35. Robert Bloomfield to William
Vaughan, 22 July 1800*
London July 22d — 1800 —
Sir
I have written a long letter to Mr Lofft, great part of which I shall
copy to you, and beg pardon for my intrusion when I see you,
'Mr Vaughan has
given me the new edition of Burns,
his life and letters, &c 4 vols. [1] I know not how much I am oblidged to Mr Vaughan for the favour. I cannot
read three pages of his life without walking across the room to relieve my
stomach. I wish he was alive that I might see him for the small trouble of
walking to Scotland for that purpose.'
'A kind of enchantment took possession of my mind and sences too
on Friday evening, from eight till twelve O'clock. The hot breezes of a summer's
day were gone to rest; and a Water expanded itself before me that seem'd to have
no motion but the swelling of a slow rising tide; the western clouds lay still;
and Echo was ready to answer every word and every breath. I floated on its
surface allmost before I was aware, and saw the busy world dusty, and fateagued
travelling in two distinct tracks over my head. The oblique shadows pointed at
me from the shore; gladness was the ruler of all present, and was obey'd. At
last landing, I left the pleasant waters to go on, to catch new shadows and wash
other shores, and had scarcely felt my feet before a Fairy Vision extended
itself that defied the eye of indifference. The Magic power that had caused and
seem'd to govern the whole scene had hung ten thousand lighted sparks twinkling
like stars around the boughs of trees, so that the under side of the foliage
became illuminated and gave to the eye an ashcolour'd green; every leaf as still
as the trunk on which it grew, for not a breath of air passd over them. On the
illuminated sand below appear'd a mixd society of creatures, apparently mortal
who either actually were happy or had left for a time the appearance of
unhappiness behind them. A great proportion of those wore a female garb, but, as
they were not fateagued with labour or exposed to the sun I could not discover
why it was that their necks and shoulders were bare. I was meditating on these
things when a fresh and sudden kind of enchantment set the whole assembly in
motion, for who moves not at the sound of musick? As the bodies of trees growing
near to the eye sometimes intercept and cut parts of a distant landscape, so did
they here, as it were, cut the vibrations of the musick traveling from the
centre of the scene to its confines. Somtimes it was sweetly melancholy, and a
voice made the shades ring with,
Faithless Edward is not here
Then at intervals in a remote part of the enchanted grove, a delightfull thrill
came through the bosom from the roll of the fife and the "spirit stirring Drum".
The fantastick bounces of the Tamborine invited the heart to mirth and every
note going to the boundary of the grove, seem'd to return in search of others
but that instant struck from the instrument or voice. Smiles of hilarity were on
every countenance, and particularly on those of the Fairies who with a waving
plume and bosoms heaving to the sounds they gave, stood and pour'd forth spirit
of song. Six voices caught from each other the words
Lads and lasses lets be gay
For this is Nature's holyday
[2] I also observed that round the whole scene were distributed a great variety of
tables set with the choicest and most tempting refreshments; such they apeard to
be; but whither on being touch'd as in some other enchanted woods and castles
they would have vanished from before me I cannot tell as I did not put it to the
trial. I could not help admiring much as assemblage of younger Fairies who,
cloathed in white, and full of mirth, danced to the Tamborine, and ran in
parties from the illuminated to darker shades, from tree to tree, and seemd as
ignorant of what we mortals call care and pain, as if they had never heard of
them.
Musick and Beauty are powerfull allurements. If the mere scene
had been shewn without them, I should have prefer'd the view of the evening sky
on the water, to the Fairies lamps, their grassless groves, and their publick
tables. And Fairy Visions in my estimation must still yield to a green grass
bank; the soul-chearing balm of the morning air; leaves brightened by Natures Luminary; and violets peeping through the long
grass as if to see how high he has mounted. Nor are those cheap, those common
scenes without the charm of Musick. When I heard the uncage'd Blackbird and the
Nightingale last May, and tried to bear in mind the amazing variations of the
latter bird, tried to draw near the twig, that supported him, and saw the little
feathers on his throat fall smooth at every pause, I felt Musick's most
bewitching power. If ungovernable sighs rise at such a moment who would try to
check them? If gratefull reflection joins the ear and the eye's feast and should
produce a tear, an empassion'd stamp of the foot; or, an exulting skip upon a
molehill, that tear, and that triumph is the triumph of Nature. — '
Pray Sir forgive me these long digressions, and I surely need not add that I have seen Vauxhall.
Mr Rogers finding I had not seen
that celebrated place of amusement proposed the treat, and was accompanied by Mr
Tuffen and Mr Sharp, to whom I
was greatly oblidged for the unexpected and agreeable treat. I know that Mr Vaughan will particularly ask
me what I think of Vauxhall, and I know
of no better way of telling him than by sending him a copy of the contrast I have here given.
I have the 4 vols of Burns [3] according to your order for which, Sir, and for all other favours I remain your
Most Obedient Servant
Robert Bloomfield
Mr Vaughan, Mincing Lane, London
Address:Mr Vaughan / Dunster Court / Mincing Lane / Fenchurch Stt.