[423] Macbeth; Act i., Sc. vi. Dr. Johnson has happily observed, upon the above beautiful passage of Shakespeare, that "Gentle sense is very elegant; as it means placid, calm, composed; and intimates the peaceable delight of a fine day." Shakespeare's Works; edit. 1803; vol x., p. 73. Alain Chartier, in the motto prefixed to the Second part of this Bibliographical Romance, has given us a yet more animated, and equally characteristic, picture. Thomson's serene morning,
Unfolding fair the last autumnal day,
is also very apposite; and reminds us of one of those soft and aërial pictures of Claude Loraine, where a heaven-like tranquillity and peace seem to prevail. Delightful scenes!—we love to steal a short moment from a bustling world, to gaze upon landscapes which appear to have been copied from the paradise of our first parents. Delusive yet fascinating objects of contemplation! You whisper sweet repose, and heart-soothing delight! We turn back upon the world; and the stunning noises of Virgil's Cyclops put all this fair Elysium to flight.
At a distance, the reapers were carrying away their last harvest load; and numerous groups of gleaners picking up the grain which they had spared, were marching homewards in all the glee of apparent happiness. Immediately on our left, the cattle were grazing in a rich pasture meadow; while, before us, the white pheasant darted across the walk, and the stock-dove was heard to wail in the grove. We passed a row of orange trees, glittering with golden fruit; and, turning sharply to our right, discovered, on a gentle eminence, and skirted with a profusion of shrubs and delicately shaped trees, the wished-for Alcove.
We quickly descried Almansa busied in twining her favourite honey-suckles round the portico; while within Belinda was sitting soberly at work, as if waiting our arrival. The ladies saluted us as we approached; and Lorenzo, who till now had been unperceived, came quietly from the interior, with his favourite edition of Thomson[424] in his hand.
[424] This must be a favourite edition with every man of taste. It was printed by Bensley, and published by Du Roveray, in the year 1802. The designs were by Hamilton, and the engravings principally by Fittler. The copy which Lorenzo had in his hand was upon large paper; and nothing could exceed the lustre of the type and plates. The editions of Pope, Gray, and Milton, by Du Roveray, as well as those of The Spectator, Guardian, Tatler, by Messrs. Sharpe and Hailes, are among the most elegant, as well as accurate, publications of our old popular writers.
The Alcove at a distance, had the appearance of a rustic temple.[425] The form, though a little capricious, was picturesque; and it stood so completely embosomed in rich and variegated foliage, and commanded so fine a swell of landscape, that the visitor must be cold indeed who could approach it with the compass of Palladio in one hand, and the square of Inigo Jones in the other. We entered and looked around us.
[425] Lorenzo was not unmindful that it had been observed by Lipsius (Syntag. de Bibliothecis) and, after him, by Thomasinus (de Donar. et Tabell-votiv. c. 3. p. 37.) that the ancients generally built their libraries near to, or adjoining their Temples; "ut veram seram sedem sacratorum ingenii fætuum loca sacra esse ostenderent:" Bibliothecas (inquit) procul abesse (sc. a Templis) noluerunt veteres, ut ex præclaris ingeniorum monumentis dependens mortalium, gloria, in Deorum tutela esset. This I gather from Spizolius's Infelix Literatus: p. 462.
Those who have relished the mild beauties of Wynants' pictures would be pleased with the view from the Alcove of Lorenzo. The country before was varied, undulating, and the greater part, highly cultivated. Some broad-spreading oaks here and there threw their protecting arms round the humble saplings; and some aspiring elms frequently reared their lofty heads, as land-marks across the county. The copses skirted the higher grounds, and a fine park-wood covered the middle part of the landscape in one broad umbrageous tone of colouring. It was not the close rusticity of Hobbima—or the expansive, and sometimes complicated, scenery of Berghem—or the heat-oppressive and magnificent views of Both—that we contemplated; but, as has been before observed, the mild and gentle scenery of Wynants; and if a cascade or dimpling brook had been near us, I could have called to my aid the transparent pencil of Rysdael, in order to impress upon the reader a proper notion of the scenery. But it is high time to make mention of the conversation which ensued among the tenants of this Alcove.
Loren. I am heartily glad we are met under such propitious circumstances. What a glorious day!