Yet, Sir," reflect, the mischief is not great; Thefe Madmen never hurt the Church or State: 191 Flight of Cashiers, or Mobs, he'll never mind; And knows no loffes while the Muse is kind. To' cheat a Friend, or Ward, he leaves to Peter; The good man heaps up nothing but mere metre, Enjoys his Garden and his book in quiet; And then- a perfect Hermit in his diet. Of little use the Man you may fuppofe, Who fays in verse what others fay in profe; Yet let me fhow, a Poet's of fome weight, S And ('tho' no Soldier) useful to the State. V 202 ▾ What will a Child learn fooner than a fong? 205 What better teach a Foreigner the tongue ? NOTES. himself, in this whole account of a Poet's character; but with an intermixture of irony: Vivit filiquis et pane fecundo has a relation to his Epicurifm; Os tenerum pueri, is ridicule: The nobler office of a Poet follows, Torquet ab obfcoenis-Mox etiam pectus--Recte facta refert, etc. which the Imitator has apply'd where he thinks it more due than to himself. He hopes to be pardoned, if, as he is fincerely inclined to praise what deferves to be praised, he arraigns what deferves to be arraigned, in the 210, 211, and 212th Verses. P. W Torquet ab obfcoenis jam nunc fermonibus aurem ; Mox etiam pectus praeceptis format amicis, Afperitatis, et invidiae corrector, et irae; NOTES. VER. 213. Unhappy Dryden—In all Charles's days, Rofcommon only boasts unspotted bays ;] The break in the first line has a great beauty. The Poet's tenderness for his Master is expreffed in making his cafe general; and his honour for him, in making his cafe particular, and the only one that deserved pity. VER. 215. excufe fome Courtly strains] We are not to understand this as a difapprobation of Mr. Addison for celebrating the virtues of the prefent Royal Family. It relates to a particular fact, in which he thought that amiable Poet did not act with the ingenuity that became his character. When Mr. Addison, in the year 1713, had finished his Cato, he brought it to Mr. Pope for his judgment. Our Poet, who thought the fentiments excellent, but the action not enough. theatrical, gave him his opinion fairly, and told him that he had better not bring it upon the Stage, but print it like a claffical performance, which would perfectly answer his defign. Mr. Addison approved of this advice; and feemed difpofed to follow it. But foon after he came to Mr. Pope, and told him, that some friends, whom he could not disoblige, infifted on his hav What's long or short, each accent where to place, 210 And in our own (excuse fome Courtly stains) 215 No whiter page than Addison remains. W He, " from the taste obfcene reclaims our youth, And sets the Paflions on the fide of Truth, NOTES. ing it acted. However he affured Mr. Pope that it was with no Party views, and defired him to fatisfy the Treasurer and the Secretary in that particular; and at the fame time gave him the Poem to carry to them for their perufal. Our Poet executed his commiffion in the moft friendly manner; and the Play, and the project for bringing it upon the Stage, had their approbation and encouragement. Throughout the carriage of this whole affair, Mr. Addifon was fo exceedingly afraid of party imputations, that when Mr. Pope, at his requeft wrote the famous prologue to it, and had faid, "Britons, ARISE, be worth like this approv'd, "And fhew you have the virtue to be mov'd. he was much troubled, faid it would be called, ftirring the people to rebellion; and earnestly begg'd he would foften it into fome thing lefs obnoxious. On this account it was altered, as it now ftands, to -Britons, attend, though at the expence both of the fenfe and fpirit. Notwithstanding this, the very next year, when the present illuftrious Family came to the Succeffion, Mr. Addifon thought fit to make a merit * N Recte facta refert ; * orientia tempora notis Inftruit exemplis ; › inopem solatur et aegrum. Caftis cum pueris ignara puella mariti NOTES. of CATO, as purposely and directly written to oppofe to the schemes of a faction. His poem, to her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, beginning in this manner, "The Mufe, that oft with facred raptures fir'd VER. 216. No whiter page than Addison remains,] Mr. Addifon's literary character is much mistaken, as characters generally are when taken (as his has been) in the grofs. He was but an ordinary poet, and a worse critic. His verfes are heavy, and his judgment of Men and Books fuperficial. But in the pleafantry of comic action, and in the dignity of moral allegories, he is inimitable. Nature having joined in him, as she had done once be Forms the foft bofom with the gentlest art, And pours each human Virtue in the heart. 220 Not but there are, who merit other palms; a The Boys and Girls whom charity maintains, 231 Implore your help in these pathetic ftrains : NOTES. fore in Lucian, (who wanted the other's wisdom to make a good ufe of it) the fublime of Plato to the humour of Menander. VER. 217. He from the tafte obfcene, etc.] This, in imitation of his Original, refers to the true Poet, torquet ab obfcoenis. and likewife to Mr. Addifon's papers in the Tatlers, Spectators, and Guardians; the character of which is given in the preceding note. But their excellence may be beft gathered from their having given fo long a vogue to that vaft heap of crude and indigefted things with which they are intermixed. VER. 226. the Idiot and the Poor.] A foundation for the maintenance of Idiots, and a Fund for affifting the Poor, by lending finall fums of money on demand. P. VER. 229. Not but there are, etc.] Nothing can be more truly humorous or witty than all that follows to 240. Yet the noble fobriety of the original, or, at leaft, the appearance of |