LETTER 13. To his MOTHER. Paintings at Modena. Bologna. Beauty and richness of Lombardy Page 74 14. To his MOTHER. The Appennines. Florence and its Gallery 16. From Mr. WEST. Latin Elegy, expressing his wishes to see Italy and Greece 17. To his MOTHER. Death of the Pope. Intended departure for Rome. First and pleasing appearance of an Italian spring 18. To his MOTHER. Cathedral of Sienna. Viterbo. Distant sight of Rome. The Tiber. Entrance into the city. St. Peter's. Introduction of the Cardinal d'Auvergne into the Conclave 19. To his MOTHER. Illumination of St. Peter's on Good Friday, &c. 87 20. To Mr. WEST. Comic account of the palace of the Duke of Modena at Tivoli. The Anio. Its cascade. Situation of the town. Villas of Horace and Mecanas, and other remains of antiquity. Modern aqueducts. A grand Roman ball 21. To Mr. WEST. An Alcaic Ode. Ludicrous allusion to ancient Roman customs. Albano and its lake, Castle-Gondolfo. Prospect from the palace; an observation of Mr. Walpole's on the views in that part of Italy. Latin inscriptions, ancient and modern 88 • 92 22. To his MOTHER. Road to Naples. Beautiful situation of that city. Its bay. Of Baiæ, and several other antiquities. Some account of the first discovery of an ancient town, now known to be Herculaneum 23. To his FATHER. Departure from Rome and return to Florence. No likelihood of the Conclave's rising. Some of the cardinals dead. Description of the Pretender, his sons, and court. Procession at Naples. Sight of the King and Queen. Mildness of the air at Florence 97 24. From Mr. WEST. On his quitting the Temple, and reason for it 25. To Mr. WEST. Answer to the foregoing letter. Some account of Naples and its environs, and of Mr. Walpole's return to Florence. 104 26. To his MOTHER. Excursion to Bologna. Election of a pope; description of his person, with an odd speech which he made to the cardinals in the Conclave 27. To Mr. WEST. Description, in Latin hexameters, of the sudden rising of Monte Nuovo near Puzzoli, and of the destruction which attended it 28. To his FATHER. Uncertainty of the route he shall take in his return to England. Magnificence of the Italians in their reception of strangers, and parsimony when alone. The great applause which the new Pope meets with. One of his bon mots 29. To his FATHER. Total want of amusement at Florence, occasioned by the late Emperor's funeral not being public. A procession to avert the ill effects of a late inundation. Intention of going to Venice. An invasion from the Neapolitans apprehended. The inhabitants of Tuscany dissatisfied with the government 30. To Mr. WEST. The time of his departure from Florence determined. 108 110 114 116 Alteration in his temper and spirits. Difference between an Italian fair and an English one. A farewell to Florence and its prospects, in Latin hexameters. Imitation, in the same language, of an Italian sonnet Page . 118 Account of Mr. Gray's return home, and of his second visit to the 121 123 SECTION III. Prefatory narrative. Mr. Gray's father dies, and the year after he re- LETTER 1. From Mr. WEST. His spirits not as yet improved by country air. Has begun to read Tacitus, but does not relish him 2. To Mr. WEST. Earnest hopes for his friend's better health, as the warm weather comes on. Defence of Tacitus, and his character. Of the new Dunciad. Sends him a speech from the first scene of Agrippina The plan, dramatis personæ, and all the speeches which Mr. Gray 126 126 130 3. From Mr. WEST. Criticism on his friend's tragic style. Latin hexameters on his own cough 138 4. To Mr. WEST. Thanks for his verses. On Joseph Andrews. Defence of old words in tragedy 140 5. From Mr. WEST. Answer to the former, on the subject of antiquated expressions 6. To Mr. WEST. Has laid aside his tragedy. Difficulty of translating 8. To Mr. WEST. 144 147 9. From Mr. WEST. Answer to the foregoing Account of Mr. WEST's death. Of Mr. Gray's English poetry, writ- 153 157 (v) SECTION IV. Prefatory narrative. Mr. Gray takes his degree in civil law, and makes Cambridge his principal residence for the rest of his life. The Editor of these Memoirs becomes acquainted with him in the year 1747. He corresponds with Dr. Wharton and several other persons till the year 1768, when he is appointed Professor of Modern History LETTER 1. To Dr. WHARTON. On taking his degree of Bachelor of Civil Law Fragment of an Hymn to Ignorance Page 169 2. To Dr. WHARTON. Ridicule on University laziness. Of Dr. Akenside's poem, on the Pleasures of Imagination 176 3. To Dr. WHARTON. His amusements in town. Reflections on riches. Character of Aristotle 178 4. To Mr. WALPOLE. Ridicule on Cibber's Observations on Cicero. On the modern Platonic Dialogue. Account of his own and Mr. West's poetical compositions 187 5. To Mr. WALPOLE. Criticisms on Mr. Spence's Polymetis 6. To Mr. WALPOLE. Ludicrous compliment of condolence on the death of his favourite cat, inclosing his Ode on that subject 7. To Dr. WHARTON. Loss by fire of a house in Cornhill. On Diodorus Siculus. M. Gresset's Poems. Thomson's Castle of Indolence. Ode to a Water-Nymph, with a character of its Author 188 8. To Dr. WHARTON. More on M. Gresset. Account of his own projected poem on the alliance between government and education Fragment of that poem, with a commentary, notes, and detached sentiments relative to it 9. To Dr. WHARTON. Character of M. de Montesquieu's L'Esprit des Loix 10. To Dr. WHARTON. Account of books continued. Crebillion's Catalina. Birch's State Papers. Of his own studies, and a table of Greek chronology, which he was then forming 11. To Dr. WHARTON. Ludicrous account of the Duke of Newcastle's Installation at Cambridge. On the Ode then performed, and more concerning the Author of it 199 200 12. To his MOTHER. Consolatory on the death of her sister Narrative of the incident which led Mr. Gray to write his Long Story. That poem inserted, with notes by the Editor, and prefaced with his idea of Mr. Gray's peculiar vein of humour 14. To Dr. WHARTON. On the ill reception which the foregoing poem b LETTER Page 216 met with in town when handed about in manuscript, and how much his Elegy in a Country Church-yard was applauded 15. To Mr. WALPOLE. Desires him to give his Elegy to Mr. Dodsley to be printed immediately, in order to prevent its publication in a magazine 16. To Dr. WHARTON. Of Madame Maintenon's Character and Letters. His high opinion of M. Racine. Of Bishop Hall's Satires, and of a few of Plato's Dialogues 217 218 17. To Mr. WALPOLE. Concerning the intention of publishing Mr. Bentley's designs for his Poems. Refuses to have his own portrait prefixed to that work Farther account of those designs, with stanzas which Mr. Gray wrote Epitaph on Mr. Gray's aunt and mother in the church-yard of Stoke- 18. To Mr. MASON. On the death of his father 20. To Dr. WHARTON. Objection to publishing his Ode on the Progress of Poetry singly. Hint of his having other lyrical ideas by him unfinished Explanation of that hint, and a fragment of one of those lyrical pieces 21. To Mr. STONHEWER. Of Monsignor Baiardi's book concerning Herculaneum. A poem of Voltaire. Incloses a part of his Ode entitled the Bard 22. To Dr. WHARTON. On his removing from Peter-House to Pembroke Hall. His notion of a London hospital. Of Sully's Memoirs. Mason's four odes 23. To Dr. WHARTON. Of his own indolence. Memoirs of M. de la 26. To Mr. HURD. On the ill reception his two Pindaric Odes met with on their publication 27. To Mr. MASON. His opinion of the dramatic part of Caractacus 28. To Mr. MASON. Dissuading him from retirement. Advice concerning Caractacus. Criticisms on his Elegy written in the Garden of a Friend. Refusal of the office of Poet Laureat 29. To Dr. WHARTON. Account of his present employment in making out a list of places, in England, worth seeing 30. To Dr. WHARTON. On the forementioned list. Tragedy of Agis. 251 255 LETTER Page Various authors in the last volumes of Dodsley's Miscellany. Dr. 256 31. To Mr. STONHEWER. On infidel writers and Lord Shaftsbury A paper of Mr. Gray inserted, relating to an impious position of Lord 260 32. To Dr. WHARTON. On the death of his son, and an excuse for not 33. To Mr. PALGRAVE. Desiring him to communicate the remarks he 35. To Mr. PALGRAVE. Description of Mr. Gray's present situation in town, and of his reading in the British Museum 272 38. To Dr. CLARKE. His amusements with a party on the banks of the Thames. Death of a Cambridge Doctor. More of the Erse Frag 36. To Dr. WHARTON. On employment. Gardening. Character of Froissart. King of Prussia's Poems. Tristram Shandy 37. To Mr. STONHEWER. the Erse Fragments . On the latter volumes of M. d'Alembert and 39. To Mr. MASON. On two Parodies of Mr. Gray's and Mr. Mason's Odes. Extract of a letter from Mr. David Hume, concerning the authenticity of the Erse Poetry 40. To Dr. WHARTON. On his employments in the country. Nouvelle Eloise. Fingal. Character of Mr. Stillingfleet 41. To Mr. MASON. More concerning the Nouvelle Eloise. Of Signor Elisi, and other opera singers 279 283 42. To Mr. MASON. On his expectation of being made a residentiary of York. Recovery of Lord * from a dangerous illness. Reason for writing the Epitaph on Sir William Williams 43. To Dr. WHARTON. Description of Hardwick. Professor Turner's death. And of the peace 44. To Mr. MASON. On Count Algarotti's approbation of his and Mr. Mason's poetry. Gothic architecture. Plagiary in Helvetius, from Elfrida 45. To Mr. BROWN. Sending him a message to write to a gentleman abroad relating to Count Algarotti, and recommending the Erse Poems 296 46. Count ALGAROTTI to Mr. GRAY. Complimentary, and sending him some dissertations of his own 49. To Mr. BEATTIE. Thanks for a letter received from him, and an invitation from Lord Strathmore to Glamis 50. To Dr. WHARTON. Description of the old castle of Glamis, and part 298 What he particularly advises him to see when • 300 |