426 
the whole, and in every part of it, the 
marks of a judgment which cannot be 
questioned, and of an unerring taste, 
which was regulated by discreet expence, 
are so eminently conspicuous, as to pro- 
claim Mr. Nicholls to have been, what 
a kindred poet so happily terms 
a Un artiste qui pense, 
Prodigue de génie etnon pas de dépense.* 
To be a visitor and an inmate guest to 
Mr. Nicholls at Blundeston in the gay 
season, when his lake was illuminated by 
sumner suns, and rippled by the breeze; 
when every tree and shrub, in its chosen 
position, seemed to wave in homage to 
its possessor and cultivator; when a 
happy and youthful company of either 
sex, distinguished by thew talents and 
accomplishments, was enlivened by the 
good humour and spirit which presided 
over the whole; with the charm of music, 
and with every well-tempered recreation 
which the season could present, and with 
all the elegance of the domestic internal 
‘ arrangements; it was difficult indeed, I 
say, to be a visitor and a guest at Blun- 
deston in that gay season, and not to be 
reminded of Spenser’s imsagination : 
‘© For all that pleasing is to eye or ear, 
Was there consorted in one harmony ; 
Birds, voices, instruments, winds, waters, all 
agree!” 
Whoever havé been witnesses of the 
scene will know that I speak of it as they 
have seen it, and that I have set down 
nothing m fiction. I had fondly hoped 
that I should have revisited this favourite 
spot, and its beloved and accomplished 
master, for many a year with increasing 
pleasure. But what are the prospects of 
‘mau! The mind which presided over it 
3s fled ; and the scene is solitary : 
Secca é la vena dell’ usato ingezno: 
Vedove l’erbe, e torbide son lacque ! 
If Mr. Nicholls indeed had devoted 
his time and talents exclusively to the 
ornamental laying out of grounds, and 
had originally made it bis profession, it 
might be said with truth, in the diction 
of poetry, that Pactolus might have roll- 
ed throagh his own domains. But to 
embellish the form of rural nature was 
only his amusement. — In his own neigh- 
bourhood there ceuld be no emulation 
nor vanity; for where could he discover 
a competitor? His villa at. Blundeston 
Even the severe but dig- 
De an Oasis. 
- ®ified moralist,+ to whom nature had 
- denied an ear for harmony, and an eye 
i TILIA LIER EI E DIE LRG ACES 
* Delille, les Jardins, L i, 
% Ds. &. Jonneon. 
Letter on the Death of the Rev. Norton Nicholts. 
“masters of the pencil, 
[June I, 
for painting or for rural scenery, even h¢ 
has declared, that “‘some praise must 
be allowed to him who does best, what 
such multitudes are contending to do 
well.” 'To say this,is something; yet it 
is to be a niggard of our speech to say 
no more, when such liberal delight is 
the object of communication. 
In every department of elegant litera- 
ture Mr. Nicholls displayed the same 
correct taste. His knowledge of history 
was copious but chosen; im ancient and 
in. modern writers he was accurately 
versed, and in all subjects he had re- 
course to the original springs of knowe 
ledge. Inthe Freneh and Italian lan- 
guages, as well asin the particular modes 
of the lifeand manners of those countries, 
he was eminently instructed; and the 
merits of every author and poet of dis« 
tinction were familiar to-him. In the 
most polished society of unrevolutionized 
France, and in the Tuscan conversations, 
he was received asa native. He seemed, 
indeed, to have transfused into his habit¢ 
and manners such a portion of their 
spirit, that many persons were inclined 
to think, that either the Seine or the 
Arno might have claimed him for their 
own. In Italy, during his short sojourn 
among the unrivalled remains of genius 
and of art, he accurately studied and 
comprehended the works of the greatest 
He did this not 
withthe idfe spirit of a loitering traveller, 
but with the unremitting application of 
aman who knew the value of his time 
and of his talents. He felt and prosecu- 
ted the desire of improving them by an 
honourable familiarity with the designs 
of great painters and sculptors; and of 
fixing in his own mind those forms of 
excellence by which his judgment might 
be guided, and his recollection gratified, 
in the future course of his life, among its 
choicest and most liberal amusements. 
Mr. Nicholls was by nature commu- 
nicative, “ and his spirit was not finely 
touched but to fine issues.” His younger 
friends will be gratefully alive to my 
words, when [I allude to~his willingness, 
and even his eagerness, to impart infor~ 
mation, and to diffuse rational pleasure, 
Such indeed were his good manners, his 
benevolence, and his hospitality, that hig 
spirits might be said to shine through 
him; and in the reception of friends, of 
acquaintances, and of strangers, under his 
roof, were shewn that readiness and 
urbanity which announced the gentleman 
of birth and the man of breeding. Iam 
indeed convinced, that there is not a 
scholar, 
go 
