darno. The cottage, the aviary,-the old horse he was accustomed to ride feeding in the fields,—an old gentleman habited in black, emerging from the bower,—a lady, dressed in white, advancing to meet him,-two children running upon the lawn!-Da Rosa springs forward; he gains the little wicket-gate; he calls; Constance turns; they behold each other; they rush into each other's arms! BOOK II. CHAPTER I. If towering and impending rocks, abrupt and gigantic mountains, and, above all, the ocean, elevate the mind, and exalt it above mortality, the woody dingle, the deep and romantic glen, the rocky valley, and the wide, the rich, the fascinating vale, associating ideas of rural comfort and of peaceful enjoyment, cheerful industry, robust health, and tranquil happiness, draw us from subjects, too high for human thought, chain us to the earth, and enchant us with such magic spells, That earth seems heaven; and all around displays Such pleasing evidence of all that's good, That we would rather fascinate our eyes With such sweet beauty, than exalt our souls, No country abounds more in those characters, in which Nature delights to speak to the imagination, than Greece. Her mountains were not more the theme of her poets, than her vales and her valleys. In that fine country, no vale was more celebrated than that of Tempe: a vale, in which the peasants frequently assembled, in order to give entertainments to each other, and to offer sacrifices. A 1 Greek writer calls it "a festival for the eyes:" and the gods were believed frequently to wander in it. Of this enchanting spot, Pliny has given a description in the fourth book of his Natural History; but Ælian has left the most copious and accurate account of it. "Tempe," says he, "is situated between the mountains of Ossa and Pelion, which are the highest mountains in Thessaly; and are divided in this place with a singular kind of attention. They enclose a valley five miles in length, but which, in breadth, often does not exceed a hundred feet. In the middle flows the river Peneus, which, at first, is little more than a cataract; but, by the addition of many smaller streams, it at length assumes considerable magnitude. Among the rich shrubs upon its banks, are various beautiful windings and recesses; not the works of human hands, but of spontaneous nature, which seems to have formed every thing in this spot with the solicitude of a mother. A profusion of ivy is seen in all parts of the woods, which, with the vine, ascend the tops of the highest trees, cling round their branches, and fall luxuriantly between them. The different species of convolvulus, which grow upon the sides of the hills, throw their white flowers and creeping foliage over the rocks; while, in the vale, or wherever they can find a level surface, groves of all kinds, in venerable arches, or capricious forms, afford a cool and refreshing retreat. Nor are there wanting frequent falls of water, with the most pure and crystal springs, sweet to drink, and wholesome to the bather. The thrush, the woodlark, and the nightingale, breed in the thickets, and with their songs shorten the way, and soothe the ears of the traveller; who finds, in every path, arbours and grottos, and seats of repose. The Peneus1 still continues through the vale, idly as it were, and with a glassy smoothness; while the depending boughs, which crowd over its surface, yield an almost constant shade to those who navigate the river." II. In this valley were united the extremes of the beautiful and sublime: how beautiful, Elian has informed us; how sublime we may imagine, from what is related by Livy; who assures us, that when the Roman army was marching over one of the passes, the soldiers were thrilled with horror at the awful appearance of the rocks, and the thundering noise of the cataracts. Euripides gives an agreeable description of this valley; and there is scarcely an ancient poet, that does not allude to it, in one way or another. Not the least agreeable of its associations is that, arising from its having been the spot, in which was discovered the art of curdling milk. Hence the fame of Aristæus and Cyrene. 1 A modern traveller thus describes it:-" Vidi Penei ripas, quas amœnas efficiunt illa nobilia Tempe Thessalica, in nemorosa convalle inter Ossam et Olympum sita, per quæ media Peneus viridis labitur, amœna, ut dicuntur, sed angusta et brevia, undique montibus in altitudinem immensam elatis coarctata, ut terror adsit prætereuntibus." Gyllius. This valley was supposed to have been formed by the parting of Ossa and Olympus by an earthquake. On the banks of the Peneus were born the Myrmidons of Achilles ; and there, also, Daphne was fabled to have been turned into a laurel. 2 Liv. xliv. c. 6. For a dissertation on the etymology of the word Tempè, vid. Vossius Observ. ad Pompon. Melam. lib. ii. c. iii. 1. 28. Spartian relates, that Hadrian caused this valley to be represented in miniature, in his gardens at Tiburtina, now Pantanello. In the middle ages Tempe was called the pass of Lycostomo; at present "the Bogaz,”—the Pass, 3 Statius mentions a Tempe, situated in Boeotia'; and Ovid another in Sicily. The Tempe of Switzerland is a valley, lying in the bosom of the canton of Glarus 3, near the mountains of Freyburgh, watered by the Linth. That of Italy, says Cicero, is the district of the Reatines. The most beautiful spot in Africa is said to be about a day's journey from the mouth of the Reiskamma; the most sublime is that seen from the mountain of Kaka. Vaillant, however, calls the canton of the twenty-four rivers the Tempe of Africa 5. Humboldt is disposed to think, that the valley of Tacoronte, among the solitudes of Mount Teneriffe, is the most beautiful the world affords. But the vale of Cashmere would seem, by its associations, to have been even more beautiful than that. It was once the Tempe, the Elysium, the Paradise, of the East: since it was not only celebrated for its romantic scenery, but for the learning of its bramins; its plane trees and roses; and, above all, its beautiful women. In 1754 it fell under the authority of the Afghauns; and in 1782 the governor oppressed it with every species of atrocity. In the vale of Tempe, Ford has laid the scene of a + Epist. ad Attic. lib. iv. 15. 3 Coxe, vol. i. 49. "Reatini me ad sua Tempe duxerunt." 5 Some prefer Elephanta Island; vid. among others, Captain Light' Travels in Egypt, Nubia, Mount Libanus, &c. in 1814, p. 52. • Voy. Equinoct. Reg. vol. i. p. 132. 7 Its pictorial beauties are admirably described in a poem on the Restoration of Learning in the East, by C. Grant, Esq. M. P. |