Castiglioni commences his poem with Ereptum fatis primo sub flore juventæ, Alconem nemorum decus, et solatia amantum. Lycidas' love for the Muses is celebrated; and the elegit latinism from the first epistle of Horace, Seu condis amabile carmen, is made to adorn the beautiful apostrophe Who would not sing for Lycidas? He knew Alcon delicia Musarum et Apollinis, Alcon When the following lines from both the poets are considered together, it is presumed that the association of ideas will be too evident to require any metaphysical elucidation. Milton under the fictitious images of rural employments describes his studies with his friend: Meanwhile the rural ditties were not mute, Temper'd to the oaten flute; Rough Satyrs danced, and Fauns with cloven heel Castiglioni in the same figurative language writes: Quem toties Fauni et Dryades sensere canentem, Flebant Pastores The former speaks of Fauns with cloven heel. The latter enumerates among the mourners for Alcon, Capripedes Satyriscos. Milton in the following words conveys a poetical and touching thought: The willows, and the hazel copses green, Shall now no more be seen Fanning their joyous leaves to thy soft lays. the origin of which is found in Non tecum posthac molli resupinus in umbra Even the line Ay me! I fondly dream has a thought responsive to it in Vana mihi incassum fingebam somnia demens. In the ensuing verses of our English bard are a few lines on which I wish to offer some remark, since the reference of Milton has not been noticed by Warton: Were it not better done, as others use These lines contain a sarcastic allusion to Buchanan, who often wandered from his severer studies to sport with Amaryllis, or sing of Neæra: Cum das basia, nectaris Neæra Milton was residing in the country when he wrote the monody on his friend, consequently his mind was alive to every rural image; yet even this lament, Thee, Shepherd, thee the woods, and desert caves The willows and the hazel copses green Shall now no more be seen Fanning their joyous leaves to thy soft lays. As killing as the canker to the rose, Or taint-worm to the weanling herds that graze, When first the white thorn blows; Such Lycidas thy loss to shepherds' ear has a passage so responsive to it in feeling and imagery, that, when considered with the other similarities, it leads us, at least, to conclude that he remembered it: Arboribus cecidere comæ, spoliataque honore est Squalor tristis habet pecudes, pecudumque magistros. Those who are accustomed to watch the operations of their minds, to trace with patient care their ideas to their sources, and to observe accurately the various associations arising from the same origin, and spreading into various ramifications unconnected in their details, will readily perceive that the following passage, (with the circumstance of his friend being a churchman,) Impastus stabulis sævit lupus, ubere raptos Dilaniatque ferus miseris cum matribus agnos; Perque canes prædam impavidus pastoribus aufert gave rise to the prophetic insinuation of the execution of Archbishop Laud, whom he considered as the cause of all the schisms then existing in the church— Besides what the grim wolf with privy paw Daily devours apace, and nothing sed: But that two-handed engine at the door Stands ready to smite once, and smite no more. The opinion almost receives confirmation from the fact, that both the poets make a sudden transition to rural imagery of a more tender character: Milton in his beautiful invocationReturn, Alpheus, the dread voice is past, That shrunk thy streams; return Sicilian Muse, The musk-rose, and the well-attired woodbine, This invocation has one in the Alcon so nearly responsive to it in the names of the flowers and the scope of the the spring from which it flowed is clearly seen: passage, that Vos mecum, o pueri, beneolentes spargite flores, Excitet ut dulces aspirans ventus odores. Interea violas intertexent amaranthis, Et tumulo spargent flores et serta Napææ. There are no lines in the Lycidas which exceed in magnificence and beauty the simile of So sinks the day-star in the ocean bed, And tricks his beams, and with new-spangled ore Unless so many corresponding parts had been discovered, I should have hesitated in saying that it may be deemed a splendid paraphrase of Adspice, decedens jam Sol declivis Olympo Milton's thoughts rise beyond the simile, and he triumphantly exclaims: Through the dear might of him that walk'd the waves Et nunc Elysia lætus spatiaris in umbra, It is presumed that no doubt can ever again be entertained of the origin of the Monody on Lycidas. The poem of Alcon may be compared to the sketch of an inferior artist which Milton studied, his genius enlarged the outline, made every form bolder, added strength and beauty to every part, then touched it with a master's hand, and imbued it with colors soft and strong and rich and varied. N. OGLE. 362 In DEMOSTHENEM Commentarii JOANNIS SEAGER, Bicknor Wallica in Com. Monumethia Rectoris. No. VI.—[Continued from No. LVI.] αν IN Aristocratem, p. 638. 1. 14. φέρε, ἂν δέ τι συμβῇ τοιοῦτον οἷον ἴσως ἤδη τῳ καὶ ἄλλῳ, ἀπαλλαγῇ μὲν (Charidemus, psephismate Aristocratis Sacrosanctus) ἐκ Θράκης, ἐλθὼν δὲ εἰς πόλιν οἰκῇ που, τῆς μὲν ἐξουσίας μηκέτι κύριος ὤν, δι ̓ ἧς πολλὰ ποιεῖ τῶν ἀπειρημένων ὑπὸ τῶν νόμων, τοῖς δ ̓ ἔθεσι καὶ ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις ταῦτ ̓ ἐπιχειρῶν πράττειν, ἄλλο τι ἢ σιγῶντα δεήσει Χαρίδημον ἐᾶν αὑτὸν ὑβρίζειν ; F. ἄλλο τι ἢ ΣΙΓΩΝΤΑΣ δεήσει Χαρίδημον ἐὰν ΑΥΤΟΥ ὑβρίζειν ; αὐτοῦ, Ibi, illic. In Aristocratem, p. 644. 1. 25. λογιζόμενοι δ ̓ ὅτι μητέρα Ορέστ της ἀπεκτονώς, ὁμολογῶν, θεῶν δικαστῶν τυχῶν ἀποφυγγάνει, νομίσαι (δοκοῦσι) δίκαιόν τινα εἶναι φόνον. Rectius ἀποφυγγάνοι. In Aristocratem, p. 645. 1. 11. ἀλλ ̓ ἀόριστον αὐτὴν εἰπὼν τὴν αἰτίαν, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτ ̓ εὐθὺς προσγράψας ἀγώγιμον εἶναι, τρίτον τουτὶ δικαστήριον καὶ τὰ τούτου νόμιμα παραβεβηκώς φαίνῃ. αὐτὴν τὴν αἰτίαν) Merum crimen, merum nomen homicidii, sine adjunctione liciti vel illiciti. In Aristocratem, p. 647. l. 9. ἀλλ ̓ οὐχ οὗτος ἔγραψε ταῦτα. ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν ἀθῷον αἰτιάσασθαι· τὸν δὲ ἄκριτον, παραχρῆμα ἐκδίδοσα θαι. - Distinguendum τὸν δὲ, ἄκριτον παραχρῆμα ἐκδίδοσθαι. τὸν μὲν Accusatorem.—ἀθῷον) μὴ προσόφλοντα χιλίας, ἐὰν μὴ μεταλάβῃ τὸ πέμπτον μέρος τῶν ψήφων. τὸν δὲ τὸν ἀνδρόφονον. In Aristocratem, p. 667. 1. 11. ἐν δὴ Λαμψάκῳ τινὲς ἄνθρωποι γίγνονται δύο. Θερσαγόρας ὄνομα αὐτῶν θατέρῳ τῷ δὲ ̓Εξήκεστος. οι παραπλήσια τοῖς παρ' ὑμῖν γνόντες περὶ τῶν τυράννων, ἀποκτιννύουσι Φιλίσκον δικαίως, τὴν αὑτῶν πατρίδα οἰόμενοι δεῖν ἐλευθεροῦν. εἰ δὴ τῶν τότε ὑπὲρ Φιλίσκου λεγόντων, ὅτε ἐμισθοδότει μὲν τοῖς ἐν Περίνθῳ ξένοις, εἶχε δ' ὅλον τὸν ̔Ελλήσποντον, μέγιστος δ ̓ ἦν τῶν ὑπάρχων, ἔγραψέ τις, ὥσπερ οὗτος νυνὶ, ἐάν τις ἀποκτείνῃ Φιλίσκον, ἀγώγιμον αὐτὸν ἐκ τῶν συμμάχων εἶναι· πρὸς Διὸς, θεάσασθε εἰς ὅσην ἂν αἰσχύνην ἡ πόλις ἡμῶν ἐληλύθει. ἧκε μὲν γὰρ ὁ Θερσαγόρας, καὶ ὁ Εξή κεστος, εἰς Λέσβον, καὶ ᾤκουν ἐκεῖ. εἰ δ' ἐφήπτετό τις τῶν Φιλίσκου παίδων ἢ φίλων, ἐξεδίδοτ ̓ ἂν ὑπὸ τοῦ ὑμετέρου ψηφίσματος. Corrigendum, ΕΞΕΔΙΔΟΝΤ ̓ ἄν. Constructio est, εἰ δέ τις τῶν Φιλίσκου παίδων ἢ φίλων ἐφήπτετο |