REMARKS on BOOK the FIRST.

This Poem was writ in 1726. In the next year an imperfect Edition was publiſhed at Dublin, and re⯑printed at London in 120. another at Dublin, and another at London in 8vo, and three others in 120. the ſame year. But there was no perfect Edition before that of London in 4to 1728-9, which was attended with the following Notes. We are will⯑ing to acquaint Poſterity that this Poem (as it here ſtands) was preſented to King George the Second and his Queen, by the hands of Sir Robert Walpole, on the 12th of March, 1728-9.

[67] The Dunciad, Sic M. S. It may be well diſputed whether this be a right reading? Ought it not ra⯑ther to be ſpelled Dunceiad, as the Etymology evi⯑dently demands? Dunce with an e. therefore Dun⯑ceiad with an e. That accurate and punctual Man of Letters, the Reſtorer of Shakeſpeare, conſtantly ob⯑ſerves the preſervation of this very letter e, in ſpel⯑ling the name of his beloved Author, and not like his common careleſs Editors, with the omiſſion of one, nay ſometimes of two ee's [as Shak'ſpear] which is utterly unpardonable. Nor is the neglect of a Sin⯑gle Letter ſo trivial as to ſome it may appear; the al⯑teration whereof in a learned language is an Atchieve⯑ment that brings honour to the Critic who advances it; and Dr. B. will be remembered to poſterity for his performances of this ſort, as long as the world ſhall have any eſteem for the Remains of Menander and Philemon. THEOBALD.

I have a juſt value for the letter E, and the ſame affection for the name of this poem, as the forecited Critic for that of his author; yet cannot it induce me to agree with thoſe who would add yet another e to it, and call it the Dunceiade; which being a French [68] and foreign termination, is no way proper to a word entirely Engliſh, and vernacular. One e therefore in this caſe is right, and two e's wrong. Yet upon the whole I ſhall follow the Manuſcript, and print it with⯑out any e at all; mov'd thereto by Authority, at all times, with Critics, equal if not ſuperior to Reaſon. In which method of proceeding, I can never enough praiſe my very good friend, the exact Mr. Tho. Hearne; who, if any word occur which to him and all mankind is evidently wrong, yet keeps he it in the Text with due reverence, and only remarks in the Margin, ſic M. S. In like manner we ſhall not amend this error in the Ti⯑tle itſelf, but only note it obiter, to evince to the learned that it was not our fault, nor any effect of our igno⯑rance or inattention. SCRIBLERUS.

V. 1.

Wonderful is the ſtupidity of all the former Critics and Commentators on this work! it breaks forth at the very firſt line. The author of the Critique prefix'd to Sawney, a Poem, p. 5. hath been ſo dull as to ex⯑plain The Man who brings, &c. not of the Hero of the piece, but of our Poet himſelf, as if he vaunted that Kings were to be his readers (an honour which tho' [69] this Poem hath had, yet knoweth he how to receive it with more modeſty.)

We remit this Ignorant to the firſt lines of the Aeneid; aſſuring him, that Virgil there ſpeaketh not of himſelf, but of Aeneas.

I cite the whole three verſes, that I may by the way offer a Conjectural Emendation, purely my own, upon each: Firſt, oris ſhould be read aris, it being as we ſee Aen. 2. 513. from the altar of Jupiter Hercaeus that Aeneas fled as ſoon as he ſaw Priam ſlain. In the ſecond line I would read flatu for fato, ſince it is moſt clear it was by Winds that he arrived at the ſhore of Italy. jactatus in the third, is ſurely as improperly apply'd to terris, as proper to alto: to ſay a man is toſt on land, is much at one with ſaying he walks at ſea. Riſum teneatis amici? Correct it, as I doubt not it ought to be, vexatus. SCRIBLERUS.

V. 2. ‘The Smithfield Muſes.]’ Smithfield is the place where Bartholomew Fair was kept, whoſe ſhews, ma⯑chines, and dramatical entertainments, formerly agree⯑able only to the taſte of the Rabble, were, by the Hero of this poem and others of equal genius, brought to the Theatres of Covent-Garden, Lincolns-Inn-Fields, and the Hay-Market, to be the reigning plea⯑ſures of the Court and Town. This happened in the [70] year 1725, and continued many years. See Book 3. Verſe 227, &c.

V. 10. ‘Daughter of Chaos, &c.]’ The beauty of this whole Allegory being purely of the poetical kind, we think it not our proper buſineſs as a Scholiaſt to meddle with it, but to leave it (as we ſhall in gene⯑ral all ſuch) to the reader: remarking only, that Chaos (according to Heſiod's [...]) was the Progenitor of all the Gods. SCRIBL.

V. 21. ‘Or praiſe the Court, or magnify Mankind.]’ Ironicè, alluding to Gulliver's repreſentations of both—The next line relates to the papers of the Drapier againſt the currency of Wood's Copper Coin in Ireland, [71] which upon the great diſcontent of the people, his Majeſty was graciouſly pleaſed to recal.

V. 23. ‘From thy Baeotia.]’ Baeotia of old lay un⯑der the raillery of the neighbouring Wits, as Ireland does now; tho' each of thoſe nations produced one of the greateſt Wits, and greateſt Generals, of their age.

V. 24. ‘Grieve not, my Swift! at ought our realm acquires.]’ Ironicè iterum. The Politicks of England and Ireland were at this time thought to be oppo⯑ſite, or interfering with each other▪ Dr. Swift of courſe was in the intereſt of the latter, our Author of the former.

V. 26. ‘A new Saturnian Age of Lead.]’The an⯑cient golden Age is by Poets ſtiled Saturnian; but in the chymical language, Saturn is Lead.

V. 27. ‘Where wave the tatter'd Enſigns of Rag-fair.]’ Rag-fair is a place near the Tower of London, where old cloaths and frippery are ſold.

V. 28, 31.

Hear upon this place the forecited Critic on the Dun⯑ciad. ‘"Theſe lines (ſaith he) have no conſtruction, [72] or are nonſenſe. The two ſhivering ſiſters muſt be the ſiſter-caves of Poverty and Poetry, or the bed and cave of Poverty and Poetry muſt be the ſame, (queſtionleſs, if they lie in one bed) and the two ſiſters the lord knows who?"’ O the con⯑ſtruction of grammatical heads! Virgil writeth thus: Aen. 1.

May we not ſay in like manner, ‘"The nymphs muſt be the waters and the ſtones, or the waters and the ſtones muſt be the houſes of the nymphs?"’ In⯑ſulſe! The ſecond line, Intus aquae, &c. is in a pa⯑rentheſis (as are the two lines of our Author, Keen hollow Winds, &c.) and it is the Antrum, and the yawning ruin, in the line before that parentheſis, which are the Domus and the Cave.

Let me again, I beſeech thee, Reader, preſent thee with another Conjectural Emendation on Virgil's ſco⯑pulis pendentibus: He is here deſcribing a place, whi⯑ther the weary Mariners of Aeneas repaired to dreſs their dinner.—Feſſi—frugeſ (que) receptas Et torrere parant flammis: What has ſcopulis pendentibus here to do? in⯑deed the aquae dulces and ſedilia are ſomething; ſweet waters to drink, and ſeats to reſt on: the other is [73] ſurely an error of the Copyiſts. Reſtore it, without the leaſt ſcruple, Populis prandentibus.

V. 33. ‘The Great Mother.]’ Magna mater, here ap⯑ply'd to Dulneſs. The Quidnunc's, a name given to the ancient members of certain political clubs, who were conſtantly enquiring, quid nunc? what news?

V. 38. Curl's chaſte preſs, and Lintot's rubric poſt.] Two Bookſellers, of whom ſee Book 2. The former was fined by the Court of King's-Bench for publiſh⯑ing obſcene books; the latter uſually adorn'd his ſhop with titles in red letters.

[74] V. 39. ‘Hence hymning Tyburn's elegiac lay.]’ It is an ancient Engliſh cuſtom for the Malefactors to ſing a Pſalm at their execution at Tyburn; and no leſs cu⯑ſtomary to print Elegies on their deaths, at the ſame time, or before.

V. 40. and 42. allude to the annual ſongs com⯑poſed to muſic on St. Cecilia's Feaſt, and thoſe made by the Poet-Laureat for the time being, to be ſung at Court on every New-years-day, the words of which are happily drown'd in the voices and inſtruments.

V. 41. Is a juſt ſatire on the Flatteries and Falſe⯑hoods admitted to be inſcribed on the walls of Churches in Epitaphs.

[75] I muſt not here omit a Reflection, which will occur perpetually through this poem; and cannot but greatly endear the Author to every attentive obſerver of it: I mean that Candour and Humanity which every where appears in him to thoſe unhappy objects of the ridicule of all mankind, the bad poets. He here imputes all ſcandalous rhimes, ſcurrilous weekly pa⯑pers, lying news, baſe flatteries, wretched elegies, ſongs and verſes (even from thoſe ſung at Court, to ballads in the ſtreets) not ſo much to malice or ſer⯑vility, as to dulneſs; and not ſo much to dulneſs, as to neceſſity; And thus at the very commencement of his ſatire, makes an apology for all that are to be ſatirized.

V. 48. Who hunger, and who thirſt.] ‘"This is an alluſion to a Text in ſcripture, which ſhews, in Mr. Pope, a delight in prophaneneſs (ſaid Curl upon this place."’) But 'tis very familiar with Shakeſpeare to allude to paſſages of ſcripture: Out of a great number I'll ſelect a few, in which he not only al⯑ludes [76] to, but quotes the very Texts from holy Writ. In All's well that ends well, I am no great Nebuchad⯑nezzar, I have not much skill in graſs. Ibid. They are for the flowry way that leads to the broad gate and the great fire, Mat. 7. 13. In Much ado about no⯑thing: All, all, and moreover God ſaw him when he was hid in the garden, Gen. 3. 8. (in a very jocoſe ſcene.) In Love's labour loſt, he talks of Sampſon's car⯑rying the gates on his back; in the Merry Wives of Windſor, of Goliah and the Weaver's beam; and in [77] Henry 4. Falſtaff's Soldiers are compared to Lazarus and the Prodigal Son. The firſt part of this Note is Mr. CURL'S, The reſt is Mr. THEOBALD's Ap⯑pendix to Shakeſpeare reſtor'd. p. 144.

V. 61. Here one poor Word a hundred clenches makes.] It may not be amiſs to give an inſtance or two of theſe operations of Dulneſs out of the works of her Sons celebrated in the poem. A great Critic formerly held theſe clenches in ſuch abhorrence, that he de⯑clared, "he that would pun, would pick a pocket." Yet Mr. Dennis's works afford us notable examples in this kind. ‘"Alexander Pope hath ſent abroad in⯑to the world as many Bulls as his nameſake Pope Alexander..—Let us take the initial and final letters of his Name, viz. A. P—E, and they [78] give you the idea of an Ape.—Pope comes from the Latin word Popa, which ſignifies a little Wart; or from poppyſma, becauſe he was conti⯑nually popping out ſquibs of wit, or rather Popyſma⯑ta, or Po-piſms."’ DENNIS on Hom. and Daily Journal June 11. 1728.

V. 68. ‘How Farce and Epic—How Time him⯑ſelf, &c.]’ allude to the tranſgreſſions of the Unities, in the Plays of ſuch poets. For the miracles wrought upon Time and Place, and the mixture of Tragedy, Comedy, Farce and Epic, ſee Pluto and Proſerpine, Penelope, &c. if yet extant.

V. 71. ‘Aegypt glads with ſhow'rs.]’ In the lower Aegypt Rain is of no uſe, the overflowing of the Nile being ſufficient to impregnate the ſoil.—Theſe ſix verſes repreſent the inconſiſtencies in the deſcription of poets, who heap together all glittering and gawdy images, tho' incompatible in one ſeaſon, or in one [79] ſcene.—See the Guardian, No. 40. parag. 6. See alſo Euſden's whole works if to be found. It would not have been unpleaſant, to have given Examples of all theſe ſpecies of bad writing from theſe Authors, but that it is already done in our treatiſe of the Bathos. SCRIBL.

V. 83. ‘'Twas on the day, when Thorold, rich and grave.]’ Sir George Thorold Lord Mayor of London, in the year 1720. The proceſſion of a Lord Mayor is made partly by land and partly by water.—Ci⯑mon the famous Athenian General obtained a victory [80] by ſea, and another by land on the ſame day, over the Perſians and Barbarians.

V. 86. ‘Glad Chains.]’ The ignorance of theſe Mo⯑derns! This was alter'd in one edition to Gold chains, ſhewing more regard to the metal of which the chains of Aldermen are made, than to the beauty of the La⯑tiniſm and Greciſm, nay of figurative ſpeech itſelf.—laetas ſegetes, glad, for making glad, &c. SCRIBLERUS.

V. 88. But liv'd, in Settle's numbers, one day more.] A beautiful manner of ſpeaking, uſual with poets in praiſe of poetry, in which kind nothing is finer than thoſe lines of Mr. Addiſon.

V. 88. ‘But liv'd in Settle's numbers one day more.]’ Settle was alive at this time, and poet to the City of London. His office was to compoſe yearly panegyricks upon the Lord Mayors, and verſes to be ſpoken in the Pageants: but that part of the ſhows being frugally at length aboliſhed, the employment of City-Poet [81] ceas'd; ſo that upon Settle's demiſe, there was no ſuc⯑ceſſor to that place. This important point of time our Poet has choſen as the Criſis of the Kingdom of Dulneſs, who thereupon decrees to remove her Impe⯑rial Seat: To which great enterprize, all things being now ripe, ſhe calls the Hero of this poem.

Mr. Settle was once a writer in ſome vogue, particu⯑larly with his party; for he was the Author or pub⯑liſher of many noted pamphlets in the time of King Charles the ſecond. He anſwer'd all Dryden's politi⯑cal poems; and being cried up on one ſide, ſucceed⯑ed not a little in his Tragedy of the Empreſs of Mo⯑rocco (the firſt that was ever printed with cuts.) ‘"Upon this he grew inſolent, the Wits writ againſt his Play, he replied, and the Town judged he had the better. In ſhort Settle was then thought a for⯑midable rival to Mr. Dryden; and not only the Town, but the Univerſity of Cambridge was di⯑vided which to prefer; and in both places the younger ſort inclined to Elkanab."’ DENNIS, Pref. to Rem. on Hom.

For the latter part of his hiſtory, ſee the Note on the third Book, verſe 279.

[82] V. 96. ‘John Heywood.]’ Whoſe Interludes were printed in the time of Henry the eighth.

V. 101. Old Pryn in reſtleſs Daniel.] The firſt edi⯑tion had it, She ſaw in Norton all his father ſhine; a great miſtake! for Daniel de Foe had parts, but Norton de Foe was a wretched writer, and never attempted Poetry. Much more juſtly is Daniel himſelf made ſucceſſor to W. Pryn, both of whom wrote Verſes as well as Politicks; as appears by the poem De jure di⯑vino, &c. of De Foe, and by theſe lines in Cowley's Miſcellanies of the other.

And both theſe authors had a reſemblance in their fates as well as writings, having been alike ſentenc'd to the Pillory.

[83] V. 102. And Euſden eke out, &c.] Laurence Euſden, Poet Laureate: Mr. Jacob gives a catalogue of ſome few only of his works, which were very numerous. Mr. Cook in his Battle of Poets ſaith of him,

Mr. Oldmixon in his Arts of Logic and Rhetoric▪ p. 413, 414. affirms, ‘"That of all the Galimatia's he ever met with, none comes up to ſome verſes of this Poet, which have as much of the Ridiculum and the Fuſtian in 'em as can well be jumbled to⯑gether, and are of that ſort of nonſenſe which ſo per⯑fectly confounds all Idea's, that there is no diſtinct one left in the mind. Further he ſays of him, that he hath prophecy'd his own poetry ſhall be ſweeter than Catullus, Ovid, and Tibullus, but we have little hope of the accompliſhment of it from what he hath lately publiſh'd."’ Upon which Mr. Oldmixon has not ſpar'd a reflection, ‘"That the putting the Laurel on the head of one who writ ſuch verſes, will give futurity a very lively idea of the Judg⯑ment and juſtice of thoſe who beſtow'd it."’ Ibid. p. 417. But the well-known learning of that Noble Perſon who was then Lord Chamberlain, might have ſcreen'd him from this unmannerly reflection. Mr. Euſden was made Laureate for the ſame reaſon that [84] Mr. Tibbald was made Hero of This Poem, becauſe there was no better to be had. Nor ought Mr. Old⯑mixon to complain, ſo long after, that the Laurel would better have become his own brows, or any other's: It were more decent to acquieſce in the opinion of the Duke of Buckingham upon this matter.

Of Blackmore, ſee book 2. verſe 256. Of Philips, book 3. verſe 322.

Nahum Tate was Poet-Laureate, a cold writer, of no invention, but ſometimes tranſlated tolerably when befriended by Mr. Dryden. In his ſecond part of Ab⯑ſalom and Achitophel are above two hundred admirable lines together of that great hand, which ſtrongly ſhine through the inſipidity of the reſt▪ Something parallel may be obſerved of another Author here mention'd.

V. 104. ‘And all the Mighty Mad.]’ This is by no means to be underſtood literally, as if Mr. Dennis were really mad, according to the Narrative of Dr. Norris in Swift and Pope's Miſcellanies, vol▪ 3▪ No—I is ſpoken of that Excellent and Divine Madneſs, ſo of⯑ten mention'd by Plato, that poetical rage an enthu⯑ſiaſm, with which Mr. D. hath, in his time, been high⯑ly [85] poſſeſſed; and of thoſe extraordinary hints and, mo⯑tions whereof he himſelf ſo feelingly treats in his pre⯑face to the Rem. on Pr. Arth. [See notes on book 2. verſe 256.] SCRIBL.

V. 104. ‘And all the Mighty Mad in Dennis rage.]’ Mr. Theobald in the Cenſor, vol. 2. No. 33. calls Mr. Dennis by the name of Furius. ‘"The modern Furius is to be look'd on as more the object of pity, than of that which he daily provokes, laugh⯑ter and contempt. Did we really know how much this poor man (I wiſh that reflection on poverty had been ſpared) ſuffers by being contradicted, or which is the ſame thing in effect, by hearing another praiſed; we ſhould in compaſſion ſometimes at⯑tend to him with a ſilent nod, and let him go away with the triumphs of his ill nature.—Poor Fu⯑rius (again) when any of his cotemporaries are ſpoken well of, quitting the ground of the preſent diſpute, ſteps back a thouſand years to call in the ſuccour of the Ancients. His very panegyrick is ſpiteful, and he uſes it for the ſame reaſon as ſome Ladies do their commendations of a dead beauty, who never would have had their good word, but that a living one happened to be mentiond in their company. His applauſe is not the tribute of his Heart, but the ſacrifice of his Revenge,"’ &c. In⯑deed his pieces againſt our Poet are ſomewhat of an angry character, and as they are now ſcarce extant, a [86] taſte of his ſtile may be ſatisfactory to the curious. ‘"A young ſquab, ſhort gentleman, whoſe outward form though it ſhould be that of downright mon⯑key, would not differ ſo much from human ſhape, as his unthinking immaterial part does from human underſtanding.—He is as ſtupid and as venomous as a hunchbacked toad—A book through which folly and ignorance, thoſe brethren ſo lame and im⯑potent, do ridiculouſly look very big, and very dull, and ſtrut, and hobble cheek by jowl, with their arms on kimbo, being led and ſupported, and bully-backed by that blind Hector, Impudence."’ Reflect. on the Eſſay on Crit. pag. 26, 29, 30.

It would be unjuſt not to add his reaſons for this Fury, they are ſo ſtrong and ſo coercive. ‘"I regard him (ſaith he) as an ▪Enemy, not ſo much to me, as to my King, to my Country, to my Religion, and to that Liberty which has been the ſole felicity of my life. A vagary of fortune, who is ſometimes pleaſed to be frolickſome, and the epidemick Mad⯑neſs of the times, have given him Reputation, and Reputation (as Hobbs ſays) is Power, and that has made him dangerous. Therefore I look on it as my duty to King George, whoſe faithful ſubject I am; to my Country, of which I have appeared a con⯑ſtant lover; to the Laws, under whoſe protection I have ſo long lived; and to the Liberty of my Country, more dear than life to me, of which I [87] have now for forty years been a conſtant aſſerter, &c. I look upon it as my duty, I ſay, to do—you ſhall ſee what—to pull the lion's skin from this little Aſs, which popular error has thrown round him; and to ſhew, that this Author who has been lately ſo much in vogue, has neither ſenſe in his thoughts, nor engliſh in his expreſſions."’ DENNIS. Rem. on Hom. Pref. p. 2. and p. 91, &c.

Beſides theſe publick-ſpirited reaſons, Mr. D. had a private one; which by his manner of expreſſing it in page 92, appears to have been equally ſtrong. He was even in bodily fear of his life, from the machina⯑tions of the ſaid Mr. P. ‘"The ſtory (ſays he) is too long to be told, but who would be acquainted with it, may hear it from Mr. Curl my Bookſeller.—However, what my reaſon has ſuggeſted to me, that I have with a juſt confidence ſaid, in defiance of his two clandeſtine weapons, his Slander and his Poyſon."’ Which laſt words of his book plainly diſ⯑cover, Mr. D. his ſuſpicion was that of being poyſoned, in like manner as Mr. Curl had been before him. Of which fact, ſee A full and true account of a horrid and barbarous revenge by poyſon on the body of Edmund Curl; printed in 1716, the year antecedent to that wherein theſe Remarks of Mr. Dennis were publiſhed. But what puts it beyond all queſtion, is a paſſage in a very warm treatiſe in which Mr. D. was alſo concerned, price two-pence, called, A true character of Mr. Pope [88] and his writings, printed for S. Popping, 1716. in the tenth page whereof he is ſaid, ‘"to have inſulted peo⯑ple on thoſe calamities and diſeaſes, which he him⯑ſelf gave them by adminiſtring Poyſon to them;"’ and is called (p. 4.) ‘"a lurking way-laying coward, and a ſtabber in the dark."’ Which (with many other things moſt lively ſet forth in that piece) muſt have render'd him a terror, not to Mr. Dennis only, but to all chriſtian people.

For the reſt, Mr. John Dennis was the ſon of a Sadler in London, born in 1657. He paid court to Mr. Dryden; and having obtained ſome correſpon⯑dence with Mr. Wycherly and Mr. Congreve, he imme⯑diately obliged the publick with their Letters. He made himſelf known to the Government by many admirable ſchemes and projects; which the Miniſtry, for reaſons beſt known to themſelves, conſtantly kept private. For his character as a writer, it is given us as follows. ‘"Mr. Dennis is excellent at pindarick writ⯑ings, perfectly regular in all his performances, and a perſon of ſound Learning. That he is maſter of a great deal of Penetration and Judgment, his criti⯑ciſms (particularly on Prince Arthur) do ſufficiently demonſtrate."’ From the ſame account it alſo ap⯑pears, that he writ Plays ‘"more to get Reputation than Money."’ DENNIS of himſelf. See Giles Ja⯑cob's Lives of Dram. Poets, gage 68, 69. compared with page 286.

‘[89] V. 106. But chief in Tibbald.]’ Lewis Tibbald (as pronounced) or Theobald (as written) was bred an At⯑torney, and ſon to an Attorney (ſays Mr. Jacob) of Sittenburn in Kent. He was Author of many forgotten Plays, Poems, and other pieces, and of ſeveral ano⯑nymous Letters in praiſe of them in Miſt's Journal. He was concern'd in a Paper call'd the Cenſor, and a tranſlation of Ovid, as we find from DENNIS'S re⯑marks on Pope's Homer, p. 9, 10.. ‘"There is a no⯑torious Idiot, one hight Whachum, who from an under-ſpur-leather to the Law, is become an under⯑ſtrapper to the Play houſe, who has lately burleſqu'd the Metamorphoſes of Ovid by a vile tranſlation, &c. This fellow is concern'd in an impertinent Paper called the Cenſor."’ But notwithſtanding this ſevere character, another Critic ſays of him, ‘"That he has given us ſome pieces which met with approbation: and that the Cave of Poverty is an excellent Poem."’ JACOB Lives of the Poets, vol. 2. p. 211. He had [90] once a mind to tranſlate the Odyſſey, the firſt book whereof was printed in 1717 by B. Lintot, and pro⯑bably may yet be ſeen at his ſhop. What is ſtill in memory is a piece printed in 4to, 1726; it had the title of Shakeſpear Reſtored: Of this he was ſo proud himſelf, as to ſay in one of Miſt's Journals, June 8. "That to expoſe any errors in it was impracticable." And in another, April 27. ‘"That whatever care might for the future be taken either by Mr. P. or any other aſſiſtants, he would ſtill give above 500 emendations that ſhall eſcape them all."’ Du⯑ring two whole years while Mr. Pope was preparing his edition, he publiſh'd Advertiſements, requeſting aſ⯑ſiſtance, and promiſing ſatisfaction to any who could contribute to its greater perfection. But this Reſtorer, who was at that time ſolliciting favours of him by letters, did wholly conceal that he had any ſuch de⯑ſign, till after its publication: (which he was ſince not aſham'd to own, in a Daily Journal of Nov. 26. 1728.) And then an outcry was made in the Prints, [91] that our Author had joined with the Bookſeller to raiſe an extravagant ſubſcription; in which he had no ſhare, of which he had no knowledge, and againſt which he had publickly advertiſed in his own Propoſals for Homer. Probably that proceeding elevated Tibbald to the dignity he holds in this Poem, which he ſeems to deſerve no other way better than his brethren; unleſs we impute it to the ſhare he had in the Journals, cited among the Teſtimonies of Authors prefix'd to this work.

V. 106.‘—monſter-breeding breaſt.]’ This alludes to the extravagancy of the Farces of that author; in which he alone could properly be repreſented as ſuc⯑ceſſor to Settle, who had written Pope Joan, St. George for England, and other pieces for Bartlemew-Fair. See book 3. p. 279.

V. 109.‘—ſupperleſs he ſate.]’It is amazing how the ſenſe of this has been miſtaken by all the former Commentators, who moſt idly ſuppoſe it to imply that the Hero of the Poem wanted a ſupper. In truth a great abſurdity! Not that we are ignorant that the Hero of Homer's Odyſſey is frequently in that circum⯑ſtance, and therefore it can no way derogate from the grandeur of Epic Poem to repreſent ſuch Hero under a calamity, to which the greateſt not only of Critics and Poets, but of Kings and Warriors, have been ſubject. But much more refin'd, I will venture to ſay, is the meaning of our author: It was to give us obliquely a curious precept, or what Boſſu calls a diſguiſed ſentence, [92] that "Temperance is the life of Study." The lan⯑guage of Poeſy brings all into action; and to repreſent a Critic encompaſs'd with books, but without a ſupper, is a picture which lively expreſſeth how much the true Critic prefers the diet of the mind to that of the body, one of which he always caſtigates and often totally neglects, for the greater improvement of the other. SCRIBLERUS.

V. 117. Volumes, whoſe ſize, &c.] This library is divided into two parts; the one (his polite learning) conſiſts of thoſe books which ſeem to be the models of his poetry, and are prefer'd for one of theſe three reaſons (uſual with collectors of Libraries) that they fitted the ſhelves, or were gilded for ſhew, or adorned with pictures: The other claſs our author calls ſolid learning; old bodies of Philoſophy, old Commenta⯑tors, old engliſh Printers, or old engliſh Tranſlations; all very voluminous, and fit to erect Altars to Dulneſs.

V. 121.‘—Ogilby the great.]’ ‘"John Ogilby was one, who from a late initiation into literature, made ſuch a progreſs as might well ſtile him the Prodigy of his time! ſending into the world ſo many large Vo⯑lumes! His tranſlations of Homer and Virgil, done to the life, and with ſuch excellent ſculptures! and (what added great grace to his works) he printed them all on ſpecial good paper, and in a very good letter."’ WINSTANLY, Lives of Poets.

[93] V. 122. There, ſtamp'd with arms, Newcaſtle ſhines compleat.] ‘"The Dutcheſs of Newcaſtle was one who buſied her ſelf in the raviſhing delights of Poetry; leaving to poſterity in print three ample Volumes of her ſtudious endeavours."’ WINSTANLY, ibid. Langbaine reckons up eight Folio's of her Grace's; which were uſually adorned with gilded covers, and had her coat of arms upon them.

V. 126.‘—worthy Withers, Quarles, and Blome.]’ ‘"George Withers was a great pretender to poetical zeal againſt the vices of the times, and abuſed the greateſt perſonages in power, which brought upon him frequent Correction. The Marſhalſea and New⯑gate were no ſtrangers to him."’ WINSTANLY. Quarles was as dull a writer, but an honeſter man. Blome's books are remarkable for their cuts.

V. 129, Caxton.] A Printer in the time of Edw. 4. Rich. 3. and Hen. 7. Wynkin de Word, his ſucceſſor, in that of Hen. 7. and 8. The former tranſlated into proſe Virgil's Aeneis as a hiſtory; of which he ſpeaks in his Proeme in a very ſingular manner, as of a book hardly known. "Happened that to my hande cam a lytyl book in frenſhe. whiche late was tranſlated out of [94] latyn by ſome noble clerke of fraunce, whiche booke is named Eneydos (made in latyn by that noble poete & grete clerk Vyrgyle) whiche booke I ſawe over and redde therein. How after the generall deſtruccyon of the grete Troy, Eneas departed berynge his olde fader anchiſes upon his ſholdres, his lytyl ſon yolas on his hande. his wyfe with moche other people followynge, and how he ſhipped and departed wyth alle thyſtorye of his aduentures that he had er he cam to the atchieve⯑ment of his conqueſt of ytalye, as all alonge ſhall be ſhewed in this preſent boke. In whiche booke I had grete playſyr, by cauſe of the fayr and honeſt termes & wordes in frenſhe, Whiche I neuer ſawe to ſore lyke. ne none ſo playſaunt ne ſo well ordred whiche booke as me ſemed ſholde be moche requyſyte to no⯑ble men to ſee, as wel for the eloquence as the hiſto⯑ryes. How wel that many hondred yerys paſſed was the ſayd booke of Eneydos wyth other workes made and lerned dayly in ſcolis ſpecyally in ytalye and other places, which hiſtorye the ſaid Vyrgyle made in metre."

Tibbald quotes a rare paſſage from him in Miſt's Jour⯑nal of March 16, 1728, concerning a ſtraunge and mer⯑vayllouſe beaſte called Sagittarye, which he would have Shakeſpear to mean rather than Teucer, the archer cele⯑brated by Homer.

V. 133. Nich. de Lyra, or Harpsfeld, a very volumi⯑nous commentator, whoſe works in five vaſt folio's were printed in 1472.

[95] V. 134. ‘""Philemon Holland, Doctor in Phyſick. He tranſlated ſo many books, that a man would think he had done nothing elſe, inſomuch that he might be cal⯑led Tranſlator-general of his age. The books alone of his turning into Engliſh, are ſufficient to make a Country Gentleman a compleat Library."’ WINSTANL.

V. 142. A little Ajax.] In duodecimo, tranſlated from Sophocles by Tibbald.

[96] V. 162. Ner ſleeps one error—Old puns reſtore, loſt blunders, &c.] As where he laboured to prove Shakeſpear guilty of terrible Anachroniſms, or low Co⯑nundrums, which Time had cover'd; and converſant in ſuch authors as Caxton and Wynkin, rather than in Ho⯑mer or Chaucer. Nay, ſo far had he loſt his reverence to this incomparable author, as to ſay in print, He de⯑ſerv'd to be whipt. An inſolence which nothing ſure can parallel! but that of Dennis, who can be proved to have declared before company, that Shakeſpear was a Raſcal. O tempora! O mores. SCRIBLERUS.

[97] V. 164. And crucify poor Shakeſpear once a week.] For ſome time, once a week or fortnight, he printed in Miſt's Journal a ſingle remark or poor conjecture on ſome word or pointing of Shakeſpear, either in his own name, or in letters to himſelf as from others with⯑out name. He ſince publiſhed an edition of Shakeſpear, with alterations of the Text, upon bare conjectures ei⯑ther of his own, or any others who ſent them to him, to which Mr. M. alludes in theſe Verſes of his excellent Poem on Verbal Criticiſm,

V. 166. ‘With all ſuch reading as was never read.]’ Such as Caxton above-mention'd, the three deſtructions of Troy by Wynkin, and other like claſſicks.

[98] V. 168. ‘Notes to dull books, and prologues to dull plays.]’ As to Cook's Heſiod, where ſometimes a note, and ſometimes even half a note, are carefully owned by him: And to Moore's Comedy of the Rival Modes, and other authors of the ſame rank: Theſe were peo⯑ple who writ about the year 1726.

V. 177. ‘As forc'd from wind guns.]’The Thought of theſe four verſes is found in a poem of our author's of a very early date (namely writ at fourteen years old, and ſoon after printed, To the author of a poem call'd Succeſſio,) where they ſtand thus,

[99] V. 189. ‘My Flaccus.]’ A familiar manner of ſpeak⯑ing uſed by modern critics of a favourite author. Mr. T. might as juſtly ſpeak thus of Horace, as a French wit did of Tully, ſeeing his works in a library. Ah! moncher Ciceron! Je le connois bien: c'eſt le meme que Marc Tulle.

V. 190. ‘Take up th' Attorney's Guide.]’ In alluſion to his firſt profeſſion of an attorney.

[100] V. 191. ‘Or rob the Roman geeſe, &c.]’Relates to the well-known ſtory of the geeſe that ſaved the Capitol, of which Virgil, Aen. 8.

a paſſage I have always ſuſpected. Who ſees not the antitheſis of auratis and argenteus to be unworthy the Virgilian majeſty? and what abſurdity to ſay a gooſe ſings? canebat. Virgil gives a contrary character of the voice of this ſilly bird in Ec. 9.

Read it therefore adeſſe ſtrepebat. And why auratis porticibus? does not the very verſe preceding this in⯑form us,

Is this thatch in one line, and gold in another, con⯑ſiſtent? I ſcruple not (repugnantibus omnibus manu⯑ſcriptis) to correct it, auritis. Horace uſes the ſame epithet in the ſame ſenſe,

And to ſay that walls have ears is common even to a proverb. SCRIBL.

[101] V. 194. ‘Mighty Miſt!]’ Nathaniel Miſt was publiſher of a famous Tory paper (ſee notes on l. 3.) in which this author was ſometimes permitted to have a part.

V. 197. ‘Adieu my children!]’ This is a tender and paſſionate apoſtrophe to his own works which he is going to ſacrifice, agreeable to the nature of man in great affliction, and reflecting like a parent on the ma⯑ny miſerable fates to which they would otherwiſe be ſubject.

V. 200. ‘Or ſhipp'd with Ward to ape and monkey land.]’ ‘"Edward Ward, a very voluminous poet in hu⯑dibraſtick verſe, but beſt known by the London Spy, [102] in proſe. He has of late years kept a publick houſe in the City (but in a genteel way) and with his wit, humour, and good liquor (Ale) afforded his gueſts a pleaſurable entertainment, eſpecially thoſe of the high-church party."’ JACOB Lives of Poets, vol. 2. p. 225. Great numbers of his works were yearly ſold into the plantations. Ward in a book call'd Apollo's Maggot, declar'd this account to be a great falſity, pro⯑teſting that▪ his publick houſe was not in the City, but in Moorfields.

V. 208.

Memnon, a hero in the Perſian Princeſs, very apt to take fire, as appears by theſe lines with which he begins the play,

Rodrigo, the chief perſonage of the Perfidious Brother (a play written between T. and a Watchmaker.) The Rape of Proſerpine, one of the farces of this author, in which Ceres ſetting fire to a corn field, endanger⯑ed the burning of the play-houſe.

[103] V. 210. ‘And laſt, his own cold Aeſchylus took fire.]’ He had been (to uſe an expreſſion of our poet) about Aeſchylus for ten years, and had received ſubſcriptions for the ſame, but then went about other books. The character of this tragic poet is fire and boldneſs in a high degree, but our author ſuppoſes it very much cooled by the tranſlation: upon ſight of a ſpecimen of which was made this Epigram,

But this is a grievous error, for Aeſchylus was not ſlain by the fall of a lobſter on his head, but of a tortoiſe. teſte Val. Max. l. 9. cap. 12. SCRIBL.

V. 212. ‘When the laſt blaze ſent Ilion to the skies.]’ See Virgil Aen. 2. where I would adviſe the reader to peruſe the ſtory of Troy's deſtruction, rather than in Wynkin. But I caution him alike in both, to beware of a moſt grievous error, that of thinking it was brought about by I know not what Trojan Horſe; there never having been any ſuch thing. For firſt it was not Trojan, being made by the Greeks, and ſecondly it was [104] not a horſe, but a mare. This is clear from many verſes in Virgil,

How is it poſſible the word foeta can agree with a horſe? and indeed can it be conceived, that the chaſte and virgin Goddeſs Pallas would employ her ſelf in forming and faſhioning the Male of that ſpecies? But this ſhall be prov'd to a demonſtration in our Virgil Reſtored. SCRIBLER.

V. 214. ‘Thulè]’ An unfiniſhed poem of that name, of which one ſheet was printed fifteen years ago; by Amb. Philips, a northern author. It is an uſual me⯑thod of putting out a fire, to caſt wetſheets upon it: Some critics have been of opinion, that this ſheet was of the nature of the Asbeſtos, which cannot be conſumed by fire; but I rather think it only an allegorical allu⯑ſion to the coldneſs and heavineſs of the writing.

[105] V. 221.‘—the ſacred dome.]’ The Cave of Po⯑verty above-mention'd; where he no ſooner enters, but he reconnoitres the place of his original; as Plato ſays the ſpirits ſhall do, at their entrance into the ce⯑leſtial regions. His dialogue of the Immortality of the ſoul was tranſlated by T. in the familiar modern ſtile of Prithee Phaedo, and For God's ſake Socrates: printed for B. Lintot, 1713.

V. 226. And in ſweet numbers celebrates the ſeat.] He writ a poem call'd the Cave of Poverty, which concludes with a very extraordinary wiſh, ‘"That ſome great genius, or man of diſtinguiſh'd merit may be ſtarved, in order to celebrate her power, and deſcribe her cave."’ It was printed in octavo, 1715.

[106] V. 240. ‘Can make a Cibber.]’ ‘"Mr. Colly Cibber, an author and actor, of a good ſhare of wit, and uncommon vivacity, which are much improved by the converſation he enjoys, which is of the beſt."’ JACOB Lives of Dram. Poets, p. 38. Beſides two volumes of plays in 4to, he has made up and tran⯑ſlated ſeveral others. Mr. Jacob omitted to remark, that he is particularly admirable in Tragedy.

V. 240.—‘Johnſon.]’ ‘"Charles Johnſon, famous for writing a play every ſeaſon, and for being at Button's every day: he had probably thriven better in his vocation, had he been a ſmall matter leaner: he may juſtly be called a martyr to obeſity, and to have fallen a victim to the rotundity of his parts."’ [107] CHARACT. of the TIMES, p. 19. Some of his plays are, Love in a Foreſt (Shakeſpear's As you like it) Wife's Relief (Shirley's Gameſter) The Victim (Racine's Iphigenia) The Sultaneſs (Racine's Bajazet, the prologue to which abuſed Dr. Arbuthnot, Mr. Pope, and Mr. Gay) The Cobler of Preſton, his own.

V. 240.‘—Or Ozell.]’ ‘"Mr. John Ozell, if we credit Mr. Jacob, did go to ſchool in Leiceſterſhire, where ſomebody left him ſomething to live on, when he ſhall retire from buſineſs. He was deſigned to be ſent to Cambridge in order for prieſtood; but he choſe rather to be placed in an office of accounts in the City, being qualified for the ſame by his skill in arithmetick, and writing the neceſſary hands. He has oblig'd the world with many tranſlations of French plays."’ JACOB Lives of Dram. Poets, p. 198.

Mr. Jacob's character of Mr. Ozell, ſeems vaſtly ſhort of his merits; and he ought to have further juſtice done him, having ſince fully confuted all Sar⯑caſms on his learning and genius, by an advertiſement of Sept. 20. 1729. in a paper call'd the Weekly Medley, &c. ‘"As to my learning, this envious wretch knew, and every body knows, that the whole bench of Biſhops, not long ago, were pleas'd to give me a purſe of guineas, for diſcovering the erroneous tranſlations of the common-prayer in Portugueſe, Spaniſh, French, Italian, &c. As for my genius, let Mr. Cleland ſhew better verſes in all Pope's works than Ozell's verſion of Boileau's Lutrin, which the late Lord [108] Halifax was ſo pleas'd with, that he complimented him with leave to dedicate it to him, &c. &c. Let him ſhew better and truer poetry in the Rape of the Lock, than in Ozell's Rape of the Bucket, (la Secchia rapita) which, becauſe an ingenious author hap⯑pen'd to mention in the ſame breath with Pope's, viz. Let Ozell ſing the Bucket, Pope the Lock, the little Gentleman had like to run mad.—And Mr. To⯑land and Mr. Gildon publickly declar'd, Ozell's tranſlation of Homer to be, as it was prior, ſo like⯑wiſe ſuperior to Pope's.—Surely, ſurely, every man is free to deſerve well of his country!"’ JOHN OZELL.

We cannot but ſubſcribe to ſuch reverend teſtimo⯑nies, as thoſe of the bench of Biſhops, Mr. Toland, and Mr. Gildon.

V 244. ‘A Heideggre.]’ A ſtrange bird from Swiz⯑zerland, and not (as ſome have ſuppoſed) the name of an eminent perſon who was a man of parts, and as was ſaid of Petronius, Arbiter Elegantiarum.

[109] V. 250. ‘Banks.]’ was author of the play of the Earl of Eſſex, Ann Boleyn, &c. He followed the law, as a ſollicitor, like Tibbald.

V. 250. ‘Gildon.] ’ Charles Gildon, a writer of criti⯑ciſms and libels of the laſt age, bred at St. Omer's with the Jeſuits, but renonuncing popery, he publiſh'd Blount's books againſt the divinity of Chriſt, the Oracles of reaſon, &c. He ſignaliz'd himſelf as a critic, ha⯑ving written ſome very bad plays; abuſed Mr. P. very ſcandalouſly in an anonymous pamphlet of the Life of Mr. Wycherley printed by Curl, in another called the New Rehearſal printed in 1714, in a third entitled the Compleat Art of Engliſh Poetry in two volumes, and others.

V. 251‘—Howard.]’ Hon. Edward Howard, au⯑thor of the Britiſh Princes, and a great number of wonderful pieces, celebrated by the late Earls of Dorſet and Rocheſter, Duke of Buckingham, Mr. Waller, &c.

V. 252. ‘Impatient waits, till ** grace the quire.]’ The reader may ſupply this verſe with H—y or V—y, [110] which he pleaſes, two Noble Men who liſted themſelves with the Gentlemen of the Dunciad, but whether no⯑ble Writers, may be judged by their works; a paper call'd An Epiſtle to a Doctor of Divinity from Hampton-Court, and another intitled, Dunces out of State, both printed in 1733.

V. 256. ‘A Nurſing-mother.]’ Some underſtand this of Alma Mater, (who is ſaid in lib. 3. to be diſſolv'd in Port) others of Mother Osborne.

V. 258. ‘As ſings thy great fore-father, Ogilby.]’ See his Aeſop. Fab. where this excellent hemyſtic is to be found. Our author manifeſts here, and elſewhere, a prodigious tenderneſs for the bad writers. We ſee he ſelects the only good paſſage perhaps in all that ever Ogilby writ; which ſhows how candid and patient a reader he muſt have been. What can be more kind and affectionate than theſe words in the preface to his Poems, 4to. 1717. where he labours to call up all our humanity and forgiveneſs toward theſe unlucky men, by the moſt moderate repreſentation of their caſe that has ever been given by any author? ‘"Much may be ſaid to extenuate the fault of bad poets: What we call a Genius is hard to be diſtinguiſh'd, by a man [111] himſelf, from a prevalent inclination: And if it be never ſo great, he can at firſt diſcover it no other way than by that ſtrong propenſity, which renders him the more liable to be miſtaken. He has no other method but to make the experiment by wri⯑ting▪ and ſo appealing to the judgment of others: And if he happens to write ill (which is certainly no ſin in itſelf) he is immediately made the object of ridicule! I wiſh we had the humanity to reflect, that even the worſt authors might endeavour to pleaſe us, and in that endeavour, deſerve ſomething at our hands. We have no cauſe to quarrel with them, but for their obſtinacy in perſiſting, and even that may admit of alleviating circumſtances: For their particular friends may be either ignorant, or unſincere; and the reſt of the world too well-bred, to ſhock them with a truth which generally their bookſellers are the firſt that inform them of."’

But how much all indulgence is loſt upon theſe peo⯑ple, may appear from the juſt reflection made on their conſtant conduct, and conſtant fate, in the following Epigram.

REMARKS on BOOK the SECOND.

Two things there are, upon the ſuppoſition of which the very baſis of all Verbal criticiſm is founded [115] and ſupported: The firſt, that an author could never fail to uſe the beſt word, on every occaſion: The ſe⯑cond, that a Critic cannot chuſe but know, which that is? This being granted, whenever any word doth not fully content us, we take upon us to conclude, firſt that the author could never have us'd it, and ſecondly, that he muſt have uſed that very one which we con⯑jecture in its ſtead.

We cannot therefore enough admire the learned Scriblerus, for his alteration of the text in the two laſt verſes of the preceding book, which in all the former editions ſtood thus,

He has with great judgment tranpoſed theſe two epi⯑thets, putting hoarſe to the nation, and loud to the thunder: and this being evidently the true reading, he vouchſafed not ſo much as to mention the former; for which aſſertion of the juſt right of a Critic, he merits the acknowledgment of all ſound commentators.

V. 2. ‘Henley's gilt Tub.]’ The pulpit of a diſſen⯑ter is uſually called a tub; but that of Mr. Orator Henley was covered with velvet, and adorned with gold. He had alſo a fair altar, and over it this extra⯑ordinary inſcription, The Primitive Euchariſt. See the hiſtory of this perſon, book 3. verſe 195.

[116] V. 2. ‘Or Fleckno's Iriſh Throne.]’ Richard Fleckno was an Iriſh prieſt, but had laid aſide (as himſelf ex⯑preſſed it) the mechanic part of prieſthood. He printed ſome plays, poems, letters and travels. I doubt not our author took occaſion to mention him in reſpect to the poem of Mr. Dryden, to which this bears ſome reſemblance; tho' of a character more different from it than that of the Aeneid from the Iliad, or the Lutrin of Boileau from the Defaits des Bouts rimeès of Sarazin.

V. 3. ‘Or that, where on her Curls the public pours.]’ Edm. Curl ſtood in the pillory at Charing-Croſs, in March, 1727-8,

Mr. Curl loudly complain'd of this note as an un⯑truth, proteſting, ‘"that he ſtood in the pillory not in March but in February;"’ And of another on verſe 144. ‘"Saying, he was not toſt in a blanket, but a rug."’ Curliad in 120. 1729. p. 19 and 25.

V. 11.‘Rome in her capitol ſaw Querno ſit.]’ Ca⯑millo Querno was of Apulia, who hearing the great encouragement which Leo the tenth gave to poets, tra⯑vell'd [117] to Rome with a harp in his hand, and ſung to it twenty thouſand verſes of a poem call'd Alexias. He was introduc'd as a buffoon to Leo, and promoted to the honour of the laurel; a jeſt, which the court of Rome and the Pope himſelf enter'd into ſo far, as to cauſe him to ride on an elephant to the Capitol, and to hold a ſolemn feſtival on his coronation; at which it is recorded the poet himſelf was ſo tranſported, as to weep for joy. He was ever after a conſtant fre⯑quenter of the Pope's table, drank abundantly, and poured forth verſes without number. PAULUS JO⯑VIUS, Elog. Virg. doct. ch. 82. Some idea of his poe⯑try is given by Fam. Strada in his Proluſions.

[119] V. 43. ‘Never was daſh'd out, at one lucky hit.]’ Our author here ſeems willing to give ſome account of the poſſibility of Dulneſs making a wit, (which could be done no other way than by chance.) The fiction is the more reconcil'd to probability by the known ſtory of Apelles, who being at a loſs to expreſs the foam of Alexander's horſe, daſh'd his pencil in deſpair at the picture, and happen'd to do it by that fortunate ſtroke.

V. 46. ‘And call'd the phantom, More.]’CURL in his key to the Dunciad, affirm'd this to be James More Smith, Eſq and it is probable (conſidering what is ſaid of him in the Teſtimonies) that ſome might fancy our author obliged to repreſent this gentleman as a plagiary, or to paſs for one himſelf. His caſe indeed was like that of a man I have heard of, who as he was ſitting in company, perceived his next neigh⯑bour had ſtolen his handkerchief. ‘"Sir (ſaid the thief, finding himſelf detected) "do not expoſe me, I did it for mere want: be ſo good but to take it pri⯑vately out of my pocket again, and ſay nothing."’ [120] The honeſt man did ſo, but the other cry'd out, ‘"See gentlemen! what a thief we have among us! look, he is ſtealing my handerchief."’

The plagiariſms of this perſon gave occaſion to the following Epigram:

His only work was a comedy call'd the Rival Modes; the town condemn'd it in the action, but he printed it in 1726-7 with this modeſt Motto,

The ſmaller pieces which we have heard attributed to this author, are, An Epigram on the bridge at Blenheim, by Dr. Evans: Coſmelia, by Mr. Pit, Mr. Jones, &c. The Saw-pit, a ſimile, by a Friend, and ſome unown'd letters, advertiſements and epigrams againſt our author in the Daily Journal.

Notwithſtanding what is here collected of the per⯑ſon imagin'd by Curl to be meant in this place, we can⯑not be of that opinion; ſince our poet had certainly no need of vindicating half a dozen verſes to himſelf which every reader had done for him; ſince the name itſelf is not ſpell'd Moore but More; and laſtly, ſince the learned Scriblerus has ſo well prov'd the contrary.

[121] V. 46. ‘The phantom, More.]’ It appears from hence that this is not the name of a real perſon, but fictitious. More from [...], ſtultus, [...], ſtultitia, to repre⯑ſent the folly of a plagiary. Thus Eraſmus: Admo⯑nuit me Mori cognomen tibi, quod tam ad Moriae voca⯑bulum accedit quam es ipſe a re alienus. Dedication of Moriae Encomion to Sir Tho. More; the farewel of which may be our author's to his plagiary, Vale More! & Moriam tuam gnaviter defende. Adieu More, and be ſure ſtrongly to defend thy own folly. SCRIBLERUS.

V. 49. ‘But lofty Lintot.]’We enter here upon the epiſode of the Bookſellers: perſons, whoſe names be⯑ing more known and famous in the learned world than thoſe of the Authors in this poem, do therefore need leſs explanation. The action of Mr. Lintot here imitates that of Dares in Virgil, riſing juſt in this man⯑ner to lay hold on a Bull. This eminent Bookſeller printed the Rival Modes above-mentioned.

V. 54. ‘Stood dauntleſs Curl, &c.]’ We come now to a character of much reſpect, that of Mr. Edmond Curl. As a plain repetition of great actions is the beſt praiſe of them, we ſhall only ſay of this eminent man, [122] that he carried the Trade many lengths beyond what it ever before had arrived at, and that he was the envy and admiration of all his profeſſion. He poſſeſs'd him⯑ſelf of a command over all authors whatever; he caus'd them to write what he pleas'd; they could not call their very names their own. He was not only famous among theſe; he was taken notice of by the State, the Church, and the Law, and received particular marks of diſtinction from each.

It will be own'd that he is here introduc'd with all poſſible dignity; he ſpeaks like the intrepid Diomed; he runs like the ſwift-footed Achilles; if he falls, 'tis like the beloved Niſus; and (what Homer makes to be the chief of all praiſes) he is favour'd of the Gods: He ſays but three words, and his prayer is heard; a [123] Goddeſs conveys it to the ſeat of Jupiter: tho' he loſes the prize, he gains the victory; the great Mother her ſelf comforts him, ſhe inſpires him with expedients, ſhe honours him with an immortal preſent (ſuch as Achilles receives from Thetis and Aeneas from Venus) at once inſtructive and prophetical: After this, he is unrival'd and triumphant.

The tribute our author here pays him, is a grateful return for ſeveral unmerited obligations: Many weigh⯑ty animadverſions on the publick affairs, and many [124] excellent and diverting pieces on private perſons, has he given to his name. If ever he ow'd two verſes to any other, he ow'd Mr. Curl ſome thouſands. He was every day extending his fame, and inlarging his writings: witneſs innumerable inſtances! but it ſhall ſuffice only to mention the Court-Poems, which he meant to publiſh as the work of the true writer, a Lady of quality; but being firſt threaten'd, and af⯑terwards puniſh'd for it by Mr. Pope, he generouſ⯑ly transferr'd it from her to him, and ever ſince printed it in his name. The ſingle time that ever he ſpoke to C. was on that affair, and to that happy incident he owes all the favours ſince received from him: So true is the ſaying of Dr. Sydenham, that ‘"any one ſhall be, at ſome time or other, the better or the worſe, for having but ſeen or ſpoken to a good, or a bad man."’

V. 66. Curl's Corinna.] This name it ſeems was taken by one Mrs. T—,who procur'd ſome private letters of Mr. Pope's, while almoſt a boy, to Mr. Crom⯑well, and ſold them without the conſent of either of thoſe gentlemen to Curl, who printed them in 120. 1727. He has diſcover'd her to be the publiſher in his Key, p. 11. We only take this opportunity of mentioning the manner in which thoſe letters got abroad, which the author was aſham'd of as very tri⯑vial things, full not only of levities, but of wrong [125] judgments of men and books, and only excuſable from the youth and inexperience of the writer.

V. 71. ‘Obſcene with filth, &c.]’ Tho' this incident may ſeem too low and baſe for the dignity of an Epic poem, the learned very well know it to be but a copy of Homer and Virgil; the very words [...] and Fimus are uſed by them, tho' our poet (in compliance to modern nicety) has remarkably enrich'd and co⯑lour'd his language, as well as rais'd the verſication, in theſe two Epiſodes. Mr. Dryden in Mack-Fleckno, has not ſcrupled to mention the Morning Toaſt at [126] which the fiſhes bite in the Thames, Piſſing-Alley, Re⯑liques of the Bum, &c. but our author is more grave, and (as a fine writer ſays of Virgil in his Georgics) toſſes about his dung with an air of majeſty. If we conſider that the exerciſes of his Authors could with juſtice be higher than tickling, chatt'ring, braying, or diving, it was no eaſy matter to invent ſuch games as were proportion'd to the meaner degree of Bookſellers. In Homer and Virgil, Ajax and Niſus, the perſons drawn in this plight are heroes; whereas here they are ſuch, with whom it had been great impropriety to have join'd any but vile ideas; beſides the natural connection there is between Libellers and common nuſances. Ne⯑vertheleſs I have often heard our author own, that this part of his poem was (as it frequently happens) what coſt him moſt trouble and pleas'd him leaſt: but that he hoped 'twas excuſable, ſince levell'd at ſuch as underſtand no delicate ſatire: Thus the politeſt men are ſometimes obliged to ſwear, when they happen to have to do with porters and oyſter-wenches.

V. 78. ‘Down with the Bible, up with the Pope's Arms.]’ The Bible, Curl's ſign, the Croſs-keys, Lin⯑tot's,

[129] V. 210. ‘An unpaid Taylor.]’ This line has been loudly complain'd of in Miſt, June 8▪ Dedic. to Saw⯑ney, and others, as a moſt inhuman ſatire on the po⯑verty of poets: but it is thought our author would be acquited by a jury of Taylors. To me this inſtance ſeems unluckily choſen; if it be a ſatire on any body, it muſt be on a bad paymaſter, ſince the perſon to whom they have here apply'd it was a man of fortune. Not but poets may well be jealous of ſo great a prero⯑gative as non-payment: which Mr. Dennis ſo far aſſerts: as boldly to pronounce, that ‘"if Homer himſelf was not in debt, it was becauſe no body would truſt him."’ (Pref. to Rem. on the Rape of the Lock, p. 15.)

[130] V. 116. ‘Like Congrvee, Addiſon, and Prior.]’ Theſe authors being ſuch whoſe names will reach poſterity, we ſhall not give any account of them, but proceed to thoſe of whom it is neceſſary.—Beſalcel Morris was author of ſome ſatires on the tranſlators of Homer, with many other things printed in news-papers.—‘"Bond writ a ſatire againſt Mr. P—Capt. Breval was author of The Confederates, an ingenious dramatic performance to expoſe Mr. P. Mr. Gay, Dr. Arb. and ſome ladies of quality,"’ ſays CURL, Key, p. 11.

V. 117. ‘Mears, Warner, Wilkins.]’ Bookſellers and Printers of much anonymous ſtuff.

V. 118. ‘Breval, Beſaleel, Bond.]’ I foreſee it will be objected from this line, that we were in an error in our aſſertion on verſe 46. of this book, that More was a fictitious name, ſince theſe perſons are equally repreſented by the poet as phantoms. So at firſt ſight it may ſeem; but be not deceived, reader! theſe alſo are not real perſons. 'Tis true Curl declares Breval, a [131] captain, author of a piece call'd The Confederates: But the ſame Curl firſt ſaid it was written by Joſeph Gay: Is his ſecond aſſertion to be credited any more than his firſt? He likewiſe affirms Bond to be one who writ a ſatire on our poet; but where is ſuch a ſatire to be found? where was ſuch a writer ever heard of? As for Beſaleel, it carries forgery in the very name, nor is it, as the others are, a ſurname. Thou may'ſt depend on it no ſuch authors ever lived: all phantoms!SCRIBLERUS.

V. 120. Joſeph Gay, a fictitious name put by Curl before ſeveral pamphlets, which made them paſs with many for Mr. Gay's.

V. 124. ‘And turn this whole Illuſion on the town.]’ It was a common practice of this bookſeller, to pub⯑liſh vile pieces of obſcure hands under the names of eminent authors.

V. 130. ‘Cook ſhall be Prior.]’ The man here ſpe⯑cify'd was the ſon of a Muggletonian, who kept a pub⯑lick [132] houſe at Braintree in Eſſex. He writ a thing call'd The Battle of Poets, of which Philips and Welſted were the heroes, and wherein our author was attack'd in his moral character, in relation to his Homer and Shakeſpear: He writ moreover a farce of Penelope, in the preface of which alſo he was ſquinted at, and ſome malevolent things in the Britiſh, London and Daily Journals. At the ſame time the honeſt gentleman wrote letters to Mr. P. in the ſtrongeſt terms proteſt⯑ing his innocence. His chief work was a tranſlation of Heſiod, to which Theobald writ notes, and half-notes, as hath already been ſaid.

V. ibid. ‘And Concanen, Swift.]’ In the firſt edition of this poem there were only Aſterisks in this place, but the names were ſince inſerted, merely to fill up the verſe, and give eaſe to the ear of the reader.

V. 132. ‘And we too boaſt our Garth and Addiſon.]’ Nothing is more remarkable than our author's love of praiſing good writers. He has celebrated Sir Iſaac Newton, Mr. Dryden, Mr. Congreve, Mr. Wycherley, Dr. Garth, Mr. Walſh, Duke of Buckingham, Mr. Ad⯑diſon, Lord Lanſdown; in a word, almoſt every man of his time that deſerv'd it. It was very difficult to have that pleaſure in a poem on this ſubject, yet he found means to inſert their panegyrick, and has made even dulneſs out of her own mouth pronounce it. It muſt have been particularly agreeable to him to celebrate Dr. Garth; both as his conſtant friend, [133] and as he was his predeceſſor in this kind of ſatire. The Diſpenſary attack'd the whole body of Apo⯑thecaries, a much more uſeful one undoubtedly than that of the bad poets (if in truth this can be call'd a body, of which no two members ever agreed.) It alſo did what Mr. Theobald ſays is unpardonable, drew in parts of private character, and introduced perſons in⯑dependent of his ſubject. Much more would Boileau have incurr'd his cenſure, who left all ſubjects what⯑ever on all occaſions, to fall upon the bad poets; which it is to be fear'd would have been more imme⯑diately his concern.) But certainly next to commend⯑ing good writers, the greateſt ſervice to learning is to expoſe the bad, who can only that one way be made of any uſe to it. This truth is very well ſet forth in theſe lines, addreſs'd to our author.

V. 134 ‘Ruful length of face.]’ ‘"The decrepid perſon or figure of a man are no reflections upon his Genius: An honeſt mind will love and eſteem a man of worth, tho' he be deform'd or poor. Yet the author of the Dunciad hath libell'd a perſon for his ruful length of face!"’ MIST'S JOURN. June 8. This Genius and man of worth whom an honeſt mind ſhould love, is Mr. Curl. True it is, he ſtood in the Pillory, an incident which will lengthen the face of any man tho' it were ever ſo comely, therefore is no reflection on the natural beauty of Mr. Curl. But as to reflections on any man's face, or figure, Mr. Den⯑nis ſaith excellently; ‘"Natural deformity comes not by our fault; 'tis often occaſion'd by calamities and diſeaſes, which a man can no more help, than a monſter can his deformity. There is no one miſ⯑fortune, and no one diſeaſe, but what all the reſt of mankind are ſubject to.—But the deformity of this Author is viſible, preſent, laſting, unalterable, and peculiar to himſelf. 'Tis the mark of God and [135] Nature upon him, to give us warning that we ſhould hold no ſociety with him, as a creature not of our original, nor of our ſpecies: And they who have refuſed to take this warning which God and Nature have given them, and have in ſpite of it by a ſenſeleſs preſumption ventur'd to be familiar with him, have ſeverely ſuffer'd, &c. 'Tis certain his original is not from Adam, but from the Devil,"’ &c. DENNIS Charact. of Mr. P. 8vo. 1716.

Admirably is it obſerv'd by Mr. Dennis againſt Mr. Law, p. 33. ‘"That the language of Billingſgate can never be the language of Charity, nor conſequently of Chriſtianity."’ I ſhould elſe be tempted to uſe the language of a Critic: For what is more provok⯑ing to a commentator, than to behold his author thus portrayed? Yet I conſider it really hurts not him; whereas maliciouſly to call ſome others dull, might do them prejudice with a world too apt to believe it. Therefore tho' Mr. D. may call another a little aſs or a young toad, far be it from us to call him a toothleſs lion, or an old ſerpent. Indeed, had I written theſe notes (as was once my intent) in the learned language, I might have given him the appellations of Balatro, Calceatum caput, Scurra in triviis, being phraſes in good eſteem and frequent uſage among the beſt learned: But in our mother-tongue, were I to tax any gentle⯑man of the Dunciad, ſurely it ſhould be in words not to the vulgar intelligible; whereby chriſtian charity, decency, and good accord among authors, might be preſerved.

SCRIBLERUS. [136] The good Scriblerus here, as on all occaſions, emi⯑nently ſhews his humanity. But it was far otherwiſe with the gentlemen of the Dunciad, whoſe ſcurrilities were always perſonal: They went ſo far as to libel an eminent ſculptor for making our author's Buſto in mar⯑ble, at the requeſt of Mr. Gibbs the Architect: which rhimes had the undeſerv'd honour to be anſwer'd in an Impromptu by the Earl of B—.

And by another Perſon of Quality.

Their ſcurrilities were of that nature as provoked every honeſt man but Mr. Pope, yet never to be la⯑mented, ſince they occaſion'd the following Amiable Verſes.

V. 135. ‘A ſhaggy Tap'ſtry.].’ A ſorry kind of Tape⯑ſtry frequent in old Inns, made of worſted or ſome coarſer ſtuff: like that which is ſpoken of by Donne—Faces as frightful as theirs who whip Chriſt in old hangings. The imagery woven in it alludes to the mantle of Cloanthus, in Aen. 5.

V. 136 ‘On Codrus' old, or Dunton's modern bed.]’Of Codrus the poet's bed ſee Juvenal, deſcribing his poverty very copiouſly. Sat. 3. v. 103, &c.

But Concanen in his dedication of the letters, adver⯑tiſements, &c. to the author of the Dunciad, aſſures us, that "Juvenal never ſatirized the poverty of Codrus."

John Dunton was a broken bookſeller and abuſive ſcribler: he writ Neck or Nothing, a violent ſatire on ſome miniſters of ſtate; The danger of a death-bed re⯑pentance, a libel on the Duke of Devonſhire and on the Rt. Rev. Biſhop of Peterborough, &c.

V. 140. ‘And Tutchin flagrant from the Scourge.]’ John Tutchin, author of ſome vile verſes, and of a weekly paper call'd the Obſervator: He was ſentenc'd [139] to be whipped thro' ſeveral towns in the weſt of Eng⯑land, upon which he petition'd King James II. to be hanged. When that Prince died in exile, he wrote an invective againſt his memory, occaſion'd by ſome humane elegies on his death. He lived to the time of Queen Anne.

V. 141. ‘There Ridpath, Roper.]’ Authors of the Flying-Poſt and Poſt▪ Boy, two ſcandalous papers on dif⯑ferent ſides, for which they equally and alternately were cudgelled, and deſerved it.

V. 143. ‘Himſelf among the ſtoried chiefs he ſpies, &c.]’The hiſtory of Curl's being toſſed in a blanket, and whipped by the ſcholars of Weſtminſter, is ingeniouſly and pathetically related in a poen entituled, Neck or Nothing. Of his purging and vomiting, ſee a full [140] and true account of a horrid revenge on the body of Edm. Curl, &c. in Swift's and Pope's Miſcell.

V. 149. ‘See in the circle next, Eliza plac'd.]’ In this game is expos'd in the moſt contemptuous manner the profligate licentiouſneſs of thoſe ſhameleſs ſcriblers (for the moſt part of that Sex, which ought leaſt to be capable of ſuch malice or impudence) who in libellous Memoirs and Novels, reveal the faults or misfortunes of both ſexes, to the ruin of publick fame or diſtur⯑bance of private happineſs. Our good poet, (by the whole caſt of his work being obliged not to take off the Irony) where he could not ſhew his indignation, hath ſhewn his contempt, as much as poſſible: having here drawn as Vile a picture as could be repreſented in the colours of Epic poeſy. SCRIBLERUS.

V. 149. ‘Eliza Haywood.]’ This woman was autho⯑reſs of thoſe moſt ſcandalous books, call'd The Court of Carimania, and The New Utopia. For the two Babes of [141] Love, See CURL, Key, p. 22: But whatever reflec⯑tion he is pleas'd to throw upon this Lady, ſurely 'twas what from him ſhe little deſerv'd, who had celebrated his undertakings for Reformation of Manners, and de⯑clared her ſelf ‘"to be ſo perfectly acquainted with the ſweetneſs of his diſpoſition, and that tenderneſs with which he conſidered the errors of his fellow-creatures; that tho' ſhe ſhould find the little inadvertencies of her own life recorded in his papers, ſhe was certain it would be done in ſuch a manner as ſhe could not but approve."’ Mrs. HAYWOOD, Hiſt. of Clar. printed in the Female Dunciad, p. 18.

V. 152. Kirkall, the name of a Graver. Some of this Lady's works were printed in four volumes duod. with her picture thus dreſſed up, before them.

[142] V. 159. Chapman, a Bookſeller who printed Mrs. Haywood's New Utopia, &c.—Henry Curl, the worthy ſon of his father Edmund.

[143] V. 175. ‘Thro' half the heav'ns he pours th' exalted urn.]’ In a manuſcript Dunciad (where are ſome mar⯑ginal corrections of ſome gentlemen ſome time de⯑ceas'd) I have found another reading of theſe lines, thus,

This I cannot but think the right: For firſt, tho' the [144] difference between burn and glow my ſeem not very material to others, to me I confeſs the latter has an elegance, a Jeneſcay quoy, which is much eaſier to be conceived than explained. Secondly, every reader of our Poet muſt have obſerved how frequently he uſes this word glow in other parts of his works: To inſtance only in his Homer,

(1.) Iliad 9. v. 726.—With one reſentment glows.

(2.) Iliad 11. v. 626.—There the battle glows.

(3.) Ibid. 985.—The cloſing fleſh that inſtant ceas'd to glow

(4.) Il. 12. v. 45.—Encompaſs'd Hector glows.

(5.) Ibid. 475.—His beating breaſt with gen'rous ar⯑dour glows.

(6.) Iliad 18. v. 591.—Another part glow'd with refulgent arms.

(7.) Ibid. v. 654.—And curl'd on ſilver props in or⯑order glow.

I am afraid of growing too luxuriant in examples, or I could ſtretch this catalogue to a great extent, but theſe are enough to prove his fondneſs for this beauti⯑ful word, which therefore, let all future editions re⯑place here.

I am aware after all, that burn is the proper word to convey an idea of what was ſaid to be Mr. Curl's condition at this time: But from that very reaſon I infer the direct contrary. For ſurely every lover of our author will conclude he had more humanity, than [145] to inſult a man on ſuch a misfortune or calamity which could never befal him purely by his own fault, but from an unhappy communication with another. This Note is half Mr. THEOBALD, half SCRIBLERUS.

V. 179. ‘The high-wrought day.]’ Some affirm, this was originally—the well-p—ſt day: but the Poet's decency would not ſuffer it.

Here the learned Scriblerus manifeſts great anger; he exclaims againſt all ſuch Conjectural Emendations in this manner. ‘"Let it ſuffice, O Pallas! that every noble ancient, Greek or Roman, hath ſuffer'd the impertinent correction of every Dutch, German, and Switz Schoolmeſter! Let our Engliſh at leaſt eſcape, whoſe intrinſic is ſcarce of marble ſo ſolid, as not to be impaired or ſoiled by ſuch rude and dirty hands. Suffer them to call their works their own, and after death at leaſt to find reſt and ſanctuary from Critics! When theſe men have ceaſed to rail, let them not begin to do worſe, to comment! let them not conjecture into nonſenſe, correct out of all correctneſs, and reſtore into obſcurity and con⯑fuſion. Miſerable fate! which can beſal only the ſprightlieſt wits that have written, and will befall them only from ſuch dull ones as could never write!"’ SCRIBLERUS▪

[146] V. 195. Paolo Antonio Rolli, an Italian Poet, and writer of many Opera's in that language, which, partly by the help of his genius, prevail'd in England near twenty years. He taught Italian to ſome fine Gentle⯑men who affected to direct the Opera's.

V. 197. ‘Bentley his mouth, &c.]’ Not ſpoken of the famous Dr. Richard Bentley, but of oné Thom. Bent⯑ley, ſtudent in phyſick, a ſmall critick, who aped his Uncle in a little Horace. The great one was in⯑tended to be dedicated to the Lord Hallifax, but (on a change of the Miniſtry) was given to the Earl of [147] Oxford; for which reaſon the little one was dedicated to his ſon the Lord Harley. A Taſte of his Claſſic Elocution may be ſeen in this following Panegyricon the Peace of Utrecht. Cupimus Patrem tuum, fulgentiſſimum il⯑lud Orbis Anglicani jubar, adorare. O ingens Rei⯑publicae noſtroe columen! O fortunatam tanto Heroe Bri⯑tanniam! Illi tali tantoque viro, DEUM per Omnia adfuiſſe manumque ejus & mentem direxiſſe, CER⯑TISSIMUM EST. Hujus enim Unius fermè opera, Aequiſſimis & perhonorificis conditionibus, diuturno heu nimium! Bello, finem impoſitum videmus. Oh Diem aeterna memoria digniſſimam! qua terrores Pa⯑triae omnes excidit, Pacem que diu exoptatam toti ferè Europae reſtituit, ille Populi Anglicani Amor, Harleius.

Thus critically (that is verbally) tranſlated.

‘"Thy Father, that moſt refulgent Star of the Ang⯑lican Orb, we much deſire to adore! oh mighty Column of our Republick! Oh Britain fortunate in ſuch an Hero! That to ſuch and ſo great a Man GOD was ever preſent, in every thing, and all along directed both his Hand and his Heart, is a Moſt Abſolute Certainty! For, it is in a manner by the operation of this Man Alone, that we behold a War (alas! how much too long an one!) brought at length to an end, on the moſt juſt and the moſt honou⯑rable Conditions. Oh Day eternally to be memorated! wherein All the Terrors of this Country were ended; and a PEACE (long wiſhed for by almoſt [148] all Europe) reſtored by HARLEY, the Love and Delight of the People of England."’

But that this Gentleman can write in a different Style, may be ſeen in a Letter to Mr. Pope, occaſion'd by Sober Advice from Horace, wherein ſeveral Noble Lords are treated in moſt extraordinary Language, particularly the Lord Bolingbroke abuſed for that very PEACE, which he here makes the ſingle work of the Earl of Oxford, directed by God Almighty.

V. 199. Welſted.] LEONARD WELSTED, au⯑thor of the Triumvirate, or a Letter in verſe from Palaemon to Celia at Bath, which was meant for a Sa⯑tire on Mr. P. and ſome of his friends, about the year 1718. He writ other things which we cannot remember. Smedley in his Metamorphoſis of Scrib⯑lerus mentions one, the Hymn of a Gentleman to his Creator: and there was another in praiſe either of a Cellar, or a Garret. L. W. characteris'd in the trea⯑tiſe [...] or the Art of Sinking, as a Didapper, and after as an Eel, is ſaid to be this perſon, by Den⯑nis, Daily Journal of May 11, 1728. He was alſo characteris'd under another animal, a Mole, by the au⯑thor of the enſuing Simile which was handed about at the ſame time.

You have him again in book 3. v. 163.

V. 205. A youth unknown to Phoebus, &c.] The ſatire of this Epiſode being levelled at the baſe flatte⯑ries of authors to worthleſs wealth or greatneſs, con⯑cludes here with an excellent leſſon to ſuch men; That altho' their pens and praiſes were as exquiſite as they conceit of themſelves, yet (even in their own mercenary views) a creature unlettered, who ſerveth the paſſions, or pimpeth to the pleaſures, of ſuch vain, braggart, puft Nobility, ſhall with thoſe patrons be much more inward, and of them much higher rewarded. SCRIBLERUS.

[150] V. 218. With Thunder rumbling from the muſtard-bowl.] The old way of making Thunder and Muſtard were the ſame; but ſince, it is more advantageouſly performed by troughs of wood with ſtops in them. Whether Mr. Dennis was the inventor of that improve⯑ment, I know not; but it is certain, that being once at a Tragedy of a new Author, he fell into a great paſſion at hearing ſome, and cry'd, ‘"S'death! that is my Thunder."’

V. 220. ‘With a tolling Bell.]’ A mechanical help to the Pathetic, not unuſeful to the modern writers of Tragedy.

[151] V. 223. ‘Three Cat-Calls.]’ Certain muſical inſtru⯑ments uſed by one ſort of Critics to confound the Poets of the Theatre.

V. 230. ‘Norton,]’ See verſe 383—J. Durant Bre⯑val, Author of a very extraordinary Book of Travels, and ſome Poems. See before, Note on verſe 116.

[153] V. 251 ‘Long Chanc'ry-lane.]’ The place where the offices of Chancery are kept: The long detention of Clients in that Court, and the difficulty of getting out, is humourouſly allegoriz'd in theſe lines.

V. 256. ‘Who ſings ſo loudly, and who ſings ſo long.]’ A juſt character of Sir Richard Blackmore, Knt, who [154] (as Mr. Dryden expreſs'd it.) Writ to the rumbling of his Coach's wheels, and whoſe indefatigable Muſe pro⯑duced no leſs than ſix Epic poems: Prince and King Arthur, 20 Books; Eliza, 10; Alfred, 12; The Re⯑deemer, 6: beſides Job in folio, the whole Book of Pſalms, The Creation, 7 Books; Nature of Man, 3 Books, and many more. 'Tis in this ſenſe he is ſtiled afterwards, the Everlaſting Blackmore. Notwithſtanding all which, Mr. Gildon ſeems aſſured, that ‘"this admirable author did not think himſelf upon the ſame foot with Homer."’ Comp. Art of Poetry, Vol. 1. p. 108.

But how different is the judgment of the author of Characters of the Times? p. 25. who ſays, ‘"Sir Richard is unfortunate in happening to miſtake his proper ta⯑lents, and that he has not for many years been ſo much as named or even thought of among writers."’ Even Mr. Dennis differs greatly from his friend Mr. Gilden; ‘"Blackmore's Action (ſaith he) has neither uni⯑ty, nor integrity, nor morality, nor univerſality; and conſequently he can have no Fable, and no Heroic Poem: His Narration is neither probable, de⯑lightful, nor wonderful: His Characters have none of the neceſſary qualifications. The things con⯑tain'd in his Narration are neither in their own na⯑ture delightful, nor numerous enough, nor rightly diſpoſed, nor ſurpriſing, nor pathetick.—’ Nay he [155] proceeds ſo far as to ſay Sir Richard has no Genius; firſt laying down, ‘"that Genius is cauſed by a furious joy and pride of ſoul, on the conception of an ex⯑traordinary Hint. Many Men (ſays he) have their Hints, without theſe motions of fury and pride of ſoul, becauſe they want fire enough to agitate their ſpirits; and theſe we call cold writers: Others who have a great deal of fire, but have not excellent or⯑gans, feel the foremention'd motions, without the extraordinary hints; And theſe we call fuſtian wri⯑ters. But he declares that Sir Richard had neither the Hints, nor the Motions."’ Remarks on Pr. Arth. 8vo. 1696. Preface.

This gentleman in his firſt works abuſed the cha⯑racter of Mr. Dryden, and in his laſt of Mr. Pope, ac⯑cuſing him in very high and ſober terms of prophane⯑neſs and immorality (Eſſay on polite writing, Vol. 2. p. 270.) on a meer report from Edm. Curl, that he was author of a Traveſtie on the firſt Pſalm. Mr. Dennis took up the ſame report, but with the addition of what Sir Richard had neglected, an Argument to prove it; which being very curious, we ſhall here tranſcribe. (Remarks on Homer, 8vo. p. 27.) ‘"It was he who [156] burleſqu'd the Pſalm of David. It is apparent to me that Pſalm was burleſqu'd by a Popiſh rhymeſter. Let rhymeing perſons who have been brought up Proteſtants be otherwiſe what they will, let them be rakes, let 'em be ſcoundrels, let 'em be Atheiſts, yet education has made an invincible impreſſion on them in behalf of the ſacred writings. But a Popiſh rhymeſter has been brought up with a contempt for thoſe ſacred writings, Now ſhow me another Po⯑piſh rhymeſter but he."’ This manner of argumen⯑tation is uſual with Mr. Dennis; he has employ'd the ſame againſt Sir Richard himſelf in a like charge of Impiety and Irreligion. ‘"All Mr. Blackmore's celeſtial Machines, as they cannot be defended ſo much as by common-receiv'd opinion, ſo are directly con⯑trary to the doctrine of the Church of England: For the viſible deſcent of an Angel muſt be a mi⯑racle. Now it is the doctrine of the Church of England that miracles had ceas'd a long time before Prince Arthur came into the world. Now if the doctrine of the Church of England be true, as we are obliged to believe, then are all the celeſtial ma⯑chines in Prince Arthur unſufferable, as wanting not only human but divine probability. But if the machines are ſufferable, that is if they have ſo much as divine probability, then it follows of neceſſity that the doctrine of the Church is falſe: So I leave it to every impartial Clergyman to conſider, &c."’ Preface to the Remarks on Prince Arthur.

[157] V. 258. As morning-pray'r and flagellation end.] It is between eleven and twelve in the morning, after church ſervice, that the criminals are whipt in Bride⯑well.—This is to mark punctually the Time of the day: Homer does it by the circumſtance of the Judges riſing from court, or of the Labourer's dinner; our author by one very proper both to the Perſons and the Scene of his Poem; which we may remember commenc'd in the evening of the Lord mayor's day: The firſt book paſſed in that night; the next morning the games begin in the Strand, thence along Fleetſtreet (places inhabited by Bookſellers) then they proceed by Bridewell toward Fleetditch, and laſtly thro' Ludgate to the City and the Temple of the Goddeſs.

V. 261. ‘The Diving▪]’ ‘"This I fancy (ſays a great Enemy to the Poem) is a Game which no body could ever think of but the Author: however, it is work'd up admirably well, eſpecially in thoſe lines where he deſcribes Euſden (he ſhould ſay Smedley) riſing up again."’ ESSAY on the DUNCIAD, p. 19.

V 264, 265, 266. ‘daſh thro' thick and thin—Love of dirt—dark dexterity.]’ The three chief qualifica⯑tions of Party-writers; to ſtick at nothing, to de⯑light in flinging dirt, and to ſlander in the dark by gueſs.

[158] V. 268. ‘The Weekly Journals.]’Papers of news and ſcandal intermix'd, on different ſides and parties, and frequently ſhifting from one ſide to the other, call'd the London Journal, Miſt's Journal, Britiſh Journal, Daily Journal, &c. the conceal'd writers of which for ſome time were Oldmixon, Roome, Arnall, Con⯑canen, and others; perſons never ſeen by our author.

V. 270. ‘A peck of coals a-piece.]’ Our indulgent Poet, whenever he has ſpoken of any dirty or low work, conſtantly puts us in mind of the poverty of the offenders, as the only extenuation of ſuch prac⯑tices. Let any one but remark, when a Thief, a Pick⯑pocket, a Highwayman, or a Knight of the Poſt is ſpoken of, how much our hatred to thoſe characters is leſſen'd, if they add a needy Thief, a poor Pick⯑pocket, a hungry Highwayman, a ſtarving Knight of the Poſt, &c.

V. 271. ‘In naked majeſty Oldmixon ſtands.]’ Mr. JOHN OLDMIXON, next to Mr. Dennis the moſt ancient Critic of our Nation: an unjuſt cenſurer of Mr. Addiſon in his Proſe Eſſay on Criticiſm, whom alſo in his imitation of Bouhours (call'd the Arts of Logick and Rhetorick) he miſrepreſents in plain matter of fact: for in p. 45, he cites the Spectator as abuſing Dr. Swift by name, where there is not the leaſt hint of it; And in p. 304, is ſo injurious as to ſuggeſt, [159] that Mr. Addiſon himſelf writ that Tatler, No. 43, which ſays of his own Simile, that ‘"'tis as great as ever entered into the mind of man." In Poetry, he was not ſo happy as laborious, and therefore characteriz'd by the Tatler, No. 62, by the name of Omicron the Unborn Poet."’ Curl, Key, p. 13.‘"He writ Dramatic works, and a volume of Poetry, conſiſting of heroic Epiſtles, &c. ſome whereof are very well done,"’ ſaith that great Judge Mr. Jacob, in his Lives of Poets, Vol. 2. p. 303.

In his Eſſay on Criticiſm, and the Arts of Logick and Rhetorick, he frequently reflects on our Author. But the top of his character was a Perverter of Hiſtory, in that ſeadalous one of the Stuarts in folio, and his Critical Hiſtory of England, 2 vol. 8vo. Being im⯑ployed by Biſhop Kennet in publiſhing the Hiſtorians in his Collection, he falſified Daniel's Cronicle in num⯑berleſs places. Yet this very man, in the Preface to the firſt of theſe, advanced a particular Fact to charge three eminent Perſons of falſifying the Lord Claren⯑don's Hiſtory; which Fact has been diſproved by the Biſhop of Rocheſter, then the only ſurvivor of them; and the particular part produced ſince, after almoſt ninety years, in that noble Author's own hand. He was all his life a virulent Party-writer for hire, and received his reward in a ſmall place which he yet enjoys.

[160] He is here likened to Milo, in alluſion to that verſe of Ovid,

either with regard to his Age, or becauſe he was un⯑done by trying to pull to pieces an Oak that was too ſtrong for him.

V. 279. ‘Next Smedley div'd.]’ In the ſurreptitious editions, this whole Epiſode was applied to an initial [161] letter E—, by whom if they meant the Laureate, no⯑thing was more abſurd, no part agreeing with his cha⯑racter. The Allegory evidently demands a perſon dipp'd in ſcandal, and deeply immers'd in dirty work: whereas Mr. Euſden's writings rarely offended but by their length and multitude, and accordingly are tax'd of nothing elſe in book 1. verſe 102. But the perſon here mention'd, an Iriſhman, was author and publiſher of many ſcurrilous pieces, a weekly Whitehall Journal in the year 1722, in the name of Sir James Baker, and particularly whole volumes of Billingſgate againſt Dr. Swift and Mr. Pope, call'd Gulliveriana and Alex⯑andriana, printed in 8vo. 1728.

V. 283. ‘Then * eſſay'd.]’ A Gentleman of ge⯑nius and ſpirit, who was ſecretly dipt in ſome papers of this kind, on whom our Poet beſtows a panegyric [162] inſtead of a Satire, as deſerving to be better imployed than in Party-quarrels and Perſonal-invectives.

V. 287. ‘Concanen.]’ MATTHEW CONCANEN, an Iriſhman bred to the law: he abuſed Dr. Swift, to whom he had obligations, to which Smedley (one of his brethren in enmity to Swift) alludes in his Meta⯑morphoſis of Scriblerus, p. 7. accuſing him of having ‘"boaſted of what he had not written, but others had reviſed and done for him.".’ He was author of ſeveral dull and dead ſcurrilities in the Britiſh and London Journals, and in a paper call'd the Speculatiſt. In a pamphlet call'd a Supplement to the Profund, he dealt very unfairly with our poet, not only frequently imputing to him Mr. Broome's verſes, (for which he might indeed ſeem in ſome degree accountable, ha⯑ving corrected what that gentleman did) but thoſe of the Duke of Buckingham, and others. To this rare piece, ſome-body humourouſly caus'd him to take for his motto, De profundis clamavi. He was ſince a hired Scribler in the Daily Courant, where he pour'd forth much Billingſgate againſt the Lord Bolingbroke and others; after which this man was ſurprizingly pro⯑moted to adminiſter Juſtice and Law in Jamaica.

Ver. 293. ‘Arnall.]’ WILLIAM ARNALL bred an Attorney, was a perfect Genius in this Art: He began under twenty with furious Party-papers: then [163] ſucceeded Concanen in the Britiſh Journal. At the firſt publication of the Dunciad, he prevail'd on the Author not to give him his due place in it, by a letter profeſ⯑ſing his deteſtation of all ſuch practiſes as his prede⯑ceſſor's: but ſince, by the moſt unexampled inſolence, impudent Billingſgate language, and perſonal abuſe of ſeveral great men the Poet's particular friends, he hath moſt amply deſerved a Niche in the Temple of Infamy. Witneſs a paper call'd the Free Briton, a De⯑dication intitled, To the Genuine Blunderer, 1732, and many others. He writ for hire, and valued him⯑ſelf upon it; but frequently thro' his fury, or folly, ex⯑ceeded all the bounds of his Commiſſion, and obliged his honourable Patron to diſavow his ſcurrilities.

[164] V. 312. ‘As Hylas fair.]’ Who was raviſh'd by the water-nymphs and drawn into the river. The ſtory is told at large by Valerius Flaccus, Lib. 3. Argon. See Virg. Ecl. 6.

V. 314, &c. ‘A branch of Styx, &c.]’ Homer, Il. 2. Catal.

[165] Of the land of Dreams in the ſame region, he makes mention, Odyſſ. 24. See alſo Lucian's true hiſtory. Lethe and the Land of Dreams allegorically repreſent the Stupefaction and viſionary Madneſs of Poets equally dull and extravagant. Of Alphaeus his waters gliding ſecretly under the ſea of Piſa, to mix with thoſe of Arethuſe in Sicily, vid. Moſchus Idyl. 8. Virg. Ecl. 10.

And again, Aen. 3.

[166] V. 323. ‘Taylor, ſweet Swan of Thames.]’ John Tay⯑lor the Water Poet, an honeſt man, who owns he learn'd not ſo much as his Acccidence: a rare example of modeſty in a Poet!

He wrote fourſcore books in the reign of James I. and Charles I. and afterwards (like Edw. Ward) kept an Alehouſe in Long Acre. He died in 1654.

V. 324. ‘And Shadwell nods the poppy.]’ Shadwell took Opium for many years, and died of too large a doſe of it, in the year 1692.

V. 325. ‘While Milbourn.]’ Luke Milbourn a Clergy⯑man, the faireſt of Critics; who when he wrote againſt Mr. Dryden's Virgil, did him juſtice, in print⯑ing at the ſame time his own Tranſlations of him, which were intolerable. His manner of writing has a great reſemblance with that of the Gentlemen of the Dun⯑ciad againſt our author, as will be ſeen in the Parallel of Mr. Dryden and him. Appen.

[167] V. 332. ‘Gates of Lud.]’ ‘"King Lud repairing the City, call'd it after his own name, Lud's town; the ſtrong gate which he built in the weſt part he likewiſe for his own honour named Ludgate. In the year 1260, this gate was beautified with images of Lud and other Kings. Thoſe images in the reign of Edward VI had their heads ſmitten off, and were otherwiſe defaced by unadviſed folks. Queen Mary did ſet new heads upon their old bodies again. The 28th of Queen Elizabeth the ſame gate was clean taken down, and newly and beautifully builded with images of Lud and others as afore."’ STOW's Survey of London.

V. 342. See Hom. Odyſſ. 12. Ovid. Met. 1.

[168] V. 356. ‘Thro▪ the long, heavy, painful page, &c.]’ ‘"All theſe lines very well imitate the ſlow drowzineſs with which they proceed. It is impoſſible for any [169] one who has a poetical ear to read them, without perceiving the heavineſs that lags in the verſe, to imitate the action it deſcribes. The Simile of the Pines is very juſt and well-adapted to the ſubject."’ ESSAY on the DUNC. p. 21.

V. 365. ‘Thrice Budgel aim'd to ſpeak.]’ Famous for his ſpeeches on many occaſions about the South Sea Scheme, &c. ‘"He is a very ingenious gentleman, and hath written ſome excellent epilogues to plays, and one ſmall piece on love, which is very pretty."’ JACOB Lives of Poets, vol. 2. p. 289. But this gentleman has ſince made himſelf much more eminent and perſonally well-known to the greateſt Stateſmen of all parties, in this nation.

V. 367. ‘Toland and Tindal.]’ Two perſons not ſo happy as to be obſcure, who writ againſt the Reli⯑gion [170] of their Country. The ſurreptitious editions placed here the name of a Gentleman, who, tho' no great friend to the Clergy, is a man of morals and ingenuity. Tindal was Author of the Rights of the Chriſtian Church: He alſo wrote an abuſive pamphlet againſt Earl S—, which was ſuppreſs'd while yet in manuſcript by an eminent Perſon then out of the Miniſtry, to whom he ſhew'd it expecting his appro⯑bation: This Doctor afterwards publiſh'd the ſame piece, mutatis mutandis, againſt that very Perſon.

V. 368. ‘Chriſt's No Kingdom, &c.]’ This is ſaid by CURL, Key to Dunc. to allude to a ſermon of a re⯑verend Biſhop.

[171] V. 379. ‘Centlivre.]’ Mrs. Suſanna Centlivre, wife to Mr. Centlivre, Yeoman of the Mouth to his Ma⯑jeſty. She writ many Plays, and a ſong (ſays Mr. Ja⯑cob, vol. 1. p. 32.) before ſhe was ſeven years old. She alſo writ a Ballad againſt Mr. Pope's Homer, before he begun it.

V. 381. Boyer the State, and Law the Stage gave o'er.] A. Boyer, a voluminous compiler of Anuals, Political Collections, &c.—William Law, A. M. wrote with great zeal againſt the Stage, Mr. Dennis anſwer'd with as great. Their books were printed in 1726. Mr. Law affirm'd that ‘"the Playhouſe is the Temple of the Devil, the peculiar pleaſure of the Devil, where all they who go, yield to the Devil, where all the Laughter is a laughter among Devils, and that all who are there are hearing Muſick in the very Porch of Hell."’ To which Mr. Dennis replied, that ‘"there is every jot as much difference between a true Play, and one made by a Poetaſter, as between Two religious books, the Bible and the Alcoran."’ Then he demonſtrates that ‘"All thoſe who had written againſt the Stage were Jacobites and Nonjurors, and did it always at a time when ſomething was to be done for the Pretender. Mr. Collier publiſh'd his Short View, when France de⯑clar'd [172] for the Chevalier; and his Diſſuaſive juſt at the great Storm, when the devaſtation which that Hurricane wrought had amazed and aſtoniſhed the minds of men, and made them obnoxious to me⯑lancholy and deſponding thoughts: Mr. Law took the opportunity to attack the Stage upon the great preparations he heard were making abroad, and which the Jacobites flatter'd themſelves were de⯑ſign'd in their favour: And as for Mr. Bedford's Serious Remonſtrance, tho' I know nothing of the time of publiſhing it, yet I dare to lay odds it was either upon the Duke D'Aumont's being at Somerſet-houſe, or upon the late Rebellion."’ DENNIS, Stage defended againſt Mr. Law, pag▪ ult.

V. 383. ‘Norton]’ Norton de Foe, offspring of the famous Daniel. Fortes creantur fortibus. One of the authors of the Flying-Poſt, in which well-bred work Mr. P. had ſometime the honour to be abus'd with [173] his betters, and of many hired ſcurrilities and daily papers to which he never ſet his name, in a due fear of Laws and Cudgels.

V. 394. ‘And to mere mortals ſeem'd a Prieſt in drink.]’This line preſents us with an excellent moral, that we are never to paſs judgment merely by appearances; a leſſon to all men who may happen to ſee a reverend perſon in the like ſituation, not to determine too raſhly: ſince not only the Poets frequently deſcribe a Bard in⯑ſpir'd in this poſture, (On Cam's fair bank where Chaucer lay inſpir'd, and the like) but an eminent Caſuiſt tells us, that if a Prieſt be ſeen in any indecent action, we ought to ac⯑count it a deception of ſight, or illuſion of the Devil, who ſometimes takes upon him the ſhape of holy men on purpoſe to cauſe ſcandal. How little the prophane author of the Characters of the Times printed 1728, regarded this admonition, appears from theſe words pag. 26. (ſpeaking of the reverend Mr. Laurence Euſ⯑den) ‘"A moſt worthy ſucceſſor of Tate in the Laureat⯑ſhip, [174] a man of inſuperable modeſty, ſince certainly it was not his Ambition that led him to ſeek this illuſtrious poſt, but his Affection to the Perquiſite of Sack."’ SCRIBLERUS.

V. 395. ‘Fleet.]’ A Priſon for inſolvent Debtors on the bank of the Ditch.

REMARKS on BOOK the THIRD.

V. 5, 6, &c.] Hereby is intimated that the fol⯑lowing Viſion is no more than the chimera of the dreamer's brain, and not a real or intended ſatire on the preſent Age, doubtleſs more learned, more in⯑lighten'd, and more abounding with great Genius's in Divinity, Politics, and whatever arts and ſciences, than all the preceding. For fear of any ſuch miſtake of our Poet's honeſt meaning, he hath again at the [178] end of the Viſion repeated this monition, ſaying that it all paſt thro' the Ivory gate, which (according to the Ancients) denoteth Falſity. SCRIBLERUS.

V. 16. ‘Old Bavius ſits.]’ Bavius was an ancient Poet, celebrated by Virgil for the like cauſe as Tibbald by our author, tho' not in ſo chriſtian-like a manner: For [179] heatheniſhly it is declar'd by Virgil of Bavius, that he ought to be hated and deteſted for his evil works; Qui Bavium non odit; whereas we have often had occaſion to obſerve our Poet's great good nature and merciful⯑neſs, thro' the whole courſe of this poem.

Mr. Dennis warmly contends that Bavius was no inconſiderable author; nay, that ‘"he and Maevius had (even in Auguſtus's days) a very formidable Party at Rome, who thought them much ſuperior to Virgil and Horace:" For (ſaith he) "I cannot believe they would have fixed that eternal brand upon them, if they had not been coxcombs in more than ordinary credit."’ Rem. on Pr. Arthur, part 2. c. 1. (An argument which if this Poem ſhould laſt, will conduce to the honour of the Gentlemen of the Dunciad.) In like manner he tells us of Settle, that ‘"he was once a formidable Rival to Mr. Dryden, and that in the Univerſity of Cambridge there were thoſe who gave him the preference."’ Mr. Welſted goes yet farther in his behalf. ‘"Poor Settle was for⯑merly the Mighty Rival of Dryden: nay, for many years, bore his reputation above him."’ Pref. to his [180] Poems, 8vo. p. 51.] And Mr. Milbourn cried out, ‘"How little was Dryden able, even when his blood run high, to defend himſelf againſt Mr. Settle!"’ Notes on Dryd. Virg. p. 175. Theſe are comfortable opinions! and no wonder ſome authors indulge them. SCRIBLERUS.

V. 20. ‘Brown and Mears.]’ Bookſellers, Printers for Tibbald, Mrs. Haywood, or any body.—The Allegory of the ſouls of the dull coming forth in the form of books, dreſt in calve's leather, and being let abroad in vaſt numbers by Bookſellers, is ſufficiently intelligible.

V. 26. Ward in Pillory.] John Ward of Hackney, Eſq Member of Parliament, being convicted of For⯑gery, was firſt expelled the Houſe, and then ſentenc'd [181] to the Pillory on the 17th of Febr. 1727. Mr. Curl (having likewiſe ſtood there) looks upon the mention of ſuch a Gentleman in a ſatire, as a great act of Bar⯑barity, Key to the Dunc. 3d Edit. p. 16. And another Author thus reaſons upon it. Durgen, 8vo. pag. 11, 12. ‘"How unworthy is it of Chriſtian Charity to animate the rabble to abuſe a worthy man in ſuch a ſituation? What could move the Poet thus to men⯑tion a brave Sufferer, a gallant Priſoner, expoſed to the view of all mankind! It was laying aſide his Senſes, it was committing a Crime for which the Law is deficient not to puniſh him! nay a Crime which Man can ſcarce forgive, nor Time efface! No⯑thing ſurely could have induced him to it but being bribed by a great Lady,"’ (to whom this brave, ho⯑neſt, worthy Gentleman was guilty of no offence but Forgery proved in open Court, &c.) But it is evident this verſe could not be meant of him; it being noto⯑rious, that no Eggs were thrown at that Gentleman: Perhaps therefore it might be intended of Mr. Edward Ward the Poet.

V. 28. ‘And length of Ears.]’ This is a ſophiſticated reading. I think I may venture to affirm all the Copyiſts are miſtaken here: I believe I may ſay the ſame of the Critics; Dennis, Oldmixon, Welſted, have paſs'd it in ſilence: I have alſo ſtumbled at it, and wonder'd how an error ſo manifeſt could eſcape ſuch accurate perſons? I dare aſſert it proceeded originally from [182] the inadvertency of ſome Tranſcriber, whoſe head run on the Pillory mention'd two lines before: It is there⯑fore amazing that Mr. Curl himſelf ſhould overlook it! Yet that Scholiaſt takes not the leaſt notice hereof. That the learned Miſt alſo read it thus, is plain, from his ranging this paſſage among thoſe in which our Au⯑thor was blamed for perſonal Satire on a Man's Face (whereof doubtleſs he might take the Ear to be a part;) So likewiſe Concanen, Ralph, the Flying-Poſt, and all the Herd of Commentators.—Tota armenta ſequuntur.

A very little Sagacity (which all theſe Gentlemen therefore wanted) will reſtore to us the true ſenſe of the Poet, thus,

By his broad Shoulders known, and length of years. See how eaſy a change! of one ſingle letter! That Mr. Settle was old is moſt certain, but he was (hap⯑pily) a ſtranger to the Pillory. This Note partly Mr. THEOBALD, partly SCRIBLERUS.

[184] V. 42. ‘Might from Boeotian, &c.]’ See the Remark on Book 1. V. 23.

V. 61, 62. ‘See round the Poles, &c.]’ Almoſt the whole Southerrn and Northern Continent wrapt in Ignorance.

V. 65.] Our author favours the opinion that all Sciences came from the Eaſtern nations.

V. 69.] Chi Ho-am▪ti, Emperor of China, the ſame who built the great wall between China and Tartary, deſtroy'd all the books and learned men of that empire.

[185] V. 73, 74.] The Caliph, Omar I. having con⯑quer'd Aegypt, caus'd his General to burn the Ptolo⯑maean library, on the gates of which was this inſcrip⯑tion, Medicina Animae, The Phyſick of the Soul.

V. 88. The Soil that arts and infant letters bore.] Phoenicia, Syria, &c. where Letters are ſaid to have been invented. In theſe countries Mahomet began his conqueſts.

[186] V. 93. ‘Thund'ring againſt heathen lore.]’ A ſtrong inſtance of this pious rage is plac'd to Pope Gregory's account. John of Salisbury gives a very odd Enco⯑mium to this Pope, at the ſame time that he mentions one of the ſtrangeſt effects of this exceſs of zeal in him. Doctor ſanctiſſimus ille Gregorius, qui melleo praedica⯑tionis imbre totam rigavit & inebriavit eccleſiam, non modo Matheſin juſſit ab aulâ; ſen, ut traditur a majo⯑ribus, incendio dedit probatae lectionis ſcripta, Palati⯑nus quaecunque tenebat Apollo. And in another place: Fertur beatus Gregorius bibliothecam combuſſiſſe gentilem; quo divinae paginae gratior eſſet locus, & major authori⯑tas, & diligentia ſtudioſior. Deſiderius Archbiſhop of Vienna was ſharply reproved by him for teaching Grammar and Literature, and explaining the Poets; Becauſe (ſays this Pope) in uno ſe ore cum Jovis laudi⯑bus, Chriſti laudes non capiunt: Et quam grave nefan⯑dumque ſit, Epiſcopis canere quod nec Laico religioſo con⯑veniat, ipſe conſidera. He is ſaid, among the reſt to have burn'd Livy; Quia in ſuperſtitionibus & ſacris Romanorum perpetuô verſatur. The ſame Pope is ac⯑cuſed by Voſſius and others of having caus'd the noble monuments of the old Roman magnificence to be de⯑ſtroyed, leſt thoſe who came to Rome ſhould give more [187] attention to Triumphal Arches, &c. than to holy things. BAYLE, Dict.

V. 101. ‘Till Peter's keys ſome chriſten'd Jove adorn, &c.]’After the Government of Rome devolved to the Popes, their zeal was for ſome time exerted in demoliſhing the heathen Temples and Statues, ſo that the Goths ſcarce deſtroyed more monuments of An⯑tiquity out of rage, than theſe out of devotion. At length they ſpared ſome of the Temples by converting them to Churches, and ſome of the Statues, by modi⯑fying them into images of Saints. In much later times, it was thought neceſſary to change the ſtatues of Apollo and Pallas on the tomb of Sannazarius, in⯑to David and Judith; the Lyre eaſily became a Harp, and the Gorgon's head turn'd to that of Holofernes.

[188] V. 110. ‘Happy—had Eaſter never been.]’ Wars in England anciently, about the right time of celebrating Eaſter.

[190] V. 145. ‘Haywood, Centlivre]’ See book 2.

V. 146. Lo Horneck's fierce and Roome's, &c.] This ſtood in one edition And M—'s ruful face. But the perſon who ſuppoſed himſelf meant, applying to [191] our author in a modeſt manner, and with declarations of his innocence, he removed the occaſion of his un⯑eaſineſs. At the ſame time promiſing to ‘"do the like to any other who could give him the ſame aſſurance, of having never writ ſcurrilouſly againſt him."’

V. 146. ‘Horneck and Roome.]’ Theſe two are worthily coupled, being both virulent Party-writers; and one would think prophetically, ſince immediately after the publiſhing of this piece, the former dying, the latter ſucceeded him in Honour and Employment. The firſt was Philip Horneck, Author of a Billingſgate paper call'd The High German Doctor, in the 2d Vol. of which No. 14. you may ſee the regard he had for Mr. P—. Edward Roome, ſon of an Undertaker for Funerals in Fleetſtreet, writ ſome of the papers call'd Paſquin, and Mr. Ducket others; where by malicious Innuendos it was endeavoured to repreſent him guilty of malevolent practices with a great man then under proſecution of Parliament. He ſince reflected on his, and Dr. Swift's Miſcellanies, in his paper call'd the Senator. Of this Man was made the following Epigram.

V. 147. ‘Goode.]’ An ill-natur'd Critic who writ a Satire on our Author, call'd The mock Aeſop, and ma⯑ny anonymous Libels in News-papers for hire.

[192] V. 149 Jacob, the Scourge of Grammar, mark with awe.] ‘"This Gentleman is ſon of a conſiderable Malt⯑ſier of Romſey in Southamptonſhire, and bred to the Law under a very eminent Attorney: who, between his more laborious Studies, has diverted himſelf with Poetry. He is a great admirer of Poets and their works, which has occaſion'd him to try his genius that way—He has writ in proſe the Lives of the Poets, Eſſays, and a great many Law-Books, The Accompliſh'd Conveyancer, Modern Juſtice, &c."’ GILES JACOB of himſelf, Lives of Poets, Vol. 1. He very groſsly, and unprovok'd, abuſed in that book the Author's Friend Mr. Gay,

V. 149. ‘Jacob, the Scourge of Grammar, mark with awe; Nor leſs revere him Blunderbuſs of Law]’ There may ſeem ſome Error in theſe verſes, Mr. Ja⯑cob having proved our Author to have a Reſpect for him, by this undeniable Argument. ‘"He had once a Regard for my Judgment; otherwiſe he would never have ſubſcribed Two Guineas to me, for one ſmall Book in Octavo."’ [Jacob's Letter to Dennis, in his Remarks on the Dunciad, pag. 49.] Therefore I [193] ſhould think the Appellation of Blunderbuſs to Mr. Jacob, like that of Thunderbolt to Scipio, was meant in his honour.

Mr. Dennis argues the ſame way. ‘"My writings having made great impreſſion on the minds of all ſenſible men, Mr. P—repented, and to give proof of his Repentance, ſubſcribed to my two volumes of ſelect Works—and afterwards to my two vo⯑lumes of Letters."’ [Ibid. pag. 40.] We ſhould hence believe, the Name of Mr. Dennis hath alſo crept into this poem by ſome miſtake. But from hence, gentle reader! thou may'ſt beware, when thou giveſt thy money to ſuch Authors, not to flatter thy ſelf that thy motives are good nature, or Charity.

V. 151. ‘Bond and Foxton.]’Two inoffenſive of⯑fenders againſt our poet; perſons unknown, but by being mentioned by Curl.

V. 159. ‘Ralph.]’ James Ralph, a name inſerted after the firſt editions, not known to our author till [194] he writ a ſwearing-piece call'd Sawney, very abuſive of Dr. Swift, Mr. Gay, and himſelf. Theſe lines allude to a thing of his, intitled Night, a Poem. Shakeſpear, Hamlet.

This low writer conſtantly attended his own works with panegyricks in the Journals, and once in particu⯑lar praiſed himſelf highly above Mr. Addiſon, in wretch⯑ed remarks upon that Author's account of Engliſh Poets, printed in a London Journal, Sept. 1723. He was wholly illiterate, and knew no language, not even French. Being adviſed to read the rules of dramatic poetry before he began a Play, he ſmiled and reploy'd, Shakeſpear writ without rules. He ended at laſt in the common Sink of all ſuch writers, a political News⯑paper, to which he was recommended by his friend Arnall, and received a ſmall pittance for pay.

V. 162. ‘Morris.]’ Beſaleel, See Book 2. ver. 118.

[195] V. 163. ‘Flow Welſted, &c.]’ Of this Author ſee the Remark on Book 2. v. 199. But (to be impartial) add to it the following different character of him.

Mr. Welſted had, in his youth, rais'd ſo great ex⯑pectations of his future genius, that there was a kind of ſtruggle between the moſt eminent in the two Uni⯑verſities, which ſhould have the honour of his edu⯑cation? To compound this, he (civilly) became a member of both, and after having paſs'd ſome time at the one, he removed to the other. From thence he return'd to town, where he became the darling Ex⯑pectation of all the polite Writers, whoſe encourage⯑ment he acknowledg'd in his occaſional poems, in a manner that will make no ſmall part of the Fame of his protectors. It alſo appears, from his Works, that he was happy in the patronage of the moſt illuſtrious cha⯑racters of the preſent age—Incourag'd by ſuch a Com⯑bination in his favour, he—publiſh'd a book of poems, ſome in the Ovidian, ſome in the Horatian manner, in both which the moſt exquiſit Judges pronounce he even rival'd his maſters—His Love-verſes have reſcued that way of writing from contempt—In his Tranſlations, he has given us the very ſoul and ſpirit of his author. His Ode—his Epiſtle—his Verſes—his Love-tale—all, are the moſt perfect things in all poe⯑try, &c. WELSTED of Himſelf. Char. of the Times, 8vo. 1728. pag. 23, 24.

[196] V. 167. ‘Ab Dennis, &c.]’The reader, who has ſeen thro' the courſe of theſe notes, what a conſtant attendance Mr. Dennis paid to our Author and all his works, may perhaps wonder he ſhould be mention'd but twice, and ſo flightly touch'd, in this poem. But in truth he look'd upon him with ſome eſteem, for having (more generouſly than all the reſt) ſet his Name to ſuch writings. He was alſo a very old man at this time. By his own account of himſelf in Mr. Jacoh's Lives, he muſt have been above threeſcore in the mayoralty of Sir George Thorold in 1720, and hath ſince happily lived ten years more. So that he is already ſenior to Mr. Durfey, who hitherto of all our Poets enjoy'd the longeſt Bodily life.

[197] V. Fam'd for good nature, Burnet, &c. Ducket for pious paſſion to the youth.] The firſt of theſe was ſon of the late biſhop of S. Au⯑thor of a weekly paper called The Grumbler, as the other was concerned in another call'd Paſquin, in which Mr. Pope was abuſed with the late Duke of Buckingham and Biſhop of Rocheſter. They alſo joined in a piece againſt his firſt undertaking to tran⯑ſlate the Iliad, intitled Homerides, by Sir Iliad Dogrel, prtnted 1715. Mr. Curl gives us this further account of Mr. Burnet. ‘"He did himſelf write a Letter to the E. of Hallifax, informing his Lordſhip (as he tells him) of what he knew much better before: And [198] he publiſhed in his own name ſeveral political pam⯑phlets, A certain information of a certain diſcourſe, A ſecond Tale of a Tub, &c. All which it is ſtrongly affirmed were written by Colonel Ducket."’ CURL, Key, p. 17. But the author of the Characters of the Times tells us, theſe political pieces were not approv'd of by his own Father, the Reverend Biſhop.

Of the other works of theſe Gentlemen, the world has heard no more than it would of Mr. Pope's, had their united laudable endeavours diſcourag'd him from his undertaking. How few good works had ever ap⯑pear'd (ſince men of true merit are always the leaſt preſuming) had there been always ſuch champions to ſtifle them in their conception? And were it not bet⯑ter for the publick, that a million of monſters ſhould come into the world, which are ſure to die as ſoon as born, than that the Serpents ſhould ſtrangle one Her⯑cules in his cradle?

The Union of theſe two Authors gave occaſion to this Epigram.

V. 173. ‘Behold yon pair, in ſtrict embraces join'd.]’

And in the fifth,

[199] V. 167‘—for pious paſſion to the youth.]’ The verſe is a literal tranſlation of Virgil, Niſus amore pio pueri—and here, as in the original, apply'd to Friend⯑ſhip: That between Niſus and Euryalus is allowed to make one of the moſt amiable Epiſodes in the world, and ſurely was never interpreted in a perverſe ſenſe. But it will aſtoniſh the reader to hear, that on no other occaſion than this line, a Dedication was writ⯑ten to this Gentleman to induce him to think ſome⯑thing further. ‘"Sir, you are known to have all that affection for the beautiful part of the creation which God and Nature deſign'd.—Sir, you have a very ſine Lady—and, Sir, you have eight very ſine Chil⯑dren, —&c."’ [Dedic. to Dennis Rem. on the Rape of the Lock.] The truth is, the poor Dedicator's brain was turn'd upon this article; he had taken into his head that ever ſince ſome books were written againſt the Stage, and ſince the Italian Opera had prevail'd, the nation was infected with a vice not fit to be nam'd: He went ſo far as to print upon the ſubject, and con⯑cludes [200] his argument with this remark, ‘"that he can⯑not help thinking the Obſcenity of Plays excuſable at this juncture; ſince, when that execrable ſin is ſpread ſo wide, it may be of uſe to the reducing mens minds to the natural deſire of women."’ DEN⯑NIS, Stage defended againſt Mr. Law, p. 20. Our au⯑thor ſolemnly declared, he never heard any creature but the Dedicator mention that Vice and this Gentle⯑man together.

V. 184. ‘Wormius hight.]’ Let not this name, purely fictitious, be conceited to mean the learned Olaus Wormius; much leſs (as it was unwarrantably foiſted into the ſurreptitious editions) our own Anti⯑quary Mr Thomas Herne, who had no way aggrieved our Poet, but on the contrary publiſhed many curious tracts which he hath to his great contentment peruſed.

Moſt rightly are ancient Words here employed, in ſpeaking of ſuch who ſo greatly delight in the ſame: We may ſay not only rightly, but wiſely, yea excel⯑lently, inaſmuch as for the like practiſe the like praiſe is given to Hopkins and Sternhold by Mr. Herne him⯑ſelf. [Gloſſar. to Rob. of Gloceſter.] Artic. BEHETT; ‘"others ſay BEHIGHT, promiſed, and ſo it is uſed excellently well by Tho. Norton in his tranſlation into metre of the 116 Pſalm, verſe 14."’

‘[201] "Where the modern innovators, not underſtanding the propriety of the word (which is truly Engliſh, from the Saxon) have moſt unwarrantably alter'd it thus,I to the Lord will pay my vows, With joy and great delight.’

V. ibid.—HIGHT, ‘"In Cumberland they ſay to hight, for to promife or vow; but HIGHT uſually ſignifies was call'd; and ſo it does in the North even to this day, notwithſtanding what is done in Cumberland."’ HERNE, ibid.

V. 183. ‘AREDE.]’ Read or peruſe; tho' ſometimes uſed for counſel, ‘"READE THY READ, take thy coun⯑ſaile. Thomas Sternbolde in his tranſlation of the firſt Pſalm into Engliſh metre, hath wiſely made uſe of this word,The man is bleſt that hath not bent To wicked READ his ear. But in the laſt ſpurious editions of the ſinging Pſalms the word READ is changed into men. I ſay ſpurious editions, becauſe not only here, but quite through⯑out the whole book of Pſalms, are ſtrange altera⯑tions, all for the worſe! And yet the title-page ſtands as it uſed to do! and all (which is abomina⯑ble in any book, much more in a ſacred work) is aſcribed to Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins, and [202] others! I am confident, were Sternhold and Hop⯑kins now living, they would proceed againſt the innovators as cheats—A liberty which, to ſay no more of their intolerable alterations, ought by no means to be permitted or approved of, by ſuch as are for Uniformity and have any regard for the old Engliſh Saxon tongue."’ HEARNE, Gloſſ. on Rob. of Gloc. Art. rede.

I do herein agree with Mr. H. Little is it of avail to object, that ſuch words are become unintelligible. ſince they are truly Engliſh, men ought to underſtand them; and ſuch as are for Uniformity ſhould think all alterations in a language, ſtrange, abominable, and un⯑warrantable. Rightly therefore, I ſay again, hath our Poet uſed ancient words, and poured them forth as a precious ointment upon good old Wormius in this place. SCRIBLERUS.

V. ibid. ‘Myſter wight.]’ uncouth mortal.

V. 188. ‘Wits, who like Owls, &c.]’ Theſe few lines exactly deſcribe the right verbal Critic: He is to his author as a Quack to his patients, the more they ſuffer and complain, the better he is pleas'd; like the famous Doctor of that ſort, who put up in his bills, He delighted in matters of difficulty. Some body ſaid well of theſe men, that their heads were Libra⯑ries out of order.

[203] V. 195.‘—Lo! Henley ſtands, &c.]’ J. Henly, the Orator; he preach'd on the ſundays upon Theological matters, and on the wedneſdays upon all other ſciences. Each auditor paid one ſhilling. He declaim'd ſome years unpuniſh'd againſt the greateſt perſons, and oc⯑caſionally did our Author that honour. WELSTED, in Oratory Tranſactions, No. 1. publiſhed by Henley him⯑ſelf, gives the following account of him. ‘"He was born at Melton Mowbray in Leiceſterſhire. From his own Pariſh ſchool he went to St. John's College in Cambridge. He began there to be uneaſy; for it ſhock'd him to find he was commanded to believe againſt his judgment in points of Religion, Philoſo⯑phy, &c. for his genius leading him freely to diſ⯑pute all propoſitions, and call all points to account, he was impatient under thoſe fetters of the free-born mind.—Being admitted to Prieſt's orders, he found the examination very ſhort and ſuperficial, and that it was not neceſſary to conform to the Chriſtian Religion in order either to Deaconſhip or Prieſthood."’ He came to town, and after having for ſome years been a writer for Bookſellers, he had an ambition to be ſo for Miniſters of ſtate, The only reaſon he did [204] not riſe in the Church we are told, ‘"was the envy of others, and a diſreliſh entertain'd of him, becauſe he was not qualify'd to be a compleat Spaniel."’ How⯑ever he offer'd the ſervice of his pen, in one morning, to two great men of opinions and intereſts directly oppoſite; by both of whom being rejected, he ſet up a new Project, and ſtiled himſelf the Reſtorer of an⯑cient Eloquence. He thought ‘"it as lawful to take a licence from the King and Parliament at one place, as another; at Hick's hall, as at Doctors-Com⯑mons; ſo ſet up his Oratory in Newport-Market, Butcher-row." There (ſays his friend) "he had the aſſurance to form a Plan which no mortal ever thought of; he had ſucceſs againſt all oppoſition; challenged his adverſaries to fair diſputations, and none would diſpute with him; writ, read and ſtudied twelve hours a day; compos'd three diſſertations a week on all ſubjects; undertook to teach in one year what Schools and Univerſities teach in five; was not terrify'd by menaces, inſults or ſatires, but ſtill proceeded, matured his bold ſcheme, and put the Church and all that, in danger."’ WELSTED, Narrative, in Orat. Tranſact. No. 1.

After having ſtood ſome Proſecutions, he turned his rhetoric to Buffoonry upon all publick and private occurrences. All this paſſed in the ſame room; [205] where ſometimes he broke jeſts, and ſometimes that bread which he called the Primitive Euchariſt—This wonderful perſon ſtruck Medals, which he diſperſed as Tickets to his ſubſcribers: The device, a Star riſing to the meridian, with this motto, AD SUMMA; and below, INVENIAM VIAM AUT FACIAM.

V. 208 Of Toland and Tindal, ſee book 2. Tho. Woolſton was an impious madman, who wrote in a moſt inſolent ſtyle againſt the Miracles of the Goſpel; in the years 1726, &c.

[206] V. 222. ‘But learn, ye Dunces! not to ſcorn your God.]’ Virg. Aen. 6. puts this precept into the mouth of a wicked man, as here of a ſtupid one,

V. 229.‘—a ſable Sorc'rer.]’ Dr. Fauſtus, the ſubject of a ſett of Farces, which laſted in vogue two or three ſeaſons, in which both Play-houſes ſtrove to outdo each other in the Years 1726, 1727. All the extravagancies in the ſixteen lines following were introduced on the Stage, and frequented by perſons of the firſt quality in England, to the twentieth and thirtieth time.

[207] V. 233. ‘Hell riſes, Heav'n deſcends, and dance on earth.]’ This monſtrous abſurdity was actually repre⯑ſented in Tibbald's Rape of Proſerpine.

[208] V. 244. ‘Lo! one vaſt Egg.]’ In another of theſe Farces Harlequin is hatch'd upon the ſtage, out of a large Egg.

[209] V. 257. ‘Immortal Rich.]’ Mr. John Rich, Maſter of the Theatre in Lincolns-Inn-Fields, was the firſt that excell'd this way.

V. 262. Booth and Cibber, two of the managers of the Theatre in Drury-Lane.

V. 272. ‘None but thy ſelf can be thy parallel.]’ A marvellous line of Theobald; unleſs the Play call'd the Double Falſhood be (as he would have it believ'd) Shake⯑ſpear's: [210] But whether this line be his or not, he proves Shakeſpear to have written as bad, (which methinks in an author for whom he has a veneration almoſt riſing to idolatry, might have been concealed) as for example,

But this laſt line is no man's nonſenſe but Tibbald's, as he might have found, had he read the Context—

V. id.] The former Annotator ſeeming to be of opinion that the Double Falſhood is not Shakeſpear's; it is but juſtice to give Mr. Theobald's Arguments to the contrary, in his preface to that play. Firſt that the MS. was above ſixty years old: ſecondly that once Mr. Bet⯑terton had it, or he hath heard ſo: thirdly, that ſome⯑body told him the author gave it to a baſtard-daughter of his: but fourthly and above all, ‘"that he has a great mind every thing that is good in our tongue ſhould be Shakeſpear's."’ I allow theſe reaſons to be truly critical; but what I am infinitely concern'd at is, that ſo many Errors have eſcaped the learned Edi⯑tor: a few whereof we ſhall here amend out of a much greater number, as an inſtance of our regard to this dear relick.

This place is corrupted: the epithet good is a meer in⯑ſignificant expletive, but the alteration of that ſingle word reſtores a clear light to the whole context, thus,

Here you have not only the Perſon ſpecify'd, by whoſe hands the return was to be made, but the moſt neceſ⯑ſary part, the Time by which it was required. Ca⯑millo's ſon was to follow hard upon—what? why upon July.—Horſe that like him well, is very abſurd: Read it, without contradiction,

Saith Henriquez of a maiden of low condition, object⯑ing [212] his high quality: What have his Compariſons here to do? Correct it boldly,

[213]Falſe Grammar I'm ſure. Both can relate but to two things: And ſee! how eaſy a change ſets it right?

I could ſhew you that very word Troth, in Shakeſpear a hundred times.

Ib. For there is nothing left thee now to look for,

This I fear is of a piece with None but itſelf can be its parallel: for the grave puts an end to all ſorrow, it can then need no comfort. Yet let us vindicate Shakeſpear where we can: I make no doubt but he wrote thus,

Which reduplication of the word gives a much ſtronger emphaſis to Violante's concern. This figure is call'd Anadyploſis. I could ſhew you a hundred juſt ſuch in him, if I had nothing elſe to do. SCRIBLERUS.

V. 280. Annual trophies, on the Lord Mayor's Day; and monthly wars, in the Artillery Ground,

V. 281.‘Tho' long my Party.] ’ Settle, like moſt Partywriters, was very uncertain in his political principles. He was employ'd to hold the pen in the Character of a Popiſh ſucceſſor, but afterwards printed his Narra⯑tive [214] on the contrary ſide. He had manag'd the cere⯑mony of a famous Pope-burning on Nov. 17. 1680: then became a trooper in King James's army at Hounſlow-heath. After the Revolution he kept a Booth at Bartlemew-fair, where in the Droll call'd St. George for England, he acted in his old age in a Dragon of green leather of his own invention. He was at laſt taken into the Charter-houſe, and there dyed, aged about 60 years.

V. 286. ‘To Dulneſs, Ridpath is as dear as Miſt.]’ George Ridpath, author for ſeveral years of the Flying-Poſt, a Whig-paper; Nathaniel Miſt, publiſher of the Weekly Journal, a Tory-paper.

[215] V. 299. ‘Thy dragons Magiſtrates and Peers ſhall taſte.]’ It ſtood in the firſt edition with blanks, Thy dragons ** and ***. Concanen was ſure ‘"they muſt needs mean no-body but King GEORGE and [216] Queen CAROLINE, and ſaid he would inſiſt it was ſo, till the poet clear'd himſelf by filling up the blanks otherwiſe, agreeably to the context, and conſiſtent with his allegiance."’ Pref. to a collection of verſes, eſſays, letters, &c. againſt Mr. P. printed for A. Moore, pag. 6.]

V. 307.‘—Fauſtus is thy friend, Pluto with Cato, &c.]’ Names of miſerable farces of Tibbald and others, which it was their cuſtom to get acted at the end of the beſt tragedies, to ſpoil the digeſtion of the audience.

V. 310.‘—enſure it but from fire.]’ In Tibbald's farce of Proſerpine a corn-field was ſet on fire; where-upon the other playhouſe had a barn burnt down for the recreation of the ſpectators. They alſo rival'd each other in ſhowing the burnings of hell-fire, in Dr. Fauſtus.

V. 311. ‘Another Aeſchylus appears! &c.]’ It is re⯑ported of Aeſchylus, that when his tragedy of the Furies was acted, the audience were ſo terrify'd that the children fell into fits, and the big-bellied women miſcarried. Tibbald is tranſlating this author: he print⯑ed a ſpecimen of him many years ago, of which I only remember that the firſt note contains ſome com⯑pariſon between Promotheus and Chriſt cruciſy'd.

[217] V. 317. ‘Euſden wear the bays.]’ See Book 1. verſe 102. I have before obſerv'd ſomething like prophecy in our author. Euſden, whom he here couples with Cibber, no ſooner died but his place of Laureate was ſupply'd by Cibber, in the year 1730, on which was made the enſuing epigram.

[218] V. 321. ‘Benſon ſole judge of architecture ſit.]’ W—m Benſon (late ſurveyor of the buildings to his Ma⯑jeſty King George I.) gave in a report to the Lords, that their houſe and the painted chamber adjoining were in immediate danger of falling. Whereupon the Lords met in a committee, to appoint ſome other place to fit in, while the houſe ſhould be taken down. But it being propoſed to cauſe ſome other builders firſt to inſpect it, they found it in very good condition. The Lords, upon this, were going upon an addreſs to the King againſt Benſon, for ſuch a miſrepreſentation; but the Earl of Sunderland, then ſecretary, gave them an aſſurance that his Majeſty would remove him, which was done accordingly. In favour of this man, the famous Sir Chriſtopher Wren, who had been architect to the crown for above fifty years, who built moſt of the Churches in London, laid the firſt ſtone of St. Paul's, and lived to finiſh it, had been diſplac'd from his employment at the age of near ninety years.

V. 322. And Ambroſe Philips.] He was (ſaith Mr. JACOB) ‘"one of the wits at Button's, and a juſtice of the peace."’ But ſince he hath met with higher preferment in Ireland: and a much greater character we have of him in Mr. Gildon's compleat Art of poe⯑try, v. 1. p. 157. ‘"Indeed he confeſſes, he dares not ſet him quite on the ſame foot with Virgil, leſt it ſhould ſeem flattery: but he is much miſtaken if poſterity does not afford him a greater eſteem than [219] he at preſent enjoys."’ He endeavour'd to create ſome miſ-underſtanding between our author and Mr. Addiſon, whom alſo ſoon after he abuſed as much. His conſtant cry was, that Mr. P. was an Enemy to the government; and in particular he was the avowed author of a report very induſtriouſly ſpread, that he had a hand in a party-paper call'd the Examiner: A falſhood well known to thoſe yet living, who had the direction and publication of it.

V. 323. ‘Dormitory wall.]’ The dormitory in Weſt⯑minſter was a building intended for the lodging of the King's ſcholars; toward which a ſum was left by Dr. Edw. Hannes, the reſt was raiſed by contributions pro⯑cured from ſeveral eminent perſons by the intereſt of Francis late Biſhop of Rocheſter, and Dean of Weſt⯑minſter. He requeſted the Earl of Burlington to be the Architect, who carry'd on the work till the bill againſt that learned prelate was brought in, which ended in his baniſhment. The ſhell being finiſhed ac⯑cording to his deſign, the ſucceeding Dean and Chap⯑ter employ'd a common builder to do the inſide, which is perform'd accordingly.

V. 324. ‘And Jones and Boyle 's united labours fall.]’ At the time when this poem was written, the ban⯑queting-houſe of Whitehall, the church and piazza of Covent-garden, and the palace and chappel of Se⯑merſet-houſe, [220] the works of the famous Inigo Jones, had been for many years ſo neglected as to be in danger of ruin. The portico of Covent-garden church had been juſt then reſtor'd and beautify'd at the expence of the Earl of Burlington; who, at the ſame time, by his publication of the deſigns of that great Maſter and Palladio, as well as by many noble buildings of his own, revived the true taſte of Architecture in this Kingdom.

V. 326. ‘Gay dies unpenſion'd, &c.]’See Mr. Gay's fable of the Hare and Many Friends. This gentleman was early in the friendſhip of our author, which con⯑tinued to his death. He wrote ſeveral works of hu⯑mour with great ſucceſs, the Shepherd's Week, Trivia, the What-d'ye-call-it, Fables, and laſtly, the celebrated Beggars Opera; a piece of ſatire which hit all taſtes and degrees of men, from thoſe of the higheſt quality to the very rabble: That verſe of Horace

could never be ſo juſtly applied as to this. The vaſt ſucceſs of it was unprecedented, and almoſt incredible: What is related of the wonderful effects of the ancient muſic or tragedy hardly came up to it: Sophocles and Euripides were leſs follow'd and famous. It was acted in London ſixty-three days, uninterrupted; and renew'd the next ſeaſon with equal applauſes. It ſpread into all the great towns of England, was play'd in many places to the 30th, and 40th time, at Rath and Briſtol 50, &c. It made its progreſs into Wales, Scotland, and [221] Ireland, where it was performed 24 days together It was laſtly acted in Minorca. The fame of it was not confin'd to the author only; the ladies carry'd about with 'em the favourite ſongs of it in fans; and houſes were furniſh'd with it in ſcreens. The perſon who acted Polly, till then obſcure, became all at once the favourite of the town; her pictures were ingraved and ſold in great numbers; her life written; books of letters and verſes to her publiſh'd; and pamphlets made even of her ſayings and jeſts.

Furthermore, it drove out of England for that ſea⯑ſon the Italian Opera, which had carry'd all before it for ten years: That idol of the Nobility and the peo⯑ple, which the great Critic Mr. Dennis by the la⯑bours and outcries of a whole life could not over⯑throw, was demoliſh'd by a ſingle ſtroke of this gen⯑tleman's pen. This remarkable period happen'd in the year 1728. Yet ſo great was his modeſty, that he conſtantly prefixed to all the editions of it this motto, Nos haec novimus eſſe nibil.

V. 327. ‘Hibernian politicks, O Swift! thy doom.]’ See book 1. verſ. 24.

V. 328. ‘And Pope's tranſlating three whole years with Broome.]’He concludes his irony with a ſtroke upon himſelf; For whoever imagines this is a ſarcaſm on the other ingenious perſon, is ſurely miſtaken. The opinion our author had of him was ſufficiently ſhown, by his joining him in the undertaking of the Odyſſey: in which Mr. Broome having ingaged with⯑out [222] any previous agreement, diſcharged his part ſo much to Mr. Pope's ſatisfaction, that he gratified him with the full ſum of Five hundred pounds, and a pre⯑ſent of all thoſe books for which his own intereſt could procure him Subſcribers, to the value of One hundred more. The author only ſeems to lament, that he was ſo long imploy'd in tranſlation.

V. 337, &c. ‘She comes! the cloud-compelling pow'r, behold! &c.]’ Here the muſe, like Jove's eagle, after a ſudden ſtoop at ignoble game, ſoareth again to the skies. As prophecy hath ever been one of the chief provinces of poeſy, our poet here foretells from what we feel, what we are to fear; and in the ſtyle of other prophets, hath uſed the future tenſe for the preterit: [223] ſince what he ſays ſhall be, is already to be ſeen, in the writings of ſome even of our moſt adored authors, in divinity, philoſophy, phyſics, metaphyſics, &c. (who are too good indeed to be named in ſuch com⯑pany.) Do not gentle reader, reſt too ſecure in thy contempt of the inſtruments for ſuch a revolution in learning, or deſpiſe ſuch weak agents as have been de⯑ſcribed in our poem, but remember what the Dutch ſtories ſomewhere relate, that a great part of their provinces was once over-flow'd, by a ſmall opening made in one of their dykes by a ſingle water-rat.

However, that ſuch is not ſeriouſly the judgment of our poet, but that he conceiveth better hopes from the diligence of our ſchools, from the regularity of our univerſities, the diſcernment of our great men, the encouragement of our patrons, and the genius of our writers in all kinds, (notwithſtanding ſome few exceptions in each) may plainly be ſeen from his con⯑cluſion; [224] where by cauſing all this viſion to paſs thro' the Ivory gate, he expreſly in the language of poeſy declares all ſuch imaginations to be wild, ungrounded, and fictitious. SCRIBLERUS.

V. 347. ‘Truth in her old cavern lye.]’ Alludes to the ſaying of Democritus, that truth lay at the bot⯑tom of a deep well.