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SCIENTIA
LIBRARY
VERITAS
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
PLURIBUS
UNUM
TUEBOR
#SI-QUÆRIS-PENINSULAM AMŒNAM.
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A POEM
IN TWO BOOKS,
JOHN
BY
PHILIP S.
WITH NOTES PROVINCIAL, HISTORICAL,
AND CLASSICAL,
BY CHARLES
DUNSTER.
:
LONDON:
PRINTED BY GEORGE STAFFORD,
FOR T. CADELL, IN THE STRAND,
MDCCXCI.
"
}
#
!
1
ΤΟ
THE HON. EDWARD FOLEY,
OF
STOKE EDITH, HEREFORDSHIRE,
THIS EDITION
OF
HIS COUNTRYMAN'S POEM,
IS,
WITH THE MOST SINCERE REGARD,
INSCRIBED;
IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THAT FRIENDSHIP,
WITH WHICH HE HAS LONG HONORED
HIS MOST TRULY OBLIGED,
AND VERY FAITHFUL SERVANT,
NEW GROVE,
May 1, 1791.
CHARLES DUNSTER.
;
༢.
1
1
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}
J
:
1
English
Blackwell
3-9-38
35769
It has been frequently
observed that a confidcrable part of
the works of our English Poets will
in another century
become in a great
measure unintelligible, for want of
being accompanied with Notes; or at
leaft that they will cease to be read
with pleasure, when so many of their
allusions cease to be understood. Some
our greater English Classics have
of
been fecured from fuch a fate, and
b
are
J..
~
are
(6)
handed down to us, protected by
the elucidations of men of
of literature.
Whether all the works of the nu-
merous Authors, who have contri-
buted to form the great body of Eng-
lish Poetry, merit so much attention
may well be questioned: but it is
certain that there are many of them
which highly deferve, and greatly
require it. Among these the most
faftidious Critic will scarcely hesitate
to place
our
English Georgic, which,
at the distance of more than four Score
years from its original publication, is
first offered to the World illuf-
поп
trated
( 7 )
trated with Notes; many of which
its provincial subject seemed to make
necessary to render it perfectly intel-
ligible to posterity.----Some of them
may appear tedious, and some tri-
fling; particularly the very frequent
citations of passages from Virgil and
Milton, which are supposed to have
been imitated. But, in endeavouring
to make the Reader acquainted with
the writings, and at the same time
with the genius, of a Poet, it is a
principal part of a Commentator's
office to point out his Author's imi-
tations; and, in so
b 2
doing, let it be
con-
1
( 8 )
confidered, that it is no
easy task to
produce those which may be really
worth noticing, without exhibiting
some that (at least by many persons)
be confidered as immaterial.
may
5
IDER,
A POEM
IN TWO BOOKS.
Honos erit huic quoque pomo. -VIRG.
$
}
1
1
ARGUMENT
OF
BOOK I.
Subject propofed. Address to the Natives of Herefordſhire.
Dedication to MR. MOSTYN. Situation for an Orchard.
Soil. Places famous for their Cider. King Ethelbert
murdered by Offa at Sutton Walls. Account of Marcle
• Hill having moved. A foil not rich enough for Apples will
fuit Pears. Very poor land will ferve to fupport sheep and
geefe. Goats browse on the steepest mountains of Wales.
Dangerous practice of gathering Samphire from rocks that
bang over the Sea. The most barren land may be improved,
fo as to be made capable of bearing fome produce. In very
bot Summers trenches should be dug round Apple-trees, and
filled with water; a long continuance of hot weather being
unfavorable to the fruit. The unhealthiness of hot feafons.
Extreme heat of the fummer in the year 1705. Death of
MISS WINCHCOMB. Heat a caufe of Earthquakes. De-
ftruction of ARICONIUM. Some different forts of trees and
plants will flourish when planted near together; but others
will not. What forts of trees may be planted near the
Apple-tree without injuring it, and what are noxious to it.
Grafting. Different stocks proper for different forts of
fruit. In the plantation of Orchards, ornament as well as
profit may be attended to, and the different kinds of Apple-
trees may be intermixed with tafte, fo as to produce a pleafing
effect. Virgil has finely diverfified his Georgics by intro-
ducing feveral beautiful digreffions and defcriptions.-Graft-
ing,
ARGUMENT.
îng, Budding, Pruning,—to be learned by Experience. Many
Discoveries the refult of Experience. The Barometer. To-
bacco first discovered. Beneficial effects and pleasure of
Kernels of Apples dif-
Industry recommended.
Its
Smoking Tobacco. The Microscope.
fected and viewed in the Microscope.
Pruning of Apple-trees. Trees, when too much loaded with
fruit, ſhould have their crops thinned. Birds fhould be
frightened from fruit-trees, pigs kept out of orchards, and
wafps and fnails destroyed. No care is fufficient to fecure
fruit from grubs. Ludicrous defcription of a perſon tafting
a fair-looking, grub-eaten apple. The Garden of AL-
CINOUS. Different forts of Apples. Pears. The Muſk
Apple. The Red-ftreak Apple-cultivated and improved
by the first LORD SCUDAMORE. Compliment to his
Great-grandſon. Excellence of Red-ſtreak Cider. The
Poet inspired by it fings its praiſes, and thofe of its na-
tive County. General fertility of Herefordshire.
Hops, Profpects, Iron, Saffron, Wool. Its Natives famous
for valour; diftinguished at the battles of Creffy and Agin-
court;-particularly the Ancestor of the noble family of
CHANDOS. Compliment to LORD CHANDOS, and his
Son to LORD SALISBURY: and to ALDRICH, Dean of
Chriſt Church.-Univerſity of OXFORD.-SIR THO-
MASHANMER.MR.BROMLEY. MEW, Biſhop of WIN-
CHESTER. DUKE OF BEAUFORT. LORD WEY-
MOUTH. HARLEY, Secretary of State.-Beauty of
Herefordſhire Females. Love. Friendship. TREVOR,
Chief Justice. Panegyric on Sincerity; -on Virtue in gene-
ral. Amiableness of VIRGIL's character. - HOMER.-
SPENSER. MILTON;-cenfured for his Politics, but
extolled for his Poetry, of which the Author profeſſes him-
felf an bumble imitator.
CIDER.
BOOK I.
WHAT foil the Apple loves, what care is due
To Orchats, timelieſt when to preſs the fruits,
Thy gift, Pomona, in Miltonian verſe
1. What foil the Apple loves, what care is due
To Orchats-
Apple
Thas Virgil begins his GEORGICS;
Quid faciat lætas fegetes, quo fidere terram
Vertere, &c.
Our Poet, for ORCHARD, writes OR CHAT, from the Greek Ofxaros,
which Homer uſes to expreſs the garden, or rather orchard, of Alcinous,
in the feventh book of his ODYSSEY.
3.
in Miltonian verse]
Modern blank verfe had its origin in the School of Italian Poetry.
In the year 1528, Triffino publiſhed his Italia Liberata di Goti, without
rhyme. Not a long time after this, the celebrated Earl of Surrey
gave the firft fpecimen of Engliſh blank verfe, in a tranflation of the
fecond and fourth books of the ENEID.. -The Dramatic Poets foon
began to lay aſide rhyme: the firft example of which, and indeed the firſt
regular Engliſh tragedy, was the Earl of Buckhurft's GORBODUC; in
which, as well as in Surrey's tranflation from Virgil, there are many
lines which Milton would not have difdained to own. Blank verfe,
however, made but little progrefs, except among the Dramatic writers;
and does not appear to have been adopted for any original compofition of
confequence. Milton is therefore juftified in faying (in the account
of the verfe of his PARADISE LOST, prefixed to that Poem) that he had
fet the firft example, in English, of antient Liberty restored to Heroic Poem
from the troubleſome and modern bondage of rhyme.
Philips was the first Poet of any eminence who followed him in this
ftyle of verfification, for which he is celebrated by Thomſon.
Philips, Pomona's bard, the fecond thou
Who nobly durſt, in rhyme-unfetter'd verſe,
With Britiſh freedom fing the Britiſh fong.
B
AUTUMN, 640.
He
i
2
Book I.
CIDER.
Adventurous I preſume to fing; of verſe
Nor ſkill'd, nor ſtudious: but my native ſoil
5
He is alfo complimented on the fame account by a very able and
elegant Poet, the prefent learned Provoſt of Eton College, in A Poetical
Epistle to Chriftopher Anstey, Efq. on the English Poets, chiefly those who
have written in Blank Verfe, publiſhed in the year 1772.
After a very
maſterly opening, the Author thus addreffes Milton.
Poet of other times, to thee I bow
With lowlieft reverence. Oft thou tak'ſt my foul,
And waft'ft it by thy potent harmony
To that empyreal manfion, where thine ear
Caught the foft warblings of a Seraph's harp,
What time the nightly vifitant unlock'd
The gates of Heav'n, and to the mental fight
Diſplay'd celeftial ſcenes. She from thy lyre
With indignation tore the tinkling bells,
And tun'd it to fublimeſt argument.
Sooner the bird, that ufhering in the fpring
Strikes the fame notes with one unvarying pauſe,
Shall vie with Philomel, when the purfues
Her evening fong thro' every winding maze
Of melody, than rhyme fhall foothe the foul
With mufic fweet as thine.. With vigilant eye
Thee Philips watches, and, with taſte refin'd,
Each precept culling from the Mantuan page,
Difdains the Gothic bond. Silurian wines,
Ennobled by his fong, no more fhall yield
To Setin, or the firong Falernian juice,
Beverage of Latian chiefs.
4. Adventurous I presume to fing; of verſe
Nor fkill'd, nor ftudious
Thus Milton, in the opening of his PARADISE LOST;
I thence
Invoke thy aid to MY ADVENTUROUS SONG,
That, with no middle flight, intends to foar
Above th'Aonian mount
And, in the beginning of his ninth book, having recited the common
fubjects of Heroic Poems, fuch as wars, races, games, tilts and tourna-
ments, feſtivals and entertainments, he thus proceeds;
5.
me OF THESE
NOR SKILL'D, NOR STUDIOUS higher argument
Remains
Invites me.
but my native ſoil
-]
Though
BOOK I.
3
CIDER.
Invites me, and the theme as yet unfung.
Ye Ariconian Knights and faireſt Dames,
To whom propitious Heaven theſe bleffings grants,
Attend my lays; nor hence difdain to learn,
How nature's gifts may be improv'd by art.
And thou, O Moftyn, whoſe benevolence,
And candor, oft experienc'd, me vouchfaf'd
ΙΟ
Though our Author ſpeaks of Herefordſhire as his " native foil,” he
was born, December 30, 1676, at Bampton, in Oxfordſhire, of which
place, Dr. Stephen Philips his father, was minifter. But he was of a
Herefordshire family, who had an eſtate at Withington, in that county.
His great-grandfather was a confiderable clothier at Ledbury. His
grandfather was a canon refidentiary of the cathedral church of Hereford,
and vicar of Lugwardine. His father was born, at Lugwardine, Sep-
tember 30, 1638, and had the archdeaconry of Salop, in the dioceſe of
Hereford.
7. Ye Ariconian Knights and fairest Dames,]
ARICONIUM was the old name for the principal city of Hereford-
fhire, which tradition relates to have been deſtroyed by an earthquake.
Where it ſtood has been a queſtion much agitated among Antiquaries.
11. And thou, O Moftyn]
John Moftyn, the intimate friend, cotemporary, and fellow collegian
of Philips, at the time he began his Poem, was third brother to Sir
Roger Moftyn, of Moftyn in Flintshire; and was educated, on the foun-
dation, at Weſtminſter School, from whence he was elected Student of
Chriſt Church in Oxford, where he took the degree of Maſter of Arts
March 22d, 1704.
Sir Roger Moftyn, his Grandfather, was created a Baronet at the
Reftoration. His attachment to Charles I. and the fervices he rendered
that Prince at the frequent hazard of his life, and to the material detri-
ment of his fortune, entitled him to every grateful return. Poffibly
the part he took in the great national quarrel, and the political opinions he
tranfmitted down to his defcendants, may be affigned as one cauſe which
procured his Grandfon the friendſhip of our Poet, and the dedication of
the first book of his Poem a poem in which, though the compli-
ments paid to particular perfons were probably juftified by their imme-
diate deferts, we cannot but trace a violent prejudice of Party governing
not only the fentiments of the Author on public matters, but rivetting, if
not forming his private attachments.
B 2
To
4
Book I.
CIDER.
To knit in friendſhip growing ſtill with years,
Accept this pledge of gratitude and love.
May it a laſting monument remain
Of dear reſpect, that when this body frail
Is molder'd into duft, and I become
As I had never been, late times.
may know,
I once was bleſt in ſuch a matchlefs friend!
15
Whoe'er expects his laboring trees fhould bend 20
With fruitage, and a kindly harveſt yield,
Be this his firſt concern, to find a tract
Impervious to the winds, begirt with hills
That intercept the Hyperborean blaſts
Tempeftuous, and cold Eurus' nipping force,
Noxious to feeble buds; but to the Weſt
Let him free entrance grant, let Zephyrs bland
Adminiſter their tepid genial airs ;
25
Naught fear he from the Weft, whofe gentle warmth
Difclofes well the earth's all-teeming womb,
20.
This is Horace's
his laboring trees should bend, &c.]
nec jam fuftineant onus
SYLVA LABORANTES
30
27.
L. i. Ode 9.
Let Zephyrs bland
Adminifter their tepid genial airs;
Naught fear he from the Weft, whofe gentle warmth
Difclofes well the earth's all-teeming womb,]
We cannot well doubt but, when our Author wrote thefe lines, he had
in his mind the following paffage in Virgil's charming deſcription of the
Spring.
Parturit
BOOK I.
5
CIDER.
Invigorating tender feeds; whoſe breath
Nurtures the orange and the citron groves,
Hefperian fruits, and wafts their odors fweet
Wide thro' the air, and diſtant fhores perfumes.
Parturit almus ager, ZEPHYRIQUE TEPENTIBUS AURIS
Laxant arva finus.
GEORG. ii. 330.
Now teems the fruitful earth, the fields unfold
Their bofoms to the Zephyr's genial gales.
Or he might be fuppofed to have borrowed the "tepid genial airs of
"Zephyr" from the genitabilis aura Favoni of Lucretius, or from
Catullus's
AURA parit flores TEPIDI FOECUNDA FAVONI.
Here, however, he has been materially miſled by his claffical reading and
taſte. The weft wind of Herefordſhire is by no means a warm and
genial wind. That county, being bounded on the weft by Brecknockshire,
is entirely open on that fide to the Welch mountains, which are not only
generally covered with fnow all the winter, but often remain fo until
late in the fpring.-The weft wind therefore, blowing over a confiderable
tract of high frozen land directly upon Herefordshire, has a peculiar
keennefs, and much more reſembles the Ionian Zephyr of Homer (fee
Wood's Effay on Homer, p. 24) which blew upon that coaſt from the
Thracian mountains, than it does the genial weft wind of Italy, as
celebrated by Virgil and the other Roman Poets.
This is fo much the cafe, that the Herefordshire farmer fears no wind
more than that which blows from the weft; and accordingly, in planting
his Hop-yards or Orchards, will prefer almost any fituation to a Weſtern
afpect.Here then our Poet betrays his Imitation by one of its moſt
certain marks, as laid down by a moſt able and judicious Critic," the
"giving the properties of one Clime, or Country, to another.'
31.
See Bp. Hurd, ON THE MARKS OF IMITATION
Whoje breath
Nurtures the orange and the citron groves,
Hefperian fruits, and wafts their odors fweet
Wide thro' the air, and diftant fores perfumes.]
We may here perhaps trace our Poet to the following charming paffage
in his Maſter's PARADISE LOST. B. iv. 156.
Now gentle gales,
Fanning their odoriferous wings, difpenfe
Native perfumes, and whifper whence they ftole
Thofe balmy fpoils. As when to them who fail
Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are paft
Mozambic, off at fea north-eaft winds blow
Sabean
6
Book I.
CIDER.
Nor only do the hills exclude the winds:
35
But, when the blackening clouds in fprinkling fhowers
Diſtil, from the high fummits down the rain
Runs trickling; with the fertile moiſture cheer'd
The orchats fmile; joyous the farmers fee
Their thriving plants, and bleſs the heavenly dew. 40
Next, let the planter, with difcretion meet,
The force and genius of each foil explore,
To what adapted, what it fhuns averſe :
Sabean odors from the fpicy fhore
Of Araby the bleft; with ſuch delay
Well pleaſed they flack their courfe, and many a league
Cheer'd with the grateful fmell old Ocean ſmiles.
39. The orchats fmile ;]
RIDET AGER, veftitur humus
Martial, L. x. Ep. 51.
Milton alſo, in a paffage cited in the preceding note, has,
Old Ocean SMILES.
The fame image alfo occurs in the Hymn to Ceres, difcovered a few
years fince in the library at Moſcow, and attributed to Homer.- The
Narciffus, a plant formed by magic, is thus defcribed.
Το κ, απο ρίζης εκατον καρα εξεπεφύκει
xj
Κωδις τ' όδμη πας δ' έρανος ευρύς υπερθε
Γαια τε πασ', εγέλασε και αλμυρον οίδμα θαλασσης.
From the deep roots an hundred branches fprung,
And to the winds ambrofial odors flung;
Which lightly wafted on the wings of air,
The gladden'd earth, and heaven's wide circuit ſhare.
The joy-difpenfing fragrance fpreads around,
And Ocean's briny fwell with fmiles is crown'd.
Thefe, lines are from the very able Verſion of Mr. Hole; who has not
always confined himſelf to the labor of tranflation, but has lately made
an Epic effort, with a boldneſs of defign, and correctness of execution,
that the preſent times have ſeldom witneffed. His Arthur, or the Northern
Enchantment, would do honor to any age of poetry.
42. The force and genius of each foil explore,
To what adapted, what it fhuns averfe:]
Thus Virgil, GEORGIC, i. 50.
!
At
BOOK I.
7
CIDER.
Without this neceffary care, in vain
He hopes an apple-vintage, and invokes
Pomona's aid in vain. The miry fields,
Rejoicing in rich mold, moſt ample fruit
Of beauteous form produce; pleafing to fight
But to the tongue inelegant and flat.
So nature has decreed; fo oft we fee
Men paffing fair, in outward lineaments
Elaborate, leſs inwardly exact.
Nor from the fable ground expect fuccefs,
Nor from cretaceous, ftubborn and jejune;
At prius ignotum quam ferro fcindimus æquor,
Ventos et varium cœli prædifcere morem.
45
50
Cura fit, AC PATRIOS CULTUSQUE HABITUSQUE LOCORUM,
ET QUID QUÆQUE FERAT REGIO, ET QUID QUÆQUE RECUSET.
But, ere we launch the plough in plains unknown,
Be firft the clime, the wind and weather fhewn ;
The temper and the genius of the fields,
What each refuſes, what in plenty yields.
47. Rejoicing in rich mold]
WARTON.
This is Virgil's DULCIQUE ULIGINE LÆTA,-GEORGIC. ii. 190.
51. Men paffing fair, in outward lineaments
Elaborate, lefs inwardly exa.]
From Milton, P. L. viii. 537.
At leaſt on her beſtow'd
SHEW
Too much of ornament, IN OUTWARD
ELABORATE, OF INWARD LESS EXACT.
53. Nor from the fable ground expect fuccefs,
Nor from cretaceous, ſtubborn and jejune.]
Nam JEJUNA quidem clivofi glarea ruris
Vix humiles apibus cafias roremque miniftrat :
Et tophus fcaber, et nigris exefa chely dris
CRETA.
Virg. GEORGIC. V. 212.
The
8
BOOK I.
CIDER.
55
The Muft, of pallid hue, declares the foil
Devoid of ſpirit: wretched he, that quaffs
Such wheyifh liquors; oft with colic pangs,
With pungent colic pangs, diſtreſs'd he'll roar,
And tofs, and turn, and curfe th'unwholfome,draught.
But, farmer, look, where full-ear'd ſheaves of rye 60
Grow wavy on the tilth; that foil felect
55. The muft.]
Muft, or new wine, is fo called from the Latin MUSTUM. It is
uſed by Milton, P. L. B. v. V.
V. 344.
For drink the grape
She cruſhes, inoffenfive MUST, and meaths
From many a berry.
Herefordſhire farmers call the refufe of the apples, after they have
been completely ground and preft, Cider Muft, poffibly from its having
ſo much the ſmell of MUST, or vinous liquor drawn off in its firſt ſtate
from the Prefs.
57.
colic pangs,]
Milton, P. L. xi. 484.
60. But, farmer, look, where full-ear'd sheaves of rye
Grow wavy on the tilth; that foil ſelect
For apples.]
Worlidge and fome of the old writers on Cider recommend a light
rye-land as the beſt foil for Cider-fruits; and Philip fecms inconfider-
ately to have adopted their precept. But there is very little good Cider
made from the rye-lands in Herefordſhire; and the Pariſhes moſt famous
for Cider are of a very deep foil. What Virgil has obſerved with re-
gard to Vines, is ſtrictly true reſpecting Cider.
At quæ pinguis humus dulcique uligine læta
*
*
Hic tibi prævalidas olim multoque fluentes
Sufficiet Baccho vites
GEORG. ii. 190.
But the rich foil with genial force endu'd,
All
green with grafs, with moisture fweet bedew'd,
Ere long will vines of luftieft growth produce,
And big with bounteous Bacchus' choiceft juice.
WARTON.
For
Book I.
9
CIDER.
For apples; thence thy induſtry ſhall gain
Tenfold reward; thy garners, thence, with ſtore
Surcharg'd, fhall burſt; thy prefs with pureft juice
Shall flow, which, in revolving years, may try
65
Thy feeble feet and bind thy falt'ring tongue.
Such is the Kentchurch, fuch Dantzeyan ground,
63.
Thy garners, thence, with flore
Surcharg'd, fhall burft.]
This is both fcriptural and claffical.
"That our garners may be full and plenteous with all manner of
" ſtore.'
,,
Pfalm, cxliv. v. 13, Old Verfion, printed in the Common Prayer Book.
Illius immenfæ ruperunt horrea menfes.
VIRG. GEORG i. 49.
And burſt his barns furcharg'd with pond'rous grain.
65. Which, in revolving years, may try
Thy feeble feet, and bind thy falt ring tongue.]
This is Virgil's
Tentatura pedes olim, vincturaque linguam.
WARTON.
GEORG. ii. 93.
By which the falt'ring tongue and ftagg'ring feet are try'd.
WARTON.
67. Such is the Kentchurch, fuch Dantzeyan ground.]
Talem dives arat Capua, &c. &i.
The Kentchurch.]
VIRG. GEORG. ii. 224.
The Parish of Kentchurch is not particularly noted for its Cider.
But we muſt grant a certain licence to Poets writing on a Provincial ſub-
ject, and, while their general precepts are founded in truth, muft allow
them to indulge themfelves in an occafional compliment to private
friendſhip or particular refpectability of character.
The family of Scudamore of Kentchurch has long poffeffed the greater
part of the property of that pariſh. Leland, in his Itinerary, fays,
The
eldeft houfe of the Efcudamore's of Herefordſhire was at a place called
"Penchirche, on the edge of the dominion or country called Ewis
"Harold."
John Scudamore, the prefent poffeffor of the eſtate at Kentchurch, has
repreſented the City of Hereford in five fucceffive Parliaments.
Dantzeyan Ground.]
The family of Danfey have long poffeffed a good property at Brinfop
C
near
10
Book I.
CIDER.
Such thine, O learned Brome, and Capel fuch,
Willifian Burlton, much lov'd Geers his Marſh,
near Hereford. The poffeffor of it, at the time Philips wrote his Poem,
was William Danſey, who married the daughter and heiress of Sir Fran-
cis Ruffell, of Strenſham in Worceſterſhire, whofe father, Sir William
Ruffell, was ftrongly attached to Charles I. and diſtinguiſhed himſelf ſo
much in the civil wars between that Prince and the Parliament, that, be-
ing in Worceſter when it was furrendered to the Parliament forces in
1645, he alone was exempted from the benefit of the articles of furrender.
68. O learned Brome.]
William Brome, of Ewithington, in the county of Hereford, was,
at the fame time with our Poet, a member of Christ Church in Oxford,
where he purfued his ftudies with fo much affiduity and fuccefs, that he
was confidered as a principal ornament of his College, which at that
time was the refidence of many perſons of very diftinguiſhed Literature.
With moſt of theſe he lived in habits of the greateſt intimacy, and par-
ticularly with Mr. Urry, the learned and laborious Editor of Chaucer,
who confulted him much in the progrefs of his work. Mr. Brome was
intended for holy orders; but, his political principles not allowing him
to take the oaths to Government, he gave up the profeffion he was
defigned for, and lived in retirement at his manfion-houſe at Ewithing-
ton, in the parish of Withington. Here he formed the plan of writing
the Provincial Hiftory of his native county, a work for which he was
eminently qualified not only by his great and general learning, but as being
particularly an excellent Naturalift and Antiquary. After having made
a confiderable progreſs, he abandoned his defign, and, which is ftill more
to be lamented, deſtroyed the valuable materials which he had collected.
The parish of Withington is particularly noted for its Cider.
Capel.]
The parishes of King's Capel and How Capel are both famous for
their Cider.
69. Willifian Burlton.]
An eftate called Burlton, in the parish of Burghill near Hereford, at
the beginning of this century, belonged to Browne Willis, the celebrated
Antiquarian, who, together with Mr. Moftyn and Mr. Brome, was
alfo the Cotemporary, Fellow-Collegian, and intimate Friend of Philips.
The family of Browne Willis, like thofe of the other Friends whom our
Poet has here noticed, had diſtinguiſhed themſelves by their line of Politics;
as Dr. Willis, his Grandfather, one of the most famous of our Engliſh
Phyficians, was a Student in the Univerfity of Oxford on the breaking
out of the Civil War, and, when that City was turned into a Garriſon
for the King, together with other ſcholars, bore arms for his Majeſty.
Much lov'd Geers his Marsh.]
The Marſh, an eſtate and manſion-houſe in the pariſh of Bridge Solers,
five miles from Hereford, at the time Philips wrote was the property
and refidence of Timothy Geers, who married a fifter of Sir Thomas
Cookes
3
Book I.
I I
CIDER.
And Sutton-acres, drench'd with regal blood
Of Ethelbert, when to th' unhallow'd feaft
Of Mercian Offa he invited came,
To treat of ſpouſals: long connubial joys
He promis'd to himſelf, allur'd by fair
Elfrida's beauty; but deluded dy'd
In height of hopes.—oh ! hardeſt fate, to fall
By fhew of friendſhip and pretended love!
I nor adviſe, nor reprehend the choice
Of Marcle-hill; the Apple no where finds
70
75
Cookes Winford, of Glafshampton, in the parish of Aftley in Worcester-
fhire, and had by her a fon, Thomas Winford Geers, who, together
with the Marquis of Carnarvon, reprefented the city of Hereford in the
firſt Parliament of George II, and upon his Uncle, Sir Thomas Winford,
giving up to him the Glafshampton eftate, took the firname of Winford
only.
70. Sutton Acres.]
In the parish of Sutton (which is fuppofed, together with the adjoining
parish of Marden, to produce the beſt Cider in the county of Hereford),
at a place called Sutton Walls, are the remains of a confiderable camp,
ſaid to have been the camp of Offa King of Mercia, and the place
where he treacherously murdered Ethelbert King of the Eaft Angles, a
young Prince of great merit, who had made fuit to his daughter Elfrida,
and whom he had invited there, with all his retinue, to folemnize the nup-
tials. Hiftorians tell us, that amidft the entertainments given upon that
occafion, Ethelbert was feized by Offa, and ſecretly beheaded; and although
Elfrida, who abhorred her Father's treachery, had time to give warning to
the Eaft Anglian nobility, who efcaped into their own country, Offa,
having extinguiſhed the Royal Family, got poffeffion of the kingdom.-
Afterwards, to re-establish his character, he pretended great penitence, and
paid much court to the Clergy, giving the tenth of his goods to the Church.
He alſo beſtowed rich donations on the Cathedral Church of Hereford,
which was thereupon dedicated to St. Ethelbert. See DUGDALE'S
MONASTICON, Tom. iii. 180.
79. Marcle Hill.]
A wonder cannot be better related than in the words of an author who
delighted to record the marvellous.-The following account of the
moving of Marcle Hill is given, from SIR RICHARD BAKER'S CHRO-
C 2
NICLE,
12
BOOK I,
CIDER.
3
80
A kinder mold: yet 'tis unfafe to truſt
85
Deceitful ground. Who knows but that, once more,
This mount may journey, and, his preſent ſite
Forfaking, to thy neighbour's bounds transfer
The goodly plants, affording matter ſtrange
For law-debates? If, therefore, thou incline
To deck this rife with fruits of various taſtes,
Fail not by frequent vows t'implore ſucceſs;
Thus piteous Heav'n may fix the wand'ring glebe.
But if (for nature doth not ſhare alike
Her gifts) an happy foil fhould be withheld;
99
NICLE, where he fpeaks of the CASUALTIES, or wonderful events, in the
reign of Q. Elizabeth.
6.
66
"In her thirteenth year a prodigious earthquake happened in the eaſt
parts of Herefordſhire, at a little town called Kinnaſton. On the ſeven-
"teenth of February, at fix of the clock in the evening, the earth began
to open, and a hill with a rock under it (making at firſt a great bel-
lowing noife, which was heard a great way off) lifted itſelf up, and
began to travel, bearing along with it the trees that grew upon it, the
fheep-folds and flocks of ſheep abiding there at the fame time. In the
place from whence it was first moved it left a gaping diſtance forty
"foot broad, and fourfcore ells long. The whole field was about
"twenty acres. Paffing along it overthrew a chapel ſtanding in the way,
" removeda Yew-tree, planted in the church yard, from the weft to the eaſt:
"with the like force it thruft before it highways, fheep-folds, hedges,
"and trees; made tilled ground pafture, and again turned paſture into
tillage. Having walked in this fort, from Saturday evening till
Monday noon, it then ftood ſtill.”
r
Camden fays the hill moved to a higher fituation. But it is very plain
that it really moved in a progreffion more confiftent with the laws of
gravitation. It was probably one of thoſe flips of land which are very
common after a wet feafon. The land that moved, according to its
prefent appearance, was nearly two acres of ground, and the diſtance to
which it moved feems to have been about a hundred yards. The chapel
of Kynafton, a chapelry in Marcle parifh, was really deftroyed by it.
The Yew-tree which ſtood in the church yard is ftill to be feen, and the
bell was dug up not long ago.
The parish of Marcle is famous for the Cider it produces.
If
BOOK I.
13
CIDER.
If a penurious clay ſhould be thy lot,
Or rough unwieldy earth, nor to the plough,
Nor to the cattle kind, with fandy ſtones
And gravel o'erabounding, think it not
Beneath thy toil; the ſturdy pear-tree here
Will riſe luxuriant, and with tougheſt root
Pierce the obſtructing grit and reftive marl.
95
100
Thus naught is uſeleſs made; nor is there land
But what, or of itſelf, or elſe compell'd,
Affords advantage. On the barren heath
The ſhepherd tends his flock, that daily crop
Their verdant dinner from the moſſy turf,
Sufficient; after them the cackling gooſe,
Clofe grazer, finds wherewith to eaſe her want.
What ſhould I more? Ev'n on the cliffy height 105
Of Penmaen Mawr, and that cloud-piercing hill,
91. If a penurious clay fhou'd be thy lot,
Or rough unwieldy earth, nor to the plough
Nor to the cattle kind, with fandy ftones
And gravel o'er-abounding, think it not
Beneath thy toil; the sturdy pear-tree here
Will rife luxuriant- -]
Virgil thus defcribes a barren foil, as fuiting well the Olive-tree.
Difficiles primum terræ, collefque maligni,
Tenuis ubi argilla, et dumofis calculus arvis
Palladiæ gaudent filvâ vivacis olivæ.
GEORG. ii. 179.
And firſt for heath and barren hilly ground,
Where meagre clay and flinty ftones abound,
Where the poor foil all fuccour feems to want,
Yet this fuffices the palladian plant.
106. Penmaen Mawr.]
DRYDEN.
"
Penmaen
14
Book I.
CIDER.
Plinlimmon, from afar the traveller kens,
Aſtoniſh'd, how the goats their ſhrubby browſe
Gnaw pendent; nor untrembling canſt thou ſee,
How from a fcraggy rock, whofe prominence 110
Half overſhades the ocean, hardy men,
Penmaen Mawr, a ftupendous rock near Aberconway in Carnarvon-
ſhire, rifes perpendicularly from the fea to the heighth of 1400 or 1500
feet.
and that cloud-piercing hill
Plinlimmon- -]
Plinlimmon, a very high mountain in North Wales, ſtands partly in
Montgomeryshire and partly in Carnarvonshire. The epithet CLOUD-
PIERCING is particularly defcriptive of this mountain, whofe top is
almoſt always enveloped in clouds. This is fo much the cafe of both
Snowdon and Plinlimmon, that travellers, who have often been at the
foot of them, have feldom, if ever, had an opportunity of obſerving
their fummits.
109.
-Nor untrembling canft thou fee,
How from a craggy rock, whoſe prominence
Half overfbades the ocean, hardy men,
Fearless of rending winds and dafhing waves,
Cut famphire, to excite the fqueamish guſt
Of pamper'd luxury.]
Samphire, or fea-fennel, is gathered in great plenty from the rocks
near the fea. It is fometimes uſed in medicine, but it is chiefly valued
for the purpoſe of pickling.- -Shakeſpear has finely introduced the
hazardous manner of gathering this herb, in his admired deſcription of
Dover Cliffs, in his KING LEAR.
How fearful
And dizzy 'tis to caft one's eyes ſo low !
The crows and choughs that wing the midway air
Shew ſcarce fo grofs as beetles. Half way down
Hangs one that gathers famphire. Dreadful trade!
Methinks he feems no bigger than his head.
The fiſhermen who walk upon the beach
Appear like mice; and yon tall anch'ring bark
Diminish'd to her cock; her cock a buoy,
Almoſt too ſmall for fight.-The murm'ring furge,
That on the unnumber'd idle pebbles chafes,
Cannot be heard fo high.-I'll look no more,
Left my brain turn, and my deficient fight
Topple down headlong.
Fearlefs
BOOK I.
15
CIDER.
Fearleſs of rending winds, and daſhing waves,
Cut famphire, to excite the ſqueamiſh guſt
Of pamper'd luxury. Then, let thy ground
Not lie unlabor'd; if the richeſt ſtem
Refuſe to thrive, yet who would doubt to plant
Somewhat, that may to human uſe redound,
And penury, the worst of ills, remove?
There are, who, fondly ſtudious of increaſe,
Rich foreign mold on their ill-natur'd land
Induce laborious, and with fatt'ning muck
Befmear the roots; in vain! the nurfling grove
Seems fair a while, cheriſh'd with fofter earth;
But, when the alien compoft is exhauſt,
Its native poverty again prevails.
Tho' this art fails, defpond not; little pains,
In a due hour employ'd, great profit yield.
Th' induſtrious, when the fun in Leo rides,
114. Then let thy ground,
Not lie unlabor'd; if the richest ftem
Refufe to thrive, yet who would doubt to plant
Somewhat, that may to human uſe redound—
Thus Virgil GEORG. ii. 35.
Quare agite o, proprios generatim difcite cultus,
Agricolæ, fructufque feros mollite colendo :
Neu fegnes jaceant terræ.
Search then, ye farmers, with fagacious mind,
How beſt to manage ev'ry various kind,
With culture civilize your favage trees,
Nor let your lands lie dead in flothful eafe.
128. When the fun in Leo rides
]
WARTON.
115
120
125
Milton
ܐ܂
16
BOOK Í.
CIDER.
And darts his fultrieft beams, portending drought,
Forgets not at the foot of ev'ry plant
139
To fink a circling trench, and daily pour
A juſt ſupply of alimental ſtreams,
Exhauſted ſap recruiting; elfe, falſe hopes
He cheriſhes, nor will his fruit expect
Th' autumnal ſeaſon, but, in ſummer's pride,
135
When other orchats fmile, abortive fail.
Thus the great light of heav'n, that in his courſe
Surveys and quickens all things, often proves
Noxious to planted fields, and often men
Perceive his influence dire; fwelt'ring they run 140
To grots and caves, and the cool umbrage feek
Of woven arborets, and oft' the rills
Still ſtreaming freſh revifit, to allay
Thirſt inextinguiſhable. But if the Spring
Preceding fhould be deftitute of rain,
Or blaſt feptentrional with bruſhing wings
Sweep up
the ſmoky miſts, and vapours damp,
Then wo to mortals! Titan then exerts
Milton thus defcribes the Spring, P. L. i. 769,
In Spring-time, when the fun with Taurus rides.
Where Dr. Bentley would read IN Taurus rides.
142. Of woven arborets.]
From Milton, P. L. ix. 437.
Among THICK-WOVEN ARBORETS and flowers
Imborder'd on each bank-
145
His
BOOK I.
17
CIDER.
150
His heat intenſe, and on our vitals preys ;
Then maladies of various kinds, and names
Unknown, malignant fevers, and that foe
To blooming beauty, which imprints the face
Of faireſt nymph, and checks our growing love,
Reign far and near; grim Death, in diff'rent ſhapes,
Depopulates the nations; thouſands fall
155
His victims; youths, and virgins, in their flow'r,
Reluctant die, and, fighing, leave their loves
Unfiniſh'd, by infectious heav'n deſtroy'd.
Such heats prevail'd, when fair Eliza, laſt
Of Winchcomb's name (next thee in blood,and worth,
O faireſt St. John!), left this toilfome world
159. Such beats prevail'd—]
161
year
The uncommon heat of the weather in the fummer of 1705, the
preceding the publication of our Author's poem, is particularly noticed
in that year's Hiftory of Europe, an annual publication of that time.
when fair Eliza, laft
-]
Of Winchcomb's name ——
The lady, whofe death Philips here laments, was the daughter of Sir
Henry Winchcomb, of Bucklebury in the county of Berks, a gentleman
of a confiderable eſtate, which deſcended to him from the famous Jack
of Newbury.
The anceſtor of the family, fo called, was John Winchcomb, an
eminent clothier at Newbury. He had a hundred looms in his own houfe,
each managed by a man and a boy, and acquired by his bufinefs a great
fortune, being as fpirited and generous, as he was induftrious and opulent.
He ferved in the expedition, in the reign of Henry VII, againſt James IV.
King of Scotland, at the battle of Flodden Field, where he commanded
a hundred of his own men, all clothed and armed at his own expence.
He entertained Henry VIII. and his first Queen Catherine, at his houſe
in Newbury; he alfo rebuilt a great part of the church of Newbury, and
died about the year 1520.
161. O fairest St. John.]
Henry St. John, Secretary at War in the beginning of Q. Anne's
D
reign,
18
BOOK I.
CIDER.
$
In beauty's prime, and fadden'd all the
year:
Nor could her virtues, nor repeated vows
reign, afterwards Secretary of State and Viſcount Bolingbroke, the par-
ticular friend and patron of our Author, married for his firft wife, in the
year 1700, Frances, fifter to the lady mentioned in the preceding note,
and co-heirefs of Sir Henry Winchcomb. Philips pays her fome elegant
compliments, in his beautiful and moft claffical ÔDE to Mr. St. John,
written in return for a prefent of wine and tobacco.
Quin precor Optima
Ut ufque Conjux fopitetur
Perpetus recreans amore
Te confulentem Militiæ fuper
Rebus Togatum. Macte! Tori decus
Formofa cui FRANCISCA ceffit
Crine placens, niveoque Collo;
Quam Gratiarum cura Decentium
Ornat; labellis cui Venus infidet.
Tu forte felix.
The tranflation of this part of the Ode, in the verfion publiſhed with
Philips's works, is too diffuſe to give the English reader any idea of the
original. Another attempt is therefore offered.
Health too I wiſh that peerlefs fair
Whoſe fond affection foothes your care,
While worn with toils of ſtate you prove
The healing balm of tend'reſt love.
O be my friend thus ever bleft,
Of his lov'd FANNY's charms poſſeſt,
Adown whoſe neck of pureft fnow
Luxuriant treſſes wildly flow,
While virtue, with the graces join'd,
Pours its rich luftre o'er her mind,
Propriety her actions guides,
And on her lips ev'n Venus' ſelf abides !
What bleffings fate on thee has fhed,
While fuch the partner of thy bed!-
Our Poet was probably indebted to Horace's JUNCTE NYMPHIS
GRATIÆ DECENTES. Ode iv. L. 1. for his GRATIARUM CURA
DECENTIUM; or it might have been fuggefted by the following moſt
beautiful paffage, in the eighth book of the PARADISE LOST, where Adam,
fpeaking of the motives of his affection for Eve, mentions
thofe GRACEFUL acts,
Thofe thouſand DECENCIES that daily flow
From all her words and actions, mix'd with love
And fweet compliance.
Dr.
:
BOOK I.
19
CIDER.
Of thouſand lovers, the relentleſs hand
Of Death arreft; fhe with the vulgar fell,
Only diſtinguiſh'd by this humble verſe.
165
But, if it pleaſe the Sun's intemp'rate force
To know, attend; whilft I of ancient fame
The annals trace, and image to thy mind,
How our forefathers (luckleſs men!) ingulf'd 170
By the wide-yawning earth, to Stygian fhades
Went quick, in one fad fepulchre enclos'd.
In elder days, ere yet the Roman bands,
Victorious, this our other world fubdu'd,
A ſpacious city ſtood, with firmeſt walls
Sure mounded, and with num'rous turrets crown'd,
Aërial fpires, and citadels, the feat
175
Dr. Johnfon, in his life of Philips, where he mentions this Ode, fug-
gefts the reading ORNAT, in the laft line but one of the paffage cited
above, inſtead of O! O! as it is in moſt of the printed copies, and as
he believed it to have ftood in all; adding, that "he thought it moſt
probable Philips wrote ORNAT.” This conjecture is eftabliſhed by
the copy in the third volume of the MUSE ANGLICANA, printed at
the Clarendon Prefs in 1717, where it is written as above cited.
174. Our other world.]
u
Britain was quite unknown to the Romans until the conqueft of Gaul
by Julius Cæfar; at which time, it appears, the Britons were little known,
even to their neighbours on the oppofite coaft, as Cæfar could procure
but little information refpecting them from thence. It was at firft, there-
fore, called by the Romans the other, or new difcovered, world. Pater-
culus L. ii. C. 46, fpeaking of Cæfar's expedition againſt Britain, fays,
"In Britanniam transjeciffet exercitum, ALTERUM PANE imperio
"noftro ac fuo quærens OR BEM.
So Claudian, CONS. STIL. L. iii. V. 149,
Vincendos ALIO quæfivit in OR BE Britannos.
D 2
Of
20
Book I.
CIDER.
$
Of kings, and heroes refolute in war,
Fam'd Ariconium; uncontrol'd, and free,
Till all-fubduing Latian arms prevail'd.
Then alfo, tho' to foreign yoke fubmifs,
She undemolish'd ftood, and ev'n till now
Perhaps had food, of ancient Britiſh art
A pleaſing monument, not lefs admir'd
178.
Of kings-
the feat
·]
180
A certain tract of land, which lies towards the eaſtern part of Here-
fordfhire, and which is called the Irchinfield, or Archenfield, is faid to
have been governed by kings of its own. How far the Archenfield
extended has been much queſtioned by Antiquaries, fome of whom have
fuppofed it to comprehend the greater part of Herefordshire. Camden
derives the name of Archenfield from Ariconium; we might therefore
ſuppoſe the whole county to have been fo called from its principal city,
and to have formed one of thoſe ſmall Britiſh kingdoms into which our
ifland was once divided. We can, however, have little doubt that
Philips made Ariconium "the feat of kings," from the tradition of
Kings of Irchinfield.
179. Fam'd Ariconium.]
Although Ariconium has generally been fuppofed, by Camden and
other learned antiquaries, to have been fituated at Kenchefter, upon the
banks of the Wye, four miles above Hereford; yet what Mr. Horſley has
fuggefted, from an accurate examination of the diftances of the country
applied to Antoninus's Itinerary, that Kenchefter was the Magna, or
Magna Caftra, of the Romans, has been much confirmed by later en-
quiries. (See Horfley's BRITANNIA ROMANA.)
By the fame mode of inveſtigation Mr. Horſley was alſo led to ſup-
pofe that Ariconium muſt have ſtood fomewhere near Rofs; accordingly
fome Antiquaries have inclined to place it at, or near, Walford in that
neighbourhood. But a more probable fite, and one which exactly an-
fwers the diſtances ſpecified in the Itinerary, has lately been diſcovered
at Bolitree, in the parish of Wefton under Penyard, the adjoining pariſh
to Rofs, where, for a very confiderable ſpace, the ground is fingularly
diſcoloured, being of a dark or blackiſh colour, very different from the
natural foil, which inclines to a dufky red.
Fibulæ, Images, and other Roman Antiquities,
dug up, and ſometimes antient Britiſh Coins.-
lor's map of Herefordſhire, is named Rose, and
ftation.
Here Roman Coins,
have been frequently
-The place, in Tay-
is marked as a Roman
Than
BOOK I.
21
CIDER.
.2
Than what from Attic or Etrufcan hands
185
Aroſe, had not the heav'nly pow'rs averſe
Decreed her final doom: for now the fields
Labor'd with thirſt, Aquarius had not ſhed
His wonted ſhow'rs, and Sirius parch'd with heat
Solſtitial the green herb: hence 'gan relax 190
The ground's contexture, hence Tartarean dregs,
Sulphur, and nitrous fpume, enkindling fierce,
Bellow'd within their darkfome caves, by far
More diſmal than the loud-diſploded roar
Of brazen enginry, that ceaſeleſs ſtorm
189.
Sirius parch'd with heat
Solftitial the green berb-]
Thus Virgil, GEORG. iv. 425.
Jam rapidus torrens fitientes Sirios Indos
Ardebat cœlo; et medium foligneus orbem
Hauferat; arebant herbæ
Now rabid Sirius fcorch'd the gaſping plains,
And burn'd intenfe the panting Indian fwains;
In his mid courſe the fun all fiery ſtood,
Parch'd was the graſs-
191.
Tartarean dregs,
Sulphur and nitrous fpume-
1
Thefe combuftibles are collected from Milton.
TARTAREAN SULPHUR and ſtrange fire.
Deep under-ground materials dark and crude,
Of ſpiritous and fiery SPUME
In a moment up they turn'd
Wide the celeftial foil, and faw beneath
Th' originals of nature in their crude
WARTON.
P. L. ii. 69.
P. L. vi. 478.
Conceptions; SULPHUROUS AND NITROUS foam-
193.
by far
More difmal than the loud-difploded roar
Of brazen enginry, that ceafelefs forms
P. L. vi. 519.
195
The
22
Book I.
CIDER.
The baſtion of a well-built city, deem'd
Impregnable: th' infernal winds, till now
Cloſely impriſon'd, by Titanian warmth
Dilating, and with unctuous vapours fed,
Difdain'd their narrow cells, and, their full ftrength
Collecting, from beneath the ſolid maſs
201
Upheav'd, and all her caſtles, rooted deep,
Shook from their loweſt feat: old Vaga's ſtream,
Forc'd by the fudden ſhock, her wonted track
Forfook, and drew her humid train aflope,
205
Crankling her banks: and now the low'ring fky,
The bastion of a well-built city, deem'd
Impregnable -]
Compare Milton, P. L. ii. 920.
Nor was his ear lefs peal'd
With noiſes loud and ruinous (to compare
Great things with finall) than when Bellona ſtorms,
With all her batt'ring engines bent to raze,
Some capital city-
197. Th' infernal winds, till now
Clofely imprison'd, by Titanian warmth
Dilating, and with unctuous vapours fed,
Difdain'd their narrow cells.]
Our Author fuppofes, according to the Theory of his time, that
earthquakes were cauſed by the fudden exploſion of vapours confined
within the bowels of the earth.
UNCTUOUS VAPOUR is from Milton, P. L. ix. 624.
203.
Old Vaga's ftream,
Forc'd by the ſudden fhock, her wanted track
Forfook, and drew her humid train aflope,
Crankling her banks
-]
The river Wye, or Gwye, has its fource in the Plinlimmon mountain
in North Wales, from whence, having divided Breconfhire and Radnor-
fhire, it paffes through Herefordfhire, and, again feparating Mon-
mouthshire from Gloucestershire, falls into the Severn Sea below Chep-
ftow, having adorned a rich variety of pictureſque ſcenes. "Its banks,'
fays the late Mr. Gray, in a fort of poetical rapture," exhibit a fuc-
" ceffion
i
Book I.
23
CIDER.
And baleful lightning, and the thunder, voice
Of angry gods, that rattled ſolemn, diſmay'd
The finking hearts of men. Where ſhould they turn,
Diſtreſs'd? Whence feek for aid, when from below 210
Hell threatens, and ev'n Fate fupreme gives, ſigns
Of wrath and defolation? Vain were vows,
And plaints, and fuppliant hands, to Heav'n erect.
Yet fome to fanes repair'd, and humble rites
Perform'd to Thor, and Woden, fabled gods, 215
Who with their votʼries in one ruin fhar'd,
Cruſh'd and o'erwhelm'd. Others, in frantic mood,
Run howling thro' the ſtreets: their hideous yells
Rend the dark welkin; Horror ftalks around,
Wild-ſtaring, and his fad concomitant,
"ceffion of nameless beauties.".
220
It derives its old Britiſh name Gwye,
and its Latin name Vaga, from its finuofity.
The meandering courfe of the Wye is particularly noticed by Drayton,
in his Polyolbion. Poffibly Philips had the paffage in his mind, and
borrowed from it the old word CRANKLE.X
But Wye (from her dear Lug, whom nothing can reſtrain,
In many a pleafant fhade her joy to entertain)
To Rofs her courfe directs, and, well her name to ſhew,
Oft windeth in her way, as back ſhe meant to go.
Meander, who is faid fo intricate to be,
Has not fo many turns and CRANKLING Hooks as ſhe.
215. To Thor and Woden.]
POLYOLBION, Song. vii.
Thor and Woden were deities of our Saxon anceſtors, and the antient
northern nations. They are fuppofed to have given names to the fourth and
fifth days of the week, which from them are called Wedneſday, or
Woden's day, and Thurſday, or Thor's day.
219.
Horror ftalks around
Wild-ſtaring, and his fad concomitant,
X "See Lanther River comes me
Defpair,
comes me cranking
cranking an
aynez Land
And cute me from the best part aging
A huge Halfman - a monstrous Pantle out.
4 part 17. 4. Act 3. Geite
24
Book I.
CIDER,
Defpair, of abject look: at ev'ry gate
The thronging populace with haſty ſtrides
Prefs furious, and, too eager of eſcape,
Obſtruct the eaſy way; the rocking town
Supplants their footſteps; to, and fro, they reel 225
Defpair, of abject look.]
This perfonification of the paffions is in the boldeft ftyle of poetry.
Indeed this whole deſcription of the deftruction of Ariconium is ad-
mirable, and ſhews what our Author could have done, had he taken a ſub-
ject of more extent, and truſted more to himſelf.
And here it may
not be improper to notice the late Dr. Johnſon's uncandid application of
a very doubtful reading of a paffage in Cicero, where, in the conclufion
of his account of the life and writings of Philips, he fays, Perhaps
"to his laft Poem may be applied what Tully faid of the work of Lu-
"cretius, that IT IS WRITTEN WITH MUCH ART, THOUGH WITH
FEW BLAZES OF GENIUS."
The learned Reader need not be told, but the Engliſh Reader fhould
know, that there are three various readings of the paffage alluded to, and
that thoſe readings which are found in the earlieſt editions, and are
fupported by fome of the moft refpectable commentators, give a very
oppofite fenfe to that exhibited by the Biographer of our Engliſh Poets.
The more judicious critics have confidered the Poetry of Lucretius as
ftrongly marked with the VIVIDA VIS ANIMI, as more replete with
fire, energy, and ſpirit, than that of any other Latin Poet, not excepting
Virgil himself; and it feems most probable that the Roman Orator
not only thought, but expreffed himſelf, ſo reſpecting it. As the moſt
accurate critic would, probably, thus read the paffage in Cicero's
letter to his brother Quintius, fo may we prefume, the more candid
one would, thus, apply it to the Poem of our Author.
CC
Lita funt multis luminibus ingenii, multæ tamen artis.
EPIST. AD QUINT. FRATR. L. ii. Ep. 11.
They are enriched with many blazes of genius, and at the ſame
"time are compoſed with much poetic ſkill."
Dr. Warton, indeed, fuppofes Cicero to have confidered Lucretius as
one of the greateſt ornaments of Rome; and to this conviction of his
great poetical talents he refers as an explanation of the compliment he
paid Virgil when, on hearing him read his fixth Eclogue, he cried out
in an extafy of admiration, that the author was MAGNE SPES ALTERA
ROMA.
See the Life of Virgil prefixed to DR. WARTON'S TRANSLATION
OF THE ECLOGUES AND GEORGICS.)
Aſtoniſh'd,
BOOK I.
25
CIDER.
Aſtoniſh'd, as o'ercharg'd with wine; when lo!
The ground aduft her riven mouth difparts,
Horrible chaſm profound! with ſwift deſcent
Old Ariconium finks and all her tribes,
Heroes, and fenators, down to the realms
Of endless night. Meanwhile the loofen'd winds,
Infuriate, molten rocks and flaming globes
Hurl'd high above the clouds, till, all their force
225.
To, and fro, they reel
•]
230
Aftonifh'd as o'ercharg'd with wine-
Our Poet had here in his mind the Pfalmift's language in his ſhort, but
fublime deſcription of a ftorm at fea. Pfalm, cvii.
They are carried up to the heavens and down again to the deep: their
"foul melteth away becauſe of the trouble.
"THEY REEL TO AND FRO, AND STAGGER LIKE A DRUNKEN
"MAN: and are at their wits end."
231.
Meanwhile the looſen'd winds,
Infuriate, molten rocks and flaming globes
Hurl'd high above the clouds]
Among the caufes of earthquakes affigned by Buffon, in his Natural
Hiftory, a principal one is the action of fubterraneous fires. Earthquakes
of this fort, he obferves, generally precede the eruptions of volcanoes,
and ſometimes ceaſe the moment the fire opens a paſſage through the
earth.
Our Poet ſeems here to have had an eye to Virgil's fublime defcrip-
tion of Mount Etna in his third ÆNEID, V. 571.
horrificis juxta tonat Ætna ruinis,
Interdumque atram prorumpit ad æthera nubem,
Turbine fumantem piceo et candente favillâ :
Attollitque GLOBOS FLAMMAR UM, et fidera lambit;
Interdum fcopulos avulfaque vifcera montis
Erigit eructans, LIQUEFACTAQUE SAXA fub auras
Cum gemitu glomerat, fundoque exæftuat imo.
But Ætna roars with dreadful ruin nigh,
Now hurls a burſting cloud of cinders high,
Involv'd in fmoky whirlwinds, to the ſky;
With loud diſploſion to the ſtarry frame
Shoots fiery globes and furious floods of flame;
E
by
Now
¡
26
BOOK I.
CIDER.
235
Confum'd, her ravenous jaws th' earth fatiate clos'd.
Thus this fair city fell, of which the name
Survives alone; . nor is there found a mark,
Whereby the curious paffenger may learn
Her ample ſite, fave coins, and moldering urns,
And huge unwieldy bones, laſting remains
Of that gigantic race; which, as he breaks
The clotted glebe, the ploughman haply finds,
Appall'd. Upon that treacherous tract of land
She whilom ftood; now Ceres, in her prime,
Now from her bellowing caverns burſt away
Vaft piles of melted rocks in open day,
Her fhatter'd entrails wide the mountain throws,
And deep in hell her burning centre glows.
238.
fave coins, and moldering urns,
And huge unwieldy bones, lafting remains
Of that gigantic race; which, as he breaks
The clotted glebe, the ploughman haply finds,
Appall'd.
]
PITT.
240
This is a very fine imitation of a very fine paffage in Virgil's first
GEORGIC, V. 493.
Scilicet et tempus veniet, cum finibus illis
Agricola, incurvo terram molitus aratro,
Exefa inveniet fcabrâ rubigine pila :
Aut gravibus raftris galeas pulfabit inanes,
Grandiaque effofis mirabitur offa fepulchris.
The time at length fhall come when lab'ring fwains,
As with their ploughs they turn thefe guilty plains,
'Gainft hollow helms their heavy drags ſhall ſtrike,
And claſh 'gainſt many a fword and ruſty pike,
View the vast graves with horror and amaze,
And at huge bones of giant heroes gaze.
242.
upon that treacherous tract of land
She whilom food; now Ceres, in her prime,
WARTON.
Smiles
Book I.
27
CIDER.
245
Smiles fertile, and, with ruddieſt freight bedeck'd,
The Apple-tree, by our forefather's blood
Improv'd, that now recalls the devious Mufe,
Urging her deſtin'd labors to purſue.
The prudent will obferve, what paffions reign
In various plants; for not to man alone,
But all the wide creation, Nature gave
Love and averfion. Everlafting hate
The Vine to Ivy bears, nor leſs abhors
250
The Colewort's ranknefs, but with amorous twine
Clafps the tall Elm. The Pæftan Roſe unfolds
Smiles fertile, and, with ruddieft freight bedeck'd,
The Apple-tree, by our forefather's blood
Improv'd]
Thus Ovid, EPIST. HEROIC. I. 53.
Nunc feges eft ubi Troja fuit, refecandaque falce
Luxuriat Phrygio fanguine pinguis humus.
Now Ceres fmiles where Troy town whilom flood;
The fertile foil, improv'd by Phrygian blood,
Abundant crops in rich luxuriance yields,
And calls the fickle to its loaded fields.
253.
But with amorous twine
]
Clafps the tall Elm
The Ancients uſed elms as props to their vines. Hence the expreffion
of marrying the vine to the elm was fo common, that not only the Roman
Poets, but their Profe-writers on agriculture, frequently uſe the phrafes
of NUPTA VITIS and MARITA ULMUS, the wedded vine and the
bufband elm.
Milton makes the marrying the vine to the elm one of the employments
of Adam and Eve in Paradife, where, after they had fung their beautiful
morning hymn, in the fifth book of the PARADISE LOST, he deſcribes
them proceeding to their "morning's rural work"
Among fweet dews and flow'rs; where any row
Of fruit-trees, over-woody, reach'd too far
Their pamper'd boughs, and needed hands to check
Fitlefs embraces: or they led the VINE
E 2
•
To
28
Book I.
CIDER.
Her bud more lovely near the fetid Leek,
Creſt of ſtout Britons, and enhances thence
TO WED HER ELM; fhe fpous'd about him twines
Her marriageable arms, and with her brings
Her dower, th' adopted cluſters, to adorn
His barren leaves.
254. The Paftan Rofe unfolds
Her bud more lovely near the fetid Leek- -]
255
Our Author has taken this part of his Poem from the PRÆDIUM
RUSTICUM of the Jefuit Vaniere; to whom, however, it ſhould be
obferved that he is in general but little indebted.
HOC ODIUM eft, et AMOR tacitus, quo dicitur herbam
Herba fequi, VERSIS RETRO vel cedere FIBRIS.
INDE ROSIS GAUDENT PROPIORIBUS ALLIA; RUTHAM
FICUS AMAT; diverfa trahunt quia pabula terris:
Atque eadem contra vicinam rutha cicutam
Emaciat, rorique nocet faliunca marino;
Communem rapiat quòd edacior altera fuccum :
Herbam non aliis interficit herba venenis.
PRÆDIUM RUSTICUM. L. 8. V.
Hence that averfion and that fecret love
Afcrib'd to plants, while one the other feeks,
Or with averted fibres fhrinks away.
Thus in contiguous rofes garlic joys;
The fig is fond of rue; becauſe each draws
From out the earth a food of different fort:
But rue itſelf, o'th' contrary, much
Will injure hemlock that is planted near,
And fage is hurtful found to roſemary ;
For one, more gluttonous, that moiſture drains
Which both require. Thus plants each other kill,
Nor need they other noxious qualities.
• 205.
Mr. Swinburne, in his Travels in the Two Sicilies, fpeaking of Peſto,
the ancient Pæftum, fays, "The Pæftan rofe, from its peculiar fragrance
" and the fingularity of blowing twice a year, is often mentioned with
"predilection by the claffic poets. The wild rofe, which now fhoots
દ up among the ruins, is of the fmall damaſk kind, with a very high
perfume. As a farmer affured me on the fpot, it flowers both in
fpring and autumn.
66
256. Creft of stout Britons]
The cuftom of the Welch wearing a Leek, in honour of their Patron
Saint, is thus accounted for by our old poet Drayton, in his POLYOL-
BION, Song, iv.
The
!
BOOK I.
29
CIDER.
The price of her celeftial fcent. The Gourd,
And thirſty Cucumber, when they perceive
Th' approaching Olive, with refentment fly
Her fatty fibres, and with tendrils creep
Diverſe, deteſting contact; whilft the Fig
Contemns not Rue, nor Sage's humble leaf
Cloſe-neighbouring. Th' Herefordian plant
Careffes freely the contiguous Peach,
Hazel, and weight-refifting Palm, and likes
The Britons, like devout, their meffengers direct
To David, that he wou'd their ancient right protect :
260
265
'Mongſt Hatt'rill's lofty hills, that with the clouds are crown'd,
The valley Ewias lies, immur'd fo deep and round,
As they below, that fee the mountains rife fo high,
Might think the ftraggling herds were grazing in the ſky:
Which in it fuch a fhape of folitude doth bear,
As nature at the firft appointed it for prayer;
Where in an aged cell with mofs and ivy grown,
In which not to this day the fun hath ever fhone,
That rev'rend Britiſh Saint, in zealous ages paſt,
To contemplation liv'd; and did fo truly faft,
As he did only drink what cryftal Hodney yields,
And fed upon the leeks he gather'd in the fields.
In memory of whom, in the revolving year,
The Welchmen on his day that facred herb do wear.
265.
Weight-refifting Palm]
The introduction of the Palm-tree into the neighbourhood of an
Herefordshire Apple-tree is fo extraordinary, that one might be tempted
to hazard a verbal criticiſm, by ſuggeſting the reading Plum for Palm,
were it not for the epithet WEIGHT-RESISTING.
The afcribing that property to the Palm-tree, has ancient authority
on its fide. Plutarch affirms that, "If you fufpend a piece of Palm-
tree wood in an horizontal pofition, and lay any heavy weight upon
it, inftead of yielding under its preffure, it will bend the contrary way,
"as refifting againſt it."
Φοίνικος γαρ ξυλον αν ανωθεν επιθεις βαρυπιεζης, ο κατω θλιβομενον ενδίδωσιν,
αλλα κυρτόται προς τεναντίον, ώσπερ ανθισάμενον τῷ βιαζομένῳ. PLUTARCH.
SYMPOS. L. 8. C. 5.
T'approach
30
BOOK I.
CIDER.
T'approach the Quince, and th' Elder's pithy ſtem;
Uneafy feated by funereal Yew,
Or Walnut, whofe malignant touch impairs
All generous fruits, or near the bitter dews
Of Cherries. Therefore weigh the habits well 270
Of plants, how they affociate beft, nor let
Ill neighbourhood corrupt thy hopeful graffs.
Would'ft thou thy vats with generous juice fhould
Reſpect thy orchats: think not, that the trees [froth,
Spontaneous will produce an wholeſome draught. 275
Let Art correct thy breed: from parent bough
A fcion meetly fever; after force
A way into the crab-ſtock's cloſe-wrought grain
By wedges, and within the living wound
274.
Think not that the trees
Spontaneous will produce a wholeſome draught]
Sponte fuâ quæ fe tollunt in luminis oras
Infœcunda quidem
VIRG. GEORG. ii. 47.
WARTON.
The trees whoſe ſhades fpontaneous pierce the ſkies
Are barren
276.
From parent bough
Afcion meetly fever; after force
A way into the crab-ftock's cloſe-wrought grain
By wedges, and within the living wound
Encloſe the fofter twig :
Aut rurfum enodes trunci refecantur, et alte
Finditur in folidum cuneis via; deinde feraces
Plantæ immittuntur
VIRG. GEORG. ii. 78.
Or thro' the poliſh'd trunk they wedge their way,
And in the chaẩm infert a lufty ſpray,
WARTON.
Enclofe
BOOK I.
31
CIDER.
Encloſe the fofter twig: nor, over nice,
Refuſe with thine own hands around to ſpread
The binding clay: erelong their differing veins
Unite, and kindly nouriſhment convey
280
To the new pupil; now he ſhoots his arms
With quickeſt growth; now, ſhake the teeming trunk,
Down rain th' impurpled balls, ambroſial fruit. 286
Whether the Wilding's fibres are contriv'd
To draw th' earth's pureft ſpirit, and reſiſt
Its feculence, which in more porous ſtocks
Of Cider-plants finds paffage free, or elſe
The native verjuice of the Crab, deriv'd
Thro' th' infix'd graff, a grateful mixture forms
Of tart and fweet; whatever be the cauſe,
This doubtful progeny, by niceſt taſtes
Expected, beſt acceptance finds, and pays
Largeft revenues to the orchat-lord.
290
295
Some think the Quince and Apple would combine
In happy union; others fitter deem
286.
impurpled balls]
Spencer defcribes the foreft wildings"
Whoſe fides IMPURPLED were with ſmiling red.
295.
FAERY QUEEN, B. 3. C. 7. S. 16.
and pays
Largeſt revenues to the orchat-lord]
We might fancy our Author was here indebted to Dryden's tranflation
of the fecond GEORGIC.
no fields afford
So large an income to the village-lord.
V. 284.
The
32
BOOK I.
CIDER.
The Sloe-ftem, bearing fylvan Plums auftere.
Who knows but both may thrive? howe'er, what loſs
To try the powers of both, and ſearch how far 301
Two different natures may concur to mix
In cloſe embraces, and ſtrange offspring bear?
Thou'lt find that plants will frequent changes try
Undamag'd, and their marriageable arms
Conjoin with others. So Silurian plants
Admit the Peach's odoriferous globe,
And Pears of fundry forms; at different times
Adopted Plums will alien branches grace;
303. and firange offspring bear]
This is Virgil's,
Non fua Poma.
305. Their marriageable arms.]
GEORG. ii. 82.
305
MARRIAGEABLE ARMS is from Milton. The paffage has been
already cited in the note on V. 253.
306. Silurian.
In the ancient divifion of our Iſland, the Silures comprehended Hereford-
ſhire, Radnorſhire, Monmouthshire, Breconſhire, and Glamorganſhire.
The Silures are faid to have been fo called, quafi filveftres, from the
woodineſs of their country, a fylvarum umbris quas habitabant.
Silurian plants
Admit the Peach's odoriferous globe
And Pears of fundry forms; at different times
Adopted Plums will alien branches grace;
And men have gathered from the Hawthorn's branch
Large Medlars, imitating regal crowns.]
Philips feems here to have had in view a paffage in the GEORGICS,
which has been much cenfured, particularly by our great Engliſh Botanift
Miller, as containing a doctrine refpecting grafting, which experiment
has demonftrated to be impracticable.
Inferitur vero ex foetu nucis arbutus horrida,
Et fteriles platani malos geffere valentes,
Caftaneæ fagos, ornufque incanuit albo
Flore pyri; glandemque fues fregere fub ulmis.
GEORG. ii. 69.
On
Book I.
33
CIDER.
And men have gather'd from the Hawthorn's branch
Large Medlars, imitating regal crowns.
311
Nor is it hard to beautify each month
With files of party-color'd fruits, that pleaſe
The tongue and view at once. So Maro's Mufe,
Thrice facred Mufe! commodious precepts gives 315
Inftructive to the fwain, not wholly bent
On what is gainful: fometimes fhe diverts
From folid counfels, fhews the force of love
On th' horrid arbute graft the walnut's fpray,
Or bid with apples barren planes lock gay;
Oft has the beech improv'd the chefnut ucre,
The wild-afh ftood with pear-tree bloffoms hoar,
}
WARTON.
And fwine beneath the elm have crack'd the mafty ſtore.
310. From the Hawthorn's bough.]
Medlars are grafted either on pear-stocks or hawthorns.
314.
So Maro's Mrfe,
Thrice facred Mufe! commodicus precepts gives
Inftructive to the fain; not wholly bent
On what is gainful: fometimes fhe diverts
From folid counfels
]
Although the Poet (fays Dr. Warton, in his REFLECTIONS ON
"DIDACTIC POETRY fubjoined to his elegant tranflation of the
Georgics) delivers his precepts in the moft artful manner imaginable,
" and renders them as palatable as poffible, yet the reader will foon be
difgufted with a continued feries of inftruction, if his mind be not
relieved, at proper intervals, by pleafing digreffions of various kinds.
"naturally arifing from the main fubject, and clofely connected with it.
"If Virgil had confined himself merely to agriculture, and had never
"inferted in his poem the prodigies that attended the death of Julius
Cæfar, the Praiſes of Italy, the Chariot Race, the Scythian Winter
Piece, the Happinefs of a Country Life, the Loves of the Beaſts,
and the pathetic Defeription of the Flague among the Cattle; his
Georgics, though abounding with the most ufeful rules delivered with
dignity and grace united, would never have been the delight and
" admiration of his own and all fucceeding ages.
318.
fhews the force of love
F
In
34
Book I.
CIDER.
In favage beafts; how virgin face divine
Attracts the hapless youth thro' ftorms and waves, 320
In favage beasts.]
The admired deſcription of the "Loves of the Beaſts," here referred
to, is in the third GEORGIC. The paffage is too long to infert both the
original and the tranflation: it is therefore here given from Dr. Warton's
excellent verfion, which has fuch peculiar merit that, while it is a very
clofe tranflation, it reads with all the fpirit of originality.
Thus man and beaft, the tenants of the flood,
The herds that graze the plain, the feathery brood,
Ruſh into love and feel the general flame;
For love is lord of all, and is in all the fame.
'Tis with this rage the mother lion ſtung
Prowls o'er the plain, regardlefs of her young.
'Tis then the fhapeleſs bear with ſcenes of blood,
With murd'rous deeds, pollutes th' affrighted wood:
Then boars in fight with double warmth engage,
And the grim tygrefs calls forth all her rage.
Ah! wretched then the traveller who ftrays
Forlorn o'er Lybia's unfrequented ways!
See, what thick pants the ftallions fires declare,
Whene'er in tainted gales he fcents the mare;
Nor curbs, nor tort'ring whips his rage reftrain,
And mountains rife to check his flight in vain;
In vain the torrent rolls, that tumbling fweeps
The maffy fragment from the craggy fteeps.
Rufhes the Sabine boar, and rends the ground,
And whets his tufk to ftrike the furer wound,
Rubs his rough fides againſt th' accuftom'd oak,
And difciplines his brawn to bear the rival's ſtroke.
319.
how virgin face divine
Attracts the hapless youth.]
VIRGIN FACE DIVINE is from Milton's
Human face divine: P. L. iii. 44.
Which was poffibly ſuggeſted by Ovid's
Os homini fublime dedit: cœlumque tueri
Juffit, et erectos ad fidera tollere vultus.
MET. 1. 85.
The well-known ftory of Hero and Leander is thus introduced by
Virgil in his third GEORGIC.
Quid juvenis magnum cui verfat in offibus ignem
Durus amor? nempe abruptis turbata procellis
Nocte natat cœcâ ferus freta: quem fuper ingens
Porta tonat cœli, et fcopulis inlifa reclamant
Equora; nec miferi poffunt revocare parentes,
Nec moritura fuper crudeli funere virgo.
V. 258.
How
t
BOOK I.
35
CIDER.
Alone, in deep of night; then ſhe deſcribes
How fares the youth who feels the pleafing pain
His marrow pierce and throb thro' every vein?
In darkneſs drear he fwims the ftormy main;
Above from heav'ns high gate the thunder roars,
The daſhing waves re-echo round the ſhores;
Nor weeping parents, nor the fated fair
Retards his courfe, too foon his cruel death to ſhare.
WARTON.
}
Did not almoſt the whole tribe of critics agree in making the Poem of
Hero and Leander, which goes under the name of Mufæus, a compofition
much below the time of Virgil, it might be fancied that he was not
unacquainted with it, but had in his mind, when he wrote the paffage
cited above, the following highly-finished defcription of the ftorm, in
which Leander is fuppofed to periſh.
Νυξ ἦν, εὔτε μαλιςα βαρυπνείονες αῆται,
Χειμερίης πνοιῆσιν ακοντίζοντες αήται,
Αθροον εμπιπλεσιν επι ρηγμίνι θαλασσης.
Δη τολε Λειανδρος περ' εθήμονος ελπιδι νυμφης
Δυσκελαδων πεφορητο θαλασσαίων επι νωλών.
Ηδη κυματι κυμα κυλινδετο. συγχυτο δ' ύδως,
Αιθερο μισγέλο πολος ανεγρετο παιλοθεν ηχη
Μαρναμένων ανέμων. ζεφυρῳ δ' αντεπνεν εὗρος,
Και νοτος ες βορέην μεγαλας αφέηκεν απειλας.
Και κτυπος ἣν αλιάτος ερισμαραγοιο θαλασσης.
'Twas night; and now with deeper roar the winds,
Winds by fell winter arm'd with fiercer blaſts,
Burft in redoubled rage upon the fhore.
Ev'n then Leander, urged by fond defire
T'enfold his much-lov'd fair, again was borne
On the ftrong furges of the foaming main.
Now billows roll'd on billows; now the clouds
In gufhing torrents pour'd; the fea and ſky
Knew no diftinction, while on every fide
Rofe the loud clangor of conflicting winds.
The furious Eaft warr'd with the Weſtern blaſt
The South defied the North: dire was the din
Of ocean rent by the wide-fwelling ftorm.
The above attempt to render the cited paffage is offered, becauſe the
only tranſlation of the Poem, to which the Editor has immediate re-
courfe, is one, more bold than correct, publiſhed in the year 1773, with
only the initials of the Author's name, E. B, G.- This tranflation
is however accompanied with an opinion, concerning the true date of the
original Poem, which deferves our attention.
The Tranflator fuppofes, that "the Poem, as originally written,
• boaſted an earlier date than the days of Mufæus the Grammarian;
F 2
" and
36
Book I.
CIDER.
The Scythian winter, nor diſdains to fing
How under ground the rude Riphæan race
"and that this Mufæus, in whofe hands it might have been lodged by
"the revolutions of time, probably fupplied cafual omiffions, and re-
"duced the mangled carcafe into a more regular form; either himſelf,
"or others little fitted to the task, tinging it with thoſe blemiſhes, which
difplay too many inftances of officious inequality."
66
'
He adds, "It may be reaſonably fuppofed, that this romantic hiſtory
was of a very ancient origin; and that the earlier age of Poefy muſt
"have recommended it to fome author of peculiar eminence. It cannot
"be prefumed to have flept unnoticed till the more recent æra of Mufæus
"the Grammarian.
>>
322. The Scythian winter.]
Connoiffeurs in Poetry have conſidered the Scythian Winter-piece, in the
third GEORGIC, as one of the Capital Paintings of Virgil. "The Scythian
Winter-piece," fays Mr. Addiſon, appears fo very cold and bleak to
"the eye, that a man can ſcarce look on it without fhuddering."
Dr. Warton's Copy is at once fo correct and maſterly, that there is little
need of any apology for not prefenting the Reader with the Original,
Not fo in Scythia fhepherds tend their ſheep,
Where fad Mootis fpreads his fable deep;
Thick yellow fands where Ifter's torrents roll,
And Rhodope returns to meet the pole.
Their flocks they fall; for o'er the unfruitful ſcene
Nor fields, nor trees are cloth'd in lively green :
One wafte of fnow the joyless landfcape lies,
Seven ells in height the ridgy drifts arife.
There fill the bitter blafts of winter dwell,
Nor the fun's rays the paly fhade difpel,
When firft he climbs his noon-tide courfe, or laves
His headlong car in ocean's purple waves.
Th'encroaching ice the loit'ring current feels,
And on its bofom bears the ftudded wheels. '
Where once the ftately bark was wont to ride,
Waggons, thro' paths unknown, fecurely glide.
Oft from the veſel burts the brazen band,
Stiff round their fides their frozen garments ftand.
With fharpen'd feel they cleave the huraid wine,
And chains of folid ice whole lakes confine;
Their matted beards, by the keen climate frore,
With hanging icicles are hard and hoar.
Meantime the fkies are dim with falling fnows,
Thick clouds of fleet th' unwieldy ox inclofe,
In growing heaps benumb'd, the crowding deer
Scarce from beneath their branching antlers rear;
Nor
BOOK I.
37
CIDER.
Mimic brifk Cider with the brake's product wild,
Sloes pounded, Hips, and Servis' harſheſt juice. 325
Let fage Experience teach thee all the arts
Of grafting, and in-eyeing; when to lop
Nor them with hounds the hunter train ſurpriſe,
With nets, or feathers dipt in purple dies
But with the fword invade them, while in vain
Againſt the huge reluctant load they ſtrain,
While void of help in piteous founds they bray;
Then home with fhouts of triumph bear the prey.
323. How under ground the rude Riphaan race
Mimic brifk Cider with the brake's product wild,
Sloes pounded, Hips, and Servis' harfheft juice.]
WARTON.
The account of the northern nations making a vinous liquor, from the
fruit of the fervis-tree, is given in the third GEORGIC. V. 376.
Ipfi in defoffis fpecubus fecura fub altâ
Ötia agunt terrâ, congeftaque robora, totaſque
Advolvere focis ulmos, ignique dedere.
Hic noctem ludo ducunt, et pocula læti
Fermento atque acidis imitantur vitea forbis.
To fubterraneous caves the natives fly,
T'avoid the winter's keen ſeverity;
There many a pile of flaming oak they raiſe;
Heap on whole elms at once, and bid them blaze;
No toil they know, their nights with ſports are crown'd,
While jovial goblets circle gaily round,
For not unfkilful are they to produce
A mimic wine from fervis' harfheft juice.
Philips's allufion, to the above paffage, feems not to be on account
of any particular merit in the paffage itſelf, or of its varying from the
defcription of the northern winter, of which it is really a continuation ;
but we may ſuppoſe it introduced here, to afford him an opportunity of
fliding back again into his ſubject.
327.
In-eyeing.]
The Greeks termed the operation of budding Evoplarious, and the
Latins from them inoculatio; and fo we fometimes call it inoculating,
which Philips elevates into in-eyeing.Virgil defcribes the method of
budding, or inoculating, in his fecond GEORGIC, V. 74; where he
directs the bud to be inferted in a little aperture made where an original
"bud grew."
quà
38
Book I.
CIDER.
The flowing branches; what trees anſwer beft
From root, or kernel. She will beft the hours
Of harveſt, and feed-time declare: by her
The different qualities of things were found,
And fecret motions; how with heavy bulk
Volatile Hermes, fluid and unmoiſt,
Mounts on the wings of air: to her we owe
330
The Indian weed, unknown to ancient times, 335
Nature's choice gift, whofe acrimonious fume
Extracts fuperfluous juices, and refines
The blood distemper'd from its noxious falts;
Friend to the fpirits, which with
vapors bland
It gently mitigates; companion fit
quà fe medio trudunt de cortice gemmæ
Et tenues rumpunt tunicas, anguftus in ipfo
Fit nodo finus; huc aliena ex arbore germen
Includunt, udoque docent inolefcere libro.
340
But P. Vaniere, in his Prædium Rufticum, notices this as erroneous, and
fays "the incifion fhould be made where the rind is perfectly ſmooth,"
which is now the common practice.
fiffus fcalpro cortex aperitur acuto:
Non tamen (ut Vatum princeps monftrabat) in ipfo
Quà tunicas oculus rumpit, fit rimula nodo;
Sed potius quà fe nullum de cortice trudet
Germen, ubi nitidus locus eft, et nulla cicatrix.
334.
The Indian weed]
to her ave ove
The invention of the Barometer might juftly be afcribed to experience
(or rather to experiment); but how can we be faid to owe to either of
thefe the diſcovery of Tobacco? Our Author muft mean the diſcovery
of its medicinal qualities, and not of the herb itfelf, to the fmoking of
which he was particularly addicted, as he fancied it relieved an asthmatic
complaint with which he was much afflicted, and which put a period to
his life two years after the publication of this poem,
Of
BOOK I.
39
CIDER.
Of pleaſantry and wine; nor to the bards
Unfriendly, when they to the vocal ſhell
Warble melodious their well-labor'd fongs.
She found the polifh'd glafs, whofe fmall convex
Enlarges to ten millions of degrees
The mite, invifible elfe, of Nature's hand
Leaft animal, and fhews what laws of life
341.
nor to the bards
Unfriendly, when they to the vocal shell
Warble melodious their well-labor'd jongs.]
345
The cuſtom of ſmoking was very general in Philips's time, and was
particularly fanctioned, in his college, by the practice of its very learned
head, Dr. Aldridge, at that time Dean of Chrift Church. Antony
Alfop, a cotemporary, and fellow-collegian of our Author, begins a
fapphic ode, which he addreffed to the Rev. Sir John Dolben, abſolutely
with his pipe in his mouth.
Dum TUBUM, ut mos eft meus, ORE VERSANS
Martiis penfo quid agem calendis;
Pone ftat Sapho, monitifque mifcet
Blanda feveris.
Blowing my pipe, as cuftom taught,
One Lenten morn, and bufying thought
How beft to ſpend the day;
Sapho foft whifp'ring ſtood behind,
Mingling with threats monition kind,
And faid, or feem'd to ſay ;
From the Tranſlation published, with the Ode, in the Gentleman's Maga-
zine, for 1735. P. 384.
346 The mite, invifible elfe, of nature's hand
Leaft animal, &c. &c.]
We cannot well pafs by thefe lines without remarking how, from the
moſt common experiment with the Microfcope, the Poet has taken occafion
to introduce a moft truly poetical defcription of mites in cheeſe, and
with what admirable addrefs he returns to his fubject.
We ſhould be tempted, however, to call his natural philofophy in
queftion, where he files the mite "the leaft animal of nature's hand,”
were it only for the fake of correcting fuch an error by the following
exquifite paffage of a later Poet.
Gradual from thefe what numerous kinds defcend,
Evading ev'n the microſcopic eye!
Full
40
Book I.
CIDER.
The cheeſe-inhabitants obferve, and how
Fabrick their manſions in the harden'd milk,
Wonderful artifts! But, the hidden ways
350
Of Nature would'ſt thou know, how firſt ſhe frames
All things in miniature, thy fpecular orb
Apply to well-diffected kernels; lo!
Strange forms ariſe, in each a little plant
Unfolds its boughs: obferve the flender threads 355
Of firſt beginning trees, their roots, their leaves,
In narrow feeds defcrib'd; thou'lt wondering fay,
An inmate orchat ev'ry apple boaſts.
Full Nature fwarms with life; one wonderous maſs
Of animals or atoms organiz'd,
Waiting the vital breath, when Parent Heaven
Shall bid his fpirit blow. The hoary fen,
In putrid fteams, emits the living cloud
Of peftilence. Through fubterranean cells,
Where fearching fun-beams fcarce can find a way,
Earth animated heaves. The flowery leaf
Wants not its foft inhabitants. Secure,
Within its winding citadel, the ftone
Holds multitudes. But chief the foreft boughs,
That dance unnumber'd to the playful breeze,
The downy orchard, and the melting pulp.
Of mellow fruit, the nameless nations feed
Of evanefcent infects. Where the pool
Stands mantled o'er with green, inviſible
Amid the floating verdure millions ftray.
Each liquid too, whether it pierces, fooths,
Inflames, refreſhes, or exalts the taſte,
With various forms abounds. Nor is the ftream
Of pureft cryſtal, nor the lucid air,
Tho' one tranfparent vacancy it feems,
Void of its unfeen people. Thefe, conceal'd
By the kind art of forming heaven, eſcape
The groffer eye of man.
Thomfon's SUMMER, V. 287.
Thus
Book I.
41
CIDER.
Thus all things by Experience are diſplay'd,
And most improv❜d. Then fedulouſly think 360
To meliorate thy ftock; no way, nor rule
Be unaffay'd; prevent the morning ſtar
Affiduous, nor with the weſtern fun
Surceaſe to work. Lo! thoughtful of thy gain,
Not of my own, I all the livelong day
365
Confume in meditation deep, reclufe
From human converfe, nor, at ſhut of eve,
Enjoy repoſe; but oft at midnight lamp
Ply my brain-racking ftudies, if by chance
Thee I may counſel right; and oft this care
Diſturbs me flumbering. Wilt thou then repine
To labor for thy felf, and rather chufe
To lie fupinely, hoping Heav'n will blefs
370
Thy flighted fruits, and give thee bread unearn'd?
"Twill profit, when the ſtork, fworn foe of ſnakes,
Returns, to fhew compaffion to thy plants,
360.
Then fedoulouſly think
-]
To meliorate thy stock;
376
The fame expreffion, on the fame ſubject, occurs in Sir John Denham's
Poetical Imitation of Cicero's Cato Major.
But when we graft or buds inoculate,
Nature by art we nobly MELIORATE.
at ſhut of eve,]
367.
Milton has
375.
Returns,
AT SHUT of evening flowers,
P. L. ix. 278.
when the ftork, fworn foe of fnakes,
-]
Here is another undeniable mark of imitation. (See note on V. 27.)
{
G
The
1
42
BOOK I.
CIDER.
Fatigu'd with breeding. Let the arched knife
Well ſharpen'd now affail the ſpreading fhades
Of vegetables, and their thirſty limbs
Diffever for the genial moiſture, due
:
To apples, otherwife mifpends itſelf
In barren twigs, and, for th' expected crop,
380
385
Naught but vain fhoots and empty leaves abound.
When fwelling buds their odorous foliage ſhed,
And gently harden into fruit, the wife
Spare not the little offsprings, if they grow
Redundant; but the thronging cluſters thin
By kind avulfion: elfe the ftarveling brood,
Void of fufficient fuftenance, will yield
A flender autumn; which the niggard foul
Too late fhall weep, and curfe his thrifty hand,
That would not timely eafe the ponderous boughs.
It much conduces all the cares to know
Of gardening; how to fcare nocturnal thieves;
390
The Stork, a bird of paffage, comes into Italy in the Spring. It does
not appear that Storks ever come into England; but our Author has taken
this circumftance, which marks the Italian Spring, from Virgil's fecond
GEORGIC, V. 319.
Cum vere rubenti
Candida venit avis longis invifa colubris.
in bluſhing Spring's freſh bloom
When the white bird, the dread of fnakes, is come.
WARTON.
Storks, we are told by Pliny, were held in fuch efteem in Theffaly,
for defroying ferpents, that it was made a capital crime to kill them.
And
Book I.
43
CIDER.
And how the little race of birds, that hop
From ſpray to ſpray, ſcooping the coſtlieſt fruit,
Infatiate undiſturb'd. Priapus' form
Avails but little; rather guard each row
With the falfe terrors of a breathlefs kite.
395
This done, the timorous flock with ſwifteft wing 400
Scud through the air; their fancy reprefents
His mortal talons and his ravenous beak
Deſtructive; glad to fhun his hoftile gripe,
They quit their thefts, and unfrequent the fields.
Befides, the filthy fwine will oft invade
Thy firm encloſure, and with delving fnout
The rooted foreſt undermine: forthwith
Halloo thy furious maſtiff; bid him vex
The noxious herd, and print upon their ears
A fad memorial of their paſt offence.
405
410
The flagrant Procyon will not fail to bring
Large fhoals of flow houſe-bearing fnails, that creep
O'er the ripe fruitage, paring flimy tracks
In the fleek rinds, and unpreft Cider drink.
397. Priapus
Priapus, a heathen Deity, was held by the Ancients to be the guar-
dian of vineyards and gardens, where a ridiculous and obfcene figure of
him was commonly placed, and ferved as a ſcare-crow.
411.-
flagrant Procyon]
FLAGRANTIS atrax hora caniculæ,
HOR. L. III. Ode. xiii.
G 2
No
44
Book I.
CIDER.
No art averts this peft; on thee it lies
415
With morning and with ev'ning hand to rid
The preying reptiles; nor, if wife, wilt thou
Decline this labor, which itſelf rewards
With pleafing gain, whilft the warm limbec draws
Salubrious waters from the nocent brood.
420
Myriads of wafps now alſo cluſtering hang,
And drain a fpurious honey from thy groves,
Their winter food; tho' oft repuls'd, again
They rally, undiſmay'd: but fraud with eaſe
Enfnares the noifome fwarms; let ev'ry bough 425
Bear frequent vials, pregnant with the dregs
Of Moyle, or Mum, or Treacle's viſcous juice;
They, by th' alluring odor drawn, in haſte
Fly to the dulcet cates, and crowding fip
Their palatable bane; joyful thou❜lt fee
The clammy furface all o'er-ftrown with tribes
Of greedy infects, that with fruitleſs toil
Flap filmy pennons oft, to extricate
Their feet, in liquid fhackles bound, till death
Bereave them of their worthlefs fouls.
Waits luxury and lawleſs love of gain.
420.
whilst the warm limbec draws
Salubrious caters from the nocent brood.]
430
Such doom
436
Water diftill'd from fnails was a faſhionable medicine in the laft
century; and was thought particularly good in confumptions.
Howe'er
Book I.
45
CIDER.
Howe'er thou may'ft forbid external force,
Inteſtine evils will prevail. Damp airs,
And rainy winters, to the centre pierce
Of firmeſt fruits, and by unfeen decay
proper reliſh vitiate
reliſh vitiate: then the Grub
The
Oft, unobſerv'd, invades the vital core,
Pernicious tenant, and her fecret cave
Enlarges hourly, preying on the pulp
440
Ceafelefs; meanwhile the apple's outward form 445
Delectable the witleſs ſwain beguiles,
Till, with a writhen mouth and ſpattering noiſe,
He taftes the bitter morfel, and rejects
Difrelifh'd; not with lefs furpriſe, than when
Embattled troops with flowing banners pafs
445.
meanwhile the apple's outward form
Delectable the witlefs fwain beguiles,
'Till, with a writhen mouth and spatt'ring noiſe,
He tastes the bitter morfel, and rejects
Difrel fh'd; not with lefs furprije, than when
Emballed troops, Sc. &c.
]
450
Our Poet here refumes fomething of the burlefque ftile of the Splendid
Shilling, in defcribing the ridiculous circumftance of any perfon's eagerly
eating a fair-looking apple, that is grub-eaten within. He has, indeed,
been much cenfured by judicious Critics, for frequently debafing his
Poem with paffages bordering on burlefque, and for introducing many
images that excite laughter, and are contrary to the majefty of the
Didactic Mufe. This defcription and fimile have been particularly
arraigned in this refpect. Yet in the firit he may be traced to a paffage in
the PARADISE LOST, where Milton, alfo fomewhat ludicroufly, de-
fcribes the fallen Angels greedily attempting to eat fruit fimilar to that
of the forbidden tree, which feemed to ſpring up before them, and
chewing only duft and bitter aſhes.
they, fondly thinking to allay
Their appetite with guft, instead of fruit
Chew'd
46
BOOK I.
CIDER.
Through flowery meads delighted, nor diftruft
The ſmiling furface, whilſt the cavern'd ground,
With grain incentive ftor'd, by fudden blaze
Burſts fatal, and involves the hopes of war
In fiery whirls; full of victorious thoughts,
Torn and diſmember'd, they aloft expire.
Now turn thine eye to view Alcinous'
groves,
455
Chew'd bitter afhes, which th' offended taſte
WITH SPATTERING NOISE
NOISE REJECTED: oft they affay'd,
Hunger and thirſt conſtraining, drug'd as oft,
With hatefulleft DISRELISH WRITH'D THEIR JAWS
With foot and cinders fill'd
457.
Alcinous' groves.]
P. L. x. 564.
Homer's defcription of the garden of Alcinous is curious, as giving
us an idea of the gardens of the Ancients. In this place it is fufficient to
exhibit it in the harmonious verfification of Mr. Pope, with whom it was
probably a favourite paffage, as he felected it from the other parts of
Homer's works, and publifhed a tranſlation of it, in the Guardian, before
he attempted the reft.
Clofe to the gates a fpacious garden lies,
From ftorms defended and inclement fkies.
Four acres was th' allotted ſpace of ground,
Fenc'd with a green encloſure all around;
Tall thriving trees confefs'd the fruitful mold,
The redd'ning apples ripen here to gold.
Here the blue fig with lufcious juice o'erflows,
With deeper red the full pomegranate glows;
The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear,
And verdant olives flouriſh round the year.
The balmy ſpirit of the weſtern gale
Eternal breathes on fruits untaught to fail:
Each dropping pear a following pear fupplies,
On apples apples, figs on figs arife:
The fame mild feafon gives the blooms to blow,
The buds to harden, and the fruits to grow,
Here order'd vines in equal ranks appear,
With all th' united labors of the year;
Some to unload the fertile branches run,
Some dry the black'ning cluſters in the fun,
Others
Book I.
47
CIDER.
The pride of the Phæacian ifle, from whence,
Sailing the ſpaces of the boundlefs deep,
To Ariconium precious fruits arriv'd;
460
The Pippin burnifh'd o'er with gold, the Moyle
Of ſweeteſt honey'd tafte, the fair Permain
Temper'd, like comelieft nymph, with red and white.
Salopian acres flouriſh with a growth
Peculiar, ftyl'd the Ottley; be thou firſt
Others to tread the liquid harveſt join,
The groaning preffes foam with floods of wine.
Here are the vines in early flowers defcry'd,
Here grapes difcolor'd on the funny fide,
And there in autumn's richeſt purple dy'd.
Beds of all various herbs, for ever green,
In beauteous order terminate the ſcene.
Two plenteous fountains the whole profpect crown'd;
This thro' the garden leads its ftreams around,
Vifits each plant, and waters all the ground:
While that in pipes beneath the palace flows,
And thence its current on the town beftows ;
To various ufe their various ftreams they bring,
The people one, and one fupplies the king.
458.
the Phaacian ifle,]
465
}
}
་
It
The Phæacia of the Ancients, is an ifland in the Gulf of Venice.
was afterwards called Corcyra; it is now Corfu, and is fubject to the
dominion of the Venetians. It retains fome of its characteristic features
in Homer's days. The foil is very fertile, and produces oil, wine, and
moſt excellent fruits.
464. Salopian acres flourish with a growth
Peculiar, fil'd the Ottley.
-]
Adam Ottley Efq. of Pitchford, within a few miles of Shrewſbury,
was cotemporary with our Author at Oxford, being then Gentleman
Commoner of Baliol College. He was of the fame political principles
with Philips, and was one of his particular friends.-The family
of Ottley is among the oldeft families in Shropſhire, and was ori-
ginally of Ottley near Elleſmere, but came into poffeffion of the eftate at
Pitchford, in the year 1472.
The Ottley Apple is not much known in Shropshire at prefent, but
feveral trees of it are preferved in the garden at Pitchford.
This
48
Book I.
CIDER.
This Apple to tranſplant, if to the name
Its merit anſwers: no where fhalt thou find
A wine more priz'd, or laudable of taſte.
Nor does the Eliot leaft deferve thy care,
Nor John Apple, whofe wither'd rind, intrench'd
With many a furrow, aptly repreſents
Decrepit age, nor that from Harvey nam'd,
471
Quick-reliſhing. Why fhould we fing the Thrift,
Codling, or Pomroy, or of pimpled coat
The Ruffet, or the Cat's Head's weighty orb, 475
Enormous in its growth, for various uſe
Tho' theſe are meet, tho', after full repaſt,
Are oft requir'd, and crown the rich deſſert?
What tho' the Pear-tree rival not the worth
Of Ariconium products? yet her freight
Is not contemn'd, yet her wide-branching arms
Beſt ſcreen thy manſion from the fervent Dog
Adverſe to life; the wintry hurricanes
In vain employ their roar, her trunk unmov'd
Breaks the ſtrong onfet and controls their
479. What tho' the Pear-tree rivals not the worth
Of Ariconian products.
-]
480
rage: 485
The finer forts of Perry were perhaps not generally known in Philips's
time. The Teinton Squash, made in the parish of Teinton in Gloucester-
fhire, and the Oldfield, made in feveral parts of Herefordſhire, and particu-
larly about Ledbury, confidered as equal, if not fuperior, to the beft Cider.
The Teinton Squaſh Perry is a liquor moft highly prized, and fells for
more, upon the ſpot where it is made, than almoſt any wine whatever.
Chiefly
Book I.
49
CIDER.
Chiefly the Bofbury, whofe large increaſe,
Annual, in ſumptuous banquets claims applauſe.
Thrice-acceptable beverage! could but art
Subdue the floating lee, Pomona's ſelf
Would dread thy praiſe, and fhun the dubious ſtrife.
Be it thy choice, when fummer-heats annoy,
To fit beneath her leafy canopy,
Quaffing rich liquids; oh! how ſweet t'enjoy
At once her fruits and hofpitable ſhade!
491
But how with equal numbers fhall we match 495
The Muſk's furpaffing worth, that earlieſt gives
Sure hopes of racy wine, and in its youth,
486.
the Bofbury-]
The parish of Bofbury, in Herefordshire, is famous for a Perry,
that is known by the name of Barland. It has a rougher tafte than moſt
other forts of Perry, and is therefore ſeldom acceptable to thofe, who
have not been accuſtomed to drink it. This Pear is a native of Boſbury,
where in a large common field, called Barland Field, fome very old trees
are ftill fhewed, which are faid to be the original trees.
There are
alfo confiderable plantations of the Oldfield Pear, in the parish of
Bofbury.
496. The Musk's furpaſſing worth.]
There are two forts of Musk apples, the White and the Red. The
White Muſk produces no very famous Cider. The Red Muſk is con-
fidered as one of the best of the Herefordſhire fruits.
497.
Racy wine.]
Dr. Johnfon, fpeaking of Thomfon's Poems, after they were altered
and enlarged by fubfequent revifals, fays, "They are, I think, improved
in general; yet I know not whether they have not loft part of what
"Temple calls their race; a word, which applied to wines, in its primi-
"tive fenfe, means the flavor of the foil."
The original and metaphorical meaning of the word racy, may be
given from the beginning of one of Cowley's Poems.
As to a northern people, (whom the fun
Ufes juft as the Romish Church has done
H
$
Her
50
Book I.
CIDER.
Its tender
nonage, loads the ſpreading boughs
With large and juicy offspring, that defies
The vernal nippings, and cold fideral blaſts?
Yet let her to the Red-ftreak yield, that once
Was of the fylvan kind, unciviliz❜d,
Of no regard, till Scudamore's fkilful hand
Her prophane laity, and does affign
Bread only to ferve both for bread and wine)
A rich Canary fleet welcome arrives;
Such comfort to us here your letter gives,
Fraught with briſk RACY verſes; in which we
500
THE SOIL FROM WHENCE THEY CAME, tafte, fmell, and fee.
Its tender nonage.]
498.
But in THEIR TENDER NONAGE, while they fpread
Their ſpringing leaves, and lift their infant head;
DRYDEN'S Tranſlation of Virgil's fecond GEORGIC. V. 497.
fideral blafts.]
500.
Pliny, in his chapter De fervandis uvis et morbis arborum, Nat. Hift.
L. xvii. ufes fideratio to exprefs the blighting, or blafting of trees,
whether cauſed by extreme heat or extreme cold. So the Greeks called
blighted trees as fußanta devdfa; and fo were we uſed formerly, when many
fatal effects were referred to the ſtars, to ſay of any thing that was blaſted
or withered, that it was planet-ſtruck. But our Poet moſt probably
borrowed his fideral blaſts from Milton, P. L. x. 692.
Theſe changes in the heavens, tho' flow, produc'd
Like change on fea and land, SIDERAL BLAST,
Vapor and moift, and exhalation hot,
Corrupt and peftilent
503.
Scudamore's skilful hand.]
The family of Scudamore derive their name from the Scutum Amoris
Divini, the Croix Patée Fitchée, which they originally bore as their arms,
and which was probably given them in honor of fome gallant action in
defence of the Chriſtian faith. Saint Scudamore, the anceſtor of the
family, came into England with William the Conqueror, and firſt
fettled at Upton, near Warminster in Wiltſhire, which ſtill retains the
name of Upton Scudamore. In the reign of Edward III. Thomas,
the younger fon of Sir Peter de Scudamore, married the eldest daughter
of Clara de Ewyas, heirefs of Ewyas Harold in Herefordshire, by Ivan
Whelen her huſband; upon which, he affumed the arms of three Stirrops,
and the Name of Ewyas, from the inheritance of the faid Clara; his fon
and heir, Philip de Scudamore, being fometimes called Philip de Ewyas.
This
Book I.
51
CIDER.
Improv'd her, and by courtly diſcipline
Taught her the favage nature to forget :
505
This Philip fettled at Hom-Lacy, on the river Wye, five miles below
Hereford, which has fince that time been the principal feat of the family.
His fon, Sir John Scudamore, married Alice, daughter and coheir of the
famous Owen Glendowr. Many of the family of Scudamore, were
perfons of the greateſt reputation, and enjoyed confiderable honors and
offices. John, the firſt Viſcount Scudamore, the perfon here men-
tioned, as having improved his Cider plantations, and brought the Red-
ftreak apple into notice, was the fon and heir of Sir James Scudamore,
from whom Spenſer has been faid to have taken the character of Sir
Scudamore, in his Faery Queen, and was born in the year 1600. At the
age of fourteen, he married the only daughter of Sir Arthur Porter, Knt.
and foon diſtinguiſhed himſelf by his fingular virtue, piety, and learning,
upon which accounts he was highly refpected, and his friendſhip was
particularly cultivated by Laud, then Biſhop of St. David's, who con-
ſtantly viſited him at Hom-Lacy, in his way to and from his dioceſe.
In his twenty-firft year, he was unanimoufly chofen to reprefent his native
County in Parliament, and the fame year was created a Baronet by King
James. In the fourth year of Charles I. he was advanced to the titles of
Baron Dromore, and Viſcount Scudamore of Sligo, in the kingdom of
Ireland. He was at Portſmouth, waiting to attend the Duke of Buck-
ingham on his propofed expedition, when that nobleman was ftabbed by
Felton; and was fo much affected at that event, the Duke having fhewed
him great marks of regard, that he immediately retired into the country,
and, to divert his grief, applied himſelf, amongſt other country amufe-
ments, to planting and grafting apple-trees, particularly the Red-ftreak
apple.- In 1634 he was called from his retirement, and fent Ambaf-
fador to France, where he refided four years, and acquitted himſelf with
fingular prudence and honor.- In the civil wars his zeal for the royal
caufe was fuch as might be expected from the intimate friend of Laud
and Buckingham; and in this caufe he was a confiderable fufferer, being
taken in Hereford, when it furrendered to Waller in 1643, and fent up
prifoner to the Parliament, while his houfes were ruined, and his eftates
fequeftered. It was a long time before he regained his liberty, as he
would not take the negative oath, conceiving himſelf bound not to with-
draw his allegiance from the King. His attachment to his Royal Maſter,
during his life, was not more confpicuous than his great kindneſs to the
impriſoned loyalifts afterwards, and his bountiful charity to the diſtreſſed
clergy, many of whom, in his own neighbourhood, he entirely fup-
ported. He was a confiderable benefactor to the churches adjoining
to his property, endowing feveral, and augmenting others very confider-
ably. He died in the year 1671 univerfally lamented.
504. Improv'd her, and by courtly diſcipline
Taught her the javage nature to forget:]
H 2
Virgil
52
BOOK I.
CIDER.
Hence ftyl'd the Scudamorean plant; whoſe wine
Whoever taftes, let him with grateful heart
Reſpect that ancient loyal houſe, and wiſh
The noble Peer, that now tranfcends our hopes
In early worth, his country's jufteft pride,
Uninterrupted joy, and health entire.
Let every tree in every garden own
510
The Red-ſtreak as fupreme, whofe pulpous fruit,
Virgil fpeaks thus of the methods of meliorating the wild forts of
fruit-trees, GEORGIC. ii. 49.
tamen hac quoque fi quis
Inferat, aut fcrobibus mandet mutata fubactis,
EXUERINT SILVESTREM ANIMUM ; cultuque frequenti,
In quafcunque voces artes, haud tarda fequentur.
Yet thefe, receiving graffs of other kind,
Or thence tranfplanted, change their favage mind,
Their wildneſs lofe, and quitting nature's part,
Obey the rules and diſcipline of art.
509. The noble Peer that now tranfcends our hopes
In early worth.]
DRYDEN.
This was James, the laft Viſcount Scudamore, grandſon of the firſt
Viſcount. He was born in 1684, and was probably cotemporary with
our Poet at Chrift Church in Oxford, as Anthony Alfop, M. A. of
Christ Church (mentioned in a preceding note), prefixed to his Fabularum
Efopicarum Delectus, publifhed in 1698, à poetical Dedication to this
young nobleman.
He firft ferved in Parliament for his native county;
an honour which he afterwards voluntarily declined, and was elected for
the city of Hereford.He married Frances the only daughter of
Simon Lord Digby, and died in 1716, leaving one daughter, married
first to Henry, fecond Duke of Beaufort, by whom she had no iffue, and
afterward to Charles Fitzroy, Efq. by whom he left a daughter, born
Feb. 16, 1749, and married April 2d, 1771, to the prefent Duke of
Norfolk.
513. The Red-freak as fupreme.]
The Red-freak apple is ftill efteemed a prime Herefordshire fruit,
and Cider, made of that alone, will fornetimes prove more excellent than
any other fort. But it feems that the true method of managing this par-
ticular Cider is loft, as of late years it has been found fo precarious a
liquor, that out of ten or twelve hogfheads of pure Red-ftreak Cider fel-
dom
Book I.
53
CIDER.
With gold irradiate and vermilion, fhines
Tempting, not fatal, as the birth of that
Primæval interdicted plant that won
Fond Eve in hapleſs hour to taſte, and die.
This, of more bounteous influence, infpires
Poetic raptures, and the lowly Muſe
515
Kindles to loftier ftrains; ev'n I perceive
520
Her facred virtue. See! the numbers flow
Eafy, whilft, cheer'd with her nectareous juice,
Her's and my country's praiſes I exalt.
dom more than two or three prove really good. On this account pure
Red-freak Cider is now feldom made. It is the fame cafe with the
Permain, Golden Pippin, and ſeveral of the other better forts of fruit; ſo
that the custom of mixing the prime fruits is now very generally adopted,
and has been found to fucceed in every reſpect.
515.
that
Primeval interdicted plant-]
Milton terms the Tree of Knowledge
and,
the tree of INTERDICTED knowledge, P. L. v. 52.
The INTERDICTED tree, P. L. vii. 46.
521. See! the numbers flow, &c. &c.]
So Sir John Denham, in his Imitation of the Cato Major,
When of the vine I fpeak, I feem infpir'd,
And with delight, as with her juice, am fir'd.
522.
with her nectareous juice.]
NECTAREUM Falernum. MARTIAL, L. 13. Ep. 108.
523. my country's praifes exalt.]
Our Poet fings the praiſes of Herefordſhire in manifeſt imitation of
the celebrated Praifes of Italy in Virgil's fecond GEORGIC.-He may
be fuppofed alfo to have had in his mind the following paffage at the
conclufion of Pliny's Natural Hiſtory.
Ergo in toto orbe, et quacunque cœli convexitas vergit, pulcherrima
eft omnium, rebufque merito principatum naturæ obtinens, Italia, rectrix
parenfque mundi altera, viris, fœminis, ducibus, militibus, fervitiis,
artium præftantia, ingeniorum claritatibus, jam fitu ac falubritate cœli
atque temperie, acceffu cunctarum gentium facili, litoribus portuofis,
benigno
54
Book I.
CIDER.
Hail Herefordian plant, that doſt diſdain
All other fields! Heav'n's ſweeteſt bleffing, hail!
Be thou the copious matter of my ſong,
And thy choice Nectar, on which always waits
526
benigno ventorum affiatu, aquarum copia, nemorum falubritate, mon-
tium articulis, ferorum animalium innocentia, foli fertilitate, pabuli
ubertate. Quicquid eft, quo carere vita non debeat, nufquam eft præ-
ftantius; fruges, vinum, olea, vellera, lina, veftes, juvenci.
Metallis auri, argenti, æris, ferri, quamdiu libuit exercere, nullis ceffit:
et iis nunc in ſe gravida pro omni dote varios fuccos et frugum pomo-
rumque fapores fundit.
-
526. Be thou the copious matter of my Song]
It is but fair to fuppofe that an author, frequently ſtudying the works
of any particular Poet, by the model of whofe verfification he wished to
form his own, might infenfibly transfer certain expreffions, and even
whole lines, into his imagination, fo as to uſe them himself without
being conſcious that he was indebted to any one for them; or, from a
particular admiration of any line that peculiarly ftruck his fancy, might
retain that line in his memory detached from the paffage to which it be-
Tonged, fo as to apply it, without recollecting how it had been firſt in-
troduced by the original author. "Great readers," fays Bishop Hurd,
"who have their memories fraught with the ftores of ancient and mo-
"dern poetry, unavoidably employ the fentiments, and fometimes the
very words, of other writers, without any diſtinct remembrance of
"them, or ſo much as a fufpicion of having feen them. At the leaft,
"their general caſt of thinking or turn of expreffion will be much af-
"fected by them. For the moft original writer as certainly takes a
" tincture from the authors in which he has been moft converfant; as
water, from the beds of earths or minerals it hath happened to run
"over. Eſpecially fuch authors as are ſtudied and even got by heart by
"us in our early youth, leave a lafting impreffion, which is hardly ever
"effaced out of the mind.' [Hurd on Poetical Imitation.]· Such
66
muſt have been the cafe with our Poet in this paffage, or he would not
have applied to the celebration of the Apple-tree a line from the follow-
ing conclufion of one of the moſt folemn and ſublime parts of all Milton's
Paradiſe Loft.
Hail Son of God, Saviour of men, thy name
Shall be the copious matter of my ſong
Henceforth, and never fhall my harp thy praife
Forget, nor from thy Father's praife disjoin.
527.
thy choice Nectar, on which always wait
Laughter and ſport, and care-beguiling wit,
And friendship, chief delight of human kind.
B. iii. 412.
The
Book I.
55
CIDER.
Laughter, and ſport, and care-beguiling wit,
And friendſhip, chief delight of human life.
What ſhould we wish for more? or why, in queſt 530
Of foreign vintage, infincere and mixt,
Traverſe th' extremeft world? Why tempt the rage
Of the rough ocean, when our native glebe
Imparts, from bounteous womb, annual recruits
Of wine delectable, that far furmounts
535
The following appofite verfes of Panyafis, a Greek Poet, are preferved
by Athenæus.
531.
Οίνος γαρ πυρι ισον επιχθονίοισιν ονειας
Εσθλον αλεξικακος, παση συνοπηδον αντ
θαλίης έρατον μέρος αγλαίης τε,
Εν μεν γας
Εν δε χοροιτυπιης. Εν δ' ιμέρτης φιλότητος.
For wine, like fire, a boon affociate, lends
Its generous aid to mortals; far away
It drives each care, and forms a pleaſing part
Of gay feftivity, of fport, of dance,
And friendſhip's balmy joys.
-Infincere.]
Seneca ufes fincerus to defcribe any liquor in its pureft and moft perfect
ftate. Speaking of youth and age, he fays,
Meliora prætervolant, deteriora fuccedunt. Quem ad modum ex am-
phora primum quod eft SINCERISSIMUM effluit, graviffimum quodque
turbidumque fubfidit: fic in ætate noftra, quod optimum, in primo eſt.
EPIST. 108.
533.
when our native glebe
Imparts, from bounteous womb, annual recruits
Of wine delectable, that far furmounts
Gallic or Latin grapes-- -1
It is obfervable that the compliments our Poet here pays to the liquor
he celebrates, were, till within thefe thirty or forty years, fully juftified
by the practice of his native county; and the chief liquor drunk in He-
refordshire, even in very refpectable and opulent families, was Cider,
while the confumption of Wine was extremely fmall. The rapid increaſe
of luxury, and a growing contempt for the produce of our native country,
have, however, of late years, nearly driven Cider from the tables even of
perfons in middling ſtations and of very moderate fortunes, in the Cider-
counties, to make way for very inferior liquors, "infincere and mixt,"
under the name of wine.
Gallic
56
BOOK I.
CIDER.
}
Gallic or Latin Grapes, or thoſe that ſee
The ſetting fun near Calpe's tow'ring height?
Nor let the Rhodian, nor the Leſbian vines
Vaunt their rich Muft; nor let Tokay contend
536.
or thoſe that ſee
The fetting fun near Calpe's tow'ring height.]
This is claffical. The Roman Poets defcribe the fun as fetting imme-
diately behind the Rock of Gibralter, the Calpe of the antients. Thus
Aufonius, Epift. 18.
Condiderat jam folis equos Tarteffia Calpe.
And Statius, fpeaking of the birth place of Lucan, who was a native of
Cordova, in the province of Andalufià in Spain, has the following lines,
Felix heu nimis, et beata tellus,
Quæ pronos Hyperionis meatus
Summis Oceani vides in undis,
Stridoremque rotæ candentis audis.
538.
GENETH. LUCAN. V. 24.
the Rhodian nor the Leſbian vines
Vaunt their rich Muft.]
The Leſbian and Rhodian Vines are celebrated by Virgil in his fecond
GEORGIC.
Non eadem arboribus pendet vindemia noftris
Quam Methymnæo carpit de palmite LESBOS.
Nor the fame grape Hefperia's vintage fills
Which Lesbos gathers from Methymnia's hills.
Non ego te Dis et menfis accepta fecundis
Tranfierim RHODIA
Nor thine, O Rhodes I paſs, whofe ftreams afford
Libations to the Gods, and crown the board.
539.
nor let Tokay contend
For ſov'reignty]
V. 89.
WARTON.
V. 101.
WARTON.
The Hungarian wines are held in the higheſt eftimation, particularly
the Tokay, of which it has been generally fuppofed that the quantity pro-
duced is fo extremely fmall, that fcarce any genuine Tokay is ever
exported. But Silvefter Douglafs, Efq. (in an account of the Tokay and
other Hungarian Wines, communicated to the Royal Society in the year
1774) fays this is a vulgar error, and defcribes the Tokay diſtrict, and its
feveral hills, as extending from the town of Tokay weftward, and then
northward, ſo as to occupy a ſpace of ten Engliſh miles fquare, interfperfed
with
BOOK I.
57
CIDER.
For fovereignty: Phanæus' felf muſt bow
To th' Ariconian vales. And fhall we doubt
T'improve our vegetable wealth, or let
The foil lie idle, which, with fit manure,
Will largeft ufury repay, alone
540
545
Empower'd to fupply what Nature afks
Frugal, or what nice appetite requires?
The meadows here, with battening ooze enrich'd,
Give ſpirit to the graſs; three cubits high
The jointed herbage ſhoots; th' unfallow'd glebe
Yearly o'ercomes the granaries with ſtore
Of golden wheat, the ſtrength of human life.
Lo, on auxiliary poles, the hops
Afcending ſpiral, rang'd in meet array!
Lo, how the arable with barley-grain
550
with ſeveral extenſive plains and villages. Near fome of thefe, particu-
larly Talia and Tarezal, he fays, the wine is better than what grows on
the hill of Tokay; but it all goes under the fame general name.
540.
Phan.eus' felf must bow
To th' Ariconian vales.]
Tmolus et ASSURGIT quibus, et REX IPSE PHANEUS.
Virg. GEORGIC. ii. 98.
The mountain Phanæus ftood in the iſle of Chios, now Scio, the wines
of which iſland were held by the ancients in the higheſt eſtimation.
547.
battening ooze-]
To batten is to make fat.
BATTENING Our flocks with the freſh dews of night.
Milton's LYCIDAS.
550.
This is Virgil's
o'ercomes the granaries—]
HORREA VINCAT.
GEORGIC. ii. 518.
I
Stands
58
Book I.
CIDER.
Stands thick, o'erſhadow'd, to the thirſty hind 555
Tranſporting profpect! Thefe, as modern uſe
Ordains, infus'd, an auburn drink compoſe,
Wholeſome, of deathlefs fame. Here to the fight
Apples of price and plenteous fheaves of corn
Oft interlac'd occur, and both imbibe
560
Fitting congenial juice; fo rich the foil,
So much does fructuous moiſture o'er-abound!
Nor are the hills unamiable, whoſe tops
565
To heaven afpire, affording profpect ſweet
To human ken; nor at their feet the vales
Deſcending gently, where the lowing herd
Chew verdurous pafture; nor the yellow fields
Gayly interchang'd, with rich variety
Pleafing, as when an Emerald green, enchas'd
In flamy gold, from the bright maſs acquires 570
556.
Thefe, as modern uſe
Ordains, infus'd an auburn drink compofe,
Wholesome-]
The ancients had their Zythum, or drink made from Barley; but it
was reckoned very unwholefome. The bitter infufion of the Hop is fup-
pofed to correct the noxious qualities of malt-liquor.
567.
nor the yellow fields
Gaily interchang'd, with rich variety
Pleafing, as when an Emerald green, enchas'd
In flamy gold, from the bright mass acquires
A nobler bue, more delicate to fight.]
Compare Milton, P. L. iv. 700.
under foot the violet,
Crocus, and hyacinth with rich inlay
Broider'd the ground, more color'd than with ftone
Of coftlicft emblem-
A nobler
BOOK I.
59
CIDER.
A nobler hue, more delicate to fight.
Next add the Sylvan fhades, and filent groves,
Haunt of the Druids, whence the hearth is fed
With copious fuel; whence the ſturdy oak,
A prince's refuge once, th' eternal guard
Of England's throne, by fweating peaſants fell'd,
Stems the vaſt main, and bears tremendous war
To diſtant nations, or with fovereign fway
Awes the divided world to peace and love.
572. the Sylvan fhades, and filent groves,
Haunt of the Druids-]
575
Thus, in the fecond GEORGIC, the Oak is defcribed as having been
the ſuppoſed feat of a famous Grecian Oracle;
atque habitæ Graiis oracula quercus;
in which paffage, fome Commentators have fuppofed Virgil to glance at,
and ridicule the fuperftitions of the Greeks. But, furely this is far from
being the cafe; and theſe fabulous allufions are thrown in by Poets, to
elevate and adorn their ſtyle. Theſe little defcriptive circumſtances are
indeed the conſtituent parts of Poetical Language, which ſerve to diſcri-
minate it from Profe.
The Druids were the Priefts, or Miniſters of Religion, of the ancient
Gauls, Britons, and Germans. They were called Druids, from the old
Britiſh Drw, or Celtic Derw, which fignify an Oak; or from the Greek
Apus (See Pliny, N. H. 16. 44.), becauſe they inhabited foreſts, and
always facrificed under an Oak.
574.
A prince's refuge—]
the sturdy oak,
The oak in which Charles II. fheltered himſelf from his purſuers, after
the battle of Worceſter, ſtood on the borders of Staffordſhire, in the
parish of Tong in Shropshire, near Bofcobel Houfe, in which the King
was alfo concealed. The old tree, in which the King was hid, was foon
after cut down, and carried off; but one is ſtill fhewed as the Royal Oak,
having been raiſed (as it is faid) from an acorn of the old tree.
prefent tree is a large one, and appears to be about fourfcore years old.
The bark and fides are much torn and cut by the curiofity of its vifitors.
The eſtate at Bofcobel is the property of Thomas Fitzherbert, Efq.
of Swinnerton in Staffordſhire, and ftands chiefly in the parish of Bree-
wood in that county,
I 2
The
Why
во
Book I.
CIDER.
Why ſhould the Chalybes, or Bilboa boaſt
Their harden'd iron, when our mines produce
580
580.
Chalybes]
At Chalybes nudi ferrum.
Bilboa.
Virg. GEORGIC i. 58.
Bilboa, the chief city of the province of Bifcay in Spain, was cele-
brated for its iron by the Poet Martial, who was born there, and who
calls it
And,
Bilbilin
L. I. Ep. 50.
Equis et armis nobilem.
Sævo Bilbilin optimam metallo,
Quæ vincat Chalybafque, Noricofque. IV. 55.
Its fame for manufactures in iron and fteel has remained to later
ages,
and, a century or two ago, the ſword-blades made there were thought
fuperior to any in Europe; whence, in our old comedies, a fword is often
called a Bilbo. Its iron at preſent is chiefly exported in bars, though
no inconfiderable quantity is ftill manufactured there into fwords and
fire-arms.- Our Author was not perhaps aware that Biſcay is famous
for it's Cider. It may not be improper here to cite an account of the
making of Cider in this province, as given by a noble Venetian at the
beginning of the fixteenth century.
Navagero, who was Embaffador from the Republic of Venice to the
Emperor Charles V. in the Journal of his Embaffy into Spain, fpeaking
of Biscay, fays: "Vino non nafce in quæfto paefe. Tutto il paefe in
luogo di Viti pianta Meli; di pomi di quefti fanno Vino che chia-
mano Sedra, il qual fi bev par lo piu dalla gente del paeſe, ed è chiaro,
" è buono, è bianco, con puoco di Garbo; fano a chi vi s'accoſtuma:
"ma a chi non è ufato a berlo è duro da digerire, ed offende lo ſto-
macho leva molto la fete. Fanno detto Vino con alcuni torcolari
grandiffimi, come noi quel di Uva; ma a quefto bifogna maggior
"forza, e piu peſo.”
Wine is not produced in this country. All the inhabitants inſtead of
vines plant apple-trees; with the apples of thefe they make a wine they
call Cider, which is drunk by moft of the people of the country, and is
clear, good, and light-colored, with fome degree of tartnefs; it is
"wholefome to thoſe who are accuſtomed to it, but to any one, who has
not been uſed to drink it, it is difficult of digestion, and diforders the
ftomach; it quenches thirst extremely. This wine is made with fome
very large preffes, as we make that of grapes, but it requires greater
ftrength and more preffure."
C
66
581.
when our mines produce
As perfect martial ore]
No iron is produced abfolutely in Herefordshire, but the most con-
fiderable
BOOK I.
61
CIDER.
As perfect martial ore? Can Tmolus' head
Vie with our faffron odors, or the fleece
fiderable works in England are on the confines of that county in the
foreſt of Dean, which, though now comprehended in Gloceſterſhire, for-
merly made a part of the country of the Silures.
582.
Can Tmolus' head
Vie with our faffron odors?
The English Saffron is fuppofed to be the beſt that grows in Europe.
Great quantities, it is faid, were formerly raised in Herefordſhire.-
Tmolus, a mountain of Lybia, was celebrated by the ancients for its
Saffron.
583.
Nonne vides croceos ut TMOLUS odores
Mittit?
Bætic]
Virg. GEORGIC i. 56.
or the fleece
The Ancients called the province of Andalufia in Spain Batica, from
the river Batis, now the Guadalquivir, which runs through it.-The
fleeces of the ſheep of this country are noticed by the Roman Poets, and
particularly by Martial, who ſeems rather to celebrate the colour of the
wool than its fineness. (See L. 5. Ep. 37.-12. 99.—14. 13
-The beſt Spaniſh wool is not, however, faid to come from the province
of Andalufia, but from the neighbourhood of Segovia, in old Caftile.
Tarentine]
Tarentum, now Taranto, a city of Magna Græcia, part of the kingdom
of Naples, was once very much famed for the downy filkinefs of its wool,
to preferve which in its greateſt perfection, the fhepherds uſed to buckle
round their ſheep a fort of leathern coat; whence Horace fpeaking of the
river Galefus which flowed through this country, calls it,
Dulce PELLITIS ovibus Galefi
Flumen
This very delicate breed of ſheep is now almoſt loft in that Country.
Mr. Swinburne, in his Travels in the two Sicilies, fpeaking of Taranto,
which place he vifited, fays, " After the fall of Rome, a long train of
wars and devaftation deprived this country of all its acquired advan-
tages, and even operated fo direfully upon its climate and productions,
as to vitiate thofe it held of the bounty of nature. When the manu-
"facturers, as well as manufactures, were deftroyed, the prime commo-
"dities of courſe loft their value; and it ceafed to be worth the fhepherd's
while, even had the nicer arts of his calling been handed down to him,
to take any pains in preferving a purity of blood, or delicacy of cover-
ing in his breed of fheep; thofe perfections had no longer any admirers
or chapmen, and confequently the race very foon degenerated." -He
then gives an account of the attempts which have been made in later times
"
to
62
BOOK I.
CIDER.
Bætic or fineſt Tarentine compare
With Lemſter's filken wool? Where fhall we find
Men more undaunted, for their country's weal 586
to revive the credit of the Tarentine wool, and of the caufes which ren-
dered every fuch attempt abortive.-It appears from his account, that the
wool of that country is ftill of a good quality, though by no means fo
fine as it would be, if properly attended to.
585. Lemfter's filken wool.]
The town of Lemfter, or Leominster, in Herefordſhire, was formerly
very famous for its wool and woollen manufactures. Camden mentions
its wool by the name of Lemfter Ore, under which title it is alſo celebrated
by Drayton in his POLYOLBION, Song 7th. Poffibly Philips had here
the paſſage in his mind.
Lemfter, for her wool whoſe ſtaple doth excel,
And ſeems to over-match the golden Phrygian fell*.
Had this our Colchos been unto the Ancients known,
When honour was herſelf, and in her glory fhone,
He then, that did command the infantry of Greece,
Had only to our Ifle adventur'd for this fleece.
Where lives the man fe dull, on Britain's fartheſt ſhore,
To whom did never found the name of LEMSTER ORE?
THAT WITH THE SILK-WORM'S WEB FOR SMALLNESS DOTH
COMPARE;
Wherein the winder fhews his workmanſhip fo rare,
As doth the fleece excel, and mocks her loofer clue,
As neatly bottom'd up as nature forth it drew;
Of each in high'ft account, and reckon'd here as fine,
As there th' Apulian fleece, or dainty TARENTINE,
The Leominster fheep are the breed from the Radnorſhire hills, im-
proved by being fed on the rich paftures near Leominster. Dyer, in his
Fleece, having fpoken of the principal foreign wools, notices the delicately
fine fleeces of the Welch theep, when fed in Herefordſhire paſtures:
And beauteous Albion, fince great Edgar chac'd
The prowling wolf, with many a lock appears
Of filky luftre; chief, Siluria, thine,
Thine, Vaga, favor'd ftream; from ſheep minute,
On Cambria bred, a pound o'erweighs a fleece,
585.
Where ſhall we find
-]
Men more undaunted
Our Poet here celebrates the ancient warriors of his native country,
particularly diftinguishing the Anceſtor (as he fuppofed him to have been)
of a noble family then connected with Herefordſhire.-Virgil, in his
Praifes of Italy, alfo celebrates the heroes of his country, winding up the
paffage with much addreſs in a highly-finiſhed compliment to Auguftus.
* i. e. flecce.
Hæc
Book I.
63
CIDER.
More prodigal of life? In ancient days
The Roman legions and great Cæfar found
Our fathers no mean foes; and Creffy plains,
Hæc genus acre virûm, Marfos, pubemque Sabellam,
Affuetumque malo Ligurem, Volfcofque verutos
Extulit: hæc Decios, Marios, magnofque Camillos:
Scipiadas duros bello, et te, maxime Cæfar,
Qui nunc extremis Afiæ jam victor in oris
Imbellem avertis Romanis arcibus Indum.
587. More prodigal of life.]
PRODIGA GENS ANIMÆ.
GEORG. ii. 167.
Sil. Ital. L. i. 225.
588. The Roman legions and great Cafar found
Our fathers no mean foes.]
The gallant refiftance, which our anceſtors made againſt this firſt invader
of their country, is well known. Indeed it appears that the Romans
themſelves did not look upon Cæfar's enterprize as a conqueft of Britain.
Propertius fpeaking of the Britons, calls them invictos Romano Marte; and
Lucan makes Pompey defcribe Cæfar as being repulſed, and having fled
from the Britons.
PHARSAL. ii. 568.
Territa quæfitis oftendit terga Britannis.
There is but little reafon to imagine that the Silures were really much
concerned at firſt in oppofing the Romans, or that Cæfar knew much of
them. They were, it is fuppofed, fome of the old unmixed Britiſh Celts ;
thoſe that oppofed Cæfar were Belgic or Gothic tribes, who had fettled
more lately here from the oppofite continent. The Silures were however
the moft warlike people of the Ifland. Tacitus defcribes them, validam
et pugnacem Silurum gentem, "the ftout and warlike nation of the Si-
lures.'
589. Crelly plains.]
The famous battle of Creffy was gained by Edward III. Auguft 26,
1346. At this diſtance of time it is impoffible to particulariſe thoſe of
our Poet's countrymen who had the honor to be engaged that day.-
We know that Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore, was among the nobles that
attended immediately on the king.- It is alfo recorded, that Bryan
Harley, fon of Sir Robert Harley, by Margaret eldeſt daughter of Bryan
de Brampton, diftinguiſhed himſelf fo much in the wars with France under
Edward III. that he received the honor of knighthood; and that Edward,
the Black Prince, recommended him to his father to be chofen a Knight
of the Garter, but he died before his election. We may therefore
fuppofe he was one of the attendants on the young Prince, in this his first
engagement, and that he was intended to have been one of the firft
Knights of the Garter, as that Order was inftituted within a few years af-
ter this victory, and was at firſt compofed chiefly of thoſe who had diitin-
guiſhed themſelves upon that great occafion.
And
64
Book I.
CIDER.
And Agincourt, deep-ting'd with blood, confeſs 590
What the Silures' vigor unwithftood
590.
Agincourt deep-ting'd with blood-]
The memorable and bloody battle of Agincourt was gained by Henry V.
on the 24th of October, 1415.
591 What the Silures' vigor
}
Our poet might here well have paid a compliment to the Anceftor of a
Herefordshire family; as Sir John de Cornewall, Knight of the Garter,
afterwards created Lord Fanhope, had a principal command in the battle
of Agincourt, and particularly fignalized himſelf by taking priſoner Louis
de Bourbon, Count of Vendofme. From this Sir John de Cornewall (who
was great grandfon of Richard de Cornewall, a natural fon of Richard,
fecond fon of King John, Earl of Poitiers and Cornewall, and King of
the Romans) defcended the families of Cornewalls Barons of Burford in
Shropſhire, and thoſe of Berrington and Moccas, in Herefordſhire.-
Leuthall, who was Yeoman of the Robes to Henry IV, and who built
Hampton Court in Herefordſhire, was alfo at the battle of Agincourt,
where, Leland in his ITINERARY fays, " he tooke many priſoners, by
"which prey he beganne the new building of Hampton Court.'
fame author mentions "" a family of Hackluits, at Eaton near Lemfter,
"the anceſtor of whom was at the battle of Agincourt, and had one St.
"George a nobleman of France to his priſoner.
The
It may be obferved that King Henry himſelf, who was named of
Monmouth from the place of his birth, was a Silurian; as was David Gam,
a native of Brecon, who commanded a large body of his countrymen at
the battle of Agincourt, and, being fent by the King to reconnoitre the
numbers of the enemy, made the memorable anfwer recorded by moſt of
our Hiſtorians, that "there were enough to be killed, enough to run
away, and enough to be taken prifoners." In the heat of the battle,
when the King's perfon was in danger, he charged the enemy fo furiouſly
with his party, that they immediately gave ground; but he himſelf, toge-
ther with his fon-in-law Roger Vaughan, and his kinfman Walter Llwyd
of Brecon, were mortally wounded; in which condition, when they
were without any hopes of recovery, the King, in recompence of their fer-
vices, knighted them all three in the field, where they foon after died.
The following fpirited and eccentric fentiments, which Drayton, in his
BATTLE OF AGINCOURT, has attributed to this Silurian hero, remind
us of the language of Hotfpur, where, in Shakeſpear's HENRY IV., he
talks of plucking bright honor from the pale-fac'd moon," &c. &c.
Not dare? quoth Gam, and angerly doth frown:
CC
I tell thee, Woodhouſe, fome in prefence ſtand,
Dare prop the fun if it were falling down,
Dare grafp the bolt from thunder in his hand,
And through a cannon leap into a town,
I tell
BOOK I.
65
CIDER.
Could do in rigid fight; and chiefly what
Brydges' wide-wafting hand, firſt Garter'd Knight,
I tell thee a reſolved man may do
Things that thy thoughts yet never mounted to.
592. Could do in rigid fight.]
Thus Horace,
Vindelici didicere nuper
Quid MARTE POSSES
L. IV. Ode xit. 8.
593. Brydges' wide-wafting hand, firft Garter'd knight,
Puijant author of great Chandos' ftem.]
Wide-wafting is from Milton, where he defcribes the flaughter made by
the fword of Michael;
Brandiſh'd aloft the horrid edge came down
WIDE-WASTING
P. L. VI. 252.
The family of Brugge, Bruges, or Brydges, were first fettled in Here-
fordshire, by the marriage of Sir Simon de Brugge with the heirefs of the
family of Solers; the offspring of which marriage was Sir John de Brugge,
who was fheriff of Herefordshire in the 6th of Edward II. and wrote
himſelf of Brugge Solers, which name the parish of Solers ftill retains,
being now called Bridge Solers.
Sir John de Brugge left a fon, Sir Baldwin de Brugge, who married
Ifabel Grandifon, by whom he had two fons, Sir Thomas de Brugge and
Sir John de Brugge. Sir Thomas de Brugge married Alice, daughter of
Sir Thomas Berkley of Coberley, or Cow-berkley, in Gloucefterfhire, by
Alice his wife, daughter to Sir Thomas Chandos, and fifter of the famous
John Lord Chandos.- From this marriage defcended the family of
Brydges Duke of Chandos.
It does not appear that Sir Thomas de Brugge ferved in any of the
wars with France, and it is certain he was not one of the first Knights of
the Garter. His brother, Sir John de Brugge, had a better right
to be celebrated for his military exploits, as he ferved at the battle of
Agincourt. He fettled at Bridge Solers, was Sheriff of Herefordſhire
the 7th of Henry V. and the year following was chofen Member of Par-
liament for that county: from him defcended the family of Brydges of the
Lee, or Ley, near Weobley in Herefordshire.—But the perfon our Poet here
intended to celebrate, was, doubtlefs, John Lord Chandos, the moſt famous
warrior in the time of Edward III. the conftant attendant on that warlike
Prince in all his military enterprifes, and one of the firft Knights of the
Garter. Philips, indeed, thews himself to have been quite unacquainted
with the pedigree of this family, as John Lord Chandos was not a
Brydges, nor the author of great Chandos' ftem; though he was the perſon,
by an inter-marriage with whofe family the Brydges had a claim, and
in honor of whom they were pleaſed, when advanced to a Peerage, to bear
the title of Chandos.
K
Puiffant
66
Book I.
CIDER.
Puiffant author of great Chandos' ſtem,
600
High Chandos, that tranfmits paternal worth, 595
Prudence, and ancient prowefs, and renown,
T'his noble offspring. O thrice happy Peer!
That, bleft with hoary vigor, view'ft thyſelf
Freſh blooming in thy generous fon; whofe lips,
Flowing with nervous eloquence exact,
Charm the wife Senate, and attention win
In deepeſt councils. Ariconium pleas'd,
Him, as her chofen worthy, firſt falutes.
Him on th'Iberian, on the Gallic fhore,
Him hardy Britons blefs; his faithful hand
595. High Chandos.]
605
James, the eight Lord Chandos, was born in the year 1642. He mar-
ried Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Sir Henry Bernard, Knight, and
had by her twenty-two children. He died October 16, 1714.
602.
Ariconium pleas'd,
Him, as her chofen worthy, firſt ſalutes.
Him on the Iberian, on the Gallic fhore,
Him hardy Britons bleſs, &c. &c. &c.
-]
He
The Honorable James Brydges, eldeſt child of the above-mentioned
James Lord Chandos, was born January 6th, 1673. During the life of his
father, he ferved in ſeveral Parliaments for the city of Hereford. He was
alfo Paymaſter of the Forces, which office he is juftly celebrated by our
Poet for diſcharging in that difintereſted manner which peculiarly marked
his character. On the acceffion of King George I. he was created Vif-
count Wilton and Earl of Caernarvon, and April 30, 1719, was honored
with the Titles of Marquis of Caernarvon and Duke of Chandos.
married Mary, the only furviving daughter of Sir Thomas Lake of Can-
nons, in the county of Middlefex, by whom he had ſeveral children; and
died in 1744, at the magnificent palace built by himſelf at Cannons. The
great expence with which he furniſhed his houſe and laid out his gardens,
and his very fuperb and fumptuous manner of living, gained him the name
of the magnificent Duke of Chandos. It alfo drew upon him the fatire of
Mr. Pope, who, in his Poem on Tafte, firſt publiſhed in the year 731,
exhibited him under the character of Timon. as an example of the falſe
taſte.
Book I.
67
CIDER.
Conveys new courage from afar, nor more
The General's conduct, than his care avails.
Thee alfo, glorious branch of Cecil's line,
This country claims; with pride and joy to thee
Thy Alterennis calls. Yet fhe indures
Patient thy abſence, fince thy prudent choice
610
taſte of magnificence. The harmony of the verfification and general truth
of the fatire did not however preferve the Poet from great and deſerved
cenfure; the Duke was perhaps too fond of pomp and fhew, but he was
of a temper fo kind and beneficent, that he was univerfally beloved; and
it was faid that Pope himſelf was under particular obligations to him.
Gay, notwithſtanding his attachment to Pope, in his Epistle to Paul
Methuen, Esq. pays a very handfome compliment to this nobleman, at
the fame time noticing the inclination that prevailed to accuſe him of
oftentation.
rr
If Chandos with a liberal hand beſtow,
Cenfure imputes it all to pomp and ſhew :
When, if the motives right were underſtood,
His daily pleaſure is in doing good.
608. Thee alfo, glorious branch of Cecil's line,
This country claims; with pride and joy to thee
Thy Alterennis calls.]
Genealogifts derive the family of Cecil from Robert Sitfilt, who, "by
marriage," they tell us, "had Alterennis, in that part of Herefordshire
"called Ewyas Land, with other lands in Herefordshire and Glocefter-
"fhire." From this Robert Sitfilt, the family is clearly traced to Philip
Sitfilt, who married Maud Vaughan, by whom he had two fons, Philip,
who enjoyed the estate at Alterennis in the parish of Walterfton, and Da-
vid, grandfather to William Cecil Lord Burghley, the great Stateſman
and Treaſurer to Queen Elizabeth, whofe fecond fon Sir Robert Cecil,
the heir of his father's great offices and abilities, having been Secretary
of State to Queen Elizabeth and her fucceffor, was, in the 6th of James I.
created Earl of Saliſbury, and made Lord High Treaſurer. The
young nobleman, to whom thefe complimentary verfes are addreffed, was
James, the fifth Earl of Saliſbury, the fellow-collegian and intimate ac-
quaintance of our Poet. Soon after Philips's death, Lord Saliſbury mar-
ried the Lady Ann Tufton, daughter of the Earl of Thanet; in alluſion to
which marriage, Edmund Smith, the author of Phædra and Hippolitus,
in his Verfes to the memory of his Friend, thus marks that nobleman's
very fincere regard for our Poet :
And Cecil weeps in beauteous Tufton's arms.
K 2
Has
68
BOOK I.
CIDER.
Has fix'd thee in the Mufes' faireſt ſeat,
Where Aldrich reigns, and from his endleſs ſtore
Of univerfal knowledge ftill fupplies
His noble care: he generous thoughts inſtils
Of true nobility, their country's love,
Chief end of life, and forms their ductile minds
613. Where Aldrich reigns.]
615
Dr. Henry Aldrich, a man of very extenfive literature and fuperior
abilities, was made Dean of Chriſt Church in Oxford at the Revolution,
and, during more than twenty years that he held the Deanery, was the
decus et præfidium" of his college, where he zealously promoted in
others that learning, religion and virtue, of which he was himſelf a bright
and fingular example. A confiderable atteftation of his great and
amiable qualities may be adduced from a pajage in T. Hearne's Preface to
his third volume of Leland's ITINERARY.
<<
"When the fecond volume of this work was almoft finifhed at the
prefs, we received the melancholy and afflicting news of the lofs of the
Reverend Dr. Henry Aldrich, Dean of Chrift Church, who died at
«London, on Thurfday December 14, 1710, and was buried eight days
after (viz. on Friday, December 22,) in the Dormitory of the Cathe-
dral of Chrift Church. If we confider him either as a Chriftian, a Gen-
"tleman, or a Scholar, he was one of the greateit men in England. And
as he was a very learned man, fo, like Biſhop Fell, he always encouraged
and promoted learning to the utmoſt of his power. As foon as the first
"volume of this Itinerary was put into his hands, he read it over with
great care, and prefently after fent for me, fpoke very honorably of the
performance, commended the defign and the method obferved by me,
and in the moft obliging terms (for he was eminent for modefty and
humility) offered to aflift me with whatever money I fhould have occa-
fion for in putting out the following volumes. I mention the authority
"of this truly great man, not out of vanity or oftentation, or that I
"think the highest encomium can add any thing to the character of fo
illuftrious and extraordinary a perfon, but partly out of a due ſenſe of
gratitude, and partly by way of oppofition to the objections that have
been made againft the undertaking."
•
Extract from T. Hearne's Preface to the 3d volume of Leland's
ITINERARY.
Dr. Aldrich was born in London in the year 1647; was educated at
Westminster under Bulby; purfued his ftudies at Chrift Church under Dr.
Fell; was made Canon of Chrift Church in 1681, Dean in 1689, and
died in 1710,
To
BOOK I.
69
CIDER.
To human virtues; by his Genius led,
Thou foon in every art pre-eminent
Shalt grace this iſle, and rife to Burleigh's fame. 620
Hail high-born Peer! and thou, great nurſe of arts,
And men, from whence confpicuous Patriots ſpring,
Hanmer, and Bromley; thou, to whom with due
621.
And men
and thou great nurſe of arts,
This filial and affectionate addreſs to the Univerſity of Oxford gives
our Author an opportunity of introducing into his Poem fome perſons,
unconnected with Herefordshire, whom his political principles and friend-
fhips inclined him to celebrate.
623. Hanmer.]
The perfon here noticed was Sir Thomas Hanmer, of Hanmer in
Flintshire, fon of William Hanmer, Efq, and grandfon of the fecond Baro-
net of the name. He was, at the fame time with our Poet, a member of
Chrift Church in Oxford. He firft ferved in Parliament for Flintshire,
afterwards in feveral fucceeding Parliaments for the county of Suffolk, and
was choſen Speaker of the Houſe of Commons in the twelfth year of
Queen Anne.
He was Editor of a very pompous edition of Shakeſpear
in quarto, printed at the Clarendon Prefs at his expence and preſented by
him to the University of Oxford: it is ridiculed in the Dunciad.
Bromley.]
The family of Bromley of Baggington, in Warwickshire, defcended
from the Bromleys of Bromley, in the county of Stafford.-William
Bromley, in the 16th of James I. purchafed the eftate at Baggington
of the family of Rainsford. His fon William took up arms for King
Charles I. and, having ſuffered much for his cauſe, was at the Reſtoration
made a Knight of the Bath. He married Urfula, daughter of Lord
Leigh, and by her was father of William Bromley, the gentleman here
complimented by our Author; which William Bromley was born in the
year 1664, and at the age of fifteen was entered Gentleman Commoner of
Christ Church in Oxford, where he was fo generally refpected, that, after
having twice ferved for his native county, he was chofen in feveral fuc-
ceffive Parliaments to reprefent that Univerfity. He was a very able,
active member of Parliament, and a great leader of the Tory Party. In
the ninth year of Queen Anne he was chofen Speaker, and, after the diffo-
lution of that Parliament, was made Secretary of State, from which office
he was difmiffed on the Acceffion of George I.
Refpect
i
༡༠
Book I.
CIDER.
625
Reſpect Wintonia bows, and joyful owns
Thy mitred offspring, be for ever bleft
With like examples, and to future times
Proficuous, fuch a race of men produce,
As, in the cauſe of virtue firm, may fix
Her throne inviolate! Hear, ye Gods, this vow
From one, the meaneft in her numerous train; 630
Though meaneft, not leaft ftudious of her praife!
624.
Wintonia bows, and joyful owns
Thy mitred offspring
Peter Mew, or Mews, Biſhop of Wincheſter, was born at Purſe
Caundel, near Shireborne in Dorſetſhire, in the year 1619. He
was educated at Merchant Taylor's School, whence, at the age of
eighteen, he was elected Fellow of St. John's College Oxford. On the
breaking out of the Civil war he bore arms for the King; but proceeded
as Maſter of Arts in the Univerſity in 1645. In 1648 he was ejected from
his fellowſhip, when zeal, and perhaps neceffity, fent him again into the
field. He was Secretary to Middleton, when he was fent to command the
infurrection which the Highlanders of Scotland made in favor of Charles
II. in 1653; he alſo ſerved under the Duke of York in Flanders. During
the interregnum, he took orders and was prefented to the Rectory of Lam-
bourn in Effex, which he was not fuffered to enjoy; but after the Reſto-
ration he was foon preferred in the church, being made King's Chaplain
and Canon of Windfor. In 1667 he was choſen Prefident of St. John's
College, and appointed to the Deanery of Rocheſter. On the death of
Bishop Creighton, he was made Bishop of Bath and Wells, and in 1684
fucceeded Bishop Morley in the See of Winchefter.-The following year
he attended King James's army againſt the Duke of Monmouth, where
he diſplayed his military ſkill and ſpirit, by directing the pofition of the
cannon, and employing his coach-horfes in drawing them; for which
ſervice he was rewarded by the King with a gold medal.—He died No-
vember 9, 1706, and was fucceeded in the Bishoprick of Wincheſter by
Sir Jonathan Trelawney. Bishop Burnet fays," he knew very little
"of divinity or of any other learning, and was weak to a childiſh degree;
"yet obfequiouſneſs and zeal raiſed him through feveral fteps to the great
fee he poffeffed."
627. Proficuous.]
This is one of thofe exotic words which Philips has been cenfured for
ufing. It is not eaſy to ſay what induced him to tranſplant it; as we do
not find proficuus ufed by any Latin author of the purer age.
Mufe,
}
Book I.
71
CIDER.
635
Muſe, raiſe thy voice to Beaufort's ſpotleſs fame;
To Beaufort, in a long defcent deriv'd
From royal anceſtry, of kingly rights
Faithful afferters: in him centering meet
Their glorious virtues, high defert from pride
Disjoin'd, unfhaken honor, and contempt
Of ſtrong allurements. O illuſtrious Prince!
O thou of ancient faith! exulting, thee,
In her fair lift, this happy land inrols.
633. Beaufort, in a long defcent deriv'd
From royal ancestry, of kingly rights
Faithful aferters]
640.
The Dukes of Beaufort may be defcribed, atavis editi regibus, “ derived”
"from royal ancestry," being lineally defcended from John of Gaunt,
Duke of Lancafter and fon of Edward III. who caufed all his natural chil-
dren by Catharine Swinford (whom he afterwards married, and which
children were ligitimated by an A&t of Parliament, 20th Richard II.), to
take the name of Beaufort, from the caſtle of Beaufort, in the province of
Anjou, the place of their nativity.
The nobleman here noticed was Henry, the fecond Duke of Beaufort,
fon of Charles Marquis of Worceſter, and grandson of Henry firft Duke of
Beaufort. He was born in April 1684. The year Philips died, he was
on his travels, as we learn from Edmund Smith's Verfes, where he is men-
tioned among thofe friends of our Poet who particularly lamented his
death:
Thee, on the Po, kind Somerfet deplores.
He was ſtrong in the political principles of our Poet and his friends,
and did not go to Court till after the change of the Miniftry in the year
1710, when he is faid to have told the Queen " he could then call her
• Queen in reality."
The Duke of Beaufort has fome eftates in
Herefordshire; his property in the adjoining county of Monmouth is very
confiderable.
637. Unfhaken honor.]
Lucan has the oppofite phrafe of CONCUSSA FIDES,
639.-
of ancient faith.]
PHARS. I. 182.
The Goddefs Fides, or Faith, is commonly ftiled cana and prifca by
the Roman Poets. The antiquity of her temple, which was built by
Numa,
72
BOOK I.
CIDER.
Who can refuſe a tributary verſe
To Weymouth, firmeft friend of flighted worth
In evil days, whoſe hofpitable gate,
Unbarr'd to all, invites a numerous train
Of daily gueſts, whofe board, with plenty crown'd,
Revives the feaft-rites old? Meanwhile his care 646
Forgets not the afflicted, but, content
In acts of ſecret goodneſs, fhuns the praiſe
1
Numa, is affigned as a reafon for the uſe of theſe epithets.
Italicus defcribes Faith as a Deity of primitive times.
Heu PRISCIS numen populis, et nomine folo
Terris nota FIDES!
642. Weymouth.]
i. 329.
Silius
The family of Thynne, Viſcount Weymouth, now Marquis of Bath,
deſcended from the Bottevilles of Poictou in France. Jeoffery and Oliver
Botteville, gentlemen of confiderable rank in Poictou, came over in the
reign of King John to affift the King againſt the Barons, and were rewarded
with lands at Stretton in Shropſhire. From this family defcended John
Botteville, who in the time of Edward IV. having taken up his refidence
in one of the Inns of Court, was called john of th' Inn, whence he ac-
quired the firname of Th'inn, or Thynne, which his defcendants have
retained. Thomas Thynne, grandfon of John of th' Ian, married the
heirefs of the family of Eynes, or Heynes, of Stretton, in right of whom
he poffeffed confiderable Shropshire and Herefordshire property.
Thomas Thynne of Draiton, in the county of Salop, the perfon to whom
thefe compliments were moft defervedly paid by our Poet, was born in
1640, and was elected Member of Parliament for the Univerſity of Oxford
in 1673. He fucceeded to the property of the elder branch of the family,
with the manfion and eftate at Longleat in Wiltſhire, on the death of
Thomas Thynne, Efq. (who was murdered February 12, 1681, by three
affaffins, at the inftigation of Count Coningfmark), and the fame year was
created Baron Thynne of Warminster in Wiltſhire, and Viſcount Wey-
mouth in the county of Dorfet. He was a nobleman of great piety, honor,
integrity and hofpitality; and, dying without iffue July 28, 1714, was
fucceeded by his great nephew, Thomas Viſcount Weymouth, father to the
prefent Marquis of Bath, who has a good property in and near the
borough of Weobley in Herefordshire.
That
BOOK I.
73
CIDER.
That fure attends.
Permit me, bounteous Lord,
To blazon what, though hid, will beauteous ſhine,
And with thy name to dignify my fong.
But who is he, that on the winding ſtream
Of Vaga firſt drew vital breath, and now
Approv'd in Anna's ſecret councils fits,
651
Weighing the fum of things with wife forecaſt, 655
Solicitous of public good? How large
His mind, that comprehends whate'er was known
To old, or prefent time; yet not elate,
Not confcious of its ſkill! What praiſe deſerves
His liberal hand, that gathers but to give,
Preventing fuit? O, not unthankful Mufe,
Him lowly reverence, that firſt deign'd to hear
649.
Permit me, bounteous Lord,
660
To blazon what, though hid, will beauteous fhine,]
Mr. Pope, in his Temple of Fame, has the fame idea better exprefled
But, mortals, know 'tis ftill our greateſt pride
To BLAZE THOSE VIRTUES WHICH THE GOOD
WOULD HIDE.
652. But who is he, that on the winding stream
Of Vaga first drew vital breath, &c.]
V. 368.
QUIS PROCUL ILLE AUTEM ramis infignis olivæ,
Sacra ferens ?
Virg. ENEID. vi. 808.
655. Weighing the fum of things with wife forecast,]
In citing the following paffage from Milton in this place, it is highly
proper to refer the reader to an obfervation in a preceding note. (See note
on V. 526.)
Had not the Almighty Father, where he fits
Shrin'd in his fanctuary of heaven ſecure,
CONSULTING ON THE SUM OF THINGS, forefeen
This tumult
L
P. L. vi. 671.
Thy
74
Book I.
CIDER.
Thy pipe, and ſkreen'd thee from opprobrious tongues.
Acknowledge thy own Harley, and his name
and "
663. And Skreen'd thee from opprobrious tongues.]
From the accounts we have of the amiable mildneſs and inoffenfive dif-
pofition of our Poet, we may wonder what could have induced any perfons
to have thrown reproaches on him; or what ground they could have found
for fo doing. But it muſt be remembered that he was patroniſed by a party,
was called forth to deliver the acclamation of the Tories upon the
"victory at Blenheim, probably with an occult oppofition to Addiſon;"
whofe, pen being fet to work upon the fame occafion by the Wigs, produ-
ced his moſt popular poem, The Campaign. It may be ſuppoſed that ſome
compariſons took place between theſe rival compofitions, which poffibly
bore hard upon our Author, whofe Blenheim, as Dr. Johnfon well ob-
ferves," is the poem of a ſcholar, all inexpert of war; of a man, who
"writes books from books, and ftudies the world in a college.
We
may fancy alſo that there is a certain ſtiffneſs in it, which marks its being
compofed (as his Biographers have affured us it was) without a difpofition
for the taſk, at the folicitation of thoſe whom he could not refuſe.
664. Harley.]
,,
The family of Harley in England is very ancient. The illuftrious
family of Harlai in France is fuppofed to be a branch of it. A warrior
of the name of Harley, commanded an army under Ethelred King of
England, in his wars againſt Swaine King of Denmark. Before the Nor-
man conqueft, Sir John de Harley poffeffed Harley caftle in Shropſhire.
Robert Harley, ſon of Sir Richard Harley, in the reign of Edward II.
married Margaret daughter and coheir of Bryan de Brampton, by which
marriage he acquired, together with a great eſtate, Brampton caſtle.—
Thomas Harley Efq. of Brampton, had a grant from King James I. of
the Caftle of Wigmore in Herefordshire; he was father of Sir Robert
Harley Knight of the Bath, who was grandfather of the Lord Treaſurer.
Robert Harley, eldeſt fon of Sir Edward Harley Knight of the Bath,
by his fecond wife Abigail daughter of Nathaniel Stephens Efq. of
Effington in Glocefterfhire, did not firſt " draw his vital breath on Vaga's
winding ftream," as our Poet here fuppofes, but was born in Bow Street
Covent Garden, December 5, 1661, and was educated under the Reverend
Mr. Birch at Shilton near Burford, together with the Lords Harcourt and
Trevor, who alſo were the zealous friends and patrons of our Author.
He was first chofen Member of Parliament for Tregony in Cornwall, and
afterwards ferved for the town of Radnor, till he was made a Peer. He
was Speaker of the Houfe of Commons in three fucceeding Parliaments.
In 1704 he was made Secretary of State, in which office he continued four
years, when having gained confiderable credit with the Queen he raiſed
fo much the jealoufies of all parties, that he was obliged to refign.
On the change of the Miniſtry in 1710, he came a fecond time into power,
being made one of the Commiffioners of the Treafury, and Chancellor of
the Exchequer. In the following year a confiderable party began again
to
Book I.
75
CIDER.
Infcribe on every bark; the wounded plants
Will faft increaſe, fafter thy juſt reſpect.
665
to be formed againſt him, but he recovered his finking popularity by an
event that was near proving fatal to him, being ſtabbed with a pen-knife
by the Marquis de Guifcard, a French fpy, then under examination of the
Privy Council for a fuppofed deſign on the life of the Queen. This acci-
dent was of great ufe to Mr. Harley, as the party formed againſt him
could not iminediately attack a man felected by the intended affaffin of the
Queen as his next victim. The Queen took this occafion to create him a
Peer by the titles of Baron Harley of Wigmore, and Earl of Oxford and
Earl Mortimer; with remainder, for want of male iſſue, to the heirs male
of Sir Robert Harley Knight of the Bath, his grandfather. She alfo ap-
pointed him Lord High Treaſurer of Great Britain, and the next year
made him a Knight of the Garter.He refigned his ſtaff of Lord High
Treaſurer into the hands of the Queen a few days before her death. The
first year of the following reign, he was impeached by the Commons, and,
being committed to the Tower by the Houſe of Lords, remained in confine-
ment till the ift of July 1717, when, being brought to a public trial by
his Peers, he was acquitted. He was one of the great Patrons of our
Poet, who addreffed to him his Blenheim with a highly encomiaftic exor-
dium. Pope alfo compliments him in a very high ftrain in an Epiftle
addreffed to him, with an edition of Parnell's Poems, after his retreat into
the country.
And fure if aught below the feats divine
Can touch immortals, 'tis a foul like thine;
A foul fupreme in each hard inftance tried,
Above all pain, all anger, and all pride,
The rage of power, the blaſt of public breath,
The luft of lucre, and the dread of death.
Per-
A very oppofite character is indeed given of him by Lord Bolinbroke,
once his great political confederate, in his Letter to Sir William Wynd-
ham, as well as by Biſhop Burnet in his Hiftory of his own Time.
haps equal allowance fhould be made for the compliments of Poets, the
political quarrels of Stateſmen, and the violence of Party-writers. He died
May 21, 1724, aged 64, leaving by his firft wife Elizabeth daughter of
Thomas Foley, Efq. of Witley Court in the county of Worcester, and
fifter of the firſt Lord Foley, one fon, Edward; who fucceeded him in his
eſtate and title, and, marrying the daughter and heiress of his Grace John
Duke of Newcaſtle, left by her only one daughter, that eminent Virtuofa,
the late much refpected Duchefs Dowager of Portland: the title and eſtate
defcending to his firft coufin Edward Harley Efq. of Eyewood in the
county of Hereford.
665.
his name
Inferibe on every bark; the wounded plants
Will faft increase, faster thy juſt reſpo&.]
L 2
This
76
Book I,
CIDER.
1
:
Such are our heroes, by their virtues known,
Or ſkill in peace and war. Of fofter mold
The female fex, with ſweet attractive airs,
Subdue obdurate hearts. The travellers oft',
670
That view their matchlefs forms with tranfient glance,
Catch fudden love, and figh for nymphs unknown,
Smit with the magic of their eyes. Nor hath
This is from Virgil, ECLOG. X. 52.
Certum eft in fylvis, inter fpelea ferarum
Malle pati, TENERISQUE MEOS INCIDERE AMORES
ARBORIBUS: CRESCENT ILLE, CRESCETIS AMORES,
'Tis fix'd; to mazes of the tangled wood,
Where cavern'd monfters roam in queft of blood,
Abandon'd will I fly, to feed my flame,
Alone, and on the trees infcribe her name;
Faft as the groves in ftately growth improve,
By power congenial will increaſe my love.
668.
Of Softer mold
The female fex, with fweet attractive airs,
Subdue obdurate hearts.-
WARTON.
It is poffible that Philips had here in his mind a paffage in the fecond
Book of the PARADISE REGAINED, which the fine taſte of the late Mr.
Warton has justly termed exquifite.
Many are in each region paffing fair
As the noon-ſky; more like to goddeffes
Than mortal creatures, graceful and difcreet,
Expert in amorous arts, inchanting tongues
Perfuafive, virgin majefty with mild
And ſweet allay'd, yet terrible t'approach;
Skill'd to retire, and in retiring draw
Hearts after them, tangled in amorous nets.
$70.
V. 1559
the travellers oft",
That view their matchless forms with tranfient glance,
Catch fudden love, and figh for nymphs unknown.]
Milton, in his ſeventh Elegy, written at the age of nineteen, defcribes
himſelf "catching fudden love, and fighing for an unknown nymph."
The
Book I.
77
CIDER,
The dædal hand of Nature only pour'd
Her gifts of outward grace; their innocence
675
Unfeign'd, and virtue moft engaging, free
From pride or artifice, long joys afford
To th' honeſt nuptial bed, and, in the wane
Of life, rebate the miferies of age.
And is there found a wretch, fo baſe of mind, 680
That woman's powerful beauty dares condemn,
Exacteft work of Heaven? He ill deferves
Or love, or pity; friendleſs let him fee
Uneafy, tedious days, defpis'd, forlorn,
As ſtain of human race; but may the man,
That cheerfully recounts the female's praiſe,
Find equal love, and love's untainted ſweets
Enjoy with honor! O, ye Gods! might I
Elect my fate, my happieſt choice ſhould be
A fair and modeft virgin, that invites
674. The dædal hand of Nature.]
This is Lucretius's
NATURAQUE DEDALA rerum.
687. Equal love.]
He has the fame expreffion in his Splendid Shilling.
he, each circling glafs,
Wifheth her health, and joy, and EQUAL LOVE.
Poffibly he had a paffage of Terence in his mind.
O Thais, Thais, utinam effet mihi
PARS AQUA AMORIS tecum; ac pariter fieret
Ut aut hoc tibi doleret itidem, ut mihi dolet;
Aut ego iftuc abs te factum nihili penderem.
685
L. v. 235.
690
Eunuch. A& I. Sc. II.
With
78
Book I.
CIDER.
With aſpect chafte forbidding looſe deſire,
Tenderly fmiling, in whofe heavenly eye
692. Tenderly Smiling.]
This is the
DULCE RIDENTEM Lalagen
of Horace, which he is ſuppoſed to have taken from the
Γελώσας ιμερόεν,
of Sappho's moſt beautiful Ode.
692.
-in whofe heavenly eye
Sits purest love enthron'd — ]
Philips, while a ſtudent in the Univerfity, as we are told in the Bro-
GRAPHIA BRITANNICA, much admired the daughter of the Reverend
Dr. Meare, then Principal of Brazen-Noſe College, who, being a
native of Herefordshire, often invited his young countryman to vifit
him. Our Poet foon conceived a violent paffion for the young lady,
who was extremely accompliſhed. In perfon fhe is defcribed to have
been an agreeable brunette, without any thing very ſtriking except a full
black piercing eye. Being proud of her fituation in the Univerfity, and
vain of her accomplishments, the treated her admirer with fo much dif-
dain, that he never ventured to hint his paffion to her, but contented
himſelf with pouring out his complaints in verfe.-He mentions his
hopeleſs love for this lady in his charming Latin Ode, to his Patron St.
John, where, as well as in this place, he feems to mark the impreffion that
her full black piercing eye" had made upon him.
Tu forte felix; me Maria
Macerat (ah miferum!) videndo:
Maria, quæ me SIDEREO tuens
Obliqua VULTU per medium jecur
Trajecit, atque excuffit omnes
Protinus ex animo Puellas.
Hanc, ulla mentis fpes mihi mutuæ
Utcunque defit, nocte, die vigil
Sufpiro; nec jam Vina fomnos,
Nec revocant, tua dona, Fumi.
Mr. Newcombe in his tranflation of this paffage has ſtuck rather cloſer
to the original, and been fomewhat more fortunate than in the preceeding
parts of this admirable ode,
Maria's form as I furvey
Her fmiles a thoufand wounds impart,
Each feature ſteals my foul away,
Each glance deprives me of my heart,
And chafing thence each other fair
Leaves its own image only there.
Altho'
BOOK I.
79
CIDER.
Sits pureſt love enthron'd; but, if the ſtars
Malignant theſe my better hopes oppoſe,
May I, at leaſt, the facred pleaſures know
Of ſtricteſt amity, nor ever want
A friend, with whom I mutually may ſhare
Gladnefs, and anguiſh, by kind intercourſe
Of ſpeech, and offices! May in my mind
Indelible a grateful ſenſe remain
Of favors undeferv'd!-0 thou! from whom
Gladly both rich and low feek aid; moſt wife
Interpreter of right, whofe gracious voice
Altho' my anxious breaft defpair,
And, fighing, hopes no kind return,
Yet for the lov'd relentleſs fair
By night I wake, by day I burn:
Nor can thy gifts foft fleep fupply,
Or footh my pains, or clofe my eye.
693.
But, if the fars
Malignant thefe my better hopes oppoſe,]
This ſeems ſuggeſted by Horace's
Unde fi Parcæ prohibent iniquæ.
701.
O thou! from whom
Gladly both rich and low feek aid; moft wife
Interpreter of right- -]
L. II. Ode vi.
695
700
Our Author's very particular friend, for whofe affectionate regard he
here exprefles fo much gratitude, was Thomas, fecond fon of Sir John
Trevor Secretary of State to Charles II. by Ruth his wife, daughter
of John Hampden of Great Hampden in the county of Bucks. He
was born in the year 1660, and was educated, together with the Lords
Oxford and Harcourt, at Mr. Birch's School at Shilton near Burford.
Having been bred to the ftudy of the law, he was made Solicitor General
in 1692, and Attorney General three years afterwards. On the acceffion
of Queen Anne, he was appointed Chief Juftice of the Common Pleas, and,
December 11, 1711, was created a Peer, by the title of Lord Trevor of
Bromham in the county of Bedford. He married first Elizabeth,
daughter of John Searle Efq. of Finchley in the county of Middlefex,
by
80
BOOK I.
CIDER.
Breathes equity, and curbs too rigid law
With mild impartial reaſon; what returns
Of thanks are due to thy beneficence
Freely vouchfaf'd, when to the gates of Death
I tended prone! If thy indulgent care
Had not preven'd, among unbody'd ſhades
705
I now had wander'd, and theſe empty thoughts 710
Of Apples perifh'd; but, uprais'd by thee,
I tune my pipe afreſh, each night and day
by whom he had two fons, Thomas and John, fucceffively Lord Trevors,
who both died without iffue male. By his fecond wife Anne, daughter
of Robert Weldon, Efq. and widow of Sir Robert Bernard, Bart. he
left two ſons, Robert, fourth Lord Trevor, created, June 8, 1761, Viſ-
count Hampden; and Richard, late Bishop of Durham.
708.
thy indulgent care.]
The fingular kindneſs and attention of this affectionate friend to our
Author, which is here fo handfomely and gratefully acknowledged, was
alſo noticed in a particular manner after his death, in the verfes which
Edmund Smith, upon that occafion, addreſſed to the fame benevolent
perſon, then Lord Chief Juſtice of the Court of Common Pleas.
Your care had long his fleeting life reſtrain'd,
One table fed you, and one bed contain'd:
For his dear fake long reftlefs nights you bore,
While rattling coughs his heaving veffels tore;
Much was his pain, but your affliction more.
O had no fummons from the noiſy gown
Call'd thee, unwilling, to the naufeous town,
Thy love had o'er the dull difeafe prevail'd,
Thy mirth had cur'd where baffled phyſic fail'd.
But fince the will of heaven his fate decreed,
To thy kind care my worthlefs lines fucceed;
Fruitless our hopes, tho' pious our eſſays,
Thine to preſerve a friend, and mine to praiſe.
Preven'd.]
7༠9.
Milton ufes the participle prevenient.
from the mercy-feat above
PREVENIENT grace defcending had remov'd
The ftony from their hearts
}
P. L. xi. 2.
Thy
Book I.
81
CIDER.
Thy unexampled goodneſs to extol
Defirous but nor night, nor day, fuffice
For that great tafk; the highly honor'd name 715
Of Trevor muſt employ my willing thoughts
Inceffant, dwell for ever on my tongue.
Let me be grateful, but let far from me
Be fawning cringe, and falfe diffembling look,
And ſervile flattery, that harbors oft
720
In courts and gilded roofs. Some loofe the bands
Of ancient friendſhip, cancel nature's laws,
721.
fome looſe the bands
Of ancient friendſhip, &c. &c.]
Thus Virgil, GEORGIC. ii. 503.
Sollicitant alii remis freta cæca, ruuntque
In ferrum; penetrant aulas et limina regum:
Hic petit excidiis urbem miferofque Penates,
Ut
gemmâ bibat, et Sarrano indormiat oftro:
Condit opes alius, defoffoque incubat auro.
Hic ftupet attonitus roftris : hunc plaufus hiantem
Per cuneos (geminatur enim) plebifque, patrumque,
Corripuit; gaudent perfufi fanguine fratrum,
Exilioque domos et dulcia limina matant,
Atque alio patriam quærunt fub fole jacentem.
Some brave the tempefts of the roaring main
Or ruſh to dangers, toils and blood for gain;
Some ravage lands, or crowded cities burn,
Nor heed how many helplefs widows mourn,
To fatiate mad ambition's wild defire,
To quaff in gems, or fleep on filks of Tyre:
This to folicit fmiles of Kings reforts,
Deep practis'd in the dark cabals of courts ;
This low in earth conceals his ill-got ſtore,
Hov'ring and brooding on his ufelefs ore;
This doats with fondnefs on the roftrum's fame,
To gain the prize of eloquence his aim;
'The people's and patrician's loud applauſe
To crowded theatres another draws;
M
Some
82
BOOK I.
CIDER.
For pageantry and tawdry gewgaws. Some
Renounce their fires, oppoſe paternal right
For rule and power, and others' realms invade 725
With fpecious fhews of love. This traiterous wretch
Betrays his fovereign. Others, deſtitute
730
Of real zeal, to every altar bend,
By lucre fway'd, and act the baſeft things
To be ſtyl'd honorable. The honeſt man,
Simple of heart, prefers inglorious want
To ill-got wealth: rather from door to door,
A jocund pilgrim, though diſtreſs'd, he'll rove,
Than break his plighted faith: nor fear, nor hope
Some fhed a brother's blood, and trembling run
To diftant lands beneath another fun;
Condemn'd in hopeleſs exile far to roam
From their fweet country and their facred home.
723.
Some
Renounce their fires, oppofe paternal right
For rule and power, and others' realms invade
With Specious fhews of love.]
WARTON.
This allufion is very palpable: and we cannot but grieve to fee the
very beautiful conclufion of this book thus tarnished by being made the
vehicle of party virulence. Pope, in the following lines, may be
fuppofed to glance the fame way, though he does not fpeak out fo
directly.
Laſt, thoſe who boaſt of mighty miſchiefs done,
Enſlave their country, or ufup a throne,
Or who their glory's dire foundation lay'd
On fov'reigns ruin'd, or on friends betray'd;
Calm, thinking villains, whom no path could fix
Of crooked councils and dark politics;
Of theſe a gloomy tribe furround the throne,
And beg to make th' immortal treafons known.
734. Than break his plighted faith.]
TEMPLE OF FAME, V. 406
Many of Philips's neareſt relations and moft particular friends, were
rigid
BOOK I.
83
CIDER.
Will ſhock his ſtedfaſt foul: rather, debarr'd 735
Each common privilege, cut off from hopes
Of meaneft gain, of preſent goods deſpoil'd,
He'll bear the marks of infamy, contemn'd,
Unpity'd; yet his mind, of evil
pure,
Supports him, and intention free from fraud. 740
If no retinue with obfervant eyes
rigid Nonjurors. In this place he feems to point to thoſe reſpectable per-
fons of confcientious integrity, who facrificed all emolument to their
political principles.
741. If no retinue with obfervant eyes
Attend him, if he can't with purple ftain
Of cumbrous veftments, labor'd o'er with gold,
Dazzle the crowd, and fet them all agape ;]
Poffibly the Poet in this paffage had a view to one, defcriptive of
Roman grandeur, in the fecond GEORGIC, V. 461.
Si non ingentem foribus domus alta fuperbis
Mane falutantum totis vomit ædibus undam ;
Nec varios inhiant pulchrâ teftudine poftes,
Illufafque auro veftes, Ephyreiaque æra;
Alba neque Affyrio fucatur lana veneno.
Tho' high-arch'd domes, tho' marble halls they want,
And columns cas'd in gold and elephant,
In awful ranks where brazen ftatues ftand,
The polish'd works of Græcia's ſkilful hand,
Nor dazzling palace view, whofe portals proud
Each morning vomit out the cringing crowd,
Nor wear the tiffu'd garments' cumbrous pride,
Nor feek foft wool in Syrian purple dyed.
WARTON.
Or has he borrowed fome of his thoughts, as he has a whole line, from
Milton? The paffage is here cited more at length than was neceſſary,
for the fake of the four firſt moſt beautiful and fublime lines.
Meanwhile our primitive great fire, to meet
His God-like gueſt walks forth, without more train
Accompanied than with his own complete
Perfections; in himfelf was all his ftate,
More folemn than the tedious pomp that waits
On princes, when their RICH RETINUE LONG,
Of horſes led, and grooms befmear'd with gold,
DAZZLES THE CROWD, AND SETS THEM ALL AGAPE.
M 2
P. L. 5. 350.
Attend
84
Book I.
CIDER.
Attend him; if he can't with purple ſtain
Of cumbrous veſtments, labor'd o'er with gold,
Dazzle the crowd and ſet them all agape;
Yet clad in homely weeds, from envy's darts 745
Remote he lives, nor knows the nightly pangs
Of confcience, nor with ſpectres' grifly forms,
Demons, and injur'd fouls, at cloſe of day
Annoy'd, fad interrupted flumbers finds;
But, as a child whofe inexperienc'd age
Nor evil purpoſe fears nor knows, enjoys
Night's ſweet refreſhment, humid fleep fincere.
When Chanticleer, with clarion fhrill, recalls
750
747.
purple fain
Of cumbrous vestments, labor'd o'er with gold.]
This is Virgil's
Arte laboratæ veftes, oftroque fuperbæ.
ENEID, i. 648.
753. When Chanticleer, with clarion fhrill, recalls
The tardy day. —————————]
Our Poet feems to have taken his "Chanticleer with clarion fhrill"
from the following fine defcription of day-break in Spenfer's FAERY
QUEEN, B. i. C. 2. S. 1.
By this the northern Waggoner had fet
His feven-fold team behind the ſteadfaſt ſtar,
That was in ocean waves yet never wet,
But firm is fix'd, and fendeth light from far
To all that in the wide deep wand'ring are;
•
And cheerful CHANTICLEER WITH HIS NOTE SHRILL
Had warned once, that Phoebus' fiery car
In hatte was climbing up the eaftern hill,
Full envious, that night fo long his room did fill.
The
Book I.
85
CIDER.
The tardy day, he to his labors hies
Gladfome, intent on fomewhat that may eafe 755
Unhealthy mortals, and with curious ſearch
754.
Gladfome &c.]
He to his labors bies
This defcription of the employments of learned virtuous leifure in
rural retirement is very beautiful It reminds us of the following highly-
finiſhed lines of Mr. Pope:
Happy next him, who to theſe ſhades retires,
Whom Nature charms, and whom the Muſe inſpires;
Whom humbler joys of home-felt quiet pleaſe,
Succeffive ftudy, exerciſe and eaſe.
He gathers health from herbs the foreft yields,
And of their fragrant phyfic fpoils the fields:
With chemic arts exalts the mineral powers,
And draws the aromatic fouls of flowers:
Now marks the courfe of rolling orbs on high,
O'er figur'd worlds now travels with his eye;
Of ancient writ unlocks the learned ftore,
Confults the dead, and lives paſt ages o'er;
Or, wand'ring thoughtful in the filent wood,
Attends the duties of the wife and good.
755.
WINDSOR FOREST, V. 237.
intent on fomewhat that may eaſe
Unhealthy mortals, and with curious fearch
Examines all the properties of herbs.]
Philips's favorite ftudy was natural hiftory, particularly botany.
This was in the line of his intended profeffion, which was that of phyſic.
His partiality for the ftudy of nature probably determined his choice of
that profeffion, which his own ill health made him incapable of following.
His friend, Edmund Smith, in his verſes to his memory, notices his ſtudy
of phyfic and botany.
his capacious mind
Judicious phyfic's noble art to gain
All drugs and plants explor'd, alas! in vain ;
The drugs and plants their drooping mafter fail'd,
Nor goodneſs now nor learning aught avail'd.
This was poffibly fuggefted by a paffage in Milton's EPITAPHIUM
DAMONIS, where, having touched on his friend Deodati's ſkill in bo-
tany, he adds,
Ah! pereant herbæ, pereant artefque medentum,
Gramina poftquam ipfi nil profecere magiftro.
Examines
86
Book I.
CIDER.
Examines all the properties of herbs,
Foffils, and minerals, that th' embowell'd earth
Diſplays, if by his induſtry he can
Benefit human race; or elſe his thoughts
Are exercis'd with fpeculations deep
760
Of good, and juſt, and meet, and the wholeſome rules
Of temperance, and aught that may improve
The moral life; not fedulous to rail,
Nor with envenom'd tongue to blaſt the fame 765
Of harmleſs men, or fecret whifpers ſpread
'Mong faithful friends, to breed diſtruſt and hate.
Studious of virtue, he no life obferves
Except his own; his own employs his cares,
757. Examines all the properties of herbs.]
Milton in his PENSEROSO, admits botany as one of the pleaſures of
the Penfive Man, in his Hermitage.
Where I may fit and rightly ſpell
Of every ftar that heaven doth fhew,
And every herb that fips the dew.
V. 170.
On which laſt line Mr. Warton obferves, "It feems probable that
"Milton was a ſtudent in botany. For he ſpeaks with great pleaſure of
"the hopes he had formed of being affifted in this ftudy by his friend
"Charles Deodate, who was a phyfician. EPITAPH. DAMON.
V. 150."
Tu mihi percurres medicos, tua gramina, fuccos,
Helleborumque, humilefque crocos, foliumque hyacinthi,
Quafque habet ifta palus herbas, artefque medentum.
760.
— or elſe his thoughts
Are exercis'd with fpeculations deep
Of good, and just, and meet.-]
Some of thefe expreffions may be traced to Milton, P. L. ix, 602.
Thenceforth TO SPECULATIONS HIGH, OR DEEP,
I TURN'D MY THOUGHT.-—-------- -1
Large
Book I.
87
CIDER.
Large fubject! that he labors to refine
Daily, nor of his little ſtock denies
Fit alms, to Lazars merciful and meek.
Thus facred Virgil liv'd, from courtly vice
And baits of pompous Rome fecure; at court
Still thoughtful of the rural honeft life,
773. Thus facred Virgil liv'd, from courtly vice,
And baits of pompous Rome fecure,-]
770
775
The epithet of facred might have been fuggeſted by an Epigram of
Martial.
Temporibus noftris ætas cum cedat avorum,
Creverit et major cum duce Roma fuo:
Ingenium SACRI miraris abeffe MARONIS,
Nec quemquam tantâ bella fonare tubâ?
L. viii. Ep. 56.
Horace terms Virgil optimus Virgilius (L. i. Sat. 6.) and, in the pre-
ceding fatire, fpeaking of him, and his two other friends, Plotius and
Varius, he deſcribes them
animæ, quales neque candidiores
Terra tulit.-
Virgil's character feems to be marked with much goodneſs of difpofi-
tion, great amiablenefs of manners, and an averfion to the diſturbances of
bufy life, and the factions and intrigues of courts. Dr. Warton
traces, in their writings, a certain fimilarity of difpofition between Virgil
and our Poet.
66
Philips's Cider" (fays that elegant and judicious Critic, in his Re-
flections upon Didactic Poetry) "is a very clofe and happy imitation of
"the Georgic, and conveys to us the fulleſt idea of Virgil's manner,
"whom he hath exactly followed on a pregnant brevity of ftyle, in
throwing in frequent moral reflections, in varying the method of gi-
ving his precepts, in his digreffions, and in his happy addreſs in return-
ing again to his fubject; in his knowledge and love of philofophy,
medicine, agriculture, and antiquity; and in a certain primæval fim-
plicity of manners, which is fo confpicuous in both.
4
Co
775. Still thoughtful of the rural honeft life.]
Cicero, in his defence of Sext. Rofcius, has the following paffage, from
which our Poet might have borrowed his "rural honeft life.
Sed permultos et ego novi, et, nifi me fallit animus, unufquifque veſ-
trum, qui et ipfi incenfi funt ftudio, quod ad agrum colendum attinet:
VITAMQUE HANC RUSTICAM, quam tu probo et crimini putas effe
oportere, et HONESTISSIMAM et fuaviffimam effe arbitrantur. Tom. 1.
P. 144. Edit. Græv, et. Par.
And
+
T
88
Book I.
CIDER.
And how t'improve his grounds, and how himſelf.
Beſt Poet! fit exemplar for the tribe
Of Phoebus! Nor lefs fit Mæonides,
Poor eyeleſs pilgrim! And, if after theſe,
If after theſe another I may name,
780
Thus tender Spenfer liv'd, with mean repaft
Content, depreſs'd by penury and pine
In foreign realm; yet not debas'd his verſe
By fortune's frowns. And, had that other bard,
778.
Maonides, ]
Milton had fung of Homer, under the name of MÆONIDES.
781. Spenfer.]
P. L. iii. 35.
Edmund Spenfer, the celebrated author of the Faery Queen, is faid to
have been defcended from the fame family of the Spenfers in Northamp-
tonſhire, from whom the preſent Duke of Marlborough traces his pedi-
gree, and was in the humble fituation of a Sizer at Pembroke College in
Cambridge. Having completed his degrees, he retired to the north of
England, where he continued to lead an obfcure life for fome years; but,
being induced to quit his retirement in 1578, and to vifit London, he
was introduced to Mr. (afterwards Sir Philip) Sydney, the Mæcænas of
the age, and by him prefented to Queen Elizabeth, who made him Poet
Laureat. The next year he went to Ireland as Secretary to Lord Grey
de Wilton, then appointed Lord Lieutenant of that kingdom, and coming
back with him, in 1582, continued in London till after the death of his
patron, Sir Philip Sydney; when, having obtained a grant of fome for-
feited lands in the county of Cork, he returned to Ireland, and fixed him-
felf at the Caſtle of Kilcolman, where the river Mulla, which he has fine-
ly introduced into his poems, ran through his grounds. Here he married,
and principally refided, untill, on the rebellion of Lord Tyrone, who
ravaged the whole county of Cork, he was obliged to fly for fafety to
England, where he died in extreme poverty, in the year 1 599.
782. deprefs'd by penury and pine]
His raw-bone cheeks, through PENURY AND PINE,
Were fhrunk into his jawes as he did never dine.
784.
FAERY QUEEN, B. i. C. 9. S. 35.
And had that other bard, &c.]
Addifon, in his Account of the Greatest English Poets, having ſpoken of
Milton, has a paffage fomewhat fimilar to this of our Author.
O had
}
BOOK I.
89
CIDER.
Oh! had but he, that firft ennobled fong
With holy raptures, like his Abdiel been,
O had the Poet ne'er profan'd his pen,
To varnish o'er the guilt of faithleſs men,
His other works might have deferv'd applaufe ;
But now the language can't ſupport the cauſe:
While the clear current, tho' ferene and bright,
Betrays a bottom odious to the fight.
The Mufes and their genuine votaries, without attacking Milton's
party principles, may well arraign the violence with which he entered
into the political controverfies of his time. An Editor of Milton's
دو
juvenile poems" (fays the late Mr. Warton)" cannot but exprefs his
"concern, that the number is fo inconfiderable. With Milton's watiew
hangings, delicious as they are, we reaſonably reft contented: but we
"are juftified in regretting, that he has left fo few of his early bloifems,
not only becauſe they are fo exquifitely fweet, but becaufe fo many
"more might have naturally been expected. And this regret is yet
aggravated, when we confider the caufe which prevented the production
"of more, and intercepted the progrefs of fe promifing a fpring: when
The
we recollect that the vigorous portion of his life, that thofe years, in
"which imagination is on the wing, were unworthily and unprofitably
"wafted on temporary topics, on elaborate, but perifhable differtations
"in defence of innovation and anarchy. To this employment he
"facrificed his eyes, his health, his repofe, his native propenfities, his
elegant studies. Smit with the deplorable polemics of Puritanism, he
fuddenly ceafed to gaze on fuck fights as youthful poets dream.
"numerous and noble plans of tragedy, which he had deliberately formed
"with the difcernment and felection of a great poetical mind, were at
once interrupted and abandoned, and have now left, to a difappointed
pofterity, only a few naked lines and confuſed ſketches. Inítead of
embellishing original tales of chivalry, of cloathing the fabulous at-
"chievements of the early Britiſh Kings and champions in the gorgeous
trappings of Epic attire, he wrote SMECTYMNUS and TETRACHOR-
"DON, apologies for fanatical preachers, and the doctrine of di-
The late Biographer of our Englith Poets imputes the
part that Milton took in politics to a native violence of temper and a
difinclination to government, even the mildeft. "Milton's republican-
" ifm (fays Dr. Johnfon) was, I am afraid, f unded in an envious ha-
"tred of greatneſs, and a fullen defire of independance; in petulance,
impatient of controul, and pride, difdainful of fuperiority. He hated
"monarchs in the ftate, and prelates in the church; becaufe he hated all
"whom he was required to obey. It is to be fufpected, that his predo-
"minant defire was to deftroy, rather than eſtabliſh, and that he felt not
"fo much the love of liberty, as repugnance to authority." This
is rather ftrong. But Biſhop Warburton, in A Letter to Doctor Birch,
on the Character and Comvolitions of Milton, aſcribes his violence in poli-
N
"vorces.
>>
tics
90
Book I.
CIDER.
!
'Mong many faithleſs ſtrictly faithful found,
Unpity'd he ſhould not have wail'd his orbs,
tics to quite another caufe. Having deſcribed Milton as a complete
time-ferver, he thus proceeds. "It is true he was ſteady in one thing,
namely, his averfion to the Court and Royal Family; but, I fufpect,
"it was becauſe he was not received among the wits favorably; he, who
was fo far ſuperior to them all. I take this to be owing to the ſtiffneſs
"of his ſtyle and manner, fo contrary to that of the Court, who were
"then enervating themſelves on the model of France."
"was
786.
like his Abdiel been,
'Mong many faithlefs ftri&ly faithful found.]
Milton had defcribed the Seraph Abdiel
FAITHFUL FOUND
AMONG THE FAITHLESS, only faithful he
P. L. B. v. V. 897.
788. Unpity'd he ſhou'd not have wail'd his orbs,
That roll'd in vain to find the piercing ray,
And found no dawn, by dim fuffufion veil'd.]
Such is almoſt literally the defcription Milton gives of his blindneſs in
the third book of his PARADISE LOST; which having opened with a
moft poetical and fublime addreſs to light, he thus proceeds;
thee I revifit fafe,
And feel thy fovran vital lamp; but thou
Revifit'ft not thefe eyes, THAT ROLL IN VAIN
TO FIND THY PIERCING RAY, AND FIND NO DAWN;
So thick a drop ferene hath quench'd their OR BS,
OR DIM SUFFUSION VEIL'D.
Nothing can indeed be more pathetically beautiful than his WAILINGS
of his own fituation that follow:
Yet not the more
Ceafe I to wander where the Mufes haunt
Clear fpring, or fhady grove, or funny hill,
Smit with the love of facred fong; but chief
Thee, Sion, and thy flow'ry brooks beneath,
That wash thy hallow'd feet, and warbling flow,
Nightly I vifit: nor fometimes forget.
Thofe other two equall'd with me in fate,
So were I equall'd with them in renown,
Blind Thamyris and blind Mæonides,
And Tirefias and Phineus prophets old:
Then feed on thoughts, that voluntary move
Harmonious numbers; as the wakeful bird
Sings darkling, and in fhadieſt covert hid
Tunes her nocturnal note. Thus with the year
Seafons return, but not to me returns
Day',
BOOK I.
91
CIDER.
:
That roll'd in vain to find the piercing ray,
And found no dawn, by dim fuffuſion veil'd.
But he
however let the Muſe abſtain,
790
Nor blaſt his fame from whom ſhe learn'd to fing
In much inferior ftrains, grovelling beneath
Th' Olympian hill, on plains and vales intent,
Mean follower. There let her reft a-while,
Pleas'd with the fragant walks, and cool retreat. 796
Day, or the ſweet approach of ev'n or morn,
Or fight of vernal bloom, or ſummer's rofe,
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;
But cloud inſtead, and ever-during dark
Surrounds me, from the cheerful ways of men
Cut off, and for the book of knowledge fair
Prefented with a univerfal blank
Of nature's works, to me expung'd and ras'd,
And wisdom at one entrance quite fhut out.
In the opening of his SAMSON AGONISTES alfo, where Samfon la-
ments his own blindneſs, every word feems dictated by the Poet's exquifite
fenfibility of his own fituation.
794. Th' Olympian Hill
Philips had here in view the opening of the feventh book of the
PARADISE LOST.
Defcend from heaven, Urania, by that name
If rightly thou art call'd, whofe voice divine
Following above TH' OLYMPIAN HILL I foar,
Above the flight of Pegafean wing.
N 2
ARGUMENT
OF
BOOK II.
Dedication to MR. HARCOURT. Subject refumed. Bad
effects of blights, when the fruit is forming. Autumn, the
Seaſon of gathering Apples. Cider-mill, and prefs, de-
fcribed. Cider-washings. Poffibility of preferving and
ripening wind-fall Apples. Caution against endeavoring
to improve Cider, by mixing any thing with the pure juice
of the Apple-and against boiling it. Tithe of Apples to
be paid. Signs of fair weather, and of fertile feafons.
Each feafon produces its appropriate fruits. Wine made of
different forts of fruits. Mead. Birch and Cowflip wines.
Ufquebaugh drunk in Ireland; Mum and Geneva in Holland.
A drink made of Juniper-berries, drunk by the Northern
Nations. Perfons in hot countries obliged to drink frequently.
Cider fhould be kept two years in cafk before it is bottled;-
may be made of various forts of Apples, ground and preſſed
together;—often refembles different kinds of wines fo exactly,
as to be mistaken by foreigners for the genuine wine that is
the particular growth of their own country;-fhould not be
racked until it is quite fine ;-fhould be bottled in the Spring.
Glafs; how made, and bottles blown. Different forts of
Cider
ARGUMENT.
Cider require to be kept a different length of time in bottle,
before they are fit for drinking. Potency of Stire Cider.
The Farmer's Feaft. Praife of Bacchus, Chriſtmas Gam-
bols, and the Ruftic Ball. Temperance recommended. Fatal
confequences of Intemperance. Battle of the Centaurs and
Lapithæ. Civil-war between CHARLES I. and the PAR-
LIAMENT. Panegyric on King CHARLES, and on Queen
ANNE. England happy in a Monarchic Government. The
contentions of the Heptarchy, and wars under our firſt Kings,
contrasted with the peaceable and happy reign of EDGAR.
The Atchievements of Richard COEUR DE LION in the
Crufades. Victories of EDWARD III. in France. Miferies
of the civil-war between the Houſes of YORK and LAN-
CASTER. Thefe Houfes united in the perfon of HENRY VII.
The Crowns of England and Scotland united in JAMES I.
Act of UNION between the two Kingdoms. The power
and importance it gives to BRITAIN.
CIDER.
BOOK II.
O HARCOURT, whom th' ingenuous love of arts
Has carry'd from thy native foil, beyond
Th'eternal Alpine fnows, and now detains
In Italy's waſte realms! how long muft we
1. Harcourt.]
Simon, fon of Lord Chancellor Harcourt, was the fellow-collegian of
our Author. He ſpoke verſes to Queen Anne, at Chriſt Church,
when the vifited the Univerſity of Oxford in Auguſt 1702; but, at the
time this poem was written and published, was abroad on his travels.
He ferved, in the two laft parliaments of the Queen's reign, for the
boroughs of Aylesbury and Wallingford; and marrying Elizabeth,
daughter of John Evelyn, Efq. and fifter of Sir John Evelyn, of
Wootton in Surrey, Bart. left one fon, Simon, afterwards Earl of
Harcourt, and father to the prefent Earl; and two daughters. He
died in 1720, at Paris, from whence his body was brought to England,
and interred at Stanton Harcourt, in Oxfordſhire, where a monument
is erected to his memory, with the following Epitaph by Mr. Pope,
which marks that Poet's affectionate regard for Mr. Harcourt, more
than it diſplays any peculiar talent for this ſpecies of compofition.
To this fad fhrine, whoe'er thou art, draw near,
Here lies the friend moft lov'd, the fon moſt dear :
Who ne'er knew joy, but friendſhip might divide,
Nor gave his father grief, but when he dy'd.
How vain is Reafon, Eloquence how weak!
If Pope must tell what HARCOURT cannot ſpeak.
O let thy once-lov'd friend infcribe thy ftone,
And with a father's forrows, mix his own!
This was a debt due from Mr. Pope to the memory of a friend, who
had complimented him on the appearance of his Poems, according to
the cuſtom of that time, with a copy of verfes prefixed to his works;
where, among the great names that offer their tribute at the fhrine of
Poetry,
95
BOOK II.
CIDER.
5
Lament thy abfence, whilft in fweet fojourn
Thou view'ft the reliques of old Rome, or what
Unrival'd Authors by their prefence made
For ever venerable, rural feats,
Poetry, that of Simon Harcourt appears, not lefs to his own credit,
than that of the bard he celebrates.
Mr. Harcourt was a Scholar
and a Poet. A Latin Poem of his is printed in the fecond volume of
the Minja Anglicana; and he has been faid to have been the author of
The Judgment of Venus, printed among Prior's Poems.
The family of Harcourt is very ancient. They are defcended,
together with the noble family of that name in France, from Bernard,
a nobleman of the blood-royal of Saxony, who was fecond in command
to Duke Rollo, in his deſcent upon Normandy, in the year 876, and
obtained, with other Lordships, that of Harcourt, as the reward of his
fervices upon that occafion. Anchitel, great-grandfon of Bernard,
was the first of the family who took the furname of Harcourt. His
two eldeſt ſons attended William the Conqueror to England; of whom
Robert, the ſecond, was the anceſtor of the prefent Earl of Harcourt.
5.
in fweet fojourn.]
Milton ufes fojourn, thus accented on the laſt ſyllable, in one place.
Thee I revifit now with bolder wing
6.
Efcap'd the Stygian pool, though long detain'd
In that obfcure SOJOURN-
or what
P. L. B. iii. V. 13.
Unrival'd Authors by their prefence made
For ever venerable- -]
There is a remarkable fimiliarity of expreffion between this paffage
and the following couplet in Pope's WINDSOR FOREST:
Led by the found I roam from ſhade to fhade,
BY GOD-LIKE POETS VENERABLE MADE.
V. 267.
The veneration which we habitually entertain for any place that has
been the refidence of perfons, whom we have much loved or admired,
is beautifully defcribed in a paffage of Cicero DE LEGIBUS. L. ii.
C. 2.
Movemur enim nefcio quo pacto locis ipfis, in quibus eorum, quos
diligimus, aut admiramur, adfunt veftigia. Me quidem illæ ipfæ
noftræ Athene non tam operibus magnificis exquifitifque antiquorum
artibus delectant, quam recordatione fummorum virorum, ubi quifque
habitare, ubi federe, ubi difputare fit folitus: ftudiofeque eorum etiam
fepulcra contemplor.
Tibur,
Book II.
97
CIDER.
Tibur, and Tufculum, or Virgil's urn,
Green with immortal bays, which haply thou, 10
Reſpecting his great name, do'ft now approach
With bended knee, and ftrow with purple flowers;
Unmindful of thy friends, that ill can brook
This long delay? At length, dear youth, return,
Of wit and judgment ripe in blooming years,
And Britain's Iſle with Latian knowledge grace.
Return, and let thy father's worth excite
10. Green with immortal bays
•]
15
The Tomb of Virgil (or at leaſt the ruined hut, which is fhewn to
Travellers, as the fpot where the afhes of the Poet were depofited) ſtands
on the mountain of Paufilipo, in the neighbourhood of Naples; where
an ancient bay-tree (as Dr. Moore, in his View of Society and Manners
in Italy, well obferves)" with infinite propriety over-hang's it."
15. Of wit and judgment ripe in blooming years]
EN.
This is Virgil's Animi maturus. N. ix. 246. Or from his defcrip-
tion of Iulus, V. 310, of the fame book :
17.
Ante annos animumque gerens curamque virilem.
thy father's worth-
worth]
Lord Chancellor Harcourt, eldeſt ſon of Sir Philip Harcourt, (who was
Member of Parliament for the county of Oxford, in the year 1681) was a
ſtudent of Pembroke College in Oxford, and, having removed from thence
to the Inner Temple, rofe through the various great fituations in the law
to the higheft of them. About the time that this Poem was publiſhed,
he exchanged the office of Solicitor General for that of Attorney Gene-
ral; which laft employment he quitted not long after by a voluntary re-
fignation. He appeared as principal Counfel for Dr. Sacheverel, at his
trial, when impeached by the Houfe of Commons. On the change of
the Miniſtry, in 1710, he was again made Attorney General; and,
very shortly after, was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal.-
Sept. 31, 1711, he was created a Peer, by the title of Baron Harcourt,
of Stanton Harcourt in Oxfordshire; and, the year following, was made
Lord Chancellor, in which office he continued till the acceffion of
George I. when the Great Seal was given to Lord Cowper. He became
afterwards a great favorite with the King, who advanced him to
the dignity of Viscount Harcourt, and made him one of the Lords
Juftices, at different times, when he vifited his German dominions.
O
Lord
98
Book II.
CIDER.
Thirſt of pre-eminence. See, how the cauſe
Of widows and of orphans he afferts,
With winning rhetoric, and well-argu'd law!
Mark well his footſteps, and, like him, deſerve
Thy prince's favor, and thy country's love.
20
Meanwhile, although the Maffic grape delights,
Lord Harcourt died July 29, 1727, aged 67, and was buried at Stan-
ton Harcourt. He had three wives: by his first wife, Rebecca, daughter
of Thomas Clarke, Efq. and widow of Sir Samuel Aftry, of Henbury
in Glouceſterſhire, Kt. he had iffue, Simon above mentioned; and two
daughters, Anne, married to John Barlow, Efq. of Slebeck, in Pem-
brokeſhire; and Arabella, to Harcourt Aubery, Efq. of Clehonger in
Herefordshire Lord Harcourt was the friend of Pope, Swift, and
the wits of that period. He was the zealous patron of our author
during his life; and teftified his regard for him, when dead, by erecting
a monument in Weſtminſter Abbey to his memory.
18.
See, how the caufe
Of widows and of orphans he afferts,
With winning rhetoric, and well argu'd law!]
A ftrong atteftation of Lord Harcourt's great eloquence and legal
knowledge may be adduced from the preamble to the patent, by which
he was at firft advanced to the Peerage. Having recited the antiquity
and warlike actions of his family, it fays; "Nor is there one of all that
race, deſcended from fuch noble anceſtors, who has not been eminent
"for his love to his country, and loyalty to his Prince. He fuffered, in-
"deed, in his paternal inheritance, which was diminiſhed by the fury of
"the civil wars; but not in his glory, which, being acquired by mili-
tary valour, he, as a lawyer, has advanced by the force of his wit and
eloquence; for we have understood, that his faculty in fpeaking is fo
"full of variety, that many doubt, whether he is fitter to manage caufes
"in the lower court, or to ſpeak before a full parliament; but it is con-
"feffed by all, that AMONG THE LAWYERS HE IS THE MOST ELO-
QUENT ORATOR; AND AMONG THE ORATORS, THE MOST ABLE
LAWYER."
23•
although the Maffic grape delights,
Pregnant of racy juice, and Formian hills
Temper thy cups,]
The mountain Gaurus, or Maficus, made a part of the
nus, and probably produced the choiceft wine of that
Ager Faler-
diftrict; as
the
Book II.
99
CIDER.
Pregnant of racy juice, and Formian hills
Temper thy cups, yet, wilt thou not reject
25
Thy native liquors. Lo! for thee my mill
Now grinds choice Apples, and the Britiſh vats
O'er flow with generous Cider: far remote
Accept this labor, nor deſpiſe the Muſe,
That, paffing lands and feas, on thee attends.
Thus far of trees; the pleafing taſk remains
30
the beft Falernian wine feems to have been frequently called Maffic
Sir Edward Barry, in his very ingenious and claffical Obfervations on the
Wines of the Ancients, fays that all the wines which were made from
any part of the Ager Falernus, were frequently included in the general
denomination of Maffic or Falernian. Which being admitted; the whole
of the above paffage becomes a cloſe tranſlation of the concluding lines
of an Ode of Horace to Mæcænas.
mea nec FALERNÆ
TEMPERANT VITES, NEQUE FORMIANI
POCULA COLLES.
*
27•
L. I. Ode 20.
the British vats
}
O'erflow with generous Cider.
This is from a part of Virgil's invocation of Bacchus, GEORGIC.
ii. 6.
Huc pater O Lenæe, (tuis hæc omnia plena
Muneribus tibi pampineo gravidus autumno
Floret ager: SPUMAT PLENIS VINDEMIA LABRIS.)
Great father Bacchus! to my fong repair;
For cluſtering grapes are thy peculiar care:
For thee large bunches load the bending vine,
And the laſt bleffings of the year are thine;
To thee his joys the jolly Autumn owes,
When the fermenting juice the vat o'erflows.
30. Thus far of trees;]
Thus Virgil opens his fecond GEORGIC.
HACTENUS ARVORUM, &c.
DRYDEN.
O 2
Τα
100
Book II.
CIDER.
To fing of Wines, and Autumn's bleft increaſe.
Th' effects of art are fhewn ; yet what avails
'Gainſt Heaven? Oft, notwithſtanding all thy care
To help thy plants, when the fmall fruitery feems 35
Exempt from ills, an oriental blaſt
Difaftrous flies, foon as the hind, fatigu'd,
Unyokes his team: the tender freight, unſkill'd
34.
Oft, notwithstanding all thy care
To help thy plants, when the fmall fruitery feems
Exempt from ills, an oriental blaft
Difaftrous flies]
One of the earlieſt hypothefes, refpecting Blights, was, that they are
ufually produced by an Eafterly Wind, bringing quantities of in-
fects eggs along with it from fome diftant place, which, being lodged on
the furface of the leaves and flowers of fruit trees, caufe them to fhrivel up
and perish.
But later Enquirers have, from repeated obfervations and
experiments, concluded them to arife from different caufes. A prin-
cipal one is a continued dry eafterly Wind for feveral days together,
without the intervention of fhowers or any morning dew, by which
the perfpiration in the tender bloffoms is ftopped, fo that in a fhort time.
they wither and decay. But the moſt deſtructive fpecies of blight, and
one for which, it is faid, there is no prevention or remedy, is what is called
a Fire-blaft, which is fuppofed to be effected by volumes of tranfparent
flying vapors, that revolve into fuch forms, as make the rays of the fun
converge enough to fcorch the plants or trees they fall upon.
37.
foon as the hind fatigu'd
Unyokes his team -},
The Roman Poets have thus mark'd the evening.
Adfpice, ARATRA JUGO REFERUNT SUSPENSA JUVENCI;
Et fol crefcentes decedens duplicat umbras.
Sol ubi montium
Virg. EcL. ii. 66.
Mutaret umbras, et JUGA DEMERET
BOBUS FATIGATIS
Hor. L. iii. Ode 6.
And Milton, in his Comus, V. 291. has the fame rural deſcription of
Evening:
Two fuch I faw, what time the labor'd ox
In his loofe traces from the furrow came.
To
Book II.
ΙΟΣ
CIDER.
To bear the hot diſeaſe, diſtemper'd pines
In the year's prime; the deadly plague annoys 40
The wide incloſure. Think not vainly now
To treat thy neighbours with mellifluous cups,
Thus diſappointed: if the former
years
Exhibit no fupplies, alas! thou muſt
With taftelefs water wash thy droughty throat. 45
A thouſand accidents the farmer's hopes
Subvert, or check; uncertain all his toil,
'Till lufty Autumn's lukewarm days, allay'd
With gentle colds, infenfibly confirm
His ripening labors. Autumn to the fruits
Earth's various lap produces vigor gives,
Equal, intenerating; milky grain,
Berries, and fky-dy'd plums, and what in coat
51.
earth's various lap-]
50
This is poffibly taken from Spenfer's Faery Queen, B. ii. C. 6. S. 15.
While, nothing envious, NATURE then forth throws
Out of her FRUITFUL LAP-
Milton, alſo, in his moſt beautiful defcription of the Garden of Eden,
fpeaks of
53.
the FLOWERY LAP
Of fome irriguous valley-
P. L. iv. 254-
Sky-dy'd plums, and what in coat
Rough, or joft rind, or bearded husk, or ſhell;]
fruit of all kinds, IN COAT
ROUGH, OR SMOOTH RIND, OR BEARDED HUSK, OR SHELL;
Milton, PARADISE LOST. B. v V. 341.
Sky-dy'd may have been taken from Milton's Sky-tinctur'd, V. 285.
of the fame book.
Rough,
102
Book II.
CIDER.
Rough, or ſoft rind, or bearded huſk, or ſhell;
Fat olives, and Piftacio's fragrant nut,
55
60
And the pine's tafteful apple: Autumn paints
Aufonian hills with grapes, whilft Engliſh plains
Bluſh with pomaceous harveſts, breathing fweets.
O let me now, when the kind early dew
Unlocks th' embofom'd odors, walk among
The well-rang'd files of trees, whoſe full-ag'd ſtores
Diffuſe ambrofial fteams, than myrrh, or nard
More grateful, or perfuming flowery bean!
Soft-whiſpering airs, and the lark's matin fong,
Then woo to muſing, and becalm the mind
58.
pomaceous harvest — ]
65
I have fomewhere feen MUSTUM POMACEUM written as Latin for
But there is really no fuch Latin word as pomaceus.
Cider.
59.
when the kind early dew
Unlocks embofom'd odors,]
Among the groves, the fountains, and the flowers,
THAT OPEN NOW THEIR CHOICEST BOSOM'D SMELLS.
Milton, P. L. v. V. 126.
62. Diffufe ambrofial fteams, than myrrh or nard
More grateful,]
Here are two beautiful paffages of Milton blended together.
in her hand
A bough of faireft fruit that downy fmil'd,
New gather'd, and AMBROSIAL SMELL DIFFUS'D.
P. L. ix. V. 851.
Into the blissful field, through GROVES OF MYRR H
AND FLOWERING ODORS, CASSIA, NARD, AND BALM,
A WILDERNESS OF SWEETS-
P. L. v V.
292.
Ambrofial team might be fuggefted by ambrofial night EXHALING from
the mount of God. P. L. v. V. 642.
64. Soft-whispering airs, and the lark's matin fong,]
The epithet Soft-whispering may have been taken from the following
most beautiful paffage of Milton, P. L. iv. 325.
Under
BOOK II.
103
CIDER.
Perplex'd with irkſome thoughts. Thrice happy time!
Beſt portion of the various year, in which
Nature rejoiceth ſmiling on her works,
Lovely, to full perfection wrought! But, ah!
Short are our joys, and neighbouring griefs diſturb 70
Our pleaſant hours. Inclement winter dwells
Contiguous forthwith, froſty blaſts deface
The blithſome year; trees of their fhrivel'd fruits
Are widow'd; dreary ftorms o'er all prevail.
Under a tuft of fhade, that on a green
t
Stood WHISPERING SOFT, by a freſh fountain's fide
They fat them down-
As well as the lark's matin fong from the beginning of the fifth Book:
THE SHRILL MATIN SONG
Of birds on every bough—
66. Perplex'd with irksome thoughts]
Poffibly from the following defcription of the fallen Angels:
each his feveral way
Purfues, as inclination or fad choice
Leads him PERPLEX'D, where he may likelieft find
Truce to his RESTLESS THOUGHTS, and entertain
The IRKSOME hours.
PARADISE LOST, ii. 523.
Martial, L. ix. Ep. 12.
67. Beft portion of the various year -]
Quo PARS OPTIMA nuncupatur ANNI.
69.
but ab!
Short are our joys, and neighbouring griefs diſturb
Our pleaſant hours. Inclement winter davells
Contiguous
1
This feems to be from Horace's
74.
Pomifer Autumnus fruges effuderit; et mox
BRUMA RECURRIT INERS ---
Are widow'd—————]
Foliis VIDUANTUR Orni.
L. iv. Ode 7.
Hor. L. 2. Ode 9.
Now,
104
Book II.
CIDER.
75
Now, now's the time; ere haſty ſuns forbid
To work, diſburthen thou thy fapleſs wood
Of its rich progeny; the turgid fruit
Abounds with mellow liquor: now exhort
Thy hinds to exerciſe the pointed ſteel
On the hard rock, and give a wheely form
To the expected grinder: now prepare
Materials for thy mill, a ſturdy poſt
Cylindric, to fupport the grinder's weight
Exceffive, and a flexile fallow entrench'd,
Rounding, capacious of the juicy hord.
84.
a flexile fallow entrench'd,
Rounding, capacious of the juicy hord.]
80
85
Spenfer in his FAERY QUEEN, B. ii. C. 2., where he characteriſes
the different forts of trees, defcribes the Sallow (we may ſuppoſe, from
its flexibility) as particularly uſeful in mills
the SALLOW for the mill.
The trough of the Cider-mill, at the time Philips wrote, was very fre-
quently made of wood: though Worlidge (who publiſhed his treatiſe on
Cider in the year 1678) defcribes the Trough of the Horfe-Mill
as always made of ftone.-Indeed a Mill with a wooden trough
is now rarely to be met with in any part of the county of Here-
ford.
As the form and ſtructure of Cider-mills, that are worked by horſes,
is not generally known, there being fome counties where only hand-
mills are uſed, in which the fruit is merely torn in pieces, and not
really ground fo as to ftand a chance of making any good Cider; it may
not be improper here to infert a deſcription of the beſt-conftructed Cider-
mill now in uſe.
6 C
<<
A Cider-mill confifts of a ſtone wheel" (the grinder of Philips), "pro-
vincially a 'runner,' fomewhat in the ſhape of a corn mill-ftone, running
on its edge in a circular ſtone trough, provincially, the chace.'-The
"fize of the runner varies from two and a half to four and a half feet dia-
meter, and from nine to twelve inches in thickneſs; which, in gene-
ral, is even, like that of a grindſtone : not varying like that of a mill-
"ftone: the weight one or two tons.-The bottom of the chace is
fomewhat wider than the runner, that this may run freely. The
"inner
BOOK II.
105
CIDER.
Nor muſt thou not be mindful of thy preſs,
Long ere the vintage; but with timely care
66
inner fide rifes perpendicularly, but the outer fide fpreads, fo as to
"make the top of the trough fix or eight inches wider than the bottom;
to give freedom to the runner, and room to ſcatter in the fruit, ftir it
up while grinding, and take out the ground matter. The depth nine
or ten inches. The outer rim of the trough is three or four inches
"wide, and the diameter of the inner circle, which the trough circum-
fcribes, from four and a half, to five feet; according to the fize of the
"mill.
The entire bed of a middle-fized mill is about nine feet-
"fome ten-fome few, twelve feet diameter: the whole being compofed
"of two, three, or four ftones cramped together as one; and worked,
CC
or, at leaſt finiſhed, after they are cramped together. The beft
"ftones are raiſed in the foreft of Dean. They are moftly a dark,
reddiſh, grit-ftone (non-calcarious), working with fufficient freedom,
yet fufficiently hard for this intention. The bed of the mill is formed,
"and the trough partly hollowed, at the quarry; leaving a few inches
at the edge of each ftone uncut out, as a bond to prevent its breaking
"in carriage. Much depends on the quality of the ftone. It ought not
to be calcarious in whole, or in part; as the acid of the liquor would
"corrode it. Nor ſhould it be fuch as will communicate a diſagreeable
tinge to the liquor. A clean-grained grindstone grit is the fittest for
"this purpoſe. The runner is moved by means of an axle paffing
through the centre with a long arm reaching without the bed of
"the mill, for a horfe to draw by; and with a fhort one paffing to an
upright fwivel" (the sturdy poft Cylindric of our Author), "turning
upon a pivot, in the centre of the ftone; and ſteadied at the top, by
entering a bearing of the floor above. An iron bolt, with a large
head, paffes through an eye in the lower part of the ſwivel, into the
"end of the inner arm of the axis. Thus the requifite double motion
is obtained, and the ftone kept perfectly upright (which it ought to
"be) with great fimplicity, and without ftreſs to any part of the ma-
"chine. On the inner arm of the axis, about a foot from the runner,
" is fixed (or ought to be, though it is frequently wanting) a cogged
"wheel, working in a circle of cogs, fixed upon the bed of the mill.
The ufe of thefe wheels is to prevent the runner from fliding; to
"which it is liable, when the mill is full; the matter, when nearly
ground, rifing up in a body before the ftone. Befides, by affifting
"the rotatory motion of the ftone, it renders the work more eaſy to
"the horſe. Theſe wheels require to be made with great exactnefs;
"and in a country, where carpenters are unaccustomed to them, a
mill-wright ſhould be employed in fixing them."
CC
The above defcription of a Cider-mill is taken from Mr. Marſhall's
Obfervations on the Orchards and Fruit Liquor of Herefordshire, annexed
to his Rural Economy of Glocestershire, published in 1789.It may not
be improper to remark, that fome of the moft intelligent Ciderifts of
Herefordshire have expreffed a wifh, that Mr. Marſhall (with ſo much
P
accuracy
106
Book. II.
CIDER.
Shave the goat's fhaggy beard, left thou too late
In vain ſhould'ſt ſeek a ftrainer, to diſpart
The huſky terrene dregs from purer Muft.
Be cautious next a proper fteed to find,
Whofe prime is paft; the vigorous horfe difdains
Such fervile labors, or, if forc'd, forgets
His paſt atchievements and victorious palms.
90
Blind Bayard rather, worn with work and years, 95
-In the
accuracy and judgment as he has difplayed on the fubject) had not con-
fined his enquiries chiefly to the extremity of their county, but had found
fufficient leiſure to purſue them in the interior parts of it.-
effential uſe of the large Stone Cider-Mill, they entirely agree with him,
as this machine is the moft powerful, yet invented for grinding the rind
and kernels, which are generally allowed to impart the valuable qualities
of color, strength, and flavor to Cider.
88. Shave the goat's fhaggy beard.]
As many goats were formerly kept in Herefordshire, it is poffible that
Cider-hairs were fometimes made of goat's hair. They are now made
entirely of horfe-hair.But we may here trace our Poet to his
Mafter's third Georgic.
Nec minus interea BARBAS INCANA QUE ΜΕΝΤΑ
Cinyphii TONDENT HIRCI, SETAS QUE COMANTES.
95. Blind Bayard.]
V. 311.
Bayardo is the name of Rinaldo's Horfe, in Ariofto's ORLANDO
FURIOSO. We meet with "Blind Bayards" in Britain's Remem.
brancer, a Poem, in eight Cantos, by George Wither, written upon oc-
cafion of the Plague, which raged in London, in the year 1625.
I count not each man valiant, who dare die,
Or venture on a miſchief deſperately,
When either heat of youth, or wine, or paffion
Shall whet him on before confideration ;
For thus a beaft will do, and hath, no doubt,
As much forefight in what he goes about,
As thofe BLIND BAYARDS, who courageous be
In perils, whofe events they do not ſee.
CANTO ii. p. 61. Ed. 1628. 12mo.
This Poet has been defcribed as one "whofe name would have
"been utterly fogotten, if it had not been preſerved by Swift, as
a term
Book II.
107
CIDER.
Shall roll th' unwieldy ftone; with fober pace
He'll tread the circling path, till dewy eve
*
"a term of contempt." Perhaps he is more known from a paffage
in Hudibras, where he is claffed with Prynne and Vicars.-That
Butler ſhould ridicule Wither, who had been an officer in the Parliament-
army, or that much abuſe, originating in party-violence, fhould, at that
time, be flung upon him, cannot be wondered at. Neither is it furprizing,
that a hafty Collector of anecdotes and characters, for the laborious pur-
pofe of elucidating the hiftory of every perfon of whom a print had ever
been engraved, ſhould, without much enquiry, retail the cenfures, which
he met with, upon a perſon whom he confidered of little confequence.
But that the Editor of the Old English Ballads ſhould ſpeak fo un-
worthily of one, from whofe poems he had enriched his collection with
two charming pieces, excites our aſtoniſhment. To reſcue the poſt-
humous fame of Wither from oblivion or miſrepreſentation, a gentleman
(whofe fine tafte, accurate difcernment, and literary acquirements, emi-
nently diſtinguiſh him) publiſhed Extracts from Wither's Juvenilia,
which were printed in 1785, for J. SEWELL, Cornhill. The Selec-
tions, which are highly judicious, and accompanied with very excellent
obfervations, are chiefly made from his Lyrical Pieces; nor does it
appear that he had ſeen Britain's Remembrancer, as he takes no notice
of it, but in the general lift of the works of Wither.
The Editor therefore takes the liberty to trefpafs on the patience of
his Readers, by inferting one fpecimen of that Poem, which may, perhaps,
challenge compariſon with any inftance of the Oos añо μnxans in antient
or modern poetry.
it prov'd
A crying fin, and fo extremely mov'd
God's gentleness, that angry he became ;
His brows were bended, and his eyes did flame.
Methought I faw it fo; and though I were
Afraid within his prefence to appear,
My foul was rais'd above her common ftation,
Where what enfues I view'd by contemplation.
There is a fpacious round, which bravely rears
Her arch above the top of all the fpheres,
Until her bright circumference doth rife
Above the reach of man's, or angel's eyes,
Conveying thro' the bodies chryftalline
Thofe rayes which on our lower globe do fhine :
And all the great and leffer orbs do lie
Within the compaſs of that canopy.
In this large room of ftate is tix'd a throne,
From whence the wife Creator looks upon
* See Grainger's Biographical Diïionary, Art. WITHER.
P 2
His
108
Book II.
CIDER.
From early dayfpring, pleas'd to find his age
Declining not unuſeful to his lord.
Some, when the prefs, by utmoſt vigorfcrew'd, 100
Has drain'd the pulpous maſs, regale their ſwine
With the dry refuſe; thou, more wife, ſhalt ſteep
Thy huſks in water, and again employ
The ponderous engine. Water will imbibe
His workmanſhip, and thence doth hear and fee
All founds, all places, and all things that be.
Here fat the King of Gods; and from about
His eye-lids fo much terror ſparkled out,
That every circle of the heavens it fhook,
And all the world did tremble at his look:
The profpect of the ſky, that erft was clear,
Did with a low'ring countenance appear;
The troubled air before his prefence fled;
The earth into her bofom fhrunk her head;
The deeps did roar, the heights did ſtand amaz’d;
The moon and ſtars upon each other gaz'd;
The fun did ſtand unmoved in his path;
The hoft of heaven was frighted at his wrath;
And with a voice, which made all nature quake,
To this effect the great Eternal fpake.
102.
Shalt steep
CANTO i. p. 17.
Thy huſks in water, and again employ
The pond'rous engine.
Water-cider (or Cider-kin, as it ufed to be called) is made by
adding water to the fruit, already ground and preffed, fufficient to
moiften it, and then grinding and preffing it a fecond time. The liquor,
thus produced, is foon fit for drinking, and is nearly as pleafant as pure
Cider, but will not keep more than a year. Water-cider is therefore
feldom thought worth making, in a plentiful year of apples. At fuch
times, the general object is to make good Cider, rather than an extreme
abundance of it. The practice then is, after the fruit has been com-
pletely preffed, to take it out of the hairs, and return it to the mill
without any water, for a fecond grinding. It is then again put up in
the hairs, and preffed; when it will yield a cofinderable quantity of
Cider, of a fuperior quality to that which is produced only after the
first grinding.- This circumſtance is worth noticing, as it fhews how
much the goodneſs of Cider depends upon the fruit being moft perfectly
ground,
Book II.
109
CIDER,
1
The ſmall remains of ſpirit, and acquire
A vinous flavor; this the peaſants blithe
105
Will quaff, and whiſtle, as thy tinkling team
They drive, and fing of Fuſca's radiant eyes.
Pleas'd with the medley draught. Nor fhalt thou now
Reject the Apple-cheefe, though quite exhauſt; 110
Even now 'twill cheriſh, and improve the roots
Of fickly plants; new vigor hence convey'd
ground, which it can never be in thofe countries where only hand-mills
are uſed; and where, on that account, we fcarcely ever meet with Cider
that has much ſtrength, or flavor.
The ancients had their Secondary Wine, called by the Greeks devTepices
είνος, τρυγηφάνιος, and σεμφυλίες, by the Latins lora. According to Diof-
corides, it was made by pouring three meafures of water on the huſks
from which thirty meaſures of wine had been preffed; but he ſays it would
not keep longer than a year. L. 5. C. 9.-Varro fays, it was cuſtomary
to give it to workmen, in winter, inftead of wine.
108.
fing of Fufca's radiant eyes. ]
When our Author fpeaks of " the beauty of the Herefordſhire females
"captivating the travellers" (V. 676. of the Firit Book), he afcribes it to
the magic of their eyes. So where, in the fucceeding lines of the fame
Book, he defcribes the fair and modeft virgin, whom he would wish to
elect as his fate, he notices her heavenly eye. Here too he makes his
peaſant fing of" Fufca's radiant eyes. We may fuppofe him there-
fore, whenever he fung of beauty, to have had in his mind the perfon of
his difdainful miſtreſs, who, it has been already obferved, (See note on
V. 692. B. 1.) was "an agreeable brunette, with a full black piercing
"eye."Thus eminent painters, in painting a Heroine, a Goddefs, or
even a Madona, have generally given them that peculiar beauty, which
characteriſed their own refpective miſtreffes.
I10.
the Apple-cheese.}
The Apples, when ground, are made up for preffing, in ſeveral layers
of hair-cloths, into a pile, which is provincially named the cheeſe-a
term (as Mr. Marſhall obferves) fomewhat awkwardly borrowed from the
Dairy.
III.
'twill cherif, and improve the roots
Of fickly plants. J
The hufks of the Apples (provincially the Cider-must) are generally
thought to be but a very poor manure.
They are, however, left to
rot
!
110
Book II.
CIDER.
Will yield an harveſt of unuſual growth :
Such profit ſprings from huſks diſcreetly us'd.
The tender Apples, from their parents rent 115
By ſtormy ſhocks, muſt not neglected lie
The prey of worms. A frugal man I knew,
Rich in one barren acre, which, fubdu'd
By endleſs culture, with fufficient Muſt
His caſks repleniſh'd yearly: he no more
Defir'd, nor wanted, diligent to learn
The various ſeaſons, and by ſkill repel
Invading peſts; fucceſsful in his cares,
120
Till the damp Libyan wind, with tempefts arm'd
rot and mix with the dung of the farm-yard, to add to the general ſtock
of manure.
115. The tender Apples, from their parents rent
By ftormy fhocks, must not neglected lie.]
The wind-fall Apples (as they are called) are collected into heaps, and
made into an early indifferent Cider.
117.
A frugal man I knew,
-]
Rich in one barren acre.
In this fanciful defcription of an artificial method of ripening apples,
that are blown down by the wind in an unripe ftate, our Poet ſeems to
have had in his mind Virgil's admired defcription of the Old Corycian,
in his fourth Georgic.
118.
Subdu'd
By endless culture--]
Ante Jovem nulli SUBIGEBANT arva coloni
Virg. G. iv. 125.
Libyan wind, with tempests arm'd-]
124.
This is Virgil's
CREBERQUE PROCELLIS
Africus
AN. I. 89.
Milton defcribes the winds
ARM'D with ice,
And fnow, and hail, and ftormy guft and flaw.
P. L. x. 697.
Outrageous,
BOOK II.
111
CIDER.
Outrageous, blufter'd horrible amidſt
125
His Cider-grove: o'erturn'd by furious blaſts
The fightly ranks fall proftrate, and around
Their fruitage ſcatter'd, from the genial boughs
Stripp'd immature: yet did he not repine,
Nor curfe his ſtars; but prudent, his fall'n heaps 130
Collecting, cheriſh'd with the tepid wreaths
Of tedded grafs, and the fun's mellowing beams
Rival'd with artful heats, and thence procur'd
A coſtly liquor, by improving time
Equal'd with what the happieſt vintage bears. 135
But this I warn thee, and fhall always warn ;
No heterogeneous mixtures ufe, as fome
With watery turnips have debas'd their wines,
Too frugal; nor let the crude humours dance
In heated braſs, ſteaming with fire intenſe,
Although Devonia much commends the uſe
139.
nor let the crude humours dance
In heated brass, fteaming with fire intenfe,
Although Devonia much commends the uſe
Of ftrengthening Vulcan.]
behold this cordial julep, here,
That flames, and DANCES in his chryſtal bounds.
140
COMUS, 672.
The Ancients were uſed to boil fome of their muft, or wine freſh
from the prefs, till a fourth part, or a third, or fometimes half, was eva-
porated. The muft thus boiled down, according to Columella, L. 12.
C. 20. 21. was put into fome forts of wine to make them keep.
Philips, feems here to have had in his mind Virgil's defcription of this
boiling of wine, in his firft GEORGIC, V. 295.
Aut dulcis Mufti VULCANO DECOQUIT HUMOREM,
Et foliis undam TEPIDI defpumat AHENI.
It
I 12
BOOK II.
CIDER.
Of ſtrengthening Vulcan; with their native ſtrength
Thy wines fufficient other aid refuſe,
It was formerly the custom to boil Cider, and ſometimes to add ſpices
to it. The object of this proceſs was to make it ſtronger; and accord-
ingly it was boiled, as foon as preffed, and kept fcummed continually
till its colour was confiderably heightened. This cuftom has long been
difuſed in Herefordſhire; and is continued only in fome parts of Devon-
fhire, where the fruit is of an inferior kind, and yields a very poor
liquor. In the laft Publication of the Bath Agriculture Society,
there is an account of a Method of boiling Cider to make Cider-wine;
in which it is mentioned, that a great quantity of Cider has been boiled
down into wine, in the county of Somerfet. From the fpecimens how-
ever produced before the Society, and the inveftigation of the proceſs,
it appears to be neither a pleaſant, nor a wholeſome liquor. It feems
indeed, that Cider, which by any procefs could be made ftronger than
the natural juice of the Apple, would lofe more, in flavor and richneſs,
than it could poffibly acquire in point of ftrength. The natural ftrength
of Cider of the belt kinds, when properly made, and ground in horſe-
mills, is fo confiderable, that there have been inftances of its keeping
twenty or thirty years, or even a longer time, in the greateſt perfection.
It may not be improper in this place, to give a fhort account of the
common Herefordshire
METHOD OF MAKING CIDER.
The fruit is gathered when quite ripe; which is known by its be-
ginning to fall. The Apples, when got together, are laid in the open
air, in heaps of about a foot and a half, or two foot deep; but not more,
leaft they fhould heat. When they begin to decay they are fit for grind-
ing; thofe that are black-rotten being firft thrown away. The fruit is
then ground, till the rind and kernels are well bruifed, which is ſuppoſed
to add much to the flavor and ftrength of the liquor. It is not preffed as
foon as ground, but is put to ftand for a day, or fomewhat more, in a
large open veffel. It is then preffed between feveral layers of hair-
cloths, in the prefs, and the liquor is received in a vat, from which it
is removed into cafks, which ftand in any cool place, or even in the
open air, with their bung holes open. Thefe calks are watched with
great care, till the Cider (in the provincial language) drops fine,
when it is immediately racked off from the lees, into other cafks in the
cellar. This first racking is of the greateft confequence, as Cider which
is fuffered to become foul again, by miffing the firft opportunity of
racking it when fine, will never make a prime liquor. After what is
clear has been racked off, there remains a quantity of lees, which being
filtered through coarfe linen bags, in the form of jelly-bags, yield a very
bright and ſtrong liquor, but extremely flat, which is added to the Cider
already racked, and, by its ftrength and flatnefs, contributes to prevent or
check fermentation. The great object, at this time, is to prevent
fermentation, an excefs of which, is fure to make Cider thin and acid.
The
Book II.
113
CIDER.
And, when th'allotted orb of time's complete,
Are more commended than the labor'd drinks. 145
Nor let thy avarice tempt thee to withdraw
The prieſt's appointed fhare: with cheerful heart
The tenth of thy increaſe beftow, and own
Heaven's bounteous goodneſs, that will fure repay
Thy grateful duty. This neglected, fear
Signal avengeance, fuch as overtook
A mifer, that unjustly once withheld,
The clergy's due. Relying on himſelf,
His fields he tended, with fuccefslefs care,
Early, and late, when or unwifh'd-for rain
Defcended, or unfeafonable frofts
Curb'd his increafing hopes, or when around
The clouds dropp'd fatneſs; in the middle ſky
150
155
The cafks are therefore not filled quite full, neither are they ſtopped
quite cloſe, and when the Cider inclines to ferment, it is again racked ;
which it fometimes requires two or three times. It must not however
be racked, unleſs when it is abfolutely neceffary for the purpoſe already
mentioned; as every racking is fuppofed to weaken it. This there-
fore must depend upon the practical ſkill of the farmer, and feems to be
that critical part of the management, for which no adequate rules can
be preſcribed. When all probability of fermentation is over, the caſks
fhould be filled up with Cider of the beſt quality, and the bung be cloſed
in firm with rofin.
144.
This is Virgil's
when th'allotted orb of time's complete,]
PERFECTO TEMPORIS ORBE
AN. vi. 745
158. The clouds dropp'd fatneſs]
Thy CLOUDS DROP FATNESS.
Q
Pfalm, Ixv. 12. Old Tranflation.
f
The
114
Book II.
CIDER.
J
160
The dew ſuſpended ſtaid, and left unmoiſt
His execrable glebe. Recording this,
Be juſt, and wife, and tremble to tranfgrefs.
Learn now the promife of the coming year
To know, that, by no flattering figns abus'd,
Thou wifely may'ft provide. The various moon
Prophetic, and attendant ſtars explain
Each rifing dawn; ere icy crufts ſurmount
165
The current ſtream, the heavenly orbs ferene
Twinkle with trembling rays, and Cynthia głows
160. His execrable glebe.]
Execrable here ftands for accurfed; according to the claffical fignifi-
cation of execrabilis.
161. Be juft and wife, and tremble to tranfgrefs
Poffibly from Virgil's
Difcite juftitiam moniti, et non tem neredivos.
Forewarn'd by me, be juft, and fear the Gods.
162. Learn now the promife of the coming year
To know, that, by no flattering figns abuſed,
Thou wifely may't provide. The various moon
Prophetic, and attendant ſtars explain
Each rifing dawn ;-]
Thus Virgil,
Atque hæc ut certis poffimus difcere fignis
Æftufque, pluviafque, et agentes frigora ventos;
1
Æn. vi. 620.
Ipfe pater ftatuit, quid MENSTRUA LUNA MONERET—
GEORGIC. i. 35F.
And, that by certain figns we may prefage
Of heats and rains, and wind's impetuous rage,
The fovereign of the heavens has fet on high
The moon to mark the changes of the ſky.
166.
ere icy crufts furmount
DRYDEN.
The current fream, the beavenly orbs ferene
Tavinkle with trembling rays, and Cynthia glows
With light unsullied]
Nec
Book II.
115
CIDER.
+
1
With light unfully'd: now the fowler, warn'd
By thefe good omens, with fwift early ſteps
017
Treads the crimp earth, ranging thro' fields and glades,
Offenſive to the birds: fulphureous death
Checks their mid flight, and, heedleſs while they ſtrain
Their tuneful throats, the towering, heavy lead
O'ertakes their ſpeed: they leave their little lives 175
Above the clouds, precipitant to earth.
The woodcock's early viſit, and abode
Of long continuance in our temperate clime,
Nec minus eximbres foles, et aperta ferena
Profpicere, et certis poteris cognofcere fignis.
Nam NEQUE TUM STELLIS ACIES OBTUSA VIDETUR,
NEC FRATRIS RADIIS OBNOXIA SURGERE LUNA.
GEORGIC. i. 393.
Nor leſs by certain marks may'ſt thou deſcry
Fair feafons in the calm and ftormlefs fky;
Then ſhine the ſtars with keener luftre bright,
Nor Cynthia borrows from her brother's light.
175:
They leave their little lives
Above the clouds, precipitant to earth]
WARTON.
From the following paffage in Virgil's third GEORGIC, V. 546.
Ipfis eft aer avibus non æquus, et illæ
PRÆCIPITES ALTA VITAM SUB NUBE RELINQUUNT.
Ev'n their own ſkies to birds unfaithful prove,
Headlong they fall and leave their lives above.
WARTON.
Pope has the fame thought in his WINDSOR FOREST. It is poffible
that he alſo had Virgil in his mind; but he may be conſidered as account-
able to our Poet, for his little lives.
Oft as the mounting larks their notes prepare,
They fall' and LEAVE THEIR LITTLE LIVES IN AIR.
177. The woodcock's early vifit, and abode
Of long continuance in our temperate clime,
Foretel a liberal barveſt-]
Q2
Woodcocks,
116
Book II.
CIDER..
Fortel a liberal harveft. He, of times
Intelligent, the harſh Hyperborean ice
180
way
Shuns for our equal winters: when our funs
Cleave the chill'd foil, he backward wings his
To Scandinavian frozen fummers, meet
For his numb'd blood. But nothing profits more
Than frequent fnows: O, may'ft thou often fee 185
Woodcocks, during fummer, inhabit the Alps, Norway, Sweden, and
all the Northern part of Europe. They quit thofe countries as foon as
the frofts commence, which drive them into milder climates; and return,
as foon as the feverer cold of winter ceafes. They generally come into
England about the beginning of October, and quit it the end of February,
or the beginning of March; their motions depending on the mildnefs, or
feverity, of the feaſons.- -Our Poet has very judiciouſly availed himſelf
of this circumſtance, refpecting theſe birds of paffage, to convey to us,
in a more poetical manner, the common obfervation that ""
winter is generally followed by a fruitful harveſt."
179.
Intelligent.
he, of times
-]
Milton defcribes the birds of paffage, as
INTELLICENT OF SEASONS———
a ſevere
180.
P. L. vii. 427.
Hyperborean ice]
HYPERBOREAS GLACIES.
Virg. GEORGIC. iv. 517.
185.
O may'st thou often fee
Thy furrows whiten'd]
Virgil in his firft GEORGIC, V. 100. adviſes the farmers to pray for
moiſt fummers, and fair dry winters.
Humida folftitia atque hyemes orate fcrenas,
Agricolæ; hyberna lætiffima pulvere farra,
Lætus ager
For fhowery fummers, and for winter's funs,
Ye farmers, pray; in winter's duſt the corn
And fields rejoice-
TRAPP.
This idea is cenfured by Pliny, L. 17. C. ii. where he notices the good
effects of fnow, both on corn and trees.
fecit.
Qui dixit hyemes ferenas optandas effe, non pro arboribus vota
Hyberno quidem pulvere lætiores fieri meffes, luxuri-
antis
BOOK II.
117
CIDER.
Thy furrows whiten'd by the woolly rain
Nutritious! fecret nitre lurks within
The porous wet, quickening the languid glebe.
Sometimes thou fhalt with fervent vows implore
A moderate wind: the Orchat loves to wave
With winter wind, before the gems exert
190
antis ingenii fertilitate dictum eft. Alioqui vota arborum frugumque
communia funt, NIVES DIUTINAS SEDERE.
186.
Martial has,
woolly rain.]
tacitarum VELLUS AQUARUM.
L. iv. Ep. 3.
And Euftathius, in his Comment on the Periegefis of Dionyfius, V. 663.
fays, the Ancients were uſed to call fnow woolly rain, having taken the ex-
preffion from that paffage in the Pfalms, where it is faid« He ſendeth
his fnow like wool." PSALM cxlvii. 16.
Σημείωσαι δε και ότι την χιονα ΕΡΙΩΔΕΣ ΥΔΩΡ αςείως οι παλαιοί φασί, τε
σοφο βασιλέως Δαβίδ αφορμην ενδοντος αυτοις, ότε ειπη
δίδοντος χιονα αυτο
ώσει εριον 30
187.
fecret nitre lurks within
The porous wet.
It was an opinion generally received in Philips's time, that the fer-
tilifing quality of fnow arofe from nitrous falts, which it acquires in the
act of freezing. But whether nitre, in any refpects, fertilifes land,
has, of late, been much doubted; and the beneficial quality of fnow may
be variouily accounted for, without recurring to nitrous falts. Indeed
it has been proved from very accurate experiments, that fnow contains
only a fmall quantity of calcareous earth, and no nitre. "Falfe
"philofophy (fays Bp. Watfon, in his Chemical Elays, not without a
view to this paffage,) firft gave rife to this idea, and poetry has contri-
"buted to diffuſe the error.
188.
quickening the languid glebe~]
Languid glebe might be taken from a paffage in Pliny, immediately
following one already cited from that Author; where, fpeaking of the
good effects of ſnow on the ground, he fays, "ANIMAM TERRÆ
EVANESCENTEM exhalatione includunt, et comprimunt, retroque
», agunt in vires frugum atque radices."
189. Sometimes thou shalt with fervent vows implore
A moderate wind]
The mode of expreffion is from Virgil; GEORGIC. i. 157.
VOTISQUE VOCAVERIS imbrem.
Pliny has noticed the advantage of wind to trees:
Aquilone max-
"ime gaudent, denfiores ab afflatu ejus lætiorefque, et materiæ firmi-
❝oris.
118
Book II.
CIDER.
!
Their feeble heads: the looſen'd roots then drink
Large increment, earneſt of happy years.
Nor will it nothing profit to obferve
The monthly ſtars; their powerful influence
O'er planted fields; what vegetables reign
Under each fign. On our account has Jove,
Indulgent, to all moons fome fucculent plant
Allotted, that poor helpleſs man might flake
His preſent thirſt, and matter find for toil.
Now will the Corinths, now the Rafps, fupply
❝ oris..
195
200
Quinimo tempeftiva frigora plurimum arborum firmitati
"conferunt, et fic optime germinant."
L. xvii. C. 2.
194. Nor will it nothing profit to obſerve.]
NEC NULLA interea eft inaratæ gratia terræ.
Virg. GEORGIC. i. 83.
Mr. Addiſon, in his Critique on the Language of the Paradife Loft,
obferves that one way of raifing the language of an Epic poem, and
giving it a poetical turn, is to make ufe of the idioms of other tongues.
Thus the Roman Poets are full of the Greek forms of fpeech.
Thus Milton, and Philips in feveral places, in imitation of Milton,
abound with Latinifms.
NOR DID THEY NOT perceive the evil plight
In which they were, NOR their fierce pains Nor feel.
P. L. B. i. V. 335.
NOR doth the moon No nouriſhment exhale.
B. v. V. 421.
This mode of expreffion feems, however, quite contrary to the genius
of our language, and can be highly pleaſing only to the perfectly claffic
ear, habitually uſed to Latinifms. They who are much verſed in the
claffics, indeed, not only admire, but will often attempt to juſtify what,
to an Engliſh reader, muſt appear quaint and diſguſting. And yet this is
not done from an affectation of learning, but from the fame prejudices,
through which a national caſt of features appears charming to thofe, who
have been used to fee the amiable difpofitions expreffed by them.
201. Now shall the Corinths, now the Rafps fupply
Delicious draughts]
It is poffible that Philips had here in his mind the latter part of the follow-
ing beautiful paffage, in the fifth book of the PARADISE LOST. V. 303.
-Eve
BOOK II.
iig
CIDER.
Delicious draughts; the Quinces now, or Plums,
Or Cherries, or the fair Thiſbeian fruit,
Are prefs'd to wines: the Britons ſqueeze the works
Of fedulous bees, and mixing odorous herbs
Prepare balfamic cups, to wheezing lungs
Medicinal, and fhort-breath'd ancient fires.
-Eve within, due at her hour prepar'd
For dinner favory fruits, of tafte to pleaſe
True appetite, and not diſreliſh thirſt
OF NECTAROUS DRAUGHTS between, from milky ftream,
BERRY OR GRAPE:
205
Corinths, or currants, as they are more generally called and written,
are faid to have been natives of Corinth; from whence they have their
name.
203. Thibeian fruit]
The Mulberry is thus named by our Poet, from the well-known ftory
in Ovid's Metamorphofes, of the deaths of Pyramus and Thibe under
that tree; where the Poet fables that the fruit, which before was white,
was changed to a dark colour, according to the prayer of Thiſbe, who,
when about to flay herſelf, thus addreffes the tree.
Signa tene cædis; pullofque et luctibus aptos
Semper habe fœtus; gemini monumenta cruoris.
MET. L. iv. V. 160.
And thou, fair tree, beneath whofe friendly fhade
One lifeless lover is already laid,
And foon fhall cover two; for ever wear
Death's fable hue, and purple berries bear.
HUGHES.
Vaniere, in his Prædium Rufticum, L. vii. has, in the fame manner,
characteriſed the mulberry, where he gives directions not to gather the
leaves, when they are wet, for filk-worms.
THIS BEAM ne carpe comam, fi forte madebit.
205. Sedulous bees.
]
Rure levis verno flores APIS ingerit alveo,
Compleat ut dulci SEDULA melle favos.
Ovid has alfo fedule apes.
TIBULL. L. ii. El. 1.
Mead and Metheglin, were liquors much in ufe, when Philips wrote,
and were eſteemed medicinal in all diſorders of the lungs.
206.
to wheezing lungs
Medicinal, and fhort-breath'd antient fires]
From
120
Book II.
CIDER.
í
But, if thou 'rt indefatigably bent
To toil, and omnifarious drinks would'ft brew,
Befides the Orchat, every hedge and buſh
Affords affiftance; ev'n afflicted Birch,
Curs'd by unletter'd, idle youth, diſtils
A limpid current from her wounded bark,
Profuſe of nurſing fap. When folar beams
210
Parch thirſty human veins, the damafk'd meads, 215
Unforc'd, diſplay ten thouſand painted flowers
Uſeful in potables. Thy little fons
Permit to range the paftures: gladly they
Will mow the Cowflip-pofies faintly ſweet,
From whence thou artificial wines fhalt drain
Of icy tafte, that, in mid fervors, beſt
Slake craving thirſt, and mitigate the day.
Happy Ierne, whoſe moſt wholeſome air
Poiſons envenom'd ſpiders, and forbids
From Virgil, GEORGIC. ii. 135.
et SENIBUS MEDICANTUR ANHELIS.
And of pale fires the lab'ring lungs relieve.
215.
the damaſk'd meads,
WARTON.
220
Unforc'd, difplay ten thoujand painted flowers.]
Probably from the following beautiful paffage in the PARADISE
LOST, iv. 333 •
fidelong as they fat recline
On the foft downy bank, DAMASK'D WITH FLOWERS,
223. Happy lerne! whofe most wholesome air
Poijons envenom'd jpiders, and forbids
The baleful toad and viper from her fhore-]
Ireland is generally fuppofed to have no fnakes, fpiders, or venomous
creatures whatever; and it is faid, that although attempts have been made
to
BOOK II.
121
CIDER.
The baleful toad, and viper, from her ſhore!
More happy in her balmy draughts, enrich'd
With miſcellaneous ſpices and the root
225
For thirſt-abating ſweetneſs prais'd; which wide
Extend her famé, and to each drooping heart
Preſent redreſs, and lively health convey.
See how the Belgæ, fedulous and ſtout,
With bowls of fattening Mum, or bliſsful cups
Of kernel-relifh'd fluids, the fair ftar
230
to carry fuch there, it has been found impracticable, and they have died
as they approached the coaſt.
Adrian Junius mentions this circumftance, in the following verfes, in
which Ireland herſelf is the fpeaker.
Ille ego fum Graiis olim glacialis Ierne
Dicta
*
*
*
Į
Cui Deus, et melior rerum nafcentium origo,
Jus commune dedit cum Cretà altrice Tonantis,
Noxia ne noftris diffundant fibila in oris
Terrificæ creti tabo Phorcynidos angues;
Et forte illati, compreffis faucibus atris,
Virofo pariter vitam cum fanguine ponunt.
The tranflation fubjoined is given by Biſhop Gibſon in his edition of
Camden's Britannia, where the above verfes are cited.
I'm cold Ierne; me the Grecians knew.
*
*
*
* *
On me kind mother nature hath beſtow'd
The wonderous gift which grateful heaven allow'd
To Crete's fair Ifle that nurs'd the thundering God;
That no vile ſnake fprung from Medufa's gore
Should vent a hifs upon my peaceful ſhore.
If hither brought their fearful jaws they cloſe,
And dearer life do with their poiſon loſe.
226.
her balmy draughts, enrich'd
With miſcellaneous ſpices and the root
For thirst-abating ſweetneſs prais'd-]
Ufquebaugh is made with brandy, liquorice, and various fpices.
}
Of
122
Book II.
CIDER.
Of early Phoſphorus falute, at noon
Jocund with frequent-rifing fumes; by uſe
Inſtructed, thus to quell their native phlegm
Prevailing, and engender wayward mirth!
What need to treat of diſtant climes, remov'd
Far from the floping journey of the year,
Beyond Petzora, and Iflandic coaſts,
Where ever-during fnows, perpetual ſhades
Of darkneſs, would congeal their livid blood,
234. Of early Phosphorus-]
235
240
The planet Venus, when the rofe before the fun, and was a morning-
ftar, was called by the Greeks Phosphorus.
morning-ſtar by its Greek name, L. viii. Ep. 21.
-Martial addreffes the
PHOSPHORE redde diem.-Quid gaudia noftra moraris ?
Cæfare venturo, PHOSPHORE, redde diem.
Hafte, Phofphor, hafte, and ufher in the day
That brings again our much lov'd Cæſar home.
Hafte, Phofphor, hafte.-Why thus our blifs delay?
Lead on the dawn, and bless expecting Rome.
239. Far from the floping journey of the year-]
Virgil, in his firft GEORGIC, V. 238, having fpoken of the two
temperate Zones, which lie between the Tropics and the Polar Circles,
thus deſcribes the Zodiac, or belt of the Ecliptic, which is fuppofed to
contain the twelve Signs.
via fecta per ambas,
OBLIQUUS qua fe fignorum verteret ordo.
And cross their limits cut a floping way
Which the twelve Signs in beauteous order fway.
240.
Petzora, and Iflandic coafts,]
DRYDEN.
Petzora, a vaft province of Eaftern Ruffia, lies immediately, under
the Arctic Circle. Iceland, an ifland in the Atlantic ocean. is under
the fame latitude.
241.
Milton has
A
ever-during fnows]
P. L. iii. 45.
EVER-DURING dark.
242.
wou'd congeal their livid blood-]
We may form fome idea of the extreme cold of the Ar&ic Region from
Lord Mulgrave's remarks, in his Voyage towards the North Pole, on the
temperature
Book II.
123
CIDER.
Did not the Arctic tract fpontaneous yield
A cheering purple berry, big with wine
Intenſely fervent, which each hour they crave, 245
Spread round a flaming pile of pines, and oft
They interlard their native drinks with choice
Of ſtrongeſt Brandy, yet ſcarce with thefe aids
Enabled to prevent the ſudden rot
Of freezing noſe, and quick-decaying feet? 250
Nor lefs the fable borderers of Nile,
temperature of the fummer air in Spitzbergen. At the noon of July 20th,
he fays, in lat. 80° 30', long. 3° 26', the mercury ſtood at 37; at mid-
night, at 33. In lat. 80° 41', long. 2° 12', on July 16th at noon, at
49; at midnight, 48.-This, he obferves, was the greatest degree of
warmth he found there.
244. A cheering purple berry-]
The Juniper tree abounds in many of the countries within the Arctic
Circle, as Greenland, Norway, Lapland, &c.Of the Juniper
berries, the natives make various kinds of drinks. "The four drink
"of the Laplanders," fays a northern traveller, "confifts of an infufion
"of Juniper berries and of a grain like lentils. It grows there in great
“abundance, as do Juniper trees. Of that grain they alſo make brandy,
which has the fame effect as that distilled from grapes; and their
common drink is as ftrong as French wine. Our beer was more
acceptable to them, than our meat. They drank freely of it, and
were alfo pleafed with the brandy we gave them; yet they preferred
"their own four drink to either our brandy or beer." -See Tra-
vels through the most Northern Parts of Europe, by a Gentleman
employed by the North-Sea Company of Copenhagen to make Dif-
coveries.
249.
the fudden rot
Of freezing nofe, or quick-decaying feet.]
Mr. Pennant, in his introduction to his Arctic Zoology, fpeaking of
the late attempts of the Ruffians to colonife Spitzbergen and other Arctic
iſlands, obferves that few of the Ruffians die from the feverity of the
"cold, but are often froſt-bitten, ſo as to loſe their toes and fingers."
251. Nor lefs the fable borderers of Nile, &c.]
Egypt lies between the 20th and 32d degrees of North latitude, but
being fituated between two ridges of mountains, with a fandy foil which
throws
R 2
124
.Book II.
CIDER.
Nor who Taprobane manure, nor they
Whom funny Borneo bears, are ftor'd with ſtreams
Egregious, Rum, and Rice's fpirit extract;
throws back the reflection of the fun's rays, it is confiderably more fultry
than other countries under the fame parallel of latitude.
The contraft which our Poet here exhibits in his two deſcriptions of
the inhabitants of the Polar region, and thofe of the torrid Zone,
reminds us of that part of the third GEORGIC, where Virgil, having
very beautifully defcribed the wandering life of the African fhepherds,
makes an immediate tranfition to his admired deſcription of the Scythian
winter.
At non qua Scythiæ gentes, &c.
G. iii. 349.
Upon which paffage Dr. Warton, in his very excellent notes on the
Georgics, juftly obferves, that "This variety, this magic art of con-
veying the reader from one climate to another, conftitutes one of the
"greateſt beauties of poetry.
-]
252. Nor who Taprobane manure—
The island of Ceylon, a confiderable fpice-ifland belonging to the
Dutch, was well known to the ancients, and is deſcribed by Ptolemy,
under the name of Taprobane. It lies in the Indian Ocean between five
and ten degrees of north latitude.
Milton calls it
-the utmoft Indian ifle TAPROBANE.
It is alfo mentioned by Ovid,
Aut ubi TAPROBANEN Indica cingit aqua.
P. L. iv. 75.
PONT. L. i. Ep. v. 80.
Manure is here ufed in the fame fenfe as in the following paffage of
Milton; on which one of his commentators obferves that the word
"manuring is not" there "
not" there" to be underſtood in its common ſenſe, but,
as working with hands, from the French maneuvrer.
We muſt be rifen,
And at our pleafant labor to reform
Yon flowery arbors, yonder alleys green,
Our walk at noon, with branches overgrown,
Tnat mock our fcant MANURING
253.
· funny Borneo
}
P. L. iv. 624.
Borneo, one of the Sunda iſlands, and, before our late difcoveries,
reckoned the largeſt iſland in the known world, lies immediately under
the line, being fituated between feven degrees north, and four degrees
fouth latitude.
254.
Rice's Spirit extra&—]
Arrack is made from rice, fyrup of fugar, and the juice of the cocoa-
tree fermented together and then diftilled. The art of making Arrack
wap
Book II.
125
CIDER.
For here, expos'd to perpendicular rays,
In vain they covet fhades and Thrafcias' gales,
Pining with Equinoctial heat, unleſs
The cordial glaſs perpetual motion keep
Quick-circuiting: nor dare they cloſe their eyes,
Void of a bulky charger near their lips,
With which, in often-interrupted fleep,
Their frying blood compels to irrigate
Their dry-furr'd tongues, elfe minutely to death
Obnoxious, difmal death, th' effect of drought!
255
260
More happy they, born in Columbus' world, 265
Carybbes, and they, whom the Cotton-plant
With downy-ſprouting veſts arrays! Their woods
Bow with prodigious nuts, that give at once
was originally eſtabliſhed at Goa, and, as the Abbè Raynal obſerves, is
one of thoſe branches of trade, of which the induſtry of the Dutch has
deprived the Portugueſe.
256.
Thrafcias-]
Milton has introduced this wind (fo called by the Greeks, becauſe
it blew upon them northward from Thrace) into his account of the winds
which he defcribes as producing ftorms in the world after the fall of man.
Boreas and Cæcias, and Argeftes loud,
And THRASCIAS
264.
elfe minutely to death
P. L. x. 700.
Obnoxious]
Shakeſpear has, MACBETH, ACT V. Scene ii.
Now MINUTELY revolts upbraid his faith-breach.
267.
whom the Cotton-plant
In downy-sprouting vefts arrays-
Cotton is the produce of the Cotton-tree, which grows in the Eaft and
Weſt Indies; and in Africa. Virgil ſpeaks of the
Nemora Æthiopum, MOLLI CANENTIA LANA.
GEORGIC. ii. 120.
Celeſtial
126
BOOK II.
CIDER.
Celeſtial food, and nectar; then, at hand
The Lemon, uncorrupt with voyage long,
To vinous fpirits added, heavenly drink,
They, with pneumatic engine, ceafelefs draw,
Intent on laughter: a continual tide
Flows from th' exhilarating fount. As, when
Againſt a ſecret cliff with ſudden ſhock
A fhip is daſh'd, and leaking drinks the ſea,
Th'aſtoniſh'd mariners ay ply the pump,
Nor ſtay, nor reft, till the wide breach is clos'd;
So they, but cheerful, unfatigu'd, ſtill move
The draining fucker, then alone concern'd,
When the dry bowl forbids their pleafing work.
But, if to hoarding thou art bent, thy hopes
270
275
280
274.
as when
Against a fecret cliff, with fudden ſhock—]
The Poet feems here to have been borrowing from his own Splendid
Shilling.
Thus a well-fraught ſhip
Long fail'd fecure, or through the Egean deep
Or the Ionian, till cruizing near
The Lilybæan fhore, with hideous cruſh
On Scylla or Charybdis (dangerous rocks!)
She ſtrikes rebounding, whence the ſhatter'd oak,
So fierce a fhock unable to withſtand,
Admits the fea; in at the gaping fide
The crowding waves gufh with impetuous rage
Refiſtleſs, overwhelming; horrors feize
The mariners, death in their eyes appears,
They ftare, they lave, they pump, they fwear, they pray.
The fimile, in its original place, is excellent, and cannot be too much
admired. Here it might have been fpared; as well as the deſcription of
drinking punch through a fucker, which precedes it.
Are
BOOK II.
127
CIDER.
Are fruſtrate, ſhould'ſt thou think thy pipes will flow
With early limpid wine. The hoarded ſtore, 284
And the harſh draught, muſt twice endure the fun's
Kind ſtrengthening heat, twice winter's purging cold.
There are, that a compounded fluid drain
From different mixtures, Woodcock, Pippin, Moyle,
Rough Eliot, fweet Pearmain: the blended ſtreams,
Each mutually correcting each, create
A pleaſurable medley, of what taſte
Hardly diftinguifh'd; as the fhowery arch
With lifted colours gay, Or, Azure, Gules,
Delights and puzzles the beholder's eye,
285.
must twice endure the fun's
290
Kind ftrengthening heat, twice winter's purging cold—]
Cider of a prime quality fhould be kept two years in cafk, before
it is drunk, or bottled. Philips's manner of telling us this is borrowed
from Virgil's first GEORGIC, V. 47, where he recommends letting
arable land lie fallow two years, that it may have four plowings.
Illa feges demum votis refpondet avari
Agricolæ, BIS quæ SOLEM, BIS FRIGORA fenfit.
That land rewards the greedy peaſant's pains,
Which twice the fun, and twice the cold fuftains.
292.
as the ſhowery arch
With lifted colours gay, or, azure, gules—]
DRYDEN.
We cannot well pafs by this paffage, without remarking the great juft-
nefs and beauty of this fimile.
Milton has
And,
COLOURS OF THE SHOWERY ARCH.
P. L. vi. 759.
in the cloud a Bow,
Confpicuous with THREE LISTED COLOURS GAY.
P. L. xi. 865.
On which laft paffage the Commentators have obferved that Milton
alluded to the three primary colours.-Philips has ſpecified them.
That
128
Book II.
CIDER.
That views the watery braid, with thouſand fhews
Of painture vary'd, yet's unfkill'd to tell
Or where one colour rifes, or one faints.
296
300
Some Ciders have by art, or age, unlearn'd
Their genuine reliſh, and of ſundry vines
Affum'd the flavour: one fort counterfeits
The Spaniſh product; this to Gauls has feem'd
The ſparkling Nectar of Champaign; with that
A German oft has fwill'd his throat, and fworn,
Deluded, that imperial Rhine beſtow'd
The generous rummer, whilft the owner, pleas'd, 305
Laughs inly at his gueſts, thus entertain'd
With foreign vintage from his Cider-caſk.
Soon as thy liquor from the narrow cells.
Of cloſe-preft huſks is freed, thou muſt refrain
Thy thirſty foul; let none perfuade to broach 310
295.
with thouſand ſhews
Of painture varied-]
This is Virgil's Iris,
MILLE trahens VARIOS adverfo fole COLORES.
302.
this to Gauls has feemed
ÆN. iv. 700.
The sparkling nectar of Champaign-
The Author of Magna Britannia Antiqua et Nova, publiſhed in 1731,
in fix volumes quarto, in his Natural Hiſtory of Herefordshire, fpeaking
of the delicioufnefs of its Cider, fays, "It may vie with the Canaries,
"and out-does most other white wines, which are many of them made
by fophifticating it. It is faid," he adds, " that ſome of the beſt
"fort of this country Cider was fent over into France, when the Right
"Honourable the prefent Earl of Mancheſter was Ambaſſador there ;
"and it paffed among the noblemen there for an excellent wine; though
"they could not guefs from what country it was.”
Thy
Book II.
129
CIDER.
Thy thick, unwholfome, undigeſted cades;
The hoary frofts and northern blaſts take care
Thy muddy beverage to ferene, and drive
Precipitant the baſer
ropy lees.
And now thy wine's tranfpicuous, purg'd from all
Its earthy grofs: yet let it feed a while
On the fat refuſe, left, too ſoon disjoin'd,
From ſprightly it to ſharp or vapid change.
When to convenient vigor it attains,
Suffice it to provide a brazen tube
Inflext: ſelf-taught, and voluntary, flies
The defecated liqour, through the vent
Aſcending, then, by downward tract convey'd,
Spouts into ſubject veffels, lovely clear.
316
As, when a noontide fun with fummer beams 325
315.
tranfpicuous]
Milton has, P. L. viii. 141.
321.
The wide TRANSPICUOUS AIR.
a brazen tube
Inflext]
Cider, in Philips's time, was perhaps more commonly.racked with a
large brafs fyphon, than it is at prefent. Indeed the common method of
racking with pails, or racking cans, as they are called, admits of very
little poetic deſcription.
322.
defecated]
Defecare was the term amongst the ancients for racking wine from the
lees. Hence defacatus was adopted by them to fignify any thing pure,
free from foulnefs or turbulence.
Nunc DEFECATO demum ANIMO egredior domo.
Plaut. AUL. i. 2. I.
325. As when a noontide fun with fummer beams
Darts through a cloud, her watery fkirts are edg'd
With lucid amber, or undrofly gold;]
S
Thus
130
Book II.
CIDER.
Darts through a cloud, her watery ſkirts are edg'd
With lucid amber, or undroffy gold:
So, and fo richly, the purg'd liquid fhines.
Now alfo, when the colds abate, nor yet
Full fummer fhines, a dubious feaſon, cloſe
In glaſs thy purer ſtreams, and let them gain,
From due confinement, fpirit, and flavor new.
For this intent, the fubtle chymift feeds
Perpetual flames, whoſe unreſiſted force
O'er fand, and afhes, and the ftubborn flint
Prevailing, turns into a fufil fea,
That in his furnace bubbles funny-red;
From hence a glowing drop with hollow'd ſteel
He takes, and by one efficacious breath
330
335
Dilates to a furpriſing cube, or ſphere,
340
Thus Milton, in the beautiful Morning Hymn of Adam and Eve.
Ye mifts and exhalations that now rife
From hill or fteaming lake, dufky or grey,
Till the fun PAINT YOUR FLEECY SKIRTS WITH GOLD.
P. L. B. v. V. 185.
And again,
The FLUID SKIRTS OF THAT SAME WATERY CLOUD.
P. L. B. xi. V. 882.
Thofe perfons who have never feen Cider racked from one veffel to
another, may confider this as an extravagant poetical flight; but it is
wonderful with how much juſtice it may be applied to this liquor, when
racked off in its brighteſt perfection.
333. For this intent, the fubtle chymift feeds
Perpetual flames, &c.-]
This account of the making glafs is fo perfectly accurate, that it may be
queftioned, whether a much longer profe account could more fully explain
the procefs, than our Author's poetical defcription does.
Or
BOOK II.
131
CIDER.
Or oval, and fit receptacles forms
For every liquid, with his plaſtic lungs,
To human life fubfervient. By his means
Ciders in metal frail improve; the Moyle,
And taſteful Pippin, in a moon's ſhort year,
Acquire complete perfection: now they ſmoke
Tranſparent, ſparkling in each drop, delight
Of curious palate, by fair virgins crav❜d.
But harſher fluids different lengths of time
Expect. Thy flaſk will flowly mitigate
The Eliot's roughnefs. Stirom, firmeſt fruit,
Embottled, long as Priameian Troy
Withſtood the Greeks, endures, ere juftly mild:
Soften'd by age, it youthful vigor gains,
Fallacious drink! Ye honeft Men, beware
Nor truft its ſmoothneſs; the third circling glaſs
Suffices virtue: but, may hypocrites,
351.
Stirom, firmeft fruit.]
345
350
355
Cider made of the Stire Apple, of which there are great plantations
in the foreft of Dean in Glocefterfhire, is the ftrongest Cider that is
made, and will keep a great number of years in the highest perfection.
Our Poet may be fuppofed to have taken his "firmest fruit" from
Virgil's firmiffima vina" G. ii. 97. which Dr. Trapp tranflates,
"moft during wines," Athenæus quotes the authority of Galen, to
fhew, that the famous Falernian wine began to be fit for drinking when
it had been kept ten years, but that it would keep from fifteen to twenty
Athenæus. L. i. 21.
years.
66
357.
the third circling glafs
Suffices virtue.]
Sir William Temple, in the conclufion of his Eay on Health and
Long Life, fpeaking of temperance in the ufe of wine, fays, "the frit
glafs may pafs for health, the fecond for good humour, the third for
our friends, but the fourth for our enemies." Which was probably
fuggefted
S2
132
BOOK II,
CIDER.
That flily ſpeak one thing, another think,
Hateful as hell, pleas'd with the reliſh weak,
fuggefted by the following verfes of Eubulus, a writer of the Middle
Greek Comedy, which are preferved by Athenæus.
fpeaker.
Τρεις γας μονος κρατηρας εγκεραννύω
Τοις ευφρονάσιο τον μεν υγείας ένα,
Οι πρώτον εκπινεσιν: τον δε δεύτερον
Έρωτος ηδονης τε τον τρίτον δίπνε
Οι εισπιοίες οι σοφοί κεκλημένοι
Οικαδε βαδίζεσ'. Ὁ δε τεταρίος εκετι
Ημέτερος εσιν, αλλ' υβρεος πέμπλος βοής,
Εκτος δε κωμων εβδομος υπωπιων.
Ὁ δ' όγδοος κλητορος· ὁ δ᾽ ενναλος χολής.
Δέκατος δε μανιας, ωςε βάλλειν ποιεί.
Bacchus is the
The tranflation fubjoined, without pretending to great accuracy, may
ferve to give the English reader fome idea of the original.
.
Only three cups for prudent men I mix :
For health the one, which firft they quaff; the fecond
For love and pleaſure ; and the third for fleep;
Which they, who are by reafon's name diftinguiſh'd,
No fooner drink, but home they bend their fteps.
A fourth would ill become us, 'tis the cup
Of contumely; the unfeemly din
Of uproar marks the fifth; debauch the fixth;
Blows and black eyes the ſeventh; with the eighth
In comes the conftable; the ninth engenders
Fell rancour; but the tenth is madneſs 'ſelf,
Whoſe deſperate fury prompts to deeds of blood,
We may compare with this, the account which Ariftotle gives (in his
30th Problem) of the effects of wine, and their progreffive order in which
they act on the mind. It will be fufficient, for this purpoſe, to cite
the tranflation, which Dr. Falconer has given of the paffage in his
very able Publication on Climates. "When a fober, moderate, and
"filent man drinks wine, in a quantity rather more liberal than ordinary,
it has the effect of cherishing and roufing his fpirits and genius, and
rendering him more communicative; if taken ftill more freely, it
"renders him more talkative, eloquent, and confident of his powers
and abilities; if taken in ftill larger quantity, it makes him bold and
daring, and defirous to exert himſelf in action; if taken ftill more
largely, it renders him petulant and contumelious; the next ftep ren-
ders him mad and outrageous; and if he proceeds farther ftill, he be-
comes ftupid and fenfelefs.
357.
Hypocrites,
That fily Speak one thing, another think,
Hateful as bell-———)
This
BOOK II.
133
CIDER.
Drink on unwarn'd, till, by enchanting cups
Infatuate, they their wily thoughts difclofe,
And through intemperance grow a while fincere!
The farmer's toil is done; his cades mature
Now call for vent; his lands exhauft permit
'T'indulge a while. Now folemn rites he
360
pays 365
To Bacchus, author of heart-cheering mirth.
His honeſt friends, at thirſty hour of duſk,
This is Homer's
360.
Εχθρός γαρ μοι κείνος όμως αίδαο πυλησιν,
Ος χ' έτερον μεν κευθεί ενι φρεσιν, αλλο δε βάζει
Who dares think one thing, and another tell,
My heart deteſts him as the gates of hell.
till, by enchanting cups
IL. I. 312.
Infatuate, they their wily thoughts difclofe, &c.]
POPE.
The following fragment of Ephippus is preferved by Athenæus.
Οινε σε πλήθος πολλ' αναγκαζει λαλειν,
Ουκέν μεθύοντας φασι τ' αληθη λεγειν.
They who drink deep, to boundleſs talk incline,
And hence the proverb, "there is truth in wine."
365. T'indulge awhile.]
INDULGENT vino.
Virg. ÆN. ix. 165.
365.
now folemn rites he pays
To Bacchus, author of heart-cheering mirth.]
Virgil thus defcribes the farmer's feaft; GEORGIC. ii.
Ipfe dies agitat feftos; fufufque per herbam,
Ignis ubi in medio, et focii cratera coronant,
Te libans, Lenæe, vocat.
The jocund mafter keeps the folemn days,
To thee, great Bacchus, due libations pays,
Around the cheerful hearth unbends his foul,
And crowns, amid his friends, the flowing bowl.
366.
527.
WARTON.
Bacchus, author of heart-cheering mirth-]
Milton in his ALLEGRO, V. 13. makes HEART-EASING MIRTH
the daughter of BACCHUS and Venus.
Come
134
BOOK II.
CIDER.
Come uninvited; he with bounteous hand
Imparts his fmoking vintage, fweet reward
Of his own induſtry; the well-fraught bowl
Circles inceffant, whilft the humble cell
With quavering laugh and rural jefts reſounds.
Eafe, and content, and undiffembled love,
Shine in each face; the thoughts of labor paſt
Increaſe their joy: as, from retentive cage
When fullen Philomel efcapes, her notes
She varies, and of paft impriſonment
Sweetly complains her liberty retriev'd
370
375
Cheers her fad foul, improves her pleafing fong.
Gladfome they quaff, yet not exceed the bounds 380
Of healthy temperance, nor encroach on night,
371.
whilst the humble cçıl
With quavering laugh and rural jefts reſounds.]
We may compare Lucretius, L. v. V. 1381.
Hæc animos ollis mulcebant, atque juvabant
Cum fatiate cibi; nam tum funt omnia cordi.
*
* * *
*
* * *
*
TUM JOCA, tum fermo, TUM DULCES ESSE CACHINNI
Confüerant.
380. Gladsome they quaff, yet not exceed the bounds
Of healthy temperance]
This is Martial's temperate pleasure.
Nox non ebria, fed foluta curis.
L. x. Ep. 47.
Milton has an idea fomewhat fimilar, in his SONNET to Cyriac
Skinner.
To day deep thoughts refolve with me to drench.
In mirth, that after no repenting draws.
Seafon
BOOK II.
135
CIDER.
Seaſon of reſt, but well-bedew'd repair
Each to his home with unfupplanted feet.
Ere heaven's emblazon'd by the rofy dawn,
Domeſtic cares awake them; briſk they rife, 385
Refreſh'd, and lively with the joys that flow
From amicable talk and moderate cups
Sweetly interchang'd. The pining lover finds
Preſent redreſs, and long oblivion drinks
Of coy Lucinda. Give the debtor wine:
His joys are ſhort and few; yet when he drinks
His dread retires, the flowing glaffes add
Courage and mirth; magnificent in thought,
382.
well-bedew'd]
IRRIGUUMQUE MERO fub noctem corpus habento.
390
Hor. L. ii. Sat. 1. 9.
384. Ere heaven's emblazon'd by the rofy dawn,
Domestic cares awake them, brifk they riſe,
Refresh'd and lively with the joys that flow
From amicable talk, and moderate cups
Sweetly interchang'd.]
We may here perhaps trace our Poet to the opening of the fifth book
of the PARADISE LOST.
Now morn her rofy ſteps in th' eaftern clime
Advancing, fow'd the earth with orient pearl,
When Adam wak'd, ſo cuftom'd, for his fleep
Was aery light from pure digeſtion bred
And temperate vapors bland.
391.
Yet when he drinks
His dread retires; the flowing glaſſes add
Courage and mirth-]
The following verfes of Diphylus, a Writer of the New, or Later
Comedy of the Greeks, are preferved by Athenæus.
Ω πασι τοις φρονεσι προσφιλές αλε
Διονυσε, και σοφωτατ', ὡς ἡδες τις εκ
Όταν ταπεινον μέγα φρονειν ποιής μόνος.
Τον τας οφρύς αιροντα συμπείθεις γελαν.
Τον τ' ασθένη τολμαν τι τον δειλον θρασυνα
Beft
-$
136
Book II.
CIDER.
Imaginary riches he enjoys,
And in the jail expatiates unconfin'd.
Nor can the poet Bacchus' praiſe indite,
Beſt friend to thoſe who duly know thy worth,
Beft teacher of philofophy, O Bacchus,
How pleaſant art thou, that alone can'ſt make
The abject bofom glow with loftieft thoughts,
The wrinkled brow of care affume a fmile,
The feeble arm to glorious deeds afpire,
And trembling cowards rife at once to heroes.
Anacreon, in his 25th ODE, fings in the fame ftrain,
Όταν πίνω τον οίνον,
.
Ενδοσιν αι μέριμναι.
Τι μας πόνων, τι μοι γοων,
Τι μοι μέλει μεριμνων;
Θανείν με
Ti
δεν, και μη
θελω
δε τον βιον πλανώμαι ;
Πίνω μεν ουν τον οίνον
Toy To Hanλy Avaiy•
Συν τω
δε πίνειν ημας
Ενδεσιν αι μερίμναι.
While the fparkling bowl I drain
Huſh'd to reft is every pain.
Wherefore then fhould cares perplex ?
Why ſhould needlefs forrows vex?
When I know how fhort a fpan
Is th' allotted life of man,
Shall I that feafon mifemploy,
And idly fly from proffer'd joy?
No! let me quaff the generous wine,
Gift of Bacchus, power divine,
And, while the ſparkling bowl I drain,
Huſh to reft my every pain.
396. Nor can the Poet Bacchus' praiſe indite,
Debarr'd his grape — ]
395
Our Poet's mafter has enlarged on the fame fentiment in his Epistle to
his friend, Carlo Deodati. As we do not often find Milton celebrating
convivial feftivity, the paffage is the more curious and worth citing.
Quid quereris refugam vino dapibufque poefin?
Carmen amat Bacchum, carmina Bacchus amat.
Nec puduit Phœbum virides geftâffe corymbos,
Atque hederam lauro præpofuiffe fuæ.
Sæpius Aoniis clamavit collibus Evæ
Mifta Thyonao turba novena choro.
Nafo
BOOK II.
137
CIDER.
Debarr'd his grape.
Humid regalement, nor will aught avail
Imploring Phœbus with unmoiften'd lips.
The Muſes ſtill require
Nafo Coralleis mala carmina mifit ab agris;
Non illic epulæ, non fata vitis erat.
Quid nifi vina, roſafque, racerniferumque Lyæum,
Cantavit brevibus Teia Mufa modis?
Pindaricofque inflat numeros Teumefius Evan,
Et redolet fumptum pagina quæque merum;
Dum gravis everfo currus crepat axe fupinus,
Et volat Eleo pulvere fufcus eques.
Quadrimoque madens Lyricen Romanus Iaccho,
Dulce canit Glyceram, Flavicomamque Chloen.
ELEG. vi. V. 13.
Ah! why complain'ſt thou that from generous wine
And ſcenes of feſtive joy the Muſes fly?
To Bacchus oft they chant their fongs divine,
Bacchus himſelf admires fweet poefy.
Phœbus, his wreath of laurel caft away,
The ivy chaplet oft will not diſdain,
The facred Nine, on Helicon who ſtray,
Ev'n in thoſe haunts have join'd the Bacchant train.
Sad elegies the bard from Pontus wrote,
Whoſe other works fuperior fancy boaſt,
No feafts were there to prompt the glowing thought,
No wine to cheer the melancholy coaft.
How fweetly flow Anacreon's tuneful lays!
Rofes and fparkling wine his verfe inſpire,
While, to the clufter-crown'd Lyæus' praiſe,
In happiest notes he ſtrikes his feftive lyre.
Nor lefs, in Pindar's animated ſtrain,
Th' infpiring power of Bacchus' aid we trace,
While the wreck'd chariot ftrews th' Olympic plain,
Or youths imbrown'd with duft conteft the race.
He too, whom Rome allow'd beyond compare
In Lyric poetry her bard fupreme,
Bedew'd with wine fang Chloe's auburn hair,
Or made bright Glycera his charming theme.
397.
the Mufes ftill require
Humid regalement]
Humid regalement might have been fuggefted by the oppofite phraſe
of dry food, in a fimilar paffage of Athenæus (L. ii. C. 3.) Ex TPOQHE
ΞΗΡΑΣ ου! αν σκώμματα γενοιτ', ουλ' αυτοσχεδια ποιήματα.
T
Spenser
138
Book II.
CIDER.
Thus to the generous bottle all incline,
400
By parching thirſt allur'd. With vehement funs
When duſty fummer bakes the crumbling clods,
How pleaſant is't, beneath the twiſted arch
Of a retreating bower, in mid-day's reign
To ply the ſweet caroufe, remote from noiſe,
Secured of feverish heats! When th'aged year
Spenfer has alfo fome fine lines on the fame fubject.
Thou ken'ſt not, Percy, how the rhyme fhould rage.
Oh that my temples were diftain'd with wine,
And girt in girlands of wild ivy twine!
How I could rear the Muſe on ſtately ſtage,
And bid her tread aloft in bufkin fine,
With quaint Bellona in her equipage!
401.
405
Spenfer's OCTOBER.
generous bottle
•]
Horace ſpeaking of wine, fays,
Ad mare quum veni, GENEROSUM et lene requiro.
And Ovid,
L. i. EPIST. xv. V. 18.
Eft tibi rure bono GENEROSE fertilis UVÆ
Vinea-
REMED. AMOR. 567.
402. When dufly fummer bakes the crumbling clods]
GLEBASQUE jacentes
PULVERULENTA Coquat maturis folibus ÆSTAS.
403.
Virg. GEORGIC. i. V. 65.
beneath the twisted arch
Of a retreating bower, in mid-day's reign—]
Thus Milton, in the 5th Book of his PARADISE LOST, V. 229.
Go therefore, half this day as friend with friend
Converſe with Adam, in what BOWER OR SHADE
Thou find'ft him FROM THE HEAT OF NOON RETIR'D,
To refpite his day-labor with REPAST-
The retreating bower, might be fuggeſted by Horace's
Hic in REDUCTA valle, Caniculæ
Vitabis æftus.-
L. i. Ode. 17.
Inclines,
BOOK II.
139
CIDER.
Inclines, and Boreas' ſpirit bluſters frore,
411
Beware th' inclement heavens; now let thy hearth
Crackle with juicelefs boughs; thy lingering blood
Now inftigate with th' Apple's powerful ſtreams.
Perpetual ſhowers and ftormy gufts confine
The willing ploughman, and December warns
To annual jollities; now ſportive youth
Carol incondite rhythms, with fuiting notes,
And quaver unharmonious; ſturdy fwains
407.
and Boreas' spirit blufters frore]
415
Dr. Warton has paid a compliment to this line, by borrowing it to
tranflate the " Boreâ fpirante" of Virgil; GEORGIC. ii. 316.
Frore is an old word for frofty; and uſed by Milton, P. L. ii. 595.
the parching air
Burns frore, and cold performs the effect of fire.
408.
now let thy hearth
Crackle with juiceless boughs, thy lingering blood
Now inftigate with th' Apple's powerful freams-]
Diffolve frigus, LIGNA SUPER FOCO
LARGE REPONENS, atque BENIGNIUS
DEPROME QUADRIMUM
Hor. L. I. ODE ix.
412.
December warns
To annual jollities]
age, LIBERTATE DECEMBRIS,
Quando ita majores voluerunt, utere.
Hor. L. II. Sat. vii. 4.
The ancient annual jollities of this feafon of the year, are particularly
noticed by Seneca, in the beginning of his 18th EPISTLE.
DECEM-
BRIS menfis eft, cum maxime civitas defudat. JUS LUXURIÆ PUB-
"LICE DATUM EST; ingenti apparatu fonant omnia.
Statius defcribes the month of December,
414.
multo gravidus mero DECEMBER.
KAL. DEC. SAT. V. v.
incondite rhythms.-]
Livy defcribes the Roman foldiers finging incondite rhythms, in honor
of their victorious General.
T 2
In
}
140
Book. II.
CIDER.
}
In clean array for ruftic dance prepare,
420
Mixt with the buxom damfels; hand in hand
They friſk, and bound, and various mazes weave,
Shaking their brawny limbs, with uncouth mien,
Tranſported, and fometimes an oblique leer
Dart on their loves, fometimes an haſty kiſs
Steal from unwary laffes; they with ſcorn,
And neck reclin'd, refent the ravifh'd blifs.
Meanwhile blind Britiſh bards with volant touch
Traverſe loquacious ftrings, whofe folemn notes
Provoke to harmleſs revels; theſe among
426
In eum milites CARMINA INCONDITA æquantes eum Romulo
CANERE. L. iv. C. 20.
418. They frisk, and bound, and various mazes weave,
Shaking their brawny limbs, with uncouth mien.]
This whole defcription of the Ruftic Ball is admirable. We may
poffibly fuppofe, in theſe lines, that our Author had in his mind the fol-
lowing paffage of Lucretius.
Tum caput, atque humeros plexis redimire coronis
Floribus, et foliis lafcivia læta monebat;
ATQUE EXTRA NUMERUM PROCEDERE MEMBRA MOVENTES
DURITER, ET DURO TERRAM PEDE PELLERE MATREM.
an hafty kifs
]
Steal from unwary laffes
L. v. V. 1400.
Thomſon defcribing a ſcene of ruftic mirth (in his WINTER. V. 625.)
mentions
THE KISS, SNATCH'D HASTY from the fide-long maid,
On purpoſe GUARDLESS.
424
with volant touch
Traverfe loquacious ftrings]
From the following paffage in the Eleventh Book of the PARADISE
LOST, V. 558.
others, whence the found
Of inſtruments that made melodious chime,
Was heard, of HARP and organ; and who mov'd
Their ftops and CHORDS was feen; his VOLANT TOUCH
Infting
Book II.
141
CIDER.
A ſubtle artiſt ſtands, in wondrous bag
That bears imprifon'd winds, of gentler fort,
Than thoſe which erft Laertes' fon enclos'd.
Peaceful they fleep; but let the tuneful fqueeze 430
Of laboring elbow roufe them, out they fly
Melodious, and with ſprightly accents charm.
'Midſt theſe diſports, forget they not to drench
Themſelves with bellying goblets; nor, when ſpring
Returns, can they refuſe to uſher in
435
The freſh-born year with loud acclaim, and ſtore
Of jovial draughts, now, when the fappy boughs
Attire themſelves with blooms, fweet rudiments
Of future harveſt. When the Gnoffian Crown
Leads on expected autumn, and the trees
Instinct through all proportions low and high
Fled and purſued TRANSVERSE the refonant fugue.
427.
in wondrous bag
That bears imprifon'd winds; of gentler fort
Than thoſe which erft Laertes' fon enclos'd.]
440
Homer, in the Tenth Book of his ODYSSEY, defcribes Ulyffes arriving
at the iſland of Eolus, who fupplies him with the particular wind he
wanted, giving him all the others encloſed in a bag. With this he pro-
ceeds on his voyage; but his companions untying the bag, which they
fancied to contain fome valuable treaſure, a ftorm arifes, in which they
are driven back.
This deſcription of the Bagpipe is excellent; as is that of the blind
Welch Harper, which immediately precedes it.
436.
with loud acclaim.]
Both angels and devils, in the Paradife Loft, fhout with loud acclaim.
B. ii. 520.-iii. 397.—x. 455.
439.
when the Gnofian crown.
GNOSIAQUE ardentis decedat ftella CORONE.
Virg. Georgic. i. 222.
The
142
Book II.
CIDER.
Diſcharge their mellow burdens, let them thank
Boon Natüre, that thus annually ſupplies
Their vaults, and with her former liquid gifts
Exhilarates their languid minds, within 444
The golden mean confin'd. Beyond there's naught
Of health or pleaſure. Therefore, when thy heart
The conftellation called Corona Gnoffia, rifes, according to Pliny and
Columella, towards the middle of October; and therefore brings on the
Autumn, or ſeaſon of fruit-gathering. The mythological hiftory of this
conftellation, is as follows: Minos, King of Crete, of which Gnofus
was a principle city, was the father of Ariadne, whom Thefeus carried
off, and afterwards deferted in the iſland of Naxos; where Bacchus fell
in love with her, and married her. At the celebration of their nuptials,
all the Deities made prefents to the bride; and Venus, among the reft,
gave her a crown, which Bacchus tranſlated into the heavens, and made
a conſtellation.
441.
let them thank
Boon nature.]
Boon nature is from the following beautiful paffage of Milton.
Flowers worthy of Paradiſe, which not nice art
In beds and curious knots, but NATURE BOON
Pour'd forth profufe on hill, and dale, and plain.
442.
that thus annually fupplies
Their vaults, and with her former liquid gifts
Exhilarates their languid minds, within
P. L. iv. 241.
The golden mean confin'd. Beyond there's naught
Of health or pleasure.-]
The following verſes, not unfimilar to this paffage of our Poet, are
cited by Athenæus, from Alexis a Greek Comic Poet.
Οινος δε θνητοισι θεων παρά δωρον αρισον
Αγλαος ῳ πασαι μεν εφαρμόζεσιν αοιδαν,
Παντες δ' ορχησμοι, πασαν δ' έραται φιλότητες.
Πασας δ' εκ κραδίας ανίας ανδρών αλαπάζει
Πινόμενος κατα μετρον ὑπες μετρον δε χερειών.
Sure the beſt boon the Gods ere gave to mortals
Was fparkling wine. Whatever pleaſures flo
From fong, or dance, or love's attractive power,
Are in ſweet concord with it. It difpels
Each pang that rends the human heart, when drunk
With moderation; but, purfued beyond it,
It changes from a bleffing to a curfè.
Dilates
BOOK II.
143
CIDER.
Dilates wth fervent joys, and eager foul
Prompts to purſue the ſparkling glaſs, be ſure
"Tis time to ſhun it: if thou wilt prolong
Dire compotation, forthwith reafon quits
Her empire to confufion, and mifrule,
And vain debates; then twenty tongues at once
Conſpire in fenfelefs jargon; naught is heard
But din, and various clamour, and mad rant:
Diſtruſt and jealouſy to thefe fucceed,
450
And anger-kindling taunt, the certain bane
Of well-knit fellowſhip. Now horrid frays
Commence; the brimming glaffes now are hurl'd
With dire intent; bottles with bottles claſh
In rude encounter; round their temples fly
455
460
The ſharp-edg'd fragments; down their batter'd cheeks
Mixt
gore
and Cider flow. What ſhall we fay
Of raſh Elpenor, who in evil hour
445. The golden mean.]
This is Horace's
AUREAM MEDIOCRITATEM.
451. Then twenty tongues at once,
&c.]
L. ii. Ode 10.
The following expreffive line of Philoxenus, is preferved by Athenæus :
Ευρείας οίνος ΠΑΜΦΩΝΟΣ.
It may not be ill tranflated by a paffage in Thomfon's Autumn,
V. 538, where a defcription is given of a fcene of rural drunkenneſs,
that has fome reſemblance to this part of our Author's poem.
Thus as they ſwim in mutual fwill, the talk,
VOCIFEROUS AT ONCE FROM TWENTY TONGUES,
Reels faft from theme to theme.
463. Elpenor.]
The ftory of Elpenor is found in the tenth book of Homer's ODYSSEY,
V.552.
A youth
144
Book II.
CIDER.
Dry'd an immeaſurable bowl, and thought
T'exhale his furfeit by irriguous ſleep,
Imprudent? Him death's iron fleep oppreſs'd,
Defcending careleſs from his couch; the fall
Lux'd his neck-joint and ſpinal marrow bruis'd.
Nor need we tell what anxious cares attend
465
The turbulent mirth of wine; nor all the kinds 470
Of maladies that lead to Death's grim cave,
A youth there was, Elpenor was he nam'd,
Not much for fenfe, nor much for courage fam'd,
The youngeſt of our band, a vulgar foul,
Born but to banquet and to drain the bowl.
He hot and careleſs, on a turret's height,
With fleep repair'd the long debauch of night:
The fudden tumult ſtirr'd him where he lay,
And down he haften'd, but forgot the way;
Full headlong from the roof the fleeper fell,
And fnapp'd the fpinal joint, and wak'd in hell.
465.
466.
irriguous fleep.]
feffos SOPOR IRRIGAT artus.
POPE.
Virg. ÆN. iii. 511.
Death's iron fleep oppreſs'd]
Olli dura quies oculos et FERREUS URGET
SOMNUS.
Virg. ÆN. x. 745.
Homer alfo has,
Κοιμησατο χαλκεον ύπνον.
II. A. 241.
471.
nor all the kind
Of maladies that lead to death's grim cave,
Wrought by intemperance, joint-racking gout,
Inteftine ftone, and pining atrophy, &c.]
Thefe lines were fupplied from the following very fine part of Milton's
Eleventh Book of his PARADISE LOST.
-MANY SHAPES
OF DEATH, AND MANY
AND MANY ARE THE WAYS THAT LEAD
TO HIS GRIM CAVE, all difmal; yet to fenſe
More terrible at th' entrance than within.
Some, as thou faw'ſt, by violent ſtroke ſhall die,
1
By
BOOK II.
145
CIDER.
Wrought by intemperance, joint-racking gout,
Inteſtine ſtone, and pining atrophy,
475
Chill even when the fun with July heats
Fries the fcorch'd foil, and dropfy all, afloat
Yet craving liquids. Nor the Centaurs' tale
Be here repeated, how, with luft and wine
Inflam'd, they fought, and ſpilt their drunken fouls
At feaſting hour. Ye heavenly Powers, that guard
The Britiſh Ifles, fuch dire events remove
Far from fair Albion; nor let civil broils
Ferment from focial cups! May we, remote
By fire, flood, famine, BY INTEMPERANCE more
In meats, and drinks, which on the earth fhall bring
Diſeaſes dire, of which a monstrous crew
Before thee fhall appear; that thou may't know,
What mifery th' inabſtinence of Eve
Shall bring on men. Immediately a place
Before his eyes appear'd, fad, noifome, dark,
A lazar-houſe it feem'd, wherein were laid
Numbers of all diſeas'd, all MALADIES;
Of ghaftly fpafm, or racking torture, qualms
Of heart-fick agony, all feverous kinds,
Convulfions, epilepfies, fierce catarrhs,
INTESTINE STONE and ulcer, colic pangs.
Demoniac phrenzy, moping melancholy,
And moon-ftruck madnefs, PINING ATROPHY,
Maraſmus, and wide-wafting peftilence,
Dropfies, and aſthmas, and JOINT-RACKING rheums.
476.
the Centaurs' tale]
48
V. 457.
Our Author inftances here the bad effects of intemperance, as Virgil
had done before him in his fecond GEORGIC, V. 455, in the account
recorded by the poets of the drunken quarrel between the Centaurs and
the Lapithe. This piece of fabulous hiftory is related at large by Ovid,
in the 12th Book of his METAMORPHOSES.
481.
nor let civil broils
Ferment from focial cups
U
This
146
Book II.
CIDER.
"
From the hoarſe brazen found of war, enjoy
Our humid products, and with feemly draughts
Enkindle mirth and hofpitable love!
Too oft alas! has mutual hatred drench'd
Our fwords in native blood; too oft has pride,
And hellith diſcord, and infatiate thirſt
Of others' rights, our quiet difcompos'd.
Have we forgot, how fell deſtruction rag'd
Wide-fpreading, when by Eris' torch incens'd
Our fathers warr'd? What heroes, fignaliz'd
485
490
This is from the following paffage in the Eleventh Book of the
PARADISE LOST, xi. 714.
All now was turn'd to jollity and game,
To luxury and riot, feaſt and dance,
Marrying or proftituting as befel,
Rape or adultery, where paffing fair
Allur'd them; thence FROM CUPS TO CIVIL BROILS.
483. the boarfe brazen found of war.]
THE BRAZEN THROAT OF WAR had ceas'd TO ROAR.
Milton, P. L. xi. 713.
491.
Eris1
Eris-
Eris, or Contention, is frequently perfonified as a Goddefs, by the
Greek Poets. Hefiod, in his Theogonia, defcribes her as the daughter of
Night. In his Shield of Hercules, he makes her a principal figure on the
fhield.
Επι δε βλοσυροιο μέτωπο
Δεινη ΕΡΙΣ πεποτητο, κορύσσεσα κλονον ανδρων.
Scutum Herculis, 147•
I do not recollect any other English Poet, befides our Author, having
introduced the Goddeſs Diſcord, or Contention, by her Greek name.
Spenfer has indeed thus perfonified Juftice, Prudence, and Peace.
Juft DICE, wife EU NOME, mild EIRENE.
Bertie
FAERY QUEEN, B. v. C. ix. St. 31.
]
49.4.
The family of Bertie originally came into England from Bertyland
in Pruffia, when the Saxons firft invaded this nation, and, by gift of one of
our Saxon Kings, had a caftle and town called from them Berticſtad, or
Bertie's Town, now Berfted, near Maidſtone in Kent. Thomas
Bertie,
Book II.
147
CIDER.
For loyalty and proweſs, met their fate,
Untimely, undeferv'd? How Bertie fell,
Bertie, of Berfted, was captain of Hurft Caſtle in the Ifle of Wight, at
the latter end of the reign of Henry VII. His fon Richard, being
eminently accomplished, married Catherine, the widow of Charles
Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, in her own right Baronefs Willoughby of
Erefby. This lady, having much diitinguished herſelf by her zeal for the
reformation in the reign of Edward VI, was, together with her
huſband, obliged to quit England during the reign of Queen Mary,
and took refuge in Germany, where he was delivered of a fon, who
from the circumſtance of his being born in a foreign country, was named
Peregrine, and fucceeded, in right of his mother, to the title of Lord
Willoughby of Erefby. He was a man of a moft courageous fpirit, and,
it is faid, offered to meet a perfon, who fent him a very impertinent
challenge, when he had the gout in his hands and feet, with a piece of a
rapier in his teeth. He married the heirefs of Vere Earl of Oxford,
by whom he had feveral fons, of whom Robert, the perfon who is here
noticed as lofing his life in the Royal caufe, was his fucceffor. Queen
Elizabeth called him the young General, and offered to ſtand godmother
to him. The fon inherited the valiant fpirit of the father, and, during
the Queen's reign, was at the fiege of Amiens, under Sir John Baskerville
and Sir Arthur Savage, and at that of Cadiz, under the Earls of Effex
and Nottingham; where he was knighted for his gallant behaviour. In
the following pacific reign he ferved in the Low Countries, under Prince.
Maurrice; and foon after the acceffion of King Charles, was created
Earl of Lindſey, and honored with the garter. Afterwards he was made
Lord High Admiral. On the breaking out of the civil wars, in June
1642, he was appointed General of the King's forces, and, on the 23d of
October following, loft his life at the battle of Edge-hill.
When
wounded, he was carried out of the field by the enemy to the next
village; where the Earl of Effex fent Sir William Balfour and other
officers to offer him affistance. They found him on a little ftraw in a
poor houfe, lying in his blood, which flowed in great abundance; yet
great vivacity remained in his looks, and he told them, he was forry to
fee fo many gentlemen, fome of whom were his old friends, engaged in
fo foul a rebellion. He principally directed his difcourfe to Sir William
Balfour, whom he reminded of his obligations to the King, and charged
him to tell Lord Effex, that he ought to caft himſelf at the King's feet,
and beg his pardon; which, if he did not fpeedily do, his memory would
be odious to the nation. He died the fame night.
The circumftances
of his death are noticed in Edge Hill, a Poem by the Reverend Mr. Jago,
the friend and correfpondent of Mr. Shenftone.
Yet may not be untold how LINDSEY fell;
How from the ſheltering ftraw his dying lips
Ceas'd not to plead his Sovereign's lighted caufe
Amidft furrounding foes; nor but with life
Expir'd his loyalty.
U 2
Lord
148
Book II.
CIDER.
Compton, and Granville, dauntlefs fons of Mars,
Fit themes of endleſs grief, but that we view 496
Lord Clarendon deſcribes him to have been a nobleman of great
honor, courage and generofity; who had very many friends, few enemies,
and died generally lamented. He was anceſtor in a right line to the
prefent Duke of Ancaſter.
495. Compton-
Spencer Compton, only fon of William, firft Earl of Northampton, by
his wife Elizabeth, heirefs of Sir John Spencer, Lord Mayor of London
in the 36th of Queen Elizabeth, was born in May 1601, and fucceeded
to his father's title and eftate, June 24, 1630.—He was made a Knight
of the Bath, November 3, 1616, together with Charles I. then Prince of
Wales; with whom he was a great favourite, and to whom he ever bore
the moſt perfect attachment, hazarding his fortunes, and at laſt lofing his
life in his caufe.--After the battle of Edge Hill, he commanded the
garrifon at Banbury, from whence he relieved the town of Stafford, when
befieged by Sir John Gell, who retired at his approach, but being joined
by Sir William Bruerton, moved back towards Stafford. Lord Nor-
thampton coming out to meet them, an engagement enfued at Hopton
Heath, wherein the Parliament-forces under Gell and Bruerton were
completely routed: but his Lordfhip in the fecond charge, being engaged
among their foot, in which they had much fuperiority, had the misfortune
to have his horſe killed under him, and, while his own cavalry were
furiously purſuing the chace, was left encompaffed by his enemies. In
this fituation he defended himſelf moft gallantly, and, when offered
quarter, faid “he fcorned to take it from fuch baſe rogues and rebels as
they were." He had always declared, that if he outlived the civil
war, he was certain of never having fo noble a death. The enemy
carried off his body, and, when his fon applied for it, refuſed to part with
it, unleſs all the prifoners, cannon and ammunition were given up as an
equivalent. Lord Northampton dedicated all his family to the Royal
caufe, having four fons officers under him, three of whom charged with
him in the field the day he fell.
Granville.]
Sir Bevil Granville was grandfon of that famous Sir Richard Granville,
or Greenville, Vice Admiral in Queen Elizabeth's reign, who main-
tained in his ſingle ſhip the moft obftinate action ever recorded, againſt a
whole Spaniſh fleet of fifty-three fail, from three o'clock in the after-
noon, till break of day the next morning, and repulfed the enemy
fifteen times, though they continually fhifted their veffels and boarded
him with freſh men. In this fituation he propofed to deftroy the fhip
and themſelves, rather than yield to the enemy, which defperate refo-
lution was agreed to by the mafter, gunner, and many of the feamen;
but, others oppofing it, he was obliged to yield himſelf prifoner. He
died, a few days after, of his wounds; his laft words being as memorable
as his life had been gallant. "Here I die, Richard Greenville, with a
"joyful
BOOK II.
149
CIDER.
Their virtues yet furviving in their race?
Can we forget, how the mad, headſtrong rout
Defy'd their prince to arms, nor made account
Of faith, or duty, or allegiance fworn?
Apoftate, Atheiſt rebels! bent to ill,
500
With feeming fanctity, and cover'd fraud,
Inſtill'd by him who firſt prefum'd t'oppoſe
Omnipotence! Alike their crime, th’event
Was not alike thefe triumph'd, and, in height 505
joyful and quiet mind, for I have ended my life as a true foldier ought
to do, fighting for his Country, Queen, Religion and Honor; my foul
willingly departing from this body, leaving behind the lafting fame
"of having behaved as every true foldier ought to do."
Such an example could not fail to animate his defcendants; and, ac-
cordingly, Sir Bevil Granville having attached himſelf to the cauſe of
Charles I. eminently diftinguiſhed himfelf. He ſerved under Lord Hop-
ton, in the weſt, where he was one of the moſt uſeful and active perfons
in raifing forces; and was engaged in all the actions, in which the Cornish
Royalists gained feveral fucceffive victories over their Devonshire oppo-
nents. In the battle of Stratton he had a principal command; and in
that of Lanfdown, where he loft his life in the heat of the action.
His death was lamented, in verfes publiſhed on that occafion, by the
University of Oxford. The following epigram, in that collection, by
one Martin Llewellin, which celebrates both Sir Richard and Sir Bevil,
is too curious not to be preferved, where any account is given of them.
It is engraved on the pillar, erected on Lanfdown, near Bath, to the
memory of Sir Bevil Granville.
Thus flain, thy valiant anceſtor did lie,
When his one bark a navy did defy;
When now encompafs'd round, he victor ftood,
And bath'd his pinnace with his conquʼring blood,
Till, all his purple current dry'd and ſpent,
He fell, and made the waves his monument.
Where fhall the next fam'd Granville's afhes ftand?
Thy grandfire's fill the fea, and thine the land.
Sir Bevil Granville married Mary, eldeft daughter of Sir John St.
Leger, by whom he left feveral children; of whom, John, the eldeft,
followed his father's example, in his attachment to King Charles and
his family, and, having been highly inftrumental in the reftoration, was
created
150
Book II.
CIDER.
Of barbarous malice and infulting pride,
Abſtain'd not from imperial blood. O fact
Unparallel'd! O Charles! O beft of Kings!
created by Charles II., three days before his coronation, Viſcount Gran-
ville of Lanfdown, and Earl of Bath. Barnard, the third fon, was
father of that accompliſhed nobleman, George Lord Lanfdown.
507.
O fact
Unparallel'd!]
Pope, on the fame fubject, fings in the fame ftrain.
508.
OH FACT ACCURS'D! &c.
WINDSOR FOREST, 321.
O Charles! O best of kings!]
It may not be improper, to contraft what is here faid by our Author,
with Thompſon's defcription of the reign of Charles I. in the 4th Book
of his LIBERTY; where, having ſpoken of James I. as a king,
lawleſs fway
Who, with his flaviſh doctors, try'd to rear
On metaphyfic, on enchanted ground
And all the mazy quibbles of the ſchools,
thus proceeds;
But his unyielding fon theſe doctrines drank
With all a bigot's rage, who never damps
By reaſoning his fires, and what they taught,
Warm and tenacious, into practice pufh'd.
Senates in vain their kind reſtraint apply'd ;
The more they ſtruggled to fupport the laws,
His juftice-dreading minifters the more
Drove him beyond their bounds. Tir'd with the check
Of faithful love, and with the flattery pleas'd
Of falfe defigning guilt, the fountain he
Of public wiſdom, and of juſtice ſhut.
Wide mourn'd the land. Strait to the voted aid
Free, cordial, large, of never-failing fource,
'Th' illegal impofition follow'd harsh,
With execration given, or ruthleſs ſqueez'd
From an infulted people, by a band
grove
Of the worſt ruffians, thoſe of tyrant power.
Oppreffion walk'd at large, and pour'd abroad
Her unrelenting train; informers, fpies,
Blood-hounds that ſturdy freedom to the
Purſue; projectors of aggrieving ſchemes,
Commerce to load for unprotected ſeas,
To fell the ftarving many to the few,
And drain a thouſand ways th' exhauſted land.
Ev'n
Book II.
151
CIDER.
What ſtars their black difaftrous influence ſhed
On thy nativity, that thou fhouldſt fall
510
Thus, by inglorious hands, in this thy realm,
Ev'n from that place whence healing peace ſhould flow,
And goſpel-truth, inhuman bigots ſhed
Their poifon round; and on the venal bench,
Inſtead of juſtice, party held the ſcale,
And violence the fword. Afflicted years,
Too patient, felt at laſt their vengeance full.
In peruſing theſe oppofite paffages of their feveral Authors, we cannot
but remark, that as Poets enter into Politics they generally deviate from
Poetry.
509. What stars their black difaftrous influence shed]
Milton, in the Tenth Book of his PARADISE LOST, defcribes the
Almighty, after the Fall of Man, commiffioning his Angels to produce
feveral changes in Nature, and to fully the beauty and perfection of the
Creation. Accordingly, they are reprefented as infecting the ſtars and
planets with malignant influences.
To the blanc moon
Her office they prefcrib'd, to th' other five
Their planetary motions and afpects
In fextile, fquare, and trine, and oppofite
Of NOXIOUS EFFICACY, and when to join
In SYNOD UNBENIGN; and taught the fix'd
Their INFLUENCE MALIGNANT when to ſhower.
This was in compliance with the jargon of the Aftrologers of that time,
who pretended to aſcertain the future mifery or profperity of particular
perfons, and even the exact time of their death, from the fituation of the
planets at the time of their birth. In the 36th of Queen Elizabeth, it was
made Felony, to caft the Queen's Nativity, that is, to calculate from her
Horoſcope, or the fituation of the Planets at the time the was born, how
long the was to live.John Gadbury, an eminent Aftrologer of the
laft century, and Author of the Doctrine of Nativities, calculated the
Nativity of Charles I.; which is in print.
511. Thus, by inglorious hands)
We muſt here annex a much ſtronger fenfe than the common one to the
epithet inglorious. Our Author would not have been ſatisfied with term-
ing thofe, who were inftrumental to the death of Charles, perfons with-
out glory or void of honour. We may therefore fuppofe that, in this
part of his Poem, he had in his mind the following line of Virgil,
at the beginning of the third GEORGIC;
Quis ILLAUDATI nefcit Bufiridis aras ?
And we may apply what Aulus Gellius fays, in difcuffing the propriety
of the word illaudatu, to our Author's epithet inglorious."
(C
Nemo
quifquam
152
BOOK II.
CIDER.
Supreme and innocent, adjudg'd to death
By thoſe thy mercy only would have fav'd?
Yet was the Cider-land unftain'd with guilt;
The Cider-land, obfequious ſtill to thrones,
**
* *
515
quifquam tam efflictis eft moribus, quin faciat aut dicat nonnunquam
aliquid quod laudari queat.
Sed enim qui in omni re atque
"omni tempore laude omni vacat, is ILLAUDATUS eft; ifque omnium
peffimus deterrimufque eft; ficuti omnis culpæ privatio inculpatum
"facit. Inculpatus autem inftar eft abfolutæ virtutis; ILLAUDATUS
quoque igitur finis eft extremæ malitiæ.”
Milton has ILLAUDABLE in this fenfe.
A. G. L. ii. C. 6.
P. L. vi. 382.
514. Yet was the Cider-land unftain'd with guilt——————]
It is obferved by Dr. Warton, in his Efay on Didactic Poetry, that
Philips, in this Poem, "has clofely copied Virgil's manner in his Geor-
"gics, throwing many digreffions into his Poem, and, like that divine
Poet, returning again with much dexterity to his ſubject." He par-
ticularly inftances this line; where, after having launched fully into
a defcription of the civil-war and the deſtruction of monarchy, by the
death of Charles I. he artfully recalls the mind of his reader to the
immediate ſubject of his Poem, which he feemed almost entirely to have
deferted in ſo long a digreſſion.
515. The Cider land, obfequious ſtill to thrones
-]
At the commencement of the civil-war, Sir William Waller took the
city of Hereford for the Parliament; but the King's forces recovered it
again, when Sir Barnabas Scudamore was made governor of it, and added
feveral works to its fortifications. The Scotch army, which came to the
affiftance of the Parliament, fat down before this city, Auguft 15, 1645,
and fummoned the governor to furrender; but Sir Barnabas defended it fo
well, that, after they had loft abundance of men, they retired with dif-
honour. In the December following, however, Colonel Birch and Co-
lonel Morgan the governor of Gloccfter, having by ftratagem pof-
feffed themſelves of the draw-bridge, broke into the town with a body of
two thouſand horſe and foot, and forced the garriſon to ſubmit.- While
the City of Hereford thus difplayed its attachment to King Charles, the
County was not difaffected to the fame caufe, at leaſt, if we may judge
of its politics by its parliamentary reprefentatives, and the part they took
upon that occafion.-The members for Herefordshire, at that time,
were Sir Robert Harley, and his fon, Edward Harley, Efq. The fon
(who was father of the Lord Treaſurer) raiſed a regiment at his own
expence, for the fervice of the King, and, commanding it himfelf, gave
fignal proofs of his valour at the head of it.-At the Reſtoration he was
made Governor of Dunkirk, and a Knight of the Bath.
Abhorr'd
Book II.
153
CIDER.
Abhorr'd fuch baſe, difloyal deeds, and all
Her pruning-hooks extended into fwords,
Undaunted, to affert the trampled rights
Of Monarchy; but, ah! ſucceſsleſs ſhe,
However faithful. Then was no regard
520
Of right, or wrong; and this, once happy, land,
By home-bred fury rent, long groan'd beneath
Tyrannic fway, till fair, revolving years
Our exil'd Kings and Liberty reſtor❜d.
Now we exult, by mighty Anna's care
Secure at home, while fhe to foreign realms
516.
and all
Her pruning hooks extended into fwords]
This is both fcriptural and claffical.
525
"Beat your plough-fhares into words, and your pruning-hooks into
fpears."
Et CURVE rigidum FALCES Conflantur in ENSEM.
523.
526.
Joel, C. iii. V. 10.
Virg. G. i. 508•
-fair, revolving years-]
VOLVENTIBUS ANNIS-
Virg. Æn. i. 238.
while fhe to foreign realms
Sends forth her dreadful legions, and reſtrains
The rage of kings-]
The brilliant fuccefs of the British arms, at the beginning of Queen
Anne's reign, well juftified our Author's Imitation, in this place, of
Virgil's fine Compliment to Auguftus, at the end of his GEORGICS.
Hæc fuper arvorum cultu pecorumque canebam,
Et fuper arboribus: CESAR DUM MAGNUS AD ALTUM
FULMINAT EUPHRATEN BELLO
Thus have I fung the labors of the fwain,
Of trees, of flocks, of cattle and of grain;
While mighty Cæfar to Euphrates bears
His conq'ring arms the thunder of the wars.
X
WARTON.
But
154
Book. II.
CIDER.
ſhe
Sends forth her dreadful legions, and reſtrains
The rage of kings. Here, nobly the fupports
Juſtice opprefs'd; here, her victorious arms
Quell the ambitious: from her hand alone
All Europe fears revenge, or hopes redrefs.
Rejoice, O Albion, fever'd from the world
By Nature's wife indulgence; indigent
Of nothing from without; in one fupreme
Entirely bleft, and from beginning time
Defign'd thus happy. But the fond defire
Of rule, and grandeur, multiply'd a race
Of kings, and numerous fceptres introduc'd,
Deſtructive of the public weal: for now
530
335
But Philips has interwoven his compliment to Queen Anne with more
art in his Poem; and has finely applied it to the object of the war,
which was then carrying on by England and its allies againſt France, to
preſerve the general independence of Europe from the ambitious grafp of
Louis XIV.
We might wonder that we find neither in this place, nor in any other
part of this Poem, any notice taken of the Duke of Marlborough, the
Hero of our Author's Blenheim, publiſhed only two years before; parti-
cularly as the campaign of 1706, in which year the Cider was finished,
was, if poffible, more glorious and honorable to that great Commander,
than that of 1704, which Philips had celebrated. But it muſt be recol-
lected that, in the midst of all theſe fucceffes, and at the very time that
the Queen and Nation were ſhowering honors on the Duke, a party was
fecretly forming againſt him at court, and the particular Patrons of our
Poet were at the head of the confederacy.
532.
539.
O Albion, fever'd from the world-]
penitus toto DIVISOS ORBE BRITANNOS.
-For now
Each potentate, as vary fear, or ftrength,
Or emulation urg'd, his neighbour's bounds
Invades, and ampler territory feeks
With ruinous aſſault. On every plain
Hoft cop'd with hoft;
Virg. EcL. i. 67.
dire was the din of war -]
We
BOOK II.
155
CIDER.
Each potentate as wary fear, or ftrength,
Or emulation urg'd, his neighbour's bounds
Invades, and ampler territory feeks
With ruinous affault. On every plain
540
Hoft cop'd with hoft; dire was the din of war,
And ceaſeleſs; or ſhort truce haply procur'd 545
By havock, and diſmay, till jealouſy
Rais'd new combuſtion. Thus was peace in vain
Sought for by martial deeds, and conflict ftern;
Till Edgar, grateful, as to thoſe who pine
We cannot well paſs by this part of the Poem without noticing the fin-
gular excellence of the contraft between this defcription of the warlike
fcene, and that of the peaceful one that follows it; both of which are fet
off with a highly characteriſtic ſtyle of verfification.- We may here
trace our Poet in fome of his expreffions to the following fine paffage of
the PARADISE LOST, B. vi. V. 211.
DIRE WAS THE NOISE
OF CONFLICT; over head the diſmal hifs
Of fiery darts in flaming vollies flew,
And flying vaulted EITHER HOST with fire.
So under fiery cope together ruſh'd
Each battle's main, WITH RUINOUS ASSAULT.
549.-
Edgar- -]
Egbert is, by modern hiftorians, generally tiled the first King of
England, as having fubdued the other kingdoms of the Heptarchy, and
being really in poffeffion of the fupreme power. But he was not acknow-
ledged King of England, and fuffered Kings of Northumberland, Mer-
cia, and Eaft Anglia, to remain and to be elected by their feveral king-
doms. Edgar was the first Prince who was confidered as really King of
England; and accordingly Hoveden, who wrote in the year 1190, fays,
he was "ab omni Anglorum populo electus, divifaque regna in unum
copulavit." He was a monarch of confiderable abilities, which he
employed in maintaining the peace of his kingdom, and, from the tran-
quillity of his reign, obtained the denomination of the Pacific.
grateful, as to those who pine
A difmal half-year night the orient beam
Of Phabus' lamp]
X 2
We
156
CIDER.
Book II.
550
A diſmal half-year night the orient beam
Of Phoebus' lamp, arofe, and into one
Cemented all the long-contending powers ;
Pacific Monarch. Then her lovely head
Concord rear'd high; and all around diffus'd
The ſpirit of love. At eaſe, the bards new ftrung 555
Their filent harps, and taught the woods and vales,
We have the fame Simile more expanded in the Blenheim of our Author.
not more rejoice
The miferable race of men that live
Benighted half the year, benumb'd with frofts
Perpetual and rough Boreas' keeneſt breath,
Under the Polar Bear, inclement ſky,
When firſt the fun with new-born light removes
The long-incumbent gloom
V. 58.
550
Milton has
orient beam-]
the brightening ORIENT BEAM.
P. L. ii. 399.
551. Of Phoebus' lamp —]
-PHOEBE A LAMPADIS inftar.
Virg. Æn. iii. 637.
foon as Phœbus' lamp
Bewrayed had the world with ORIENT light.
Spenfer. FAIRY QUEEN, B. iii. C. 10. St. 1.
Concord rear'd high]
553.
then her lovely head
Thus, in his Blenheim, V. 490.
-but when return'd
Confummate PEACE SHALL REAR HER CHEERFUL HEAD.
555. The Spirit of love]
This is from Milton, who frequently contracts the word Spirit into
a monofyllable.
Under his forming hands a creature grew,
Manlike, but different fex, fo lovely fair,
That what feem'd fair in all the world, feem'd now
Mean, or in her fumm'd up, in her contain'd
And
Book II.
157
CIDER.
In uncouth rhythms, to echo Edgar's name.
Then gladneſs fmil'd in ev'ry eye;
the years
Ran ſmoothly on, productive of a line
Of wife, heroic Kings, that by juſt laws
Eſtabliſh'd happineſs at home, or crush'd
Infulting enemies in fartheft climes.
See lion-hearted Richard, with his force
And in her looks, which from that time infus'd
Sweetneſs into my heart, unfelt before,
And into all things from her air infpir'd
The SPIRIT OF LOVE and amorous delight.
uncouth rhythms ~]
560
P. L. viii. 470.
557:
Thus fang the UNCOUTH fwain to th' oaks and rills.
Milton, LYCIDAS, V. 186.
559.
-productive of a line
Of wife heroic kings -]
The Poet had cloſed his firſt Book with the characters of fome of his
own particular friends, and of perfons much connected with them; whom
he compliments with all the warmth and energy of friendship. Here, in
concluding his fecond Book, he rifes in his ſubject, and, giving a ſketch
of our National Hiſtory, pictures fome of the moft eminent of our
Britiſh Monarchs. It may indeed be obſerved, that as he approaches his
own times, the opinions of the Politician to govern the Defcriptions of the
Poet.
563.-
Lion-hearted Richard-
Richard I. was furnamed Cour-de-Lion, or, Lion's-heart, the origin
of which name Shakeſpeare, in his King John, attributes to a real ex-
ploit. Falconbridge fays to his mother, ACT 1. Scene 3.
Needs must you lay your heart at his difpofe,
Againſt whofe fury, and unmatched force,
The awleſs Lion could not wage the fight,
Nor keep his princely heart from Richard's hand.
He that perforce robs Lions of their hearts,
May easily win a woman's.
But the fact here referred to, it is faid by the curious enquirers,
can only be traced to the old metrical Romance of Richard Coeur-de-
Lyon, the Author of which, having mentioned the King's confinement in
Germany,
158
Book II.
CIDER.
!
565
Drawn from the North to Jewry's hallow'd plains,
Piouſly valiant! Like a torrent fwell'd
With wintery tempefts, that difdains all mounds,
Breaking a way impetuous, and involves
Within its ſweep trees, houfes, men, he prefs'd
Germany, on his return from the Crufade, gives fcope to his invention in
the addition of many circumftances, and particularly of his tearing out the
heart of a Lion, to which he ſuppoſes him to have been expofed for having
killed the ſon of the Prince by whom he was confined. The reader may
not be diſpleaſed to fee fome of the lines, in which the combat is
defcribed. -It must be understood, that the King's Daughter, being in
love with Richard, had fupplied him with a number of handkerchiefs to
wrap round his arm, and enable him to accomplish this wonderful exploit.
The lyon was hongry and megre,
And bette his tayle to be egre;
He looked aboute as he were madde;
Abrode he all his pawes fpredde.
He cry'd lowde and ganed wyde:
Kynge Rycharde bethought him that tyde,
What hym was befte, and to him fterte,
In at the throte his honde he gerte,
And hente out the herte with his honde,
Lounge and all that he there fonde.
565.
like a torrent fwell'd
With wintry tempefts, that difdains all mounds
Breaking a way impetuous, and involves
Within its fweep trees, houses, men- -}
This Simile of the Torrent is found in Homer, and in almoſt all the
Roman Poets. If our Poet copied from any of them, it was probably
from the following Paffage of Virgil :
Non fic, AGGERIBUS RUPTIS CUM SPUMEUS AMNIS
EXIIT, OPPOSITASQUE EVICIT GURGITE MOLES,
FERTUR IN ARVA FURENS cumulo, compofque per omnes
Cum ftabulis armenta trahet
Not half fo fierce the foamy deluge bounds,
And burfts refiftlefs o'er the levell'd mounds,
Pours down the vale and roaring o'er the plain
Sweeps herds, and hinds, and houſes to the main.
EN. ii. 496.
PITT.
Amidſt
BOOK II.
159
CIDER.
Amidst the thickeſt battle, and o'erthrew
Whate'er withſtood his zealous rage: no pauſe, 570
No ſtay of flaughter, found his vigorous arm,
But th' unbelieving ſquadrons turn'd to flight
569.
and o'erthrew
Whate'er withstood his zealous rage: no pauſe,
No stay of flaughter, found his vigorous arm— -]
Mr. Berrington, in his Life of Henry II. and his Sons Richard and
John (where he defcribes the Crufade, which Richard, according to the
fpirit of his times, engaged in, together with the King of France and
other Princes, againſt the Infidels, who had over-run the Holy Land)
mentions that "fome Romantic Writers of the age defcribe a pitched
"battle, fought between Richard and Saladin, the Leader of the Sara-
cens, on September 7th, 1162, in which Richard was feen to perform
"feats of valour, which the eyes of mortals had not before witneffed.
"With his battle-axe, in the head of which was twenty pounds of tem-
Co
pered ſteel, he cleft the bones of the Saracens, rallied his men, reftored
"the fight where it flagged, unhorfed Saladin, and gained a complete
victory, leaving forty thouſand of the enemy dead on the plain.'
This, Mr. Berrington, from the teftimony of Richard's own Letters,
afferts to be all fiction.-Some fuch deſcription, however, Philips, we
may fuppofe, had in his recollection; and, as it is curious to trace Poets
to the materials from which they work, it may not be improper to ſub-
join the account of the fingle combat between Richard and Saladin, from
Mambourg's Hiftory of the Crufades, tranflated by Nalſon, and publiſhed
in 1686.
<<
“Then it was that for fome time the combat began to be more furious
" and bloody than it was before, the two Kings, by their voices and
gefture, but much more by their example, animating their foldiers to
afpire to victory. After having done all that could be expected from two
"of the moſt able captains in the world, providing against all events,
giving out neceffary orders, and themfelves in the charge giving the
"firft blows, it happened that in the rencounter, knowing each other by
"thoſe marks which diſtinguiſhed them from the reft, they both hit upon
"the fame thought; and each of them believing he had found an enemy
worthy of himſelf, and whom with honour he might combat, both as
"a foldier and a king, they both believed that the general victory
"would depend upon their particular encounter, and that he whom For-
tune ſhould declare her favourite, would not fail of having the glory
"of fingly obtaining the victory. So both of them, at the fame time,
charging his arm with a ftrong lance, they both furiouſly ran one
against the other, and being both of them moft ftout and valiant men,
admirably mounted, and animated with an ardent defire of glory,
"wherein hatred had the leaft fhare, the fhock was extreme rude and
CC
6 C
violent;
160
Book II.
CIDER.
'
575
Smote in the rear, and with difhoneft wounds
Mangled behind. The Soldan, as he fled,
Oft call'd on Alla, gnaſhing with deſpite,
And fhame, and murmur'd many an empty curfe.
Behold Third Edward's ftreamers blazing high
On Gallia's hoftile ground! His right withheld
"violent; their lances flew into a thouſand ſplinters, and Richard was
"fomewhat difordered with the mighty blow which he had received;
"but he had managed his lance with fo much addreſs and force, that
"he overthrew both horfe and man upon the ground. This raiſed
a mighty fhout from both the armies, as if Saladin had been ſlain;
"and the Saracens came tumbling in ſhoals about him ſo thick, either to
"relieve him if alive, or carry him off if he were dead, that Richard,
"who approaching with his fword advanced to finish his victory, was
"conſtrained to let it fall upon lefs confiderable enemies, of whom he
"made a moſt horrible flaughter, for their interpofing between him and
glory. Saladin, the goodneſs of whofe arms had faved his life, forely
bruifed in body, and tormented with the fhame of his fall, being
"mounted on a fresh horfe, did by a ſpeedy flight prevent a worſe def-
tiny; and, after him, his whole army thought it no difgrace to make
the beſt hafte they could from death and danger."
573.
This is Virgil's
574.
difboneft wounds-]
EN. vi. 497.
INHONESTO VULNERE-
Soldan-1
Soldan, the old Engliſh word for Sultan, is ufed by Spenfer, and in
many of our Old English Ballads. It is alſo uſed by Milton, P. L.
B. i. V. 764; upon which occafion, his Commentator has given a note
which equally applies to our Author." Milton" (fays Bishop New-
ton)" frequently affects the ufe of uncommon words, when common ones
"would fuit the meaſure of his verfe as well, believing that it added
"to the dignity of his language."
575.
Alla-]
The Mahometans call God Alla, which, from the Arabic root, Alah,
fignifies the ADORABLE BEING.
gnashing with defpite and ſhame-
there they him laid
GNASHING FOR anguish and DESPITE
]
578.
his right withheld
Awakens vengeance-]
AND SHAME
Milton, P. L. vi. 339.
Such
Book II.
161
CIDER.
Awakens vengeance.
O imprudent Gauls,
Relying on falſe hopes, thus to incenfe
The warlike English! One important day
580
Shall teach you meaner thoughts. Eager of fight,
Fierce Brutus' offspring to the adverfe front
Advance refiftlefs, and their deep array
With furious inroad pierce: the mighty force 585
Of Edward twice o'erturn'd their deſperate king;
Twice he aroſe and join'd the horrid ſhock:
Such was the difpofition of Edward III., that he required but flight
pretenfions to the crown of France, to profecute a claim to that monarchy.
Charles le Bel, King of France, dying without iffue male, Edward
claimed the crown, in right of Iſabel his mother, fifter to the late King;
although the Salique law, which excludes females from any right to the
crown, had never been violated in the fucceffion of the French monarchs,
and Ifabel, having therefore no right herfelf, could convey none to her
defcendants. -Upon this ground, however, during the long reign of
this martial Prince, war was carried on between France and England;
with the moſt brilliant fuccefs, on the fide of the Engliſh, that ever diſtin-
guiſhed the arms of any nation.
583 Fierce Brutus' offspring to the adverfe front
Advance refiftless—]
It is mentioned by hiftorians, that the great flaughter at the battle of
Crecy, was owing to the execution done by the Welch Infantry, that
ferved under the Black Prince that day.- -The Welch, or ancient
Britons, may be poetically defcribed as the offspring of Brutus; from the
legendary tale, that Brutus, a Trojan, was the firft perfon who peopled
England.
584.
and their deep array
With furious inroad pierce-]
And with fierce enfigns PIERC'D THE DEEP ARRAY
Milton, P. L. vi. 356.
With many an INROAD gor'd-
P. L. vi. 387.
587.
join'd the horrid fhock-
— nor ftood at gaze
The adverfe legions, nor lefs hideous JOIN'D
THE HORRID SHOCK
Y
Milton, P. L. vi. 205.
The
}
162
BOOK II.
CIDER.
The third time, with his wide-extended wings,
He fugitive declin'd fuperior ftrength,
Diſcomfited: purfu'd, in the fad chace,
590
Ten thouſands ignominious fall; with blood
The vallies float. Great Edward, thus aveng'd,
With golden Iris his broad ſhield emboſs'd. [tongues
Thrice glorious Prince! whom Fame with all her
For ever ſhall refound. Yet from his loins
New authors of diffenfion ſpring: from him
592.
Great Edward, thus aveng'd,
595
With golden Iris his broad fhield emboss'd]
Edward III., when he fet up his pretenfions to the French crown, quar-
tered the arms of France, being three Flower-de-Luces, or Irifes. At the
fame time, he adopted the motto of DIEU ET MON DROIT.—————— A
later bard, in allufion to this circumftance of Edward's affuming the arms
of France, thus defcribes that victorious monarch:
Great Edward with the LILIES on his brow,
From haughty Gallia torn
Gray's INSTALLATION ODE.
To emboſs is to cover; thus Spenfer, FAERY QUEEN, B. i. C. iii.
St. 24.
A knight her met in mighty arms EMBOSS'D
596. New authors of diffenfion fpring: from him
Two branches-
]
Edward III. left three fons, befides Edward the Black Prince, who all
married, and had children; Lionel, Duke of Clarence, John of Gaunt,
Duke of Lancaſter, and Edmund de Langley, Duke of York.—The
Duke of Clarence left a daughter, married to Edmund Mortimer, Earl of
March, by whom ſhe had a daughter, Anne; and a fon, Roger, Earl of
March, who was killed in a fkirmiſh in Ireland.--The Duke of Lan-
caſter was father of Henry IV. and the Lancaftrian line; whofe fymbol
was a Red Rofe.
-The Duke of York left a fon, the Earl of Cam-
bridge, who married Anne, the grand-daughter of his uncle Clarence, and
being beheaded by Henry V., left a fon, Richard, Duke of York, father
of Edward IV., and the Houfe of York; who were diftinguiſhed by a
White Rofe. The war between the two Rofes, as thefe contending
families were called, is, at the fame time, the moft confufed, and the
moſt bloody period of our English hiſtory.-It is finely alluded to by
Mr. Gray, in his Bard,
Heard
Book II.
163
CIDER.
MANGAT NA
Two branches, that in hoſting long contend
For fovereign fway. And can fuch anger dwell
In nobleſt minds? But little now avail'd
The ties of friendſhip: every man, as led
By inclination or vain hope, repair'd
To either camp, and breath'd immortal hate,
And dire revenge.
600
Now horrid flaughter reigns;
Heard ye the din of battle bray,
Lance to lance, and horfe to horfe?
Long years of havock urge their deſtin❜d courſe,
And through the kindred fquadrons mow their way.
Which laft line, it may be obferved, was poffibly fuggefted by the
conclufion of Anthony's fpeech to Ventidius, which finiſhes the first
Act of Dryden's ALL FOR LOVE.
Come on, my foldier!
Our hearts and arms are ftill the fame. I long
Once more to meet our foes; that thou, and I,
Like Time and Death, marching before our troops,
May taſte fate to them; Mow THEM OUT A PASSAGE
And, entering where the foremoft SQUADRONS yield,
Begin the noble harveft of the field.
597.
— hofting]
Milton has, P. L. vi. 91.
598.
though ſtrange to us it ſeem'd
At first, that Angel fhould with Angel war,
And in fierce HOSTING meet
and can fuch anger dwell
-]
In nobleft minds? — ]
- tantæne animis cæleftibus iræ ?
Virg. ÆN. i. 15.
Milton, P. L. vi. 788.
In heavenly minds could fuch perverfenefs dwell;-
602.
immortal hate,
-]
And dire revenge-
th' unconquerable will
AND STUDY OF REVENGE, IMMORTAL HATE,
And courage never to ſubmit or yield.
Milton, P. L. i, 106.
We
603. Now horrid ſlaughter reigns, &c.—]
Y 2
164
Book II.
CIDER.
Sons againſt fathers tilt the fatal lance,
605
Careleſs of duty, and their native grounds
Diſtain with kindred blood: the twanging bows
Send flowers of fhafts, that on their barbed points
Alternate ruin bear. Here might you fee
groans,
Barons, and peaſants, on th' embattled field,
Slain, or half-dead, in one huge ghaftly heap 610
Promifcuouſly amafs'd. With difmal
And ejulation, in the pangs of death
Some call for aid, neglected; fome, o'erturn'd]
In the fierce fhock, lie gafping, and expire,
Trampled by fiery courfers. Horror thus
And wild Uproar, and Defolation, reign'd
Unreſpited. Ah! who at length will end
This long, pernicious fray? What man has Fate
Referv'd for this great work? Hail, happy Prince
615
We may compare Shakefpear's defcription of the fame bloody period,
in the concluding fpeech of his RICHARD III.
England hath long been mad and fearr'd herſelf;
The brother blindly fhed the brother's blood,
The father rafhly flaughter'd his own ſon,
The fons,compell'd, been butchers to the fire:
All this divided York and Lancaſter.
619.
Hail, happy Prince
Of Tudor's race -]
Catherine, Queen Dowager of England, widow of Henry V., married
Owen Tudor, a private gentleman of Wales; but of a family whofe pedi-
gree genealogifts trace up to Cadwallader. By him fhe had two fons,
Edmund and Jafper, who, in the 41ft of Henry VI., were declared in
Parliament, uterine brothers of the King, who created Edmund Earl of
Richmond, and Jaſper Earl of Pembroke.- The Earl of Richmond
married Margaret, only daughter of John Beaufort Duke of Somerſet,
grandfon of John of Gaunt Duke of Lancafter by a fpurious branch,
and
Book II.
165
CIDER.
Of Tudor's race, whom in the womb of time
Cadwallador forefaw! Thou, thou art he,
Great Richmond Henry, that, by nuptial rites,
620
and left by her a fon, Henry, Earl of Richmond, afterwards King Henry
VII.; who firft fet up his claim to the crown, as repreſentative of the
Houfe of Lancaſter.
r¢
620.
whom in the womb of time
Cadwallador forefaw]
In the Hiftories of Wales, we are told, that "Cadwallador, the laſt
King of the Britons, defcended of the noble race of the Trojans who
"firſt peopled this iſland, being driven by a famine to forfake his realms,
fojourned with Alan, King of Little Britain, or Brittany, in France.
During his abfence, the Saxons, Angles, and Juthes arrived in Britain,
"and, finding it uninhabited, took poffeffion of it. Cadwallador, hearing
"of this, prepared to recover his kingdom by force of arms; but, as he
was getting ready a fleet for that purpofe, he was commanded by an
angel, in a vifion, to defift, for that it was God's will the Britons
"fhould not reign any more in the iſland, until the time came that Mer-
lin had foretold to Arthur; but, at that time, the Britons fhould, by
the merit of their faith, recover the fovereignty of the island."
Henry VII. who was a Welchman both by defcent and birth, being
the grandfon of Owen Tudor, and born at Pembroke Caftle, might be
confidered as renewing the true Britiſh line; and, accordingly, the old
hiftorians of our country, when they ſpeak of this Prince's acceffion to
the throne, feldom fail to mention, that in him was fulfilled the Prophecy
of Cadwallador, that the Britiſh blood fhould once more reign in
Britain.
In reference to this fuppofed old British claim, Shakeſpear, in his
Richard III., makes Richard call Richmond the Briton.
Now, for I know THE BRITON RICHMOND aims
At young Elizabeth, my brother's daughter;
621.
622.
Thou, thou art he,
Great Richmond Henry, &c.
ACT iv. Scene 2.
HIC VIR, HIC EST, tibi quem promitti fæpius audis,
AUGUSTUS CÆSAR, Divum genus-
by nuptial rites-
Virg. ÆN. vi. 791.
Although Henry's pretence to the crown, as reprefentative of the
Houfe of Lancaster, was certainly unjuftifiable, he being the offspring of
a fpurious branch, yet the circumftances of the times gave confequence to
fo feeble a claim; and he was confidered, by the Lancastrian party, as the
legal heir. His marriage with the Princefs Elizabeth, daughter of
Edward
166
BOOK II.
CIDER
Muſt cloſe the gates of Janus, and remove
Destructive difcord. Now no more the drum
Provokes to arms, or trumpet's clangor fhrill 625
Affrights the wives, or chills the virgin's blood;
Edward IV., was therefore fuppofed to unite the Roſes, and accord-
ingly healed the long breach between the two contending families.
623. Muft close the gates of Janus]
vacuum duellis
JANUM Quirini CLAUSIT
Horat. L. iv. Ode. 15.
The origin of the cuftom, referred to by all the Roman Poets, of
opening the gates of Janus's temple in time of war, and ſhutting them
again in time of peace, is accounted for by Macrobius from the circum-
ſtance of a miraculous flood that iſſued from the temple of this Deity in
a war between the Romans and Sabines, and overwhelmed the forces of
the latter juſt as they were breaking into the city.-
-In times of war,
therefore, the Gates of Janus were thrown open by the Romans, in hopes
of their again benefiting by his affiftance.
"Cum bello Sabino, quod virginum raptarum gratia commiffum eſt,
Romani portam quæ fub radicibus collis Viminalis erat, quæ poftea ex
eventu Janualis vocata eft, claudere feftinarent, quia in ipfâm hoftes rue-
bant: poftquam eft claufa, mox fponte patefacta eft; cumque iterum ac
tertio idem contigiffet, armati plurimi pro limine, quia claudere nequi-
bant, cuftodes fteterunt, cumque ex alia parte acerrimo prælio pugnare-
tur, fubito fama pertulit fufos a Tatio noftros: quam ob caufam Romani,
qui aditum tuebantur, territi profugerunt. Cumque Sabini per portam
patemtem irrupturi effent, fertur ex æde Jani per hanc portam magnam
vim torrentium undis fcatentibus erupiffe; multafque perduellium cater-
vas, devoratas rapida voragine, deperiiffe. Eâ re placitum, ut belli
tempore, velut ad urbis auxilium profecto Deo, fores referarentur."
SATURNAL. L. i. C. 9.
625.
·trumpet's clangor—]
CLANCORQUE TUBARUM
Virg. ÆN. ii. 313,
626. Affrights the wives, or chills the virgin's blood.]
This line feems to have been ſuggeſted from Horace, L. iii. Ode 2.
illum ex manibus hofticis
MATRONA bellantis Tyranni
Profpiciens, et ADULTA VIRGO
Sufpiret, cheu, ne rudis agminum
Sponfus laceffat regius afperum
Tactu leonem, quem cruenta
Per medias rapit ira cædes.
But
BOOK II.
167
CIDER.
But joy, and pleaſure open to the view
Uninterrupted. With prefaging ſkill
Thou to thy own uniteſt Fergus' line,
By wife alliance. From thee James deſcends, 630
Heaven's choſen favorite, firſt Britannic king.
627. But joy and pleasure open to the view
Uninterrupted-
Reaping immortal fruits of joy and love,
UNINTERRUPTED JOY
629. Thou to thine own uniteft Fergus' line
By wife alliance-]
Milton, P. L. iii. 67.
James IV. of Scotland, Grandfather of James I. of England, mar-
ried Margaret Daughter of Henry VII.
The early ages of Scottiſh hiftory are fo dark and fabulous, that Dr.
Robertfon terms the first period of it" the region of fable and conjec-
ture." But Hector Boethius, and Buchanan give a circumftantial account
of the eſtabliſhment of that monarchy, 330 years before Chrift, under
Fergus, the fon of Ferquard; King of Ireland; from whom they trace
in a regular deſcent the fucceffion of the Kings of Scotland.
630.
From thee James defcends,
Heaven's chofen favorite, firft Britannic King-]
James VI. of Scotland fucceeded to the Crown of England on the
death of Queen Elizabeth, as heir of Henry VII., who was great-grand-
father to both his parents; for Margaret, Henry's eldest daughter, mar-
ried firft James IV. of Scotland, by whom he had James V. father of Mary
Queen of Scots; and, Secondly, the Earl of Angus, by whom she had a
daughter, Margaret, married to the Earl of Lenox, and by him mother
to Henry Stewart Lord Darnley, the husband of Mary, and father of
James I. in whom the Crowns of England and Scotland were united.—
In his perfon alfo centered the fufpended rights of the Saxon Kings.--
Margaret, daughter of Edward the Outlaw, grand-daughter of Edmund
Ironfide, and fifter of Edgar Atheling, was the perfon in whom the he-
reditary right of the Saxon Kings refided after the Conqueft. She mar
ried Malcolm, King of Scotland, and from her defcended by that mar-
riage the Royal Family of Scotland, of which James was the direct li-
neal heir. He therefore united in his own perfon every poffible claim, by
hereditary right, to the Crown; being the heir not only of Henry VII.,
and through him both of the Old British Blood, and of the Norman Line,
but alſo of Edmund Ironfide, and the Saxon Line of Kings.
To
1
168
Book II.
CIDER.
To him alone hereditary right
Gave power fupreme: yet ftill ſome ſeeds remain'd
Of diſcontent; two nations under one,
In laws and intereft diverfe, ftill purfu'd
Peculiar ends, on each fide refolute
To fly conjunction. Neither fear, nor hope,
Nor the ſweet proſpect of a mutual gain,
635
Could aught avail, till prudent Anna ſaid,
[due
"LET THERE BE UNION !" Straight with rev'rence
To her command, they willingly unite,
One in affection, laws and government,
639
till prudent Anna faid,
"LET THERE BE UNION." -]
641
Our Author finiſhed his Poem juft when the Act of Union was paffing.
This then was a circumftance not to be paffed over by a Poet concluding
his English Georgic with a panegyric` on our national happineſs and
profperity.
The manner in which Philips has here introduced his celebration of the
Union, by that of the Rofes in the perfon of Henry VII., and of the
Crowns in James I., moft probably fuggefted the infcriptions on
fome Medals that were ftruck in the year 1708, after the projected inva-
fion of Scotland by the Pretender. The Infcription upon one is fub-
joined.
HENRICUS
ROSAS.
JACOBUS NOMINA.
ANNA REGNA.
UNIVIT 1707.
CONFIRMAVITQUE
FACTA IRRITA
LUD. 14. GALL. REG.
CONSPIRATIONE
PER PR. SUPP.
JACOB. DE WALLIS
1708.
Another begins in the fame manner; Quod Deus et Reges, legitimi,
Henricus Rofis, Jacobus Nominibus, Anna Regnis conjunxerunt.&c.
Indiffolubly
BOOK II.
169
CIDER.
Indiffolubly firm, from Dubris fouth
To northern Orcades, her long domain.
And now, thus leagu'd by an eternal bond, 645
What ſhall retard the Britons' bold defigns,
Or who ſuſtain their force, in union knit,
643. Indiffolubly firm-]
on they move
INDISSOLUBLY FIRM
from Dubris fouth
Milton, P. L. vi. 68.
To northern Orcades, her long domain-
From the port of Dover to the moſt northern part of Scotland, be-
yond which are the Orcades, or Orkney Ifles, is the greateft length
of our ifland; being 620 miles.
645. And now, thus leagu'd by an eternal bond — }
pacem hanc ÆTERNO FOEDERE jungas
Virg. Æn. xi. 356.
Rowe, who produced his Royal Convert in 1708, has cloſed his Play
with a prediction of the Union.
Of royal race a British queen fhall rife
Great, gracious, pious, fortunate and wife;
To diftant lands fhe fhall extend her fame,
And leave to latter times a mighty name,
Tyrants fhall fall, and faithlefs kings fhall bleed,
And groaning nations by her arms be freed.
But chief this happy land her care ſhall prove,
And find from her a more than mother's love.
From hoftile rage ſhe ſhall preferve it free,
Safe in the compafs of her ambient ſea;
Though fam'd her arms in many a cruel fight,
Yet moft in peaceful arts fhe fhall delight,
And her chief glory fhall be to unite.
Picts, Saxons, Angles fhall no more be known,
But Briton be the noble name alone.
With joy their ancient hate they fhall forego,
While difcord hides her baleful head below:
Mercy, and truth, and right ſhe ſhall maintain,
And every virtue croud to grace her reign:
Aufpicious heaven on all her days fhall fmile,
And with eternal union blefs her Britiſh Ife.
Ꮓ
Sufficient
170
Book. II.
CIDER.
Sufficient to withſtand the pow'rs combin'd
Of all this globe? At this important act
The Mauritanian and Cathaian Kings
Already tremble, and th' unbaptiz'd Turk
Dreads war from utmoft Thule. Uncontrol'd
The Britiſh navy through the ocean vaſt
648. Sufficient to withstand the powers combin'd
Of all this globe]
650
A fimilar fentiment occurs in the concluding fpeech of Shakeſpear's
King John.
Now thefe her Princes are come home again,
Come the three corners of the world in arms,
And we ſhall fhock them.
650. The Mauritanian and Cathaian kings
Already tremble]
This is Virgil's,
*
Hujus in adventum JAM NUNC et Cafpia regna
Refponfis HORRENT Divům, et Mæotica tellus
At his foreſeen approach already quake
The Cafpian kingdoms and Maotian lake.
ÆN. vi. 798.
DRYDEN.
Milton, in the eleventh Book of his Paradife Loft, where the Angel
fhows Adam all the kingdoms of the world that were to be, opens
the proſpect with
the deftin'd walls
Of Cambalu, feat of CATHAIAN Can-
651.
th' unbaptiz'd Turk]
This Epithet was poffibly fuggefted from the following paffage of the
PARADISE LOST, B. i. V. 582.
And all who fince, BAPTIZ'D, OR INFIDEL,
Joufted in Afpramont or Montalban -
652.
utmost Thule-
tibi ferviat ULTIMA THULE
Virg. GEORGIC. i. 30.
The Romans confidered the Inland of Thule, by which it is not agreed
whether they meant Shetland or Iceland, as the utmoft part of the earth
towards the North.
i
Shall
BOOK II.
171
CIDER.
Shall wave her double Crofs, t'extremeft climes
Terrific, and return with odorous ſpoils
Of Araby well-fraught, or Indus' wealth,
655
Pearl, and barbaric gold. Meanwhile the fwains
Shall unmoleſted reap what Plenty ftrows
From well-ftor'd horn, rich grain, and timely fruits:
The elder year Pomona, pleas'd, ſhall deck
it's double croſs-]
úso
65+•
The English naval Flag was originally St. George's Crofs, or a
red Crofs at right angles, on a white field. The Scotch Flag was
St Andrew's Crofs, or a white Crofs, of the Saltier form, on a blue
field. After the Union of the avo Crowns, thefe two Flags were joined
together in the Jack, or fmall flag in the forepart of the Ship, while the
English Flag was continued in the upper corner of the Enfign, or large
flag worn at the itern. On the Union of the two Kingdoms, the Union
Jack was not only worn at the fore-part of the Ship, but the double croſs
was alfo transferred into the corner of the enfign, inftead of the fingle
English Crofs.
555.
avith odorcus poils
Of Araby well fraught, or Indus' «wealth,
Pearl or barbaric gold- •]
Thus Tibullus in his LAUS SULPICIE, V. 17.
Poffideatque, metit quicquid BENE OLENTIBUS ARVIS
Cultor ODORATE DIVES ARABS SEGETIS;
Et quafcunque niger rubro de littore CONCHAS
Proximus Eois colligit INDUS aquis.
"Pearl and barbaric geld" is from Milton's opening of the fecond
Book of the PARADISE Lost.
High on the throne of royal ftate, which far
Outfhone the wealth of Ormus and of Ind,
Or where the gorgeous eat with richeſt hand
Showers on her kings BARBARIC PEARL AND GOLD.
658.
From well-flor'd born -]
what Plenty firows
PLENO diffudit COPIA CORNU
Hor. L. i. Epift xii. V. 29.
660. The elder year
-]
This expreffion might have been taken from Ovid's defcription of the
four ages, or feafons, of the year.
Z 2
Tranfit
172
BOOK II,
CIDER.
With ruby-tinctur'd births; whofe liquid ſtore
Abundant, flowing in well-blended ſtreams,
The natives ſhall applaud, while glad they talk
Of baleful ills, caus'd by Bellona's wrath
In other realms. Where'er the Britiſh ſpread 665
Triumphant banners, or their fame has reach'd
Diffufive, to the utmoſt bounds of this
Wide univerfe, Silurian Cider borne
Shall pleaſe all taftes, and triumph o'er the vine.*
Tranſit in æftatem, poft ver, robuſtior annus :
Fitque valens juvenis. Neque enim robuftior ætas
Ulla, nec uberior; nec, quæ magis æftuet, ulla eft.
EXCIPIT AUTUMNUS, POSITO FERVORE JUVENTÆ
MATURUS, MITISQUE INTER JUVENEMQUE SENEMQUE;
TEMPERIE MEDIUS, SPARSIS PER TEMPORA CANIS.
Inde fenilis hyems tremulo venit horrida paffu;
Aut fpoliata fuos, aut, quos habet, alba capillos.
ruby-tinctur'd]
661.
Milton has vermeil-tindur'd, COMUS, V. 752.
MET. XV. 206.
* The primary object of the preceding Notes has been to illuftrate
a Provincial and Claffical Poem of confiderable and allowed merit, fo as
to enable it to be more generally read with fome degree of that pleaſure
with which it was at firit received. Poffibly fome of them may tend to
fhew that Philips, with great literary attainments and much poetic taſte,
was not himſelf an eminently original one. If however we must not
rank him amongſt thofe creative Geniufes, who, difdaining all imitation,
fabricate their immortal Compofitions without looking beyond themfelves
either for Matter, Form, or Style :-if we cannot clafs him thus high,
we may furely place him amongft thofe very pleafing Writers, who with
the greateſt fuccefs have celebrated new fubjects after the most approved
models. In the general defign and arrangement of his Georgic, we cannot
but give him credit for great ſkiil and judgment; as well as for its digref
five and deſcriptive embelliſhments. In theſe reſpects the CIDER mult in-
conteſtably rate high as a Didactic Poem; and it may be wondered, that
Dr. Blair, in his Lectures, fhould have entirely paffed it over in fpeaking
of this kind of Poetical Compofition. Whether Blank Verfe is molt
happily adapted to a Didactic Poem on fuch a fubject, mahaps with
juftice be queſtioned; but, allowing the Poet in this point pleafe him-
felf, the moft material point to be confidered will be, how far he has fuc-
ceeded
Book II.
173
CIDER.
ceeded in this fpecies of verfification. And here, if we examine the
general tenor of his verfe through the whole of the Poem, and eſpe-
cially thofe parts which he feems to have more particularly finished; fuch
as the Deftruction of Ariconium, the Praiſes of Herefordſhire, the Pa-
negyric on Sincerity and Virtue, that concludes the firft Book; the
Farmer's Feaft and Ruftic Ball, the Deſcription of the Pacific Reign of
King Edgar, and from thence the whole Conclufion of the fecond Book,
we ſhall probably incline to think that he has not ill chofen his ſtyle
We can never
of verfification, and that he has eminently excelled in it.
admit the Sentence of Dr. Johnſon, that he imitated Milton's num-
"bers injudiciouſly, and that, whatever there is in Milton which the
"Reader wiſhes away all that is obfolete, peculiar and licentious,
Philips has accumulated with great care.” Surely the writer of fuch
a cenfure muſt have been little acquainted with Philips's Compo-
fitions; or he had an ear totally infenfible to "the manly melodies of
“Blank Verſe.” That this was much the cafe, may poffibly be collected
from many paffages in his Lives of the English Poets, and among others
from his obfervations on the verfification of Thomſon, where he commu-
nicates to us the wonderful difcovery, that his Blank Verfe is in no
refpect the blank verfe of Milton. Moſt affuredly it is not.
No Poet, indeed, fince Milton, has caught his numbers as Philips
has done. Even upon the publication of his BLENHEIM, before the
CIDER had appeared, Elijah Fenton (who had been himſelf, together with
his friend and poetical coadjutor Broome, a profeffed Imitator of Mil-
ton's Verfe) writing to the Father of the prefent Dr. Warton, fays, "My
"fervice to Mr. Sacheverel, and tell him I will never imitate Milton
more till the Author of Blenheim is forgotten." Ejay on the Genius
ana Writings of Pope. Vol. ii.
Few Poems have been more favorably received at their firft appearance
than the CIDER of our Author; and that in the Auguſtan Age of Engliſh
Poetry. The honorable circumftance of its being tranflated into Italian
by a Nobleman of Florence is only flightly mentioned by his Biogra-
phers, without giving any account, or even the name, of the Tranflator;
referring only to Edmund Smith's Perfes to the Memory of Philips, where
he is defcribed as
-Great Cofmo's Counſellor and Friend."
Some account therefore of the noble Florentine Tranſlator, together
with a Specimen of his Verfion, may be no improper or unacceptable
conclufion of thefe Notes.
LORENZO MAGOLOTTI was born at Florence in the year 1637, being
of one of the moft illuftrious families of that city. He was a man of
great and general knowledge, a Statefiman, Philofopher, Mathemati-
cian and Poet; and was fo highly etteemed, that, after his death, a
medal was ftruck at Florence in honor of him. He diftinguished him-
felf early in life by his literary acquirements, and was Secretary to the
Florentine Academy of Cimento, the Tranſactions of which he publiſhed,
in a folio volume, in 1667. In the following year he was in England.
In the History of the Royal Society, it is noticed that the two Florentine
Philofophers. Signor Lorenzo Magalotti and Signor Paulo Falconieri,
were
174
BOOK II.
CIDER.
were admitted to be prefent at a meeting of the Society, February
27, 1667-8. It appears alfo that, both from Paris, and after his return
to Florence, he correfponded with the Society; of which he became
a Member. He was employed by the Grand Duke Coſmo III. in many
important negotiations, went to feveral Courts in quality of his Envoy,
and was afterwards made his Counſellor of State.-At the beginning of
this century, Queen Anne fent Dr. Henry Newton, an eminent Civilian,
as her Envoy to the Grand Duke of Florence. There he refided fome
years, and being a man of literature, an Orator, and a Poet, was par-
ticularly well received amongst the Florentine Literati, and was eſpecially
favored with the friendſhip of Count Magaloɛti; to whom he pays many
compliments of efteem and gratitude, in a Volume of Latin Letters,
Poems, and Orations, publiſhed at Lucca in 1710, in 4to. under the
title of Henrici Newton, five de Nova Villa, Societatis Regie Londini,
Arcadia Romance, Academic Florentine, et ejus quæ vulgo vocatur della
Crulco, Socii, Epiftole, Orationes, et Carmina.-In one of his Poems,
entitled Nemora Florentina, where he compliments ſeveral of his friends
of that country, he particularly notices the Italian Tranflation of the
Cider. Speaking of Magalotti, he fays,
Augligenum Nectar, fic pocula noftra celebrat,
Haud alia ut Mufe, Phoebus et ipfe bibat.
Dr. Newton was the intimate friend of Lord Somers, to whom, in his
publication already mentioned, he addreffes two letters full of much
grateful regard, and who, (it appears from the manner in which Magalotti
fomewhat curiouſly winds up the first Book of his Il Sidro,) had about
that time ſent him to Florence a prefent of fome very excellent Cider.-—
Lord Somers (who was much diſtinguiſhed as the Patron of Milton's
pofthumous Reputation, and to whom, as fuch, moft of the Editions of
the Paradife Loft, prior to that of Biſhop Newton, were dedicated), was
probably not a little ftruck with Philips's revival of Milton's numbers;
and very poffibly fent over the Cider Poem on its first appearance to Dr.
Newton, together with the Specimen above mentioned of the Liquor
therein celebrated for his Florentine friends. Upon this occafion, we
may fuppofe Magalotti compofed his Il Sidro, which feems to have been
written under the immediate infpection of his friend Newton; particu-
larly as we find all the violent political parts of the original carefully
omitted. Accordingly the Tranflation of the first Book proceeds no
farther than V. 591, where Philips notices the Atchievements of the
Silures at the battles of Creffy and Agincourt. There the Tranflator
fuppofes the Rural Muſe to faint at the terrific found of war,
Ahimè, che al fuon della guerriera tromba
La forofetta verginella Mufa
Ecco fi turba, impallidifce, e trema!
Ecco vien meno
!
He then calls his attendants to affift him to fupport her, and to endea-
vour to revive her "with fome of the excellent Cider, which Lord
"Somers, Baron of Eveſham, had lately fent to Florence to Dr. Henry
"Newton."
Qlà,
BOOK II.
175
CIDER.
Olà, vecchia Alcatòe
Prefto, ove fei?
* $5
*
* * *
*
E tu, Leftino,
Vola, e del raro Sidro, onde poc' anzi
Mandò foccorfo al tuo diletto Enrico
***
Il gran Sir d'Eveſham, recami un vetro.
*
* * * *
Vien via Leſbino; e tu Alcatòe la mane
÷
Para, ch' io verfo; or via la fa.cia, e'l feno
Afpergile del facro almo liquore.
The fecond Book omits the Dedication to Mr. Harcourt, and, after a
few flourishing introductory verſes about the Mufe, whom the concluſion
of the preceding Book had left to recover herſelf by repofe, begins at
V. 31. and concludes, without any addition from the Tranflator, at
V. 486.
Count Magalotti's Tranflation of the first forty lines of the Poem,
(together with his Notes annexed) is fubjoined, as a Specimen of the
Il Sidro.
Qual terreno la Mela ami, qual cura
Voglia il Meleto, e quale il vero fa
Tempo di premer le vinofe frutte,
Tuo bel dono, Pomona, in quello ftilo
(Benchè di ftil digiuno, e non curante)
In cui canto quel Grande [1.] in ful Tamigi
Perduto, e poi riconquistato, il Cielo,
Cantare avventurofo ora prefumo :
Che' I patrio Suol m'invita, e il vergin Tema
A bella Cetra non pofato unquanco.
Vo, Donne, e Cavalier del bel parfe, [2.]
A cui propizio il Ciel tanto conceſſe
Di bene, udite il mio cantare, e in quello
Qual di Natura i doni Arte raffini
Lieti apparar non vi recate a ſcorno.
E tu, Moftyn, che tante prove e tante
Stretto meco in amor via via mi deſti
Di tua bontà, di tuo candor cortefe,
Questo di grato offequiofo core
Pegno gradifci; onde l' Età remote,
Allor ch'io farò polve, e tal venuto
Qual fe mai fiaio foffi, archino il ciglio,
E dican fofpirando: Ch lui beato,
Che in sì bel node fu di viver degno!
[1] Giovanni Milton, Poeta Inglife, autore dell' uno, e dell' altro Poema, ambidue in
verfi fciolti, di dieci fillaba l' uno, che è il verfo deftinato all Epico da Poeti della Nazione.
Per dire il Filips di cantare la prefente Georgica nello stile di Milton, come effetivamente
egli fa, non intende folamente in ordine al metro, ma eziandio alla fantasia, ed all' clo.
cuzione.
[2] Intende della Provincia di Hereford, dove fu in maggiore abbondanza e perfezione la
Mela, di cui fi fa il miglior Sidro, detta in Inglese Redfreake, rofforigata, o virgata.
Chi
176
Book II.
CIDER.
Chi veder brama affaticate piante
Dolce piegar fu i propri parti, e ricca
M fe condur: fua prima cura fia
Tafeerre un feno di colline cinto,
Ch' agli Iperborei imperuofi fiati,
E de' falfi Libecci al velexofo
Dinie, sì forte ai giovin rami infejo,
Per ogni parti impenetrabil fia;
Altronde aperto sì, ch' avido beva
Da fiati occidentali almo elifire:
Innocente bevanda, anzi falubre;
Mercè che il fin della gran Madre antica,
D'ogni cofa pregnante, apre fecondo,
E ne teneri Jemi iftilla vita.
Fiato gentil, che fu gli Efperii lidi
Mille e mi le nudrir d'aranci, e cedri
Care felve odorofe ha per costume :
E del fuo fpirito in cari fior converfo
Le remote profuma ifole, e spiagge.
Nè fol fan le colline amico ſchermo
Contro i venti nocivi; eſſe fedeli
Del bel tefor di liquefatte nubi
Fanfi ricche conferve: e quel che avanza
Alla lor fete del ferbato umore
Rendon pofcia cortefi, e pe'l declive
Ne regalan le piante: e in tutto pago
Il Villarel, che profperar le vede,
Della feconda pioggia efulta, e ride.
籬
​THE EN D.
ADDITIONS
TO THE
NOTE S.
P. 1. V. 3. Add to the Note.]
THE late Mr. Warton, in the third volume of his History of English
Poetry, has given feveral fpecimens of the Earl of Surrey's Tranf-
lation of Virgil, which he notices not only as "the earliest compofition
" in blank verfe, extant in the Engliſh language," but alfo as " a noble
attempt to break the bondage of rhyme. The tranflation of that
part of the fecond Book, which defcribes the introduction of the wooden-
horfe into Troy, is fubjoined.
We cleft the walles and clofures of the towne,
Whereto all helpe; and underſet the feete
With fliding rolles, and bound his neck with ropes.
The fatal gin thus over-clambe our walles,
Stuft with arm'd men; about the which there ran
Children and maids that holy carolles fung.
And well were they whofe hands might touch the cordes!
With threatning cheere thus flided through our town
The fubtill tree to Pallas' temple-ward.
O native land, Ilion, and of the Goddes
The manfion place! O warlike walls of Troy!
Four times it ftopt in th' entrie of our gate,
Four times the harneffe clatter'd in the wombe.
The following fhort fpecimen of Lord Buckhurft's Gorboduc may alſo
not be unacceptable; as it gives a favorable impreffion of this firft dra-
matic attempt in blank verſe. -—It ſhould be obſerved that a part of
the argument (which is rather complex) is the murder of the young
prince Porrex by his mother Vindena.
O mother! thou to murder thus thy child!
Even Jove, with juſtice, muſt with lightning flames
From heaven fend down ſome ſtrange revenge on thee.
A a
Ah,
178
ADDITIONS TO THE NOTES.
Ah, noble prince, how oft have I beheld
Thee mounted on thy fierce and trampling fteed,
Shining in armour bright before the tilt,
And, with thy miftrefs' fleeve tied on thy helme,
There charge thy ftaffe (to pleaſe thy lady's eye)
That bow'd the head-piece of thy friendly foe!
How oft in armes on horſe to bend the mace!
How oft in armes on foot to break the fword!
Which never now thefe eyes may fee again.
P. 10. V. 68. Add to the Note on Cape'.]
In the Magna Britannia Antiqua et Nova, published in 1737, it is
mentioned, that " at Hor-Capel lived a family of the Capels, of which
was Chriftopher Capel, whom Mr. Wood in his Athen. Oxon. calls
the fout Alderman of Glocefter;' as alfo Richard Capel his fon, who
was a famous Prefbyterian Divine, in the time of Oliver Cromwell's
Protectorſhip."
C6
P. 11. V. 70.
Sutton acres, drench'd with regal blood
Of Ethelbert]
Poſſibly from the following line, in Milton's SONNET, to Cromwell;
And Darwens ftream WITH BLOOD OF SCOTS IMBRUED-
P. 13. V.95.
the ſturdy pear-tree here
Will rife luxuriant-]
"I have obferved," fays Mr. Marſhall, in his Obfervations on the
Orchards and Fruit Liquor of Herefordshire, a Pear-tree flouriſh on
"the fide of a cold blue-clay fwell, where the foil is fo unfertile that
fcarcely any herbage, except the wood fefcue, will grow upon it;
"and where the native crab evidently ftarves for want of nouriſhment."
P. 16. V. 146. Blast Septentrional—]
Thus Milton, PARAD. REG. IV. 29.
back'd with a ridge of hills,
That fcreen'd the fruits of the earth and feats of men
From cold SEPTENTRION BLASTS
P. 19. V. 176.
with numerous turrets crown'd
Aereal Spires and citadels-]
there the capitol thou feeſt
Above the reſt lifting his ftately head
On the Tarpeian rock, her CITADEL
Impregnable, and there Mount Palatine,
Th' imperial palace, compafs huge, and high
The ftructure, ſkill of nobleft architects,
WITH GILDED BATTLEMENTS, CONSPICUOUS FAR,
TURRETS AND TERRACES, AND GLITTERING SPIRES.
PARAD. REG. IV. 47.
P
P. 20.
ADDITIONS TO THE NOTES.
179
P. 20.
V. 179. Add to Note on Ariconium—]
That Kencheſter was really the Magna Caftra of the Romans, a tefti-
mony may be adduced from the etymology of its name. Ken, or at
leaft Kyn, when prefixed to compound Britiſh words, is augmentative,
or fignifies firft or chief.-Several inftances of this are given in Bifhop
Gibfon's Additions to Camden's Carnarvonfhire.-It appears alfo from
Leland (See Note, Cider, B. 1. V. 67.), that the parish of Kenchurch
was fometimes called Penchirche; fo that Ken and Pen may be conſidered
as fynonimous, both fignifying head or chief, and as we know Chester is
equivalent to Caftra, Ken-Cheſter becomes literally MAGNA CASTRA.
drew her humid train aflope-]
where rivers now
P. 22. V. 205.
Stream, and perpetual DRAW THEIR HUMID TRAIN.
PARAD. L. B.v11. V. 305.
P. 26. V.239.
huge unwieldy bones, lafting remains
Of that gigantic race-]
Leland, in his Itinerary, ſpeaking of the old Caftle at Hereford, men-
tions fome bones that were found there "non giganteæ, fed infolitæ
magnitudinis.
P. 29. V. 260. Her fatty fibres—]
His fattie waves do fertile flime outwell
Spenfer, FAERY QUEEN, B. J. C. 1. St. 21.
P. 38. V. 333. Volatile Hermes-]
P. 39. V. 341
PARAD. L. B. 111. V. 603.
Unfriendly-]
nor to the bards
Dr. Ralph Thorius opens his poem de Pato feu Tabacco, (which con-
cludes the first volume of the Muje Anglicane, publiſhed in 1691) with
the following lines:
Innocuos calices, et AMICAM VATIBUS HERBAM,
Vimque datam folio, et læti miracula fumi
Aggredior.
V. 343. Warble melodious their well-labor'd fongs—]
filence yields
To the night-warbling bird, that now awake
Tunes fweeteft his LOVE-LABOR'D SONG.
PARAD. L. B. v. V. 39.
V. 346. Add to the Note.]
"Least animal of nature's hand," was poffibly fuggefted by Milton's
MINIMS OF NATURE, P. L. VII. 482, which his Commentator fup-
poſes to have been taken from the Vulgate Latin of Prov. xxx. 24.
Quatuor ifta funt MINIMA terræ.'
A a 3
P. 40.
180
ADDITIONS TO THE NOTES.
P. 40. V 354.
in each a little plant
Unfolds its boughs-]
See Mr. Lewenhoeck's letter concerning Embryo Plants found perfectly
in fome jorts of feeds, printed in the Philofoph. Tranſact. No. 199,
P. 700.
P. 41. V. 370.
and oft this care
Disturbs me flumbering-]
If anfwerable ſtyle I can obtain
Of my celeftial patronefs, who deigns
Her nightly vifitation unimplor'd,
And DICTATES TO ME SLUMBERING
P. 48. V. 481.
PARAD. L. B. 1x. V. 20.
yet her wide-branching arms
Beft fcreen thy manſion—]
under fome concourfe of fhades,
WHOSE BRANCHING ARMS thick-intertwin'd might ſhield
From dews and damps of night his ſhelter'd head.
PARAD. REG. B. 1v. V. 405.
P. 55. V. 528. Laughter and Sport and care-beguiling wit—]
SPORT THAT WRINKLED CARE DERIDES,
AND LAUGHTER holding both his fides.
Milton's ALLEGRO, V. 31.
P. 58. V. 559. Apples of price and plenteous fheaves of corn
Oft interlac'd occur -]
As rofes did with lilies INTERLACE.
Spenfer, FAERY QUEEN, B. v. C. v. St. 22.
V. 463. Nor are the hills unamiable whoſe tops
To heaven afpire, affording profpelt fweet
To buman ken-]
It was a HILL
Of Paradife the higheft, FROM WHOSE TOP
THE HEMISPHERE OF EARTH, IN CLEAREST KEN,
STRETCH'D OUT TO TH' AMPLEST REACH OF PROSPECT LAY,
PARAD. L. B. XI. V. 377.
Up to a HILL anon his ſteps he rear'd,
From whofe high top to KEN THE PROSPECT ROUND.
V. 567. Gaily interchang'd-]
PARAD. REG. B. 11. V. 285.
SWEET INTERCHANGE
Of hill, and valley, rivers, woods and plains.
PARAD. L. B. 1x. V. 115.
P. 63. V. 587. More prodigal of Life-]
pectora PRODIGA VITÆ.
Stat. THEBAID. III. 69.
P. 64.
ADDITIONS TO THE NOTES.
181
P. 64. V. 591. Add to that part of the Note, which mentions the
family of Hackluyts-]
By Eaton Leland means Yetton. The Author of the Magna Britan-
nia, already cited, mentions" Yetton, in the hundred of Wigmore,
famous for being the lordſhip of the Hackluyts, an ancient family in
thefe parts; of which was that eminent hiftorian Mr. Richard Hack-
luyt, who publiſhed a body of Voyages, and was a great encourager
"of adventurers in the reign of K. James I."
P. 65. V. 592. Add to this Note.]
Rigid fight is from Ovid—————
RIGIDI certamina MARTIS.
P. 66. V. 6oz. Add to this Note.]
MET. VIII. 20.
Pope in a letter to Aaron Hill, Efq. dated Twickenham, Dec. 22,
173, contradicts his intending the character of Timon for the Duke of
Chandos. "If there is truth in the world declare to you I never
"
imagined the leaft application of what I faid of Timon could be
"made to the Duke of Chandos, than whom there is fcarce a more
"blameleſs, worthy, and generous beneficent character among all the
nobility." In the latter end of the letter, he ſays, "it would
"have been a pleaſure to me to have found fome friend faying a word
"in my juftification againſt a malicious falſehood.”
66
This letter alfo contains fome very high-flown compliments to the
gentleman to whom it was addreffed. on a tragedy of his which had been
ill received. Aaron Hill was (as a very judicious Critic* has juftly
termed him) an affected, fuftian writer." Pope, who was not prone
to admiration, could hardly have differed from the general opinion of
the Public, fo much as he profeffes to have done. The fincerity of the
whole of the letter may therefore poffibly be doubted, and he might wish,
by complimenting Mr. Hill, to induce him to take pains to refute a ſtory
by which the credit of Pope had begun to fuffer in the world, and which
was fo generally believed and refented. Lady Wortley Motague, among
others, attacked him upon it, in her Verfes to the Imitator of Horace.
But if thou fee'ſt a great and generous heart,
Thy bow is doubly bent to force a dart.
Not only juftice vainly we demand,
But even benefits can't rein thy hand;
To this, or that, alike we vainly truſt,
Nor find thee lefs ungrateful than unjuſt.
P. 67. V. 608. Add to the Note.]
James, the fourth Earl of Saliſbury, father to the Nobleman here com-
plimented, became a convert to the Roman Catholic religion, and was
prefented as a Popish Recufant by the Grand Jury of Middlefex, in 1688.
In the following year it was refolved by the Houſe of Commons, that
he and Henry Earl of Peterborough fhould be impeached of high trea-
* Dr. Warton.
4
fon.
182
ADDITIONS TO THE NOTES.
fon, for departing from their allegiance, and being reconciled to the
Church of Rome: but the profecution was waved.-
He was after.
wards fufpected of engaging in a project for the reſtoration of K. James;
and died in 1694.
P. 71. V.633. Add to the Note.]
Henry, Earl of Worcester, great grandfather of the Nobleman here
mentioned, was fuppofed to be the richeſt Engliſh Peer of his time, but
difperfed a great part of his fortune by the very expenſive part he took
in the national commotions. It is faid to have been greatly owing to
him that Charles I. was enabled to make ſo refpectable a figure at the
commencement of the war. Soon afterwards he was created Marquis of
Worcefter. He defended his caſtle of Ragland, in Monmouthshire, for
feveral years at his own pefonal expence, againſt the Parliament forces;
but furrendered in 1646, on a capitulation, the articles of which were
violated, and he died in confinement the latter end of that year. Henry
Marquis of Worceſter, his grandfon, was created Duke of Beaufort to-
wards the latter end of Charles II.'s reign. He exerted himſelf much
in oppofition to the invafion of the Duke of Monmouth; and, in 1688,
endeavoured to fecure Briſtol againſt the adherents of the Prince of
Orange; on whofe elevation to the crown he refufed to take the oaths.
P. 75. V. 665. Add to the Note.]
M
From whom Spenfer, alſo, in his Colin Clout's come home again;
Her name on every tree I will endofs,
THAT, AS THE TREES DO GROW, HER NAME MAY GROW.
P. S4. V. 753. Add to the Note.]
Milton alfo mentions,
the crested cock, whofe CLARION founds
The filent hours
PARAD. L. B. v11. V. 443.
P. 88. V. 781. Add to the Note.]
Mr. Oldham, in his Satire against Poetry, introduces the ghoft of
Spenfer difcouraging the purſuit of Poetry, and fhewing, from his own
experience and example, that poverty and contempt were its infeparable
attendants. Otway alfo, in his Prologue to Conftantine the Great, warns
us of the miſeries of a life devoted to the Mufes.
All you, who have male iſſue born
Under the ſtarving fign of Capricorn,
Prevent the malice of their ſtars in time,
And warn them early from the fin of rhyme.
Tell them how Spenfer ftarv'd, how Cowley mourn'd,
How Butler's faith and fervice were return'd.
P. 99. V.27. Add to the Note.]
Thus alfo Propertius;
Dummodo PURPUREO SPUMENT MIHI DOLIA MUSTO,
Et nova preffantes inquinet avapedes.
L. iii. Eleg. vii. V. 17.
P. 102.
ADDITIONS TO THE NOTES.
183
!
P. 102. V. 64. Soft whispering airs, and the lark's matin ſong
Now woo to muſing
]
Joyous the birds; FRESH GALES AND GENTLE AIRS
WHISPER'D IT TO THE WOODS
PARAD. L. B. VIII. V. 515.
There flowing hill Hymettus with the ſound
Of bees induftrious murmur oft INVITES
TO STUDIOUS MUSING; there Ilyffus rolls
His WHISP'RING ftream
P. 107. V. 97.
PARAD. REG. B. IV. V. 247.
from dewy eve
To early day-jpring—]
P. 111. V. 132.
from noon TO DEWY EVE.
PARAD. L. B. 1. V. 743•
Tedded graſs—]
The fmell of grain, or TEDDED GRASS, or kine
PARAD. L. B. 1x. V. 450.
P. 136. V. 396. Nor can the Poet Bacchus' praiſe indite
Debarr'd his grape-]
Ingenium quod excitet vinum, ex eo clariffime intelligitur, quod
"ad Poefin, quæ res ingenii eft, mirifice difponat. Perpetuo ab anti-
quitate creditum eft, et ipfa res docet, VINI CALOREM POETARUM
FUROREM ET IMPETUM EXCITARE, et Bacchi et Apollinis furorem
unum effe eundemque; quamobrem Ovidius vino carens de fe con-
queritur.
<<
Impetus ille facer qui vatum pectora nutrit,
Qui prius in nobis effe folebat, abeſt.”
Haller. PHYSIOL. L. XVII. Sect. 1. 13.
P. 155. V. 549. Add to the fecond Note on this line.]
Which feems to have been copied from a paffage in the Пeginynos of
Dionyfius, V.667, where he defcribes the people who dwell on the banks
of the Tanais, which originates in the Caucafian Mountains.
Σχείλιοι δι περι κείνον ενοικια φωλες εχεσιν,
Αιει σφιν ψυχξη τε χιών, κρυμος τε δυσαης.
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