PICTURE OF DANIEL IN THE LIONS' DEN. The wind with terror while they roar for food. 1 1845. But these are satiate, and a stillness drear 291 1835. Satiate are these; and still-to eye and ear; 1837. 2 1837. Yawning 1835. Henry Crabbe Robinson gives an account of this picture in his Diary, &c. (Vol. II., pp. 214-15) : : "On September the 29th, from Lanark I visited the Duke of Hamilton's palace, and had unusual pleasure in the paintings to be seen there. I venture to copy my remarks on the famous Rubens' 'Daniel in the Lions' Den :'-'The variety of character in the lions is admirable. Here is indignation at the unintelligible power which restrains them; there reverence towards the being whom they dare not touch. One of them is consoled by the contemplation of the last skull he has been picking; one is anticipating his next meal; two are debating the subject together. But the Prophet, with a face resembling Curran's (foreshortened so as to lose its best expression), has all the muscles of his countenance strained from extreme terror. He is without joy or hope; and though his doom is postponed, he has no faith in the miracle which is to reward his integrity. It is a painting rather to astonish than delight.' Daniel's head is thrown back, and he looks upwards with an earnest expression and clasped hands, as if vehemently supplicating. The picture formerly belonged to King Charles I. It was at that time entered as follows in the Catalogue of the Royal Pictures: A piece of Daniel in the Lions' Den with lions about him, given by the deceased Lord Dorchester to the king, being so big as the life. Done by Sir Peter Paul Rubens.' Dr Waagen very justly observes that, upon the whole, the figure of Daniel is only an accessory employed by the great master to introduce, in the most perfect form, nine figures of lions and lionesses the size of life. Rubens, in a letter to Sir Dudley Carleton, (who presented the picture to the king), dated April 28th, 1618, expressly states that it was wholly his own work manship. The price was six hundred florins. Engraved in mezzotint by W. Ward, 1789." The This picture subsequently passed into the possession of the Duke of Hamilton, and was sold in 1882 to Mr Denison, Yorkshire. following is from the catalogue of the Hamilton Palace sale :RUBENS-DANIEL IN THE DEN OF LIONS.-The prophet is represented sitting naked in the middle of the den, his hands clasped, and his countenance directed upward with an expression of earnest prayer. Nine lions are prowling around him. Engraved by Blooteling, Van der Leuw, and Lamb, and in mezzotint by J. Ward. There is also an etching of it by Street, extremely rare. This is one of the few great pictures by Reubens which we know with certainty to have been entirely executed by his own hand. Reubens says this explicitly in an Italian letter to Sir Dudley Carleton, which Mr Carpenter has printed in his 'Pictorial Notices,' p. 140. This picture was presented by Sir Dudley Carleton to Charles I., and is inserted in the printed catalogue of his collection at page 87. Done by Sir Peter Paul Rubens. "No. 14. Item.-A piece of Daniel in the lions' den, with lions about him. Given by the deceased Lord Dorchester to the king, so big as the life, in a black gilded frame." It was sold to Mr Denison for £5145.--ED. XX. THE AVON. (A FEEDER OF THE ANNAN.) ["Yet is it one that other rivulets bear." There is the Shakespeare Avon, the Bristol Avon; the one that flows by Salisbury, and a small river in Wales, I believe, bear the name; Avon being in the ancient tongue the general name for river.] AVON-a precious, an immortal name! Yet is it one that other rivulets bear Like this unheard-of, and their channels wear VIEW FROM AN EMINENCE IN INGLEWOOD FOREST. 293 Anguish, and death: full oft where innocent blood Her heaven-offending trophies Glory rears: Shrink from thy name, pure Rill, with unpleased ears. XXI. SUGGESTED BY A VIEW FROM AN EMINENCE IN INGLEWOOD FOREST. [The extensive forest of Inglewood has been enclosed within my memory. I was well acquainted with it in its ancient state. The Hart's-horn tree mentioned in the next Sonnet was one of its remarkable objects, as well as another tree that grew upon an eminence not far from Penrith it was single and conspicuous; and being of a round shape, though it was universally known to be a Sycamore, it was always called the "Round Thorn," so difficult is it to chain fancy down to fact.] THE forest huge of ancient Caledon Is but a name, no more is Inglewood, That swept from hill to hill, from flood to flood : Fair parks spread wide where Adam Bell might deign To kill for merry feast their venison. Nor wants the holy Abbot's gliding Shade His church with monumental wreck bestrown; Hath still his castle, though a skeleton, That he may watch by night, and lessons con 1 1845. nor 1835. XXII. HART'S-HORN TREE, NEAR PENRITH.* his part Each desperately sustaining, till at last Both sank and died, the life-veins of the chased Mutual the victory, mutual the defeat! High was the trophy hung with pitiless pride; Say, rather, with that generous sympathy That wants not, even in the rudest breasts, a seat; And, for this feeling's sake let no one chide Verse that would guard thy memory. HART'S-HORN TREE! † *This tree has perished, but its site is still well known. the note to Roman Antiquities, p. 297.—Ed. Compare +"In the time of the first Robert de Clifford, in the year 1333 or 1334, Edward Baliol king of Scotland came into Westmoreland, and stayed some time with the said Robert at his castles of Appleby, Brougham, and Pendragon. And during that time they ran a stag by a single greyhound out of Whinfell Park, to Redkirk, in Scotland, and back again to this place; where, being both spent, the stag leaped over the pales, but died on the other side; and the greyhound, attempting to leap, fell, and died on the contrary side. In memory of this fact the stag's horns were nailed upon a tree just by, and (the dog being named Hercules) this rhythm was made upon them: 'Hercules kill'd Hart a greese, And Hart a greese kill'd Hercules.' The tree to this day bears the name of Hart's-horn Tree. The horns in process of time were almost grown over by the growth of the tree, and another pair was put up in their place.”—Nicholson and Burns's History of Westmoreland and Cumberland. The tree has now disappeared, but I well remember its imposing appearance as it stood, in a decayed state, by the side of the high road leading from Penrith to Appleby. This whole neighbourhood abounds in interesting traditions and vestiges of antiquity, viz., Julian's Bower; Brougham and Penrith Castles; Penrith Beacon, and the curious remains in Penrith Churchyard; Arthur's Round Table, and, close by, Maybrough; the excavation, called the Giant's Cave, on the banks of the Emont; Long Meg and her Daughters, near Eden, &c., &c.-W. W., 1835. COUNTESS' PILLAR. 295 XXIII. FANCY AND TRADITION. THE Lovers took within this ancient grove 4 Were only History licensed to take note XXIV. COUNTESS' PILLAR.* [Suggested by the recollection of Julian's Bower and other traditions connected with this ancient forest.] On the roadside between Penrith and Appleby, there stands a pillar with the following inscription : "This pillar was erected, in the year 1656, by Anne Countess Dowager 1 1835. There fell the Hero in this ancient grove The lovers pledged their faith beside these springs. Ms. * The Countess' Pillar is on the high road from Penrith, a couple of miles out of the town on the Appleby road. It is somewhat weather-worn, but is preserved with care.-ED. |