was the only
ornament of the closet of Buffon. Ep. to Kneller. Voyage a
Montbart.

In the chamber of a man of genius we

Write all down:
Such and such pictures;--there the window;
.....the arras, figures,
Why, such and such. CYMBELINE.

NOTE i.

_Which gathers round the Wise of every Tongue_,

Quis tantis non gaudeat et glorietur hospitibus, exclaims Petrarch.
--Spectare, etsi nihil aliud, certe juvat.--Homerus apud me mutus,
imo vero ego apud illum surdus sum. Gaudeo tamen vel aspectu solo, et
saepe ilium amplexus ac suspirans dico: O magne vir, &c.

Epist. Var. Lib. 20.

NOTE k.

_Like those blest Youths_,

See the Legend of the Seven Sleepers. GIBBON, c. 33.

NOTE l.

_Catch the blest accents of the wise and great_.

Mr. Pope delights in enumerating his illustrious guests. Nor is this
an exclusive privilege of the poet. The Medici Palace at Florence
exhibits a long and imposing catalogue. "Semper hi parietes
columnaeque eruditis vocibus resonuerunt."

Another is also preserved at Chanteloup, the seat of the Duke of
Choiseul.

NOTE m.

_Sheds, like an evening-star, its ray serene_,

At a Roman supper statues were sometimes employed to hold the lamps.

--Aurea sunt juvenum simulacra per aedeis,
Lampadas igniferas manibus retinentia dextris.
LUCR. ii. 24.

A fashion as old as Homer! Odyss. vii. 100.

On the proper degree and distribution of light we may consult a great
master of effect. Il lume grande, ed alto, e non troppo potente, sara
quello, che rendera le particole de' corpi molto grate.
Tratt. della Pittura di LIONARDO DA VINCI, c. xli.

Hence every artist requires a broad and high light. Hence also, in a
banquet-scene, the most picturesque of all poets has thrown his light
from the ceiling. AEn. i. 726.

And hence the "starry lamps" of Milton, that
....from the arched roof
Pendent by subtle magic,....
......yielded light
As from a sky. Paradise Lost, i. 726.

NOTE n.

_Beyond the triumphs of a Loriot's art_.

At the petits soupes of Choisy were first introduced those admirable
pieces of mechanism, afterwards carried to perfection by Loriot, the
Confidente and the Servante; a table and a side-board, which
descended, and rose again covered with viands and wines. And thus the
most luxurious Court in Europe, after all its boasted refinements,
was glad to return at last, by this singular contrivance, to the
quiet and privacy of