Thy hand, great Anarch! lets the curtain fall; REMARKS. 656 durable, without the fupport of Religion. The word unawares alludes to the confidence of those men, who fuppofed that Morality would flourish beft without it; and confequently to the furprize fuch would be in (if any fuch there are) who indeed love Virtue, and yet do all they can to root out the Religion of their Country. W. FINIS. By the AUTHOR A DECLARATION. WHEREAS certain Haberdashers of Points and Particles, being inftigated by the spirit of Pride, and affuming to themselves the name of Critics and Restorers, have taken upon them to adulterate the common and current sense of our Glorious Ancestors, Poets of this Realm, by clipping, coining, defacing the images, miring their own base allay, or otherwife fallifying the same; which they publich, utter, and vend as genuine : The faid Haberdashers having no right thereto, as neither heirs, erecutors, adminiftratos, affigns, or in any fort related to fuch Poets, to all og any of them: Now We, having carefully revised this our Dunciad, a beginning with the words a Read thus confidently, instead of "beginning with the word “Books, and ending with the word flies," as formerly it ftood; Read alfo,"containing the entire fum of one thousand, Seven hundred, and "fifty-fix verfes," inftead of "ane thousand and twelve lines;" fuch being the initial and final words, and fuch the true and entire contents of this poem. Thou art to know, reader! that the first Edition thereof, like that of Milton, was never seen by the Author (though living and not The Mighty Mother, and ending with the words buries All, containing the entire fum of One thousand feven hundred and fifty-four verfes, Declare every word, figure, point, and comma of this impreffion to be authentic: And do therefoze fricly enjoin and forbid any person oz persons whatsoever, to erase, reverse, put between hooks, or by any other means, directly or indirectly, change oz mangle any of them. And we do hereby earnefly erhort all our brethren to follow this our Example, which we heartily with our great Piedecellors had heretofoze fet, as a remedy and prevention of all fuch abufes. Provided always, that nothing in this Declaration shall be confrued to limit the lawful and undoubted right of every fubject of this Realm, to judge, cenfure, oz condemn, in the whole o in part, any Poem or Poet whatsoever. Given under our hand at London, this third day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand, feven hundred, thirty and two. Declarat' cor' me, JOHN BARBER, Mayor. blind:) The Editor himself confefs'd as much in his Preface: And no two poems were ever published in fo arbitrary a manner. The Editor of this, had as boldly fuppreffed whole Paffages, yea the entire laft book, as the Editor of Paradife loft, added and augmented. Milton himself gave but ten books, his Editor twelve; this Author gave four books, his Editor only three. But we have happily done juftice to both; and prefume we shall live in this our last labour, as long as any of our others. BENTL. in APPENDIX. I. PREFACE Prefix'd to the five first imperfect Editions of the DUNCIAD, in three books, printed at DUBLIN and LONDON, in octavo and duodecimo, 1727. I The PUBLISHER a to the READER. T will be found a true obfervation, though fomewhat furprizing, that when any fcandal is vented againft a man of the highest distinction and character, either in the ftate or literature, the public in general afford it à moft quiet reception; and the larger part accept it as favourably as if it were fome kindness done to themfelves: whereas if a known fcoundrel or blockhead but chance to be touch'd upon, a whole legion is up in arms, and it becomes the common caufe of all fcriblers, booksellers, and printers whatsoever. a The Publisher] Who he was is uncertain; but Edward Ward tells us, in his preface to Durgen, "that moft judges are of opinion "this preface is not of English extraction, but Hibernian," &c. He means it was written by Dr. Swift, who, whether the publisher or not, may be faid in a fort to be author of the Poem. For when he, together with Mr. Pope (for reasons specified in the preface to their Mifcellanies) determined to own the most trifling pieces in which they had any hand, and to destroy all that remained in their power; the firft sketch of this poem was fnatch'd from the fire by Dr. Swift, who perfuaded his friend to proceed in it, and to him it was therefore infcribed. But the occafion of printing it was as follows: There was published in thofe Mifcellanies, a Treatife of the Bathos, or Art of Sinking in Poetry, in which was a chapter, where Not to fearch too deeply into the reafon hereof, I will only observe as a fact, that every week for these two months paft, the town has been perfecuted with b pamphlets, advertisements, letters, and weekly effays, not only against the wit and writings, but against the character and person of Mr. Pope. And that of all those men who have received pleafure from his works, which by modeft computation may be about a c hundred thousand in thefe kingdoms of England and Ireland; not to men the fpecies of bad writers were ranged in claffes, and initial letters of names prefixed, for the moft part at random. But fuch was the Number of poets eminent in that art, that fome one or other took every letter to himself. All fell into fo violent a fury, that for half a year, or more, the common News-papers (in most of which they had fome property, as being hired writers) were filled with the most abufive falfhoods and fcurrilities they could poffibly de vife; a liberty no ways to be wondered at in thofe people, and in thofe papers, that, for many years, during the uncontrouled Licence of the prefs, had afperfed almost all the great characters of the age; and this with impunity, their own perfons and names being utterly fecret and obfcure. This gave Mr. Pope the thought, that he had now fome opportunity of doing good, by detecting and dragging into light thefe common Enemies of mankind; fince to invalidate this univerfal flander, it fufficed to fhew what contemptible men were the authors of it. He was not without hopes, that by manifefting the dulnefs of those who had only malice to recommend them; either the book fellers would not find their account in employing them, or the men themselves, when difcovered, want courage to proceed in fo unlawful an occupation. This it was that gave birth to the Dunciad; and he thought it an happinefs, that by the late flood of flander on himself, he had acquired fuch a peculiar right over their Names as was neceffary to his defign. b pamphlets, advertisements, &c.] See the Lift of thofe anonymous papers with their dates and authors annexed, inferted before the Poem. c about a hundred thousand] It is furprizing with what stupidity this preface, which is almoft a continued irony, was taken by thofe authors. All fuch paffages as thefe were understood by Curl, Cook, Cibber, and others, to be ferious. Here the Laureate (Letter to Mr. Pope, p. 9.) Tho' I grant the Dunciad 66 a better poem of its kind than ever was writ; yet, when I < read it with those wain glorious encumbrances of Notes and Re |