(Earth's wide extremes) her fable flag display'd, And all the nations cover'd in her fhade! Far eastward caft thine eye, from whence the Sun And orient Science their bright course begun : One god-like Monarch † all that pride confounds, Thence to the fouth extend thy gladden'd eyes; From shelves to shelves fee greedy Vulcan roll, How little, mark! that portion of the ball, 75 80 85 99 9.5 *Our author favours the opinion that all Sciences came from the Eastern nations. + Chi Ho-am-ti emperor of China, the fame who built the great wall between China and Tartary, deftroyed all the books and learned men of that empire. The caliph, Omar I. having conquer'd Ægypt, caus'd his general to burn the Ptolomean library, on the gates of which was this infcription, YYXHE IATPEION, The Phyfick of the Soul. Phoenicia, Syria, &c. where letters are faid to have been invented. In thefe countries Mahomet began his conquests. 4 See See Chriftians, Jews, one heavy Sabbath keep, ; Lo! Rome herself, proud miftrefs now no more See the Cirque falls, th' unpillar'd Temple nods, ICO 105 Streets pav'd with Heroes, Tyber choak'd with Gods: A strong inftance of this pious rage is plac'd to pope Gregory's account. John of Salisbury gives a very odd encomium of this pope, at the fame time that he mentions one of the strangest effects of this excefs of zeal in him. Doctor fantiffimus ille Gregorius, qui melleo prædicationis imbre totam rīgavt & inebriavit ecciefiam, non modo Mathefin juffit ab aulâ; fed, ut traditur a majoribus, incendio debit probata lectionis feripta, Palatinus quæcunque tenebat Apollo. And in another place: Fertur beatas Gregorius bibliothecam combussisse gentilem ; quo divinæ paginæ gratior effet lacus, & major authoritas, & diligentia Budiofior. Defiderius, archbishop of Vienna, was sharply reproved by him for teaching grammar and literature, and explaining the poets; becaufe (fays this pope) in uno se ore cum Jovis laudibus, Christi laudes non capiunt ; Et quam grave nefandumque fit, Epifespis canere quod nec Laico religiofo conveniat, ipfe confidera. He is faid, among the reft, to have burned Livy; Quia in fuperftitionibus & facris Romanorum perpetuo verfatur. The fame pope is accufed by Voffius and others of having caus'd the noble monuments of the old Roman magnificence to be deftroyed, left thofe who came to Rome fhould give more attention to triumphal arches, etc. than to holy things. Bayle Dict. + After the government of Rome devolved to the popes, their zeal was for fome time exerted in demolishing the heathen temples and statues, fo that the Goths fearce deftroyed more monuments of antiquity out of rage than thefe out of devotion. At length they fpared fome of the temples by converting them into churches, and fome of the ftatues, by modifying them into images of faints. In much later times it was thought neceffary to change the ftatues of Apollo and Pallas on the tomb of Sannazarius, into David and Judith; the lyre easily became a harp, and the Gorgon's head turn'd to that of Holofernes. Behold Behold yon' lfle, by Palmers, Pilgrims trod, Men bearded, bald, cowl'd, uncowl'd, fhod, unshod. Peel'd, patch'd, and pyebald, linfey-wolfey brothers, 115 Grave Mummers! fleeveless fome, and fhirtless others. That one was Britain-Happy! had fhe never feen No fiercer fons, had Eafter never been *. In peace, great Goddess, ever be ador'd; How keen the war, if Dulnefs draw the fword! $29 This fav'rite Ifle, long fever'd from her reign, 125 See all her progeny, illuftrious fight! Behold, and count them, as they rise to light. Not with lefs glory mighty Dulness crown'd, 135 Shall take thro' Grubstreet her triumphant round; Behold an hundred fons, and each a Dunce. Mark first that youth who takes the foremost place, And thrufts his perfon full into your face. 140 With all thy Father's virtues bleft, be born! And a new Cibber fhall the stage adorn. * Wars in England antiently, about the time of celebrating Eafter. This is fulfilled in the fourth book. But as I. e. Of Poets, Antiquaries, Critics, Divines, Freethinkers. this Revolution is only here fet on foot by the first of these Classes, the Poets, they only are here particularly celebrated, and they only properly fall under the Care and Review of this College of Dulnefs, the Laureate. The others, who finish the great work, are referved for the fourth book, when the Goddefs herfelf appears in full Glory. A feeond A fecond fee, by meeker manners known, 145 150 Lo * «This gentleman is son of a confiderable malster of Romsey, in Southam◄ tonshire, and bred to the law under a very eminent attorney; who, between "his more laborious ftudies, has diverted himself with poetry. He is a great "admirer of poets and their works, which has occafioned him to try his genius that way. He has writ in profe the Lives of the Poets, Essays, and 66 66 a great many law books, The Accompli`d Conveyancer, Modern Justice, "&c." Giles Jacob of himself, Lives of Poets, Vol. i. He very grofly, and unprovok'd, abused in that book the author's friend Mr. Gay. "He There may seem fome error in these verfes, Mr. Jacob having proved our author to have a respect for him, by this undeniable argument: *"had once a regard for my judgment; otherwise he would never have fub"fcribed two guineas to me for one fmall book in octavo." [Jacob's Letter to Dennis, printed in Dennis's Remarks on the Dunciad, p. 49.] Therefore I should think the appellation of Blunderbufs to Mr. Jacob like that of Thunderbolt to Scipio, was meant in his honour. Mr. Dennis argues the fame way. My writings having made great impreffion on the minds of all fenfible men, Mr. P. repented, and to give proof of his Repentance,}subscribed to my two volumes of felect Works, and afterwards to my two Volumes of Letters," Ibid. p. 80. We should hence believe, the Name of Mr. Dennis hath alfo crept into this poem by fome mistake. But from hence, gentle reader! thou may'ft beware, wher thou givest thy money to fuch Authors, not to flatter thyself that thy motives are Good-nature or Charity. Thefe two were virulent party-writers, worthily coupled together, and one would think prophetically, fince, after the publishing of this piece, the former dying, the latter fucceeded him in Honour and Employment. The first was Philip Horneck, Author of a Billingsgate paper called The High German Doctor. Edward Roome was fon of an Undertaker for Funerals in Fleet street, and writ fome of the papers called Pafquin, where by malicious Inuendoes he endeavoured to reprefent our Author guilty of malevolent practices with a great man then under profecution of Parliament. Of this man was made the following Epigram; "You Lo fneering Goode *, half malice and half whim, Each Cygnet fweet, of Bath and Tunbridge race, 155 160 164 Silence, ye Wolves! while Ralph to Cynthia howls, And makes Night hideous-Answer him, ye Owls! Senfe, fpeech, and measure, living tongues and dead, Let all give way,-and Morris | may be read. "You afk why Roome diverts you with his jokes, "You wonder at it-This, Sir, is the cafe, "The jeft is loft unless he prints his face. Ple was the author of fome vile Plays and Pamphlets. He published abuses on our author in a Paper called the Prompter. * An ill-natured Critic, who writ a fatire on our Author, call'd The mock Efop, and many anonymous Libels in News-papers for hire. There were feveral fucceffions of these forts of minor poets at Tunbridge, Bath, etc. finging the praife of the Annuals flourishing for that feafon; whose names indeed would be nameless, and therefore the Poet flurs them over with others in general. James Ralph, a name inferted after the first editions, not known to our Author till he writ a fwearing piece called Sawney, very abufive of Dr. Swift, Mr. Gay, and himself. These lines allude to a thing of his, intitled Night, a Poem. This low writer attended his own works with panegyrics in the Journals, and once in particular praised himself highly above Mr. Addifon, in wretched remarks upon that Author's Account of English Poets, printed in a London Journal, Sept. 1728. He was wholly illiterate, and knew no language, not even French. Being advised to read the rules of dramatic poetry before he began a play, he fmiled and replied, Shakespeare writ without rules." He ended at laft in the common fink of all fuch writers, a political News paper, to which he was recommended by his friend Arnal, and received a fmall pittance for pay, Befaleel. See Book ii, Flow, |
