A morning-visit to the poor man's shed, And tears are falling fast-but not for grief:- Graver things Come in their turn. Morning, and Evening, brings That over wood and wild and mountain-dell pursues The pathway leading through the aged yews, When they that cry for Justice gather round, Heal'd at his touch, the wounds of discord close; Thus, while the world but claims its proper part, His life steals on; within his quiet dwelling before Went Sidney, Russell, Raleigh, Cranmer, More, Stands for his life: there, on that awful day, -On the day destined for his funeral ! -Soon through the gadding vine (19) the sun looks in, But a weak woman worn with grief and fear, green; And gentle hands the breakfast-rite begin. But nothing lasts. In Autumn at his plough T was morn-the sky-lark o'er the furrow sung Iler darling Mother! 'T was but now she smiled, At length fulfill'd-and now prepared to go? An hour like this is worth a thousand pass'd And now once more where most he loved to be, Thee, who wouldst watch a bird's nest on the spray, How oft from grove to grove, from seat to seat, With thee conversing in thy loved retreat, I saw the sun go down!-Ah, then 't was thine Ne'er to forget some volume half divine, And She inspires, whose beauty shines in all; Shakspeare's or Dryden's-through the chequer'd shade And with assurance sweet her soul revive Borne in thy hand behind thee as we stray'd; And where we sate (and many a halt we made) 'Tis the sixth hour. Yet hovering, and the thistle's down at rest. And such, his labour done, the calm He knows, Of merchants from Golcond or Astracan, In their long march, such as the Prophet bids, A strain breaks forth (who hears and loves it not?) That in their slumbers they may dream of Heaven; In child-birth-when a mother's love is most alive! O thou all-eloquent, whose mighty mind (27) « Look up, and faint not-faint not, but rejoice!»> Trees he has climb'd so oft, he sits and sees His children's children playing round his knees: Now in their turn assisting, they repay A feeling of enjoyment. In his walks, But there are moments which he calls his own. And now behold him up the hill ascending, Memory and Hope like evening-stars attending; Sustain'd, excited, till his course is run, By deeds of virtue done or to be done. When on his couch he sinks at length to rest, 'T is past! That hand we grasp'd, alas, in vain! Then was the drama ended. Not till then, So full of chance and change the lives of men, Could we pronounce him happy. Then secure From pain, from grief, and all that we endure, He slept in peace--say rather soared to Heaven, Upborne from Earth by Him to whom 't is given In his right hand to hold the golden key That the portals of Eternity. opes to know himself. He tells the proud and insolent, that they are but abjects, and humbles them at the instant. He takes the account of the rich man, and proves him a beggar, a naked beggar. He holds a glass before the eyes of the most beautiful, and makes them see therein their deformity; and they acknowledge it. O eloquent, just, and mighty Death! whom none could advise, thou hast persuaded; what none have dared, thou hast done; and whom all the world have flattered, thou only hast cast out and despised: thou hast drawn together all the far-stretched greatness, all the pride, cruelty and ambition of man, and covered it all over with these two narrow words, Hic jacet. col. 2. Note 3, page 11, Through the dim curtains of Futurity. RALEIGH. Fancy can hardly forbear to conjecture with what temper Milton surveyed the silent progress of his work, and marked his reputation stealing its way in a kind of subterraneous current through fear and silence. I cannot but conceive him calm and confident, little disappointed, not at all dejected, relying on his own merit with steady consciousness, and waiting, without impatience, the vicissitudes of opinion, and the impartiality of a future generation.-JOHNSON. After line 57, col. 2, in the MS. Note 4, page 12, col. 1. Note 6, page 12, col. 1. The hour arrives, the moment wished and feared. A Persian Poet has left us a beautiful thought on this subject, which the reader, if he has not met with it, will be glad to know, and, if he has, to remember. Thee on thy mother's knees, a new-born child, In tears we saw, when all around thee smiled. So live, that, sinking in thy last long sleep, For my version I am in a great measure indebted to Sir William Jones. Note 7, page 12, col. 2. These are my Jewels!» The anecdote here alluded to, is related by Valerius Maximus, lib. iv, c. 4. Note 8, page 12, col. 2. Suffer these little ones to come to me!» In our early Youth, while yet we live only among those we love, we love without restraint, and our hearts overflow in every look, word, and action. But when we enter the world and are repulsed by strangers, forgotten by friends, we grow more and more timid in our approaches even to those we love best. How delightful to us then are the little caresses of children! All sincerity, all affection, they fly into our arms; and then, and then only, we feel our first confidence, our first pleasure. Note 9, page 12, col. 2. -be reveres The brow engraven with the Thoughts of Years. This is a law of Nature. Age was anciently synonymous with power; and we may always observe that the old are held in more or less honour as men are more or less virtuous. «Shame," says Homer, bids the youth beware how he accosts the man of many years.» «Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of an old man.»-Leviticus. Among us, says a philosophical historian, and wherever birth and possessions give rank and authority, the young and the profligate are seen continually above the old and the worthy: there Age can never find its due respect. But among many of the ancient nations it was otherwise; and they reaped the benefit of it. Rien ne maintient plus les mœurs qu'une extrême subordination des jeunes gens envers les vieillards. Les uns et les autres seront contenus, ceux-là par le respect qu'ils auront pour les vieillards, et ceux-ci par le respect | qu'ils auront pour eux-mêmes. -MONTESQUIEU. Note 10, page 12, col. 2. Like Her most gentle, most unfortunate. Before I went into Germany, I came to Brodegate in Leicestershire, to take my leave of that noble Lady Jane Grey, to whom I was exceeding much beholding. Her parents, the Duke and Duchess, with all the Household, Gentlemen and Gentlewomen, were hunting in the park. I found her in her chamber, reading Phado Platonis in Greek, and that with as much delight as some Gentlemen would read a merry tale in Boccace. After salutation and duty done, with some other talk, I asked her, why she would lose such pastime in the Park? Smiling, she answered me, «I wist, all their sport in the park is but a shadow to that pleasure that I find in Plato."-ROGER ASCHAM. Note 11, page 12, col. 2. Then is the Age of Admiration. Xenophon has left us a delightful instance of conjugal affection. The king of Armenia not fulfilling his engagement, Cyrus entered the country, and, having taken him and all his family prisoners, ordered them instantly before him. Armenian, said he, you are free; for you are now sensible of your error. And what will you give me, if I restore your wife to you?—All that I am able.— What, if I restore your children?-All that I am able.— And you, Tigranes, said he, turning to the son, What would you do, to save your wife from servitude? Now Tigranes was but lately married, and had a great love for his wife. Cyrus, he replied, to save her from servitude, I would willingly lay down my life. Let each have his own again, said Cyrus; and when he was departed, one spoke of his clemency; and another of his valour; and another of his beauty, and the wife, if she thought him handsome. Really, said she, graces of his person. Upon which Tigranes asked his I did not look at him.-At whom then did you look?At him who said he would lay down his life for me.Cyropædia, l. iii. Note 17, page 14, col. 2. He goes, and Night comes as it never came! These circumstances, as well as some others that follow, are happily, as far as they regard England, of an ancient date. To us the miseries inflicted by a foreign invader are now known only by description. Dante in his old age was pointed out to Petrarch Many generations have passed away since our countrywhen a boy; and Dryden to Pope. Who does not wish that Dante and Dryden could have known the value of the homage that was paid them, and foreseen the greatness of their young ad mirers? Note 12, page 13, col. 1. Scenes such as Milton sought, but sought in vain. He had arrived at Naples; and was preparing to women saw the smoke of an enemy's camp. But the same passions are always at work every where, and their effects are always nearly the same; though the circumstances that attend them are infinitely various. Note 18, page 15, col. 1. That House with many a funeral-garland hung. A custom in some of our country-churches. Like Hampden struggling in his Country's cause. Zeuxis is said to have drawn his Helen from an assemblage of the most beautiful women; and many a writer of fiction, in forming a life to his mind, has recourse to the brightest moments in the lives of others. I may be suspected of having done so here, and of having designed, as it were, from living models; but by making an allusion now and then to those who have really lived, I thought I should give something of interest to the picture, as well as better illustrate my meaning. Note 21, page 15, col. 2. On through that gate misnamed. Mr Attorney General. Yes, a Servant. Lord Chief Justice. Any of your Servants shall assist you in writing any thing you please for you. Lord Russell. My Wife is here, my Lord, to do it.State Trials, ii. Note 25, page 15, col. 2. Her glory now, as ever her delight! Epaminondas, after his victory at Leuctra, rejoiced most of all at the pleasure which it would give his father and mother; and who would not have envied them their feelings? Cornelia was called at Rome the Mother-in-law of Scipio. When, said she to her sons, shall I be called the mother of the Gracchi? Note 26, page 16, col. 1. Lo, on his back a Son brings in his Sire. An act of filial piety represented on the coins of Cabe seen at the foot of mount Etna. The story is told of tana, a Greek city, some remains of which are still to two brothers, who in this manner saved both their parents. The place from which they escaped was long called the field of the pious; and public games were Traitor's gate, the water-gate in the Tower of annually held there to commemorate the Event. London. Note 22, page 15, col. 2. Then to the place of trial. This very slight sketch of Civil Dissension is taken from our own annals; but, for an obvious reason, not from those of our own Age. The persons here immediately alluded to lived more than a hundred years ago in a reign which Blackstone has justly represented as wicked, sanguinary, and turbulent; but such times have always afforded the most signal instances of heroic courage and ardent affection. Great reverses, like theirs, lay open the human heart. They occur indeed but seldom; yet all men are liable to them; all, when they occur to others, make them more or less their own; and, were we to describe our condition to an inhabitant of some other planet, could we omit what forms so striking a circumstance in hu man life? Note 23, page 15, col. 2. In the reign of William the Third, the law was altered. A prisoner, prosecuted for high treason, may now make his full defence by counsel. Note 24, page 15, col. 2. Like that sweet Saint who sate by Russell's side 1 Pope used to mention this poem as the most correct specimen of Dryden's versification. It was indeed written when he had com Lord Russel. May I have somebody to write, to assist pletely formed his manner, and may be supposed to exhibit, negli my memory? gence excepted, his deliberate and ultimate scheme of metre. JOHNSON. |