24 CONNECTION OF BATH WITH THE 



toiy; which reckons among its inhabitants him who 

 first introduced Arabian science to the knowledge of 

 our countrymen ; which through many ages had 

 within its walls a learned society of religious, with a 

 library peculiarly rich, extensive, and curious ; where 

 Harington and Daniel sung in the youthful age of 

 EngUsh poesy, and which is mixed with the fine 

 imaginings of Spenser and Shakespeare : a city 

 which, in later times, has given birth to some, and 

 residence to many, who have gained for themselves 

 deathless renown in the peacefid but honourable pur- 

 suit of literature and science: — Such a city they 

 dared not stigmatize as Boeotian ; but it was a 

 Corinth, where pleasure followed in the train of 

 riches, and where few would be found willing to 

 leave the delights of a refined voluptuousness for 

 the severe pursuit of science, or the laborious pro- 

 secution of historical or critical inquiry. 



How much they overlooked in the past, or how 

 unfairly they estimated the present, has now been 

 shown. That there are amongst us those who feel 

 that life has something better to give than the mere 

 pleasures of sense, or even than the most refined and 

 elegant amusements, is now made apparent amongst 

 us. It is no longer a question whether there are not 

 at the present day those who emulate, if they cannot 

 attain, the fame w^hich is enjoyed by many to w^hom 



