was expressly to treat only of the state of man here." There are not, perhaps, four more finished lines in our author's works, than those above mentioned, relating to Lord Peterborough: particularly the very striking turn of compliment in the last line, which so beautifully and vigorously figures the rapidity of his conquest of Valencia. 15. tamen me Cum magnis vixisse invita fatebitur usque Envy must own, I live among the great; POPE triumphs and felicitates himself upon having lived with the great, without descending into one of those characters which he thinks it unavoidable to escape in such a situation. From the generosity and openness of Horace's character, I think he might be pronounced equally free (at least from the last) of these imputations. There must * Ver. 75. + Ver. 133. must have been something uncommonly captivating in the temper and manners of Horace, that could have made Augustus so fond of him, though he had been so avowed an enemy, and served under Brutus. I have seen some manuscript Letters of Shaftesbury, in which he has ranged in three different classes, the Ethical writings of Horace, according to the different periods of his life in which he supposes them to have been written. The first, during the time he professed the Stoic philosophy, and was a friend of Brutus. The second, after he became dissolute and debauched, at the Court of Augustus. The third, when he repented of this abandoned Epicurean life, wished to retire from the city and court, and become a private man and a philosopher. 16. Offendet solido*. et fragili quærens illidere dentem, POPE has omitted this elegant allusion. Horace seems to have been particularly fond of those exquisite morsels of wit and genius, the old Esopic fables. He frequently alludes to them, but always with a brevity, very different from our modern writers of fable: even the natural La Fontaine has added a quaint and witty thought to this very fable. The File says to the Viper, Fab. 98, Tu te romprois toutes les dents. 17. Si mala condiderit in quem quis carmina, jus est Judiciumque. H. Esto si quis mala, sed bona si quis“. Judice condiderit laudatus Cæsaret To laugh at the solemnity of Trebatius, Horace puts him off with a play upon words: But our important lawyer takes no notice of the jest, and finishes with a gravity suited to his cha racter. Solventur risu tabulæ, Tu missus abibis. This * See the learned Dissertation, DE BABRIO, lately published by Mr. Tyrwhit; in which are several of the greatest elegance. + Ver. 82. This dialogue I heard lately spoken with so much spirit and propriety, that if our author could have been present, he, perhaps, might have been inclined to alter an opinion, of which he seems very fond, in the fourth book of the Dunciad, "that WORDS only are learnt at our GREAT SCHOOLS." 18. Non meus hic sermo; sed quæ præcepit Ofellus Hear Bethel's sermon; one not vers'd in schools, This discourse in praise of Temperance, loses much of its grace and propriety, by being put into the mouth of a person of a much higher rank in life than the honest countryman Ofellus; whose patrimony had been seized by Augustus, and given to one of his soldiers, named Umbrenus; and whom, perhaps, Horace recommended to the emperor, by making him the chief speaker in this very satire. We may imagine that a discourse on temperance from Horace, raised a laugh *At Eton School. + Sat. ii. lib. 2. v. 2. Ver. 9, among the courtiers of Augustus; and we see he could not venture to deliver it in his own person. This imitation of Pope is not equal to most of his others. 19. Leporem sectatus, equove Lassus ab indomito, vel, (si Romana fatigat Sperne cibum vilem; nisi Hymettia mella Falerno Go hunt, work, exercise! he thus began, If then plain bread and milk will do the feat, This We are informed by Mr. Stuart, in his Athens, that the honey of Hymettus, even to this time, continues to be in vogue, and that the seraglio of the Grand Seignor is served with a quantity of it yearly. + Ver. 9. Ver. 11. |