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 T? 
 
 
PERKINS LIBRARY 
 
 Duke University 
 
 J^dre Books 
 
DUKE 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
I 
 


 ' ' "'■ ^ ^ We 9 - y \ < _ ■ y/.-/.'^t & J 
 
SPECIMENS 
 
 OF 
 
 LITERARY RESEMBLANCE, 
 
 IN THE WORKS 
 
 OP ,, 
 
 POPE, G R A T, 
 
 AND OTHER CELEBRATED WRITERS; 
 
 WITH CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS 
 
 I N 
 
 A SERIES ©F LETTERS, 
 
 SY THE REVEREND 
 
 SAMUEL BERDMORE, D.D, 
 
 I/1TE MASTER OF THE CHARTERHOUSE SCHOOL. 
 
 Nullum eft jam di&um quod non fit di£tum prius i 
 Quare requum eft vos cognofcere & ignofcere 
 O^uae veteres fa&itarunt, fi faciunt novi. 
 
 Ter. Eun. PkoLj 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR G. WILKIE, P ATERN OS TE R -RO W 
 
 iSoi. 
 
 Mated by Luke Har.&rd, Great Tmnflile, Linrolu's-Inn Field*. 
 
rfivsl 
 
 BRIT 
 Uflt'Vfl 
 
 ^ »ii.: . r — t»- 
 
 1831 
 DllPLICATE 
 
 JEORSALEL 
 

 My dear P. 
 
 YOU feem to wifli that I would 
 colled: myfcattered effays into a body, and 
 go fo far as to fay, that the whole together 
 would make a refpectable volume ; in which 
 even men of letters might perhaps pick up 
 fomething of novelty and entertainment. 
 I have fo far complied with thefe flatter- 
 ing fuggeftions, as to take the laft five let- 
 ters, printed in the European Magazine, 
 on Literary Resemblance ; to which 
 I have added a few others on the lame 
 fubject, and prefent them, in this more 
 b regular 
 
 4fH5(lfi 
 
regular form, — to you, with certain ex- 
 pectation of a favorable reception: — not 
 without diffidence to the public 
 
 Adieu. 
 
 To the Reverend Peter Forsteb, 
 Rector of Hedenham, 
 Norfolk, &c. 
 
SPECIMENS 
 
 O F 
 
 LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 My DEAR P. 
 rpuE remarks, which I fent you a few 
 days ago, on a pafTage in Pope's trans- 
 lation of Homer, have engaged me fo far 
 in the confideration of Literary Re- 
 semblance or Imitation, andthefub- 
 jecl is fo curious and interefting, that per- 
 haps you will indulge me while I purfue 
 it a page or two further. 
 
 In a periodical 4 paper, begun 1752, 
 
 are cited many paffages from Pope, faid 
 
 never to have been taken notice of, as 
 
 b 2 " evidently 
 
 fk€W cznfl 
 
4 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 " evidently borrowed, though they are 
 " improved." 
 
 Superior Beings, when of late they faw 
 A mortal man unfold all nature's law, 
 Admir'd fuch wifdom in an earthly fliape, 
 And fhew'd a Newton, as we fhew an ape. 
 
 EfTay on Man, Ep. II. V. 31. 
 
 Utque movet nobis imitatrix fimia rifum, 
 Sic nos ccelicolis, quoties cervice fuperba 
 Ventofi gradimur. 
 
 Again, 
 
 Simia coelicolum rlfufque jocufque Peorum eft 
 Tunc homo, quum temere ingenio confidit, et audet 
 Abdita naturae fcrutari, arcanaque Divum. 
 
 Palingenius. 
 
 When the loofe mountain trembles from on high, 
 Mu ft gravitation deafe ? when you go by ; 
 Or fome old temple, nodding to its fall, 
 For Chartre's head referve the haftging wait 
 
 EfTay on Man, Ep. IV. V. 123. 
 
 If a good man be paffing by an infirm building jufl in 
 the article of falling, can it be exuefled that God fhould 
 iufpend lr fecde of gravitation till he is gone by, in or- 
 der to his deliverance ? Wollafton, Rel. Nat. . 
 
 Chaos of thought and paffion, all confufed, 
 Stiil by himfeu-' almkd, or difl'.b'.ifed ; 
 Created half to rife, and half to fall, 
 Great lord of alt things, yet a prey to all ; 
 
 Sols 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 5 
 
 Sole judge of truth, in endlefs error hurl'd ; 
 The glory, jeft, and riddle of the world. 
 
 Eflay on Man, Ep. II. V. 13. 
 
 What a chimera then is man! what a confufed chaos ! 
 what a fubjeifr. of contradiction ! a profefTed judge of all 
 things, and a feeble worm of the earth ; the great depo- 
 fitary and guardian of truth, and yet a mere huddle of un- 
 certainty ; the glory and fcandal qf the unjverfe. 
 
 Pafcal. 
 
 None of thefe pafTages can be new to 
 you, but I have taken the liberty of trans- 
 cribing them, as they furnifh occafion for 
 a few remarks : and I have feledted the three 
 above from feveral others ; as a learned 
 critic, whom, while on this fubjecl;, wc 
 cannot fail of having continually in our 
 view, has chofen thefe very inftances to il- 
 luftrate fome obfcrvations in his letter to 
 Mr. Mafon on the Marks of Imitation, 
 
 It will be thought perhaps fomewhat 
 firange, that he takes no notice of the 
 Adventurer. But we muft fuppofe that 
 either he had never read thofe ingenious 
 eflay s ; or, if he had, that he thought them 
 little worthy his attention ', though, in ge- 
 neral, the fentiments, contained in this 
 paper, feem to bear a very near relation 
 b3 to 
 
O SPECIMENS OF 
 
 to thofe, which he himfelf advances. En- 
 gaged, as he at all times was, in purfuits fo 
 much more important, he never, it feems, 
 found an hour or two of leifurc to read 
 more than b one work of the very learned 
 and rcfpectable Dr. Leland ; and that one, 
 only with an intention to refute it. 
 
 Be this as it may, he certainly fiamps 
 a value on thefe quotations by adopting 
 them. He had too much refpett both for 
 himfelf and for his readers, to obtrude 
 upon c " their consideration, thofe vulgar 
 " paffages, which every body recollects, 
 " and fets down for acknowledged imita- 
 " tions." 
 
 If you compare the different manner 
 of the two writers, you cannot but admire 
 the fuperior management and addrefs of 
 the learned critic. In the Adven- 
 turer, the pafTages from Pope are brought 
 forward without preparation, and con- 
 fronted at once with the authors, faid to 
 be imitated. In the learned critic 
 they are ulhered in with all the ceremonies 
 of a regular introduction, and prefented in 
 9 form. 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 7 
 
 form. In the firft cited inftance, we ob- 
 ferve a very remarkable difference between 
 the one and the other : 
 
 Superior Beings, when of late they faw 
 A mortal man unfold all nature's law, 
 Admir'd fuch wifdom in an earthly fhape, 
 And fhew'd a Newton, as we fhew an ape. 
 
 The Adventurer derives this lingular paf- 
 fage from one Palingenius, an obfcure 
 monk. Not fo the learned critic. 
 He did not wifh to have it thought, that 
 he could for a moment fo far forget his 
 own character, as to wafte any portion of 
 his valuable time in turning over fuck 
 trajli ; much lefs that the " great poet" 
 fo fuperior to d Addison in true genius, 
 could ever degrade himfelf by borrowing 
 a thought from one of fo inferior an order. 
 More conformably therefore to that lite- 
 rary dignity, which, he was confcious, 
 belonged not lefs to himfelf, than to Pope ? 
 he e pronounces that the " great poet 
 " had his eye on Plato, who makes So~ 
 b 4 w crates 
 
S SPECIMENS OF 
 
 " crates fay, in allufion to a remark of 
 " Heraclitus:" 
 
 On ccvQouttmv o (rctpurctTog 7roog ©EON TTi^ytog 
 (pccvBtroci. Hipp. Major. 
 
 Confpiring with this laudable fenfe, 
 which the learned critic at all times 
 fondly cherifhed, of literary dignity, there 
 appears to have been another motive 
 for his conduct in this place. Had he de- 
 rived the paifage, as the Adventurer did 
 before him, from Palingenius, he would 
 have had no opportunity of exhibiting 
 that mafterly difplay of the true critic ; 
 and all the refined reafonins which fol- 
 lows, with the nice diltinetion between 
 the God of the Philofopher, and the Su~ 
 perior Beings of the Poet, had been loft. 
 
 Does it not require more than a com- 
 mon (hare of critical acumen ? a perfpi- 
 cacity far beyond that of f " thole dull 
 " minds, by which the lhapes and appear- 
 " ances of things are apprehended only in 
 " thegrofs?"todifcriminate between aHea- 
 then God, and a Superior Being. The real 
 
 ftate 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. $ 
 
 ftate of the cafe feems to be, that the 
 learned critic, in order to make the 
 fentence, which he has quoted, more 
 accommodable to his purpofe, concealed, 
 even from himfelf, the true meaning of 
 the philoibpher's words. The philofo- 
 pher, he fa} r s, refers ngog ©EON, i. 'e. not 
 to God, the God; but, agreeably to 
 the idiom of. the Greek language, as 
 the word ftands without the article, a 
 God ; one amongft many ; according to 
 the generally received opinion of the acre 
 and country in which Plato lived ; as ap^- 
 pears more evidently by what follows : 
 
 QfAo\oyvi<rofJt,vjy Itttticc, ryv zocXXia~rv}y 7rao^vj(a¥ 
 TToog QEflN yevog uio~x^cv eivat. 
 Again, 
 
 Kou $v] TToog ys 0EOTL oti % vmKov to av9pe^ 
 ttsiov yevog. it. r. A. 
 
 Thus the God of the Philofopher is 
 plainly no more, than one of the Superior 
 Beings alluded to by the Poet; confe- 
 quently the application is, in both cafes 9 
 precifely the fame ; addreffed to the fame 
 order of Beings ; and the ape, o v&viKog, 
 
 becomes 
 
10 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 becomes an object either of derifion or 
 admiration, as the one or the other may 
 chance to fall in more aptly with the wri- 
 ter's views. 
 
 The great poet, it mult be faid, appears 
 in the hands of the learned critic to 
 advantage ; } r et I doubt whether an indif- 
 ferent looker on would, not, after all, be 
 difpofed to think with the Adventurer, that 
 more probably Pope at this time had his 
 eye on Palingenius. There are fome plau- 
 fible reafons, which feem to operate very 
 ftrongly in favor of this opinion. 
 
 In a E paper, printed 1745, are pointed 
 out feveral Expreihons, Similics, and Sen- 
 timents in Palingenius, Tranilated and 
 Improved by Mr. Pope, in his Eifay on 
 Man, amongft which this very fiinile of 
 the ape is one ; whence it appears that 
 the great poet condefcended now and 
 then to amuie himfelf with turning over 
 fuch trajh ; and that he was tempted to 
 turn over the pages of this obfeure author 
 more than once. At the fame time I fuf- 
 pec~t that he was very little converfant in 
 the writings of Plato. 
 
 If 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 11 
 
 If you are not quite worn down, I am 
 tempted to remind you of an apparent 
 imitation in Pope from Ovid, which I 
 fent you fome time ago. It has at leaft 
 one merit, which I find is confidered by 
 other collectors of thefe curious trifles, as 
 a primary recommendation. It has never, 
 fo far as I know, been h blown upon by any 
 of the fwarm, which ufually buz about 
 the works of celebrated writers. In the 
 Eloife you have thefe charming lines - 
 
 In each low wind methinks a fpirit calls, 
 And more than echoes talk along the walls; 
 Here, as I watch'd the dying lamps around, 
 From yonder fhrine I heard a hollow found ; . 
 Come, Jifter, come ! it /aid, or feem'd to fay, 
 Thy place is here ; fad fifter, come away. 
 
 ******* 
 
 / come, I come. 
 
 Now turn to Ovid : 
 
 Eft mihi marmorea facratus in asde Sichaeus, 
 Appofita: frondes, velleraque alba tegunt. 
 
 Hinc ego me ftnji noto quater ore citarl, 
 Ipfe fono tenui dixit, Il'tJJa, vent. 
 
 Nulla mora eft, venio, venio, &c. 
 
 Dido iEneae, V. 99^ 
 
 Here 
 
12 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 Here are not only the fame thoughts;, 
 and expretlion, but, what the learned 
 critic conliders as a more decided * mark 
 of imitation, the fame difpoiition of the 
 parts. Yet it occurs to me that you 
 doubted, whether we could pronounce 
 with certainty, that our Englilh bard bor- 
 rowed thefe thoughts from the Roman. 
 
 You will not think that I deal fairly 
 with your favorite, if I do not here add 
 another patfage from the fame poem, 
 w r here you think, very jutlly, that Pope 
 has much improved and embelliflied the 
 hint which Ovid gave him. 
 
 Not Caefar's imprtfs would I deign to prove ; 
 No ! make me mijhefs to the man I love. 
 If there be yet another name more free, 
 More fond than miftrefs, make me that to thee. 
 
 Si pudct uxoris, non nupta, fed ho/pita dicar ; 
 Dum tua fit Dido, quidlibet ejfe fereU 
 
 Dido ^Enex, V. 167. 
 
 Every reader of tafte will agree in the 
 opinion of Pope's fuperiority. I am 
 pleafed to leave him with you under fuch 
 favorable circumitances. 
 
 Adieu, 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 13 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 My dear P. 
 
 rnHE fubjec"r, touched upon in my laft, 
 has taken fuch ftrong hold of my ima- 
 gination, that I cannot forbear recalling 
 your attention to it. I do this with the lets 
 fcruple, as I do not mean to trouble you 
 with any of thofe a " vulgar paffages" which 
 the learned critic, with a delicacy 
 highly commendable, " /pared his friend 
 the difguji of confidering" Under this re- 
 ftriclion, it may not be unentertaining to 
 fee in what manner writers of the firft 
 rank, and acknowledged abilities, imitate 
 their predeceflbrs fo, as to make what the} r 
 borrow appear their own. You will not, 
 I apprehend, require any apology from 
 me, for fufpending awhile the defign, 
 
 with 
 
14 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 with which I feemed to fet out. I fee no 
 reafon why, in our converfation or cor- 
 refpondence with each other, we fhould 
 confine ourfelves within any one certain 
 track. Whatever fubjecl may accidentally 
 be liar ted in our way, we are, I think, 
 at full liberty to follow, whitherfoever it 
 may lead ; and to continue the purfuit, 
 fo long as it affords amufement. 
 
 We have often, you will recollect, read 
 together, and been as often charmed with 
 the introductory ftanza to the firft of Mr. 
 Gray's two Pindaric Odes — the Progrefs 
 of Poetry : where you have thefe admira- 
 ble lines: 
 
 Now the rich ftream of raufic winds along, 
 Deep, majeftic, fmooth, and ftrong; 
 Through verdant vales, and Ceres' golden rtign : 
 Now rolling from the iteep amain, 
 Headlong impetuous fee it pour ; 
 The rocks and nodding groves rebellow to the roar. 
 
 The great excellencies of the fublimefl 
 poetry are here united with an eafe and 
 elegance, which give to the compolition 
 fo much the air of an original, that none 
 
 of 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 15 
 
 of Mr. Gray's editors, or commentators 
 on his works, feem to have fufpe6ted an 
 imitation. 
 
 Mr. Mafon, who appears to have been 
 fufficiently affiduous in bringing together 
 every fentiment, or expreffion, from other 
 authors, bearing refemblance to any part 
 of the writings of his refpecled friend, has 
 produced no parallel to this exquifitely 
 beautiful paffage. 
 
 Mr. Wakefield has alfo given us an 
 edition of Mr. Gray's poems, enriched 
 with many valuable and interefting notes: 
 in which he profefTes b " not to be fparing 
 " of quotations from the poets," and con- 
 " ceives " no author to be a more proper 
 " vehicle for remarks of this fort, at once 
 " ufeful and entertaining, than Mr. Gray:" 
 yet, in all his extenfive range through the 
 fields of clafTic lore, he notices only one 
 or two flight refemblances. 
 
 Having thus taken the liberty of intro- 
 ducing Mr. Wakefield, I cannot fuller fo 
 favorable an opportunity to efcape me, 
 without returning to that candid and dis- 
 cerning 
 
I 6 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 eeroing critic my warmeft thanks; in 
 which I am perfuaded I fhall be joined 
 by every friend to Genius, and lover of 
 the Mufes, for his very able and fpirited 
 defence of the Britifli Pindar againil the 
 illiberal attacks of a prejudiced Commen- 
 tator; whofe puerile itriclures on thefc 
 divine poems certainly cait a (hade on 
 his literary character. 
 
 Even Dr. Jolmfon hiinfelf, willing, as 
 he evidently was, from whatever caufe, to 
 degrade the high character which Mr.- 
 Gray defervedly held, of an original wri- 
 ter, with uncommon powers of fancy and. 
 invention, and, therefore, ever on the 
 watch to detect any latent imitation, has 
 been able to difcover no imiance of fimi- 
 laf compofition. 
 
 Now allow me to fubmit to your confi- 
 deration the following lines, which I am 
 inclined to believe you have already in 
 imagination anticipated, from one of the 
 fublimeft Odes in Horace : 
 
 Quod adeft, memento 
 
 Componere sequus. Camera -minimis 
 
 Ritu 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE, 1? 
 
 Ritu feruntur, nunc medio alveo 
 
 Cum pace delabentis Etrufcum 
 
 In mare ; nunc lapides adefos 
 Stirpefque raptas, et pecus, et domos, 
 Volventis una; non fine montium 
 
 Giamore, vicinasque fylvae. B. III. O. acj. 
 
 With this ftanza before us, will there 
 not arife in the mind fomething like Juf- 
 picion f that Mr. Gray* when he wrote the 
 fine lines quoted above* had his eye on 
 Horace* Allow me to mark the princi- 
 pal features of refemblance. We have in 
 each poet a uream* applied by the one to 
 the various forms of poetry, by the other, 
 to the viciffi tudes of human affairs, with 
 efpecial reference to political revolutions. 
 It is conducted by both, firft in a courfe 
 of placid ferenity, then in torrents of ra- 
 pid impetuofity ; and marked at the clofe, 
 by the fame Unking and impreflive con- 
 fequence, 
 
 " The rocks and nodding groves rebellow to the roar/' 
 
 Very nearly a verbal tranilation of the 
 Latin text, 
 
 " Non fine montiuw 
 «• Clamofe, vicinaeque fylvae." 
 
 c Here 
 
18 specimens or 
 
 Here is certainly in thefe two pnflkges 
 an extraordinary coincidence of thought 
 and imagery. Jn addition to which, the 
 varying circumllances, defcribed in both, 
 follow each other exactly in the fame or- 
 der. The attentive reader will however 
 difcover, under this general' him ilitude, a 
 coniiderable difference in the mode of 
 compoiition between the Britiih ana the 
 •Roman Pindar. Enough, perhaps you 
 will think, to remove all appearance of 
 direct imitation.- It is moil protiable that 
 Grav, without recurring; to the text of 
 liorace, has only copied from the traces, 
 which a frequent peruial had left upon 
 his memory. This hypothecs will appear 
 more credible, when we analyze the dif- 
 ferent forms of compoiition. While the 
 ftream of Horace glides- quietly into the 
 Etrufcan ocean, with no other diftinction 
 than that of gentlenefs, 
 
 • " "Cum pace detrtbentis Etrttfc cm 
 '* In mare ;" 
 
 the iiream of Gray winds along with a 
 
 marked 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 1Q 
 
 marked character, appropriate to his 
 fubjedl i 
 
 " Deep> majeftic, fmooth; and ftrong." 
 
 Mr. Gray gives alfo peculiar grace and 
 beauty to the piece, by his fkilful ufe of 
 the metaphorical ftyle, blending the fimile 
 with the fubje6l, fo much in the manner 
 of e Pindar ; and not making, as Horace 
 has done, a formal comparifon of the one 
 with the other* 
 
 I cannot here refill the temptation of 
 recalling to your recollection an exqui- 
 fitely fine pafTage in the book of Pfalms ; 
 in which fimilar imagery is applied, un- 
 der the fame form, in a manner moil aw- 
 fully fublime. It is where the divinely- 
 infpired Poet, magnifying the God of his 
 falvation, defcribes, in the true fpirit of 
 Eaflern poetry, his protecting power as 
 follows : 
 
 *' Who ftilleft the raging ofthefea, and the noife of his 
 waves, and the madnefs of the pec/'??." 
 
 Pfalm Ixy. v. 7. 
 
 Pope has, in many inftances, adopted thi$ 
 c S graceful 
 
CO SPECI M !• \f. OF 
 
 graceful manner; and in none more fuc> 
 eefsfully than in that celebrated addrela 
 to his Guide, Pliilofopher, and Friend, in 
 the Eilay on Man, Ep. iii. 
 
 " Oli! while along the ftream of time thy name 
 " Expanded flies, and gathers all its fame ; 
 " Say, fliall my little bark attendent fail, 
 " Ptirfue the triumph, and partake the gale ?" 
 
 It will be rather a matter of curiofity, if 
 I do not appear too trifling to fee how 
 
 this beautiful pailage would read, taken 
 put of metaphor, and delivered in the 
 plain comparative form. I will endeavour 
 to render it in this form, as correctly as 
 may be. — Oh! while your name flies 
 abroad along the courfe of time, and ga- 
 thers all its fame, like a lhip going down 
 the itream, and, with expanded fails, ga- 
 thering, as it goes, the wind; fay! fhall 
 1 attend, like a little bark? purfue the 
 triumph, and (hare in your fame, as the 
 little bark partakes the gale, which fwells 
 the canvafs of the larger veffel. You will 
 nut, I trail, require any further comment 
 
 to 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 21 
 
 to afcertain the respective merits attached 
 to thefe different forms of compofition. 
 
 Mr. Gra} r , it will be feen, has ftill fur- 
 ther improved upon the Roman bard, by 
 the addition of thofe verdant vales, and 
 golden fields of corn, through which, in 
 the firft diviiion of his fubjecl, he con- 
 duces the peaceful ftream : 
 
 Through verdant vales and Ceres' golden reign. 
 
 In the fecond divifion he Amply defcribes 
 it, now fwollen into an overflowing river, 
 rolling impetuoufly down the fteep defcent ; 
 which Horace emphatically exprefles from 
 Homer \ by the effects. 
 
 You, who are wont to view all works of 
 tafte with fo correct and critical an eye, 
 cannot fail to obferve, and at the fame 
 time to admire, the mafterly fkil! of thefe 
 great artifts in the execution of their Sepa- 
 rate defiffns. 
 
 In Mr. Gray s Ode, the varying move- 
 ments of mufic, or poetry, are very hap- 
 pily illuit rated by the inconftant current 
 of a river ; affuming in different places a 
 c 3 different 
 
22 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 different character; prefcnting you by 
 turns, either with rich and beautiful profc 
 peels, in foothing compofure; or roufing 
 the mind into emotions of wonder and 
 aitonifhment, by fcenes of a bolder fea- 
 ture ; rolling, with the roar of thunder, 
 down broken rocks and precipices. 
 
 The imagery of Horace is equally well 
 chofen, and fuited to his purpofe. His 
 object was the courfe of events, which al- 
 ternately take place in a popular govern-* 
 ment, at one time peaceful and orderly, 
 difpenfing cafe, fecurity, and happinefs 
 to all around ; at another, irregular, tumul- 
 tuous, and turbulent, marking its progrefs 
 with terror and deftruelion ; like the 
 changeful courfe of a river, the Tyber 
 for inftance, which was daily in his view, 
 flowing at one time quietly and equably 
 within its accuftomed banks, at another, 
 
 " Cum fera diluvies quietos 
 " Irritat anmes;" 
 
 raifmg its fwollen waves above all bounds, 
 
 breaking with jrrefiitible fury through all 
 
 1 obftacles, 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 23 
 
 obftacles, and, with wide-fpreading defol- 
 iation, bearing down every thing in its 
 way : 
 
 " Lipid es adefos 
 
 ft Stirpefque raptas, et pecus, et domos." 
 
 It is the more remarkable that Dr. Jolm- 
 fon lliould have overlooked this apparent 
 imitation, when he has chofen, with Al- 
 garotti he fays, to confider the Bard as 
 an imitation of the Prophecy of Nereus. 
 This is more than Algarotti any where af- 
 firms. In his letter to Mr. e How he fays 
 that the Bard is very far fuperior to the 
 prophecy of Nereus. 
 
 " Che quel vaticinio mi fembra di gran kinga fuperiore 
 al vaticinio di Nereo fopra lo eccidio di Troia." 
 
 4 
 
 In which opinion Dr. Johnfon does not 
 feem equally difpofed to concurr with the 
 learned Italian. 
 
 This is a queftion, which does not ad- 
 mit of argument. If there be a man, 
 who can hear the fudden breaking forth 
 of thofe terrific founds in the exordium, 
 c 4 at 
 
24 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 at which /tout Gloucejhr flood aghaft, and. 
 Moriirner cried to arms, and not thrill with 
 h 'rror : it' there be a man, who can be- 
 1; Id the awful figure of the Bard, in his 
 Jable vejt merits, with his haggard eyes, his 
 loofe beard and ho <ry hair, which 
 
 " Streamed like a mUtor to the troubled air, " 
 
 and hear him 
 
 " Strike the deep farrows of his lyre," 
 
 without emotion : this man, if fuch a man 
 there be, has no feelings, to which a cri- 
 tic on the works of a great poet' can ap- 
 ply. It were as vain and ufelefs to con- 
 verfe with a man of this defcription on 
 fuch fubjecls, as to commune with a deaf 
 man on the enchantments of mufic, or 
 with one blind on the charms of beauty. 
 While I am converfmg with you, who 
 are neither deaf, nor blind, 1 am tempted 
 to enter more dec ly into the examination 
 qi" tiiis aftoniihin performance; which I 
 mail confiderir i uera new light. Every 
 reader is ftricken with the wildnefs of the 
 
 fcenery 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 25 
 
 fcenery — the grandeur and fublimity of 
 thought — the boldnefs of the imagery — 
 the fire and enthuiiafm which animate 
 the ode throughout. Let me now more 
 particularly call your attention to the 
 highly figurative and majeltic diclion, 
 which pervades the whole, involved in 
 that awful obfcurity, fo fuited to the oc- 
 cafion, and characleriftically belonging 
 to the language of prophecy. This obfcu- 
 rity has, I know, been objected to by 
 men of fome note, who mult furely have 
 confkiered the fubjecl; very fupei ficiaily, 
 as a defec~fc ; for which, they fay, while it 
 fheds fo much darkncfs over the whole 
 eompoftion, as to preclude from the 
 view of the difappointed reader almoft all 
 its beauties, no merit in other refpc6ts, 
 however great and trai ifcendent, can com- 
 penfate. For myfelf, I have no fcruple 
 in conferring, that this very obfcurity, fo 
 much condemned by judges of this de- 
 fer! ption, has always appeared in my eye 
 a diftinguifhing excellency of the poem. 
 The thTue woven with bloody hands by 
 
26 SPECIMENS OP 
 
 the Bard, in concert with the fpeclres of 
 his murdered brethren, 
 
 " The winding fuiet of Edward's race," 
 
 on which, were to be traced their impend- 
 ing misfortunes, lias in it fomething tre- 
 mendouily fublimc, analogous to the em- 
 blematical images, under which are urn- 
 ally conveyed the prophetic denuncia- 
 tions of divine wrath in the f facred wri- 
 tings : of thefe every one feels the effect. 
 In the fame fublime ft rain the dependents 
 .of Edward are in fucceifion designated, 
 not by name, but by fome mvftic alluhon; 
 under which the figures afliime a more 
 terrific appearance, from the mift which 
 is gathered round them. The tragical 
 fate which feverally awaits them, is de- 
 nounced under the representation of fome 
 terrible image, encompafTed with almolt 
 impenetrable darkncfs, iniprelTmg on the 
 mind a dreadful foreboding of future ca- 
 lamity, the more alarming, as its nature, 
 extent, and effect are unknown and un- 
 defined. 
 
 From 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 2f 
 
 From thefe fcenes of horror the Bard is 
 rapt, by a fudden and unexpected tranfi- 
 tion, into vifions of glory; and the ima- 
 gination, but now appalled by terror, and 
 funk into difmay, is roufed b} r the prof- 
 peel of happier events, defcried in daz- 
 zling fplendor, though ftill with the fame 
 indiftin&nefs of imagery, at a diftance, 
 into tranfports of joy and triumphant ex- 
 ultation over Edward, on the ultimate 
 defeat of his impious attempt. 
 
 The tranfeendent merit of Mr. Gray's 
 manner can no way be better illuftrated, 
 than by a comparative view of the man- 
 ner adopted by Horace in the ode, of 
 which Dr. Johnfon" is fo willing to think 
 the Bard an imitation. The appearance of 
 Nereus, engaged in the important office 
 of calming the winds, in order to fing the 
 cruel fates of Paris, has a folemnity in it, 
 which raifes the mind to an expectation 
 of fomething great and momentous ; yet, 
 when we contemplate the figure of Ne- 
 reus, prefented, as he is, with no appro- 
 priate inveftment, with no local advan- 
 tages, 
 
28 SPECIMENS OP 
 
 tages, flationed we know not where, ut- 
 tering his denunciations we know not 
 whence ; with what iuperior dignity and 
 fpirit does the bard appear! in the ro- 
 mantic fituation and interefting attitude 
 defcribcd by Gray, Jinking with iblemn ac- 
 companiments the deep /arrows of his lyre. 
 
 Mr. Gray will rife ftill higher in your 
 opinion, as you proceed. You have feen. 
 how he aggrandizes his fubject by his 
 manner of treating it. What has Horace 
 done ? lie has recounted, in the fuupleit 
 mode of narration, the adventures of Paris, 
 as he found them related by Homer. Every 
 circumitance is exaclly detailed, without 
 any veil ordifguife. Every agent introduced 
 is rcprefentcd under his known character, 
 and marked by his proper name. No room 
 is left for doubtful and alarming conjecture. 
 The whole tale is told in the plainelt terms. 
 In the concluding ftanza we are informed, 
 in the fame fimple manner, without any 
 preparation denoting fo important an 
 event, that after a certain term of delay, 
 iDccafioned by the anger of Achilles, Troy 
 
 would 
 
L1TEHARY RESEMBLANCE. 2£ 
 
 would be confumed by the Grecian 
 fires. 
 
 I would not wifli you to fufpecl that 
 I mean to undervalue the works of our 
 old friend > whom I was early taught* 
 with you, and ftill continue to love and 
 admire. I have often read this very ode 
 with pleafure and approbation. It is an 
 elegant and beautiful compofition. But 
 is there in it any, even the faintefl, trait 
 of refemblance to the Bard of Gray ? or 
 are you difpofecl, with Dr. Johnfon, to 
 allow Gray only a fecondary merit, as a 
 copyill from the firft inventor ? — Inventor 
 of what? — What has Horace invented, 
 which Gray has imitated ? Gray neither 
 wanted nor fought avTiftencc elfewhere. 
 He confulted his own great mind. There 
 only did he find the fource of that rich 
 Jiream, which he has conducted with con- 
 fummate addrefs, now in majeftic folem- 
 nity, now, as occafion required, with im- 
 petuous rage and violence, through the 
 various parts of this unrivalled poem ; 
 and every man of tafle and feeling fol- 
 lows 
 
.10 SPECIMENS OP 
 
 lows its courfe with rapture and enthu- 
 iiafin. 
 
 Having thus faintly expretTed the high 
 reverence which I bear to one of fo fu- 
 perior an order, I will here clofe this long, 
 yet, may I hope ? to ?/oz/, not tedious 
 ciifcuilion. 
 
 Adieu. 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. SI" 
 
 letter irr. 
 
 My dear P. 
 
 npuE obfervations which I offered on two 
 beautiful paffages, the one from Gray, 
 the other from Horace, have not exhaufted 
 the fubject, on wl "h I was then treating. 
 Allow me to fubmit to your confideration 
 another inftance of fimilar coincidence, 
 which has always appeared to me very re- 
 markable, though it feems to have efcaped 
 the notice of other readers. In the Bard 
 we have a pic\.re, exhibiting the death 
 of Richard II. by famine, as recorded by 
 •* Archbifliop Scroop and the older writers, 
 executed by the boldeft pencil of creative 
 Fancy : 
 
 Fill high the fparkling bowl, 
 The rich repaft prepare J 
 
 > eft 
 
33 SPECIMENS OP 
 
 Reft of a crown he ftill may fliare the feaff. 
 
 Clofe by the regal chair 
 
 Fell Thirjl and Famine fcovvl 
 A baneful fmile upon their baffled gueff. 
 
 Compare thefe fine lines with the fol- 
 lowing, equally fine, lines of Virgil : 
 
 Lucent genialibus altis 
 
 Aurea fulcra toris ; rpultrq. ante ora paratar 
 Regijico luxu. Furiarum maxima juxta 
 Accubat, et manibus prohibet contingere menfas, 
 Exurgitque facem attollens, atq. intonat ore. 
 
 iEn. B. VI. L. 603. 
 
 The two poets chanced to have the 
 fame fubjeel; in contemplation. Your at* 
 tention will be caught at firft view by a 
 ftriking iimilarity of manner in the execu* 
 tion of their defign. It will be obferved 
 alfo, that this manner, fo admirably fuited 
 to their pnrpofe, is out of the common 
 way, very far beyond th reach of com- 
 mon minds. In order to aggravate the 
 diitrefs, and to render the inflicted tor- 
 ments more poignantly excruciating* a 
 rich and luxurious banquet is, with exqui- 
 fite refinement, previoufly prepared by 
 each, of thefe great mailers, and lp; ead ul 
 
 Ijplendiu 
 
literary Resemblance. 33 
 
 fplendid array before the face of the un* 
 fortunate fufferers; the fight of which, 
 while they are withheld from partaking 
 it, irritates the cravings of hunger, even 
 to agony* Their conftrained abflinence 
 is enforced in both by the fame poetical 
 machinery. In Gray* Fell Thirjt and Fa- 
 mine exactly correfpond to the chief of the 
 Furies in Virgil. The baneful f mile, fowled 
 on the baffled gueji, in the former carries 
 with it, perhaps, more of fcorn and mor- 
 tifying infult, than the more direct oppo- 
 fition of the Fury, with her up-lifted torch 
 and thundering voice, does in the latter. 
 Still, however, the imagery — the turn of 
 thought — the plan and ftruclure of the 
 piece, and the difpofition of the parts, 
 are in both inftances precifely the fame. 
 
 Whence this extraordinary congruity 
 arofe, or by what means it was effected, 
 I will not take upon me to determine. 
 So far I will venture to fay, and I allure 
 myfelf of your cordial concurrence, that 
 Gray's charming ftanza, when feen by 
 
 D itfelf. 
 
54 I E C I M E N S O P 
 
 itfelf, has very much the air of an ori- 
 ginal. 
 
 ?' Common fenfe," we arc told on high k 
 authority, " directs us for the moil part 
 " to regard refemblances in great writers, 
 " not as the pilferings, or frugal acquiii- 
 " tions* of needy art, but as the honeft 
 " fruits of genius, the free and liberal 
 " bounties of unenvying natoe." 
 
 The learned critic calls for this li- 
 berality of judgment in behalf of the 
 Foets, with whom particularly he was con- 
 cerned. I find mylelf, jtiit at this prefent, 
 veiymuch difpoled to claim the lame con- 
 iideration for the writers in Profe; hav- 
 ing in my mind two paiiages from two 
 celebrated writers in that form, which 1 
 am itrongly tempted to fend you. 
 
 The late Dr. Ogden, who in my judg- 
 ment holds the very fugJteJi rank amongit 
 the moji eminent preachers, in one of thofu 
 excellent tenuous on the fifth command- 
 ment. addrelling hiinfelf to a young man, 
 whofe behaviour he fappo.es lets correct 
 than it ought to be, enforces the obli- 
 
 gations 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 35 
 
 gations of children to their parents in a 
 ftrain of irrefifcible eloquence, as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 c " Now fo proud ! felf-willed ! inexora- 
 " ble ! thou couldft then only afk by wail- 
 " ingj and move them by thy tears ; and 
 " they were moved. Their heart was 
 " touched with thy diftrefs. They re- 
 " lieved and watched thy wants, before 
 " thou kneweji thine own necejfilies, or 
 " their kindnefs. They clothed thee ; thou 
 " kneweji 7iot that thou waft naked. Thou 
 " ajkedji not for bread', but they fed 
 " thee." 
 
 Did you ever read ? or can any young 
 man, however proud, felf-willed, inexora- 
 ble, ever read this impaffioned addrefs 
 without emotion ? Nor can we eafily per- 
 fuade ourfelves otherwife, than that the 
 refpeclable author was here tranfcribing 
 the affections of his own heart ; for, as 
 appears from the fhort memoirs of his 
 life, drawn up and prefixed to an edition 
 of his fermons, in two volumes, by the 
 late Dr. Hallifax, he was a truly affection- 
 i>% ate 
 
36 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 ate and dutiful ion, fuch a one as " maketh 
 " a glad lather." 
 
 It may not be uninterefting to fee the 
 fame thoughts worked up into an ele- 
 gant form by an admired Ancient. Xeno- 
 phon, you will recollect, in his Memoirs 
 of Socrates, introduces the Philofophcr 
 difcourling in the following terms : 
 
 H yvvv) VTrcoerctpsvyi to (popTtov tuto, Gaovvo- 
 
 pLE'VI) TB KKl KWOVVeuVCX. TTZpi T*£li£,X„xt fJiBTOC^idacTCi 
 
 ryg rpotpyg, vi y.oci ccvtv] rpitpzTca, uxi crvu, TroXXca 
 7rovb) Sieveyxxcrcc, xtxi Ttwatrot rpstpzi ts xcci tir^t- 
 j.et7at,ade 7rpo7re r /rov9uicc ahv wyocOou, ace nrNflD- 
 KON TO BPEOOS 'Tf 'OTOT ETnAEXEI, 
 v& SHMAINEIN ATNAMENON 'OTOT ALU 
 TAI. 
 
 Xen. Mem. 1. ii. c. 11. 
 
 The fcntiments under the exprevHous., 
 marked in the Englilh text b.y I takes, and 
 by Capitals in the Greek, bear, you will 
 take notice, a finking refemblance to each 
 other; and, though evidently rnoft juit 
 and natural, are, fo far as my obierva- 
 tion goes, no wheie to be found, but in 
 1 thefe 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 37 
 
 thefe two pafTages. If you read the whole 
 chapter, from which the lines above are 
 taken, and the perufal will abundantly 
 repay your trouble, you will find through- 
 out a great fimilarity of thought between 
 the Philofopher and the Preacher. In the 
 fhort paffage immediately before us, the 
 Preacher appears to have given more of 
 pathos to the fubjecl;, by a judicious am- 
 plification, illuftrating the general fenti- 
 ment by fpecific inftances, very happily 
 chofen to afFecl the feelings. 
 
 Dr. Ogden was undoubtedly well verf- 
 ed in all the works of Xenophon. j May 
 we not therefore fuppofe ? without any 
 derogation from his merit, that, while he 
 was compofmg this admirable fermon, his 
 thoughts might take their color from 
 the tints, collected upon his mind by 
 frequent communication with this fine 
 writer. 
 
 Whatever may be your opinion on this 
 point, you will not, I am perfuaded, re- 
 gret my having called your attention to 
 ^n old acquaintance, nor think your time 
 
 p 3 mifem- 
 
38 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 rnifemployed in comparing the works of 
 two fuch authors as Xenophon and Dr. 
 Ogden; from either of whom you cannot 
 fail, as you read, of receiving the high- 
 eft gratification. 
 
 I could amufe myfelf, if I thought it 
 would be equally amuiing to you, with 
 tracing thefe literary refemblances itill 
 further. But I rather wilh you now to 
 fconfider with me another fpectes of imi- 
 tation, if it may be fo called ; " the ma- 
 nagement of which," d Dr, Hurd fays, " is 
 to be regarded, perhaps, as one of the 
 rnceii orlices of Invention ;" 1 mean, the 
 allufions often made by the full writers 
 to oid rites a ad ceremonies, or to promi- 
 nent circumftances in ancient or modern 
 hiftory. 
 
 Dr. Kurd fomewhere notices a beau- 
 tiful fpecimen of this delicate alluuon in 
 a poem, called the Spleen, by Mr. Green 
 of the Cuiiom-hoi.fe. The Poet is recom- 
 mending exercife, as a fovereign remedy 
 againft that depreflion of Ipirits, and 
 thofe hypocondriac affe&ions, which are 
 
 always 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 39 
 
 always produced by this morbid humor; 
 and exemplifies his doctrine by one of the 
 fimpleft and moft trivial modes, which 
 can poflibly be conceived. 
 
 Fling but a Jicne. 
 
 You will not difcover in this plain fen- 
 ten ce any great effort of imagination., any 
 rich coloring of expreffion, any thing 
 either of novelty or beauty. But when 
 to this fo common an action is added the 
 unexpected image, under which is con- 
 veyed the promifed benefit, 
 
 'The giant dies, 
 
 all the circumfrances attending an intereft- 
 ing hiftory, which we have been accuf- 
 tomed to read from our childhood, and 
 to think important from an early reve- 
 rence for the e writings, in which it is con- 
 tained, are at once recalled to the mind ; 
 and give to the paffage a life and fpirit 
 beyond what the greater! refinement of 
 thought, with all the embellifhment of 
 language, could ever have produced. 
 
 Fling but a Jione, the giant dies. 
 
 P 4 Of 
 
40 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 Of the fame clafs with this I have al- 
 ways coniidered that fine imagery, under 
 which Mr. Gray reprefents the indications 
 of genius, fuppofed to difcover themfelves 
 in the infancy of our immortal Shakfpeare 
 — the early promife of his future great- 
 nefs. On the awful appearance of Na- 
 ture, who comes in a majeftic form to 
 invefl her darling with the happily -fancied 
 enfigns of that high office, which he was 
 deltined afterwards to fill with fuch afto- 
 nifhing powers, 
 
 ■ the f dauntlefs child 
 Stretch'd forth his little hands* and fmil'd. 
 
 Did you ever contemplate the animated 
 figure of this dauntlefs child without re- 
 curring, at the fame time, in your mind, 
 to the fabulous description of Hercules 
 in the cradle ? grafping in his infant 
 hands the ferpents, and throwing them 
 playfully at the feet of his father, 
 
 Hroi up" us uhjr EI1ITIT0ION Hpa^A^a 
 
 ©rips Svu %upz<rcriv oc7rpiP AEIAAAIXIN £%ovtc& 
 
 *ZviAT7\yiy$y\v i ta,%Y t (rccu' oo' eg ttcltzq A[x(ptrpvcovoc 
 
 JLp'nt.Tct Seizuvccecrxw, £7r«AAero o vyo9t x<x.i()uv t 
 
 Theoc. Idyl. xxiv. 
 
 In 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 41 
 
 In thefe examples every thing is plain 
 and obvious. The propriety and apti- 
 tude of the alluhons are feen at once. 
 But it has often occurred to me, that 
 we lofe many beauties in the ancient 
 poets from not knowing the facts, to 
 which, probably, frequent alluhons are 
 made, to us, at this diftance of time, to- 
 tally inexplicable. 
 
 I have been led into this train of 
 thought by an obfcure pafTage in one of 
 the Odes of Horace ; which has created 
 no fmall perplexity amongft the fcholiafts 
 and commentators, fuch of them I mean, 
 as have ventured to remark upon it; for 
 fome of the nrft order, as Bentley, Ge£- 
 ner, and others, with a referve not very 
 unufual where real difficulties occur, have 
 Ivept a wary hlence, 
 
 Hinc apicetn rap ax 
 
 Fort una cum ftridore acuto 
 Suftulk, hie pofuiffe gaudet. 
 
 Carm. Lib. i. O. 34. 
 
 It 
 
42 SPECIMENS OP 
 
 It may not be unamufing to obferve 
 for a moment, how thefe e learned Critics 
 puzzle themfelves in endeavouring to ex- 
 plain what, by their awkward attempts, 
 they very plainly iliew that they did not 
 at all underrland. 
 
 One gravely interprets the term rapav 
 by mutabilis, acuto by lucluofo. 
 
 Another, by an expofition flill more 
 extraordinary, renders rapax mftulit by 
 clam fuftulit. 
 
 A third* with great importance, on the 
 words cum Jlridore acuto, " his verbis 
 " puto fignificari Fortunae commutatio- 
 " nem, quae vix intelligi poteft fine 
 " mao;no fonitu ac fragore. Stridor enim 
 " fonitum ac ftrepitum fignificat, non 
 u clamorem." 
 
 Thus do they go blundering on, ren- 
 dering " confufion worfe confounded," 
 not attempting, any of them, to defcribe 
 the unufual figure which Fortune is here 
 made to allume. Had they attended a 
 little more to this circumftance, it would* 
 
 perhaps, 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 43 
 
 perhaps, have faved them much of the 
 trouble, in which they have involved both 
 themfelves and their readers. 
 
 Bene, fays a modern Editor, in general 
 an acute and fagacious interpreter of his 
 author, Baxter, cum jiridore acuto, cum 
 ante pofuerit raptir, adinftar fcilicet pro- 
 cellofi turbinis. 
 
 This roar of ftorm and thunder feems 
 alfo to have rumbled in the ears of M. 
 Dacier ; though, when on fecond thoughts 
 he explains Jiridore acuto by h the founds 
 made by the wings of Fortune, he feems 
 to have caught a glimpfe of the real 
 image, which the Poet had in his eye, 
 that of a foaring eagle ; as will appear 
 from an extraordinary occurrence related 
 by the hiftorian. 1 will beg leave to tran- 
 fcribe the pailage. 
 
 " Ei (Lucumoni) carpento fedenti cum 
 uxore, aquila fufpenlis demiila leniter 
 alis pileum aufert, fuperq. carpentum cum 
 magno clangore vohcans rurfus, velut mi- 
 nifterio divinitus mina, capiti apte repo- 
 nit; inde fublimis abiit. Accepiffe id 
 
 augurium 
 
44 SPECIMENS OP 
 
 augurium laeta dicitur Tanaquil, pcrita, 
 lit vulgo Etruici, celettium prodigiorum 
 mulier. Excelfa et alta fperare complexa 
 virum jubct. Eam alitcm ea regione 
 cocli, ct ejus Dei nunciam venifle. Circa 
 furamum culmen hominis aufpicium fe- 
 ciflfe. Levaffc huniano fuperpolitum ca- 
 piti decus, ut eidem divinitus redderet." 
 Liv. lib. i. c. 34. 
 
 Wonders and prodigies ever attend the 
 remoter periods of great States and King- 
 doms. They never fail to be recorded 
 in their earlier annals ; are fuperftitioufly 
 delivered down from father to fon, and 
 received with an eafy and willing cre- 
 dence amongft the populace. Of this 
 defcription is the tale of Luc u mo and 
 the Eagle; which I doubt not was as 
 familiar anion oft the Romans, as well- 
 knowu, and as often repeated, as with us 
 the legends of King Arthur, and the 
 Knights of the Round Table, Guy Earl 
 of Warwick^ St. George and the Dra- 
 gon, &c. 
 
 Thus 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 45 
 
 Thus it appears, that the Past, when 
 he attributed fo uncommon a figure to 
 Fortune, with fo lingular a mode of ac- 
 tion, alluded to a popular ftory in every 
 body's mouth. The allufion, of courfe, 
 was immediately acknowledged by the 
 reader, and felt in all its force. 
 
 Bv the lisht hence thrown on the fub- 
 jecl:, whatever there was of obfcurity has 
 vanimed, all difficulties are done away, 
 every expreffion refumes its ufual and 
 proper fignification, and the fentence be- 
 comes clear and luminous. 
 
 The term rapax is not, you fee, to be 
 underftood as epithetical to Fortuna, but 
 to be taken, as adjectives are often ufed 
 by the poets, adverbially, and joined in 
 conftruction with the verb fuftulit. Ra~ 
 pax fuftulit, i. e. i rapaciter fuftulit, ra- 
 puit. 
 
 By the expreffion Jlridore acuto, the 
 great ftumbiin2;-b!ock of the commenta- 
 tors, are plainly fignified, as intimated 
 by a vague conjecture of the learned 
 Frenchman, the founds made by the eagle 
 
 clap- 
 
46 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 clapping its wings, and (creaming in its 
 flight J which the hiliorian cxprefies by the 
 words magno clan gore. 
 
 I will not fatigue you by dragging you 
 further through thele dry and tirelbine 
 difquifitions into the niceties of gramma- 
 tical arrangement, which, I fufpect, are 
 not much to your tafle. You will not 
 however think that labor vain, which 
 tends in any way to elucidate the fenfe 
 of a favorite author, and to draw forth 
 into more open view a latent beauty, 
 which has fo long lain buried under the 
 accumulated rubbifh thrown over it, from 
 time to time, by profeffed critics and la- 
 borious annotators. Repoiing fecurely 
 on this aflurance, for the prefent I will 
 bid you 
 
 Adieu. 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 47 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 My DEAR P. 
 
 ti7HEN, on opening a letter from your 
 old Correfpondent, the expreillon of 
 literary resemblance again meets 
 your eye, I am fearful whether you will 
 not feel fomewhat of alarm. It is well, 
 indeed, if, by pacing fo often the fame 
 beaten round, you do not by this time 
 find yourfelf wearied, and your fpirits ex^ 
 haufted. Notwithftanding all this, I can- 
 not refill the temptation of again tref- 
 paffing on your patience, and laying 
 before you another inftance of extraor- 
 dinary co-incidence from the works of a 
 great mailer, who has fo ably and copi- 
 ouily treated on this v r ery a fubjecl through 
 
 its 
 
43 
 
 SPECIMENS Ot 
 
 its feveral branches. The inftance, which 
 I have in view, coming from fo high au- 
 thority, to which, you and all men of learn- 
 ing will very readily allow, a peculiar defe- 
 rence is owen, I will give you the text of the 
 learn ed critic, and that of the French 
 Annotator, the other author alluded to, 
 ranged in feparate columns, by the fide 
 of each other : under which form, you 
 will have a more comprehenfive view of 
 the whole, and be enabled to compare 
 the two authors with the greater cafe and 
 accuracy. 
 
 Mr. Huxd. 
 
 Taking advantage of the 
 nobleft privilege of his art, 
 he breaks away in a fit of 
 prophetic enthufiafm, to fore- 
 tell his fuccefles in this pro- 
 jected enterprise, and under 
 the imagerv of the ancient 
 triumph, which comprehends 
 or fuggefts to the imagination 
 whatever is rrioft auguft in hu- 
 man affairs, to delineate the 
 future glories of .this am- 
 bitious delign. The whole 
 conception, as we (hall fee, is 
 of the utmojl grandeur and mag- 
 n.'ficence. 
 
 F. Catrou. 
 
 La vivacite avec laquelle le 
 Poete decrit allegoriquement la 
 dedience, qu'il doit faire de 
 fon Eneide a Augufte, fous 
 l'idee de la dedicace d'un 
 Temple, eft admirable. C'eft 
 tin dts beaux mcrceaux de poejie, 
 qu 1 ait fait Vanteur. 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 
 
 49 
 
 Primus ego in patriam mecum 
 
 modb vita fuperfit, 
 Aoniorediensdedueamvertice 
 
 Mufas. 
 
 The projected conqueft was 
 no lefs than that of all the 
 Mufes. at once; whom, to 
 carry on the decorum of the 
 Allegorie, he threatens to force 
 from their high and advanta~ 
 geous Jituation on the fummit of 
 the Aonian mount, and to bring 
 them captive into Italy. 
 
 Ancient conquerors were 
 ambitious to confecrate their 
 glory to immortality by a 
 temple or other public monu- 
 ment, * ivhich was to be built 
 out of the f polls of the conquered 
 eities or countries. 
 
 Virgile fait entendre fous 
 une allegrrie ingenieufc, que 
 quand il aura pubtie fon JE~ 
 neide, et quand il aura dedie 
 fon temple par des jeux , il fera 
 deferter la Grece aux Mufes, qui 
 quitter ant l 'Helicon, four venir 
 habiter V Italic 
 
 Navali furgerites a?re coluffi- 
 
 nas. 29. 
 
 Virgile ne dit pas fans rai- 
 fon, que de 1'airain des vaif- 
 feaux, enlevez a C eopatre il 
 fera fondre les colonnes de 
 fon temple. Augufte avoit 
 en effet tire * tant de bronze 
 des vaiftaux, qu'il avoit pris 
 d* Afthtm, quil cut de quoi en 
 eriger les colonnes du temple, 
 qu'il bat it a Apollon, fur le 
 mont PaUtin. 
 
 This, the reader fees, is fu it- 
 able to the idea of the great 
 work propofed, which was out 
 of the remains of Grecian art 
 to compofe a new one, that 
 Jlwuld comprife the virtues of them 
 mil; a; } in fail, the jEmis is 
 
 Et viridi in campo templtim 
 de marmore ponarn. 
 
 On voit ici que ce temple 
 de marbre, que le Pce'te doit 
 batir, a fon re'tourdu Levant* 
 ct que cette dedicace, <ru'il 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 knwr to unite in U/elf ivhat- 
 cVi-r is m$ft excellent, net in Ho 
 rf.tr only, out ur.vetjaly in the 
 it its of Greedi. 
 
 Tht ever!afi'i>£ monument 
 of the n arble temple is then 
 reared. 
 
 Et viridi in canpo templum 
 de marmore ponam. 
 
 The dedication of the tem- 
 ple is then made to the Poet's 
 Divinity, Auguftus. 
 
 In medio mihiCsefar ent tem- 
 plumq. tenebit. 
 
 The ex pre (lion is emphati- 
 cal, as intimating to us, and 
 prefiguring the fecret purpofe 
 of the ./Eneid ; which was in 
 the perfon of ./E'-eas to flia- 
 dow forh and corifecrate the 
 chara&er of Auguftus. His 
 Divinity teas to fill and occupy 
 tjis grtat wcrk. 
 
 Xlli viftor ego, et tyrio con- 
 (pectus in oilro, &c. 
 
 To fee the propriety of the 
 figure in this place, the reader 
 needs only be reminded of the 
 heck of Ga;ries in the ^Eneid, 
 wh'ch was pnrooicly intro- 
 duced in honour oi the Em- 
 rxror, and not, as is com- 
 monly thought, for a mere 
 
 doit faire, font une allegorie. 
 II veut dire qu'a ion retour 
 d'Oiient,ouil iraperfectionner 
 fon JE: eide, et y mettre lader- 
 niere main, il viendra la pub- 
 lier en Italic. En un mot, 
 qu'il dnnnera un ouvrage flu$* 
 parfait que cei ties Grea, 
 
 Toutel'^Enetdefe rapporte 
 a AuguftV. II en ell la fin, et 
 le modele fur lequel le Poiite 
 forme fon heros. Dt-la cf 
 temple, dont Augufte /era /* 
 fade Divinite. 
 
 La dedicate du temple 
 qu'erigera Virgile & Augufte 
 fera celebree par des jeux de 
 toutts les fortes, des courfes 
 de chars, des combats du 
 cefte, et des pieces de Tbe« . 
 atre l'orneront. 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 51 
 
 trial of fkill between the poet Necnon et focii, quae cuiq. 
 
 and his matter. The Em- eft copia, laeti, 
 
 peror was pafwnately fond of Dona ferunt. 
 
 thafe /ports, and was even the J£ St e. V. 2CO. 
 
 author or reftorer of one of 
 
 t hem, H eft etonnant, que nul des 
 
 interpretes ri'ait appercu le 
 but, qu'a eu le Poete dans 
 l'epifode de Papotheofe d'An- 
 chife, et dans Pepifode des 
 jeux, qu'il fait celehrer a fan 
 tombeau. Cell Augufte que 
 Virgile reprefente ici fous le 
 caraclere d'«^Enee.. Le pieux 
 Augufte par Papotheofe, qu'il 
 ftt faire a. Jule Gefar fon pere; 
 tt par lesjeux, dont il honora 
 le nouveau Dieu, a donne ac- 
 cafion a Virgile d'inventer ce 
 long evenement, dont il rem* 
 plit un livre prefque entier. 
 
 On ordonna que tout le 
 peuple fetrouveroit a des jeuxy 
 avec des couronnes de lau- 
 rier. 
 
 Ce qui fut done un trait de 
 piete approuve dans Augufte 
 eft mis ici fur le compte d'iE- 
 nee par le Poete, qui fait fa 
 cour par cette flatterie, cPau- 
 tant plus artificiaife, quelle eft 
 plus indirecl. 11 paroit meme 
 que Virgile a reprefente en Si- 
 cile, pour Papotheofe d'An- 
 chife, le meme genre de jeux, 
 quon fit a Rome pour celle dc 
 Jule. 
 
 E % 
 
AS 
 
 SFtCIMEXS OF 
 
 Vel fcena ut verfis difcedat 
 
 frontibusi utq. 
 Purpurea intexti tollantaulnea 
 
 Britunni. 
 
 The choice of inwoven 
 Britons lor the fuppoit of his 
 veil is well accounted for by 
 them who tell us, that Au- 
 gufhis was proud fO have a 
 number of thole to ferve 
 about him in the quality of 
 flaves. 
 
 In forlbus pugnam ex auro, 
 
 folidoq. ..lephanto. 
 Gangafidum faciam viftotifq. 
 ' arma Quirim, &rc. 
 Here the covering of the fi- • 
 gave U too thin to hide the li-' 
 teral meaning from the com- 
 vtoneji reader, who fees that 
 tne feveral triumphs of Ca j far, 
 h?re recorded in fculpture, 
 are thofe which the Poet hath 
 taken moft pains to iinifh, and 
 Hath occafionally mferted in 
 feveral places of his poem. 
 
 Apres que Jules Cefar ait 
 vaincu les Anglois,on les em- 
 ploys au fervice des theatres. 
 C'etoit eux qui faifoient rau- 
 ler les decorations fur leurs 
 pivots, et qui faifoient mou- 
 voir les machines. 
 
 Le nil couvert de vaifleaux 
 reprefentera le combat (T Alex- 
 andra, et Ventlere defaite d y An- 
 toine, et de Cleopatre. 
 
 Addam urbes Afiie. 
 
 II veut parler des villes 
 d'Alie ; qu'Augufte alia cha- 
 tier, l'annee qui preceda la 
 mort de Virgile, au rapport 
 de Dion. 
 
 Hitherto we have contem- 
 plated the decorations of the 
 Otitic, i. e. fuch as. bear a 
 :t and immediate re- 
 .:e to the honor of Ca?* 
 for. We are now prefehted 
 with a view of the remoter 
 furimmding ornaments of the 
 ample. Thefc are the illuf- 
 
 On ne pent guere meeonnoure 
 lei VuEneide, que le Poete a 
 reprefentee fous Vallegorie d'un 
 temple, qu'il dediera a Au- 
 gufle. Les defcendans d'Af- 
 faracus en font les principaux 
 a&eurs : je veux dire An- 
 chife, JEncc, et fon fils Jule. 
 Ailaracus fut pere de Capis, 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 
 
 is 
 
 trious Trojan chiefs, whofe et Capis eut Andiife pour, 
 ftory was to furnifti the ma- fils. 
 terials, or more properly to 
 form the body and cafe, as it 
 were, of this auguft ftru&ure. 
 
 Stabunt et Parii lapides fpi- 
 
 rantia figna, 
 Affaraci proles. 
 
 Nothing now remains but 
 for FAME to eternife the 
 glories of what the great ar- 
 chitect had, at the expence 
 of fo much art and labour, 
 completed, which is predicted 
 in the higheji fublime of ancient 
 peetry under the idea of 
 ENVY, whom the Poet per- 
 fonalifes, fhuddering at the 
 view of fuch tranfcendent 
 perfe£Uon, and tafting before- 
 hand the pains of remedilefs 
 vexation, ftrongly piflured in 
 the image of the wot ft infernal 
 tortures. 
 
 Invidia infelix, &c. 
 
 L'ENVIE reftera dans un 
 temple confacre a Augufte ; 
 non plus pour triompher; 
 mais affligee de voir fa rage 
 inutile. 
 Invidia infelix, &c. 
 
 C'eft pour marquer que cet 
 Empereuravoitfurmonte Ljen- 
 vie de fes competiteurs, ou dc 
 fes ennemis, Antoine, Lcpidus, 
 Sexte-Pompee, Brutus, Caf- 
 fius, &c. 
 Ca?iaris et nomen fama tot 
 
 ferre per annos, &c. 
 Virgile n'outre point la pro- 
 mefte qu'il fait. On peut 
 dire que par fon iEneide il a 
 rendu le nom d'Augufte im- 
 mortel. 
 
 That you may not want fufficient time 
 to form your own judgment with due de- 
 liberation, 1 will leave thefe extracts in 
 your porTefnon, referving my remarks for 
 
 \he next. 
 
 Adieu, 
 
 * 5 
 
54 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 My dear P. 
 
 you have now feen the fimilar parages 
 from my two Authors, oppofed to 
 each other in detached paragraphs. But I 
 mult den* re you to read the performance of 
 Mr. IT urd, the whole together, as it is drawn 
 out by his able pen. I will fuppofe you 
 to have finifhed this entertaining perufal : 
 and now let me afk you, did you, any 
 where, at any time, fee the efficiency of 
 fuperior talents difplayed in a more con- 
 fpicuous manner? The loofe notes, fcat- 
 tered up and down by the French Anno- 
 tator, without form or connexion, are 
 carefully collected by this fine writer, ar- 
 3 ranged 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 55 
 
 ranged in the apteft order, and worked 
 up into a regular compofition, with all 
 the graces of ex predion and elegance of 
 defi<m. So excellent was this ingenious 
 performance thought, at the time when it 
 firft appeared, that it was very warmly 
 applauded by one/ from whofe decifion 
 in all matters of tafte, as on every mb~ 
 jecl: in the whole circle of arts and fci- 
 ences, there lies no appeal. You will 
 ealily perceive, that I can here mean no 
 other than that wonderful man, in whofe 
 comprehenfive mind was united with the 
 * fublime imagination of Longinus the fe- 
 vereji reafoning of the Stagyritc. 
 
 It is without fcruple confeffed, that a 
 great part of the rough materials are to 
 be found in the annotations of Catrou. 
 Superficial readers, who do not attend to, 
 or from their " Jluggifli and clouded imagi- 
 " nations" are incapable of diftinguifhing, 
 the nicer differences of things, have on 
 this account formed very injurious con- 
 clufions, and even gone fo far as to load 
 the learned critic with the charge of 
 E 4 plagiarifm. 
 
56 SPECIMENS OP 
 
 e plagiarifm. Such, we know, was the 
 ungenerous treatment, which the great 
 Founder of the Warburtonian d School 
 himfelf more than once e experienced ; 
 and even a direct f difavowal, accompa- 
 nied with the moft folemn arTurances, was 
 found fearcely fufficient to repel the 
 charge. 
 
 You will difcover at firft glance, how 
 much they, who judge in this illiberal 
 manner, underrate the merits of the 
 learned critic. No man of an en- 
 lightened and intelligent mind will heii- 
 tate to acknowledge, that to him, and 
 him alone, exclufively belong the happy 
 delign and ikilml plan of the piece, the 
 judicious difpofition of the parts, with the 
 fplendid ornaments, thrown in here and 
 there occasionally, giving luvtre and addi- 
 tional beauty to the whole. It is only 
 for the favored few, whom " 8 Nature has 
 touched with a ray of that cdeftial Jire, 
 xvhich ive call true Genim" out of fuch 
 materials to form fo perfect and beautiful 
 an edifice ; which the amateur will never 
 
 fail 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 57 
 
 fail to contemplate with the livelier]; emo- 
 tions of delight and admiration. It were 
 as unreafonable and unjuft in this place 
 to accufe the learned critic of plagi- 
 arifm, as to condemn the Architect, who 
 brings the Hones or marble, which he 
 builds with, from the quarry, for want 
 of tafte and invention, 
 
 The doctrine of the learned critic 
 on this fubjecl: applies very appoiitely to 
 the cafe before us. " h If there be rea- 
 " fon for fufpecting any communication 
 " between two different writers, it mult 
 " be taken from fomething elfe, befides 
 " the identity of the fubjecl: -matter of 
 " fuch defcription : as from the number, 
 ? or the nature of the circumllances fe- 
 *' leered for imitation — from the order in 
 " which they are difpofed — or the man- 
 " ner in which they are reprefented." 
 
 The great volume of Nature lies open 
 to every obferver. Is it then any wonder ? 
 if many of thofe, who attentively pcrufe 
 it, mould be flricken with, and occafU 
 pnally tranferibe the fame paflages. The 
 
 immortal 
 
04 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 immortal works of Homer and Virgil, 
 having defcended through lb long a lories 
 of ages, are to us, at this day, in a man- 
 ner coeval with the beginning of things; 
 and may be looked upon in the fame 
 light, as the everlaiting mountains, or any 
 other magnificent phenomena of Nature. 
 The fcveral objects, which appear fpread 
 over them in various forms of grandeur 
 and beauty, on all fides catching the eye 
 of the fpedtator, are to be accounted as 
 common Jioc/c, in medio po/ita, or, as the 
 Poet exprellesit, ' publica mat tries; which 
 every one has an equal right to appropriate 
 to himfelf ; and it becomes, under proper 
 management, privati juris — his own. 
 • If therefore the principles, laid down by 
 the learned ceitic, be allowed to be, 
 as by every competent judge they cannot 
 fail of being, equally juit as candid, the 
 right of property, which he a flumes, is 
 inconteftibly oitablifhed. lie /elected his 
 circum/iances from the eommon fiock — the 
 order in which they arc difpofed — and the 
 
 manner 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 59 
 
 manner in which they are reprefeuted, are 
 entirely his own. < 
 
 I will not detain yon longer on this pi- 
 tiful fpecies of common-place detraction, 
 fo generally in ufe amongft the drudges in 
 the lower zvalks of literature, which, from 
 time to time, they are ever throwing, very 
 harmlefsly indeed , and ineffectually fr om 
 their diftance, on thofe of a fuperior or- 
 der; from whofe works, however excellent, 
 they derive neither pleafure nor profit ; 
 while they read them only with the feel- 
 ings of mortified vanity, and the paltry 
 deiire of difcovering faults. What feems 
 to promife far better entertainment, I 
 would much rather attend you through 
 thofe delightful fcenes, which the charm- 
 ing Author, with whom we are now en- 
 gaged, is continually opening to your 
 view. 
 
 That we may enjoy this truly claflical en- 
 tertainment in the greater purity, without 
 interruption, would it not be better to wait 
 for fome more favorable opportunity, when 
 we may enter upon it with our fpirits 
 
 frefh, 
 
60 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 frefh, and with no unplcafant impreflions 
 on the mind ? In the mean time, the 
 character of the learned critic will, I 
 doubt not, ftand as high in your opinion, 
 as firm and unfhaken by the petty cavils 
 of envious detractors, as it does in mine. 
 
 Adieu, 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 61 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 My dear P, 
 
 ttvo I not flatter myfelf, rather too much? 
 when I fuppofe you have been wait- 
 ing, with fome degree of impatience, for 
 the entertainment which I promifed you. 
 I will not pretend to guefs what expecta- 
 tions you may have formed. Whatever 
 they may be, as I have only a fecondary 
 part to a6t, in fubferviency to the Matter 
 of the Feaft, I may be allowed to hope, 
 that you will not be entirely difap- 
 pointed. 
 
 On your firft entrance into this en- 
 chanted ground, you will not fail to ad- 
 mire the extraordinary fagacity difplayed. 
 by the learned critic in his develop- 
 ment of the gradual preparation, with 
 
 which 
 
62 .SPECIMENS OP 
 
 which the Poet guards the approach to 
 his intended temple, " under the imagery 
 " of an ancient triumph, when all the 
 " Grecian Mufes at once, after being 
 " forced from their high and advan- 
 " tageous fituation on the fummit of the 
 41 Aonian Mount, were to be led captive 
 " into Italv." 
 
 With the fame confummate fkill he 
 conduces his reader through the feveral 
 parts of this auguft flructure after its 
 erection. Virgil fays limply, that he will 
 rear a temple of marble. 
 
 'i Et viridi in campo templum de marmore ponam.'* 
 
 Virgil, conliftcntly with that exquifite 
 tatie and wonderful judgment, which fo 
 eminently diftinguiih arl his works, could 
 do no more. He was to exhibit a tem- 
 ple before thofe, who were familiarly ac- 
 quainted with its ufual form and ftructure.- 
 Here therefore a minute dcfcription of its 
 various parts would have been tedious 
 and impertinent. The French Annotator 
 takes it up as he finds it in the poem. 
 But the cafe of the Commentator is far 
 
 different 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 63 
 
 different from that of the . Poet. The 
 learned critic was aware of this dif- 
 ference, and better acquainted with his 
 bufmefs. He well knew that " the iina- 
 •I g e rj in this place could not be under- 
 " Hood, without reflecting on the cuf- 
 " tomarj form and difpofition of the 
 " Pagan temples," which therefore , he 
 accurately and fcientificalfy defcribes ? 
 with all the knowledge and ability of a 
 profefTed artift. 
 
 " The fhrine or fanc"tuary in the centre, 
 " wherein the ftatue of the prefiding god 
 * was placed/' 
 
 In medio mihi Gsefar erit. 
 
 ** The altar before the Airine," on which 
 were to be offered the facriflces to the 
 new divinity. 
 
 — — — Ccefofq. videre juvencos. 
 
 <c The doors of curious carved work, 
 w inclofing the image, and ductile veils, 
 " embellifhed by the rich embroidery of 
 7 flowers, animals, or human figures/' 
 
 Purpurea intexti tollant aulasa Britanni. 
 
 Thus 
 
64 SPECIMENS or 
 
 Thus we have a comprehenfive view of 
 this poetical building ; of which tho 
 French. Annotator feeins to have had no 
 idea ; or, if he had an)', not to have been 
 aware, how intimately the plan, here given 
 of it, was connected with the Poet's de- 
 %n. 
 
 With this chart in his hand, the cu* 
 rious enquired traces the whole progrefs- 
 of the Poet's imagery with cafe and cer- 
 tainty. But this was not all. It was not 
 enough to proceed regularly, ftep by ftep, 
 through the feveral ftages of this vihonary 
 fcenery. It was evident that by theffc 
 typical figns more was iignified than what 
 was directly exprefTed. The learned 
 critic apprehends at once this remoter 
 fenfe, and by an explication the moll 
 eafy and intelligible, renders it obvious to 
 the meaner! underftanding. The com- 
 moneft reader now fees that under the ex- 
 preilion, /olenites vornpas, the Poet inti- 
 mated the gradual /olemn preparation of 
 poetic pomp, in which he would proceed 
 to the celebration of Caefaft praife. 
 
 That 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE, 05 
 
 •That by the ilicrifices performed on the 
 altar, cafos jirceacos, were prefigured the 
 molt grateful offerings to his Divinity, in 
 the occaiional epifodes, which he w T ould 
 confecrate to his more immediate honor. 
 And finally, that in the embroidered veils 
 was adumbrated the richeil texture of his 
 fancy, intended for a covering to that 
 admired image of his virtues, which was 
 •to make the pride and glory of his poem, 
 What fpirit and animation does this 
 beautiful paiiage aflume ! how mud* 
 more impreilive and interefting does it 
 become ! illuftrated by this luminous iiv? 
 ierpretatiom 
 
 His revered friend and patron (Dr. War-* 
 burton) whon> the learned critic de-? 
 clares himfelf, at all times, a ambitious of 
 imitating, dealt much, throughout all 'lis 
 writings, in thefe double feni.es- and alle^ 
 gories ; which he had a wonderful faculty 
 of difeoveting, and a: manner of explain** 
 ing peculiar to himfelf. The fame favor-* 
 ;te Poet, to whom the learned critic. 
 has done fo much honor, afforded {lira; 
 
 F S*U6 
 
66 B t E C lift B K 8 OF 
 
 alio an occaiion for the exercife of his un- 
 common powers. The allegorical inter- 
 pretation of the fixtli book of the iEneis 
 has been much celebrated, and caufed no 
 fmall difquihtion amonglt the Literati. 
 There are not wanted many, who have 
 thought it a great improvement on the 
 plain and obvious fenfe of Virgil. I am 
 not afhamed to confefs myfelf of the 
 number. This extraordinary perform- 
 ance became more the iubject of curio- 
 -fity and converiation after the b temperate 
 and chaj'te praife bellowed upon it by the 
 late Dr. Jortin. The jult 'tribute, thus 
 paid in the fpirit of truth and hncerity, 
 by that excellent perfon and accompliihed 
 fchoiar to a learned friend, though d re- 
 ceived by that friend himielf with thanks 
 and approbation, was afterwards lb mif- 
 chievoully mifreprefented by the e " bafe 
 " and malignant" perverfions of an anony- 
 mous f pamphleteer, as to become unfortu- 
 nately a caufe of offence, with fo fatal an 
 operation, as to make an irreparable breach 
 in the union, which had long fubfiiied with 
 
 reciprocal 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 67 
 
 reciprocal honor and advantage between 
 thefe two eminent men. When I fay re- 
 ciprocal honor and advantage, I have not 
 overlooked the taunting fneers of the ano- 
 nymous pamphleteer. Whatever he, or 
 any other of Warburton's flattering ad- 
 mirers, may be pleafed to fay, it will, 1 
 believe, be very clear to other people which 
 was the l gainer by this friendly intercourfe. 
 Your friend, at leaft, who is now writing 
 to you, can be under no doubt, having 
 by him at this moment a h feries of let- 
 ters from Dr. Warburton to Dr. Jortin, 
 in which he is repeatedly expreiling his 
 thanks for literary fervices received from 
 Dr. Jortin, with many grateful acknow- 
 ledgements of obligation. 
 
 You will not be forry to quit this pain- 
 ful and offenfive fubje6t,and to return with 
 me to the more plealing pages of the 
 learned critic. The fculptured or- 
 naments on .the doors of the f brine, and 
 the remoter decorations furrouijding the 
 temple, are explained by him, with little 
 or no variation, fave what arifes from his 
 
 f 2 fuperio.r 
 
68 a r bc i m f,\s or 
 
 fuperior elegance of manner, as Catron 
 and other Commentators explain them; 
 with the exeeption of one ftriking image, 
 which finishes the whole; and, i'een in 
 the new light thrown over it by the 
 learned critic, far furpafles all the 
 reft in grandeur of conception and deejfr 
 thought artifice of deiign. 
 
 Invklia iojfelix Furias amnemque fevcrum 
 Cpcyti metuet, tortoi'que Ixionis angues, 
 Iminanemqae rotam, et non exfuperabile faxum. 
 
 Did you ever fufpe&? that in the 
 figure, which you fee here ib finely 
 drawn, of envy, you were beholding a 
 great performance executed by the hand 
 of fame, engaged in one of her moft ho- 
 norable offices,, tliat of eternizing the 
 works of an illuftrious Poet. Did it ever 
 occur to vou ? that under this bold irna- 
 gery Virgil was predicting, " in the higheft 
 " f ub lime of ancient poetry," the immor- 
 tality of his projected poem. Not one 
 amonofi the numerous tribe of ancient 
 
 Scholiafts, 
 
LITERARY RESmiRLANCE. 6$ 
 
 Scholiafts, nor any other of the modern 
 Commentators, fcarcel y left numerous, have 
 dropt the moft diftant intimation to this 
 purpofe. F. Catroti is left far behind! 
 When he contemplated this ideal edifice, 
 he certainly did, fome how or other, 
 ehance to difcover in it, what no other 
 had difcovered before ; but, in the em- 
 blematical figures wrought round it, does 
 not appear to have iecn more, than what 
 any common fpeclator may be fuppofed 
 to have obferved. In this laft particu- 
 larly, he tells us, are repreienfced the 
 triumphs of Augulxus over his compe- 
 titors. 
 
 Invidla Tnfefix 
 
 C'eft pour marquer que cet Empereus avc-it furmo-irte 
 l'Eavie de ces competiteurs ou des ennemis Autoine, 
 Lepidus. Sexte Pompee, Brutus, Caffius, &c. 
 
 It was referred for the great Myfta- 
 gogue, the learned critic alone, to 
 pierce through the obfcurity, which hung 
 
 p 3 over 
 
70 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 over this myficrious part of the Poet's 
 mechanifm, and to catch his more con- 
 cealed meaning; which he expounds in 
 a manner furpriiingly clear and fatisiac- 
 tory. Such are the ftrokes, which ' dif- 
 tinguifh one man from another, and de- 
 cidedly mark the character of a great 
 Genius. You will think, perhaps, that I 
 engaged in a perilous enterprife, when I 
 undertook to criticize the works of a 
 writer, who has fo indifputable a claim 
 to that exalted character. I am fully 
 aware of the danger, which I encountered. 
 Whatever may have been my fuccefs, it 
 will be found, I hope, that I have con- 
 dueled myfelf " k with all that regard, 
 " that is due from one fcholar to an- 
 " other/' or rather with all that refpeel; 
 and deference, which are due from all 
 other fcholars to one of fuch acknow- 
 ledged pre-eminence. 
 
 Shall 1 confefs the real truth ? I actually 
 propofed to myfelf the applauded cri- 
 tique, which we have been confidering, as 
 
 a model, 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 7X 
 
 a model, which I was ambitious of cop} r - 
 ing. Whether I have caught airy trait of 
 this great mailer's manner, it is now with 
 you to determine. 
 
 Adieu. 
 
 -V 
 
 r 4 
 
72 ft P B CI M * N 3 op 
 
 Letter vn. 
 
 My dear P 4 
 
 pY the flight fketch which I have ren- 
 tured to draw out, of Mr. Hurd's ad- 
 mired critique on one of the nobleft fic- 
 tions of Antiquity, 1 am inclined to think 
 that you are already prepared to concurr 
 with the reverend a Encoiniafl in the 
 judgment, which, with his accuitomed 
 candor and liberality, he palled upon it. 
 It you fliould have any heiltation, there 
 are other maiterly llrokes of exquihte 
 fkiil and management interfperfed through 
 different parts of the work, well worthy 
 your attention* 
 
 The 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 7* 
 
 The extraordinary delicacy, which the 
 
 LEARNED CRITIC has fheWll Oil this OC- 
 
 cafion, and the refpedt, which, fo con- 
 liftently with his ufual practice, he has 
 paid to his readers, will not have efcaped 
 your notice. b The " imagery," he fa} r s, 
 " in this place cannot be underftood 
 " without reflecting on the cuftomary 
 " form and difpofition of the Pagan 
 " Temples/' &c. intimating that reflexion 
 only was wanted, and fuppofmg all the 
 requifite knowledge to have been previ- 
 oufly acquired. When Mr. Gray firft 
 publillied his two Pindaric Odes, " he 
 " was c advifed even by his friends to 
 " fubjoin fome few explanatory notes ; 
 " but had too much refpect for the under- 
 " flanding of his readers to take that li- 
 " berty." It was afterwards found that 
 Mr. Gray had much over-rated the un- 
 derftanding of his readers, and the ex- 
 planatory notes were added. In the fame 
 manner, I believe, you will think with 
 me, that not a few of the learned cri- 
 tic's readers will be under obligation to 
 
 him 
 
74 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 him for the information, which he has 
 had the forefight and the goodnefs fo li- 
 berally to impart. 
 
 It has been obferved,that no one is qua- 
 lified to undertake the arduous talk of cri- 
 ticiiing any literary work, who does not in 
 fome meafure participate of the fame fire 
 and genius, as animated the author. Every 
 competent and unprejudiced judge will 
 at once acknowledge with what juflice 
 the learned ciiiTic ailerts his claim to 
 the high office, which he affumcs. lie 
 difcovers throughout, by various fymp- 
 toms, how feniibly he fvinpathifes with 
 the Poet in all his feelings: he pierces 
 with his intellectual eye into the inner- 
 moil recetles of the Poet's mind ; he con- 
 ceives, as it were by the fame infpiration, 
 all the brilliant thoughts, the fublinie 
 ideas, and rapturous vilions, which the 
 Mule ever preiented, even in her fondcft 
 moments, to her favorite votary. He 
 comprehends his whole plan, which he 
 traces through the fucccflive flages of its 
 progrefs, from its firli conception to its 
 
 final 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 75, 
 
 final perfection: not only catches the 
 bolder features of the Poet's defign, but 
 is alfo intimately acquainted with all the 
 nicer touches of his art and manage- 
 ment. 
 
 This perfedi underfianding, which the 
 learned critic every where difcovers 
 of the Poet's wonderful art and manage- 
 ment, is the more worthy of remark, and 
 reflects the greater lu lire on his character, as 
 " not being d apprehended by other Critics;' 
 who by their ignorance of an excellency 
 fo peculiarly belonging to Virgil, were 
 betrayed, " even the beji of them" it feems, 
 into a very erroneous eftimate of his 
 tranfcendent merits. 
 
 It would take up more of your time, 
 than I have the afTurance to afk, were I 
 to analyfe every part of this elaborate 
 performance ; and to fay all which occurs 
 to me on its feveral excellencies and beau- 
 ties. Nor will it be necetTary. You will 
 be able to fee, and to judge of them 
 much better by your own perufal. At 
 the fame time, when you confider the 
 
 refpectable 
 
76". S I'ECI M E N S O F 
 
 rcfpectablc character of the writer, voir 
 will not wonder, if I have been rather 
 minute in my observation*. Whatever 
 falls from fuch hffgh authority cannot but 
 make a very deep impreffion, and de- 
 mands the moil ferious attention. 1 have 
 alio .been the more ftudious of letting forth 
 in its true colors and juft proportions, 
 this perfect model of the imitative it vie 
 for the benefit of fucceding adventurers 
 in this hazardous mode of competition ; 
 which fcems hitherto to ham fefc* fo little 
 under jiood . 
 
 In doing this I beg you to obferve, that 
 
 I am co-operating, in his general deiign, 
 with the learned critic; who de- 
 clares that e " one of the chief reafqns, 
 " which induced him to difclofe thus 
 " much of one of the nobleil iictions of 
 " Antiquity was, that the -propriety of 
 " allegorical competition, which made 
 
 II the diltiniiuiihino' ornament of ancient 
 " poetry, feem'd Jo little known or Jo lit- 
 *\\tlc. attended to by the modern profef- 
 " fors of this line art." • 
 
 In 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 77 
 
 In conformity to the fame clefign I can- 
 not forbear to add a remark or two more. 
 It feems } as lias been before intimated, 
 the great art of the Imitator, fo to con- 
 duct his imitation, as to make what he 
 copies appear his own; in which the wonr 
 derful adclrefs of the learned critic is 
 aery confpicuous. Befides the labor' d 
 conftrucrion of the whole piece, wrought 
 up, as you fee, to the very acme of per- 
 fection, there are many little hints, thrown 
 in .here and there, carelefsly as it were, 
 and by accident, which infenfibly 1 lead 
 the reader to admire the author's uncom- 
 mon powers of invention and original 
 thinking, rather than to ihfpecl: him of 
 " taking any thing to himfelf, that be- 
 " longed to another." 
 
 By the fame indirect means of artful 
 infmuation, and by different expreflions, 
 apparently cafual, is gradually brought 
 into notice that dignified faperiority, 
 which the learned critic fo ably:fup> 
 ports over the common herd of ordinary 
 writers, mere verbal Critics, jSibblen of old 
 
78 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 books, word-catchers, who live upon fyllables, 
 &c. &c. This nice art, by which the 
 adept is thus qualified, under cover, to 
 elevate his own merits, ieems to be a- 
 mongft the cfoteric cloilrines of the Wat* 
 burtonian School, revealed only to the 
 initiated into the higher niyfteries. 
 
 1\ Catrou was not of the number. He 
 explained one of tjie nobleft allegories in 
 ancient poetry with great iimplicity, not 
 appearing to be feniible that his explica- 
 tion had in it any thing extraordinary, or 
 iliewed any uncommon fagacity. So little 
 attentive was he to that manly vindication 
 of character, which men of letters ought 
 never to lofe light of, that, though he 
 was the firft formally to notice in this 
 beautiful pafTage of Virgil the veltiges of 
 a noble allegory, and difcovered, con- 
 fefiedly before any other, the iEneis pre- 
 figured under the image of a magnificent 
 temple, which the Poet declared his in- 
 tention of eredting ; yet he gave his dif- 
 covery to the public, even in its prime of 
 novelty, without claiming to himfelf any 
 o peculiar 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 79 
 
 peculiar merit. Having no view beyond 
 that of explaining his author, he has no 
 where interwoven with his remarks on the 
 Poet, as we have feen a more fkilful 
 writer do with fo much art and effect, a 
 fine-wrought panegyric on his own per- 
 formance. The plodding note- writer had 
 no knowledge of thofe refined artifices, 
 fo much in practice amongft the Initiated, 
 by which they contrived to throw all 
 thofe, not within the pale of their own 
 community, to a remote diftance, far 
 below that proud eminence, which they 
 themfelves, for fo long a period, fo ho- 
 norably, and with fuch commanding 
 authority maintained. He, poor fimple 
 man ! never fo much as once hinted at 
 the dullnefsr— the ftupidity,— the igno- 
 rance of other Commentators, which the 
 learned critic finds fo frequent oc- 
 cafion to deplore. 
 
 When you confider the great delicacy 
 of this nice art, and its utility to a writer, 
 emulous as all writers are, or fhould be, 
 of fame and diftinclion, you will not, I 
 
 hope, 
 
80 SPECniE.N'S OP 
 
 hope, think Hint 1 have fpent too many 
 words in pointing out and unfolding the 
 maiterly ufe, which the learned critic 
 ha* made of it. 
 
 I had thoughts of giving a body of 
 Canons, drawn out in form, for the benefit 
 of young ftudents in this elegant branch 
 of literature, and of illuitrating them by 
 examples, ielected from the writings of 
 the lkauxed critic. But having ill- 
 ready ib long engaged your attention; I 
 fufpcet that you will not be forry to hail 
 the accuilomed 
 
 Adieu. 
 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 81 
 
 LETTER VIIL 
 
 My dear P, 
 
 t thought that I had taken leave, in 
 due form, of the learned critic 
 and the French Annotator; but our 
 friend S. who is, you know, one of the 
 moft zealous amongft the numerous ad- 
 mirers of the former, on perufing what I 
 had written, (which he has the courtefy 
 to fay he always wifhes to do), declares, 
 that I have been guilty of great injuftice 
 towards his favorite author, in fuppofing, 
 as I certainly have done, that he had 
 
 g feen 
 
82 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 feen the annotations of F. Catron, when 
 lie wrote his admired critique. This 
 our friend takes upon him absolutely 
 to deny, in the moil peremptory terms, 
 on proof, as he alleges, incontroverti- 
 ble. 
 
 The leak xed critic had fuch a rich 
 vein of original thought, and pofTerTed 
 within himfelf fuch inexhauftible ftores, as 
 never to be under the neeeiiity, or even 
 temptation, of wandering, in fearch of mat- 
 ter, beyond the confines of his own mind. 
 If, in the courfe of his extenfrve reading, 
 he might now and then catch a fentiment 
 or reflexion, falling in perchance with 
 the fubjecl on which he was at any time 
 treating, it is impoiiibie, our friend lays, 
 that one of his * known candor, and in- 
 genuous opennefs of temper — kin b deli- 
 cacy of honor, in not ailimiing to himfeif, 
 or deprefiing the merits of others — a 
 point, in which, after the c example let 
 forth fo confpicuoutly. by his revered 
 Friend and Patron, he was always parti- 
 cularly 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 83 
 
 cularly nice — of his high fenfe of literary 
 dignity, which he never failed, on a proper 
 occahon, to after t, with equal ability as 
 zeal— it is impoffible that, with this tem- 
 per, and thefe feelings, he mould fupprefs 
 the name of an author, to whom, if he 
 really had feen his works, it cannot he 
 denied, that he was under more than 
 common obligation. 
 
 Now it is notorious that the learned 
 critic no where acknowledges any fuch 
 obligation, which, in the cafe fuppofed, 
 our friend fays pofitively, he would cer- 
 tainly have made a point of doing, not 
 without adding, in his elegant manner,, 
 fbme expreilion of compliment and re- 
 fpedt for an author, whole thoughts were 
 ib congenial with his own. So far from 
 making any concellion to this effect, he 
 very plainly infinuates, you will obferve, 
 by frequent intimations, the purport of 
 which cannot be mihmderftood, that the 
 whole doctrine of the allegory, as well 
 
 g % as 
 
84 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 as the development of the Poet's won- 
 derful art and management, was entirely 
 new ; what no other critic had ever 
 thought of before ; or, as he generally 
 reprefents thofe, who preceded him in 
 the fame track, had the difcernment to 
 apprehend, the judgment to approve, or 
 the tafle to feel and to admire. 
 
 What adds great weight to this opi- 
 nion, it appears beyond all queftion that 
 the d great man, who fo warmly applauded 
 this extraordinary performance on its firft 
 appearance, had not the moll diftant 
 notion, that there had ever been any 
 former critic or commentator, who could 
 difpute the honor with his refpe&ed 
 friend. 
 
 I do not feem at prefent to have any 
 thing in my mind which may be urged, 
 as fatisfactory, in reply to thofe argu- 
 ments ; nor do I much regret the want. 
 I am more difpofed to concur with our 
 ingenious friend in his liberal fentiments, 
 
 than 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 85 
 
 than to controvert what he fo ably and 
 zealoufly maintains. 
 
 I am alfo the more inclined to this 
 party, when I coniider the paffage, on 
 which this applauded critique was Avrit- 
 ten. I feel no hefitation in allowing to 
 the learned critic the whole merit of 
 explaining, as we have feen, thefe intro- 
 ductory lines to the third Georgic, without 
 any affiftence from F. Catron, or other 
 commentators. Indeed it has long been 
 rather a matter of furprife with me, that 
 a meaning fo obvious, as this now ap- 
 pears, mould have lain fo long concealed ; 
 and that the difcovery, firft made by Ca- 
 trou, and afterwards by the learned 
 critic, had not been made many centu- 
 ries before either the one or the other 
 was born. 
 
 It is evident that Virgil did not mean 
 to erecl; a real temple of marble ; or ac- 
 tually to make fuch a folemn procefTion, 
 as he defcribes ; or to offer fuch coftly fa- 
 crifices, as he fpeaks of, to his new Di- 
 vinity. It is equally evident that he did 
 
 g 3 mean 
 
86 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 mean fomething. Now it is a very na- 
 tural queftion for every fcholar to afk, 
 what this covert meaning might be. The 
 Poet fcems himfelf to have pointed it 
 out in terms fu tficiently clear and intel- 
 ligible. After having difclaimed the 
 trite and hacknied themes of the Grecian 
 Poets, he profefles that he alfo mud make 
 an attempt to raife himfelf into reputa- 
 tion and celebrity by fome work, which, 
 in fublimity of conception, magnificence 
 of defign, and abo\e all by the exalted 
 dignity of the fubjeel, fhould far furpafs 
 them all, and give him a decided fupe- 
 riority and triumph over thofe haughty 
 predeceiTbrs, 
 
 tantamla via eft, qua me quoque poflim 
 
 Tollere liumo, VicTo&que virum volitare per ora. 
 
 It is plain that this work, however fu- 
 perior in degree, mull be of the fame 
 kind with thole before alluded to. Old 
 e Servius, notwithitandins; the feoffs and 
 fneers illiberally call upon him by fome 
 writers, who condefceud nevertlielefs, 
 1 without 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 87 
 
 without fcruple, to avail themfelves of his 
 learning and ingenuity, wanted, as a cri* 
 tic, neither fagacity nor ability. What 
 he obferves on the words before us is very 
 judicious ; and furnifhes a clue, which 
 leads to the full difcovery of the Poet's 
 defign. 
 
 qua me quoque poffim 
 
 Toiler e humo.— — — 
 
 Slcut alii fe fuftulerunt carminis merifo. 
 
 ServIus. 
 
 Under any other fuppofition, the recog- 
 nition of thefe fables in this place would, 
 have been impertinent, and have anfwered 
 no purpofe whatfoever. You will readily 
 agree with me that to write thus without 
 meaning is not quite in Virgil's manner. 
 The work, therefore, which he meditated, 
 could be no other than a projected poem. 
 This appears to have been the great 
 plan of the iEneis; which he prefigures, as 
 he proceeds, under the idea of a temple, 
 with all its :plendid decorations, as has 
 been defcribed at large in the elaborate, 
 o 4 commentary 
 
88 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 commentary* which you have been read- 
 ing. 
 
 With what aptitude and propriety this 
 divine work was reprefentcd, throughout 
 all its parts, under the imagery, thus hap- 
 pily fancied, and ikilfully conducted by 
 the Poet, the two writers, with whom we 
 have been i'o long engaged, have, each in 
 his own way, very clearly and fatisfaclorily 
 made out, the one by his learned and la- 
 borious notes, the Other in his elegant 
 and finely-written eflay. Alter what has 
 paired, does it not appear rather unac- 
 countable that a meaning, ihaded only by 
 a veil of lb transparent a texture, lhould 
 to long have cleaned the notice, even of 
 the molt ordinary reader. 
 
 1 rely with confidence on your candor, 
 that you will not fuppofe, when I eontider 
 this explication ot' Virgil, given by Catrou 
 and the (Learned critic, as no very 
 marvellous diicovery, as an atehievement 
 of no fitch extraordinary difficulty, that 
 I mean to depreciate their refpective me- 
 rits. '4 lie apparent eaie which often- 
 times 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 89 
 
 times accompanies a work of genius, and 
 feems not rarely to mark the character 
 of a new difcovery, fo foon as it is made, 
 fo far from diminifhing the value of either, 
 is in fact their greater! recommendation ; 
 confirming in the moft fatisfaclory man- 
 ner the excellency of the one, and the 
 certainty of the other, and railing in pro- 
 portion the reputation of the author. 
 
 — — ut fibi quivis 
 Speret idem ; fudet multum fruftraque Iaboret 
 Aufus idem.* —— - 
 
 Hon Art. Poet, v, 240. 
 
 Adieu. 
 
90 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 M\ r DEAR. P. 
 
 An looking back over thefe papers, as 
 they are now arranged in a connected 
 feries, it has occurred to me that there 
 would be a propriety in adjoining the 
 pallage from Pope's tranflation of Homer, 
 alluded to in the firft letter. It is there- 
 fore here given, accompanied with the re- 
 marks, as it ftands in the European Ma* 
 gazine, December 1799- 
 
 The paflage is in the laft book of the 
 Iliad, where Iris is reprefented as plung- 
 ing from the fky into the fea. 
 
 £l£ etpctT. floTO ce Igig, ocsXXo7rog, ctyys\ex(rot f 
 }A:-(T<T'/iyvg oe Zapx re koci lpZoz iroturctXoeo'wit; 
 JLvQcgi (AziXocvt ttovtu, eTT^e vo^ce $- top*!* 
 
 You 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 91 
 
 You fliall have the tranflation firft 
 from Pope's old friend ; which, though, 
 perhaps, not ornamented with much ele- 
 gance, or dignified with any great fubli- 
 mity ofexpreffion, is, however, agreeably 
 to the firft principle of tranflation, laid 
 down in the ingenious a EfTay, to which 
 we have often referred, " a more com- 
 " plete tranfcript of the ideas of the ori- 
 " ginal work/' 
 
 Iris, this faid, fwift down the meflage bore, 
 
 And betwixt Samos and rough Imbrus fhore, 
 
 Leaps in the main, divided waves refound. Ogilby. 
 
 Do you wifh to fee it fet off with more 
 embelhfhment of language ? Cowper has 
 fucceeded very happily in his verfion ; 
 preferring, with correfpondent diction, 
 the true fenfe and fpirit of his author : 
 
 ■ " ■ ■ • -*' Then Iris, tempefl-wing'd, arofe, 
 
 " Samos between and Imbrus rock begirt, 
 '* She plung'd into the gloomy flood."— 
 
 Here, as in Homer, the defcent of Iris is 
 inftantaneous. Nothing perceptible in- 
 tervenes 
 
92 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 tervenes between her firft riling up at tlie 
 command of Jupiter, and plunging into 
 the fea. 
 
 Has not the great mailer been ftudious 
 to mark this precipitation in the text by 
 the ftructure of his verfe ? I am aware 
 that I am now treading on tender ground. 
 The fimilitude, repeatedly afferted, be- 
 tween ien^c and found, the cadence of a 
 verfe and the fentiment or image con- 
 veyed by the words, is no doubt often 
 fanciful. Yet, fome how or other, I feem 
 to fee! a fort of fubitaneous effect ex- 
 preffed in this disjointed hemiftich: 
 
 EvQops | ftsiXctvi | ttovtu 
 
 Liitead of which, fuppofe it to be written 
 
 Ev9oovj ccTPvyercd ttovtco 
 or thus, 
 
 would the effecl; then be equally ftriking ? 
 
 Whether 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. Q$ 
 
 Whether you feel with me this imputed 
 refemblance or not, you will have no 
 fcruple in allowing that the images con- 
 veyed by the language of Homer are of 
 an afpecl; far different from the fmooth, 
 eafi/, gradual procefflon, defcribed in one 
 of the couplets, which appears with fuch 
 dazzling brilliancy in Pope's tranflation. 
 
 «' He added not, and Iris, from the flues, 
 
 " Swift as a whirlwind, on the meflage flies : 
 
 '*, Meteor ous the face of Ocean fiveeps, 
 
 " Refulgent gliding o'er the fable deeps : 
 
 tl Between where Sarnos wide his forefts fpreads, 
 
 •• And rocky Imbrus lifts its pointed heads, 
 
 " Down plung'd the maid: the parted waves refound.'* 
 
 So far from gliding over the furface of 
 the ocean, the Goddefs, you fee, is re- 
 prefented as plunging in at once, with 
 fuch violence that the waters are faid to 
 have refounded on her immerfion, at a 
 particular fpot, marked out with fcrupu- 
 Jous exactnefs, to which the whole of the 
 action is confined. 
 
 What makes this interpolation the more 
 extraordinary, you will obferve the fenfe 
 
 of 
 
94 SPECIMENS OP 
 
 of Homer is rendered full and complete, 
 without any fuch foreign aid: 
 
 rioTo Js loit; uzWoTroq, ayytXtwrot, 
 
 JLvOope (ASlXotVl 7TQVTU. 
 
 •*' Iris, from the fkies, 
 
 «' Swift as a whirlwind, on the mefTage flies. 
 *' Between where Samos wide his forefts fpreads, 
 «' And rocky Imbnis lifts its pointed heads, 
 *' Down plung'd the maid." 
 
 Does not this plunging down with fo 
 tafy and gliding a motion, remind you of 
 another rather whimiical deieription ? 
 where Hector c i*um away with the chal- 
 lenge from his brother immediately, with 
 fteps — majcfticalhj Jloii\ 
 
 Where then did Pope pick up there 
 extraneous ornaments? purpureos part* 
 nos ? as little afibrtirig with his own ex- 
 pre (lions, as with the Greek text. The 
 truth is, he was fedueed by the fafci- 
 nating charms of our own immortal poet; 
 and borrowed both the imagery and the 
 expreffion from that fine paffage in the 
 3 P. L. 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 95 
 
 P. L. where Milton defcribes the defcent 
 of the angelic train : 
 
 " And from the other hill 
 
 ** To their firft ftation, all in bright array, 
 
 '* The Cherubim defcended, on the ground 
 
 •' Gliding meteorous, as evening mift, 
 
 " Ri few from a river, o'er the marifli glides, 
 
 " And gathers ground fair, on the laborers heel 
 
 " Homeward returning." B. xii. 626. 
 
 Here we difcover whence Pope caught 
 his idea of meteorous, his refulgence and 
 gliding motion ; which appear with fo 
 much beauty, as arranged by the hand of 
 a mailer ; though fufficiently awkward, it 
 mull be confeffed, and incongruous, as 
 united by the copy ill in a fubject, to which 
 they bear no proper relation. 
 
 You will by no means wonder that 
 Pope ihoukl have been fo much delighted 
 with thefe charming lines of Milton. His 
 zealous admirers have, I think, to regret 
 that he did not exert more of his won- 
 derful judgment in choofing a proper 
 place, in which to infert thefe adven- 
 titious beauties. Do you not recollect 
 
 anv 
 
96 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 any pafTage ? where they might have beea 
 attached to the text of Homer, with lefs 
 violence to his meaning, and form of com- 
 pofition. What think you of that in the 
 iirft book ? where Thetis is reprefented 
 as rifmg from the fea, yrr OMIXAM. 
 
 VLapTctkifAZog o ctvedv iroXitiq ocXog, yi)T 
 OMIXAH. II. i. 359. 
 
 And like a mijl fhe rofe above the tide. 
 
 From the idea here ftarted, we fliould 
 have been lefs furprifed to find Pope in- 
 dulging: himfelf in thefe amufmg excur- 
 fions ; and wandering a little out of his 
 "way, to catch at objects, hanging fo al- 
 luringly in his view. The imagery of 
 Milton would in this place have har- 
 monized with that of Homer ; and been 
 confidered probably as an additional 
 beauty. 
 
 " And like a mi/1, fhe rifes 'bove the tide, 
 " Meteorous the face of ocean fvveeps, 
 " Refulgent gliding o'er the fable deeps." 
 
 You 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 97 
 
 You will be pleafed, I know, with this 
 admirable couplet, feen, thus connected, 
 to far greater advantage, than where 
 Pope, with no very wonderful judgment 
 furely, placed it. May I not claim fome 
 merit with } f ou for having removed it to 
 a fituation, fo much better fuited for its 
 reception ? I leave this to your confide- 
 r;) tion 
 
 Adieu. 
 
 u 
 
93 SPECIMENS OE 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 ]\Iy dear t\ 
 
 t must beg leave to break in upon your 
 leifurc once more, with a paper, printed 
 in the Gentleman's Magazine, July 1793, 
 which you will think, perhaps, not fo im- 
 mediately connected with the preceding; 
 bearing however fo much relation to the 
 fubjedfc therein difcuffed, eipecially in the 
 concluding paragraph, which carries with 
 it an apparent imitation of the learned 
 CRITIC from an old icholiall, that it will 
 not, I trull, be deemed an impertinent 
 intruhon, if it have a place in the prefent 
 volume. 
 
 '*< Sume fuperbiam 
 
 Qusefitam mentis.'' 
 
 It is univerfally conhdered, fays an an- 
 cient " Moralift, as illiberal and orleunve, 
 
 for 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 99 
 
 for a man to fpeak of his own abilities 
 and importance before others. Whatever 
 powers or excellence he may be con- 
 fcious that he poneiTes, he lofes the whole 
 grace of them, when he becomes his own 
 panegyrift ; at leaft if he Hands forth on 
 this dangerous ground without fome artful 
 difguife. This elegant fentiment is ex- 
 preiled in a differtation profeffedly written 
 on the fubjecl of felf-praife ; wherein the 
 author has given rules for the regulation of 
 this nice and delicate art ; and has quoted 
 many examples of great men, who have, 
 on particular occafions, praclifed it with- 
 out offence. But it is only in very pecu- 
 liar circumftances, and under many re- 
 ftrictions, that this feducing gratification 
 can be fafely indulged. It is noted there- 
 fore as a very difguiting practice in Euri- 
 pides, that he fo frequently interweaves 
 in the aclion of the drama the mention of 
 himfelf, when irrelative to the fubjecl;. 
 
 But the poets, from their birth, feem, 
 by the general courtefy of mankind, to be 
 exempted from common rules ; and are 
 
 h 2 allowed 
 
100 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 allowed to ftart occafionally from the 
 dull path of decorum, which the greater 
 part of mankind are contented, and hold 
 it prudent, to keep. Thus the divine 
 Pindar, who is acknowledged to be the 
 firft of this privileged order, though lie 
 declare ¥ vain boa/ting to be nearly in unifon 
 with ?nadnefs, is yet very frequent in mag- 
 nifying his own powers, and fpeaking con- 
 temptuouily of his rivals : whom he con- 
 fiders merely as crows or chattering daws, 
 while he compares himfelf to the foaring 
 eagle : 
 
 ?lo$o; o -zroX- 
 Xa sidug (pVM' 
 MocQovj&g Js, Xoc^poi 
 UotfyXua-a-w, KOPAKES ug, 
 Axgocvjoc, c yctpuepzv 
 AIOS vrps OPNI6A 0s«w. Ol. ii. 154. 
 
 He. only, in whofe ample breaft 
 Nature hath true inherent genius pour'd, 
 
 The praife.of wifdom may conteft: 
 Not they, who, with loquacious learning ftor'd, 
 Like crows and chattering^/, with clamourous cries 
 Parfue the hrd of 'Jove ; that fails along the flues* West. 
 
 So 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 101 
 
 So again : 
 
 E<f]i <T AIE- 
 TO£ uxvg ev t^^olvo^ 
 
 Aa(poivcx,v ocypocv -&o<rw* 
 
 Kgaysjou $e KO- 
 
 AOIOI Toi7TBivoc vepoflcci. N. iii. 138. 
 
 Swift 'mongft the feather'd race the eagk flies, 
 And, darting through the vaft profound, 
 
 Sagacious of his quarry, wings his way; 
 
 And gripes with fudden grafp the diftant prey: 
 
 While crows of humbler flight, and chattering pies, 
 Pick their vile food along the ground. 
 
 So alfo again : 
 
 Maxpcc pot 
 A uvjoQev uhftoiB uttoo-kcx,- 
 "sfjot rig ; e%a yovocjuv e\ot(ppc&v oouccv. 
 K.ai Tsrspocv wovjoio 'sruXXov- 
 t AIETOI. N. V. 36. 
 
 Hence cut me wide a trench: with vigor light, 
 
 My aftive limbs the chafm o'erleap. 
 
 Beyond the confines of the deep 
 The tow'ring eagles wing their rapid flight. 
 
 H 3 It 
 
162 SPECIMEN'S or 
 
 It is therefore with peculiar propriety 
 that our own great Lyric Bard calls Pin- 
 dar, in harmony with his own ideas thus 
 in triumphant exultation repeatedly cx- 
 preflecl, the Theban eagle ; which is more 
 characteriftic than the J wan of Horace : 
 though* Pope appears to have preferred 
 the latter, and has emblematically yoked 
 four to the car in which Pindar is featcd; 
 alluding, the incomparable editor of his 
 works tells us, " to the chariot races, he 
 " celebrated in the Grecian games." 
 
 Of Horace it may be obferved, that, 
 amongft his other imitations of Pindar, 
 he has not fpared to follow his example in 
 this hazardous practice. In immediate 
 comparifon with his great original he 
 fpeaks indeed of himfelf with equal mo- 
 defty as elegance : 
 
 Multa Diraeum levat aura cygnum, 
 Tendit, Antoni, quoties in altos 
 Nubium traftus. Ego, apis Matinse 
 
 More, modoque, 
 Grata carpentis thy ma, per laborem 
 Plurimum, circa nemus, uvidique 
 Tiburis ripas, operofa parvus 
 
 Carmina fingo. Carm. L. iii. O. 2. 
 
 Which 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 105 
 
 Which Mr. Gray, in the pafiage alluded 
 to above, has beautifully imitated ; or ra- 
 ther (as was his way whenever he imitated) 
 far furpalTed. About to fpeak of himfelf, 
 he addreiTes his Lyre in this animated 
 apoftropiie : 
 
 O ! Lyre divine, what daring fpirit 
 Wakes thee now ? though he inherit 
 Nor the pride, nor ample pinion, 
 That the Theban eagle bear, 
 Sailing with fupreme dominion 
 Through the azure deep of air; 
 Yet 
 
 Here he quits his original ; thinking, per- 
 haps, the image of a little infect, con- 
 trolled with the foaring eagle, as too tri- 
 fling, and inconfonaiyt to this, the fub- 
 limeft, order of Poetry. 
 
 But, notwithstanding the apparent mo- 
 defty of Horace in the prefence of his 
 mailer, at other times we find him much 
 lefs referved. The laft ode of the fecond, 
 and the laft of the third book, are profef- 
 fedly dedicated to his own praifes. In 
 the one he appears foaring with the fame 
 daring flight, as he defcribes Pindar him- 
 
 3i 4 felf, 
 
104- SP EC I mens or 
 
 felf, under the fame poetical mctamor- 
 phofe : 
 
 Non ufitata, nee tenui fcrar 
 Pennii biformis per liquidum nethera 
 Vates ; neque in terris morabor 
 
 Longius Carm. ii. O. xx. 
 
 In the other he exultingly predicts his own 
 immortality, and the eternity of his works: 
 
 Exegi monumentum aere perennius, &c. 
 
 Ovid concludes his great work with the 
 fame allured anticipation of future cele- 
 brity : 
 
 Jamque opus exegi, quod nee Jovis ira, nee ignis. 
 Nee potent ferrurn, nee edax abolere vetuftas, &c. 
 
 And in feveral other places we obferve 
 him dwelling with fond complacency on 
 the importance of his poetical character. 
 
 Thus it appears that the practice of ce- 
 lebrating their own praifes is very general 
 amongft the votaries of the Mufes. But 
 thefe effufions of felf-approbation, though 
 very open and undiiguifed, are yet tem- 
 perate and chaftifed, when compared to 
 the extravagant prefumption of the earlier 
 Roman writers. 
 
 In 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 105 
 
 111 the entertaining Mifcellany of A, 
 Gellius are preferved three curious epi- 
 taphs upon three ancient dramatifts, fup- 
 pofed to have been written, each feve? 
 rally, by the dramatifts themfelves : 
 
 Epigramma Nsevii, 
 plenum fuperbias Campans?. 
 Mortales immortales flere fi foret fas, 
 Flerent Divae Camcen^ Naevium poetam. 
 Itaque poftqu«im eft orcino traditus thefauro» 
 Oblitei funt Roms loquier latina lingua. 
 
 Plauti. 
 Poftquam morte dacu' 'ft Plautus, Comcedia luget. 
 Scena eft deferta, dein Rifus, Ludu' Jocufque, 
 Et numeri innumeri fimul omnes conlachrymarunt. 
 Pacuvii, 
 yerecundiffimum & puriffimum. 
 Adolefcens, tamenetfi properas, hoc te faxum rogat 
 Utei ad fe afpicias; deinde, quod fcripiu' 'ft, legas. 
 Hie funt poetae, Marcei Pacuviei fita 
 Offa. Hoc yolebam nefcius ne effes : vale 
 
 L. i. Cap. xxiv. 
 
 The amiable modefty of the laft ap- 
 pears to great advantage, when contrafted 
 with the inflated arrogance of the two 
 preceding. Nor are there wanted in- 
 flances amongft other poets, where the 
 well-earned pride of Horace is afTumed 
 with the greateft delicacy, and moil art- 
 ful 
 
106 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 ful management. Amongft thefc the fnft, 
 which claims our attention, is from t he- 
 great father of poetry himfelf. The fourth 
 book of the Iliad concludes with the fol- 
 lowing lines : 
 
 ILvva, xev ovxfji spyov otvvip ovotrafjo ftsJtxOcov, 
 'Otfjtg er cc&XYflog x) avxjccjog oPei' ^xXku, 
 Atvevoi kccJck, fA£<r<rov, ctyot oe e YlocXXocg AQyvrr, 
 Kstpog eXxtr, ccvjcip fieXeuv nccjepuicoi spayy. 
 IJoXXoi yct{> Tpcouv ^ A%a«wi/ r,^cc\i yceivco 
 Tlpyvteg sv jcovivi<ri Trap aXXtiXcuri tsJoavJo. 
 
 Had Jome brave chief this martial fcene beheld, 
 
 By Pallas guarded through the dreadful field ; 
 
 Might darts be bid to turn their points away, 
 
 And fvrords around him innocently play : 
 
 The war's whole art with wonder he had feen, 
 
 And counted heroes, where he counted men. 
 
 So fought each holt, with thirft of glory fir'd, 
 
 And crouds on crouds triumphantly expir'd. Pope. 
 
 Jf any one unacquainted with the Greek 
 language lliould happen to read this pa£ 
 fage, as it appears in the trantlation, he 
 may, perhaps, be at a lofs to difcovcr how 
 in any degree it applies to the purpofe, 
 for which it is here adduced. The lead- 
 ing idea, contained in the words -^ywONO 
 
 ' JPASAI, 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 107 
 
 2A£©AI, with which we are immediately 
 concerned, and which, indeed, is the prin- 
 cipal idea intended to be imprefted, is fo 
 faintly transfufed, or rather lb much ob- 
 fcured by the introduction of quaint con- 
 ceits and prettineiTes, that the fentence, as 
 it now ftands, will fcarcely fupport the 
 obfervations, which are meant to be built 
 upon it. 
 
 Nor is this, though at prefent the mod 
 material, the only defect in the rendering 
 of thefe beautiful lines. It cannot have 
 efcaped even the moll carelefs obferver 
 how much the pathos of the two conclud- 
 ing verfes, where the contending parties 
 are in Homer diltinguifhed by their re- 
 fpective countries, 
 
 UoXXoi yu% TPrmN %ou AXAX£IN, 
 
 is weakened and done away by the general 
 expreffion in Pope, fo fought each hoft. 
 
 In Homer nothing is cafual, nothing 
 idle or irrelative, nil molitur inept e. Every 
 expreffion is pregnant with meaning. Thus 
 under the few words, 
 
 nȣ AAAHAOI2I TETANTO, 
 
 ia 
 
\08 SPECIMENS 01 
 
 is conveyed a pathetic moral fentiment, 
 which ft rikes home to every man's boibrn. 
 Death levels all diftin&ions. In the grave, 
 high and low, rich and poor, friend and 
 foe, reft promifcuoufly together. 
 
 Their tears, their little pa (lions o'er, 
 
 Their haman triumphs now no more. Gray. 
 
 Homer himfelf feems to have been fond 
 of this idea; fo that we have it a very 
 few lines preceding. At the clofe of the 
 battle, two diitinguifhed combatants, a 
 moment before fo furious and vehement- 
 ly adverfe to each other, are represented 
 at laft in the fame Situation, 
 
 Every reader of tafle and feeling will, 
 no doubt, be furprifed, and equally re- 
 gret, that this affecting fentiment in Pope's 
 Homer, as it is ufually with great pro- 
 priety called, is no where to be found. 
 On the whole, therefore, it may not be 
 thought fuperauouSj nor, it is hoped, pre- 
 fumptuous, if a new verfion be attempted; 
 .v. which, 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 1 09 
 
 which, however deficient in other re- 
 fpecls, may at leaft be more faithful to 
 the original, and more accordant to the 
 prefent occafion. 
 
 Had hither come Come chief, from wound or fear 
 Of the keen fword fecure, and flying fpear; 
 By Pallas led, in fafety to furvey 
 The glorious action of this well-fought day : 
 With eye approving he had gaz'd around, 
 Nor ought to blame, nor ought dtfeflive, found. 
 For, fide by fide, ftretch'd on the dufty plain 
 With many a Greek lay many a Trojan llain. 
 
 In thefe lines then, as thev are thus 
 recalled to the original meaning of their 
 author, is, it is fufpecled, obliquely in- 
 fmuated by the Poet an eulogy on his 
 own mafterly execution in the preceding 
 defcription. The Commentary of Eu- 
 ftathius evidently leads to this artfully- 
 concealed meaning; though I do not 
 recollect, that it has been intimated by 
 any other commentator. Confcious, fays 
 the learned prelate, of his own power, 
 and knowing (agreeably to the fentimemV 
 of the Roman Hiftorian, §• qui fecere, 
 cj* qui aliorum fa&a fcripfere midti laiidan* 
 
 tu?',J 
 
110 SPECIMENS OI 1 
 
 tur,) that it is not lcfs glorious, nor re- 
 quiring lcls of ability and exertion to 
 deferibe great actions, than to perform 
 them, the Poet coneiudes this book with 
 the lines quoted above. 
 
 EiSug o Uoi'^jvjg ryv ctvjx £v pyjopetu itr^vv, vt. 
 tog vx. sg-i kolKKiov^ yc, {A,tycx.\o7~c)£i7£<fiepQV. ^ cevct- 
 y&ovitojzocv avgr t vcci potX 7 ! 1 '* *l atyWyvGyvah Xzyzi, 
 x. r. \. 
 
 The fpeerator thus led by Pallas is the 
 hearer (or reader) of the poem; who, 
 without fharing in the perils of the bat- 
 tle, mentally enjoys the glorious fpec- 
 tacle in the defcription which he is read- 
 ing: and, as lie palles leifurely through 
 the lines (i. e. proceeds in the perufaJ) 
 difcovers nothing of Homers ONOEA20AI, 
 to find fault with, or to defpife. 
 
 ToUiJog OLV £17} §£0cJ7jg T"£ woiyiv CLKpOCcJ7}g. 
 
 Off 8 Ta •aroXej^y kocxoov uejex^i ocXkoc ra ruv 
 irotefMKtoV oiviyytrsuv xecjoe vav uttoXizusi kixXv 
 SzctfAccjog, uKivovvug tv\v ^oc^v w£pituv t >lj (xydtv 
 t X M rcov 'OMHPIKXIN ONO£A£0AI, ifloi £X- 
 (poivXiirui Kf xccloifA£pyct<r9(X,t. 
 
 The 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. Ill 
 
 The fame remark, adds the learned 
 fcholiaft, may with equal juitice be ex- 
 tended to every other book of the Iliad. 
 Were the reader conducted under the 
 fame intellectual guidance through the 
 whole work, he would find every part of 
 this divine poem, not only faultlefs, but 
 tranfcendently fublime and beautiful. 
 
 *Ov y.oci "XjciQtzyuyii ocxivtuvmg ij roiocvTV] TitzWug 
 £ig roc, KA0EKASTA rqg 'OpypiKvig Troivjo-ecog, 
 
 oicc crvveTVjv uxgoxTrjv ovoxpcog fAepQotTO ctv 
 
 ng to Tv\g i&ct%vig spyov. 
 
 The praife, fo juftly due to his unrival- 
 led excellence, is here affumed by the 
 Poet with a modefty and delicacy, which 
 even the moil fcrupulous moralifl could 
 not difapprove. 
 
 Of the fame kind is a paflage in an- 
 other author, who in general will be little 
 fufpecled of modefty and referve. In the 
 Nephelae of Ariftophanes, one of the ac- 
 tors, after having heard a choral fong, en- 
 quires eagerly, 
 
 By 
 
112 SPECIMENS OF 
 
 By Jupirer I intreat thee, O ! Socrates, tell me, who are 
 thefe who fpeak fo majtjlically ? 
 
 Woog tv Aiog afji^oXo) ce, eppcttrov Tii/eg eio~\ co 
 
 XuKoaJsgy uvjtzi 
 
 *Ai <pQsy%ap.£vcti txto to EEMNON; A. l.S. iv~ 
 
 On which it is obferved in the feholia, 
 that the Poet is here covertly praiiing 
 liimfelf ; when by the mouth of Strepfiades 
 he calls the fong of the chorus majejiic : 
 for fo it really is. But, while lie throws 
 thefe praifes on the Nephelae, the leading 
 characters in the drama, he thinks by this 
 artifice to efcape the hazard of giving of- 
 fence to his audience. 
 
 AeXy}9ojug, (pcco-iy, euvjov errotivsi, SEMNON zivon 
 Xsycov to {jlz\o<;* eg-i yocp Tiijo ccXyQeg. 'O de tcv S7Toh- 
 vov £7Ti TagNetpeXag t^S7Tuv, ax, oiejoct (pooJiKcg eivo&i. 
 
 It will be entertaining, and not unin- 
 ftrudfcive, to obferve with what confum- 
 mate fkill a great mafter, out of the rude 
 hints, which he caught from the old fcho- 
 liaft, has formed an elegant and highly 
 finifhed eulogy on our own immortal dra- 
 matiit. " The knowledge of antiquity," 
 
 favs 
 
LITERARY RESEMBLANCE. 2 13 
 
 fays this f accompli (lied writer, " rcquiflte 
 to fucceed in them," (mafks at that lime 
 of day in prodigious vogue) " was, I ima- 
 gine, the reafon that Shakefpear was not 
 over fond of trying his hand at thefe 
 elaborate trifles. Once indeed he did, 
 and with fuck fuccefs as to difgrace the 
 very bell things of this kind in Jokrifon. 
 The fliort mafk in the Tempeft is fitted 
 up with claffical exaclnefs. But its chief 
 excellence lies in the beauty of the fhow, 
 and the richnefs of the poetry. Shake- 
 fpear was fo fenfible of his fuperiority^ that 
 he could not help exulting a little upon if, 
 when he makes Ferdinand faijy 
 
 This is a mod mnje.Jlic t/ifeity and 
 Harmonious charming lays.." A. iv. S. i. 
 
 You will readily allow me, that this little 
 EfTay cannot any way be more happily 
 concluded, than with this fine paifage: I 
 will not therefore detain you a moment; 
 longer, than to bid you 
 
 Adieu. 
 
f »5 ] 
 
 NOTE S. 
 
 iETTTER L 
 
 D VENTURER, No. 63. 
 
 fc I am much a frranger to your perfon, and, what it 
 may, perhaps, be fcarce decent for me to pfofefc to you, 
 even to your writings.— Thefe then are the confideratjons s 
 which induced me to employ an bwt or two f leifure in 
 giving your book a free examination. 
 
 Letter to the Rev. Dr. Thomas Ldand a 
 1764. pp. 279, 280. 
 
 c Yet I havefpared you the difguft of considering thofe 
 vulgar paflages, which every body recollects, and fets 
 down for acknowledged imitations. 
 
 Hurd, Marks of Imitation, p. 73* J 757- 
 
 * Perhaps the fir ft that occurred to my thoughts was 
 Mr. Addison. But the observation holds of others, and 
 of one in particular, (Pope) very much bis fetperiar in 
 true Genius. Ibid. p. 12. 
 
 I 2 e One 
 
Il6 NOTES. 
 
 e One of the mod ftrilcing pafl"ages in the Eflay on 
 Man, is die following : 
 
 Superior Beings, See. • 
 
 Can you doubt ? from the Angularity of the fentimcnt, 
 th:it the great Poet had his eye on Plato, who makes So- 
 crates fay, in alluiion to a remark of H^raclitus, 
 
 'Oti ai8^u7rav o ao^uraioi; tt%o$ 0£ov mdwoi Cavtnai. 
 
 Hipp. Major. 
 The application indeed is different. And it could not be 
 otherwife. For the observation, which the philofopher 
 refers vfos ©EON, is in the poet given to Superior Beings- 
 only. The confequence is, that the Ape is an object of 
 derifton in the former cafe, of admiration in the latter. 
 
 Ibid. p. 331. 
 
 r Thefhapesand appearances of things are apprehended 
 only in the grofs by dull minds. They think they fee, but 
 it is through a mift, where if they catch but a faint glimpfe 
 of the form before them, it is well : more one is not to 
 look for from their clouded imaginations. 
 
 Hurd,Difcourfe on Poetical Imitation, 
 
 p. 133. Ed. 1768. 
 
 s The Publiflier. No. 11. 
 
 h It is a faithful and pure maiden ftory, never blown 
 upon before, in any language but in Spanifn. 
 
 Letters by James Howell, Efq. B. IV. L. XI. 
 As it is delivered in a language you love, and is befides a 
 
 paflage 
 
NOTES. II7 
 
 palTage not much blown upon by the dealers in fuch fcraps, 
 I thought it might perhaps afford you fome amufement. 
 
 Delicacy of Friendship. Anon, fub finem, p. 233. 
 
 * The conclufion is frill more certain, when, together 
 with a general likenefs of fentiments, we find the fame 
 dlfpofition of the parts j efpecially if that difpofition be in 
 no common form. Marks of Imitation, p. 30. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 3 See Letter 1. p. 6. 
 
 b Wakefield's Edition of Gray's Poems, Advertife- 
 ment. 
 
 e It were to be wifhed that Mr Gray himfelf had 
 felected fome few paflages of Pindar, by which he might 
 have convinced every reader, how clofely and happily he 
 has followed Pindar's manner of conducting the fimilc 
 and fubjec~t together. Huntingford's Apology, p. 80, 
 
 * £1$ 3' quote vrtJiQav r KQTaix% Trs&ovde Karziai, 
 XEifAaPOxg holt opzcCiv, o^a^OfXEVO^ A105 0,uSpu, 
 UoXhag os dpug a&xAsaj, <7roJAag ds te tteukocs 
 JLo-tptPETcci, TTOXhov & t aQuo-ysTCv Eig b.'hoL @a7\tef 
 
 I 3 Non 
 
IlS NOTES. 
 
 Non fie, aggeribus ruptis cum fpumcus amnis 
 Exiit, oppohtafque evicit gurgite m<v 
 Fertar in arva furens cumulo, campoique per omnes 
 Cum f.abulis armenta :.rahit. Virg. JEi\. II. 496. 
 
 • Mafon's Ed. of Gray's Works. Note, p. S5. 
 
 f Vide paffim Ifaiah, Jeremiah, Ezckiel, Book of 
 Revelations, &c. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 a Richard the fccond, (as we are told by ARBP. Scroop, 
 and the confederate Lords in their manifefto, by Thomas 
 Walfingham and all the older writers) was ftarved to 
 death. The ftory of his aflallination by Sir Piers of 
 Exon is of much later date. Gray's Note. 
 
 * Hurd, Difcourfe on Poetical Imitation, 1753, p. 153. 
 
 c Ogden's Sermons, 2 vol. Ed. by Dr. Hallifax, 1780. 
 vol. 2. Sermon XI. p. 149. 
 
 d The obfervation may be extended to all thofe paf- 
 fa*es (which are innumerable) in our poets, that allude to 
 the rites, cuftoms, language, and theology of Paganifin 
 — — And the management of learned aliufion is to be re- 
 garded, perhaps, as one of the niceji offices of Invention. 
 
 * s Book of Samuel, c. xvii. v. 49. 
 
 Progrefs 
 
NOTES. II9 
 
 ! Progrefs of Poetry. 
 
 * Acron, Porphyrioa, Anton. Mancinellus, &c. 
 
 h Mais on peut aufli fort bien entendre ce K Jiridor 
 acutus" du bruit, que font les ailes de la Fortune, dont 
 Horace dit alleurs, " Si celeres quatit pennas" Si la 
 Fortune fe met a battredes ailes pour fe envoler. 
 
 Dacier, Note, p. 387. 
 
 1 Rapaciter, the regularly-formed adverb, though 
 no where in ufe. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 a I fhall need no apology to the reader for conducting 
 him fomewhat leifurely in what follows, though with all 
 the difpatch fo extended a matter will permit, through the 
 feveral branches of it. 
 
 Difcourfe on Poetical Imitation, p. 1. 
 
 I 4. 
 
120 NOTES. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 * It was not thus that an able critic (Mr. Hard) lately 
 explained Virgil's noble Allegory in the beginning of the 
 third Georgic, where, under the idea of a magnific n£ 
 temple, to be railed to the divinity of Auguftus, the 
 Poet uromifes the famous epic poem, which he afterwards 
 ere&ed to his honour, or, as our Milton fays, u built the 
 lofty rhyme." D. L. Ed. by Bp. of Worcefter, p. 302. 
 
 b It was not enough in your enlarged view of things td 
 reftore either of thefe models (Arittotle or Longinus) to 
 its ancient (plendour. They were bom to be revived; 
 or rather a new original plan of criticifm to be ftruck 
 out, which fhould unite the virtues of each 
 
 Dedication of the Epi/tle to Auguftus, with an 
 Englifh Commentary and Notes, 1753. 
 
 c The able Critic (Mr. Hurd) looked into F. Catrou, 
 in whom he found all that his mafter (Dr. Warburton) 
 fo ai md exalts, (fee note *) only not quite fo fine- 
 
 drawn or wire-drawn. 
 
 Confufion worfe Confounded, 1772, p. 74. 
 
 Primus Idumseus referam tibi, Mantua, palmas : 
 
 Virg. Geor. iii. 13. 
 
 If the ingenuoufnefi and delicacy of a R. R. critic, 
 (who is faid to hive owed his'prefent dignity to a note 
 on the context) had not bec'» long known, an ordinary 
 reader might be ftartled at the refemblance between his 
 Lord (hip's critique and Catrou's ; whilftf a fajiidiom one, 
 
 in 
 
NOTES. 121 
 
 in a fplenetic mood, might apply, like another Edwards, 
 the marks of Imitation, as fo many canons to annoy their 
 founder. Hiftory of the Caliph Vathek, 1786. 
 
 Note, p. 269. 
 
 * It mould be remembered that Mr. Hurd was one of 
 the ableft fupports and brighteft ornaments of this cele- 
 brated fchool. 
 
 e It would have been more generous and juft in you 
 -to have acknowledged yourfelf indebted to Mr. L. for 
 the application of the meteoric appearances from Ca- 
 faubon's Adverfaria to this fubjecT:; which, when it ap- 
 peared in your more popular volume, was received with 
 appiaufe, as new and very ingenious ; an applaufe, which, 
 as you could not but know, belonged to him. 
 
 Dr. Lowth's Third Letter to 
 Dr. Warburton, 1766. 
 
 Mr. Warburton, who f-ppofes ^-^which thought, 
 
 wrong as it is, though he lets it pafs for his own, was 
 borrowed, or more properly Jrolen, from a French Ro- 
 mance,, called the Life of Sethos. 
 
 Cooper's Life of Socrates, 
 
 4th Ed. 1 77 1. p. 102. 
 
 Les fec"tes philofophiques cherchoient a dii ; i er le dog- 
 
 me cache fous le voile des ceremonies, & tachoient de la 
 
 ramener chacune a leur doctrine dans l'hypothefe des Epi- 
 
 -curlens, adoprce de nos jeurs par M. M. Le Cierc & 
 
 Warbu ton.— — Le Clerc adopted it in the year 1687. 
 
 Mr. Warburton invented it in the year 1738. 
 
 Critical Obfervations on the Sixth Book 
 
 ofthe/Eneis, 1770. p, 8. 
 
 As 
 
122 NOTES. 
 
 As this lafr. notion was publijhed in French, fix years 
 before it was invented in Engliih, the learned author of 
 the D. L. has been feverely treated by fome ungenerous 
 adverfaries. Appearances, it muft be confefied, wear a 
 very fufpicious afpect, ; but what are appearances, when 
 weighed againft his Lordfhip's, declarations. 
 
 Ibid. p. 33. See Note f . 
 
 f That I may not continue worfe in your efteem than 
 I deferve, give me leave to tell you, that I am no plagiary 
 from your father. This is a point of honour, in ivhich I 
 am particularly delicate. I will venture to boaft again 
 to you, that I believe no author was ever more averfe to 
 take to h'ur.Jelf any thing thai belonged to another. 
 
 Dr. Warburton's 4th Letter to Dr. Lowth, 1766. 
 
 * Difcourfe on Poetical Imitation, p. 123. 
 h Ibid. p. 127. 
 
 * Publica materies privati juris erit, ... 
 
 Hor. Ars Poet. 131. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 To the Reverend Mr. William Warburton. 
 8 Reverend Sir, 
 
 Give me leave to prefent you with the following eflay 
 
 on the Epiitle to Auguftusj which, whatever other merit 
 
 it may want, is fure of this, that it hath been planned on 
 
 the bejl model. Dedication of Horace's Epiftle, &c. 
 
 7 b So 
 
■NOT E'S. Iij 
 
 * So nicely do you underftand what belong« to this 
 iotercourfe of Learned Friends^ that in the inftance before 
 - us you do not feem, I think, to have exceeded the modeii 
 proportion even of a temperate and cbajle praife. 
 
 Delicacy of Friendfhip, p. 219. 
 
 c That the fubterraneous adventures of /Eneas were 
 
 intended by Virgil to reprefent the initiation of his hero, 
 
 is an elegant conjecture, which hath been laid before the 
 
 public, and fet forth to the bejl advantage., by a learned 
 
 friend. Jortin, DiiTertation vi. p. 239. 
 
 d Letter of Dr. Warburton to Dr. Jortin, November 
 'i°i 1755- 
 
 e His (Warbur ton's) fervile flatterers (fee the bafe 
 and malignant eflay on the Delicacy of Friendship) ex- 
 alting their mafter far above Arifrotle and Lcnginus, 
 affaulted every rnodeft diffenter, who refufed to confuk 
 the oracle, and adore the idol. 
 
 Lord Sheffield's Life of Mr. Gibbon, p. J 37. 
 
 f Delicacy of Friendfhip. 
 
 s- The advantages of friendfhip are reciprocal; and, 
 though it be very clear to other people which is the gainer 
 by this intercourfe, who knows but Dr. Jortin, in his 
 great modeiry, might fuppofe the odds to lie on his fide. 
 
 Ibid. p. 230. 
 
 . h From the year 1749 to the year 1758. 
 
 To remove the myfrerious veil, which" hath long hung 
 darkly over the tran factions of certain literary men, emi- 
 nent 
 
124- NOTES. 
 
 ncnt ia, their clay, and the more decifively to vindicate 
 the character of Dr. Jortin from the unprovoked attacks 
 injurioufly made upon it by thofe, who, as they dailv faw, 
 ought to have refpe&ed his virtues and abilities, it has 
 been fuggefted, that it would be an act. of juftice to make 
 thefe letters public. 
 
 1 See Letter, v. p. 54. 
 
 k I have read your Differtation on the Principles of 
 Human Eloquence^ and fhall very readily, I dare fay, be 
 indulged in the liberty I am going to take, of giving you 
 my free thoughts upon it. I fhall do it zvith all the regard 
 that is due from one fcholar to another. Letter to the 
 Reverend Thomas Leland, Introduction. 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 a See Letter v. Note a . 
 
 * Kurd's Note, p. 44. 
 
 c Gray's Poems by Mr. Mafon. 
 Progrefs of Poetry, Note p. 18. 
 
 * The whole conception, we fhall fee, is of the utmoQ: 
 grandeur and magnificence j though, according to the 
 
 ufual 
 
NOTES. 125 
 
 ufual management of the poet, (which, as not being appre- 
 hended by his critics, hath furnifhed occafion, even to the 
 left of them, to charge him with the want of the fublitne.) 
 &c. Hurci's Note, p. 38. 
 
 e Under this encouragement, I could not witbfeand the 
 temptation of difclofing thus much of one of the nobleft 
 fictions of Antiquity; and the rather, as the propriety 
 ef allegoric compofition y &c. Ibid. p. 48. 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 ' * See Letter v. Note c . 
 
 b Of thefe his love of letters and of virtue, his venera- 
 tion of great and good men, his dehcacy of honour "in not 
 affuming to himfclf or deprejjing the merit of other s, his 
 readinefs to give their due to all men of real defer", whofs 
 
 principles he oppofes, and — . 
 
 Delicacy of Friendfhip, p. 216. 
 
 c See Letter v. Note '. 
 * Ibid. Note 3 . 
 
 e Yet I muft needs think him (Warburton) conf: d :r- 
 ably above Minsllius and Farnaby^ and almojl equal to old 
 Servius himfelf, though perhaps one doth not fad in him the 
 fmgidar ingenuity you admire in the laji of thefe critics. 
 
 Delicacy of Friendfhip, p. 2:9, 
 
NOTE 5. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 * Eflay on the Principles of Translation, laid to be 
 written by Dr. Tytler. 
 
 > il? sfaff' EjcTcug tf our r/jx^fi f^eya pv6ov cuftii<ra<? 
 Kai p £> f.<£o-<rcj taw, T^oiav acaspyt poflayyas', 
 Mftfcru Jk^pj saw -■■ II. iii. 76. 
 
 He faid. The challenge Hector heard with joy, 
 Then with his ipear reftrain'd the youth of Troy, 
 Held by the midft athwart, and near the foe, 
 Advanced with fteps majefticully flow. 
 
 Flexor flays not to reply to his brother, but runs away 
 with the challenge immediately, &c. Note °, v. 109. 
 
 The fpirit of the original is as juflly conceived in 
 Mr. Pope's note, as it is unhappily mifreprefented in his 
 translation; and both together produce the following con- 
 tradictory medley. 
 
 Hector does not flay to reply to his brother, but runs- 
 
 away immediately with fleps majejiically flow. 
 
 Wood's Effay on the original genius of 
 Homer, 1755. p. 78. 
 
NOTES. |2* 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 a Plutarch, cnp TOT EATTON EIIAINEIN ANE- 
 
 ni^eoNns. 
 
 b To xavxxaQou ita^a uxigov 
 Mxncucriv vtcox$eku. Pind. Ol. ix. 58. 
 
 c Ta^u£[xsv. yagviTON Oxonienfes. 
 
 See Dawe's Mifc. Crit. Ed. B urged", p. 52. 
 
 d 5tEt«V0(J. 
 
 Omnes, quantum video, ubique ; quod unde, aut cur> 
 in nOravois Oxonienfes mutarint, nee apparet, nifi. forte 
 ex Pyth. viii. 46. Occurit utrumque. 
 
 Heyne. 
 
 * Four fwans fuftain a car of filver bright, 
 With heads advane'd, and pinions ftretch'd for flight : 
 Here like fome furious prophet Pindar rode, 
 And feem'd to labour with th' infpiring God, &c. 
 
 Temple of Fame, v. 210. 
 
 f Marks of Imitation, pp. 24, 25. 
 
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