A place there is, betwixt earth, air, and feas*, And minifters to Jove with pureft hands: 85 90 100 Forth from the heap fhe pick'd her Vot'ry's pray'r, 95 * See Lucian's Icaro-Menippus, where this fiction is more extended. + Alludes to Homer, Iliad v. ἔε δ ̓ ἄμβροτον αἷμα Θέοιο, Ιχώρ, οἷς περ τε ρέει μακάρεσσι Θεοῖσιν. The Roman goddess of the common fewers. 105 I FO Milton § Alluding to the opinion that there are ointments us'd by witches, to enable them to fly in the air, &c. A shapeless A shapeless shade, it melted from his fight, 115 120 Heav'n rings with laughter: Of the laughter vain, Dulnefs, good queen, repeats the jest again. Three wicked' imps, of her own Grub-street choir, She deck'd like Congreve, Addifon, and Prior; Mears, Warner, Wilkins || run: delufive thought! 125 Breval, Bond, Befaleel §, the varlets caught. E e 2 Our * Some of thofe perfons, whofe writings, epigrams, or jefts he had owned. See Note on ver. 50. This line has been loudly complain'd of in Mift, June 8, Dedic. to Sawney, and others, as a most inhuman fatire on the poverty of poets : but it is thought our author will be acquitted by a jury of Taylors. To me this inftance feems unluckily chofen; if it be a fatire on any body, it must be on a bad paymaster, fince the perfon to whom they have here apply'd it was a man of fortune. Not but poets may well be jealous of fo great a prerogative as non-payment; which Mr. Dennis fo far afferts, as boldly to pronounce, that "if Homer himself was not in debt, it was because nobody would trust him.” (Pref. to Rem. on the Rape of the Lock, p. 15.) Thefe authors being such whose names will reach pofterity, we shall not give any account of them, but proceed to those of whom it is neceffary.Befaleel Morris was author of fome fatires on the tranflators of Homer, with many other things printed in news-papers." Bond writ a fatire against Mr. P. Capt. Breval was author of The Confederates, an ingenious "dramatic performance, to expose Mr. P—, Mr. Gay, Dr. Arb. and fome ladies of quality," fays Curl, Key, p. 11. Bookfellers and printers of much anonymous stuff. § I forefce it will be objected from this line, that we were in an error in our affertion on ver. 50, of this book, that More was a fictitious name, fince these perfons are equally represented by the poet as phantoms. So at firft fight it may feem; but be not deceived, reader; these also are not real perfons. Tis true, Curl declares Breval, a captain, author of a piece called The Confederates; but the fame Curl first said it was written by Jofeph Gay: Is his fecond Curl ftretches after Gay, but Gay is gone, He grafps an empty Jofeph* for a John: To him the Goddefs: Son! thy grief lay down 130 136 140 With fecond affertion to be credited any more than his firft? He likewife affirms Bond to be one who writ a fatire on our poet : But where is fuch a fatire to be found? where was fuch a writer ever heard of? As for Befaleel, it carries forgery in the very name; nor is it, as the others are, a furname. Thou may'st depend upon it, no fuch authors ever liv'd; all phantoms. SCRIBL, Jofeph Gay, a fictitious name put by Curl before several pamphlets, which made them pafs with many for Mr. Gay's.-The ambiguity of the word Joseph, which likewise signifies a loose upper coat, gives much plea fantry to the idea. * + It was a common practice of this bookfeller to publish vile pieces of obf cure hands under the names of eminent authors. In verity (faith Scriblerus) a very bungling trick. How much better might our worthy brethren of Grubstreet been taught (as in many things they have already been) by the modern masters of Polemics! who when they make free with their neighbours, feize upon their good works rather than their good name; as knowing that those will produce a name of their own. The man here specified writ a thing called The Battle of the Poets, in which Philips and Welfted were the heroes, and Swift and Pope utterly routed, He also published fome malevolent things in the British, London, and Daily Journals; and at the fame time wrote letters to Mr. Pope, pro testing his innocence. His chief work was a translation of Hefiod, to which Theobald wrote notes and half notes, which he carefully owned. In the first edition of this poem there were only afterifks in this place, but the names were fince inferted, merely to fill up the verfe, and give ease to the ear of the reader. *Nothing is more remarkable than our author's love of praifing good writers. He has in this very poem celebrated Mr, Locke, Sir Ifaac Newton, With that she gave him (piteous of his cafe, Yet smiling at his rueful length of face *) A fhaggy Dr. Barrow, Dr. Atterbury, Mr. Dryden, Mr. Congreve, Dr. Garth, Mr. Addison; in a word, almost every man of his time that deferved it; even Cibber himself (prefuming him to be the author of the Careless Hufb.nd). It was very difficult to have that pleasure in a poem on this fubject, yet he has found means to infert their panegyric, and has made even Dulness out of her own mouth pronounce it. It must have been particularly agreeable to him to celebrate Dr. Garth; both as his conftant friend, and as he was his predeceffor in this kind of fatire. The Difpenfary attacked the whole body of apothecaries, a much more useful one undoubtedly than that of the bad poets; if in truth this can be a body, of which no two members ever agreed. It also did, what Mr. Theobald fays is unpardonable,draw in parts of private character, and introduce perfons independent of his subject. Much more would Boileau have incurred his cenfure, who left all fubjects whatever, on all occafions, to fall upon the bad poets (which, it is to be feared, would have been more immediately his concern). But certainly next to commending good writers, the greatest service to learning is to expofe the bad, who can only that way be made of any use to it. This truth is very well set forth in these lines addressed to our author. "The craven rook, and pert jackdaw, (Tho' neither birds of moral kind) "Yet ferve, if hang'd, or stuff'd with straw, "Thus dirty knaves, or chatt'ring fools, "With Egypt's art thy pen may strive: "Becomes a precious mummy dead." BIBLIO "The decrepid perfon or figure of a man are no reflections upon his ge ** nius: An honest mind will love and esteem a man of worth, tho' he be de"formed or poor. Yet the author of the Dunciad hath libelled a perfon for *his rurful length of face!” Mist's Journal, June 8. This genius and man of worth, whom an honest mind should love, is Mr. Curl. True it is, he stood in the pillory, an incident which will lengthen the face of any man, tho' it were ever fo comely, therefore is no reflection on the natural beauty of Mr. Curl. But as to reflections on any man's face or figure, Mr. Dennis faith excellently; "Natural deformity comes not by our fault; 'tis often occa"fioned by calamities and difeafes, which a man can no more help than a "monster A fhaggy tapftry, worthy to be fpread, Inftructive monfter can his deformity. There is no one misfortue, and no one dif*ease, but what all the rest of mankind are subject to.-But the deformity of this author is visible, prefent, lafting, unalterable, and peculiar to him"felf. 'Tis the mark of God and Nature upon him, to give us warning that we fhould hold no fociety' with Him, as a creature not of our original, nor of our fpecies; and they who have refused to take this warning which God and Nature has given them, and have, in fpite of it, by a fenfeless prefumption, ventured to be familiar with him, have severely fuffered, etc. 'Tis certain his original is not from Adam, but from the Devil," etc. DENNIS, Character of Mr. P. octavo, 1716. Admirably it is obferv'd by Mr. Dennis against Mr. Law, p. 33. “That **the language of Billingsgate can never be the language of Charity, nor eonfequently of Christianity." I should clse be tempted to use the language of a critic: For what is more provoking to a commentator, than to behold his author thus pourtrayed? Yet I confider it really hurts not him; whereas to call fome others dull, might do them prejudice with a world too apt to believe it. Therefore, though Mr. D. may call another a little afs or a young toad, far be it from us to call him a toothless lion, or an old ferpent. Indeed, had I written thefe notes (as was once my intent) in the learned Language, I might have given him the appellations of Balatro, Calcestum caput, Scurra in triviis, being phrases in good esteem and frequent ufage among the best learned: But in our mother-tongue, were I to tax any gentleman of the Dunciad, furely it fhould be in words not to the vulgar intelligible; whereby Christian charity, decency, and good accord among authors, might be preferved. SCRIB. The good Scriblerus here, as on all occafions, eminently fhews his humanity. But it was far otherwife with the gentlemen of the Dunciad, whose feurrilities were always personal, and of that nature which provoked every honeft man but Mr. Pope; yet never to be lamented, fince they occafioned the following amiable verses : "While malice, Pope, denies thy page Its own celeftial fire; "While critics, and while bards in rage, While wayward pens thy worth assail, Thefe times, tho' many a friend bewail, |