ALEXANDER POPE. LESSON CL. -MAY THE THIRTIETH. 213 Alexander Pope. On this day, in 1744, died Alexander Pope. Much has been said respecting this poet's scepticism on matters of religious belief; but a short time before his death he said, "I am so certain of the soul being immortal, that I seem to feel it within me as it were by intuition." When Mr. Hooke asked him if he would not die as his father and mother had done, and whether he should not send for a priest, he said, "I do not suppose that is essential; but it will look right, and I heartily thank you for putting me in mind of it." In the morning, after the priest had given him the last sacrament, he said, "There is nothing meritorious but virtue and friendship; and, indeed, friendship itself is but a part of virtue.” His departure was so easy, that it was imperceptible even to those who surrounded his dying couch. "So fails, so languishes, grows dim and dies, All that this world is proud of. From their spheres Perish the roses and the flowers of kings, Princes and emperors, and the crowns and palms Pope in his person was little and somewhat crooked; he was capricious in his friendship; and though he was courted by men of rank and fashion, by Lords Harcourt, Bolingbroke, and others, distinguished for opulence as well as celebrated for wit, yet he never forgot the homage which should be paid to the man of poetical eminence. His manners, as Lord Orrery has observed, were delicate, easy, and engaging; he treated his friends with a politeness that charmed, and a generosity that was much to his honour. Every guest was made happy within his doors; pleasure dwelt under his roof, and elegance presided at his table. Pope was peculiarly distinguished for his filial piety. It was one of the greatest pleasures of his life to promote the happiness of his aged mother. His actions in this respect correspond with his verse :— "Me let the tender office long engage, 1. What did Mr. Pope say a short time before his death? 2. For what was Pope peculiarly distinguished? LESSON CLI. MAY THE THIRTY-FIRST. Antony's Funeral Oration over the Body of Cæsar. And Brutus is an honourable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome, When that the poor have cried, Cæsar hath wept : Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; Was this ambition? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious; If you have tears, prepare to shed them now. Look! in this place ran Cassius' dagger through ;- ANTONY'S FUNERAL ORATION OVER CÆSAR. Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd; For when the noble Cæsar saw him stab, Even at the base of Pompey's statue, Which all the while ran blood, great Cæsar fell. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up They that have done this deed are honourable. 215 What private griefs they have, alas, I know not, I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts; I am no orator, as Brutus is; But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man, That love my friend; and that they know full well And bid them speak for me. But were I Brutus, THOUGHTS ON HORSEMANSHIP. 217 LESSON CLII. JUNE THE FIRST. Thoughts on Horsemanship. THERE is nothing with which the pride of man so strongly connects itself as with the mastery and management of that noble animal the horse. In martial ages the term horsemen was synonymous with gentleman. The word chivalry, which implied all that was noble in blood, comely in accomplishment, and valiant in deed,—all that a king should honour, and a lady love,-might, if the sense of words were to be sought in their etymology, be used to characterise the pursuits of the hostler, the farrier, the groom, and the horse-courser. The Equites were the gentry of Rome and Athens. Whole tribes in Asia, and even in South America, where the horse is not indigenous, almost live upon horseback, and esteem the print of a man's foot in the earth as a mark of degradation. From the roving Arab, whose unshod steed scarce leaves a trace in the sand, to the graceful chevalier, whose trained courser, proud of its burden, treads the ground with step elastic, and disdainful as a haughty dame, all degrees of men have their horsevanity; even those who cannot back the staidest pad that ever grazed in the churchyard indulge it in imagination. Pope, very likely, was never on horseback in his life; yet hear how the little man talks:— "The impatient courser pants in every vein, It is common enough to ride well, but to ride poetically is a very rare accomplishment-never attained by any but such as to a strong natural sense of beauty and fitness unite a vigorous mind in a vigorous bodymens sana in corpore sano. That this union of requisites is only to be looked for in noble families is, we must allow, an assertion better timed in the age of Elizabeth than in that of Victoria. But in no age can it exist without refinement-without a certain cultivation of habitsa selection from vulgar associations: the mere cultivation, either of the intellect or of the muscles, will not suffice. L |