The Power of Solitude/Notes on the First Part
NOTES
ON THE FIRST PART.
NOTE I.
THE influence of association is thus finely depictured by Akenside.
NOTE II.
When Alexander had crossed the Hellespont in his march into Asia, he paused at the tomb of Achilles on the promontory of Sigeum, and after garlanding his tomb with flowers, and paying divine honours to his memory, exclaimed, that he considered Achilles chiefly happy in having a friend, like Patroclus, and a poet, like Homer. Atque iis tamen cum in Sigeo ad Achillis tumulum adstitisset; O! fortunate, inquit, adolescens, qui tuæ virtutis Homerum præconem inveneris! Et vere, nam nisi Ilias illa extitisset, idem tumulus, qui corpus ejus contexerat, nomen ejus obruisset. Cic. pro Archiâ poetâ—Plut. in Alex.
NOTE III.
The allusion here to the Cornean gate, and in a subsequent page to the Ivory gate, is explained in the following lines:
NOTE IV.
Wieland, the darling of the German muse, by turns sweet, affecting, magnificent, sublime, commanding, terrible: the favorite of fancy, to whom she unveiled her most beautiful forms, drest in the voluptuousness of the loves, and the translucent snow of the graces. His works
NOTE V.
After his abdication of the dictatorship Sylla retired to a solitary retreat at Puteoli, where he spent the remainder of his life in riot and debauchery. The most vile pimps, and low profligates were the companions of his pleasures; and it is observed of him, that like Marius, he endeavored to destroy the stings of con.science by continual intoxication. His excesses brought on the most disgusting distempers, and he expired a dreadful instance of vice and villany.
PLUT. IN SYLLE VITA.
NOTE VI.
Apega was a beautiful statue contrived by the tyrant Nabis to punish those, who refused their wealth to his rapacity. In its bosom were concealed numerous daggers, which by secret springs, while it embraced, stabbed the destined victim.
NOTE VII.
NOTE VIII.
Madame La Valiere, an unfortunate mistress of Louis XIV, retired to a convent of Carmelites; that last retreat (to use the words of Voltaire) for tender minds, which are not subdued by profound sentiments and reflections. She thought that heart, which had been engaged to her lover, ought henceforth to be dedicated to heaven.
VOLTAIRE'S LEWIS XIV. 2 VOL.
The following extract is from the brilliant pen of Miss Helen Maria Williams. "While I gazed at her (Mad. Valiere's) picture, I lamented that sensibility, which led into the most fatal errors a mind, that seems to have been formed for virtue, and which even in the bosom of pleasure bewailed its own weakness. How can one forbear regretting, that the capricious, inconstant monarch, to whom she gave her heart, should have inspired a passion, of which he was so unworthy a passion which appears to have been wholly unmixed with interest, vanity, or ambition."
LETTERS FROM FRANCE.
NOTE IX.
———"We begged to know the rules of the convent. A hollow voice answered, that the Carmelites rose at four in summer and five in winter; that they slept in their coffins upon straw, and every morning dug a shovel full of earth for their graves; that they walked to their devotional exercises upon their knees; that when any of their friends visited them, if they spoke, they were not suffered to be seen, or if they were seen, they were not suffered to speak: that with them, it was always a, fast, and they only tasted food twice a day."
WILLIAMS' (HELEN) LETTERS FROM FRANCE.
NOTE X.
At the late reduction of the French convents, a large proportion of the nuns entreated their liberators to allow them to pass the remnant of their days in those gloomy habitations of religion. The reader may find the facts related with many affecting incidents in Dr. Moore's Journal thro France, I. 244.
NOTE XI.
This very affecting scene, which took place in the beginning of the reign of Louis XVI, is beautifully narrated by the elegant Mercier. The whole is too long for insertion here; but I cannot forbear the two following extracts.
"Dans leur nombre etoit un viellard, qui depuis quarante-sept anneés gémissoit, detenu entre quatre epaisses & froides murailles. Durci par l'adversité, qui fortifie l'homme, quand elle ne le tue pas, il avoit supporté l'ennui & les horreurs de la captivité avec une constance mâle & courageuse. Les chevaux blancs & rares avoient acquis presque la rigidité du fer, & son corps plongé si long tems dans un cercueil de pierre, en avoit contracté, pour ainsi dire, la fermeté compacte.
"Accablé de douleur, il va trouver le minister, dont la compassion genereuse lui fit present d'une liberté, qui lui pese. Il s'incline, & dit; faites-moi reconduire dans la prison, d'ou vous m'avez tiré. Qui peut survivre à ses parens, à ses amis, à une génération entiere? Qui peut apprendre le trepas universel des siens sans desirer le tombeau? Toutes ces morts, qui pour les autres hommes, n'arrivent, qu'en detail et par gradation, m'ont frappé dans un meme instant. Séperé de la societé, je vivois avec moi-meme. Ici, je ne puis vivre ni avec moi, ni avec les hommes nouveaux, pour qui mon desespoir n'est qu'un rêve. Ce n'est pas mourir, qui est terrible, c'est mourir le denier. Tableau de Paris, tom III. 291.
NOTE XII.
Eloisa, the learned and unfortunate mistress of Abelard, was one of the most beautiful women of the twelfth century. She has been celebrated for her wit and accomplishments, and is still remembered with enthusiasm, on account of her unfortunate passion. After a series of misfortunes in which she was involved with Abelard, she retired to the convent of Argenteul, and he to the monastery of St. Gildas. Here commenced their celebrated correspondence after years of separation; a correspondence, which is tender and pathetic; and exhibits sentiments of the purest devotion mingled with the luxuriance of passion.
NOTE XIII.
In a delightful and romantic country was situated the enchanting solitude of Vaucluse. The river Sorgia watered the valley, which embraced it, and the scenery around exhibited alternately the tranquillity of the vale of Tempé, and the sublime of the Appenines. In this retreat did Petrarch spend twenty years of his life, in endeavouring to overcome his passion for the lovely Laura, and in musing on the relics of classic learning. For this he quitted the seductive charms of society; and in retirement he composed those works, which have conferred on him a deserved immortality.
See the LIFE OF PETRARCH.
NOTE XIV.
"Petrarch first beheld Laura, as she was going to the church of the monastery of St. Claire. She was dressed in green, and her gown was embroidered with violets. Her person was delicate, her eyes tender and sparkling, and her eyebrows black as ebony. Golden locks waved over her shoulders whiter than snow, and the ringlets were woven with the fingers of love. Nothing was so soft as her looks, so modest as her carriage, so touching as the sound of her voice. An air of gaiety and tenderness breathed around her; but so pure and happily tempered, as to inspire every beholder with the sentiments of virtue; for she was chaste, as the spangled dewdrop on the thorn. Such was the description given of this divine woman by her enslaved lover."
ZIMMERMAN ON SOLITUDE.
NOTE XV.
NOTE XVI.
The statue of Memnon in his temple at Thebes held a lyre in its hands, which is stated to have saluted the rising sun with cheerful tones and the setting sun with melancholy ones. Darwin's Botanic garden, note viii. in the additional notes.
NOTE XVII.
Hagley Park was the seat of the Hon. Lord Lyttelton, whose elegy on the death of his lady, reflects equal lustre on the merit of the wife, and the faithful sensibility of the husband.
NOTE XVIII.
The tender monody and sweet address to the Nightingale by Shaw are masterpieces of their kind. It may with truth be asserted, that nothing in our language exceed their pathos and melancholy simplicity. There is a charm in the following stanza addressed to the nightingale, which it were useless to describe; it speaks to the feelings in a language, which can never be mistaken.
NOTE XIX.
In allusion to the knot of Gordius. The oracles declared, that the empire of Asia was destined for him, who untied it. Alexander, in passing Gordium, cut it with his sword in order to animate his soldiers; and thus determined the fulfilment of the prophecy. GILL. GREECE IV. 275.
NOTE XX.
The beautiful sentiment inscribed on Miss Dolman's urn at the Leasowes might be here most strikingly applied.
Akenside was not unmindful of these sentiments and has drawn a fine portrait of their effect.
NOTE XXI.
It is recorded in history, that when Eteocles and Polynices, the sons of Oedipus, after a most furious engagement were slain, and their bodies conducted to the same funeral pyre, their ashes separated, and the flames rose in two divisions, as if sensible of resentment, and averse from reconciliation. Stat. I. 51. This circumstance is alluded to the following lines of Lucan.
NOTE XXII.
Calypso ne pouvoit se consoler du départ d'Ulysse. Dans sa douleur elle se trouvoit malheureuse d'être immortelle. Sa grotte ne résonnoit plus de son chant; les nymphes, qui la servoient, n'osoient lui parler. Elle se promenoit souvent seule sur les gazons fleuris, dont un printemps éternel borde son île; mais ces beaux lieux, loin de moderer sa douleur, ne faisoient qui lui rappeler le triste souvenir d'Ulysse, qu'elle y avoit vu tant de fois auprès d'elle.
TELEMAQUE, tom 1. lib. 1.
NOTE XXIII.
The Venus Anadyomené of Apelles was modelled from the form "of the beautiful Campaspé, the favorite mistress of Alexander. The sensibility of Apelles was too deeply penetrated with the charms, which he so successfully expressed. Alexander was no sooner acquainted with his passion, than he made him a present not only of Campaspé, but of his own affection."
GILLIES' GREECE IV. 407. PLINY III. 222, &c.
NOTE XXIV.
"Society terrified him, while he reflected on his numerous, unknown, and implacable enemies. Solitude appaled and astonished him, by withdrawing that protection, which he found so necessary for his security. He was haunted with continual apprehensions, and all composure of mind was flown forever."
HUME'S ENGLAND VII. 284.
NOTE XXV.
See ante Note III.
NOTE XXVI.
"I" (said Mad. Maintenon) "have been young and beautiful, have had a high relish for pleasure, and have been the universal object of love. In a more advanced age, I have passed years in the intercourse of intellectual pleasure. I have at length risen to favour; but I protest to you, my dear girl, that every one of these conditions leaves in the mind a dismal vacuity." Letter to Mad. Maisonfort.
She often went to the convent of St. Cyr, and spent whole days in melancholy solitude; and after the king's death retired wholly from court.VOLTAIRE'S LEWIS XIV. II. 61, 62.
NOTE XXVII.
Amadeus, duke of Savoy, after a fortunate reign retired to a convent at Ripaille, and spent the remainder of his days in solitary devotion.
MOORE'S TRAVELS, I. 125, II. 286.
NOTE XXVIII.
The magnificent Abdalrahman, one of the most illustrious princes, who sat on the Cordovan throne. His palaces at Zehrah far exceeded in convenience, lustre, and opulence, the most sumptuous palaces of modern days. The sagacious Gibbon thus concludes his narration of this fortunate prince.
"In a private condition our desires are perpetually repressed by poverty and subordination; but the lives and labors of millions are devoted to the service of a despotic prince, whose laws are blindly obeyed, and whose wishes are instantly gratified. Our imagination is dazzled by the splendid picture; and whatever may be the cool distates of reason, there are few among us, who would obstinately refuse a trial of the comforts and the cares of royalty. It may therefore be of some use to borrow the experience of the same Abdalrahman, whose magnificence has perhaps excited our admiration and envy; and to transcribe an authentic memorial, which was found in the closet of the deceased caliph. 'I have. now reigned above fifty years in victory and peace; beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. Riches and honors, power and pleasure, have waited on my call, nor does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting for my felicity. In this situation I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness, which have fallen to my lot: they amount to fourteen; O man! place not thy confidence in this present world."
DECLINE and FALL of the ROMAN EMPIRE X. 39.
NOTE XXIX.
Ixion, according to the heathen mythology, was doomed to punishment in the infernal regions for boasting of the favors of Juno, when he embraced a cloud.
NOTE XXX.
Mr. Gibbon is of opinion, that the story of the beggary of Belisarius, the "date obolum Belisario," is a fiction of modern days. However this be, the lesson inculcated is not less awfully impressive; and the pathetic tale on this subject by Marmontel were worth a whole volume of moral disquisition.
NOTE XXXI.
It is but justice to acknowledge that I suspect myself to have drawn the outline of this character from the inimitable model of Goldsmith in the village preacher of his St. Auburn: a poem, which was read with rapture in my early days, and which is still my favorite. Its merit is certainly of the highest kind, whether considered in point of originality, sentiment, or beauty of composition; but above all, it will be admired for those genuine feelings, which it expresses, and which are the sure indications of simplicity of heart, and generosity of character. This is but a humble, though sincere, tribute to the memory of the benevolent Goldsmith, of whom it may be said in his own language,
"Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway." Respecting the tale introduced, it may be observed, that its design was to paint a simple picture of rural life, and the influence of solitude in old age, sickness, and death.
END OF THE NOTES ON THE FIRST PART.