C Invidus, iracundus, iners, vinofus, amator; Nemo adeo ferus eft, ut non mitefcere poffit, Si modo culturae patientem commodet aurem. e Virtus eft, vitium fugere; et fapientia prima, Stultitia caruiffe. vides, quae f maxima credis Effe mala, exiguum cenfum, turpemque repulfam, Quanto devites animi capitifque labore. Impiger extremos curris mercator ad Indos, Per mare pauperiem fugiens, per faxa, per ignes: Ne cures h ea, quae ftulte miraris et optas, Difcere, et audire, et meliori credere non vis? NOTES. VER. 70. Scar'd at the spectre of pale Poverty !] Tho' this has all the fpirit, it has not all the imagery of the Original; where Horace makes Poverty purfue, and keep pace with the Mifer in his flight. Per mare Pauperiem fugiens, per faxa, per ignes. But what follows, Wilt thou do nothing, etc. far furpaffes the Original. Beb furious, envious, flothful, mad, or drunk, C Slave to a Wife, or Vaffal to a Punk, d A Switz, a High-dutch, or a Low-dutch & Bear; "Tis the first Virtue, Vices to abhor; 65 Scar'd at the spectre of pale Poverty! See him, with pains of body, pangs of foul, 70 Burn through the Tropic, freeze beneath the Pole! NOTES. 75 VER. 77. Here Wisdom calls: etc.] All from hence to 110, is a pretty clofe tranflation: but in general done with so masterly a fpirit, that the Original, tho' one of the most finished paflages in Horace, looks only like the imitation of it. VER. 78. As Gold to Silver, Virtue is to Gold.] This perhaps is the moft faulty line in the whole collection. The Original is, Vilius eft auro argentum, virtutibus aurum. which only fays, that as Silver is of lefs value than Gold, fo Gold "O cives, cives! quaerenda pecunia primum eft; Virtus poft nummos: haec 'Janus fummus ab imo Prodocet: haec recinunt juvenes dictata fenefque, m Laevo fufpenfi loculos tabulamque lacerto. n Eft animus tibi, funt mores, eft lingua fidesque : Sed quadringentis fex feptem millia defint, • Plebs eris. at pueri ludentes, Rex eris, aiunt, NOTES. is of lefs value than Virtue: in which fimple inferiority, and not the proportion of it, is implied. For it was as contrary to the Author's purpose, as it is to common fenfe, to fuppofe, that Virtue was but just as much better than gold, as gold is better than filver. Yet Mr. Pope, too attentive to his conftant object, concifenefs, has, before he was aware, fallen into this abfurd meaning. However this, and many other inaccuracies in his works, had been corrected, had he lived; as many, that now first appear in this Edition, were actually corrected a little before his death. And here I cannot but do juftice to one of his many good qualities, a very rare one indeed, and what none but a truly great genius can afford to indulge; I mean his extreme readinefs, and unfeigned pleasure, in acknowledging his mistakes: this, with an impatience to reform them, he poffeffed in a greater degree, and with lefs affectation than any Man I ever knew. k There, London's voice: "Get Money, Moneystill! "And then let Virtue follow, if fhe will." This, this the faving doctrine, preach'd to all, From 'low St. James's up to high St. Paul; m 80 From him whofe quills ftand quiver'd at his ear, To him who notches fticks at Westminster. Barnard in " fpirit, fenfe, and truth abounds; 85 Pray then, what wants he?" Fourfcore thoufand pounds; A Penfion, or fuch Harness for a slave As Bug now has, and Dorimant would have. Barnard, thou art a Cit, with all thy worth; But Bug and D* 1, Their Honours, and fo forth.90, Yet ev'ry child another fong will fing, "Virtue, brave boys! 'tis Virtue makes a King." NOTES. VER. 82. From low St. James's up to high St. Paul,] i. e. This is a doctrine in which both Whigs and Tories agree. VER. 83. From him whofe quills ftand quiver'd at his ear,] They who do not take the delicacy of this fatire, may think the figure of ftanding quiver'd, extremely hard and quaint; but it has an exquifite beauty, infinuating that the pen of a Scrivener is as ready as the quill of a porcupine, and as fatal as the shafts. of a Parthian.-Quiver'd at his ear, which describes the pofition. it is ufually found in, alludes to the cuftom of the American canibals, who make use of their hair (tied in a knot on the top of their heads) for a quiver for their poifon'd arrows. VER. 84. notches fticks] Exchequer Tallies. VER. 85. Barnard in fpirit, fenfe, and truth abounds,] Sr John Barnard. It was the Poet's purpofe to fay, that this great man (who does fo much honour to his Country) had a fine ge Si recte facies. Hic murus abeneus efto, Nil confcire fibi, nulla pallefcere culpa. r • Rofcia, dic fodes, melior lex, an puerorum eft Naenia, quae regnum recte facientibus offert, S Et maribus Curiis et decantata Camillis? *Ifne tibi melius fuadet, qui, "Rem facias; rem, "Si poffis, recte; fi non, quocunque modo rem.'; nius, improved and put in ufe by a true understanding; and both, under the guidance of an integrity fuperior to all the temptations of intereft, honours, or any meaner paffion. Many events, fince the paying this tribute to his virtue, have fhewn how much, and how particularly it was due to him. VER. 95. Be this thy Screen, and this thy Wall of Brafs ;] Hic murus aheneus efto. Dacier laughs at an able Critic, who was fcandalized, that the antient Scholiafts had not explained what Horace meant by a wall of brass; for, fays Dacier, " Chacun fe fait des difficultez |