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— Sacerdos Fronde super MITRAM, et foelici comptus olivâ. VIRG.
Dicam insigne, recens, adhuc Indictum ore alio. Non secus in jugis Exsomnis stupet Evias, Hebrum prospiciens, & nive candidam Thracen, ac pede barbaro Lustratam Rhodopen.— HOR.
Campos, ubi Troja fuit.
VIRG.
Occasioned by a Lady's saying, that none of the ancient poetical Stories reflected so much on the vanity of Women, as that of Phaëton does on the ambition of Men.
Has quoniam coeli nondum dignamur honore, Quas dedimus certè terras habitare finamus.
Res est severa voluptas.
—Quis ineptae Tam patiens urbis, tam ferreus ut teneat se? JUV.
Meo quidem judicio neuter culpandus, alter dum expetit debitos titulos, dum alter mavult videri contempsisse.
PLIN. Ep.
Aspice murorum moles, praeruptaque saxa, Obrutaque horrenti vasta theatra situ: Haec sunt Roma. Viden' velut ipsa cadavera tantae Urbis adhuc spirent imperiosa minas? Janus Vitalis.
Auditae voces, vagitus & ingens, Infantumque animae flentes in limine primo. VIRG.
ADVERTISEMENT. What particulars in Spenser were imagin'd most proper for the Author's imitation on this occasion, are his language, his simplicity, his manner of description, and a peculiar ten|derness of sentiment remarkable throughout his works.
Oderunt hilarem tristes, tristemque jocosi, Sedatum celeres, agilem gnavumque remissi. HOR.
Mr. Tickell was born in the year 1686, at Bridekirk in Cumber|land, where his father, a clergyman, then lived. He became a member of Queen's College, Oxford, in April 1701. On the 22d of February, 1708, he took the degree of M. A. and two years afterwards was chosen Fellow of his College. During his residence at the University, the Opera of Rosamond was performed, and on its appearance, Mr. Tickell addressed a Poem to Mr. Addison, the Author, which was so well received, that it laid the foundation of an intimacy between the two friends, and proved of the greatest advantage to Mr. Tickell's fu|ture fortune. When Mr. Addison went to Ireland as Secretary to Lord Sunderland, Mr. Tickell accompanied him, and was employed in public business. In 1717, he became Under Secretary of State, and about 1725, was appointed Secretary to the Lords Justices of Ireland, a place of great honour, in the enjoyment whereof he continued until his death, which happened at Bath, on the 23d of April 1740.
This was Dr. John Robinson, then Bishop of Bristol, but after|wards of London. He was born near Richmond in Yorkshire, and resided some years at Oriel College, Oxford, where he took the degree of M. A. March 5, 1683, and of D. D. by diploma, 7th of August 1710. He had lived many years in Sweden, first as Chaplain to the Ambassador, and afterwards in the quality of Ambassador himself. In both these stations he conducted himself with great credit and advantage to the government. On his return home, he was preferred to a Prebend at Canterbury, then to the Deanry of Windsor, and afterwards to the Bishoprick of Bristol. In 1711, the custody of the Privy Seal was given to him, and he was nominated one of the Plenipotentiaries to negotiate the treaty of Utrecht. On the 13th March, 1713, he was translated to the See of London, and died 11th of April 1723.
Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, joint Plenipotentiary with Bishop Robinson. He died in the year 1739.
George Stepney, Esq a gentleman, who although much celebrated by his contemporaries for poetical genius, is at present more known as a Statesman than a Poet. He was born at Westminster, in the year 1663, and, having become intimately acquainted with Charles Mon|tague, afterwards Earl of Halisax, at Trinity College, Cambridge, through his means procured himself the appointment of ambassador to several foreign courts, where he acquitted himself with great ability and success. He died at Chelsea in the year 1707, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
At the battle of Blenheim, the marshal Tallard was taken prisoner by the Duke of Marlborough, and, with twenty-six other officers of distinction, brought to England, where he continued in confinement a considerable time.
At the battle of Landen, the Duke of Ormond was taken prisoner, and exchanged for the Duke of Berwick.
Peter the Great, who visited England in the year 1698, and resided here some time.
Four Indian kings or chiefs, of the six nations lying between New England and Canada, arrived in England in the year 1710, and had a public audience of the queen on the 19th of April. They continued here about two or three weeks, and were entertained during that time by se|veral persons of quality. Mention is made of them in the Tatler, No. 171, and the Spectator No. 50.
General Webb.
General Lumley, brother to the earl of Searborough.
Charles Mordaunt, earl of Peterborough, commander in chief in Spain.
John Campbell, Duke of Argyle.
The duke of Ormond was commander of the land forces at the taking of Vigo, October 12, 1702.
George Granville, Esq afterwards Lord Landsdowne.
Henry II.
Chaucer is said to have written several of his poems at Woodstock.
Lieut. Col. Dormer, killed at the head of his squadron, at the battle of Almanza, 14 April 1707.
Sir Edward Harley, father to the Earl of Oxford, had been gover|nor of Dunkirk in the reign of Charles the IId, a post from which he was removed just before the delivery of that place to Lewis the XIVth, in the year 1662.
Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford.
Ambrose Philips, author of Pastorals, the Distrest Mother, and two other tragedies, &c.
William Harrison, Esq at that time secretary to the embassy at Utrecht. See vol. i.
Queen's College, Oxford, founded by Robert Egglesfield, on the encouragement of Philippa, Queen to Edward the Third.
Both Henry the Fifth, and Edward the Black Prince, studied at Queen's College, Oxford. See Mr. Tickell's Poem on Queen Caroline's rebuilding their apartments. Johnson's Prefaces to the Works of the English Poet..
"Here Lancaster, adorn'd with every grace,"Stands chief in merit, as the chief in place:"To his lov'd name our earliest lays belong,"The theme at once and patron of our song."Long may he o'er his much-lov'd Queen's preside,"Our arts encourage, and our counsels guide,"Till after ages, fill'd with glad surprize,"Behold his image all majestic rise,"Where now in pomp a venerable band,"Princes, and queens, and holy fathers, stand.
Oxford, a Poem.—Johnson's Prefaces to the Works of the English Poets.
Who had married the Earl of Warwick's mother. Mr. Addison died 17th June 1719, and after lying in state in the Jerusalem Chamber, was interred in Westminster Abbey, the 26th of the same month. Dr. Johnson observes, that there is not a more sublime or more elegant funeral poem than this, to be found in the whole compass of English literature.
Charles Montagu, Earl of Hallifax.
Those venerable walls were never blest, Since their foundation, with a nobler guest.
Higgons's poem on Waller's death. Nichols's Collection, vol. i. p. 130.
See Dr. Young's Conjectures on Original Composition, where the circumstance here alluded to is very fully explained.
Holland House, where Mr. Addison died.
James Craggs, the younger, Esq who succeeded Mr. Addison as secretary of state, and survived him but a short time. He was a gen|tleman much esteemed by the first writers of the times in which he lived, and is frequently celebrated in their works. He died the 16th of February 1720-1, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, where a monu|ment is erected to his memory, with an inscription thereon written by Mr. Pope.
John Èrskine, the tenth earl of Mar, Secretary of State for Scotland, and one of the Commissioners of the Union, in the reign of Queen Anne. In the month of August 1715, he drew together his adherents, and proclaimed the Pretender, King. His forces continued to encrease, until they amounted to between six and seven thousand men, and with these he engaged the Duke of Argyle at the head of the King's troops, at Sheriffs Moor, on the 13th of November. The victory was claimed on both sides.
He had been created a duke by the Pretender.
Mr. Thomas Forster, jun. of Etherston in the county of Northum|berland. He raised troops for the Pretender in the year 1715, and was among those who surrendered to the King's forces at Preston. Being committed to Newgate, he had the good fortune to make his escape from thence before he was brought to his trial.
This nobleman was very active at this time, in defence of the reigning family.
Archibald, Earl of Ilay, afterwards Duke of Argyle.
The Duke of Athol.
The Duke of Douglas, then a minor.
The Earl of Forfar. He was killed at the battle of Sheriff Muir.
Monroe was one of the vassals of the Earl of Sutherland.
This celebrated Painter was born at Lubeck, in the year 1648. He received his first instruction in the school of Rembrant, but after|wards became a disciple of Ferdinand Bols, under whose direction he studied a considerable time. After travelling to Rome and Ve|nice, he came to England in the reign of Charles the IId. and con|tinued there during the remainder of his life. He was created a baronet by king George the first, and died 26 October 1723.
Whitton, near Hampton Court, where Sir Godfrey built an ele|gant house, in which he chiefly resided during the latter part of his life.
Sir Godfrey was sent to France by Charles the IId. to draw the picture of Lewis the IVth.
Cosmo, Grand Duke of Tuscany, requested Sir Godfrey's picture to adorn the famous Florentine gallery; where it is still to be seen.
This Nobleman died on the 17th July 1726. He was one who at|tended the great Duke of Marlborough in every action of consequence, in the reign of Queen Anne, and was so much confided in by him, that, the marking out the camp during the war, was always entrusted to his care. Soon after the accession of George the Ist. he was created Lord Cadogan, and in the year 1718 an Earl by the same title. He succeeded the Duke of Marlborough, as Master General of the Ordnance, and Colonel of the first regiment of Foot Guards, both which he was pos|sessed of, at the time of his death.
Prince Eugene's.
Charles the third Earl of Sunderland, first married to Lady Anne Cavendish, youngest daughter of Henry Duke of Newcastle, and after|wards to Lady Anne Churchill, second daughter of the great Duke of Marlborough. By this Lady the title of Marlborough came into his fa|mily, his third son, Charles, succeeding to it on her death. He was Secretary of State during the reign of Queen Anne, and the first person she removed on the change of the ministry in the year 1710. He con|tinued in opposition to the measures of the governing party during the remainder of her reign. On the elevation of George I. he held suc|cessively the posts of Lord Privy Seal, Secretary of State, and First Com|missioner of the Treasury, which last he possessed almost to the time of his death, which happened 21 April 1722. The installation of this Nobleman, which occasioned the above Poem, was performed with great magnificence at Windsor, on 28 May 1720.
Edward Lord Spencer, who is mentioned in our Historians, for his gallant behaviour at the battle of Poictiers.
William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, Secretary of State, and Lord High Treasurer of England, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. He was created a Knight of the Garter in June 1582.
Sidney Godolphin, Earl of Godolphin, Lord High Treasurer of England in the reign of Queen Anne, was created a Knight of the Garter, July 6, 1704.
Names of Con••••••••lations.
The Palace to which this Garden belongs, was the seat of Lord Chancellor Finch, afterwards Earl of Nottingham, and was purchased by King William, who greatly improved it, causing a royal road to be made to it through Saint James's and Hyde Parks. Queen Mary en|larged the Gardens; her sister, Queen Anne, improved what Queen Mary had begun, and was so pleased with the place, that she frequently sup|ped during the Summer in the green house, which is a very beautiful one: but Queen Caroline was the person who compleated the design, by extending the Gardens from the great road in Kensington to Acton; by bringing what is called the Serpentine river into them; and by taking in some acres out of Hyde Park, on which she caused a mount to be raised. These Gardens are three miles and a half in compass.
The Princess Caroline, afterwards Queen of Great Britain.
A famous puppet-show man, whose name frequently occurs in the Spectator.
The Earl of Warwick, son-in-law to Mr. Addison. He died in his 24th year, on the 16 of August 1721.
〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 sive Prelium inter Pygmaeos et Grue•• commissum. By Mr. Addison.
At the conclusion of the truce of Ratisbon, a considerable body of troops were sent to the assistance of the Emperor Leopold, then at war with the Turks. In this campaign, King George II. gave very striking proofs of his valour.
Fate urg'd the sheers, and cut the Sylph in twain,(But airy substance soon unites again.)POPE.
Odyss. l. 10.
This person is mentioned with his partner by Mr. Addison, in The Spectator, No 477.
Wise and London are our heroic Poets: and if, as a critic, I may single out any passage of their works to com|mend, I shall take notice of that part of the upper garden of Ken|sington, which was at first nothing but a gravel pit. It must have been a fine genius for gardening, that could have thought of forming such an unsightly hollow into so beautiful an area, and to have hit the eye with so uncommon and agreeable a scene as that which it is now wrought into. To give this particular spot of ground the greater effect, they have made a very pleasing contrast; for as on one side of the walk you see this hollow bason, with its several little plan|tations lying so conveniently under the eye of the beholder; on the other side of it there appears a seeming mount, made up of trees rising one higher than another in proportion as they approach the centre. A spectator, who has not heard this account of it, would think this circular mount was not only a real one, but that it had been actually scooped out of that hollow space which I have before mentioned. I never yet met with any one who has walked in this garden, who was not struck with that part of it which I have here mentioned.
A city belonging to the Holy See, in which the Pretender resided after the rebellion in the year 1715. Dr. Johnson observes of this Epistle, that it stands high among party Poems; it expresses contempt without coarseness, and superiority without insolence.
A news-paper, written by Abel Roper.
Charles the XIIth of Sweden, at the time he was killed before Frederickshall, 1 December 1718, was meditating to disturb the peace of Great Britain, and to assist the Pretender.
After the peace of Utrecht, the Pretender went to reside in the do|minions of the Prince of Lorrain.
The Duke of Orleans, Regent of France.
This refers to the great eclipse of the sun, which happened on the 22d April 1715. About the same period, the several appearances in the skies and the northern rivers here mentioned, were confidently said to have been discovered, and great use was made of them, by the ene|mies of the reigning family, to instill their prejudices into the mind of the people. The ebbing of the Thames happened on the 14th of September 1716.
Two of the Conspirators in the gunpowder plot, 1605.
Samuel Cobb, assistant master of the grammar school of Christ's Hospital; where he was himself educated, and from whence he was elected to Trinity College, Cambridge, at which place he took the degree of master of arts. He died at London in 1713, and was interred in the cloyster of Christ's hospital. Dr. Watts esteemed this ode as the truest, and best pindaric he had ever read. It is reprinted in the Gentleman's Magazine 1753, with some alterations by that author.
The Menapii were the ancient inhabitants of Flanders.
VICEM GERIT ILLA TONANTIS.
Homer, in his fifth Iliad, because his hero is to do wonders beyond the power of man, premises, in the beginning, that Pallas had peculiarly sitted him for that day's exploits.
Indomitas prope qualis undas Exercet Auster, Pleiadum choro Scindente nubes, impiger hostium Vexare turmas, & frementem Mittere equum medios per ignes. Sic tauriformis volvitur Aufidus, Qui regna Dauni praefluit Appuli, Cum saevit, horrendamque cultis Diluviem meditatur agris.
Near this place the prince of Condè gave the Spaniards a very great overthrow, 1648.
He bore a considerable snare in the glory of that day on which Buda was taken.
He was Bassau of the city, and lost his life on the breach.
This was the fatal battle to the Turks in the year 1687. Prince Eugene, with the regiments of his brigade, was the first that entered the trenches; and for that reason had the honour to be the first messen|ger of this happy news to the emperor.
This battle was fought on the 10th of October, 1697, where Prince Eugene commanded in chief; like which there never happened so great and so terrible a destruction to the Ottoman army, which fell upon the principal commanders more than the common soldiers; for no less than fifteen Bassaus (five of which had been Viziers of the bench) were killed, besides the supreme Vizier.
The old name of Lisbon, said to be built by Ulysses.
One of the mountains where Jupiter lodged the giants.
Four only of these Eclogues are the production of Lady M.W. Mon|tague. Thursday was written by Mr. Pope, and Friday by Mr. Gay.
This witty and agreeable writer, was the eldest daughter of Evelyn, the first Duke of Kingston, by Lady Mary Fielding, sister to Basil Earl of Denbigh. She was married to Edward Wortley Montague, Esq whom she accompanied in his Embassy to Constantinople, in the year 1716. During her residence at that place, she became acquainted with the art of Inoculation for the Small-pox, and had the fortitude to per|mit one of the first trials of its efficacy, to be made on her own children. On her return to England, she greatly facilitated the introduction of the present salutary practice of cure in that disorder. She died 21st August 1762.
At the time these pieces of court scandal were originally published, it was generally imagined, that real persons were intended to be ex|posed and ridiculed by them. By the name of Roxana, the Dutchess of Roxborough was supposed to be pointed at.
A Farce by Mr. Gay, acted at Drury Lane 1715.
The Dutchess of Shrewsbury.
Algernon Earl of Hertford, afterwards Duke of Somerset. He died 7th February, 1749-50.
Dr. Warburton asserts, that this alone, of all the town eclogues, was written by Mr. Pope. The alterations in the present edition are taken from a copy corrected by that Author. The humour of the present poem, lies in this happy circumstance, that the one is in love with the game, and the other with the sharper.
Supposed to be lady Mary herself.
The countess of Bristol.
Mrs. Betty Southwell.
John Sheffield, duke of Buckingham, is the person here alluded to. It was the custom of this nobleman, daily to frequent the place above|mentioned, where he sacrificed his time, his properly, and at length his reputation, in the company of knaves and sharpers. His constant attendance on this scene of infamous resort, is hinted at by himself, in his letter to the duke of Shrewsbury, describing his mode of living.
After I have dined, I drive away to a place (Marybone) of air, and exercise; which some constitutions are in absolute need of: agitation of the body, and diversion of the mind, being a composition for health, above all the skill of Hippocrates.Buckingham's Works, 410. p. 278.
Peter Motteaux, the translator of Rabelais and Don Quixote, and author of several plays, was master of one of the India shops kept in the city. He resided in Leadenhall Street. See The Spectator, No. 288, and 552.
Lady Mary Wortley Montague.
This person was a perfumer, at the corner of Beaufort's Buildings in the Strand. His name often occurs in the Spectator, the Tatler, and the Guardian.
Allen Bathurst one of the twelve Peers created by Queen Anne. A nobleman possessed of the greatest abilities and the most amiable qua|lities. The friend and patron of the first writers of the times, and a patriot, upon whom no suspicion ever fell that he acted but according to the dictates of his judgment. At a very advanced period of life, he was honoured with the title of an Earl, and died on the 16th of Sep|tember 1775, at the age of 91 years.
A play which the celebrated Philip Duke of Wharton conceived a design of writing, but never executed. Mr. Walpole says, no part of it remains but the following four lines:
"Sure were I free and Norfolk were a prisoner,"I'd fly with more impatience to his arms"Than the poor Israelite gaz'd on the serpent,"When life was the reward of every look."Catalogue of Royal Authors, vol. ii. p. 134.
Mr Matthew Green was of a family in good repute amongst the Dis|senters, and had h••s education in the Sect. He was a man of approved probity and sweetness of temper and manners. His wit abounded in conversation, and was never known to give the least offence. He had a post in the Custom House, and discharged the duty there, with the utmost diligence and ability. He died at the age of 41 years, at a lodging in Nag's Head Court, Gracechurch Street.
In this Poem, Mr. Melmoth says, there are more original thoughts thrown together than he had ever read in the same compass of lines.
Fitzosborne's Letters, p. 114.
Gildon's Art of Poetry.
A painted vest Prince Vortiger had on, Which from a naked Pict his grandsire won. Heward's British Princes.
James More Smith, Esq See Dunciad, B. ii, l. 50. and the notes, where the circumstances of the transaction here alluded to are very fully explained.
The Charitable Corporation, instituted for the relief of the industri|ous poor, by assisting them with small sums upon pledges at legal interest. By the villainy of those who had the management of this scheme, the proprietors were defrauded of very considerable sums of money. In 1732 the conduct of the directors of this body, became the subject of a parliamentary enquiry, and some of them who were members of the House of Commons, were expelled for their concern in this iniquitous transaction,
Psapho was a Libyan, who desiring to be accounted a God, effected it by this invention: He took young birds and taught them to sing, Psapho is a great God. When they were perfect in their lesson, he let them fly; and other birds learning the same ditty, repeated it in the woods; on which his countrymen offered sacrifice to him, and con|sidered him as a Deity.
Mr. Clover, the excellent author of Leonidas, Boadicea, Medea, &c.
This celebrated book was written by its Author, both in Latin and English, and was afterwards translated into High Dutch, Low Dutch, French, and Spanish, and probably into other languages. It has always been esteemed a very ingenious defence of the principles of Quakerism, even by those who deny the doctrines which it endeavours to establish. The Author was born at Edinburgh in 1648, and received part of his education at the Scots College in Paris, where his uncle was Princi|pal. His father became one of the earliest converts to the new Sect, and from his example, the son seems to have been induced to tread in his steps. He died on the 3d of October 1690, in the 42d year of his age.
Homer.
By Alexander, who had Homer's Iliad always with him, proposing Achilles for his example.
Dr. Arbuthnot was descended from a noble family in Scotland, and was the son of a clergyman of the Episcopal Church in that kingdom. He was born at Arbuthnot in Kincardinshire, not long after the re|storation; and received his education at Aberdeen, where he took his Doctor's degree. He soon afterwards removed to London, and was employ|ed sometime in teaching the mathematics. On St. Andrew's day 1704, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society; and on the 30th October following, was sworn Physician extraordinary to Queen Anne; upon the indisposition of Dr. Hannes, he was appointed fourth Physician in ordinary to the Queen; and on 27th April 1710, was admitted a Fellow of the College of Physicians. The death of Queen Anne de|prived him of his place and residence at Court. On 30th September 1723, he was named second Censor of the College of Physicians; and on the 5th October 1727, became an Elect of the same Society. Dur|ing the latter part of his life, he was afflicted with an asthma, of which he died on the 27th February 1734-5. Dr. Johnson observes of Ar|buthnot, "that he was a man estimable for his learning, amiable for his life, and venerable for his piety." The same writer also adds, "that he was a man of great comprehension, skilful in his profession, versed in the sciences, acquainted with ancient literature, and able to animate his mass of knowledge by a bright and active imagination: a scholar with great brilliancy of wit; a wit, who in the crowd of life, retained and discovered a noble ardour of religious zeal."
JUV. SAT. III.Quamvis digressu veteris consusus amici;L••udo, tamen, vacuis quod sedem sigere CumisDestinet, atque unum civem donare Sibyllae,
—Ego vel Prochytam praepono Suburrae. Nam quid tam miserum, tam solum vidimus, ut non Deterius cred••s horrere incendia, lapsus Tectorum affiduos, et mille pericula saevae Urb••s, & Augusto recitantes mense poetas?
Sed. dum tota domus rhedâ componitur unâ, Subst••tit ••d veteres arcus.—
Queen Elizabeth born at Greenwich.
Hic tunc Umbricius: Quando artibus, inquit, honestis Nullus in urbe locus, nulla emolumenta laborum, Res hodie minor est, heri quam fuit, atque eadem cras Deteret exiguis aliquid: proponimus illuc Ire, fatigatas ubi Daedalus exuit alas; Dum nova canities—
—et pedibus me Porto meis, nullo dextram subeunte bacillo.
Cedamus patriâ: vivant Arturius istic Et Catulus: maneant qui nigra in candida vertunt.
Q••eis facile est aedem conducere, flumino, portus, Siccandam eluviem, portandum ad busta cadaver.— Munera nunc edunt.
Quid Romae faciam? mentiti nescio: librum Si malus est, nequeo laudare & po••••••••.
— Ferre ad nuptas, quae mittit adulter, Quae mandat, norint alii: me nemo ministro Fur erit, atque ideo nulli comes exeo.
Quis nunc diligitur, nisi conscius?— Carus erit Verri, qui Verrem tempore, quo vult, Accusare potest.—
— Tanti tibi non sit opaci Omnis arena Tagi, quodque in mare volvitur aurum, Ut somno careas.—
George Villiers, the witty and profligate Duke of Buckingham.
Quae nunc divitibus gens acceptissima nostris, Et quos praecipue fugiam, properabo fateri.
— Non possum ferre, Quitites, Graecam urbem.—
Rusticus ille tuus sumit trechedipna, Quirine, Et ceromatico fert niceteria collo.
Ingenium velox, audacia perdita, sermo Promptus.—
Augur, schoenobates, medicus, magus: omnia novit Graeculus esuriens, in coelum, jusseris, ibi••.
Usque adeo nihil est, quod nostra infantia coelum Hausit Aventini?
Quid, quod adulandi gens prudentissima laudat Sermonem indocti, faciem deformis amici?
Haec eadem licet & nobis laudare: sed illis Creditur.
Natio comoeda est. Rides? majore cachinno Concutitur, &c.
N••n sumus ergo pares: melior, qui semper & omni Necte dieque potest alienum sumere vultum: A facie jact••re manus, laudare paratus, Si bene rectavit, si rectum minxit amicus.
Scire volunt secreta domûs, atque inde timeri.
—Materiem praebet causasque jocorum Omnibus hic idem? si foeda & scissa lacerna, &c.
Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in se, Quam quod ridiculos homines facit.
— Agmine facto Debuerant olim tenues migrasse Quirites.
Haud facile emergunt, quorum virtutibus obstat Res angusta domi; sed Romae duriot illis Conatus — — Omnia Romae Cum pretio — Cogimur, & cultis augere peculia servi••.
— Ultimus autem Aerumnae cumulus, quod nudum, & frustra rogantem Nemo cibo, nemo hóspitio, tectoque juvabit.
Si magna Asturici cecidit domus, horrida mater, Pullati proceres —
Jam accurrit, qui marmora donet, Conferat impensas: hic, &c. Hic modum argenti.—
— Melior••, ac plura reponit Persicus orborum lautissimus.—
Si potes avelli Circensibus, optima Sorae, Aut Fabrateriae domus, aut Frusinone paratur, Quanti nunc tenebras unum conducis in annum. Hortulus hic— Vive bidentis amans, & culti villicus horti, Unde epulum possis centum dare Pythagoraeis.
—Possis ignavus haberi, Et subiti casus improvidus, ad coenam si Intestatus eas.
Ebrius et petulans, qui nullum forte cecidit, Dat poenas, noctem patitur lugentis amicum Peleidae—
—Sed, quamvis improbus annis; Atque mero servens, cavet hunc, quem coccina laena Vitari jubet, et comitum longissimus ordo, Multum praetereà flammarum, atque aenea lampas.
Nec tamen hoc tantum metuas: nam qui spoliet te Non deerit: clausis domibus, &c.
Maximus in vinelis ferri modus: ut timeas ne Vomer deficiat, ne marrae et sarcula desint.
Felices proavorum atavos, felicia dicas Secula, quae quondam sub regibus atque tribunis Viderunt uno contentam carcere Romam.
His alias poteram, & plures subnectere causas: Sed jumenta vocant.—
— Ergo vale nostri memor: & quoties to Roma tuo refici properantem reddet Aquino, Me quoque ad Elvinam Cerer••m, vestramque Dianam Convelle a Cumis: satirarum ego, ni pudet illas, Adjutor gelidas veniam caligatus in agros.
Author of Philemon to Hydaspes. He died 29th December 1752.
Charles Lord Talbot, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. He died 14th February 1737.
Mr. Pope.
He was killed in the civil wars: see his character at large in Clarendon's history.
Anthony Ashley Cowper, third Earl of Shaftesbury.
See the Characteristics, particularly the Enquiry concerning Virtue and the Moralists.
Mr. John Dyer was the second son of Robert Dyer of Aberglasney, in Caermarthenshire, a solicitor of great capacity and note. He was born in the year 1700, and received his education at Westminster-school, from whence he returned home, being designed for his father's profession. Disliking the study of the law, he relinquished it on the death of his parent, and having an inclination for painting, became a pupil to Mr. Richardson. He then travelled into Italy, continued some time at Rome, and came back to England in 1740. His proficiency at an artist seems to have been but inconsiderable; and this circumstance, joined to an ill state of health, and the love of study, determined him to the church. He therefore entered into holy orders, and in 1741 ob|tained the living of Calthorp, in Leicestershire, on which he lived ten years, and then exchanged it for Belchford, in Lincolnshire. In 1752 he was presented to the rectory of Coningsby, and soon after had that of Kirkby given him in addition. On the two latter he remained during the rest of his life, which ended in July 1758, of a consumptive disorder, which he had struggled with many years.
Fountains at Rome adorned with the statues of those rivers.
The Cloacae, which an conveyances for the filth and dirt of the city, are a work of very great antiquity, and are called by Pliny Opus Omnium Maximum, on account of the great capaciousness and firmness of the vaults. They were eight hundred years old in his time, being made by Tarquinius Priscus, and continue to this day.Wright's Traveis, 1730, p. 361.
Several statues of the Pagan gods have been converted into images of saints. See Dr. Middleton's Letter from Rome, vol. iii. p. 84. 4to edition of his works.
From the Palatin hill one sees most of the remarkable antiquities.
Of Vespasian, finished by his son Titus. Wright, in his Travels, p. 350, speaking of this building, observes,
The lowest story is pretty much buried. Ficaroni says, he saw an architect of Verona uncover some of the buried part, and found there was an ascent of three steps to it. All the arches within were covered with ornaments of stucco, of which there are some still remaining. This noble fabric had seats sufficient to contain eighty-five thousand spectators. The seats are all gone, but the slope still remains on which they were placed, al|most round the arena. It is built of Tiburtine stone, which has not a fine grain, but is very durable. The outside of about one half is all standing yet, quite up to the top. The body of the amphitheatre, be|hind the seats, consisted of double galleries, that is, galleries di|vided with pillars all along the middle of them; each gallery going quite round and inclosing the seats, as they did the arena. There were four stories of these galleries; three of them were properly porticoes of the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian orders. The uppermost is adorned with pilasters of the Corinthian or Composite order, and is lighted by windows in the wall between the pilasters, and not laid open as the other three are. Some parts of all the galleries are yet intire, for a considerable extent together, with the several communi|cations between them, and the seats by the vomitoria (as they called the mouths of the passages, through which the crowds of people were poured into the amphitheatre to see the shews;) and such parts as still remain, give us a sufficient idea of what the whole was when the circle was compleat. Several of the fornices too, below, under the seats, where the slaves and wild beasts were kept, that were let out for combat into the arena, remain pretty entire to this day.
The Capitol.
At the other end of the Campo Vaccino, towards the Capitol, are the small, but noble remains of the temple of Jupiter Stator; they are only three Corinthian pillars with their entablature. These they call the Grammar of the Architects. The tops of the capitals are become roundish, by their corners being broke off, and the whole does not seem likely to stand much longer.Wright's Travels, p. 256.
As St. Peter's is incontestably the noblest piece of modern ar|chitecture in Italy, so the Pantheon must as certainly be allowed to be the finest and most perfect remain of the antique; though it has undergone some alterations since its first building. The portico at the entrance, supported by sixteen granite pillars of near five feet diameter, besides pilasters, of the Corinthian order, each of one piece, makes a most magnificent appearance. Upon the frieze, in the front, is an inscription in very large capitals, shewing by whom it was built.
M. AGRIPPA LF. CONSUL TERTIUM FECIT. Marcus Agrippa, the son of Lucius, built it, when Consul the third time.
And in the two large niches, on each side the entrance into the temple, are said to have been two colossal statues, one of the same Agrippa, the other of Augustus Caesar, his father-in-law.Wright's Travels, p. 211.
Inigo Jones.
The invention of this order, most of the moderns, after Vitruvius, ascribe to Callimachus, a Corinthian sculptor, who passing by the tomb of a young lady, over which her nurse had placed a basket with some of her play-things, and covered it up from the weather with a tile; the whole having been placed on a root of Acanthus, as it sprung up, the branches encompassed the basket, and bending down at top, under the corners of the tile, formed a kind of volute. Hence Callimachus took his hint: the basket he imitated in the vase of his column; the leaves in the volutes, and the tile in the abacus of his order.
The temple of Concord, where the senate met on Catiline's con|spiracy.
The public granaries.
The old aqueduct of Ancus Martius, was brought over high nar|row arches, the remains of which are seen in several places, and in some without any interruption for a long way together. That of Claudius, and the rest of the ancient aqueducts, were carried over the like narrow arches, as appears by what it left of them. Several of these being decayed, were restored by some of the first Emperors, to which others were afterwards added. And instead of such as have since that time failed, a rich supply has been made by Sextus V. and Paul V. of the Acqua Felice and Paula. Some of the ancient aque|ducts brought the waters above sixty miles, and the more modern above thirty.
Modern Rome stands chiefly on the old Campus Martius.
Begun by Vespasian, and finished by Titus.
The greatest part of it lies in ruins. What now appears, seems to be one side of what the ancient temple was, and as it were a section of it. It consists of three great arches or vaults, and was esteemed the finest temple of old Rome. Here were lodged the spoils that were brought from the temple of Jerusalem: and it abounded afterwards with an infinity of other riches.Wright's Travels, p. 231.
The pyramid of Cestius, all built of white marble, stands half within, and half without the wall of Rome, near the Porta Terge|mina. There are some antique paintings still within. The lower part of this pyramid was a good deal buried, till Alexander VII. took away the earth from about it; at which time were found lying along, the two pillars that are now set up at the two corners of the pyramid, within the city wall.Wright's Travels, p. 358.
The baths of Caracalla. Of these there are many high walls, which inclose large spacious courts, and several great arches, now stand|ing. Wright, in his Travels, p. 352, says there were in these baths sixteen hundred seats of marble, for those that bathed to sit in, in order to be cleansed with the strigils, brushes, &c.
Trajan's pillar was of white marble, or what was once so, though time has considerably changed its colour. The shaft of it is above twelve foot diameter at the lower end, and ten foot and an half at the upper, and the plinth of the base one and twenty foot square. On the outside are carved the figures in a continual spiral, going round the pillar from the bottom to the top: and within is hollowed out of the solid stone, a stair-case, winding round a solid newel or pillar of the same stone, left in the middle for that purpose. The lights are very narrow on the outside, that they might break in as little as possible upon the train of figures in the basso relievoes, but are widened much within, so as to diffuse what light there does come through; and 'tis sufficient to enlighten the stairs.
Nero's.
The Palatin library.
Virgil's Aeneid, B. 8.
I will say nothing (says bishop Burnet. See his Travels, letter 4) of the Amphitheatre, or of Cicero and Virgil's houses, for which there is nothing but a dubious tradition. They are ancient brick buildings of the Roman way, and the vault of Virgil's house are still entire.
The temple of Romulus and Remus under mount Palatin. It is now the church of St. Cosmus and St. Damianus. Wright says, the old br••zen gates were remaining when he was at Rome.
Caractacus.
Didius Julianus, who bought the empire. See Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. i. p. 131.
William Shenstone, Esq was born at the Leasowes, in the parish of Hales Owen, and county of Salop, Nov. 1714. He was taught to read by the old dame whom he has delivered to posterity in the present poem, after which, he went some time to the grammar-school in Hales Owen, then to Mr. Crompton, an eminent schoolmaster at Solihul, and in 1732 was entered a commoner of Pembroke College, Oxford. He continued his name at the University ten years, but took no degree, nor made the slightest effort to engage in any profession. After spending a few years with great inattention to his fortune, and much to the in|jury of it, he, about the year 1745, went to reside upon his estate, which he ornamented with so much taste, that it became one of the chief objects of curiosity, to those whom business or pleasure called to that part of the kingdom. Unfortunately for Mr. Shenstone, his income was not equal to the expence which his improvements demanded. He embarrassed his circumstances, and dragged out the latter part of his life discontentedly, and in distress. It is said, that if he had lived a little longer, he would have been assisted by a pension, which death prevented him from enjoying. He died at the Leasowes, of a putrid fever, about five on Friday morning, Feb. 11, 1763, and was buried in the church|yard of Hales Owen.
Spenser.
Edward Vernon, Esq at the time this poem was published, a very popular character, on account of the recent capture of Porto Bello.
John Dennis, the celebrated critic.
Shrewsbury Cakes.
Vicar of Starting, in Sussex. He was of Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree of M. A. April 5, 1720. He died the 16th of March 1744.
Humano capiti cervicem pictor equinam Jungere si velit, & varias inducere plumas, Undique collatis membris; ut turpiter atrum Desinat in piscem mulier formosa superne; Spectatum admissi, risum teneatis, amici? Credite, Pisones, isti tabulae fore librum Persimilem, cujus, velut aegri somnia, vana•• Fingentur species—Pictoribus atque Poetis Quidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas; Scimus, & hanc veniam petimusque damusque vicissim: Sed non ut placidis coëant immitia, non ut Serpentes avibus geminentur, tigribus agni.
Sir James Thornhill, the painter.
Incoeptis gravibus plerumque et magna professis Purpu••eus, late qui splendeat, unus & alter Assuitur pannus; cum lucus, & ara Dianae, Aut properantis aqu••e per amoenos ambitus agros, Aut flumen Rhenum, aut pluvius describitur arcus. Sed nunc non erat his locus: & f••rtasse cupressum Scis simulare; quid hoc, si fractis enatat exspes Navibus, aere dato qui pingitur? amphora coepit Institui; currente rota cur urceus exit? Denique sit quidvis, simplex duntaxat & unum.
Decipimur specie recti; brevis esse laboro, Obscurus fio; sectantem laevia nervi Deficiunt animique; professus grandia, turget. Qui variare cupit rem prodigaliter unam, Delphinum sylvis appingit, fluctibus aprum. In vitium ducit culpae fuga, fi caret arte. Aemilium circa ludum faber imus & ungues Exprimet, & molles imitabitur aere capillos; Infelix operis summa, quia ponere totum Nesciet; hunc ego me, si quid componere curem, Non magis esse velim, quam pravo vivere naso, Spectandum nigris oculis nigroque capillo.
All Mr. Heydegger's letters come directed to him from abroad A Monsieur, Monsieur Heydegger, surintendant des plaisirs d'Angleterre. Mr. Heydegger was remarkable for a very ugly countenance.
Sumite materiam vestris, qui scribitis, aequam Viribus; & versa e diu, quid ferre recusent, Quid ••aleant humeri: cu•• lecta potenter erit, res, Nec facundia desere•• hunc, nec lucidus ordo. Ordinis haec virtus erit & Venus, aut ego fallor, Ut jam nunc dicat, jam nunc debentia dici, Pleraque diff••rat, & praesens in tempus omittat. Dixeris egreg••e, notum si ••all da verbum Reddiderit junctura novum; si forte necesse est Indiciis monstrare recentibus abdita rerum, Fingere cinctutis non exaudi••a Cethegis Continge••, dabiturque licentia sumpta pudenter. Et nova fict que nuper habebunt verba fidem, si Graeco fonte cadant.
George Ridpath was a political writer in the reign of queen Anne, and had for his opponent Abel Roper, mentioned in the next line. One of them had the management of a paper called The Flying Post, the other of The Post Boy, and both were equally dull, scandalous, and abusive. The fate of these worthies was uniform to the end of their lives, for they were both frequently cudgelled, prosecuted, and imprisoned; and, to compleat the parallel, both died on the same day. Mr. Pope, speaking of them, says,
"There Ridpath, Roper, cudgell'd might ye view,"The very worsted still look'd black and blue.Dunciad, ii. 149.
Sir Robert Walpole's.
—Licuit, semperque licebit Signatum praesente nota producere nomen. Ut sylvae foliis pronos mutantur in annos; Prima cadunt: ita verborum vetus interit aetas. Debemur morti nos nostraque; sive receptus Terrâ Neptunus, classes aquilonibus arcet, Regis opus; sterilisve diu palus aptaque remis Vicinas urbes alit, & grave sentit aratrum; Seu cursum mutavit iniquum frugibus amnis Doctus iter melius; mortalia facta peribunt, Nedum sermonum stet honos, & gratia vivax. Multa renascentur quae jam cecidere, cadentque Quae nunc sunt in honore vocabula, si volet usus, Quem penes arbitrium est & jus & norma loquendi.
William Pinkethman, the player. He died the 15th of May 1740.
Res gestae regumque ducumque, & tristia bella Quo scribi possent numero, monstravit Homerus. Verfibus impariter junctis querimonia primum, Poft etiam inclufa est voti sententia compos. Quis tame•• exiguos elegos emiserit auctor, Grammatici certant, & adhuc sub judice lis est.
See page 69.
Caleb Danvers, names assumed by the writers of the Craftsman.
Musa dedit fidibus Divos puerosque Deorum Et pugilem victorem, & equum certamine primum, Et juvenum curas, & libera vina referre.
Descriptas servare vices operumque colores Cur ego, fi nequeo ignoroque, poeta salutor? Cur nescire, pudens prave, quam discere malo?
Versibus exponi tragicis res comica non vult: Indignatur item privatis, ac prope socco Dignis carminibus narrari coena Thyestae. Interdum tamen & vocem Comoedia tollit, Iratusque Chremes tumido dilitigat ore. Telephus & Peleus, cum pauper et exul uterque Projicit ampullas & sesquipedalia verba.
The petition here alluded to, was one presented to the House of Commons▪ from the magistrates of Kent, in 1701. It contained a cen|sure on the proceedings of that branch of the legislature, for not enabling King William to prosecute the war. The House, in resentment of the insult offered to their dignity by the petitioners, committed five of them, who were deputies for the rest, to the Gatehouse.
Non satis est pulchra esse Poemata, dulcia sunto Ut ridentibus arrident, ita flentibus adsunt Humani vultus: fi vis me ficre, do••endum est Primum ipsi tibi: tunc tua me infortunia laedent, Telephe, vel Peleu: male si mandata loquêris, Aut dormitabo, aut ridebo.
Afterwards earl of Bath.
Format enim natura prius nos intus ad omnem Fortunarum habitum, &c. Post effert animi motus interprete linguâ, —tristia moestum Vultum verba decent, &c. Si dicentis erunt fortunis absona dicta, Romani tollent equites peditesque cachinnum.
Intererit multum Davusne loquatur, an Heros: Mercatorne vagus, cultorne v••••entis agelli; Colchus, an Assyrius; Thebis nutritus, an Argis.
Aut famam sequere, aut sibi convenientia finge, Scriptor. Honoratum si forte reponis Achillem, Impiger, iracundus, inexorabilis, acer, Jura neget sibi nata, nihil non arroget armis; Sit Medea ferox invictaque, flebilis Ino, Perfidus Ixion, Io vaga, tristis Orestes.
George Finch, afterwards earl of Winchelsea.
Thomas Pelham Holles, duke of Newcastle, and Henry Pelham, Esq his brother.
John Carteret, lord Carteret, afterwards earl Granville.
Si quid inexpertum scenae committis, & audes Personam formare novam, servetur ad imum Qualis ab incepto processerit, & sibi constet.
Difficile est proprie communia dicere: tuque Rectius Iliacum carmen deducis in actus, Quam fi proferres ignota indictaque primus. Publica materies privati juris erit, si Nec circa vilem patulumque moraberis orbem; Nec verbum verbo curabis reddere fidus Interpres; nec desilies imitator in arctum, Unde pedem proferre pudor vetet, aut operis lex.
Nec sie incipies, ut scriptor Cyclicus olim, "Fortunam Priami cantabo & nobile belium." Quanto rectius hic, qui nil molitur inepte, "Dic mihi Musa virum, captae post tempora Trojae, "Qui mores hominum multorum vidit & urbes."
Sir Richard Lane, member for Worcester in the year 1727.
In a debate on the exclusion bill, January 7, 1680, Colonel Titus, amongst other things, observed,
If a lion was in the lobby, and we were to consider which way to secure ourselves from him, and con|clude it is best to shut the door and keep him out,
No, says another, let us chain him and let him come in, but I should be loth to put the chain on. Should the nomination of the judges, and all other pre|ferments, be in your hands, what a kind of government would you have, without feet or claws? As such a king cannot hurt you, so he cannot protect you.It has been said by another,
Let us establish a good council about the king. But I never knew a king and his council of a different opinion. A wise king has, and also makes a wise council, but a wise council does not always make a wise king, &c.Grey's Debates, vol. viii, page 279.
Non fumum ex fulgore, sed ex fumo dare lucem Cogitat—
Quid dignum tanto feret hic promissor hiatu? Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus.
Nec reditum Diomedis ab interitu Meleagri, Nec gemino bellum Trojanum orditur ab ovo; — & quae Desperat tractata nitescere posse, relinquit; Atque ita mentitur, sic veris falsa remiscet, Primo ne medium, medio ne discrepet imum.
Tu, quid ego & populus mecum desideret, audi; Si plausoris eges aulaea manentis, & usque Sessori, donec cantor, Vos plaudite, dicat; Aetatis cujusque notandi sunt tibi mores, Mobilibusque decor naturis dandus & anni••.
Reddere qui voces jam scit puer, & pede certo Signat humum, gestit paribus colludere, & iram Colligit ac ponit temere, & mutatur in horas.
William, duke of Cumberland.
Louisa, afterwards Queen of Denmark, youngest daughter of George the second. She died the 8th of December 1751.
Imberbis juvenis, tandem custode remoto, Gaudet equis canibusque, & aprìci gramine campi; Cereus in vitium flecti, monitoribus asper, Utilium tardus provisor, prodigus aeris, Sublimis cupidusque, & amata relinquere pernix.
These two orators were always in opposition to each other. The former was member for Newton in Lancashire, and celebrated for the bluntness of his manners. In a debate the 6th of December 1717, he incurred the displeasure of the House of Commons, and was committed to the Tower for asserting that the king's speech was calculated rather for the meridian of Germany, than England, and that his majesty was a stranger to our language and constitution. He died in 1743. The latter represented Honiton in Devonshire, and held successively several lucrative posts under the government. He died in 1755.
Conversis studiis, aetas animusque virilis Quaerit opes & amicitias, inservit honori; Commisisse cavet quod mox mutare laboret.
Multa senem circumveniunt incommoda; vel quod Quaerit, & inventis miser abstinet, ac timet uti; Dilator, spe longus, iners, avidusque futuri; Difficilis, querulus, laudator temporis acti Se puero, censor castigatorque minorum. Multa ferunt anni venientes commoda secum, Multa recedentes adimunt; ne forte seniles Mandentur juveni partes, pueroque viriles; Semper in adjunctis aevoque morabimur aptis.
Aut agitur res in scenis, aut acta refertur. Segnius irritant animos demissa per aures, Quàm quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus, & quae Ipse sibi tradit spectator. Quodcunque ostendis mihi sic, incredulus odi.
Neve minor, neu sit quinto productior actu Fabula, quae posci vult, & spectata reponi; Nec Deus intersit, nisi dignus vindite nodus Inciderit; nec quarta loqui persona laboret.
Dover-court is a term still in use for a company, where all are for speaking at the same time. In The Norfolk Drollery by Stevenson, 1673, it is said,
"I'm not a man ordain'd for Dover-court,"For I'm a hearer still where I resort."
Actoris partes Chorus officiumque virile Defendat: neu quid medios intercinat actus, Quod non proposito conducat & haereat apte; Ille bonis faveatque, & concilietur amicis, Et regat iratos, & amet peccare timentes; Ille dapes laudet mensae brevis; ille salubrem Justitiam, legesque, & apertis otia portis; Ille tegat commissa, Deosque precetur & oret, Ut redeat miseris, abeat fortuna superbis.
Tibia non, ut nunc, Orichalcho vincta, tubaeque Aemula, sed tenuis simplexque foramine pauco, Aspirare & adesse choris erat utilis, &c. Postquam coepit agros extendere victor, & urbem Latior amplecti murus, &c. Acceffit numerisque modisque licentia major; Sic etiam fidibus voces crevere severis, Et tulit Eloquium insolitum facundia praeceps; Utiliumque sagax rerum & divina futuri Sortilegis non discrepuit sententia Delphis.
Carmine qui tragico vilem certavit ob hircum, Incolumi gravitate jocum tentavit, co quod Illecebris erat & grata novitate morandus Spectator, functusque sacris, & potus, & exlex.
Effutire leves indigna Tragoedia versus, Ut festis matrona moveri jussa diebus, Intererit Satyris paulum pudibunda protervis.
Non ego inornata & dominantia nomina solum, Verbaque, Pisones, Satyrorum scriptor amabo; Nec sic enitar Tragico differre colori, Ut nihil intersit Davusne loquatur, & audax Pythias, emuncto lucrata Simone talentum: An custos famulusque Dei Silenus alumni.
A lady celebrated in the Dunciad, see b. i. l. 324. She was a ma|tron of great fame, and very religious in her way; whose constant prayer it was,
that she might get enough by her profession to leave it off in time, and make her peace with God.But her fate was not so happy; for being convicted of keeping a disorderly house, and set in the pillory, she was (to the lasting shame of all her great friends and votaries) so ill used by the populace, that it put an end to her days.
—Ut sibi quivis Speret idem, sudet multum, frustraque laboret.
Ne nimium teneris juvenentur versibus unquam, Aut immunda crepent ignominiosaque ••••cta: Offenduntur enim quibus est equus, & pater & res, Nec si quid fricti ciceris probat, & nucis emptor, Aequis accipiunt animis, donantve corona.
At nostri proavi Plautinos & numeros & Laudavêre sales; nimium patienter utrumque, Ne dicam stulte, mirati; si modo ego & vos Scimus inurbanum lepido seponere dicto, Legitimumque sonum digitis callemus & aure.
Love in a Riddle, written in opposition to the Beggars Opera.
Ignotum Tragicae genus invenisie Camoenae Dicitur, & plaustris rexisse poëmata Thespis, Quae canerent agerentque peruncti faecibus ora. Post hunc personae, pallaeque repertor honestae Aeschylus, & modicis instravit pulpita tignis, Et docuit magnumque loqui, nitique cothurno. Successit vetus his Comoedia, non sine multa Laude: sed in vitium libertas excidit, & vim Dignam lege regi: lex est accepta, chorusque Turpiter obticuit sublato jure nocendi.
Daniel Desoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, and other pieces.
A character assumed by Isaac Bickerstaff, the fictitious author of The Tailer.
Nil intentatum nostri liquêre Poëtae; Nec minimum meruêre decus, vestigia Graeca Ausi deferere, & celebrare domestica facta: Nec virtute foret clarisve potentius armis, Quàm linguâ, Latium, si non offenderet unum- quemque Poëtarum limae labor & mora.
Ingenium miserâ quia fortunatius arte Credit, & excludit sanos Helicone Poëtas Democritus; bona pars non ungues ponere curat, Non barbam— Nanciscetur enim pretium nomenque Poëtae, Si tribus Anticyris caput insanabile nunquam Tonsori Licino commiserit.
—O ego laevus, Qui purgor bilem sub verni temporis horam: Non alius faceret meliora poëmata, verum Nil tanti est: ergo fungar vice cotis acutum Reddere quae ferrum valet, exsors ipsa secandi; Munus & officium, nil scribens ipse, docebo; Unde parentur opes, quid alat formetque Poëtam: Quid deceat, quid non: quò virtus, quò ferat error.
Scribendi recte, sapere est & principium & fons: Rem tibi Socraticae poterunt ostendere chartae, Verbaque provisam rem non invita sequentur. Qui didicit, patriae quid debeat, & quid amicis, Quo sit amore parens, quo frater amandus, & hospes, Quod fit conscripti, quod judicis officium, quae Partes in bellum missi ducis; ille profectò Reddere personae scit convenientia cuique.
Refpicere exemplar vitae morumque jubebo Doctum imitatorem, & veras hinc ducere voces. Fabula, nullius veneris, sine pondere & arte, Valdius oblectat populum, meliusque moratur, Quam versus inopes rerum, nugaeque canorae.
A book entitled, "The Ambassador and his functions," written by Mons. de Wicquefort, Privy Counsellor to the Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg Zell.—Translated by Mr. Digby. Folio.
Two plays by Banks, which, although written in the most con|temptible language, yet never fail to melt the audience into tears, mere|ly by the force of judicious and well-arranged plots and incidents.
Graiis ingenium, Graiis dedit ore rotundo Musa loqui, &c. Romani pueri longis rationibus assem Discunt in partes centum diducere. Dicat Filius urbani, fi de quincunce remota est Uncia, quid superest? poterat dixisse, triens. Eul Rem poteris servare tuam. — redit uncia, quid fit? Semis. Ad haec animos aerugo & cura peculî Cum semel imbuerit, speramus carmina fingi Posse linenda cedro, & laevi servanda cupresso?
Quicquid praecipies, esto brevis; ut cito dicta Percipiant animi dociles, teneantque fideles; Omne supervacuum pleno de pectore manat,
Ficta voluptatis causâ, sint proxima veris: Nec, quodcunque volet, poscat sibi fabula credi; Neu pransae Lamiae vivum puerum extrahat alvo.
Mary Tofts, of Godalmin in Surry, in 1726, pretended to have been delivered of several rabbits, and imposed on the credulity of many eminent persons, before the cheat was discovered.
Centuriae seniorum agitant expertia frugis; Celsi praetereunt austera poëmata Rhamnes. Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci, Lectorem delectando, pariterque monendo. Hic meret aera liber Sosiis, hic & mare transit, Et longum noto scriptori prorogat oevum.
William Bromley, Esq and Sir Thomas Hanmer, Bart. both Speakers of the House of Commons, in the reign of Queen Anne.
Sunt delicta tamen, quibus ignovisse velimus; Nen semper feriet quodcunque minabitur arcus: Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis Offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit, Aut humana parum cavit natura. Quid ergo est? Ut scriptor si peccat idem librarius usque, Quamvis est monitus, veniâ caret: & Citharoedus Ridetur, chordâ qui semper oberrat eâdem: Sic mihi, qui multùm cessat, fit Choerilus ille, Quem bis terque bonum, cum rifu miror: & idem Indignor quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus: Verum opere in longo fas est obrepere somnum.
Sir William Wyndham, chancellor of the exchequer under queen Anne: he made, says Mr. Pope, early a considerable figure, but afterwards a much greater, both by his ability and eloquence, joined with the utmost judgment and temper.
Ut pictura Poësis erit; quae, si propius stes, Te capiet magis: & quaedam, si longius abstes. Haec amat obscurum, volet haec sub luce videri; Haec placuit semel, haec decies repetita placebit.
O major juvenum—hoc tibi dictum Tolle memor, certis medium & tolerabile rebus Recte concedi — — Mediocribus esse Poëtis Non homines, non Dii, non concessêre columnae. Sic animis natum inventumque Poëma juvandis, Si paulum a summo decessit, vergit ad imum.
Ludere qui nescit, campestribus abstinet armis: Indoctusque pilae, discive, trochive, quiescit, Ne spissae risum tollant impunè coronae; Qui nescit, versus tamen audet fingere.— — Quid ni? Liber & ingenuus, praesertim census equestrem Summam nummorum, vitioque remotus ab omni. Membranis intus positis, delere licebit Quod non edideris: nescit vox missa reverti.
Sylvestres homines sacer interpresque Deorum Caedibus & victu foedo deterruit Orpheus. — Fuit haec sapientia quondam, Publica privatis secernere, sacra profanis; Concubitu prohibere vago, dare jura maritis; Oppida moliri, leges incidere ligno. — Dictae per carmina fortes, Et vitae monstrata via est, & gratia regum Pieriis tentata modis; ludusque repertus, Et longorum operum finis: — ne forte pudori Si tibi Musa lyrae solers, & cantor Apollo:
Naturâ fieret laudabile carmen, an arte, Quaefitum est; ego nec studium sine divite venâ, Nec rude quid profit video ingenium: alterius sic Altera poscit opem res, & conjurat amice.
Quid studet optatam cursu contingere metam, Multa tulit fecitque puer; sudavit & alsit, Abstinuit venere & vino.— Nunc satis est dixisse, Ego mira poëmata pango: Occupet extremum scabies, mihi turpe relinqui est Et, quod non didici, sane nescire fateri.
Fig was the most celebrated prize-fighter of the times. He died De|cember 1734.
Assentatores jubet ad lucrum ire Poëta, Dives agris, dives positis in foenore nummis. Si vero est unctum qui recte ponere possit, Et spondere levi pro paupere, & eripere atris Litibus implicitum, mirabor, si sciet inter- noscere mendacem verumque beatus amicum. Tu seu donaris, seu quid donare voles cui, Nolito ad versus tibi factos ducere plenum Laetitiae: clamabit enim, Pulchre, bene, recte! — si carmina condes, Nunquam te fallant animi sub vulpe latentes.
Quintilio si quid recitares corrige, sodes, Hoc, aiebat, & hoc: melius te posse negares, Bis terque expertum frustra, delere jubebat. Si defendere delictum, quam vertere, malles, Nullum ultra verbum, aut operam insumebat inanem, Quin fine rivali teque & tua solus amares.
Sir Robert Fag was member for the Borough of Steyning, in the Parliament which met June 13th 1734. He died in the year 1740.
Ut mala quem scabies aut morbus regius urguet, — dicam, Siculique Poëtae Narrabo interitum — Nec semel hoc fecit, nec si retractus erit, jam Fiet homo, et ponet famosae mortis amorem. Indoctum doctumque fugat recitator acerbus. Quem vero arripuit, tenet, occiditque legendo, Non missura cutem, nisi plena cruoris, hirudo.
Sir Richard Blackmore, author of King Arthur, Prince Arthur, and other Epic Poems.
An infamous publication, which appeared just before this Poem was printed.
Bradshaw presided at the court wherein King Charles I, was tried.
Mrs. Anne Oldfield, the celebrated actress. She died 23 October 1730, and was buried in Westminster Abbey on the 27th of the same month; Dr. Barker, the senior prebendary then resident, performing the ceremony.
Dr. Bernard Mandeville, author of The Fable of the Bees, &c. He died 21 January 1732-3.
Dr. Matthew Tyndal, author of Christianity as old as the Creation. He died 16 Aug. 1733.
Author of a book called A Philosophical Discourse on Death; being a defence of suicide. He was a nobleman of Piedmont, banished from his country for his impieties, and lived in the utmost misery, yet feared to practice his own precepts; on which the following story used to be told:— Amongst his pupils, to whom he read in moral philosophy, there was, it seems, a noted gamester, who lodged under the same roof with him. This useful citizen, after a run of ill luck, came one morning early into the philosopher's bed-chamber with two loaded pistols; and, as Englishmen do not understand raillery in a case of this nature, told the Piedmontese, on presenting him with one of his pistols, that now was come the time to put his doctrine in practise: that as to himself, having lost his last stake, he was become an useless member in society, and so was resolved to quit his station; and that as to him, his guide, philosopher, and friend, surrounded with miseries, the out-cast of government, and th•• sport even of that chance which he adored, he doubtless would rejoice for such an opportunity to bear him company. All this was said and done with so much resolution and solemnity, that the Italian found him|self under a necessity to cry out murder; which brought in company to his relief. This unhappy man at last died a penitent.
Warburton's Notes on Pope.
Though Pasaran wanted spirit to act in conformity to his own prin|ciples, yet a book-binder and his wife shewed more resolution. Being in|volved in debt, they came to the horrid determination of destroying their child, and then putting an end to their own existence. They left a paper behind them, justifying the action by some reasonings of the above author, and others of the same kind. The names of this miserable pair were Richard and Bridget Smith, and the event happened in the year 1732.
Eustace Budgel, Esq one of the writers in the Spectator, and a near relation to Mr. Addison. This gentleman having involved himself in difficulties, became guilty of some acts which totally destroyed his repu|tation. In a fit of despair he put an end to his life, by throwing him|self into the Thames, 4 May 1737.
James Roberts, the publisher of a multitude of pamphlets at that period.
Bentley's Milton, Book ix. ver. 439.
See Spectator, No. 26.
Sir Andrew Fountaine, knt. a gentleman famous for his valuable collection of pictures, statues, medals, and inscriptions. He was tutor to the duke of Cumberland, and at the time of his death, Sept. 4, 1753, warder of the Mint.
On the establishment of a royal academy of musick, about the year 1723, the publick was divided about the merits of Handel and Bononcini, as composers, and great feuds were raised amongst the nobility on the oc|casion. The contest was managed with much violence, and at length brought to a decision by each of the rival performers composing an act of Muzio Scaevola. The superiority was generally acknowledged to be|long to Handel.
Esther, one of the first of Mr. Handel's oratorios, performed about the year 1729 or 1730.
See vol. iii. p. 206.
A noted toyman.
See vol. vi. This celebrated prize-fighter died about the year 1734.
Dr. John Misaubin was a celebrated quack, though a member of the College of Physicians. He died 20 April 1734.
Dr. Arbuthnot, the friend of Pope, Swift, and Gay. He died 27 February 1735.
Dr. John Hollins, at the time of his death, 10 May 1739, senior King's physician in ordinary.
Dr. John Wigan, of Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his de|gree July 7, 1727.
Dr. Matthew Lee. This gentleman settled at Low Layton, and died 27 September 1755.
The celebrated Dr. Richard Mead.
Benjamin Stillingfleet, was the only son of Edward Stillingfleet, a clergyman in the county of Norfolk, and grandson to Dr. Stillingfleet, Bishop of Worcester. He was educated at Norwich school, which he left in 1720, and went to Trinity College Cambridge, where Dr. Bentley, who had been private tutor to his father, was then Master. He became a candidate while there for a fellowship, but through the influence of Dr. Bentley, was rejected. On this disappointment, he quitted the University, and travelled with Mr. Wyndham of Felbrig, in Norfolk, to whom this Poem is addressed, and with whom he lived in the most intimate and unreserved friendship. By the favour of the late Lord Barrington, he was appointed master of the barracks at Kensington, a place which enabled him to pursue his studies, and par|ticularly his favourite one of Natural History, with success. He was the author of several valuable works which have been published, and of others which have not hitherto appeared. He died a batchelor, in the year 1771, at the age of upwards of seventy years, and was buried in Saint James's church.
John Duke of Argyll, equally celebrated as a statesman, a warrior, and an orator. He died 3d September 1743.
Alcibiades.
"Ripley," says Mr. Pope,
was a carpenter, employ'd by a first mi|nister, who raised him to an architect, without any genius in the art; and after some wretched proofs of his insufficiency in public buildings, made him Comptroller to the Board of Works.Note to Moral Es|says, Ep. iv. l. 18.
See Bentley on the Epistles of Phalaris.
Peter Burman, a celebrated Dutch writer, born at Utrecht, 26th of June 1688. He was Professor of Eloquence and History at the place of his birth, and died 31st of March 1731.
Ctesipho.
Nathan Bailey, the compiler of a Latin and English Dictionary, and editor of several classics for the use of schools. He died 27 June, 1742.
St. Dominic, vide Jansenius (Nic.)
Of our Saviour and others, vide Ferrand.
Of Joseph, vide Molinaeum.
St. Cathro's, vide Colganum.
St. Anthony.
Vide life of St. Colman by Colganus.
The same life by the same author.
Vide speculum vitae sancti Francisci.
St. Munnu gathered those that dropt from him, and put them in their place again, vide Act. Sanctorum.
From St. Firman to St. Columba, vide Colganum. Chapel of Loretto.
Maria de la Visitation, vide her life by Lusignam.
Socrates.
William Collins was born at Chichester on the 25th day of Decem|ber, about 1720. His father was a hatter. In 1733 he was admitted a scholar of Winchester college, and in 1740 stood first in the list of the scholars in succession at New College; but there being no vacancy at that time, he became a commoner of Queen's College, and in about half a year after was elected a Demy of Magdalen College, where he continued until he had taken a Batchelor's degree, and then suddenly left the uni|versity. This event happened about the year 1744. He immediately came to London, and commenced a literary adventurer; in which capa|city he was not diligent enough to keep himself from want. In a short time he was relieved from his distresses by the death of his uncle, Mr. Martin, a lieutenant colonel, who left him about £. 2,000. From this period his health began to decline, and he gradually fell into that state of depression of mind which enchains the faculties without destroying them, and leaves reason the knowledge of right without the power of pursuing it. These clouds which he perceived gathering on his intel|lects, he endeavoured to disperse by travel, and passed into France; but found himself constrained to yield to his malady, and returned. He was for some time confined in a house of lunatics, and afterwards retired to the care of his sister at Chichester, where death, in 1756, came to his re|lief.
His Lordship died 30th of January 1735.
Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, was born September 22d, 1694; succeeded to the title 27th of January 1725-6; and was elected Knight of the Garter 18th of May 1730. Soon after he was made Steward of his Majesty's household, and Ambassador Extraordi|nary and Plenipotentiary to the States General. In 1745 he was ap|pointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and in 1746 Secretary of State; he resigned this post, after holding it about a year, and retired from all pub|lic business. He died March 23, 1773.
Supposed to be Lady Frances Shirley.