Lo P--p-le's brow, tremendous to the town, Each Cygnet fweet, of Bath and Tunbridge race, 155 VARIATION S. VER. 151. Lo P-p-le's brow, etc.] In the former Edit. Lo Horneck's fierce, and Roome's funereal face. After v. 158. in the firft Edit. followed, How proud, how pale, how earnest, all appear! REMARKS. "of Letters." Ibid. p. 8o. We should hence believe the Name of Mr. Dennis hath also crept into this poem by some mistake. But from hence, gentle reader! thou may'ft beware, when thou givest thy money to such Authors, not to flatter thyself that thy motives are Good-nature or Charity. VER. 152. Horneck and Roome] These two were virulent Partywriters, 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 firft was Philip Horneck, Author of a Billingfgate paper called The High German Doctor. Edward Roome was fon of an Undertaker for Funerals in Fleetstreet, and writ fome of the papers called Pafquin, where, by malicious innuendoes, he endeavoured to represent our Author guilty of malevolent practices with a great man then under profecution of Parliament. Of this man was made the following Epigram: "You afk why Roome diverts you with his jokes, P-le was the author of some vile Plays and Pamphlets. He pub. lished abuses on our author, in a Paper called the Prompter. VER. 153. Goode,] An ill-natured Critic, who writ a fatire on our Author, called The mock Æsop, and many anonymous Libels'in Newspapers for hire. Some strain in rhyme; the Mufes, on their racks. 164 Silence, ye Wolves! while Ralph to Cynthia howls, REMARKS. VER. 156. Whofe tuneful whistling makes the waters pafs:] There were feveral fucceffions of thefe forts of minor poets at Tunbridge, Bath, etc. finging the praife of the Annuals flourishing for that feafon; whofe names indeed would be nameless, and therefore the Poet flurs them over with others in general. VER. 165. Ralph] James Ralph, a name inserted 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. Thefe 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. Addison, 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 smiled, and replied, "Shakespear writ without rules." He ended at laft in the common fink of all fuch writers, a political Newspaper, to which he was recommended by his friend Arnal, and received a small pittance for pay. VER. 168. Morris,] Befaleel. See Book ii. IMITATION S. VER. 166. And makes Night bideous] 66 -Vifit thus the glimpfes of the moon, "Making Night hideous". Shakefp. VER. 169. Flow, Welfted, flow! etc.] Parody on Denham, Cooper's Hill: "O could I flow like thee, and make thy ftream "My great example, as it is my theme: "Tho' deep, yet clear, tho' gentle, yet not dull; So fweetly mawkish, and so smoothly dull; REMARKS. VER. 169. Flow, Welfted, etc.] Of this author fee the Remark on Book ii. v. 209. But (to be impartial) add to it the following different character of him: Mr. Weifted had, in his youth, raised fo great expectations of his future genius, that there was a kind of ftruggle between the most eminent of the two Univerfities, which fhould have the honour of his education. To compound this, he (civilly) became a member of both; and after having paffed fome time at the one, he removed to the other. From thence he returned to town, where he became the darling Expectation of all the polite Writers, whose encouragement he acknowledged in his occafional poems, in a manner that will make no fmail part of the Fame of his protectors. It also appears from his Works, that he was happy in the patronage of the most illuftrious characters of the prefent age-Encouraged by fuch a Combination in his favour, he-published a book of poems, fome in the Ovidian, fome in the Horatian manner; in both which the moft exquifite Judges pronounce he even rival'd kis mafters-His love-verfes have refcued that way of writing from contempt-In his translations, he has given us the very foul and spirit of his author. His Ode his Epiftle-his Verfes-his Love-tale-all, are the most perfect things in all poetry. WELSTED of Himself, Char. of the Times, 8vo, 1728, page 23, 24. It fhould not be forgot to his honour, that he received at one time the fum of five hundred pounds for fecret service, among the other excellent authors hired to write anonymously for the miniftry. See Report of the Secret Committee, etc. in 1742. VER. 173. Ab Dennis! Gildon ab!] Thefe men became the public fcorn by a mere mistake of their talents. They would needs turn critics of their own country writers (juft as Ariftotle and Longinus did of theirs), and difcourfe upon the beauties and defects of compofition: How parts relate to parts, and they to whole; Whereas, had they followed the Example of thofe microscopes of wit, Kufter, Burman, and their followers, in verbal criticifm on the learned Languages, their acuteness and industry might have raised them a name equal to the most famous of the Scholiafts. We cannot therefore but lament the late Apoftacy of the Prebendary of Rochefter, who beginning in fo good a train, has now turned fhort to write comments on the FIRE-SIDE, and DREAMS upon Shakespear; 175 Blockheads with reason wicked wits abhor, Behold yon Pair, in ftrict embraces join'd; How like in manners, and how like in mind! 180 REMARKS. where we find the spirit of Oldmixon, Gildon, and Dennis, all revived in his belaboured Obfervations. SCRIBL. Here, Scriblerus, in this affair of the FIRE-SIDE, I want thy ufual candour. It is true Mr. Upton did write Notes upon it, but with all the honour and good faith in the world. He took it to be a Panegyric on his Patron. This it is to have to do with wits; a commerce unworthy a Scholiaft of fo folid learning. ARIST. VER. 173. Ab Dennis, etc.] The reader, who has feen, thro' the course of these notes, what a conftant attendance Mr. Dennis paid to our Author and all his works, may perhaps wonder he should be mentioned but twice, and fo flightly touched, in this poem. But in truth he looked upon him with fome esteem, for having (more generously than all the reft) fet bis Name to fuch writings. He was alfo a very old man at this time. By his own account of himself in Mr. Jacob's Lives, he must have been above threescore, and happily lived many years after. So that he was fenior to Mr. Durfey, who hitherto, of all our Poets, enjoyed the longest bodily life. VER. 179. Behold yon pair, etc.] One of thefe was Author of a weekly paper called The Grumbler, as the other was concerned in another called Pafquin, in which Mr. Pope was abused with the Duke of Buckingham, and Bishop of Rochefter. They alfo joined in a piece against his firft undertaking to tranflate the Iliad, intitled Homerides, by Sir Iliad Doggrel, printed 1715. IMITATIONS. VER. 177. Embrace, embrace, my fons! be foes no more!] Virg. Æn. vi. "6 -Ne tanta animis affuefcite bella, "Neu patriæ validas in vifcera vertite vires : "Tuque prior, tu parce-fanguis meus!" VER. 179. Behold yon Pair, in ftri&t embraces join'd;] Virg. Æn. vi. "Illæ autem, paribus quas fulgere cernis in armis, And in the fifth, "Euryalus, forma infignis viridique juventa, Equal in wit, and equally polite, Shall this a Pafquin, that a Grumbler write; REMARKS. Of the other works of these Gentlemen the world has heard no more, than it would of Mr. Pope's, had their united laudable endeavours difcouraged him from pursuing his ftudies. How few good works had ever appeared (fince men of true merit are always the leaft prefuming), had there been always fuch champions to stifle them in their conception? And were it not better for the public, that a million of monfters fhould come into the world, which are fure to die as foon as born, than that the ferpents fhould strangle one Hercules in his Cradle? The union of these two authors gave occafion to this Epigram: and Ducket, friends in spite, "Came hiffing out in verfe; "Both were fo forward, each would write, "So dull, each hung an A "Thus Amphisbaena (I have read) "At either end affails; "None knows which leads, or which is led, "For both Heads are but Tails." After many Editions of this poem, the Author thought fit to omit the names of thefe two perfons, whofe injury to him was of fo old a date. In the verfes he omitted, it was faid that one of them had a pious paffion for the other. It was a literal tranflation of Virgil, Nilus amore pio pueri-and there, as in the original, applied to Friendfhip: That between Nifus and Euryalus is allowed to make one of the most amiable Epifodes in the world, and furely was never interpreted in a perverfe fenfe. But it will astonish the reader to hear, that, on no other occafion than this line, a dedication was written to that Gentleman, to induce him to think fomething further. "Sir, you are known to have all that affection for the beautiful 66 part of the creation which God and Nature defigned.-Sir, you "have a very fine Lady-and, Sir, you have eight very fine Chil"dren,"-etc. [Dedic. to Dennis, Rem. on the Rape of the Lock.] The truth is, the poor Dedicator's brain was turned upon this article: He had taken into his head, that ever fince fome books were written against the Stage, and fince the Italian opera had prevailed, the nation was infected with a vice not fit to be named: he went fo far as to print upon the subject, and concludes his argument with this remark: "That he cannot help thinking the Obscenity of "Plays excufable at this juncture; fince, when that execrable fin "is fpread fo wide, it may be of ufe to the reducing men's minds "to the natural defire of women." DENNIS, Stage defended again Mr. Law, p. 20. Our author folemnly declared, he never heard any creature but the Dedicator mention that Vice and this Gentle min together. |
