I fing. Say you, her Inftruments the Great! Call'd to this work by Dulnefs, Jove, and Fate; REMARKS. accurate Antiquary, and Autograph of Shakespeare himfelf, whereby it appears that he spelled his own name without the first e. And upon this authority it was, that thofe moft Critical Curators of his Monument in Westminster Abbey erafed the former wrong reading, and restored the new fpelling on a new piece of old Egyptian Granite. Nor for this only do they deferve our thanks, but for exhibiting on the fame Monument the first Specimen of an Edition of an author in Marble; where (as may be feen on comparing the Tomb with the Book) in the space of five lines, two Words and a whole Verse are changed, and it is to be hoped will there ftand, and outlast whatever hath been hitherto done in Paper; as for the future, our learned Sifter University (the other Eye of England) is taking care to perpetuate a Total new Shakespeare at the Clarendon prefs. BENTL. It is to be noted, that this great Critic alfo has omitted one circumftance; which is, that the Infcription with the Name of Shakespeare was intended to be placed on the Marble Scroll to which he points with his hand; inftead of which it is now placed behind his back, and that Specimen of an Edition is put on the Scroll, which indeed Shakespeare hath great reafon to point at. ANON. Though I have as juft a value for the letter E, as any Grammarian living, and the fame affection for the Name of this Poem as any Critic for that of his Author; yet cannot it induce me to agree with thofe who would add yet another e to it, and call it the Dunceiade; which being a French and foreign termination, is no way proper to a word entirely English, and vernacular. e therefore in this cafe is right, and two ee's wrong. Yet upon the whole I fhall follow the Manufcript, and print it without any e at all; moved thereto by Authority (at all times, with Critics, equal, if not fuperior to One You by whofe care, in vain decry'd and curst, REMARKS. 5 Reafon). In which method of proceeding, I can never enough praise my good friend, the exact Mr. Tho. Hearne, who, if any word occur, which to him and all mankind is evidently wrong, yet keeps he it in the Text with due reverence, and only remarks in the Margin, Sic MS. In like manner we fhall not amend this error in the Title itself, but only note it obiter, to evince to the learned that it was not our fault, nor any effect of our ignorance or inattention. SCRIBL. This Poem was written in the. Year 1726. In the next year an imperfect Edition was published at Dublin, and reprinted at London in twelves; another at Dublin, and another at London in octavo: and three others in twelves the fame year. But there was no perfect Edition before that of London in quarto; which was attended with Notes. We are willing to acquaint Pofterity, that this Poem was prefented to King George the Second and his Queen by the hands of Sir Robert Walpole, on the 12th of March, 1728-9. SCHOL. VET. It was exprefsly confeffed in the Preface to the first Edition, that this Poem was not published by the Author himself. It was printed orignally in a foreign Country. And what foregn Country? Why, one notorious for blunders; where finding blanks only instead of proper names, thefe blunderers filled them up at their pleafure. The very Hero of the Poem hath been mistaken to this hour; fo that we are obliged to open our Notes with a difcovery who he really was. We learn from the former Editor, that this piece was prefented by the hands of Sir Robert Walpole to King George II. Now the author directly tells us, his Hero is the Man "who brings "The Smithfield Mufes to the ear of Kings." And it is notorious who was the perfon on whom this Prince conferred the honour of the Laurel. Say, how the Goddefs bade Britannia fleep, REMARKS. It appears as plainly from the Apoftrophe to the Great in the third verfe, that Tibbald could not be the perfon, who was never an Author in fashion, or careffed by the Great; whereas this fingle characteristic is fufficient to point out the true Hero: who, above all other Poets of his time, was the Peculiar Delight and Chofen Companion of the Nobility of England; and wrote, as he himfelf tells us, certain of his works at the earnest defire of Perfons of Quality. Laftly, the fixth verfe affords full proof; this Poet being the only one who was univerfally known to have had a Son fo exactly like him, in his poetical, theatrical, political, and moral Capacities, that it could justly be faid of him, "Still Dunce the fecond reigns like Dunce the first.” BENTL. Ver. 1. The mighty Mother and her Son, &c.] The Reader ought here to be cautioned, that the Mother, and not the Son, is the principal Agent of this Poem ; the latter of them is only chofen as her Colleague (as was anciently the custom in Rome before fome great expedition), the main action of the Poem being by no means the Coronation of the Laureate, which is perform ed in the very first book, but the Restoration of the Empire of Dulness in Britain, which is not accomplished till the laft. Ver. 2. The Smithfield Mufes.] Smithfield is the place where Bartholomew Fair was kept, whose shows, machines, and dramatical entertainments, formerly agreeable only to the taste of the Rabble, were by the Hero of this poem, and others of equal genius, brought to the Theatres of Covent-garden, Lincoln's-inn-fields, and the Hay-market, to be the reigning pleasures of the Court and Town. This happened in the reigns of K. George I, and II. See Book iii.. In eldest time, ere mortals writ or read, Ere Pallas iffu'd from the Thunderer's head, Still her old Empire to restore she tries, REMARKS. Ver. 4. By Dulness, Jove, and Fate:] i. e. by their Judgments, their Interests, and their Inclinations. Ver. 15. Laborious, heavy, busy, bold, &c.] I wonder the learned Scriblerus has omitted to advertise the Reader, at the opening of this Poem, that Dulness here is not to be taken contractedly for mere Stupidity, but in the enlarged Senfe of the word, for all Slownefs of Apprehenfion, Shortnefs of Sight, or imperfect Sense of things. It includes (as we fee by the Poet's own words) Labour, Industry, and fome degrees of Activity and Boldness; a ruling principle not inert, but turning topfy-turvy the Understanding, and inducing an Anarchy or confufed State of Mind. This remark ought to be carried along with the reader throughout the work; and without this caution he will be apt to miftake the importance of many of the Characters, as well as of the Defign of the Poet. Hence it is, that fome have complained he chufes too mean a fubject, and imagined he employs himself like Domitian, in killing flies; whereas thofe who have the true key will find he fports with nobler quarry, and embraces a larger compafs; or (as one faith, on a like occasion), "Will fee his Work, like Jacob's ladder rife, "Its foot in dirt, its head amid the skies." BENTL. Ver. 17. Still her old Empire to restore] This restoration makes the Completion of the Poem. Vide Book iv. 20 Oh Thou! whatever title please thine ear, Dean, Drapier, Bickerftaff, or Gulliver! Whether thou chufe Cervantes' ferious air, Or laugh and shake in Rabelais' eafy chair, Or praise the Court, or magnify Mankind, Or thy griev'd Country's copper chains unbind; From thy Boeotia though her Power retires, 25 Mourn not, my SWIFT, at aught our Realm acquires. Here pleas'd behold her mighty wings out-fpread To hatch a new Saturnian age of Lead. Close to those walls where Folly holds her throne, And laughs to think Monroe would take her down, 30 REMARKS. Ver. 22.-laugh and shake in Rabelais' eafy chair,] The imagery is exquifite; and the equivoque in the laft words, gives a peculiar elegance to the whole expreffion. The eafy chair fuits his age: Rabelais' eafy chair marks his character; and he filled and poffeffed it as the right heir and fucceffor of that original genius. Ver. 23. Or praise the Court, or magnify Mankind,] Ironicè, alluding to Gulliver's reprefentations of both. The next line relates to the papers of the Drapier against the currency of Wood's Copper coin in Ireland, which, upon the great difcontent of the people, his Majesty was graciously pleafed to recal. Ver. 26. Mourn not, my Swift! at aught our Realm acquires.] Ironicè iterum. The Politics of England and Ireland were at this time by fome thought to be op pofite, or interfering with each other. Dr. Swift of course was in the intereft of the latter, our Author of the former. VARIATION. Ver. 29-39. Close to those walls, &c.] In the former Edit. thus: Where wave the tatter'd enfigns of Rag-fair, A yawning ruin hangs and nods in air; |