Page:The Poetical Works of Thomas Parnell (1833).djvu/47

Rh. Thus France has the glory of furnishing two. I do not dare to reveal my authority, but refer to a book called Gallerie de l'Ancienne Cour ou Mémoires, &c.—requesting timid readers to forbear from searching more deeply into the subject. The death of the beautiful Louisa de Budes, wife of Henry, first constable of Montmorenci; who died in 1599, has thrown a melancholy suspicion on the manner in which remarkable beauty is acquired, and the tenure on which it is held.

P. xvi. Then did the minstrels] See the Agamemnon of Æschylus;, has been translated 'minstrels.'

P. xvii. marble seat] The marble chair, on which Dante sate, is not (I think) now at Florence.

P. xviii. little hamlet] Lord Bolingbroke is buried in the church of Battersea, where he lived in the later years of his life, and died of a long and cruel disease—a cancer in the face. Dr. King wrote a poem on his Lordship's return from France, in which, after comparing him to Iris, he says,

'The virgins ran, as to unusual show, When he to Paris came, and Fontainbleau, Viewing the blooming minister desired, &c.

Oh! all ye nymphs, while time and youth allow, Prepare the rose and lily for his brow. Much he has done, but still has more to do.'

Strange compliments these! to those who knew his lordship's character.

P. xix. St, Hubert] The legend of St. Hubert is familiar to most persons (I presume); from the engraving of A. Durer's picture. The relics of St. Hubert are venerated among the peasantry of the Ardennes, and are considered efficacious in the cure of canine madness. I was detained there by the Belgian police, and narrowly escaped a long imprisonment, having penetrated too far in search of the Picturesque.

P. xxiv. young Milton] Milton visited his old tutor, Thomas Young, who then resided at his Vicarage-house,