"Peace is my dear delight-not FLEURY'S more: Y Slander or Poifon dread from Delia's rage, 75 80 1 Its proper pow'r to hurt, each creature feels; 85 Bulls aim their horns, and Affes lift their heels; 'Tis a Bear's talent not to kick, but hug; And no man wonders he's not stung by Pug. a So drink with Walters, or with Chartres eat, They'll never poifon you, they'll only cheat. NOTES. 90 Then, 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 eft inimica, venenum ;" yet there might be fomething, for aught we know, in the character or history of Cervius, which might bring up that line to the fpirit and poignancy of the Sed verse of the Imitation. WARBURTON. VER. 83. From furious Sappho] There is no doubt, notwithflanding all his evafions, who is here meant by Sappho ; but what Warburton calls "Spirited," is unmanly and disgraceful. VER. 85-90. Its proper power to hurt, &c.] All, except the two laft lines, inferior to the elegance and precision of the original. WARBURTON. Matrem; nil faciet fceleris pia dextera (mirum › Ut neque calce lupus quemquam, neque dente petit bos) Sed mala tollet anum vitiato melle cicuta. b Ne longum faciam: feu me tranquilla fenectus Exfpectat, feu mors artis circumvolat alis; Dives, inops; Romæ, feu fors ita jufferit, exful; T. O puer, ut fis Vitalis metuo; et majorum ne quis amicus e H. Quid? cum eft Lucilius aufus Primus in hunc operis componere carmina morem, Detrabere NOTES. VER. GI. Then, learned Sir!] The brevity and force of the original is evaporated in this long and feeble paraphrafe of the next ten lines. The third and three fucceeding verfes are very languid and verbofe, and perhaps fome of the worst he has WARTON. written. VER. 93-96. Whether Old age-feade;] The original is more finished, and even more fublime. Besides, the last verse-To wrap me in the univerfal fhade, has a languor and redundancy unusual with WARBURTON. our Author. VER. 98. Or whiten'd wall] From Boileau. VER. 99. In durance, exile, Bedlam, or the Mint,] The Poet, in our equal government, might talk at his cafe, and with all this levity of ftyle, of the difafters incident to wit. But it was a serious matter with Horace; and is fo ftill with our witty Neighbours; one of whom has well expreffed their condition, in the following lines: "Eh! Que fait on? Un fimple badinage, Mal entendu d'un Prude, ou d'un Sot, Peut vous jetter fur un autre rivage: Pour perdre un Sage, il ne faut qu'un Bigot." WARBURTON. b age, Then, learned Sir! (to cut the matter short) с Whether the darken'd room to muse invite, In durance, exile, Bedlam, or the Mint, Like Lee or Budgel, I will rhyme and print. d 95 100 F. Alas, young man! your days can ne'er be long; In flow'r of age you perifh for a fong! Plums and Directors, Shylock and his Wife, e P. What? arm'd for Virtue when I point the pen, Brand the bold front of fhameless guilty men; IC5 Dafh NOTES. VER. 100. Like Lee or Budgel,] One is forry to fee Lee, a true genius, coupled with Budgel, and his infanity ridiculed. WARTON. VER. 101. your days can ne'er be long;] The original says, "Left any one of your powerful friends fhould strike you with a cold and contemptuous look."—" Racine meurt," fays Voltaire, 'par une foibleffe grand; parcequ'un autre homme en passant dans une galerie ne l'a pas regardé. J'en fuis faché; mais le role de Phædre n'en eft pas moins admirable." WARTON, VER. 104. Will club their Teflers, &c.] The image is exceeding humorous; and, at the fame time, betrays the injustice of their resentment, in the very circumstance of their indulging it, as it f * Detrahere et pellem, nitidus qua quifque per ora NOTES. Scilicet fhews the Poet had said no more of their avarice than was true. His abundance of wit has made his readers backward in acknow ledging his talent for humour. But the veins are equally rich; and the one flows with ease, and the other is always placed with propriety. WARBURTON. VER. 105. What? arm'd for Virtue] From this line to Ver. 140. is a paffage of as much force and energy as any that can be produced in the English language, in rhyme. WARTON. VER 110. Lights of the Church, or Guardians of the Laws?] Becaufe juft Satire is an useful fupplement to the fanctions of Law and Religion; and has, therefore, a claim to the protection of thole who prefide in the, administration either of Church or State. WARBURTON. VER. III. Could Boileau-Could Dryden] I believe neither of them would have been fuffered to do this, had they not been egregious flatterers of the several Courts to which they belonged. WARBURTON. Ibid. Could penfion'd Boileau - Could Laureate Dryden] It was Horace's purpofe to compliment the former times; and therefore he gives the virtuous examples of Scipio and Lælius: it was Mr. Pope's defign to fatirize the prefent; and therefore he gives the vicious examples of Louis, Charles, and James. Either way the inftances are fully pertinent; but in the latter they have rather greater force. Only the line, "Uni æquus virtuti atque ejus amicis," lofes fomething of its fpirit in the imitation; for the amici, referred to, were Scipio and Lælius. WARBURTON. VER. 111. Could penfion'd Boileau] Boileau acted with much caution and circumfpection when he first published his Lutrin here alluded to, and endeavoured to cover and conceal his fubject by a preface Dash the proud Gamester in his gilded Car; NOTES. 115 I will, preface intended to mislead his reader from the real fcene of action; but it ought to be observed, that he afterwards, in the year 1683 threw afide this difguife, openly avowing the occafion that gave ife to the poem, the scene of which was not Bourges or Pourges, as before he had said, but Paris itself; the quarrel he celebrated being betwixt the treasurer and the chanter of the Holy Chapel in that city. The canons were so far from being offended, that they fhewed their good fenfe and good temper by joining in the laugh. Upon which Boileau compliments them, and adds, that many of that fociety were perfons of fo much wit and learning, that he would as foon confult them upon his Works as the members of the French Academy. The name of the chanter was Barrin; that of the treasurer, Claude Avri, bishop of Conftance in Normandy. The quarrel began in July 1667. See Letters of Broffette to Boileau: à Lyon, 170; p. 242. v. et Œuvres de M. Boileau, Defpreaux, par M. de Saint Marc, tom ii. 77. Paris, 174. He juftly fays, "e'en in Louis' reign;" for his bigotry was equally contemptible and cruel; and, if we may credit St. Simon, he actually died a jefuit. WARTON. VER. 116. Unplac'd, unpenfion'd, no man's heir, or flave?] Mr. Pope, it is well known, made his fortune by his Homers. Lord Treafurer Oxford affected to difcourage that defign; for fo great a genius (he faid) ought not to be confined to Translation. He always ufed Mr. Pope civilly; and would often express his concern that his religion rendered him incapable of a place. At the fame |