a rock that is not to be moved by all the assaults of winds or I am apt to think it was on devices of this nature that Horace had his eye in his Ode to Fortune. It is certain he alludes to a pillar that figured out Security, or something very like it; and, till any body finds out another that will stand better in its place, I think we may content ourselves with this before us. Te Dacus asper, te profugi Scythæ Injurioso nè pede proruas Stantem columnam; neu populus frequens Ad arma cessantes, ad arma Concitet, imperiumque frangat. AD FORTUNAM. HOR. lib. 1, od. 35. To thee their vows rough Germans pay, The barb'rous mothers pray To thee, the greatest guardian of their throne. They bend, they vow, and still they fear, They fear that you would raise The lazy crowd to war, And break their empire, or confine their praise. MR. CREECH. I must, however, be so fair as to let you know that Peace and Felicity have their pillars in several medals, as well as Security, so that if you do not like one of them, you may take the other. The next figure is that of Chastity," who was worshipped as a goddess, and had her temple. deinde ad superos Astræa recessit Hâc comite, atque duæ pariter fugere sorores. DE PUDICITIA, Juv. Sat. 6. At length uneasy Justice upwards flew, Templa pudicitiæ quid opus statuisse puellis, Mr. DRYDEN. TIB. lib. 2. Since wives whate'er they please unblam'd can be, How her posture and dress become her, you may see in the follow Hence! ye smooth fillets on the forehead bound, Whose bands the brows of Chastity surround, And her coy robe that lengthens to the ground. Mr. CREECH. "Fig. 10. She is represented in the habit of a Roman matron. Matronæ præter faciem nil cernere possis, HOR. Sat. 2, lib. I. Besides, a matron's face is seen alone; MR. CREECH. That, ni Catia est, says Cynthio, is a beauty unknown to most of our English satirists. Horace knew how to stab with address, and to give a thrust where he was least expected. Boileau has nicely imitated him in this, as well as his other beauties. But our English libellers are for hewing a man downright, and for letting him see at a distance that he is to look for no mercy. I own to you, says Eugenius, I have often admired this piece of art in the two satirists you mention, and have been surprised to meet with a man in a satire that I never in the least expected to find there. They have a particular way of hiding their ill-nature, and introduce a criminal rather to illustrate a precept or passage, than out of any seeming design to abuse him. Our English poets on the contrary show a kind of malice prepense in their satires, and instead of bringing in the person to give light to any part of the poem, let you see they writ the whole poem on purpose to abuse the person. But we must not leave the ladies thus. Pray what kind of head-dress is that of Piety? As Chastity, says Philander, appears in the habit of a Roman matron, in whom that virtue was supposed to reign in its perfection, Piety wears the dress of the vestal virgins, who were the greatest and most shining examples of it. Vittata Sacerdos is, you know, an expression among the Latin poets. I do not question but you have seen, in the Duke of Florence's gallery, a beautiful antique figure of a woman standing before an altar, Fig. 11. which some of the antiquarians call a Piety, and others a vestal virgin. The woman, altar, and fire burning on it, are seen in marble exactly as in this coin, and bring to my mind a part of a speech that Religion makes in Phædrus's fables. Sed ne ignis noster facinori præluceat, Fab. 10, lib. 4. It is to this goddess that Statius addresses himself in the following lines. Summa deum Pietas! cujus gratissima cœlo Cerne pios fletus, laudataque lumina terge. STATIUS SIL. lib. 3. Chief of the skies, celestial Piety! Whose godhead, priz'd by those of heavenly birth Revisits rare these tainted realms of earth, Mild in thy milk-white vest to soothe my friend, With holy fillets on thy brows descend, Such as of old (ere chac'd by Guilt and Rage) A race unpolish'd, and a golden age, Beheld thee frequent. Once more come below, See, see, thy own Hetruscus wastes the day The little trunk she holds in her left hand is the acerra that you so often find among the poets, in which the frankincense was preserved that Piety is here supposed to strew on the fire. Dantque sacerdoti custodem thuris acerram. Ov. MET. lib. 13. Hæc tibi pro nato plenâ dat lætus acerrâ Phoebe MART. lib. 5, Epig. 45. The figure of Equity differs but little from that our painters Fig. 12. make of her at present. The scales she carries in her hand are so natural an emblem of justice, that Persius has turned them into an allegory to express the decisions of right or wrong. Quirites Hoc puto non justum est, illud male, rectius istud; Ancipitis Libra. SOCRAT. AD ALCIBIAD. Sat. 4. Romans, know, Against right reason all your counsels go; This is not fair; nor profitable that: Nor t'other question proper for debate. But thou, no doubt, can'st set the business right, And give each argument its proper weight: Know'st with an equal hand to hold the scale, &c. MR. DRYDEN. How proper a type of The next figure I present you with is Eternity. She holds in her hand a globe with a Phoenix on it. Eternity is each of these you may see in the following quotations. I am sure you will pardon the length of the latter, as it is not improper to the occasion, and shows at the same time the great fruitfulness of the poet's fancy, that could turn the same thought to so many different ways. Hæc æterna manet, divisque simillima forma est, DE ROTUNDITATE CORPORUM. MANIL. lib. 1. This form's eternal and may justly claim Par volucer superis: stellas qui vividus æquat Fig. 13. MR. CREECH |