615

With his own tongue ftill edifies his ears,
And always lift'ning to himfelf appears.
All books he reads, and all he reads affails,
From Dryden's Fables down to Durfey's Tales.
With him moft authors fteal their works, or buy;
Garth did not write his own Difpenfary.

Name a new Play, and he's the Poet's friend, 620
Nay fhow'd his faults-but when would Poets mend?
No place fo facred from fuch fops is barr'd,
Nor is Paul's church more fafe than Paul's churchyard:
Nay, fly to Altars; there they'll talk you dead;
For Fools rufh in where Angels fear to tread. 625
Diftruftful fenfe with modeft caution fpeaks,
It ftill looks home, and fhort excurfions makes;
But rattling nonfenfe in full vollies breaks,

VARIATIONS.

VER. 624. Between this and ver. 625.

In vain you shrug and sweat and strive to fly :
Thefe know no Manners but of Poetry.
They'll ftop a hungry Chaplain in his grace,
To treat of Unities of time and place.

NOTES.

VER. 620. Garth did not write, etc.] A common flander at that time in prejudice of that deferving author. Our Poet did him this juftice, when that flander most prevail'd; and it is now (perhaps the fooner for this very verse) dead and forgotten. P.

And never fhock'd, and never turn'd afide,
Burft out, refiftlefs, with a thund'ring tide.

630

But where's the man, who counsel can bestow, Still pleas'd to teach, and yet not proud to know? COMMENTARY.

VER. 631. But where's the man, etc.] II. The fecond divifion of this laft part, which we now come to, is of the morals of Critics by example. For, having in the first, drawn a picture of the falfe Critic, at large, he breaks out into an apostrophe, containing an exact and finished character of the true, which, at the fame time, ferves for an eafy and proper introduction to this fecond divifion. For having asked from ver. 631 to 644.] Where's the man, etc. he answers [from ver. 643 to 682.] That he was to be found in the happier ages of Greece and Rome; in the perfons of Ariftotle and Horace, Dionyfius and Petronius, Quintilian and Longinus. Whose Characters he has not only juftly drawn, but has contrafted them with a peculiar elegance; the profound science and logical method of Ariftotle being opposed to the plain common fenfe of Horace, conveyed in a natural and familiar negligence: the study and refinement of Dionyfius, to the gay and courtly ease of Petronius: and the gravity and minutenefs of Quintilian to the vivacity, and general topics of Longinus. Nor has the Poet been lefs careful, in these examples, to point out their eminence in the feveral critical Virtues he fo carefully inculcated in his precepts. Thus in Horace he particularizes his candour; in Petronius his Good-Breeding; in Quintilian his free and copious Inftruction; and in Longinus his great and noble Spirit.

NOTES.

VER. 631. But where's the man, etc.] The Poet, by his manner of afking after this Character, and telling us, when he had defcribed it, that fuch once were Critics, does not encourage us to fearch for it amongst modern writers. And indeed the difcovery of him, if it could be made, would be but an invidious affair. However I will venture to name the piece of Criticiim in which all thefe marks may be found. It is intitled, 2. Hor. Fl. As Poetica, et ejusd. Ep. ad Aug. with an English Commentary and Notes.

Unbiafs'd, or by favour, or by fpite;

Not dully prepoffefs'd, nor blindly right;

634

Tho' learn'd, well-bred; and tho' well-bred, fincere ;

Modeftly bold, and humanly fevere;

Who to a friend his faults can freely show,

And gladly praise the merit of a foe?

Bleft with a tafte exact, yet unconfin'd;

A knowledge both of books and human kind; 640
Gen'rous converfe; a foul exempt from pride;
And love to praise, with reason on his fide?
Such once were Critics; fuch the happy few,
Athens and Rome in better ages knew.

The mighty Stagirite firft left the shore,

Spread all his fails, and durft the deeps explore;
He fteer'd fecurely, and discover'd far,

Led by the light of the Mæonian star.

VARIATIONS.

645

Between ver. 646 and 647. I have found the following lines, fince fuppreft by the author:

That bold Columbus of the realms of wit,

Whose first discovery's not exceeded yet.

Led by the Light of the Mæonian Star,
He fteer'd fecurely, and difcover'd far.

He, when all Nature was fubdu'd before,
Like his great Pupil, figh'd and long'd for more:
Fancy's wild regions yet unvanquish'd lay,

A boundless empire, and that own'd no sway.
Poets, etc.

NOTES.

VER. 642. With REASON on his fide, etc.] Not only on his fide, but in actual Employment.

Poets, a race long unconfin'd, and free,
Still fond and proud of favage liberty,

650

Receiv'd his laws; and flood convinc'd 'twas fit,

Who conquer'd Nature, fhould prefide o'er wit.
Horace ftill charms with graceful negligence,
And without method talks us into fenfe,
Will, like a friend, familiarly convey
The trueft notions in the cafieft way.

He, who fupreme in judgment, as in wit,
Might boldly cenfure, as he boldly writ,

NOTES.

655

That Critic makes but a mean figure, who when he has found out the beauties of his author, contents himself with fhewing them to the world in only empty exclamations. His office is to explain their nature, fhew from whence they arife, and what effects they produce; or in the better and fuller expreffion of the Poet,

"To teach the world with REASON to admire.

VER. 652. Who conquer'd Nature, should prefide o'er Wit.] By this we must not understand, phyfical Nature but moral. The force of the observation confifts in giving it this fenfe. The Poet not only uses the word Nature for human Nature, throughout this poem; but alfo, where, in the beginning of it, he lays down the principles of the arts he treats of, he makes the knowledge of human nature the foundation of all Criticism and Poetry. Nor is the obfervation less true than appofite. For, Ariftotle's natural enquiries were fuperficial, and ill-made, tho' extenfive: But his logical and moral works are fupremely excellent. In these he has unfolded the human mind, he has laid open all the recefies of the heart and understanding; and by thofe, his Categories, not only conquered Nature, but kept her in tenfold Chains: Not as Dulnefs kept the Muses, in the Dunciad, to filence them; but as Ariftæus held Proteus in. Virgil, to deliver Oracles.

Yet judg'd with coolness, tho' he fung with fire; His Precepts teach but what his works infpire. 660 Our critics, take a contrary extreme,

665

They judge with fury, but they write with flegm:
Nor fuffers Horace more in wrong Tranflations
By Wits, than Critics in as wrong Quotations.
See Dionyfius Homer's thoughts refine,
And call new beauties forth from ev'ry line!
Fancy and art in gay Petronius please,
The scholar's learning, with the courtier's ease.
In grave Quintilian's copious work, we find
The jufteft rules, and cleareft method join'd: 670
Thus useful arms in magazines we place,

All rang'd in order, and difpos'd with grace,
But lefs to please the eye, than arm the hand,
Still fit for ufe, and ready at command.

Thee, bold Longinus! all the Nine infpire, 675
And bless their Critic with a Poet's fire.
An ardent Judge, who, zealous in his truft,
With warmth gives sentence, yet is always just :
Whose own example ftrengthens all his laws;
And is himself that great Sublime he draws.

Thus long fucceeding Critics juftly reign'd, Licence reprefs'd, and ufeful laws ordain'd.

COMMENTARY.

680

VER. 681. Thus long fucceeding Critics, etc.] The next period in which the true Critic (he tells us) appeared, was

NOTES.

VER. 665. See Dionyfius] Of Halicarnaffus. P.

VOL. I.

N