[Nam Venusinus arat finem sub utrumque colonus, NOTES. Ver. 64. Verse-man or prose-man,] The original, Ver. 35. Nam Venusinus arat, down to Ver. 39, and to the words, incuteret violenta, which are improperly printed in a parenthesis, have been thought an awkward and a monkish interpolation, but were undoubtedly intended by Horace to represent the loose, incoherent, and verbose manner of Lucilius, who composed hastily and carelessly, ducentos ante cibum versus; and who loaded his Satires with many useless and impertinent thoughts, very offensive to the chaste and correct taste of Horace. Warton. Ver. 66. Like good Erasmus] The violence and haughtiness of Luther disgusted the mild and moderate Erasmus, and alienated him from pursuing the plan of reformation which at first he seemed to encourage and engage in. Luther represented him as an Arian and a time-server. "I thought," said Erasmus, "Luther's marriage would have softened him a little. It is hard for a man of my moderation and of my years to be obliged to write against But great revolutions a savage beast and a furious wild boar." and great reformations are not effected by calm and sober reason, nor without such violence and enthusiasm as Luther possessed. When Voltaire was lamenting that Locke and Newton had few disciples in comparison of the numerous followers of Luther and Calvin, it was replied to him, "that, without a Luther and Calvin, we should never have had a Locke or Newton." Warton. Ver. 70. To run a muck,] The expression is from Dryden : "Frontless and satire-proof, he scours the streets, And runs an Indian muck at all he meets." And it alludes to a practice among the Malayans, who are great gamesters; Papist or Protestant, or both between, 65 While Tories call me Whig, and Whigs a Tory. 'I only wear it in a land of Hectors, NOTES. 70 gamesters; which is, that when a man has lost all his property, he intoxicates himself with opium, works himself up to a fit of phrenzy, rushes into the streets, and attacks and murders all he meets. Warton. Ver. 71. I only wear it in a land of Hectors, &c.] Superior to "tutus ab infestis latronibus," which only carries on the metaphor in 66 -ensis Vaginâ tectus;" whereas the Imitation does more; for, along with the metaphor, it conveys the image of the subject, by presenting the reader with the several objects of satire. Warburton. "Une maladie nouvelle," Ver. 73. Save but our army! &c.] says the admirable author de L'Esprit des Loix, "s'est répandue en Europe; elle a saisi nos princes, et leur fait entretenir un nombre desordonné de troupes. Elle a ses redoublemens, et elle devient necessairement contagieuse. Car si tôt qu'un état augmente ce qu'il appelle ses troupes, les autres soudain augmentent les leurs de façon qu'on ne gagne rien par là que la ruïne commune. Chaque monarque tient sur pied toutes les armées qu'il pourroit avoir, si ses peuples étoient en danger d'être exterminés; et oN NOMME PAIX, CET ETAT D'EFFORT DE TOUS CONTRE TOUS. Aussi l'Europe est elle si ruinée, qui les particuliers, que seroient dans la situation où sont les trois puissances de cette partie du monde les plus opulentes, n'auroient pas de quoi vivre. Nous sommes pauvres avec les richesses et le commerce de tout l'univers; et bientôt, à force Nec quisquam noceat "cupido mihi pacis! at ille, Qui me commôrit (melius non tangere! clamo,) *Flebit, et insignis totâ cantabitur urbe. 'Cervius iratus leges minitatur et urnam; Canidia Albutî, quibus est inimica, venenum; Grande malum Turius, si quid se judice certes; "Ut, quo quisque valet, suspectos terreat, utque Imperet hoc Natura potens, sic collige mecum. Dente lupus, cornu taurus petit ; unde, nisi intus Monstratum? Scævæ vivacem crede nepoti Matrem; nil faciet sceleris pia dextera (mirum, Ut neque calce lupus quemquam, neque dente petit bos?) Sed mala tollet anum vitiato melle cicuta. 'Ne longum faciam: seu me tranquilla senectus NOTES. force d'avoir des soldats, nous n'aurons plus que des soldats, et nous serons comme des Tartares." Warburton. Ver. 78. Slides into verse,] Closely copied from Boileau : Warton. Ver. 81. Delia's rage,] A Miss Mackenzie died about this time, and was supposed to have been poisoned from jealousy. A hint of this kind was sufficient for Pope. The person alluded to was Lady D―ne. Bowles. Ver. 81-84. Slander-libell'd by her hate.] There seems to be more spirit here than in the original: but it is hard to pronounce with certainty for though one may be confident there is more force in the 83d and 84th lines than in "Canidia Albutî, quibus est inimica, venenum ;" yet there might be something, for aught we know, in the character or history of Cervius, which might bring up that line to the spirit and poignancy of the 82d verse of the Imitation. Warburton, "Peace is my dear delight-not FLEURY'S more: But touch me, and no Minister so sore. Whoe'er offends, at some unlucky time *Slides into verse, and hitches in a rhyme, Sacred to ridicule his whole life long, And the sad burthen of some merry song. 'Slander or poison dread from Delia's rage; Hard words or hanging, if your judge be Page; From furious Sappho scarce a milder fate, P-x'd by her love, or libell'd by her hate. 80 "Its proper power to hurt, each creature feels; 85 Bulls aim their horns, and asses lift their heels; 'Tis a bear's talent not to kick, but hug; And no man wonders he's not stung by pug. "So drink with Walters, or with Chartres eat, They'll never poison you, they'll only cheat. "Then, learned Sir! (to cut the matter short) Whate'er my fate, or well or ill at Court, Whether old age, with faint but cheerful ray, Attends to gild the evening of my day, NOTES. 90 Ver. 83. From furious Sappho] There is no doubt, notwithstanding all his evasions, who is here meant by Sappho; but what Warburton calls "spirited," is unmanly and disgraceful. Bowles. Ver. 85-90. Its proper power to hurt, &c.] All, except the two last lines, inferior to the elegance and precision of the original. Warburton. Ver. 91. Then, learned Sir!] The brevity and force of the original is evaporated in this long and feeble paraphrase of the next ten lines. The third and three succeeding verses are very languid and verbose, and perhaps some of the worst he has written. Warton. Ver. 93-96. Whether old age-shade;] The original is more finished, Exspectat, seu mors atris circumvolat alis, Dives, inops, Romæ, seu fors ita jusserit, exul, 'Quisquis erit vitæ, scribam, color. T. "O puer, ut sis Vitalis, metuo; et majorum ne quis amicus H. Quid? cùm est Lucilius ausus NOTES. finished, and even more sublime. Besides, the last verse—To wrap me in the universal shade, has a languor and redundancy unusual with our author. Warburton. Ver. 98. Or whiten'd wall] From Boileau. Ver. 99. In durance, exile, Bedlam, or the Mint,] The Poet, in in our equal government, might talk at his ease, levity of style, of the disasters incident to wit. and with all this But it was a seour witty neigh rious matter with Horace; and is so still with bours; one of whom has well expressed their condition in the following lines: "Eh! Que sait-on? Un simple badinage, Mal entendu d'un prude, ou d'un sot, Peut vous jetter sur un autre rivage : Pour perdre un sage, il ne faut qu'un bigot." Warburton. Ver. 100. Like Lee or Budgell,] One is sorry to see Lee, a true genius, coupled with Budgell, and his insanity ridiculed. Warton. Ver. 101. your days can ne'er be long;] The original says, "Lest any one of your powerful friends should strike you with a cold and contemptuous look."—"Racine meurt,” says Voltaire, "par une foiblesse grande; parcequ'un autre homme en passant dans une galerie ne l'a pas regardé. J'en suis faché; mais le rôle de Phædre n'en est pas moins admirable.” Warton. Ver. 104. Will club their testers, &c.] The image is exceeding humorous; and, at the same time, betrays the injustice of their resentment, in the very circumstance of their indulging it, as it shews the Poet had said no more of their avarice than was true. His |