when I think on it; and if I had a son inclined by
nature to the same folly, I believe I should bind him from it by the
strictest conjurations of a paternal blessing. For what can be more
ridiculous than to labour to give men delight, whilst they labour, on
their part, most earnestly to take offence?"

And thus he closes the preface, in all the solemn expression of
injured feelings:--"This I do affirm, that _from all which I have
written, +I never+ received the least benefit or the least advantage;
but, on the contrary, have felt sometimes the effects of malice and
misfortune_!"

Cowley's ashes were deposited between those of Chaucer and Spenser; a
marble monument was erected by a duke; and his eulogy was pronounced,
on the day of his death, from the lips of royalty. The learned wrote,
and the tuneful wept: well might the neglected bard, in his
retirement, compose an epitaph on himself, living there "entombed,
though not dead."

To this ambiguous state of existence he applies a conceit, not
inelegant, from the tenderness of its imagery:

Hic sparge flores, sparge breves rosas,
Nam vita gaudet mortua floribus;
Herbisque odoratis corona
Vatis adhuc cinerem calentem.

IMITATED.

Here scatter flowers and short-lived roses bring.
For life, though dead, enjoys the flowers of spring;
With breathing wreaths of fragrant herbs adorn
The yet warm embers in the poet's urn.

FOOTNOTES:

[27] My researches could never obtain more than one letter of
Cowley's--it is but an elegant trifle--returning thanks to his
friend Evelyn for some seeds and plants. "The Garden" of
Evelyn is immortalised in a delightful Ode of Cowley's, as
well as by Evelyn himself. Even in this small note we may
discover the touch of Cowley. The original is in Astle's
collection.

MR. ABRAHAM COWLEY TO JOHN EVELYN, ESQ.

"_Barn Elms, March 23, 1663._

"SIR,--There is nothing more pleasant than to see kindness
in a person for whom we have great esteem and respect: no,
not the sight of your garden in May, or even the having
such an one; which makes me more obliged to return you my
most humble thanks for the testimonies I have lately
received of you, both by your letter and your presents. I
have already sowed such of your seeds as I thought most
proper upon