As you enter at that Bazar without the gate of Damascus, you see the Green Mosque, so called because it hath a steeple faced with green glazed bricks, which render it very resplendent; it is covered at top with a pavilion of the same stuff. The Turks say this mosque was made in that place, because Mahomet being come so far, would not enter the town, saying it was too delicious.—THEVENOT. This reminds one of the following pretty passage in Isaac Walton:- When I sat last on this primrose bank, and looked down these meadows, I thought of them as Charles the Emperor did of the city of Florence, that they were too pleasant to be looked on, but only on holidays.' ■ Note 122, page 51, col. 1. Would remind the Princess of that difference, etc. Haroun Al Raschid, cinquième Khalife des Abassides, s'étant un jour brouillé avec une de ses maîtresses nommé Maridah, qu'il aimait cependant jusqu'à l'excès, et cette mésintelligence ayant déjà duré quelque temps, commença à s'ennuyer. Giafar Barmaki, son favori, que s'en aperçut, commanda à Abbas ben Ahnaf, excellent poëte de ce temps-là, de composer quelques vers sur le sujet de cette brouillerie. Ce poëte executa l'ordre de Giafar, qui fit chanter ces vers par Moussali, en présence du Khalife, et ce Prince fut tellement touché de la tendresse des vers du poete et de la douceur de la voix du musicien, qu'il alla aussitôt trouver Maridah, et fit sa paix avec elle.-D'HERBELOT. which gilds the teeth and gives a yellow colour to the flesh of the sheep that eat it. Even the oil of this plant must be of a golden colour. It is called Haschischat ed dab. Father JEROM DANDINI, however, asserts, that the teeth of the goats at Mount Libanus are of a silver colour; and adds, this confirms me in that which I observed in Candia; to wit, that the animals that live on Mount Ida eat a certain herb, which renders their teeth of a golden colour; which, according to my judgment, cannot otherwise proceed than from the mines which are under ground.-DANDINI, Voyage to Mount Libanus. made Note 127, page 55, col. 2. 'Tis I that mingle in one sweet measure . Whenever our pleasure arises from a succession of sounds, it is a perception of complicated nature, up of a sensation of the present sound or note, their mixture and concurrence produce such a mysand an idea or remembrance of the foregoing, while terious delight, as neither could have produced alone. And it is often heightened by an anticipation of the succeeding notes. Thus Sense, Memory, and Imagination, are conjunctively employed.»-GERRARD Taste. This is exactly the Epicurean theory of Pleasure, as explained by Cicero:- Quocirca corpus gaudere tamdiu, dum præsentem sentiret voluptatem; animum et præsentem percipere pariter cum corpore et prospicere venientem, nec præteritam præterfluere sinere.. MADAME DE STAEL accounts, upon the same principle, for the gratification we derive from rhyme:- Elle est l'image de l'espérance et du souvenir. Un son nous fait désirer celui qui doit lui répondre, et quand le second retentit, il nous rappelle celui qui vient de nous échapper.. Note 128, page 55, col. 2. 'Tis dawn, at least that earlier dawn, The Persians have two mornings, the Soobhi Kazim and the Sooblii Sadig, the false and the real day-break. They account for this phenomenon in a most whimsical manner. They say, that as the sun rises from behind the Kohi Qaf (Mount Caucasus), it passes a hole perfothrough it, it is the cause of the Soobhi Kasim, or this rated through that mountain, and that darting its rays temporary appearance of day-break. As it ascends, the earth is again veiled in darkness, until the sun rises above the mountain and brings with it the Soobhi Sadig, or real morning.-Scorr WARING. He thinks MILTON may allude to this, when he says, Ere the blabbing Eastern scout, Note 129, page 56, col. 1. Held a feast In his magnificent Shalimar. In the centre of the plain, as it approaches the Lake, one of the Delhi Emperors, I believe Shah Jehan, constructed a spacious garden called the Shalimar, which is abundantly stored with fruit-trees and flowering shrubs. Some of the rivulets which intersect the plain are led into a canal at the back of the garden, and, flowing through its centre, or occasionally thrown into a variety of water-works, compose the chief beauty of the Shalimar. To decorate this spot the Mogul Princes of India have displayed an equal magnificence and taste; especially Jehan Gheer, who, with the enchanting Noor Mahl, made Kashmire his usual residence during the summer months. On arches thrown over the canal are erected, at equal distances, four or five suites of apartments, each consisting of a saloon, with four rooms at the angles, where the followers of the court attend, and the servants prepare sherbets, coffee, and the hookah. The frame of the doors of the principal saloon is composed of pieces of a stone of a black colour, streaked with yellow lines, and of a closer grain and higher polish than porphyry. They were taken, it is said, from a Hindoo temple, by one of the Mogul princes, and are esteemed of great value.-FORSTER. Note 130, page 57, col. 1. And oh if there be, etc. Around the exterior of the Dewan Khass (a building of Shah Allum's) in the cornice are the following lines in letters of gold upon a ground of white marble:If there be a paradise upon earth, it is this, it is this,' » -FRANKLIN. Note 131, page 58, col. 2. The Chinese had formerly the art of painting, on the sides of porcelain vessels, fish and other animals, which were only perceptible when the vessel was full of some liquor. They call this species Kia-tsin, that is, azure is put in press, on account of the manner in which the azure is laid on."— They are every now and then trying to recover the art of this magical painting, but to no purpose.-DUNN. Note 132, page 59, col. 1. More perfect than the divinest images in the House of Azor. An eminent carver of idols, said in the Koran to be father to Abraham. I have such a lovely idol as is not to be met with in the house of Azor.»-HAFIZ. Note 133, page 59, col. 1. The grottoes, hermitages, and miraculous fountains. The pardonable superstition of the sequestered inhabitants has multiplied the places of worship of Mahadeo, of Beschan, and of Brama. All Cashmere is holy land, and miraculous fountains abound.-Major RENNELL'S Memoirs of a Map of Hindostan. Note 134, page 59, col. 1. Whose houses, roof'd with flowers. On a standing roof of wood is laid a covering of fine earth, which shelters the building from the great quantity of snow that falls in the winter season. This fence communicates an equal warmth in winter, as a refreshing coolness in the summer season, when the tops of the houses, which are planted with a variety of flowers, exhibit at a distance the spacious view of a beautifully chequered parterre.»-FORSTER. Note 135, page 59, col. 1. Lanterns of the triple-coloured tortoise-shell of Pegu. Two hundred slaves there are, who have no other office than to hunt the woods and marshes for triplecoloured tortoises for the King's Vivary. Of the shell of these also lanterns are made.-VINCENT LE BLANC's Travels. Note 136, page 59, col. 1. The meteors of the north, as they are seen by those hunters. For a description of the Aurora Borealis, as it appears to these hunters, see Encyclopædia. Note 137, page 59, col. 2. The cold, odoriferous wind. This wind, which is to blow from Syria Damascena, is, according to the Mahometans, one of the signs of the Last Day's approach. Another of the signs is, Great distress in the world, so that a man when he passes by another's grave shall say, Would to God I were in his place! -SALE's Preliminary Discourse. Note 138, page 60, col. 1. The Cerulean Throne of Koolburga. On Mahommed Shaw's return to Koolburga (the capital of Dekkan), he made a pat festival, and mounted this throne with much pomp and magnificence, calling it Firozeh or Cerulean. I have heard some old persons, who saw the throne Firozeh in the reign of Sultan Mamood Bhamence, describe it. They say that it was in length nine feet, and three in breadth; made of ebony, covered with plates of pure gold, and Jehanguire mentions a fountain in Cashmere call-set with precious stones of immense value. Every prince ed Tirnagh, which signifies a snake; probably because some large snake had formerly been seen there."During the life-time of my father, I went twice to this fountain, which is about twenty coss from the city of Cashmere. The vestiges of places of worship and sanctity are to be traced without number, amongst the ruins and the caves which are interspersed in its neighbourhood. —' .—TOOZEK JAHANGEERY.-See Asiat. Misc. vol. 2. of the house of Bhamenee, who possessed this throne, made a point of adding to it some rich stones, so that when in the reign of Sultan Mamood it was taken to pieces, to remove some of the jewels to be set in vases and cups, the jewellers valued it at one crore of oons (nearly four millions sterling). I learned also that it was called Firozeh from being partly enamelled of a sky-blue colour, which was in time totally concealed by the number of jewels. -FERISHTA. Epistles, Odes, and other Poems. Tanti non es, ais. Sapis, Luperce. MARTIAL, Lib. 1. Epig. 118. ΠΕΡΙΠΛΕΥΣΑΙ ΜΕΝ ΠΟΛΛΑΣ ΠΟΛΕΙΣ ΚΑΛΟΝ, ΕΝΟΙΚΗΣΑΙ ΔΕ ΤΗ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΗ ΧΡΗΣΙΜΟΝ. PLUTARCH. περι παιδων αγωγής. TO FRANCIS, EARL OF MOIRA, GENERAL IN HIS MAJESTY'S FORCES, MASTER-GENERAL OF THE ORDNANCE, I am, my Lord, With every feeling of attachment and respect, MY LORD:-IT is impossible to think of addressing a I went to America with prepossessions by no means Dedication to your Lordship without calling to mind the unfavourable; and indeed rather indulged in many of well-known reply of the Spartan to a rhetorician, who those illusive ideas with respect to the purity of the proposed to pronounce an eulogium on Hercules. On government and the primitive happiness of the people, Hercules! said the honest Spartan, who ever thought which I had early imbibed in my native country, where, of blaming Hercules? In a similar manner the con- unfortunately discontent at home enhances every discurrence of public opinion has left to the panegyrist of tant temptation, and the western world has long been your Lordship a very superfluous task. I shall therefore looked to as a retreat from real or imaginary oppresbe silent on the subject, and merely entreat your indul- sion, as the clysian Atlantis, where persecuted patriots gence to the very humble tribute of gratitude which I might find their visions realized, and be welcomed by have here the honour to present. kindred spirits to liberty and repose. I was completely disappointed in every flattering expectation which I had formed, and was inclined to say to America, as Horace says to his mistress, intentata nites. Brissot, in the preface to his travels, observes, that freedom in that country is carried to so high a degree as to border upon a state of nature; and there certainly is a close approximation to savage life, not only in the liberty which they enjoy, but in the violence of party spirit and of private animosity which results from it. This illiberal zeal embitters all social intercourse; and, though I scarcely could hesitate in selecting the party, whose views appeared the more pure and rational, yet I was sorry to observe that, in asserting their opinions, they both assume an equal share of intolerance; the Democrats, consistently with their principles, exhibiting a vulgarity of rancour, which the Federalists too often are so forgetful of their cause as to imitate. 27, Bury-street, St James's, April 10, 1806. PREFACE. THE principal poems in the following Collection were written during an absence of fourteen months from Europe. Though curiosity was certainly not the motive of my voyage to America, yet it happened that the gratification of curiosity was the only advantage which I derived from it. Finding myself in the country of a new people, whose infancy had promised so much, and whose progress to maturity has been an object of such interesting speculation, I determined to employ the short period of time, which my plan of return to Europe afforded me, in travelling through a few of the States and acquiring some knowledge of the inhabi tants. The impression which my mind received from the character and manners of these republicans, suggested the Epistles which are written from the city of Washington and Lake Erie. How far I was right, in thus assuming the tone of a satirist against a people whom I viewed but as a stranger and a visitor, is a doubt which my feelings did not allow me time to investigate. All I presume to answer for is the fidelity of the picture which I have given; and though prudence might have dictated gentler language, truth, I think, would have justified severer. Epistles VI, VII, and VIII, The rude familiarity of the lower orders, and indeed the unpolished state of society in general, would neither surprise nor disgust if they seemed to flow from that simplicity of character, that honest ignorance of the gloss of refinement, which may be looked for in a new and inexperienced people. But, when we find them arrived at maturity in most of the vices, and all the pride of civilization, while they are still so remote from its elegant characteristics, it is impossible not to feel that this youthful decay, this crude anticipation of the natural period of corruption, represses every sanguine hope of the future energy and greatness of America. I am conscious that, in venturing these few remarks, I have said just enough to offend, and by no means sufficient to convince; for the limits of a preface will not allow me to enter into a justification of my opinions, and I am committed on the subject as effectually as if I had written volumes in their defence. My reader, however, is apprized of the very cursory observation upon which these opinions are founded, and can easily decide for himself upon the degree of attention or confidence which they merit. With respect to the poems in general which occupy the following pages, I know not in what manner to apologize to the public for intruding upon their notice such a mass of unconnected trifles, such a world of epicurean atoms, as I have here brought in conflict together. To say that I have been tempted by the liberal offers of my bookseller, is an excuse which can hope for but little indulgence from the critic; yet I own that, without this seasonable inducement, these poems very possibly would never have been submitted to the world. The glare of publication is too strong for such imperfect productions: they should be shown but to the eye of friendship, in that dim light of privacy, which is as favourable to poetical as to female beauty, and serves as a veil for faults, while it enhances every charm which it displays. Besides, this is not a period for the idle occupations of poetry, and times like the present require talents more active and more useful. Few have now the leisure to read such trifles, and I sincerely regret that I have had the leisure to write them. Oh, Strangford! when we parted last, To turn to rapture all we knew! When, mingling lore and laugh together, We lean'd the book on pleasure's bowl, And turn'd the leaf with folly's feather! I little thought that all were fled, That, ere that summer's bloom was shed, My eye should see the sail unfurl'd That wafts me to the western world! And yet 't was time-in youthful days, Pythagoras; who was supposed to have a power of writing upon the moon by the means of a magic mirror.-See BAYLE, art. Pythag. The heart may let its wanton wing The spring will dry, the heart will freeze' Oh! she awaked such happy dreams, And gave my soul such tempting scope For all its dearest, fondest schemes, That not Verona's child of song, When flying from the Phrygian shore, With lighter hopes could bound along, Or pant to be a wanderer more! Even now delusive hope will steal Pursues the murmurers of the deep, And lights them with consoling gleam, And smiles them into tranquil sleep! Oh! such a blessed night as this, I often think, if friends were near, How we should feel, and gaze with bliss Upon the moon-bright scenery here! The sea is like a silvery lake, And o'er its calm the vessel glides Gently, as if it fear'd to wake The slumber of the silent tides! The only envious cloud that lowers, Hath hung its shade on Pico's height, Where dimly, 'mid the dusk, he towers, And, scowling at this Heaven of light, Exults to see the infant storm Cling darkly round his giant form! Now, could I range those verdant isles And see the looks, the melting smiles, That brighten many an orange bower; And could I lift each pious veil, And see the blushing cheek it shades, Oh! I should have full many a tale, To tell of young Azorian maids.3 Dear Strangford' at this hour, perhaps, May cradle every wish to rest) Those madrigals, of breath divine, Which Camoens' harp from rapture stole, And gave, all glowing warm, to thine !4 Oh! could the lover learn from thee, And breathe them with thy graceful tone, Such dear beguiling minstrelsy Would make the coldest nymph his own. Alluding to these animated lines in the 44th Carmen of this poet: Jam mens prætrepidans avet vagari, Pico is a very high mountain on one of the Azores, from which the island derives its name. It is said by some to be as high as the Peak of Teneriffe. I believe it is Guthrie who says, that the inhabitants of the Azores are much addicted to gallantry. This is an assertion in which even Guthrie may be credited. 4 These islands belong to the Portuguese. |