Thus Scaliger was so little acquainted with physics,

that he insisted,

6

That, in twelve hundred years and odd,

The sun had left its ancient road,

And nearer to the earth is come,

'Bove fifty thousand miles from home.'-Buller.

CXI.

WHO VALUE MEN NO LONGER THAN THEY AGREE WITH THEM IN OPINION.

MANY act by their friends and acquaintances, as St. Jerome did by Pelagius. While the worthy father entertained opinions consonant with his own, Pelagius, in the estimation of St. Jerome, was a model of every earthly virtue. But the moment in which the saint discovered the contrary, then the excellent Pelagius was addicted to gluttony and intemperance; and the worthy Jerome took pleasure in catching at every thing to construe injuriously. This leads me to consider the opinion of M. de la Colombière, in respect to one of the most religiously execrable men that ever disgraced and contaminated the earth-Simon de Montford.

During the reign of Philip II. in Spain and the Netherlands, more than forty thousand persons died on the scaffold, for the sake of their religion; while Simon de Montford, the most atrocious of abbots, warring on the Albigenses, on account of their heresies, as he was pleased to style their opinions, caused sixty thousand of them to be slaughtered within the walls of Beziers! He was, at length, himself killed,

under the walls of Thoulouse: on which his biographer, Mons. de la Colombière, honestly exclaims *,-"Thus fell ' this valiant, wise, and worthy man, deserving of a better 'fate. So ardent was his zeal, so pure his devotion, ' that we may compare him to the flames arising from 'the sacred incense; the first and latest sparks of which 'perfume and grace the altars of the Deity.' Let us return thanks to the Deity, that he now permits his attributes to be more religiously understood.

CXII.

WHO MAY BE KNOWN BY THEIR SUBJECTS.

'What boots it, that the pen its moral lessons hold,
If in the writer's life a different tale is told?
What is it, though the tongue pours wisdom's best inventions,
If deeds break wisdom's laws, in spite of her pretensions?'

Camphuizen: Anon.

We may know some men, in some degree, by their letters; others by the subjects on which they write. Thus we have no small insight into the character of the Marquis of Feuquières, who wrote a book on the mistakes committed by French generals. This production excited so much indignation among his military contemporaries, that the Marquis was said to have been one of the bravest men of his times, since he slept soundly though surrounded by a hundred thousand enemies.

The mental value of Albertus Magnus, too,-can it not be estimated by the circumstance, that he wrote

* Vide Chatelur, ii., 80. In notis.

twenty-four chapters on such subjects as these? Did 'the angel Gabriel appear to the Virgin in the shape ' of a serpent, a dove, a man, or of a woman?' 'Did 'he appear young or old?' 'What was his dress?' 'Were his garments white or of two colours?' 'Was 'his linen clean or dirty?' morning, at noon, or in the evening?' 'the colour of the Virgin's hair?' And other equally trivial and unanswerable questions.

'Did he appear in the • What was

The intellectual powers of an author may certainly, and generally to the very edge of the circumference of the circle, be estimated by his writings: not so either his opinions, his principles, his religion, or his morals. All these may be successfully disguised; want of ability

never can.

Some writers infuse their own characters in so vivid a manner into their works, that Bayle insists that we may know the relative ages of many, as much by their pens as we can by their faces.

Painters and sculptors,-may they, too, be known by their subjects?-In many instances, certainly so. The chief excellence of Breughel, for instance, consists in delineating the actions of boors and peasants, country feasts, and debaucheries. He was sure, let him paint what he would, to intermingle something low, ludicrous, or facetious. Adrian Brauwer also was characterized by the subjects he painted; viz., young prodigals decoying country girls, drunken quarrels, sots with pipes in their mouths, sharpers playing at dice, and clowns beating their wives. What you admire, we laugh at and, perhaps, despise.

Shall we turn to Tempesta? I have seen his portrait. He had an open countenance. There is nothing of a murderer to be seen in it. Yet he caused the assassination of his wife; and, during his imprisonment, drew a multitude of analogous pictures. Sketches and copies of all or most of these I have seen; and for the better illustration, I shall set down the subjects of many of them.

To these may be added Niobe, the destruction of Polydore, the immolation of Polyxena, the violation of Philomela, Arachne's transformation, Juno addressing the Furies, the destruction of Pentheus, and Apollo flaying Marsyas. His reliefs also are of an analogous cast;-Actæon, Cadmus, Hercules and Cerberus, Theseus and the Minotaur, Medusa, boxings, wrestlings, and boar hunts.

Now turn to a milder genius. Gainsborough loved the flute and violin, but could never tolerate a harpsi

never

chord or a piano-forte. He played by ear; having had sufficient application to learn notes. As the manners of painters influence the style of their works, I have sometimes fancied that I have seen this want of application even in Gainsborough's landscapes; but this, perhaps, is mere imagination.

Who does not recognise in the triumphs, dances, antique revelry, of Nicholas Poussin, blended as they are with characters of a nobler nature, the vivacity, the affectionate manners, the innocent life, the agreeable conversation, and the perseverance against fortune, which distinguished that excellent artist? This, too, may be all imagination; but certain I am, that the characters of Titian, Michael Angelo, Correggio, and Salvator Rosa, may be read in some, if not in all, of their works.

I should not, however, judge Titian from his Prometheus chained to Mount Caucasus, his Tityus gnawed by vultures, his Sisyphus rolling the stone, or his Tantalus endeavouring to drink; since he has a thousand others to neutralize the effects of those. Nor should I judge Julio Romano from his Giants endeavouring to scale Heaven, or from that where, in the representation of a prison, the captives are put to death in various manners; but I think some knowledge of the character of Paul Veronese may be gathered not only from the general cast of his subjects, but from the circumstance that most of his pictures are embellished with galleries and columns, balconies and balustrades, arms, cups, and vases, with banquets and festivals, enlivened with persons habited in noble and splendid dresses.