Murmura, populeumque nemus, qua mollior herba,
Carpere nunc violas, nunc summas carpere myrtos,
Et potui Lycidæ certantem audire Menalcam![[C]]
But of these things we shall have opportunities of talking hereafter.
Believe me ever, yours, &c., &c.,
T. B. Macaulay.”
Macaulay, no doubt, intended to bestow on Panizzi’s book something more than a mere acknowledgment of its presentation. In a letter addressed to Macvey Napier, dated 29 April, 1830, he says:—“There are two subjects on which I think of writing for the next number (of the ‘Edinburgh Review’). ‘The Romantic Poetry of the Italians’ is one of them. A book on the subject has just been published by my friend Panizzi, Professor in the London University, which will afford a good opportunity. I have long had this project in my head.”
[C]. Epitaphium Damonis, line 125, sqq.