Not having room to insert all the Advertisements which were sent me, I have only picked out some few from the Third Volume, reserving the Fourth for another Opportunity.
O.
Footnote 1:
Sir
William Read, a doctor who could hardly read, was one of the most pertinacious advertisers of his time. He advertised in the
Tatler
that he had been 35 years in the practice of
'couching cataracts, taking off all sorts of wens, curing wry necks andhairlips without blemish, though never so deformed.'
His wife assisted him, and after his death carried on his business, advertising that,
'The Lady Read, in Durham Yard, in the Strand, having obtained a peculiar method of couching cataracts and curing all diseases of the eyes, bySirWilliam Read's method and medicines, and having had above 15 years' experience ... Note.SirWilliam Read has left only with his lady the true receipt of his Styptich Water,' &c., &c.
Dr. Grant was another advertising oculist, illiterate and celebrated, originally a tinker or cobbler, afterwards a Baptist preacher in Southwark.
Mr. Moore sold a powder which, according to his advertisements, brought off worms of incredible length.
return to footnote mark
Contents
—Vitiis nemo sine nascitur, optimus illoQui minimis urgetur—Hor.translationNov. 27, 1712.Mr. SPECTATOR,'I have read this Day's Paper with a great deal of Pleasure, and could send you an Account of several Elixirs and Antidotes in your third Volume, which your Correspondents have not taken Notice of in their Advertisements; and at the same time must own to you, that I have seldom seen a Shop furnished with such a Variety of Medicaments, and in which there are fewer Soporifics. The several Vehicles you have invented for conveying your unacceptable Truths to us, are what I most particularly admire, as I am afraid they are Secrets which will die with you. I do not find that any of your Critical Essays are taken Notice of in this Paper, notwithstanding I look upon them to be excellent Cleansers of the Brain, and could venture to superscribe them with an Advertisement which I have lately seen in one of our News-Papers, wherein there is an Account given of a Sovereign Remedy for restoring the Taste of all such Persons whose Palates have been vitiated by Distempers, unwholesome Food, or any the like Occasions. But to let fall the Allusion, notwithstanding your Criticisms, and particularly the Candour which you have discovered in them, are not the least taking Part of your Works, I find your Opinion concerningPoetical Justice, as it is expressed in the first Part of your [Volume 1 link:FortiethSpectator], is controverted by some eminent Criticks; and as you now seem, to our great Grief of Heart, to be winding up your Bottoms, I hoped you would have enlarged a little upon that Subject. It is indeed but a single Paragraph in your Works, and I believe those who have read it with the same Attention I have done, will think there is nothing to be objected against it. I have however drawn up some additional Arguments to strengthen the Opinion which you have there delivered, having endeavoured to go to the Bottom of that Matter, which you may either publish or suppress as you think fit.'Horacein my Motto says, that all Men are vicious, and that they differ from one another, only as they are more or less so.Boileauhas given the same Account of our Wisdom, asHoracehas of our Virtue.Tous les homines sont fous, et, malgré tous leurs soins,Ne different entre eux, que du plus et du moins.'All Men, says he, are Fools, and, in spite of their Endeavours to the contrary, differ from one another only as they are more or less so.'Two or three of the oldGreekPoets have given the same turn to a Sentence which describes the Happiness of Man in this Life;Greek: Tò zaen alypôs, andrós esti eutuchous'That Man is most happy who is the least miserable.'It will not perhaps be unentertaining to the Polite Reader to observe how these three beautiful Sentences are formed upon different Subjects by the same way of thinking; but I shall return to the first of them.'Our Goodness being of a comparative, and not an absolute nature, there is none who in strictness can be called a Virtuous Man. Every one has in him a natural Alloy, tho' one may be fuller of Dross than another: For this reason I cannot think it right to introduce a perfect or a faultless Man upon the Stage; not only because such a Character is improper to move Compassion, but because there is no such a thing in Nature. This might probably be one Reason why the SPECTATOR in one of his Papers took notice of that late invented Term calledPoetical Justice, and the wrong Notions into which it has led some Tragick Writers. The most perfect Man has Vices enough to draw down Punishments upon his Head, and to justify Providence in regard to any Miseries that may befal him. For this reason I cannot think, but that the Instruction and Moral are much finer, where a Man who is virtuous in the main of his Character falls into Distress, and sinks under the Blows of Fortune at the End of a Tragedy, than when he is represented as Happy and Triumphant. Such an Example corrects the Insolence of Human Nature, softens the Mind of the Beholder with Sentiments of Pity and Compassion, comforts him under his own private Affliction, and teaches him not to judge Mens Virtues by their Successes. I cannot think of one real Hero in all Antiquity so far raised above Human Infirmities, that he might not be very naturally represented in a Tragedy as plunged in Misfortunes and Calamities. The Poet may still find out some prevailing Passion or Indiscretion in his Character, and shew it in such a Manner, as will sufficiently acquit the Gods of any Injustice in his Sufferings. For asHoraceobserves in my Text, the best Man is faulty, tho' not in so great a degree as those whom we generally call vicious Men.'If such a strict Poetical Justice, as some Gentlemen insist upon, was to be observed in this Art, there is no manner of Reason why it should not extend to Heroick Poetry, as well as Tragedy. But we find it so little observed inHomer, that hisAchillesis placed in the greatest point of Glory and Success, though his Character is Morally Vicious, and only Poetically Good, if I may use the Phrase of our modern Criticks. TheÆneidis filled with Innocent, unhappy Persons.NisusandEurialus, LaususandPallascome all to unfortunate Ends. The Poet takes Notice in particular, that in the Sacking ofTroy, Ripheusfell, who was the most just Man among theTrojans.—Cadit et Ripheus justissimus unus,Qui fuit in Teucris et servantissimus Æqui:Dijs aliter visum est—'And thatPantheuscould neither be preserved by his transcendent Piety, nor by the holy Fillets ofApollo, whose Priest he was.—nec Te tua plurima PantheuLabentem pietas, nec Apollinis infula texit.(Æn. 1. 2.)'I might here mention the Practice of ancient Tragick Poets, bothGreekandLatin; but as this Particular is touched upon in the Paper above-mentioned, I shall pass it over in Silence. I could produce Passages out ofAristotlein favour of my Opinion, and if in one Place he says that an absolutely Virtuous Man should not be represented as unhappy, this does not justifie any one who shall think fit to bring in an absolutely virtuous Man upon the Stage. Those who are acquainted with that Author's Way of Writing, know very well, that to take the whole extent of his Subject into his Divisions of it, he often makes use of such Cases as are imaginary, and not reducible to Practice: He himself declares that such Tragedies as ended unhappily bore away the Prize in Theatrical Contentions, from those which ended happily; and for the [Volume 1 link:Fortieth Speculation], which I am now considering, as it has given Reasons why these are more apt to please an Audience, so it only proves that these are generally preferable to the other, tho' at the same time it affirms that many excellent Tragedies have and may be written in both kinds.'I shall conclude with observing, that though theSpectatorabove-mentioned is so far against the Rule of Poetical Justice, as to affirm, that good Men may meet with an unhappy Catastrophe in Tragedy, it does not say that ill Men may go off unpunished. The Reason for this Distinction is very plain, namely, because the best of Men are vicious enough to justify Providence for any Misfortunes and Afflictions which may befal them, but there are many Men so criminal that they can have no Claim or Pretence to Happiness. The best of Men may deserve Punishment, but the worst of Men cannot deserve Happiness.'
Tous les homines sont fous, et, malgré tous leurs soins,Ne different entre eux, que du plus et du moins.
Greek: Tò zaen alypôs, andrós esti eutuchous
—Cadit et Ripheus justissimus unus,Qui fuit in Teucris et servantissimus Æqui:Dijs aliter visum est—
—nec Te tua plurima PantheuLabentem pietas, nec Apollinis infula texit.(Æn. 1. 2.)
Footnote 1:
Unacknowledged, but doubtless by Addison, who took this indirect way of answering Dennis. Addison's hand is further shown by the addition made to the reprint.
return to footnote mark
Contents
Quamvis digressu veteris confusus amici,Laudo tamen—Juv.translation
I believe most People begin the World with a Resolution to withdraw from it into a serious kind of Solitude or Retirement, when they have made themselves easie in it. Our Unhappiness is, that we find out some Excuse or other for deferring such our good Resolutions till our intended Retreat is cut off by Death. But among all kinds of People there are none who are so hard to part with the World, as those who are grown old in the heaping up of Riches. Their Minds are so warped with their constant Attention to Gain, that it is very difficult for them to give their Souls another Bent, and convert them towards those Objects, which, though they are proper for every Stage of Life, are so more especially for the last.
Horace
describes an old Usurer as so charmed with the Pleasures of a Country Life, that in order to make a Purchase he called in all his Mony; but what was the Event of it? Why in a very few Days after he put it out again. I am engaged in this Series of Thought by a Discourse which I had last Week with my worthy Friend
Sir
Andrew Freeport
, a Man of so much natural Eloquence, good Sense, and Probity of Mind, that I always hear him with a particular Pleasure. As we were sitting together, being the sole remaining Members of our Club,
Sir
Andrew
gave me an Account of the many busie Scenes of Life in which he had been engaged, and at the same time reckoned up to me abundance of those lucky Hits, which at another time he would have called pieces of good Fortune; but in the Temper of Mind he was then, he termed them Mercies, Favours of Providence, and Blessings upon an honest Industry. Now, says he, you must know my good Friend, I am so used to consider my self as Creditor and Debtor, that I often state my Accounts after the same manner with regard to Heaven and my own Soul. In this case, when I look upon the Debtor-side, I find such innumerable Articles, that I want Arithmetick to cast them up; but when I look upon the Creditor-side, I find little more than blank Paper. Now though I am very well satisfied that it is not in my power to ballance Accounts with my Maker, I am resolved however to turn all my future Endeavours that way. You must not therefore be surprized, my Friend, if you hear that I am betaking my self to a more thoughtful kind of Life, and if I meet you no more in this Place.
I could not but approve so good a Resolution, notwithstanding the Loss I shall suffer by it.
Sir
Andrew
has since explained himself to me more at large in the following Letter, which is just come to my hands.
Good Mr.SPECTATOR,'Notwithstanding my Friends at the Club have always rallied me, when I have talked of retiring from Business, and repeated to me one of my own Sayings,That a Merchant has never enough till he has got a little more; I can now inform you, that there is one in the World who thinks he has enough, and is determined to pass the Remainder of his Life in the Enjoyment of what he has. You know me so well, that I need not tell you, I mean, by the Enjoyment of my Possessions, the making of them useful to the Publick. As the greatest part of my Estate has been hitherto of an unsteady and volatile nature, either tost upon Seas or fluctuating in Funds; it is now fixed and settled in Substantial Acres and Tenements. I have removed it from the Uncertainty of Stocks, Winds and Waves, and disposed of it in a considerable Purchase. This will give me great Opportunity of being charitable in my way, that is, in setting my poor Neighbours to Work, and giving them a comfortable Subsistence out of their own Industry. My Gardens, my Fish-ponds, my Arable and Pasture Grounds shall be my several Hospitals, or rather Work-houses, in which I propose to maintain a great many indigent Persons, who are now starving in my Neighbourhood. I have got a fine Spread of improveable Lands, and in my own Thoughts am already plowing up some of them, fencing others; planting Woods, and draining Marshes. In fine, as I have my share in the Surface of this Island, I am resolved to make it as beautiful a Spot as any in her Majesty's Dominions; at least there is not an Inch of it which shall not be cultivated to the best Advantage, and do its utmost for its Owner. As in my Mercantile Employment I so disposed of my Affairs, that from whatever Corner of the Compass the Wind blew, it was bringing home one or other of my Ships; I hope, as a Husbandman, to contrive it so, that not a Shower of Rain, or a Glimpse of Sunshine, shall fall upon my Estate without bettering some part of it, and contributing to the Products of the Season. You know it has been hitherto my Opinion of Life, that it is thrown away when it is not some way useful to others. But when I am riding out by my self, in the fresh Air on the open Heath that lies by my House, I find several other Thoughts growing up in me. I am now of opinion that a Manof my Agemay find Business enough on himself, by setting his Mind in order, preparing it for another World, and reconciling it to the Thoughts of Death. I must therefore acquaint you, that besides those usual Methods of Charity, of which I have before spoken, I am at this very Instant finding out a convenient Place where I may build an Alms-house, which I intend to endow very handsomely, for a Dozen superannuated Husbandmen. Itwillbe a great pleasure to me to say my Prayers twice a-day with Men of my ownYears1, who all of them, as well as my self, may have their Thoughts taken up how they shall die, rather than how they shall live. I remember an excellent Saying that I learned at School,Finis coronat opus. You know best whether it be inVirgilor inHorace, it is my business to apply it. If your Affairs will permit you to take the Country Air with me sometimes, you shall find an Apartment fitted up for you, and shall be every day entertained with Beef or Mutton of my own feeding; Fish out of my own Ponds; and Fruit out of my own Gardens. You shall have free Egress and Regress about my House, without having any Questions asked you, and in a Word such an hearty Welcome as you may expect fromYour most sincere Friendand humble Servant,Andrew Freeport.
The Club, of which I am Member, being entirely dispersed, I shall consult my Reader next Week, upon a Project relating to the Institution of a new one.
O.
Footnote 1:
Age
.
return to footnote mark
Contents
Quid dignum tanto feret hic promissorHiatu?Hor.translation
Since the late Dissolution of the Club whereof I have often declared my self a Member, there are very many Persons who by Letters, Petitions, and Recommendations, put up for the next Election. At the same time I must complain, that several indirect and underhand Practices have been made use of upon this Occasion. A certain Country Gentleman begun to
tapp
upon the first Information he received of
Sir
Roger's
Death; when he sent me up word, that if I would get him chosen in the Place of the Deceased, he would present me with a Barrel of the best
October
I had ever drank in my Life. The Ladies are in great Pain to know whom I intend to elect in the Room of
Will. Honeycombe.
Some of them indeed are of Opinion that Mr.
Honeycombe
did not take sufficient care of their Interests in the Club, and are therefore de
Sir
ous of having in it hereafter a Representative of their own Sex. A Citizen who subscribes himself
Y. Z.
tells me that he has one and twenty Shares in the
African
Company, and offers to bribe me with the odd one in case he may succeed
Sir
Andrew Freeport
, which he thinks would raise the Credit of that Fund. I have several Letters, dated from
Fenny Man's
, by Gentlemen who are Candidates for Capt.
Sentry's
Place, and as many from a Coffee-House in
Paul's
Church-yard of such who would fill up the Vacancy occasioned by the Death of my worthy Friend the Clergyman, whom I can never mention but with a particular Respect.
Having maturely weighed these several Particulars, with the many Remonstrances that have been made to me on this Subject, and considering how invidious an Office I shall take upon me, if I make the whole Election depend upon my single Voice, and being unwilling to expose my self to those Clamours, which, on such an Occasion, will not fail to be raised against me for Partiality, Injustice, Corruption, and other Qualities which my Nature abhors, I have formed to my self the Project of a Club as follows.
I have thoughts of issuing out Writs to all and every of the Clubs that are established in the Cities of
London
and
Westminster
, requiring them to chuse out of their respective Bodies a Person of the greatest Merit, and to return his name to me before
Lady-day
, at which time I intend to sit upon Business.
By this means I may have Reason to hope, that the Club over which I shall preside will be the very Flower and Quintescence of all other Clubs. I have communicated this my Project to none but a particular Friend of mine, whom I have celebrated twice or thrice for his Happiness in that kind of Wit which is commonly known by the Name of a Punn. The only Objection he makes to it is, that I shall raise up Enemies to my self if I act with so regal an Air; and that my Detractors, instead of giving me the usual Title of SPECTATOR, will be apt to call me the
King of Clubs
.
But to proceed on my intended Project: It is very well known that I at first set forth in this Work with the Character of a silent Man; and I think I have so well preserved my Taciturnity, that I do not remember to have violated it with three Sentences in the space of almost two Years. As a Monosyllable is my Delight, I have made very few Excursions in the Conversations which I have related beyond a Yes or a No. By this Means my Readers have lost many good things which I have had in my Heart, though I did not care for uttering them.
Now in order to diversify my Character, and to shew the World how well I can talk if I have a Mind, I have Thoughts of being very loquacious in the Club which I have now under Consideration. But that I may proceed the more regularly in this Affair, I design, upon the first Meeting of the said Club, to have
my Mouth opened
in form; intending to regulate my self in this Particular by a certain Ritual which I have by me, that contains all the Ceremonies which are practised at the opening of the Mouth of a Cardinal. I have likewise examined the forms which were used of old by
Pythagoras
, when any of his Scholars, after an Apprenticeship of Silence, was made free of his Speech. In the mean time, as I have of late found my Name in foreign Gazettes upon less Occasions, I question
not
but in their next Articles from
Great Britain
, they will inform the World that
the
Spectator's
Mouth is to be opened on the twenty-fifth of
March
next
1
. I may perhaps publish a very useful Paper at that Time of the Proceedings in that Solemnity, and of the Persons who shall assist at it. But of this more hereafter.
O.
Footnote 1:
On the twelfth of the following March appeared the first number of Steele's
Guardian
. Addison's attempt to revive the
Spectator
was not made until June, 1714.
return to footnote mark
Contents
Sic Honor et Nomen divinis vatibus atqueCarminibus venit.Hor.translationMr. SPECTATOR,When Men of worthy and excelling Genius's have obliged the World with beautiful and instructive Writings, it is in the nature of Gratitude that Praise should be returned them, as one proper consequent Reward of their Performances. Nor has Mankind ever been so degenerately sunk, but they have made this Return, and even when they have not been wrought up by the generous Endeavour so as to receive the Advantages designed by it. This Praise, which arises first in the Mouth of particular Persons, spreads and lasts according to the Merit of Authors; and when it thus meets with a full Success changes its Denomination, and is calledFame. They who have happily arrived at this, are, even while they live, enflamed by the Acknowledgments of others, and spurred on to new Undertakings for the Benefit of Mankind, notwithstanding the Detraction which some abject Tempers would cast upon them: But when they decease, their Characters being freed from the Shadow whichEnvylaid them under, begin to shine out with greater Splendour; their Spirits survive in their Works; they are admitted into the highest Companies, and they continue pleasing and instructing Posterity from Age to Age. Some of the best gain a Character, by being able to shew that they are no Strangers to them; and others obtain a new Warmth to labour for the Happiness and Ease of Mankind, from a Reflection upon those Honours which are paid to their Memories.The Thought of this took me up as I turned over those Epigrams which are the Remains of several of theWitsofGreece, and perceived many dedicated to the Fame of those who had excelled in beautiful poetick Performances. Wherefore, in pursuance to my Thought, I concluded to do something along with them to bring their Praises into a new Light and Language, for the Encouragement of those whose modest Tempers may be deterr'd by the Fear of Envy or Detraction from fair Attempts, to which their Parts might render them equal. You will perceive them as they follow to be conceived in the form of Epitaphs, a sort of Writing which is wholly set apart for a short pointed Method of Praise.OnOrpheus, written byAntipater.No longer, Orpheus,shall thy sacred StrainsLead Stones, and Trees, and Beasts along the Plains;No longer sooth the boistrous Wind to sleep,Or still the Billows of the raging Deep:For thou art gone, the Muses mourn'd thy FallIn solemn Strains, thy Mother most of all.Ye Mortals, idly for your Sons ye moan,If thus a Goddess could not save her own.Observe here, that if we take the Fable for granted, as it was believed to be in that Age when the Epigram was written, the Turn appears to have Piety to the Gods, and a resigning Spirit in its Application. But if we consider the Point with respect to our present Knowledge, it will be less esteem'd; though the Author himself, because he believ'd it, may still be more valued than any one who should now write with a Point of the same Nature.OnHomer, byAlpheusofMytilene.Still in our EarsAndromachecomplains,And still in sight the Fate ofTroyremains;StillAjaxfights, stillHector'sdragg'd along,Such strange Enchantment dwells inHomer'sSong;Whose Birth cou'd more than one poor Realm adorn,For all the World is proud that he was born.The Thought in the first part of this is natural, and depending upon the Force of Poesy: In the latter part it looks as if it would aim at the History of seven Towns contending for the Honour ofHomer'sBirth-place; but when you expect to meet with that common Story, the Poet slides by, and raises the wholeWorldfor a kind ofArbiter, which is to end the Contention amongst its several Parts.OnAnacreonbyAntipater.This Tomb be thine,Anacreon;all aroundLet Ivy wreath, let Flourets deck the Ground,And from its Earth, enrich'd with such a Prize,Let Wells of Milk and Streams of Wine arise:So will thine Ashes yet a Pleasure know,If any Pleasure reach the Shades below.The Poet here written upon, is an easy gay Author, and he who writes upon him has filled his own Head with the Character of his Subject. He seems to love his Theme so much, that he thinks of nothing but pleasing him as if he were still alive, by entering into his Libertine Spirit; so that the Humour is easy and gay, resemblingAnacreonin its Air, raised by such Images, and pointed with such a Turn as he might have used. I give it a place here, because the Author may have design'd it for his Honour; and I take an Opportunity from it to advise others, that when they would praise, they cautiously avoid every looser Qualification, and fix only where there is a real Foundation in Merit.OnEuripides, byIon.DivineEuripides,this Tomb we seeSo fair, is not a Monument for thee,So much as thou for it, since all will ownThy Name and lasting Praise adorns the Stone.The Thought here is fine, but its Fault is, that it is general, that it may belong to any great Man, because it points out no particular Character. It would be better, if when we light upon such a Turn, we join it with something that circumscribes and bounds it to the Qualities of our Subject. He who gives his Praise in gross, will often appear either to have been a Stranger to those he writes upon, or not to have found any thing in them which is Praise-worthy.OnSophocles, bySimonides.Winde, gentle Ever-green, to form a ShadeAround the Tomb whereSophoclesis laid;Sweet Ivy winde thy Boughs, and intertwineWith blushing Roses and the clustring Vine:Thus will thy lasting Leaves, with Beauties hung,Prove grateful Emblems of the Lays he sung;Whose Soul, exalted like aGodofWit,Among theMusesand theGraceswrit.This Epigram I have open'd more than any of the former: The Thought towards the latter End seemed closer couched, so as to require an Explication. I fancied the Poet aimed at the Picture which is generally made ofApolloand theMuses, he sitting with his Harp in the Middle, and they around him. This look'd beautiful to my Thought, and because the Image arose before me out of the Words of the Original as I was reading it, I venture to explain them so.OnMenander, the Author unnamed.The very Bees, O sweetMenander,hungTo taste theMusesSpring upon thy Tongue;The veryGracesmade the Scenes you writTheir happy Point of fine Expression hit.Thus still you live, you make yourAthensshine,And raise its Glory to the Skies in thine.This Epigram has a respect to the Character of its Subject; forMenanderwrit remarkably with a Justness and Purity of Language. It has also told the Country he was born in, without either a set or a hidden Manner, while it twists together the Glory of the Poet and his Nation, so as to make the Nation depend upon his for an Encrease of its own.I will offer no more Instances at present, to shew that they who deserve Praise have it returned them from different Ages. Let these which have been laid down, shew Men that Envy will not always prevail. And to the End that Writers may more successfully enliven the Endeavours of one another, let them consider, in some such Manner as I have attempted, what may be the justest Spirit and Art of Praise. It is indeed very hard to come up to it. Our Praise is trifling when it depends upon Fable; it is false when it depends upon wrong Qualifications; it means nothing when it is general; it is extreamly difficult to hit when we propose to raise Characters high, while we keep to them justly. I shall end this with transcribing that excellent Epitaph of Mr.Cowley, wherein, with a kind of grave and philosophick Humour, he very beautifully speaks of himself (withdrawn from the World, and dead to all the Interests of it) as of a Man really deceased. At the same time it is an Instruction how to leave the Publick with a good Grace.Epitaphium Vivi Authoris.Hic, O Viator, sub Lare parvuloCouleiushic est conditus, hic jacetDefunctus Humani LaborisSorte, supervacuaque Vita,Non Indecora pauperie nitens,Et non inerti Nobilis Otio,Vanoque dilectis popelloDivitiis animosus hostis.Possis ut illum dicere mortuumEn Terra jam nunc Quantula sufficit?Exempta sit Curis, Viator,Terra sit illa lævis, precare.Hic sparge Flores, sparge breves Rosas,Nam Vita gaudet Mortua Floribus,Herbisque Odoratis CoronaVatis adhuc Cinerem Calentem.
OnOrpheus, written byAntipater.No longer, Orpheus,shall thy sacred StrainsLead Stones, and Trees, and Beasts along the Plains;No longer sooth the boistrous Wind to sleep,Or still the Billows of the raging Deep:For thou art gone, the Muses mourn'd thy FallIn solemn Strains, thy Mother most of all.Ye Mortals, idly for your Sons ye moan,If thus a Goddess could not save her own.
OnHomer, byAlpheusofMytilene.Still in our EarsAndromachecomplains,And still in sight the Fate ofTroyremains;StillAjaxfights, stillHector'sdragg'd along,Such strange Enchantment dwells inHomer'sSong;Whose Birth cou'd more than one poor Realm adorn,For all the World is proud that he was born.
OnAnacreonbyAntipater.This Tomb be thine,Anacreon;all aroundLet Ivy wreath, let Flourets deck the Ground,And from its Earth, enrich'd with such a Prize,Let Wells of Milk and Streams of Wine arise:So will thine Ashes yet a Pleasure know,If any Pleasure reach the Shades below.
OnEuripides, byIon.DivineEuripides,this Tomb we seeSo fair, is not a Monument for thee,So much as thou for it, since all will ownThy Name and lasting Praise adorns the Stone.
OnSophocles, bySimonides.Winde, gentle Ever-green, to form a ShadeAround the Tomb whereSophoclesis laid;Sweet Ivy winde thy Boughs, and intertwineWith blushing Roses and the clustring Vine:Thus will thy lasting Leaves, with Beauties hung,Prove grateful Emblems of the Lays he sung;Whose Soul, exalted like aGodofWit,Among theMusesand theGraceswrit.
OnMenander, the Author unnamed.The very Bees, O sweetMenander,hungTo taste theMusesSpring upon thy Tongue;The veryGracesmade the Scenes you writTheir happy Point of fine Expression hit.Thus still you live, you make yourAthensshine,And raise its Glory to the Skies in thine.
Epitaphium Vivi Authoris.Hic, O Viator, sub Lare parvuloCouleiushic est conditus, hic jacetDefunctus Humani LaborisSorte, supervacuaque Vita,Non Indecora pauperie nitens,Et non inerti Nobilis Otio,Vanoque dilectis popelloDivitiis animosus hostis.Possis ut illum dicere mortuumEn Terra jam nunc Quantula sufficit?Exempta sit Curis, Viator,Terra sit illa lævis, precare.Hic sparge Flores, sparge breves Rosas,Nam Vita gaudet Mortua Floribus,Herbisque Odoratis CoronaVatis adhuc Cinerem Calentem.
[The Publication of these Criticisms having procured me the following Letter from a very ingenious Gentleman, I cannot forbear inserting it in the Volume, though it did not come soon enough to have a place in any of my single Papers.
Mr. SPECTATOR,'Having read over in your Paper,No. 551. some of the Epigrams made by theGrecianWits, in commendation of their celebrated Poets, I could not forbear sending you another, out of the same Collection; which I take to be as great a Compliment toHomer, as any that has yet been paid him.Greek: Tís poth' ho tòn Troiaes pólemon, &c.Who first transcribed the famousTrojanWar,And wiseUlysses'Acts, OJove,make known:For since 'tis certain, Thine those Poems are,No more letHomerboast they are his own.If you think it worthy of a Place in your Speculations, for ought I know (by that means) it may in time be printed as often inEnglish, as it has already been inGreek, I am (like the rest of the World)Sir,Your great Admirer,G. R.4thDec.
Greek: Tís poth' ho tòn Troiaes pólemon, &c.
Who first transcribed the famousTrojanWar,And wiseUlysses'Acts, OJove,make known:For since 'tis certain, Thine those Poems are,No more letHomerboast they are his own.