341 



hear what a powerful ally 1 have met with, 

 in support of my distinction ; no less a one 

 than Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, emperor 

 and philosopher ! The passage is in his 

 third book ; he there describes such a loaf 

 as this, with a comment not very unlike 

 your's, and afterwards mentions several 

 other objects, which, together with the cir- 

 cumstances attending them, we should call 

 picturesque; such as the bursting of figs 

 when over-ripe ; the appearance of olives 

 when just approaching to decay ; the heads 

 of corn bent downwards ; the over-hanging 

 brows of a lion ; the foam of a wild boar; 

 all of which, he observes (together with 

 many other things of the same kind) though 

 far from beautiful to the eye, yet, if consi- 

 dered distinctly, and as they follow the 

 course of nature, have an ornamental and 

 alluring effect/' 



" You will gain but little from this pas- 

 sage," answered Mr. Howard ; " I rernem- 

 ver it very well, and am not afraid of your 

 pretended ally. Antoninus, you know, was 

 a stoic, and the whole turns on the stoical, 



VOL. Ill, A A 



