accustomed to honour them with the titles of saints and martyrs1. Some were called Jacob's well; St. John's; St. Mary's; St. Winifred's, and St. Agnes': some were named after Mary Magdalen; and others derived their appellations from beautiful and pious virgins. Though this custom was forbidden by the canons of St. Anselm, many pilgrimages continued to be made to them; and the Romans long retained a custom of throwing nosegays into fountains, and chaplets into wells. From this practice originated the ceremony of sprinkling the Severn with flowers; so elegantly described by Dyer3; and so beautifully alluded to by Milton. - The shepherds at their festivals Carol her good deeds loud in rustic lays; And throw sweet garland-wreaths into her stream, Of pancies, pinks, and gaudy daffodils. Comus. The Hindoos frequently sprinkle blossoms of flowers on the surface of those streams in which they perform their ablutions". Ancient heroes frequently washed their The inhabitants of the Loo-choo Island also have guardian deities to wells. Vide Capt. Hall's Voy. 4to. p. 113. They also instituted a feast in honour of them; called Fontinalia: it was held Oct. 13, on which day they visited all the wells, and threw crowns of flowers into them. 3 Fleece, B. i. l. 693. "Sabrina's. When the Indians pass the promontory of Mussedum, they throw fruits and flowers into the sea, in order to secure a propitious voyage. At Argentoratum, now Strasburgh, a custom once prevailed of throwing human victims into wells.-Vide Sched. Descript. Templ. Argent. p. 35. Ed. 1617. 5 Vide Notes to the Episode of Dashwanta and Sakuntalà, Asiat. Jour. vol. 4. 528. hair in them. the Lake Masanawara, north of the Himalah Mountains, the Tartar shepherds scatter the ashes of their relatives upon its surface. Horace1 alludes to this custom: while on In the province of III. near the small town of -, there is a spring, which wells from the side of a hill, below a cottage, in which Colonna has passed many a satisfied hour. This spring is as clear as crystal; it never rises higher than a certain height; nor ever sinks below it. In summer it is cool; in winter warm. White stones and sand filter the bottom; and ivy and lichens creep up the sides of the wall, that surrounds it. Diana might have lov'd in that sweet spot To take her noontide rest; and when she stopt Southey. This spring is endeared to Helvidius from the following conversation having taken place in its neighbourhood. "While you lived in your cottage, at the mouth of the Towy," said Helvidius to Colonna, "watering your plants, wandering by the sea-shore, cultivating your garden, and contrasting the general peace of Nature, with the tumults and the petty whirlwinds of human passions, you appeared to be happy! Now "Fortune was envious of me; she saw, that I despised those gifts, which men value so highly; and she revenged herself upon my indifference, by plunging me Lib. iii, od. iv. 1. 61. iv. od. v. 1. 26. into the gulf of misfortune; leaving me only the consolation of having deserved a better return." "Misfortune? Did you lose your wife, or your children? Did a friend relapse into an enemy? You are above poverty; you are insensible to ingratitude—you are superior to calumny!" "Neither of all these. I lost neither my wife, nor my children; no friend relapsed into enmity; poverty I can bear; ingratitude I am accustomed to; as to calumnyit is an inheritance for all men-even of the tyrant." "What, then, could so mightily disturb you?" "Ah! my friend, to you I may confess the weakness of my heart. I was unable to fulfil my engagements! Since that time my heart has been a prey to secret anguish. I have not yet been enabled to redeem my pledges; and though I have many inducements for life, I shall never enjoy it, till I can sing, as it were, to these mountains, 'I have fulfilled my engagements, and therefore am I free!'" During this conversation, Colonna sat with his friend at the door of his cottage; a mountain rose immediately behind them; a woody valley, enriched with the tints of autumn, stretched below; with a river brawling through it. On one side sat Helvidius; on the other Marcella, with her two children; one in her lap, the other on a stool at her feet. The sea rolled at a distance; the hills of Somerset rose in the perspective; and the sun, mellowing the sky with its tint of Isabella, it were almost impossible to wish themselves in Italy or in Greece. "Let us dismiss all sombre reflections," exclaimed Helvidius; " and let nothing disturb the delight, which the scenes before us are so capable of producing. In the bosom of a virtuous and affectionate family, we enjoy the best society in the midst of solitude. Instead of brooding over past difficulties, or calculating future ones, much more wise is it to permit the soul to rest in those delightful impressions, which arise from the investigation of honourable motives. Investigate, therefore, the anatomy of your own soul: trace the causes of your misfortunes, in order to overcome them by industry of the body, or by exertion of the mind. At all events, let this evening be passed in tranquillity. Let us amuse ourselves in drawing pictures of savages, softened; the ignorant, enlightened; the luxurious, hardened into temperance; and the atheist converted to a belief, and a wise acknowledgment of a God. For here, and at this season, the mind, following an agreeable direction, would derive a sensible gratification from any endeavour to simplify laws, and to investigate the plans and the operations of Nature." "With all my heart," returned Colonna. "Let us walk leisurely up this mountain, and discourse on subjects so congenial to my heart. For the hours I devote to the study of Nature, and to the society of my family and friends, are those only, which I consider as pertaining to life." "Ah! my friend," returned Helvidius," with all your difficulties, Nature has formed your mind and heart, for some of her best enjoyments. As to the misfortune you allude to, fortune will, one day, enable you to recover the ground you may have lost. For the present, let this spring whisper consolation to you, in the language of a poet, whose fables have so often delighted you in your boyhood: for the moral of his distich will teach you, that though the mild voice of patience attacks melancholy only by degrees, it never fails to overcome at last. Quid magis est durum saxo? Quid mollius unda? Dura tamen molli saxa cavantur aquâ !" "If I were in Greece," replied Colonna, "I should almost fancy, that I heard the voice and the language of Plato. Let us climb this mountain; let us sit ourselves down upon yon old grey stone, half covered with moss; and, watching the last tints of the descending sun, anticipate the glories of immortal life." CHAPTER III. THE names of deities were given to grottos, as well as to fountains. The serenity of an Italian sky served to render those occasional retreats peculiarly agreeable to the Roman nobility; hence were they frequently to be found in the shrubberies and gardens of that accomplished people. The poets, at all times willing to celebrate whatever adds to their enjoyments, have left us some elegant descriptions of those recesses, formed in the sides of rocks, at the feet of mountains, or on the banks of rivulets. Many of these still remain in Italy1; containing multitudes of small paintings, representing vases, festoons, leaves, butterflies, shells, and fruits. Pausanias gives a remarkable account of a grotto at Corycium; and Statius describes an elegant one in his third Sylva; but that, which was the most celebrated 'Diverse Maniere d'adornare i Cammini Roma, p. 23, fol. 1769. |