LETTER 13. To his MOTHER. Paintings at Modena. Bologna. Beauty and rich Page 76 14. To his MOTHER. The Appennines. Florence and its Gallery 79 16. From Mr. WEST. Latin Elegy, expressing his wishes to see Italy 18. To his MOTHER. Cathedral of Sienna. Viterbo. Distant sight of 19. To his MOTHER. Illumination of St. Peter's on Good Friday, &c. 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 Mecænas, 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 22. To his MOTHER. Road to Naples. Beautiful situation of that city. 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 Account of Mr. Gray's return home, and of his second visit to the Grande Chartreuse, where he wrote an Alcaic Ode, which concludes the Section Page 118 121 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. 123 126 126 The plan, dramatis personæ, and all the speeches which Mr. Gray 130 3. From Mr. WEST. Criticism on his friend's tragic style. Latin hexameters on his own cough 158 4. To Mr. WEST. Thanks for his verses. On Joseph Andrews. fence of old words in tragedy 5. From Mr. WEST. Answer to the former, on the subject of antiquated expressions 144 6. To Mr. WEST. Has laid aside his tragedy. Difficulty of translating Tacitus . 7. From Mr. WEST. With an English Ode on the approach of May 8. To Mr. WEST. Criticises his Ode. Of his own classical studies Answer to the foregoing 148 150 152 9. From Mr. WEST. Account of Mr. WEST's death. Of Mr. Gray's English poetry, writ- 153 SECTION IV. Prefatory narrative. Mr. Gray takes his degree in civil law, and 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 . 178 3. To Dr. WHARTON. His amusements in town. Reflections on riches. Character of Aristotle 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 . 5. To Mr. WALPOLE. Criticisms on Mr. Spence's Polymetis 181 184 187 188 9. To Dr. WHARTON. Character of M. de Montesquieu's L'Esprit des Loix 10. To Dr. WHARTON. Account of books continued. Crebillion's Ca- 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 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 ma- 16. To Dr. WHARTON. Of Madame Maintenon's Character and Letters. His high opinion of M. Racine. Of Bishop Hall's Satires, and of 17. To Mr. WALPOLE. Concerning the intention. of publishing Mr. Bentley's designs for his Poems. Refuses to have his own portrait 18. To Mr. MASON. On the death of his father 19. To Dr. WHARTON. On Strawberry-Hill. Occasional remarks on 20. To Dr. WHARTON. Objection to publishing his Ode on the Progress of Poetry singly. Hint of his having other lyrical ideas by him Explanation of that hint, and a fragment of one of those lyrical pieces 21. To Mr. STONHEWER. Of Monsignor Baiardi's book concerning Her- culaneum. A poem of Voltaire. Incloses a part of his Ode en- 22. To Dr. WHARTON. On his removing from Peter-House to Pembroke 23. To Dr. WHARTON. Of his own indolence. Memoirs of M. de la 25. To Mr. MASON. On hearing Parry play on the Welch harp, and finishing his Ode after it. Account of the Old Ballad on which the 26. To Mr. HURD. On the ill reception his two Pindaric Odes met with 27. To Mr. MASON. His opinion of the dramatic part of Caractacus 28. To Mr. MASON. Dissuading him from retirement. Advice concern- ing Caractacus. Criticisms on his Elegy written in the Garden of 29. To Dr. WHARTON. Account of his present employment in making 30. To Dr. WHARTON. On the forementioned list. Tragedy of Agis. LETTER Various authors in the last volumes of Dodsley's Miscellany. Dr. 31. To Mr. STONHEWER. On infidel writers and Lord Shaftsbury Page 256 ⚫ 257 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 writing an epitaph 33. To Mr. PALGRAVE. Desiring him to communicate the remarks he 35. To Mr. PALGRAVE. Description of Mr. Gray's present situation in 38. To Dr. CLARKE. His amusements with a party on the banks of the Thames. Death of a Câmbridge Doctor. More of the Erse Fragments 275 • 278 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 42. To Mr. MASON. On his expectation of being made a residentiary for writing the Epitaph on Sir William Williams 43. To Dr. WHARTON. Description of Hardwick. Professor Turner's death. And of the peace 279 283 285 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 47. To Dr. WHARTON. On Rousseau's Emile 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 of the Highlands |