Chapter 5

Dic mihi, Musa, virum, captæ post tempora Trojæ,Qui mores Hominum Multorum vidit & Urbes.Muse, sing the Man, who afterTroywas takenThe Manners of many Men and Cities saw.

Dic mihi, Musa, virum, captæ post tempora Trojæ,Qui mores Hominum Multorum vidit & Urbes.

Muse, sing the Man, who afterTroywas takenThe Manners of many Men and Cities saw.

I have aimed to be literal here, the better to explainDacier's Remarks.There are considerable Faults in this Translation, says MonsieurDacier,he has forgotten the Epithet πολυτροπον, which marksUlysses's Character; he neglects the Circumstance that makes us most concern'd for him, ὅς μαλα πλάγχθη, who wandered a long Time, he says in a loose Way, after the Taking ofTroy; whereas, it is inHomerafter having ruinedTroy. Now, ifHorace, who had studied and admiredHomerso much, as to make him a Pattern for all future Writers ofHeroickPoems, could mistake three Times in translating two Lines, what a Discouragement must it have been to those who knew how he had succeeded in attempting it? 'Tis true, no Poet will ever undertake a Translation with more Advantage than the last Translator ofHomerhad; for besides Eight or Ten Versions inLatin,Italian,French, &c. there are Three or Four inEnglish; a Prose Translation by MadamDacier, and a Cart-load of Comments in all Languages. I am satisfy'd so good a Versifyer as the Translator of theIliasmight with those Helps, have made a very good Translation, without understanding any moreGreekthan my self; and nothing in the World could have been more easy, than out of one Commentator to have corrected another, and to have alter'd and amended the Reading in the Name of any of the Criticks, fromEustathiusdown toDacier. I do not boast of being Master ofGreekenough to readHomerwith so much Pleasure in the Original as I could do in a good Version, and it is much to be question'd, whether every one that can read him in the Original do understand what they read: Several Ladies and Gentlemen have subscribed forChaucerof theChrist-ChurchEdition, but I doubt very much whether they understand him or not, and whether a great many, who can readGreek, do really know what they read. One of the greatest Masters of theGreek Tongue, in our Time, has often question'd whether there were Twenty Men inEnglandwho understood the Strength, Beauty, and Elegance of that Language, tho' there are a Thousand that pretend to it. He represented it as a Study for a Man's Life, and I am confirm'd in this Judgement by whatMenagetells us of himself, and others upon this Subject. 'Tis well knownMenagewrote several Things inGreek, particularly some Odes in Imitation ofAnacreon, which are not thought inferiour to theTeianPoet's;J'ay toujours fait beaucoup de cas de ceux qui savent le grec, &c.He always highly valued those that understoodGreek.He does not mean to construe and parse it as Boys do at School, which is the most of what we find in those who pretend to be Masters of it.Without this Language, continues he,a Man can't be said to be more than half Learned: MonsieurCotelier, Monsieur deTreville, and MonsieurBigot, are the only Men inFrance, who can read theGreekFathers in the Original.I suppose the Fathers are not so difficult asHomerwith respect to the Tongue at least; for the Language of Poetry is peculiar to it, a made Language compounded and metaphorical. If it be so, the Translation of theIlias, from theGreekofHomer, must shew the Translator to be a greater Master of theGreekLanguage than all the Learned Men inFranceexcept Three, and all the Learned Men inEnglandexcept about Twenty. For my own Part, I confess, I make bold with all Kinds of Versions to help me out in Originals, and am not asham'd to do asMenagedid;I own I do not understandPindarenough, says he,to take Pleasure in him. I have heardPindarquoted a Hundred Times by Persons who were very far from being so modest asMenage, and fully satisfy'd themselves that they understood him as well as theGræcians, to whom he read hisOdes, tho' I suspected the contrary.Menage, again;I never read aGreekAuthor without having before read the Translation.

I do not insinuate any thing to depreciate the Translator ofHomer's excellent Performance, which, as I have observ'd, has the Merit of the most pure and harmonious Diction and Versification; but to hint a little of the Confusion of our Taste, and the Irregularity of our Judgement, which like Things for Beauties which they have not, and not for those which they have. Thus the Version ofHomeris lik'd as a Translation of the bestEpickPoem that ever was written, and not for the Softness and Sweetness of the Elegy, which are every where to be met with, as where the GodApolloappears in the Shape ofAgenor:

Flies from the furious Chief in this Disguise,The furious Chief still follows as he flies.

This is what theFrenchcallJeu des Mots, playing upon Words, and whatDryden'sVirgilis full of, tho' he knew as well as any Body that it was a Fault:The Turn of Thoughts, and Words, says he,is the chief Talent of theFrench; but theEpickPoem is too stately to receive such little Ornaments, which would have been in Perfection in a Version ofOvid, and very little agrees withWallerin his Epistle to my LordRoscommon;

Well sounding Verses are the Charm we use,Heroick Thoughts, and Virtue to infuse:Things of deep Sense, we may in Prose unfold,But they move more, in lofty Numbers told:By the loud Trumpet, which our Courage aids,We learn that Sound, as well as Sense, perswades.

In these Things our Taste is strangely confin'd: provided the Verses run smoothly, and the Language is soft and harmonious, we think it is fine: Let the Subject be aBoreas, or aZephyr: Nay, I do not question but the Couplet I quoted out of theEnglishHomeris reckon'd one of the finest of the Version by Ladies, and Gentleman who judge like Ladies, and who are the Nine in Ten of all Readers of Poetry. I confess, I am much more pleas'd with the following Verses, as rough and rumbling as they are, because they participate of the Roughness of the Thing which is imag'd to us,

Jumping high o'er the Shrubs of the rough Ground,Rattle the clattering Cars, and the shockt Axles bound.

When such assimilating the Sound to the Sense is not affected 'tis very agreeable; but when there is any Force or Affectation in it, 'tis puerile and distasteful.

The following Description of the Poetical Fire, which several Poets were enflam'd with, seems to be somewhat deficient, and to want farther Explanation; especially where the Translator tells us,Milton's Fireis like a Furnace, butShakespear's like a Fire from Heaven:Virgil's like aKenning-Glass, andLucan's andStatius's likeLightning. TheKenning-Glassshould have given me no Manner of Disturbance: But why isMilton'sCelestial Firecompar'd to that which destroy'd theThree Children; the Fire of a Furnace is boisterous and voracious, consuming whatever is within its Reach.Milton's Fire, like that of the Sun, warms and enlivens; and if ever any was fetch'd from Heaven, 'twas that, which shines with so much radiant Brightness throughout his whole Poem. I was the more shockt with this Misrepresentation ofMilton's Fire, for that there's something burlesque in the very Expression, aFurnace, and one can't help being jealous that this Passage ofHudibrasmight give the Hint for it.

Talgol, who had long possestEnflamed Rage in glowing Breast,Which now began to rage, and burn asImplacably as Flame in Furnace.

Tho' I am very far from takingDrydento be a perfect Master of Criticism, yet I do not think his Deficiency proceeded from Want of Judgement so much as from Inconsistency and Vanity, and an Opinion that he was Tyrant ofParnassus, and might govern by Will and Pleasure instead of Law and Reason. I have observed elsewhere that he adapts his Prefaces to the Circumstances of every Play and Poem, and very often contradicts in one what he had said in another: Nay, in his Essay onDramatick Poetry, the Contradiction is within a few Lines of the Assertion, as thus;There is no Theater in the World has any Thing so absurd as theEnglish Tragi-Comedy, which he confirms by this Verse;

Atq; ursem & Pugiles media inter Carmina poscunt.

And a little after;I cannot but conclude, to the Honour of our Nation, that we have invented, encreased, and perfected, a more pleasant Way of Writing than was ever known to the Antients or Moderns of any Nation, which isTragi-Comedy. One of the most monstrous Inventions, says theSpectator,that ever enter'd into the Poet's Thought. An Author might as well think of weaving the Adventures ofÆneasandHudibrasinto one Poem, as of writing such a motley Piece of Mirth and Sorrow. Whatever others thought of Mr.Dryden's Criticisms, he did himself full Justice, and seem'd to despise all other Criticks at the same Time that he laid himself most open to them.These little Criticks do not well consider what the Work of the Poet is, and what the Graces of a Poem; the Story is the least Part of either.Pref. toMoch-Astrol.Against him is every Critick, ancient and modern, fromAristotletoRimer, and more than all of them against him is his own self. In another Place he writes thus;The Fable is without doubt the chief Part of a Tragedy, because it contains the Action, and the Action contains the Happiness or Misery, which is the End of Tragedy. Without the Fable the Poet, who had otherwise good Manners, Sentiments, and Diction, would no more have made a regular Poem, than a Painter would have made a good Picture that had mingled Blue, Yellow, Red, and other Colours confusedly together.I do not mention these Things to lessen Mr.Dryden's great Character as a Poet; but to shew how well Dr.Feltoncould judge of it, when he recommended him to us as a Critick. Against Mr.Dryden, as to theStory,is Rapin, who he assures us wouldbe alone sufficient, were all other Criticks lost, to teach a-new the Rules of Writing. Against hisRapinwe find the Translator ofHomerin an extraordinary Manner in his Notes on the FifthIliad. I hope it did not arise from any Resentment for that Jesuit's reflecting on those Poets who seem to place the Essence of Poetry in fine Language, and smooth Verse, to which he ascribes its present Decay.As if the Art consisted only in Purity and Exactness of Language: This indeed pleased well, and was much to the Advantage of Women that had a Mind to be tampering in Writing Verse: They found it their Concern to give Vogue to this Kind of Writing, of which they were as capable as the most Part of Men: For all the Secret was no more than to make some little easy Verses, in which they were content if they cou'd dress some soft passionate Thoughts, &c. The most of our modern Poets being interested in this Affair, I shall say no more of it.

I have hinted more than once, that such Poets, and their Admirers, almost always mistake Affectation for Beauty, and I wonder the Translator ofHomershould give them the least Countenance by his Example; for I am very much deceiv'd if there is a more affected Period in theEnglishTongue than what follows:Nothing is more livelyand Picturesquethan theAttitudeofPatroclusis describ'd in; ThePathetickof his Speech is finelycontrastedby theFierteofAchilles.Again,There's something inexpressiblyriantin theCompartments ofAchilles's Shield. In theSpectator, No297. you read thus:The last Fault which I shall take notice of in Stile, is the frequent Use oftechnicalWords or Terms of Art. The bringing in moreFrenchWords to soften and enervate our Stile is of very ill Consequence. The Translator, besidesRiant, has alsoTraits,ensanguin'd, &c. I doubt, the Last is hardly a Word in any other Language, and does not at all enrich our own.Dryden, in an Epistle to the Earl ofOrrery, has this Remark upon it:I wish we might at length leave to borrow Words of another Nation, which is now a Wontonness in us, not a Necessity: But so long as some affect to speak, there will not be wanting others, who will have the Boldness to write them.

If I might make Use of the WordContrast, nothing can be more so than Affectation and Simplicity; and the Translator seems, either not to have a just Notion of the Latter, or to have a very ill Opinion of it: For without distinguishing between Simplicity and Negligence, he affirms,That Simplicity is a Word of Disguise for a shameful unpoetical Neglect of Expression, he makes no Exception in this general Charge. And thus one of the greatest Beauties of both Thought and Expression is rendered one of the greatest Deformities. FatherBouhoursasserts, thatSimplicity contributes the most of any Thing to make a Stile perfect; and again,The Holy Scripture, the Stile of which is, at the same Time, sosimpleand sosublime.

Mr.Addisonhas treated of the noble Force of Simplicity as it relates to Thought; and in the following Verses, if I am not mistaken, the Simplicity of Expression as well as Thought is noble:

So chear'd he his fair Spouse, and she was chear'd;But silently a gentle Tear let fallFrom either Eye, and wip'd them with her Hair.Two other precious Drops, that ready stoodEach in their chrystal Sluice, he 'ere they fellKist, as the gracious Signs of sweet Remorse,And pious Awe, that fear'd to have offended.

It is certain, Simplicity, as well as other Virtues in Speech, has its Vice, and that is Meanness which falls naturally into Burlesque, as this Line:

Then he will talk—good gods! How he will talk.

Which theSpectatorspeaks of as inexpressibly beautiful for its Simplicity, though I think one can hardly repeat it with a grave Tone; and when I have heard it pronounced on the Stage in a burlesque Way, as it is inThe Plot and No Plot; it has never fail'd of a hearty Laugh and Clap.Spectator, No39.There is a Simplicity in the Words, which out-shines the utmost Pride of Expression; and he attributes it to the Break,good gods! He also informs us, that the Thought is at oncenatural,soft,passionate, andsimple. It would have been well for us, if the learned Critick had told us in what this Thought issimple, in whatpassionate, in whatsoft, and in whatnatural, there being so few Words to express it; and I cannot help thinking, that it is but one fond Rant of an amorous Woman. True it is, Simplicity is not of it self very wordy, but methinks the Break,good gods!has more of thePassionatein it, than of theSimpleor theSoft; and may be as well used in Anger as in Love, as well in a Fright as in a Transport. It would have gone a good Way in explaining the different Kinds of Thought, if the judicious Author had distinguished them in this Line; for there are not so many Kinds in one Verse in all FatherBouhour'sManiere de bien penser. I would not be mistaken here, nor be charged with Ostentation, in setting up my Judgement in Opposition to theSpectator's; from whose Writings and Lessons, I have learned more than from all other Authors. I only offer it as an Instance, that the Best of our Criticks do not seem to have gone to the Bottom of this Subject. It never enter'd into the Heads of Writers and Readers in General, that Thought was any Thing but Thought, or Stile any Thing but Stile, or that there were any other Terms or Distinctions for them, but the Good and the Bad, as is already hinted; nor were they at all sensible of my LordRoscommon's Meaning in these Verses:

Whose incoherent Stile, like sick Men's Dreams,Varies all Shapes, and mixes all Extreams.

The same may be said of Thought.

I want very much to be informed, whether there is a perfect Agreement of Thought in these several Quotations out ofHomer, or how they must be understood so as not to contradict one another. The first Couplet is againstWine:

Inflaming Wine, pernicious to Mankind,Unnerves the Limbs, and dulls the noble Mind.

The next Couplet is for Wine:

WithThracianWines recruit thy honour'd Guests,For happy Counsels flow from sober Feasts.

What follows taken out of theNotesuponHomeris against Wine.WhatHectorsays against Wine in the two first Verses has a great Deal of Truth in it: It is a vulgar Mistake to imagine the Use of Wine, either raises the Spirits or encreases Strength.

The next Words are for Wine:

Then with a plenteous Draught refresh his Soul,And draw new Spirits from the generous Bowl.

Again for Wine:

For Strength consists in Spirits and in Blood,And those are ow'd to generous Wine and Food.

And the Translator's Observation, that the moderate Use of Wine does not raise the Spirits, is not the truer, because it is said byHector, the Son ofPriam. FatherSirmond, a sober reverend as well as learned Priest says quite another Thing:

Si bene commemini causæ sint quinque bibendi,Hospitis Adventus, præsens Sitis, atque futura,Et Vini bonitas, & quælibet altera Causa.If all be true,&c.

Si bene commemini causæ sint quinque bibendi,Hospitis Adventus, præsens Sitis, atque futura,Et Vini bonitas, & quælibet altera Causa.

If all be true,&c.

Whoever reads an Author with Exactness cannot fail of meeting with several Passages, where Self-love, Humour, Party, or Complexion, are uppermost. Thus a good Catholick will never have a good Word for a Heretick, nor aPuritanfor aPapist. Dr.Ch——will never speak well of Punch, nor Dr.Mand——of Watergruel.He who writes well is jealous of him who judges well, and he who judges well envies him who writes well. TheSwiftsturn every Thing into Grimace, theWhistonsinto Mathematicks, and whatever touches an Author's own Taste, he is always recommending to his Reader.

We all remember how the Duke ofMalboroughwas treated by the blessed Peace-makers for beating their Friends theFrench.Delight in Warwas a Mark set upon him in a most solemn Manner, and a memorable Instance of our Wisdom and Gratitude. There is a Paraphrase upon it in the Version ofHomer; and when the Application is made will turn theEpickinto Satyr.

Curs'd is the Man, and void of Law and Right,Unworthy Property, unworthy Light;Unfit for publick Rule or private Care,That Wretch, that Monster who delights in War;Whose Lust is Murder, and whose horrid JoyTo tear his Country,&c.

Toteara Country is very much in Heroicks. The Image ofDiscordhas good Lines in it; but methinks they would not have been the Worse, if they had been heated a little inMilton's Furnace:

Discord, dire Sister of the slaughtering Pow'r,Small at her Birth,but rising ev'ry Hour;While scarce the Skies her horrid Head can bound,She stalks on Earth, andshapesthe World around:The Nations bleed, where e'er her Steps she turns,The Groan still deepens, and the Combat burns.

I refer to the Judgement of the Reader, whether the following Image of Discord taken from a modern burlesque Poem, has not more of the Epick in it:

Non tulit invisæ speciem Discordia Pacis,Ilicet horrentes ad fibila concitat hydros,Ulcisci jubet Ira nefas. Spumantia felleOra tument, micat ex oculis ardentibus Ignis.Discord enrag'd at the Approach of PeaceMade her Snakes hiss, and urg'd to dire Revenge.Her foaming Mouth of horrid Poison full,From her red Eyes she darted Flakes of Fire.

Non tulit invisæ speciem Discordia Pacis,Ilicet horrentes ad fibila concitat hydros,Ulcisci jubet Ira nefas. Spumantia felleOra tument, micat ex oculis ardentibus Ignis.

Discord enrag'd at the Approach of PeaceMade her Snakes hiss, and urg'd to dire Revenge.Her foaming Mouth of horrid Poison full,From her red Eyes she darted Flakes of Fire.

The new invented Words made use of by the Translator ofHomerare well enough chosen, and well warranted by the Practice of the greatest Poets, such asMoveless,Instarr'd,Inurn'd,Conglobe,Deathful,Fountful,Lengthful:

But if you write of Things abstruse and new,Words of your own inventing may be us'd.Roscom.

I have mention'd some of the Helps which were prepared for the Translator of theIlias. But Dr.Feltoninforms us, Dr.Busbywould not allow of Notes; a very curious Remark That. It is not impossible, but Dr.Busbyhimself might have read and taughtHomer50 Years as aGrammarian, without understanding him as a Poet. A Portion of that Genius which inspir'd the Author is requisite for the Reader to see all the Beauties that are in a Poem. I believe the LordRoscommon's Judgement will be preferred to that of both those Doctors:

Search every Comment that your Care can find,Some here, some there, may hit the Poet's Mind.

If the Translator ofHomersearch'd every Comment, his Labour was more thanHerculean. I own my self extreamly edify'd by what he says of Antiquaries; applying a Saying of my LordBacon's to them:In General they write for Ostentation not for Instruction, and their Works are perpetual Repetitions.The Reason is plain, they have no Fund of their own, they must therefore borrow from those that have. It is necessary there should be such Men, but the Dryness and Barrenness of their Studies are inconsistent with a lively Fancy and a good Taste; and I know not which of the Antiquaries deserve most to be rever'd by us, those that would restore lost Words, Letters, and Points, or those that would recover lost Fable or History. To know exactly whereBrutebuilt hisPalace Royal, whereBladudset up hisLaboratorywould be something; as also to prove, thatCassibelanliv'd where my LordEssexnow does atCashiobury; or thatConstantine the Greatwas aYorkshireMan; which Things have been attempted, would be as much to the Glory of the Students in Antiquity, as to find out a lostComma, or restore a Letter to a Word that was robb'd of it 1500 Years ago. But as for our Monkish Antiquaries, and the Monastick Learning, it seems to be reserv'd for the Improvement of those, whose Minds, like barren Soils, will never bear without dunging. They are always turning up the Ruins of old Convents, and hope like the Cock to find a Jewel in the Dunghill. They dig for holy Water-Pots and Crucifixes, as greedily as the modernRomansdig for Medals, Images, and Urns. To know whether such an Abbey was founded in the Papacy of PopeJoanor PopeBoniface, in what Dormitory such a Monk slept, and in what Penitentiary such a Nun was disciplined, must needs be very edifying. But most of all the Deciding of historical Debates by old Charters, which, with a little curious Examination, will be found to be forged ones. Many of this Kind are printed byDugdale, as I shall have Occasion to remark elsewhere. If these Antiquaries could fix the same Authority onMonkishWritings, as we are told ofHomer's, that the Claims of two Cities to certain Limits, were determined by what he said of them in hisIlias, it would be worth every one's while to read the Monks instead of the Classicks; And I doubt not Dr.Feltonwould have succeeded better if he had given us Instruction in the Monkish Learning, than he has done in theClassical. But since their Writings prove nothing but their Ignorance and Superstition, I believe Men of Taste and Genius will be so generous as to leave such hidden Treasures to enrich those, whose Invention and Judgement lie under the Calamity of the most extream Poverty. There is nothing but Labour and Patience requisite to acquire a Mastery in these Studies, whether the Matter collected be good or bad, 'tis the same Thing if it be Old, if it beTeutonickorRunick,DanishorSaxon, that's sufficient. A Man who has any Warmth in his Imagination, and any Delicacy in his Taste, cannot be always raking in the Rubbish of barbarous Ages, and groping inGothickDarkness. A good Proof of the small Talent necessary for this Work is, that there hardly ever was an Author among these Monkish Antiquaries, but his Language was as barbarous as his Subject. Such Sort of Scholarship is, I own, very serviceable to those that know how to make a good Use of others Labours; but the Merit of the Scholar consists rather in the Goodness of his Eyes, and the Strength of his Head, than in the Fineness of his Genius, or the Regularity of his Judgement. I am apt to think the Translator ofHomerhad not the Admirers of these Antiquities in his Thoughts, but refer'd to the Criticks and Commentators on theGreekandRomanAuthors: For he says, in another Place,To talk of the Genius of an Ancient, asMacrobiusdid, is at once the cheapest Way of shewing our own Taste, and the shortest Way of criticising the Wit of others. This must be only meant of those whom Mr.DrydencallsDutchCommentators, of those that do by the Classicks, as Correctors of the Press do by their Copies, and instead of applying themselves to the Sense stick close to the Letters, and look out forDele'sandAddenda's. This they call correcting and restoring the Text; and it is much to be fear'd, that by this restoring and correcting of the Commentators, and the Mistakes, Blunders and Negligences of the Copiers, we have few or no Books of the Antients in their original Purity and Perfection. However, there is Perfection enough left in the Classical Writings to prove, That what the Translator ofHomersays, does not relate to the Classicks themselves, but to those that make an ill Use of them, and under their Name and Authority insult the Moderns. The LordBaconsays somewhere, that what we call the Antiquity was the Youth of the World, and that we are properly the Antients as the Inhabitants of an older World, and having made infinite Improvements in all the most useful Parts of Learning.

I dare not say, there is a Quibble in the Expression of so illustrious a Writer, but I must always take the Authors that wrote 1500 or 2000 Years ago to be the Antients; and one may very well Question, whether there was not as much useful Learning lost in twelve or thirteen Centuries of Barbarism and Ignorance, as has been discover'd, or rather recovered in two or three of the last Ages.

The Antiquaries the Translator speaks of would do Wonders, if they would make it out that the Letter sent to the King ofEdessa, and the Passage inJosephus's Book XVIII, relating to our Saviour, are genuine, with several other Particularities, which are much insisted upon by Ecclesiastical Writers. TheSpectatorhas told us something too of Antiquity, which wants the Confirmation of the Antiquaries, and that is a Quotation out of a Manuscript in theVaticanLibrary, whereLonginusis made to say,PaulofTarsus, the Patron of an Opinion not fully proved, must be reckon'd among the bestGræcianOrators. This must be a downright Forgery:Longinussurely knew theGreekTongue too well, to cry up the Eloquence of a Writer in it, who, as St.Jeromesays, did not understandGrammar, and mentions the Places where he err'd,Propter Imperitiam Artis Grammaticæ. SeeGregoryon theSeptuagint. It were to be wished, that the Ecclesiastical Writers, even of the earliest Centuries, had suffer'd nothing to escape them that was improbable, if not incredible. 'Tis also much wanted to have further Proof of the Ceasing of Oracles at the Nativity of our Saviour, and thatVirgilprophesy'd of it in his fourth Eclogue. We should be still more oblig'd to them, if they would prove, that theSibyl's Verses are a Prophecy of the same Thing, which Things are generally asserted in the Writings of the Ecclesiasticks. As to OraclesLuciantells us, Answers were given in his Time, that of the EmperorCommodus160 Years after,Juvenalmakes their Ceasing to be only 100 Years after:

————Delphis Oracula cessant.

Theodoretwrites, thatJulianthe Apostate received an Answer fromApolloatDelphos, 300 Years after the Birth of our Saviour. All which may be seen in BishopPotter'sGreekAntiquities, a most excellent Book; and if we had more such Antiquaries as that learned Prelate's and Mr.Basil Kennet's who wrote the Antiquities ofRome, we might at the same Time improve ourselves both in antient and polite Learning. These being, I think the two most valuable Pieces of the Kind in any Language. As the middle Way is safest in all Things, so as to the Antients to run them down asPerraulthas done, or cry them up asBoileauis perhaps equally dangerous, and out of the Medium. Whatever Advantages we have had of the Antients, probably they had the same of those that preceeded them. This we know, that theLatinsborrow'd as much from theGreeksas we have borrow'd from them; and it would be no difficult Matter to prove, that in all the Branches of polite Literature, the Moderns, particularly theEnglish, have excell'd the Antients in as many as the Antients excelled them.

The Passage of my LordBacon's before cited, gave Occasion to MonsieurPerrault, to bring in that noble Author for an Evidence on his Side against the Antients: ButBoileauvindicates him in this Point; and FatherBouhours, as another Instance of his excellent Judgement, declares he prefers the Lord ChancellorBaconbefore the most celebrated Names of Antiquity.Rapincalls him the greatestGenius of England, and he has not more Glory from his own Countrymen than from the learned Men inFrance.

I expect no Quarter from the Dealers in monastick Learning, in Heraldry, and Genealogy, who generally doat upon them even to Frenzy.Du Valin his Geography informs us, that there is a Nation inAmerica, bordering on the River of theAmazons, where old Women go off better than young; under a Notion, that the Knowledge of the One is preferable to the Vigour and Beauty of the Other. Thus these Men please themselves more with the Dryness and Gravity of Antiquity, than with a beautiful Imagination, and the Charms of Eloquence. I believe their Opinion will not have many Followers, nor their Example be much imitated. However, when such an Antiquary as the greatSeldenappears in the World, the Instruction it will receive from him, more than makes amends for the Labour and Time which others lose in hunting after worthless Manuscripts, forg'd Charters, and monkish Fables. The learned and polite Dr.BathurstofOxford, wrote an admirable Poem on the Death ofSelden:

So fell the sacredSibyl, when of OldInspir'd with mere than mortal Breast could hold:The gazing Multitude stood doubtful by,Whether to call it Death or Extasy:She silent lies, and now the Nations findNo Oracles, but i' th' Leaves she left behind.

Selden etant sans Contredit le plus docte des Anglois moderns.'Tis said by aFrenchmanand aPapist; but as much asSeldenwas an Oracle, and a Glory to our Country, ArchbishopLaudhis Brethren would have thrust his learned Head into a Pillory, if they could have come at him. I don't know whether it was for his History ofTythesor not; but that would have been hard after hehad been so fully answer'd by Doctors of both Universities; who, however, were not,Les plus Doctes des Anglois moderns. Judicious Antiquaries ever were, and ever will be in Esteem. Those that meddle with Things solid and useful. None of the Pretenders to this Sort of Knowledge, are more despicable than such as deal in old Terms and Phrases, who generally affect a Contempt for those that are in present Use as weak and effeminate. The EmperorAugustuscould not bear these Men, any more thanPunster's whom he heartily despis'd. The Spectator, No470. has with much Pleasantry animadverted on those Criticks in Readings, and has brought in theCotton Library,Aldus,Scaliger,Scioppius,Salmasius, the elderStephens, and a Heap of old Manuscripts, to clear up the Difficulties in certain Lyrick Verses, abouta Shape, an Eye, Wit, Charms,CorinnaandBelvedera.

As scrupulous and as curious as theseAntiquarieswould be thought to be, one might fill Volumes with Examples of the most notorious Mistakes and Blunders in the Writings of the most learned among them; which are not taken notice of to lessen the Credit they have worthily acquir'd, but to shew the Infirmity of humane Nature, which will always be attended with Errours, and never arrive at Perfection as we have elsewhere observ'd afterHorace:

————Non ego Paucis,&c.

But in such Authors, what is good more than atones for what is not so, and 'tis only where a Writer shews a Defect in Will as well as Judgement, that he renders himself blame-worthy, especially in History. Several of these Blunders are collected byMarvillein hisMelange, &c. 'Tis remark'd ofPliny, that in translatingDemocritus, he says, the Camelion is like a Crocodile, and altogether as big—TheCrocodalosofDemocritusis in theJonickDialect, aLizard, which may be about some ten thousand Times less than a Crocodile, and yet a great many Times bigger than aCamelion.Eutychiusspeaking ofEusebiusofCesarea, sirnamedPamphilus, calls himEusebius, Bishop of the City ofPhili.Quintus CurtiusmistakesArabia FælixforArabia Deserta. He confounds theEuxinewith theCaspianSea, and makesthe RiversTygrisandEuphratesrun throughMedia, which they never enter'd. Mr.Simon, in his critical History, takesSunaandFratela, two Officers of theGothickArmy, for twoGermanLadies. The Life ofCharlemagne, written byAcciaioli, having been often joyn'd withPlutarch's Lives, was published byVicelliusas written byPlutarch, who liv'd 6 or 700 Years beforeCharlemagne.Gerard Vossiusaffirms, that the Society of theSorbonnewas instituted byRobert, Brother ofS. LewisKing ofFrance, instead ofRobertsirnamedSorbonnefrom the Place of his Nativity.Pallaviciniin his History of the Council ofTrent, saysLansac, theFrenchAmbassador, was Knight of the Order of the Holy Ghost, which was not instituted till twenty Years after; but what has particular Relation to usEnglishmenis the Charge againstDodwel:Dodowel dans ses Dissertations sur Saint Cyprien prend la Ville d'Olympe pour une Olympiade,takes the CityOlympusfor anOlympiade, the Name of the Place where, for the Date of the Year when it was done, which is Matter of much Humiliation to all such as believe it impossible for so learned and orthodox a Man to commit so great an Oversight; and plainly proves to us, that those who write of what past 1000 or 2000 Years ago, are as likely to err, as those who write of what past three or fourscore Years ago. Whoever has a Curiosity to see more of theBlunderings, which the most learned are charg'd with, such as thePort Royal,Baronius,Vasquez,Du Cange,Varillas,L'Abbé, &c. may have full Satisfaction inMarville'sMelange,p. 208. & seq.taken from a Book written byBoileau's Uncle, entituled,Colloquium Criticum de Sphalmætis viromum in re literaria illustrium. Of what Size would the Book be, if we should examine with the same Exactness,Nalson,Heylin,Wharton,Collier,Dugdale,Brady, theGrand Rebellion, theHistories,&c.And collect and publish the Errours, both of the Will and the Judgement. Nor are these Names by any Means more illustrious, than those we meet with in theColloquium.

The Translator ofHomerhas an Excuse for Mr.Dryden, which is much more generous than just: He says,His Haste in Writing ought not to be imputed to him as a Fault, but to those who suffer'd so noble a Genius to lie under the Necessity of it.Mr.Dryden's Genius did notappear in any Thing more than hisVersification; and whether the Criticks will have it ennobled for thatVersificationonly, is a Question. The Translator seems to make a goodGeniusand a good Ear to be the same Thing.Drydenhimself was more sensible of the Difference between them, and when it was in Debate atWill's Coffee-house, what Character he would have with Posterity; he said, with a sullen Modesty,I believe they will allow me to be a good Versifier. If we will believe Mr.Dryden, he did not lie under the Necessity of Haste: In several of his Dedications and Prefaces, he has declared, He never wanted. When he renounced his Allegiance to KingWilliam, and disqualified himself for keeping the Laureat's Place with that of Historiographer, he had a Pension from the then Lord Chamberlain, the Earl ofDorset, which was an Instance of Generosity that is rarely to be met with in the History ofLewisXIV, who paid more to Poets and Historians than all the Princes ofEurope. His Bounty has been extoll'd, even by those whom his Bigotry had banish'd, yet he seldom let it extend to any of the Reformed Religion, let their Merit be ever so great. Mademoisellele Fevre, afterwards MadamDacier, dedicated a Book to that Prince, and the Dukede Montausierintroduc'd her at Court; but the King would not accept of the Book, nor admit that his Name should be put before the Epistle.

The Duke, whose Character had some Bluntness in it, said,Sir, Is this the Way to encourage Learning: The Lady deserves well of your Majesty and the Publick, and if you will not reward her your self, suffer me to give her 100 Pistoles, I matter not whether I am paid again: or Words to that Effect. This Learned Lady was far from being an Enemy to the Government asDrydenwas, and he did not stick to shew it upon all Occasions, even when he was pension'd by my Lord Chamberlain. The Truth is, he was like fond Fathers who can see no Faults in their Children; and as to his hasty Writing, 'tis pretty well known that as easy as his Verses appear to be, he came hard by them: He thought it a good Day's Work if he could finish 40 Verses a Day; and some learnedAntiquaries, I suppose from aMSS.ofVirgil's Amanuensis, assure us, thatMarowrote as many, and drawing them off theLeeafterwards, in his Poetical Limbeck,reduced them to Ten.Godeau, Bishop ofVence, us'd to write 2 or 300 Verses a-day. I my self paid a Visit once to a Verse-maker in an Afternoon, and saw 200 political Verses on his Table, which he told me he had written since Dinner: By this Dispatch he soon furnish'd out aFolio.Drydenwas so far from spying Blemishes in his Works, that he often took them for Beauties, and particularly what theItalianscallConcetti. This noted Rant in theConq. Gran.

I, alone am King of Me.

is happily imitated by him in hisState of Innocence:

I my self am proud of Me.

But to criticise onDryden's Prefaces and Plays is a much greater Labour than to copy them all over, and equally ungenerous and impertinent: If any one will compare hisFall of ManwithMilton's Paradise lost, he will quickly perceive to which of them it is that thenoble Geniusis to be apply'd; and if it belongs toMilton, some other Epithet should be thought of forDryden.

I have already observ'd, that I did not intend to form a regular Discourse, and I think I have kept pretty well to my Intention: If the Reader misses any Thing of Instruction by it, he will find it made up in Entertainment. The Variety will excuse the Want of Method in a Subject not so capable of it as where the Matter is certain and well known. I wish I were able to give Examples of all FatherBouhour's several Kinds of Thoughts out ofEnglishAuthors, but Examples are much nicer Work than Precepts. Every one may agree that a Thing ought to be so done, but saw that it is so done. Men's Idea's of the same Things, vary in the Reflection as much as their Views do in Prospect, according to the Light they appear in. Dr.Feltonmakes a Trifle of it in one Part of his Preface, and an insuperable Difficulty in another.I might, at once, with the Trouble only of Transcribing, have adorn'd the Work, and diverted the Reader.Contrary to this, he says,If any Body is pleas'd to try, he will hardly find it practicable to illustrate these Rules by Examples.The Quotations, which he had before term'd transcribing only, are not so easy as he imagin'd to be done with Beauty and Judgement, was he sure of writing out nothing but what was as much to the Purpose as if it had been made for it, otherwise he might have transcrib'd puffy Thoughts for sublime, trifling Thoughts for pretty, affected Thoughts for agreeable; in short, false Thoughts for fine ones, and I am afraid that would have been his Misfortune, had he attempted it. In his Preface he blamesTullyfor quoting himself, andAristotlefor being dry; but as he has not gone much beyond the Latter in his Criticisms, nor the Former in his Eloquence, so I believe their Reputation will not be much the worse for him, and it had been better if the Doctor had follow'd the Direction ofQuintillian,Modesto tamen & Circumspecto judicio, &c. People should speak with a great deal of Modesty and Circumspection of such great Men, for it may happen, as it very often does, that they condemn what they do not understand.

I am apprehensive enough that this Undertaking will be censur'd as an Effect of Vanity and Arrogance, and I am well enough acquainted with the Spirit of the People I have to deal with,

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