And in large Baskets rang'd along the Floor, Cf baying Maftiffs, and loud-bellowing Hounds: NOTE S. The Merit of this Satire may be partly collected by the various Tranflations and Imitations of it by different Hands. There is a Translation of it by Sir John Beaumont (the elder Brother of Francis Beaumont, and an eminent Lawyer in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth) which perhaps has not been excelled by any modern Performance. Cowley's Country Moufe will ftill please those who can relith Good-fenfe and Wit, though the Numbers may fometimes hobble. The Imitation of this Satire by Dr. Swift and Mr. Pope is lively and humorous; but there are fome adven titious titious Circumstances in the latter Part of it, which might have been spared. This Satire was written at the Beginning of Autumn in the Year 723, as appears by the fortieth and forty-fifth Verses. I modus agri non ita magnus.] An excellent Example of Moderation in a Courtier, who, poffeffing the Favour of the Emperor and his Prime Minister, was, in fome fort, the Arbiter of his own Fortune. Others are always afking, and never think they have enough. He afks but little, and that little contents him. So true it is that Happiness confifts in the Moderation, and not in the Indulgence, of our Defires. A fmall Fortune is fufficient to fupport and amufe us. Nothing but Avarice can make us with for more. Perhaps there never was any Courtier who could have said so fincerely as Horace, Nihil amplius oro. SANADON. 2 Maia nate.] Mercury was the Distributor of Wealth and Fortune, as well as the Patron of Poets in general. He was also a rural Deity, and the fame as Sylvanus. 3 ut propria hæc mihi munera faxis.] The Commentators have in general fuppofed that Horace here pe titioned Mercury to make his Poffeffions perpetual. But it seems abfurd to imagine that the Farm which had been given him (by Mecenas) was not his own, that is, was not fettled upon him, at leaft for Life. The Senfe therefore, which is given it in the Tranflation, and which the Word propria will very well bear, feems much more natural: Since we know that Horace's Time was not his own; he having a Place in the Register's or Secretary's Office, which neceffarily required clofe Attendance. And a little farther, ver. 36. he himself takes Notice of this very Circumstance; De re communi Scribæ magnâ atque novâ te amico Hercule.] They believed that Hercules prefided over accidental Gains, as Mercury did over thofe that were the Fruit of Labour and Industry. Libitina quaftus.] Libitina, or Proferpine, 5 was the Goddess of Funerals. 6 Matutine pater, &c.] The nineteen first Lines, in the Original, are to be confidered as the Introduction, or Preface; and the Satire begins with this Invocation, addreffed to Matutinus, or Janus. atras 7 Ventum eft Efquilias.] For an Account of the Efquilian Hill, and Mecenas's Gardens there, fee the Notes on Sat. VII. Book I. 8 Threx eft Gallina Syro par?] There were then at Rome two new Gladiators, one from Thrace, and the other from Syria, whofe Strength and Skill were nearly equal, and about whom the Multitude were divided. 9.- Nofter ludos fpectaverit una.] This Paffage is thus tranflated by Dr. Dunkin, Mr. Francis's Co-adjutor Our Son of Fortune (with a Pox) Sat with Mecenas in the Box, And fays, "As you approach the Gods,' &c. But, as an excellent Critic obferves, though Horace be easy, he is not familiar; or if he be, it is the Familiarity of Courts, which is never without its Dignity.? 10 O rus, quando ego te afpiciam, quandoque licebit Nunc veterum libris, nunc fomno & inertibus horis Thefe Lines have been thus parodied by a Gentleman in a Fit of the Gout: O Gout, when fhall I thee repell? when try The last Line feems to have fomething in it of the Lazinefs of the Original. Legibus infanis.] Nothing could be more extravagant than thofe Laws which Drunkards at first established, and which paffed by Degrees from the Tavern to the best Tables in Rome. Some of our Neighbours have ftill Laws of Drinking no lefs ridiculous. Happy is it for France that they have not yet reached us. 12 Gratuler buic genti, quod abeft a moribus illis. non de villis domibufve alienis.] The Idle have scarce any Fund of Difcourfe but at the Expence of their Neighbours. The most innocent is at least useless ; and we must think ourselves obliged to them when they only talk on Trifles. But thofe who are defirous to cultivate their Mind know how to unbend it usefully, by Difcourfes always agreeable, because they are never barren. SANADON. 13 Lepos.] Lepos was a Dancer much celebrated at that Time. 14 quæ fit natura boni fummumque quid ejus.] The Difputes among the Philofophers, concerning the chief Good, were infinite. But Socrates, and fome of his Scholars, were the only Perfons who argued rationally on this Subject. For they were fenfible that the Supreme Good must neceffarily comprehend all others. They therefore made it confift in refembling God, and never difhonouring his Image by any Injustice or Impiety. DACIER. olim 15 Rufticus urbanum murem, &c.] This Apologue is not at prefent in fop, but it was among thofe Fables which Babrias collected from him, and put into Greek Verse. It began thus: One Day two Mice contracted a Friendfhip together. They led a very different kind of Life; one of them was bred up in a Foreft; the other was fond of the & City, and battened in the Houses of the Rich.' 16 terreftria quando, &c.] The latter Part of this Speech feems to be a Parody on the latter Part of the Speech of Sarpedon to Glaucus, in Iliad XII.. Since we cannot live for ever (fays Sarpedon,) buɛ 'feeble Age and inexorable Death will overtake us at laft, let us chearfully facrifice our Lives, to purchase • immortal Glory.' • Since our Life is but a Span, (fays the Moufe,} and our Souls fhall perifh with our Bodies, let us 'make the most of the prefent Time, and indulge our 'Genius.' Perhaps it would not be difficult to prove, that the Reasoning of the Epicurean Moufe is, on this Hypothefis, more rational than that of the Stoical Hero. The Reader, probably, will be pleafed to fee Sir John Beaumont's Tranflation of this Speech, where the Original is closely traced with Spirit and Harmony: 17 To him at last the Citizen thus fpake; My Friend, I mufe what Pleasure thou canft take, • Or how thou canst endure to spend thy Time • In thady Groves, and up steep Hills to climb. In favage Forefts build no more thy Den; Go to the City, there to dwell with Men. · Begin this happy Journey; truft to Me; I will thee guide; thou fhalt my Fellow be. Since earthly things are ty'd to mortal Lives; And every great and little Creature ftrives In vain, the certain Stroke of Death to fly, Stay not till Moments past thy Joys deny : Live in rich Plenty and perpetual Sport; • Live ever mindful that thine Age is short.’ jamque tenebat Nox medium cæli fpatium, &c.] The Moon-beam trembling falls, POFE. If we believe Horace, the two Friends chose to travel in the Dark. They might have been difcovered by the Light of the Moon; and they could fee without it. Ib. The Moon was up, and Men a-bed. That the Moon was up,' is a plain Cafe; fince the Poet had told us juft before, it tipped the Walls with Silver;' but it is not quite fo clear, that Men 6 were a-bed;' fince we find, a few Lines afterwards, that |