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THE SANCTUARIES OF TUSCANY.* 



BY JOHN GALT. 



THERE is certainly something about the poetical mind which baffles 

 metaphysical conjecture, and this very splendid volume is a proof of 

 the fact. Formerly I imagined that the nondescript quality of genius 

 originated in some morbid,, mental secretion, and that the beautiful 

 pearl itself was only a curious effect of some constitutional malady ; 

 especially as it had been frequently observed that no person possessed 

 with a genius for any art was ever entirely free from inherent infir- 

 mity, and this notion I expressed in one of my dramas 



" All the endowments of the poet's mind, 

 That rich effulgence of bright tinted thought 

 Which wakes thy wonder and inspires delight, 

 Are bred by ails in the corporeal frame, 

 As the gay glories of the tulip's flower 

 Spring from disease engendered in the root." 



The appearance of " The Three Great Sanctuaries of Tuscany " 

 shakes, however, my confidence in the truth of the dogma, and 

 inclines me towards the doctrine of those who maintain the oppo- 

 site opinion, and who contend that we are never to expect supe- 

 rior mental endowment without some corresponding excellence in the 

 organization of " the corporeal frame." But that there is truth on 

 both sides of the question is undeniable ; and therefore I shall not 

 argue too strenuously for what, till this book made its appearance, 

 I was disposed to cherish as an article of faith. George IV. gave 

 it as his opinion, that the fair authoress, when Lady Charlotte Camp- 

 bell, was the most perfect beauty he had ever seen ; and we know, 

 from good authority, that Sir Thomas Lawrence, the late President 

 of the Royal Academy, expressed himself to the same effect. 



We would stake the opinion of Sardanapalus and Apelles against 

 that of the age ; although it militates against a dogma, which, in 

 charity for the ordinary, we had hoped Nature herself confirmed, 

 by giving " the hectic of the mind " for the bloom of beauty, and 

 acuteness to the understanding, where she withheld strength from 

 the limbs. 



* The Three Great Sanctuaries of Tuscany, Valornbrosa, Camaldoli, Laverna, 

 a poem, by the Right. Hon. Lady Charlotte 'Bury, illustrated by engravings of 

 the scenery from original drawings, bv the late Rev. Edward Bury. 



M.M. No. 100. " 3 B 



