and laftly against the Emperor himfelf, who had conceived them of little Ufe to the Government. He shews (by a View of the Progress of Learning and the change of Taste among the Romans) that the Introduction of the Polite Arts of Greece had given the Writers of his Time great advantages over their Predeceffors; that their Morals were much improv ed, and the Licence of thofe ancient Poets reftrained: that Satire and Comedy were become more juft and ufeful; that whatever extravagancies were left on the Stage, were owing to the Ill Taste of the Nobility; that Poets, under due Regulations, were in many refpects useful to the State; and concludes, that it was upon them the Emperor himself muft depend, for his Fame with Pofterity. We may further learn from this Epiftle, that Horace made his Court to this Great Prince by writing with a decent Freedom toward him, with a juft Contempt of his low Flatterers, and with a manly regard to his own Character. P. EPISTOLA I. AD AUGUSTUM. CUM tot a fuftineas et tanta negotia folus, Rex Italas armis tuteris, moribus ornes, NOTES. VFR. 1. While you, great Patron] All thofe naufeous and outrageous compliments, which Horace, in a ftrain of abject adulation, degraded himself by paying to Auguftus, Pope has converted into bitter and pointed farcalms, conveyed under the form of the moft artful irony. Horace," fays Pope, in the advertisement to this piece, made his court to this great prince, (or rather this cool and fubtle tyrant,) by writing with a decent freedom towards him, with a juft contempt of his low flatterers, and with a manly regard to his own character." Surely he forgot the 15th and 16th lines: Jurandafque tibi per numen ponimus aras, Nil oriturum alias, nil ortum tale fatentes, &c. We fometimes fpeak incorrectly of what are called the writers of the Auguftan age. Terence, Lucretius, Catullus, Tully, J. Cæfar, and Salluft, wrote before the time of Auguftus; and Livy, Virgil, Horace, Tibullus, and Propertius, were by no means made good writers by his patronage and encouragement. The reigns of Auguftus and Louis XIV. are often faid to refemble each other, in the number of illuftrious men, of every fpecies of literature, that appeared together in. thofe reigns. But, (fays the Prefident Henault, with his ufual fagacity and judgment.) On ne doit pas croire que ce foit l'effet du hafard; & fi ces deux régnes ont de grands rapports, c'eft qu'ils ont été accompagnés à-peu-près des mêmes circonftances. Ces deux Princes fortoient des guerres civiles; de ce tems où les peuples toujours armés, nourris faus ceffe au milieu des périls, cutêtés des plus hardis deffeins, ne voyent rien où ils ne puiffent atteindre; de ce tems où les évènemens EPISTLE I. TO AUGUSTUS. WHILE you, great Patron of Mankind! a fuftain The balanc'd World, and open all the Main; NOTES. heureux & malheureux, mille fois répétés, étendent les idées, fortifient l'âme, à force d'épreuves, augmentent fon reffort, & lui donnent le défir de gloire qui ne manque jamais de produire de grandes choses.' Abrégé. 4to. p. 613. I beg leave to add, that one of the moft unaccountable preju dices that ever obtained, feems to be that of celebrating Auguftus for clemency. "Clementiam non voco, laffam crudelitatem," fays Seneca. Can we poffibly forget his cruel profcriptions, and unjuft banishment of Ovid? or the infamous obscenity of his verfes? In the fecond line of the Original, Bentley would read manibus inftead of moribus. If we place an interrogation point after Cæfar in the fourth line, it will vindicate the Poet from the feeming inconfiftency of, longo fermone: Dr. Hurd imagines, but perhaps without juft grounds, that by fermone we are to underftand, not the body of the epiftle, but the proëme or introduction only. This interpretation appears to be one of thofe refinements in which this learned Critic has rather too freely indulged him. felf in his Commentaries and Notes on this Epiftle, and on the Art of Poetry. See, for inftance, the interpretation he has adopted and amplified, from Catrou, of the temple Virgil has described, as prefiguring the Eneid, in the beginning of the Third Georgic. Notes on the Epiftle to Auguftus, p. 43. A noted French Writer calls Auguftus. “Un fourbe, un affaffin, nommé O&ave, parvenu à l'Empire par des crimes qui mé, ritaient le dernier fupplice." VER. 2. Open all the Main ;] A very obfcure expreffion; as it was fuggefted to me by a judge of good writing, Lord Macartney. 1 Legibus emendes; in b publica commoda peccem, Si longo fermone morer tua tempora, Cæfar. • Romulus t, et Liber pater, et cum Caftore Pollux, Poft ingentia facta, d Deorum in templa recepti, Dum Terras hominumque colunt genus, afpera bella Componunt, agros adfignant, oppida condunt; Ploravere fuis non refpondere favorem Speratum meritis. diram qui contudit Hydram, Notaque fatali portenta labore fubegit, Comperit invidiam fupremo fine domari. f Urit enim fulgore fuo, qui prægravat artes Infra fe pofitas: extinctus amabitur idem. NOTES. + Romulus Dion Caffius informs us, book 53. that Auguftus was particularly pleafed to be called Romulus. VER. 3. Your Country, chief,] The epithet, folus, in the Original muft have been particularly pleafing and flattering to Auguftus. I have feen a fpirited Ode, in which the fhade of Brutus was introduced, bitterly reproaching Horace for fuch a total defertion of his republican principles, as was avowed by the use of this word, folus. VER. 5. From fuck a Monarch.] This fine imitation was first published in 1737. The Arong fatire with which it abounds was concealed with fuch delicate art and addrefs, that many perfons, and fome of the bighest rank in the court, as I have been well informed, read it as a panegyric on the king and miniftry, and congratulated themfelves that Pope had left the oppofition, in which, he had been engaged. But it may feem frange they fhould not fee the drift and intention of such lines, as, the fix firft, the twenty-ninth, the three hundred and fifty-fourth, the three hundred and fifty-fixth, the three hundred and feventy-fixth, the three hundred and ninety-fourth, and many ether lines. Your Country, chief, in Arms abroad defend, • Edward and Henry, now the Boaft of Fame, f Finds Envy never conquer'd, but by Death. 8 Sure fate of all, beneath whofe rifing ray NOTES, 10 15 20 VER. 7. Edward and Henry, &c.] Romulus, et Liber Pater, &c. Horace very judiciously praises Auguftus for the colonies be founded, not for the vi&ories he had won; and therefore compares him not to those who defolated, but to those who civilized, maukind. The Imitation wants this grace: and, for a very obvious reason, our Poet fhould not have aimed at it; as he has done in the mention of Alfred. W. It has been obferved, that Alfred, though he built many churches, yet founded no monaftery. VER. 17. The great Alcides.] This infance bas not the fame grace here as in the Original, where it comes in well after those of Romulus, Bacchus, Caftor, and Pollux; though awkwardly after Edward and Heary. But it was for the fake of the beautiful thought in the next line; which yet does not equal the force of his Original. W. |