To the PHILOLOGICAL SOCIETY. GENTLEMEN, Some MSS. of a iate celebrated Hiftorian and Critick having accidentally fallen into my hands, I fend you two of them for infertion in the EUROPEAN MAGAZINE. They appear to have been intended for fome periodical work, but why they were fuppreffed. it is now vain to enquire.

Kenlington,

8th Dec. 1786.

I am, Gentlemen, &c.

D. G.

REMARK 8 on Dr. JOHNSON'S ESSAY on EPITAPH S.

THE work now about to be confider ed, is not the first this author has given the public, to thew that a man may be an excellent writer, and a mot miferable critic. His Elly upon Epitaphs lays down rules for monumental infcriptions; a fpecies of writing which we will Venture to fay ought not to fall under the laws of criticiin. If nonfenfe, as the poet fays, is eloquence in love, it ought to be far more fo in grief-Quis defiderio At puder aut modus? lays one of the beft of critics.

It feems never to have occurred to this author, that expreffions of grief are to be confined to no rules; that they differ according to the habit, temperament, and complexion of the party: fome are calm and fedate, others vehement and plaintive: but a true critic, who, we think, is but a learned man of fenfe, will always confider the effect which: an epitaph has upon his own feelings. This fayit upon Epitaphs fays, that they feem entitied to more than common regard. Nature and reafon (jays he) have dictated to every nation, that, to preferve good actions from oblivion, is both the intereft and duty of mankind; and therefore we find no people acquainted with the ufc of letters, that omitted to grave the tombs of their heroes and wife men with panegyrical inferiptions." Panegyrical inferiptions upon tombs, or at leaft the general ule of them, is, we apprehend, of a modern date, when compared to the remote antiquity in which monumental infc, iptions came in ute; and we believe this author can produce few or none preceding the Augutin age. Had he confined Aldus, Tanu.ius, and other writers, who are converiant in Greek and Roman imicriptions, he would have perceived how frugal the ancients were of panegyric in their epi. taphs. Even thofe of fathers or mothers upon their children were confined to the following fentiment, which we find in, Cato Major: "Cujus a me corpus crematum eft: quod contra decuit ab ill meum: ine meaning of which is, The father performed thote duties for the fon, VOL. XI.

which the fon ought to have paid to the father. In short, we can by no means approve of the very extraordinary fancy of laying down rules for difcharging the of fices of grief and affection.

Next follows a Differtation on the Epitaphs of Mr. Pope. The first fpecimen of our author's criticifm arifes from the first two lines of that poet's epitaph on the earl of Dorset :

сп

Dorfet, the grace of courts, the Mufes' pride,
Patron of Arts, and judge of Nature dy'd,

"The first diftich of this epitaph, fays
our author, contains a kind of informa-
tion which few would want, that the man
for whom the tomb was erected, died."
We can fcarcely believe our own eyes in
reading fuch an obfervation upon two
lines fq unexceptionable in their fentiment
as well as compofition, that they may be
juftified by the example of every good
poet, from the days of Homer to thofe of
Pepe. It would be offering even an in-
fult to any liberal understanding to bring
quotations in their vindication, as they.
occur in almost every claffic page. "What
is meant by judge of Nature (lays our
author) is not ealy to fay. Nature is
not the object of human judgment, for it
is vain to judge where we cannot alter.
If by Nature is meant what is commonly
called Nature by the critics, a juft repre
fentation of things really exilting, and
actions really performed, Nature cannot
be properly oppofed to Art; Nature be-
ing, in this fente, only the bet effect of

Art."

fuch a hypercritic exifting as to fay, that when a man is praised for being a judge of nature and art, he perceives what is beautiful in both? We affirm as dogmatically as this author does, on the other de, that nature is the object of human judgment. Where is the impropriety of taying, What judgment do you form from the appearance of the weather? or is there a peafant in England who does not understand that phrafe as well as if the querift had faid, What opinion do you form?-But let us examine the fentiment as well as the language.

Mr. Pope fays that Dorfet was the patron of arts, and a judge of nature.-We are of opinion that he could not have, with propriety, been the former without being the latter. All beauty is either abfolute or relative. principles of fymmetry chiefly conftitute Regularity and the the former, as may be feen in architecture, and the judicious execution of fome mechanic arts. Relative is in fact imitative beauty in two of the finest_arts, thofe of painting and poetry. Every man admires nature in both arts; but how can he judge of either, without knowing what nature is? Can he, for inftance, judge of the beauty of an Antinous or a Venus de Medicis, without being acquainted with the natural forms of man and woman? What charms can the fineft landscape of Pouffin have in the eyes of a man who never faw nature in the tky, the wood, or the flood? and the more intimately he is acquainted with Nature, muft he not the more exquifitely relish the execution of the artist?

word facred, which furely fhould never a little more accurately to the use of the be applied in a serious compofition, but higher Being, or where fome duty is exwhere fome reference may be made to a acted or implied. A man may keep his friendship facred, becaufe promises of friendship are very awful ties; but mefenfe, be faid to keep his cafe facred. thinks he cannot, but in a burlesque

Though we are almoft ashamed to animadvert upon this critic, yet his charac ter as a writer gives him a claim to more indulgence than we can afford to bestow upon vulgar authors. We fhall just touch upon another of his curious criticisms. The two following lines occur in the fame epitaph;

Bleft courtier who could king and country please,

Yet facred keep his friendfhip and his ease.

We believe there is not a more justifiable application of any word in the Englifh tongue, than that of facred in the line before us; and had this criticifm fallen reputed author, we fhould have pronounfrom the pen of any other than that of its ced him ignorant of the common idioms of language. Why should not a word of heathen original, and which implied no from common ufe, be applied to the fame more than any thing or place fet apart purpose im English? The two lines, if that lord Dorfet was happy in performing turned into profe, exprefs no more than facrificing his friendship or his eafe; meanhis duty to his king and country, without of mind, without which no true eafe can ing that felf-fatisfaction and contentment be obtained.

"Whether a courtier can properly be commended for keeping his cafe facred, may perhaps be difputable. To pleate king and country, without facrificing friendship to any change of times, was a very uncommon inftance of prudence or felicity, and deferved to be kept feparate from fo poor a commendation as care of this cafe. I wifh our poets would attend

Has not our critic heard of an etium cum dignitate? and what do the lines he quarrels with imply, but an explanation of that expreflion? and we will venture met with in English poetry. to fay, that two happier lines are not to be

forbear to animadvert upon his other criWe fhall, in tendernefs to this author, ticifins on Mr. Pope, because they are below contempt. After the most ungrammatical charge brought against the epitaph, for ungrammaticality, that we betwo lat lines of Sir Godfrey Kneller's English, he omits to tell us what perhaps lieve ever fell from a pen which could write is the only real impeachment that can be brought against that author's epitaphs, viz. that thofe two lines contain an almoft literal, and indeed childish tranflation of Bembo's epitaph upon Raphael:

Hic fitus eft Raphael; timuit quo fofpite vinci

Rerum magna parens, et morienté mori.

for the length of this article; but its obWe perhaps ought to make an apology ject carries a great deal of fail in literathe nautical phrafe, a good deal of drubture, and being a large hulk, required, in bing.

For

For the EUROPEAN MAGAZINE.

FRAGMENTS by LE O. No. X.

The CRITICAL CLUB-TWO PROFOUND GRECIANS.

MY laft memoir of our Literary Society concluded with the mention of Tom Triplet's promife that Dr. Omicron, notwithstanding the rage with which he had left us, would certainly attend our next meeting; at which time we might expect fome curious criticifin on the veries which Triplet had put in his hand as a tranfla. tion from the Greek by William Caxton, the father of English printers. Ac-cordingly, on my entering the room laft night, I not only found Dr. Omicron feated at the head of the table, but also a tranger with him, of a very grotesque appearance. He was tall, bony, and very thin. His eyes, which were quick, and betrayed much difcontent and fupercilious contempt, were mostly fixed on the table, and his countenance was remarkably fharp and long. In short, he appeared to me as a man who had formed fanguine expectations, founded on his idea of his own merit; and having experienced nothing but difappointments, had become morofe, felf-conceited, and out of humour with all mankind. For true it is, there are people in the world who confole themfelves under the moit mortifying proofs that the public look upon their abilities in the most contemptible light, by heightening their ideas of their own importance, accomplished genius, and extenfive acquirements; who, in return for the neglet with which they are treated, lament and pity, from their very hearts, the ignorance and frivolous difpofition of this degenerated age. Nor was I wrong in my conjectures. Dr. Omicron, who fat next me, informed me in a whifper, that the stranger, Dr. Delta, was a profound Grecian; and one of the belt, though most unfortunate, fchoolmasters in the kingdom; that he had devised a mode for children to acquire the learned languages vaftly fuperior to the common method, one principal part of which was, that fchoolboys fhould be obliged to fleep in the day-time, and to ftudy in the night, according to the practice of the molt eminent of the learned of all ages. "And the advantages of this mode, added he, are felf-evident. In the day-time a thoufand various objects engage the attention of youth, and of the aged too. Even a hermitage has a thousand things to call off our attention in the day-tune; the lowing

and bleating of cattle, the finging of birds, the rifing and fetting fun, the various appearances of the clouds, and the natural anxiety we have about the weather, all combine to take off even the hermit's attention from study and how much more fo must be the distracting objects which furround the man who is obliged to live in a city, unless he has the wildom and prudence to fleep by day, and devote the night to the study of the Greek and other ancient languages;-the night, that bleft feafon"-By this time Dr. Omicron, who had begun in a whif per to me, had raised his voice fo loud, that the room was all attention to him"The night, faid he, that bleft season for ftudy, when all nature is ferene and folemn, and hardly one intruding object to divert the mind from its learned purfuits! Hail, facred Night! Well did the wife. Athenians give thy folemn bird as the fymbol of wisdom! And what man was ever admired for his learning who did not tudy by night? Impreffed by these confiderations and great examples, my friend Dr. Delta, here prefent, conceived the idea of inftituting night-fchools for inftruction in the Claffics; but alas! he has fallen in evil days. Though he has tried this excellent method in various parts of the kingdom, the ignorance and prejudiced ftupidity of mothers and maiden aunts, aye, and of many fathers too, have conftantly defeated his noble intentions; and, poor man, he now employs his midnight hours in correcting the prefs for bookfellers."" Aye, aye, Dr.Omicron, fays Dr. Delta, this is a. barbarous and grofs age. It has no relifh for folid learning; but this is to me a melancholy fubjeet: do let us confole ourfelves with your criticifm on that admirable little copy of verfes in the black letter, which you fhewed me on your kind vifit the other night."-" The verles, indeed, faid Dr. Omicron, have great merit: they have the genuine and elegant fimplicity of Hefiod and Theocritus; but after the meditation of feveral nights, I cannot as yet determine which of the Greek poets they belong to. And it is much to be lamented that the original Greek cannot be difcovered, and is perhaps totally loft Howbeit, I am convinced, by interna. evidence, that it is a tranflation from th C 2

Greek

Greek; though a learned friend objected
to me, that William Caxton neither un-
deritoed Greek nor Latin, but tranflated
wholly from the French; and was with
al fo ignorant of the fublime fictions
of the ancient poets, that he fancied the
Eneid, which he tranflated from a French
verfion, was a true hiftory. But why, I
replied, might not one Frenchman tran-
fiate a feftival hymn or fong from the
Greek, as well as another the Eneid from
the Latin, from both of which Caxton
was free to borrow? But the 'veries will
fpeak for themselves; they are as fol-

low:

moft tender and domeftic manner, fetting her maiter's family, as it were, before our eyes; which, we are given to understand, confifted of the mafter, his spouse, and

their little fon. We think we fee the "prettie boye carolling in the lane."This is poetical imagery indeed, conveyed in all the beautiful and affecting fimplicity of Theocritus himself. And though this ancient fong points out a particular family, I make no doubt but the last verfe was varied, according to the number and circumstances of the family of the perfon who gave the fheep-fhearing feaft. But fatisfactory as the fe reafons of the other opinion, that it was an hymn may appear, much may be faid in fupport fung at a folemn facrifice to the infernal gods. Now, if we fuppofe the facrifice was made by difconfolate parents on the death of a dearly-beloved infant fon, every thing will be plain and natural. It is a fact notorious, that the Greeks facrificed black fheep to the infernal deities, and white ones to the celestial. The pricft, and bids it bleat; that is, give us a good now ready at the altar, accoits the victim, boyement occurs in its proper place. It was omen. And now a matter of great mo

Blete, goode black there, b'ite, Bul me what offeringe does thou

bringe of wole?

Gour parcels three complete, Schal pau myne pirty tribut mict

ano tu!.

Zu is to gif my martial maider jeir,

andan fchall be a pillow for my daine;

And an to play the prettie What caroliefy in the lane.

a cultom among the Greeks to comb and What elegant and true Grecian fimcut off their hair when they deveted the inplicity! Who can helitate a moment to felves to death. Thus we find the Sparpronounce it of Greek extraction, when tans employed on the evening before the he confiders the feftival fongs and other b. ttle of Thermopyle. To this cuftom hymns in that nobleft of languages? makes the victim, as if conscious of its our unknown poet artfully alludes, and But I muft own, that I am not determin- approaching fate, devotes its wool, that is ed in my opinion of what was the occafion of this little morfel of true Sicilian its hair, not only to the infernal deities, or Arcadian poctry. Strong realons inbut alfo to the manes of the boy, on hote duce me to think it was no other than a death the facrifice was made. One lot fheep-fhearing feng; and other reafons, Plate, wo is here called martial, from of my hair, fys the theep, fhall rejoice equally forcible, incline me to believe it a hymn fung at a folemn facrifice to the inhis finally fubduing the greatest heroes, fernal geds. In fupport of the first fup- thall be a pillow to Proferpine, a gift moit and all their mighty hofts. Another let polition, it is a fact well known to every acceptable to all females and the victim Greck fcholar, that the wealthy propric- calls her Dame, inatimuch as the was foen tor of cattle always gave a feal to his fo pals to her regions. But the roll beaufriends and neighbours, when he feared his theep; and what fong more proper delicate manner in which the priest introtiful of the whole is the very happy and for fuch an occafion than that we have just read? The fhepherd, juit as he is duces the manes of the deceated boy. He going to fhear it, accolts his theep. First, bits; "he carolleth in the lane," that ftill retains his innocent and plealant hawith the most beautiful fanpl ci y, he bids, the paffage from the farther fide of the it bleat, and then alks it what cifting of wool it has got. The fheep then, according to the true spirit of pectiy, replies to the thepherd, that the has got good itore, a pio. per and full payment for her yearly pafiure, and the care of the thepherd. Now the notion grows bolder. The theep appropriates her the lots of wool in the

Styx to the Ely..an Pickds, whither he gofinging. Nay, the victim is made to give eth to be happy, for he goeth caroling, or the youth equal honours with Pluto and Picierpine; an apotheofis most artfully and delicately introduced, and no doubt highly delightful to the parents. But the expreffion that the third lot of woel

was

was to plave the pretty boy, is certainly a corruption; for it cannot be fuppofed that the happy ghost of a boy, on the way to Elyfium, fhould top to play with a bag of wool. The original Greek, therefore, never had it to. The word of d there mult have been from the verb zoopw; as one would fay, żyw is Tipñ Tuά; and fo he was T or dog, being in every point rozuλór:-which rich mode of expreflion the ignorance of the French trapflator rendered jouer, and which Mr. Caxton as ignorantly followed in his expretion" to plate the pretty boy," which, by the bye, is bad English, as it ufes an active verb in a neutral fenfe. And as to the theep giving the refponfe, nothing was more common in the Greck epigrams; witnefs, to mention no more, one of the epitaphs on the divine Plato. But 1 shall not repeat it in Greek, having the grief, the other evening, to find that few of the company understood, or relithed, that mot glorious language. I have, therefore, thus tranflated it into English. A patlenger fpeaks:

Eagle, why art thou perch'd upon this

Then the eagle replies;

I Plato's foul, to heav'n flown, reprefent ;
His body's buried in this monument.
And this affords a moit
convincing
proof that the fheep-fhearing fong, or fu-
nereal hymn, we have been examining is
of genuine Greek original: beides,
were they wanting, a thoufand other
proofs might be brought."

Indeed they might, faid Dr.Delta; but though I putely agree with you, Dr. Omicron, that the veries are certainly from the Greck, I cannot, learned and ingenious

they are, age with year confctures. The late Jubk&t has employed my thoughts thete three lait nights, and certam I am I have hit upon the true occation of this lesival hyjan, Firit, then, it is neither Sicilian ñor Arcadian, but truly Thracian; and this I prove by its being a folemn hymn fung at the great annu facrifice to Mars, the god of that country. Let us examine it attentively. The victim is defired by the priti to bleat, that is, to give an aufpicious omen and thus far Dr. Omicron is perfectly right. But it escaped him that Mars is particuFrly pointed out both by the colour of the victim and the nature of the ortering. Black theep were facrificed to the infer

nal gods: and who fends more ghofts to the infernal regions than Mars? Again, To which of the gods is wool fo proper an offering as to Mars? Homer tells us, that Neftor's helmet was lined with wool; and Euftathius, in loco, and all the fcholiats allure us, that all helmets ufed in battle were fo furnished. Nay, we have the very name of Mars in the text, my martial maifter." And the wool is to give him joy; that is, to make the helmet fit eafy on his head. And in farther compliment to the god of war, thote that are dearcit to him are allo honoured. Venus, whom the fheep very aptly calls her Dame, is to have a pillow of wool, which accommodation would no doubt endear her embraces to Mars and Cupid has likewife his fhare. How excellently is the god of love described under the charac

ter of a (6

lane," that is, the paffage to the apartpretty boy carolling in the ment of the lover's miftrets. Aye aye, Dr. Omicron, Cupid laughs and fings when, in our youthful days, he leads us to the favourite fair. But that he plays with a parcel of wool is indeed abfurd enough; though I do not agree with you that Mr. Caxton tranflated it fo from the French French word was plaire, to pleate, and word jouer. I am rather convinced the that Caxton tranflated it "to please the pretty boy;" and therefore "to playe the pretty boy" is evidently the mistake of fome ignorant tranfcriber.-"

Here the two learned Grecians, as difdaining any difpute with people they deemed fo little acquainted with the Greek tongue, fuddenly rofe and abruptly left the roor.

"And thefe are your learned Grecians, Mr. Diftich, faid Tom Triplet, with an arch imile! Very deep, indeed! But to let you into the fecret, it was I myself who black letter, on an old bit of dirty paper, got the important verfes printed in the and they are only my own paraphrate of an old foolith nurie's rhyme, which I heard a girl in the fields the other day miftoning to a wayward child. wonderful original is no other than this;

Baugh, baugh, black sheep,

Have you any wool?
Yes I have plenty,

Three bags full:
One for my matter,

Another for my dame,
And one for the naughty boy

The

That's crying in the lane." "Who can help laughing, faid our prefident of the evening, at fuch abfurdities as our two learned Grecians have exhibited. But how many a learned page is

loaded