Hail, arts divine!—still may your solace sweet
Cheer the recesses of my calm retreat;
And banish every mean pursuit, that dares
Cloud life's serene with low ambitious cares.
Vain is the pomp of wealth: its splendid halls,
And vaulted roofs, sustain'd by marble walls.—
In beds of state pale sorrow often sighs,
Nor gets relief from gilded canopies:
But arts can still new recreation find,
To soothe the troubles of th' afflicted mind;
Recall the ideal work of ancient days,
And man in his own estimation raise;
Visions of glory to his eyes impart,
And cheer with conscious pride his drooping heart.
After a review of our several timber trees, and a tribute to our native streams, and woods; and after describing in happy lines Kamtschatka's dreary coast, he concludes his poem with reflections on the ill-fated Queen of France, whose
Waning beauty, in the dungeon's gloom,
Feels, yet alive, the horrors of the tomb!
Mr. Knight's portrait, painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence, is preserved at Downton Castle, near Ludlow; and is engraved among Cadell's Contemporary Portraits. It is also engraved by Bromley, from the same painter. Another portrait was in the library of the late Mr. Johnes, at Havod.
Dr. Andrew Duncan. He died at Edinburgh in June 1828, at the great age of eighty-four. His portrait was drawn by Raiburn, and engraved by Mitchell. He was a contemporary of several eminent persons, whose society and friendship formed one of the chief pleasures of his life. There was scarcely an institution proposed for the benefit of his native city, Edinburgh, to which his name will not be found a contributor. He was, in fact, the patron and benefactor of all public charities. In 1809 he projected, and by his exertions, succeeded in establishing, the Horticultural Society of Edinburgh. His animated and scientific discourses, delivered at the meetings of the Caledonian Horticultural Society, will always be perused with eager pleasure by every horticulturist. In that delivered in December, 1814, and inserted in the fifth number of their Memoirs, this zealous well-wisher of his native city, thus exults:—"I am now, gentlemen, past the seventieth year of my age, and I have been a steady admirer both of Flora and Pomona from the very earliest period of my youth. During a pretty long life, it has been my lot to have had opportunities of visiting gardens in three different quarters of the globe, in Europe, in Asia, and in Africa; and from what I have seen, I am decidedly of opinion, that at the present day, there is not a large city in the world, which enjoys a supply of vegetable food in more abundance, in greater variety, or in higher excellence, than the city of Edinburgh. From the potatoe to the pine-apple,—from the most useful to the most delicious productions of the vegetable kingdom, we are not at present outdone, as far as my observation goes, by any large city on the face of the earth." His medical talents may well be believed not to have been small, when it is told, that he was the rival in practice, and by no means an unsuccessful one, of the illustrious Cullen, of the Monros, and of Gregory. In private life, Dr. Duncan was eminently distinguished for his sociality, and the desire to benefit all mankind. He was a member of several social clubs. His favourite amusement was gardening. He possessed a garden in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, which he cultivated entirely with his own hands, and on the door of which was placed, in conspicuous letters, 'hinc salus.' He was particularly kind to the students attending his lectures, and gave a tea-drinking every Sunday evening to about a dozen of them, by rotation, who assembled at six o'clock and went away at eight. When old, he used sometimes to forget the lapse of time, and in his lectures, frequently spoke about the late Mr. Haller, who lived a century before. To the last year of his life he never omitted going up, on the morning of the 1st of May, to wash his face in the dew of the summit of a mountain near Edinburgh, called Arthur's Seat. He had the merit of being the father of the present Dr. Duncan, the celebrated author of the Edinburgh Dispensatory, and professor of materia medica. Dr. Duncan's funeral was properly made a public one, at which the professors, magistrates, and medical bodies of Edinburgh attended, to testify their sorrow and respect.
Sir Uvedale Price. His portrait was taken by Sir Thomas Lawrence, and is now at Foxley.[101] The Hereford Journal of Wednesday, September 16, 1829, thus relates his decease:—"On Monday last died, at Foxley, in this county, Sir Uvedale Price, Bart. in the eighty-third year of his age. The obituary of 1829 will not record a name more gifted or more dear! In a county where he was one of the oldest, as well as one of the most constant of its inhabitants, it were superfluous to enumerate his many claims to distinction and regret. His learning, his sagacity, his exquisite taste, his indefatigable ardour, would have raised to eminence a man much less conspicuous by his station in life, by his correspondence with the principal literati of Europe, and by the attraction and polish of his conversation and manners. Possessing his admirable faculties to so venerable an age, we must deplore that a gentleman who conferred such honour on our county is removed from that learned retirement in which he delighted, and from that enchanting scene which, in every sense, he so greatly adorned. He is succeeded in his title by his only son, now Sir Robert Price, one of our representatives."
Sir Uvedale published the following:
1. An Essay on the Picturesque, as compared with the Sublime and Beautiful, and on the use of studying pictures for the purpose of improving real landscape, 8vo. 1794. This volume was afterwards published in 1796, in 8vo. with considerable additions, and in 1798 was published at Hereford a second volume, being an Essay on Artificial Water, an Essay on Decorations near the House, and an Essay on Architecture and Buildings as connected with Scenery.
2. A Letter to H. Repton, Esq. on the application of the practice and principles of Landscape Painting to Landscape Gardening. Intended as a supplement to the Essays. To which is prefixed Mr. Repton's Letter to Mr. Price. Lond. 1795, 8vo. Second edition, Hereford, 1798, 8vo. This is a sportive display of pleasant wit, polished learning, and deep admiration of the great landscape painters. Keen as some of his pages are, and lamenting that there should have been any controversy ("or tilting at each other's breasts,") on the subject of Launcelot Browne's works, "I trust, (says he,) however, that my friends will vouch for me, that whatever sharpness there may be in my style, there is no rancour in my heart." Mr. Repton in his Enquiry into the Changes of Landscape Gardening, acknowledges "the elegant and gentleman-like manner in which Mr. Price has examined my opinions." Indeed, many pages in this present letter shew this.
3. A Dialogue on the distinct Characters of the Picturesque and the Beautiful, in answer to the objections of Mr. Knight, 1801, 8vo.[102]