Epistle XVII. To Gallus.
by
the Same. [Mr. Henley]
[_]
A Description of his Country-Seat.
YOU admire that I am so entirely charm'd with my Laurentine-Seat,
or if you like the Phrase better, my Laurens. But you will cease your Wonder,
when you know the Beauty of the Villa, the Advantage of the Situation and the Compass of the Shore.
The Distance of it is seventeen Miles from the City, so that, in the decline of the Day,
when you have finish'd your Affairs, you may make a commodious Stay in it.
There is more than a single Road to it; for the Laurentine and
Ostian ways both carry you to it, but the former is to be left at the
fourteenth Stone, the latter at the eleventh. In both,
you go upon a sandy Track, that is something heavier and more tiresome to a Carriage,
but quick and easy to a single Horse. The Landskip on either Hand is finely diversified;
for sometimes the Way is narrow'd by meeting Woods, sometimes enlarg'd by open
Pasture Grounds. The
Flocks of Sheep, and Herds of Cattle are numerous; which, as soon as the Winter disappears upon the Hills,
begin to look Plump and glossy, by the young Grass and warmth of the Spring.
The
Villa it self, is capacious enough for all proper Uses, and not too costly to support.
In the Fore-part of it, is a Court, moderately large, and not sordidly little:
Then a range of Cloisters, bending to an Oval; (like the Letter O) and inclosing a small,
but pleasant
Area. These are very good Retreat from the Weather;
for they are defended with Glass-work, and more with Roofs, that jutt over them.
Opposite to the middle of them is a chearful Gallery; then a Parlour handsome enough,
running out to the
Shore; and when the Sea is put in Motion by the South-West Wind,
it is gently wash'd by the Waves, that are now almost spent and broken.
On every Side are Openings, or Windows, equal in Size to them; and so,
from the Wings and Front, it commands a Prospect, as it were, of three Seas: From the
back part it looks to the
Gallery; the
Cloister, the
Area,
and again to the
Cloister; and presently to the
Court, the
Woods, and the
neighbouring Mountains. On the Left, something more retiring,
is a large Bed-chamber; then another, as spacious, which lets in the
Rising Sun thro' one Window, and the
Setting at the other. This,
and another beneath it, views the Sea, more remotely indeed, but with more Safety.
By the Facing of this Bed-chamber, and the Dining Room, is form'd an Angle,
that receives the clearest Sun, and improves the Warmth of it. This is a Winter Convenience.
This is likewise a Place of Exercise and Sport for my People. There all the Winds are hush'd;
except those that bring on a cloudy Sky, and remove the Serene,
before they take away the Use and Warmth of the Place. Adjoining to this Angle is an Apartments Circular,
lie a Target; which follows the Course of the Sun, with all its Windows;
a Case of Shelves is let into its Wall, in the Fashion of a small Library,
that receives a Set of Books, not to be merely read over, but us'd constantly.
Contiguous is part of a Dormitory, with an intermediate Passage; rais'd aloft and Wainscotted;
proper to disperse on each Part the enclos'd Warmth, in a Degree that is kindly and wholsome.
The remaining Part of this Wing is employ'd in the Uses of Servants and Freed-men;
and yet the Offices are most of them so neatly kept, that they are fit for
Entertainment. On the other Side is a very elegant Lodging; then a wide Chamber,
and a tolerable Dining-Room, that reflects very brightly the Sun-shine,
and the Gleam of the Sea. Behind this, a Bed-chamber, with an Anti-Room;
by the Height, fit for Summer, by the Strength, as proper for Winter.
For it is remote from every Breath of Wind. To this another is join'd,
and a kind of Lobby;
with one common Partition. Then a cool Cell for a Bath, broad and spacious,
in whose opposite Walls, two Basins are hollowed, as jutting out; of a Circumference big enough to supply the Water,
if you are inclin'd to swim in the Place that is near to them. Near is the Anointing-Stove and a Furnace for the Bagnio;
then two Bathing Cells more neat than costly; a warm Pool is surprizingly close to them;
in which you may swim, and enjoy the Prospect of the Sea; and not far off is a Bowling-Green,
that meets the warmest Sun, towards the Fall of the Day. Then a Turret rises;
beneath are two Parlours, and as many within; besides a Banquetting-House that looks forward to a great breadth of Sea,
and length of Shore, as well as a Variety of the most delightful Country-houses,
There is too another Tower; in this is another Bed-chamber, where you are oblig'd with the rising and setting Sun;
and after, you find a large Store-house and a Barn. Near this is a Parlour,
which amuses you only with the sound and breaking of
a troubled Sea; and that very languid and wearing away. It views a Garden and a broad Walk;
with which that Garden is surrounded. The Walk is surrounded with Box or Rosemary,
where the Box is wanting. For the Box, where it is defended by the Buildings,
is wonderfully Green; but it withers, if exposed to the open Sky and Wind,
and the Damp of the
Sea tho' distant. Near the Alley is a young shady Vineyard, soft and yielding even to the naked Feet.
The Garden is covered with the
Fig and the
Mulberry in abundance;
for the Soil is particularly kind to those Trees, and more ill-natur'd to the rest.
This affords a Prospect in a farther dining-Room, not Inferior to the Look of the Sea.
It is encompassed with two Summer-houses behind; the Porch of the
Villa is beneath the Windows, and another Garden, that is something coarse and rustick.
Hence a Piazza is extended, much in the Fashion of a publick Building;
Windows are on both Sides to the Sea, numerous; to the Garden single;
and a few more lofty. Some may be inoffensively open, when the Day is calm and serene;
and all in that Quarter, where the Winds are compos'd, tho' in others they may be troublesome.
Before the Piazza, is a covered Walk, perfum'd with Violets. The Piazza augments the Force of the full sun by Reflection;
as it retains the Sun, it fences off the North Wind; and
the Cool behind is equal to the Heat before. In the same Manner it checks the South West Wind;
and so different Winds by different Sides are broken and bounded. This Agreeableness of it is the less in Winter,
and greater in the Summer; for in the Forenoon it relieves the covered Walk;
in the Afternoon the broad Alley; and the nearest Part of the Garden by its Shade;
which, as the Day advances, or
decays, is cast either way in a longer or a shorter Projection. But the Piazza it self,
is then freest from the Sun, when he is most blazing and vertical to it.
Besides, it admits and conveys the West Winds through the open Lights,
and is never clogg'd with a dull or a stagnating air. In the Head of the covered Walk is another Portico;
it is the main Summer-house of the Garden; my Delight, and indeed, my
Mistress; I my self contriv'd it. In this, a
Solar one way views the close Walk;
by another, the Sea, by both, the Sun; as a Bed-chamber by folding-Doors,
and the Portico by a Window. Where the Sea flows against the Center of the Wall,
The Summer-house withdraws it self very elegantly; which is added or removed from my Bed-chamber,
by Windows, and Curtains, drawn or opened. It holds a Bed and two Chairs;
at the Foot is the Sea, behind are Country Houses, in the Front are the Woods;
It divides and unites this Variety of Appearance by an equal Number of Casements. A chamber, proper for the
Night and Repose, is adjoining to it; where you are not sensible of the prating of Servants,
the murmur of the Sea, the motions of the Weather, or the flash of Lightenings,
or even of the Day, except the Windows be open. The Cause of this profound Secrecy,
is this: That an Alley separates the Wall of the Chamber and Garden, and so deadens all the Sound,
by the
intermediate Vacuity. A very small Stove is apply'd to the Chamber, which either emits or preserves the Heat that is put under it;
by a narrow Vent, as the Occasion demands. Then a Fore-Room and Chamber is stretch'd out to the Sun,
which directly takes it, in the Rising, and obliquely in the Afternoon.
When I retire into this Summer-House, I imagine my self absent from my own
Villa; and the greatest Diversion I taste of it, is in the Time of the
Saturnalia; when the rest of the House is stunn'd by the License of the Season,
and the Noise of the
Festival. For I neither obstruct the Mirth of my People,
nor do they interfere with my Studies. Now all this Convenience and Pleasure is destitute of Living-Water;
but it abounds in
Wells, or rather a kind of
Springs; for the nature of the Shoar is really wonderful.
You readily meet with Water, whatever you remove the Ground; and it is very clear,
nor partaking in the least of a brackish Taste, from the nearness of the Sea.
The neighbouring Wood-Land affords a plenty of Billets and Timber; other Accommodations you have from the Colony of
Ostia. A moderate Man would be satisfied with a Village that is divided only by one Country-House from mine;
but here are three Baths of Hire, which is a great Convenience, if either a sudden Return,
or too short a Stay should disswade you from heating the Bath at Home.
The Tops of Rural Seats here continued, and
there intermitted, set off the Shoar with a very pleading Diversity. They give the Look of many Towns,
whether you survey them by Sea or Land; and the Shoar is often sooth'd by a lasting Calm,
but more frequently ruffled by an adverse Wave. The Sea indeed does not abound with Fishes of great Value;
yet it affords very good Soles, and Sprawns. But my House furnishes me with several Conveniencies of the Inland Parts,
and chiefly Milk. For the Cattle retreat hither from the open Grounds,
when they desire the Water and the Shade. Do not you thin that I have just Reason to frequent,
to inhabit, to love this Recess? If you do not wish for it, you are too much a Man of the Town;
I hope your Inclination will turn that way, for nothing can add more to all these Qualifications of my Hermitage than your Company.
