(300) 
[May 
WALPOLIANA; 
OR, BONS MOTS, APOPHTHEGMS, OBSERVATIONS ON LIFE AND LITERA- 
TURE, WITH EXTRACTS FROM ORIGINAL LETTERS, OF THE LATE 
HORACE WALPOLE, EARL OF ORFORD. 
NUMBER XII. 
*.%* This Article is communicated by a Literary Gentleman, for many years in habits of intimacy 
with Mr: WALPOLE. 
It is partly drawn up from a colleéion of Bons-Mots, &c. in bis own 
bhand-writine 3 partly from Anecdotes written down afier long Covverfations with him, in which 
5) y : ? t 
be would, from four o’Clock in the Afternoon, till revo in the Morning, dilplay thofe treajures of - 
Anecdote with which his Rank, Wit, and Opportunities, bad replea:fred his Memory; and partly 
from Original Letters to the Compiler, on fubjeéis of Tafte and Literature. 

CLVIII, HEROISM OF A PEASANT. 
i | ‘HE following generous a¢tion has 
always ftruck me extremely ; there 
is fomewhat even of fublime in it. 
A great inundation having taken place 
in the nerth of Italy, owing to an exceflive 
fall of fnow in the Alps, followed by a 
{peedy thaw, the river Adige carried off 
a bridge near Verona, except the middle 
part, on which was the houte of the toll- 
gatherer, or porter, I forget which ; and 
who, with his whole family, thus remained 
imprifoned by the waves, and in mo- 
mentary danger of deftruction. They 
were difcovered from the banks, ftretch- 
ing forth their hands, fcreaming, and im- 
ploring fuccour, while fragments of this 
remaining arch were continually dropping 
into the water. Re 
In this extreme danger, a nobleman, 
who was prefent, acount of Pulverini, I 
think, held out a purfe of one hundred fe- 
guins, as a reward to any adventurer who 
would take boat, and deliver this unhappy 
family. But the riik was fo great of be- 
ing borne down by the rapidity of the 
ftream, of being dafhed againft the frag- 
ment of the bridge, or of being crufhed 
by the falling ftones, that not one, in the 
vaft number of fpeCtators, had courage 
enough to attempt {uch an exploit. | 
A peafant, paffing along, was informed 
of the propofed reward. Immediately 
jumping into a boat, he, by itrength of 
ears, gained the middle of the river, 
brought his boat under the pile; and the 
whole family fafely defcended, by means 
of arone. ‘¢ Courage! cried le. Now 
you are fafe.” By a ftill more ftrenuous 
effort, and great ftrength of arm, he 
brought the boat, and family, to fhore. 
€ Brave fellow, ‘exclaimed the count, 
handing the purfe to him, here is the 
promifed recompence.”? ‘ I fhall never 
expofe my life for money, anfwered the | 
peafant. My labour is a fuficient liveli- 
hood for myfelf, my wife, and children. 
Give the purie to this poor family, which - 
has loft all.’ 



CLIX. SENTIMENT. 
What is called fentimental writing, 
though it be underfteod to appeal folely 
to the heart, may be the produét of a bad 
one. One would imagine that Sterne had 
been a man of a very tender heart—yet I 
know, from indubitable authority, that 
his mother, who kept a ichool, having run. 
in debt, on account of an extravagant 
daughter, would have rotted in jail, 1f the 
parents of her fcholars had not raifed a 
fubicription for her. Her fon had too 
much fentiment to have any feeling. A 
dead afs was more important to him than 
a living mother. 
CLX. VERTOT. i 
In writing the hiftory of the Knights of 
Malta, Vertot had fent to Italy for origi- 
nal materials, concerning the fiege of 
Rhodes: but, impatient of the long delay, 
he completed his narrative from his own 
imagination. At length the packet ar- 
rived, when Vertot was fitting with a 
friend: he opened it, and threw it con- 
temptuoufly on the fopha behind him, 
laying cooly, Mon fiege oft fait *. 
CLXI. AKENSIDE AND ROLT. 
Akenfide’s Pleafures of Imagination 
attraéted much notice on the firft appear- 
ance, from the elegance of its language, 
and the warm colouring of the defcrip- 
tions, But the Platonic fanaticifm of 
the foundation injured the general beauty 
of theedifice, Plato is indeed the philo- 
fopher of imagination—but is not this 
faying he is no philofopher at all? I have 
been told that Rolt, who afterwards wrote 
many books, was in Dublin when that 
poem appeared, and actually pafied a 
whole year there, very comtortably, by 
palling for the author. 
; CLXIT. MONTESQUIEU. 
fadame de Deffant faid of Montef- 
uieu’s celebrated work, that it was d’e/= 
prit fur les loix +. 

%* My fiege is made. 
+ Wit upon laws. ; 
CLXIUI, 
