Tutus ab infeftis latronibus? O pater et rex

Jupiter, ut pereat pofitum rubigine telum,

W

Nec quifquam noceat cupido mihi pacis ! at ille,

Qui me commorit, (melius non tangere, clamo)

*Flebit, et infignis tota cantabitur urbe.

y Cervius iratus leges minitatur et urnam ;

Canidia Albuti, quibus eft inimica, venenum;

Grande malum Turius, fi quid fe judice certes:

NOTES.

race's ironical Apology, which is to this purpose: Nature, fays he, has given all Creatures the means of offence and defence: The wolf has teeth, the bull has horns, and my weapon is fatire. And, at the fame time that he vindicates the claim to his natural talent, he fhews the moral use of it, by the inftances of the like natural talents of Cervius to inform, of Canidia to poison, and of Turius to pass fentence. The turn of this ludicrous argumentation is fine and delicate; and we find his Imitator faw the whole force of it.

VER. 71. I only wear it in a land of Hectors, etc.] Superior to, tutus ab infeftis latronibus, which only carries on the metaphor in

enfis

Vagina tectus,

t

I only wear it in a land of Hectors,

Thieves, Supercargoes, Sharpers, and Directors.
v Save but our Army! and let Jove incruft
Swords, pikes, and guns, with everlasting ruft!
w Peace is my dear delight-not FLEURY's more: 75
But touch me, and no Minister fo fore.

Whoe'er offends, at fome unlucky time
* Slides into verse, and hitches in a rhyme,
Sacred to Ridicule his whole life along,
And the fad burthen of fome merry song.

▾ Slander or Poison dread from Delia's rage,

Hard words or hanging, if your Judge be Page.
From furious Sappho scarce a milder fate,

P-x'd by her love, or libell'd by her hate.

NOTES.

80

whereas the imitation does more; for, along with the metaphor, it conveys the image of the fubject, by prefenting the reader with the feveral objects of fatire.

VER. 72. Thieves, Supercargoes,] The names, at that time, ufually bestowed on those whom the trading Companies fent with their Ships, and intrusted with their concerns, abroad.

VER. 81-84. Slander-libell'd by her hate.] There feems to be more fpirit here than in the original. But it is hard to pronounce with certainty. For tho' one may be confident there is more force in the 83d and 84th lines than in

Canidia Albuti, quibus eft inimica, venenum ; yet there might be fomething, for ought we know, in the Character or Hiftory of Cervius which might bring up that line to the fpirit and poinancy of the 82d verse of the Imitation.

* Ut, quo quifque valet, fufpectos terreat, utque
Imperet hoc Natura potens, fic collige mecum.
Dente lupus, cornu taurus petit; unde, nifi intus
Monftratum? Scaevae vivacem crede nepoti
Matrem; nil faciet fceleris pia dextera (mirum ?

Ut neque calce lupus quemquam, neque dente petit

bos)

Sed mala tollet anum vitiato melle cicuta.

Ne longum faciam: feu me tranquilla fenectus

Exfpectat, feu mors atris circumvolat alis ;

Dives, inops; Romae, feu fors ita jufferit, exful;

Quifquis erit vitae, fcribam, color.

T. O puer, ut fis

Vitalis metuo; et majorum ne quis amicus

NOTES.

VER. 85-90. It's proper power to burt, etc.] All, except the two laft lines, inferior to the elegance and precifion of the Original.

VER. 93,-96. Whether old age-fade] The Original is more finifhed, and even fublime. Befides, the laft

It's proper pow'r to hurt, each creature feels;
Bulls aim their horns, and Affes lift their heels;
'Tis a Bear's talent not to kick, but hug;
And no man wonders he's not ftung by Pug.
* So drink with Walters, or with Chartres eat,
They'll never poifon you, they'll only cheat.

b Then, learned Sir! (to cut the matter short)
Whate'er my fate, or well or ill at Court,
Whether Old age, with faint but chearful ray,
Attends to gild the Ev'ning of my day,
Or Death's black wing already be difplay'd,
To wrap me in the universal shade;

Whether the darken'd room to muse invite,
Or whiten'd wall provoke the skew'r to write:

In durance, exile, Bedlam, or the Mint,

Like Lee or Budgel, I will rhyme and print.

d

F. Alas young man! your days can ne'er be long,

In flow'r of age you perish for a song!

Plums and Directors, Shylock and his Wife,

Will club their Tefters, now, to take your life!

NOTES.

verfe To wrap me in the univerfal fhade, has a languor and redundancy unusual with our author.

VER. 97. Whether the darken'd room— -Or whiten'd wall-] This is only a wanton joke upon the terms of his Original

Quifquis erit vitae color.

* E

Frigore te feriat.

e

H. Quid? cum eft Lucilius aufus

Primus in hunc operis componere carmina morem,
* Detrabere et pellem, nitidus qua quifque per ora
Cederet, introrfum turpis; num Laelius, et qui
Duxit ab oppreffa meritum Carthagine nomen,
Ingenio offenfi? aut laefo doluere Metello,

Famofifque Lupo cooperto verfibus? atqui

Primores populi arripuit populumque tributim ;

Scilicet & UNI AEQUUS VIRTUTI ATQUE EJUS AMI

CIS.

NOTES.

VER. 105-120. What? arm'd for Virtue, etc.] This is not only fuperior to any thing in Horace, but equal to any thing in himself.

VER. 110. Lights of the Church, or Guardians of the Laws?] Becaufe juft Satire is an useful fupplement to the fanctions of Law and Religion; and has, therefore, a claim to the protection of those who prefide in the administration of both.

Ibid. Could penfion'd Boileau-Could Laureate Dryden] It was Horace's purpose to compliment the former times, and therefore he gives the virtuous examples of Scipio