Summe munito, et multarum divite rerum.
Clarus ob id factum, donis ornatur honeftis,
Accipit et bis dena fuper feftertia nummûm.
Forte fub hoc tempus caftellum evertere praetor
Nefcio quod cupiens, hortari coepit eundem
Verbis, quae timido quoque poffent addere mentem:
I, bone, quo virtus tua te vocat: i pede faufto,
Grandia laturus meritorum praemia: quid ftas?
Poft haec ille catus, quantumvis rufticus, "Ibit,
"Ibit eo, quo vis, qui zonam perdidit, inquit.
f Romae nutriri mihi contigit, atque doceri,
Iratus Graiis quantum nocuiffet Achilles.
Adjecere bonae paulo plus artis Athenae:
Scilicet ut poffem curvo dignofcere rectum,
Atque inter filvas Academi quaerere verum.

NOTES.

VER. 43. Gave him much praife, and fome reward befide.] For the fake of a ftroke of fatire, he has here weakened that circumitance, on which the turn of the ftory depends. Horace avoided it, tho' the avaricious character of Lucullus was a tempting occafion to indulge his raillery.

VER. 51. Let him take castles who has ne'er a groat.] This has neither the force nor the justnefs of the original. Horace makes his Soldier fay,

Ibit,

Ibit eo, quo vis, qui zonam perdidit.

for it was not his poverty, but his lofs, that pushed him upon danger; many being equal to the firft, who cannot

"Prodigious well;" his great Commander cry'd,
Gave him much praife, and fome reward befide.
Next pleas'd his Excellence a town to batter;
(Its name I know not, and it's no great matter) 45
"Go on, my Friend (he cry'd) fee yonder walls!
"Advance and conquer! go where glory calls!
"More honours, more rewards, attend the brave."
Don't you remember what reply he gave?

"D'ye think me, noble Gen'ral, fuch a Sot?
"Let him take castles who has ne'er a groat."
f Bred up at home, full early I begun
To read in Greek the wrath of Peleus' fon.
Besides, my Father taught me from a lad,
The better art to know the good from bad :
(And little fure imported to remove,

To hunt for Truth in Maudlin's learned grove.)
But knottier points we knew not half fo well,
Depriv'd us foon of our paternal Cell ;

NOTES.

50

55

bear the other. What betray'd our poet into this inaccuracy of expreffion was it's fuiting better with the application. But in a great writer we pardon nothing. And fuch an one should never forget, that the expreffion is not perfect, but when the ideas it conveys fit both the tale and the application: for fo, they reflect a mutual light upon one another.

VER. 53. To read in Greek the wrath of Peleus' fon.] This circumftance has a happier application in the imitation than in the original; and properly introduces the 68th verse.

Dura fed emovere loco me tempora grato ;

Civilifque rudem belli tulit aeftus in arma,

Caefaris Augufti non refponfura lacertis.

Unde fimul primum me dimifere Philippi,
Decifis humilem pennis, inopemque paterni

Et laris et fundi, paupertas impulit audax

Ut verfus facerem: fed, quod non defit, habentem, Quae poterunt unquam fatis expurgare cicutae,

Ni melius dormire putem, quam fcribere verfus ?
* Singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes;

Eripuere jocos, venerem, convivia, ludum;
Tendunt extorquere poemata. quid faciam vis?

h Denique non omnes eadem mirantur amantque.

NOTES.

VER. 69. Indebted to no Prince or Peer alive,] For it would be very hard upon Authors, if the fubfcribing for a Book, which does honour to one's Age and Country, and confequently reflects back part of it on the Subfcribers, fhould be esteemed a debt or obligation.

And certain Laws, by fuff'rers thought unjust, 60 Deny'd all pòfts of profit or of trust :

Hopes after hopes of pious Papists fail'd,

While mighty WILLIAM's thund'ring arm prevail'd.
For Right Hereditary tax'd and fin'd,

He stuck to poverty with peace of mind;
And me, the Muses help'd to undergo it;
Convict a Papift he, and I a Poet.

But (thanks to Homer) fince 1 live and thrive,
Indebted to no Prince or Peer alive,

Sure I fhould want the care of ten Monroes,

If I would fcribble, rather than repose.

65

70

: Years foll'wing years, fteal fomething ev'ry day. At laft they steal us from ourselves away;

In one our Frolics, one Amusements end,
In one a Mistress drops, in one a Friend:
This fubtle Thief of life, this paltry Time,
What will it leave me, if it fnatch my rhime?
If ev'ry wheel of that unweary'd Mill

That turn'd ten thousand verses, now ftands ftill.

·75

h But after all, what wou'd you have me do? 80 When out of twenty I can please not two;

NOTES.

VER. 70, Monroes,] Dr. Monroe, Phyfician to Bedlam-Hofpital. P.

VER. 73. At laft they fteal us from ourselves away;] i. e. Time changes all our paffions, appetites, and inclinations.

Carmine tu gaudes: hic delectatur iambis ;

Ille Bioneis fermonibus, et fale nigro.

Tres mihi convivae prope diffentire videntur,

Pofcentes vario multum diverfa palato.

Quid dem? quid non dem? renuis quod tu, jubet

alter:

Quod petis, id fane eft invifum acidumque duobus.
i Praeter caetera me Romaine poemata censes

Scribere poffe, inter tot curas totque labores?
Hic fponfum vocat, hic auditum fcripta, relictis
Omnibus officiis: cubat hic in colle Quirini,

Hic extremo in Aventino; vifendus uterque.

Intervalla vides humane commoda.

"Verum

"Purae funt plateae, nihil ut meditantibus obftet."

Feftinat calidus mulis gerulifque redemtor:

Torquet nunc lapidem, nunc ingens machina tignum :

NOTES.

VER. 87. Oldfield-Dartineuf] Two celebrated Gluttons. This inftance adds a beauty to the whole paffage,