almost every conceivable crime against society, nature, 
 and religion. He is reputed to have died by poison which he took by 
 mistake, but which he had prepared for the supper of a large company of 
 cardinals. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 95 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 C^SAR BORGIA. 
 
 Qui modo prostrates jactarat cornibus Ursos, 
 
 In latebras Taurus concitus ecce fugit. 
 Nee latebras putat esse satis sibi ; Tibride toto 
 
 Cingitur, et notis vix bene fidit aqiiis. 
 Terruerat montes mugitibus ; obvia nunc est, 
 
 Et facilis cuivis prseda sine arte capi. 
 Sed tamen id magnum ; nuper potuisse vel Ursos 
 
 Sternere, nunc omnes posse timere feras. 
 Ne tibi, Eoma, novae desint spectacula PompaB ; 
 
 Amphitheatrales reddit arena jocos. 
 
 The Bull (Caesar Borgia) who lately tossed the van- 
 quished bears, (the Orsini family and their adherents) be- 
 hold, now flies into hiding-places : confines himself within 
 the limits of the Tiber, and scarcely deems himself safe 
 under its protection ! Lest Home should want a novel 
 spectacle for the amusement of its inhabitants, here is an 
 arena in which are exhibited the games of the ancient am- 
 phitheatres. 
 
 A few days after the election of Pius III. who succeeded Alexander VI., 
 Caesar Borgia repaired to Rome, when finding himself in imminent danger 
 from the troops of the Orsini, he retreated to the castle of St Angelo. 
 This event is commemorated by Sannazaro in the above lines. As Machi- 
 avelli observes, the contests of that period may be regarded by posterity 
 as a combat of wild beasts, in which the strongest and most ferocious 
 animal destroys the rest. After much research among the Enghsh lives 
 of Csesar Borgia for the origin of the appellation, the Bull, as applied to 
 him, the author was referred by Mr Hall, the intelligent librarian of the 
 Athenaeum, to a passage in Tomasi's Delia Vita Del Duca Valentino, 
 whereby it appears that Borgia acquired celebrity by cutting off, with 
 one blow of a sword, the neck of a bull : the circumstance is also adverted 
 to in Dumas's Celebrated Crimes. 
 
 The character of Csesar Borgia is thus drawn by Mr Roscoe. 
 
 " Of this extraordinary character it may with truth be observed, that 
 his activity, courage, and perseverance, were equal to the greatest at- 
 tempts. In the pursuit of his object he overlooked or overleaped all 
 other considerations ; when force was ineffectual he resorted to fraud ; 
 
96 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 and whether he thundered in open hostility at the gates of a city, or 
 endeavoured to effect his purpose by negotiation and treachery, he was 
 equally irresistible. If we may confide in the narrative of Guicciardini, 
 cruelty, rapine, injustice, and lust, are only particular features in the 
 composition of this monster; yet it is difficult to conceive that a man so 
 totally unredeemed by a single virtue, should have been enabled to main- 
 tain himself at the head of a powerful army ; to engage in so eminent a 
 degree the favour of the people conquered ; to form alliances with the 
 first sovereigns of Europe; to destroy or overturn the most powerful 
 families of Italy, and to lay the foundations of a dominion, of which it is 
 acknowledged that the short duration is to be attributed rather to his ill- 
 fortune and the treachery of others, than either to his errors or his 
 crimes. If, however, he has been too indiscriminately condemned by one 
 historian, he has in another met with as zealous and as powerful an enco- 
 miast, and the maxims of the politician are only the faithful record of the 
 transactions of his hero. On the principles of Machiavelli, Borgia was 
 the greatest man of the age. Nor was he, in fact, without qualities 
 which in some degree compensated for his demerits. Courageous, mu- 
 nificent, eloquent, and accomplished in all the exercises of arts and arms, 
 he raised an admiration of his endowments which kept pace with, and 
 counterbalanced the abhorrence excited by his crimes. That even these 
 crimes have been exaggerated, is highly probable. His enemies were 
 numerous, and the certainty of his guilt in some instances gave credibility 
 to every imputation that could be devised against him. That he retained, 
 even after he had survived his prosperity, no inconsiderable share of 
 public estimation, is evident from the fidelity and attachment shown to 
 him on many occasions. After his death, his memory and achievements 
 were celebrated by one of the most elegant Latin poets that Italy has 
 produced. The language of poetry is not, indeed, always that of truth ; 
 but we may at least give credit to the account of the personal accomplish- 
 ments and warlike talents of Borgia ; although we may indignantly reject 
 the spurious praise, which places him among the heroes of antiquity, and 
 at the summit of fame." 
 
 Csesar Borgia lost all the dominions which he had acquired by treachery, 
 poison, fratricide, and slaughter. He was conveyed as a prisoner out of 
 Italy into Spain : he escaped indeed, but only to engage in the service of 
 the king of Navarre, and in that service to die by a "petty fortress and a 
 dubious hand." He has adorned many tales, besides operas; and our poet 
 Pope, as well as many other writers, has pointed a moral with his name : 
 
 If plagues or earthquakes break not Heaven's design, 
 
 Why then a Borgia, or a Catiline ? 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 97 
 
 XXV. 
 
 LUCRETIA BORGIA. 
 
 Teque meum venero, Coelestis Borgia, Sydus, 
 
 Qua nullum Hesperio purius orbe micat. 
 Tu mihi carmen eris, tu lucida callis ad astra, 
 
 Qua niveas animas lactens orbis habet. 
 AdsertsB superis, Juno, Pallasque, Venusque, 
 
 Juno opibus, Pallas moribus, ore Venus. 
 Regna tibi meliora, animique nitentior ardor, 
 
 Plusque tua igniferi forma vigoris habet. 
 Quis neget his coelum meritis ? 
 
 Celestial Borgia ! Thee I venerate as the brightest 
 Star that illumines the nations of the West. You are the 
 theme of my Muse, you my conductress to those starry 
 regions, where the purest spirits revel in the glories of the 
 milky way. If Juno find a seat in Olympus from her power, 
 Pallas from her wisdom, Venus from her beauty — surely 
 Lucretia may challenge a right to the celestial abodes, 
 from her combined pretensions of eminent power, brilliant 
 intellect, and a form which kindles love more intensely than 
 the flambeau of Cupid. 
 
 Many similar poems by Strozza eulogistic of Lucretia Borgia, the 
 daughter of Pope Alexander VI., the sister of Csesar Borgia, are encoun- 
 tered by verses of Sannazaro and other poets imputing to her the most 
 horrible vices and crimes. A dissertation on the character of this remark- 
 able woman, whose name occupies a considerable space in the early his- 
 tory of Italy, will be found appended to Roscoe's Life of Leo X. It is a 
 vindication of the character of Lucretia against a cloud of alleged calum- 
 niators both popish and protestant, including the discriminating Gibbon. 
 Indeed, if the author of the Historic Doubts had reason to complain of 
 misrepresentations and perversions which have prejudiced the public 
 mind against King Richard III., those imputations are light as air in com- 
 parison of the horrible enormities which in vulgar belief are associated 
 with the name of Lucretia Borgia. 
 
98 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 LUTHER. 
 
 (A) 
 Koma orbem domuit, Romam sibi Papa subegit, 
 
 Viribus ilia suis, fraudibus iste suis : 
 Quanto isto major Lutherus, major et ilia, 
 
 Istum, illamque uno qui domuit calamo ! 
 I, nunc, Alciden memorato Graecia mendax : 
 
 Lutheri ad calamum ferrea clava nihil. 
 
 Rome once subdued the world by war, 
 
 By art the Pope crushed her again : 
 One Monk excels them both by far. 
 
 For both were vanquished by his pen ! 
 Go now, thou fabling Greece, and boast no longer 
 
 Alcides' club — for Luther's quill is stronger. 
 
 (B) 
 Occidit omnigena venerandus laude Lutherus, 
 
 Qui Christum docuit non dubitante fide. 
 Ereptum deflet vero hunc Ecclesia luctu, 
 
 Cujus erat doctor, verius, imo, pater. 
 Occidit Israel prasstans auriga Lutherus, 
 
 Quern mecum sanus lugeat omnis homo. 
 Nunc luctumque suum lachrymoso carmine prodat. 
 
 Hoc etenim orbatos flere, dolere decet. 
 
 Luther ! illustrious name, is now no more ;— 
 Let the true Church with streaming eyes deplore 
 A Teacher firm in faith, — nay, rather say 
 A Father from his children snatch'd away. 
 Luther is gone — The Pilot of our course : 
 O let the tearful Muse his name rehearse ! 
 Let all the pious join with me to mourn, 
 Orphans should thus bedew a father's urn. 
 
 The first Latin Epigram is by Beza, and the latter by Melancthon. 
 The translations are from Lawson's autobiography of Luther. He gives 
 
n.] BIOGRAPHY. 9d 
 
 three translations of the first Epigram: but he has omitted, without 
 apparently being conscious of the metrical anomaly, the last line but one 
 of Melancthon's Epigram. Melancthon pronounced the funeral Oration 
 upon Luther in the same church of Wittenberg where his remains now lie 
 by the side of those of his illustrious friend. A translation of Melanc- 
 thon's eloge is given by Dr Cox in his Life of Melancthon. 
 
 In a square at Wittenberg stands a statue in bronze of Luther, erected 
 in 1821 by a Prussian artist. It represents in colossal proportions the 
 full-length figure of Luther in the simple drapery of the reformed clergy : 
 he supports on his left-hand the Bible, kept open by the right hand rest- 
 ing on the left page, and pointing to a passage of Scripture. The pedes- 
 tal on which the statue stands is formed of one solid block of red polished 
 granite, twenty feet high, ten feet wide, and eight feet deep, which is sup- 
 posed to weigh 650,000 pounds. On each of the sides of the pedestal there 
 is a central tablet, bearing a German inscription, to the efiect that " If 
 the Reformation be the work of man, it will fall ; if it be God's work, it 
 is imperishable." 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS. 
 
 Prayer repeated by her immediately before her Execution. 
 
 O Domine Deus, speravi in te ! 
 
 O care mi Jesu, nunc libera me ! 
 
 In dura catena, in misera poena, desidero te ! 
 
 Languendo, gemendo, et genuflectendo, 
 
 Adoro, imploro, ut liberes me ! 
 
 In this last solemn and tremendous hour, 
 My Lord, my Saviour, I invoke thy power ! 
 In these sad pangs of anguish and of death. 
 Receive, O Lord, thy Suppliant's parting breath ! 
 Before thy hallow'd Cross she prostrate lies — 
 O hear her prayers, commiserate her sighs ! 
 Extend thy arms of mercy and of love. 
 And bear her to thy peaceful realms above. 
 
100 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [€h. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 LADY JANE GREY. 
 
 Non aliena putes, homini quae obtingere possunt 
 Sors hodierna mihi, eras erit ilia tibi ! 
 
 Steel not your heart against feeling for another's woe : 
 his calamity of to-day may be yours of to-morrow ! 
 
 These lines derive their only interest from the circumstance of having 
 been written vrith a pin by Lady Jane Grey when confined in the Tower 
 of London. The inscriptions in the Tower of London, and those that 
 were found in the Bastile at Paris, have an interest independent of any 
 poetical merit. With regard to Lady Jane's use of a pin to supply the 
 want of writing materials, in an interior cell of the Bastile there was 
 found a feeble inscription on a stone fronting the door, of which the 
 following words only were distinguishable : " Grave par I'aide d'un dent 
 du qui je n'ai point aucune besoin. Le Malheureux De Prie." Sir 
 Thomas More wrote in the Tower his last letter to his daughter with a 
 coal. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 MILTON. 
 
 Csecus, inops, patriaeque superstes tempore iniquo, 
 
 Miltonus magnum sedulus urget opus. 
 Degenerem setatem plaeide contemnit, et altum 
 
 Supra fortunse munera radit iter. 
 Nox oeulos licet a^terna caligine obumbret, 
 
 Paupertasque gravi vexet acerba manu, 
 Non minus arrectum studio, ardentemque fulhore, 
 
 Per sacra Musarum devia raptat amor. 
 Mens ea, quae Mundi fines processerat extra, 
 
 Non erat humanis debilitanda malis. 
 
 Poor blind Survivor of his Country's shame, 
 Still Milton holds his fearless flight to fame ; 
 His mental eye corruption calm surveys. 
 And smiles contempt upon degenerate days. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 101 
 
 With him Urania still her vigil keeps, 
 
 Inspiring strains of rapture as he sleeps. 
 
 From Siloa's brook, the living stream supplies, 
 
 And pours celestial light in sightless eyes. 
 
 His Spirit soaring in ascent sublime 
 
 Beyond the flaming bounds of space and time. 
 
 Earth's transient ills o^er him have lost their power, 
 
 Whose soul to God's eternal throne shall tower. 
 
 Nor want nor woe that spirit shall subdue, 
 
 Which ranges radiant all creation through. 
 
 The Latin and English lines both derire great interest from their au- 
 thors. The Latin are by the Marquis of Wellesley, the English by Quincy 
 Adams, dated from "Washington. No description, however, of Milton's 
 blindness can vie with his own reflections on the subject in the Paradise 
 Lost, the Sampson Agonistes, and the sonnet to Cyriac Skinner. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 MILTON COMPARED WITH HOMER AND VIRGIL, 
 
 Grsecia Mseonidem, jactat sibi Roma Maronem, 
 Anglia Miltonum jactat utrique par em. 
 
 Three Poets in three distant ages born, 
 Greece, Italy, and England, did adorn. 
 The first in loftiness of thought surpass'd ; 
 The next in majesty ; in both the last. 
 The force of nature could no further go ; 
 To make a third she join'd the other two. 
 
 The distich was written in honour of Milton, when at Rome, by 
 Selvaggi. The hexastich is that celebrated one of Dryden which was 
 placed beneath the picture of Milton in the fourth edition of the Paradise 
 Lost, published under the particular patronage of Lord Somers and 
 Bishop Atterbury, and to which Dryden was a subscriber. Warton 
 observes, that if any other proof were wanting of the high respect and 
 veneration which Dryden entertained of the superior genius of Milton, 
 these six nervous lines will ever remain as a strong and indisputable 
 testimony. Dryden probably had the ideas in his hexastich suggested by 
 Sclvaggi's distich ; but he exhibits how genius may convert a feeble spark 
 into a brilliant coruscation. 
 
102 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 MILTON AND HIS FATHER. 
 
 Kec tu perge precor sacras contemnere Musas, 
 Nee vanas inopesque puta, quarum ipse peritus 
 Munere, mille sonos numeros componis ad aptos, 
 Millibus et vocem modulis variare canoram 
 Doctus, Arioni merito sis nominis haeres. 
 Nunc tibi quid mirum, si me genuisse poetam 
 Contigerit, charo si tarn prope sanguine juncti 
 Cognotas artes, studiumque affine sequamur ? 
 Ipse volens Phoebus se dispartire duobus, 
 Altera dona mihi, dedit altera dona parenti, 
 Dividuumque Deum genitorque puerque tenemus. 
 
 Nor you aifect to scorn the Aonian Quire, 
 
 Bless'd by their smiles and glowing with their fire. 
 
 You ! who by them inspir'd, with art profound 
 
 Can wield the magic of proportioned sound. 
 
 Through thousand tones can teach the voice to stray. 
 
 And wield to harmony its mazy way — 
 
 Arion's tuneful heir ! Then, wonder not 
 
 A poet-child should be by you begot. 
 
 My kindred blood is warm with kindred flame ; 
 
 And the Son treads his Father's track to fame. 
 
 Phoebus controls us with a common sway, 
 
 To you commends his lyre, — to me his lay. 
 
 Whole in each bosom makes his just abode, 
 
 And Child and Father own the one though varied God. 
 
 In the course of the address of which the foregoing lines are a part, 
 Milton takes a most interesting review of the studies of his youth, and of 
 the care his Father took in his education. He concludes with pouring 
 forth a flood of filial gratitude. The whole poem is translated in the 
 Appendix to Symmons*s Life of Milton. On the alliance of music and 
 poetry ("the marriage of immortal verse") Milton is, in several parts of 
 his works, enthusiastic in his eloquence ; as, particularly, in his sonnet to 
 the musical composer, Lawes : 
 
 Thou honour'st Verse, and Verse must lend her wing 
 
 To honour thee! 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 103 
 
 In the notes to Milton's poem to his father, in Todd's Milton, are some 
 notices of the musical productions of Milton's father. Sir J. Hawkins, 
 and Dr Burney, in their Histories of Music, have selected specimens of 
 his skilL 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 MILTON RUSTICATED, PERHAPS FLOGGED. 
 
 Jam nee arundiferum mihi eura revisere Camum 
 
 Nee dudum vetiti me laris angit amor. 
 Nuda nee arva plaeent, umbrasque negantia moUes : 
 
 Quam male Phoebicolis convenit iste locus ! 
 Nee duri libet usque minas perferre magistri, 
 
 Cceteraque ingenio non suheunda meo. 
 Si sit hoe exilium patrios adiisse penates, 
 
 Et vaeuum curis qtia grata sequi : 
 Non ego vel profugi nomen, sortemque reeusa, 
 
 Laetus et exilii eonditione fruor. 
 
 No love of late forbidden scenes now pains 
 Cam's sedgy banks and Granta's cloister'd fanes. 
 I like not fields that gasp in vain for shades, 
 Fields most unfriendly to th' Aonian Maids. 
 Ill too I bear a Master's threat'ning look. 
 And other things my spirit will not brook. 
 If this be banishment — all cares aloof* — 
 To live my own beneath a Father's roof — 
 Still let an idle world condemn or not, 
 Mine be a truant's name, — an exile's lot. 
 
 In Todd's edition of Milton, the inferences which have been drawn 
 from Milton's other things in the above passage are canvassed. Mr Todd 
 says that the Register of the College proves that Milton did not lose a 
 term before taking his degree. It is notorious that corporal punishment 
 was formerly inflicted at the Universities : in the Paston Letters a mother 
 writes about her son having been belashed at Cambridge. Dr Whitgift, 
 the first Vice-Chanceller under the Ehzabethan Statutes, procured a 
 decree of the Heads of Colleges, a.d. 1571, condemning all Undergradu- 
 ates who were convicted upon " probable or sufficient evidence" of having 
 
104 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 entered the water, either for the purpose of swimming or of washing, 
 whether by night or by day, in any part of the county of Cambridge, to be 
 whipped publicly on one day in the hall of their College, in the presence 
 of all the Fellows, Scholars, and other members, and, on the following 
 day, in the public schools before the ordinary lecturer and his hearers. 
 (B.A.s for the like offence were to sit in the stocks in their College-halls 
 for an entire day). 
 
 The local associations of Cambridge with the memories of many 
 "whom genius gave to shine in every unborn age," are touched upon 
 with poetic enthusiasm in Wordsworth's posthumous poem. As to Milton's 
 reflections on the " reedy Cam," he has spoken of it with more reverence 
 in his Lycidas ; and English poetry may reckon, among her choiest gems 
 Gray's lines commemorative of those 
 
 Brown o'er- arching groves, 
 
 That contemplation loves, 
 
 Where willowy Camus wanders with delight. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 MILTON BURNT'. 
 
 Haud jam ultra vulgi bibulas illapsa per aures 
 Dogmata, Principibus multum funesta ciebunt 
 Irasque, insidiasqiie, et duri semina belli : 
 Ardet enim fusis circum undique noxia flammis 
 Pagina, damnataeque inhonesto funere chartss. 
 Quanquam o si simili, quicunque hase scripserit Author, 
 Fato sueeubuisset, eodemque arserit igne ! 
 In medio videas flamma erepitante eremari 
 Miltonum, (terris eoeioque inamabile nomen) 
 Qui contemptorem regum, populique patronum 
 Se tulit Angliaci, speciosas texere fraudes 
 Doctus, et impuris leges obtendere coeptis. 
 Sed tamen huie magnas animosa in carmina vires 
 Diva dedit, geniumque implevit dexter Apollo : 
 Seu bello accingat metuenda eominus hasta 
 Luciferum gradientem, et vix Michaele minorem : 
 Seu dicat primum temere jaeuisse Parentem 
 Acclinem violis, et suave rubenti hyacintho. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 105 
 
 O Caroli laudes tali si dicere versu 
 Maluerit, non jam periisset vindice flamma : 
 Sed seram famam seternum misisset in sevum, 
 Unam passurus, mundo flagrante, ruinam. 
 
 The public ear, too much inclined to imbibe seditious 
 doctrines, will no longer be abused by opinions injurious to 
 Princes and productive of Civil War — for all books having 
 this tendency are decreed to be committed to the flames, 
 and to perish by an ignominious fate. O, if every Author 
 who ha^ penned such compositions were ordered to be 
 burnt on the same funeral pile ! We should then behold 
 in the midst of the crackling flames, burning along with 
 his writings, Milton, a name detestable in heaven and 
 upon earth — Milton, the contemner of Kings, the Patron 
 of the People. True it is that his poetic genius seems to 
 have been derived from the very inspiration of Apollo ; 
 whether he depictures Lucifer grandly advancing with his 
 formidable spear, and scarcely inferior to the Archangel 
 Michael : or exhibits to us our first Parents in a state of 
 bliss, reposing on banks of violets, and ruby- coloured 
 hyacinths. O, if Milton had devoted his pre-eminent gift 
 of poetry to the celebration of the praises of King Charles^ 
 he would not have deserved to perish in the avenging fire. 
 Then, indeed, he would have transmitted a Name to pos- 
 terity, which would have lasted till that great conflagration 
 which shall accomplish the ruin of a World. 
 
 The Latin is from Musce Anglicance, a.d. 1683, from a poem on the 
 famous Oxford Decree passed in that year, against " pernicious books, and 
 damnable doctrines," anathematizing above twenty propositions, as false, 
 seditious, impious, and heretical. The first of these is that all civil autho- 
 rity is derived originally from the people; the second, that there is a 
 compact, tacit or express, between the king and his subjects. The books 
 containing these doctrines are ordered to be burnt in the court of the 
 schools at Oxford. The Decree itself was publicly burnt by an order of 
 the House of Lords, a.d. 1709. It is with reference to this Decree that 
 Mr Fox, in his History, compares the Vice- Chancellor and Doctors of the 
 University of Oxford to Dogberry, Verges, and his followers, in Shakspere's 
 play of Much Ado about Nothing. Almost within living memory, Dr 
 George, Provost of King's College, concludes a proposed epitaph for 
 Milton with the line, Rege sub Augusto fas sit laudare Catonem! Cato 
 
106 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 was extolled under Augustus; may it therefore be lawful to eulogise 
 Milton under George the Third! 
 
 Perhaps the greatest injuries attempted against Milton's fame have 
 been the endeavours to represent him as a plagiarist. Lauder deceived 
 Dr Johnson and a portion of the public on this subject, by publishing 
 extracts from the works of obscure writers of modern Latin, with inter- 
 polations of a Latin translation of the Paradise Lost. Bishop Douglas 
 exposed this fraud, and Lauder made a contrite confession of his impos- 
 ture. In the library of the Athenaeum there is the copy of Lauder's book 
 addressed to the two Universities, with Dr Johnson's Preface and post- 
 script, that belonged to Mr Bowles ; it contains several curious manu- 
 script notes. So late as the year 1844, an attempt has been piade by a 
 literary gentleman of the name of Paolo, at Naples, to represent the 
 Paradise Lost as a very pilfering plagiarism of a book scarcely known 
 in England, the Adam,o Caduto of Salandra. (Voltaire had made a similar 
 and unsuccessful attempt in regard to the Adamo of Andreini.) The fal- 
 lacy of Paolo's opinions is exposed with great ability by Mr Spencer Hall, 
 the accomplished librarian of the Athenseum: he has convicted the Nea- 
 politan of bad chronology in regard to the period of Milton's residence in 
 Italy. Paolo argues that Milton must have been familiar with the Adamo 
 Caduto, which was first published in 1647, during his abiding among 
 the literati at Rome. Mr Hall shews that he returned to England in 
 1639. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 SPENSER. 
 
 Hie prope Chaucerum situs est Spenserius, illi 
 Proximus ingenio, proximus et tumulo. 
 
 Anglica, te vivo, vixit, plausitque Poesis, 
 Nunc moritura timet, te moriente, mori. 
 
 Here lies close to Chaucer the famed poet Spenser; 
 as he is next to him in his grave, so was he next to him 
 in his genius. English Poetry during your lifetime, O 
 Spenser, flourished, and reflected on you the renown you 
 conferred on her. Now you are departed, she fears that 
 herself will die. 
 
 Spenser was buried, at his particular desire, close to Chaucei-'s grave. 
 These lines would appear to have been dropt into Spenser's grave, or 
 
n.] BIOGRAPHY. 107 
 
 fastened to his pall, according to a good old practice of our literary an- 
 cestors, and which was retained in our colleges within living memory. 
 The first distich is copied from Sannazaro's epitaph, the last from Ra- 
 phaeFs, both of which have been given in this collection. On Spenser's 
 monument, which was erected by the Duchess of Dorset thirty years after 
 his death, the dates both of his birth and death were misstated. Similar 
 mistakes occur on the monuments of Sterne and Goldsmith. Sir J. Den- 
 ham, in his verses on Cowle/s burial among the poets of "Westminster 
 Abbey, styles Chaucer the Morning Star, and Spenser the Aurora of 
 English poetry. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 N^VIUS, 
 
 Mortales immortales fieri si foret nefas 
 Flerent Divae Camoenas Naevium Poetam ; 
 Itaque postquam est Oreino traditus thesauro, 
 Oblitei sunt Komae loquier Latina lingua. 
 
 If blest immortals mortals might bemoan, 
 
 Each heavenly Muse would Nsevius' loss deplore : 
 
 Soon as his Spirit to the Shades had flown, 
 
 In Kome the Koman tongue was heard no more. 
 
 Aulus GeUius has preserved this among other epitaphs of the more 
 ancient Roman poets, apparently written by the poets themselves with a 
 view to their own monuments. They are translated by Eeloe and also 
 by Dunlop. That of Nsevius is entertaining from being one of the most 
 impudent epitaphs on record. Aulus Gellius observes of it, " that it is 
 full of Campanian arrogance." The remains of Nsevius are too insig- 
 nificant to afford any criterion of his poetical merit. (See Dr Smith's 
 Biog. Diet. Ncevius). The other epitaphs of Ennius, Pacuvius, and Plau- 
 tus, have Uttle to recommend them, except as literary antiquities. There 
 are several neat Latin epitaphs on the early Italian poets, as on Crinitus 
 (closely copied from that of Pacuvius), Molza, and others. The most in- 
 teresting of these, is, perhaps, that of Sannazarius, who implores his friend 
 to collect the broken timbers of his shattered shipwrecked vessel, and to 
 inscribe on his tomb : 
 
 Actius hie jaceo. — Spes mecum extincta quiescit : 
 Solus de nostro funere restat amor. 
 
 I that he here am Actius. Extinguished Hope is buried in peace along 
 with me : all that lives beyond my grave is Love. 
 
108 
 
 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. 
 
 [Ch. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 NIGRINA. A FUNERAL URN. 
 
 Cappadocum ssevis Antistius occidit oris 
 
 Rusticus, o tristi crimine terra nocens ! 
 Hettulit ossa sinu cari Nigrina mariti, 
 
 Et questa est longas non satis esse vias : 
 Cumque daret sanctam tumulis, quibus invidet, urnam, 
 
 Visa sibi est rapto bis viduata viro. 
 
 Far in a savage Cappadocian dell 
 By thee, Clime criminal ! Antistius fell, 
 His bones Nigrina to her bosom prest, 
 And all she had of comfort still carest. 
 When the rich remnant home she would convey, « 
 Through the long task she mourned the short'ning way: 
 And when intomb'd the sacred urn she left, 
 Of her dear lord she seem'd one direr time bereft. 
 
 The feelings pourtrayed in the fourth and sixth h'nes of the epigram 
 in the text, and the sixth and eighth of the weaker translation (Elphin- 
 stone's), are exquisitely touching. This dear affection for the funeral 
 urn brings to our recollections the circumstance of a famous Grecian 
 actor, the duty of whose part it was to bear the funeral urn of Orestes, 
 and who produced a rapturous emotion in the audience by the state of 
 feeling into which he had worked himself up, by substituting on the 
 stage the funeral urn of his own son. The whole description of Nigrina 
 will remind the reader of Agrippina bearing the urn of Germanicus, as 
 related by Tacitus. 
 
 "Agrippina pursued her voyage without intermission. Neither the 
 rigour of the winter, . nor the rough navigation in that season of the year, 
 could alter her resolution. She arrived at the island of Corcyra, oppo- 
 site to the coast of Calabria. At that place she remained a few days, to 
 appease the agitations of a mind pierced to the quick, and not yet taught 
 in the school of affliction to submit with patience. The news of her arrival 
 spreading far and wide, the intimate friends of the family, and most of 
 the ofl&cers who had served under Germanicus, with a number of strangers 
 from the municipal towns, some to pay their court, others carried along 
 with the current, pressed forward in crowds to the city of Brundusium, 
 the nearest and most convenient port. As soon as the fleet came in sight 
 of the harbour, the sea-coast, the walls of the city, the tops of houses, 
 and every place that gave even a distant view, were crowded with spec- 
 tators. Compassion throbbed in every breast. In the hurry of their 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 109 
 
 first emotions, men knew not what part to act : should they receive her 
 with acclamations ? or would silence best suit the occasion ? Nothing was 
 settled. The fleet entered the harbour, not with the alacrity usual among 
 mariners, but with a slow and solemn sound of the oar, impressing deeper 
 melancholy on every heart. 
 
 " Agrippina came forth, leading two of her children, with the urn of 
 Germanicus in her hand, and her eyes steadfastly fixed upon that precious 
 object. A general groan was heard. Men and women, relations and 
 strangers, all joined in one promiscuous scene of sorrow, varied only by 
 the contrast between the attendants of Agrippina, and those who now 
 received the first impression. The former appeared with a languid air; 
 while the latter, yielding to the sensation of the moment, broke out with 
 all the vehemence of recent grief." 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 ANTONIUS PRIMUS. LIFE DOUBLED. 
 
 Jam numerat placido felix Antonius aevo 
 
 Quindecies actas Primus Olympiadas : 
 Prseteritosque dies, et tutos respicit annos ; 
 
 Nee metuit Lethes jam propioris aquas. 
 NuUa recordanti lux est ingrata gravisque : 
 
 Nulla subit, cujus non meminisse velit. 
 Ampliat aetatis spatium sibi vir bonus : hoc est 
 
 Vivere bis, vita posse priore frui. 
 
 At length, my friend, (while time with still career 
 Wafts on his gentle wing his eightieth year) 
 Sees his past days safe out of fortune's pow'r, 
 Nor dreads approaching fate's uncertain hour ; 
 Reviews his life, and, in the strict survey ] 
 Finds not one moment he could wish away, > 
 Pleas'd with the series of each happy day. J 
 Such, such a man extends his life's short space, 
 And from the goal again renews the race : 
 For he lives twice, who can at once employ 
 The present well, and e'en the past enjoy. 
 
 The translation is by Pope, as appears from a letter to the poet by 
 Sir W. Trumball. Though Pope could "fix in one couplet more sense" 
 than even Swift, according to the Dean's own acknowledgment, it may be 
 
110 
 
 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. 
 
 [Ch. 
 
 thought that his version very inadequately expresses the terseness of the 
 two concluding lines of Martial's Epigram, to the effect that a good man 
 amplifies his life, that is to say, he lives twice, for he can live over again 
 the past in the pleasures of Memory. 
 
 The moral of the Epigram is so edifying, and the manner in which 
 it is expressed so captivating, that we cannot be surprized at both Ad- 
 dison and Dr Johnson adopting from it a motto for their Essays, Spec^ 
 tator^ No. 94, Rambler, No. 41. The rival papers bearing that motto, 
 whilst they will be interesting from the contrast of the manner in which 
 the same subject has been treated by two of our. most eminent moral 
 writers, will afford the best possible illustration of the text. 
 
 The following extract is from the Spectator. 
 
 " The hours of a wise man are lengthened by his ideas, as those of a 
 fool are by his passions. The time of the one is long, because he does 
 not know what to do with it ; so is that of the other, because he distin- 
 guishes every moment of it with useful or amusing thoughts ; or, in other 
 words, because the one is always wishing it away, and the other always 
 enjoying it. How different is the view of past life, in the man who is 
 grown old in knowledge and wisdom, from that of him who is grown old 
 in ignorance and folly ! The latter is like the owner of a barren country, 
 that fills his eye with the prospect of naked hills and plains, which produce 
 nothing either profitable or ornamental ; the other beholds a beautful and 
 spacious landscape divided into delightful gardens, green meadows, fruitful 
 fields, and can scarce cast his eye on a single spot of his possessions, that 
 is not covered with some beautiful plant or flower." 
 
 The next extract is from the Rambler. 
 
 " The time of life in which memory seems particularly to claim pre- 
 dominance over the other faculties of the mind is our declining age. It 
 has been remarked by former writers, that old men are generally narra- 
 tive, and fall easily into recitals of past transactions, and accounts of 
 persons known to them in their youth. When we approach the verge of 
 the grave it is more eminently true. We have no longer any possibility 
 of great vicissitudes in our favour ; the changes which are to happen in 
 the world will come too late for our accommodation ; and those who have 
 no hope before them, and to whom their present state is painful and irk- 
 some, must of necessity turn their thoughts back to try what retrospect 
 will afford. It ought, therefore, to be the care of those who wish to pass 
 the last hours with comfort, to lay up such a treasure of pleasing ideas, 
 as shall support the expences of that time which is to depend wholly 
 upon the fund already acquired. In youth, however unhappy, we solace 
 ourselves with the hope of better fortune, and however vicious, appease 
 our consciences with intentions of repentance ; but the time comes at last, 
 in which life has no more to promise, in which happiness can be drawn 
 only from recollection, and virtue will be all that we can recollect with 
 pleasure." 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. Ill 
 
 XXXYIII. 
 MARTIAL AND PLINY. 
 
 (A) 
 
 Dum mea Caecilio formatur imago Secundo, 
 
 Spirat et arguta picta tabella manu ; 
 I, liber, ad Geticam Peucen, Istrumque tacentem : 
 
 Hsec loca, perdomitis gentibus, ille tenet. 
 Parva dabis earo, sed dulcia, dona sodali : 
 
 Certior in nostro carmine vultus erit. 
 Casibus hie nuUis, nuUis delebilis annis, 
 
 Vivet, Apelleum cum morietur opus. 
 
 While for my friend the fond resemblance grows, 
 And from the Master's hand the canvas glows, 
 To Peuce, Muse, and peaceful Ister, go, 
 Where he has laid the haughty nations low : 
 A present small, but sweet, Cecilius give. 
 Still in my lays my book shall ever live. 
 There shall it accident and age defy, 
 When th' Apellean pencil self shall die. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Nee doctum satis, et parum severum ; 
 Sed non rusticulum nimis libellum, 
 Facundo mea Plinio Thalia, 
 I, perfer : brevis est labor peractsB 
 Altum vincere tramitem Suburae. 
 Illic Orphea protinus videbis, 
 Udi vertice lubricum theatri ; 
 Miranteisque feras, avemque regis, 
 Eaptum quae Phryga pertulit tonanti. 
 Illic parva tui domus Pedonis 
 Cselata est aquilse minore penna. 
 
 Sed ne tempore non tuo disertam 
 Pulses ebria januam, videto. 
 
112 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Totos dat tetricse dies Minervse, 
 Dum centum studet auribus virorum, 
 Hoe, quod secula, posterique possint 
 Arpinis quoque comparare chartis. 
 Seras tutior ibis ad lueernas. 
 Haec hora est tua, dum furit Lyseus ; 
 Cum regnat rosa, cum madent capilli : 
 Tunc me vel rigidi legant Catones. 
 
 Go, wanton Muse, but go with care. 
 Nor meet, ill-tim'd, my Pliny's ear ; 
 He, by sage Minerva taught, 
 Gives the day to studious thought. 
 And plans that eloquence divine, ] 
 Which shall to future ages shine, > 
 And rival, wond'rous TuUy ! thine. ) 
 Then, cautious, watch the vacant hour, 
 When Bacchus reigns in all his powV ; 
 When crown' d with rosy chaplets gay, 
 E'en rigid Catos read my lay. 
 
 The following letter of Pliny relative to Martial is very interesting. 
 The first of the two Epigrams is generally considered, as well from the 
 name as from other circumstances, to have reference to Pliny. The 
 expression (sodali) " companion," and the sending of Martial's picture, 
 indicate terms of closer familiarity with the Proconsul than might be 
 collected from Pliny's letter. Pliny seems to have underrated Martial's 
 merits, who was as much an Immortal as himself. 
 
 " I have just received an account of the death of poor Martial, which 
 much concerns me. He was a man of an acute and lively genius, and 
 his writings abound with an agreeable spirit of wit and satire, conducted 
 at the same time by great candour and good-natiu-e. When he left Rome 
 I made him a present to defray the charges of his journey, which I 
 gave him, not only as a testimony of my friendship, but in return for 
 the verses with which he had complimented me. It was the custom of 
 the ancients to distinguish those poets with honourable and pecuniary 
 rewards, who had celebrated particular persons or cities in their verses ; 
 but this generous practice, with every other that is fair and noble, is 
 now grown out of fashion ; and in consequence of having ceased to act 
 laudably, we consider applause as an impertinent and worthless tribute. 
 You will be desirous, perhaps, to see the verses which merited this ac- 
 knowledgment from me ; and I believe I can, from my memory, partly 
 satisfy your curiosity, without referring you to his works : but if you are 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 113 
 
 pleased with this specimen of them, you must turn to his poems for the 
 rest. He addresses himself to his muse, whom he directs to go to my 
 house upon the Esquilise ; but to approach me with respect." 
 
 "Do you not think that the poet who wrote in such terms of me, de- 
 served some friendly marks of my bounty then, and that he merits my 
 sorrow now ? For he gave me the most he could, and it was want of 
 power only, if his present was not more valuable. But to say truth, what 
 higher can be conferred on man than honour, and applause, and immor- 
 tality? — And though it should be granted, that his poems will not be 
 immortal, still, no doubt, he composed them upon the contrary suppo- 
 sition. Farewell." 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 NERVA. 
 
 (A) 
 
 Frustra blanditise venitis ad me 
 
 Attritis miserabiles labellis. 
 
 Dicturus Dominum, Deumque non sum : 
 
 Jam non est locus hac in urbe vobis. 
 
 Ad Parthos proeul ite pileatos, 
 
 Et turpes, humilesque, supplicesque 
 
 Pictorum sola basiate regum. 
 
 Non est hie Dominus, sed Imperator, 
 
 Sed justissimus omnium Senator ; 
 
 Per quem de Stygia domo reducta est 
 
 Siccis rustiea Veritas capillis. 
 
 Rome is no longer any place for flattering courtiers. 
 Begone, ye cringing race, to where the high-capped Par- 
 thians kiss the feet of their painted kings ! I am not 
 going to sing of a Lord or of a God. There is no one here 
 who arrogates such titles. But we have a Chieftain, and 
 a Senator pre-eminent for justice. He it is who has 
 brought back Truth in a rustic garb, and with unperfumed 
 locks, from the Stygian caves in which she was hid, to 
 dwell again in Rome, 
 
 8 
 
114 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 (B) 
 Contigit Ausoniae procerum mitissimus aulae 
 
 Nerva : licet toto nunc Helicone frui. 
 Kecta fides, hilaris dementia, cauta potestas. 
 
 Jam redeunt : longi terga dedere metus. 
 Hoc populi, gentesque tusQ, pia Roma, precantur : 
 
 Dux tibi sit semper talis, et iste diu. 
 Macte animi, quern rarus habet ; morumque tuorum, 
 
 Quos Numa, quos hilaris posset habere Cato. 
 Largiri, prsestare, breves extendere census ; 
 
 Et dare, quae faciles vix tribuere dei ; 
 Nunc licet, et fas est : sed tu, sub principe duro, 
 
 Temporibusque malis, ausus es esse bonus. 
 
 Nerva, the most mild of Roman Senators, has com- 
 menced his reign. We are now admitted to the full 
 enjoyment of Helicon. Fear has vanished, and in its place 
 are substituted Good Faith, Moderation, and Clemency. 
 All who wish well to Rome, wish that we may ever have 
 such an Emperor as Nerva, and that himself may long be 
 indulged to us. Now we may look forward to a grave yet 
 not austere practice of Morals, becoming the dignity of 
 Numa, and the cheerfulness of Cato ; and to a system of 
 liberality for which even the Gods can scarcely supply 
 resources. But thou, Great Emperor, wast a pattern of 
 goodness even under a reign of iniquity. 
 
 Addison, in his Dialogue on Medals, adverts to a coin illustrated by 
 the first of these Epigrams regarding the Parthian caps. He also makes 
 Cynthio (one of the parties to the Dialogue) very indignant at Martial's 
 satirical reflections upon Domitian, whom the poet deluged with flatteries 
 when alive. Ben Jonson, in the speech of Nohody, in an entertainment 
 at Alford, indulges in a sarcasm on the dancing days of his deceased 
 royal mistress, Elizabeth. Daniel, on the other hand, even in his con- 
 gratulatory panegyric delivered to King James at Burleigh, purposely 
 digresses to extol Queen Elizabeth, and to tell the King that he could not 
 
 without wrong- 
 So soon forget Her we enjoy'd so long. 
 
 Dryden and Waller sung the praises both of Cromwell and Charles II. 
 Sir W. Scott observes, that Dryden never recalled his former eulogy on 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 1)5 
 
 Cromwell. Waller excused himself to Charles II. for having written so 
 much better a panegyric on Cromwell than on the King, upon the ground 
 that poets succeed best in fiction. 
 
 Ben Jonson, in his panegyric on King James, chooses for a motto the 
 line in the text, "Licet toto nunc Helicone frui." Dryden, in the 12th 
 and 13th stanzas of his Threnodia Augustalis, has written a charming 
 poetical description of the return of the Muses to England after the 
 Restoration. At Rome, the death of Domitian broke the chains which 
 fettered the Muse of Juvenal, and it exhibited to public view the writing 
 tablets of PUny. The concluding line of the last Epigram was applied to 
 Sir Randolph Crew, in Mr HoUis's speech on the impeachment of the Ship- 
 money Judges ; Sir Randolph had been degraded by Charles I. for giving 
 an opinion adverse to that memorable imposition. Swift, in his Rhapsody, 
 thus adverts to the different language used by poets in regard to living, 
 or to dead monarchs. 
 
 "A prince, the moment he is crown'd, 
 Inherits every virtue round. 
 As emblems of the sovereign pow'r. 
 Like other baubles in the Tow'r; 
 Is generous, valiant, just, and wise. 
 And so continues till he dies : 
 His humble Senate this professes : 
 In all their speeches, votes, addresses : 
 But once you fix him in a tomb, 
 His virtues fade, his vices bloom, 
 And each perfection, wrong imputed, 
 Is fully at his death confuted. 
 The loads of poems in his praise. 
 Ascending, make one funeral blaze; 
 His panegyrics then are ceas'd, 
 He grows a tyrant, dunce, or beast: 
 As soon as you can hear his knell. 
 This god on earth turns devil in hell : 
 And, lo ! his ministers of state. 
 Transformed to imps, his levee wait, 
 Where, in the scenes of endless woe. 
 They ply their former arts below; 
 And as they sail in Charon's boat, 
 Contrive to bribe the judge's vote. 
 To Cerberus they give a sop. 
 His triple-barking-mouth to stop; 
 Or in the ivory-gate of dreams 
 Project Excise and South-sea schemes ; 
 Or hire their party-pamphleteers 
 To set Elysium by the ears. 
 
 8—2 
 
116 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Then, poet ! if you mean to thrive, 
 Employ your Muse on kings alive ; 
 With prudence gathering up a cluster 
 Of all the virtues you can muster. 
 Which form'd into a garland sweet, 
 Lay humbly at your monarch's feet, 
 Who, as the odours reach his throne, 
 Will smile, and think them all his own: 
 For law and gospel doth determine 
 All virtues lodge in royal ermine; 
 (I mean the oracles of both. 
 Who shall depose it upon oath.) 
 Your garland in the following reign, 
 Change but the names, will do again/' 
 
 Nerva reigned only two years. With regard to his declining the titles 
 of Dominus, and Deus (a circumstance adverted to in the first epigram), 
 Suetonius writes that Nerva's predecessor, Domitian, required his officers 
 of state to adopt in their despatches the form of " Our Lord and God 
 commands." Statins, however, mentions, that, at the Saturnalian ban- 
 quet given by Domitian to the people of Rome, the appellation Dominus 
 was prohibited to be used. 
 
 Saturnalia ! Domitian ! unnumber'd they ciy. 
 And extol their munificent host to the sky. 
 To salute him their * Lord* had delighted the crowd. 
 But this only indulgence is now not allowed. 
 (See Dr Hodgson's spirited translation of Statius's description of 
 Domitian's fete). 
 
 Augustus would not allow himself to be called Dominus ; and Tiberius 
 was averse to flattery. Pliny, in his Letters, calls the Emperor Trajan 
 Dominus. Nerva was Deijied after his death. Virgil offered sacrifices on 
 the altar of Augustus during that Emperor's life. Caligula established a 
 priesthood for his own Godhead. The most opulent persons in the city 
 offered themselves as candidates for this honor, and purchased it at im- 
 mense prices. The victims sacrificed on the altar of God Cahgula were 
 flamingos, peacocks, pheasants, and turkeys. In the night he used to 
 invite the Moon when full to his embraces. In the daytime he talked 
 in private to Jupiter Capitolinus ; one while whispering to him, and an- 
 other turning his ear to him : sometimes he would rail aloud at Jupiter, 
 and threaten to banish him; at last, prevailed upon by the entreaties of 
 the God, as he said, and being invited to live with him, he made a bridge 
 by which he joined the Palatium to the Capitol. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 117 
 
 XL. 
 
 SIR THOMAS MORE. 
 
 Diim Morus immeritse submittit colla securi, 
 Et flent occasum pignora cara patris. 
 
 Immo, ait, infandi vitam deflete tyranni ; 
 Non moritur, facinus qui grave morte fugit. 
 
 Whilst More is on the point of submitting his neck to 
 the unmerited axe, and his children are weeping at his 
 cruel execution, he tells them — Lament for the life of a 
 ruthless tyrant: He dies not, who by his death escapes 
 from the perpetration of a grievous crime. 
 
 The verses are by a contemporary Italian poet; but there does not 
 seem to be any authority for the language they ascribe to Sir T. More. 
 There is nothing in Roper's Life of Sir T. More to that effect. Neither 
 in the few words which passed between him and his affectionate daughter, 
 (commemorated by Rogers,) when she forced her way to him on the Tower 
 wharf through halberds and battle-axes, nor in the letter he wrote to 
 her with a coal, does any sentiment occur of the kind. On the con- 
 trary, when Sir T. Pope informed More that the King had consented that 
 his family mi^ht be present at his funeral, he replied, " Oh, how much 
 beholden, then, am I unto his Grace, that upon my poor burial vouch- 
 safeth to have so gracious consideration !" This, and some other sayings 
 to the like effect, are omitted by Lord Campbell ; and they, doubtless, 
 would have rendered his entertaining work less agreeable to read. Sir J. 
 Mackintosh preserves the same prudent silence so necessary for popular 
 writers. Erasmus, in relating the verdict of the jury at Sir T. More's trial, 
 writes that the jury delivered " a verdict of Killim, that is to say, he was 
 worthy of death." "Qui duodecim viri, quum per horse quartam partem re- 
 cessissent, reversi sunt ad principes et judices delegates, et pronunciarunt 
 Killim^ hoc est, dignus est morte." Lord Campbell instituted inquiries 
 after Sir T. More's head, which, it appears, still remains in a vault of 
 St Dunstan's Church in Canterbury, contained in a box open in front 
 with an iron grating, and placed over the coffin of his beloved eldest 
 daughter, just as she desired it might be laid after her death : she had 
 secretly obtained it from London Bridge, where it had been exposed. 
 
118 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 SIR THOMAS MORE AND HIS CHILDREN. 
 
 Quatuor una meos invisat epistola natos, 
 
 Servat et incolumes a patre missa salus. 
 Dum peragratur iter, pluvioque madescimus imbre, 
 
 Dumque luto implicitus ssepius hseret equus. 
 Hoc tamen interea vobis excogito carmen, 
 
 Quod gratum, quanquam sit rude, spero fore. 
 CoUegisse animi licet hinc documenta paterni, 
 
 Quanto plus oculis vos amat ipse suis : 
 Quern non putre solum, quem non male turbidus aer, 
 
 Exiguusque altas trans equus actus aquas, 
 A vobis poterant divellere, quo minus omni 
 
 Se memorem vestri comprobet esse loco ; 
 Nam crebro dum nutat equus, casumque minatur, 
 
 Condere non versus desinit ille tamen. 
 
 I desire this letter to reach my four children, and that 
 the health I send in it may preserve them in safety. I 
 write whilst pursuing a journey, drenched with rain, and 
 my horse scarcely able to raise his feet out of the mud. 
 Nevertheless, though in the midst of inconveniences, I 
 manage to write a poem, rude indeed in numbers, but what 
 I hope may touch my children's hearts. It will at least 
 suffice to convince them of my paternal solicitude, and 
 that my love for them exceeds any for my own eyes. The 
 marshy ground, the cutting wind, and the fording of deep 
 streams on a little horse, cannot distract my thoughts from 
 my family : for though my nag stumbles, and threatens 
 me over and over again with a fall, I go on imperturbably 
 stringing together verses that may fill a Father's letter. 
 
 The lines in the text are the commencement of a poem by Sir Thomas 
 More, addressed to his daughters Margaret, EUzabeth, Cicely, and his son 
 John, sweetest of children (dulcissimis liberis) as he calls them. Like 
 Sir T. More, Erasmus tells us that he composed his celebrated Encomium 
 on Folly whilst sitting on his horse. Sir T. More proceeds, in some lines 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 119 
 
 quoted by Lord Campbell, to remind his children of the gentleness with 
 which, when occasion required, he had flogged them, protesting that the 
 rod he made use of was only a peacock's tail, " Flagrum Pavonis nil nisi 
 Cauda fuit," and that he had laid it on them sparingly, "Hanc tamen 
 admovi timideque et molliter ipsam," for fear of leaving on their persons 
 any impressions of his handy- work, " Ne vibex teneras signet amara nates." 
 
 XLII. 
 
 COKE AND BACON. 
 
 Ex dono Auctoris. 
 Auctori consilium. 
 
 Instaiirare paras veterum documenta sophorum : 
 Instaura leges, justitiamque prius. 
 
 By the gift of the Author. 
 Advice to the Author. 
 
 You undertake a restoration (Instauratio) of ancient 
 philosophy : first restore the laws and justice of your country 
 (which you have infringed and violated). 
 
 Bacon's presentation copy of his Novum Organum, containing the 
 above lines in Sir Edward Coke's handwriting, is stiU preserved at Holk- 
 ham. The book has a device of a ship sailing; over which Sir Edward 
 Coke has written, 
 
 It deserveth not to be read in schools. 
 But to be freighted in the ship of fools. 
 
 Lord Bacon, on his part, wrote a letter of acrimonious advice to 
 Sir Edward Coke, commencing thus : " Supposing this to be the time 
 of your aflliction, that which I have propounded to myself is, by taking 
 this seasonable advantage, like a true friend, though far unworthy to be 
 counted so, to shew you your true face in a glass. First, therefore, behold 
 your errors: in discourse you like to speak too much, &c." In both 
 instances the advisers detracted more from their own fame than from that 
 of their ever-to-be-admired advisees. The Novum Organum was the 
 Second Part of Bacon's Instauratio Magna (which title is alluded to in 
 the Epigram), that was intended to be divided into Six Parts. The 
 design of the Novum Organum was to suggest a more perfect method of 
 
120 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 using the rational faculty, to lay the foundations, and recommend the use 
 of Inductive Philosophy. This, as Voltaire expresses it, was the scaffold 
 with which the New Philosophy was to be raised. Coke would not haye 
 agreed with the quaint Cowley in styling Bacon Lord Chancellor of Nature, 
 as well as of Law. (An analysis and familiar exposition of the Novum 
 Organum was published by Dr Hoppus.) Does the reader require a 
 poetical antidote to Lord Coke's renom? he may find one in Ben Jonson's 
 beautiful Ode on Bacon's birth- day. 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 SIR EDWARD COKE'S DIARY. 
 
 Sex horas somno, totidem des legibus sequis, 
 Quatuor orabis, des epulisque duas ; 
 Quod superest ultra sacris largire camoenis. 
 
 Six hours in sleep, in law's grave study six. 
 Four spend in prayer — the rest on Nature fix. 
 
 The above is the version to be found in Lord Teignmouth's Life of 
 Sir W. Jones. An original MS., with Sir W. Jones's corrections, is 
 written upon a fly-leaf of a copy of Gilbert's Evidence, in the possession 
 of the Author. It is as follows : 
 
 "E. C. 
 
 be six address'd; 
 
 Six hours to sleep allot, to law the same applied ; 
 
 F Pray feast sweet claim 
 
 Pray four ; feast two ; — the rest the Muses claims the rest 
 
 the Muse claims all beside." 
 
 Sir W. Jones's suggested improvement of Sir E. Coke's advice has 
 been productive of some literary mistakes. 
 
 In the same fly-leaf of Gilbert, the lines will be found to stand thus : 
 
 W. J. 
 
 Seven hours to Law, to soothing slumber seven. 
 Ten to the world allot, and all to Heaven. 
 1784. 
 
 In Mr Macaulay's critical Essay, in which he reviews Croker's Life 
 of Johnson, Sir W. Jones's version is quoted thus: — 
 
 " Six hours to law, to soothing slumber seven ; 
 Ten to the world allot, and all to heaven." 
 
n.] BIOGRAPHY. 321 
 
 Mr Croker having mentioned that he had difficulty in understanding 
 what Sir W. Jones meant to do with his twenty-fourth hour, Mr Macaulay 
 comments on his dulness of comprehension. He says that the point is a 
 wretched conceit ; when you expect the couplet to end with one to heaven, 
 you are surprised by the ending ' all to heaven,' but that the couplet 
 never, before Mr Croker, perplexed man, woman, or child. It is, however, 
 now seen that Mr Croker's perplexity, and Mr Macaula/s strictures 
 on Sir W. Jones's supposed conceit, are altogether founded on a wrong 
 reading of six for seven, — not the first time that these numbers have 
 been confounded. 
 
 There is in the possession of the Right Hon. Sir E. Ryan a very 
 interesting diary kept by Sir W. Jones, from the period of his wife 
 leaving India, up to the very night before his death ; and bearing, in the 
 last entries, indications of severe malady. Two of the official clerks of 
 Sir W. Jones are still alive : one of them is an East India Director. 
 There are several interesting anecdotes relating to him that have never 
 been published, and which rest on indisputable authority. Nor, perhaps, 
 was a person of Lord Teignmouth's political views the most fit author to 
 depicture in proper colours the man who, with the learning of the Greeks, 
 imbibed their enthusiastic love of liberty, and who first conveyed to 
 English ears the inspiring answer of one of their patriotic poets to the 
 question, "What constitutes a state?" 
 
 Lord Campbell does not appear to have had the advantage of reading 
 the Author's work on the Advantages of a Classical Education, in which 
 the above details appear, for in quoting the lines of Sir W. Jones, in his 
 Life of Lord Coke, his Lordship has fallen into the vulgar error. 
 
 The Author remembers being present when Sir Vicary Gibbs was 
 shewn the original portrait of Lord Coke in Trinity College, Cambridge, 
 (the College both of Coke and Bacon), and when, on allusion being made 
 to his filling, like Lord Coke, the office of a Chief Justice, Sir Vicary 
 immediately replied, " So were I equalled with him in renown !" 
 
122 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch, 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 SIR EDWARD COKE'S KITCHEN. 
 
 Jus condire Cocus potuit, sed condere jura 
 Non potuit ; potuit condere jura Cocus. 
 
 The Cook who once inhabited this kitchen could make 
 sauce, but he could not make laws : our new Cook (Coke) 
 can supply the deficiency of his Predecessor. 
 
 It could have been wished that Lord Campbell, from whose book the 
 distich in the text is taken, (a book most becoming in its subject, and 
 most worthy in its execution of the literary leisure of a great lawyer), had 
 translated it for the edification of the public ; the sting seems to turn on 
 the double meaning of the words, jus and cocus. There is a misprint in 
 Lord Campbell, which the learned reader will detect. 
 
 Sir Edward Coke, during his memorable imprisonment in the Tower, 
 was lodged in a low room which had once been a kitchen, where he found 
 an inscription written on the door of it by a wag, " This room has long 
 wanted a Cook" (Coke). Lord Campbell relates an anecdote of King James 
 assigning to the great lawyer another nickname, that of Captain Coke, 
 leader of the faction in Parliament. His Lordship cites this anecdote 
 from the Sloam MSS. in the British Museum. It had been previously 
 cited from those MSS. by the Author, in his Oi/er of Poisoning : it is a 
 curious coincidence, that the same needle should be found in the same 
 bottle of hay, by two lawyers, whose visits to the British Museum are 
 probably " rare and far between." (In the Author's Oyer of Poisoning 
 will be found numerous private notes of Sir E. Coke, that were seized 
 among his papers, and which had never before been published.) 
 
 XLV. 
 
 KING JAMES I. 
 
 (A) 
 King James's Visit to Cambridge. 
 
 Dum petit Infantam Princeps, Grantamque Jacobus, 
 Quisnam horum major sit, dubitatur, amor ? 
 
 Vincit more suo noster, nam millibus Infans 
 Non tot abest, quam nos regis ab ingenio. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 123 
 
 While Prince to Spain, and King to Cambridge goes, 
 The question is, whose love the greater shows ? 
 Ours, like himself, o'ercomes, for his wit 's more 
 Eemote from ours than Spain from Britain's shore. 
 
 (B) 
 
 King James's present of his Basilicon Doron. 
 
 Quid Vaticanum Bodleianumque objieis, hospes ? 
 Unicus est nobis Bibliotheea Liber. 
 
 Do not set up the Vatican or the Bodleian against 
 our Library : — we have a single Book which is worth any 
 Library in the world. 
 
 These Epigrams were composed by Herbert, the Public Orator of the 
 University of Cambridge, whom the King used to call the jewel of that 
 University, and were recited to the King whilst dining at Newmarket. 
 The meaning of the conceit in the first Epigram appears to be, that King 
 James shewed greater affection or condescension in visiting Cambridge, 
 than Prince Charles shewed in visiting the Infanta at Madrid. Why ? 
 Because we Cantabs are farther distant from the King in intellect, than 
 Prince Charles was from the Infanta in space. Both the Epigrams are 
 curious specimens of the perverted taste and political servility pf the 
 times. 
 
 XLVL 
 
 COWLEY. 
 
 Aurea dum volitant late tua scripta per orbem, 
 Et Fama seternum vivis, Divine Poeta, 
 Hie placida jaceas requie, Custodiat urnam 
 Cana Fides, vigilentque perenni lampade Musae, 
 Sit sacer iste locus, Nee quis temerarius ausit 
 Sacrilega turbare manu Venerabile Bustum. 
 Intacti maneant, maneant per secula dulcis 
 Couleij cineres, servetque immobile saxum. 
 
 While through the world thy labours shine 
 Bright as thyself, thou Bard divine ; 
 
124 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Thou in thy fame wilt live, and be 
 A partner with eternity. 
 
 Here in soft peace for ever rest, 
 (Soft as the love that fill'd thy breast :) 
 Let hoary Faith around thy urn. 
 And all the watchful Muses, mourn. 
 
 For ever sacred be this room ; 
 May no rude hand disturb thy tomb. 
 Or sacrilegious rage or lust 
 Affront thy venerable dust. 
 
 Sweet Cowley's dust let none profane. 
 Here may it undisturb'd remain ; 
 Eternity not take, but give. 
 And make this stone for ever live. 
 
 This is tlie epitaph on Cowley in Westminster Abbey, wherein he is 
 styled the Pindar, Horace, and Virgil of the English nation. The 
 monument was erected by Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, the Zimri of 
 Dryden, whose death-bed is immortalized by Pope, and whose biography 
 deserves to be investigated with greater attention than has hitherto been 
 bestowed upon it. The Latin is attributed to Dr Knipe. Not sufficiently, 
 perhaps, read and appreciated in the present day, Cowley was extolled 
 by his contemporaries for the vices, as much as for the excellencies of 
 his poetry, beyond all the poets of his day, ir^uding Milton. Lord 
 Clarendon, in the interesting details he gives regarding his early friends, 
 observes that "Ben Jonson was the best judge of, and fittest to prescribe 
 rules for poetry and poets, of any man who had lived with or before him, 
 or since: if Mr Cowley had not made a fiight beyond all men, with that 
 modesty yet, to ascribe much of this to the example and learning of Ben 
 Jonson." 
 
 Addison in his poem on the Greatest English Poets, felicitously ex- 
 presses some of the peculiarities of Cowley's poetry. 
 
 Great Cowley then (a mighty genius) wrote, 
 
 O'er-run with wit, and lavish of his thought : 
 
 His turns too closely on the reader press. 
 
 He more had pleas'd us, had he pleas'd us less. 
 
 One glittering thought no sooner strikes our eyes 
 
 With silent wonder, but new wonders rise 
 
 As in the milky way. — 
 
 Addison, in the remaining lines, may be thought to lavish too much 
 praise on Cowley's Pindarics, and not to do adequate justice to the ex- 
 
n.] BIOGRAPHY. 125 
 
 quisite touches of sentiment, and the vein of sprightliness which distin- 
 guish several of his minor poems. Pope, indeed, dwells on his pensive 
 vein as that most likely to survive the memory of his once-admired 
 conceits. 
 
 Though daring Milton sits sublime, 
 
 In Spenser native muses play. 
 IS'or yet shall Waller yield to time, 
 Nor pensive Cowley's moral lay. 
 
 A passage in Cowle/s lines on his friend Harve/s death, are beauti- 
 fully applied by Curran : 
 
 "And this soothing hope I draw from the dearest and tenderest 
 recollections of my life, from the remembrance of those attic nights and 
 those refections of the gods which we have spent with those admired and 
 respected and beloved companions who have gone before us; — over 
 whose ashes the most precious tears of Ireland have been shed. Yes, my 
 good lord, I see you do not forget them ; I see their sacred forms passing 
 in sad review before your memory ; I see your pained and softened 
 fancy recalling those happy meetings, when the innocent enjoyment of 
 social mirth expanded into the nobler warmth of social virtue, and the 
 horizon of the board became enlarged into the horizon of man ; — when 
 the swelling heart conceived and communicated the pure and generous 
 purpose, — when my slenderer and younger taper imbibed its borrowed 
 light from the more matured and redundant fountain of yours. Yes, my 
 lord, we can remember those nights without any other regret than that 
 they can never more return ; for 
 
 * We spent them not in toys, or lust, or wine : 
 But search of deep philosophy, 
 Wit, eloquence, and poesy ; 
 Arts which I lov'd, for they, my friend, were thine.'" 
 
126 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 a 
 
 XLVII. 
 COWLEY ON HIS OWN DEATH. 
 
 Hie, O Viator ! sub lare parvulo 
 Couleius hie est eonditus. Hie jaeet 
 Defunetus humani laboris 
 Sorte, supervaeuaque vita. 
 
 Non indeeora pauperie nitens, 
 Et non inerti nobilis otio, 
 Vanoque deleetis popello 
 Divitiis animosus hostis. 
 
 Possis ut ilium dieere mortuum, 
 En terra jam nune quantula suffieit ! 
 Exempta sit euris, Viator, 
 Terra sit ilia levis, preeare. 
 
 Hie sparge flores, sparge breves rosas, 
 Nam vita gaudet mortua floribus, 
 Herbisque odoratis eorona 
 
 Vatis adhuc cinerem calentem. 
 
 Here, passenger ! beneath this shade 
 Lies Cowley, though entomb'd, not dead, 
 Yet freed from human toil and strife, 
 And all the impertinence of life ; 
 
 Who in his poverty is neat, 
 And even in retirement great ! 
 With gold, the people's idol, he 
 Holds endless war and enmity. 
 
 Can you not say he has resigned 
 His breath, to this small cell confin'd ? 
 With this small mansion let him have 
 The rest and silence of the grave. 
 
 Strew roses here as on his hearse. 
 And reckon this his fun'ral verse : 
 With wreaths of fragrant herbs adorn 
 The yet surviving Poet's urn. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 127 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 THE OLD MAN OF VERONA. 
 
 Felixy qui patriis sevum transegit in agris, 
 
 Ipsa domus puerum, quern videt ipsa senem, 
 Qui baculo nitens in qua reptavit arena 
 
 Unius numerat secula longa casse. 
 Ilium non vario traxit fortuna tumultu, 
 
 Nee bibit ignotas mobilis hospes aquas. 
 Non freta mercator tremuit, non classica miles : 
 
 Non rauci lites pertulit ille fori. 
 Indocilis rerum, vicinse nescius urbis, 
 
 Adspectu fruitur liberiore Poli : 
 Frugibus alternis, non Consule computat annum. 
 
 Autumnum pomis, ver sibi flore notat : 
 Idem condit ager soles, idemque reducit, 
 
 Metiturque sui rusticus orbe diem : 
 Ingentem meminit parvo qui germine quercum, 
 
 iEquaevumque videt consenuisse nemus. 
 Proxima cui nigris Verona remotior Indis, 
 
 Benacumque putat littora rubra lacum. 
 Sed tamen indomitse vires, firmisque lacertis, 
 
 ^tas robustum tertia cernit avum. 
 Erret, et extremos alter scrutetur Iberos; 
 
 Plus habet hie vitaB ; plus habet ille viae. 
 
 Happy the man who his whole time doth bound 
 Within th' enclosure of his little ground : 
 Happy the man whom the same humble place 
 (Th' hereditary cottage of his race) 
 From his first rising infancy has known, 
 And by degrees sees gently bending down 
 With natural propension to that earth 
 Which both preserv'd his life and gave him birth : 
 Him no false distant lights, by fortune set, 
 Could ever into foolish wand'rings get ; 
 He never dangers either saw or fear'd ; 
 The dreadful storms at sea he never heard : 
 
128 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 He never heard the shrill alarms of war, 
 
 Or the worse noises of the lawyer's bar : 
 
 No change of Consuls marks to him the year : 
 
 The change of seasons is his calendar : 
 
 The cold and heat winter and summer shews, 
 
 Autumn by fruits, and spring by flowers, he knows : 
 
 He measures time by landmarks, and has found 
 
 For the whole day the dial of his ground : 
 
 A neighb'ring wood, born with himself, he sees, 
 
 And loves his old contemporary trees : 
 
 He's only heard of near Verona's name, 
 
 And knows it, like the Indies, but by fame : 
 
 Does with a like concernment notice take 
 
 Of the Eed Sea, and of Benacus' lake : 
 
 Thus health and strength he to a third age enjoys. 
 
 And sees a long posterity of boys. 
 
 About the spacious world let others roam. 
 
 Thy voyage, Life, is longest made at home. 
 
 This beautiful piece of Claudian has been translated by many hands, 
 of whom Cowley, whose version is that in the text, is the most celebrated. 
 The last line in the original would seem to convey a pun between the 
 words vitce and vice, which occasions the translations to be somewhat non- 
 sensical: and it is almost impossible to convey to English ears the 
 beauties of the lines 
 
 Qui baculo nitens in qua reptavit arena, 
 -^qusevumque videt consenuisse nemus. 
 
 A staff enables him to hobble over that ground on which he crawled 
 when a child. — ^When he looks upon his grove, he calls to mind that its 
 trees were small when he was small, and have grown with his growth, 
 and have become old along with his old age. 
 
11. ] BIOGRAPHY. 129 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 CORYAT'S CRUDITIES. 
 
 Cur, Coryate, tibi calcem Phoebeia Daphne 
 Cinxerit, et nudse laurea nulla comae ? 
 
 Verius at capitis pleni, Coryate, miserta, 
 In calces imos Musa rejecit onus. 
 
 Why does Daphne cover with her laurel your feet, and 
 leave your hairs bare ? It is, I presume, because the Muse 
 knew how full your head was, and therefore in pity laid her 
 load upon your heels. 
 
 The verses are written under a device of a pair of shoes covered with 
 laurel. The introduction to Coryat's Crudities, is a most entertaining 
 relic of literary wit. It consists of a laughable character of the author 
 by Ben Jonson, and a large collection of mock panegyrics, in every lan- 
 guage, upon Coryat, particularly in regard to his having travelled through 
 Europe with only one pair of shoes. Most of the authors of the day 
 contributed their quota of ingenious ridicule, at the instigation, or for 
 the amusement of Prince Henry, son of James I. Coryat introduced 
 forks into England : his Travels in Europe, and his very curious sojourn 
 in India, would have, probably, raised him in much higher estimation 
 with his contemporaries than he appears to have enjoyed, but for the 
 eccentricities of his pen and tongue : for as Ben Jonson writes, " He is a 
 great and bold carpenter of words, or, to express him in one like his own, 
 a Logodcedale. He is frequent at all sorts of free tables, where, though he 
 might sit as a guest, he will be rather served in as a dish, and is loth to 
 have anything of himself kept cold against the next day." 
 
 Inigo Jones joined the throng of wits who made mirth of Coryat's 
 Crudities. His contribution ends with an allusion to the benefit of clergy. 
 This work who scorns to buy, or on it looke. 
 May he at sessions crave, and want his booke ! 
 
ISO GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 SCORPUS THE CHARIOTEER. 
 
 lUe ego sum Scorpus, clamosi gloria Circi, 
 PlausuSj Roma, tui, deliciseque breves : 
 
 Invida quem Lachesis raptum trieteride nona, 
 Dum numerat palmas, credidit esse senem. 
 
 Erewhile I set the Circus in a roar, 
 
 O Eome ! thy Favourite, and Delight no more. 
 
 When envious Lachesis my triumphs told. 
 
 Though only three times nine, she thought me old. 
 
 The point or conceit in this Epigram has been often adopted in 
 English poetry. Ben Jonson thus recounts the premature death of a 
 youthful actor, one of those children of the royal chapel, whom Shakspere 
 designates as " an aiery of children, little eyases, that cry out on the top 
 of the question, and are most tyrannically clapt for it." 
 
 Years he numbered scarce thirteen, 
 
 When fates turned cruel. 
 Yet three filled Zodiacs had been 
 
 The stage's jewel. 
 And did act (what now we moan) 
 
 Old men so duly. 
 As, soothe, the Parcse thought him one, 
 
 He played so truly. 
 
 Suckling writes of a person in one year outliving Methusalem ; and 
 Young, in his Night Thoughts, sings 
 
 " Methusalems may die at twenty-one/' 
 
 Lord Bacon observes, that "a man may be young in years, though old 
 in hours." Habingdon, in an Elegy on a son of the Earl of Ayr, pushes 
 the conceit to a greater length : 
 
 'Tis false arithmetic to say thy breath 
 Expir'd too soon, or irreligious death 
 Profan'd thy holy youth ; for, if thy years 
 Be numbered by thy virtues, or our tea,rs, 
 Thou didst the old Methusalem outlive. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 131 
 
 Dnimmond may be thought to have expressed all that is good in the 
 idea, without the conceit of it : 
 
 Fame, Registrar of Time ! 
 Write in thy scroll, that I, 
 Of wisdom lover, and sweet poesy. 
 Was cropped in my prime, 
 And ripe in worth, though green in years, did die. 
 
 Some verses on the subject Passer in the Musce Anglicance, and several 
 ingenious French Epigrams are founded on the same idea. 
 
 LI. 
 
 PARIS THE PANTOMIME. 
 
 Quisquis Flaminiam teris, viator, 
 Noli nobile prseterire marmor. 
 Urbis deliciae, salesque Nili, 
 Ars et gratia, lusus et voluptas, 
 Romani decus, et dolor theatri, 
 Atque omnes Veneres, Cupidinesque, 
 Hoe sunt condita, quo Paris, sepulchro. 
 
 Passing the Flaminian Way, 
 
 Pass not this noble tomb, but stay : 
 
 Here's Rome's delight, and Nile's salt treasure, 
 
 Art, graces, sport, and sweetest pleasure ; 
 
 The grief and glory of the stage, 
 
 And all the Cupids of the age. 
 
 And all the Venuses lie here. 
 
 Interred in Paris' sepulchre. 
 
 This Epitaph on Paris is closely imitated in that upon Voiture : 
 
 Etruscse Veneres, Camcense Iberse ; 
 Hermes Gallicus, et Latina Syi'en, 
 Risus, Deliciae, Joci, Lepores, 
 Et quidquid fuit elegantiarum, 
 Quo Vecturius hoc jacent sepulchro. 
 
 9—2 
 
132 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 It may be thought also to have furnished the point of an Epitaph on 
 Moliere : 
 
 Sous ce tombeau gissent Plaute et Terence ; 
 Et cependant le seul Moliere y git. 
 Leurs trois talens ne formoient qu'un esprit, 
 Dont le bel art rejouissoit la France, 
 lis sont partis, et j'ai peu d'esperance 
 De les revoir, malgre tous nos efforts. 
 Pour un long temps, selon toute apparence, 
 Terence, et Plaute, et Moliere sont mors. 
 
 MaruUus's Epitaph on Pope Innocent VIII. is manifestly a parody of 
 that on Paris : 
 
 Spurcities, gula, avaritia, atque ignavia deses 
 Hoc, Octave, jacent, quo tegeris, tumulo. 
 
 Filth, gluttony, avarice, indolence, all lie, O Innocent VIII., under the 
 same tomb that covers you. 
 
 Paris is the hero of Massinger's play of the Roman Actor. Domitian's 
 speech after killing the Actor is at variance with Suetonius's account, 
 that the Emperor had a pupil of Paris's put to death for resembling him : 
 and that he had inflicted death on several persons who had strewn flowers 
 on the spot where Paris fell. Massinger has also invented the manner of 
 the Roman Actor's death, though following history in the occasion of it, 
 the Emperor's jealousy in regard to his wife Domitia. 
 
 There are various particulars concerning Paris in Suetonius's life of 
 Domitian ; and he is mentioned in several Satires of Juvenal. It has 
 been represented by some writers, that Juvenal was banished in conse- 
 quence of the invective against Paris, contained in his seventh Satire ; he 
 is stated by Juvenal to have relieved the pecuniary necessities of Statins, 
 the author of the Thebaid, by purchasing from him a tragedy of his com- 
 position : a relation which Dr Johnson has parodied in the lines in which 
 he holds forth as prospects of literary merit " a patron and a jail." 
 
 LII. 
 
 LATINUS THE MIME. 
 
 Dulce decus scense, ludorum fama, Latinus 
 lUe ego sum ; plausus deliciaeque tua? : 
 
 Qui spectatorem potui fecisse Catonem, 
 Solvere qui Curios Fabrieiosque graves. 
 
 Sed nihil a nostro sumpsit mea vita theatre, 
 Et mira tantum scenieus arte feror. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 133 
 
 Nee poteram gratus domino sine moribus esse : 
 
 Interius mentes inspicit ille deus, 
 Vos me laurigeri parasitum dicite Phoebi, 
 
 Roma sui famulum dum sciat esse Jovis. 
 
 Soul of the scene, unrivall'd in renown, 
 
 I was th' applause, and darling of the town. 
 
 I could command a Cato to attend ; 
 
 A Curius, or Fabricius, to unbend. 
 
 But, from the stage my life assum'd no part : 
 
 A player did I play alone in art. 
 
 Me Phoebus' parasite let all record, 
 
 So Rome acclaim me minion of her Lord. 
 
 Latinus was a celebrated player of Mimes, and also a spy of Domitian. 
 The actors of Mimes did not wear masks, nor the cothurnus, nor the sock. 
 Whereas the actors of pantomimes did not speak, and wore masks. Very 
 strange instead was the custom for mimes to attend the funerals of 
 the Romans, and to mimic the manners of the deceased ! Thus, at the 
 funeral of the stingy Vespasian, Suetonius relates that Faevo, the Arch- 
 mime, representing his person, and imitating his behaviour both in speech 
 and gesture, asked aloud of the Procurators, " how much will my funeral 
 pomp cost?" And, being answered, "ten millions of sesterces," he cried 
 out, " Give me but a hundred thousand sesterces, and you may throw my 
 body into the Tiber, if you will!" 
 
 Suetonius mentions a circumstance which shews that Latinus had 
 familiar access to Domitian, and is a curious example of that tyrant's 
 enormous cruelty : 
 
 " Nothing however so much affected him as an answer given him by 
 Ascletario the astrologer, and a subsequent disaster. This person had 
 been informed against, and did not deny his having spoken of some future 
 events, of which, from the principles of his art, he confessed he had 
 a fore-knowledge. Domitian asked him, what end he thought he should 
 come to himself ? to which he replying, * I shall in a short time be torn to 
 pieces by dogs,' he ordered him immediately to be slain, and, to demon- 
 strate the vanity of his art, to be carefully burnt. But during the pre- 
 parations for executing this order, it happened that the funeral pile was 
 blown down by a sudden storm, and his body, half- burnt, was torn to 
 pieces by dogs; which being observed by the mime Latinus, as he 
 chanced to pass that way, he told it, amongst other occurrences of the 
 day, to the emperor at supper." 
 
 Martial (Lib. m. Ep. 86) tells a Roman matron, that after witnessing 
 Latinus acting with Panniculus, it would be hypocrisy to have scruples 
 
134 GKMS OF LATIX POETEY. [Ch. 
 
 about reading his book. In another place (Lib. i. Ep. 5) he begs the 
 emperor to read his book in the same humour that he looks at Latinus 
 when acting with his wife Thymele. In Lib. n. Ep. 72, ^lartial speaks of 
 Latinus slapping Panniculus's face. Juvenal, Sat. 1. speaks of Latinus 
 sending his wife Thymele to avert the displeasure of another Ddator. 
 
 One of the most eloquent elegies written on an actress, is that by 
 Voltaire, on Clairon, whom the " churlish priests'* would not aUow to be 
 buried in consecrated ground : 
 
 Que direz vous.. Race future I 
 Lorsque vous apprendrez la fletrissante injure 
 Qu'a ces arts desoles font des hommes cmels? 
 
 lis privent de la sepulture 
 CeUe qui dans la Grece aurait en des antels. 
 Quand elle etoit an monde. Us soupiraient pour elle ; 
 Je les ai vu soumis, autour d'elle empresses : 
 Sitot qu'elle n'est plus elle est done criminelle ! 
 Elle a charme le monde, et vous Ten punissez ! 
 Non, ces bords desormais ne seront plus profanes : 
 lis contieiment ta cendre : et ce triste tombeau 
 Honore par nos chants, consacre par tes manes. 
 
 Est pour notis un temple nouveau. 
 Toila mon Saint-Denys : oui, c'est la que j'adore 
 Tes talens. ton esprit, tes graces, tes appas : 
 Je les aimai vivans ; Je les encense encore, 
 
 Malgre les horreurs de trepas, 
 
 !Malgre rerreur, et les ingrats 
 Que seuls de ce tombeau I'opprobre deshonore. 
 
 Lin. 
 
 C^SAR AND PO^IPEY. 
 
 Stimulos dedit gemiila virtus. 
 Tu nova ne veteres obscurent acta triumphos 
 Et yictis cedat piratica laiirea Gallis, 
 Magne, times : te jam series ususque labormn 
 Erigit, impatiensque loci fortuna secmidi. 
 Xec quenquam jam ferre potest, Cfesarve priorem 
 Pompeiusve parem. Quis justius induit arma 
 Scire nefas : magno se judice quisque tuetur : 
 
n.] BIOGRAPHY- 135 
 
 Victrix causa dels placuit, sed victa Catoni. 
 
 Xec coiere pare? : alter vergentibus annis 
 In senium, longoque tog-^e tranqiiillior usu 
 Dedidicit jam pace clueem : famteque petitor 
 Multa dare in viilgus : totus popularibus amris 
 Impelli, plausuque sui gaudere theatri : 
 Xec reparare novas vires, miiltumque priori 
 Credere fortunis. Stat magni nominis umbra. 
 Qualis frugifero quercus sublimis in agro 
 Exuvias veteres populi, sacrataque gestans 
 Dona ducum : nee jam validis radicibus h^erens,, 
 Pondera fixa suo est : nudosque per aera ramos 
 Effimdens,. trimeo, non frondibus efficit umbram : 
 At quamvis primo nutet casura sub Euro, 
 Tot eircum sylvs fii-mo se robore tollantj 
 Sola tamen colitur. 
 
 Sed non in Ctesare tantimi 
 Nomen erat.. nee fama ducis : sed nescia virtus 
 Stare loco : solusque pudor non ^dncere bello. 
 Acer, et indomitus : quo spes, quoqiie ii'a vocasset. 
 Ferre manum, et nunquam temerando parcere ferro. 
 Successus urgere suos : in stare favori 
 Numinis : irapellens quicqmd sibi summa petenti 
 Obstaret : gaudeusque viam fecisse ruina. 
 
 The rival leaders mortal war proclaim, ] 
 
 Rage fires their soids with jealousy of fame, > 
 And emulation fans the rising flame. ' 
 
 Thee. Pompey, thy past deeds by turns infest, 
 And jealous glory bm^ns within thy breast ; 
 Thy fam'd piratic lam-el seems to fade, 
 Beneath successfid Ctesar's rising shade ; 
 His Gallic wreaths thou "siew'st with anxious eyes 
 Above thy naval crowns triumphant rise. 
 Thee, Ctesar, thy long labours past incite, 
 Thy use of war, and custom of the fight ; 
 TThile bold ambition prompts thee in the race, 
 And bids thy coiu-age scorn a second place. 
 Superior power, fierce faction's dearest care, 
 One coidd not brook, and one disdained to share. 
 
136 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Justly to name the better cause were hard, 
 While greatest names for either side deelar'd : 
 Victorious Caesar by the gods was crown'd, 
 The vanquish'd party was by Cato own'd. 
 Nor came the rivals equal to the field ; 
 One to increasing years began to yield. 
 Old age came creeping in the peaceful gown, 
 And civil functions weigh'd the soldier down ; 
 Disus'd to arms, he turn'd him to the laws, 
 And pleas'd himself with popular applause ; 
 With gifts and liberal bounty sought for fame. 
 And lov'd to hear the vulgar shout his name ; 
 In his own theatre rejoiced to sit, 
 Amidst the noisy praises of the pit. 
 Careless of future ills that might betide, ) 
 No aid he sought to prop his failing side, > 
 But on his former fortune much relied. ) 
 Still seem'd he to possess, and fill his place ; 
 But stood the shadow of what once he was. 
 So, in the field with Ceres' bounty spread, 
 Uprears some ancient oak his reverend head ; 
 Chaplets and sacred gifts his boughs adorn, 
 And spoils of war by mighty heroes worn. 
 But, the first vigour of his root now gone. 
 He stands dependent on his weight alone ; 
 All bare his naked branches are display'd. 
 And with his leafless trunk he forms a shade ; 
 Yet though the winds his ruin daily threat, 
 As every blast would heave him from his seat ; 
 Though thousand fairer trees the field supplies, 
 That rich in youthful verdure round him rise ; 
 Fix'd in his ancient state he yields to none. 
 And wears the honours of the grove alone. 
 But Caesar's greatness, and his strength, was more 
 Than past renown and antiquated power ; 
 'Twas not the fame of what he once had been, 
 Or tales in old records and annals seen ; 
 But 'twas a valoiu*, restless, unconfin'd. 
 Which no success could sate, nor limits bind ; 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 137 
 
 'Twas shame, a soldier's shame, untaught to yield, 
 That blush'd for nothing but an ill-fought field ; 
 Fierce in his hopes he was, nor knew to stay, 
 Where vengeance or ambition led the way ; 
 Still prodigal of war whene'er withstood. 
 Nor spar'd to stain the guilty sword with blood ; 
 Urging advantage, he improv'd all odds. 
 And made the most of fortune and the gods ; 
 Pleas'd to o'erturn whate''er withheld his prize, 
 And saw the ruin with rejoicing eyes. 
 
 Blair, iA his Belles Lettres, observes, that the characters which Lucan 
 draws of Caesar and Pompey are "masterly," and the comparison of 
 Pompey to the aged decaying oak is "highly poetical." The line in the 
 character of Pompey, 
 
 Victrix Causa Diis placuit, sed Victa Catoni, 
 
 has exercised the wits of several of our poets, who have attempted, it may 
 be thought unsuccessfully, to express it as sententiously in English, as in 
 the original. Roscommon renders it thus : 
 
 The gods were pleas'd to choose the conquering side ; 
 
 But Cato thought he conquer'd when he died. 
 
 Stepney's lines are, perhaps, better than those " owned by a lord : " 
 The gods and Cato did in this divide, 
 They chose the conquering, he the conquer'd side. 
 
 Granville, Lord Lansdowne, in his poetical Essay on Translated Poetry, 
 writes with reference to this memorable line : 
 
 The Roman wit who impiously divides 
 His Hero and his Gods to different sides, 
 I would condemn, but that, in spite of sense, 
 Th' admiring world still stands in his defence. 
 How oft, alas ! the best of men in vain 
 Contend for blessings which the worst obtain ! 
 The Gods permitting traitors to succeed. 
 Become not parties to an impious deed : 
 And, by the Tyrant's murder we may find. 
 That Cato and the Gods were of a mind. 
 
 In a note upon this passage, his Lordship observes, 
 
 " The consent of so many ages having established the reputation of this 
 line, it may perhaps be presumption to attack it ; but it is not to be sup- 
 posed that Cato, who is described to have been a man of rigid morals and 
 strict devotion, more resembling the gods than men, would have chosen 
 
138 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 any party in opposition to those gods whom he professed to adore. The 
 poet would give us to understand, that this hero was too righteous a 
 person to accompany the divinities themselves in an unjust cause. But to 
 represent a mortal man to be either wiser or juster than the Deity, may 
 show the impiety of the writer, but add nothing to the merit of the hero : 
 neither reason nor religion will allow it, and it is impossible for a corrupt 
 being to be more excellent than a divine. Success implies permission, and 
 not approbation ; to place the gods always on the thriving side, is to make 
 them partakers of all successful wickedness : to judge right, we must wait 
 for the conclusion of the action; the catastrophe will best decide on 
 which side is Providence, and the violent death of Csesar acquits the gods 
 from being companions of his usurpation, Lucan was a determined 
 republican ; no wonder he was a free-thinker." 
 
 The inference drawn by his Lordship, at the end of his remarks, is 
 illiberal. Neither is Providence to be judged of, as he appears to insinu- 
 ate, by any results in this world. The sentiment of Lucan is surely 
 a noble one, that Cato was not led by interest or superstition to follow the 
 successful party, though weaker-minded people inferred that success was 
 owing to the favour of the gods : but he clung to the losing side, because 
 he deemed it the side of justice, of liberty, and of enlightened religious 
 duty. 
 
 LIV. 
 
 CATO. 
 
 Hie nee horrificam sancto dimovit ab ore 
 Caesariem, duroque admisit gaudia vultu : 
 (Ut primum tolli feralia viderat arma, 
 Intonsos rigidam in frontem descendere canos 
 Passus erat, moestamque genis increscere barbam. 
 Uni quippe vaeat studiisque odiisque carenti, 
 Humanum lugere genus) nee foedera prisci 
 Sunt tentata tori : justo quoque robur amori 
 Eestitit. Hi mores, haec duri immota Catonis 
 Secta fuit, servare modum, finemque tenere, 
 Naturamque sequi, patriseque impendere vitam : 
 Nee sibi, sed toti genitum se credere mundo. 
 Huic epulse, vicisse famem : magnique penates, 
 Submovisse hyemem tecto : pretiosaque vestis, 
 
IL] BIOGRAPHY. 139 
 
 Hirtam membra super Romani more Quiritis 
 Induxisse togam : Venerisque huic maximus usus, 
 Progenies : Urbi pater est, Urbique maritus. 
 Justitiae eultor, rigidi servator honesti : 
 In commune bonus : nuUosque Catonis in actus 
 Subrepsit, partemque tulit sibi nata voluptas. 
 
 (For when he saw the fatal factions arm, 
 
 The coming war, and Rome's impending harm ; 
 
 Regardless quite of every other care, 
 
 Unshorn he left his loose neglected hair ; 
 
 Rude hung the hoary honours of his head, 
 
 And a foul growth his mournful cheeks o'erspread. 
 
 No stings of private hate his peace infest. 
 
 Nor partial favour grew upon his breast : 
 
 But, safe from prejudice, he kept his mind 
 
 Free, and at leisure to lament mankind). 
 
 Nor could his former love's returning fire, ] 
 
 The warmth of one connubial wish inspire, [ 
 
 But strongly he withstood the just desire. J 
 
 These were the stricter manners of the man. 
 
 And this the stubborn course in which they ran ; 
 
 The golden mean unchanging to pursue. 
 
 Constant to keep the purposed end in view ; 
 
 Religiously to follow nature's laws. 
 
 And die with transport in his country's cause. 
 
 To think he was not for himself design' d. 
 
 But born to be of use to all mankind. 
 
 To him 'twas feasting, hunger to repress ; 
 
 And home-spun garments were his costly dress : 
 
 No marble pillars rear'd his roof on high, 
 
 'Twas warm, and kept him from the winter sky : 
 
 He sought no end of marriage, but increase. 
 
 Nor wisVd a pleasure, but his country's peace : 
 
 That took up all the tenderest parts of life. 
 
 His country was his children and his wife. 
 
 From justice's righteous lore he never swerv'd, 
 
 But rigidly his honesty preserv'd. 
 
 On universal good his thoughts were bent, 
 
 Nor knew what gain, or self-affection meant ; 
 
140 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 And while his benefits the public share, 
 Cato was always last in Cato's care. 
 
 Cato's character, to which the sublimest homage was paid by Horace, 
 even in the servile court of Augustus, is almost deified by the later 
 Roman writers. But shortly after his death, it was severely attacked by 
 Julius Caesar, in a work called Anticato, in answer to a panegyric upon 
 Cato, by Cicero. The praises of Cato, after being reiterated by almost 
 every Roman writer of genius who lived subsequent to him, acquired for 
 Addison, among his contemporaries at least, a very high meed of fame ; 
 both tories and whigs of his day laying claim to Cato as one of their party. 
 Pope writes, " Cato was not so much the wonder of Rome in his days as he 
 is of Britain in ours. The numerous and violent claps of the whig party on 
 the one side of the theatre, were echoed back by the tories on the other. 
 After all the applauses of the opposite faction, my Lord Bolingbroke sent 
 for Booth into his box, and presented him with fifty guineas in acknow- 
 ledgment, as he expressed it, for defending the cause of liberty so well 
 against a Perpetual Dictator;" alluding to the Duke of Marlborough, who 
 had been soliciting a patent to appoint him Captain- General for life. 
 
 LV. 
 
 EPICURUS. 
 
 Humana ante oculos foede quom vita jaceret 
 In terreis, oppressa gravi sub Keligione, 
 Quae caput a coeli regionibus ostendebat, 
 Horribili super aspectu mortalibus instans ; 
 Primum Graius Homo mortaleis tollere contra 
 Est oculos ausus, primusque obsistere contra. 
 Quern neque fama Deum, nee fulmina, nee minitanti 
 Murmure compressit coelum ; sed eo magis aerem 
 Irritat animi virtutem, efFringere ut arcta 
 Naturae primus portarum claustra cupiret. 
 Ergo vivida vis animi pervicit, et extra 
 Processit longe flammantia moenia mundi ; 
 Atque omne immensum peragravit mente animoque. 
 
 Long time men lay oppress'd with slavish fear ; 
 Religion's tyranny did domineer, 
 
n.] BIOGRAPHY. 141 
 
 And being plac'd in heav'n look'd proudly down, 
 
 And frighted abject spirits with her frown. 
 
 At length a mighty man of Greece began 
 
 T' assert the nat'ral liberty of man 
 
 By senseless terrors, and vain fancies led 
 
 To slav'ry : straight the conquer'd phantom fled ! 
 
 Not the fam'd stories of the Deity, 
 
 Not all the thunder of the threat'ning sky, 
 
 Could stop his rising soul ; through all He past 
 
 The strongest bounds that pow'rful nature cast : 
 
 His vigorous and active mind was hurl'd 
 
 Beyond the flaming limits of this world, 
 
 Into space infinite ; and there did see 
 
 How things begin, what can, what cannot be. 
 
 Dugald Stewart observes, that it is the image of mental energy bear- 
 ing up against the terrors of overwhelming power, which gives so strong a 
 poetical effect to the description of Epicurus in Lucretius, and also to the 
 character of Satan as conceived by Milton. In these cases, Stewart 
 thinks that the sublimity of energy is only a reflection from the sub- 
 limity of power. 
 
 Lucretius commences his third book with another eulogy on Epicurus, 
 and in some lines in which he contemptuously declaims against the com- 
 plaints of death by men whose whole lives have been of as little utility 
 as if they had spent them in winding sheets, he observes, that even the 
 great Epicurus was compelled to bow to the law of humanity. It is in 
 speaking of him theie he uses the line which is adopted as an inscription 
 on the statue of Newton, in Trinity College Chapel : " His genius sur- 
 passed that of the human race, (Qui genus humanum ingenio superavit)." 
 Lucretius passed also eloquent eulogiums on Ennius and Empedocles. In 
 a poem, like that of Lucretius, containing 7416 lines, we are indebted to 
 Creech for a synopsis of each book, especially as upwards of 7000 lines 
 may be thought to consist of elaborate and exploded nonsense. But the 
 Oasises of this desert, such as the exordium to Venus ; the View of the 
 Tempest of Human Desires and Passions from the rock of philosophy, 
 of which passage Lord Bacon has availed himself; the philosophical 
 explanation of the fabled punishments of Tartarus, from the Greek 
 orator, ^schines ; the Athenian Dirge ; the Lamentations of the Mother 
 of the Sacrificed Heifer, and a few more brilliant or touching passages 
 and lines, will, perhaps, be considered unrivalled in the whole range of 
 ancient poetry. It is curious that a controversy exists concerning Cicero's 
 opinion of Lucretius, arising out of discordancy of manuscripts, some 
 inserting, others omitting, the word "not," in a letter of Cicero to his 
 
142 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 brother Quintus : " The poems of Lucretius, as you observe, are written 
 (not) with much brightness of wit, yet, notwithstanding, with a great deal 
 of art." Dugald Stewart remarks of Lucretius, that his subUmity depends 
 on the lively images he presents of the attributes against which he 
 reasons, and that he makes the sublimest descriptions of Almighty Power 
 form a part of his argument against Divine Omnipotence. 
 
 LVI. ^ 
 
 ] 
 
 CATULLUS AT HIS BROTHER'S TOMB. 
 
 Multas per gentes, et multa per sequora vectus, • 
 
 Adveni has miseras, frater, ad inferias, j 
 
 Ut te postremo donarem munere mortis, 1 
 
 Et mutum nequidquam alloquerer cinerem : \ 
 
 Quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum : | 
 
 Heu miser indigne frater ademte mihi ! j 
 
 Nunc tamen interea prisco quaB more parentum ] 
 
 Tradita sunt tristes munera ad inferias, ! 
 Accipe, fraterno multum manantia fletu : 
 
 Atque in perpetuum, frater, ave, atque vale ! i 
 
 Brother, I come o'er many seas and lands 
 To the sad rite which pious love ordains. 
 
 To pay thee the last gift that death demands ; 
 And oft, though vain, invoke thy mute remains : 
 
 Since death has ravish'd half myself in thee, 
 
 Oh wretched brother, sadly torn from me ! 
 
 And now ere fate our souls shall re-unite. 
 To give me back all it hath snatch'd away. 
 
 Receive the gifts, our fathers' ancient rite 
 To shades departed still was wont to pay ; 
 
 Gifts wet with tears of heartfelt grief that tell, 
 
 Thus ever, brother, bless thee, and farewell ! 
 
 Catullus has lamented his Brother's death, in two other poems, ad- 
 dressed to Hortalus, and Manlius, wherein his feelings on the subject are 
 
 ^\i 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 143 
 
 expressed in verses than which there is nothing more touching in ancient 
 poetry. It appears, from one of these poems, that his Brother's remains 
 were interred at the Rhsetean Promontory, in the region of Troas. The 
 undertaking a long journey by sea and land, for the purpose of perform- 
 ing funeral rites over the ashes of a Brother, after, probably, the ordi- 
 nary ceremonies at the pile and upon sepulture, had taken place, is an 
 interesting transaction, and is related by the poet with simplicity and 
 genuine feeling. The ordinary ceremonies at funerals are enumerated 
 in charming poetry by TibuUus, in reference prospectively to his own 
 obsequies. The minute details will be found in the Appendix to Bekker's 
 Gallus. Round the funeral pile of the son of Regulus, the Delator, were 
 slain all his pet animals, viz. little coach- and saddle-horses, dogs of various 
 kinds, parrots, blackbirds, and nightingales. 
 
 ' LVII. } 
 
 i 
 CATULLUS AND CICERO. -i 
 
 Disertissime Komuli nepotum ' 
 
 Quot sunt, quotque fuere, Marce TuUi ! 
 
 Quotque post aliis erunt in annis ; \ 
 
 Gratias tibi maximas Catullus 
 
 Agit, pessimus omnium poeta : ^ 
 
 Tanto pessimus omnium poeta, ; 
 
 Quanto tu optimus omnium patronus. ' 
 
 Tully, most eloquent, most sage | 
 
 Of all the Roman race, \ 
 
 That deck the past or present age. 
 
 Or future days may grace. ^ 
 
 Oh ! may Catullus thus declare A 
 
 An overflowing heart ; 
 And, though the worst of Poets, dare 
 
 A grateful lay impart ? i 
 
 'Twill teach thee how thou hast surpast ; 
 
 All others in thy line ; , 
 
 For, far as he in his is last, j 
 
 Art thou the first in thine. i 
 
144 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 These lines were thus imitated by Smart, after dining with Lord 
 Mansfield : 
 
 O thou of British orators the chief. 
 
 That were, or are in being, or belief; 
 
 All eminence and goodness as thou art. 
 
 Accept the gratitude of poet Smart. 
 
 The meanest of the tuneful train as far. 
 
 As thou transcend'st the brightest at the bar. 
 
 Catullus's letters to Julius Csesar are so far more revolting than the 
 flowers of Billingsgate, that they are not inserted in this collection, (a 
 modest version of them, very unlike the original, will be found in Lamb's 
 Catullus, whence the version in the text is taken.) They are, however, 
 remarkable as libels on Csesar in the height of his power, which the 
 dictator did not resent. Cicero mentions that they were read to Csesar 
 after his bath, and that he made no remark upon them whatever, nor 
 changed countenance. The circumstance is mentioned in the 23rd No. of 
 the Spectator, and Caesar's conduct is there compared with that of Cardi- 
 nal Mazarine on a similar occasion. 
 
 Niebuhr lays it down that " Catullus was the greatest poet Rome ever 
 had." This insufferable dogmatism on a subject on which a dissent from 
 the opinion of ages ought to be hazarded with the utmost deference, may 
 appear as unfounded as it is coxcombical. In the same presumptuous and 
 ridiculous vein he asserts that Virgil is a remarkable instance of a man 
 mistaking his vocation, his real calling being lyric poetry : and that it never 
 occurred to him to place Virgil among Roman poets of the first order, for 
 that his most complete work, the ^neid, was a total failure. 
 
 LVIII. 
 YOUNG TORQUATUS. 
 
 Torquatus, volo, parvulus 
 Matris e gremio suae 
 Porrigens teneras manus, 
 Dulce rideat ad patrem 
 Semihiante labello. 
 
 And next to be completely blest, 
 Soon may a young Torquatus rise, 
 
n.] BIOGRAPHY. 145 
 
 Who, laughing on his mother's breast, 
 To his known sire shall turn his eyes. 
 
 Outstretch his infant arms the while, 
 Half ope his little lips, and smile. 
 
 The English verses are introduced by Sir W. Jones into an Epithala- 
 mium, on the marriage of Lord Spenser. He pronounces the original, 
 which he has imitated, a picture worthy the pencil of Domenichino. 
 
 LIX. 
 
 QUmTH^IAN AND MARTIAL. 
 
 Quinctiliane, vagae moderator summe juventaB, 
 
 Gloria Komanae, Quinctiliane, togae ; 
 Vivere quod propero pauper, nee inutilis annis, 
 
 Da veniam : properat vivere nemo satis. 
 Differat hoc, patrios optat qui vincere census, 
 
 Atriaque immodicis arctat imaginibus. 
 Me focus, et nigros non indignantia fumos 
 
 Tecta juvant, et fons vivus, et herba rudis. 
 Sit mihi verna satur : sit non doctissima conjux : 
 
 Sit nox cum somno : sit sine lite dies. 
 
 O Thou, who rul'st with uncontrolled renown 
 
 The wave of youth, thou glory of the gown ! 
 
 That I, who boast not yet my wine or oil, 
 
 Nor quite disabled by fell time to toil, 
 
 Should haste (who makes sufficient haste ?) to live : 
 
 Such oddity, my generous friend, forgive. 
 
 This joy let him delay, who deems th' extent 
 
 Penurious of his affluent father's rent ; 
 
 Whose full sufficience answers not his calls. 
 
 Who crowds v/ith ancient images his halls. 
 
 Mine be the roof no envy can provoke : 
 
 Warm'd by the fire, yet fearless of the smoke ; 
 
 A fount of crystal gently bubbling by ; 
 
 A bed of greens luxuriance to supply : 
 
 A sated servant, not a learned wife ; 
 
 Nights drown 'd with rest, and days unknown to strife. 
 
 10 
 
146 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Martial has a small poem addressed to Juvenal of the Hke tenor. 
 It does not appear that he and Statins, though they write on the same 
 passing events, had any literary communication. It is not proposed, in 
 the present volume, to examine into the philosophy of the Romans, or 
 the details of their domestic life. For this reason, the opinions of 
 Martial in these two pieces, and in another in which he gives a summary 
 of his views of a Happy Life (Vita Beata, a subject on which Seneca and 
 Lactantius have written books), are reserved for consideration on a future 
 occasion. On such occasion it may be proper to discuss also the details 
 of Martial's various invitations to Supper, and to compare them with what 
 is to be found on the subject among the ancients, and in Ben Jonson, 
 Milton, and Pope, among the moderns. But it may here be interesting 
 to notice the particular terms in which Quintilian is addressed in the first 
 two lines ; and, with regard to Martial's prayer, that he might not be 
 allotted too learned a wife, to cite the opinion of Juvenal on the same 
 subject : 
 
 Odi 
 
 Hanc ego, quse repetit volvitque Palsemonis artem, 
 
 Servata semper lege, et ratione loquendi, 
 
 Ignotosque mihi tenet antiquaria versus, 
 
 Nee curanda viris Opicse castigat amicse 
 
 Verba. Soloecismum liceat fecisse marito. 
 
 For my part, I cannot endure a woman who is always poring over 
 some book of Grammar ; who talks by rule, obeys laws of speech, and 
 every now and then brings out some word which I never heard of before. 
 She is constantly correcting the cacology of some country cousin. Surely 
 a husband ought to have the right of committing a soloecism. 
 
 Ancient writers give more favourable pictures of Roman Wives, and do 
 not appear to have had the like horror of learned Wives. Statius's poem 
 to his Wife, in his Silvse, which has been translated by Dr Hodgson, is 
 one of his most engaging compositions. Ausonius has several interesting 
 poems to or on his Wife. The following may be thought a pleasing 
 specimen, founded on a wish of Martial, that a wife may not appear old 
 even when she is so ; a thought which is beautifully expanded and illus- 
 trated by Dugald Stewart, in his chapter on the Association of Ideas. 
 
 Uxor, vivamus quod viximus, et teneamus 
 
 Nomina quse prime sumpsimus in thalamo ! 
 Nee ferat uUa Dies ut commutemur in sevo, 
 
 Quin tibi sim juvenis, tuque puella mihi. 
 Nectore sim quamvis provectior, semulaque annis 
 
 Yincas Cumanam tu quoque Deiphoben. 
 Non ignoremus quid sit matura senectus. 
 
 Scire sevi incertum, non numerare, decet. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 147 
 
 Pliny writes the following letters of and to his wife, Calphumia : 
 " As you are an exemplary instance of tender regard to your family 
 in general, and to your late excellent brother in particular, whose affec- 
 tion you returned with an equal warmth of resentment ; and have not 
 only shewn the kindness of an aunt, but supphed the loss of a tender 
 parent to his daughter ; you will hear, I am well persuaded, with infinite 
 pleasure, that she behaves worthy of her father, her grandfather, and 
 yourself. She possesses an excellent understanding, together with a 
 consummate prudence, and gives the strongest testimony of the purity of 
 her heart by her fondness of me. Her affection to me has given her a 
 turn to books ; and my compositions, which she takes a pleasure in 
 reading, and even in getting by heart, are continually in her hands. How 
 full of tender solicitude is she when I am entering upon any cause ? How 
 kindly does she rejoice with me when it is over? While I am pleading, 
 she places persons to inform her from time to time how I am heard, 
 what applauses I receive, and what success attends the cause. When at 
 any time I recite my works, she conceals herself behind some curtain, 
 and with secret rapture enjoys my praises. She sings my verses to her 
 lyre, with no other master but Love, the best instructor, for her guide. 
 From these happy ch^cumstances I draw my most assured hopes, that the 
 harmony between us will increase with our days, and be as lasting as our 
 lives. For it is not my youth or my person, which time gradually im- 
 pairs; it is my reputation and my glory of which she is enamoured. 
 But what less could be expected from one who was trained by your 
 hands, and formed by your instructions ; who was early familiarised 
 under your roof with all that is worthy and amiable, and was first taught 
 to conceive an affection for me, by the advantageous colours in which you 
 ^ were pleased to represent me ? And as you revered my mother with all 
 the respect due even to a parent, so you kindly directed and encouraged 
 my infancy, presaging of me from that early period all that my wife now 
 fondly imagines I really am. Accept therefore of our mutual thpnks, that 
 you have thus, as it were designedly, formed us for each other. Farewell." 
 
 " You kindly tell me, my absence is greatly uneasy to you, and that 
 your only consolation is in conversing with my works, instead of their 
 author, which you frequently place by your side. How agreeable is it to 
 me to know that you thus wish for my company, and support yourself 
 under the want of it by these tender amusements ! In return, I entertain 
 myself with reading over your letters again and again, and am continually 
 taking them up as if I had just received them; but alas ! they only serve 
 to make me more strongly regret your absence ; for how amiable must 
 her conversation be, whose letters have so many charms ? Let me receive 
 them, however, as often as possible, notwithstanding there is still a 
 mixture of pain in the pleasure they afford me. Farewell." 
 
 10—2 
 
148 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 LX. 
 
 COTTA. 
 
 (who never knew a day's illness.) 
 
 Sexagesima, Martiane, messis 
 Acta est, et, puto, jam secunda Cottse ; 
 Nee se tsedia leetiili calentis 
 Expertum meminit die vel uno. 
 Ostendit digitum, sed impudicum, 
 Alconti, Dasioque, Symmachoque. 
 At nostri bene computentur anni, 
 Et, quantum tetricsB tulere febres, 
 Aut languor gravis, aut mali dolores, 
 A vita meliore separentur : 
 Infantes sumus, et senes videmur. 
 J^^tatem Priamique, Nestorisque 
 Longam qui putat esse, Martiane, 
 Multum decipiturque, falliturque. 
 Non est vivere, sed valere, vita. 
 
 Cotta has liv'd full sixty years and more, 
 And yet (my Martian) never felt the sore 
 Affliction of a fever one short bout : 
 Thence, in derision, holds his finger out 
 Against Alcantes, Dacus, Symmachus. 
 But if our years were well computed thus : 
 Take off the hours to pain and grief assigned, 
 To fevers, and to agony of mind, 
 And' separate them from each happier day ; 
 We are but boys in years, and yet seem grey. 
 He that conceives (my Martian) Priam's age, 
 Or Nestor's to be long on the world's stage. 
 Is much deceived, much out : For I thee tell, 
 To be, is not call'd life, but to be well. 
 
 One of the most beautiful gems in the Greek Anthology is a hymn to 
 Health, of which a prose translation is given by Dr Johnson in the 
 Rambler, No. 48. It has been frequently translated into English Poetry. 
 The text furnishes a motto for that number of the Rambler^ and also 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 149 
 
 for a paper by Steele in the Spectator, No. 143. Jeremy Taylor, in his 
 Holy Living, has some important reflections on the religious uses of 
 sickness, and the following letter of Pliny contains some valuable re- 
 marks of a heathen on the same subject : 
 
 " The lingering disorder of a friend of mine gave me occasion lately 
 to reflect that we are never so virtuous as when opprest with sickness. 
 Where is the man, who under the pain of any distemper, is either soli- 
 cited by avarice or enflamed with lust ? At such a season he is neither 
 a slave of love, nor the fool of ambition ; he looks with indifference upon 
 the charms of wealth, and is contented with ever so small a portion of it, 
 as being upon the point of leaving even that little. It is then that he 
 recollects that there are Gods, and that he himself is but a man : no 
 mortal is then the object of his envy, his admiration, or his contempt; 
 and the reports of slander neither raise his attention, nor feed his curio- 
 sity: his imagination is wholly employed upon baths and fountains. 
 These are the subjects of his cares and wishes : while he resolves, if he 
 should recover, to pass the remainder of his days in ease and tranquillity, 
 that is, in innocence and happiness. I may therefore lay down to you 
 and myself a short rule, which the philosophers have endeavoured to 
 inculcate at the expence of many words, and even many volumes ; that 
 'we should practise in health those resolutions we form in sickness.' 
 Farewell." 
 
 Erskine stated in the House of Lords, that during the twenty-seven 
 years he practised at the Bar, he was on no occasion prevented from 
 attending to his business in Court by indisposition. Pope, on the other 
 hand, writes to Arbuthnot, 
 
 Friend to my life ! (which, did not you prolong, 
 
 The world had wanted many an idle song.) 
 And again : 
 
 The Muse but served to ease some friend, not wife, 
 
 And help me through this long disease, my life. 
 
 To second, Arbuthnot! thy art and care, 
 
 And teach the being you preserv'd to bear. 
 The version in the text is by Fletcher, a little modified. The terse- 
 ness and neatness of the original almost defies imitation. There is one 
 point in it which is not easily translatable, viz. that Cotta holds out a 
 finger, as a patient might do, to the three physicians of most practice in 
 Rome, but it is that finger, which among the Romans, was called the 
 finger of contempt or derision. 
 
150 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 LXI. 
 
 SABIDUS. 
 
 (disliked, without knowing why.) 
 
 Non amo te, Sabidi, nee possum dieere quare ; 
 Hoe tantum possum dieere, non amo te. 
 
 Je ne vous aime pas, Hylas, 
 Je n'en saurois dire la eause, 
 Je sais seulement une chose, 
 C'est que je ne vous aime pas. 
 
 Sheridan, in a parliamentary debate, is reported to have said, " These 
 Gentlemen shew us no such acts ; they seem as if they considered the 
 Ministers, now the drudgery of signing the treaty of Peace is done, as 
 functi offi,cus, and as if they ought to go out ; as if one was a mere goose- 
 quill, and the other a stick of sealing-wax, which are done with, and 
 ought to be thrown under the table. We know that Touchstone says, 
 as a good ground for quarrel, 'that he don*t like the cut of a certain 
 courtier's beard.* Perhaps this capricious dislike cannot be better ex- 
 emplified than by the sentiment expressed in the well-known epigram of 
 Martial. The English parody may be more applicable to these Gentlemen: 
 I do not like thee, Dr Fell, 
 The reason why I cannot tell : 
 But this, I'm sure, I know full well, 
 I do not like thee, Dr Fell. 
 "It is fair. Sir, to say, that this English parody, so unfavourable to the 
 Doctor, proceeds from the mouth of a fair lady, who has privileges to like 
 and dislike, which would ill become a Member of this House." 
 
 Martial has another epigram on undefinable predilections and anti- 
 pathies : 
 
 DiflScilis, facilis ; jucundus, acerbus es, idem. 
 
 Nee tecum possum vivere, nee sine te. 
 In all thy humours, whether grave, or mellow, 
 Thou 'rt such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow. 
 Hast so much wit, and mirth, and spleen about thee. 
 There is no living with thee, nor without thee. 
 There are two lines of Catullus which have been much admired, that 
 are founded on the same kind of indescribable feelings, or causes of 
 feeling : 
 
 Odi, et amo. Quare id faciam fortasse requiris ? 
 
 Nescio. Sed fieri sentio, et excrucior. 
 I hate and love — ask why ? I can't explain ; 
 I feel 'tis so, and feel it racking pain. 
 
IL] BIOGRAPHY. 151 
 
 LamVs translation may be thought not to convey the entire spirit of 
 the original, which it would be difficult to transfer into another language. 
 The English reader cannot be expected to acquiesce in the high praises 
 which the original has elicited. Fenelon writes, " Catulle, qu'on ne peut 
 nommer sans avoir horreur de ses obscenites, est au comble de la perfec- 
 tion pour une simplicite passionee;" then, after quoting the lines in the 
 text, he continues, "Combien Ovide et Martial, avec leurs traits inge- 
 nieux et fa9onnes, sent ils au dessous de ces paroles negligees, ou le coeur 
 saisi parle seul dans une espece de desespoir," 
 
 LXII. 
 
 SULPICIA. 
 (the model of " Grace " for Milton's Eve.) 
 
 Illam quicquid agit, quoquo vestigia vertit, 
 Gomponit furtim, subsequiturque decor, 
 
 *' A concealed Grace fashions her every action, and 
 closely attends on her every footstep." 
 
 The following translations are to be found in the Appendix to Spence's 
 
 If she but moves, or looks, her step, her face 
 By stealth adopt unmeditated grace. 
 
 Or, 
 Whate'er she does, where'er she bends her course, 
 Grace guides her steps and gives her beauty force. 
 
 Or, 
 Whate'er she does, where'er she moves, a Grace 
 Slides in to give it form, and marks the trace. 
 
 Or, 
 A secret trace attends her charms inbred, 
 Work in each action, in each footstep tread. 
 
 Or, 
 In every motion, action, look, and air, 
 A secret grace attends, and forms the fair. 
 
 Or, 
 With every motion, every careless air, 
 Grace steals along, and forms my lovely fair. 
 
152 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 The first of these poetic versions is by Horace Walpole, who writes, " I 
 have translated the lines, and send them to you, but the expressive con- 
 ciseness and beauty of the original made it so difiScult, that I beg they 
 may be of no other use than of shewing you how readily I complied with 
 your request." He adds, " There are twenty little literary variations that 
 may be made, as move or look, air instead of step, steal and adopt instead 
 of 63/ stealth adopt. But none of these changes will make the copy half so 
 pretty as the original. "Was not Milton's paraphrase, ' Grace was in all her 
 steps, &c.* even an improvement on the original ? It takes the thought, 
 gives it a noble simplicity, and don't screw it up into so much prettiness." 
 Perhaps Milton may be thought to imitate TibuUus more closely in the 
 lines, 
 
 Forth she went 
 
 Not unattended, for on her as Queen 
 
 A pomp of winning graces waited still. 
 
 TibuUus* whole poem on Sulpicia's birthday, consisting only of twenty- 
 four lines, is quite worthy of companionship with the two lines in the 
 text. Perhaps the line, (Mille habet ornatus, mille decenter habet), 
 " Thus Vertumnus, in Olympus, has a thousand ornaments ; a thousand 
 which all become him," may be thought, at least as it is expressed in 
 Latin, not inferior in neatness to those which have been cited. In pathos 
 and tenderness, indeed, the poem is very far below TibuUus' first Elegy 
 to Delia, as may perhaps appear from the following lines translated by 
 Dr Hodgson: 
 
 At my last hour thy features may I see. 
 And hang with dying tenderness on thee ! 
 Thoul't weep, my Delia, when thy lover lies 
 On the black pile, where mournful flames arise. 
 Thoul't shed the dew of pity o'er my bier. 
 And mix with many a kiss the bursting tear. 
 Yes, thou wilt weep, no iron heart is thine, 
 But softness all. — 
 
 And yet, good as this translation is, how very inadequately does the 
 English in the second line express TibuUus* exquisite Te teneam moriens 
 dejiciente manu ! 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 153 
 
 LXIII. 
 
 ZOILUS. 
 
 (Unfavoukable Physiognomy.) 
 
 Crine ruber, niger ore, brevis pede, lumine laesus, 
 Kem magnam prsestas, Zoile, si bonus es. 
 
 Ked-hair'd, black-faced, club-footed, and blear-eyed 
 Zoilus, 'tis much if thou art good beside. 
 
 Many celebrated persons have been remarkable for deformity. 
 Among the ancients, Plato and Xenophon seem to have found amusement 
 in ridiculing the flat nose, broad nostrils (more capacious, as they said, 
 for taking in smells on all sides), and goggle eyes of their preceptor 
 Socrates ; and Martial observes of a statue of that philosopher, that it 
 might well pass for the statue of a satyr. In a Life of JEsop, by a monk 
 in the 4th Century who collected the fables attributed to him, he is 
 represented as a monster of ugliness ; but there is no authority for this 
 popular modern opinion in ancient writers. The Athenians caused Ly- 
 sippus to erect a statue to him (adverted to by Phsedrus in a passage 
 quoted by Sir R. Walpole, in his memorable speech on the Peerage Bill), 
 which may not appear an appropriate honour to a very deformed person. 
 Both Tacitus and Suetonius remark the fiery visage of Domitian, of a 
 dye so red, that the blush of guilt could never colour his cheek ; a pecu- 
 liarity by which, it will be recollected, that Chancellor Jefferies was 
 detected in a public-house, though he had shaven his eye-brows. And 
 Pliny, in his panegyric on Trajan, has drawn a most graphic picture of 
 Domitian, in which the redness of his face is a prominent feature. 
 According to Plutarch, Cato the Censor was no beauty ; he had red hair, 
 greenish gray eyes, which, with a stentorian voice ever prone to bitter in- 
 vectives, gave occasion to a Greek Epigram to the effect, that Proserpine 
 would object to his admission among the shades below. 
 
 Lord Bacon wrote an Essay On Deformity, which is inferior to most 
 of his Essays: though he makes some illiberal remarks on deformed 
 people, he admits that "in a great wit deformity is an advantage to 
 rising." Lord Byron felt the infirmity of his lameness a powerful stimulus 
 to mental exertion in early life. Mrs Shelley, on the fly-leaf of her copy 
 of Byron's drama. The Deformed Transformed, observes that a sense of 
 his physical infirmity had an influence upon everything he wrote. In the 
 play just mentioned Byron seems to have express reference to the cir- 
 cumstance which he never forgot, of his mother having called him a de- 
 formed brat : 
 
 Bertha. Out, Hunchback. 
 
 Arnold. I was born so, mother! 
 
154 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 An opinion of the connexion between ugliness or deformity, and moral 
 depravity, has derived some force in this country from Shakspere's de- 
 scription of Richard III. : (Lines which Gray thought " could not be put 
 into the tongue of modern dramatics") : 
 
 I, that am not shap'd for sportive tricks, 
 
 Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass ; 
 
 I, that am rudely stamped, and want love's majesty 
 
 To strut before a wanton ambling nymph ; 
 
 I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion. 
 
 Cheated of feature by dissembling nature. 
 
 Deformed, unfinished, sent before my time 
 
 Into this breathing world, scarce half made up, 
 
 And that so lamely and unfashionable. 
 
 That dogs bark at me as I halt by them. 
 Sir T. More, in his History, states that Richard was little of stature, ill- 
 featured of limbs, hard favoured of visage, with his left shoulder much 
 higher than his right, and that he was brought into the world with his 
 feet foremost, and toothed. The author of the Historic Doubts, who very 
 properly urged the temptation for Lancastrian Historians to calumniate 
 Richard, admits his inequality of shoulders ; a defect which he appears to 
 have had in common with Alexander the Great : 
 
 Ammon's great son one shoulder had too high. 
 
 Atterbury called Pope's intellect "Mens curva in corpore curve;" but 
 would, probably, have been the first to admit that this smart saying was 
 only applicable to Pope in a very curved view of his genius. Pope was 
 sensitive to any reflection by others of his own personal defects : but he 
 took a share in that series of papers in the Spectator relating to the Ugly 
 Club. In No. 108 of the Spectator, Pope thus describes himself under 
 the appellation of Dick Distich : 
 
 "Dick Distich by name, we have elected president : not only as he is 
 the shortest of us all, but because he has entertained so just a sense of his 
 stature, as to go generally in black, that he may appear yet less. Nay, 
 to that perfection is he arrived, that he stoops as he walks. The figure 
 of the man is odd enough ; he is a lively little creature, with long arms 
 and legs ; a spider is no ill emblem of him ; he has been taken at a dis- 
 tance for a small windmill. But, indeed, what principally moved us in 
 his favour was his talent in poetry, for he hath promised to undertake a 
 long work, in short verse, to celebrate the heroes of our size. He has 
 entertained so great a respect for Statins, on the score of that line. 
 
 Major in exiguo regnabat corpore virtus— 
 
 A larger portion of heroic fire 
 
 Did his small limbs and little breast inspire — 
 
 that, he once designed to translate the whole Thebaid for the sake of little 
 Tydeus." 
 
n.] BIOGRAPHY. 155 
 
 May, in his History of the Parliament, notices that Lord Strafford at 
 his impeachment excited by his eloquence universal sympathy among the 
 female part of his audience, notwithstanding his personal appearance was 
 unfavourable; and he quotes the example of Ulysses, as applicable to 
 Strafford : 
 
 Non formosus erat, sed erat facundus Ulysses, 
 Et tamen sequoreas torsit amore Deas. 
 
 Madame de Sevigne said of Pehsson, " qu'il abusoit de la permission 
 qu'ont les hommes d'etre laids." Cumberland relates that Soame Jenyns 
 had been cast by nature in the exact mould of an ill-made pair of stiff 
 stays ; he had a protuberant wen between one eye and his nose, and both 
 his eyes were protruded like the eyes of a lobster who wears them at the 
 end of his feelers. After mentioning peculiarities of dress, Cumberland 
 adds, " Such was the man who was the charm of every circle, and gave a 
 zest to every company into which he entered." In Warton's Essay on 
 Pope (Epistle to Arbuthnot), various particulars are collected respecting 
 the personal appearance of the Italian and English poets. Warton 
 observes that many of the English poets have been remarkably hand- 
 some. 
 
 Scarron, who captivated Mademoiselle D'Aubigny, afterwards the 
 celebrated Madame Maintenon, when she was at the age of sixteen, and 
 whose attached wife she was for nine years, gives the following description 
 of his own personal appearance : 
 
 " Lecteur qui ne m'as jamais vu, et qui peut-etre ne s'en soucie guere, 
 a cause qu'il n'y a pas beaucoup a profiter a la vue d'une personne faite 
 comme moi, sache que je ne me soucierois pas aussi que tu me visses, si 
 je n'avois appris que quelques beaux esprits factieux se rejouissent aux 
 depens du miserable, et me depeignent d'une autre fa^on que je ne suis 
 fait: les uns disent que je suis cul-de-jatte ; les autres, que je n'ai 
 point de cuisses, et que Ton me met sur une table, dans un etui, ou 
 je cause comme une pie borgne; et les autres, que mon chapeau tient 
 a une corde qui passe dans une poulie, et que je le hausse et baisse 
 pour saluer ceux qui me visitent. Je pense etre oblige en conscience 
 de les empecher de mentir plus long-temps. J'ai trente ans passes : si 
 je vais jusqu'a quarante, j'ajouterai bien des maux a ceux que j'ai deja 
 soufferts depuis huit ou neuf ans. J'ai eu la taille bien faite, quoique 
 petite ; ma maladie I'a racourcie d'un bon pied. Ma tete est un peu 
 grosse pour ma taille. J'ai le visage assez plein pour avoir le corps 
 decharne; des cheveux assez pour ne point porter perruque. J'en ai 
 beaucoup de blancs en depit du proverbe. J'ai la vue assez bonne, quoi- 
 que les yeux gros ; je les ai bleus : j'en ai un plus enfonce que I'autre, du 
 cote que je penche la tete : j'ai le nez d'assez bonne prise. Mes dents 
 autrefois perles quarrees sont de couleur de bois, et seront bientot de 
 couleur d'ardoise ; j'en ai perdu une et demie du cote gauche, et deux et 
 demie du cote droit, et deux un peu egrignees. Mes jambes et mes cuisses 
 
156 
 
 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. 
 
 [Ch. 
 
 ont fait premierement un angle obtus, et puis un angle egal, et enfin un 
 aigu. Mes cuisses et mon corps en font un autre, et ma tete se penchant 
 sur mon estomach, je ne rasemble pas mal a un Z. J'ai les bras racourcis 
 aussi bien que les jambes, et les doigts aussi bien que les bras : enfin, je 
 suis un raccourci de de la misere humaine. Voila a-peu-pres comme je 
 suis fait. Puisque je suis en si beau chemin, je te vais apprendre quelque 
 chose de mon humeur ; j'ai toujours ete un peu colere, un peu gourmand, 
 et un peu paresseux. J'appelle souvent mon valet sot, et un peu apres, 
 monsieur. Je ne hais personne, Dieu veuille qu'on me traite de meme. 
 Je suis bien aise quand j'ai de I'argent, je serois encore plus aise si j'avois 
 de la sante. Je me rejouis assez en compagnie; je suis assez content 
 quand je suis seul, et je supporte mes maux assez patiemment." 
 
 It is related that two ladies of the French court who had engaged in 
 a most violent quarrel, were recommended to refer their differences to the 
 Duke of Roquelaure. His Grace, before accepting the arbitration, en- 
 quired if either of them had called the other ugly : upon being answered, 
 " non," he replied, " Eh bien, je me charge de les reconcilier." 
 
 LXIV. 
 
 LIGURINUS THE TABLE-TALKER. 
 
 Fugerit an mensas Phoebus, coenamque Thyestse, 
 
 Ignore : fugimus nos, Ligurine, tuam. 
 Ilia quidem lauta est, dapibusque instructa superbis : 
 
 Sed nihil omnino, te reeitante, placet. 
 Nolo mihi ponas rhombum, nuUumve bilibrem : 
 
 Nee volo boletos, ostrea nolo : tace. 
 
 I cannot say for certainty, whether the story be true of 
 Apollo absconding from the table of Thyestes : but I am 
 quite sure, O Ligurinus, we make ourselves scarce at yours. 
 Yours is doubtless a sumptuous board, and its delicacies 
 are of the most recherche description. — We however don't 
 care so much for your turbot, or your mullet weighing two 
 pounds, or your mushrooms, or your oysters, as we should 
 care if you would give us a little less of your talk. 
 
 The practice of recitations among the ancients, as it is to be collected 
 from numerous letters of Pliny, from Martial, and from Catullus, is a 
 
n.} BIOGKAPHY. 157 
 
 curious feature in literary history. Perhaps a Martial is not more wanted 
 in the present day, for any reform of society, than to impose a partial 
 silence on table-talkers. Let a man be somewhat superior to the general, 
 either in rhetoric, or multifarious information, or ready or prepense wit, 
 JEsop's lantern would be wanted to find such an one, who will not, when- 
 ever he has opportunity, build up for himself a fancied colunm of fame 
 at dinner-tables. Like Aaron's serpent, his talk will swaUow up that of 
 every other guest, without his reflecting that it is diversity more than 
 intensity, both in the substance of information and in the manner of im- 
 parting it, which is the charm of colloquial conversation. He reads 
 books, not for the purpose of digesting them, but of bringing them up. 
 He rides every one's hobbies as well as his own to death, being particu- 
 larly ambitious of a reputation for having, as the French say, une selle a 
 chacque cJieval. Cardinal Wolsey and Sir Thomas More, neither of whom 
 were deficient in rhetoric, rather than talk overmuch themselves at their 
 own tables, kept in their services an official character to fill up any 
 vacuum in conversation : in modem society, the cap and its bells, and 
 the bauble, have been transferred from the heads and hands of professed 
 fools, to those of persons conspicuous for the ostentation of wisdom. It 
 would indeed be a prudent precaution, if the practice among our continental 
 neighbours of commencing dinner with eating oysters were generally 
 adopted, provided their shells were available for an ostracism that might 
 banish petty tyrants from the republic of the board. Such despotism 
 no longer consists in arrogating the surname of " the just," but in claim- 
 ing a monopoly for setting the table in a roar, or for transforming it, 
 like harlequins, from its appropriate uses, into a lecture-room, or the pit 
 of a theatre, or the gallery of a House of Commons. Learning, and wit, 
 and flowers of speech, have their legitimate provinces at a dinner-table, 
 but it is when their possessors unmistakingly exhibit that quality, which, 
 as Horace intimates, is the true criterion of a Gentleman, yiz. parcentis 
 virihus atque extenuantis eas consulto ; the purposely forbearing to put 
 forth intellectual strength in hours dedicated not to listening, but to con- 
 versing. We may, perhaps, conjecture that Prior's Lysander, who seems 
 to have acquired the giji of the gab by reducing the society in which he 
 mixed to the condition of monks of La Trappe, was a brilliant Table- 
 Talker, but no Gentleman. 
 
 Lysander talks extremely well; 
 On any subject let him dwell, 
 
 His tropes and figures will content ye : 
 He should possess to all degrees, 
 The art of talk he practises. 
 
 Full fourteen hours in four and twenty. 
 
158 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 LXV. 
 
 CANIUS THE LAUGHER. 
 
 Die, Musa, quid agat Canius meus Rufus ? 
 Utrumne chartis tradit ille victuris 
 Legenda temporum acta Claiidianorum ? 
 An quae Neroni falsus adstruit scriptor ? 
 An semulatur improbi jocos Phsedri ? 
 Lascivus elegis, an severus herois ? 
 An in cothurnis horridus Sophocleis ? 
 An otiosus in schola poetarum 
 Lepore tinctos Attico sales narrat ? 
 Hinc si recessit, porticum terit templi ; 
 An spatia carpit lentus Argonautarum ? 
 An delicatas sole rursus Europse 
 Inter tepentes post meridiem buxos 
 Sedet, ambulatve liber acribus euris ? 
 Titine thermis, an lavatur Agrippse, 
 An impudici balneo Tigillini? 
 An rure Tulli fruitur, atque Lucani ? 
 An Pollionis dulce eurrit ad Quartum ? 
 An aestuantes jam profeetus ad Baias 
 Piger Lucrino nauculatur in stagno ? 
 Vis scire, quid agat Canius tuus ? ridet. 
 
 Say, O Muse, what my friend Canius is about ? After 
 suggesting a variety of occupations, such as various species 
 of composition, and the solution of literary queries, reci- 
 tations, walks in the Porticos, sitting under the shade 
 on favourite public seats, bathing in popular public baths, 
 enjoying the quiet and coolness of country villas, indulging 
 in the warm springs of Baias, taking a sail on the Lucrine 
 Lake, Martial observes that which of these pleasures he is 
 taking may be uncertain, but one thing is certain, that 
 Canius is laughing. 
 
 In another epigram, Martial says, that it would not be so surprising 
 that a person should turn a deaf ear to the Sirens in the midst of their 
 song, as that any one should voluntarily leave a room in which Canius was 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 159 
 
 telling a story. In a third epigram he compares Canius to the laughing 
 statue of Pan. 
 
 The details of Canius's supposed whereabouts, and his literary lucu- 
 brations, afford matter for interesting inquiry. Several of the localities 
 are illustrated, both as to their ancient and present condition, in Mr 
 Whiteside's Vicissitudes of the Eternal City. For example, the grove of 
 the Portico of Em'opa may be supposed to have occasioned the name of 
 a Church which now stands on its site, called S. Salvatore in Lauro. 
 The ancient and modern state of the Baths of Agrippa and Titus are 
 also there reviewed. The Portico of the Temple was that annexed to the 
 Temple of Isis. The Portico of the Argonauts was adorned with paint- 
 ings of their fabulous history by Agrippa. Addison observes, that the 
 Lucrine Lake is but a puddle in comparison of what it once was, its 
 springs having been sunk in an earthquake, or stopped up by mountains 
 which have fallen upon them. The controversy concerning the authen- 
 ticity of writings attributed to Nero, is illustrated by Suetonius, who 
 examined Nero's writing tables, on which were several of his poetical 
 compositions, with interlineations, all in his own hand. This subject, 
 among others. Martial conjectures that Canius would put in a ludicrous 
 point of view. 
 
 Catullus has an epigram on a laughing friend, Egnatius, who used to 
 smile in the midst of the most pathetic discourses of orators, and even at 
 funerals : but this was to exhibit his white teeth. Catullus tells him that 
 if there is one thing more silly than another in the world, it is a silly 
 laugh, (Risu inepto res ineptior nulla est.) Martial, adverting to Ovid's 
 advice to a young lady, to " smile if she be wise," recommends a contrary 
 system of tactics to an elderly lady, with teeth not quite unobjectionable, 
 to " weep if she be wise." The motto, " Laugh if you be wise," (Ride si 
 sapis,) has been adopted in The Guardian, No. xxix., in which the various 
 species of laughers are enumerated, as Dimplers, Smilers, Grinners, Horse- 
 laughers, and the various kinds of laugh, as the Sardonic, Ionic, Chian, and 
 Syracusan. In The Spectator, No. 630, there is a notice of a " rattling pew'* 
 occupied by laughers. Aristotle, in reference to comic writers, says, that 
 the ridiculous consists in some fault or turpitude, not attended with great 
 pain, and not destructive. Hobbes writes, that the passion of laughter is 
 nothing else, but sudden glory, arising from comparison. Addison ob- 
 serves, that, according to Hobbes's account, when we hear a man laugh 
 excessively, instead of saying he is very merry, we ought to tell him he is 
 very proud : he notices that beasts do not laugh ; it is a characteristic of 
 human nature. Dr Beattie, in an elaborate Essay on Laughter, concludes 
 that the " Quality in things, which makes them provoke that pleasing 
 emotion or sentiment whereof laughter is the external sign, is an uncom- 
 mon mixture of relation and contrariety, exhibited, or supposed to be 
 imited in the same assemblage." Beattie excludes from his consideration 
 unnatural, malevolent, and mere animal laughter, and confines his defi- 
 nition to sentimental laughter. 
 
160 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 *Chrysippus, Philemon, and Zeuxis, are related to have died in fits of 
 laughter, the last at one of his own jokes. Democritus has a reputation, 
 like that of Canius, for taking a comical, though philosophical, view of 
 human transactions, similar to that inscribed, with questionable propriety, 
 on Gay's tomb, according to the following request : " I desire, my dear 
 Mr Pope, whom I love as my own soul, if you survive me, as you certainly 
 will, if a stone should mark the place of my grave, to see these words 
 put upon it, with what else you may think proper : 
 Life's a jest, and all things shew it, 
 I thought so once, but now I know it." 
 
 The following epitaph on Democritus has been applied to Rabelais: 
 Accipe Democritum, Pluto, precor, una sit, ut quae 
 Tot flentes inter rideat umbra tibi. 
 
 O Pluton, Rabelais re9oy, 
 Afin que toi qui es le Roy 
 De ceux qui ne rient jamais, 
 Tu ais un rieiu* desormais. 
 
 LXVI. 
 
 ACON AND LEONHiLA. 
 
 (each beautiful, each one-eyed.) 
 
 Lumine Aeon dextro, capta est Leonilla sinistro, 
 Et potis est forma vincere uterque deos. 
 
 Blande puer, lumen quod habes concede sorori ; 
 Sic tu csecus Amor, sic erit ilia Venus. 
 
 Aeon his right, Leonilla her left eye 
 Doth want ; yet each in form, the Gods out-vie. 
 Lend her thine eye, sweet boy, and she shall prove 
 The Queen of Beauty, thou the God of Love. 
 
 The conceit in this epigram has enjoyed considerable popularity. It 
 is said to have been composed in reference to Louis de Maguiron, a 
 French Adonis, and favom-ite of Henry III. of France : he lost an eye at 
 the siege of Isoire. The lady was the princess Eboli, who was equally 
 singular for her beauty and one eye. To complete the figure of Poly- 
 phemus, the Cyclops, as a model of ugliness, the poets gave him otie eye 
 in the middle of his forehead. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 161 
 
 LXVII. 
 LAIS, (HER LOOKING-GLASS). 
 
 Lais anus Veneri speculum dico ; dignum habeat se 
 
 iEterna seternum forma ministerium. 
 At mihi nullus in hoc usus, quia cernere talem 
 
 Qualis sum, nolo ; qualis eram, nequeo. 
 
 Venus ! take my votive glass ! 
 Since I am not what I was. 
 What from this day I shall be, 
 Venus ! let me never see ! 
 
 The original is in the Greek of Plato. The Latin is by Ausonius. It 
 is matter of pride that Prior's version is so superior to that of Ausonius ; 
 nor is the style that in which many English poets excel. Perhaps Waller 
 is the only other English poet who has left us similar gems. 
 
 LXVIII. 
 GLAUCIA, (HIS PREMATURE DEATH). 
 
 Non de plebe domus nee avarse verna catastrse, 
 
 Sed domini sancto dignus amore puer. 
 Munera cum posset nondum sentire patroni, 
 
 Glaucia libertus jam Melioris erat. 
 Moribus hoc formseque datum ; quis blandior illo ? 
 
 Aut quis ApoUineo blandior ore fuit. 
 Immodicis brevis est setas, et rara senectus, 
 
 Quidquid amas, cupias non placuisse nimis. 
 
 Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy ! 
 My sin was too much hope of thee, my boy ! 
 Seven years thou wert lent to me, and I thee pay, 
 Exacted by thy fate, on the just day. 
 O could I lose all father now ! for why 
 Will man lament the state he should envy ? 
 
 If 
 
162 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 To have so soon 'scap'd world's and flesh's rage ; 
 
 And if no other misery, yet age. 
 
 Eest in soft peace, and ask'd, say. Here doth lie 
 
 Ben Jonson his best piece of poesy. 
 
 For whose sake henceforth all his vows be such. 
 
 As what he loves, may never like too much. 
 
 Instead of a translation of Glaucia's epitaph, the reader is presented 
 with Ben Jonson's epitaph on his first-born son. Martial's Composition 
 is interesting only from the two remarkable lines with which it concludes, 
 the last of which is imitated by Ben Jonson. 
 
 The propriety of the sentiment expressed in the last line of Glaucia's 
 epitaph was the subject of a literary controyersy between Pelisson and 
 the Count de Bussi. Pelisson translates the passage thus, " Voulez vous 
 etre heureux ? souhaitez en aimant, que ce que vous aimez ne soit pas 
 trop aimable." The Count argued that it was impossible to love, without 
 wishing the beloved object to be perfectly loveable. 
 
 The last line but one of Martial's epitaph is applied to King Edward 
 VI., by Cardan, in his memoirs relating to his royal pupil. He writes, 
 " Alas ! how prophetically did he once repeat to me, Immodicis brevis 
 est Estas, et rara senectus." This line is adopted by Cowley as a motto 
 for his elegiac verses on his friend Harvey. The sentiment is commented 
 on in Bayle's Diet., Art. Lucrece, where it is expressed, " Telle est la loix du 
 ciel, nul exces n'est durable ; s'il passe le commun, il passe promptement." 
 Marcellus, and Prince Henry, son of James I., by their extraordinary 
 promise and early deaths, contributed to encourage this vulgar error, if 
 it be such. Shakspere says : 
 
 So wise, so young, they say do ne'er live long. 
 
 Nevertheless, there have been remarkable exceptions to the fatality of 
 early genius, Haller, who lived to the age of seventy, was considered a 
 prodigy at thirteen. Mozart, indeed, died at the age of thirty-six, but not 
 before he had established a lasting reputation: his musical genius was 
 exhibited when he was four years old ; he composed a concerto when he 
 was five, and by the time he was eight, he had excited the wonder of the 
 principal courts of Europe. Bishop Monk, in his Life of Dr Bentley, 
 relates several particulars concerning Wooton, who maintained a respect- 
 able literary reputation, but not a very high one, after leaving college. 
 He took his degree of A.B. at only thirteen years of age, when he 
 was conversant with twelve languages. On his admission to Catharine 
 Hall before the age of ten, the master of his college made a special entry 
 in the college books : Gulielmus Wooton, infra decern annos, nee Ham- 
 mondo nee Grotio secundus. "W. Wooton, under ten years of age, 
 second neither to Hammond nor Grotius." Dr Johnson says of Pope, 
 who " lisped in numbers," that, in the style of fiction, it might be related 
 of him, as of Pindar, that, when he lay in the cradle, the bees swarmed 
 about hi# mouth. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 163 
 
 LXIX. 
 LASCARIS. 
 
 Lascaris in terra est aliena hie ipse sepultus, 
 Nee nimis externum quod quereretur erat ; 
 
 Quam placidam ille hospes reperat, sed deflet Achaeis 
 Libera quod nee adhuc patria fundat humum. 
 
 In a strange land here Lascaris remains, 
 Nor yet that it was strange to him complains ; 
 For it receiv'd him as an honoured guest, 
 And with protection's kindest comforts blest. 
 But sadly he deplores, that still a slave, 
 6 His country to the Greeks denies a grave. 
 
 Lascaris was the most noble in birth and profound in learning of all 
 the Greeks who fled for refuge to Italy after the taking of Constanti- 
 nople. He was one of the first restorers of Greek literature in Italy, and 
 published the first Greek Grammar that was ever printed in Europe. 
 
 LXX. 
 
 AUGUSTUS. 
 
 Ut ille victor orbis, et patris9 pater 
 Confectus annis et dolore morbido, 
 Augustus, horas jam supremas duceret ; 
 Gravata ad auras vix levavit lumina, 
 Circumque flentes, cuique protendens manum, 
 Interrogavit voce soUicita suos ; 
 " Ecquid putatis, partem ut aequus histrio 
 Mimumque vitse me tulisse commode ? " 
 Qui cum faventes " optime " una dicerent ; 
 Haec ille " fiat : vos valete et plaudite !" 
 
 When Augustus, the World's victor, and Father of his 
 Country, was worn away by age and disease, and his last 
 
 11—2 
 
164 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 hour was at hand, he raised, and scarcely was able to raise 
 his eyes, and cast a look upon the friends who were weep- 
 ing around him. — He stretched out his hand to each, and 
 asked them if he had acted his part in life like a good 
 Mime, with due regard to all the proprieties of the cha- 
 racter assigned to him. — Every one present joined in an 
 exclamation, that he had been an incomparable Actor. — 
 Then said he — " Farewell all, and all applaud !" 
 
 The expression, Vos valete et plaudite ! was the common conclusion to 
 be found at the end of all Roman plays. It is quoted as such by Dr 
 Pangloss, who finishes his part by saying, "Vos valete et plaudite! 
 Terence, hem ! " Nero's last dying speech was an expression of regret, 
 that so good a singer was about to be lost to the world. " Even in our 
 ashes live our wonted fires," writes Gray, but not originally. It is related 
 that the courtier- archbishop Fenelon said on his death-bed, " Si j'aurai 
 I'honneur de voir Dieu, je ne manquerai gueres de lui recommander bien 
 I'ame du Roi de France.'* This is much to the same efi'ect as the last words 
 of Pope's courtier, "If — where I'm going — I could serve you. Sir!" 
 The ruling passion or foible strong in death has not been more strikingly 
 exemplified than in the lines on Narcissa : 
 
 " Odious ! in woollen ! 'twould a saint provoke 
 (Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke). 
 No, let a charming chintz and Brussels lace 
 Wrap my cold limbs, and shade my lifeless face. 
 One would not, sure, be frightful when one's dead — 
 And — Betty — give this cheek a little red." 
 
 LXXI. 
 
 A GRAMMARIAN OF GHENT. 
 
 Grammaticam scivi, multos docuique per annos, 
 Declinare tamen non potui tumulum. 
 
 I was skilled in Grammar, and taught it for many 
 years ; nevertheless I was totally unable to decline the 
 tomb. 
 
 This Epitaph appears in Coryat's Crudities. The French have 
 veyed much wit and satire, and ingenious turns of expression, thi 
 
 con- 
 ession, through 
 
 I 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 165 
 
 the medium of epitaphs. A few specimens may be thought enter- 
 taining : 
 
 Rousseau. 
 
 Cy-git I'illustre et malheureux Rousseau ; 
 
 Le Brabant fut sa tombe, et Paris son berceau; 
 
 Voici I'abrege de sa vie, 
 
 Qui fut trop longue de moitie. 
 
 II fut trente ans digne d'envie, 
 
 Et trente ans digne de pitie. 
 
 PiRON. 
 
 Ci-git Piron, que ne fut rien, 
 Pas meme academicien. 
 
 MONTMAUR 
 
 (famous ahke for his good memory, and bad judgment). 
 Sous cette casaque noir 
 Repose bien doucement 
 Montmaur d'heureuse memoire, 
 Attendant le jugement. 
 
 La Riviere, Bishop of Langres, 
 (who left a hundred crowns for his epitaph : Prior left £500 for his 
 monument, with an epitaph inclusive). 
 Ci-git tres grande personage. 
 Qui fut d'un illustre lineage, 
 Qui posseda mille vertus, 
 Qui ne trompa jamais, qui fut toujours fort sage : 
 Je n'en dirai pas davantage, 
 C'est trop mentir pour cent ecus. 
 
 Ajv Abbe 
 (who ruined himself by gambhng). 
 Le bon Prelat qui git sous cette pierre 
 Aima le jeu plus qu'homme de la terre. 
 Quand il mourut il n'avoit pas un liard, 
 Et comme perdre etoit cher lui coutume, 
 S'il a gagne Paradis, on presume 
 Que c'est un coup de hazard. 
 
 Ablancourt 
 (a translator of the Classics). 
 Dans ses fameux ecrits toute la France admire 
 Des Grecs et Remains les precieux tresors. 
 A son trepas on ne pent dire 
 Qui perd le plus, des vivans ou des morts. 
 
166 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 TURENE. 
 
 Turene a son tombeau parmi ceux de nos rois, 
 C'est le prix glorieux de ses fameux exploits. 
 Louis vouloit ainsi signaler sa vaillance, 
 
 Afin d'apprendre aux siecles a venir, 
 
 Qu'il ne met point de difference 
 Entre porter le sceptre, et le bien soutenir. 
 
 Matjpertuis. 
 Ce globe mal connu, qu'il a su mesurer, 
 Devient un monument ou sa gloire se fonde. 
 Son sort est de fixer la figure de monde, 
 De lui plaire, et de I'eclairer. 
 
 A rich collection of poetical Latin epitaphs in England (for even 
 some humble and rustic families have still a pride, as they express it, in 
 being buried in Latin), will be found in Hearne's Collection of Curious 
 Discourses, especially in Numbers lxiv, lxxv, lxxvi, xcii; the last is 
 by Camden. See also Weever's Funeral Monuments, and Daly's West- 
 monasterium. 
 
 LXXII. 
 
 NICHOLAS. AN EGOTIST. 
 
 Dicere Nicoleon non audeo : noverat unum 
 Unus Nicholeos dicere Nicoleon. 
 
 Ci-git Augustin Nicholas, 
 Auteur de la premiere classe ; 
 Keformateur de Vaugelas ; 
 Eival de Virgile et Horace ; 
 Castillan plus que n'etoit Garcillas ; 
 Toscan plus que n'etoit Bocace ; 
 Digne favori de Pallas ; 
 Et grand dragoman du Parnasse ; 
 Instruit des affaires d'etat, 
 Au conseil et dans le senat 
 II meritoit le rang supreme ; 
 
 C'etoit un homme enfin " Hola ! 
 
 De qui savez-vouz tout cela ? " 
 
 De qui je le sais ? De lui-meme. 
 
IL] BIOGRAPHY. 167 
 
 LXXIII. 
 
 HOBSON. 
 
 Complures (ita, Granta, refers) Hobsonus alebat 
 
 In stabulo longo, qiios locitaret, equos ; 
 Hae lege, ut foribus staret qui proximus, ille 
 
 Susciperet primas, solus et ille, vices. 
 Aut hunc, aut nullum — sua pars sit cuique laboris ; 
 
 Aut hunc, aut nullum — sit sua cuique quies. 
 Conditio obtinuit, nulli violanda togato ; 
 
 Proximus hie foribus, proximus esto viae. 
 Optio tam prudens cur non hue usque retenta est ? 
 
 Tam bona cur unquam lex abolenda fuit ? 
 Hobsoni veterem normam revocare memento ; 
 
 Tuque iterum Hobsoni, Granta, -vddebis equos. 
 
 It is a tradition at Cambridge, that Hobson kept a 
 large number of horses in a long stable, and that it was 
 the rule of his stable, that the horse which stood next the 
 door should take the first turn of service — every horse 
 must participate equally in labour, equally in rest. Gowns- 
 men well knew the law; the horse next the door must be 
 taken, or none at all. — Why should Hohson's Choice ever 
 have been suffered to become obsolete ? — Eestore it, O 
 Granta, if you consult your otvti interests ; for then in the 
 place of modern Rozinantes your Cantabs will ride again 
 Hobson's steeds. 
 
 A particular account of Hobson and his choice will be found in The 
 Spectator, No. 509, and in the notes to Todd's Milton. Hobson's Inn at 
 London was the Bull Inn in Bishopsgate Street. He died on January i, 
 1630, when the plague was raging in London, which prevented him from 
 taking his usual jom-neys as a carrier and conveyer of letters between 
 Cambridge and the Metropolis. Among Archbishop Sancroft's MSS. in 
 the Bodleian, are some verses written by him on Hobson's death. Milton, 
 who was a Cantab at the time Hobson died, wrote two punning epitaphs 
 upon him, in which the following lines occur : 
 
 Rest that gives all men life, gave him his death ; 
 And too much breathing put him out of breath ; 
 
168 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Nor were it contradiction to affirm, 
 Too long vacation hastened on his term. 
 Ease was his chief disease, and to judge right. 
 He died for heaviness that his cart went light. 
 Here lieth one, who did most truly prove. 
 That he could never die, while he could move. 
 His letters are delivered all and gone, 
 Only remains this superscription. 
 
 LXXIV. 
 FOX'S VALE TO ETON. 
 
 Poscimur : at, nobis si rite precantibus olim 
 
 Dixeris optatum, Musa, rogata melos. 
 Nunc quoque et emerito praesens succurre poetse ; 
 
 Dona ferens adeat sic tua fana cliens. 
 Tuque, per Aoniis loca si celebrata Camenis 
 
 Saepe tua erravi, Pegase, vectus ope, 
 Decurso prope jam stadio, metamque sub ipsam, 
 
 Ne lassa infami membra pudore trahas. 
 Gentis amore Maro Latium canit : o mihi talis 
 
 Spiritus accedat, (non minor urget amor) 
 Ut patriae, (neque enim ingratus natalia rura 
 
 Prseposui campis, mater Etona, tuis) 
 Ut patriae carisque sodalibus, ut tibi dicam 
 
 Anglice supremum Quinctiliane vale ! 
 Si quid id est, veteres quod Musa imitata, Latinis 
 
 Luserit aut Graiis, non aliena, modis, 
 Omne tuum est ; mihi Pieridum de fonte sororum 
 
 Pura ministeriis contigit unda tuis. 
 Teque precor (levitas olim vesana fidelis 
 
 Pespuit oblatam si monitoris opem, 
 Acrior aut si me commorit lingua, meisve 
 
 Moribus aut famsD virga ministra mese) 
 Ne tot consumptos tecum feliciter annos 
 
 Infelix animo deleat hora tuo. 
 Care vale, valeas et mater Etona, supremum 
 
 Musea recinit tristis alumnus ope. 
 
II.] BIOGRAPHY. 169 
 
 Prataque, et aerio splendentes vertice turres, 
 Silvaque carminibus concelebrata meis ; 
 
 Vosque adeo indigense quae rivi in margine Mussb 
 Castalias Thames! posthabuistis aquas, 
 
 Extremum concede mihi, sacra turba, laborem ; 
 Sic beet emeritum non inhonesta rudis. 
 
 I am called. — But if ever, O Muse, before now, you 
 have hearkened to my invocations, and inspired my lays, 
 afford present aid to your Poet, whose occupation will so 
 soon be gone ! And you, my Pegasus, as you have often 
 transported me over classic regions consecrated to the 
 Deities of Song, so do not now, when my race is almost 
 run, when I am on the point of attaining its goal, disgrace 
 me by your lassitude and tardiness. — Maro celebrates La- 
 tium with a passion which argues his love of the place. 
 O that I were equal with him in genius ; not even he can 
 surpass me in affection ! I might then bid to my country 
 (for my natal spot has not juster claims than Eton upon 
 my gratitude), might bid to my dear Companions, might 
 bid to thee, O Quintilian of England, a Parewell in unison 
 with my own feelings, and worthy of the present occasion ! 
 That I have been permitted to so close an intimacy with 
 the Muses of Greece and Rome as to be enabled to imitate 
 their sublime strains, that I have been allowed to taste the 
 pure waters of the Castalian spring, is, my Quintilian, your 
 entire gift. And, if my thoughtless levity has at times 
 revolted at the proffered assistance of the kindest of Pre- 
 ceptors ; if I have occasionally merited your just censure, 
 or if to preserve my morals, and prevent the blasting of 
 my future fame, you have outstretched the hand of Cor- 
 rection, O let not my inconsiderate conduct obliterate in 
 your mind all memory of one who has passed so many 
 happy years under your tutelage. Dear Preceptor, fare- 
 well ! Farewell, Alma Mater Eton ! Farewell to your sur- 
 rounding meadows, and your crowning and antique towers, 
 and your groves which have so often been the burden of 
 my lays. And you, O Muses, who haunt those neighbour- 
 ing banks of the Thames, in preference even to the foun- 
 
170 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. II. 
 
 tains of Castalia, smile, O Sacred Band, on this the last of 
 my wonted labours. Thus, O thus, like as among the 
 Eomans a gladiator who had earned the favour of the 
 public, was presented with a wand, as a token that he 
 might quit the arena for ever amidst the applauses of the 
 audience, so may I exchange the occupations of my boy- 
 hood for the duties of a man, with the consciousness of 
 having passed at least one period of my life with approba- 
 tion and honour. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 
 
 VENICE. 
 
 Vide RAT Hadriacis Yenetam Neptunus in undis 
 
 Stare urbem, et toti ponere jura mari. 
 Nunc mihi Tarpeias quantum vis, Jupiter, arees 
 
 Objice, et ilia tui moenia Martis, ait. 
 Sic pelago Tibrim praefers, urbem Aspice utramque, 
 
 Blam homines dices, hunc posuisse Deos. 
 
 When Neptune saw in Adrian's surges stand 
 Venice, and give the Sea laws of command : 
 Now Jove, said he, object thy Capitol 
 And Mars' proud walls : This were for to extol 
 Tyber beyond the Main : Both towns behold, 
 Rome Men, thou'lt say, Venice the Gods did mould. 
 
 Coryat, in his Crudities, transcribes several curious pieces of Latin 
 poetry concerning Venice, and he mentions, that the Venetian Senate 
 conferred on Sannazarius a hundred crowns for each of the above six 
 verses : he adds, " I would to God, my poetical friend, Mr Benjamin 
 Jonson, were so well rewarded for his poems here in England, seeing he 
 hath made many as good verses (in my opinion) as these of Sannazarius." 
 Howell, (from whom the version in the text is taken,) in his interesting 
 letters, writes that Sannazarius had 100 zechins for every line, and that 
 the sum amounted to about j£300. The igeader will probably think them 
 overpaid, and will be glad to turn from them to the more poetical de- 
 scription of Venice by Byron : 
 
 I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs : 
 A palace and a prison on each hand : 
 I saw from out the wave her structures rise 
 As from the stroke of the enchanter's wand : 
 
172 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 A thousand years their cloudy wings expand 
 Around me, and a dying glory smiles 
 O'er the far times, when many a subject land 
 Look'd to the winged lion's marbled piles, 
 Where Venice sate in state, throned on her hundred isles ! 
 
 She looks a sea Oybele, fresh from ocean, 
 Rising with her tiara of proud towers 
 At airy distance, with majestic motion, 
 A ruler of the waters and their powers : 
 And such she was ; — her daughters had their dowers 
 From spoils of nations, and the exhaustless East 
 Pour'd in her lap all gems in sparkling showers. 
 In pui'ple was she robed, and of her feast 
 Monarchs partook, and deem'd their dignity increased. 
 
 In Venice Tasso's echoes are no more. 
 And silent rows the songless gondolier ; 
 Her palaces are crumbling to the shore. 
 And music meets not always now the ear : 
 Those days are gone — but Beauty still is here. 
 States fall, arts fade — but Nature doth not die, 
 Nor yet forget how Venice once was dear, 
 The pleasant place of all festivity. 
 The revel of the earth, the masque of Italy ! 
 
 But unto us she hath a spell beyond 
 Her name in story, and her long array 
 Of mighty shadows, whose dim forms respond 
 Above the dogeless city's vanish'd sway; 
 Ours is a trophy which will not decay 
 With the Rialto ; Shylock and the Moor, 
 And Pierre, cannot be swept or worn away — 
 The keystones of the arch ! though all were o'er. 
 For us repeopled were the solitary shore. 
 
 The following description is by Rogers : 
 
 There is a glorious City in the Sea. 
 
 The Sea is in the broad, the narrow streets, 
 
 Ebbing and flowing; and the salt sea- weed 
 
 Clings to the marble* of her palaces. 
 
 No track of men, no foot-steps to and fro. 
 
 Lead to her gates. The path lies o'er the Sea, 
 
 Invisible ; and from the land we went, 
 
 As to a floating City — steering in. 
 
 And gliding up her streets as in a dream. 
 
 So smoothly, silently — by many a dome 
 
in.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 173 
 
 Mosque-like, and many a stately portico, 
 
 The statues ranged along an azure sky ; 
 
 By many a pile in more than Eastern splendour. 
 
 Of old the residence of merchant-kings ; 
 
 The fronts of some, though Time had shattered them. 
 
 Still glowing with the richest hues of art, 
 
 As though the wealth within them had run o'er. 
 
 II. 
 
 THE GRANDE CHARTREUSE. 
 
 O Tu, severi Eeligio loci, 
 Quocunque gaudes nomine (non leve 
 Nativa nam certe fluenta 
 
 Numen habet, veteresque sylvas 
 
 Praesentiorem et conspicimus Deum 
 Per invias rupes, fera per juga, 
 Clivosque praeruptos, sonantes 
 
 Inter aquas, nemorumque noctem ; 
 
 Quam si repostus sub trabe citrea 
 Fulgeret auro, et Phidiaea manu,) 
 Salve vocanti rite, fesso et 
 Da placidam juveni quietem. 
 
 Quod si invidendis sedibus, et frui 
 Portuna sacra lege silentii 
 
 Vetat volentem, me resorbens 
 In medios violenta fluctus : 
 
 Saltem remoto des. Pater, angulo 
 Horas senectse ducere liberas ; 
 Tutumque vulgari tumultu ; 
 Surripias, hominumque curis. 
 
 O thou ! the Genius of this awful spot. 
 How shall I fitly name thee ? for I deem 
 
 Less than a Godhead's presence haunteth not 
 This antique forest, and this native stream ; 
 
174 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 And we behold more near the visible God 
 
 Midst these shagg'd cliffs, these rude hill-solitudes, 
 
 These rocks, which foot of man hath never trod, 
 This dash of waters, and this night of woods. 
 
 Than if beneath a citron arch he shone, 
 
 Fashion'd in molten gold by Phidias' hand — 
 
 Hail ! — if invoked aright, look gracious on ! 
 
 Here let my wearied youth glide calm to land. 
 
 Or should hard Fate'^s rebuff, e'en while I yearn 
 For these endear'd retreats, this holy reign 
 
 Of silence, with the reflux swell return 
 Me to the tossing midmost waves again : 
 
 Sire ! (shall I call thee ?) be the boon allow'd 
 To share thy freedom in my drooping age ; 
 
 Then steal me from the cares that vex the crowd, 
 And safe receive me from their restless rage. 
 
 Gray, in one of his highly interesting letters to West, gives the follow- 
 ing description of his journey to the Grande Chartreuse : 
 
 " In our little journey up to the Grande Chartreuse, I do not remem- 
 ber to have gone ten paces without an exclamation, that there was no 
 restraining : not a precipice, not a torrent, not a cliff, but is pregnant with 
 religion and poetry. There are certain scenes that would awe an atheist 
 into belief, without the help of other argument. One need not have a 
 very fantastic imagination to see spirits there at noon-day; you have 
 Death perpetually before your eyes, only so far removed, as to compose 
 the mind without frighting it. I am well persuaded St Bruno was a man 
 of no common genius, to choose such a situation for his retirement ; and 
 perhaps should have been a disciple of his, had I been born in his time." 
 
 In a letter to his mother, Gray writes : 
 
 " We took the longest road, which lies through Savoy, on purpose to 
 see a famous monastery, called the Grande Chartreuse, and had no reason 
 to think our time lost. After having travelled seven days very slow, (for 
 we did not change horses, it being impossible for a chaise to go post in 
 these roads) we arrived at a little village, among the mountains of Savoy, 
 called Echelles ; from thence we proceeded on horses, who are used to 
 the way, to the mountain of the Chartreuse : it is six miles to the top ; the 
 road runs winding up it, commonly not six feet broad ; on one hand is the 
 rock, with woods of pine-trees hanging over head ; on the other, a mon- 
 strous precipice, almost perpendicular, at the bottom of which rolls a 
 
in.] PLACES AND NATUKAL PHENOMENA. 175 
 
 torrent, that sometimes tumbling among the fragments of stone that have 
 fallen from on high, and sometimes precipitating itself down vast descents 
 with a noise like thunder, which is still made greater by the echo from the 
 mountains on each side, concurs to form one of the most solemn, the 
 most romantic, and the most astonishing scenes I ever beheld : add to 
 this the strange views made by the craggs and cliffs on the other hand ; 
 the cascades that in many places throw themselves from the very summit 
 down into the vale, and the river below ; and many other particulars im- 
 possible to describe ; you will conclude we had no occasion to repent our 
 pains. This place St Bruno chose to retire to, and upon its very top 
 founded the aforesaid convent, which is the superior of the whole order. 
 When we came there, the two fathers, who are commissioned to entertain 
 strangers, (for the rest must neither speak one to another, nor to any one 
 else) received us very kindly ; and set before us a repast of dried fish, 
 eggs, butter and fruits, all excellent in their kind, and extremely neat. 
 They pressed us to spend the night there, and to stay some days with 
 them ; but this we could not do, so they led us about their house, which is, 
 you must think, like a little city; for there are 100 fathers, besides 300 
 servants, that make their clothes, grind their com, press their wine, and 
 do eveiy thing among themselves. The whole is quite orderly and 
 simple; nothing of finery; but the wonderful decency, and the strange 
 situation, more than supply the place of it. In the evening we descended 
 by the same way, passing through many clouds that were then forming 
 themselves on the mountain's side." 
 
 Dugald Stewart observes, that the sublime effect of rocks and cata- 
 racts, of huge ridges of mountains, of vast and gloomy forests, of immense 
 and impetuous rivers, of the boundless ocean, and, in general, every thing 
 which forces on the attention the idea of Creative Power, is owing, in part, 
 to the irresistible tendency which that idea has to raise the thoughts 
 towards heaven. The influence of some of these spectacles in awakening 
 religious impressions, is nobly exemplified in Gray's Ode, written at the 
 Grande Chartreuse; an Alpine scene of the wildest and most awful 
 grandeur, where every thing appears fresh from the hand of Omnipo- 
 tence, inspiring a sense of the more immediate presence of the Divinity. 
 
176 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 III. 
 SIRMIO. 
 
 Pceninsularum, Sirmio, insularumque 
 Ocelle, quascumque in liquentibus stagnis 
 Marique vasto fert uterque Neptunus ! 
 Quam te libenter, quamque Isetus, inviso ! 
 Vix mi ipse credens, Thyniam atque Bithynos 
 Liquisse campos, et videre te in tuto, 
 O ! quid solutis est beatius curis ? 
 Cum mens onus reponit, ac peregrine 
 Labore fessi venimus larem ad nostrum, 
 Desideratoque aequieseimus lecto ; 
 Hoc est, quod unum est pro laboribus tantis. 
 Salve, o Venusta Sirmio ! atque hero gaude : 
 Gaudete vosque, LydisB lacus undsB : 
 Eidete, quidquid est domi cachinnorum. 
 
 Sweet Sirmio I thou, the very eye 
 
 Of all peninsulas and isles 
 That in our lakes of silver lie, 
 
 Or sleep, enwreathed by Neptune's smiles — 
 
 How gladly back to thee I fly : 
 
 Still doubting, asking — Can it be 
 That I have left Bithynia's sky, 
 
 And gaze in safety upon thee ? 
 
 Oh ! what is happier than to find 
 
 Our hearts at ease, our perils past. 
 When, anxious long the lighten'd mind 
 
 Lays down its load of care at last : 
 
 • 
 
 When, tired with toil o'er land and deep, 
 Again we tread the welcome floor 
 
 Of our own home, and sink to sleep 
 On the long-wish'd-for bed once more. 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 177 
 
 This, this it is that pays alone 
 
 The ills of all life's former track. — 
 Shine out, my beautiful, my own 
 
 Sweet Sirmio, greet thy master back ! 
 
 And thou, fair Lake, whose waters quaff 
 The light of heaven like Lydia's sea, 
 
 Rejoice, rejoice — let all that laughs 
 Abroad, at home, laugh out for me ! 
 
 The version is by Moore. The piece has been translated by several 
 hands. It is quoted by Gray in a letter to West. 
 
 The Peninsula of Sirmio projects into the Lago di Garda or Benaco, 
 and is two miles in circumference. The vestiges of Catullus's villa are 
 still shewn there. Close by its side there is a precipitous fall of the 
 ground, which is supplied by rows of vaults placed over each other. On 
 the summit was a spacious terrace, commanding a view of the lake. Part of 
 the ruins of this terrace, and of a portico which was erected on it, are still 
 to be seen. Behind the villa, the promontory rose into a hill covered 
 with ohves. The views from Catullus's Villa are described by Eustace as 
 delightfully varied. The shores of the lake are sometimes shelving in 
 gentle declivity, at others breaking in craggy magnificence; the sight 
 resting at one time on cultivated scenery, and, at another, bewildered and 
 lost in the windings of the lake, and the recesses of the Alps. The lake 
 Benaco is thirty-five miles in length, and twelve in breadth. It has 
 waters of the finest sea-green. It is described by Virgil as it was excited 
 by a storm ; and Addison saw it in that state, when he represents it as 
 exhibiting all the grandeur and agitation of the ocean. Benacus is the 
 subject of the most celebrated of Bembo's Latin poems. 
 
 In the year 1797, Buonaparte, when commander-in-chief of the army 
 of Italy, visited Sirmio, on his journey from Milan, to conclude the treaty 
 of Campo Formio, turniDg out of his direct route for the purpose. He 
 gave a Fete Champetre in honour of Catullus. Annelh, a famous Impro- 
 visatori, paid on the occasion poetical tributes to the memory of the 
 Bard of Sirmio. And, out of respect for Catullus, the town of Sirmio 
 was reUeved from a detachment of soldiers which had been quartered 
 upon it. 
 
 The poet Frascatoro in lamenting the untimely death of a poetic 
 friend, who died at Sirmio, represents the shade of Catullus as nightly 
 wandering amidst the scenes of his once favourite peninsula. Among 
 the works of the modern Latin poets of Italy, there are many pleasing 
 addresses to their villas, composed in imitation of Catullus's Ode to 
 Sirmio. No other poem of antiquity can, perhaps, be indicated which 
 contains such an agreeable description of home feelings. 
 
 In England we have a very well-known popular song of "Home, 
 
 12 
 
178 OEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 sweet Home ! " And we have a very interesting school-boy Latin poem, 
 called Dulce Domum, said to have been composed, about a hundred and 
 fifty years ago, by a Winchester scholar, who, for some offence, was forbid 
 by his master from going home at the Whitsuntide holydays. A translation 
 of the poem first appeared in The Gentleman* s Magazine for March 1796. 
 The whole poem and translation will be found in Hone's Every-Day Book. 
 The two concluding stanzas may possibly excite curiosity to search for 
 the rest. 
 
 Heus ! Rogere, fer caballos ; 
 
 Eia, nunc eamus! 
 Limen amabile, 
 Matris et oscula, 
 
 Suaviter et repetamus. 
 
 Domum, domum, dulce domum. 
 
 Concinamus ad Penates, 
 
 Vox et audiatur; 
 Phosphore ! quid jubar, 
 Signius emicans, 
 
 Gaudia nostra moratur. 
 
 Domum, domum, dulce domum. 
 
 Let our men and steeds assemble, 
 
 Panting for the wide champaign, 
 Let the ground beneath us tremble. 
 
 While we scour along the plain. 
 
 O what raptures, O what blisses. 
 
 When we gain the lovely gate ! 
 Mother's arms, and mother's kisses, 
 
 There, our bless'd arrival wait. 
 
 Greet our household Gods with singing ! 
 
 Lend, Lucifer ! thy ray ; 
 Why should light, so slowly springing, 
 
 All our promised joys delay ? 
 
 The translation wants the simplicity, and the practical turn of the 
 original. — Hollo! Roger, bring the ponies! quick, let us scamper off! 
 Our jolly homes, our Mothers' kisses! Sha'n't we sing, "Home, sweet 
 Home!" Let us cheer loud, that our voices may reach to the governor's 
 ears ! Sun ! sun ! how slow you are rising ! Why don't you come, and 
 put an end to this delay of jolliness ? Hark ! We all call for you with the 
 song of " Home, sweet Home!" 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 17.9 
 
 IV. 
 
 VESUVIUS. 
 
 Hie est pampineis viridis modo Vesvius umbris : 
 
 Presserat hie madidos nobilis uva laeus. 
 Hsec juga, quam Nysas eolles, plus Bacchus amavit : 
 
 Hoc nuper Satyri monte dedere choros. 
 Hsec veneris sedes, Lacedsemone gratior illi : 
 
 Hie locus Herculeo nomine clarus erat. 
 Cuncta jacent flammis, et tristi mersa favilla : 
 
 Nee Superi vellent hoc licuisse sibi. 
 
 Vesuvio, cover'd with the fruitful vine, 
 
 Here flourish'd once, and ran with floods of Wine ; 
 
 Here Bacchus oft to the cool shades retir'd, 
 
 And his own native Nisa less admir'd : 
 
 Oft to the mountain's airy tops advanced, 
 
 The frisking Satyrs on the summits danc'd; 
 
 Alcides here, here Venus grac'd the shore, 
 
 Nor lov'd her fav'rite Lacedsemon more. 
 
 Now piles of ashes spreading all around. 
 
 In undistinguish'd heaps deform the ground, 
 
 The Gods themselves the ruin'd seats bemoan. 
 
 And blame the mischiefs that themselves have done. 
 
 The version is by Addison : he does not seem to have apprehended 
 the point in the last line, which appears to have reference to the memo- 
 rable and then recent saying of Nero concerning the extent of his power 
 {quantum sibi liceret), refen-ed to in the previous illustrations of the epi- 
 gram on Lucan. Picturesque descriptions of Vesuvius and of the Bay of 
 Naples are given by Addison and Eustace, and by Statins in his interest- 
 ing invitation of his wife to Naples ; a poem of upwards of a hundred 
 verses, which has been translated into harmonious English verse by 
 Dr Hodgson, provost of Eton : these lines occur : 
 
 Thy rage, Vesuvius, and thy streams that flow 
 
 In flaming horror o'er a waste of snow, 
 
 Drive not my daring countrymen away, 
 
 Their crowded cities still oppose his sway. 
 
 Here spread majestic o'er the busy coast 
 
 The world's great port, ItaUa's proudest boast : 
 
 12—2 
 
180 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Here many a lofty tow'r, and glittering dome, 
 The work, the care of heav'n, thy rivals, Rome ! 
 I call thee, Claudia ! to this balmy shore ! 
 Yes, thou wilt come with voluntary haste. 
 And thus anticipate the wish I waste. 
 Absent from me, before my Claudia's eyes, 
 Rome will in vain spread out her luxuries. 
 A mournful desert will the city seem, 
 And royal Tiber roll a sordid stream. 
 
 Tacitus, in describing the island of Caprese with reference to the 
 memorable retirement there of the Emperor Tiberius, observes that the 
 view of the Bay of Naples, as seen from the island, had lost much of its 
 beauty, in consequence of the fiery eruptions of Mount Vesuvius having, 
 between the time of Tiberius and the date of his Annals, changed the 
 aspect of the scenery. Addison notices that Martial's epigram is an inte- 
 resting commentary on Tacitus. And he observes that the view of the 
 Bay of Naples, when Tacitus wrote, must have been more striking than 
 at present, in consequence of its being anciently encompassed with so long 
 a range of buildings, as to appear to those who looked at it from a dis- 
 tance, but as one continued city. Virgil wrote his Georgics principally at 
 Naples, and has occasionally taken its scenery from its beautiful bay. 
 
 The first eruption of Vesuvius, which is remarkable in history, is that 
 which is the subject of the epigram in the text. It occurred a. d. 79, in 
 the first year of the reign of the Emperor Titus, and it destroyed the 
 cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii : the first of these Cities of the Dead 
 was discovered a.d. 1713, and the latter about ten years afterwards, the 
 former from seventy to one hundred and twelve, the latter from ten to 
 twelve feet, under the surface of the ground. The number of recorded 
 eruptions prior to that of a.d. 1794, is said to have been thirty. The erup- 
 tions of -^tna acquired classical celebrity from Pindar and ^schylus. 
 Virgil has sung of them. The Marquis of Wellesley, in a Latin poem, 
 has given an animated description of an eruption of .^tna, in which the 
 following lines occur : 
 
 Atra ruit vastse nubes prsesaga ruinse, 
 
 Tartareo ad superum vortice missa polum. 
 Jam tempestates cinerum, terrseque tremoris 
 
 Flammarumque inter saxa voluta globes, 
 Totaque sulphurds suffecta vaporibus aura, 
 
 Fulguraque, et subita condita nocte dies. 
 Atque alta ^tneis suspiria tracta cavernis, 
 
 Ceu mens ex imo lugeat ipse sinu, 
 Dant signum — liquidusque ignis, Phlegethontis imago, 
 
 Torrenti effervens flumine inundat agros : 
 Per nemora, et vites, per pulchra palatia, et hortos, 
 
 Involvens humili templa, domosque cas^. 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 181 
 
 Ad mare diluvio ardenti, et flagrantibus imdis. 
 Cum luctu, et laci'ymis, et nece, rastat iter. 
 
 Jungitur ignis aquse; et stridens durescit eundo ; 
 Objicit et pulso saxea claustra marl, 
 
 Fit pelagi rupes. 
 
 This description (according to an mipublished copy of the Marquis of 
 Wellesle/s Latin poetry) is taken from Brydone's Tour in Sicily , Vol. i. 
 p. 175, which describes more particularly the great eruption, a.d. 1669, 
 that destroyed the possessions of near 30,000 people. Brydone calcu- 
 lates that volcanic stones have been discharged from Mtn.B> to a height 
 of 7000 feet. 
 
 Pliny's two letters to Tacitus on the subject of the eruption of 
 Vesuvius, commemorated in the text, will always be read with deep 
 interest. 
 
 " Your request that I would send you an account of my uncle's death, 
 in order to transmit a more exact relation of it to posterity, deserves my 
 acknowledgements ; for, if this accident shall be celebrated by your pen, 
 the glory of it, I am well assm-ed, will be rendered for ever illustrious. 
 And notwithstanding he perished by a misfortune, which, as it involved at 
 the same time a most beautiful country in ruins, and destroyed so many 
 populous cities, seems to promise him an everlasting remembrance ; not- 
 withstanding he has himself composed many and lasting works ; yet I am 
 persuaded, the mentioning of him in your immortal writings will greatly 
 contribute to eternize his name. Happy I esteem those to be, whom pro- 
 vidence has distinguished with the abihties either of doing such actions as 
 are worthy of being related, or of relating them in a manner worthy of 
 being read ; but doubly happy are they who are blessed with both these 
 uncommon talents : in the number of which my uncle, as his own writings, 
 and your history will evidently prove, may justly be ranked. It is with 
 extreme willingness, therefore, I execute yom* commands; and should 
 indeed have claimed the task if you had not enjoined it. He was at that 
 time with the fleet under his command at Misenum. On the 24th of 
 August, about one in the afternoon, my mother desu'ed him to observe a 
 cloud which appeared of a very unusual size and shape. He had just 
 returned fr(?m taking the benefit of the sun, and after bathing himself in 
 cold water, and taking a slight repast, was retired to his study : he imme- 
 diately arose and went out upon an eminence from whence he might 
 more distinctly view this very uncommon appearance. It was not at that 
 distance discernible from what mountain this cloud issued, but it was 
 found afterwards to ascend from mount Vesuvius. I cannot give you a 
 more exact description of its figure, than by resembling it to that of a 
 pine-tree, for it shot up a great height in the form of a trunk, which 
 extended itself at the top into a sort of branches ; occasioned, I imagine, 
 either by a sudden gust of air that impelled it, the force of. which de- 
 
182 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 creased as it advanced upwards, or the cloud itself being pressed back 
 again by its ovm weight, expanded in this manner : it appeared some- 
 times bright and sometimes dark spotted, as it was either more or less 
 impregnated with earth and cinders. This extraordinary phenomenon 
 excited my uncle's philosophical curiosity to take a nearer view of it. 
 He ordered a light vessel to be got ready, and gave me the liberty, if I 
 thought proper, to attend him. I rather chose to continue my studies ; 
 for, as it happened, he had given me an employment of that kind. As he 
 was coming out of the house he received a note from Rectina the wife 
 of Bassus, who was in the utmost alarm at the imminent danger which 
 threatened her ; for her villa being situated at the foot of mount Vesuvius, 
 there was no way to escape but by sea ; she earnestly intreated him there- 
 fore to come to her assistance. He accordingly changed his first design, 
 and what he began with a philosophical, he pursued with an heroical turn 
 of mind. He ordered the galleys to put to sea, and went himself on board 
 with an intention of assisting not only Rectina, but several others ; for 
 the villas stand extremely thick upon that beautiful coast. When hasten- 
 ing to the place from whence others fled with the utmost terror, he 
 steered his direct course to the point of danger, and with so much calm- 
 ness and presence of mind, as to be able to make and dictate his obser- 
 vations upon the motion and figure of that dreadful scene. He was 
 now so nigh the mountain, that the cinders, which grew thicker and 
 hotter the nearer he approached, fell into the ships, together with pumice- 
 stones, and black pieces of burning rock : they were likewise in danger 
 not only of being a- ground by the sudden retreat of the sea, but also 
 from the vast fragments which rolled down from the mountain, and 
 obstructed all the shore. Here he stopped to consider whether he should 
 return back again; to which the pilot advising him. Fortune, said he, 
 befriends the brave; Carry me to Pomponianus. Pomponianus was then 
 at Stabise, separated by a gulf, which the sea, after several insensible 
 windings, forms upon the shore. He had already sent his baggage on 
 board; for though he was not at that time in actual danger, yet being 
 within the view of it, and indeed extremely near, if it should in the least 
 increase, he was determined to put to sea as soon as the wind should 
 change. It was favourable, however, for carrying my uncle to Pomponi- 
 anus, whom he found in the greatest consternation: he embraced him 
 with tenderness, encouraging and exhorting him to keep up his spirits, 
 and the more to dissipate his fears, he ordered, with an air of unconcern, 
 the baths to be got ready; when after having bathed, he sate down to 
 supper with great cheerfulness, or at least (what is equally heroic) with 
 all the appearance of it. In the meanwhile the eruption from mount 
 Vesuvius flamed out in several places with much violence, which the 
 darkness of the night contributed to render still more visible and dread- 
 ful. But my uncle, in order to soothe the apprehensions of his friend, 
 assured him it was only the burning of the villages, which the country 
 people had abandoned to the flames ; after this he retired to rest, and it 
 
m.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 183 
 
 is most certain he was so little discomposed as to fall into a deep sleep ; 
 for being pretty fat, and breathing hard, those who attended without 
 actually heard him snore. The court which led to his apartment being 
 now almost filled with stones and ashes, if he had continued there any 
 time longer, it would have been impossible for him to have made his way 
 out ; it was thought proper therefore to awaken him. He got up, and 
 went to Pomponianus and the rest of his company, who were not uncon- 
 cerned enough to think of going to bed. They consulted together 
 whether it would be most prudent to trust to the houses, which now 
 shook from side to side with frequent and violent concussions ; or fly to 
 the open fields, where the calcined stones and cinders, though light 
 indeed, yet fell in large showers, and threatened destruction. In this dis- 
 tress they resolved for the fields, as the less dangerous situation of the 
 two: a resolution which, while the rest of the company were hurried 
 into by th^ir fears, my uncle embraced upon cool and deliberate con- 
 sideration. They went out then, having pillows tied upon their heads 
 with napkins; and this was their whole defence against the storm of 
 stones that fell round them. It was now day everywhere else, but there 
 a deeper darkness prevailed than in the most obscure night ; which, how- 
 ever, was in some degree dissipated by torches and other lights of various 
 kinds. They thought proper to go down farther upon the shore to ob- 
 serve if they might safely put out to sea, but they found the waves still run 
 extremely high and boisterous. There my uncle having drunk a draught 
 or two of cold water, threw himself down upon a cloth which was spread 
 for him, when immediately the flames, and a strong smell of sulphur, 
 which was the forerunner of them, dispersed the rest of the company, and 
 obliged him to rise. He raised himself up with the assistance of two of 
 his servants, and instantly fell down dead ; suffocated, as I conjecture, by 
 some gross and noxious vapour, having always had weak lungs, and fre- 
 quently subject to a difficulty of breathing. As soon as it was light again, 
 which was not till the third day after this melancholy accident, his body 
 was found entire, and without any marks of violence upon it, exactly in 
 the same posture that he fell, and looking more like a man asleep than 
 dead. During all this time my mother and I who were at Misenum — 
 But as this has no connexion with your history, so your inquiry went no 
 farther than concerning my uncle's death ; with that therefore I will put 
 an end to my letter : suffer me only to add, that I have faithfully related 
 to you what I was either an eye-witness of myself, or received immedi- 
 ately after the accident happened, and before there was time to vaiy the 
 truth. You will choose out of this narrative such circumstances as 
 shall be most suitable to your purpose : for there is a great difference 
 between what is proper for a letter, and an history ; between writing to a 
 friend, and writing to the public. Farewell." 
 
 " The letter which, in compliance with your request, I wrote to you 
 concerning the death of my uncle, has raised, it seems, your curiosity to 
 
184 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 know what terrors and dangers attended me while I continued at Mise- 
 num; for there, I think, the account in my former letter broke off: 
 
 Though my shock'd soul recoils, my tongue shall tell. 
 My uncle having left us, I pursued the studies which prevented my going 
 with him, till it was time to bathe. After which I went to supper, and 
 from thence to bed, where my sleep was greatly broken and disturbed. 
 There had been for many days before some shocks of an earthquake, 
 which the less surprised us as they are extremely frequent in Campania ; 
 but they were so particularly violent that night, that they not only shook 
 every thing about us, but seemed indeed to threaten total destruction. 
 My mother flew to my chamber, where she found me rising, in order to 
 awaken her. We went out into a small court belonging to the house, 
 which separated the sea from the buildings. As I was at that time but 
 eighteen years of age, I know not whether I should call my behaviour in 
 this dangerous juncture, courage or rashness; but I took up Livy, and 
 amused myself with turning over that author, and even making extracts 
 from him, as if all about me had been in full security. While we were 
 in this posture, a friend of my uncle's, who was just come from Spain to 
 pay him a visit, joined us, and observing me sitting by my mother with a 
 book in my hand, greatly condemned her calmness, at the same time that 
 he reproved me for my careless security : nevertheless I still went on with 
 my author. Though it was now morning, the light was exceedingly faint 
 and languid ; the buildings all around us tottered, and though we stood 
 upon open ground, yet as the place was narrow and confined, there was 
 no remaining there without certain and great danger : we therefore re- 
 solved to quit the town. The people followed us in the utmost consterna- 
 tion, and (as to a mind distracted with terror, every suggestion seems 
 more prudent than its own) pressed in great crowds about us in our way 
 out. Being got at a convenient distance from the houses, we stood still, 
 in the midst of a most dangerous and dreadful scene. The chariots 
 which we had ordered to be drawn out, were so agitated backwards and 
 forwards, though upon the most level ground, that we could not keep 
 them steady, even by supporting them with large stones. The sea seemed 
 to roll back upon itself, and to be driven from its banks by the convul- 
 sive motion of the earth ; it is certain at least the shore was considerably 
 eidarged, and several sea-animals were left upon it. On the other side, a 
 black and dreadful cloud bursting with an igneous serpentine vapour, 
 darted out a long train of fire, resembling flashes of lightning, but much 
 larger. Upon this our Spanish friend, whom I mentioned above, address- 
 ing himself to my mother and me with great warmth and earnestness : If 
 your brother and your uncle, said he, is safe, he certainly wishes you may he 
 so too ; hut if he perished, it was his desire, no doubt, that you might both sur- 
 vive him : Why therefore do you delay your escape a moment f We could 
 never think of our own safety, we said, while we were uncertain of his. 
 Hereupon our friend left us,, and withdrew from the danger with the 
 
m.] PLACES AND NATUKAL PHENOMENA. 185 
 
 utmost precipitation. Soon afterwards the cloud seemed to descend and 
 cover the whole ocean ; as indeed it entirely hid the Island of Caprea, 
 and the promontory of Misenum. My mother strongly conjured me to 
 make my escape at any rate, which as I was young I might easily do ; as 
 for herself, she said, her age and corpulency rendered all attempts of that 
 sort impossible ; however she would willingly meet death, if she could have 
 the satisfaction of seeing that she was not the occasion of mine. But I 
 absolutely refused to leave her, and taking her by the hand, I led her on : 
 she complied with great reluctance, and not without many reproaches to 
 herself for retarding my flight. The ashes now began to fall upon us, 
 though in no great quantity. I turned my head, and observed behind 
 us a thick smoke, which came rolling after us like a torrent. I pro- 
 posed while we had yet any light to turn out of the high road, lest she 
 should be pressed to death in the dark by the crowd that followed 
 us. We had scarce stepped out of the path when darkness overspread 
 us, not like that of a cloudy night, or when there is no moon, but of a 
 room when it is shut up, and all the lights extinct. Nothing then was to 
 be heard but the shrieks of women, the screams of children, and the 
 cries of men; some calling for their children, others for their parents, 
 others for their husbands, and only distinguishing each other by their 
 voices; one lamenting his own fate, another that of his family; some wish- 
 ing to die, from the very fear of dying ; some lifting their hands to the 
 gods ; but the greater part imagining that the last and eternal night 
 was come, which was to destroy both the gods and the world together. 
 Among these there were some who augmented the real terrors by imagi- 
 nary ones, and made the frighted multitude falsely believe that Misenum 
 was actually in flames. At length a glimmering light appeared, which 
 we imagined to be rather the forerunner of an approaching burst of 
 flames (as in truth it was), than the return of day : however, the fire fell 
 at a distance from us : then again we were immersed in thick darkness, and 
 a heavy shower of ashes rained upon us, which we were obliged every 
 now and then to shake ofi", otherwise we should have been crushed and 
 buried in the heap. I might boast that, during all this scene of horror, 
 not a sigh, or expression of fear, escaped from me, had not my support 
 been founded in that miserable, though strong consolation, that all man- 
 kind were involved in the same calamity, and that I imagined I was 
 perishing with the world itself. At last this dreadful darkness was dissi- 
 pated by degrees, like a cloud or smoke ; the real day returned, and even 
 the sun appeared, though very faintly, and as when an eclipse is coming 
 on. Every object that presented itself to our eyes (which were extremely 
 weakened) seemed changed, being covered over with white ashes, as with 
 a deep snow. We returned to Misenum, where we refreshed ourselves as 
 well as we could, and passed an anxious night between hope and fear ; 
 though indeed with a much larger share of the latter : for the earthquake 
 still continued, while several enthusiastic people ran up and down height- 
 ening their own and their friends' calamities by terrible predictions. How- 
 
186 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 ever, my mother and I, notwithstanding the danger we had passed, and 
 that which still threatened us, had no thoughts of leaving the place till we 
 should receive some account from my uncle. — 
 
 " And now, you will read this narrative without any view of inserting 
 it in your history, of which it is by no means worthy ; and, indeed, you 
 must impute it to your own request, if it shall appear not to deserve even 
 the trouble of a letter. Farewell." 
 
 V. 
 
 MOUNT ST BERNARD. 
 
 Haec ubi saxa vides Bernard! in monte. Viator 
 
 Pennini quondam templa fuere Jovis : 
 Hospitium vetus, et multis memorabile sseclis ; 
 
 Nunc colitur veri sanctior ara Dei. 
 Scilicet hie olim voluit sibi ponere sedem 
 
 Eeligio, et notis gaudet adesse jugis. 
 Utque prius blanda venientes voce salutat, 
 
 Deque via fessis alma ministrat opem. 
 Et fractas reparat vires, reficitque medela 
 
 Et fovet Alpino membra perusta gelu. 
 Aut, quos obruerit subita nix lapsa ruina 
 
 Eripit ex alta mole, vetatque mori. 
 Temperat et Boreao rabiem, moUesque pruinas, 
 
 Et facit ssterno vere tepere nives. 
 
 Where these rude rocks on Bernard's summit nod. 
 
 Once heavenwards sprung the throne of Pennine Jove, 
 
 An ancient shrine of hospitable Love, 
 Now burns the altar to the Christian's God. 
 Here peaceful Piety, age on age, has trod 
 
 The waste ; still keeps her vigils ; takes her rest ; 
 
 Still, as of yore, salutes the coming guest, 
 And cheers the weary as they onward rove, 
 Healing each wayworn limb — or oft will start, 
 
 Catching the storm-lost wanderer^s sinking cry, 
 Speed the rich cordial to his ebbing heart, 
 
 Chafe his stiff limbs, and bid him not to die. 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 187 
 
 So tasked to smoothe stern Winter's drifting wing, 
 And garb the eternal snows in more eternal spring. 
 
 It may be regretted that the St Bernard Dogs have not an honourable 
 place in this beautiful description, of which the Latin and English lines 
 are taken from the Oxford Anthology. The Dogs of St Bernard are not 
 unsung, as may be seen in the following description by Rogers : 
 
 Night was again descending, when my mule. 
 That all day long had climbed among the clouds, 
 Higher and higher still, as by a stair 
 Let down from Heaven itself, transporting me. 
 Stopped, to the joy of both, at that low door 
 So near the summit of the Great St Bernard ; 
 That door which ever on its hinges moved 
 To them that knocked, and nightly sends abroad 
 Ministering Spirits. Lying on the watch. 
 Two dogs of grave demeanour welcomed me, 
 All meekness, gentleness, though large of limb ; 
 And a lay-brother of the Hospital, 
 Who, as we toiled below, had heard by fits 
 The distant echoes gaining on his ear, 
 Came and held fast my stirrup in his hand 
 While I alighted. 
 
 Long could I have stood, 
 With a religious awe, contemplating 
 That house, the highest in the Ancient World, 
 And placed there for the noblest purposes. 
 'Twas a rude pile of simplest masonry. 
 With naiTOw windows and vast buttresses. 
 But to endure the shocks of Time and Chance ; 
 Yet shewing many a rent, as well it might. 
 Warred on for ever by the elements. 
 And in an evil day, nor long ago. 
 By violent men — when on the mountain-top 
 The French and Austrian banners met in conflict. 
 On the same rock beside it stood the church. 
 Reft of its cross, not of its sanctity ; 
 The vesper-bell, for 'twas the vesper-hour. 
 Duly proclaiming through the wilderness, 
 " All ye who hear, whatever be your work. 
 Stop for an instant — move your lips in prayer ! " 
 And, just beneath it, in that dreary dale. 
 If dale it might be called, so near to heaven, 
 A little lake, where never fish leaped up, 
 Lay like a spot of ink amid the snow ; 
 
188 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 A star, the only one in that small sky, 
 
 On its dead surface glimmering. 'Twas a scene 
 
 Resembling nothing I had left behind, 
 
 As though all worldly ties were now dissolved ; — 
 
 And, to incline the mind still more to thought, 
 
 To thought and sadness, on the eastern shore 
 
 Under a beetling cliff stood half in shadow 
 
 A lonely chapel destined for the dead, 
 
 For such as having wandered from their way, 
 
 Had perished miserably. Side by side, 
 
 Within they lie, a mournful company. 
 
 All in their shrouds, no earth to cover them ; 
 
 Their features full of life, yet motionless. 
 
 In the broad day, nor soon to suffer change. 
 
 Though the barred windows, barred against the wolf, 
 
 Are always open ! 
 
 But the Bise blew cold ; 
 And bidden to a spare, but cheerful meal, 
 I sate among the holy brotherhood 
 At their long board. The fare indeed was such 
 As is prescribed on days of abstinence. 
 But might have pleased a nicer taste than mine. 
 And through the floor came up, an ancient matron 
 Serving unseen below ; while from the roof 
 (The roof, the floor, the walls of native fir,) 
 A lamp hung flickering, such as loves to fling 
 Its partial light on Apostolic heads. 
 And sheds a grace on all. Theirs Time as yet 
 Had changed not. Some were almost in the prime. 
 Nor was a brow o'ercast. Seen as I saw them, 
 Ranged round their ample hearth-stone, in an hour 
 Of rest, they were as gay, as free from guile 
 As children ; answering, and at once, to all 
 The gentle impulses, to pleasure, mirth; 
 Mingling, at intervals, with rational talk. 
 Music ; and gathering news from them that came, 
 As of some other world. But when the storm 
 Rose, and the snow rolled on in ocean-billows. 
 When on his face the experienced traveller fell, 
 Sheltering his lips and nostrils with his hands. 
 Then all was changed ; and, sallying with their pack 
 Into that blank of nature, they became 
 Unearthly beings. " Anselm, higher up 
 A dog howls loud and long, and now, observe. 
 Digs with his feet how eagerly ! A man. 
 Dying or dead, lies buried underneath ! 
 
III.] PLACES A]SD NATURAL PHENOMENA. 189 
 
 Let us to work ! there is no time to lose ! — 
 But who descends Mont Velan ? *Tis La Croix. 
 Away, away ! if not, alas, too late. 
 Homeward he drags an old man and a boy, 
 Faltering and falling, and but half awakened, 
 Asking to sleep again." Such their discourse. • 
 
 VI. 
 THE ALPS. 
 
 Cuncta gelu canaque seternum grandine tecta, 
 Atque sevi glaciem cohibent : riget ardua montis 
 -^therii facies, surgentique obvia PhoBbo 
 Duratas nescit flammis mollire pruinas. 
 Quantum Tartareus regni pallentis hiatus 
 Ad manes imos atque atrse stagna paludis 
 A supera tellure patet : tarn longa per auras 
 Erigitur tellus, et coelum intercipit umbra. 
 Nullum ver usquam, nuUique aestatis honores ; 
 Sola jugis habitat diris, sedesque tuetur 
 Perpetuas deformis hyems : ilia undique nubes 
 Hue atras agit et mixtos cum grandine nimbos. 
 Nam euncti flatus ventique furentia regna 
 Alpina posuere domo, caligat in altis 
 Obtutus saxis, abeuntque in nubila montes. 
 
 Stiff with eternal ice, and hid in snow. 
 
 That fell a thousand centuries ago, 
 
 The mountain stands ; nor can the rising sun 
 
 Unfix her frosts, and teach them how to run : 
 
 Deep as the dark infernal waters lie 
 
 From the bright regions of the cheerful sky, 
 
 So far the proud ascending rocks invade 
 
 Heav'n's upper realms, and cast a dreadful shade 
 
 No spring, nor summer, on the mountain seen, 
 
 Smiles with gay fruits, or with delightful green ; 
 
190 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Cir. 
 
 But hoary winter unadorn'd and bare, 
 Dwells in the dire retreat, and freezes there ; 
 There she assembles all her blackest storms, 
 And the rude hail in rattling tempests forms ; 
 Thither the loud tumultuous winds resort, 
 And on the mountain keep their boist'rous court, - 
 That in thick show'rs her rocky summit shrouds, 
 And darkens all the broken view with clouds. 
 
 The Latin is by Silius Italicus, the English by Addison. The authori- 
 ties and controversial writers on the subject of the passage of Hannibal 
 over the Alps, are referred to in Dr Smith's Dictionary. The writer of 
 the article concurs with Mebuhr and Arnold, in inferring that Hannibal 
 crossed by the pass of Little St Bernard, whilst French writers generally 
 are in favour of that by Mont Genevre or Mont Cenis. Hannibal was 
 fifteen days in crossing the Alps, and when he arrived in the valley of the 
 Po, had only 20,000 foot and 6,000 horse. Hannibal's use of vinegar for 
 the purpose of softening the Alps, seems credited by Livy, Juvenal, and 
 Silius, but Polybius treats it with silence, as does Cornelius Nepos. In 
 poetry, however, no one can willingly part with any line or word of 
 Juvenal's Hannibal. Some of the sublimest description of Alpine scenery, 
 in English verse, (as particularly of the mountain of the Jungfrau), 
 occurs in Byron's Manfred. The following is the description of the Alps 
 in Rogers' Italy : 
 
 Who first beholds those everlasting clouds, 
 
 Seed-time and harvest, morning, noon and night. 
 
 Still where they were, stedfast, immovable ; 
 
 Who first beholds the Alps — that mighty chain 
 
 Of Mountains, stretching on from east to west. 
 
 So massive, yet so shadowy, so ethereal. 
 
 As to belong rather to Heaven than Earth — 
 
 But instantly receives into his soul 
 
 A sense, a feeling that he loses not, 
 
 A something that informs him 'tis a moment 
 
 Whence he may date henceforward and for ever ? 
 
 To me they seemed the barriers of a World, 
 Saying, Thus far, no farther ! and as o'er 
 The level plain I travelled silently, 
 Nearing them more and more, day after day. 
 My wandering thoughts my only company, 
 And they before me still, oft as I looked, 
 A strange delight, mingled with fear, came o'er me, 
 A wonder as at things I had not heard of! 
 Oft as I looked, I felt as though it were 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 191 
 
 For the first time ! ij 
 
 Great was the tumult there, ; 
 
 Deafening the din, when in barbaric pomp 1 
 
 The Carthaginian on his march to Rome | 
 
 Entered their fastnesses. Trampling the snows, I 
 
 The war-horse reared ; and the towered elephant j 
 
 Upturned his trunk into the murky sky, ;i 
 
 Then tumbled headlong, swallowed up and lost, 1 
 He and his rider. 
 
 Now the scene is changed ; : 
 
 And o'er Mont Cenis, o'er the Simplon winds i 
 
 A path of pleasure. Like a silver zone ' I 
 Flung about carelessly, it shines afar, 
 
 Catching the eye in many a broken link, : 
 
 In many a turn and traverse as it gUdes ; i 
 And oft above and oft below appears. 
 
 Seen o'er the wall by him who journeys up, i 
 
 As though it were another, not the same, ; 
 
 Leading along he knows not whence or whither. \ 
 Yet through its fairy-course, go where it will, 
 
 The torrent stops it not, the rugged rock : 
 
 Opens and lets it in ; and on it runs, j 
 
 Winning its easy way from clime to clime ' 
 Through glens locked up before. 
 
 Not such my path! 
 Mine but for those, who, like Jean Jaques, delight 
 In dizziness, gazing and shuddering on 
 Till fascination comes and the brain turns ! 
 
 Mine, though I judge but from my ague-fits ' 
 Over the Drance, just where the Abbot fell, 
 
 The same as Hannibal's. ; 
 
 But now 'tis past. 
 That turbulent Chaos ; and the promised land 
 
 Lies at my feet in all its loveliness ! j 
 
 To him who starts up from a terrible dream, ; 
 
 And lo, the sun is shining, and the lark j 
 Singing aloud for joy, to him is not 
 
 Such sudden ravishment as now I feel | 
 
 At the first glimpses of fair Italy. j 
 
192 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 VII. 
 
 F^SULiE. 
 (A) 
 
 Hie resonat blando tibi pinus amata susurro ; 
 Hie vaga coniferis insibilat aura cupressis : 
 Hie seatebris salit, et buUantibus incita venis 
 Pura coloratos inter strepit unda lapillos. 
 Talia Fsesuleo lentus meditabar in antro, 
 Eure suburbano Medieum, qua mons saeer urbem 
 MsBoniam, longique volumina despieit Arni, 
 Qua bonus hospitium felix, placidamque quietem 
 Indulgens Laurens, Laurens non ultima Phoebi 
 Gloria, jaetatis Laurens fida anehora musis. 
 
 Here whisper the tall pines I hold so dear, 
 Here through the cypress boughs the zephyrs sigh, 
 Here from the earth the bubbling fountain springs, 
 And rolls pellucid o'er its chequer'd bed. 
 
 Thus pensive mus'd I, in the lonely grots 
 Of Fsesulae, great Medici's retreat 
 From pomp and care, where on Florentia's towers, 
 And on fair Arno winding through the vale, 
 The sacred hill looks down : Lorenzo there 
 His guests receives, and tranquil quiet seeks ; 
 Lorenzo, happy prince ! the favoured son 
 Of Phoebus, and the Muses' firm support. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Oh Faesulse amoena 
 Frigoribus juga, nee nimium spirantibus auris ! 
 Alma quibus Tusci Pallas decus Apennini 
 Esse dedit, glaucaque sua canescere sylva ! 
 Non ego vos posthac Arni de valle videbo 
 Porticibus circum, et candenti cincta corona 
 Villarum longe nitido consurgere dorso, 
 Antiquamve ^dem, et veteres prseferre cupressus 
 Mirabor, tectisque super pendentia tecta. 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 193 
 
 Oh Heights of Fsesulse, cooled by refreshing and yet 
 not tumultuous breezes ; to whom Minerva has vouchsafed 
 to be the glory of the Tuscan Apennines, and to be con- 
 spicuous for the peculiar verdure of your groves ! I shall 
 no longer behold you from the valley of the Arno, crowned 
 with porticos and villas, or that ancient Cathedral, or 
 those venerable cypresses, or those edifices that overhang 
 edifices below. 
 
 The first piece is by Politian, the second by Gray. Fsesulae is the 
 most conspicuous and attractive object in the immediate vicinity of Flo- 
 rence. It is thus described by Eustace : 
 
 " Placed on the summit of a lofty and broken eminence, it looks down 
 on the vale of the Arno, and commands Florence with all its domes, 
 towers, and palaces, the villas that encircle it, and the roads that lead to 
 it. The recesses, swells, and breaks of the hill on which it stands, are 
 covered with groves of pines, ilex, and cypress. Above these groves rises 
 the dome of the cathedral ; and in the midst of them reposes a rich and 
 venerable abbey, founded by the Medicean family. Behind the hill at a 
 distance swell the Apennines. That a place graced with so many beauties 
 should delight the poet and the philosopher is not wonderful, and ac- 
 cordingly we find it alluded to with complacency by Milton, panegyrized 
 by Politian, inhabited by Picus, and frequented by Lorenzo.'* 
 
 It was from the top of Fsesulse that Milton represents Galileo descrying 
 the wonders of his newly-invented telescope : 
 
 Like the Moon, whose orb 
 Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views, 
 At evening from the top of Fcesulce, 
 Or in Valdarno, to descry new lands. 
 Elvers, or mountains in her spotty globe. 
 
 13 
 
194 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 VIII. 
 BAI^. 
 
 Dum nos blanda tenent jucundi stagna Lucrini, 
 
 Et quse pumiceis fontibus antra calent, 
 Tu colis Argivi regnum Faustine coloni, 
 
 Quo te bis decimus ducit ab urbe lapis. 
 Horrida sed fervent Nemesei pectora monstri : 
 
 Nee satis est Bajas igne calere suo. 
 Ergo sacri fontes, et littora sacra valete, 
 
 Nympharum pariter, Nereidumque domus ! 
 Herculeos colles gelida vos vincite bruma, 
 
 Nunc Tiburtinis cedite frigoribus. 
 
 While near the Lucrine lake, consum'd to death, 
 I draw the sultry air, and gasp for breath, 
 Where streams of sulphur raise a stifling heat, 
 And through the pores of the warm pumice sweat ; 
 You taste the cooling breeze, where nearer home 
 The twentieth pillar marks the mile from Eome : 
 And now the Sun to the bright Lion turns, 
 And Baja with redoubled fury burns ; 
 Then briny seas and tasteful springs farewell. 
 Where fountain-nymphs confus'd with Nereids dwell, 
 In winter you may all the world despise. 
 But now 'tis Tivoli that bears the prize. 
 
 The version of Martial's epigram is by Addison. — Baise was the winter 
 retreat of the Romans, that being the proper season to enjoy the Baian 
 Suns (Baiani Soles). The face of the country about Baiae has been 
 changed by earthquakes : the sea has overwhelmed a multitude of pa- 
 laces, the ruins of which may be seen at the bottom of the water in a 
 calm day at a considerable distance from the land, though the present 
 bay of Baise is lined with the ruins of villas and baths. Horace notices 
 a prevailing taste for building in the waters and encroaching on the sea 
 in this very locality. The vicinity of Baise was considered by the Ro- 
 mans as under the peculiar favour of Yenus, who had a celebrated temple 
 there, the ruins of which are still visible. The ancient amusements of 
 Baise are represented in a very agreeable as well as learned point of view 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 195 
 
 in the seventh scene of Bekker's Gallus, entitled ' A Day in Baise." The 
 smiling features and delicious climate of Baise afford a melancholy con- 
 trast between the beauties of nature and the crimes which have been 
 perpetrated in that neighbourhood by those monsters of our species, 
 Nero, Tiberius and Caracalla. Anstey took for the motto of his Bath 
 Guide a line from Horace in praise of Baisc, with a slight variation — "No 
 place in the world is more attractive than the pleasant Bath." 
 NuUus in orbe sinus (locus) Bails prselucet amcenis. 
 
 IX. 
 A FORMIAN VILLA. 
 
 O temperatae dulce Formiae litus, 
 Vos, cum severi fugit oppidum Martis, 
 Et inquietas fessus exuit curas, 
 Apollinaris omnibus locis prsefert. 
 Non ille sanctse dulce Tibur uxoris, 
 Nee Tusculanos, Algidosve secessus, 
 Prseneste nee sic, Antiumve miratur. 
 Non blanda Circe, Dardanisve Cajeta 
 Desiderantur, nee Marica, nee Liris, 
 Nee in Lucrina lota Salmacis vena. 
 Hie summa leni stringitur Thetis vento ; 
 Nee languet a^quor : viva sed quies Ponti 
 Pictam phaselon adjuvante fert aura ; 
 Sicut puellae non amantis sestatem 
 Mota salubre purpura venit frigus. 
 Nee sera longo quserit in mari prsedam, 
 Sed a cubili lectuloque jactatam 
 Spectatus alte lineam trahit piscis. 
 Si quando Nereus sentit ^oli regnum, 
 Ridet procellas tuta de suo mensa. 
 Piscina rhombum pascit, et lupos vernas ; 
 Natat ad magistrum delicata mursena. 
 Nomenculator mugilem citat notum, 
 Et adesse jussi prodeunt senes muUi. 
 Frui sed istis quando Roma permittit ? 
 
 13—2 
 
196 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Quot Formianos imputat dies annus 
 Negotiosis rebus urbis hserenti ? 
 O janitores, villicique felices ! 
 Dominis parantur ista ; serviunt vobis. 
 
 O delightful shore of temperate Formia ! ApoUinaris, 
 when he is able to fly from the city of ruthless Mars, and 
 can lay aside for a time his wearisome cares, prefers you 
 to every spot on earth. Tibur, Tusculum, Algidum, Pras- 
 neste, Antium, Mount Circe, the promontory of Gsetae, the 
 grove of Lsenia, the river Lyris, or Salmacis by the Lucrine 
 lake, these are summer-retreats extolled by many ; but 
 ApoUinaris prefers Formia to them all. Here the sea is 
 not tost by storms, but its surface is placidly rippled by the 
 Zephyrs. The air however is not so languid but that it 
 gently wafts on its course the painted galley. The air may 
 be compared to that raised by the fan of a damsel seeking 
 to create an artificial coolness in the heat of the day. Do 
 you wish to enjoy the amusement of fishing, you are not 
 obliged to put out to sea to enjoy it : but, whilst you 
 recline on your couch, you may see the fishes as they hook 
 themselves to your line. If ever a storm, though rare, be 
 raised, it is a pleasure to watch it in safety from your 
 table. You have a fishpond stocked with turbots and pike, 
 and the choicest delicacies of gastronomy. Lampreys 
 swim to their master when he calls them. A Nomenclator 
 cites your familiar mullets, and, aged servants as they are, 
 they obey his call. But how rarely does Kome allow of 
 such enjoyments ! How few Formian days can any one 
 who is immersed in the business of the city promise him- 
 self ! Happy swains, and country domestics, these rural 
 luxuries are prepared for your Masters, but, in truth, they 
 wait upon You. 
 
 Martial has given several other descriptions of Roman Villas, as the 
 Baian Villa of Faustinus, and Martialis*s Villa which commanded a view 
 of the seven hills of Rome, from which a motto is frequently taken for 
 maps of Rome, and to which Pope appears to have been indebted for the 
 expression, " And yours, my friends ! " which may be seen inscribed over 
 the door of a splendid mansion in Somersetshire. Roman villas are 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 197 
 
 placed in a lively and at the same time learned point of view in the fifth 
 scene of Bekker's Gallus, entitled ' The Villa/ And they are adorned and 
 peopled by the imagination of Sir Edward Lytton, in his Last Days of 
 Pompeii. Rogers, in his Italy, notices the villas in that City of the Dead, 
 and particularly adverts to the hospitable invitation conveyed in the 
 word Ave, inscribed over the doors of villas, the import of which is more 
 fully expressed by Pope, 
 
 Through this wide-opening gate 
 None come too early ; none return too late. 
 
 The following descriptions by Pliny of two of his own villas, will give 
 the reader a Hfe-like representation of rural and literary enjoyment 
 among the Romans. 
 
 " You are surprised, it seems, that I am so fond of my Laurentinum, 
 or (if you like the appellation better) my Laurens : but you will cease to 
 wonder, when I acquaint you with the beauty of the villa, the advantages 
 of its situation, and the extensive prospect of the sea-coast. It is but 
 seventeen miles distant from Rome ; so that having finished my affairs 
 in town, I can pass my evenings here without breaking in upon the busi- 
 ness of the day. There are two different roads to it ; if you go by that 
 of Laurentum, you must turn off at the fourteenth mile-stone ; if by 
 Ostia, at the eleventh. Both of them are in some parts sandy, which 
 makes it something heavy and tedious if you travel in a coach, but easy 
 and pleasant to those who ride. The landscape on all sides is extremely 
 diversified, the prospect in some places being confined by woods, in others 
 extending over large and beautiful meadows, where numberless flocks of 
 sheep and herds of cattle, which the severity of the winter has drove 
 from the mountains, fatten in the vernal warmth of this rich pasturage. 
 My villa is large enough to afford conveniences, without being extensive. 
 The porch before it is plain, but not mean, through which you enter into 
 a portico in the form of the letter D, which includes a small, but agree- 
 able area. This affords a very commodious retreat in bad weather, not 
 only as it is inclosed with windows, but particularly as it is sheltered by 
 an extraordinai-y projection of the roof. From the middle of this por- 
 tico you pass into an inward court extremely pleasant, and from thence 
 into a handsome hall which runs out towards the sea ; so that when there 
 is a south-west wind it is gently washed with the waves, which spend 
 themselves at the foot of it. On every side of this hall there are either 
 folding-doors or windows equally large, by which means you have a view 
 from the front and the two sides, as it were of three different seas : from 
 the back part you see the middle court, the portico and the area ; and 
 by another view you look through the portico into the porch, from whence 
 the prospect is terminated by the woods and mountains which are seen 
 at a distance. On the left-hand of this hall, something farther from 
 the sea, lies a large drawing-room, and beyond that, a second of a smaller 
 size, which has one window to the rising, and another to the setting sun: 
 
198 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 this has likewise a prospect of the sea, but being at a greater distance, is 
 less incommoded by it. The angle which the projection of the hall 
 forms with this drawing-room, retains and increases the warmth of the 
 sun, and hither my family retreat in winter to perform their exercises : it 
 is sheltered from all winds except those which are generally attended 
 with clouds, so that nothing can render this place useless, but what at 
 the same time destroys the fair weather. Contiguous to this, is a room 
 forming the segment of a circle, the windows of which are so placed as 
 to receive the sun the whole day : in the walls are contrived a sort of 
 cases, which contain a collection of such authors whose works can never 
 be read too often. From hence you pass into a bed-chamber through a, 
 passage, which being boarded and suspended as it were over a stove 
 which runs underneath, tempers the heat that it receives and conveys 
 to all parts of this room. The remainder of this side of the house is 
 appropriated to the use of my slaves and freedmen ; but however most 
 of the apartments in it are neat enough to entertain any of my friends, 
 who are inclined to be my guests. In the opposite wing is a room orna- 
 mented in a very elegant taste ; next to which lies another room, which, 
 though large for a parlour, makes but a moderate dining-room ; it is ex- 
 ceedingly warmed and enlightened not only by the direct rays of the sun, 
 but by their reflection from the sea. Beyond this, is a bed-chamber 
 together with its anti-chamber, the height of which renders it cool in 
 summer, as its being sheltered on all sides from the winds makes it warm 
 in winter. To this apartment another of the same sort is joined by one 
 common wall. From thence you enter into the grand and spacious 
 cooling room belonging to the baths, from the opposite walls of which 
 two round basins project, large enough to swim in. Contiguous to this 
 is the perfuming-room, then the sweating-room, and beyond that the fur- 
 nace which conveys the heat to the baths : adjoining are two other little 
 bathing-rooms, which are fitted up in an elegant rather than costly 
 manner : annexed to this, is a warm bath of extraordinary workmanship, 
 wherein one may swim, and have a prospect at the same time of the sea. 
 Not far from hence stands the tennis-court, which lies open to the 
 warmth of the afternoon sun. From thence you ascend a sort of turret, 
 which contains two entire apartments below; as there are the same 
 number above, besides a dining-room which commands a very extensive 
 prospect of the sea and coast, together with the beautiful villas that stand 
 interspersed upon it. At the other end, is a second turret, containing a 
 room which faces the rising and setting sun. Behind this, is a large 
 room for a repository, near to which is a gallery of curiosities, and under- 
 neath a spacious dining-room, where the roaring of the sea, even in a 
 storm, is heard but faintly : it looks upon the garden, and the gestatio, 
 which surrounds the garden. The gestatio is encompassed with a box- 
 tree hedge, and where that is decayed, with rosemary ; for the box in 
 those parts which are sheltered by the buildings, preserves its verdure 
 perfectly well ; but where by an open situation it lies exposed to the 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 199 
 
 dashing of the sea-water, though at a great distance, it entirely withers. 
 Between the garden and this gestatio runs a shady walk of vines, which 
 is so soft that you may walk barefoot upon it without any injury. The 
 garden is chiefly planted with fig and mulberry- trees, to which this soil 
 is as favourable, as it is averse to all others. In this place is a banquet- 
 ing-room, which though it stands remote from the sea, enjoys however a 
 prospect nothing inferior to that view : two apartments run round the 
 back part of it, whose windows look upon the entrance of the villa, and 
 into a very pleasant kitchen-garden. From hence an inclosed portico 
 extends itself, which by its grandeur you might take for a public one. 
 It has a range of windows on each side, but on that which looks towards 
 the sea they are double the number of those next the garden. When the 
 weather is fair and serene, these are all thi'own open ; but if it blows, 
 those on the side the wind sits are shut, while the others remain unclosed 
 without any inconvenience. Before this portico lies a terrace perfumed 
 with violets, and warmed by the reflection of the sun from the portico, 
 which as it retains the rays, so it keeps off the north-east wind ; and it is 
 as warm on this side, as it is cool on the opposite : in the same manner 
 it is a defence against the south-west ; and thus, in short, by means of 
 its several sides, breaks the force of the winds from what point soever 
 they blow. These are some of the winter-advantages of this agreeable 
 situation, which however are still more considerable in the summer ; for 
 at that season it throws a shade upon the terrace during all the forenoon, 
 as it defends the gestatio, and that part of the garden which lies conti- 
 guous to it, from the afternoon sun, and casts a greater or less shade, as 
 the day either increases or decreases ; but the portico itself is then coolest 
 when the sun is most scorching, that is, when its rays fall directly upon 
 the roof. To these advantages I must not forget to add, that by setting 
 open the windows, the western breezes have a free draught, and by that 
 means the enclosed air is prevented from stagnating. On the upper end 
 of the terrace and portico stands a detached building in the garden, 
 which I call my favourite ; and in truth I am extremely fond of it, as I 
 erected it myself. It contains a very warm winter-room, one side of 
 which looks upon the terrace, the other has a view of the sea, and both 
 lie exposed to the sun. Through the folding-doors you see the opposite 
 chamber, and from the window is a prospect of the enclosed portico. On 
 that side next the sea, and opposite to the middle wall, stands a little 
 elegant retired closet, which by means of glass doors and a curtain, is 
 either laid into the adjoining room, or separated from it. It contains a 
 couch and two chairs : As you lie upon this couch, from the feet you 
 have a prospect of the sea; if you look behind, you see the neighbouring 
 villas ; and from the head you have a view of the woods : these three 
 views may be seen either distinctly from so many different windows in 
 the room, or blended together in one confused prospect. Adjoining to 
 this, is a bed-chamber, which neither the voice of the servants, the 
 murmur of the sea, nor even the roaring of a tempest can reach ; not 
 
200 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 lightning nor the day itself can penetrate it, unless you open the win- 
 dows. This profound tranquillity is occasioned by a passage, which 
 divides the wall of this chamber from that of the garden, and thus by 
 means of that yoid intervening space every noise is drowned. Annexed 
 to this, is a small stove- room, which by opening a little window, warms 
 the bed-chamber to the degree of heat required. Beyond this, lies a 
 chamber and an ti- chamber, which enjoys the sun, though obliquely 
 indeed, from the time it rises till the afternoon. When I retire to this 
 garden-apartment, I fancy myself a hundred miles from my own house, 
 and take particular pleasure in it at the feast of the Saturnalia, when, by 
 the license of that season of joy, every other part of my villa resounds 
 with the mirth of my domestics: thus I neither interrupt their diversions, 
 nor they my studies. Among the pleasures and conveniences of this 
 situation, there is one disadvantage, and that is, the want of a running 
 stream ; but this defect is in a great measure supplied by wells, or rather 
 I should call them springs, for they rise very near the surface. And in- 
 deed the quality of this coast is pretty remarkable ; for in what part 
 soever you dig, you meet, upon the first turning up of the ground, with a 
 spring of pure water, not in the least salt, though so near the sea. The 
 neighbouring forests afford an abundant supply of fuel ; as every other 
 convenience of life may be had from Ostia : to a moderate man, indeed, 
 even the next village (between which and my house there is only one 
 villa) would furnish all common necessaries. In that little place there 
 are no less than three public baths ; which is a great conveniency if it 
 happens that my friends come in unexpectedly, or make too short a stay 
 to allow time for preparing my own. The whole coast is beautifully 
 diversified by the joining or detached villas that are spread upon it, which 
 whether you view them from the sea or the shore, have a much more 
 agreeable effect, than if it were crowded with towns. It is sometimes, 
 after a long calm, good travelling upon the coast, though in general, by 
 the storms driving the waves upon it, it is rough and uneven. I cannot 
 boast that our sea produces any very extraordinary fish ; however it 
 supplies us with exceeding fine soles and prawns : but as to provisions of 
 other kinds, my villa pretends to excel even inland countries, particularly 
 in milk ; for thither the cattle come from the meadows in great numbers, 
 in pursuit of shade and water. Tell me now, have I not just cause to 
 bestow my time and my affection upon this delightful retreat ? Surely 
 you are unreasonably attached to the pleasures of the town, if you have 
 no inclination to take a view of it ; as I much wish you had, that to 
 so many charms with which my favourite villa abounds, it might have the 
 very considerable addition of your presence to recommend it. Farewell." 
 
 " The kind concern you expressed when you heard of my design to 
 pass the summer at my villa in Tuscany, and your obliging endeavours 
 to dissuade me from going to a place which you think unhealthy, is 
 extremely agreeable to me. I confess, indeed, the air of that part of 
 Tuscany, which lies towards the coast, is thick and unwholesome : but 
 
m.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 201 
 
 my house is situated at a great distance from the sea, under one of the 
 Apennine mountains, which, of all others, is most esteemed for the clear- 
 ness of its air. But that you may lay aside all apprehensions on my 
 account, I will give you a description of the temperature of the climate, 
 the situation of the country, and the beauty of my villa, which I am per- 
 suaded you will hear with as much pleasure as I shall relate. The 
 winters are severe and cold, so that myrtles, olives, and trees of that 
 kind which delight in constant warmth, will not flourish here ; but it 
 produces bay-trees in great perfection ; yet sometimes, though indeed 
 not oftener than in the neighbourhood of Rome, they are killed by the 
 sharpness of the seasons. The summers are exceedingly temperate, and 
 continually attended with refreshing breezes, which are seldom inter- 
 rupted by high winds. If you were to come here and see the numbers 
 of old men who have lived to be grandfathers and great-grandfathers, 
 and hear the stories they can entertain you with of their ancestors, you 
 would fancy yourself born in some former age. The diposition of the 
 country is the most beautiful that can be imagined : figure to yourself an 
 immense amphitheatre ; but such as the hand of nature could only form. 
 Before you lies a vast extended plain bounded by a range of mountains 
 whose summits are covered with lofty and venerable woods, which 
 supply variety of game ; from hence, as the mountains decline, they are 
 adorned with underwoods. Intermixed with these are little hills of so 
 strong and fat a soil, that it would be difficult to find a single stone upon 
 them ; their fertility is nothing inferior to the lowest grounds ; and 
 though their harvest indeed is something later, their crops are well 
 matured. At the foot of these hills the eye is presented, wherever it 
 turns, with one unbroken view of numberless vineyards, which are termi- 
 nated by a border, as it were, of shrubs. From thence you have a pro- 
 spect of the adjoinig fields and meadows below. The soil of the former 
 is so extremely stiff", and upon the first ploughing it rises in such vast 
 clods, that it is necessary to go over it nine several times with the largest 
 oxen and the strongest ploughs, before they can be thoroughly broken ; 
 whilst the enamelled meadows produce trefoil, and other kinds of herbage 
 as fine and tender as if it were but just sprung up, being continually 
 refreshed by never-failing rills. But though the country abounds with 
 great plenty of water, there are no marshes ; for as it is a rising ground, 
 whatever water it receives without absorbing, runs off" into the Tiber. 
 This river, which winds through the middle of the meadows, is navigable 
 only in the winter and spring, when it transports the produce of the 
 lands to Rome : but its channel is so extremely low in summer, that it 
 scarce deserves the name of a river : towards the autumn, however, it 
 begins again to renew its claim to that title. You could not be more 
 agreeably entertained, than by taking a view of the face of this country 
 from the top of one of our neighbouring mountains : you would imagine 
 that not a real, but some painted landscape lay before you, drawn with 
 the most exquisite beauty and exactness; such an harmonious and 
 
202 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 regular variety charms the eye, which way soever it throws itself. My 
 villa is so advantageously situated, that it commands a full view of all 
 the country round ; yet you go up to it by so insensible a rise, that you 
 find yourself upon an elevation without perceiving you ascended. Behind, 
 but at a great distance, stand the Apennine mountains. In the calmest 
 days we are refreshed by the winds that blow from thence, but so spent, 
 as it were, by the long tract of land they travel over, that they are en- 
 tirely divested of all their strength and violence before they reach us. 
 The exposition of the principal front of the house is full south, and seems 
 to invite the afternoon sun in summer (but something earlier in winter) 
 into a spacious and well-proportioned portico, consisting of several mem- 
 bers, particularly a porch built after the manner of the ancients. In the 
 front of the portico is a sort of terrace, embellished with various figures, 
 and bounded with a box-hedge, from whence you descend by an easy 
 slope, adorned with the representation of divers animals in box answering 
 alternately to each other, into a lawn overspread with the soft, I had 
 almost said, the liquid acanthus : this is surrounded by a walk inclosed 
 with tensile evergreens, shaped into a variety of forms. Beyond it is the 
 gestatio laid out in the form of a circus, ornamented in the middle with 
 box cut in numberless different figures, together with a plantation of 
 shrubs prevented by the shears from running up too high : the whole is 
 fenced in with a wall covered by box, rising by different ranges to the 
 top. On the outside of the wall lies a meadow that owes as many beau- 
 ties to nature, as all I have been describing within does to art ; at the 
 end of which are several other meadows and fields interspersed with 
 thickets. At the extremity of the portico stands a grand dining-room, 
 which opens upon one end of the terrace ; as from the windows there is 
 a very extensive prospect over the meadows up into the country, from 
 whence you also have a view of the terrace and such parts of the house 
 which project forward, together with the woods inclosing the adjacent 
 hippodrome. Opposite almost to the centre of the portico stands an 
 apartment something backwards, which encompasses a small area, shaded 
 by four plane-trees, in the midst of which a fountain rises, from whence 
 the water running over the edges of a marble basin gently refreshes the 
 surrounding plane-trees and the verdure underneath them. This apart- 
 ment consists of a bed-chamber free from every kind of noise, and which 
 the light itself cannot penetrate ; together with a common dining-room 
 that I use whenever I have none but familiar friends with me. A 
 second portico looks upon this little area, and has the same prospect 
 with the former I just now described. There is besides, another room 
 which being situated close to the nearest plane-tree, enjoys a constant 
 shade and verdure : its sides are incrusted half way with carved marble, 
 and from thence to the ceihng a foliage is painted with birds intermixed 
 among the branches, which has an effect altogether as agreeable as that 
 of the carving ; at the basis of which is placed a little fountain, that play- 
 ing through several small pipes into a vase, produces a most pleasing 
 
Ill] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 203 
 
 murmur. From a corner of the portico you enter into a very spacious 
 chamber opposite to the grand dining-room, which from some of its win- 
 dows has a view of the terrace, and from others of the meadow, as those 
 in the front look upon a cascade, which entertains at once both the eye 
 and the ear ; for the water falling from a great height, foams round the 
 marble basin, which receives it below. This room is extremely warm in 
 winter, being much exposed to the sun, as in a cloudy day the heat of an 
 adjoining stove very well supplies his absence. From hence you pass 
 through a spacious and pleasant undressing room into the cold-bath-room, 
 in which is a large gloomy bath : but if you are disposed to swim more 
 at large, or in warmer water, in the middle of the area is a wide basin 
 for that purpose, and near it a reservoir from whence you may be sup- 
 plied with cold water to brace yourself again, if you should perceive you 
 are too much relaxed by the warm. Contiguous to the cold-bath is one 
 of a middling degree of heat, which enjoys the kindly warmth of the sun, 
 but not so intensely as that of the hot-bath, which projects farther. 
 This last consists of three several divisions, each of different degrees of 
 heat ; the two former lie open to the full sun, the latter, though not so 
 much exposed to its heat, receives an equal share of its light. Over the 
 undressing room is built the tennis-court, which by means of different 
 circles admits of different kinds of games. Not far from the baths, is 
 the staircase which leads to the inclosed portico, after having first passed 
 through three apartments : one of these looks upon the little area with 
 the four plane-trees round it, the other has a sight of the meadows, and 
 from the third you have a view of several vineyards ; so that they have as 
 many different prospects as expositions. At one end of the inclosed 
 portico, and indeed taken off from it, is a chamber that looks upon the 
 hippodrome, the vineyards, and the mountains ; adjoining is a room which 
 has a full exposure to the sun, especially in winter : from hence runs an 
 apartment that connects the hippodrome with the house : and sucii is the 
 form and aspect of the front. On the side is a summer inclosed portico 
 which stands high, and has not only a prospect of the vineyards, but 
 seems almost to touch them. From the middle of this portico you enter 
 a dining-room cooled by the wholesome breezes which come from the 
 Apennine valleys : from the windows in the back front, which are ex- 
 tremely large, there is a prospect of the vineyards, as you have also 
 another view of them from the folding-doors through the summer 
 portico : along that side of this dining-room where there are no windows, 
 runs a private staircase for the greater conveniency of serving at enter- 
 tainments : at the farther end is a chamber from whence the eye is 
 entertained with a view of the vineyards, and (what is equally agreeable) 
 of the portico. Underneath this room is an inclosed portico something 
 resembling a grotto, which enjoying in the midst of summer-heats its 
 own natural coolness, neither admits nor wants the refreshment of exter- 
 nal breezes. After you have passed both these porticos, at the end of 
 the dining-room stands a third, which as the day is more or less ad- 
 
204j gems of latin poetry. [Ch. 
 
 vanced, serves either for winter or summer use. It leads to two different 
 apartments, one containing four chambers, the other three, which enjoy 
 by turns both sun and shade. In the front of these agreeable buildings 
 lies a very spacious hippodrome, entirely open in the middle, by which 
 means the eye, upon your first entrance, takes in its whole extent at one 
 view. It is encompassed on every side with plane-trees covered with 
 ivy, so that while their heads flourish with their own green, their bodies 
 enjoy a borrowed verdure ; and thus the ivy twining round the trunk and 
 branches, spreads from tree to tree, and connects them together. Be- 
 tween each plane-tree are planted box-trees, and behind these, bay-trees, 
 which blend their shade with that of the planes. This plantation, forming 
 a strait boundary on both sides of the hippodrome, bends at the far- 
 ther end into a semicircle, which being set round and sheltered with 
 cypress-trees, varies the prospect, and casts a deep and more gloomy 
 shade ; while the inward circular walks (for there are several) enjoying 
 an open exposure, are perfumed with roses, and correct by a very pleasing 
 contrast the coolness of the shade with the warmth of the sun. Having 
 passed through these several winding alleys, you enter a strait walk, 
 which breaks out into a variety of others, divided off by box-hedges. In 
 one place you have a little meadow ; in another the box is cut into a 
 thousand different forms ; sometimes into letters, expressing the name of 
 the master ; sometimes that of the artificer : whilst here and there little 
 obelisks rise intermixed alternately with fruit-trees : when on a sudden, 
 in the midst of this elegant regularity, you are surprised with an imita- 
 tion of the negligent beauties of rural nature ; in the centre of which lies 
 a spot surrounded with a knot of dwarf plane-trees. Beyond these is a 
 walk interspersed with the smooth and twining acanthus, where the trees 
 are also cut into a variety of names and shapes. At the upper end is 
 an alcove of white marble, shaded with vines, supported by four small 
 Carystian pillars. From this bench the water gushing through several 
 little pipes, as if it were pressed out by the weight of the persons who 
 repose themselves upon it, falls into a stone cistern underneath, from 
 whence it is received into a fine polished marble basin, so artfully con- 
 trived, that it is always full without ever overflowing. When I sup here, 
 this basin serves for a table, the larger sort of dishes being placed round 
 the margin, while the smaller ones swim about in the form of little vessels 
 and water-fowl. Corresponding to this, is a fountain which is inces- 
 santly emptying and filling; for the water which it throws up a great 
 height, falling back again into it, is by means of two openings returned as 
 fast as it is received. Fronting the alcove (and which reflects as great 
 an ornament to it, as it borrows from it) stands a summer-house of 
 exquisite marble, whose doors project and open into a green inclosure ; 
 as from its upper and lower windows the eye is presented with a variety 
 of different verdures. Next to this is a little private closet (which though 
 it seems distinct, may be laid into the same room) furnished with a 
 couch ; and notwithstanding it has windows on every side, yet it enjoys 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 205 
 
 a very agreeable gloominess, by means of a spreading vine which climbs 
 to the top, and entirely overshades it. Here you may lie and fancy 
 yourself in a wood, with this difference only, that you are not exposed to 
 the weather ; in this place a fountain also rises and instantly disappears : 
 in different quarters are disposed several marble seats, which serve no less 
 than the summer-house, as so many rehefs after one is wearied with 
 walking. Near each seat is a little fountain ; and throughout the whole 
 hippodrome several small rills rim murmuring along, wheresoever the 
 hand of art thought proper to conduct them, watering here and there 
 different spots of verdure, and in their progress refreshing the whole. . . . 
 "I have now informed you why I prefer my Tuscan villa to those which 
 I possess at Tusculum, Tiber, and Prseneste. Besides the advantages 
 already mentioned, I here enjoy a more profound retirement, as I am at 
 a farther distance from the business of the town, and the interruption of 
 troublesome avocations. All is calm and composed ; which contributes, 
 no less than its clear and imclouded sky, to that health of body and 
 cheerfulness of mind which I particularly enjoy here: both of which I 
 keep in proper exercise by study and hunting. And indeed there is no 
 place which agrees better with all my family in general ; I am sure, at 
 least, I have not yet lost one (and I speak it with the sentiments I ought) 
 of all those I brought with me hither : and may the gods continue that 
 happiness to me, and that honour to my villa ! Farewell." 
 
 Besides these villas, Pliny, Lib. ix. Ep. 7, gives an account of two of 
 his villas at Baise, one commanding a view of the lake from an eminence, 
 the other situated on its margin ; the first he called Tragedy, the other, 
 Comedy. Pliny describes his mode of passing his time at his villas, in 
 Lib. IX. Ep. 36 and 40. In Lib. m. Ep. 5, he describes the manner in 
 which the elder Pliny passed his time. 
 
 X. 
 
 A TIBURTINE VILLA. 
 
 Cernere facundi Tibur glaciale Vopisci 
 
 Si quis, et inserto geminos Aniene penates ; 
 
 Aut potuit sociae commercia noscere ripas, 
 
 Certantesque sibi dominum defendere villas. 
 
 Ilium nee calido latravit Sirius astro. 
 
 Nee gravis aspexit Nemees frondentis alumnus. 
 
 Talis hyems teetis, frangunt sie improba solem 
 
 Frigora, Pisaeumque domus non sestuat annum. 
 
206 GEMS OF LATIN POETHY. [Ch. 
 
 Visa manu tenera tectum scripsisse Voluptas. 
 Tunc Venus Idaliis unxit fastigia succis, 
 Permulsitque comas, blandumque reliquit honorem 
 Sedibus, et volucres vetuit discedere natos. 
 O longum memoranda dies ! quae mente reporto 
 Gaudia ? quam lassos per tot miracula visus ? 
 Ingenium quam mite solo ? quss forma beatis 
 Arte manus concessa locis ? non largius usquam 
 Indulsit natura sibi, nemora alta citatis 
 Incubuere vadis, fallax responsat imago 
 Frondibus, et longas eadem fugit umbra per undas. 
 Ipse A.nien (miranda fides) infraque superque 
 Saxeus hie tumidam rabiem, spumosaque ponit 
 Murmura, ceu placidi veritus turbare Vopisci, 
 Pieriosque dies, et habentes carmina somnos. 
 Littus utrumque domi : nee te mitissimus amnis 
 Dividit ; alternas seruant praetoria ripas 
 Non externa sibi, fluviumque obstare queruntur. 
 Sestiacos nunc fama sinus, pelagusque natatum 
 Jactet, et audaci junctos delphinas Ephosbo. 
 Hie a3terna quies, nullis hie jura procellis, 
 Nusquam fervor aquis : datur hie transmittere visus, 
 Et voces, et psene manus ; sic Chalcida fluctus 
 Expellunt fluvii, sic dissociata profundo 
 Brutia Sicanium circumspicit ora Pelorum. 
 Quid primum, mediumve canam ? quo fine quiescam ? 
 Auratasne trabes ? an Mauros undique postes ? 
 An picturata lucentia marmora vena 
 Mirer ? an emissas per cuncta cubilia lymphas ? 
 Hue oculis, hue mente trahor ; venerabile dicam 
 Lucorum senium ? te quae vada fluminis infra 
 Cernis ? an ad sylvas quae respicis, aula, jacentes ? 
 Qua tibi tota quies, offensaque turbine nullo 
 Nox silet, et nigros imitantia murmura somnos. 
 An quae graminea suscepta crepidine fumant 
 Balnea, et impositum ripis algentibus ignem ? 
 Quique vapor if eris junctus fornacibus annis 
 Bidet anhelantes vicino flumine Nymphas? 
 Vidi artes, veterumque manus, variisque metalla 
 Viva modis : labor est auri memorare figuras, 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 207 
 
 Aut ebur, aut dignas digitis contingere gemmas. 
 Quicquid et argento primum, vel in sere Myronis 
 Lusit, et enormes manus est experta Colossos. 
 Dum vagor aspeetu, visusque per omnia duco, 
 Calcabam nee opinus opes ; nam splendor ab alto 
 Defluus, et nitidum references aera testae 
 Monstravere solum, varias ubi pieta per artes 
 Gaudet humus, suberantque novis Asarota figuris. 
 Expavere gradus ; quid nunc ingentia mirer ? 
 Aut quid parti tis distantia tecta triehoris ? 
 
 Si la curiosite de quelqu'un le porte a voir le frais 
 
 sejour de Tivoli, ou demeure I'eloquent Vopiscus, et les 
 
 deux Chasteaux que separe le Teverone, il pourra con- 
 
 noistre la liaison des deux rives amies, et I'un et I'autre 
 
 appartement qui s'efForce a Tenvi de defFendre son Maistre 
 
 des incommoditez du cliaud, quand le Chien celeste nous 
 
 persecute de ses abbois, et que la constellation du Lion de 
 
 Nemee nous regarde pour nous mettre en sueur, tant 
 
 I'Hyver se plaist en ce lieu la. Le froid y rompt la force 
 
 des rayons du Soleil ; et jamais on ne s'y appercoit de cette 
 
 ardeur boiiillante qui regne dans les campagnes de Pise, 
 
 quand on celebre les jeux Olympiques. On diroit que la 
 
 Volupte mesmes a peint cette maison de sa main delicate : 
 
 que Venus y a repandu ses parfums d'Idalie, qu'elle en a 
 
 peigne toutes les avenues ; qu'elle Pa honoree quelques- 
 
 fois de son sejour: et qu'elle a defendu a ses Enfans qui 
 
 sont si legers de I'abandonner jamais. O que je me sou- 
 
 viendray long-temps du jour que je vis une si belle maison ! 
 
 Quelles furent les agreables images que j'en rapportay en 
 
 mon esprit ? De combien de miracles mes yeux se trou- 
 
 verent-ils remplis ? Que ce climat est doux ! et que I'art 
 
 en ce lieul-a se trouve heureusement joint aux beautez de 
 
 la Nature ! Certes elle ne paroist point ailleurs si liberale 
 
 de ses dons. Les hauts arbres se tiennent doucement sus- 
 
 pendus sur le canal du fleuve. L'image trompeuse des 
 
 feiiillages s'y represente dans I'eau, et I'ombre s'enfuit avec 
 
 elle durant un fort long espace. Le Teverone qui est 
 
 pierreux au dessus et au dessous, (chose presque incroy- 
 
 able) quitte en ce lieu la ses murmures et son impetuosite, 
 
208 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 comme s'il avoit peur de troubler le repos du paisible 
 Vopiscus passant les jours et les nuicts a mediter quelque 
 bel ouvrage ou chef-d'ouvre de Poesie. L'un et Tautre 
 bord du doux fleuve se trouve dans le logis, et il ne s'y 
 divise point, non plus que Fedifice qui se joint sur les deux 
 rives par I'arcade d'un Pont ;,. de sorte qu'on ne scauroit se 
 plaindre que le fleuve le separe. Que la Renommee se 
 glorifie maintenant de ce qu'elle a conte du detroit de 
 Seste, de la Mer traversee a la nage, et des Daufins qui 
 favoriserent autrefois I'audace d'un jeune garcon. II se 
 trouve icy un eternel repos. Les tempestes n'ont point 
 icy de pouvoir ; II n'y a point de colere des eaux. La 
 veue s'y porte aisement d'une rive a I'autre, on s'y entend 
 parler, et Ton s'y touche presque de la main. Ainsi les 
 flots de I'Euripe separent Chalcis de la Beotie. Ainsi la 
 Brutze separee de la Sicile par un detroit de Mer, void le 
 Promontoire de Pelore. Par ou commenceray-je a parler 
 d'une si belle chose ? Et par ou cesseray-je d'en parler ? 
 En decouvriray-je les poutres dorees, ou les lambris d'yvoire 
 et de cedre ? Ou admireray-je plustost les marbres luisans 
 qui representent tant de figures difFerentes ? Ou les eaux 
 qui rejaillissent autour des chambres pour les rafraischir ? 
 Ce beau lieu arreste mes yeux et toutes mes pensees. 
 Diray-je quelque chose de la venerable vieillesse de ces 
 bois sacrez ? De toy, grand Salon qui vois la riviere au 
 dessous de tes fenestres ? Ou de cet autre qui regarde les 
 bois, ou regne le silence ; de sorte que le repos et la nuict 
 y sont sans trouble avec un doux murmure qui n'a pas 
 plus de violence, que celuy du Sommeil? Ou parleray-je 
 des Bains qui fument le long de la coste tapissee de ver- 
 dure ? Parleray je du feu qui se fait sentir aupres de la 
 glace, ou le fleuve couvert par des voutes fumeuses se 
 mocque des Nymphes qui se mettent hors d'haleine dans 
 le canal de son voisin. J'y ay vu des ouvrages artistes de 
 la main des Anciens, et des metaux animez de manieres 
 diverses. J'aurois de la piene a raconter toutes les figures 
 que j 'ay veues dans For. Je ne sgaurois representer ny les 
 yvoires, ny les pierres precieuses dignes d'estre portees aux 
 doigts, qui s'y offrent aux yeux des regardans ; ny tout ce 
 que la main de Miron y a fait en or et en cuivre par des 
 
 I 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 209 
 
 jeux d'esprit, ou il a aussi eprouve son Industrie sur de 
 prodigieux Colosses de cuivre. Tandis qu'en me prome- 
 nant, je portois ma veue de tons costez, je marchois sans y 
 penser sur des tresors de grand prix : ear la splendeur qui 
 tomboit d'enhaut, et les eoquillages polis qui representoient 
 parfaitement la nettete de I'air, montroient la partie d'enbas, 
 ou le plancher sembloit se glorifier de toutes les figures 
 agreables, dont il estoit diversifie, quoy qu'elles fussent 
 mises sous les pieds, et difficiles a ballier. Je n'osois 
 marcher sur un pave si precieux. Apres cela comment 
 est-ce que je pourrois marquer mon etonnement touchant 
 les grandes choses ? Ou de quels termes me pourrois-je 
 servir pour depeindre les trois grands corps de logis de ce 
 rare bastiment ? 
 
 The version is in the antiquated French of Marolles. The Silvce of 
 Statins, far more interesting, it is conceived, to a modern reader than his 
 Thebaid, have never been translated into English. Statius's description of 
 the Tiburtine Villa is extended to fifty more lines. And his Silvce contain 
 a description in a hundred and fifty-four lines of a Surrentine villa be- 
 longing to Pollius. 
 
 Tivoli is rendered classic ground by several delightful associations of 
 description and sentiment in the Odes of Horace, being the spot which 
 he must have often frequented in his visits to Maecenas, and which he 
 longed for as the retreat of his old age, if, indeed, he had not a villa 
 there, which is matter of controversy. Catullus also wrote a poetical 
 letter of thanks to his Tiburtine Villa for recruiting his spirits after suf- 
 fering from the effects of a tedious recitation at Rome. He tells his villa, 
 that every one who wanted to plague him called it a Sabine Villa, but 
 all who courted his favour called it a Tiburtine Villa. Here Msecenas 
 had a villa, to which he repaired by the advice of his physician, in order 
 that he might overcome the sleeplessness, which was a principal symptom of 
 his malady, by the distant sounds of falling water. The ruins of Hadrian's 
 villa at Tivoli have been a mine of treasures of ancient art. The peculi- 
 arities of the scenery at Tivoli have been described by Gray in a letter to 
 West. The following description is by Eustace : 
 
 ** But the pride and ornament of Tivoli are still, as anciently, the fall 
 and the windings of the Anio, now Teverone. This river having mean- 
 dered from its source through the vales of Sabina, glides gently through 
 Tivoli, till coming to the brink of a rock it precipitates itself in one mass 
 down the steep, and then boiling for an instant in its narrow channel, 
 rushes headlong through a chasm in the rock into the caverns below. 
 The first fall may be seen from the windows of the inn or from the 
 
 14 
 
210 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 temple ; but it appears to the greatest adrantage from the bridge thrown 
 over the narrow channel a little below it. From this bridge also you may 
 look down into the shattered rock, and observe far beneath the writhings 
 and agitation of the stream struggling through its rocky prison. To view 
 the second fall, or descent into the cavern, we went down through a 
 garden by a winding path into the narrow dell, through which the river 
 flows after the cascade, and placing ourselves in front of the cavern, be- 
 held the Anio in two immense sheets tumbling through two different 
 apertures, shaking the mountain in its fall, and filling aU the cavities 
 around with spray and uproar." 
 
 XI. 
 
 DOMITIAN'S FISHPOND. 
 
 Bajano procul a lacu monemus, 
 Piscator, fuge, ne nocens recedas. 
 Saeris piscibus hse natantur undae, 
 Qui norunt Dominum, manumque lambunt 
 Illam, qua nihil est in orbe majus. 
 Quid, quod nomen habent, et ad magistri 
 Vocem quisque sui venit citatus ? 
 Hoc quondam Libys impius profundo, 
 Dum prsedam calamo tremente ducit, 
 Eaptis luminibus repente csecus 
 Captum non potuit videre piscem : 
 Et nunc sacrilegos perosus hamos, 
 Bajanos sedet ad lacus rogator. 
 
 Fisherman! I caution you to hasten away from the 
 Baian lake, lest you depart with a load of crime. The 
 fishes that swim in these waters are sacred. They know 
 their Lord, they kiss the hand than which there is nothing 
 more powerful in the whole world. Would you believe it 
 possible, it is a fact that these fishes have all proper names, 
 and when absence is called, (a word to Etonians) every fish 
 answers to his name ? A certain African had once the 
 temerity to fish in this pond ; but whilst he was dragging 
 
Ill] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 211 
 
 his prey out of the water, he was struck with sudden blind- 
 ness, and never saw what he had taken. The man to this 
 day goes on execrating the sacrilegious hook, as he sits 
 close to this very Baian lake imploring alms. 
 
 It is probable that Martial alludes to some wretch whose eyes may 
 have been put out by order of Domitian for fishing in his pond, and who 
 may have been afterwards compelled to act the part of a scarecrow. The 
 tractability of fishes under the tuition of the Romans, is noticed in Mar- 
 tial's description of the Formian Villa in this collection, ^lian, in his 
 chapters upon Animals, relates several remarkable anecdotes of Roman 
 fish, as particularly a lamprey, belonging to Crassus, which was adorned 
 with female ornaments, and honoured with a splendid funeral. Pliny 
 relates some wonderful particulars concerning the familiarity between a 
 Dolphin and a boy, who used to swim on the fish's back. The author 
 has in his possession a Tarentine coin, about the period b. c. 400, repre- 
 senting Taras, son of Neptune, on a Dolphin's back. The story of Arion 
 seems to have reference to a tradition of this nature. Shakspere applies 
 the tradition to the Dauphin of France, and the designs of Catharine de 
 Medicis to marry him to Queen Elizabeth, a passage very curious in an 
 historical point of view. It occurs in the Midsummer Night's Dream : 
 Since once I sat upon a promontory, 
 And heard a Mermaid on a Dolphin's back. 
 
 The Brahmins of India have established a considerable familiarity 
 with the finny tribe, and with pet crocodiles, in some of. the sacred ponds 
 attached to their pagodas. 
 
 XII. 
 THE HOT SPRINGS NEAR CICERO'S ACADEMY. 
 
 Quo tua, Romanse vindex clarissime linguas, 
 
 Silva loco melius surgere jussa viret, 
 Atque Academise celebratam nomine villam 
 
 Nunc reparat cultu sub potiore Yetus : 
 Hie etiam adparent lymphsB non ante repertse, 
 
 Languida quae infuso lumina rore levant. 
 Nimirum locus ipse sui Ciceronis honori 
 
 Hoc dedit, hac fontes cum patefecit ope, 
 Ut quoniam totum legitur sine fine per orbem, 
 
 Sint plures, oculis quae medeantur, aqu8B. 
 
 14—2 
 
212 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Father of Eloquence in Eome ! 
 
 The Groves that once pertained to thee, 
 Now with a fresher verdure bloom 
 
 Around thy fam'd Academy. 
 
 Vetus at length this favoured seat 
 Hath with a tasteful care restored ; 
 
 And newly at thy lov'd retreat 
 
 A gushing fount its stream has poured. 
 
 These waters cure an aching sight ; 
 
 And thus the Spring that bursts to view 
 Through future ages shall requite 
 
 The fame this spot from Tully drew. 
 
 The Latin lines are interesting as having been written by a freedman 
 of Cicero. The elder Pliny, in his Natural History, quotes the above 
 verses with applause, and mentions the occasion of them, which was the 
 bursting forth of a fountain, very wholesome for the eyes, near Cicero's 
 villa, called the Academy, shortly after his death. The English version, 
 by Elton, does not well express the point in the original, that a remedy 
 for the eyes was a gift of nature very appropriate to the place whence 
 had emanated writings on which so many eyes throughout the world were 
 poring. 
 
 Addison, in his Travels in Italy, mentions that the locality contains 
 many baths in which sulphur abounds ; and that there is scarce a disease 
 that has not a bath adapted to it. One bath still was called the Bath 
 of Cicero. Some writers reckon up eighteen villas of Cicero, besides 
 little inns or baiting-places. Dr Middleton.has given a description of 
 Cicero's principal villas. The Tusculan was the nearest to Rome, and 
 the most adorned, for here Cicero spent the greatest share of his leisure. 
 His best collection of books was in his villa at Antium, about thirty miles 
 from Rome. His villa called the Academy, mentioned in the text, was 
 built after the plan of the Academy at Athens, with a grove and por- 
 tico for philosophical conferences. Here Cicero composed the last of his 
 dialogues, that upon Fate ; and here afterwards Hadrian died. 
 
 J 
 
m.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 213 
 
 XIII. 
 THE PO, WITH ITS MYTHOLOGY. 
 
 • — nie caput placidis sublime fluentis 
 
 Extulit, et totis lucem spargentia ripis 
 
 Aurea roranti micuerunt cornua vultu. 
 
 Non illi madidum vulgaris Arundine crinem 
 
 Velat honos, rami caput umbravere virentes 
 
 Heliadum, totisque fluunt electra capillis. 
 
 Palla tegit latos humeros, curruque paterno 
 
 Intextus Phaeton glaucos incendit amictus : 
 
 Fultaque sub gremio cselatis nobilis astris 
 
 ^thorium probat urna decus. Namque omnia luctus 
 
 Argumenta sui Titan signavit Olympo, 
 
 Mutatumque senem plumis, et fronde sorores, 
 
 Et fluvium, nati qui vulnera lavit anheli. 
 
 Stat gelidis Auriga plagis, vestigia fratris 
 
 Germanae servant Hyades, Cycnique sodalis 
 
 Lacteus extentas aspergit cireulus alas. 
 
 Stellifer Eridanus sinuatis fluctibus errans, 
 
 Clara noti convexa rigat. 
 
 His head above the floods he gently rear'd, 
 And as he rose his golden horns appear' d, 
 That on the forehead shone divinely bright, 
 And o'er the banks diffused a yellow light : 
 No interwoven reeds a garland made, 
 To hide his brows within the vulgar shade. 
 But poplar wreaths around his temples spread, 
 And tears of amber trickled down his head : 
 A spacious veil from his broad shoulders flew, 
 That set the unhappy Phaeton to view : 
 The flaming chariot and the steeds it show'd, 
 And the whole fable in the mantle glowed : 
 Beneath his arm an urn supported lies 
 With stars embellish'd, and fictitious skies. 
 For Titan, by the mighty loss dismay'd. 
 Among the Heav'ns th' immortal fact display'd, 
 
214 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Lest the remembrance of his grief should fail, 
 And in the constellations wrote his tale. 
 A swan in memory of Cycnus shines ; 
 The mourning sisters weep in watery signs ; 
 The burning chariot, and the charioteer. 
 In bright Bootes and his wain appear : 
 Whilst in a track of light the waters run. 
 That washed the body of his blasted son. 
 
 The description is from Claudian. Virgil, Ovid, Lucan, and Frasca- 
 toro, have immortalized the river Po. It has been called the king of 
 Italian rivers ; it receives thirty tributary streams, includes in its windings 
 a course of three hundred miles, and bathes the walls of fifty towns and 
 cities. As in the time of Claudian, the principal ornament of the banks of 
 the Po, according to Eustace, consists of groves of forest-trees, that shade 
 its margin, and as they hang over it, and sometimes bathe their branches 
 in its waves, enliven it by the reflection of their thick and verdant foliage. 
 Among these, the poplars, into which the sisters of Phaeton are fabled to 
 have been metamorphosed, are predominant, and by their height and 
 spreading form add considerably to the beauty of the scenery. Neither 
 Addison nor Eustace make any mention of swans, though a classical 
 traveller might be supposed to strain his eyes to search in the Po for a 
 representative of Cycnus. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 THE PO FROZEN. 
 
 Qui Phaetonteos extinxit plurimus ignes 
 
 Pene gelu absumptis nunc Padus aret aquis, 
 Atque repentinos Borealia frigora pontes 
 
 Struxere, et sicco pervia lympha pedi est. 
 Quaque rates variis oneratse mercibus ibant, 
 
 Nunc plaustris junctos cernimus ire boves. 
 Ad nova concurret spectacula vulgus, et audax 
 
 Turba per insuetum fluminis errat iter. 
 Mira quidem sunt hsec ; sed te mirabile Princeps 
 
 Optime, nil sotas protulit uUa magis. 
 
 The Po which extinguished the conflagration kindled 
 by Phaeton is now dry by means of the Ice which has 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 215 
 
 bound all its waters. — The Northern frosts have suddenly 
 constructed bridges across it, and it may now be traversed 
 with a dry foot. — Where ships laden with merchandizes 
 sailed through the waters, now you may see oxen drawing 
 the waggons to which they are yoked. The vulgar crowd 
 rush to behold the novel spectacle, and take a pride in 
 shewing how boldly they can walk over the top of a river. 
 —These phenomena are miraculous indeed; but the ex- 
 ceeding good Prince of this land is a more astonishing 
 miracle even than the congelation of the Po. 
 
 Among the rare tracts published by the Percy Society is a collection 
 relative to the freezings of the Thames, with engravings and songs. There 
 is extant a paper, in which Charles II. and his family printed their names 
 on the Thames, on January 31, 1684. It appears that from the beginning 
 of December, 1683, to the 4th of February, there was a street of booths 
 on the Thames. Like phenomena occurred previously in the years 1092, 
 1281, 1664, 1608, 1675, and subsequently in 1715, 1739, 1814, which last 
 continued from the 27th of December to the 5th of February. The frost of 
 A.D. 1675 is the subject of a poem in the Musce Anglicanoe, entitled Thamesis 
 Vivictus : it commemorates the boihng and roasting on the Thames : 
 
 Undantia flammis 
 
 Ordine ahena locant, verubusque immania figunt 
 
 Terga boum. 
 Gay, in his Trivia, thus commemorates the freezure of 1715, which 
 lasted from the latter part of November to the 9th of February : 
 
 O roving Muse ! recal that wondrous year. 
 
 When winter reigned in bleak Britannia's air; 
 
 When hoary Thames, with frosted oziers crown'd, 
 
 Was three long moons in icy fetters bound. 
 
 Wheels o'er the harden'd waters smoothly glide. 
 
 And rase with whiten'd tracks the slippery tide : 
 
 Here the fat cook piles high the blazing fij'e, 
 
 And scarce the spit can turn the steer entire. 
 
 Booths sudden hide the Thames, long streets appear, 
 
 And numerous games proclaim the crowded fair; 
 
 Doll every day had walked these treacherous roads ; 
 
 Her neck grew warpt beneath autumnal loads 
 
 Of various fruit ; she now a basket bore ; 
 
 That head, alas ! shall basket bear no more. 
 
 The cracking crystal yields ; she sinks, she dies, 
 
 Her head, chopt off from her lost shoulders flies ; 
 
 Pippins she cried ; but death her voice confounds ; 
 
 And pip — pip — ^pip — along the ice resounds. 
 
216 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Addison, in the Spectator, No. 247, alludes to the tongue of the apple- 
 woman, said to have cried " pippins " after her head was cut off. It is a 
 paper upon the subject of female tongues, where he cites a description 
 from Ovid's Metamorphoses, of the tongue of a woman being cut out and 
 thrown upon the ground, when " it could not forbear muttering even in 
 that posture.'* 
 
 XV. 
 
 BUILDING ACCOUNT BETWEEN DOMITIAN AND JUPITER. 
 
 Quantum jam superis, Caesar, cceloque dedisti, 
 
 Si repetas, et si creditor esse velis ; 
 Grandis in aethero licet auctio fiat Olympo, 
 
 Coganturque Dei vendere quidquid habent : 
 Conturbabit Atlas, et non erit uncia tota, 
 
 Decidat tecum qua pater ipse Deum. 
 Pro Capitolinis quid enim tibi solvere templis, 
 
 Quid pro Tarpejse frondis honore potest ? 
 Quid pro culminibus geminis Matrona Tonantis ? 
 
 Pallada prsetereo : res agit ilia tuas. 
 Quid loquar Alciden, Phoebumque, piosque Laconas ? 
 
 Addita quid Latio Flavia templa polo ? 
 Exspectes, et sustineas, Auguste, necesse est : 
 
 Nam tibi quod solvat, non habet area Jovis. 
 
 If thou shouldst challenge what is due to thee 
 From Heav'n, and Heaven's creditor would be : 
 If public sale should be cried through the spheres, 
 And the Gods sell all to satisfy arrears, 
 Atlas will bankrupt prove, nor one sous be 
 Reserved for Jupiter to treat with thee. 
 "What can'st thou for the Capitol receive ? 
 Or for Tarpeian fane's immortal wreath ? 
 Or what wiU Juno give thee for her shrine ? 
 Pallas I pass, she waits on thee and thine. 
 Alcides, Phoebus, Pollux, I pass by, 
 And Flavia's Temple neighbouring to the sky. 
 Caesar thou must forbear, and trust the Heaven, 
 Jove's chest has not enough to make all even. 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 217 
 
 Suetonius mentions that Domitian rebuilt the Capitol, which had been 
 destroyed by fire, for the third time, and that he restored other edifices, 
 but all in his own name, without any mention of the original founders : 
 that he Hkewise erected a new Temple in the Capitol to Jupiter Custos, 
 and a Forum, a Stadium, an Odeum, and Naumachia, and the Temple of 
 the Flavian family. To crown the pyramid of magnificent edifices that 
 adorned the Capitoline Hill, rose the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, on a 
 hundred steps, supported by a hundred pillars, adorned with the plunder 
 of the world. In the centre of the temple, with Juno on his left side, and 
 Minerva on his right, sat Jupiter the Thunderer, on a throne of gold, in 
 one hand wielding the sceptre of the Roman Empire, and, in the other, 
 grasping a thunderbolt. The threshold of the temple was of bronze, the 
 valves of its portals of gold. The pediment, the sides, and the summit of 
 the roof, presented images of gods, heroes, horses and chariots, the Roman 
 Eagle, and its attendant Victory, all of bronze, silver, or gold. The gilding 
 alone is related to have cost Domitian 12,000 talents ; wherefore Plutarch 
 observed of that Emperor, that he was like Midas, desirous of turning 
 every thing into gold. Of the ancient gloiy of the Capitol, nothing is now 
 remaining but the solid foundation, which, according to the prediction of 
 the poet, continues immoveable, Capitoli immobile saxum. 
 
 Perhaps no epigram, even of Martial, exceeds that in the text for 
 impious adulation. Waller's verses on the re-building of Somerset 
 House, and of St Paul's, contain bold flights of English adulation in the 
 same line of sycophancy, in regard to royal architecture. Of the first, 
 Waller writes to the Queen : 
 
 But what new mine this work supplies ? 
 
 Can such a pile from ruin rise ? 
 
 This, like the first creation, shows, 
 
 As if at your command it rose. 
 
 Of St Paul's, as rebuilt after the fire of London, he sings : 
 The Sun which riseth to salute the Quire 
 Already finish'd, setting shall admire 
 How private bounty could so far extend ; 
 The King built all, but Charles the western end : 
 So proud a fabric to devotion given. 
 At once it threatens and obliges heaven. 
 
 Waller's compliments to Charles II. on his improvements in St James's 
 Park are in the same style, but varied by an eulogy on the King's skill at 
 trap-ball : 
 
 No sooner has he toucht the flying ball. 
 
 But 'tis already more than half the Mall ; 
 
 And such a fury from his arm has got, 
 
 As from a smoking culverin 't were shot ! 
 
218 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 THE PALATINE MOUNT. 
 
 Ecce Palatine crevit reverentia monti 
 
 Non alium certe decuit rectoribus orbis 
 Esse larem, nulloque magis se colle potestas 
 JEstimat, et summi sentit fastigia juris. 
 AttoUens apicem subjectis regia rostris, 
 Tot circum delubra videt, tantisque Deorum 
 Cingitur excubiis. Juvat infra tecta Tonantis 
 Cernere Tarpeia pendentes rupe Gigantes, 
 Caelatasque fores, mediisque volantia signa 
 Nubibus, et densum stipantibus aethera templis, 
 iEraque vestitis numerosa puppe columnis 
 Consita, subnixasque jugis immanibus sedes, 
 Naturam cumulante manu ; spoliisque micantes 
 Innumeros arcus. Acies stupet igne metalli, 
 Et eircumfuso trepidans obtunditur auro. 
 
 To Palatine's high mount see homage flows ! , . . . 
 
 No other residence was ever made 
 
 For those whose pow'rs the universe pervade ; 
 
 Such noble dignity no hill displays, 
 
 Nor equal magnitude of empire sways. 
 
 The lofty palace tow'ring to the sky, 
 
 Beholds below the courts of justice lie ; 
 
 The num'rous temples round, and ramparts strong, 
 
 That to th' immortal deities belong ; 
 
 The Thund'rer's domes ; suspended giant race 
 
 Upon the summit of Tarpeian space ; 
 
 The sculptur'd doors, in air the banners spread ; 
 
 The num'rous tow'rs that hide in clouds their head ; 
 
 The columns girt with naval prows of brass ; 
 
 The various buildings rais'd on terreous mass ; 
 
 The works of Nature joining human toils. 
 
 And arcs of triumph deck'd with splendid spoils. 
 
 The glare of metal strikes upon the sight. 
 
 And sparkling gold o'erpow'rs with dazzling light. 
 
m.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 219 
 
 The original is by Claudian, the translation by Hawkins; another 
 English Torsion is given by Addison, in his Travels in Italy. Eustace 
 writes : " We then ascended the Palatine Mount. This hill, the nursery 
 of infant Rome, and finally the residence of imperial grandeur, presents 
 now two solitary villas, and a convent. Its numerous temples, its palaces, 
 its porticos, and its libraries, once the glory of Rome, and the admiration 
 of the Universe, are now mere heaps of ruins, so shapeless and scattered, 
 that the antiquary and architect are at a loss to discover their site, their 
 plans, or their elevation. Of that wing of the imperial palace which 
 looked towards the west, some apartments remain vaulted, and of fine 
 proportions, but so deeply buried in ruins as to be now subterranean.*' 
 
 XVII. 
 COLISEUM. 
 
 Barbara Pyramidum sileat miracula Memphis, 
 
 Assiduus jactet nee Babylona labor ; 
 Nee Triviae templo moUes laudentur honores, 
 
 Dissimuletque deum cornibus ara frequens ; 
 Aere nee vaeuo pendentia Mausolea, 
 
 Laudibus immodieis Cares in astra ferant. 
 Omnis Caesareo cedat labor Amphitheatro : 
 
 Unum prae cunctis fama loquatur opus. 
 
 Why sing the wonders of th' Egyptian shore ? 
 
 Let far-fam'd Babylon be prais'd no more, 
 
 Let not Ionia vaunt Diana's fane, 
 
 Nor Libya of her horned-God be vain. 
 
 Nor let the Carian town extol so high 
 
 Its Mausoleum, hanging in the sky ; 
 
 In Caesar's Amphitheatre are shown 
 
 These rival glories all combined in one : 
 
 Let Eame henceforth her clam'rous tongue confine 
 
 To sing the beauties of that dome divine. 
 
 The Colosseum was commenced by the Emperor Vespasian, and 
 finished by Titus. The opening of it was celebrated by the slaughter 
 of 9000 wild beasts in the arena. It was capable of containing about 
 87,000 spectators ; it covers altogether five acres of ground. Where it is 
 perfect, the exterior is an hundred and sixty feet high. (Concerning the 
 
220 GEMS OF LATEST POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 modern excayations, see Mr Whiteside's Vicissitudes of the Eternal City.) 
 Claudian thus describes a wild beast newly brought from the woods, and 
 making its first appearance in a full amphitheatre : 
 tJt fera quae nuper montes amisit avitos, 
 Altorumque exul nemorum, damnatur arensD 
 Muneribus, commota ruit; yir murmure contra 
 Hortatur, nixusque genu venabula tendit ; 
 Ilia pavet strepitus, cuneosque erecta theatri 
 Despicit, et tanti miratur sibila vulgi. 
 
 So rushes on his foe the grisly bear, 
 That, banish'd from the hills and bushy brakes. 
 His old hereditary haunts forsakes. 
 Condemn'd the cruel rabble to delight, 
 His angry keeper goads him to the fight. 
 Bent on his knee : the savage glares around, 
 Scar'd with the mighty crowd's promiscuous sound ; 
 Then, rearing on his hinder paws, retires. 
 And the vast hissing multitude admires. 
 Martial has a whole book of epigrams concerning the diversions of the 
 amphitheatre — as Europa carried to the sky on a bull's back, the sports of 
 a lion and a hare, the elephant which fell on his knees to the Emperor, 
 (notwithstanding Lord Coke's comparison between that animal and the 
 unbending parliament-man, the subject of one of Swift's poems), the 
 wild-beast, that brought forth young at the moment of receiving its 
 death-wound, (an epigram which furnished Lord Bacon with a compli- 
 ment to King James), and the lion that killed its keeper. The ancient 
 story of the meeting on the arena between Androcles and his old friend 
 the lion, whom he had cured from a wound by a thorn in Africa, is related 
 in the Guardian. 
 
 The Colosseum has been celebrated by several English poets. Addi- 
 son writes : 
 
 An amphitheatre's amazing height 
 Here fills my eye with terror and delight ; 
 That, on its public shows, unpeopled Rome, 
 And held, uncrowded, nations in its womb. 
 And Lord Byron : 
 
 But here, where murder breathed her bloody steam ; 
 And here, where buzzing nations choked the ways. 
 And roar'd or murmur'd like a mountain stream 
 Dashing or winding as its torrent strays ; 
 Here, where the Roman million's blame or praise, 
 Was death or life, the playthings of a crowd. 
 My voice sounds much — and fall the stars' faint rays 
 On the arena void — seats crush'd — walls bow'd — 
 And galleries, where my steps seem echoes strangely loud. 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 221 
 
 A ruin — yet what ruin ! from its mass 
 Walls, palaces, half-cities, have been reared ; 
 Yet oft the enormous skeleton ye pass 
 And marvel where the spoil could have appear'd. 
 Hath it indeed been plunder'd, or but clear'd ? 
 Alas ! developed, opens the decay, 
 When the colossal fabric's form is near'd : 
 It will not bear the brightness of the day. 
 Which streams too much on all years, man, have reft away. 
 
 But when the rising moon begins to climb 
 Its topmost arch, and gently pauses there ; 
 When the stars twinkle through the loops of time, 
 And the low night-breeze waves along the air 
 The garland-forest, which the gray walls wear. 
 Like laurels on the bald first Caesar's head ; 
 When the light shines serene but doth not glare, 
 Then in this magic circle raise the dead : 
 Heroes have trod this spot — 'tis on their dust ye tread. 
 
 " While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand ; 
 
 When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall ; 
 
 And when Rome falls — the world." From our own land 
 
 Thus spake the pilgrims o'er this mighty wall 
 
 In Saxon times. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 NERO'S GOLDEN HOUSE, TITUS'S BATHS, AND CLAUDIAN'S 
 
 PORTICO. 
 
 Hie, ubi sidereus propius videt astra Colossus, 
 
 Et crescunt media pegmata celsa via ; 
 Invidiosa feri radiabant atria regis, 
 
 Unaque jam tota stabat in urbe domus. 
 Hie, ubi conspicui venerabilis Amphitheatri 
 
 Erigitur moles, stagna Neronis erant. 
 Hie, ubi miramur velocia munera, thermas ; 
 
 Abstulerat miseris tecta superbus ager. 
 Claudia difFusas ubi porticus explicat umbras. 
 
 Ultima pars aulae deficientis erat. 
 Reddita Roma sibi est ; et sunt, te praeside, Caesar, 
 
 Delieiae populi, quae fuerant domini. 
 
222 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Here, where that high Coloss the stars surveys, 
 
 And lofty engines swell up in the ways, 
 
 The envied Courts of Nero shined : And one, 
 
 One only House this City filled alone. 
 
 Here, where the Amphitheatre's vast pile 
 
 Is now erected, were his Pools erewhile. 
 
 Where we admire the Baths, that swift-form'd gift, 
 
 The proud field from poor men their dwellings shrift. • 
 
 Where Claudia's Walk extends its ample shade, 
 
 Was erst the postern of his palace made. 
 
 Rome's to itself returned ; and in thy name. 
 
 What once was Caesar's, now the People claim. 
 
 The translation, a little modified, is by Fletcher ; he construed velocia, 
 running; the epithet seems to relate to the circumstance, mentioned by 
 Suetonius, of the expeditious formation of Titus's Baths. 
 
 As Martial relates, the Colisseum covered only a portion of the site of 
 Nero's palace, and its pleasure-grounds. This palace, from the gold 
 which shone in profusion on every side of it, was called (Domus Aurea), 
 the Golden House. Suetonius gives the following details of this enor- 
 mous edifice : " In tne vestibule stood a colossal statue of Nero, one 
 hundred and twenty feet in height. There were three porticos, each a 
 mile in length, and supported by three rows of pillars. The garden 
 resembled a park, and contained an immense piece of water, woods, 
 vineyards, pasture-grounds for herds, paddocks for wild beasts. There 
 was a lake, on the banks of which rose several edifices that resembled 
 towns. In the palace itself the rooms were lined with gold, gems, and 
 mother-of-pearl. The ceilings of the dining-rooms were adorned with 
 ivory pannels, so contrived as to scatter flowers and shower perfumes on 
 the guests. The principal banquetting room revolved upon itself, repre- 
 senting the motions of the heavens; the baths were supplied with salt- 
 water from the sea, and mineral water from Salfatara." 
 
 With regard to the colossal figure of the Sun, mentioned by Martial, 
 this was no other than Nero's colossus of himself, of which Vespasian 
 struck off the late Emperor's head, and substituted that of Apollo, encir- 
 cled with twelve golden rays. A pasquinade is mentioned by Suetonius 
 to have been composed with reference to Nero's golden house : 
 
 Roma domus fiet ; Veios migrate Quirites ! 
 Si non et Veios occupat ista domus. 
 
 Rome will be all one House ; to Veii fly ! 
 
 If that House move not thither by and by. 
 
 Titus*s Baths were inferior in extent to those of Caracalla and Dio- 
 cletian, but had an advantage over them in being erected before the 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 223 
 
 decay of the arts. They now constitute a subterranean museum, whose 
 walls and vaults are adorned with stuccoes perfectly preserred, and 
 covered with arabesques and paintings. The group of the Laocoon was 
 discovered among the ruins of Titus's Baths, as the Farnese Hercules and 
 Farnese Bull were discovered in those of Caracalla. The public baths, 
 besides containing spacious halls for bathing, with many hundred marble 
 seats, had apartments for reading and recitations, and porticos and gym- 
 nasiums for exercise. They were adorned with paintings and statues, and 
 surrounded by plantations. Temples were sometimes attached to them. 
 Even in the rude age of Lucilius, the business of the bath consisted of 
 numerous details: 
 
 Scabor, supplier, desquamor, pumicor, ornor, 
 
 Expolior, pingor. 
 
 I scratch myself, pluck out my superfluous hairs, rub off my scales, 
 pmnice my skin, adorn, polish, and paint myself. 
 
 With regard to the Claudian Portico^ Pitiscus in his Lexicon has given 
 a complete list of all the Porticos of Rome. Mention of Porticos occurs 
 in numerous epigrams of Martial, who describes them as the resorts of 
 men of business, and those of literary leisure (Stoics or Peripatetics), of 
 loungers, and of supper-hunters. They seem to have resembled in this 
 respect our Paul's Walk mentioned in our ancient dramatists and in 
 Bishop Hall's Satires, where serjeants-at-law had their pillars, and where 
 Duke Humphrey was supposed to have entertained at dinner those who 
 could not get invited elsewhere. The Piazza at Covent Garden, when 
 theatres flourished in England, partook of the character of a Roman 
 portico. A magnificent description is given by Propertius of the open- 
 ing of a portico by Augustus called the Palatine Portico, dedicated to 
 Apollo. It was supported by pillars of Numidian marble, embellished 
 with paintings and statues, and emblazoned with brass and gold. It 
 enclosed the library and temple of Apollo so often alluded to by the 
 writers of the Augustan age. Groves and fountains were luxuries 
 attached to several of the porticos. Paintings of Apelles and Zeuxis 
 were afiBxed to the portico of Hercules. That of Gordian, in the Campus 
 Martins, was a mile long, and formed of one range of pilasters and four 
 of columns : that of Gallienus extended near two miles along the Yia 
 Flaminia. The portico mentioned in the text was shaded by a vine of 
 extraordinary luxuriance ; probably the prototype of the vine at Hampton 
 Court. 
 
224t GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 CONCOURSE OF ALL NATIONS AT ROME. 
 
 Quae tarn seposita est, qusB gens tarn barbara, Caesar, 
 
 Ex qua spectator non sit in urbe tua ? 
 Venit ab Orpheo cultor Rhodopeius Haemo, 
 
 Venit et epoto Sarmata pastus equo ; 
 Et qui prima bibit deprensi flumina Nili, 
 
 Et quern supremse Tethyos unda ferit. 
 Festinavit Arabs, festinavere Sabasi ; 
 
 Et Cilices nimbis hie maduere suis. 
 Crinibus in nodum tortis venere Sicambri, 
 
 Atque aliter tortis crinibus -^thiopes. 
 Vox diversa sonat : populorum est vox tamen una ; 
 
 Cum verus Patriae diceris esse Pater. 
 
 What conflux issuing forth, or entering in ! 
 
 Praetors, Proconsuls to their provinces 
 
 Hasting, and on return, in robes of state ; 
 
 Lictors and rods, and ensigns of their power. 
 
 Legions and cohorts, turms of horse and wings ; 
 
 Or Embassies from regions far remote, 
 
 In various habits, on the Appian road, 
 
 Or on the Emilian ; some from farthest south, 
 
 Syene, and where the shadows both ways fall, 
 
 Meroe, Nilotic isle ; and, more to west. 
 
 The realm of Bacchus, to the black-moor sea ; 
 
 From the Asian kings, and Parthians, among these 
 
 From India, and the golden Chersonese, 
 
 And utmost Indian isle Taprobane ; 
 
 Dusk faces, with white silken turbans wreathed ; 
 
 From Gallia, Gades, and the British west. 
 
 Germans, and Scythians, and Sarmatians, north 
 
 Beyond Danubius to the Tauric pool, — 
 
 All nations now to Rome obedience pay. 
 
 The English lines were suggested apparently by Martial's epigram, but 
 how improved by Milton ! They are taken from the inimitable tableaux of 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 225 
 
 Athens and Rome sketched by the Tempter on the Mount, in the Para- 
 dise Regained. Juvenal's complaint that, besides Rome being infested by 
 a profligate horde of Greeks, the Nile and Orontes had flowed into the 
 Tiber, is thus paraphrased by Dr Johnson in his London : 
 
 London ! The needy villain's general home, 
 The common sewer of Paris and of Rome ; 
 With eager thirst, by folly or by fate 
 Sucks in the dregs of each corrupted State. 
 Forgive my transports on a theme like this, 
 I cannot bear a French Metropolis. 
 
 XX. 
 
 AMERICA. 
 
 Qua sese ingenti terrarum America tractu 
 
 Porrigit, atque orbis spectat utrumque polum ; 
 Passim magnifica ostentat miracula rerum 
 
 Natura, et vastas prodiga fundit opes. 
 Hie, qualis nee Pyrene consurgit ad auras. 
 
 Nee magna excelso stat TenerifFa jugo, 
 Hie adeo aeriis redimiti nubibus Andes, 
 
 JEterna attollunt culmina operta nive. 
 Grandior hie fervet torrens, fremituque marine 
 
 Amplior incursat littora longa lacus : 
 Turn pelagi in morem per mille ingentia regna 
 
 Devolvit vastas pluriraus amnis aquas. 
 Talis Hyperboreum subter Laurentius axem 
 
 Immani longum gurgite radit iter. 
 Talis Orinocus, surgentisque semula ponti 
 
 Plata, in Atlantaeum prsecipitata salum. 
 Quid culta Europse invideas ? circum undique lustrans 
 
 Nativum patrii littoris, Inde, decus ? 
 
 Through those regions in which America stretches 
 forth her vast tracts of land to the vicinity of either pole. 
 Nature exhibits every where her magnificent wonders, and 
 her prodigality of wealth. There, casting into insignifi- 
 
 15 
 
226 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 cance the summits of the Pyrenees, and the lofty Peak of 
 TenerifFe, the Andes are covered with eternal snow, and are 
 half concealed by enveloping clouds. — The torrent of waters 
 is there more awfully grand ; the Lake dashes against its 
 long-extended margin with ocean-like surges ; many a 
 River sweeps its gigantic course, as though it were a Sea, 
 through a succession of populous States. — Witness the St 
 Lawrence, the Orinoco, the La Plata ! with what magnifi- 
 cence and impetuosity do they hurl their mighty mass of 
 waters into the Atlantic ! Why envy, O Indian, the culti- 
 vated scenery of Europe ? Are you not surrounded by 
 Nature's marvels, which, if they be without, are above all 
 ornament ? 
 
 The Latin is by the Marquis of Wellesley. 
 
 XXL 
 
 ANCIENT SIGHTS OF LONDON. 
 
 Tot colles Romse, quot sunt spectacula Trojce, 
 
 Quae septem numero, digna labore tuo : 
 Ista manent Trojse spectacula : 1. Busta, 2. Gigantes, 
 
 3. Histrio, 4.Dementes, 5. Struthiones, 6.Ursa. 7. Leones. 
 
 Seven hills there were in Rome, and so there be 
 
 Seven sights in New-Troy crave our memory : 
 
 1. Tombs, 2. Guild-Hall Giants, 3. Stage-plays, 4. Bedlam 
 
 poor, 
 5. Ostrich, 6. Bear-Garden, 7. Lions in the Tower. 
 
 With reference to the sights of 2Voy, the traditions of Brute the 
 Trojan, great grandson of ^neas, founding London, are mentioned in 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth's History, and are sanctioned by Camden in his 
 Britannia, and Milton in his History of England, and Whitelock in his 
 Treatise on the Parliamentary Writ. They were solemnly advanced by 
 Edward I. and his nobility in a letter to Pope Boniface, in regard to the 
 controversy concerning the subjection of the Crown of Scotland. The 
 subject is further treated of in Warton's History of English Poetry, and 
 in the author's notes to Fortescue, De Laudibus Legum AnglicB. 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 227 
 
 A particular account of the giants in Guildhall, will be found in 
 Hone's Every-Day Booh, Vol. iii. p. 610. It would appear, that origi- 
 nally giants made of wicker were kept in Guildhall, and used for pageants, 
 and that at the restoration of the hall, a. d. 1708, the present Gog and 
 Magog were constructed of wood carved and gilt. 
 
 The amusements of the Bear Garden are frequently mentioned by 
 old English writers. The following description of the sport by Stow, 
 may shew the interest our ancestors took in it: "For it was a sport 
 alone of these beasts to see the bear with his pink eyes leering after his 
 enemies ; the nimbleness and wait of the dog to take his advantage, and 
 the force and experience of the bear again to avoid the assaults ; if he 
 were bitten in one place, how he would pinch in another to get free ; 
 and if he were once taken, then what shift with biting, clawing, roaring, 
 tugging, grasping, tumbling, and tossing, he would work to wind himself 
 away; and, when he was loose, to shake his ears with the blood and 
 slaver about his phisnomy, was a pittance of good relief." 
 
 The following ancient description of England is concise, and is true 
 in the present day, as regards one, at least, of the items. 
 
 Anglia, mens, fons, pons, ecclesia, foemina, lana. 
 
 For wool, and women, streams with bridges crown'd. 
 Mountains, and fountains, England is renown'd. 
 
 XXII. 
 DRUNKEN BARNABY'S JOURNAL. 
 
 Inde prato per amasno 
 
 Dormiens temulente faeno, 
 
 Eivus surgit et me capit, 
 
 Et in flumen alte rapit ; 
 
 " Quorsum?" clamant; " Nuper erro 
 
 A Wansforth-brigs in Anglo-terra." 
 
 On a hay-cock sleeping soundly, 
 
 Th' river rose and took me roundly 
 
 Down the current ; people cried : 
 
 Sleeping down the stream I hied : 
 
 ** Where away ?" quoth they, " from Greenland ? 
 
 " No ; from Wansforth-brigs in England." 
 
 15—2 
 
228 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Harrington! dedi nummum 
 Et fortunse paene summum. 
 
 Thence to Harrington, be it spoken ! 
 For name-sake I gave a token. 
 
 Veni Bruarton, Claudi domum, 
 Ubi querulum audiens sonum, 
 Conjugem virum verberantem, 
 Et vicinura equitantem. 
 
 Thence to Bruarton, old Claudus 
 Did approve us and applaud us. 
 Where I heard a woeful bleating, 
 A curst wife her husband beating : 
 Neighbour rode for this default. 
 Whilst I dyed my front with malt. 
 
 Veni Banbury, O prophanum! 
 Ubi vidi Puritanum 
 Felem facientem furem 
 Quia Sabbatho stravit murem. 
 
 To Banbury came I, O profane One ! 
 Where I saw a Puritane-one, 
 Hanging of his cat on Monday, 
 For killing of a mouse on Sunday. 
 
 Sed scribentem digitum Dei 
 Spectans " Miserere Mei," 
 Atriis, angulis, confestim 
 Evitandi cura pestem 
 Fugi ; mori licet natus, 
 Nondum mori sum paratus. 
 
 Seeing there, as did become me, 
 Written, " Lord, have mercy on me," 
 On the portals, I departed, 
 Lest I should have sorer smarted : 
 Though from death none may be spared, 
 I to die was scarce prepared. 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 229 
 
 The sign of the inn at Wansford, a few years ago at least, represented 
 this adventure of the floating haycock ; and the place has acquired the 
 name of Wansford in England. 
 
 With regard to Harrington's tokens, in the year 1613 tokens of lead 
 and base metal, which had been issued by tradesmen for want of a small 
 coinage, were abolished by royal proclamation; and another proclamation 
 shortly afterwards declared that John Harrington, baron, was empowered 
 to make " a competent quantity of farthing tokens of copper." People 
 were not compelled to take them in payment, and they were very unpo- 
 pular, which was probably hinted at, by giving one of them away. 
 
 As regards the Banbury Puritan, there may be mentioned an anec- 
 dote coDcerning John Ellis, of whom Dr Johnson said, " It is wonderful, 
 sir, what is to be found in London. The most literary conversation 
 that I ever enjoyed was at the table of Jack Ellis, a money- scrivener 
 behind the Royal Exchange." John Ellis's mother was one of the fierce 
 old Calvinists ; she had him flogged at school, for looking at a top on a 
 Sunday, which she had given him the day before. 
 
 A SUmmington, which was the procession Barnaby witnessed at Bru- 
 arton, is particularly described in Part ii. Canto 11 oi Hudihras. 
 
 The appalling spectacles of the plague with which England was fre- 
 quently visited in ancient times are familiar to most readers from De 
 Foe's picturesque descriptions. Wither's poetical description of the 
 plague of London is little known. His relation of the citizens hurrying 
 out of London is entertaining ; and some of his pictures are not less 
 afiecting than those of De Foe. For example : 
 
 Whilst in her arms the Mother thought she kept 
 Her infant safe. Death stole him when she slept. 
 Sometimes he took the Mother's life away. 
 And left the little babe to lie and play 
 With her cold breast, and childish game to make 
 About those eyes that never more shall wake. 
 
 The Editio Princeps of Drunken Bandby's Journal is anonymous and 
 without date. The second edition is of the date a.d. 1716, the seventh 
 edition was published a.d. 1818. The author's name is supposed to have 
 been Barnaby Harrington : and he appears to have graduated at Queen's 
 College, Oxford. 
 
230 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 POPE'S GROTTO. 
 
 Hie iibi sublustri sylvse nutantis in umbra, 
 
 Lucentes pandit Thamesis unda sinus ; 
 Qua pendet tectis Gemmarum plurima cuspis, 
 
 Et Lymphae abrumpit subsilientis iter ; 
 Marmora qua nondum luxu violata renident, 
 
 Innocuasque vibrant eseca Metalla faees : 
 Naturag ingenuae serutare recondita dona ! 
 
 EfFossas aude temnere Divitias ! 
 Ecee, hospes, saeras et Genium venerare Cavernaa ! 
 
 Lselius hie, volvens magna, sedere solet : 
 Hie gemuit Wyndham Patrias pereussus Amore ; 
 
 Et te, Marehmonti ! vivida flamma rapit. 
 I peeus hine venale ! loeo vos fingite dignos 
 
 Qui Patriam eolitis, pauperiemque probam ! 
 
 Here, where the shining stream of the Thames is sha- 
 dowed by an o'erarehing grove, nigh whereunto is a grotto, 
 from the roof of which hang the pointed tops of many 
 crystals that impede the course of a trickling rill ; where 
 marbles shine that have never been converted to luxurious 
 uses, and metals glitter with innocent rays, as if they seemed 
 to say, — Search the recondite treasures of bountiful Nature ! 
 Dare to contemn riches dug from the bowels of the earth ! 
 Approach, O stranger, and venerate the Genius of this 
 sacred cave ! Here St John once sat, revolving in his mind 
 affairs of the deepest import. Here Wyndham lamented 
 the misfortunes of the country which he saved. Here 
 Marchmont once glowed with the flame of patriotic enthu- 
 siasm. Avaunt from this holy ground every harbourer of a 
 venal thought! Welcome whosoever prefers an honest 
 humility to iniquitous splendour, and whose dearest wishes 
 are for the happiness of his country ! 
 
 The Latin in the text is a translation from a poem on his grotto by 
 Pope, who gives the following description of it : 
 
 " I have put the last hand to my works of this kind, in happily finish- 
 ing the subterraneous way and grotto. I there found a spring of the 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 281 
 
 clearest water, which falls in a perpetual rill, that echoes through the 
 cavern day and night. From the river Thames, you see through my 
 arch up a walk of the wilderness, to a kind of open Temple, wholly com- 
 posed of shells in the rustic manner ; and from that distance under the 
 temple you look down through a sloping arcade of trees, and see the sails 
 on the river passing suddenly and vanishing, as through a perspective 
 glass. When you shut the doors of this grotto, it becomes on the instant, 
 from a luminous room, a camera ohscura : on the walls of which all the 
 objects of the river, hills, woods, and boats, are forming a moving pic- 
 ture in their visible radiations; and when you have a mind to light it up, 
 it affords you a very different scene ; it is finished with shells inter- 
 spersed with pieces of looking-glass in angular forms ; and in the ceiling 
 is a star of the same material, at which when a lamp (of an orbicular 
 figure of thin alabaster) is hung in the middle, a thousand pointed rays 
 glitter, and are reflected over the place. There are connected to this 
 grotto by a narrower passage two porches, one towards the river, of 
 smooth stones, full of light, and open; the other towards the garden, 
 shadowed with trees, rough with shells, flints, and iron-ores. The bot- 
 tom is paved with simple pebble, as is also the adjoining walk up the 
 wilderness to the temple, in the natural taste, agreeing not ill with the 
 little dripping murmur, and the aquatic idea of the whole place. It 
 wants nothing to complete it but a good statue with an inscription, like 
 that beautiful antique one which you know I am so fond of : 
 
 Hujus Nympha loci, sacri custodia fontis, 
 Dormio, dum blandse sentio murmur aquse. 
 
 Parce meum, quisquis tanges cava marmora, somnum 
 Rumpere ; sive bibas, sive lavare, tace. 
 
 Nymph of the grot, these sacred springs I keep, 
 
 And to the murmur of these waters sleep ; 
 
 Ah spare my slumbers, gently tread the cave ! 
 
 And drink in silence, or in silence lave ! " 
 There are several letters from Pope to Sir Hans Sloane, concerning 
 natural curiosities with which he furnished the poet for his grotto, particu- 
 larly two joints of the Giant's Causeway. Dr Johnson speaks with con- 
 tempt of the pains taken by Pope to embellish his grotto. The follow- 
 ing particulars relating to Pope's grotto occur in a letter from the Lady 
 M. W. Montague to the Countess of Mar : " Pope continues to embellish 
 his house at Twickenham. He has made a subterranean grotto, which 
 he has furnished with looking-glasses. And they tell me it has a very 
 good effect. I here send you some verses addressed to Mr Gay, who wrote 
 him a congratulatory letter on finishing his house. I stifled them here, 
 and beg they may die the same death at Paris, and never go further 
 than your closet : 
 
 Ah friend ! 'tis true — this truth you lovers know — 
 In vain my structures rise, my gardens grow. 
 
232 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 In vain fair Thames reflects the double scenes, 
 Of hanging mountains, and of sloping greens : 
 Joy lives not here ; to happier seats it flies, 
 And only dwells where Wortley casts her eyes. 
 
 What are the gay parterre, the chequer'd shade, 
 The morning bower, the ev'ning colonnade, 
 But soft recesses of uneasy minds 
 To sigh unheard in, to the passing winds ? 
 So the struck deer in some sequester'd part 
 Lies down to die, the arrow at his heart. 
 There stretch'd unseen in coverts hid from day, 
 Bleeds drop by drop, and pants his life away." 
 
 The Latin inscription in Pope's letter is an ancient one found in the 
 grotto of Egeria. Another to the like effect, is much shorter, whilst it is, 
 perhaps, more impressive : 
 
 Nymphse Loci. 
 Bibe — Lava — Tace. 
 To the presiding Nymph. 
 Drink — Bathe — Be silent. 
 
 The grotto of Egeria is described by Eustace, and in several stanzas 
 of Childe Harold, one of which is as follows : 
 
 The mosses of thy fountain still are sprinkled 
 With thine Elysian water-drops ; the face 
 Of thy cave-guarded spring, with years unwrinkled. 
 Reflects the meek-eyed genius of the place. 
 Whose green wild margin now no more erase 
 Art's works ; nor must the delicate waters sleep, 
 Prison d in marble, bubbling from the base 
 Of the cleft statue ; with a gentle leap 
 The rill runs o'er, and round ; fern, flowers, and ivy creep. 
 Fantastically tangled. 
 
 De Lille, in his Jardins, thus expatiates on the Admonitus Locorum of 
 Twickenham. 
 
 Tel j'ai vu ce Twickenham dont Pope est createur, 
 Le gout le defendit d'un art profanateur, 
 Ah ! si dans vos travaux est toujours respecte 
 Le lieu par un grande homme autrefois habite ! 
 
m.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 233 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 THE RHINE. 
 
 Nympharum pater, amniumque Rhene ! 
 Quicunque Othrysias bibunt pruinas, 
 Sic semper liquidis fruaris undis, 
 Nee te barbara contumeliosi 
 Calcatum rota conterat bubulci ; 
 Sic et cornibus aureus receptis, 
 Et Romanus eas utraque ripa : 
 Trajanum populis suis, et urbi 
 Tibris te dominus rogat, remittas ! 
 
 O Bhine, the Sire of Nymphs, and of the streams which 
 drink the Northern snows I Restore Trajan to his People, 
 and to Rome ! Doing which, may your waters ever flow 
 uncongealed ; may no barbarian King trample on thy 
 ice-bound surface with his barbarous waggon-wheels ; may 
 you rush all golden into the sea with your two resplen- 
 dent horns ; may each of your banks be Roman territory ! 
 Imperial Tiber asks, and promises this. 
 
 The commentators have a great deal to say upon the details of this 
 epigram, referring, amongst other matters, to the travelling equipage of 
 Charlemagne, and to the practice at Roman triumphs of leading about 
 gilt pageants of captive rivers. It is selected here chiefly as it may be 
 thought to have suggested a passage in Fletcher's Faithful Shepherdess, 
 which was afterwards imitated by Milton, with more decoration, but, 
 perhaps, with less simplicity and sweetness: 
 
 For thy kindness to me shewn. 
 
 Never from thy banks be blown 
 
 Any tree with windy force. 
 
 Cross thy streams, to stop thy course. 
 
 May no beast that comes to drink. 
 
 With his horns cast down thy brink. 
 
 May none that for thy fish do look 
 
 Cut thy banks, to dam thy brook. 
 
 Bare foot may no neighbour wade, 
 
 In the cool streams, wife nor maid. 
 
 When the spawn on stones doth lie, 
 
 To wash their hemp, and spoil the fry. 
 
234 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 In Comus it is : 
 
 May thy brimmed waves for this, 
 
 Their full tribute never miss, 
 
 From a thousand petty rills, 
 
 That tumble down the snowy hills. 
 
 Summer drought, nor singed air 
 
 Never scorch thy tresses fair. 
 
 Nor wet October's torrent flood 
 
 Thy molten crystal fill with mud. 
 
 May thy billows roll ashore 
 
 The beryl, and the golden ore. 
 
 May thy lofty head be crowned, 
 
 With many a tower, and terrace round, 
 
 And here and there, thy banks upon, 
 
 With groves of myrrh, and cinnamon. 
 
 The Rhine has been more frequently and patriotically celebrated in 
 modern than in ancient song. With regard to our Thames, Spenser in 
 his Faery Queen, and Drayton in his Polyolbion, have done it poetic 
 honour : but the couplet of Denham in his Cooper's Hill, has, perhaps, 
 been more often cited, and its effect more critically analysed, than any 
 other lines on any other river : 
 
 Though deep yet clear, though gentle, yet not dull ; 
 Strong without rage, without o'erflowing, full. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 STONEHENGE. 
 
 En hse tibi sanctae 
 Majorum sedes ! non hie coelata labore 
 Marmora, Palladia vel speres arte eolumnas. 
 Sed taeito haee lustres eultu loca ; nescia ferri 
 Saxa, rudes aras, circumspice I Cernis ut atrae 
 Desuper impendent rupes ? His saepe sub umbris 
 Velati lino et modulantes pollice fila 
 Ducebant choreas Druidae, dum mobilis aether 
 Et mortale genus requievit : sidera lapsu 
 Mansere in medio, nee agebat nubila Caurus. 
 Nunc quoque pallenti arrectus sub nocte viator 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 235 
 
 (Agricolis si certa fides) hie tenuia eireum 
 Sentit et impulsas imitantia murmura ehordas, 
 Pennarumque levem stridorem ; hie flamine vestes 
 Undantes Zephyrorum, et inania verba remitti. 
 
 Behold here are the abodes that your ancestors held 
 sacred ! You will not, indeed, expect to meet here with 
 marbles endued with life by the chisel of the statuary, or 
 with columns reared according to rules of Palladian art. 
 Yet these sights fill the mind with silent awe. Look round 
 on these stony masses which no iron has ever violated, the 
 altars of a rude people ! Here, whilst Man and Nature 
 were at rest, in the silence of the night, the Druids, habited 
 in flowing robes of linen, performed their magic rites. 
 Fable reports them to have arrested the moon in her 
 course, and to have stilled the hurricane-blasts. Even in 
 the present day, if we may give credit to the vulgar belief 
 of the vicinity, midnight sounds are heard in this spot, 
 resembling the flitting of wings, and the dying melody of 
 harps, and half-heard whispers which seem to be the voices 
 of spirits. 
 
 Much light has been thro-wn on the antiquities of Stonehenge by the 
 Hon. Algernon Herbert, in his Cyclops Christianus. Mr Herbert impugns 
 the general opinion, that the name denotes hanging stones; and suggests 
 a different etymon, namely, that, at this spot the memorable collision 
 between Hengist, Duke of the Saxons, and the Britons, took place. He 
 considers that groves of upright stones were substituted by the later 
 Britons for the oak-tree groves of obsolete Druidism. The date of the 
 erections at Stonehenge, and the nation which raised them, whether 
 Romans, Danes, Anglo-Saxons, Britons, or Hyperboreans, have been the 
 subjects of much diversity of opinion. Caesar mentions the reputation 
 the Druids had acquired for bringing the Moon to a full stop in the 
 middle of her course. Lucan, in lines not surpassed in vigour by any 
 writer of the Augustan period, relates the lessons which they taught in 
 their sacred groves of an after-life of glory, the hopes of which should 
 expel the fear of death from the hearts of warriors : 
 
 Vos quoque qui fortes animas belloque peremptas 
 Laudibus in longum vates demittitus sevum, 
 Plurima securi fudistis carmina Bardi ! 
 Et vos barbaricos ritus, moremque sinistrum 
 
236 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Sacrorum Druidse positis repetistis ab armis. 
 
 Solis nosse deos et coeli numina vobis, 
 
 Aut solis nescire datum. Nemora alta remotis 
 
 Incolitis lucis : vobis auctoribus, umbrse 
 
 Non tacitas Erebi sedes, ditisque profundi 
 
 Pallida regna petunt : regit idem spiritus artus 
 
 Orbe alio : longae (canitis si cognita) vitse 
 
 Mors media est. Certe populi, quos despicit Arctos, 
 
 Felices errore suo, quos, ille timorum 
 
 Maximus, baud urget leti metus ! Inde ruendi 
 
 In ferrum mens prona viris, animseque capaces 
 
 Mortis, et ignavum rediturse parcere vitse. 
 
 You too, ye bards ! whom sacred raptures fire, 
 To chant your heroes to your country's lyre : 
 Who consecrate in your immortal strain. 
 Brave patriots' souls in righteous battle slain ; 
 Securely now the tuneful talk renew. 
 And noblest themes in deathless songs pursue. 
 The Druids now, while arms are heard no more. 
 Old mysteries and barbarous rites restore : 
 A tribe, who singular devotion love. 
 And haunt the lonely coverts of the grove. 
 To these, and these of all mankind alone. 
 The gods are sure revealed, or sure unknown. 
 If dying mortals' doom they sing aright, 
 No ghosts descend to dwell in dreadful night : 
 No parting souls to grisly Pluto go. 
 Nor seek the dreary silent shades below : 
 But forth they fly, immortal in their kind. 
 And other bodies in new worlds they find. 
 Thus life for ever runs its endless race, 
 And like a line, death but divides the space ; 
 A stop which can but for a moment last, 
 A point between the future and the past. 
 Thrice happy they beneath their Northern skies, 
 Who that worst fear, the fear of death, despise ! 
 Hence they no cares for this frail being feel, 
 But rush undaunted on the pointed steel; 
 Provoke approaching fate, and bravely scorn 
 To spare that life, which must so soon return. 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 237 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 ON A CRYSTAL CONTAINING A DROP OF WATER. 
 (A) 
 
 Dum crystalla puer contingere lubrica gaudet, 
 Et gelidum tenero poUice versat onus, 
 
 Vidit perspicuo deprensas marmore lymphas, 
 Dura quibus solis parcere novit hyems : 
 
 Et siccum relegens labris sitientibus orbem, 
 Irrita qusDsitis oscula figit aquis. 
 
 The crystal smooth a boy with joy surveyed, 
 And round the frozen mass his fingers laid ; 
 He sees, enclosed within transparent stone. 
 The wave that rugged Winter spared alone ; 
 On arid orb he fixes thirsty lip, 
 And liquids vainly seeks from thence to sip. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Clauditur immunis convexo tegmine rivus, 
 
 Duratisque vagus fons operitur aquis. 
 Nonne vides, propriis ut spumet gemma lacunis, 
 
 Et refluos ducant pocula viva sinus ? 
 Udaque pingatur radiis obstantibus Iris, 
 
 Secretas hiemes soUicitante die ? 
 Mira silex, mirusque latex, qui flumina vincit, 
 
 Nee lapis est merito, quod fluit, et lapis est. 
 
 A moving stream is pent in vaulted cave, 
 
 And, closed by concrete floods, a wand'ring wave. 
 
 Within the cavities observe the foam : 
 
 In nat'ral basin billows freely roam I 
 
 The humid Iris' rays opposed, behold : — 
 
 The beams of light repulsed by secret cold. 
 
 O wondrous rock, and surge surpassing streams I 
 
 Still fluid, still a stone, the substance seems. 
 
238 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Oh. 
 
 Gibbon writes of Claudian : " He was endowed with the rare and 
 precious talent of raising the meanest, of adorning the most barren, 
 and of diversifying the most similar topics." 
 
 Claudian composed several more Latin and two Greek epigrams 
 upon this natural phenomenon. Addison in his Travels in Italy, has a 
 curious notice of a similar phenomenon exhibited at Milan. 
 
 " Canon Settala's cabinet is always shewn to a stranger among the 
 curiosities of Milan, which I shall not be particular upon, the printed 
 account of it being common enough. Among its natural curiosities I took 
 particular notice of a piece of crystal, that inclosed a couple of drops, 
 which looked like water when they were shaken, though, perhaps, they 
 are nothing but bubbles of air. It is such a rarity as this that I saw at 
 Vendome in France, which they there pretend is a tear that our Saviour 
 shed over Lazarus, and was gathered up by an angel, who put it in a 
 little crystal vial, and made a present of it to Mary Magdalene. The 
 famous Pere Mabillon is now engaged in the vindication of this tear, 
 which a learned ecclesiastic, in the neighbourhood of Vendome, would 
 have suppressed, as a false and ridiculous relic, in a book that he has 
 dedicated to his diocesan, the Bishop of Blois. It is in the possession of 
 a Benedictine convent, which raises a considerable revenue out of the 
 devotion that is paid to it, and has now retained the most learned 
 father of their order to write in its defence." 
 
 XXVII. 
 INSECTS IN AMBER. 
 
 (A) 
 
 Dum Phaetontea Formica vagatur in umbra, 
 Implicuit tenuem succina gutta feram. 
 
 Sic modo quae fiierat vita contempta manente 
 Funeribus facta est nunc pretiosa suis. 
 
 A Drop of Amber, from a poplar plant 
 Fell unexpected, and embalm'd an Ant, 
 The little insect we so much contemn. 
 Is, from a worthless Ant, become a gem. 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 239 
 
 (B) 
 
 Flentibus Heliadum ramis dum Vipera repit, 
 Fluxit in obstantem suceina gemma feram : 
 
 Quae dum miratur pingui se rore teneri, 
 Concrete riguit vineta repente gelu. 
 
 Ne tibi regali placeas, Cleopatra, sepulcro ; 
 Vipera si tumulo nobiliore jaeet. 
 
 On the Sun's daughter's arms a Viper crept, 
 When o'er the wriggling thing the amber wept. 
 Wond'ring to be so bound in clammy dew, 
 She petrified amid the glass'ning glue. 
 Thy sepulture, proud Queen, no longer prize ; 
 If in a nobler tomb thine adder lies. 
 
 (C) 
 
 Et latet et lucet Phaethontide condita gutta, 
 
 Ut videatur Apis nectare clausa suo. 
 Dignum tantorum pretium tulit ilia laborum. 
 
 Credibile est ipsam sic voluisse mori. 
 
 Pent in th' electric drop, and yet display'd, 
 She seems to swim the nectar she has made. 
 This might the meed of all her toils supply : 
 Thus, sure, she pray'd that she embalm'd might die. 
 
 Professor Pictet has published a work on the insects which have been 
 found in amber. It is reviewed in the Edinburgh Neiu Philosophical 
 Journal for October 1846. A publication was commenced under the 
 auspices of the Queen of Prussia, for developing the subject of insects in 
 amber, with more particular reference to the amber found in Prussia on 
 the coasts of the Baltic. Different philosophers undertook to make 
 researches respecting different species of insects. The origin of Prussian 
 amber goes back into the tertiary period. The great quantity of amber 
 thrown up by the Baltic sea is supposed to be owing to a considerable 
 bed in the present basin of that sea. There have been about 800 fossil 
 species of insects discovered in Prussian amber. These species are all 
 different from those of the existing Fauna. But only two types have 
 been discovered which are sufficiently distinct from living insects to re- 
 quire the formation of new Families. The new Genera are a little more 
 
240 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 numerous. Though the feather of a bird, and some tufts of hair of 
 mammiferse, have been discovered, and a few small shells belonging to the 
 mollusca, the articulata are the only division of the animal kingdom of 
 which amber has preserved sufficiently numerous remains to throw some 
 light on their history. The admirable preservation of the greater part of 
 insects and vegetables in amber, the transparency of the material afford- 
 ing the means of inspecting the most delicate organs almost as well as in 
 living nature, are circumstances which impart peculiar interest to the 
 study of the Fauna and Flora in amber. 
 
 To insects in amber. Pope compares small critics on great writers, who 
 thus are associated with the names of Shakspere or Milton : 
 
 Pretty ! in amher to observe the forms 
 Of hairs, or straws, or grubs, or dirt, or worms. 
 The things, we know, are neither rich, nor rare. 
 But wonder how the devil they got there. 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 PHENOMENON PRODUCED BY SNOWBALLS. 
 
 Me nive candenti petiit modo Julia, rebar 
 
 Igne carere nivem, sed tamen ignis erat. 
 Quid nive frigidius ? nostrum tamen urere pectus 
 
 Nix potuit manibus, Julia, missa tuis. 
 Quis locus insidiis dabitur mihi tutus amoris, 
 
 Frigora concreta si latet ignis aqua ? 
 Julia, sola potes nostras extinguere flammas, 
 
 Non nive, non glacie, sed potes igne pari. 
 
 Julia, sweet Julia, flung the gather'd snow. 
 Nor fear'd I burning from the wat'ry blow : 
 'Tis cold, I cried ; but, ah ! too soon I found, 
 Sent by that hand it dealt a scorching wound. 
 Kesistless Fair ! we fly thy pow'r in vain, 
 Who turn'st to fiery darts the frozen rain. 
 Since snow impell'd by thee but fires my heart, 
 O try if mutual flames may heal the smart ! 
 
III.] PLACES AND NATURAL PHENOMENA. 241 
 
 The Latin is by Petronius Afranius, an aythor of whom nothing else 
 is generally known. The English is from Oldys's collection of Epigrams, 
 a little modified. A more elaborate version will be found in the works 
 of Soame Jenyns. It is extolled, considerably, as it would seem, beyond 
 its merits, in the collection of Latin Epigrams, published for the use of 
 Eton school, a.d. 1740. Elegans et acutum epigramma, mejudice, ut in 
 tenui materia et affabre undequaque concinnatum et omnibus numeris ab- 
 solutum : " An elegant and acute epigram ; which, on a light subject, is 
 contrived with artistic skill in every part, and is expressed in numbers to 
 the perfection of which nothing is wanting." 
 
 A remarkable phenomenon produced with snow, was a statue of snow 
 to the formation of which Michael Angelo was called upon to bend his 
 exalted genius, by Piero, the unworthy son and successor of Lorenzo de 
 Medici. It is related by an historian, that at a Naumachia, at which 
 Domitian presided, not only all the combatants, but many of the spec- 
 tators, were killed: for a snow-storm came on, and, nevertheless, the 
 emperor would not stop the spectacle ; but the multitude were obliged 
 to sit through it bare-headed, and without changing their dresses, though 
 the emperor changed his several times : the consequence was that a great 
 number of the spectators caught cold and died. Martial has two epigrams 
 on the subject ; one concerning an individual who went to the fete with a 
 black gown, instead of a white lacerna, like every one else. The Gods, says 
 the Poet, turned his gown white with snow. Another epigram accounts 
 for Domitian not seeking to withdraw from the pelting of the snow, by 
 its having been dropt on him from the skies in sport by his son, who had 
 lately died, and been deified. (A coin of Domitian is extant, representing 
 that son sitting upon a globe, and surrounded with stars). Martial 
 concludes : 
 
 Qui siccis lascivit aquis, et ab sethere ludit, 
 Suspicor has pueri Caesaris esse nives. 
 
 16 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 THE ARTS. 
 
 I. 
 
 CROMWELL'S PORTRAIT PRESENTED TO QUEEN 
 CHRISTB^A. 
 
 Bellipotens Virgo ! septem regnata Trionum, 
 
 Christina ! Arctoi lucida stella poli ! 
 Cernis quas merui dura sub casside rugas, 
 
 Utque senex, armis impiger, ora tero. 
 Invia fatorum dum per vestigia victor, 
 
 Exsequor et populi fortia jussa manu : 
 Ast tibi submittit frontem reverentior umbra, 
 
 Nee sunt hi vultus regibus usque truces. 
 
 Queen of the North ! bright Arctic polar star ! 
 
 Christina ! Virgin- Arbitress of war ! 
 
 Behold what wrinkles stamp a warrior's brow, 
 
 In hard-won fields, 'neath massive helms that grow. 
 
 Whilst o'er untrodden paths of Fate I press'd. 
 
 Obedient to a People's high behest. 
 
 And yet to thee my eyes submission own : 
 
 Nor does this face on Monarchs always frown. 
 
 The translation is from a ship-newspaper. Cowper has also translated 
 Milton's lines. Evelyn, in his Epigrams on Painting, has the following 
 verses upon a likeness by Walker : 
 
 If we may trust to Metoposcopy, 
 
 To lines o' th' face, and language of the eye. 
 
 We find him thoughtful, resolute, and sly. 
 
 He knew when to cajole, and to dissemble. 
 
 And when to make his foes with biust'ring tremble. 
 
 We find (though Cromwell's little understood) 
 
 The sword has made him great, and pencil good. 
 
rv.] THE ARTS. 248 
 
 There is an original picture of Cromwell preserved in Sidney College, 
 Cambridge. This was Cromwell's college, where he is fabled to have acted 
 the part of Tactus, or Touch, in the once famous University play of Lin^ 
 gua, or the Tongue. The likeness of Cromwell in Symons's Crowns is 
 vouched by Pepys and Evelyn. The author has a medal of Symons, 
 made after the battle of Dunbar, with a motto, " The Lord of Hosts," 
 in which there is a more juvenile and animated face of Cromwell than 
 upon his Crowns. 
 
 A poetical picture of Queen Christina will not be an unsuitable com- 
 panion-piece to Milton's Epigram. Christina was the daughter of the 
 great Gustavus Adolphus, to whose throne she succeeded when five years 
 old. She afforded one of the rare examples in history of an abdication 
 of royalty: 
 
 A sa jupe courte et legere 
 
 A son pourpoint, a son collet, 
 
 Au chapeau garni d'un plumet, 
 
 Au ruban ponceau qui pendoit 
 
 Et par-devant, et par-derriere. 
 
 A sa mine galante et fiere 
 
 D'Amazone et d'aventuriere. 
 
 A ce nez de consul remain, 
 
 A ce front altier d'heroine, 
 
 A ce grand ceil tendre et hautain, 
 
 Moins beau que le votre et moins fin, 
 
 Soudain je reconnus Christine. 
 
 Christine des arts le maintien, 
 
 Christhie qui ceda pour rien 
 
 Et son royaume, et votre eglise. 
 
 Qui connut tout, et ne crut rien. 
 
 Que le saint Pere canonise. 
 
 Que damne le Lutherien, 
 
 Et que la gloire immortalise. 
 
 II. 
 
 PORTRAIT OF ANTONHJS PRIMUS. 
 
 Haec mihi quae colitur violis pictura, rosisque, 
 Quos referat vultus, Caeditiane, rogas ? 
 
 Talis erat Marcus mediis Antonius annis 
 
 Primus : in hoc juvenem se videt ore senex. 
 
 Ars utinam mores, animumque effingere posset ! 
 Pulchrior in terris nulla tabella foret. 
 
 16—2 
 
244 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 What face with violets and roses crown'd 
 So strikes the eye ? you ask, with awe profound. 
 Antonius Primus here pourtray'd we see, 
 Just what in middle age he used to be. 
 Could art express his manners and his mind, 
 On earth no fairer picture should we find I 
 
 This piece is inserted in the present collection chiefly because it ap- 
 pears to have suggested the point of Ben Jonson's lines written under 
 Martin Droueshout's engraving of Shakspere's portrait in the first edition 
 of his Playsi edited by his "Fellows" (as they are designated in his 
 will). Homing and Condell. (See the Art. on The Pictures of Shakspere, 
 Knight's edition, Vol. vm.) The lines are as follow 
 
 This figure that thou here seest put, 
 
 It was for gentle Shakspere cut. 
 
 Wherewith the graver had a strife. 
 
 With nature to outdo the life. 
 
 O could he but have drawn his wit 
 
 As well in brass, as he has hit^ 
 
 His face; the print would then surpass 
 
 All that was ever writ in brass ! 
 
 But since he cannot, reader, look 
 
 Not on his picture, but his book. 
 
 III. 
 
 PORTRAIT OF ERASMUS. 
 
 Ingens ingentem quem personat Orbis Erasmum, 
 Hsec tibi dimidium picta tabella refert. 
 
 At cur non totum ? mirari desine, lector, 
 Integra nam totum terra nee ipsa capit. 
 
 One half this canvass shows of that great sage, 
 Whom worlds proclaim the wonder of the age ; 
 Why not the whole ? cease, reader, thy surprise, 
 Him the whole earth's not able to comprise. 
 
 I's idea of justifying the choice of a half-length portrait on the 
 ground that the whole world could not contain a whole Erasmus, is a 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 245 
 
 glaring instance of false wit ; it moreover seems to have been borrowed 
 from Martial's epigram on Pompey and his Sons, referred to in a former 
 chapter. The portrait was by Holbein. The following verses on the 
 same picture are in Evelyn's Collection of poetical descriptions of Pictures. 
 
 The famous Swiss no little skill hath shewn, 
 In painting of his generous Patron. 
 This work in England th* Artist much commends, 
 By which he was preferr'd, and gain'd his ends. 
 Thou mad'st Erasmus, Holbein ! as 'tis said ; 
 But I say that Erasmus Holbein made. 
 
 IV. 
 
 PICTURE OF ST BRUNO, 
 Founder of the Grande Chartreuse. 
 
 Sic oculos, sic Bruno manus, sic ora ferebat, 
 
 Allobrogum rupes nudas et inhospita saxa 
 
 Dum coleret, sed plena Deo, sed numine plenus, 
 
 JEterno sacras leges inscriberet aeri. 
 
 Adspicis ut viva spirant in imagine vultus ? 
 
 Ut movet inde manus placidas, movet inde lacertos, 
 
 Dulcis in adstantes ut dulcia lumina flectit ? 
 
 Et nisi nunc Christo jurata silentia servet, 
 
 Promentem audires imo de pectore sensus. 
 
 Such were the eyes, such the hands of St Bruno ! Such 
 was the expression of his countenance, whilst he made his 
 dwelling among the rocks and precipices of the Allobrogae, 
 naked and inhospitable indeed, but full of the presence of 
 God : and there he inscribed his sacred laws in immortal 
 brass. Do you behold how his countenance is animated in 
 the living portrait ? How his arms and hands reach out 
 of the canvass ? How the benignant expression of his eyes 
 is turned towards the bye-standers ? And unless he were 
 preserving that silence which he had solemnly vowed to 
 Christ, you wOuld witness him pouring forth with eloquence 
 the emotions which are pent in his bosom. 
 
246 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Menage writes of the picture in the text, " J'etois un jour aux Char- 
 treux, ou Ton me fit voir un tableau de St Bruno, tres bien fait. On me 
 demanda ce que j*en pensois: je dis sur le champ, *Sans sa regie il 
 parleroit.' " Le Soeur, in the year 1648, painted the history of St Bruno 
 in twenty-two pictures. The first of the series represents the miracle to 
 which the conversion of St Bruno was ascribed, namely, that of a Pari- 
 sian monk of the name of Raymond, who, upon being carried to the 
 sepulchre, rose suddenly from his cofl3.n, to declare that he was damned. 
 — The casting out of a devil by Ignatius Loyola in a painting of Rubens, 
 has been thus described in Evelyn's epigrams : 
 
 See how the Dsemoniac raves and rends. 
 
 See how like foes he treats the best of friends ; 
 
 His rage is great, great as the painter's merit, 
 
 In every limb you may discern a Spirit, 
 
 In every tint there is a kind of tone, •» 
 
 The sharp lights shriek, the heavy shadows groan, I 
 
 The Fiend 's adjured, and the great work is done, i 
 
 Le Soeur, in one of his pictures of St Bruno, represents him perform- 
 ing a miracle scarcely more credible than that of St Ignatius casting out 
 devils ; he is represented by the painter in the attitude of rejecting a 
 mitre offered to him by the pope. 
 
 The habit of the Chartreux was white ; it was an obligation of the 
 Order to speak no words except, " Brother, we must die," to sleep in their 
 own coflans, and dig their own graves. St Bruno died at the age of fifty 
 in the monastery he had founded. 
 
 V. 
 ECCE HOMO, BY MIGNARD. 
 
 Christi cruentse, splendida Principum 
 Non certet ultra purpura purpuras ; 
 Junco palustri sceptra cedant, 
 Textilibus diadema spinis. 
 
 That blood-stained robe outvies the purple of Kings : 
 That reed is more to be revered than sceptres : The dia- 
 dems of earthly power are of dim effulgence compared 
 with that Crown of Thorns. 
 
 The Latin stanza is by Santeuil. Mignard was a distinguished French 
 painter under the reign of Louis XIV. It is related, that, on one occa- 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 247 
 
 sion, when the king sent for him to draw his portrait, he said, "I am 
 grown old since I last sat to you," to which Mignard replied, " I perceive 
 in your Majesty's countenance the lines of several more campaigns." 
 
 In the French collection of engravings there are twelve of Ecce 
 Homo by Titian : some of them have the reed in Christ's hand, others 
 not. In the Florentine Gallery there is an Ecce Homo by Cegalo, which 
 is much admired for expressing in Pilate's face mixed feelings of being 
 shocked at the sufferings of an innocent man, and of reflection on the 
 policy which he deemed necessary for his own safety. Fuseli observes 
 of Correggio, that he once " exceeded all competition of expression in the 
 divine featm-es of his Ecce Homo : but that this sudden irradiation, this 
 flash of power was only an exception from his wonted style ; for that 
 pathos and character own Raphael for their master, colour is the domain 
 of Titian, and harmony the sovereign mistress of Correggio." Of Rem- 
 brandt's Ecce Homo, Fuseli writes that it is " a composition, which, al- 
 though complete, hides in its grandeur the Hmits of its scenery. Its 
 form is as a pyramid whose top is lost in the sky as its base in tumultu- 
 ous murky waves. From the fluctuating crowds who inundate the base 
 of the tribunal, we rise to Pilate, surrounded and perplexed by the 
 varied ferocity of the sanguinary synod to whose remorseless gripe he 
 surrenders his wand ; and from him we ascend to the sublime resigna- 
 tion of innocence in Christ, and, regardless of the roar below, securely 
 repose on his countenance. Such is the grandeur of a conception, which 
 in its blaze absorbs the abominable detail of materials too vulgar to be 
 mentioned : had the materials been equal to the conception and compo- 
 sition, the Ecce Homo of Rembrandt, even unsupported by the magic of 
 his light and shade, or his spell of colours, would have been an assemblage 
 of superhuman powers." 
 
 VI. 
 
 PICTURE OF MARILLAC, DOCTOR OF THE SORBONNE. 
 
 Usque adeo sacris ardebat ab ignibus, impar 
 Ut pectus vix sustinet, impatiensque teneri 
 Christi dirus amor sese efFundebat in omnes : 
 Et ni muta foret, Christum resonaret imago. 
 
 So intense is the flame of piety in his breast, that he 
 seems scarcely equal to sustain his own religious fervor. 
 His Christian love appears so overflowing that it seems to 
 gush forth on all mankind. You would say, that if his 
 portrait could speak, he would fill your ears with the word 
 Christ, 
 
248 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 VII. 
 PICTURE OF SHAFTESBURY. 
 
 Fallor ? an agnosco permistum te quoque turbse, 
 Shaftsburi, 6 Anglis caput horum et causa malorum ! 
 Agnosco vultus, nee quenquam conscia falli 
 Fistula permittit, pendensque sub ilia Siphon. 
 Quin etiam anguiculos inhonesto vulnere nasci, 
 Et, qua rima patet, tubulo manare colubros 
 Conspicor, et latitans subter prsecordia virus. 
 Ille paveas, structusque dolis, hue turbidus atque hue 
 Inelinat vultus, et partem versat in omnem. 
 Nusquam recta acies : vigil omnia circumspectat, 
 Omnia formidat ; pallorque per ora fatetur 
 Invidiamque, odiumque simul, gelidumque timorem. 
 His porro accedit, subito quod forte tumultu 
 Excussae manibus tabulae, revolutaque charta 
 Associatorum diros testata furores : 
 Labitur ille in humum velox, properatque libellos 
 Colligere in gremium, tacitaque recondere veste : 
 At rapit oppressum, et conanti plurima frustra 
 Erecto jamjam vulnus meditatur ab ense 
 Astrsea ; ille ictum venientem a vertice cautus 
 Prasvidet, et celeri dilapsus corpore cedit. 
 
 Am I mistaken, or do I perceive you, O Shaftesbury, 
 mingling in this crowd, you who have been the cause and 
 the head of all these evils which have fallen on England ? 
 I recognise his countenance, and were I in any doubt, it 
 would be removed by the medical tube which, in the picture, 
 hangs from his side. Through the aperture where it is 
 inserted in his body, I behold snakes discharging their 
 venom amidst his inmost vitals. He, indeed, bears a look 
 of apprehension and of wiliness, timidly and cautiously 
 turning his eyes in every direction. But, behold! by a 
 sudden tumult, there falls from his hand the rebellious 
 EoU of the Associators : he hastens to snatch it up, and to 
 conceal it in the secret folds of his garment. Astraea de- 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 249 
 
 tects him, wrests the scroll from his grasp, and with up- 
 lifted sword meditates an avenging blow. He, however, 
 watches the impending destruction, dexterously evades it, 
 and vanishes in flight from the scene. 
 
 The Latin lines are taken from a poem on Windsor Castle in the 
 Musce Anglicance. The poet is describing a piece of tapestry which 
 formed a canopy : he gives an animated view of St George and the 
 Dragon, and then he proceeds to depicture Charles II. on horseback sub- 
 duing the monster rebellion. It would seem that among the discom- 
 fited rebels Shaftesbury was a prominent figure. Shaftesbui-y had an 
 injury in his side occasioned by the overturning of a carriage : his side 
 was opened, and an issue was inserted ; this operation was considered at 
 the time one of the greatest cures that had been performed on the human 
 body. The issue or siphon was made a frequent subject of illiberal 
 raillery. Shaftesbury was called Count Tapski with reference to this cir- 
 cumstance, and a prevalent report that he was aspiring to the crown of 
 Poland. A siphon used for drawing wines got the name of a Shaftesbury. 
 The siphon is introduced in the scenery of Dryden's Court Masque of 
 Albion and Albanius, in which Shaftesbury is represented with fiend's 
 wings, and several fanatical heads are drinking poison from his side 
 through a tap. The accident met with by Shaftesbury was attended with 
 great benefit to the English nation, as it led to his patronage of Locke, 
 whereby that philosopher had the means of indulging his genius on 
 matters conducive to the knowledge of the human mind, and the promo- 
 tion of civil liberty and reUgious toleration. It may reasonably be sup- 
 posed that much of the generous policy which occasionally appears in 
 Lord Shaftesbury's political measures, may have emanated from Locke. 
 
 With regard to the paper of the Association, this is the memorable 
 paper on which was founded the charge brought against him for high 
 treason. A trial, very memorable on account of the bill of indictment 
 against him being ignored by the grand jury, and also because his libe- 
 ration from the Tower gave occasion to Dryden's celebrated satire called 
 The Medal. The actual medal to which the poem relates, and which wa.s 
 struck on the occasion of Shaftesbury's acquittal, was produced by the 
 author at his last introductory lecture on the Laws of England, in the 
 University of Cambridge. 
 
250 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 PICTURE OF BELISARIUS. 
 
 Zeuxi potens, succurris, et arte fidelis honesta 
 Triste ministerium prsestas. — Viden"' acer in ipsa 
 Pauperie spirat vultus, magnique doloris 
 Majestas ! viden' incompto qua? plurima mento 
 Canities squallet male culta, et textile tegmen 
 Membra sequens curis exesos exprimit artus ! 
 Serta procul eapiti delapsa, et inutilis hasta, 
 Abjectumque jacet fida cum casside scutum ; 
 Reliquiaa Herois, priscseque insignia laudis ! 
 Sic oculos integrse aedes, stantesque columnsB 
 Segnius irritant, cum dulci horrore tuentes 
 Disjectam templi molem, grandesque ruinas. 
 Romanum agnosco ! ah ! quantum mutatus ab illo 
 Qui quondam templis Persarum signa refixit, 
 Restituitque Jovi Patrio ; qui Cabadis ultus 
 Perjuras vires, et non ad foedera natas ; 
 Quo duce conjuncti fratres, turmseque rebelles 
 Cessere Hypatii ; quo, gens inculta Gothorum 
 Adjecta Imperio, et Romanis viribus impar 
 Vandalia ; invisum vulgus Musae ! alta vorago 
 Doctrinse veteris, quae pleno absorbuit aestu 
 Artis quicquid habent ebur et spirantia signa, 
 Aut fuci egregii tractus, Musaeque labores. 
 Quo cecidere Hunni, Scythico jam milite partas 
 Fracturi, et media posituri signa Suburra. 
 O nimium felix ! si pugnas inter et arma 
 Contigerat cecidisse, atque hostis ab ense benigno 
 Exhalasse animam : si nunquam pacis iniqua 
 Tempora vidisset, vel siccae taedia mortis. 
 Jam qualis rediit ! vix tanti nominis umbra, 
 Exul, caecus, inops, et multo vulnere tardus, 
 Crudelis Patriae decus opprobriumque, pericla 
 Cui mendicatum vix praebent garrula panem. 
 
 Zeuxis, you perform a mournful office with your power- 
 ful art. Do you see how spirit beams in the countenance 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 251 
 
 of yonder old man ! There is majesty in the depth of his 
 affliction ; though his grey hairs are hanging negleetedly, 
 and his looped and windowed raggedness exposes to view 
 his emaciated limbs. Near him lies a chaplet that has 
 fallen from his head, and a useless spear, and a shield and 
 a helmet which he has thrown away. Such are the relics 
 of a Hero, and the trophies of departed glory ! Surely 
 thus a towering edifice supported by lofty columns affects 
 the mind of a spectator with impressions far weaker than 
 those that inspire it with secret awe, when he contemplates 
 the mouldering ruins of some ancient temple, or the totter- 
 ing battlements of some once impregnable Citadel. It is 
 a Eoman General whom I behold ! Ah, how changed from 
 that invincible Hero who rolled back the impetuous deluge 
 of Vandals, and stemmed for a season that torrent of bar- 
 barism which was destined to overflow whatever genius had 
 hallowed, or was adorned by the liberal arts ; postponing 
 their defilement by those enemies of the Muses and of 
 the civilization of mankind. Happy, thrice happy if the 
 wretched man had perished then, when he was waging 
 battles against the subverters of human improvement : if 
 he had never known how Peace may be prolific of injustice, 
 or what evils may embitter the prolongation of human life ! 
 Blind, an Exile, a Beggar, he slowly drags along his 
 wretched frame, which is shattered by many a wound sus- 
 tained for his country's sake. His daily bread is implored 
 with a narrative of what he once did for others, and of how 
 much he stands in need of charity for himself ! 
 
 The picture, generally attributed to Yandyk, which the verses in the 
 text describe, represents Belisarius deprived of sight, and sitting by the 
 way-side, with a staff in one hand, and the other hand extended to 
 receive the donation of a charitable female. On the opposite side of the 
 picture two other females are placed, who appear to be influenced by 
 feelings of compassion. A youthful soldier standing near seems to 
 sympathize warmly with the humiliating state of the persecuted hero. 
 
 Whether Belisarius was deprived of his sight by the Emperor Justi- 
 nian ? whether he ever begged for an obolus or other coin ? whether 
 an ancient statue in the Vatican of a military personage holding forth 
 one of his hands, is the statue of Belisarius asking for his obolus, or of 
 the Emperor Augustus appeasing Nemesis ? are questions of animated 
 
252 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Oh. 
 
 controversy. The lawgivers and priests of the middle ages combated 
 with each other the reality of facts which implicated the fame of the 
 legislator and pagan Justinian. — Gibbon, Winckelmann, and recently Lord 
 Mahon, have directed their inquiries to these subjects ; and Marmontel 
 has embellished them by interesting fiction. 
 
 The poetry in the text is taken from Popham's Poemata Anglorum : 
 its principal defect is one to which modern Latin poety is almost univer- 
 sally subject, that of sacrificing the sense to an imitation of the expres- 
 sions of classical authors. The main object of modern Latin verse seems 
 to be, to remind the reader of passages in the ancient poets : and as this 
 is a merit which is more capable of being weighed in a balance than in- 
 vention and fancy, it is that which is chiefly encouraged in schools and 
 universities. 
 
 IX. 
 
 PICTURE OF THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 Quin age, et horrentem commixtis igne tenebris 
 Jam videas scenam ; multo hie stagnantia fueo 
 Moenia, flagrantem liquefaeto sulphure rivum 
 Eingunt, et falsus tanta arte accenditur Ignis, 
 Ut toti metuas tabulse, ne flamma per omne 
 Livida serpat opus, tenuesque absumpta recedat 
 Pictura in cineres, propriis peritura favillis. 
 
 Next behold a scene of lurid darkness mixed with 
 flashes of vivid fire : a river of liquid sulphur that blazes 
 as it flows through the murky abyss. So striking is the 
 artificial light heightened by contrast, that you are made 
 afraid lest the picture itself should ignite, and perish 
 amidst its own ashes. 
 
 The Latin lines are from a description by Addison, in the Musce An- 
 glicancB, of the altar-piece of Magdalene College, Oxford. The poem 
 contains a representation of Waynflete, the founder of the college, who is 
 represented, perhaps reprehensibly, by Addison, as fixing undaunted eyes 
 upon his Judge. 
 
 Irati innocuas securus Numinis iras 
 Aspicit, impavidosque in Judice figit ocellos. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 253 
 
 X. 
 
 PICTURE OF VENUS ANADYOMENE. 
 
 Emersam pelagi nuper genitalibus undis 
 
 Cypria Apellei cerne laboris opus. 
 Ut complexa manu madidos salis sequore crines, 
 
 Humidulis spumas stringit utraque comis. 
 Jam tibi nos, Cypri, Juno inquit et innuba Pallas, 
 
 Cedimus, et formaB prsemia deferimus. 
 
 "When from the bosom of her parent flood 
 
 She rose refulgent with th' encircling brine, 
 
 Apelles saw Cytherea's form divine, 
 And fixed her breathing image where it stood. 
 Those graceful hands entwined, that wring the spray 
 
 From her ambrosial hair, proclaim the truth ; 
 Those speaking eyes where amorous lightnings play, 
 
 Those swelling heavens, the harbingers of youth : 
 Juno and Pallas look with fond amaze. 
 And yield submission in the conscious gaze. 
 
 This picture was the masterpiece of Apelles, the most celebrated of 
 the Grecian painters, a contemporary of Alexander the Great, who forbad 
 any one else in his dominions to paint his likeness. The goddess was 
 represented wringing her hair, and the falling drops of water made a 
 transparent silver veil around her form. This picture was painted for the 
 temple of uEsculapius at Cos, and was afterwards placed by Augustus in 
 the temple which he dedicated to Julius Caesar. The lower part being 
 injured, no one could be found competent to repair it. As it continued 
 to decay, Nero had a copy of it taken by Dorotheus. There is an 
 ancient tradition that the Venus Anadyomene was designed after the 
 model of Camaspe, the mistress of Alexander the Great, who permitted 
 her to be copied without her drapery, by his favourite artist ; and that in 
 the progress of the picture Apelles fell in love with Camaspe. This is 
 the subject of one of the best plays of the ante-Shaksperian dramatist 
 Lyly. " Apelles's Venus," writes Fuseli, " or rather the personification of 
 the Birth-day of Love, was the wonder of art, the despair of artists; whose 
 outline baflSed every attempt at emendation, whilst imitation shrunk 
 from the purity, the force, the brilliancy, the evanescent gradations of her 
 tmts." 
 
 Cicero, Varro, Columella, Ovid, Pliny the elder, and other Roman 
 
254 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 writers, bestowed unmeasured praise on Apelles's paintings, especially his 
 Venus Anadyomene. Pliny mentions of Apelles, that on one occasion 
 he had sailed to Rhodes eager to meet Protogenes. Upon landing, he 
 went straight to that artist's studio. Protogenes was absent, but a large 
 pannel, ready to be painted on, hung in the studio. Apelles seized the 
 pencil, and drew an exceedingly thin coloured line on the pannel, by 
 which Protogenes, on his return, at once guessed who had been his visitor, 
 and in his turn drew a still thinner line upon the former. When Apel- 
 les came again, and saw the lines, ashamed of being defeated, he drew a 
 third hne upon that of Protogenes, so as to leave no room for more 
 minute division. PHny describes the three hnes as almost imperceptible 
 from their thinness. The pannel was preserved and carried to Rome, 
 where it remained, exciting more wonder than all the works of art in the 
 palace of the Ceesars, until it was destroyed by fire with that edifice. 
 Fuseli writes on the subject of these famous lines : " What those lines were, 
 drawn with nearly miraculous subtlety in different colours, one upon the 
 other, or rather within the other, it would be equally unavailing and use- 
 less to inquire : but the corollaries we may deduce from the contest are 
 obviously these : that the schools of Oreece recognised all one elemental 
 principle ; that acuteness and fidehty of eye, and obedience of hand, 
 form precision, precision proportion, proportion beauty; that it is the 
 ' nttle more or less,' imperceptible to vulgar eyes, which constitutes grace, 
 and establishes the superiority of one artist over another ; that the know- 
 ledge of the degrees of things presupposes a perfect knowledge of the 
 things themselves ; that colour, grace, and taste, are ornaments, not sub- 
 stitutes of form, expression, and character, and when they usurp that title, 
 degenerate into splendid faults. Such were the principles on which 
 Apelles formed his Venus." 
 
 XI. 
 
 TIMOMACHUS'S PICTURE OF MEDEA. 
 
 (A) 
 Quod natos peritura ferox Medaea moratur, 
 
 Prsestitit hoc magni dextera Timomachi. 
 Tardat amor facinus, strictum dolor incitat ensem, 
 
 Vult, non vult natos perdere et ipsa suos. 
 
 Timomachus Medea's image made, 
 Which all her sweetness, all her love display'd : 
 She lifts the sword, assents, and yet refuses. 
 At once to slay and save the Mother chooses. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 255 
 
 (B) 
 
 En, ubi Medea3 varius dolor sestuat ore, 
 
 Jamque animum nati, jamque raaritus, habent ! 
 
 Succenset, miseret, medio exardescit amore, 
 Dum furor inque oeulo gutta minante tremit. 
 
 Cernis adhue dubiam ; quid enim ? licet impiae matris 
 Colehidos, at non sit dextera Timomachi. 
 
 The fell Medea's soul to trace 
 Its conflict waging in her face, 
 To paint the wife's, the mother's mind. 
 At once to hate and love inclin'd, 
 Timomachus, might task thy skill, 
 Yet could thy hand its part fulfil ; 
 Pity and rage are mingling here. 
 The menace struggling with the tear. 
 Painter, the murderous thought we see : 
 Enough ! The deed beseems not thee. 
 
 The first Latin epigram is by a modern Italian poet, the second is a 
 translation from the Greek by Gray. The English versions are from Dr 
 Wellesley's Anthologia Polyglotta; there is another pretty version of the 
 last epigram in Mrs Calcott's Essays. The hesitation of Medea is repre- 
 sented with considerable dramatic power by Corneille. 
 
 Medee seule. 
 Est-ce assez, ma vengeance, est-ce assez de deux morts ? 
 Consulte avec loisir tes plus ardens transports, 
 Des bras de mon perfide arracher une femme, 
 Est-ce pour assouvir les fureurs de mon ame ? 
 Que n'a-t-elle deja des enfans de Jason, 
 Sur qui plus pleinement venger sa trahison? 
 Supleons-y des miens, immolons avec joie 
 Ceux qu'a me dire adieu Creiise me renvoie ; 
 Nature, je le puit sans violer ta loi ; 
 Us viennent de sa part, et ne sent plus a moi. 
 Mais ils sent innocens : aussi Tetait mon frere : 
 lis sons trop criminels d'avoir Jason pour pere ; 
 II faut que leur trepas redouble son tourment ; 
 II faut qu'il soufre en pere, aussi-bien qu'en amant. 
 Mais quoi ! J'ai beau centre eux animer mon audace, 
 La pitie la combat et se met en sa place ; 
 
256 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Puis cedant tout-a-coup la place a ma fureur, 
 J'adore les projets qui me faisaient horreur : 
 De I'amour aussi-tot je passe a la colere, 
 Des sentimens de femme aux tendresses de mere. 
 
 Cessez dorenavant, pensers irresolus, 
 D'epargner des enfans que je ne verrai plus. 
 Chers fruits de mon amour, si je vous ai fait naitre, 
 Ce n'est pas seulement pour caresser un traitre, 
 II me prive de vous, et je Ten Tai priver. 
 Mais ma pitie renait, et revient me braver; 
 Je n'execute rien, et mon ame eperdiie 
 Entre deux passions demeure suspendiie. 
 N'en deliberons plus, mon bras en resoudra. 
 Je vous pers, mes enfans, mais Jason vous perdra, 
 II ne vous verra plus. Creon sort tout en rage ; 
 AUons a son trepas joindre ce triste ouvrage. 
 
 The conversation between Euripides's Medea and the chorus, to whom 
 she confides her mental conflict, may seem to modern apprehensions a 
 very unnatural scene : but a Grecian audience had, probably, imagina- 
 tions trained to regard the presence of a chorus merely as a convenient 
 channel for the communication of sentiment. 
 
 Timomachus's picture, representing the hesitation of Medea when on 
 the point of killing her children, is celebrated by Cicero, Pliny, and 
 Plutarch. It was executed in encaustic. Julius Csesar, in whose time the 
 artist is supposed to have lived, purchased it, and placed it as a dedica- 
 tory offering in the temple of Venus Genetrix. Numerous Greek epigrams 
 were composed on the subject of this picture, and a copy of it, as is sup- 
 posed, was found at Pompeii. Lucian, an eye-witness, describes the 
 picture as representing that " the little ones, unconscious of their fate, sit 
 with smiling countenances, and while they see their mother holding the 
 sword over them, they seem pleased and happy." 
 
 This picture, that of Timanthes representing the sacrifice of Iphigenia, 
 (which has been noticed in a preceding chapter,) and Aristides's picture of 
 the half- slain mother shuddering lest the eager babe should suck the 
 blood from her palsied nipple, are the three specimens of ancient art 
 most celebrated for their picturesque effect, for conveying more impres- 
 sions than meet the eye, for the application of the refinements of art 
 not merely to the senses, but to the mind. 
 
 The balancing of conflicting passions of revenge and pity, has, on 
 several occasions, given scope to the highest talents of poets. On this 
 subject nothing can surpass the vacillation of Othello, when on the point 
 of smothering Desdemona. In Greek tragedy, Orestes putting to death 
 his mother, with the aid of Electra, afforded scope for the exhibition of 
 similar sentiments. Ovid's description of Altha3a, when hesitating to 
 cast into the fire the fatal brand, on the preservation of which the life of 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 257 
 
 her son Meleager depended, is among the finest specimens of that poet's 
 genius : 
 
 Ah ! whither am I hurried ? Ah ! forgive, 
 Ye shades, and let your sister's issue Hve ; 
 A mother cannot give him death, though he 
 Deserves it, he deserves it not from me. 
 
 Then shall th' unpunish'd wretch insult the slain, 
 Triumphant live, nor only live but reign? 
 While you, thin shades, the sport of winds, are toss'd 
 O'er dreary plains, or tread the burning coast. 
 I cannot, cannot bear; 'tis past, 'tis done; 
 Perish this impious, this detested son. 
 Perish his sire, and perish I withal, 
 And let the house's heir, and the hop'd kingdom, fall. 
 
 Where is the mother fled, her pious love, 
 And where the pains, with which ten months I strove? 
 Ah! had'st thou died, my son, in infant years. 
 Thy little hearse had been bedew'd with tears. 
 
 Thou liVst by me, to me thy breath resign. 
 Mine is the merit, the demerit thine; 
 Thy life, by double title, I require, 
 Once giv'n at birth, and once preserved from fire : 
 One murder pay, or add one murder more. 
 And me to them, who fell by thee, restore. 
 
 I would, but cannot ; my son's image stands 
 Before my sight ; and now their angry hands 
 My brothers hold, and vengeance these exact, 
 This pleads compassion, and repents the fact. 
 
 He pleads in vain, and I pronounce his doom. 
 My brothers, though unjustly, shall o'ercome ; 
 But having paid their injur'd ghosts their due. 
 My son requires my death, and mine shall his pursue. 
 
 At this, for the last time, she lifts her hand. 
 Averts her eyes, and, half unwilling, drops the brand ! 
 The brand, amid the flaming fuel thrown. 
 Or drew, or seem'd to draw, a dying groan ; 
 The fires themselves but faintly lick'd their prey. 
 Then loath'd their impious food, and would have shrunk away. 
 
 An exhibition of the like mental strife occurs in Corneille's play of 
 Les Horaces; but more strikingly in that scene of The Cid, in which 
 Chimene's heart is torn by opposite passions, on her lover having killed 
 her father. At last she concludes : 
 
 Je cours sans balancer ou mon honneur m'oblige, 
 Rodrigue m'est bien cher, son interet m'afilige, 
 
 17 
 
258 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Cii. 
 
 Mon coeur prend son parti ; mais malgre son eflFort, 
 Je sais qui je suis, et que mon pere est mort. 
 
 This was the play against which Cardinal Richelieu instigated the 
 French Academy to write a severe criticism ; but, according to Boileau, 
 it was outvoted by the suffrages of all Paris : 
 
 En vain centre le Cid un Ministre se ligue, 
 Tout Paris pour Chimene a les yeux de Rodrigue. 
 
 XII. 
 PICTURE OF CAMOMUS'S SON. 
 
 Effigiem tantum pueri pictura Camoni 
 Servat, et infantis prima figura manet. 
 
 riorentes nulla signavit imagine vultus, 
 Dum timet ora pius muta videre pater. 
 
 The Father of Camomus keeps only a picture of his 
 Son representing him when a boy : he has never sought an 
 image of that son as he appeared in manhood. The affec- 
 tionate Father could not have endured to look on the last 
 traits of his Son's countenance. 
 
 Martial has two epigrams on this subject. It would seem that for 
 some reason, a father who had a picture of his son drawn after that son's 
 decease, preferred that it should be a representation of the son when he 
 was a youth, to representing him like what he was when he died. Pos- 
 sibly the son's countenance may have been wasted by lingering malady ; 
 or the father may have been better satisfied with his son's conduct when 
 a boy than in after life. The following lines were addressed to his chil- 
 dren by Boucher, author of Les Mois, who had his picture taken when he 
 was on the point of being guillotined, by order of Robespierre : 
 Ne vous etonnez pas, objets charmans et doux. 
 
 Si quelqu'air de tristesse obscur9it mon visage, 
 Lorsqu'un savant crayon desinait cette image. 
 On dressait I'echafaud, et je pensais a vous ! 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 259 
 
 XIII. 
 ANCIENT PICTURE OF A LAP-DOG. 
 
 Issa est passere nequior Catulli. 
 Issa est purior osculo columbae. 
 Issa est blandior omnibus puellis. 
 Issa est carior Indieis lapillis. 
 Issa est delicise cateUa Publii. 
 Hane tu, si queritur, loqui putabis. 
 Sentit tristitiamque gaudiumque. 
 CoUo nixa cubat, eapitque somnos, 
 Ut suspiria nulla sentiantur, 
 Hane ne lux rapiat suprema totam, 
 Picta Publius exprimit tabella, 
 In qua tarn similem videbis Issam, 
 Ut sit tarn similis sibi nee ipsa. 
 Issam denique pone cum tabella : 
 Aut utramque putabis esse veram, 
 Aut utramque putabis esse pietam. 
 
 Issa is more frolicsome than the renowned Sparrow of 
 Catullus. Issa is purer than the kiss of a turtle-dove : 
 Issa is more bland than every damsel : Issa is more pre- 
 cious than Indian gems: Issa is the beloved lap-dog of 
 Publius. If he complains, Issa murmurs an echo to his 
 voice : grieves when he is sad ; rejoices when he is merry : 
 lies crouched upon his neck, and there slumbers with a 
 noiseless breath. Lest fatal destiny should snatch her en- 
 tirely away, Publius has had a picture made of her, in 
 which you may behold a likeness of Issa as true as nature 
 itself. Only place Issa and her picture side by side ; you 
 would declare that both must be true, or that both must 
 be painted. 
 
 Elphinstone, who has translated Martial from beginning to end into 
 English verse, has been sometimes resorted to for the purposes of the 
 present work : he is, however, now and then too bad for any literary use, 
 especially where he familiarly shortens names for the sake of his rhymes, 
 
 17—2 
 
260 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 as Pub. for Publius, and the like. For example, he renders the fifth line 
 of the above epigram, thus : 
 
 Issa, most enchanting chub ! 
 
 Pup, the darling of my Pub ! 
 
 There is very little to be found in the Latin poets concerning pictures 
 of animals. But several ancient paintings are famous for the animals 
 introduced into them: as the dog in Polygnotus's painting of the battle 
 of Marathon ; the fore- shortening of one of the oxen in a picture of a 
 sacrifice by Pausias ; the horse of Apelles, said to have made a real 
 horse neigh. A painter of the name of Pyreicus obtained a surname 
 from his skill in painting asses bringing vegetables and fruit to market. 
 In the house of the tragic poet at Pompeii, the usual caution inscribed in 
 the porches of Roman houses, (Cave canem) "Beware the dog," is accom- 
 panied by the figure of a fierce dog wrought in mosaic on the pavement. 
 
 The Roman poets have not left us descriptions of the paintings of 
 flowers to be compared with Prior's lines on a picture by Verelst : 
 When fam'd Verelst this little wonder drew. 
 Flora vouchsaf'd the growing work to view: 
 Finding the painter's science at a stand. 
 The goddess snatch'd the pencil from his hand; 
 And finishing the piece, she, smiling, said. 
 Behold one work of mine, which ne'er shall fade. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 PICTURE OF TITIAN, AND HIS WIFE, WHO DIED IN 
 CHILD-BED. 
 
 Ecce viro, quaa grata suo est, nee pulchrior ulla 
 Pignora conjugii ventre pudica gerit. 
 
 Sed tamen, an vivens, an mortua, pieta tabella 
 Hsec magni Titiani arte — ta fuit. 
 
 Behold a wife, the happiness of her husband, who car- 
 ries to the tomb the pledges of their wedlock : Neverthe- 
 less, whether she be living or dead, posterity will know her 
 picture for a masterpiece of the art of the Great Titian. 
 
 The original of this picture has not, it is believed, been found ; an 
 ancient engraving at Vienna contains the above lines, of which a word in 
 the last verse is partly obliterated. Titian is represented as paying 
 sedulous attention to his wife, who is enceinte : a skull is introduced, to 
 represent the fatal termination of the scene. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 261 
 
 XV. 
 
 HOGARTH'S PICTURES. 
 
 Qui mores hominum improbos, iniquos 
 Incidis, nee ineleganter, seri, 
 Derisor lepidus, sed et severus, 
 Correetor gravis, at nee invenustus ; 
 Seu pingis 
 
 -F 'V -^ ^ Tj? 
 
 Jucundissimus omnium fereris 
 Nullique artificum secundus, setas 
 Quot prsBsens dedit, aut dabit futura. 
 Macte O, eia age, macte sis amicus 
 Virtuti, vitiique quod notaris 
 Pergas pingere, et exhibere coram. 
 Censura utilior tua aequiorque 
 Omni vel satirarum acerbitate, 
 Omni vel rigidissimo cachinno. 
 
 They are the paintings of one who transfers to the 
 canvass the manners of guilty or depraved men. His ridi- 
 cule is polished, and yet severe : He corrects with gravity, 
 and at the same time with grace. Whether he represents 
 (here V. Bourne describes particulars of a few of his pic- 
 tures). Throughout all these scenes he is the most skilful 
 and entertaining artist in the whole annals of his art. Per- 
 severe then, O persevere in your adornments of virtue, in 
 your reprobatory delineations of vice. Your censure is 
 more impartial and beneficial than any satire however 
 caustic, than any laugh however sardonic. 
 
 Sir James Macintosh writes of Hogarth, that he was a great master of 
 the tragedy and comedy of low life ; that his pictures hare terrific and 
 pathetic circumstances, and even scenes : he was a Lillo (author of 
 George Barnwell, &c.) as well as a Fielding: he resembled Shakspere in 
 the versatility of talent, which could be either tragic or comic, and in the 
 propensity natural to such a talent, to blend tragic and comic circum- 
 stances. The Dutch painters, observes Sir J. Macintosh, painted fami- 
 liar and low scenes, but without any particular moral tendency : it is 
 
262 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 rather the scenery than the history of ordinary life which they represent : 
 the Rake's Progress is a novel upon canvass. 
 
 In the great war carried on between Poetry and Painting, the libels 
 of Churchill and the caricatures of Hogarth, Churchill thus describes 
 Hogarth, after his hand was shaken by palsy, attending Wilkes's trial in 
 order to catch a likeness of the writer of Number 45, for the purpose of 
 ridicule ; 
 
 Lurking most ruflB.an-like behind a screen, 
 
 So plac'd all things to see, himself unseen ; 
 
 Virtue, with due contempt, saw Hogarth stand, 
 
 The murd'rous pencil in his palsied hand. 
 
 Garrick wrote the following Epitaph on Hogarth for his monument in 
 Chiswick churchyard : 
 
 Farewell, great painter of mankind ! 
 
 Who reach'd the noblest point of art ; 
 Whose pictured morals chain the mind. 
 And through the eye correct the heart. 
 
 If genius fire thee, Reader, stay ; 
 
 If nature touch thee, drop a tear : 
 If neither move thee, turn away, 
 
 For Hogarth's honour'd dust lies here. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 ENCAUSTIC PAINTING. 
 
 Encaustus Phaethon tabula depictus in hac est. 
 Quid tibi vis, dipyron qui Phaethonta facis. 
 
 We have here a picture of Phaeton executed in en- 
 caustic : It is very inhuman thus to burn him a second 
 time. 
 
 There were two distinct classes of painting practised by the ancients ; 
 in water-colours and in wax. Of the latter, the mode most esteemed was 
 termed encaustic' Plutarch mentions that this was the most durable of 
 all methods of painting. Pliny describes encaustic as the process of burn- 
 ing in a picture after it was painted with wax- colours. Sometimes a pic- 
 ture was painted in the common way, and was covered with a varnish of 
 melted wax laid on warm with a brush. Sometimes the colours were 
 mixed up with melted wax and the mixture used whilst warm. Some- 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 263 
 
 times, particularly where the painting was on ivory, the colours were 
 burnt in by means of a heating instrument. (For further particulars con- 
 cerning encaustic painting, see Smith's Dictionary of Roman Antiquities, 
 Art. Pictura ; Pliny's Natural History ; Mentz's Treatise on Encaustic 
 Painting; an Article in the Philosophical Transactions by Colebroke.) 
 It was common for encaustic painters to inscribe their works thus, "Nicias 
 burnt it in" (encausticed it). Some modern attempts for reviving the art 
 of encaustic are to be seen in the palaces of the King of Bavaria, and of 
 the Grand Duke of Weimar. A dining-room in the palace at Munich is 
 painted with encaustic, representing the Life of Anacreon. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 PAINTING IN GLASS OF THE NATIVITY. 
 
 Quin cerne tandem, qua superam Vitri 
 Illustrat Oram Luminis aurei 
 
 Orbis eoruscans, En I stupendum 
 Ardet opus radiante flamma I 
 
 Videtis ? an me Pietor amabili 
 Eludit umbra ? Jam videor saeras 
 Errare per sedes Piorum, 
 Et rutili spatia ampla eoeli. 
 
 Qua Lueis almae eopia fertilis, 
 Ceu lympha puris vitrea fontibus 
 Manans, inexhaustos perenni 
 Dat radios fluitare rivo. 
 
 Quem, Pietor, Artis difficilem gradum 
 Timebis? aut quos non calamus tuus 
 Pelix vel in Vitro colores 
 Expediet, teretive panno ; 
 
 Qui clara cceli lumina per sacram 
 Fudit Fenestram ? Nunc minus indigent 
 Phoebi renascentis, minusque 
 
 Terapla nigras metuunt procellas. 
 
 Behold now the upper part of the glass, how it is 
 illumined by the golden orb of the Sun ! how the wonderful 
 
264: GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch, 
 
 work blazes with radiant flames ! Do I see, or does the 
 Painter entrance me in a bright vision, as I seem to be- 
 hold the habitations of the justified in heaven ; what place 
 those copious streams of light appear to inundate, as if they 
 flowed from an inexhaustible fountain. Painter ! in the 
 eonfidence of thy daring art you triumphed above every 
 difficulty of your materials, and have diffused over glass 
 the colours which tincture the skies. This astonishing win- 
 dow sheds a brilliant religious light even when the atmo- 
 sphere is enveloped by tempestuous clouds. 
 
 The Latin lines are from a description, in the Musce Anglicance, of a 
 painted window belonging to Christ Church, Oxford. The Ode appropri- 
 ately ends with a prayer deprecatory of the return of those days of fanati- 
 cism in which our ecclesiastical ornaments suffered demolition and spoli- 
 ation. Whether the artist may have attempted a subject which is more 
 within the legitimate province of the oil-painter, may deserve considera- 
 tion. According to a recent ingenious writer on the subject of painting 
 on glass, the chief excellence of a glass- painting is its translucency, as it 
 possesses a power of transmitting light in a far greater degree than any 
 other species of painting, and is able to display effects of light and colour 
 with a brilliancy and vividness quite unapproachable by any other means. 
 But the diaphonous quality of glass-painting is the source of defects 
 arising from the limited scale of colour and of transparent shadow, of 
 which its inherent flatness is a necessary result. It is incapable of nice 
 gradations of colour, and of light and shade, which are indispensable for 
 the close imitation of nature, or for producing the full effect of distance 
 and atmosphere. Thus glass-painting is not adapted for landscapes, or 
 perspective views of interiors, or foreshortening, or where, besides figures 
 in the foreground, there are distant groups. {Hints on Glass-Painting, by 
 an Amateur. The writer relates interesting particulars concerning several 
 well-known specimens in public edifices. See also Fromberg on Glass- 
 Painting, translated by Mr Clarke.) 
 
 There is a remarkable trial, in the Star-chamber, of a gentleman, who 
 was recorder of Salisbury, for wilfully breaking a church-window, in 
 which was painted a picture of the creation, into which was introduced a 
 figure of the Supreme Being. He was sentenced to pay a fine of £500, 
 and to make acknowledgement of his offence before the bishop of the 
 diocese, and such persons as the bishop should think fit to assemble on 
 the occasion. A much more severe sentence was proposed; but, on 
 taking the votes, it was found that there were nine voices for it, and nine 
 against it. The proceeding is principally curious as it bears upon recent 
 controversies in the Church, in regard to which Laud's speech concerning 
 pictures and other decorations of churches will be found highly into- 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 265 
 
 resting. As regards the fanatical demolition of works of art, of a real or 
 supposed religious character, there are some curious poetical notices 
 among the F&rcy Eeliques. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 MADAME SCHURMANS. 
 (A Model in Wax.) 
 
 Non mihi propositum est humanam eludere sortem, 
 Aut vultus solido seulpere in sere meos : 
 
 Hanc nostram effigiem, quam cera expressimus, ecce 
 Materiae fragili mox peritura, damus. 
 
 I do not propose for myself any life beyond that ordi- 
 narily allotted to mortals ; and so I have not made a brazen 
 image of myself. Behold, I have modelled my own face in 
 wax ; thus shewing that I have chosen a fragile material 
 for representing my form ; the form of one who must her- 
 self soon perish. 
 
 Martial has an Epigram concerning a waxen statue, to which he ap- 
 plies the epithet, vivida cera, the vivid or living wax. Those Romans who 
 had the peculiar privilege of having the images of their ancestors, kept 
 them in a particular apartment of the house, called the Atrium : these 
 images were usually made of wax. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 TEARS OF A PAINTER. 
 
 Infantem audivit puerum, sua gaudia, Apelles 
 
 Intempestivo fato obiise diem. 
 Ille, licet tristi perculsus imagine mortis, 
 
 Proferri in medium corpus inane jubet. 
 Et calamum, et succos poscens, " Hos accipe luctus, 
 
 Moerorem hunc," dixit, " nate, parentis habe." 
 
266 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Dixit ; et, ut clausit, clauses depinxit ocellos ; 
 
 Officio pariter fidus utrique pater : 
 Frontemque, et crines, nee adhue pallentia formans 
 
 Oscula, adumbravit lugubre pictor opus. 
 Perge, parens, moerendo tuos expendere luctus ; 
 
 Nondum opus absolvit triste suprema manus. 
 Vidit adhuc molles genitor super oscula risus ; 
 
 Vidit adhuc veneres irrubuisse genis : 
 Et teneras raptim veneres, blandosque lepores, 
 
 Et tacitos risus transtulit in tabulam. 
 Pingendo desiste tuum signare dolorem ; 
 
 Filioli longum vivet imago tui : 
 Vivet, et aeterna vives tu laude ; nee arte 
 
 Vincendus pictor, nee pietate pater. 
 
 Apelles, hearing that his boy 
 Had just expired — his only joy ! 
 Although the sight with anguish tore him. 
 Bade place his dear remains before him. 
 He seized his brush, — his colours spread : 
 And — " Oh ! my child, accept," — he said, 
 " ('Tis all that I can now bestow,) 
 " This tribute of a father's woe !" 
 Then, faithful to the twofold part. 
 Both of his feelings and his art. 
 He closed his eyes with tender care, 
 And form'd at once a fellow-pair. 
 His brow with amber locks beset, 
 And lips, he drew, — not livid yet ; 
 And shaded that which he had done 
 To a just image of his son. 
 
 Thus far is well. But view again 
 The cause of thy paternal pain ! 
 Thy melancholy task fulfil I 
 It needs the last, last touches still. 
 Again his pencil's powers he tries. 
 For on his lips a smile he spies ; 
 And still his cheek unfaded shows 
 The deepest damask of the rose. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 267 
 
 Then, heedful of the finished whole, 
 With fondest eagerness he stole. 
 Till scarce himself distinctly knew 
 The cherub copied from the true. 
 
 Now, painter, cease ! thy task is done. 
 Long lives this image of thy son ; 
 Nor short-lived shall thy glory prove, 
 Or of thy labour, or thy love. 
 
 The Latin is by Vincent Bourne : the English is by Cowper. 
 
 XX. 
 
 PICTURE OF ECHO. 
 
 Vane, quid affectas faciem mihi ponere, pictor, 
 
 Ignotamque oculis soUicitare Deam ? 
 Aeris et linguae sum filia, mater inanis 
 
 Judicii, vocem quae, sine mente, gero. 
 Extremos pereunte modos a fine reducens, 
 
 Ludificata sequor verba aliena meis. 
 Auribus in vestris habito penetrabilis Echo, 
 
 Et si vis similem pingere, pinge sonum. 
 
 Why paint the face of Her who face hath none : 
 
 Who cannot see your picture, when 'tis done ? 
 
 Vain Painter, cease ! for truly I declare, 
 
 A Tongue my Father was, my Mother, Air. 
 
 My Child, Delusion. Though a voice I've got, 
 
 A mind to govern it was ne'er my lot. 
 
 Still with each last-dropt word I love to play, 
 
 A mimic utterer of half you say. 
 
 I live in what you hear, not what you see : 
 
 If you a Sound can paint, why, then, paint me. 
 
 The Latin is by Ausonius : the version from a ship-newspaper. Eras- 
 mus, and Butler, in his Hudihras, have availed themselves of echoes for 
 the purpose of comic humour. But Milton in his Comus, and Ben Jonson 
 in his Masques f have adorned the " Sweet Queen of Parly" with some of 
 the most precious gems of English song. 
 
268 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 THE LAOCOOK 
 
 Ecce alto terrae e cumulo ingentisque ruinae 
 
 Visceribus iterum reducem longinqua reduxit 
 
 Laocoonta dies : aulis regalibus olim 
 
 Qui stetit, atque tuos ornabat, Tite, penates : 
 
 Divinse simulacrum artis : nee docta vetustas 
 
 Nobilius spectabat opus ; nunc alta revisit 
 
 Exemptum tenebris redivivas mcenia Romse. 
 
 Quid primum summumve loquar ? miserumne parentem 
 
 Et prolem geminam ? an sinuatos flexibus angues 
 
 Terribili aspectu ? caudasque, irasque draconum, 
 
 Vulneraque, et veros, saxo moriente, dolores ? 
 
 Horret ad hsoc animus, mutaque ab imagine pulsat 
 
 Pectora, non parvo pietas commixta tremori. 
 
 Prolixum vivi spiris glomerantur in orbem 
 
 Ardentes colubri, et sinuosis orbibus oram, 
 
 Ternaque multiplici constringunt corpora nexu. 
 
 Vix oculi sufferre valent crudele tuendo 
 
 Exitium, casusque feros micat alter, et ipsum 
 
 Laocoonta petit, totumque infraque, supraque 
 
 Implicat, et rabido tandem ferit ilia morsu. 
 
 Connexum refugit corpus, torquentia sese 
 
 Membra, latusque retro sinuatum a vulnere cernas. 
 
 lUe dolore acri, et laniatu impulsus acerbo 
 
 Dat gemitum ingentem, crudosque avellere dentes 
 
 Connixus, Isevam impatiens ad terga chelydri 
 
 Objicit : intendunt nervi, coUectaque ab omni 
 
 Corpore vis frustra summis conatibus instat. 
 
 Ferre nequit rabiem, et de vulnere murmur anhelum est. 
 
 At serpens lapsu crebro redeunte subintrat 
 
 Lubricus, intortoque ligat genua infima nodo. 
 
 Crus tumet, obsepto turgent vitalia pulsu, 
 
 Liventesque atro distendunt sanguine venas. 
 
 Nee minus in natos eadem vis effera sasvit, 
 
 Amplexuque angit rabido, miserandaque membra 
 
 Dilacerat : jamque alterius depasta cruentum 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 269 
 
 Pectus, suprema genitorem voce cientis, 
 Circunjectu orbis, validoque volumine fulcit. 
 Alter adhuc, nullo violatus corpora morsu, 
 Dum parat adducta caudam divellere planta, 
 Horret ad aspectum miseri patris, hseret in illo : 
 Et jam jam ingentes fletus, lacrymasque cadentes 
 Anceps in dubio retinet timor : ergo perenni 
 Qui tantum statuistis opus jam laude nitentes, 
 Artifices magni (quanquam et melioribus actis 
 Quaeritur geternum nomen, multoque licebat 
 Clarius ingenium venturse tradere famse) 
 Attamen ad laudem quaecunque oblata facultas, 
 Egregium banc rapere, et summa ad fastigia niti. 
 Vos rigidum lapidem vivis animare figuris 
 Eximii, et vivos spiranti in marmore sensus 
 Inserere adspicimus, motumque iramque doloremque : 
 Et pene audimus gemitus ; vos obtulit olim 
 Clara Ehodos : vestrae jacuerunt artis honores 
 Tempore ab immenso, quos rursum in luce secunda 
 Roma videt, celebratque frequens : operisque vetusti 
 Gratia parta recens. Quanto praestantius ergo est 
 Ingenio, aut quovis excendere fata labore, 
 Quam fastus, et opes, et inanem extendere luxum. 
 
 Turning to the Vatican, go see 
 Laocoon's torture dignifying pain, 
 A father's love, and mortal's agony. 
 With an immortal's patience blending : — vain 
 The struggle ; vain against the coiling strain 
 And gripe, and deepening of the dragon's grasp 
 The old man's clench ; the long envenom'd chain 
 Rivets the living links ; — the enormous asp 
 Enforces pang on pang, and stifles gasp on gasp. 
 
 The Latin is by Sadolet, secretary of Leo X. The English is by Lord 
 Byron. Sadolet enters into the histoiy of the statue; relating that it 
 ■was made at Rhodes, and was found among the ruins of the baths of 
 Titus. The statue was discovered by Felice de Fredis, a Roman, to 
 whom Pope Julius II. granted a very considerable pension, by way of 
 
270 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 reward. His claim to the discovery is perpetuated by an inscription on 
 his tomb: 
 
 Felice de Fredis 
 
 Qui ob proprias virtutes, 
 
 Et repertum Laocoontis divinum quod 
 
 In Vatican© cernes fere 
 
 Respirans simulacrum, 
 
 Immortalitatem meruit. 
 
 Anno Domini MDXXVIII. 
 
 Felice de Fredis, who on account of his private virtues, and for hav- 
 ing discovered that divine statue of Laocoon, which you may behold in 
 the Vatican almost breathing with life, deserved immortality. 
 
 The elder Pliny says of the Laocoon, Opus omnibus pictures© et statu- 
 arise artis prseferendum. Lib. xxxvi. c. 5. "A work more excellent than any 
 other production either of the art of painting or of statuary." Pliny has 
 preserved the names of the three sculptors of the Laocoon ; it would seem 
 to have been executed by a father and his two sons, during the reign of 
 Augustus. Rhodes, next to Athens, was the most famous school of ancient 
 art, and has been immortalized as well by this statue as by its Colossus. 
 The Roman conquerors took away three thousand statues from Rhodes. 
 Michael Angelo and Bernini attempted to restore in marble the arm of 
 the principal figure of the group of the Laocoon without success. 
 
 The statue is thus described by Winckelmann : 
 
 " The Laocoon," says Winckelmann, " offers to us the spectacle of 
 nature plunged into the deepest affliction under the image of a man, who 
 exerts, against its attack, all the powers of his soul. While his sufferings 
 enlarge his muscles, and contract his nerves, you behold his mind strongly 
 pictured on his wrinkled forehead ; his bosom oppressed by an impeded 
 respiration, and the most distressing restraint, rise with vehemence to 
 enclose and concentrate the agony by which it is agitated. The groans 
 that he stifles, and the breath he confines, distend his very frame. Not- 
 withstanding which, he appears to be less affected by his own affliction 
 than that of his children ; who raise their eyes towards him, and implore 
 his assistance in vain. The paternal tenderness of the Laocoon is mani- 
 fest in his piteous looks ; his countenance expresses moans, not cries ; his 
 eyes, directed towards heaven, supplicates celestial aid. His mouth ex- 
 presses the pangs and indignation occasioned by an unjust chastisement. 
 This double sensation swells the nose, and discloses itself in his enlarged 
 nostrils. Beneath his forehead is rendered, with the utmost fidelity, the 
 struggle between grief and resistance ; the one makes him elevate his eye- 
 brows ; the other, the lids of his eyes. The artist being incapable of 
 embellishing nature, has contented himself by giving her more extension, 
 variety, and force. Where the greatest suffering exists, the greatest 
 beauties are observable. The left side, into which the serpent darts its 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 271 
 
 venom by its bite, is the part that apparently suffers most, from its 
 approximation to the heart ; and this part of the statue may be reckoned 
 a prodigy of art." 
 
 Lessing, in his treatise on the limits of poetry and painting, considers 
 that Virgil, in his description of Laocoon, and the Rhodian artists, both 
 copied from some Greek poem which is lost ; and that it is more probable 
 that the artists imitated Virgil, than that he took the group for his model. 
 Lessing points out the necessities of art which may have induced the sculp- 
 tors to make variations from the narrative of the poet : as in transferring 
 the foldings of the serpents from the throat and waist to the legs and feet ; 
 laying aside the sacred fillets from Laocoon's forehead, and putting off 
 his sacerdotal dress at the moment he was performing a solemn sacrifice. 
 The artists were thus enabled to represent the painful contractions of the 
 abdomen, and to treat the brow as the seat of expression. Goethe, in 
 his lectures on Art, treats of the Laocoon, and dwells on the distinction 
 between its object considered as a final end in the hands of the artists, 
 whereas, in Virgil, the catastrophe is used only as a means, and by way of 
 a rhetorical argument for the introduction of the Trojan horse into the 
 city. Flaxman observes that the group of the Laocoon is " composed in a 
 very noble concatenation of lines in three principal views. The children's 
 appeal to the father, and the father's to the gods, is highly pathetic : the 
 convulsed rise of the youngest son from the ground is the most electric 
 circumstance in the whole sentiment." 
 
 A number of friends had one day met in the painting-room of An- 
 nibal Carracci, among whom was his brother Augustin, whose pride it was 
 to be thought as distinguished for his skill in poetry, as Annibal was for his 
 skill in painting. Augustin had just arrived from Rome, and after praising 
 gTeatly the monuments he had seen there of ancient sculpture, he enlarged 
 particularly on the beauty of the Laocoon. Annibal neither said any- 
 thing, nor seemed to pay any attention to the eloquence of his brother, 
 while every other person present was listening with the most intense inte- 
 rest. He even turned aside, and as if he had nothing better to do, began 
 with a careless air to exercise his pencil on the wall. Augustin, piqued at 
 his brother's apparent indifference, called out to him, and asked, ' Whether 
 he did not think the Laocoon was all that he had been representing?* 
 Annibal turning round, replied, * Yes, indeed, brother ; and behold there 
 what you have been describing.' While Augustin had been talking, An- 
 nibal was occupied in sketching on the wall a representation of the admi- 
 rable group of statuary which was the subject of eulogium. The sketch 
 was happy, and the company loud in the expressions of their admiration. 
 Augustin confessed that his brother had fallen on a mode of exhibiting 
 the beauties of the work in question, which left far behind any repre- 
 sentation he could give in words. Annibal smilingly said, that 'Poets 
 painted with words, painters with the pencil.' 
 
272 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 THE VENUS OF CNIDOS. 
 
 Vera Venus Cnidiam cum vidit Cyprida, dixit, 
 
 Vidisti nudam me, puto, Praxitele. 
 Non vidi, nee fas : sed ferro opus omne polimus. 
 
 Eerrum Gradivi Martis in Arbitrio. 
 Qualem igitur domino scierant placuisse Cytheren, 
 
 Talem fecerunt ferrea coela Deum. 
 
 The real Venus, on beholding her effigy at Cnidos, said, 
 " O Praxiteles, you must have beheld me disrobed of my 
 vestments !" To whom the Sculptor — " I neither have, 
 nor dared. But I polished my work with iron that is 
 sacred to Mars. My iron tools sculptured such a Venus 
 as they knew that Mars was enamoured of." 
 
 There are numerous epigrams in the Greek Anthology concerning the 
 Venus of Cnidos. Praxiteles made two marble statues of Venus, of 
 which one had drapery and the other not. In his own opinion they were 
 of equal value ; and he offered them for sale together at the same price. 
 The people of Cos, who had always possessed a character for severe 
 decorum, purchased the draped statue, and the people of Cnidos the 
 naked one. The Cnidian Venus was regarded, in ancient times, as 
 the most perfectly beautiful of the statues of the goddess, and as the 
 masterpiece of Praxiteles. Pliny represents it as being generally preferred 
 to any other statue of Grecian art, and he mentions that many persons 
 made a voyage to Cnidos on purpose to behold it. The Cnidians prized 
 this statue so highly, that they refused to part with it to King Nicomedes, 
 who offered to purchase it on the terms of paying off the national debt of 
 the island. It was afterwards carried to Constantinople, where it perished 
 by fire in the reign of Justinian. The temple in which the statue stood 
 at Cnidos was so constructed, that the beauties of the statue were made 
 apparent to a spectator standing in any part of the building. 
 
 The material of the statue was the purest and most brilliant Parian 
 marble. The position of the left hand was the same as that of the 
 Venus de Medici, the right hand held some drapery which fell over a 
 vase. The face wore a gentle smile, and the expression was considered 
 by the ancients to represent the appearance of the goddess at the moment 
 when Paris adjudged to her the prize of beauty. But the position of the 
 drapery, and the vase, indicate that the artist intended to represent 
 
lY.] THE ARTS. 273 
 
 Venus, either as entering or quitting a bath. Praxiteles designed his 
 statue after the model of the celebrated Phryne. 
 
 The type of this famous statue is preserved in coins of Cnidos, and 
 several statues in the Vatican are supposed to be copies of it. It has been 
 represented on a medal of Caracalla in the cabinet of France. Discus- 
 sions have arisen as to what extent the Venus de Medici is an imita- 
 tion of the Cnidian Venus. Cleomenes, the sculptor of the Medicean 
 Venus, flourished sometime between the age of Praxiteles and the 
 destruction of Corinth, 146 B. c. The silence of the ancients concerning 
 this extant statue, which excites the universal admiration of modem 
 connoisseurs, is remarkable; and, perhaps, may have been in some 
 measure owing to the intense delight taken by the ancients in the Venus 
 which is the subject of the epigram in the text. In Flaxman's Lectures on 
 Statuary, there is a pictorial representation of the Venus of Cnidos, 
 plate 22, as also of the Venus of Cos, plate 23. The precise heights of 
 these statues are not given ; that of the Venus de Medici is 4 ft. 11 in. 4 lin. 
 A young man was related to have fallen in love with the statue of the 
 Venus of Cnidos. The story of Pygmalion and the statue in Ovid's 
 Metamorphosis, is a similar testimony to the fidelity of the sculptor's art. 
 On this subject the reader may peruse a recent Tourist's description of her 
 entrancement before the statue of the Belvidere Apollo. This, however, 
 was not the first lady to bestow vehement admiration on that production 
 of art, according to Dean Milman : 
 
 Yet, on that form in wild delirious trance, 
 
 With more than reverence gazed the maid of France ; 
 
 Day after day the love-sick dreamer stood, 
 
 With him alone, nor thought it solitude ! 
 
 To cherish grief, her last, her dearest care. 
 
 Her one fond hope — to perish of despair. 
 
 Oft as the shifting light her sight beguiled. 
 
 Blushing she shrank, and thought the marble smiled : 
 
 Oft breathless list'ning heard, or seem'd to hear, 
 
 A voice of music melt upon her ear. 
 
 Slowly she waned, and cold and senseless grown, 
 
 Clos'd her dim eyes, herself benumb'd to stone. 
 
 Yet love in death a sickly strength supplied: 
 
 Once more she gazed, then feebly smiled, and died. 
 
 As the gem in the text is not very pellucid, the following translatidn 
 from the Greek, taken from the Polyglot Anthology, may be thought to 
 aflPord a more worthy description of the Venus of Cnidos : 
 
 Who gave such life to stone, 
 
 Nor life alone, 
 But such a power of love ? 
 
 18 
 
274 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Who upon earth hath seen 
 
 The Cyprian Queen 
 Descended from above ? 
 
 Praxiteles alone 
 
 To lifeless stone 
 The charms of Venus gives : 
 Else is Olympus left, 
 
 Of her bereft, 
 And she in Cnidos lives. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 POLYCLETUS'S JUNO. 
 
 Juno labor, Polyclete, tuus, et gloria felix, 
 Phidiacse cuperent quam meruisse manus, 
 
 Ore nitet tanto, quanto superasset in Ida 
 Judice convictas non dubitante Deas. 
 
 Junonem, Polyclete, suam nisi frater amaret, 
 Junonem poterat frater amare tuam. 
 
 A Polycletus' peerless glory stands, 
 The Juno, that might grace a Phidias' hands : 
 Who, in such form, on Ida had surpassed 
 The Goddesses convinc'd, the Judge unask'd. 
 Did not her Brother love the Queen divine. 
 That brother, Polyclete, would glow at thine. 
 
 There is an Essay on this statue written by Bottiger : it was regarded 
 as the masterpiece of Polycletus, who flourished at Argos, about the year 
 430 B. c. He was a fellow-pupil with Phidias and Myron. He is reported 
 to have borne away a prize from Phidias, on an occasion when all the 
 first statuaries in Greece compared their abilities in the representation of 
 an Amazon. The statue which is mentioned in the text, was placed in the 
 temple of Juno, near Argos ; its materials were ivory and gold, and it was 
 considered as a rival of Phidias's statues of Minerva and Jupiter. The 
 goddess was represented as seated on a throne, her head crowned with a 
 garland, on which were worked the Graces and the Hours; one hand 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 275 
 
 held a pomegranate, the other a sceptre surmounted by a cuckoo. The 
 figure was robed from the waist downwards. It was said to be formed 
 according to the description of Homer, who attributes to his Juno ivory 
 arms, and large eyes (like those of a bull). A type of this statue is sup- 
 posed to be existing in a coin of Argos. 
 
 It is behoved that the Roman artists have not copied Homer in 
 appreciating Juno's exposed arms. They usually represent her in the 
 garb of a Roman matron, with only her face uncovered. Roman 
 Empresses were frequently represented on the reverses of medals in the 
 character of Juno wearing this costume. The loveable appearance given 
 by Polycletus to his Juno, which is confirmed by Strabo, is not in accord- 
 ance with the majestic and terrible description of her by some great poets ; 
 but, it has been seen, it is warranted by Homer; and we may collect 
 from several antiques, that the ancients, especially the Greeks, had a mild 
 Juno and Jupiter, as well as their more severe counterparts. 
 
 XXIV. 
 LYSIPPUS' ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 
 
 Fortis Alexandri vulAim Lysippus, et audax 
 Expressit pectus ; vis, puto, in sere latet. 
 
 ^neus ille Jovem sic compellare videtur ; 
 Cessit terra mihi ; Jupiter astra cole. 
 
 Lysippus has represented the countenance, and the 
 daring breast of Alexander. A sentiment appears to be 
 tacitly conveyed by this Statue. The Hero in brass seems 
 to taunt Jove himself, as though he would say, " The Earth 
 is mine, Jupiter — mind your stars" 
 
 By a well-known edict Alexander the Great prohibited any artist 
 from drawing a portrait of him except Apelles, and from making his 
 statue, except Lysippus ; an ukase which was imitated by Queen Eliza- 
 beth, who by a warrant directed to her Serjeant Painter, took summary 
 means for obviating the mischief " committed by divers unskilful artisans 
 in unseendy painting, graving, and printing of her Majesty's person and 
 visage, to her Majesty's great offence, and the disgrace of that beautiful 
 and magnanimous majesty wherewith God hath blessed her." 
 
 The statue, which is the subject of the above epigram, was supposed to 
 be Lysippus's masterpiece. It represented Alexander holding a lance, 
 
 18—2 
 
276 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 and was considered a companion to Apelles's picture of the Hero, in 
 which he was represented wielding a thunderbolt. Plutarch testifies to 
 the impression produced upon spectators being the same as that expressed 
 in the epigram. Lysippus used to lay by a single piece of gold out of the 
 price received for each of his works, and Pliny informs us, that, after his 
 death, the number of these pieces was found to be 1500. His works 
 were chiefly in bronze, which may have been one of the causes why none 
 of them are extant. But there are many copies of them on coins, and it 
 may be seen by the text, that the Muses have laboured for their im- 
 mortality. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 GROUP OF THE STATUES OF OPPORTUNITY AND 
 REPENTANCE. 
 
 Cujus opus? Phidise, qui signum Pallados, ejus 
 
 Quique Jovem fecit : tertia palma ego sum. 
 Sum dea, quaB rara, et paucis Occasio nota. 
 
 Quid rotulse insistis ? Stare loco nequeo. 
 Quid talaria habes ? Volucris sum : Mercurius quae 
 
 Fortunare solet, tardo ego, cum volui. 
 Crine tegis faciem. Cognosci nolo. Sed heus tu 
 
 Occipiti calvo es. Ne tenear fugiens. 
 Quse tibi juncta comes ? Dicat tibi. Die, rogo, qua? sis ? 
 
 Sum dea, cui nomen nee Cicero ipse dedit : 
 Sum dea, qu8e facti, non factique exigo poenas, 
 
 Nempe ut poeniteat : sic Metanoea vocor. 
 Tu modo die, quid agat tecum. Si quando volavi, 
 
 Haec manet : banc retinent, quos ego prseterii. 
 Tu quoque, dum rogitas, dum percontando moraris, 
 
 Elapsam dices me tibi de manibus. 
 
 Whose work is this ? Phidias's, that Artist who sculp- 
 tured the statue of Minerva, and that of Jove : I am the 
 third palm of his genius. I am a Goddess, seldom met 
 with, and known only to a few ; my name is Opportunity. 
 Why do you rest on a wheel ? Because I never stay in 
 one place. Why have you wings ? Because I fly to this 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 277 
 
 person and from that person with the swiftness of a bird. 
 Why do you cover your face with your hair ? Because I 
 do not wish to be recognized. But I observe that the 
 back part of your head is bald! It is to avoid being 
 detained when I fly away. Who is your companion ? 
 She can tell you herself. Who, then, I pray, are you? 
 I am a Goddess, for whom even Cicero has not invented a 
 Latin name. I am a Goddess, who exacts penalties both 
 for what is done and what is not done, causing mortals to 
 repent of both. Hence the Greeks called me Metanoea. 
 But, O Goddess Opportunity! say, why is Metanoea here 
 with you ? Because, whenever I fly away, she stays. 
 When I pass by any persons, they retain her. And you, 
 my Querist, at the very moment you are loitering here 
 propounding your interrogatories, you will say that I have 
 escaped out of your hands. 
 
 The Greek and Roman artists, and their sculptors in particular, had 
 a method of expressing a variety of moral sentiments by means of a 
 sort of rational hieroglyphics, of which the statue that is the subject 
 of the text is a remarkable specimen. A very interesting account of the 
 ancient moral deities that presided over the virtues of men, and the con- 
 duct of human life, illustrated by apposite quotations, and embellished 
 with handsome plates, will be found in Spencer's Polymeiis, Book iv. 
 Dialogue x. Shakspere, in his Rape of Lucrece, personifies Opportunity. 
 Phsedrus thus describes Time in an ancient statue : 
 
 Cursu volucri, pendens in novacula, 
 
 Calvus, comosa fronte, nudo corpore : 
 
 Quem si occuparis, teneas ; elapsum semel 
 
 Non ipse possit Jupiter reprendere. 
 
 Occasionem rerum significat brevem, 
 
 Eflfectus impediret ne segnis mora. 
 
 Finxere Antiqui talem efl&giem Temporis. 
 
 Un homme ayant des ailes, et qui court si vite qu'il pouroit marcher 
 sur le trenchant d'un razoir sans se blesser; qui a des cheveux par 
 devant, et qui est chauve par derriere, qui a le cors tout nud : qu'on ne 
 pent avoir qu'en le prenant, et que Jupiter memo ne pent reprendre lors 
 qu'il I'a laisse echaper une fois : nous marque qu'en toutes choses Toca- 
 sion est prompte, et passe en un moment. Les Anciens nous ont repre- 
 sente le Tems sous la figure de cet homme ; de peur que le retardement 
 et la paresse n'empechat Texecution de nos meilleures entreprises. 
 
 The statue which Ausonius attributes to Phidias is considered by 
 
278 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 several writers to be the work of Lysippus. Ausonius, it is seen, ranks it 
 next in order of merit to Phidias's Minerva, and his Jupiter. The Jupiter 
 of Phidias, which was placed in the temple of the god, in the sacred 
 grove of Olympia, has usually been considered the masterpiece of the 
 whole range of Grecian art. His gold and ivory statue of Minerva in 
 the Parthenon was the most celebrated of Phidias's works at Athens. 
 Among the Elgin marbles are probably many relics of Phidias's genius. 
 An enemy of Pericles brought two accusations against Phidias whom he 
 patronized, in reference to Minerva's statue. One for peculation, which 
 was refuted, as, by the advice of Pericles, the gold had been affixed to 
 the statue of Minerva, in a manner that it could be removed, and the 
 weight of it examined. The other charge was for impiety, in having 
 introduced into the battle of the Amazons in the shield of Minerva, his 
 own likeness and that of Pericles, the latter as a bald old man hurling 
 a stone with both his hands, himself as a very handsome warrior fighting 
 with an Amazon, his face being partly concealed by his hand which held 
 an uplifted spear ; so that the artist's likeness could only be recognized 
 upon a side view. Upon this latter charge Phidias was cast into prison, 
 where he died, as it has been alleged, by poison. 
 
 XXVI. 
 VINDEX'S CONVIVIAL STATUE OF HERCULES. 
 
 (A) 
 Hie, qui dura sedens porrecto saxa leone 
 
 Mitigat exiguo magnus in aere Deus, 
 Quaeque tulit, spectat resupino sidera vultu, 
 
 Cujus Iseva calet robore, dextra mero : 
 Non est fama recens, nee nostri gloria eoeli : 
 
 Nobile Lysippi munus opusque vides. 
 Hoe habuit numen Pellsei mensa tyranni, 
 
 Qui eito perdomito vietor in orbe jaeet. 
 Hune puer ad Libyeas juraverat Hannibal aras : 
 
 Jusserat hie Sullam ponere regna trueem. 
 Offensus varise tumidis terroribus aulae, 
 
 Privatos gaudet nune habitare Lares. 
 Utque fuit quondam plaeidi eonviva Molorehi, 
 
 Sic voluit doeti Vindieis esse Deus. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 279 
 
 Reclining on a lion's skin spread over the hard marble, 
 sits a Great Divinity represented in a small statue. He 
 casts his eyes upwards to the heavens which he once sus- 
 tained on his shoulders : his left hand grasps an oaken staff, 
 his right a goblet of wine. The fame of this statue is not 
 recent ; its glory is not of this nation. You see before you 
 the noble achievement of Lysippus. This statue once graced 
 the table of that Macedonian Tyrant who died only when 
 he had no more worlds to conquer. Hannibal, when a 
 youth, swore hatred to the Romans upon this statue, at the 
 Libyan altars. It bade Sylla to lay down his Dictatorship. 
 At length, disgusted with the tumults incident to palaces 
 of state, Hercules rejoices in the society of the private 
 Lares of Vindex. And as of yore he became the guest of 
 the amiable Molorchus, — so now he is well contented with 
 the appellation of Vindex's Family- God. 
 
 (B) 
 Alciden modo Vindicis rogabam, 
 Esset cujus opus laborque felix ? 
 Risit (nam solet hoc) levique nutu, 
 Graece numquid, ait, poeta, nescis ? 
 Inscripta est basis, indicatque nomen. 
 Avdiinrov lego, Phidise putavi. 
 
 When late Alcides' self I saw, 
 
 A Vindex' guest, I gaz'd with awe. 
 
 Yet humbly of the God inquired 
 
 What human art he had inspir'd, 
 
 To bid his image stand confest ? 
 
 His Godship scarce his smile supprest. 
 
 And, nodding bland, thus deign'd to speak : 
 
 Poor bardling, dost thou know no Greek? 
 
 Behold the base, and learn to spell : 
 
 Thence wonder and inquiry quell. 
 
 I, blushing, there AYSinHOY scann'd ; 
 
 But thought it had been Phidias' hand. 
 
 Martial considers it a compliment to Lysippus to have mistaken his 
 Hercules for the workmanship of Phidias. But Lysippus was more 
 
280 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 famous for his statues of Hercules than any other sculptor ; many copies 
 of these are extant in gems, and the well-known Farnese Hercules of 
 Glycon was a copy of a work of Lysippus. Dr Smith, in his Dictionary 
 of Roman Antiquities, quotes several authorities for concluding that the 
 celebrated Belvidere Torso was an imitation of Vindex's Hercules. Spence 
 mentions an extant ancient gem by Adman, which, he conceives, was 
 copied from the same statue, at least as regards Hercules's face. 
 
 It will be collected that the statue of Hercules which is the subject of 
 the epigrams in the text belonged to an opulent Roman of the name of 
 Vindex, who used to place it at his supper-table, seated on a lion-skin. 
 It was not a foot high, was made of brass, in one hand holding a goblet, 
 in the other a club ; the face was very cheerful. It was fabled to have 
 run through a series of the highest fortunes of any statue on record. 
 Before it came into the family of the friend of Martial and Statins, it is 
 represented to have belonged to Sylla the dictator. It had been previ- 
 ously in the possession of Hannibal, and was a particular favourite, and 
 fellow-traveller of his, during his campaign in Italy : before that it had 
 accompanied Alexander the Great all through his expedition in the East, 
 These great men did not carry it about with them for its beauty alone, 
 but partly, perhaps, out of devotion, or in order to keep alive a popular 
 superstition of the resemblance of their labours to those of Hercules. 
 It is seen by some other epigrams of Martial how hard the poet strains 
 to establish a resemblance between Hercules and Domitian. So Mark 
 Antony traced his descent from Hercules. Shakspere calls him " This 
 Herculean Roman." 
 
 Statius wrote a poem (part of his Silvce) containing upwards of a 
 hundred verses on Vindex's Hercules. The following lines occur : 
 
 Tantus nonos operi, firmosque inclusa per artus 
 
 Majestas. Deus ille Deus, seseque videndum 
 
 Indulsit, Lysippe, tibi, parvusque videri, 
 
 Sentirique ingens : et cum mirabilis intra 
 
 Stet mensura pedem, tamen exclamare libebit, 
 
 (Si visus per membra feras) hoc pectore pressus 
 
 Vastator Nemees, hsec exitiale ferebant 
 
 Robur et Argoos pangebant brachia remos. 
 
 Hoc spatio tam magna brevi mendacia formse ! 
 
 Quis modus in dextra, quanta experientia docti 
 
 Artificis curtse, pariter gestamina mensse 
 
 Fingere, et ingentes animo versare colossos ! 
 Or entre toutes ces choses, THercule de sa maison, ou le genie et la 
 Divinite tutelaire de sa table modeste me faisit d'une inclination toute 
 particuliere a I'honorer, et je ne me pus lasser de le regarder, tant I'ouvrage 
 estoit bien fait, et tant il y avoit de majeste renfermee dans les membres 
 solides, et dans toutes les proportions de la Statue. C'est ce Dieu la 
 mesmes, 6 Lysippe, qui t'a permis de le considerer, qui a bien voulu qu'on 
 
 I 
 1 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 281 
 
 le vist en petit, et qu'on se pust facilement imaginer qu'il a de grands 
 sentimens : et quoy qu'il se renferme dans la mesure d'un pied, il sera 
 neantmoins permis de s'ecrier. (Si vous jettez les yeux sur ses membres) 
 le Lion de Nemee fut etoufife centre cette poitrine, ces bras portoient 
 une fatale massue, et rompoient les avirons du Navire d'Argos. Une in- 
 finite de grands mensonges sent contenus sous une si petite figure. Quelle 
 Industrie d'une excellente main ? Quelle marque du S9avoir exquis d'un 
 merveilleux Ouvrier ? faire de petites pieces pour servir sur une table, 
 et donner en mesme temps I'idee des Colosses ? 
 
 XXVII. 
 STATUE OF LUCRETIA. 
 
 Libenter occumbo, mea in praocordia 
 Adactum habens ferrum ; juvat mea manu 
 Id prasstitisse, quod Viraginum prius 
 Nulla ob pudicitiam peregit promptius ; 
 Juvat cruorem contueri proprium, 
 lUumque verbis execrari asperrimis. 
 
 Sanguen mi acerbius veneno colchico, 
 Ex quo canis Stygius, vel Hydra praeferox 
 Artus meos eompegit in poenam asperam ; 
 Lues flue, ac vetus reverte in toxicum. 
 Tabes amara exi ; mihi invisa et gravis, 
 Quod feceris corpus nitidum et amabile. 
 
 Nee interim suas monet Lueretia 
 Civeis, pudore et castitate semper ut 
 Sint prseditse, fidemque servent integram 
 Suis maritis, cum sit hsec Mavortii 
 Laus magna populi, ut castitate foeminae 
 Laetentur, et viris mage ista gloria 
 Placere studeant, quam nitore et gratia ; 
 Quin id probasse caede vel mea gravi 
 Lubet, statim animum purum oportere extrahi 
 Ab inquinati corporis custodia. 
 
 Since the vile Eavisher my honour stains, 
 What thing of worth or moment now remains I 
 
282 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Thus cries Lucretia with grief opprest, 
 
 And sheaths a poignant dagger in her breast. 
 
 The Heroine would die ; but you prevent, 
 
 O Giorgion ! her murderous intent. 
 
 You have so painted her, that we conceive 
 
 She in thy canvass will for ever live. 
 
 The Latin is the only extant composition in Latin verse by Leo X. 
 The English is from Evelyn's epigrams, on a picture by Giorgione. 
 Among the pictures of Charles I. was one of Lucretia stabbing herself, 
 by Titian ; a red veil is cast over her face, and a figure of Tarquin stands 
 in the background. The picture was appraised and sold for £200. 
 There is a Lucretia by Titian which seems to be a portrait of some lady 
 of his acquaintance ; it bears the inscription Titianus sibi /aciebat. No- 
 thing in poetry or painting on the subject of Lucretia, may be thought 
 equal to Ovid's description in his Fasti : 
 
 Eloquar, inquit, 
 Eloquar infelix dedecus ipse meum ! 
 Quseque potest narrat. Restabant ultima, flevit, 
 
 Et matronales erubuere gense. 
 Dant veniant facto genitor conjuxque coacto. 
 
 Quam, dixit, veniam vos datis, ipse nego. 
 Nee mora ; celato figit sua pectora ferro : 
 Et cadit in patrios sanguinolenta pedes. 
 Tunc quoque, jam morions, ne non procumbat honeste, 
 Respicit, hsec etiam cura cadentis erat. 
 
 I will proclaim, she says, I will proclaim my own infamy ! And she 
 relates as far as she is able : the conclusion remained untold, and a blush 
 overspread her matronly cheeks. Her husband and her father protest 
 their forgiveness of what could not have been averted. But she replies, 
 Although you bestow your pardons upon me, I cannot pardon myself. 
 Nor does a moment elapse before she stabs her breast with a dagger 
 which she had concealed, and falls at her father's feet bathed in her 
 blood. Even as she fell she gave a look round, lest she should fall inde- 
 corously ; this seemed the last concern on her mind. 
 
 This last incident in the description of Ovid may remind the reader of 
 an interesting account by Pliny of the horrible transaction of the inhuma- 
 tion of a Vestal Virgin (Lib. rv. Ep. xi.). He relates that the Vestal Comeha 
 Maximilla had been condemned without a hearing by Domitian, who sen- 
 tenced her to be buried alive, in order to give celebrity to his reign by 
 the spectacle. As she was being led to her punishment she stretched 
 forth her hands now to Vesta, and now to the other Deities, and frequently 
 repeated the words, " Does Csesar believe me polluted, me, to whose per- 
 formance of sacred rites he owes his victories, his triumphs ?" When she 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 283 
 
 was descending the steps of the fatal vault, her gown got entangled, and 
 she turned herself round to set it in order ; and when the public execu- 
 tioner offered his hand to assist her, she started back, aud turned away 
 her face from him, as if rejecting from her chaste and pure person a foul 
 contamination. Thus, from the very soul of modesty, she seemed soli- 
 citous to meet death with decorum. 
 
 XXVIIL 
 
 THE STATUE OF NIOBE. 
 
 Fecerat e viva lapidem me Jupiter ; at me 
 Praxiteles vivam reddidit e lapide. 
 
 Jupiter metamorphosed me from a living Being into a 
 stone : Praxiteles has, out of that stone, made me again 
 alive. 
 
 The Latin is a version, by Gray, from the Greek Anthology: it is 
 rather a frigid conceit, not worthy of one of the most admired specimens 
 of ancient art. Ausonius has another sorry epigram on Niobe, to whom, 
 he says, Praxiteles gave her back everything but sense ; and that she never 
 had. It was an undecided question among the ancients whether the 
 group representing the destruction of the sons and daughters of Niobe 
 was the work of Praxiteles or of Scopas. These two artists stand at 
 the head of the second period of perfected art, which is called the latter 
 Attic school, in contradistinction to the earlier Attic school of Phidias. 
 They excelled in delineations of beauty and gracefulness, as Phidias 
 surpassed in ideal majesty, heroic spirit, and religious earnestness. 
 Scopas was principally famed for a statue of the Pythian Apollo playing 
 on a lyre, celebrated by Propertius, and which was placed by Augustus in 
 the temple which he built in honour of Apollo, on the Palatine hill, to 
 commemorate the battle of Actium. (See Dictionary of Greek and 
 Roman Biography/ and Mythology, which contains a mine of information 
 concerning ancient artists and ancient art.) 
 
 The group of Niobe and her children has been the subject of panegy- 
 ric, or criticism, in the published travels of most Italian tourists. Mr 
 Cockerell, and Mr Bell, for example, have written copious artistical 
 remarks upon the subject. The genuine number of the group, whether 
 it properly consists of twelve, fourteen, or sixteen statues, and the pro- 
 
284 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 priety of its arrangement, have excited much controversy. Flaxman 
 writes that " the statues of Niobe and her youngest daughter afford an 
 example of heroic beauty in mature age. The sentiment is maternal 
 affection. She exposes her own life to shield her child from threatened 
 destruction. The statues of the several children all possess the same 
 heroic beauty, mixed with astonishment, terror, dismay, and death." 
 The youngest child is placed in the mother's arms, and chngs to the 
 girdle round her waist, whilst the mother is looking up towards heaven. 
 The sentiment excited is full of tenderness. Guide made the group of 
 Niobe the subject of his particular study. It was discovered in the year 
 1583 : it anciently filled the pediment of a temple of Apollo. 
 
 Though the epigram in the text be not a gem of the purest ray, yet 
 Ovid, in describing the metamorphosis of Niobe, stands perhaps in more 
 favourable contrast with the impassioned sculptor, than Virgil, when 
 compared with the rival sculptors of the Laocoon. Niobe's supplications 
 for her youngest child seem to give a tongue to the breathing statue : 
 and although persons " weeping" themselves " to marble" may appear a 
 forced as it has been a frequent conception of English poets, nothing 
 seems more natural than such a transition as the details of it are related 
 by Ovid. 
 
 Sexque datis letho, diversaque vulnera passis, 
 Ultima restabat : quam toto corpore mater 
 Tota veste tegens, unam minimamque relinque 
 De multis minimam posco, clamavit, et unam! 
 Dumque rogat, pro qua rogat, occidit. Orba resedit 
 Examines inter natos natasque, virumque : 
 Diriguitque malis. NuUos mo vet aura capillos. 
 In vultu color est sine sanguine : lumina moestis 
 Stant immota genis : nihil est in imagine vivi. 
 Ipsa quoque interius cum dure lingua palate 
 Congelat, et vense desistunt posse moveri. 
 Nee flecti cervix, nee brachia reddere gestus. 
 Nee pes ire potest : intra quoque viscera saxum est. 
 Flet tamen, et validi circumdata turbine venti 
 In patriam rapta est. Ibi fixa cacumine mentis 
 Liquitur, et lacrymas etiamnum marmora manant. 
 
 Seven of Niobe's children had thus cruelly perished one after the 
 other. Her last daughter was yet surviving. The mother shields her 
 with her whole dress, her whole body, and exclaims, O leave me one, 
 and the least of them ! Out of many which were mine, leave me but one, 
 and that the least of all ! Whilst she supplicates, her last child dies in 
 her arms. She sat desolate among the dead bodies of her husband, her 
 sons, and her daughters. She became benumbed with her sufferings: 
 her cheeks have no longer any colour, her eyes are fixed in one motion- 
 less gaze : her very hair seems incapable of being driven by the wind. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 285 
 
 Her tongue is become stiff as if it were frozen, her veins no longer indicate 
 any circulation of blood. Her neck cannot be bent ; her arms cannot be 
 stretched forth; her foot can no longer stir: tears alone are left her. 
 Anon she is fixed immoveably on the top of a mountain, where the marble 
 which once was Niobe still drips with her everlasting tears. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 STATUE OF DOMITIANT AS THE MH^D JUPITER. 
 
 Quis Pallatinos imitatus imagine vultus, 
 Phidiacum Latio marmore vicit ebur? 
 
 Haec mundi facies, haec sunt Jovis ora sereni : 
 Sic tonat ille deus, cum sine nube tonat. 
 
 Non solam tribuit Pallas tibi, Care, coronam : 
 Effigiem domini, quam colis, ilia dedit. 
 
 Who, daring to pourtray th' imperial face. 
 In Latian marble stole the Phidian grace ? 
 Such is the aspect of the heav'n serene : 
 So the God thunders when no cloud is seen. 
 
 In the concluding distich. Martial tells his friend Cams, who, in his 
 house, offered sacred rites to a statue of Domitian, in the character of 
 the Mild Jupiter, that Minerva, in addition to the rewards which Cams 
 had, on other occasions, received from the hands of that goddess, gave 
 him the likeness of the emperor who was the object of his worship, and 
 which, by her inspiration, surpassed the famous statue of Minerva by 
 Phidias in the Parthenon. 
 
 Spence, in his Poly metis (Dialogue vi.), has pointed out distinctions 
 between the mild and the terrible Jupiter in ancient poetry, statues, gems, 
 and seals. The Mild Jupiter was generally represented in a sitting pos- 
 ture, and of white marble, with his hair regular and composed ; whereas 
 the statues of the Terrible Jupiter were usually of black marble, in a 
 standing posture, and with the hair discomposed. The Capitoline Jupiter 
 was seated in a curule chair. Three kinds of lightning were employed 
 by ancient sculptors to be held in Jupiter's hand, according to the cha- 
 racter in which he was represented. The first was a bundle of flames 
 wreathed close together : the second is the same figure, with two trans- 
 verse darts of lightning, and sometimes with wings added on each side of 
 
286 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 it. Such was the device which all the soldiers of the thundering legion (as 
 it was called) bore on their shields; it is represented on the Antonine 
 and Trajan pillars at Rome. The third kind of thunder is a handful of 
 flames all let loose in their utmost fury. The old artists gave Jupiter, if his 
 appearance was to be mild and calm, the first sort, held down in his 
 hand : if he was represented as punishing, he held up the second sort : 
 and, if going to do some exemplary vengeance, he brandished the third 
 species, and sometimes had both his hands full of flames. (See the plates 
 and poetical illustrations in Spence's Poly metis.) The serene and sweeter 
 kind of majesty attributed to Jupiter is represented by Virgil in the first 
 JEneid, where he is described as receiving Venus with paternal tender- 
 ness: 
 
 OUi subridens hominum sator atque deorum, 
 
 Vultu quo coelum tempestatesque serenat 
 
 Oscula libavit natse. 
 
 In comparing the fierce and cruel tyrant Domitian to the Mild Jupi- 
 ter, the sculptor and the poet appear to have anticipated the advice of 
 Swift, in his " Directions for making a Birth-day Ode :*' 
 
 Thus your encomium to be strong. 
 
 Must be applied directly wrong : 
 
 A tyrant for his mercy praise. 
 
 And crown a royal dunce with bays. 
 
 A squinting monkey load with charms, 
 
 And paint a coward fierce in arms. 
 
 Is he to avarice inclin'd? 
 
 Extol him for his generous mind : 
 
 For all experience this evinces 
 
 The only art of pleasing princes : 
 
 For princes love you should descant 
 
 On virtues which they know they want. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 287 
 
 XXX. 
 
 STATUE OF DOMITIAN AS HERCULES. 
 
 Herculis in magni vultus descendere, Caesar 
 
 Dignatus Latiaa dat nova templa viae, 
 Qua Triviae nemorosa petit dum regna viator, 
 
 Octavum domina marmor ab urbe legit. 
 Ante eolebatur votis, et sanguine largo : 
 
 Majorem Aleiden, nunc Minor ipse colit. 
 Hunc magnas rogat alter opes, rogat alter honores : 
 
 nii securus vota minora faeit. 
 
 Domitian condescends to assume the countenance of 
 the illustrious Hercules, and gives on the occasion to the 
 Appian Way a Temple containing a statue of himself in 
 the character of Hercules. The traveller meets with it at 
 the eighth milestone, just as he emerges from the grove of 
 Diana. Before this time Domitian has been addressed with 
 common vows and sacrifices : but now Hercules (henceforth 
 to be called the lesser Hercules) worships Domitian as the 
 greater Divinity. One supplicates the Emperor-Hercules 
 for wealth, another for honours : whereas the lesser Her- 
 cules takes no offence, if suppliants beg of him smaller 
 favours, better suited for an inferior Divinity to be asked 
 for, and to grant. 
 
 The Appian Way is called the Queen of Ways by Statius : it was the 
 great Southern road out of Rome. Vestiges still remain of the vast 
 sums and prodigious labour expended on its construction. The Roman 
 mile was about 142 yards less than the English mile. Martial wrote 
 several more epigrams on this statue. 
 
 Suetonius writes, that the Emperor Nero having supposed himself to 
 have equalled Apollo in music, and the Sun in chariot-driving, resolved, 
 in like manner, to imitate the actions of Hercules. For this purpose a 
 lion was prepared for him in the theatre, where he appeared naked, and 
 in the view of the people killed the wild beast with a club. Plutarch 
 mentions of Mark Antony, that he had a noble dignity of countenance, a 
 graceful length of beard, a large forehead, an aquiUne nose, and through 
 his whole appearance the same manly aspect that we see in the pictures 
 
288 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 and statues of Hercules. He adds, that there was an ancient tradition 
 that Antony's family were descended from Hercules by a son of his, 
 named Antseon, and that Antony imitated Hercules in his apparel, parti- 
 cularly by a vest girt on his hip, and by a coarse mantle over all his dress. 
 Flatterers endeavoured to trace the Flavian family by direct descent from 
 Hercules. Henry IV. of France used for his device a figure of Hercules 
 subduing a monster, with a motto, " Invia virtuti nulla est via." No way 
 but is a way to valour. 
 
 Probably none of the heathen gods have so many monuments of anti- 
 quity relating to them as Hercules. He was regarded by the ancients as 
 the pattern of human virtue. The Choke of Hercules is one of the most 
 edifying lessons of ancient morality. There is some obscurity about his 
 memorable labours. Spence distinguishes his adventures previous to the 
 labours imposed by Eurystheus, his twelve labours, and his voluntary ex- 
 ploits. Martial, in another epigram, in which, as in the text, he makes 
 Domitian out-Hercules Hercules, mentions seven of the ordinary twelve 
 labours of Hercules, and two of the extraordinary or voluntary labours ; 
 Ovid relates ten of the ordinary and four of the extraordinary labours ; 
 Virgil, two ordinary and six extraordinary. The twelve ordinary labours 
 of Hercules were inscribed on an ancient altar that used to stand at the 
 gate of Albano, at Ptome, and which was afterwards removed to the 
 Capitoline Gallery. 
 
 All the adventures of Hercules have been represented by poets and 
 artists with many fanciful varieties. Sometimes the infant Hercules is 
 represented as kilhng both the serpents at the same time, with so much 
 ease and indifference, that he scarcely deigns to look upon them. He 
 is otherwise represented with a smile on his face, as if pleased with the 
 colours and motions of the serpents. Sometimes he is made to look con- 
 cerned that he has killed them, and so put an end to the diversion they 
 afforded him. Occasionally the effect is sought to be heightened by 
 introducing a nurse holding his twin brother in her arms, and a contrast 
 is represented between her alarm and the playful intrepidity of the 
 infant demi-god. One of Zeuxis's most admired paintings was extolled 
 for its dramatic effect in representing the terror of Alcmena and Eurys- 
 theus, whilst witnessing the struggle between the child and the serpents. 
 With respect to the Stymphahdes, in some gems they are omitted on 
 account of their height, but Hercules is seen shooting with his bow, and 
 one or more of these birds are dropt at his feet. In other gems the birds 
 are represented flying, but Hercules is kneeling, to allow of a greater 
 intervening distance. 
 
 There is a discussion in Aulus Gelhus on the size of Hercules's foot, 
 with reference to the Roman saying, Ex pede Herculem. It appears that 
 the Olympic stadium was six hundred of his steps ; and from the calcula- 
 tions of different authors, the notion of Hercules's height appears to have 
 been that he was six feet seven inches high. Martial was prudent in 
 representing the true Hercules as in all respects minor to the Emperor. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 289 
 
 He probably recollected what Suetonius relates of the Emperor Caligula, 
 that, " as he stood by the statue of Jupiter, he asked one Apelles, a trage- 
 dian, which of the two he thought the bigger? Upon his demurring about 
 it, the Emperor ordered him to be lashed severely, now and then com- 
 mending his voice, whilst he begged pardon, as very sweet in the midst of 
 groans.*' 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 ^GIS OF DOMITIAN. 
 
 Accipe belligerse crudum thoraca Minervse, 
 
 Ipsa Medusese quo tumet ira Dese. 
 Dum vacat haec, Csesar, poterit lorica vocari : 
 
 Pectore cum sacro sederit, Mgis erit. 
 
 Gird on the breast-plate of belligerent Minerva, in 
 which the head of Medusa swells with terrific anger : a 
 breast-plate, indeed, it might be called, when you have not 
 occasion to use it ; but on thy sacred breast it is an ^gis. 
 
 This epigram is an example of the flattery of the Romans in transfer- 
 ring the principal attributes of their deities to their Emperors. There is 
 in the Gallery at Florence an antique bust of Domitian, which has an a3gis 
 on the breastplate, corresponding to the poetical description, and pro- 
 bably the occasion of it. Spence, in his Polymetis, observes, that there is 
 scarcely a Roman Emperor from Augustus to Gallienus, from the per- 
 fecting to the fall of the arts at Rome, but has the emblem of the segis on 
 his breastplate, in statues, busts, gems, or medals. There was a statue of 
 Minerva in the Capitol without her segis ; it was suggested by the glozing 
 poet, that the goddess had lent it to Domitian. The head of Medusa on 
 the segis is sometimes represented as a very beautiful, and, at others, a 
 most shocking object. In some figures of it, the face is represented as 
 dead, but with the most perfect features that can be imagined ; in others, 
 the face is full of passion, and the eyes convulsed. In a third species, the 
 predominating expression is that of horror. Various attempts have been 
 made to explain the myth of Medusa and the Gorgons, by authors, to 
 whom reference is made in Smith's Dictionary. 
 
 The beauties and horrors of Medusa's head are both mentioned by the 
 Roman poets ; they speak frequently also of her serpents ; and particu- 
 larly of two, as having their tails twined together under her chin, and 
 their heads reared over her forehead. The segis is described by Virgil 
 
 19 
 
290 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 and by Ovid : it may be seen in the plates to Spence's Polymetis. The 
 following is from a poem of Shelley upon the picture of Medusa's head by 
 Leonardo Da Vinci : 
 
 It lieth, gazing on the midnight sky, 
 
 Upon the cloudy mountain-peak supine ; 
 Below, far lands are seen tremblingly ; 
 
 Its horror and its beauty are divine. 
 Upon its lips and eyelids seem to lie 
 
 Loveliness like a shadow, from which shrine. 
 Fiery and lurid, struggling underneath, 
 The agonies of anguish and of death. 
 
 Yet it is less the horror than the grace 
 Which turns the gazer's spirit into stone ; 
 
 Whereon the lineaments of that dead face 
 Are graven, till the characters be grown 
 
 Into itself, and thought no more can trace ; 
 'Tis the melodious hue of beauty thrown 
 
 Athwart the darkness and the glare of pain, 
 
 Which humanize and harmonize the strain. 
 
 And from its head as from one body grow. 
 
 As [ ] grass out of a watery rock. 
 
 Hairs which are vipers, and they curl and flow. 
 
 And their long tangles in each other lock. 
 And with unending involutions show 
 
 Their mailed radiance, as it were to mock 
 The torture and the death within, and saw 
 The solid air with many a ragged jaw. 
 
 And from a stone beside, a poisonous eft 
 
 Peeps idly into these Gorgon ian eyes ; 
 Whilst in the air a ghastly bat, bereft 
 
 Of sense, has flitted with a mad surprise 
 Out of the cave this hideous light had cleft, 
 
 And he comes hastening like a moth that hies 
 After a taper; and the midnight sky 
 Flares, a light more dread than obscurity. 
 
 'Tis the tempestuous loveliness of terror ; 
 
 For from the serpents gleams a brazen glare 
 Kindled by that inextricable error, 
 
 Which makes a thrilling vapour of the air 
 Become a [ ] and ever-shifting mirror 
 
 Of all the beauty and the terror there — 
 A woman's countenance, with serpent locks. 
 Gazing in death on heaven from those wet rocks. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 291 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 STATUE OF ERASMUS. 
 
 Kotterodamus ego non inficiabor Erasmus, 
 
 Ne videar cives deseruisse meos. 
 Ipsorum instinctu, Princeps clarissime, salvum 
 
 Ingressu precor ad limina nostra tuum, 
 Atque hunc, quo possum studio, commendo popellum 
 
 Maxime prsesidiis Caesare nate tuis. 
 Te Dominum agnoscunt omnes, te Principe, gaudent. 
 
 Nee quicquam toto charius orbe tenent. 
 
 I, Erasmus, will not disown that I was born at Eotter- 
 dam, lest I should be charged with deserting my fellow- 
 citizens. By their instigation, I wish you a prosperous 
 entry into the house of my birth. And, with all my zeal, 
 I recommend the inhabitants of Kotterdam to your espe- 
 cial protection and favour. So may they all acknowledge 
 you for their sovereign, and regard you as the dearest 
 object they have in the world. 
 
 This statue of Erasmus was placed before the house in which he was 
 bom. In his right hand was a pen ; in the left was a scroll containing 
 the verses in the text. Erasmus was represented as presenting the scroll 
 to Philip II., on the occasion of that prince visiting his birth-place. The 
 statue was of bronze, and as the common people used to kneel to it, even 
 after the Reformation was established at Rotterdam, it narrowly escaped, 
 if it did escape, being melted as a Lutheran auto-da-fe. The verses on 
 the scroll make it apparent that the inhabitants of Rotterdam had an eye 
 to their own interests as well as to the fame of Erasmus. 
 
 19—2 
 
292 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 A STATUE OF VICTORY, AT ROME, OF WHICH THE WINGS 
 WERE DESTROYED BY LIGHTNING. 
 
 Cum fugere haud possit, fractis Victoria pennis, 
 Te manet imperii, Eoma, perenne decus. 
 
 Queen of the world, how should thy glory die, 
 While Victory stays, and has no wings to fly. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 THE FLORENTINE BRUTUS. 
 
 Efiigiem Bruti sculptor de m armor e ducit, 
 At scelus in mentem venit, et abstinuit. 
 
 Whilst the sculptor was forming the marble likeness of 
 Brutus, he suddenly thought of his crime, and left the 
 Statue unfinished. 
 
 This epigram has reference to an unfinished statue by Michael Angelo 
 at Florence. It seems to be the better opinion, that Michael Angelo did 
 not display any sudden antipathy to the regicide, Marcus Brutus : but that 
 having commenced the statue of one of the Medici who assassinated his 
 uncle, and was called the Florentine Brutus, but who afterwards proved 
 the oppressor instead of the Liberator of his country, Michael Angelo laid 
 aside the unfinished statue in disgust. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 293 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 STATUE OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON IN FRONT OF 
 THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. 
 
 Conservata tuis Asia atque Europa triumphis, 
 
 Invictum bello te coluere ducem. 
 Nunc umbrata geris civili tempora quercu, 
 
 Ut desit famae gloria nulla tuse. 
 
 Europe and Asia, saved by thee, proclaim 
 Invincible in war thy deathless name ; 
 Now round thy brows the civic wreath we twine, 
 That every earthly glory may be thine. 
 
 The Latin and English are both by the Mai-quis of Wellesley. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 THE BUST OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON DEPOSITED 
 IN THE LIBRARY OF ETON COLLEGE. 
 
 Affulsit mihi supremo meta ultima famae ; 
 
 Jam mihi cum lauro juncta cupressus erit : 
 Mater amata, meam quae fovit Etona juventam, 
 
 Ipsa recedentem signat honore senem. 
 
 The last goal of my life is now before my eyes ; and 
 very soon the cypress will be united to my laurels. Eton, 
 my loved Alma Mater, who fostered my early youth, be- 
 stows this mark of honor upon an old man withdrawing 
 from the world's stage. 
 
 The Latin is by the Marquis of Wellesley. 
 
294 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 MADAME LANGHEN'S MONUMENT. 
 Viduus loquitur. 
 Nulla mei ostentat lapis hie insignia luctus 
 
 Impositus cineri, cara Marie, tuo : 
 Nee tibi eondeeorant solito de more sepulcra 
 
 SoUieitent fletus qualiaeunque novos. 
 Heu ! nimis iste dolor, nimis ista reeursat imago ! 
 
 Et quianam haec animo sint referenda meo ? 
 Has prope relliquias, quoties aut debita sacris 
 
 Officia, aut fidus me revocarit amor, 
 Has prope relliquias, segrae solatia menti 
 
 Sunt aliqua, et lacrymis invenienda quies. 
 Hie tua me reficit, tua me rediviva tuentem 
 
 EflSgies sevi spe melioris alit. 
 Hie mihi semper ades, non qualis vix nova mater 
 
 Amplexu hserebas jam moribunda meo ; 
 Sed qualis surges, ubi nos de sede profunda 
 
 Suscitet 8etheris9 vox animosa tubas, 
 Somnum exuta gravem, et ccelestis conscia vitae, 
 
 Jamque adventantis numine Iseta Dei. 
 
 As often as my sacred duties, or my faithful love recall 
 me to this spot, I derive a consolation for my lacerated 
 heart from the hope of a future and better life, with which 
 your image inspires me. Here you are always present to 
 me ; not as when scarcely become a mother your dying 
 limbs were enfolded in my embrace, but such as you shall 
 rise again when the sonorous trumpet of heaven shall 
 awaken the dead of every people and of all times ; when 
 you shall rouse yourself from the sleep of the grave ; and 
 shall again wear a happy smile at the final advent of your 
 God. 
 
 This monument, (of which a representation is given in a plate to 
 Flaxman's Lectures on Sculpture), is erected in a church near Berne. 
 Madame Langhens was the wife of the clergyman of the parish, and died 
 in childbed. She is represented as just awakened by the sound of the 
 last trumpet, shaking off her sepulchral cerements, and about to ascend 
 into the skies. The Latin is by Lord Grenville. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 295 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 PRAXITELES TURNED SPORTSMAN. 
 
 Praxiteles, sumta pharetra telisque Dianae, 
 
 Venatorque novus per nemus arma movet : 
 Aeris at ilia aeies ubi primum intenderat areum, 
 
 En ! trajecit aves una sagitta duas ! 
 " Parce meis ne sint vacuae," Latonia, " sylvis," 
 
 Increpat, " et propria siste sub arte manum." 
 lUe, dese monitu atque animosior arte resumta, 
 
 " Diva," ait, '' haec culpse sit tibi poena mese. 
 Ponam inter medios, sacrata umbracula, saltus, 
 
 Signa quibus verae restituentur aves : 
 Verge in morte tamen, quales jaeuere sub alta 
 
 nice, jamque anima deficiente pares. 
 Aspiee languentes deflexo in marmore pennas ! 
 
 Aspiee ! quae plumis gratia morte manet I 
 Has tu, Diva, tuas ne dedignare sub aras 
 
 Aeeipere, haec poenae stent monumenta meae. 
 Sic tibi laetifico resonet clamore Cithaeron, 
 
 Taygeta et variis sint tibi plena feris : 
 Sic tua delubris auro servetur imago, 
 
 Cui vitam, atque animos, et decus ipse dabo." 
 
 Praxiteles, after equipping himself at the armoury of 
 Diana, rushed, an untried sportsman as he was, to wage 
 war upon the game. The well-known acuteness of his eye 
 did not fail him under these novel circumstances ; for, lo I 
 he kills a brace of birds with his first shot ! Diana ex- 
 claims, " O spare my preserves, or they will soon be deso- 
 late, and restrict your hand to its own peculiar cunning ! " 
 He, awe-stricken by the admonition of the Goddess, replies, 
 *' I sentence myself to this punishment for the offence I 
 have perpetrated: I will deposit in the middle of your 
 woods two birds which shall supply the place of those I 
 have killed. The resemblance shall be perfect as they lay 
 at my feet just after I had shot them. Behold, how the 
 imitative marble represents the dying flutter of their wings ! 
 
296 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Oh. 
 
 what a grace is preserved in the delicate feathers of stone ! 
 Disdain not, dread Goddess, to accept these memorials of 
 my contrition : and so may Cithseron ever send you joyful 
 echoes, and may Taygeta never fail in abundance of ani- 
 mals fit for the chase : so may a golden image of yourself 
 adorn your temple ; an image to which I will impart life, 
 and a spirit, and immortal glory." 
 
 Sir F. Chantrey, being at Holkham, joined in the diversion of shooting, 
 and, at the first shot, killed two woodcocks, which he sculptured in marble, 
 and presented to the Earl of Leicester. The Latin is by the Marquis of 
 Wellesley. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 PAGEANT FIGURE OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, AS DEBORAH. 
 
 Quando Dei populum Canaan Rex presset Jaben 
 
 Mittitur a magno Debora magna Deo, 
 Quae populum eriperet, sanctum servaret Judan, 
 
 Milete quae patrio frangeret hostis opes. 
 Hsec, Domino mandante, Deo lectissima fecit 
 
 Fcemina, et adversos contudit ense viros. 
 Haec quater denos populum correxerat annos 
 
 Judicio, bello strenua, pace gravis. 
 Sic, O sic populum belloque et pace guberna, 
 
 Debora sis Anglis, Elizabetha, tuis ! 
 
 Jaben of Canaan King had long, by force of arms 
 Opprest the Israelites, which for God's people went. 
 
 But God minding at last for to redress their harms, 
 The worthy Debora as Judge among them sent. 
 
 In war, she, through God's aid, did put her foes to fright. 
 And with the dint of sword the hand of bondage brast. 
 
 In peace, she, through God's aid, did always maintain right. 
 And judged Israel till forty years were past. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 297 
 
 A worthy precedent, O worthy Queen, thou hast 
 A worthy woman Judge, a woman sent for stale. 
 
 And that the like to us endure always thou mayest, 
 
 Thy loving subjects will with true hearts and tongues pray ! 
 
 " At the Conduit, at Fleet Street, was erected a Seat Royal. Behind, 
 overshadowing it, was a palm-tree. On the seat was seated a seemly and 
 meet personage richly apparelled in parliament robes, crowned with an 
 open crown, and holding a sceptre. Over her head was an inscription : 
 *Debora the Judge and Restorer of the House of Israel.' When the 
 Queen drew near this pageant, she perceived a child ready to open its 
 meaning. Her grace commanded silence, and required her chariot to 
 be removed nigher, that she might plainly hear the child speak." 
 
 On another occasion, at Norwich, Queen Ehzabeth was presented with 
 a massy piece of plate, on which was embossed the story of Joseph, with 
 this Latin and English inscription, which may interest the admirers of 
 EUzabethan English poetry: 
 
 Innocuum pietas ad regia sceptra Josephum 
 Ex manibus fratrum, carnificisque, rapit. 
 
 Carcere, et insidiis, sic te, Regina, tuormn 
 Ereptam duxit culmina ad ista Deus. 
 
 To royal sceptres, Godliness Joseph iimocentf 
 
 Doth take, from brothers' hands and murderers vatent. 
 
 So thee, O Queen, the Lord hath led from prison and deceiV 
 
 Of thine, unto these brightest tops of your princely estate. 
 
 XL. 
 
 A STATUE OF SOMNUS. 
 
 Somne levis, quanquam certissima mortis imago est 
 Consortem cupio te tamen esse tori. 
 
 Hue ades, haud abiture cito : nam sic sine vita 
 Vivere, quam suave est, sic sine morte mori. 
 
 Come gentle sleep ! attend thy votary's prayer, 
 And, though death's image, to my couch repair. 
 How sweet, though lifeless, yet with life to lie, 
 And without dying, O how sweet to die ! 
 
298 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Another, 
 
 Soft sleep I of death the image though thou art, 
 Yet of my couch, O take a kindly part : 
 Nor leave me ; for I still, when thou art nigh, 
 Live without life, and, without death, I die. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 MYRON'S COW. 
 (A) 
 
 Bucula sum, cailo genitoris facta Myronis 
 JErea : nee factam me puto, sed genitam. 
 
 Sic me taurus amat : sic proxima bucula mugit. 
 Sic vitulus sitiens ubera nostra petit. 
 
 Miraris quod fallo gregem ? gregis ipse magister 
 Inter pascentes me numerare solet. 
 
 I am a brazen heifer, sculptured by maker Myron; 
 though, methinks, I am born rather than made. Thus each 
 bull is enamoured of me ; thus each passing heifer lows to 
 me ; thus each thirsty calf endeavours to suck me. Do you 
 marvel at the flock being deluded? The master of the 
 flock himself counts me as though I were one of his de- 
 pasturing cattle. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Ubera quid pulsas frigentia matris aense, 
 O vitule, et succum lactis ab sere petis ? 
 
 Hunc quoque praestarem, si me pro parte parasset 
 Exteriore Myron, interiore Deus. 
 
 O calf! why do you rub against the frigid udder of a 
 brazen mother, and seek to suck milk out of brass ? This 
 also I would supply, if nature had done as much for my 
 inward structure as my outward form owes to Myron. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 299 
 
 In a book called Kendall's Flowers of Epigrams, published a.d. 1577, 
 and dedicated to the Earl of Leicester, with a device of a swan playing 
 upon a fiddle, are the following lines : 
 
 The cow of brass that Myron made 
 
 By art, and cunning skill, 
 If entrails she had had, she would 
 
 Have lowed both loud and shrill. 
 
 Myron's two most celebrated performances were his Discobolus and 
 his Cow. We are happily able to judge by ocular inspection, of Myron's 
 talents as a sculptor, by means of the excellent ancient copies of his 
 Discobolus, one of which adorns the British Museum, though there are 
 doubts whether the head of the Townley Discobolus belongs to it. The 
 Massini Discobolus is reckoned more perfect. On the subject of Myron's 
 Cow, there are thirty-six epigrams in the Greek Anthology. And Auso- 
 nius has left nine besides those in the text. Pliny speaks of its great 
 popularity. The artist flourished about the beginning of the Peloponne- 
 sian war. This statue of the Cow was in Delian bronze, as Polycletus's 
 works were usually in ^ginetan bronze. The statue represented the Cow 
 in the act of lowing ; it was placed on a marble base in the largest square 
 at Athens, where it stood in the time of Cicero. It was afterwards re- 
 moved to the Temple of Peace, at Rome. 
 
 The Farnese Bull, found in the ruins of the baths of Caracalla, is 
 spoken of by Eustace as the finest specimen in existence of a sculp- 
 tured quadruped. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 TOREUTIC WORK. 
 
 (A) 
 Inserta phialas Mentoris manu ducta 
 Lacerta vivit, et timetur argentum. 
 
 The Lizard carved on yon cup by the magic hand of 
 Mentor, seems actually alive, and the spectator stands 
 alarmed at the silver. 
 
 (B) 
 Artis Phidiac88 toreuma clarum 
 Pisces adspicis ; adde aquam, natabunt. 
 
300 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Behold these fishes, a beautiful specimen, in toreutic 
 work, of the Phidian art. Give them water, and they will 
 swim away. 
 
 (c) 
 
 Quamvis Calliaco rubeam generosa metallo, 
 Glorior arte magis : nam Myos iste labor. 
 
 Although I am precious in your sight, from my ma- 
 terial being that of ruddy gold ; yet I value myself more 
 on my workmanship, for I was chased by Mys. 
 
 The toreutic art, or that of chasing ornamental metals, was an import- 
 ant accessary to the art of statuary, especially in works of gold, silver, 
 bronze, and ivory. (On the history and progress of this art, see Dr 
 Smith's Dictionary of Antiquities^ Articles, Ccelaturaf Statuaria Ars, Sculp- 
 tura.) 
 
 Mentor was the most celebrated silver-chaser among the Greeks. 
 Pliny says that his choicest works perished in the conflagration of the 
 temple of Diana at Ephesus ; the tools with which he had executed them, 
 were deposited in the temple, as an offering to the goddess. Lucian calls 
 elaborately worked silver cups Mentorian. Mys was a worker in toreutic 
 of the age of Phidias : he engraved the battle of the Lapithse and Cen- 
 taurs in the shield of Phidias's colossal bronze statue of Minerva in the 
 Acropolis. 
 
 The fifth Dialogue in Spence's Polymetis contains an interesting history 
 of the introduction, improvement, and fall, of the arts at Rome, com- 
 mencing with the period when, according to Livy, Cato the Censor pro- 
 phesied that the vengeance of heaven would fall upon the Romans for 
 preferring the marble statues of foreign gods to their own rude earthen- 
 ware idols, and when, according to Paterculus, the consul Mummius sent 
 to Italy from Corinth a large cargo of pictures and statues of the most 
 celebrated artists, protesting to those to whose charge he intrusted them, 
 that if they were lost or damaged, they should give him new ones {si eas 
 perdidissentf novas eos reddituros. Pater. L. i. § 13). 
 
 The Oration of Cicero against Verres, in which he prefers an accusa- 
 tion of despoiling the Sicilians of works of Art, is an interesting memo- 
 rial of those treasures of statuary and painting which were found in the 
 Roman colonies, and were ultimately transferred to Rome. The follow- 
 ing extract is from Middleton's Life of Cicero : 
 
 " C. Heius was the principal citizen of Messana, where he lived very 
 splendidly in the most magnificent house of the city, and used to receive 
 all the Roman magistrates with great hospitality. He had a chapel in his 
 house, built by his ancestors, and furnished with certain images of the 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 301 
 
 gods, of admirable sculpture, and inestimable value. On one side stood 
 a Cupid, of marble, made by Praxiteles : on the other, a Hercules of 
 brass, by Myron ; with a little altar before each god, to denote the reli- 
 gion and sanctity of the place. There were likewise two other figures, 
 of brass, of two young women, called Canephorse, with baskets on their 
 heads, canning things proper for sacrifice, after the manner of the Athe- 
 nians — the work of Polycletus. These statues were an ornament not 
 only to Heius, but to Messana itself, being known to everybody at Rome, 
 and constantly visited by all strangers, to whom Heius's house was always ' 
 open. The Cupid had been borrowed by C. Claudius, for the decoration 
 of the Forum in his sedileship, and was carefully sent back to Messana ; 
 but Verres, while he was Heius's guest, would never sufi'er him to rest 
 till he had stript his chapel of the gods and the Canephorse ; and, to 
 cover the act from an appearance of robbery, forced Heius to enter them 
 into his accounts, as if they had been sold to him for fifty pounds; 
 whereas, at a public auction in Rome, as Cicero says, they had known one 
 single statue of brass, of a moderate size, sold, a little before, for a thou- 
 sand. Verres had seen likewise, at Heius's house, a suit of curious tapestry, 
 reckoned the best in Sicily, being of the kind which was called attalic, 
 richly interwoven with gold : this he resolved also to extort from Heius, 
 but not till he had secured the statues. As soon, therefore, as he left 
 Messana, he began to urge Heius by letters to send him the tapestry to 
 Agrigentum, for some particular service which he pretended ; but, when 
 he had once got it into his hands, he never restored it. Now Messana, 
 as it is said above, was the only city of Sicily that persevered to the last 
 in the interest of Verres ; and at the time of the trial sent a public testi- 
 monial in his praise, by a deputation of its eminent citizens, of which this 
 very Heius was the chief. Yet, when he came to be interrogated and 
 cross-examined by Cicero, he frankly declared, that though he was obliged 
 to perform what the authority of his city had imposed upon him, yet that 
 he had been plundered by Verres of his gods, which were left to him by 
 his ancestors, and which he never would have parted with on any condi- 
 tions whatsoever, if it had been in his power to keep them. 
 
 " Verres had in his family two brothers, of Cilicia, the one a painter, 
 the other a sculptor, on whose judgment he chiefly relied in his choice of 
 pictures and statues, and all other pieces of art. They had been forced 
 to fly from their country for robbing a temple of Apollo, and were now 
 employed to hunt out everything that was curious and valuable in Sicily, 
 whether of public or private property. These brothers having given Verres 
 notice of a large silver ewer, belonging toPamphilus, of Lilybeum, of most 
 elegant work, made by Boethus, Verres immediately sent for it, and seized 
 it to his own use : and, while Pamphilus was sitting pensive at home 
 lamenting the loss of his rich vessel, the chief ornament of his sideboard, 
 and the pride of his feasts, another messenger came running to him with 
 orders to bring two silver cups also, which he was known to have, adorned 
 with figures in relief, to be shewn to the prsetor. Pamphilus, for fear 
 
802 
 
 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. 
 
 [Ch. 
 
 of greater mischief, took up his cups and carried them away himself: 
 when he came to the palace Verres happened to be asleep, but the 
 brothers were walking in the hall and waiting to receive him ; who, as 
 soon as they saw him, asked for the cups, which he accordingly produced. 
 They commended the work ; whilst he, with a sorrowful face, began to 
 complain that if they took his cups from him he should have nothing of 
 any value left in his house. The brothers, seeing his concern, asked how 
 much he would give to preserve them; in a word they demanded forty 
 crowns ; he offered twenty : but while they were debating, Verres awaked 
 and called for the cups ; which being presently shewn to him, the brothers 
 took occasion to observe that they did not answer to the account that 
 had been given of them, and were but of paltry work, not fit to be seen 
 among his plate: to whose authority Verres readily submitted, and so 
 Pamphilus saved his cups. 
 
 " In the city of Tindaris there was a celebrated image of Mercury, 
 which had been restored to them from Carthage by Scipio, and was wor- 
 shipped by the people with singular devotion, and an annual festival. 
 This statue Verres resolved to have, and commanded the chief magistrate 
 Sopater to see it taken down and conveyed to Messana. But the peo- 
 ple were so inflamed and mutinous upon it, that Verres did not persist 
 in his demand at that time ; but, when he was leaving the place, re- 
 newed his orders to Sopater with severe threats to see his command 
 executed. Sopater proposed the matter to the senate, who universally 
 protested against it : in short, Verres returned to the town, and enquired 
 for the statue ; but was told by Sopater that the senate would not suffer 
 it to be taken down, and had made it capital for any one to meddle with 
 it without their orders. ' Do not tell me,' says Verres, * of your senate 
 and your orders ; if you do not presently deliver the statue, you shall be 
 scourged to death with rods.* Sopater, with tears, moved the affair again 
 to the senate, and related the praetor's threats, but in vain ; they broke 
 up in disorder, without giving any answer. This was reported by Sopater 
 to Verres, who was sitting in his tribunal : it was the midst of winter, 
 the weather extremely cold, and it rained very heavily, when Verres 
 ordered Sopater to be stripped and carried into the market-place, and 
 there to be tied upon an equestrian statue of C. Marcellus, and exposed, 
 naked as he was, to the rain and the cold, and stretched, in a kind of tor- 
 ture, upon the brazen horse ; where he must necessarily have perished if 
 the people of the town, out of compassion to him, had not forced their 
 senate to grant the Mercury to Verres. 
 
 " Young Antiochus, king of Syria, having been at Rome to claim the 
 kingdom of Egypt in right of his mother, passed through Sicily, at this 
 time, on his return home, and came to Syracuse ; where Verres, who knew 
 that he had a great treasure with him, received him with a particular 
 civility; made him large presents of wine and all refreshments for his 
 table, and entertained him most magnificently at supper. The king, 
 pleased with this compliment, invited Verres in his turn to sup with him, 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 303 
 
 when his sideboard was dressed out in a royal manner with his richest 
 plate, and many vessels of solid gold, set with precious stones, among 
 which there was a large jug of wine, made out of an entire gem, with a 
 handle of gold to it. Verres greedily surveyed and admired every piece, 
 and the king rejoiced to see the Roman prsetor so well satisfied with his 
 entertainment. The next morning Yerres sent to the king to borrow some 
 of his choicest vessels, and particularly the jug, for the sake of shewing 
 them, as he pretended, to his own workmen ; all which the king, having 
 no suspicion of him, readily sent. But besides these vessels of domestic 
 use, the king had brought with him a large candlestick or branch for 
 several hghts, of inestimable value, all made of precious stones, and 
 adorned with the richest jewels, which he had designed for an offering to 
 Jupiter Capitolinus ; but, finding the repairs of the capitol not finished, 
 and no place yet ready for the reception of his off'ering, he resolved to 
 carry it back without shewing it to anybody, that the beauty of it might 
 be new and the more surprising when it came to be first seen in that 
 temple. Verres, having got intelligence of this candlestick, sent again to 
 the king to beg by all means that he would favour him with a sight of it, 
 promising that he would not suffer any one else to see it. The king sent it 
 presently by his servants, who, after they had uncovered and shewn it to 
 Verres, expected to carry it back with them to the king; but Verres 
 declared that he could not sufi&ciently admire the beauty of the work, 
 and must have more time to contemplate it ; and obliged them, therefore, 
 to go away and leave it with him. Several days passed, and the king 
 heard nothing from Verres ; so that he thought proper to remind him, by 
 a civil message, of sending back the vessels : but Verres ordered the ser- 
 vants to call again some other time. In short, after a second message, 
 with no better success, the king was forced to speak to Verres himself : 
 upon which Verres earnestly entreated him to make him a present of the 
 candlestick. The king afl&rmed it to be impossible, on the account of his 
 vow to Jupiter, to which many nations were witnesses. Verres then 
 began to drop some threats ; but finding them of no more effect than his 
 entreaties, he commanded the king to depart instantly out of his pro- 
 vince, declaring that he had received intelligence of certain pirates who 
 were coming from his kingdom to invade Sicily. The poor king, finding 
 himself thus abused and robbed of his treasure, went into the great 
 square of the city, and in a public assembly of the people, calling upon 
 the gods and men to bear testimony to the injury, made a solemn dedica- 
 tion to Jupiter of the candlestick, which he had vowed and designed for 
 the capitol, and which Verres had forcibly taken from him.'' 
 
 The following letter of Pliny may shew the intense pleasure which 
 Romans of intelligence took in works of art : 
 
 " I have lately purchased with a legacy that was left me a statue of 
 Corinthian brass. It is small indeed, but well executed, at least if I have 
 any judgment ; which most certainly in matters of this sort, as perhaps in 
 
.304 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 all others, is extremely defective. However, I think I have a taste to 
 discover the beauties of this figure : as it is naked, the faults, if there be 
 any, as well as the perfections, are more observable. It represents an old 
 man in a standing posture. The bones, the muscles, the veins, and 
 wrinkles, are so strongly expressed, that you would imagine the figure to 
 be animated. The character is well preserved throughout every part of 
 the body : the hair is thin, the forehead broad, the face shrivelled, the 
 throat lank, the arms languid, the breast fallen, and the belly sunk ; as the 
 whole turn and air of the figure behind is expressive of old age. It 
 appears to be antique from the colour of the brass. In short, it is a per- 
 formance so highly finished as to merit the attention of the most curious, 
 and to afford at the same time pleasure to the most common observer : 
 and this induced me, who am a mere novice in this art, to buy it. But 
 I did so, not with any intent of placing it in my own house (for I have 
 nothing of that kind there), but with a design of fixing it in some conspi- 
 cuous place in my native province, perhaps in the temple of Jupiter : for 
 it is a present well worthy of a temple and a god. I desire, therefore, 
 you would, with that care which you always execute my requests, give 
 immediate orders for a pedestal to be made for it. I leave the choice 
 of the marble to you, but let my name be engraven upon it, and, if you 
 think proper, my titles. I will send the statue by the first opportu- 
 nity ; or possibly (which I am sure you will like better) I may bring it 
 myself: for I intend, if I can find leisure, to make an excursion to you. 
 This is a piece of news which I know you will rejoice to hear ; but you 
 will soon change your countenance when I tell you my visit will be only 
 for a few days : for the same business that now detains me here, will pre- 
 vent my making a longer stay. Farewell." 
 
 The celebrated epistle of Catullus to Csesar concerning Mamurra, 
 referred to in a former chapter, has especial reference to Mamurra who 
 attended Csesar in his campaigns, glutting himself with the plunder of the 
 provinces, and then lavishing his hoards for the most profligate purposes. 
 Juvenal has declaimed on this subject of province-plunder with his accus- 
 tomed energy: 
 
 Non idem gemitus olim, neque vulnus erat par 
 Damnorum, sociis florentibus, et mode victis. 
 Plena domus tunc omnis, et ingens stabat acervus 
 Nummorum, Spartana chlamys, conchylia Coa; 
 Et cum Parrhasii tabulis, signisque Myronis, 
 Phydiacum vivebat ebur, nee non Polycleti 
 Multus ubique labor: rarae, sine Mentore mensoe 
 Inde Dolabella est, atque hinc Antonius, inde 
 Sacrilegus Verres. Referebant navibus altis 
 Occulta spolia, et plures de pace triumphos. 
 Nunc sociis juga pauca boum, grex parvus equarum 
 Et pater armenti capto eripiatur agello; 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 305 
 
 Ipsi deinde Lares, si quod spectabile signum, 
 Si quis in sedicula Deus unicus. 
 
 When Rome at first our rich allies subdu'd, 
 From gentle taxes noble spoils accru'd ; 
 Each wealthy province, but in part opprest, 
 Thought the loss trivial, and enjoy'd the rest. 
 All treasuries did then with heaps abound ; 
 In every wardrobe costly silks were found ; 
 The least apartment of the meanest house 
 Could all the wealthy pride of art produce ; 
 Pictures which from Parrhasius did receive 
 Motion and warmth ; and statues taught to live ; 
 Some Polyclete's, some Myron's work declar'd, 
 In others Phidias* masterpiece appear'd; 
 And crowding plate did on the cupboard stand, 
 Emboss'd by curious Mentor's artful hand. 
 • Prizes like these oppressors might invite. 
 These Dolabella's rapine did excite. 
 These Antony for his own theft thought fit, 
 Verres for these did sacrilege commit ; 
 And when their reigns were ended, ships full fraught 
 The hidden fruits of their exaction brought, 
 Which made in peace a treasure i-icher far, 
 Than what is plunder'd in the rage of war. 
 
 This was of old ; but our confederates now 
 Have nothing left but oxen for the plough, 
 Or some few mares reserved alone for breed ; 
 Yet lest this provident design succeed. 
 They drive the father of the herd away, 
 Making both stallion, and his pasture, prey. 
 Their rapine is so abject and profane. 
 They nor from trifles, nor from gods refrain; 
 But the poor Lares from the niches seize, 
 If they be little images that please. 
 Such are the spoils which now provoke their theft, 
 And are the greatest, nay, they *re all that 's left. 
 
 Thus may you Corinth or weak Rhodes oppress, 
 Who dare not bravely what they feel redress : 
 (For how can fops thy tyranny controul ? 
 Smooth limbs are symptoms of a servile soul) 
 But trespass not too far on sturdy Spain, 
 Sclavonia, France : thy gripes from those restrain, 
 Who with their sweat Rome's luxury maintain, 
 And send us plenty, while our wanton day 
 Is lavish'd at the circus or the play. 
 
 20 
 
 ■1 
 
306 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 For, should you to extortion be inclin'd, 
 Your cruel guilt will little booty find, 
 Since gleaning Marius has already seiz'd 
 All that from sun-burnt Afric can be squeez'd. 
 
 But above all, " Be careful to withhold 
 Your talons from the wretched and the bold ; 
 Tempt not the brave and needy to despair ; 
 For, though your violence should leave 'm bare 
 Of gold and silver, swords and darts remain. 
 And will revenge the wrongs which they sustain : 
 The plunder'd still have arms." 
 
 Think not the precept I have here laid down 
 A fond, uncertain notion of my own ; 
 No, 'tis a sibyl's leaf what I relate, 
 And fix'd and sure as the decrees of fate. 
 
 XLIII. 
 ON A TOREUTIC CUP. 
 
 Quis labor in phiala ? docti Myos, anne Myronis ? 
 
 Mentoris base manus est, an, Polyclete, tua ? 
 Livescit nulla caligine fusca, nee odit 
 
 Exploratores nubila massa focos. 
 Vera minus flavo radiant electra metallo, 
 
 ' Et niveum felix pustula vincit ebur. 
 Materise non cedit opus : sic alligat orbem, 
 
 Plurima cum tota lampade Luna nitet. 
 Stat caper iEolio Thebani vellere Phryxi 
 
 Cultus : ab hoc mallet vecta fuisse soror. 
 Hunc nee Cinyphius tonsor violaverit, et tu 
 
 Ipse tua pasci vite, Lysee, velis. 
 Terga premit pecoris geminis Amor aureus alls : 
 
 Palladius tenero lotos ab ore sonat. 
 Sic Methymn^o gavisus Arione delphin 
 
 Languida non tacitum per freta vexit onus. 
 Imbuat egregium digno mihi nectare munus 
 
 Non grege de domini, sed tua, Ceste, manus. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 307 
 
 Ceste, decus mensse, misce Setina : videtur 
 
 Ipse puer nobis, ipse sitire caper. 
 Det numerum cyathis instanti litera Rufi : 
 
 Auctor enim tanti muneris ille mihi. 
 Si Telethusa venit, promissaque gaudia portat : 
 
 Servabor dominae, Rufe, triente tuo. 
 Si dubia est, septunce trahar ; si fallit amantem, 
 
 Ut jugulem euras, nomen utrumque bibam. 
 
 The wond'rous form could Mys', or Myron's art, 
 Or, Mentor's, thine, or Polyclete's impart ? 
 Thy spotless cloudless mass must all admire : 
 That, far from dreading, dares the test of fire. 
 Electrum radiates less a golden stream : 
 The polisht elephant may rudeness seem. 
 The rich materials, bright as lunar beam, 
 When, with the work compar'd, appear but mean. 
 Forth springs the goat, th' ^olic fleece unshorn, 
 On whom poor Helle better had been borne. 
 The dire Cinyphian ne'er had shorn his hair ; 
 Nor, dear dissolver of each mortal care, 
 Hadst thou denied this goat to crop thy vine. 
 Or fancied him a foe to thee or thine. 
 With winged Love behold the bestial crown'd ; 
 Hear from his mouth the lote Palladian sound. 
 Such joy Arion to the fish convey'^d, 
 When through the stilly main the rider play'd. 
 The precious boon with the nectareous dew, 
 No vulgar lips, but, Cestus, thine imbue. 
 Then with the blended Setian bid it mount : 
 The boy and goat thirst for that mantling fount. 
 Who should the numeral of that goblet name. 
 But he from whom the peerless goblet came ? 
 
 The translation by Elphinstone, a little modified, concludes with a re- 
 ference to the drinking customs of the Romans, whereby the poet engages, 
 under certain circumstances, to drink the number of cyathuses equivalent 
 to the number of letters in the donor's ^roewomen, under others, those of his 
 nomen, and under certain untoward events, to console himself by drinking 
 both names. In another epigram, Martial complains, that for wanting of 
 
 20—2 
 
308 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 any lady visiting him whose name he could drink, he was obliged, 
 before going to bed, to drink the letters of the name of Somnus. The 
 Roman Sextarius was equivalent in liquids to the as in solids, and was 
 similarly divided, the cyathus being equivalent to the uncial or ounce. 
 So that to drink the two names, Instantius Rufus, would take fifteen 
 cyathi, that is to say, a full sextarius, and a quadrans or fourth. This, 
 and other drinking customs, as the casting of dice for the rulership of 
 the cups, are illustrated in a very agreeable manner in the 10th scene of 
 Bekker's Gallus, entitled " The Banquet." Butler, in Hudibras, alludes 
 to the practice of drinking names : 
 
 I'll carve your name on barks of trees 
 
 With true-loves-knots, and flourishes ; 
 
 Drink every letter on't in stum. 
 
 And make it brisk champaign become. 
 
 Horace, although, in his Odes, he is full of vivacity when dwelling on 
 banqueting laws, in his Epistles he expatiates on the superior enjoyment 
 of a table, at which rational conversation is the fashion of the place, and 
 whence all insane rules (legibus insanis) of drinking are discarded. 
 
 It appears from this epigram, and from other authorities, that eminent 
 statuaries, as Myron, and Polycletus, were also famous for toreutic. The 
 electrum spoken of, was a metal consisting of gold, and one-fifth part 
 silver : it was supposed to reflect the light of a lamp more brilliantly than 
 silver. It had also attributed to it, like the modern glass of Venice, the 
 power of detecting poison. 
 
 With regard to the Setine and other Roman wines, and the mixing of 
 wines, there is a fund of information in Dr Smith's Dictionary, art. Vinum, 
 and in Bekker's Gallus. Before the time of Augustus, the Csecuban was 
 the most prized wine. During the reign of Augustus, and afterwards, the 
 Setine held the first rank : the second rank was held by the Falernian : 
 in the third rank were the Albanian, Massic, Galenic, Formianum, Sur- 
 rentinum. 
 
 Juvenal, in his first Satire, alludes to the particular device of a goat 
 executed in toreutic on a cup, and standing out from it in bold relief. 
 Anacreon sings of many pretty devices on drinking-cups. The following 
 classical description of an ancient vase is by Keats : 
 
 Thou still unravish'd bride of Quietness ! 
 
 Thou foster-child of Silence and slow Time, 
 Sylvan historian, who canst thus express ; 
 
 A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme : 
 What, leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape 
 
 Of deities or mortals, or of both. 
 In Tempe or the dales of Arcady ? 
 
 What men or gods are these ? What maidens loth ? 
 What mad pursuit ? What struggle to escape ? 
 
 What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy? 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 309 
 
 Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard 
 
 Are sweeter ; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on ; 
 Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd. 
 
 Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone : 
 Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave 
 
 Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare ; 
 Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss. 
 Though winning near the goal — yet, do not grieve ; 
 
 She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bUss, 
 For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair! 
 
 Ah, happy, happy boughs ! that cannot shed 
 
 Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu ; 
 And, happy melodist, unwearied, 
 
 For ever piping songs for ever new ; 
 More happy love ! more happy, happy love ! 
 
 For ever warm and still to be enjoy*d. 
 For ever panting and for ever young ; 
 All breathing human passion far above. 
 
 That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd, 
 A burning forehead, and a parching tongue. 
 
 Who are these coming to the sacrifice ? 
 
 To what green altar, O mysterious priest, 
 Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies, 
 
 And all her silken flanks with garlands drest ? 
 What little town by river or sea-shore. 
 
 Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel. 
 Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn ? 
 And, little town, thy streets for evermore 
 
 Will silent be ; and not a soul to tell 
 Why thou art desolate, can e'er return. 
 
 O Attic shape ! Fair attitude ! with brede 
 
 Of marble men and maidens overwrought, 
 With forest branches and the trodden weed ; 
 
 Thou, silent form ! dost tease us out of thought 
 As doth eternity : Cold Pastoral ! 
 
 When old age shall this generation waste. 
 Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe 
 Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou sa/st, 
 
 " Beauty is truth, truth beauty/' that is all 
 Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. 
 
310 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XLIY. 
 
 A ROMAN BAZAAR. 
 
 In septis Mamurra diu multumque vagatus ; 
 
 Hie ubi Roma suas aurea vexat opes, 
 Inspexit moUes pueros, oculisque comedit : 
 
 Non hos, quos primae prostituere cass3 ; 
 Sed quos arcanas servant tabulata catastae, 
 
 Et quos non populus, nee mea turba videt. 
 Inde satur, mensas, et opertos exuit orbes, 
 
 Expositumque alte pingue poposeit ebur : 
 Et testudineum mensus quater hexaelinon, 
 
 Ingemuit eitro non satis esse suo. 
 Consuluit nares, an olerent sera Corinthon : 
 
 Culpavit statuas et, Polyclete, tuas. 
 Et turbata brevi questus erystallina vitro, 
 
 Myrrhina signavit, seposuitque decern. 
 Expendit veteres calathos, et si qua fuerunt 
 
 Poeula Mentorea nobilitata manu : 
 Et virides pieto gemmas numeravit in auro, 
 
 Quidquid et a nivea grandius aure sonat. 
 Sardonychas veros mensa quassivit in omni, 
 
 Et pretium magnis fecit iaspidibus. 
 Undecima lassus cum jam discederet hora, 
 
 Asse duos calices emit, et ipse tulit. 
 
 Mamurra, having walked a good deal up and down 
 the stalls of the Market, first looks over and feasts his eyes 
 on the slaves ; not those exposed in the public stalls such 
 as poor Martial and people of his condition can think of 
 purchasing, but those kept for rich connoisseurs in private 
 apartments above the shops. 
 
 Thence full, he calls for the round tables down, 
 And t'have the high-placed ivory open shown. 
 And measuring the tortoise beds thrice o'er, 
 As too small for his cypress, groaned sore. 
 Then smells if purely Corinth the brass scent ? 
 And Delian statues give him no content. 
 
 I 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 311 
 
 Complains the crystals mixed with coarser glass, 
 Marks myrrhine cups, and ten aside doth place. 
 Cheapens old baskets, and, if any were 
 Wrought cups by noble Mentor's cunning there. 
 And numbers the green emeralds laid in gold, 
 Or any from the ears that take their hold. 
 Then seeks true gems in table boards most nice, 
 And if rich precious jaspers, asks the price. 
 Tir'd, and departing when the eleventh hour come, 
 He bought two farthing cups, and took them home. 
 
 The translation is by Fletcher, a.d. 1656. The first commodity 
 which attracts Mamurra's notice are the slaves. The more beautiful and 
 expensive were not sold in the market by an auctioneer, but by private 
 contract in shops (tahernce), and kept in inner partitions of the shops, 
 or in a higher story. They were placed on a wooden scaffold (catasta), 
 where they might be seen and handled. We read in the classics of about 
 £4. 17s. 6d, ^64, and £800, being given for a single slave ; and of a slave 
 being sold to defray the expence of a single dish, which Martial designates 
 as cannibalism. 
 
 The tdbleSi which are the next object of Mamurra's attention, were 
 among the most expensive articles of Roman furniture. The orhes, or 
 round tables, cost immense sums of money. Pliny relates that Cicero 
 had paid for one which was extant in his time, 1,000,000 sesterces. The 
 most costly specimens were those cut off near the root, not only because 
 the tree was broadest there, but on account of the wood being dappled 
 and speckled, so as sometimes to resemble parsley-leaves, the skins of 
 leopards, or peacocks' tails. These orhes, unlike other tables, were not 
 provided with several feet, but rested on an ivory column, sometimes in 
 imitation of lions' or tigers' feet. 
 
 The hexadinon was a semicircular sofa adapted to a round table, and 
 capable of holding six persons. Mamurra makes an excuse for not pur- 
 chasing the hexadinon, after measuring it four times, that it was a little 
 too small for his cedar-table at home. 
 
 Corinthian brass, or bronze, held the first place among brasses in the 
 estimation of the ancients. Some pretended that it was an alloy made 
 accidentally by the melting and running together of various metals at the 
 burning of Corinth by Mummius. Pliny the elder particularizes several 
 classes of Corinthian brass, one of which was white from the quantity of 
 silver, and another yellow, from gold predominating among the ingredi- 
 ents : a third kind of note was the liver-coloured brass. There was 
 also the bronze of Delos, used by Myron, and that of ^Egina, used by 
 Polycletus. No ancient works in brass (or copper and zinc) have yet been 
 discovered. Those in bronze are found to be composed for the most part 
 
312 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 of copper and tin (Smith's Diet. art. jEs). Pliny says that the composi- 
 tion of Corinthian brass was a secret lost in his time. 
 
 The myrrhine vases were first introduced into Rome by Pompey the 
 Great, who dedicated cups of this manufacture to Jupiter Capitolinus. 
 Pliny mentions that 70 talents were given for a myrrhine cup holding 
 three sextarii, and he speaks of a myrrhine trulla which cost 300 talents. 
 Nero gave this sum for a myrrhine drinking- cup. There has been much 
 diflference of opinion concerning the material of which myrrhine vessels 
 were composed. Most recent writers incline to think that they were true 
 Chinese porcelain. Pliny mentions that they were principally valued on 
 account of their variety of colours. Martial writes : 
 
 Nos bibimus vitro, tu myrrha, Pontice. Quaere ? 
 Prodat perspicuus ne duo vina, calix. 
 
 " We drink out of glass, our host out of a myrrhine cup. Why ? Be- 
 cause he does not wish his cup to betray that he is drinking better wine 
 than we are in ours." 
 
 Myrrhine cups were supposed to improve the flavour of Falernian wine. 
 Si calidum potas, ardenti myrrha Falerno 
 Convenit, et melior fit sapor inde mero. 
 
 Sir W. Gell, in his Pompeiana, states that the porcelain of the East 
 was called Mirrah di Smyrna so late as a.d. 1555. 
 
 With regard to the crystal and glass vessels, the Museo Borbonico at 
 Naples, which contains the relics of Herculaneum and Pompeii, includes 
 2400 specimens of ancient glass, many of which are remarkable for their 
 graceful forms and brilliant colours, and are of the most delicate and com- 
 plicated workmanship. Dr Smith, in his Dictionary, art, Vitrum, gives a 
 picture of an ancient glass-cup. It has an inscription, Bibe, Vivas multos 
 annos, " Drink, and may you live many years." The characters of the 
 inscription are green, the colour of the cup resembles opal, shades of red, 
 white, yellow, and blue, predominating in turn, according to the angle at 
 which the light falls upon it. The cup is surrounded with a blue net- 
 work in glass, not soldered to it, but the whole cut out of a solid mass, 
 after the manner of a Cameo. The Portland Vase, discovered about 
 three hundred years ago in a marble coffin, is composed of dark-blue 
 glass of a very rich tint, on the surface of which are delineated in relief 
 several minute and elaborately-wrought figures of opaque white enamel. 
 In the time of Nero, a pair of moderate-sized glass-cups with handles 
 sometimes cost d£50. A story is related by Petronius, Dion, and Pliny, 
 that a coppersmith had discovered the art of making glass-vessels of such a 
 pliant hardness, that they were no more to be broken than gold or silver : 
 that, being sent for by Tiberius, he threw one of his glass-vessels on the 
 paved floor, whereupon it was not broken, though it bulged a little. He 
 took a hammer out of his pocket, and hammered the vessel, as though it 
 had been a brass kettle, and so removed all signs of the bruise it had re- 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. SI 3 
 
 ceived. Tiberius asked him if any one knew how to make malleable 
 glass besides himself ; he answered that he had imparted the art to no 
 one. On which the emperor immediately ordered his head to be struck 
 off : " For," said he, " if this art be once known, gold and silver will be of 
 no more esteem than dirt." 
 
 Polycletus's statues, and Mentor's toreutic works, have been mentioned 
 in a previous page. In regard to crystal cups, and amber ornaments, 
 and the precious stones known to the ancients, and the ingenious modes 
 of counterfeiting them, a multitude of particulars will be found in the 
 37th book of Pliny's Natural History. He relates many curious anec- 
 dotes connected with these rarities. Of this nature are the descrip- 
 tion of the jewels displayed at Pompey's third triumph, including the 
 image of himself in pearls : Fourscore sesterces given for a calcedony 
 cup, notwithstanding a piece of the brim had been bit out in a fit of gal- 
 lantry, after a lady had touched it with her lips : A sonnet by Nero, in 
 which he compares the hair of Poppsea to amber : The full-length figures 
 of a man and woman in amber : A calcedony cup of the value of three 
 hundred thousand sesterces destroyed by its owner, when about to be put 
 to death, lest the emperor should seize it : Two crystal drinking-cups of 
 immense value dashed to pieces by Nero in a fit of imperial rage. 
 
 Mamurra quits the market at the eleventh hour, which, in the summer 
 solstice would commence, in modem hours, at 5hrs. 2 m., and, in the winter 
 solstice, at 2hrs. 58 m. ; in short, he spent the whole day in choosing and 
 cheapening, and concluded with buying two insignificant cups, which, for 
 want of a slave, he carried away himself. The bathos with which the 
 epigram concludes is a favoui'ite species of wit with modern epigramma- 
 tists, of which several pleasing specimens may be seen in Lord Kaimes's 
 Elements of Criticism. 
 
 XLV. 
 
 THE GREAT TUN AT HEIDELBURG. 
 
 Nunc, age, fas magni vas instar visere montis 
 
 Divina structum Palladis arte cadum. 
 Nobilis author adest, urbs quern Landavia misit, 
 
 Fine potita suo gloria ponit opus. 
 Ponit opus, decus acre Ducum, non quale priorum, 
 
 iEtas vel vidit, nulla vel ausa manus. 
 Non, mihi si prgestent mirandam Daedalus artem 
 
 Ipse, Syracusius vel faber ille suam : 
 
314 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Immanem molem satis hanc deseribere possem, 
 
 Ante suo volvam pondus onusque loco. 
 Laude opus hoc dignum est : oculos cum caetera pascant, 
 
 Spectaclum ventres hoc satiare potest. 
 
 Now it is lawful to behold this Tun made by the 
 divine art of Minerva, after the similitude of a huge moun- 
 tain. A native of Landavit erected this noble memorial 
 of the magnificence and glory of our royal Dukes, such as 
 no former age has seen, no former hand has dared to 
 attempt. But had I the mechanical skill of Daedalus, 
 or even of the God Vulcan himself, I could give no ade- 
 quate description of the wonders of this Tun. It would be 
 an undertaking as rash and vain for me, as if I were to en- 
 deavour, by my own strength, to move it out of its place. 
 A peculiar merit, however, of this surprising Tun I will not 
 omit : it is, that whereas other extraordinary spectacles 
 entertain only the eyes, this Tun administers also to the 
 enjoyments of the inner man. 
 
 The verses on the Tun are more than a hundred in number, but 
 contain very little description : there is, however, an exuberance of classi- 
 cal illustrations, as, for example, such as are derived from the Trojan Horse, 
 and from Diogenes's Tub. The following description of the Great Tun 
 by Coryat, in his Crudities, is amusing. Though it was the fashion in the 
 time of King James to laugh at this traveller, perhaps no Englishman of 
 his time had seen so much as the Leg-stretcher (so he was called) of 
 foreign parts, and few could give more graphic descriptions of what they 
 saw. His book contains a picture of the Tun, with himself standing upon 
 it in the attitude of drinking a glass of Rhenish wine from the contents 
 of the Tun : 
 
 " But some of the gentlemen of the prince's family did suflEiciently 
 recompence my loss of the sight of these ancient pillars by shewing me a 
 certain piece of work that did much more please my eyes than the sight 
 of those pillars could have done. For it is the most remarkable and 
 famous thing of that kind that I saw in my whole journey, yea, so memo- 
 rable a matter, that I think there was never the like fabric (for that which 
 they shewed me was nothing else than a strange kind of fabric) in all the 
 world, and I doubt whether posterity will ever frame so monstrously 
 strange a thing: it was nothing but a vessel full of wine. This the 
 gentlemen of the coiu-t shewed me after they had first conveyed me into 
 divers wine-cellars, where I saw a wondrous company of extraordinary 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 315 
 
 great vessels, the greatest part whereof was replenished with Rhenish 
 wine, the total number containing one hundred and thirty particulars. 
 But the main vessel above all the rest, that superlative moles unto which 
 I now bend my speech, was shewed me last of all standing alone by itself 
 in a wonderful vast room. I must needs say I was suddenly strooken with 
 no small admiration upon the first sight thereof. For it is such a 
 stupendous mass (to give it the same epitheton that I have done before 
 to the beauty of St Mark's street in Venice) that I am persuaded it will 
 affect the gravest and constantest man in the world with wonder. Had 
 this fabric been extant in those ancient times when the Colossus of Rhodes, 
 the labyrinths of Egypt and Greta, the temple of Diana at Ephesus, the 
 hanging gardens of Semiramis, the tomb of Mausolus, and the rest of 
 those decantated miracles did flourish in their principal glory, I think 
 Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus would have celebrated this rare work 
 with their learned style as well as the rest, and have consecrated the 
 memory thereof to immortality, as a very memorable miracle. For, in- 
 deed, it is a kind of monstrous miracle, and that of the greatest size for 
 a vessel that this age doth yield in any place whatsoever (as I am verily 
 persuaded) under the cope of heaven. Pardon me, I pray thee, (gentle 
 reader) if I am something tedious in discoursing of this huge vessel. For 
 as it was the strangest spectacle that I saw in my travels, so I hope it 
 will not be unpleasant unto thee to read a full descripion of all the par- 
 ticular circumstances thereof: and for thy better satisfaction I have 
 inserted a true figure thereof in this place (though but in a small form) 
 according to a certain pattern that I brought with me from the city of 
 Francfort, where I saw the first type thereof sold. Also I have added an 
 imaginary kind of representation of myself upon the top of the same, in 
 that manner as I stood there with a cup of Rhenish wine in my hand. The 
 room where it standeth is wonderful vast (as I said before), and capa- 
 cious, even almost as big as the fairest hall I have seen in England, and it 
 containeth no other thing but the same vessel. It was begun in the year 
 1589, and ended 1591, one Michael Warner, of the city of Landavia, being 
 the principal maker of the work. It containeth a hundred and two and 
 thirty fuders, three omes, and as msmj Jlrtles. These are peculiar names for 
 certain German measures. Which I will reduce to our English computa- 
 tion. Every /uder countervaileth our tun, that is, four hogsheads, and is 
 worth in Heidelberg fifteen pound sterling. So then those hundred two 
 and thirty fuders are worth nineteen hundred and fourscore pounds of our 
 English money. The ome is a measure whereof six do make a fuder, 
 the three being worth seven pounds ten shillings. The Jlrtle is a measure 
 that countervaileth six of our pottles : every pottle in Heidelberg is worth 
 twelve pence sterling. So the three Jlrtles containing eighteen pottles, 
 are worth eighteen shillings. The total sum that the wine is worth 
 which this vessel containeth, doth amount to nineteen hundred fourscore 
 and eight pounds, and eight odd shillings. This strange news perhaps 
 will seem utterly incredible to thee at the first : but I would have thee 
 
316 
 
 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. 
 
 [Ch. 
 
 believe it. For nothing is more true. Moreover, thou must consider that 
 this vessel is not compacted of boards as other barrels are, but of solid 
 great beams, in number a hundred and twelve, whereof every one is seven 
 and twenty foot long. Also each end is sixteen foot high, and the belly 
 eighteen. It is hooped with wondrous huge hoops of iron (the number 
 whereof is six and twenty), which do contain eleven thousand pound 
 weight. It is supported on each side with ten marvellous great pillars 
 made of timber, and beautified at both the ends and the top with the images 
 of lions, which are the prince's arms, two lions at each end, a fair 
 scutcheon being affixed to every image. The wages that was paid to the 
 workman for his labour (the prince finding all necessary matter for his 
 work, and allowing him his diet), came to two thousand three hundred 
 and fourscore florins of Brabant, each florin being two shillings of our 
 money, which sum amounteth to eleven score and eighteen pounds ster- 
 ling. When the cellarer draweth wine out of the vessel, he ascendeth two 
 several degrees of wooden stairs made in the form of a ladder, which con- 
 tain seven and twenty steps, or rungs, as we call them in Somersetshire, 
 and so goeth up to the top. About the middle whereof there is a bung- 
 hole or a venting orifice, into the which he conveyeth a pretty instrument 
 of some foot and half long, made in the form of a spout, wherewith he 
 draweth up the wine, and so poureth it after a pretty manner into the 
 glass or &c. out of the same instrument. I myself had experience of this 
 matter. For a gentleman of the court accompanied me to the top, toge- 
 ther with one of the cellarers, and exhilarated me with two sound draughts 
 of Rhenish wine : for that is the wine that it containeth. But I advise 
 thee, gentle reader, whatsoever thou art that intendest to travel into 
 Germany, and perhaps to see Heidelberg, and also this vessel before thou 
 comest out of the city; I advise thee (I say) if thou dost happen to 
 ascend to the top thereof to the end to taste of the wine, that in any case 
 thou dost drink moderately, and not so much as the sociable Germans will 
 persuade thee unto. For if thou shouldest chance to over-swill thyself 
 with wine, peradventure such a giddiness will benumb thy brain, that 
 thou wilt scarce find the direct way down from the steep ladder without 
 a very dangerous precipitation. Having now so copiously described unto 
 thee the vessel, I have thought good to add unto this my poor description, 
 certain Latin verses made by a learned German in praise of the vessel, 
 which I have selected out of the copy that I bought at Frankfort, being 
 printed at the University of Leyden in Holland, by one Henry Hsestenius, 
 Anno 1608, and dedicated to a certain nobleman called Hippolytus, lord 
 president of the prince's chancery court. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 317 
 
 XLVI. 
 
 A TREE CUT INTO THE SHAPE OF A BEAR. 
 
 Proxima centenis ostenditur ursa columnis, 
 
 Exornant fictse qua Platanona ferae. 
 Hujus dum patulos alludens tentat hiatus 
 
 Pulcher Hylas ; teneram mersit in ora manum. 
 Vipera sed cseco scelerata latebat in ore, 
 
 Vivebatque anima deteriore fera. 
 Non sensit puer esse dolos, nisi dente recepto, 
 
 Dum perit. o facinus, falsa quod ursa fuit ! 
 
 Near the hundred columns, where is a garden orna- 
 mented with counterfeit wild beasts cut in box and cypress, 
 a hear is very conspicuous. Young Hylas, in sport, put his 
 hand into the gaping mouth of this leafy monster. Now a 
 viper was lurking in this hole, which, upon being disturbed, 
 stung the youth. What a pity it was that this bear was 
 not a real one ! 
 
 The epigram illustrates a letter of Pliny, cited in the last chapter, and 
 several notices in the works of the elder Pliny, concerning ornamental 
 gardening among the Romans. On this subject there is a lively disqui- 
 sition in Bekker's Gallus, in Scene V, entitled " The Villa," and Excursus 
 II. to Scene V, entitled " The Gardens," including an account of the forcing 
 of roses in greenhouses, and of flower-pots in windows, both alluded to by 
 Martial. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 GROWTH OF A MAN OF WAR FROM AN ACORN. 
 
 Exigua crescit de glande altissima quercus, 
 Et tandem patulis surgit in astra comis ; 
 
 Dumque anni pergunt, crescit latissima moles ; 
 Mox secat sequoreas bellica navis aquas : 
 
 Angliacis hinc fama, salus hinc nascitur oris, 
 Et glans est nostri prsesidium imperii. 
 
S18 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ck. 
 
 From a small acorn, see ! the oak arise, 
 Supremely tall, and towering in the skies ! 
 Queen of the groves ! her stately head she rears, 
 Her bulk increasing with increasing years : 
 Now moves in pomp, majestic, o'er the deep. 
 While in her womb ten thousand thunders sleep. 
 
 The reader may think that the point with which the original concludes, 
 that the " Palladium of our Empire is an acorn," is better aimed than 
 the "ten thousand thunders" of Pitt. 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 ON A SHEPHERD'S FIRST SIGHT OF A SHIP. 
 
 Tanta moles labitur 
 Fremebunda ex alto, ingenti sonitu et spiritu 
 Prse se undas volvit, vortices vi suscitat, 
 Ruit prolapsa, pelagus respergit, reflat : 
 Ita nunc interruptum credas nimbum volvier, 
 Num quod sublime ventis expulsum rapi 
 Saxum, aut procellis, vel globosos turbines 
 Exsistere ictos, undis concursantibus ? 
 Num quas terrestres pontus strages conciet ; 
 Aut forte Triton fuscina evertens specus 
 Subter radices penitus undanti in freto 
 Molem ex profundo saxeam ad coelum vomit. 
 
 For, as we stood there waiting on the strond, 
 Behold, an huge great vessell to us came, 
 Dauncing upon the waters back to lond, 
 As if it scornd the daunger of the same ; 
 Yet was it but a wooden frame and fraile, 
 Glewed togither with some subtile matter. 
 Yet had it armes and wings, and head and taile, 
 And life to move it selfe upon the water. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 319 
 
 Strange thing ! how bold and swift the monster was, 
 That neither ear'd for wynd, nor haile, nor raine, 
 Nor swelling waves, but thorough them did passe 
 So proudly, that she made them roare again. 
 
 The Latin is from a fragment of Attius preserved by Cicero : the 
 English is from Spenser's Colin Clout 's come home again. 
 
 xLix. ; 
 
 FRAGMENT OF THE SHIP ARGO. ; 
 
 Fragmentum, quod vile putas et inutile lignum, 
 
 Hsec fuit ignoti prima carina maris. \ 
 
 Quam nee Cyanese quondam potuere ruinse j 
 
 Frangere, nee Scythici tristior ira freti. ^ 
 
 Secula vicerunt : sed quamvis cesserit annis, i 
 
 Sanctior est salva parva tabella rate. t, 
 
 The bit of wood, you so disdain, 
 Was the first keel that plough'd the main. 
 Her not conflicting rocks could crash : 
 She mock'd the hyperborean lash. 
 Regardless thus of every rage. 
 She yielded to all-conquering age, 
 And the small remnant of a slip. 
 Became more sacred than a ship. 
 
 The ancient Romans afforded several examples for the religious relics 
 of the modern Romish Church: for, besides that in the text, was the 
 Rumenal tree, mentioned by Tacitus, which was supposed to have sheltered 
 Romulus and Remus, and the straw-roofed cottage on the Capitoline Hill, 
 mentioned by Vitruvius, in which Romulus and Remus were supposed to 
 have been brought up. 
 
 Tacitus writes : " This year the tree, called Rumenalis, (Rumen was an 
 old word for dug of the she- wolf, JEneid, Lib. viii.) which stood in the 
 place assigned for public elections, and eight hundred and forty years 
 before had given shelter to the infancy of Romulus and Remus, began to 
 wither in all its branches : the sapless trunk seemed to threaten a total 
 
820 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 decay. This was considered as a dreadful prognostic, till the new buds 
 expanding into leaf, the tree recovered its former verdure." The two 
 sacred Triremes of Athens, and the Bucentaur, belonging to the Doge of 
 Venice, have enjoyed great traditional celebrity, raising a subtle point 
 whether a ship's identity was preserved or lost after an indefinite number 
 of repairs. Howell, in his Letters^ written in the reign of James I., gives 
 an account of the Bucentaur, which he says was then three hundred 
 years old. Coryat's description, in his Crudities, of the Bucentaur, is not 
 very commonly read : 
 
 " The fairest galley of all is the Bucentoro, the upper parts whereof 
 in the outside are richly gilt. It is a thing of marvellous worth, the 
 richest galley of all the world ; for it cost one hundred thousand crowns, 
 which is thirty thousand pound sterling. A work so exceeding glorious, 
 that I never heard or read of the like in any place of the world, these only 
 excepted, viz. that of Cleopatra, which she so exceeding sumptuously 
 adorned with cables of silk and other passing beautiful ornaments ; and 
 those that the Emperor Caligula built with timber of cedar, and poops 
 and sterns of ivory. And lastly, that most incomparable and peerles ship 
 of our gracious prince, called the Prince Royal, which was launched at 
 Woolwich about Michaelmas last, which indeed doth, by many degrees, 
 surpass this Bucentoro of Venice, and any ship else (I believe) in Christ- 
 endom. In this galley the Duke launcheth into the sea some few miles 
 off, upon the Ascension Day, being accompanied with the principal sena- 
 tors and patricians of the city, together with all the ambassadors and per- 
 sonages of greatest mark that happen to be in the city at that time. At 
 the higher end there is a most sumptuous gilt chair for the Duke to sit in, 
 at the back whereof there is a loose board to be lifted up, to the end 
 he may look into the sea through that open space, and throw a golden 
 ring into it, in token that he doth, as it were, betroth himself unto the sea, 
 as the principal lord and commander thereof. A ceremony that was first 
 instituted in Venice by Alexander, the third pope of that name, when 
 Sebastianus Zanus was Duke, 1174, unto whom he delivered a golden ring 
 from his own finger, in token that the Venetians having made war upon 
 the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, in defence of his quarrel, discomfited his 
 fleet at Istria, and he commanded him for his sake to throw the like golden 
 ring into the sea every year, upon Ascension Day, during his life, establish- 
 ing this withal, that all his successors should do the like; which custom 
 hath been ever since observed to this day. The rowers of the galley sit in 
 a lower part thereof, which are in number forty-two ; the images of five 
 slaves are most curiously made in the upper part of the galley, and richly 
 gilt, standing near to the Duke's seat on both sides. A little from them 
 are made twenty gilt statues more in the same row where the other five 
 stand, which is done at both sides of the galley. And whereas there are 
 two long benches made in the middle for great personages to sit on, over 
 each of these benches are erected ten more gilt images, which do yield a 
 wondrous ornament to the galley. At the end of one of these middle 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 32J 
 
 benches is erected the statue of George Castriot, alias Scanderbeg, Despot 
 of Servia, and King of Epirus, who fought many battles for the faith of 
 Christ and the Christian religion, against the Turks, of whom he got many 
 glorious victories. His statue is made all at length, according to the full 
 proportion of a man's body, and sumptuously gilt. Right opposite unto 
 which there standeth the image of Justice, which is likewise gilt, at the 
 very end of the galley, holding a sword in her hand. This galley will 
 contain twelve hundred and twenty persons. At each end without are 
 made two exceeding great winged lions as beautifully gilt as the rest." 
 
 But no nautical relic has, perhaps, been more zealously celebrated 
 than the ship in which Drake sailed round the world ; part of which was 
 converted into an arm-chair, and so preserved among the antiquities be- 
 longing to the University of Oxford. Cowley wrote two poems on the 
 subject ; in the following, the poet supposes himself sitting and drinking 
 in the chair : 
 
 Cheer up, my mates ! the wind does fairly blow ; 
 
 Clap on more sail, and never spare ; 
 
 Farewell all lands, for now we are 
 
 In the wide sea of drink, and merrily we go. 
 
 Bless me ! 't is hot : another bowl of wine. 
 
 And we shall cut the burning line. 
 
 Hey, boys ; she scuds away, and by my head I know 
 
 We round the world are sailing now. 
 
 What dull men are those who tarry at home, 
 
 When abroad they might wantonly roam, 
 
 And gain such experience, and spy too 
 
 Such countries and wonders as I do ? 
 
 But, prithee, good pilot ! take heed what you do. 
 
 And fail not to touch at Peru ; 
 
 With gold there the vessel we'll store, 
 
 And never, and never be poor; 
 
 No, never be poor any more. 
 
 What do I mean ? what thoughts do me misguide ? 
 
 As well upon a staff may witches ride 
 
 Their fancied journeys in the air. 
 
 As I sail round the ocean in this chair : 
 
 'Tis true ; but yet this chair which here you see. 
 
 For all its quiet now and gravity. 
 
 Has wander'd and has travell'd more 
 
 Than ever beast, or fish, or bird, or ever tree, before. 
 
 In ev'ry air and ev'ry sea 't has been, 
 
 'T has compass'd all the earth, and all the heav'ns 't has seen. 
 
 Let not the Pope's itself with this compare ; 
 
 This is the only universal chair, 
 
 21 
 
322 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 The pious wanderer's fleet, sav'd from the flame, 
 
 (Which did the relics still of Troy pursue, 
 
 And took them for its due) 
 
 A squadron of immortal nymphs became; 
 
 Still with their arms they row about the seas. 
 
 And still make new and greater voyages : 
 
 Nor has the first poetic ship of Greece 
 
 (Though now a star she so triumphant shew. 
 
 And guide her sailing successors below, 
 
 Bright as her ancient freight, the shining Fleece) 
 
 Yet to this day a quiet harbour found, 
 
 The tide of heaven still carries her around : 
 
 Only Drake's sacred vessel, which before 
 
 Had done, and had seen more 
 
 Than those have done or seen, 
 
 Ev^n since they goddesses and this a star has been. 
 
 As a reward for all her labour past. 
 
 Is made the seat of rest at last. 
 
 Let the case now quite alter'd be. 
 
 And as thou went'st abroad the world to see. 
 
 Let the world now come to see thee. 
 
 The world will do't ; for curiosity 
 
 Does, no less than devotion, pilgrims make ; 
 
 And I myself, who now love quiet, too. 
 
 As much almost as any chair can do. 
 
 Would yet a journey take 
 
 An old wheel of that chariot to see 
 
 Which Phaeton so rashly brake : 
 
 Yet what could that say more than these remains of Drake ? 
 
 Great relic ! thou, too, in this port of ease, 
 
 Hast still one way of making voyages ; 
 
 The breath of Fame, like an auspicious gale, 
 
 (The greater trade-wind which ne'er does fail) 
 
 Shall drive thee round the world, and thou shalt run 
 
 As long around it as the sun. 
 
 The streights of Time too narrow are for thee. 
 
 Launch forth into an indiscover'd sea. 
 
 And steer the endless course of vast eternity ; 
 
 Take for thy sail this verse, and for thy pilot me. 
 
IV.] THE ARTS. 32S 
 
 L. 
 
 . THE SPHERE OF ARCHIMEDES. 
 
 Jupiter in parvo cum cerneret sethera vitro, 
 
 Kisit, et ad Superos talia verba dedit. 
 Hoecine mortalis progressa potentia eurae ? 
 
 Jam meus in fragili luditur orbe labor. 
 Jura poli, rerumque fidem, legesque Deorum 
 
 Ecce Syracosius transtulit arte senex. 
 Inelusus variis famulatur spiritus astris, 
 
 Et vivum eertis motibus urget opus. 
 Percurrit proprium mentitus Signifer annum 
 
 Et simulata novo Cynthia mense redit. 
 Jamque suum volvens audax industria mundum, 
 
 Gaudet, et humana sidera mente regit. 
 Quid falso insontem tonitru Salmonea miror ? 
 
 JEmula naturaB parva reperta manus. 
 
 When Jove Arehimedes's sphere survey'd, 
 He smil'd, and to the heav'nly dwellers said, 
 Could mortal cunning such a work devise. 
 In brittle glass, to imitate the skies ? 
 The laws, and rules, and orders of our Heav'n, 
 The Syracusan to his globe has giv'n. 
 Well governed all his various stars appear, 
 And whirl, in certain motion, round his sphere : 
 His little Sun performs its annual race, 
 And every month his Moon renews her face ; 
 His brittle world the daring artist guides, 
 And o'er the Stars a human mind presides : 
 Salmoneus counterfeited thunder hurl'd, 
 But here is one that counterfeits a World. 
 
 The Latin is from Claudian, the English from Oldys's Epigrams. 
 There is another version in Hawkins's Claudian. 
 
 Cicero makes use of Arehimedes's Sphere to illustrate an argument in 
 his Treatise on the Nature of the Gods. He writes that if this sphere, 
 which exhibited the sun and moon, and the changes of day and night, 
 were taken to the most barbarous countries of the earth, (he instances 
 
 21—2 
 
324 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. IV. 
 
 Britain as the ne plus ultra of barbarism and ignorance), no stupid inha- 
 bitant of those regions would doubt but that contrivance had been 
 employed in producing such an exquisite piece of art. Nevertheless, a 
 large portion of mankind were less just towards nature than to Archi- 
 medes, for whilst they acknowledged Archimedes's skill in imitation, they 
 failed to recognize far greater contrivance and perfection of execution in 
 the thing imitated, in the mechanism of the world. Archimedes's Sphere 
 is alluded to in Ovid's Fastiy vi. 271, and by Lactantius, De Origine 
 Erroris, Lib. n., who mentions that Archimedes's Sphere exhibited the 
 phases of the moon, and the relative motions of all the heavenly bodies ; 
 and the Father of the church argues, that what man can imitate God 
 may have contrived. 
 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 INSCRIPTIONS, 
 
 REGNARD AT THE FROZEN SEA. 
 
 Gallia nos genuit, vidit nos Africa, Gangem 
 Hausimus, Europamque oculis lustravimus omnem, 
 Casibus et variis acti terraque marique 
 Hie tandem stetimus, nobis ubi defuit orbis. 
 
 La France nous a donne la naissance. Nous avons vu 
 I'Afrique, et le Gange, parcouru toute TEurope. Nous 
 avons eu diiFerentes aventures tant par mer que par terre; 
 et nous nous sommes arretes en cet endroit ou le monde 
 nous a manque. 
 
 The Latin inscription was engraved by Regnard, August 22, a. d. 
 1681, on a rock at the top of the mountain Metawara, the extreme 
 point of land bounded by the Frozen Ocean, where he was stopt for 
 want of world. 
 
 n. 
 
 SELDEN'S HOUSE. 
 
 Gratus, Honeste, mihi ; non claudar, inito, sedeque 
 Fur, abeas ; non sum facta soluta tibi. 
 
 Thou'rt welcome, honest friend ; walk in, make free. 
 Thief, get thee gone ; my doors are closed to thee. 
 
326 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 This inscription is carved upon the oak-lintel of Selden's cottage, in 
 the village of Salvington, in Sussex. The Author had occasion to collect 
 some memorials of Selden, and was led to search the Register of the 
 Church of the parish in which the cottage is situated. He found in the 
 Register an entry, " 1584, John, the son of John Selden, the minstrell, 
 was baptised the xxth of December." The identity of the parish, and 
 Christian name, and the circumstance that the date must be somewhere 
 near that of Selden's birth, were almost enough to satisfy him that he 
 had hit the right entry : but when he found " Son of John Selden the 
 minstrell," he immediately recognized the object of his search, for he 
 recollected that when this illustrious character, to whom the constitu- 
 tion of the county is so deeply indebted, and whose learning was the 
 admiration of Europe, was yet a young Oxonian, and was honoured by 
 dining at Sir Robert Alford's table, some person asked the Knight, 
 " Who was that remarkably acute lad at the bottom of the table ?" 
 To which the Squire replied, "He is the son of the minstrell whose 
 fiddle you hear in the hall." 
 
 III. 
 ARIOSTO'S HOUSE. 
 
 Parva, sed apta mihi, sed nuUi obnoxia, sed non 
 Sordida, parta meo sed tamen sere domus. 
 
 This house is small, but it is suited to my wants; it 
 offends no one ; it is not mean, and I built it with my own 
 money. 
 
 On Ariosto being asked why he built a very simple house, after 
 having so beautifully described sumptuous palaces, handsome porticos, 
 and agreeable fountains? — He repHed, "It is much easier to build with 
 words than with stones." 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. 327 
 
 IV. 
 
 GIL BLASTS HOUSE. 
 
 Inveni portum : Spes, et Fortuna, valete ! 
 Sat me lusistis, ludite nunc alios. 
 
 Mine haven's found ; Fortune, and Hope, adieu ! 
 Mock others now, for I have done with you. 
 
 In Dr Wellesley's Polyglot Anthologia there are three English trans- 
 lations of this distich, besides versions in Italian and German. The 
 original was in Greek. In a literary contention between Sir Thomas 
 More and Lily, which they called their Progynmastica, these geniuses 
 vied in translating Greek epigrams into Latin verse. Their translations 
 in the present instance nearly coincide. They differ slightly from the 
 inscription in the text. More has Jam portvm inveni in the first line, 
 and nil mihi vohiscum est, (which is a quotation) in the second line. Lily 
 has, in the second Une, nil mihi vohiscum. 
 
 The Inscription in the text is supposed to have been written in 
 letters of gold over the door of the rural mansion of Gil Bias, when 
 that hero is dismissed, after his labours and dangers, to repose and 
 happiness. Walter Scott, very sensibly as it would seem, expresses a 
 regret that Le Sage, after the first pubhcation of his unrivalled work, 
 was induced to draw Gil Bias forth again from his retreat. It may be 
 observed, by the way, that Walter Scott's description of the last days of 
 Le Sage is a very interesting and afiecting piece of biography. It 
 appears that for some years previous to his death, his mind was in a 
 state of fatuity, except that frequently, about mid-day, the sun, in fine 
 weather, had the effect of partially resuscitating his fallen intellects, 
 when, sometimes for an hour or more, his genius would blaze out with 
 its former vivacity, and then again sink under an echpse. 
 
 The lines in the text are imitated, with the addition of a pleasing 
 sentiment, by Benserade, who inscribed them on the bark of a tree, at his 
 rural retreat. 
 
 Adieu fortune, honneurs, adieu vous et les votres, 
 
 Je viens ici vous oublier ; 
 Adieu toi-meme, amour ! bien plus que tous les autres 
 
 Difficile a congedier. 
 
328 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 V. 
 
 GORHAMBURY. 
 
 (A) 
 Inscription over the Entrance Hall. 
 
 Usee cum perfecit Nicholaus tecta Baconus, 
 
 Elizabeth regni lustra fuere duo : 
 Factus eques, magni custos fuit ille sigilli : 
 
 Gloria sit soli tota tributa Deo. 
 
 Nicholas Bacon completed this edifice in the tenth 
 year of Queen Elizabeth*'s reign. He was created a knight, 
 and was keeper of the Great Seal, Be glory to God alone I 
 
 (B) 
 
 INSCRIPTIONS IN A BANQUETTING HOUSE, 
 
 Hating the Liberal Arts represented on its walls j over them the pic- 
 tures of such eminent characters as had excelled in each; and under 
 them Verses expressive of the benefits resulting from their cultivation. 
 
 GRAMMAR. 
 
 Lex sum Sermonis, linguarum regula certa, 
 Qui me non didicit csetera nulla petat. 
 
 O'er speech I rule, all tongues my laws restrain, 
 "Who knows not me seeks other arts in vain. 
 
 (Pictures of Donatus, Lilly, Priscian). 
 
 ARITHMETIC. 
 
 Ingenium exacuo, numerorum arcana recludo. 
 Qui numeros didicit, quid dedicisse nequit. 
 
 The wit to sharpen, I my secrets hide ; 
 
 These once explor'd, you'll soon know all beside. 
 
 (Pictures of Stifihus, Budseus, Pythagoras). 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. 329 
 
 LOGIC. 
 
 Divide multiplices, res explanoque latentes, 
 Vera exquiro, falsa arguo, cuncta probo. 
 
 I sep'rate things perplex'd, all clouds remove, 
 Truth I search out, show error, all things prove. 
 
 (Pictures of Aristotle, Rodolph, Porphyry, Seton). 
 
 MUSIC. 
 
 Mitigo mcerores, et acerbas lenio curas, 
 Gestiat ut placidis mens hilarata sonis. 
 
 Sorrow I soothe, relieve the troubled mind. 
 And by sweet sounds exhilarate mankind. 
 
 (Pictures of Arion, Terpander, Orpheus). 
 
 RHETORIC. 
 
 Me duce splendescit gratis prudentia verbis, 
 Jamque ornata nitet quae fuit ante rudis. 
 
 By me the force of wisdom is display'd, 
 
 And sense shines most when in my robes array'd. 
 
 (Pictures of Demosthenes, Cicero, Isocrates, Quintilian). 
 
 GEOMETRY. 
 
 Corpora describo, rerum et quo singula pacto 
 Apte sunt formis appropriata suis. 
 
 What bodies are, and all their forms I shew. 
 The bounds of each, and their proportions too. 
 
 (Pictures of Archimedes, Euclid, Strabo, ApoUonius). 
 
 ASTROLOGY. 
 
 Astrorum lustrans cursus, viresque potentes 
 Elicio miris fata futura modis. 
 
 The motions of the starry train, 
 
 And what those motions mean, I do explain. 
 
 (Pictures of Regiomontanus, Haly, Copernicus, Ptolemy). 
 
330 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 It may not be inappropriate to add here Ben Jonson's Birth-Day Ode 
 upon Lord Bacon, as it is classically addressed to the Lav, or Household- 
 Spirit of the mansion in which Bacon was born, whom he supposes to 
 find busy in preparing the celebration of some religious rite : allusion is 
 also made to the founder of Gorhambury. 
 
 Hail, happy Genius of this ancient pile ! 
 
 How comes it all things so about thee smile ? 
 
 The fire, the wine, the men! and, in the midst, 
 
 Thou stand'st as if some mystery thou didst. 
 
 Pardon, I read it in thy face, the day 
 
 For whose returns, and many, all these pray; 
 
 And so do I. This is the sixtieth year. 
 
 Since Bacon, and thy Lord, was bom, and here. 
 
 Son to the grave wise keeper of the seal. 
 
 Fame and foundation of the English weal. 
 
 England's High Chancellor ; the destin'd heir 
 
 In his soft cradle to his father's chair. 
 
 Whose even thread the fates spin round and full. 
 
 Out of their choicest, and their whitest wool ! 
 
 'Tis a brave cause of joy ! let it be known; 
 
 For 't were a narrow gladness kept thy own. 
 
 Give me a deep-crown'd bowl, that I may sing 
 
 In raising him the wisdom of my king. 
 To the list of eminent Astrologers, a modern Poet might have added 
 the names of Lord Burleigh, Lily, (Hudibras's Sidrophel), and Dryden. 
 
 VI. 
 
 EMBLEMS. 
 (A) 
 Multa licet fido Sapiens in peetore condat, 
 Plura avido tamen usque appetit ingenio. 
 
 Though a sage has his mind stored with wisdom, yet 
 he is always craving for fresh knowledge. 
 
 (B) 
 Quid subus atque rosis ? nunquam mens ebria luxu 
 Virtutis studiis esse dicata potest. 
 
 What does the Boar do among roses ? A mind be- 
 sotted with luxury can never appreciate or enjoy the sweets 
 of Virtue. 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. 331 
 
 (C) 
 
 Ericium hie qui ceu gradientem conspicis uvam, ^ 
 Frugi sis, et opes tu qiioque linque tuis. 
 
 Behold the hedgehog covered with grapes that it has 
 plucked from the vines to carry home for its young ones : 
 it has been so industrious first in plucking and then in 
 rolling itself among the grapes, that it has the appearance 
 of a walking vineyard. Imitate the animal's example ; be 
 frugal, and leave behind you a sufficiency for your family. 
 
 The first verses were inscribed under a picture of a Bird of Prey 
 in the air, with a small bird in its talons, whilst it flies in pursuit of some 
 other birds. The second distich is under a picture of a Boar tramphng 
 upon roses. The last is under a picture of a Hedgehog rolled up, 
 having its prickles covered with grapes. 
 
 Emblems, with verses, (generally Latin) to explain them, were very 
 commonly painted on the panels of the closets, cabinets, or oratories in 
 the time of Queen Elizabeth. They were a sort of picture parables, 
 by means of which the Latian Muses strewed many a moral precept 
 in the walks of our forefathers, whichever way they turned their eyes. 
 
 VII. 
 
 STADT-HOUSE AT DELFT. 
 
 Haec domus amat, punit, conservat, honorat, 
 Nequitiem, pacem, scelera, jura, probos. 
 
 This House hates vice, loves peace, swift vengeance flings 
 Impartial upon malefactors' heads : 
 To laws insulted timely succour brings. 
 And glory round the brows of virtue sheds. 
 
 The Latin and English are from Dr Watts's Correspondence. The 
 bold disdain of quantities, and the perplexing task imposed upon the 
 reader of marrying the verbs to their proper substantives, may remind 
 us of a passage in the Scaligeriana : " Les Allemans ne se soucient pas 
 quel vin ils boivent, pourveau qui ce soit vin, ni quel Latin ils parlent^ 
 pourveau que ce soit Latin." 
 
332 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 VIII. 
 THE ARSENAL OF BREST. 
 
 Quae Pelago sese Arx aperit metuenda Britanno, 
 Classibus armandis, omnique accommoda Bello, 
 Praedonum terror, Francis tutela carinis, 
 iEternae Regni excubise, domus hospita Martis, 
 Magni opus est Lodoiei. Hunc omnes omnibus undis 
 Agnoscant Yenti Dominum, et maria alta tremiseant. 
 
 Palais digne de Mars, qui fournis pour armer 
 Cent Bataillons sur terre, et cent Vaisseaux sur mer, 
 De I'Empire des Lys foudroyant corps-de-garde : 
 Que jamais sans palir Corsaire ne regarde : 
 
 De Louis le plus grand des Rois 
 
 Vous estes I'immortel ouvrage. 
 Vents, c'est icy qu'il faut luy rendre hommage, 
 Mer, c'est icy qu'il faut prendre ses loix. 
 
 The Latin is by Santeuil : the French version is by Corneille. 
 
 IX. 
 
 A COLLEGE OF SURGEONS, DsT THE FORM OF AN 
 AMPHITHEATRE. 
 
 Ad csedes hominum prima amphitheatra patebant 
 Hic longum ut discant vivere, nostra patent. 
 
 Si dans les siecles idolatres 
 
 Ces superbes Amphitheatres 
 
 Ou Ton admire encor la grandeur des Romains, 
 
 S'ouvroient pour avancer le trepas des humains 
 
 Cette aveugle fureur ne se voit plus suivie : 
 
 Les nostres sont ouverts pour prolonger la vie. 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. 333 
 
 THE CRIMINAL COURT OF THE CHASTELET. 
 
 Hie PoensD scelerum ultrices posuere Tribunal, 
 Sontibus unde tremor, civibus inde salus. 
 
 De ce terrible Tribunal, 
 
 Des noirs forfaits Tecueil fatal, 
 Themis met tous les jours, du meme coup de foudre, 
 Le Citoyen en paix, et le eoupable en poudre. 
 
 XI. 
 
 THE CLOCK OF THE PALACE OF JUSTICE. 
 
 Tempora labuntur, rapidis fugientibus horis, 
 iEternse hie leges, fixaque jura manent. 
 
 Time glides along, the hours flit away, 
 Justice is fixed, and laws unvarying stay. 
 
 Lord Coke, in his third Institute, relates an anecdote concerning the 
 Clock of Westminster Hall : he writes that " Justice Ingham paid, in 
 the reign of Edward I. eight hundred marks for a fine, for that a poor 
 man being fined thirteen shillings and fourpence, the said Justice, 
 moved with pity, caused the roll to be razed, and made the fine six 
 shillings and eight pence. This case Justice Southcote remembered, 
 when Catlyn, Chief Justice in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, would have 
 ordered the razure of a roll in the like case, which Southcote, one of 
 the Judges of that Court, utterly denied to assent to, and said openly, 
 that ' he meant not to build a Clock-house :* ' for,' said he, ' with the 
 fine that Ingham paid for the like matter, the Clock-house at West- 
 minster was built, and furnished with a Clock, which continueth to this 
 day.* " There has been some scepticism on the subject of this highly 
 authoritative tradition, founded on an opinion that no such striking 
 memento could have been supplied in this country for a century after 
 the reign of Edward I. The Poet in the text might, perhaps, have found 
 a more pointed and truer antithesis in the " Law's delay." 
 
334 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XII. 
 
 INSCRIPTIONS AT THEOBALD'S, IN HONOUR OF JAMES I. 
 AND THE KING OF DENMARK. 
 
 Miraris, eur hospitio te accepimus HoraB, 
 Cujus ad obsequium non satis annus erat ? 
 
 Nempe quod adveniant ingentia gaudia raro, 
 Et quando adveniant vix datur hora frui. 
 
 Are you surprised that we Hours have tendered you 
 hospitality : you, to whom the homage of a Year is not 
 adequate ? The reason is, that great joys seldom come, 
 and when they do come, there is scarce an hour allowed 
 for their fruition. 
 
 Hospitio qui te cepit, famulantibus Horis, 
 Cedere abhinc, nulla eoncomitante, sinit ; 
 
 Nempe omnes Horas veniendi duxit amicas, 
 Sed discedendi nulla Minuta probat. 
 
 The Earl of Salisbury, who had the honour of entertain- 
 ing you as his guest with the aid of the ministering Hours, 
 now suflPers you to depart without one of them in your 
 train : it is because he deemed the Hours of your coming 
 friendly to him ; he does not approve of a single Minute of 
 your departure. 
 
 When the two kings arrived at Theobald's, they found over the porch 
 the effigies of the Three Hours sitting upon clouds : one bore a sun-dial, 
 another a clock, and the third an hour-glass ; they signified justice, law, 
 and peace. Ben Jonson writes in a note that the " Greek names of the 
 Hours were Eunomie, Dice, and Irene (Law, Justice, and Peace). They 
 were fabled to be the daughters of Jupiter and Themis, their station was 
 at the gates of heaven ; and therefore, our author, consonant to poetic 
 story, hath placed them over the porch of the house." The Hours 
 appear to have had the power of speech, and to have thus addressed the 
 sovereigns : 
 
 Enter, long'd-for princes, bless these bow'rs. 
 
 And us, the three, by you made happy Hours. 
 
 We that include all time, yet never knew 
 
 Minute like this, or objects like to you. 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. SS5 
 
 Ben Jonson's Masques and Entertainments have not been sufficiently 
 attended to by writers on the manners of the reigns of James I. and 
 Charles I., and on the domestic habits and private characters of those sove- 
 reigns. The Entertainment at Theobald's abounds more with Latin speeches 
 and inscriptions than others, as it may be collected that the king of Den- 
 mark did not understand English ; whether he understood Latin is not so 
 clear either one way or the other. Sir John Harrington's description of 
 this entertainment would lead us to conjecture that his Danish majesty 
 was less at home in conning " Gems of Latin poetry/' than in dancing 
 with the queen of Sheba, who came on a visit to Solomon, but not being- 
 steady in her walk, upset her offerings over the clothes of the royal Dane. 
 Sir John writes that few of the female allegorical characters performed 
 their parts soberly : 
 
 " Now did appear in rich dress, Faith, Hope, and Charity ; Hope did 
 essay to speak, but wine rendered her endeavours so feeble that she with- 
 drew, and hoped the king would excuse her brevity. Faith was then 
 alone, for I am certain she was not joined with good works, and left the 
 court in a staggering condition. Charity came to the king's feet, and 
 seemed to cover the multitude of sins her sisters had committed ; in some 
 sort she made obeisance, and brought gifts, but said she would return home 
 again, as there was no gift which heaven had not already given his majesty: 
 she then returned to Faith and Hope, who were both sick in the lower 
 hall." Afterwards he mentions, that Victory and Peace made their 
 appearance, and he notices that Peace, " much contrary to her semblance, 
 most rudely made war with her olive-branch, and laid on the pates of 
 those who did oppose her coming." Sir John concludes by observing 
 that " the Danes have again conquered the Britons, for I see no man, or 
 woman either, that can now command himself or herself." 
 
 XIII. 
 THE ARSENAL AT PARIS. 
 
 ^tna hsec Henrico Vuleania tela ministrat ; 
 Tela Giganteos debellatura furores. 
 
 iEtna furnishes to Henry these Vuleanian weapons 
 weapons capable of subduing the fury of giants. 
 
336 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Cii. 
 
 XIV. 
 ORANGERY AT CHANTILLY. 
 
 Hie Hyemes nil juris habent, ver regnat, et sestas 
 Ingredere — aeternas Flora recludet opes. 
 
 Here Winter is devoid of power — Spring and Summer 
 are regnant. Enter — Flora will disclose to you her never- 
 fading treasures. 
 
 Martial has several notices of the hot-houses of the ancient Romans, 
 and he makes particular mention of artificially-forced roses (festinatas 
 rosas). He dwells on the appearance in hot-houses of the grapes which 
 are covered, and yet not concealed from view : 
 
 Condita perspicua vivit vindemia gemma, 
 Et tegitur felix, nee tamen uva latet. 
 
 And he observes on the same appearance of hot-house flowers, as lilies 
 and roses : 
 
 Condita sic puro numerantur lilia vitro. 
 Sic prohibet tenuis gemma latere rosas. 
 
 XV. 
 
 MILTON'S ALCOVE. 
 
 Hie media te luce loco, mediisque diei 
 Stas circumfusus flammis : tentoria figo 
 Haec radiata tibi, Milton ! quia nubila sacro 
 Carmine nulla tuo, comes illustrissime solis ! 
 Sic medio stans sole tuus nitet Uriel, auretim 
 Diffunditque jubar splendens, et lucida tela : 
 Celestes inter coetus pulcherrimus ille, 
 Mortales inter veluti tu maximus omnes. 
 
 Here, mighty Milton ! in the blaze of noon, 
 Amid the broad effulgence, here 1 fix 
 
 I 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. 337 
 
 Thy radiant tabernacle. Nought is dark 
 In thee, thou bright companion of the sun ! 
 Thus thy own Uriel in its centre stands 
 Illustrious, waving glory round him ! he, 
 Fairest archangel of all spirits in heaven, 
 As of the sons of men the greatest thou. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 ASSIGNATION SEAT. 
 
 Nerine Galataea, thymo mihi dulcior Hyblae, 
 Candidior cygnis, hedera formosior alba. 
 Cum primum pasti repetent praesepia tauri, 
 Si qua tui Corydonis habet te cura, venito. 
 
 O Galataea ! than the swans more white. 
 Sweeter than honey, than the roes more light, 
 O, don't forget, if Corydon be dear. 
 To meet him, where, at eve, he '11 seek thee — here. 
 
 This was one of the numerous Inscriptions at the Leasowes, or the 
 Ferme omee of Shenstone, of whom Gray writes, rather cynically, that 
 his "whole philosophy consisted in living, against his will, in retirement, 
 and in a place which his taste had adorned, but which he only enjoyed 
 when people of note came to see and commend it : his correspondence is 
 about nothing else than this place, and his own writings with two or 
 three neighbouring clergymen, who wrote verses also." In the verses 
 appended to Shenstone's works there are several poems eulogistic of the 
 Leasowes. American travellers who are conversant with much of our 
 early literature that is almost forgotten in England, not unfrequently 
 make inquiries after the cultivated grounds, and classical inscriptions of 
 thei Leasowes. Mason, in his poem of The English Garden^ thus apostro- 
 phizes Shenstone, with an intimation that he was a better gardener than a 
 poet: 
 
 Nor, Shenstone, thou 
 
 Shalt pass without thy meed, thou son of peace ! 
 
 Who knewest, perchance, to harmonize thy shades 
 
 Still softer than thy song ; yet was that song 
 
 Nor rude, nor inharmonious, when attun'd 
 
 To pastoral plaint, or tale of slighted love. 
 
 22 
 
338 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 A MAZE. 
 (A) 
 
 Ut semel incautam implicuere negotia mentem, 
 Abripit indeprensus et irremeabilis error, 
 Ni regat oblato stabilis Prudentia filo. 
 
 As soon as the youthful mind becomes entangled in 
 the affairs of the world, it is liable to be misled into irreme- 
 diable errors, unless Prudence give a clew to guide the 
 wanderer through the Labyrinth of life. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Caeca regit filo prudens vestigia Theseus : 
 To Ratio et Pietas, fraus ubi multa, regat. 
 
 The prudent Theseus, by means of a clew, tracked his 
 way through the dark labyrinth of Crete. Let Reason and 
 Piety direct your footsteps through paths where frauds are 
 apt to divert you from the right way. 
 
 (C) 
 
 Ad dextram, ad Isevam, porro, retro, itque reditque, 
 
 Deprensum in laqueo quem labyrinthus habet. 
 Et legit et relegit gressus, sese explicet unde, 
 
 Perplexum quserens unde revolvat iter. 
 Sta modo, respira paulum, simul accipe filum ; 
 
 Certius et melius non Ariadne dabit. 
 Sic te, sic solum, expedies errore: viarum 
 
 Principium invenias, id tibi finis erit. 
 
 From right to left, and to and fro, 
 Caught in a labyrinth, you go, 
 And turn, and turn, and turn again, 
 To solve the mystery, but in vain ; 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. S39 
 
 Stand still and breathe, and take from me 
 A clew, that soon shall set you free ! 
 Not Ariadne, if you meet her. 
 Herself could serve you with a better. 
 You enter'd easily — find where — 
 And make, with ease, your exit there ! 
 
 The first two inscriptions are by Santeuil, the last is by Vincent 
 Bourne, translated by Cowper ; the clew which these two last authors 
 give, is like the recipe for catching a bird by putting salt on its tail. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 WATER-WORKS AT MARLY. 
 
 Sequana jamdudum Neptunia jura perosus. 
 
 Imperils paret jam, Lodoice, tuis. 
 Aspice, ut ad nutum tibi serviat omnibus undis, 
 
 Quo tu cumque vocas nobile flumen, adest. 
 Te propter sese Nereo subducere tentat, 
 
 Et vectigales jam tibi pendit aquas. 
 
 La Seine ne veut plus obeir qu'a tes loix, 
 
 Voy comme tous ses flots dans leur course nouvelle 
 
 Se repandent par tout, ou ta voix les appelle. 
 
 Grand Prince, pour toy seul des tyranniques droits 
 
 Qu'exige 1' Ocean, elle se va soustraire ; 
 
 Et deja d'un tribut fidele et volontaire, 
 
 Elle aime a se soumettre au plus juste des Eois. 
 
 The Machine at Marly was erected by Louis XIV. for the purpose of 
 conveying the water of the Seine to Versailles. 
 
 22—2 
 
340 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 A GROTTO NEAR A STREAM. 
 
 Hsec amat arva Salus, roseis dea pulchra labellis, 
 Isteque sopitam ssepe recessus habet ; 
 
 Si tibi pumicea sit non inventa sub umbra, 
 Insili — et in gelidis invenietur aquis. 
 
 Health, rose-lipped cherub, haunts this spot, 
 
 She slumbers oft in yonder nook ; 
 If in the shade you find her not, 
 
 Plunge — and you'll find her in the brook. 
 
 XX. 
 
 THE FOUNTAIN OF THE BRIDGE OF NOSTRE-DAME. 
 
 Sequana cum primum Kegin93 allabitur Urbi, 
 
 Tardat praecipites ambitiosus aquas. 
 Captus amore loci cursum obliviscitur, anceps 
 
 Quo fluat, et dulces nectit in urbe moras. 
 Hinc varios implens fluctu subeunte canales, 
 
 Fons fieri gaudet, qui modo fiumen erat. 
 
 Que le Dieu de la Seine a d*amour pour Paris ! 
 Des qu'il en pent baiser les rivages cheris, 
 De ses flots suspendus la descente plus douce 
 Laisse douter aux yeux s'il avance ou rebrousse : 
 Lui-mesme a son Canal il derobe ses eaux, 
 Qu'il y fait rejallir par de secrettes veines, 
 Et le plaisir qu'il prend a voir des lieux si beaux, 
 De grand fleuve qu'il est, le transform e en Fontaines. 
 
 The conceit of the Seine arresting its course, and converting part of its 
 water into fountains, in order to gaze more leisurely on the beauties of 
 Paris, seems to have been very popular with the French poets. The 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. 341 
 
 French version is by Coraeille, but several other French versions of the 
 same epigram have been published. Santeuil has lavished prettinesses 
 on all the principal fountains of Paris in Latin verse, which gave occasion 
 to the following distich : 
 
 Santolius docte Parisinos carmine Fontes 
 
 Dum canit, invidit Fons quoque Castalius. 
 
 " Whilst Santeuil celebrates in his learned songs the Parisian Foun- 
 tains, he kindles the envy of the Fountain of Castalia." 
 
 Santeuil was a very eccentric character, and many droll anecdotes are 
 preserved, as well relating to his manners as to his Latin poetry : one of 
 the nimierous epitaphs upon him is the following : 
 
 Ci-git le celebre Santeuil : 
 Poetes et fous, prenez le deuil. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 THE FOUNTAIN DES QUATRE NATIONS, 
 Opposite the Louvee. 
 
 Sequanides flebant imo sub gurgite Nymphae, 
 Cum premerent densae pigra fluenta rates 
 
 Ingentem Luparam nee jam aspectare potestas, 
 Tarpeii cedat cui domus alta Jovis. 
 
 Hue alacres, Rex ipse vocat, succedite Nymphae, 
 Hinc Lupara adverse littore tota patet. 
 
 C'est trop gemir, Nymphes de Seine, 
 Sous le poids des batteaux qui eachent vostre lit, 
 Et qui ne vous laissoient entrevoir qu'avec peine 
 Ce chef-d'oeuvre etonnant, dont Paris s'embellit : 
 
 Dont la France s'enorgueillit. 
 Par une route aisee, aussi-bien qu'impreveue. 
 Plus haut que le rivage un Roy vous fait monter ; 
 
 Qu'avez-vous plus a souhaiter ? 
 Nymphes, ouvrez les yeux, tout le Louvre est en veue. 
 
 The French version is by Comeille. The idea that Louis XTV. took 
 pity on the Seine, because it lay low, and was covered with vessels and 
 
342 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Oh. 
 
 boats, so as to obstruct its view of the Louvre, and consequently converted 
 part of its waters into a fountain, that being so raised it might enjoy a 
 full prospect of the Louvre, is a curious specimen of the conceits and 
 sycophancy which were acceptable to the ears of the Great Monarch. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 THE FOmSTTAm OF PETITS-PERES. 
 
 Quae dat aquas, saxo latet hospita Nympha sub imo 
 Sic tu, cum dederis dona, latere velis. 
 
 La Nymphe qui donne cette eau 
 Au plus creux du rocher se cache : 
 Suivez un example si beau, 
 Donnez, sans vouloir qu'on le sache. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 THE FOUNTAIN OF LA CHARITE. 
 
 Quem posuit Pietas miserorum in commoda Fontem, 
 Instar aquae, largas fundere suadet opes. 
 
 Cette eau, qui se repand pour tant de malheureux, 
 Te dit : Eepans ainsi tes largesses pour eux. 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. 343 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 THE FOUNTAIN OF THE MARKET MAUBERT. 
 
 Qui tot venales populo locus exhibet escas, 
 Sufficit et faciles, ne sitis urat, aquas. 
 
 Pour vous sauver de la faim devorante, 
 Si dans ces lieux on vous vend des secours, 
 Peuples, chez moi, contre la soif brulante, 
 Sans interest, vous en trouvez toujours. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 THE FOUNTAIN OF THE RUE DE RICHELIEU. 
 
 Qui quondam magnum tenuit moderamen aquarum 
 RicheUus, Fonti plauderet ipse novo. 
 
 Armand, qui gouvernoit tout Pempire des eaux, 
 Comme il donnoit le branle aux affaires du Monde, 
 En des lieux si cheris, par des conduits nouveaux 
 Lui-meme avec plaisir verroit couler cette onde. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 THE FOUNTAIN OF THE QUARTIER DES FINANCIERS. 
 
 Auri sacra sitis non larga expletur opum vi 
 Hinc disce seterno fonte levare sitim. 
 
 L'infame soif de For ne scaur oit s'etancher 
 
 Par des richesses perissables ; 
 Homme, pour etre heureux, songe done a ehercher 
 
 La source des biens veritables. 
 
344 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 A FOUNTAIN, IN HONOUR OF QUEEN ANNE AND THE 
 DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. 
 
 Quocunque seterno properatis, flumina, lapsu, 
 Divisis late terris, populisque remotis, 
 Dicite, nam vobis Tamesis narravit et Ister 
 Anna quid imperils potuit, quid Marlburus armis. 
 
 Ye active streams, where'er your waters flow. 
 Let distant climes and furthest nations know, 
 What ye from Thames and Danube have been taught. 
 How Anne commanded, and how Marlborough fought. 
 
 The Latin and English are both by Prior ; the design of the fountain 
 included figures of Queen Anne and the Duke of Marlborough, with a 
 triumphal arch in the center, and the chief Rivers of the world round the 
 whole work. Sir Henry Wotton, in discoursing upon architecture remarks : 
 *' Fountains are figured, or only plain water- works, of either of which I will 
 describe a matchless pattern. The first done by the famous hand of 
 Michael Angelo is the figure of a sturdy woman, washing and winding 
 linen clothes ; in which act she wrings out the water that made the foun- 
 tain. The other doth merit some larger expression : there went a long, 
 straight, mossy, walk of competent breadth, green and soft under foot, listed 
 on both sides with an aqueduct of white stone, breast high, which had a 
 hollow channel on the top, where ran a pretty trickling stream ; on the edge 
 whereof were couched very thick, all along, certain small pipes of lead 
 in little holes ; so neatly that they could not be well perceived, till by the 
 turning of a cock, they did spout over interchangeably from side to side, 
 above man's height, in forms of arches, without any intersection or meet- 
 ing aloft, because the pipes were not exactly opposite ; so as the beholder, 
 besides that which was fluent in the aqueduct on both hands in his view, 
 did walk, as it were, under a continual bower and hemisphere of water, 
 without any drop falling on him; an invention for refreshment surely 
 far excelling all the Alexandrian delicacies and pneumatics of Hero.'* 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. S45 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 BAPTISMAL FONT AT FLORENCE. 
 
 Quidquid ab antiqua manavit origine morbi, 
 Purgabunt istse (si modo credis) aquae. 
 
 Whatever stain attaches from original sin, will be washed 
 away by these waters, if you have only faith in their 
 efficacy. 
 
 Several old English Fonts are to be met with in private gardens, as, 
 for example, that of the old Harrow chm"ch, which was preserved by 
 a lady, after it had been condemned by the churchwardens for the use of 
 the parish-roads. Our ancient poor-boxes had usually mottoes or posies, 
 according to Beaumont and Fletcher, (in their play of the Spanish Curate,) 
 who may have furnished Hogarth with a hint for the spider's-web that 
 covers the door of his poor-box : 
 
 The poor man's box is there : if ye find anything 
 Besides the posT/, and that half-rubb'd out too, 
 For fear it should awaken too much charity, 
 Give it to pious uses ; that is, spend it. 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 THE HOLY CROSS. 
 
 Haec ilia Sedes, qua docuit Deus ; 
 Vitalis, in quo nos peperit, Thorns ; 
 Currus triumphantis, Tribunal 
 Judicis, atque litantis Ara, 
 
 Voila la Chaire, ou Jesus nous instruit ; 
 
 Le Lit, ou pour jamais son sang nous reproduit ; 
 
 Le Siege, ou se rendra la justice supreme ; 
 
 Le Char, ou jusqu'au Ciel la gloire I'a conduit ; 
 
 Et VAutel, ou pour nous il s'immole lui-meme. 
 
346 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 The pulling down of Charing Cross is one of the most amusing pieces 
 of ancient poetry in the Vercy Reliques. The hot-cross-bun was the most 
 popular symbol of the Eoman Catholic religion that the Reformation had 
 left in England, until the recent mania for retrograding the progress of 
 the human intellect through its march of centuries. Hot-cross-buns were 
 the consecrated loaves bestowed in the church as alms, and to those who 
 from any impediment could not receive the host. They were made of the 
 dough from whence the host itself was taken, and were given by the 
 priest to the people after mass : they ought to be kissed before eating. 
 Of all inscriptions on a cross, the most memorable is that represented to 
 have been aflSxed to the cross which was revealed in a vision to Constant 
 tine, when marching with his army into Italy : iv rovra vUa. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 A STATUE OF THE VIRGIN MARY AT ROME. 
 
 Virginis intactae cum veneris ante figuram, 
 Prsetereundo cave, ne sileatur ave. 
 
 Passing nigh our holy Lady, 
 Don't forget to say an Ave. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 THE GATE OF A MONASTERY OF BLACK-HOODED FRIARS. 
 Hie intret nullus, nisi puUus sit sibi cuUus. 
 
 Instant from this gate fly back, 
 All whose hoods are not of black. 
 
 The point aimed at in this and the last epigram cannot be well trans- 
 lated, as it, in a great measure, consists in making the middle of the line 
 rhyme to the end. 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. 347 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 A CARVED HEAD OF ST PETER. 
 
 Ecclesiam pro nave rego : Mihi climata mundi 
 Sunt mare : Scripturae retia : Piscis homo. 
 
 The church is my fishing-boat, the world is my sea, the 
 scriptures are my nets, and my fish is man. 
 
 Luther relates that he saw this inscription at Rome. There is a 
 curious work, published a.d. 1606, entitled, A Book 0/ Angling or Fishing, 
 wherein is shewed by conference with Scriptures, the agreement between the 
 Fisherman and Fishes of both natures, temporal and spiritual, by Samuel 
 Gardiner, Doctor of Divinitie. The heads of the chapters are as follow : 
 1. Of the Fisherman's ship or boat. 2. Of the waters that are for this 
 fishing. 3. Of the nets and angle-rod that are for this fishing. 4. Of the 
 Fishermen, that principally are appointed for this office. 5. Of the Fish- 
 erman's baytes. 6. Of the Fishes that the Spiritual Angler only fisheth 
 for. 7. The sympathie of natures between temporal and spiritual Fish. 
 8. Of Angling of both kindes. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 LUTHER'S GLASS. 
 
 Dat vitrum vitro Jonae vitrum ipse Lutherus, 
 Se similem ut fragili noscat uterque vitro. 
 
 Luther, who is a glass, presents this glass to Justus Jo- 
 nas, who is also a glass, in order that both friends may 
 always bear in mind that they are nothing but fragile glass. 
 
 There is a German inscription on the same glass yessel, " One glass 
 presents a glass to another glass." This present was made shortly before 
 Luther died. 
 
348 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 AN ^OLIAN HARP. 
 
 Salve, quae fingis proprio modulamine carmen, 
 Salve, Memnoniam vox imitata Ijram ! 
 
 Dulce O divinumque sonans sine poUicis ictu, 
 Dives naturae simplicis, artis inops ! 
 
 Talia quae incultae dant mellea labra puellse, 
 Talia sunt faeiles quae modulantur aves. 
 
 On the other side. 
 
 Hail, heav'nly harp, where Memnon's skill is shown, 
 
 That eharm'st the ear with music all thy own I 
 
 Which, though untouch'd, canst rapturous strains impart, 
 
 O rich of genuine nature, free from art ! 
 
 Such the wild warblings of the sylvan throng. 
 
 So simply sweet the untaught virgin's song. 
 
 It may be allowed to illustrate the subject of the text, by the beauti- 
 ful description of the jEolian Harp, in the Castle of Indolence — that same 
 "airy harp," to which Collins, in his Ode on Thomson's death, has 
 imparted an additional interest of which it might have been scarcely 
 thought susceptible. 
 
 A certain music, never known before, 
 
 Here luU'd the pensive melancholy mind ; 
 
 Full easily obtain'd. Behoves no more, 
 
 But sidelong, to the gently-waving wind. 
 
 To lay the well-tun'd instrument reclin'd ; 
 
 From which, with airy flying fingers light, 
 
 Beyond each mortal touch the most refin'd. 
 
 The god of winds drew sounds of deep delight, 
 Whence, with just cause, the harp of JEolus it hight. 
 
 Ah me! what hand can touch the string so fine? 
 Who up the lofty diapason roll 
 Such sweet, such sad, such solemn airs divine, 
 Then let them down again into the soul? 
 Now rising love they fann'd; now pleasing dole 
 They breath'd, in tender musings, through the heart; 
 And now a graver sacred strain they stole. 
 As when seraphic hands an hymn impart : 
 Wild- warbling nature all, above the reach of art ! 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. 84a 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 AN ORGAN. 
 
 Hie, dociles venti resono se carcere solvunt, 
 Et cantum accepta pro libertate rependunt. 
 
 Here docile winds, from echoing prison free. 
 Pay us with music for their liberty. 
 
 Gra/s pealing anthem appears borrowed from Milton's : 
 
 There let the pealing organ blow, 
 
 To the full-voiced choir below, 
 
 In service high, and anthems clear, 
 
 As may with sweetness through mine ear 
 
 Dissolve me into ecstacies. 
 
 And bring all heaven before mine eyes. 
 
 The organ is not unworthily praised by Dryden : 
 
 But, oh! what art can teach, 
 
 What human voice can reach. 
 The sacred organ's praise? 
 Notes inspiring holy love. 
 Notes that wing their heavenly ways, 
 
 To mend the choirs above. 
 
 Orpheus could lead the savage race ; 
 And trees uprooted left their place, 
 
 Sequacious of the lyre : 
 But bright Cecilia rais'd the wonder higher : 
 When to her organ vocal breath was given, 
 An angel heard, and straight appear'd, 
 
 Mistaking earth for heaven. 
 
 The inscription on the great Haerlem organ is, Non nisi motu cano, 
 alluding to the quantity of labour necessay for putting it in action. It 
 has twelve bellows, and 5000 pipes, the bellows are each nine feet long 
 by five broad, the greatest pipe is thirty-eight feet, its diameter fifteen 
 inches. There was a famous musical contest between two organ-builders, 
 which came off in the Temple church. Blow and Furcell played for one 
 of the artists, and Lully, the Queen's organist, for the other ; the decision 
 was given by the infamous Lord Chancellor Jefferies, a person, perhaps, 
 as little competent to decide, as was Justice Midas between Pan and 
 Apollo : for, if the converse of Shakspere's opinion be true, a Jeflferies 
 could never have been " moved by concord of sweet sounds." 
 
350 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XXXVL 
 
 D'ALEMBERT'S TREATISE ON THE WINDS. 
 
 Haec ego de ventis, dum ventorum ocyor alis 
 Palantes agit Austriacos Fredericus, et orbi, 
 Insignis lauro, ramum prsetendet olivae. 
 
 I publish this treatise on the Winds, at a time when, 
 swifter than the wings of the Winds, the Great Frederic 
 drives before him the routed army of Austria; and, suf- 
 ficiently illustrious in his laurels, now stretches forth his 
 olive-branch to the world. 
 
 This was the motto or inscription adopted for D'Alembert's Essay on 
 the Winds, to which a prize had been adjudged by the Academy of 
 Berlin. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 DEVICE IN BELLENDEN'S BOOK DE STATU, 
 
 Fama trium insignit Numen : cor signat amorem, 
 Tres quia personas Numinis, unus amor. 
 
 Numine, vester amor patrumque cor in tribus unum 
 Crescit ; adunantur Kegia corda trium. 
 
 Hinc Deus impertet vobis sua symbola : vestris 
 Vultque sit in titulis. In tribus unus amor. 
 
 There is one love between Prince Henry, Prince Charles, 
 and the Princess Elizabeth: hence the Deity grants you 
 three, his own symbols, and wills that you should choose 
 for your mottoes, " One love in three." 
 
 The verses in the text are placed under a device representing a tri- 
 angle, in the corners of which are the letters H. C. E, respectively. In 
 the middle of the triangle are three hearts surmounted by a crown, and 
 decorated with laurel. In a small interstice between the three hearts is 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. S5I 
 
 placed the letter J, to signify King James, as the other letters denote 
 Henry, Charles, and Elizabeth. 
 
 These verses and device are prefixed to the celebrated treatise of Bel- 
 lenden, in a very learned and eloquent Latin preface to which Dr Parr, 
 amidst reflections de omnibus rebus, imputes to Dr Middleton, that in his 
 Life of Cicero he had been guilty of unacknowledged plagiarism from 
 Bellenden. The verses and device may be thought very characteristic of 
 the reign of King James, and may be compared with the learned com- 
 pliments to that king, paid by the public orator at Cambridge, mentioned 
 in a former chapter. Barclay, in a Latin poem on a cock-fight, which was 
 honoured by the presence of King James, writes that the cocks felt too 
 much honoured in dying for his majesty's diversion : 
 
 Senserunt Volucres 
 Se digno nimium interire fato. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 MEDAL FOR LOUIS XIV. APPLIED TO QUEEN ANNE. 
 
 Proximus, et similis regnas, Ludovice, Tonanti, 
 Vim summam, summa cum pietate, geris. 
 
 Magnus es, expansis alis, sed maximus armis, 
 Protegis hinc Anglos, Teutones inde feris. 
 
 Quin coeant toto Titania foedera Eheno, 
 Ula aquilam tantum, Gallia fulmen habet. 
 
 Next to the Thunderer let Anna stand, 
 
 In piety supreme, as in command : 
 
 Fam'd for victorious arms, and generous aid, 
 
 Young Austria's refuge, and fierce Bourbon's dread. 
 
 Titanian leagues in vain shall brave the Rhine, 
 
 When to the eagle you the thunder join. 
 
 The point turns on the eagle and the thunder being usual appendages 
 to the figure of Jupiter, and the eagle being the German, as formerly the 
 Roman ensign. In this respect the last line of the Latin inscription is 
 more pointed than the conclusion of the EngMsh one, which is by Granville 
 Lord Lansdowne. 
 
352 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 INSCRIPTIONS BY ANCIENT PRINTERS. 
 (A) 
 
 Sixtus hoc impressit : sed bis tamen ante revisit 
 
 Egregius doctor Perrus Oliverius : 
 At tu quisquis emis, lector studiose, libellum 
 
 Lastus emas, mendis nam caret istud opus. 
 
 Sixtus printed this book, but the eminent Doctor Perrus 
 Oliver previously revised it twice. Studious Header, who- 
 ever thou be that buyest this book, congratulate yourself 
 on your purchase : for it has no errata. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Stet liber hie donee fluctus formica marinos 
 Ebibat, et totum testudo perambulet orbem. 
 
 May this volume continue in motion, 
 And in pages each day be unfurl'd ; 
 Till an ant shall have drunk up the ocean, 
 Or a tortoise have crawl'd round the world. 
 
 When the printing of a book was looked upon as an achievement of 
 no mean merit, it was usual to recommend it by a few Latin verses like 
 the foregoing specimens, which were inscribed on works of the dates 
 A.D. 1472, A.D. 1507. The first book that was printed in the English 
 tongue was of the date a.d. 1471, by Caxton, at Cologne. This Printer, 
 like the authors of the inscriptions in the text, was accustomed to gossip 
 with his readers. On one occasion he thus addresses them: "And, 
 furthermore, I desire ye would pray for the soul of the said worshipful 
 Geofifry Chaucer, the fader, and first foundeur and embellisher of ornate 
 eloquence in our English." 
 
 I 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. S53 
 
 XL. 
 
 A BOTTLE BURIED, AND DUG UP ON STELLA'S BIRTH-DAY. 
 
 Amphora quae moestum Unguis, Isetumque revises 
 Arentem Dominum, sit tibi terra levis ! 
 
 Tu quoque depositum serves, neve opprime, Marmor, 
 " Amphora non meruit tarn pretiosa mori." 
 
 O Bottle of Wine, that leavest thy master sad on ac- 
 count of parting with you, but wilt make him glad when 
 he meets you again, and thirsts for your contents ; may the 
 earth lie lightly on thy breast! And thou, Marble, that 
 guardest this deposit, afford the bottle protection, without 
 crushing it. " So precious a Bottle ought not to die." 
 
 The Latin inscription is by Dr Delany. One of Swift's Birth-day 
 Odes to Stella is on the subject of the digging up of this long-buried 
 bottle. The following lines occur : 
 
 Behold the bottle, where it lies 
 With neck elated toward the skies ! 
 The god of winds and god of fire 
 Did to its wondrous birth conspire, 
 And Bacchus for the poet's use 
 Pour'd in a strong inspiring juice. 
 See ! as you raise it from its tomb, 
 It drags behind a spacious womb ; 
 And in the spacious womb contains 
 A sovereign med'cine for the brains. 
 
 The quotation in the last line is from an epigram of Martial, to be 
 admired for its happy turn of thought, and lively style : 
 
 Quid te, Tucca, juvat vetulo miscere Falerno 
 
 In Vaticanis condita musta cadis ? 
 Quid tantum fecere boni tibi pessima vina? 
 
 Aut quid fecerunt optima vina mali ? 
 De nobis facile est : scelus est jugulare Falernum, 
 
 Et dare Campano toxica sseva mere. 
 Convivse meruere tui fortasse perire : 
 
 Amphora non meruit tarn pretiosa mori. 
 
 Why blend old Falemian, good Tucca, we ask, 
 With odious juice from thy "Vatican cask ? 
 
 23 
 
S54 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Cii. 
 
 What good 's in thy bad wines, what harm 's in thy good, 
 That you bid them to flow in so mingled a flood ? 
 For us 'tis no matter : but murder such wine ! 
 And taint the best blood of Campania's best vine ! 
 Thy guests in their graves might deserve all to lie : 
 But a pipe of such good wine deserves not to die. 
 
 The last half of the fifth and the sixth line of Martial's epigram 
 are chosen for the motto of the 131st number of the Tatler, which is an 
 amusing paper on the adulteration of wine, and the manufacture of 
 foreign wines from English ingredients, prevalent in the year 1710. 
 
 XLL 
 
 PRESENTATION CUPS. 
 
 Hsec cape, Donne, mei duo pocula pignus amoris, 
 
 Et pone ante tuos qualiacunque lares. 
 Tu mihi das vires, tu erudi vulneris iram 
 
 Unus amieitia fallis, et arte levas ; 
 Ssepe bibas memor, oro, mei ; multosque per annos 
 
 Quam mihi das segro, sit tibi, amice, Salus. 
 
 Accept, dear Donne, two cups as a testimony of my 
 affection, and, such as they are, place them before your 
 Lares. To you I owe the renovation of my strength. 
 The acute wound that I received has been healed by your 
 skill, and mitigated by your friendship. May you often 
 drink out of these cups, and as often think upon me. And 
 may you enjoy for many years, what you have restored to 
 me — Health. 
 
 Anstey, the author of the Bath Guide, had met with an accident by 
 falling over a box in his study : he was attended by his friend Dr Donne, 
 an eminent physician of Bath, who declined any pecuniary compensa- 
 tion. Anstey thought it only a fair exchange to give the doctor cups for 
 phials, and a dose of poetry for medicine. 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. . 355 
 
 XLIL 
 
 ANCIENT LAMP. 
 
 Sperne dilectum Veneris saeellum, 
 Sanetius, Lampas, tibi munus orno ; 
 I, fove casto vigil Harleanas 
 
 Igne Camoenas. 
 
 This lamp which Prior to his Harley gave, 
 Brought from the altar of the Cyprian Dame, 
 
 Indulgent Time, through future ages save. 
 Before the Muse to burn with purer flame ! 
 
 XLIII. 
 BELLS. 
 
 (A) 
 Laudo Deum verum, plebem voeo, congrego clerum, 
 Defunetos ploro, pestem fugo, festa deeoro. 
 
 Men's death I tell 
 By doleful knell ; 
 The sleepy head 
 I raise from bed ; 
 Lightning and Thunder 
 I break asunder ; 
 The winds so fierce 
 I do disperse ; 
 On Sabbath all 
 To Church I call. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Dudum fundabar : Bowhell campana vocabar, 
 Sexta sonat, his sexta sonat, ter tertia pulsat. 
 
 23—2 
 
356 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 I was founded long ago ; I am called Bowhell. I chime 
 at six and twelve o'clock; I strike at nine. 
 
 The date of this inscription is a.d. 1515. It is noticed in Stowe's 
 purvey. The first distich is from Spelman's Glossary, Art. Campana. 
 The English is from Brand's Popular Antiquities, in which book will be 
 found numerous Latin distichs, expressing a variety of vulgar errors and 
 superstitions, such as the eleventh wave, ear-tingling, cats sneezing, dogs 
 rolling, or howling. 
 
 Latin poetical inscriptions on bells are scarce; but Latin poetical 
 descriptions are more common; as a long poem on the great Tom of 
 Oxford in the Musce Anglicance, and two epigrams on bells by Vincent 
 Bourne, one on the Christ-church Tom, and the other on the Westminster 
 Tom ; which latter was removed from St Peter's at Westminster, to St 
 Paul's, where it got broken ; a circumstance which sharpens the poet's 
 wit, who accused the bell of a popish heart, in preferring Peter to Paul. 
 It may be mentioned, by the way, that Vincent Bourne has a poem on a 
 presentation cup, which, in his day, belonged to Trinity College, Cam- 
 bridge, and which was called Pauper Johannes, from an inscription it 
 bore : 
 
 Pauper Johannes, dictus cognomine Clarkson 
 Hunc cyathum dono, gratuitoque dedit. 
 
 The author was a Fellow, and afterwards Auditor of Trinity College, 
 but could never gather any tradition concerning Pauper Johannes, or his 
 lost cup. The inscription on a bell at Fulboum, of the date a.d. 1776, is, 
 
 I to the church the living call — 
 And to the grave I summon all. 
 
 On a bell at Chertsey is an inscription, Ora mente pia pro nobis Virgo 
 Maria! The present occasion does not admit of examining a vulgar 
 error concerning persons born within the sound of Bow-bells; or the 
 tradition regarding that most prophetic of all bells, which vaticinated to 
 Whittington, as he sat on the stone which is now the site of his beautiful 
 alms-houses ; or of investigating the nature of Grandsire Peels and Bob- 
 royals: but it may be permitted to quote Southey's description of the 
 music of bells. " It is a music hallowed by all circumstances, which 
 according equally with social exultation, and with solitary pensiveness, 
 though it fall upon many an unheeding ear, never fails to find some 
 hearts which it exhilarates, and some which it softens." 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. 857 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 DIAMOND HEART, 
 
 PRESENTED BY MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS TO QUEEN ELIZABETH. 
 
 (A) 
 
 Quod te jampridem fruitur, videt, ac amet absens, 
 Hsec pignus Cordis gemma, et imago mei est. 
 
 Non est candidior, non est base purior illo : 
 Quamvis dura magis, non mage firma tamen. 
 
 This gem behold, the emblem of my heart, 
 From which my Cousin's image ne'er shall part. 
 Clear in its lustre, spotless does it shine. 
 As clear, as spotless, is this heart of mine. 
 What, though the stone a harder substance be. 
 It is not firmer than my heart to thee. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Hoc tibi quae misit Cor, nil quod posset, habebat, 
 
 Carius esse sibi, gratius esse tibi. 
 Quod si forte tuum Ipsa remiseris. Ilia putabit 
 
 Carius esse sibi, quam fuit ante tibi. 
 
 Queen Mary has presented you with a gift, which, of 
 all her jewels, was the most precious in her eyes, and which 
 she deemed might be the most gratifying to yours : If, per- 
 chance, you should send, in return, your own heart to her, 
 it will be a dearer treasure to her than ever it could have 
 been to yourself. 
 
 These ingenious conceits were written by Buchanan. He wrote a 
 longer poem on the same subject, of which the following lines may be 
 quoted as an example of the futility of human anticipations : 
 
 O si fors mihi faxit, utriusque 
 Nectam ut corda adamantina catena, 
 Quam nee suspicio, aemulatiove, 
 Livorve, aut odium, aut senecta solvat ! 
 Tam beatior omnibus lapillis, 
 Tam sim clarior omnibus lapillis, 
 
358 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Tarn sim carior omnibus lapillis, 
 Quam sum durior omnibus lapillis. 
 
 "O may it be my lot to unite the hearts of both Queens by an 
 adamantine chain, not to be loosened by suspicion, or rivalry, or jealousy, 
 or hatred, or old age ! Thus I shall become the happiest of stones, the 
 most famous of stones, the dearest of stones, just as I am already the 
 hardest of stones." This diamond heart, and inscription, may remind the 
 reader of the cornelian heart which was found suspended round the neck 
 of Hampden when he was fatally wounded, bearing the inscription : 
 
 Against my king I never fight, 
 
 But for my king, and country's right. 
 
 XLV. 
 
 SATURNALIAN PRESENTS. 
 (A) 
 
 P^NULA SCORTEA. 
 
 Ingrediare viam ccelo licet usque sereno, 
 Ad subitas nusquam scortea desit aquas. 
 
 A LEATHERN ROMAN TrAVELLING-CoAT. 
 
 Though you set out on your journey with a clear sky, 
 take your pcenula with you as a safeguard against sudden 
 showers. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Dentifrioium. 
 
 Quid mecum est tibi ? me puella sumat, 
 Emptos non soleo polire dentes. 
 
 A Dentifrice. 
 
 What have you to do with me ? I am made for dam- 
 sels: it is no part of my business to polish purchased 
 teeth. 
 
v.] , INSCRIPTIONS. 359 
 
 (C) 
 
 PUGILLAEES EbURNEI. 
 
 Languida ne tristes obscurent lumina ceraB, 
 Nigra tibi niveum litera pingat ebur. 
 
 Ivory Writing-Tablets. 
 Lest writing on waxen tablets should strain your weak 
 eyes, let the black letters shew conspicuously on white 
 ivory. 
 
 (D) 
 Annulus Pronubus Purus. 
 
 Pignus habes fidei nuUis violabile gemmis, 
 Hoc illud vetus est, Aurea Simplicitas. 
 
 A Plain Marriage-Ring. 
 
 You have here a pledge of constancy unalloyed by any 
 glittering jewels : this is a specimen of what the ancients 
 called Golden Simplicity. 
 
 The first three of these inscriptions are from Martial, who wrote 
 upwards of a hundred similar ones in reference to nearly every object in 
 domestic use among the Romans. It would seem that these verses were 
 attached to presents given during the Saturnalia, for visitors to take 
 home with them, like the ornaments attached to modern German trees, 
 only sometimes of a larger, or of a more costly description : they were 
 adapted with reference to the station, fortune, sex, and age of the 
 recipients. As observed by Dr Malkin, in his Classical Disquisition on 
 ancient Toothpicks, Martial, in his verses upon Satumalian presents, affords 
 the richest mine of Roman antiquities to be found in the Classic Authors. 
 The Saturnalian festivities are in themselves a subject of very inter- 
 esting inquiry. The last of the inscriptions is taken from a numerous 
 collection of distichs by Grotius, in imitation of Martial's verses on the 
 Satumalian presents. 
 
 It is not proposed, on the present occasion, to illustrate particularly 
 Roman philosophical or other opinions, Roman customs and manners, 
 or Roman antiquities. But it may be cursorily observed concerning the 
 particular articles described in the above verses, that the Author of the 
 Pursuits of Literatt(,re notices that the Greek word used in reference to 
 Paul's cloak which he left behind him at Troas, is evidently a corrup- 
 tion of the Latin word pcenula, a kind of cloak, which was specifically a 
 
S60 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Roman garment, and worn only by Romans ; and, moreover, (as appears 
 by the above verses), a vestment usually worn by them on a journey. 
 Martial has a great number of clever remarks on the eccentricities of 
 his neighbours in regard to their upper garments. He mentions, for 
 example, a rich man who changed his banqueting-garment (synthesis) 
 eleven times during one supper, on account of heat and perspiration, 
 whereas the poet himself found that a single synthesis, which was all he 
 possessed, was an admirable refrigerant. With regard to the Dentifrice, 
 Martial frequently alludes to false teeth, false hair, hair-dye, converting 
 a crow intd' a swan, but which would not deceive Proserpine, rouge 
 for the cheeks, with its accidents from rain or sunshine. Martial makes 
 a gallant present to a lady of a hair from a northern head, in order 
 that by comparison she might perceive how much more yellow her 
 own was. With regard to writing-tables, those of citron and ivory- 
 were presents only for the opulent. There is a very curious poetical 
 advertisement, by Propertius, on the loss of his tablets. Whether from 
 a parsimonious motive or not, he represents that they were of Httle 
 value except to the owner, being made of wax set in vulgar box-wood. 
 He concludes : 
 
 I, puer, et citus hsec aliqua propone columna : 
 Et Dominum Esquiliis scribe habitare tuum. 
 
 Go, boy, and stick this affiche on the nearest column, and write 
 that your master's house is on the Esquiline Hill. 
 
 As to modern Inscriptions on rings, they seldom swell to the size 
 even of a single entire verse. The rings of Serjeants at Law afford a 
 familiar example of Latin inscriptions on such works of art. The English 
 inscriptions on the toasting-gl asses of the Kit-Cat Club have not, it 
 is beUeved, any precise prototype in antiquity. 
 
 The following old English verses on a wedding-ring are from 
 Davison's Poetical Rhapsody. 
 
 If you would know the love which I you bear. 
 Compare it to the ring which your fair hand 
 Shall make more precious, when you shall it wear: 
 
 So my Love's nature you shall understand. 
 Is it of metal pure? so you shall prove 
 
 My Love, which ne'er disloyal thought did stain. 
 Hath it no end? so endless is my Love, 
 
 Unless you it destroy with your disdain. 
 Doth it the purer grow the more 'tis tried? 
 So doth my love; yet herein they dissent. 
 That whereas gold the more 'tis purified 
 
 By growing less, doth shew some part is spent; 
 My love doth grow more pure by your more trying. 
 And yet increaseth in the purifying. 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. 361 
 
 XLVI. 
 
 HERALDIC ARMS OF THE ABBOT OF RAMSEY. 
 
 Cujus signa gero, dux gregis est, ut ego. 
 
 As I am the leader of a flock, so is he whose arms I 
 denote. 
 
 This Latin verse was inscribed round the arms of the Abbot of 
 Ramsey, which arms were a ram in the sea. It is an example given by 
 Camden, in a learned essay " On the Antiquity, Variety, and Reason of 
 Motts in England." A more pleasing though less curious example of a 
 Mott occurs in Chaucer's description of his Prioress : 
 
 Of small coral about her arme she bare, 
 A paire of beads, gawded all with green ; 
 And theare on hung a branch of gold full shene, 
 On which there was written a crowned A, 
 And after that {Amor vincit omnia.) 
 
 The puns in the mottoes of noble names form a curious collection ; 
 as, " Forte scutum salus ducum." " Ne vile velis." " Templa quam 
 dilecta." " Ne vile fano." " Festina lente." " Ver non semper viret." 
 " At spes non fractse." " Fare, fac." " Manus justa, nardus ; '* and 
 the like. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 THE LION'S HEAD AT BUTTON'S. 
 
 Servantur magnis isti cervicibus ungues : 
 Non nisi delecta pascitur ille fera. 
 
 Bring here nice morceaus ; be it understood 
 The Lion vindicates his choicest food. 
 
 The Latin is from Martial ; the translation is from the Gentleman's 
 Magazine. The Lion's Head at Button's Coffee-house was a carving, with 
 an orifice at the mouth, through which communications for the Guar- 
 dian were thrown. This Latin distich was inscribed underneath it. 
 Button had been a servant in the Countess of Warwick's family, and. 
 
362 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 by the patronage of Addison, kept his Coflfee-house, so famous in the 
 annals of English literature, on the south side of Russell-street, two 
 doors from Covent Garden. The " Lion's Head " was afterwards trans- 
 ferred to the Shakspere Tavern, where it was sold by auction for 
 £17. 10s. in the year 1804. It was made a subject for witticisms in six 
 papers of the Guardian, in the course of which it is not forgotten that 
 Button's christian name was Daniel; and it is observed that it was a 
 frequent caution in families, " I'll tell the Lion of you." 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 MEDALS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. 
 
 (A) 
 Ditior in toto non alter circulus orbe. 
 There is not a richer circle in the whole word. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Felices Arabes, mundi quibus unica Phoenix 
 Phoenicem reparat depereundo novam. 
 
 O miseros Anglos, mundi quibus unica Phoenix 
 Ultima fit nostro, tristia fata ! solo. 
 
 Happy Arabians, to whom the only Phoenix in the 
 world recreates a new Phoenix by its death ! O unhappy 
 English, to whom the only Phoenix in the world becomes 
 the last of her race in our Country ! 
 
 The first motto surrounds the Queen's Head, and seems to have 
 reference to her Majesty's conventional reputation for beauty. The 
 second motto is on the reverse side of a different medal, bearing the 
 image of a Phoenix, over which is the monogram of the Queen, E. R. 
 surmounted by a crown. The most popular motto on any of Queen 
 EHzabeth's medals, is that on a medal struck in Holland to commemo- 
 rate the destruction of the Armada, erroneously mentioned in the Spec- 
 tator as an English medal. It is Flavit Deus, et dissipati sunt ; " The 
 breath of the Lord went forth, and they were scattered." On the 
 reverse is a church upon a rock beat by waves, having a motto, AUidor 
 non Icedor ; " I am rubbed, not hurt." 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. 363 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 MEDAL ON JAMES II. AND HIS QITEEN. 
 
 O divini ambo, si quid mea carmina possunt, 
 Nulla dies unquam memori vos eximet a?vo ; 
 Dum tua, Bancho ! domus, Capitoli immobile saxum 
 Edini, imperiumque Pater Stuartus habebit. 
 
 O divine pair ! if my songs can ought avail, no day 
 shall withdraw you from the remembrance of ages ; whilst 
 endures thy house, Bancho ! and the immoveable rock of 
 Edinburgh Castle ; and whilst a Stuart is our Father, and 
 our King. 
 
 The verses fill up the reverse of the medal, on the obverse of which 
 are the faces of the King and Queen. Under the verses are the letters 
 A. P. for Archibald Pitcairn, the celebrated physician and Jacobite 
 poet, who is mentioned in a preceding chapter in connexion with a 
 ghost. There does not appear to have been any complete Latin verse 
 upon our coins, though there are several long-winded Latin legends, as 
 the remarkable one on our gold Nobles, Jesus autem transiens per medium 
 illorwm ibat ; that on the exurgat money of Charles I. ; his Relig. Prot, 
 Leg. Ang. Liber Pari. ; and on the reverse of Simon's crowns of Crom- 
 well, Has Nisi Periturus Mihi Adimat Nemo. One of the most curious 
 legends on a coin is that on Simon's Petition Crown, upon the edge 
 of which is inscribed, in two lines, with two linked C's and two branches 
 of palm, Thomas Simon most humbly prays your Majesty to compare this 
 Tryal-Piece luith the Dutch, and, if more truly drawn and embossed, more 
 gracefully ordered, and more accurately engraven, to relieve him. The ob- 
 verse of the Commonwealth coins was a shield bearing the cross of St 
 George, and the legend, " The Commonwealth of England." The reverse 
 was two shields, one bearing the cross of St George, and the other a Lyre, 
 with the legend, " God with us." It was a jest of the Cavaliers that God 
 and the Commonwealth were on opposite sides : the double shield on the 
 reverse was also prolific of jokes. The coin is thus described : 
 
 Csesaris efl&gies nulla est, sed imaginis expers, 
 ^ Crux duplex super est dira, gemensque lyra. 
 
364 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 INSCRIPTIONS AT THE ENTERTAINMENT GIVEN BY THE 
 
 JESUITS AT ROME IN THEIR SEMINARY TO THE 
 
 ENGLISH AMBASSADOR OF JAMES II. 
 
 (A) 
 
 Under King James's Picture. 
 
 Eestituit veterem tibi Eeligionis honorem 
 Anglia, Magnanimi Regis aperta fides. 
 
 The open zeal of this Magnanimous King has restored 
 to England the honour of its ancient Religion. 
 
 (B) 
 
 Under the Device of a Lily from whose leaves there distilled some drops 
 of water (according to a vulgar error that such drops became the 
 seeds of new Lilies), was a motto Lachrimor in Prolem; "I weep for 
 children/' and the following distich : 
 
 Pro natis, Jacobe, gemis, Flos candide Regum ? 
 Hos, natura, tibi si neget, astra dabunt. 
 
 Dost thou sigh for children, O James ! thou candid 
 Flower of Kings? If Nature deny, Heaven will grant 
 them. 
 
 These Inscriptions are taken from the Memoirs of Dr Welwood, phy- 
 sician to King WilHam III. They are part of the description of the Earl of 
 Castlemain's reception (King James's Ambassador) by the Jesuits in their 
 Seminary at Rome. Dr Welwood writes that the Jesuits " exhausted all 
 their stores of sculpture, painting, poetry, and rhetoric," on the occasion. 
 These Inscriptions maybe thought an important and agreeable illustration 
 of the remarks of Burnet and his annotators. Mackintosh, Plumer Ward, 
 Walter Scott, and Macaulay, concerning the legitimacy of the Pretender. 
 Of a similar tenor with the Inscriptions in the text was the report spread 
 by Catholic writers, that the Queen's pregnancy was occasioned by the 
 Angel of the Lord having moved the Bath Waters, like, as ancien%, the 
 Pool of Bethesda. The Queen herself attributed it to the special inter- 
 vention of St Xavier, according to Dryden's dedicatory letter to Her 
 Majesty, in which the following passage occurs : " I know not. Madam, 
 whether I may presume to tell the world that your Majesty has chosen 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. 365 
 
 this great Saint for one of your celestial patrons, though I am sure you 
 never will be ashamed of owning so glorious an Intercessor ; not even in a 
 country where the doctrine of the holy Church is questioned, and those 
 religious addresses ridiculed. Your Majesty, I doubt not, has the inward 
 satisfaction of knowing, that such pious prayers have not been unprofitable 
 to you ; and the nation may one day come to understand, how happy it 
 will be for them to have a Son of Prayers ruling over them." In the 
 Britannia Eediviva, that singular poem, which combines the highest 
 powers of expression of which the English language is susceptible, with 
 the basest sycophancy which can be offered to a human being, and the 
 most irreverent blasphemy with which the Deity can be outraged, Dryden 
 thus addresses the Pretender in his Cradle : 
 
 Hail, Son of Prayers ! by holy violence 
 
 Drawn down from Heaven, but long be banish'd thence ! 
 
 And late to thy paternal skies retire ! 
 
 Dryden's motto to his Britannia Bediviva is from Virg-il : 
 Dii patrii indigetes, et, Romule, Vestaque Mater, 
 Quae Tuscum Tyberim, et Romana palatia servas, 
 Hunc saltem everso puerum succurrere saeclo 
 Ne prohibete ! satis jampridem sanguine nostro 
 Laomedonteee luimus perjuria gentis. 
 
 Ye guardian Gods of Rome, our pra/r, 
 And Romulus, and thou chaste Vesta, hear! 
 Ye who preserve with your propitious powers 
 Etnu-ian Tiber, and the Roman towers ! 
 At least permit this Youth to save the world 
 (Our only refuge) in confusion hurl'd : 
 Let streams of blood already spilt atone 
 For perjuries of false Laomedon ! 
 
 The words puerum and perjitria are placed in Italics by Dryden. 
 Walter Scott, in his preface to this poem, mentions that the practice of 
 drawing attention to particular words by placing them in Italics began in 
 the reign of Charles II., and was first introduced by L'Estrange in his 
 Observator, who employed for the purpose not merely Italics, but all 
 kinds of characters. The expression in the third line, Hunc saltem everso 
 puerum, was often employed on medals as a legend round the head of 
 the Pretender. The last line, Laomedonteaj luimus perjuria gentis, is 
 applied by Mr Fox, in his History, as it was, probably, intended by Dryden, 
 to the perjuries of Oates on the trials for the Popish Plot. The translation 
 from Virgil's Georgics is by Warton : it is remarkable that in Dryden's very 
 spirited, often very harmonious, very lax, and sometimes disgustingly fa- 
 miliar translation of Virgil's Works, both the Youth and the Perjuries are 
 lost sight of, notwithstanding the stress he lays upon them in the above 
 motto to bis Britannia Rediviva. 
 
S66 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. 
 
 Even the last direct Descendant of the Abdicator, in a medal struck 
 upon his Father's death, impotently reiterates the ravings of his family in 
 their claim of Divine Eight : it bears the device of a Cardinal's Cap, and a 
 figure of Faith holding a Cross. Its inscription is, Henricus Nonus An- 
 glise Rex, Gratia Dei, sed non voluntate Hominum ; " Henry the Ninth, 
 King of England by the Grace of God, but not by the Will of Man." 
 
 The Medals relative to the birth of the Pretender form a curious 
 chapter in our Medallic History. In one Jacobite medal there is an 
 Infant in a cradle killing a serpent, with a motto, Monstris dant funera 
 Cunse, " His cradle gives death to monsters." On the reverse, is a Crest 
 of three Plumes, with a motto, Fulta tribus metuenda Corona, " A Crown 
 supported by three (feathers or kingdoms) is to be dreaded." A medal, 
 designed by a friend of the Revolution, on the other hand, represents a 
 small edifice, in which is placed a baby, with a crown on its head, and 
 holding a chalice of Popery : there is a Jesuit beneath supporting the 
 baby on a cushion : a figure of Truth, treading on a serpent, opens the 
 door of the edifice, and detects the Jesuit. The motto is. Sic non hseredes 
 decerunt, "With these arts there will be no want of an heir." Another 
 medal represents a withering rosier, and a young stem growing from its 
 root, with a motto, Tamen nascatur oportet, " An Heir must be born, not- 
 withstanding." This device is varied in another medal, by a rose-bush 
 bearing two decayed flowers, and, at a distance from them, a single bud. 
 Another medal represents a Female opening a pannier, out of which springs 
 a child having a dragon's tail : another female is holding up her hands in 
 astonishment : the motto is, Infantemque vident, apporrectumque Draco- 
 nem, " They behold a Child, and an extended Dragon." Another medal 
 represents the Trojan Horse, with Troy (which it has been seen, in a 
 former chapter, was often used to designate London) in flames : there is a 
 motto on the horse's side-cloth, Equo ne crede, Britanne! "Briton, be- 
 ware the Horse !" Another medal represents an eaglet cast away from an 
 eagle, with mottos, Non patitur supposititios, and, Rejicit indignum, " It 
 will not brook the supposititious — It rejects the unworthy one." 
 
 In an ingenious publication lately set on foot, entitled Notes and 
 Queries, is a query, by Mr Nightingale, concerning a Lobster introduced in 
 a medal in his possession relative to the Pretender's birth. It represents 
 a ship of war bearing a French flag : on the shore is a figure in the dress 
 of a Jesuit (supposed to represent Father Petre) seated astride oi a, Lobster, 
 and holding in his arms an infant who has a httle windmill on his head. 
 The Legend is. Aliens, mon Prince, nous sommes en bon chemin. On the 
 Reverse is a shield, charged with a windmill, and surmounted by a Jesuit's 
 bonnet : two rows of beads or rosaries form a collar, within which is in- 
 scribed, Hony soit qui non y pense. A Lobster is suspended from the 
 collar as a badge. The Legend is, Les Armes et Tordre du pretendu 
 Prince de Galles. Mr Nightingale adds, that the Lobster has bafiled all 
 commentators and collectors of Medals. He notices that Van Loon, in 
 his Histoire Metallique des Pays Bas, gives the Lobster, in his plate of the 
 
v.] INSCRIPTIONS. 367 
 
 medal, correctly; but that his legend is, Hony soit qui hon y pense. 
 Mr Nightingale writes that the medal in his possession is in excellent 
 preservation, as if fresh from the Mint. The Windmill has reference 
 to a current story at the time, that the supposititious Prince of Wales was 
 really the child of a miller. It was remarked as a suspicious circum- 
 stance, that the Baby-Prince was fed with a spoon instead of being 
 suckled. The Nuncio wrote to his Court that there was given to the 
 "Principino un alimento chiamato Watter-Gruell." 
 
 The following letter addressed to the Englishman, will shew how 
 that in the time of Queen Anne, the connexion between Popery and the 
 cause of the Pretender, which, we have seen, began when he was en 
 ventre sa mere, continued to be the predominating objection to the House 
 of Stuart in the eyes of the vulgar ; and that the populace of London 
 appear to have entertained the same dislike for Papal intervention with 
 English politics by which they are animated in the present day. 
 
 "Sir, 
 
 " I wish you joy of the account which I am now about to give 
 you of the burning the Effigy of the Pretender to her Majesty's domi- 
 nions. The good subjects who took upon them to direct and perform 
 this, chose very justly the night of that happy day which is the anni- 
 versary of the birth of their Queen. The joy of her majest/s reco- 
 very much contributed to the diversion and the solemnity, which was 
 performed after the following manner: There were twelve persons 
 bearing streamers, two larger than the rest, inscribed, * Long live Queen 
 Anne:' ten others with streamers, inscribed, 'God bless Queen Anne, 
 the Church of England, and the House of Hannover,' preceded a cart 
 wherein were placed three large figures seated together, as tall as 
 men; the person in the middle representing the Pope, on his right 
 hand the Familiar which presides in his councils, and on his left the 
 Pretender. 
 
 "This elevated machine was visible to all the people from their 
 dwellings on each side the streets, by the attendance of five hundred 
 torches and links at its first setting out from Charing- Cross ; from 
 whence the solemnity began, and moved forward with great order 
 through Pall-Mali, St James's-Street, Piccadilly, Gerrard- Street, Holborn, 
 Newgate- Street, Cheapside, and Cornhill: whence it faced about, and 
 having gathered together a crowd of a much more wealthy and warm 
 dress than those of the other end of the town, the acclamations of 
 joy and triumph began to ring by the joint voice of all the people. 
 The mixed cries were, ' God save Queen Anne,' * Preserve the Protestant 
 Succession,' * No Popery,' * No Pretender.* I can assure you, Sir, my 
 heart leaped within me, and methought my money chinked in my 
 pocket, for joy of the safety of the rest I have in the funds. I could 
 not forbear taking coach, and passing through the cross streets, to 
 observe how the solemnity was received. 
 
368 GEMS OF LATIN POETRY. [Ch. V. 
 
 " It was very visible at several parts of the town, that there were 
 many hundreds of volunteer links brought into this Protestant illu- 
 mination by honest fellows, who were not worth the price of much 
 more than what they brought in their hands. It is certain that the 
 common sense of the nation is against the Pretender; and there is no 
 man able to do him considerable service, but by concealing his being 
 for him. But all hearts begin to open in England ; and when Perkin 
 was brought, attended by his proper associates, to the place of conflagra- 
 tion, after having been drawn thrice round a magnificent bonfire, he was 
 put into the flames with the general acclamation of the multitude, 
 which was unspeakably large. This raising the sentiments of the people 
 to attend their danger, by mechanic means that strike their sight, very 
 well deserves the thanks of every true Englishman to those who are 
 at the expence of it, and merits a commemoration in your Paper. 
 
 " I am, Sir, your humble Servant, 
 
 " CiVIS LONBINENSIS.** 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 M.A., Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. Svo. 4s. ed. 
 
 Memoirs of the Life, Character, and Writings of Joseph 
 Butler, D.C.L., late Lord Bishop of Durham. By Thomas Bartlett, A.M., 
 Rector of Kingston, Kent. Portrait. Svo. 12s. 
 
 < 
 
PUBLISHED BY JOHN DEIGHTON, CAMBRIDGE. 5 
 
 ©amfirtflge antiguarfait Societg^^ liufiUcationg* 
 
 Demy 4to. sewed. 
 No. I. — A Catalogue of the Library of St. Catharine's Hall, 
 
 M.CCCC.LXXV. Is. 6c?. 
 
 No. II. — Abbreviata Cronica ab anno 1377 usque ad annum 1469. 
 
 25. Q>d. 
 
 No. III. — An Account of the Rites and Ceremonies which took place 
 at tlie Consecration of Archbisliop Parker, witli an Introductory Preface 
 and Notes. Zs. M. 
 
 Nos. IV., V. — An Application of Heraldry to the Illustration of 
 various University and Collegiate Antiquities. Part. I, 6s.; Part II. 4s. Qd. 
 
 Nos. VI., VIII. — A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts and 
 
 Scarce Books in the Library of St. John's College, Cambridge. Parts. I. 
 and II. 4s. %d. each. 
 
 No. VII. — A Description of the Sextry Barn at Ely, lately demolished. 
 
 With Illustrations. 3s. 
 
 No. IX. — Architectural Nomenclature of the Middle Ages. Plates^ 7s. 
 
 No. X. — Roman and Roman-British Remains, at and near Shefford, 
 Co. Beds. 
 
 A Catalogue of Coins from the same place. Plates, 6s. 6d. 
 
 No. XI. — Specimens of College Plate, with 13 Plates. 15^. 
 
 No. XII. — On the Materials of two Sepulchral Vessels, found at 
 Warden, Co. Beds. Plates, 4s. 
 
 No. XIII. — Evangelia Augustini Gregoriana. Plates, 11. 
 
 No. XIV. — Miscellaneous Communications made to the Cambridge 
 Antiquarian Society. Part I. 
 I. On Palimpsest Sepulchral Crosses. By A. W. Franks. 
 
 II. On two British Shields found in the Isle of Ely. By C. W. Goobwin, 
 
 M.A. 
 
 III. A Catalogue of the Books given to Corpus Christi College, (a.d. 1439) 
 
 by J. Markaunt, with their prices. By J. O. Halliwell, F.R.S., 
 F.S.A., &c. 
 
 IV. The Genealogical History of the Freville Family, with some account 
 
 of their Monuments in Little Shelf ord Church, Cambridgeshire. By 
 A. W. Franks. With Eight Plates. 
 
 No. XV. — An Historical Inquiry touching St. Catharine of Alexandria. 
 Illustrated by a Serai- Saxon Legend. With Two Plates. 12s. 
 
 Reports presented to the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, at its 
 
 General Meeting, from 1841 to 1847. 8vo. seiccd, Is. each. 
 
6 MISCELLANEOUS WORKS 
 
 Cambridge University Almanac for the Year 1851. Em- 
 bellished with, a Line Engraving, by Mr. E. Challis, of a View of the 
 Entrance Gateway of St. John's College, from a Drawing by B. Rudge. 
 (^Continued Annually.) 4s. 6c?. 
 
 The Cambridge Guide : including Historical and Architec- 
 tural Notices of the Public Buildings, &c. Neio Edition, illmtrated by numerous 
 beautiful Engravings, from Drawings hy Mackenzie and Rudge, and a New Plan 
 of the Town. 12mo. 5s. 6d. 
 
 The Cambridge University Calendar for the Year 1850: 
 
 containing the Regulations confirmed by the Senate for the Moral Sciences 
 and Natural Sciences Tripos ; also the New Plan for the Previous Examina- 
 tion, a complete List of the Professors from the Commencement of them to the 
 Present Time, &c. &c. (Continued Annually.) 12mo. 65. Qd. 
 
 Descriptions of the British Palaeozoic Fossils added by 
 
 Professor Sedgwick to the Woodwardian Collection, and contained in the 
 Geological Museum of the University of Cambridge. With Figures of the 
 new and imperfectly known Species. By Fbederigk: MXoy, Professor of 
 Geology, &c., Queen's College, Belfast ; Author of * Carboniferous Limestone 
 Fossils of Ijreland,' ' Synopsis of the Silurian Fossils of L-eland.' Part I. 4to. 
 
 The History of the University of Cambridge, from the 
 
 Conquest to the year 1634. By Thomas Fuller, D.D. Edited by the 
 Rev. M. PmcKETT, M.A., F.S.A., of Trinity College, and Thomas Wright, 
 Esq., M.A., F.S.A., of Triuity College; with Illustrative Notes, and two 
 Plans of Cambridge. 8vo. 125. 
 
 Graduati Cantabrigienses : sive Catalogus eorum quos ab 
 anno 1760 usque ad 10" Octr. 1846, Gradu quocunque ornavit Academia. 
 Curd Josephi Romilly, A.M., Coll. Trin. Socii atque Academiae Registrarii. 
 
 8vo. IO5. 
 
 Makamat ; or Rhetorical Anecdotes of Hariri of Basra, 
 
 translated from the Arabic into English Prose and Verse, and illustrated 
 with Annotations. By Theodore Preston, M.A., Fellow of Trinity College, 
 Cambridge. Nearly Ready. 
 
 An Index of such English Books printed before the year 
 
 1600, as are now in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. Published 
 with the permission of the Rev. the Master and Fellows, by Edward Cran- 
 well, late Under-Librarian. 8vo. Zs. 6d. 
 
PUBLISHED BY JOHN DEIGHTON, CAMBRIDGE. 7 
 
 Numismata Collegii de Gonville et Caius. Nuper Jacobi 
 Burrough et Joannis Smitli. The Donor's Catalogue edited by the Rev. 
 J. J. Smith, M.A., Fellow and Tutor of Caius College. 4to. 7s. 
 
 A Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of Gonville 
 and Caius College^ Cambridge. By the Rev. J. J. Smith, M.A., &c. 
 
 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 Lectures on Modern History, from the Irruption of the 
 
 Northern Nations, to the Close of the American War. By W. Smyth, M.A., 
 late Professor of Modem History in the University of Cambridge. Fifth 
 Edition. 2 vols. 8vo. U. Is. 
 
 Lectures on History. Second and concluding Series. On 
 the French Revolution. By W. Smyth, M.A., &c. Third Edition. 3 vols. 
 
 8vo. 1/. lis. 6d. 
 
 The Squib, or Searchfoot. An Unedited little Work which 
 
 Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra wrote in defence of the first part of the 
 Quixote. Published by Don Adolfo de Castro, at Cadiz, 1847. Translated 
 from the original Spanish, by a Member of the University of Cambridge. 
 
 12mo. 35. ed. 
 
 A Collection of Anthems used in the Chapels of King's, 
 
 Trinity, and St. John's Colleges, compiled and arranged in Chronological 
 order. By T. A. "Walmisley, M.A., Professor of Music in the University 
 of Cambridge. 8vo. 5s. 
 
 Architectural Notes on German Churches ; with Notes 
 
 written during an Architectural Tour in Picardy and Normandy. By "W. 
 Whewell, D.D., Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. Third Edition. To 
 which is added. Translation of Notes on Churches of the Rhine, by M. F. De 
 Lassaulx, Architectural Inspector to the King of Prussia. Plates. 8vo. 12s, 
 
 Remarks on the Architecture of the Middle Ages, especially 
 in Italy. By R,. Willis, M.A., Jacksonian Professor of the University of 
 Cambridge. Plates, large paper. Royal 8vo. U. Is. 
 
>/i£fcDS of tit (JDoUcQes antr otfier public ^uilliinas 
 
 IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, 
 
 Taken expressly for the University Almanack, {measuring 
 about 17 inches by \\ inches'). 
 
 No.Year. SUBJECT. 
 
 1—1801 TRINITY COLLEGE-West Front of Library. 
 
 2—1802 KING'S COLLEGE and CHAPEL— West Front, and Clare Hall. 
 
 3—1803 St. JOHN'S COLLEGE— Bridge and West Front. 
 
 4—1804 QUEENS' COLLEGE— taken from the Mill. 
 
 5—1805 JESUS COLLEGE— taken from the Road. 
 
 6-1806 EMMANUEL COLLEGE— West Front. 
 
 7—1807 PEMBROKE COLLEGE— West Front. 
 
 8—1808 TRINITY HALL— taken from Clare Hall Garden. 
 
 9—1809 SIDNEY SUSSEX COLLEGE -taken from Bowling Green. 
 10—1810 CHRIST'S COLLEGE— taken from the Garden. 
 11—1811 CAIUS COLLEGE— Second Court. 
 12—1812 DOWNING COLLEGE— Master's Lodge. 
 13—1813 St. PETER'S COLLEGE— taken from the Street. 
 14—1814 CATHARINE HALL— Interior of Court. 
 15—1815 CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE— Interior of Old Court. 
 16—1816 MAGDALENE COLLEGE— Front of Pepvsian Library. 
 17-1817 SENATE-HOUSE and UNIVERSITY LIBRARY. 
 18—1818 TRINITY COLLEGE— Great Court. 
 19—1819 St. JOHN'S COLLEGE— Second Court. 
 20-1820 MAGDALENE COLLEGE— First Court. 
 21—1821 EMMANUEL COLLEGE— First Court. 
 22—1822 KINGS COLLEGE— Old Building. 
 23—1823 JESUS COLLEGE— taken from the Close. 
 24—1824 QUEENS' COLLEGE— taken from the Grove. 
 25—1825 OBSERVATORY. 
 
 All the Views as above, from Nos. 1 to 25 inclusive, — 
 Price, Plain Impressions, 2s. Qd. — Proofs, 5s. 
 26—1826 CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE-West Front, New Building. 
 27—1827 TRINITY COLLEGE-Interior of King's Court. 
 28—1828 St. PETER'S COLLEGE -Gisborne's Court. 
 29—1829 KING'S COLLEGE NEW BUILDINGS and CHAPEL— taken from 
 
 the Street. 
 30—1830 St. JOHN'S COLLEGE— New Building. 
 
 31—1831 TRINITY COLLEGE-West Front of King's Court and Library. 
 32—1832 CHRIST'S COLLEGE— New Buildings. 
 33—1833 KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL- Between the Roofs. 
 34_1834 PITT PRESS. 
 
 35—1835 SIDNEY SUSSEX COLLEGE— taken from an Elevation. 
 36—1836 KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL, &c.— West Front. 
 37—1837 St. JOHN'S COLLEGE— New Bridge, &c. 
 38—1838 FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM. 
 39—1839 The NEW UNIVERSITY LIBRARY. 
 
 40—1840 CAMBRIDGE— from the top of St. John's College New Buildings, 
 41—1841 CLARE HALL— from the Bridge. 
 
 42—1842 FITZWILLIAM MUSEUM. Entrance Hall and Statue Gallery. 
 43—1843 TRINITY COLLEGE. Interior of the Hall. 
 44—1844 St. SEPULCHRE'S CHURCH, as restored by the Cambridge 
 
 Camben Society. 
 45—1845 CAIUS COLLEGE Gate of Honour. Senate-House and New 
 
 Univehstty Library. 
 46—1846 GREAT COURT OF TRINITY COLLEGE. 
 47—1847 St. SEPULCHRE'S CHURCH— The Interior of. 
 
 Nos. 26 to 47, inclusive . . . Plain Impressions .... 55. Od. 
 
 Proofs Ss. dd. 
 
 — on India Paper . . 12s. Qd, 
 48-1848 THE INTERIOR OF THE SENATE-HOUSE. 
 
 India Proofs.. 15s. — Plain Proofs.. 10s. 
 49—1849 SENATE HOUSE AND GREAT SAINT MARY'S CHURCH. 
 
 India Proofs.. 12s.— Plain Proofs.. 8s. 
 50—1850 THE INTERIOR OF THE CHAPEL OF JESUS COLLEGE. 
 
 India Proofs.. 15s.— Plain Proofs .. \Qs. 6d. 
 51—1851 THE ENTRANCE GATEWAY of St. JOHN'S COLLEGE. 
 
 630 
 
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