THE FEAST OF THE VIOLETS.
129
We sat for some moments, as still as Apollo's
Own table; till sweet, as when breath fills the hollows
Of organs, mild waking,-he utter'd what follows:—
Own table; till sweet, as when breath fills the hollows
Of organs, mild waking,-he utter'd what follows:—
"Dear souls with fine eyes (may they never be kiss'd
By a fool!) fear no more the mistakes that exist
With regard to these footings of yours, and their blue;
Fear no more the confusion of false and of true;
Strange confusion at any time, seeing its grounds!
For who, in his taste, sweet and bitter confounds?
And whence rose it? An authoress, once on a time,[1]
Could discover, it seems, no such wonderful crime
In the legs of an honest old soul at her party,
Who came in his blue stockings, ancient and hearty,—
(Ben Stillingfleet namely, fine-hearted old codger!
A loving old bachelor,—real Sir Roger);
But coxcombs (themselves a pedantical crew)
Palm'd, in spite, upon her, the old gentleman's blue;
And thence, by as clever and handsome transition,
Assum'd it of all in like letter'd condition.
As nicknames, however, are things we've a dread of
In heaven itself, they 're so hard to get rid of,
By a fool!) fear no more the mistakes that exist
With regard to these footings of yours, and their blue;
Fear no more the confusion of false and of true;
Strange confusion at any time, seeing its grounds!
For who, in his taste, sweet and bitter confounds?
And whence rose it? An authoress, once on a time,[1]
Could discover, it seems, no such wonderful crime
In the legs of an honest old soul at her party,
Who came in his blue stockings, ancient and hearty,—
(Ben Stillingfleet namely, fine-hearted old codger!
A loving old bachelor,—real Sir Roger);
But coxcombs (themselves a pedantical crew)
Palm'd, in spite, upon her, the old gentleman's blue;
And thence, by as clever and handsome transition,
Assum'd it of all in like letter'd condition.
As nicknames, however, are things we've a dread of
In heaven itself, they 're so hard to get rid of,
- ↑ The appellation of "Blue-Stockings" is understood to have originated, as here described, in the dress of the excellent old Benjamin Stillingfleet (grandson of the Bishop) as he used to appear at the parties of Mrs. Montagu, in Portman-square. He was jilted by a mistress to whose remembrance he remained faithful; and in spite of a disappointment which he thus deeply felt, remained, to the last, one of the most amiable of men, and entertaining of companions. See his "Literary Life and Select Works," published by Longman, in the year 1811. "Mr. Stillingfleet," (says a passage quoted in it from Bisset's Life of Burke) "almost always wore blue worsted stockings, and whenever he was absent from Mrs. Montagu's evening parties, as his conversation was very entertaining, the company used to say, "We can do nothing without the blue stockings," and by degrees the assemblies were called Blue-Stocking Clubs, and learned bodies Blue Stockings."-Vol. i. p. 237.
