A Dialogue upon the Gardens of the Right Honorouble the Lord Viscount Cobham at Stow in Buckinghamshire — John Shaqi
A Dialogue upon the Gardens of the Right Honorouble the Lord Viscount Cobham at Stow in BuckinghamshireGilpin, William
Philosophy
A Dialogue upon the Gardens of the Right Honorouble the Lord Viscount Cobham at Stow in Buckinghamshire
Gilpin, William
Cobham, Richard Temple, Viscount, 1669?-1749; Landscape gardening -- Early works to 1800
_Calloph._ It is the Temple, Sir, of Ancient Virtue; the Place I am now
conducting you to. You will meet within it a very illustrious Assembly
of great Men; the wisest Lawgiver, the best Philosopher, the most divine
Poet, and the most able Captain, that perhaps ever lived.
_Polypth._ You may possibly, Sir, engage yourself in a Dispute, by
fixing your Epithets in such an absolute manner; there are so many
Competitors in each of these Ways, that altho' Numbers may be called
truly eminent, it will be a difficult matter to fix Pre-eminence upon
any.
_Calloph._ You will hardly, I fancy, dissent from me, when I introduce
you to these great Heroes of Antiquity: There stands _Lycurgus_; there
_Socrates_; there _Homer_; and there _Epaminondas_. Illustrious Chiefs,
who made Virtue their only Pursuit, and the Welfare of Mankind their
only Study; in whose Breasts mean Self-interest had no Possession. To
establish a well-regulated Constitution; to dictate the soundest
Morality, to place Virtue in the most amiable Light; and bravely to
defend a People's Liberty, were Ends which neither the Difficulty in
overcoming the Prejudices, and taming the savage Manners of a barbarous
State; the Corruptions of a licentious Age, and the Ill-usage of an
invidious City; neither the vast Pains of searching into Nature, and
laying up a Stock of Knowledge sufficient to produce the noblest Work of
Art; nor popular Tumults at Home, and the most threatening Dangers
Abroad, could ever tempt them to lose Sight of, or in the least abate
that Ardency of Temper with which they pursued them.
_Polypth._ A noble Panegyric upon my Word! why, Sir, these great Spirits
have inspired you with the very Soul of Oratory. However, in earnest, I
confess your Encomium is pretty just; and I am apt to believe that if
any of those worthy Gentlemen should take it into his Head to walk from
his Nitch, it would puzzle the World to find his Equal to fix in his
Room.----That old Ruin, I suppose, is intended to contrast with this new
Building.
_Calloph._ Yes, Sir, it is intended to contrast with it not only in the
Landskip, but likewise in its Name and Design. Walk a little nearer, and
you will see its Intention.
_Polypth._ I can see nothing here to let me into its Design, except this
old Gentleman; neither can I find any thing extraordinary in him, except
that he has met with a Fate that he is entirely deserving of, which is
more than falls to the Share of every worthless Fellow.
_Calloph._ Have you observed how the Statue is decorated?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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