Blood is in a Body; without these two Essentials, it is impossible there
should be Life in either one or the other. Yet methinks it is a
prodigious Pity that this stagnate Pool should not by some Magic be
metamorphosed into a crystal Stream, rolling over a Bed of Pebbles. Such
a quick Circulation would give an infinite Spirit to the View. I could
wish his Lordship had such a Stream at his Command; he would shew it, I
dare say, to the best Advantage, in its Passage thro' the Gardens. But
we cannot _make_ Nature, the utmost we can do is to _mend_ her.----I
have heard a _Scotch_ Gentleman speak of the River, upon which the Town
of _Sterling_ stands, which is as remarkable a Meander as I have ever
heard of. From _Sterling_ to a little Village upon the Banks of this
River, by Land it is only four Miles, and yet if you should follow the
Course of the Water, you will find it above twenty.----There is an House
likewise that stands upon a narrow Isthmus of a Peninsula, formed by
this same River, which is mighty remarkable: The Water runs close to
both Ends of it, and yet if you sail from one to the other, you will be
carried a Compass of four Miles.----Such a River winding about this
Place, would make it a Paradise indeed!
As we are got into the North, I must confess I do not know any Part of
the Kingdom that abounds more with elegant natural Views: Our
well-cultivated Plains, as you observed before, are certainly not
comparable to their rough Nature in point of Prospect. About three Years
ago I rode the Northern Circuit: The Weather was extremely fine; and I
scarce remember being more agreeably entertained than I was with the
several charming Views exhibited to me in the northern Counties.
Curiosity indeed, rather than Business, carried me down: And as I had my
Time pretty much to myself, I spent it in a great measure in hunting
after beautiful Objects. Sometimes I found myself hemmed within an
Amphitheatre of Mountains, which were variously ornamented, some with
scattered Trees, some with tufted Wood, some with grazing Cattle, and
some with smoaking Cottages. Here and there an elegant View likewise was
opened into the Country.----A Mile's riding, perhaps, would have carried
me to the Foot of a steep Precipice, down which thundered the whole
Weight of some vast River, which was dashed into Foam at the Bottom, by
the craggy Points of several rising Rocks: A deep Gloom overspread the
Prospect, occasioned by the close Wood that hung round it on every
Side.--I could describe to you a Variety of other Views I met with
there, if we _here_ wanted Entertainment in the Way of Landskip. One,
however, I cannot forbear mentioning, and wishing at the same time that
his Lordship had such Materials to work with, and it could not be but he
would make a most noble Picture.----The Place I have in view is upon the
Banks of the River _Eden_ (which is indeed one of the finest Rivers I
ever saw). I scarce know a fitter Place for a Genius in this Way to
exert itself in. There is the greatest Variety of garnished Rocks,
shattered Precipices, rising Hills, ornamented with the finest Woods,
thro' which are opened the most elegant Vales that I have ever met with:
Not to mention the most enchanting Views up and down the River, which
winds itself in such a manner as to shew its Banks to the best
Advantage, which, together with very charming Prospects into the
Country, terminated by the blue Hills at a Distance, make as fine a
Piece of Nature, as perhaps can any where be met with.
_Calloph._ I admire your Taste in Landskip extremely; you have marked
out just such Circumstances as would take me most in a View. I am I find
almost as enthusiastic a Lover of Nature as you are. Yet tho' I can
allow her to have an excellent _Fancy_, I do not think she has the best
_Judgment_. Tho' Nature is an admirable _Colourist_, her _Composition_
is very often liable to Censure. For which Reason I am for having her
placed under the Direction of _Art_: And the Rule I would go by should
be Mr. _Pope_'s;
--_Treat the Goddess like a modest Fair,
Not over-dress, nor leave her wholly bare._
Suppose, therefore, we leave your romantic Nature, and continue our View
of her here, where she is treated according to this Prescription of the
Poet.----That Building is called the Temple of Contemplation; those
Bas-relief Heads it is adorned with, are, I assure you, extremely good
ones.
_Polypth._ Pray, Sir, what kind of a Building have we yonder, that
struck our Sight as we crossed that Alley?
_Calloph._ We will walk up to it if you please: It is a _Chinese_ House.
_Polypth._ A mighty whimsical Appearance it makes truly.
_Calloph._ In my Opinion it is a pretty Object enough, and varies our
View in a very becoming manner. Its cool stand upon the Lake, and those
canvas Windows, designed as well to keep out the Sun, as let in the Air,
give us a good Notion of the Manner of living in an hot Country. It is
finely painted in the Inside: Will you look into it?
_Polypth._ Finely painted indeed! Our Travellers tell us the _Chinese_
are a very ingenious People; and that Arts and Sciences flourish amongst
them in great Beauty. But for my Part, whenever I see any of their
Paintings, I am apt, I must confess, in every thing else to call their
Taste into question. It is impossible for one _Art_ to be in Perfection,
without introducing the rest. They are all _Links_ of the same _Chain_:
If you draw up one, you must expect the rest will follow. _Cognoscitur
ex socio_, is an old Rule you know in judging of _Men_; and I believe it
may be applied with as much Propriety in judging of _Arts_. It is hardly
to be imagined that any _Art_, perfect in its Kind, would claim any
Kindred, or even bear to keep Company with such a wretched _Art of
Painting_ as prevails amongst the _Chinese_: Its whole Mystery consists
in dawbing on glaring Colours: Correctness of Drawing, Beauty of
Composition, and Harmony of colouring, they seem not to have even the
least Notion of.
_Calloph._ I like your Reflections extremely. We should certainly have
some more elegant Productions from _China_, if they were able to answer
the Character I have sometimes heard given of them. They have very
little of true, manly Taste, I fancy, among them: Their Ingenuity lies
chiefly in the knick-knack Way; and is, I imagine, pretty much of the
_Dutch_ Kind.----Hold, Sir: This Way if you please. We will walk again
towards the River, and pursue it to the Canal.----It is divided, you
see, into three Parts; one takes its Rise from the Grotto; another from
the Pebble Bridge (as it is called) which is, I think, a pretty Object;
and the third issues from a dark Wood.----There, Sir, let me present you
to an illustrious set of your gallant Countrymen. This Place is called
the Temple of _British_ Worthies; and is gloriously filled, you see,
with the greatest Wits, Patriots, and Heroes, that are to be met with in
our Chronicles.
_Unspotted Names, and memorable long!
If there be Force in Virtue, or in Song._
Does not your Pulse beat high, while you thus stand before such an
awful Assembly? Is not your Breast warmed by a Variety of grand Ideas,
which this Sight must give Birth to?----There you have a View of the
calm Philosophers, who sought Virtue in her Retirement, and benefited
Mankind by Thought and Meditation.----Some took the human Mind for their
Theme, examined the various Powers it is endowed with, and gave us, _to
know ourselves_.----Others took _Nature_ for their Subject, looked thro'
all her Works, and enlarged our Notions of a God----While others, warmed
with a generous Resentment against Vice and Folly, made Morality their
Care: To the cool Reasoner serious Philosophy, without any Ornament but
Truth, was recommended: To the gayer Disposition the moral Song was
directed, and the Heart was improved, while the Fancy was delighted: To
those who were yet harder to work upon, the Force of Example was made
use of: Folly is put to the Test of Ridicule, and laughed out of
Countenance, while the moral Scene, like a distorting Mirror, shews the
Villain his Features in so deformed a Manner, that he darts at his own
Image with Horror and Affright.----On the other Side you are presented
with a View of those illustrious Worthies, who spent their Lives in
Action; who left Retirement to the cool Philosopher, entered into the
Bustle of Mankind, and pursued Virtue in the dazzling Light in which she
appears to Patriots and Heroes. Inspired by every generous Sentiment,
these gallant Spirits founded Constitutions, stemmed the Torrent of
Corruption, battled for the State, ventured their Lives in the Defence
of their Country, and gloriously bled in the Cause of Liberty.
_Polypth._ What an happy Man you are, thus to find an Opportunity of
moralizing upon every Occasion! What a noble View you have displayed
before me; when perhaps if I had been alone, I should have entertained
myself no otherwise than in examining the Busts; or if I read the
Inscriptions, they would only have drawn a Remark from me, that they
were well wrote.--The Assembly yonder on the opposite Side of the Water,
will be, I suppose, the next Subject for your Rapsody. Pray what Titles
are those Gentry distinguished by? At this Distance I can hardly find
out whether they are Philosophers or Milk-maids.
_Calloph._ Why, Sir, you have there a View of the Kingdom of
_Parnassus_: That Assembly is composed of _Apollo_, and his
Privy-council. But as I believe they will hardly pay us, by any Beauty
in their Workmanship, for our Trouble, should we go round and make them
a Visit; it is my Advice that we walk directly from hence to the Temple
of Friendship, and so return by that Terrace back again to those Parts
of the Garden that remain yet unseen.
_Polypth._ With all my Heart: But let us turn in here, I beseech you,
and walk as much in the Shade as possible, for the Day grows vastly
warm.
_Calloph._ I am ready to follow you amongst the Trees, not more out of
Complaisance than Inclination: I like a cool Retreat as well as you.
When I plan a Garden, I believe, I shall deal much in shady Walks;
wherever I open a grand Terrace, I intend to lengthen out by its Side a
close Vista: through the one I shall lead Strangers, in the other enjoy
my Friends. I am a great Admirer of walking in a Shade; it is a kind of
Emblem of the most agreeable Situation in Life, the retired one: Every
fantastic View is hid from us, and we may if we please, be Poets, or
Philosophers, or what we will. I own I admire the Taste of these buzzing
Insects, sporting themselves in the Shade; a glaring Sun-shine neither
in the World, nor in a Walk, is agreeable to my Way of thinking.
_Polypth._ If all the World thought as you do, we should have neither
Statesmen to mend our Laws, nor Coblers to mend our Shoes: We should
all run and hide ourselves amongst Trees, and what then would become of
Society?
_Calloph._ If I thought you did not will-fullyy mistake my Meaning, I
would take the Trouble of telling you that I am an Advocate for no other
_Retirement_ than such as is consistent with the Duties of Life. A Love
for which kind of Retirement, _properly qualified_, is _Health_ to the
Mind; but when it is _made up_ unskillfully, it throws us into a _fatal
Lethargy_, from whence begins the Date of an useless Life. Every
virtuous Mind, in a greater or a less Degree, has a turn this Way, and
the _best_, I believe, ought to be at the _most_ Pains to guard against
carrying this Inclination into the Extreme.
_Polypth._ And yet the Annals of most Nations let us see that their
greatest Men have often indulged it; and much for the Benefit of Mankind
too; witness many of the illustrious Worthies we have just been
visiting: You forget the Panegyric you bestowed upon them.
_Calloph._ No, Sir: But do you remember that I placed these cool
Reasoners on the best Side of a Comparison with those who entred into
the World, and spent their Lives in Action? On the contrary, this latter
kind of Men have always stood fairest in my Esteem. The Life of a
Recluse I would recommend to none but a Valetudinarian. We were intended
to assist each other as much as we are able. For my Part, it has always
been my Opinion, that _one good Man_ does more Service in the World,
than _a thousand good Books_.----But we'll drop our Argument at present,
because I see we have finished our Walk.
_Polypth._ Is that Building the Temple of Friendship? I cannot say that
I extremely admire it: But I hope I shall meet with more Entertainment
within, than I am able to do without----Well: This is elegant I must
confess.
_Calloph._ Ay, look round, and tell me if you are not struck by several
very beautiful Objects. Those Busts I assure you are _all_ pretty well
done, and _some_ of them extremely well.
_Polypth._ So they are indeed: But I am chiefly intent upon the
Painting, which I am much taken with: It is by the same Hand, I dare
say, with that in the Temple of _Venus_. That Emblem of Friendship
above the Door, those of Justice and Liberty, and those other Ornaments
upon the Walls, are well touched. What is that Painting upon the
Cieling? I do not rightly understand it.
_Calloph._ Why, Sir, it is a Piece of Satyr: I am sure you will like it
if you will give yourself the Trouble to examine it: It is in your Taste
I know exactly.----There you see sits _Britannia_; upon one Side are
held the Glory of her Annals, the Reigns of Queen _Elizabeth_ and
_Edward_ III. and on the other is offered the Reign of----, which she
frowns upon, and puts by with her Hand.
_Polypth._ Excellent, upon my Word! Faith, this is good! Never accept
it, honest Lady, till Corruption is at an End, and public Spirit
revives.
_Calloph._ With so little Malevolence as I know you are possessed of, I
do not think I ever met with any body in my Life so eager to catch at
any thing to blame; or to whom an Opportunity of that kind afforded a
more seeming real Pleasure than it does to you.----But I know it
proceeds from an honest Nature.----Well: Suppose we continue our
Walk.----I look upon that Statue as one of the finest in the World: I
would give all the Money in my Pocket for a Sight of the Original.
_Polypth._ The Posture always to me appears a little too much strained.
I can scarce throw myself into such an Attitude. Yet it is fine I must
confess.
_Calloph._ You have the best View of it, Sir, from hence. Most of the
Engravings I have met with give us the back View, but I think the Statue
appears infinitely to the best Advantage when taken in Front. The Air of
the Head is delightful, and cannot be hid without depriving the Figure
of half its Life.----I am leading you now to that genteel Piece of
Building which goes by the Name of the Palladian Bridge.
_Polypth._ I have seen, I think, something like it at my Lord
_Pembroke_'s.
_Calloph._ I believe, Sir, the Model was taken from thence. Tho' if I
remember right, the Roof is there supported by Pillars on both Sides.
_Polypth._ I think it is.----But what have we got there? You are taking
me past something curious.
_Calloph._ I beg your Pardon: Indeed I had almost forgot the Imperial
Closet: And I wonder I should, for I assure you I have the greatest
Veneration for its Inhabitants.--There, Sir, is a noble Triumvirate.
_Titus_, _Trajan_, and _Aurelius_, are Names which want not the Pomp of
Title to add a Lustre to them.
_Polypth._ I wish you could persuade all the Kings in _Europe_ to take
them as Patterns. But, God knows, public Spirit is now at a low Ebb
amongst us: There is more of it in that single honest Sentiment, _Pro
me: si merear, in me_, than I believe is to be found in this degenerate
Age in half a Kingdom.
_Calloph._ I see, my good Friend, you can moralize upon Occasion too.
_Polypth._ Moralize! The D----l take me, if I would not this Moment, in
spite of--
_Calloph._ Nay, come, don't grow serious: You know I have long since
laid it down as a Rule, to stop my Ears when you get into your political
Vein. I am not now to learn that there is no keeping you within the
Bounds of Temperance upon that Topic.
_Polypth._ Well then, let us have something else to talk about.----Yon
Wall at this Distance seems to promise us some Bass-relief.
_Calloph._ Yes, Sir; you are there presented with a View of the
different Quarters of the World, bringing their various Products to
_Britannia_. It is a pretty Ornament enough for a Bridge, which, like
the Art of Navigation, joins one Land to another.
_Polypth._ I can't say I much admire the Workmanship. There is a great
Degree of Awkwardness in several of the Figures.
_Calloph._ Why really I am so far of your way of thinking, that I must
own I am no great Admirer of this kind of Work, except it be extremely
fine.----The best thing in this Way, that ever I met with, is a Piece of
Alt-relief which his Lordship keeps within Doors. We shall scarce, I
believe have time now, but we must take an Opportunity of seeing it
before you leave the Country. You will meet with likewise in those
Apartments several very good Pictures: I remember spending an Afternoon
about half a Year ago, in a very agreeable Manner amongst them. But this
Piece of Alt-relief struck me beyond every thing. The Story is
_Darius_'s Tent; and it is so charmingly told, that I have had, I can
tell you, a meaner Opinion of _Le Brun_ upon that Subject, ever since I
have seen it: The Composition is so just, the Figures so graceful and
correct, nay, the very Drapery so free and easy, that I declare I was
altogether astonished at the Sight of it.
_Polypth._ Well; I shall find some Opportunity of paying it a Visit.
There is so much Art required, and so much Difficulty attends doing any
thing in this Way as it ought to be, that when we do meet with a good
Piece of Workmanship of this kind, it affords us an extreme
Pleasure.----So, Sir _William_, have I met you here! I should rather
have expected to have seen you among the _British_ Worthies.----This
same _Penn_, Sir, I assure you, is a great Favourite of mine. I esteem
him one of the most worthy Legislators upon Record. His Laws, I am told,
act still with great Force in _Pensylvania_, and keep the honest,
inoffensive People there in extreme good Order.
_Calloph._ Our Sailors mention his Colony as a very happy Set of People;
they live entirely at Peace amongst themselves; and (bred up in a
strict Observance of Probity) without any Knowledge of an Art Military
amongst them, are able to preserve the most sociable Terms with their
Neighbours.----These Busts seem to have escaped your Observation.
_Polypth._ No, Sir, I am not so incurious as to suffer any thing that
has been in _Italy_ to slip my Notice: Some of those particularly that
stand on the Side next _Rawleigh_, I was exceedingly taken with.
_Calloph._ Pray what is your Opinion of checquered Marble's being made
use of in Busts?
_Polypth._ Why, Sir, I never see any of these party-coloured Faces, but
I am moved with Indignation at the Sculptor's ridiculous Humour. It is
so absurd a Taste, that I cannot conceive how it should ever enter into
a Workman's Head, to make every Feature of a Man's Face of a different
Colour; and it amazes me, I assure you, that we meet with daily so many
Instances of such Absurdity.----In several Parts of the Garden, I have
had various Views of that old _Gothic_ Building; we are now at last I
hope moving towards it. I am so wonderfully pleased with its outward
Appearance, that I shall be disappointed if I don't meet something
answerable within.
_Calloph._ Why, Sir, as old as it looks, I assure you it is not yet
finished. You will meet with nothing ornamental in the Inside; so I
would have you persuade yourself it has already done all in its Power to
entertain you. And upon my Word I think it has done a great deal:
Without it, I am sure this Part of the Garden would be quite naked and
lifeless; nor would any other Part appear with so much Beauty. It puts
one in Mind of some generous Patriot in his Retirement; his own
Neighbourhood feels most the Effects of that Bounty, which in some
measure spreads itself over a whole Country.
_Polypth._ I like this Disposition within, I assure you, altogether as
well as its Form without.----There are two or three Pieces of the best
painted Glass that I have any where met with: Those little historical
Pieces are exceedingly beautiful; and so are those Landskips
likewise.----This Hill I think appears rather too naked.
_Calloph._ Throw your Eye over it then, and tell me if you are not
ravished with the View before you. Nothing certainly in the kind can be
more beautiful or great, than that pompous Pile rising in so
magnificent a manner above the Wood. The Building cannot possibly be
shewn to greater Advantage: The Appearance it _makes_ presents you with
an Idea sufficiently grand; yet your Imagination cannot be persuaded but
that it is in fact much grander, and that the Wood hides a great Part of
what is to be seen from your Eye. This is a most delightful manner of
pleasing: A grand Object left to a good Imagination to improve upon,
seldom loses by its Assistance. Our View likewise is greatly added to in
point of Beauty, by those several other smaller Buildings which offer
themselves, some only half hid amongst the Branches, and others just
peeping from amongst tufted Trees, which make very beautiful little
garnished Dishes in this most elegant Entertainment.
_Polypth._ As you have thus painted the near Objects, let my Pencil, I
beg, come in for a few rough Touches in the backgrounds: Without
something of an Off-skip, your Man of Art, you know, seldom esteems his
View perfect. And in this Landskip there are as many beautiful Objects
thrown off to a Distance as can well be imagined: That Variety of fine
Wood; that bright Surface of Water, with the pointed Obelisk in the
Midst of it; those two Pavilions upon the Banks of the Canal; and the
still more distant View into the Country, are Objects which, in my
Opinion, make no small Addition to the Beauty of your Landskip; or, to
carry on your Allusion, may very well come in as a second Course in your
Entertainment.----Our Attention, I think, in the next Place, is demanded
by this venerable Assembly. That old Gentleman there sits with great
Dignity: I like his Attitude extremely: If I understood the _Runic_
Character, I might have known probably (for this Inscription I fancy
would inform me) by what Title he is distinguished. But the Gracefulness
of his Posture discovers him to have been nothing less than an Hero of
the first Rank. He puts me in Mind of a _Roman_ Senator, sitting in his
Curule Chair to receive the _Gauls_.
_Calloph._ Why, Sir, you have done him great Honour I must own; but you
have not yet honoured him according to his Dignity: He is nothing less,
Sir, I assure you, than the Representative of a _Saxon_ Deity. You see
here
__Thor_ and _Woden_ fabled Gods_----
with the whole System of your Ancestor's Theology. Walk round the
Assembly, they will smile upon a true _Briton_, and try if you can
acknowledge each by his distinct Symbol.
_Polypth._ I must confess they do not to me seem accoutered like Gods:
For my Part, I should rather suspect them to be Statues of Heroes and
Lawgivers, metamorphised into Divinities by the Courtesy of the Place: I
shall not however go about to dispute their Titles; but like my good
Ancestors before me, acquiesce piously in what other People tell
me.----Tho' I cannot say but that Lady there, bearing the Sun (who
represents I suppose _Sunday_) looks whimsical enough; and makes just
such an Appearance as I could imagine the misled Conception of an
enthusiastic _Saxon_ might mould his Deities into. But in these other
Figures I must own I cannot see Superstition at all characterized, which
you may observe generally forms its Objects of Worship into the most
mis-created things that can possibly enter the Imagination of Man.
_Calloph._ Why, Sir, amongst the _Greeks_ and _Romans_, you may observe
several very well-shaped Deities: The _Hercules_, the _Apollo_, and the
_Venus_, are at this Day Standards of Beauty.
_Polypth._ Yes; but I am apt to attribute this rather to the Imagination
of their Sculptors, than their Priests. To _shew Art_, rather than to
_express Religion_, was the Point aimed at in these enchanting Pieces of
Workmanship.----But when Superstition acted without Controul; when the
fantastic Notions of Priests were put into the Hands of ordinary
Workmen, even amongst the polite _Greeks_ and _Romans_ themselves, Lord!
what misshapen Monsters crouded into Temples, and reared themselves
aloft above Altars! Search other Countries likewise, _Egypt_ and
_Africa_, _China_ and _Japan_, or any Place either ancient or modern,
where Superstition prevails, and I dare engage in the whole Catalogue of
their Deities you will scarce meet with one that bears any thing like
the human Shape.