-As fhe fled, the wind

Increasing spread her flowing hair behind;
And left her legs and thighs expos'd to view.
Dryden..

tenues finuantur flamina Veftes.. Id. Lib. 2..

It is worth while to compare this figure of Victory with her Statue as it is defcribed in a very beautiful paffage of Prudentius....

Non aris non farre mola Victoria felix
Exorata venit labor impiger, afpera virtus,
Vis animi, excellens ardor, violentia, cura,
Hanc tribuunt, durum tractandis robur in armis..
Qua fi defuerint bellantibus, aurea quamvis
Marmoreo in templo rutilas Victoria pinnas
Explicet, et multis furgat formata talentis;
Non aderit vefifque offenfa videbitur haftis.
Quod miles propriis diffifus viribus optas.
Irrita fæmineæ tibimet folatia formæ ?
Nunquam pennigeram legio ferrata puellam
Vidit anhelantum regeret quæ tela virorum.
Vincendi quæris dominam? fua dextra cuique eft,
Et Deus omnipotens. Non pexo crine virago,
Nec nudo fufpenfa pede, Atrophioque revināta,
Nec tumidas fluitante finu veftita papillas.

Prudentius contra Symm. Lib. 2.

Shall Victory intreated lend her aid

For cakes of flower on fmoking Altars laid?
Her help from toils and watchings hope to find,,
From the ftrong body, and undaunted mind?
If these be wanting on th' embattel'd plain,
Ye fue the unpropitious maid in vain.

Though

Though in her marble temples taught to blaze
Her dazzling wings the golden dame displays,
And many a talent in due weight was told
To fhape her God-head in the curious mold.
Shall the rough foldier of himself defpair,
And hope for female vifions in the air?
When legions fheath'd in iron e'er fu vey'd
Their darts directed by their winged maid!
Doft thou the power that gives fuccefs demand?
'Tis He th' Almighty, and thy own right hand;
Not the smooth Nymph, whofe locks in knots
are twin'd,

Who bending shows her naked foot behind,
Who girds the virgin zone beneath her breaft,
And from her bofom heaves the fwelling veit.

You have here another Victory FIG. 19. that i fancy Claudian had in view

when he mentions her wings, palm and trophy in the following defcription. It appears on a Coin of Conftantine who lived about an age before Claudian, and I believe we fhall find that it is not the only piece of antique fculpture that this Poet has copied out in his defcriptions.

-cum totis exurgens ardua pennis
Ipfa duci facras Victoria panderet ades,
Et palma viridi gaudens, et amicta trophæis.
Claud. de Laud. Stil. Lib. 3.

On all her plumage rifing, when she threw
Her facred fhrines wide open to the view,
How pleas'd for thee her emblems to display,
With palms distinguish'd, and with trophies gay.

The

The laft of our imaginary Be FIG. 20. ings is Liberty. In her left hand fhe carries the wand that the Latins call the Rudis or Vindicta, and in her right the cap of Liberty. The Poets ufe the fame kinds of metaphors to exprefs Liberty. I fhall quote Horace for the firft, whom Ovid has imitated on the fame occafion, and for the latter Martial.

donatum jam rude quæris.

Mecenas iterum antiquo me includere ludo.

Hor. Lib. 1. Epift. 1.

-tardâ vires minucnte fenecta

Me quoque donari jam rude tempus erat.

Ov. de Tr. Lib. 4. El. 8

Since bent beneath the load of years I stand,
I too might claim the freedom-giving wand.

Quòd te nomine jam tuo foluto,,

Quem regem, & dominum priùs vocabam,
Ne me dixeris effe contumacem

Totis pilea farcinis redemi.

Mart. Lib. 2. Epig. 68.

By the plain name though now addreft,
Though once my King and Lord confeft,
Frown not with all my goods I buy
The precious Cap of Liberty.

I cannot forbear repeating a paffage out of Perfius, fays Cynthio, that in my opinion turns the ceremony of making a Freeman very handfomely into ridicule. It seems the clapping a

Cap

Cap on his head and giving him a Turn on the heel were neceffary circumftances. A Slave thus qualified became 2 Citizen of Rome, and was honoured with a name more than belonged to any of his Forefathers, which Perfius has repeated with a great deal of humour.

Heu feriles veri, quibus una Quir tem Vertigo facit ! bic Dama eft, non treffis agafo, Vappa, et lippus, et in tenui farragine mendax. Verterit hunc dominus, momento turbinis exit Marcus Dama. Pape! Mares fpondente, recufas Credere tu nummos? Marco fub Judice pa les? Marcus dixit, ita eft: affigna, Marce, tabellas. Hac mera libertas: banc nobis pilea donant. Perf. Sat. 5.

That falfe Enfranchifement with eafe is found:
Slaves are made Citizens by turning round.
How! replies one, can any be more free?
Here's Dama, once a Groom of low degree,
Not worth a farthing, and a Sot befide;
So true a Rogue, for lying's fake he ly'd:
But, with a Turn, a Freeman he became ;
Now Marcus Dama is his Worship's name.
Good Gods! who wou'd refufe to lend a fum,
If wealthy Marcus furety would become !
Marcus is made a Judge, and for a proof
Of certain truth, he jaid it, is enough.
A Will is to be prov'd; put in your claim;
'Tis clear, if Marcus has fubfcrib'd his name.
This is true liberty, as I believe;

What farther can we from our Caps receive,
Then as we please without controul to live?

Mr. Dryden.

Since you have given us the ceremony of the Cap, fays Eugenius, I'll give you that of the Wand, out of Claudian.

Te fafos ineunte quater, fallennia ludit
Omina libertas, deductum Vindice morem
Lex celebrat, famulufque jugo laxatus berili
Ducitur, et grato remeat fecurior iðu.
Triflis conditio pulfata fronte recedit:
In civem rubuere gene, tergoque removit
Verbera permiffi felix injuria voti.

Claud. de 4..Conf. Hon..

The Grato ictu and the felix injuria, fays Cynthie, would have told us the name of the Author, though you had faid nothing of him. There is none of all the Poets that delights fo much in these pretty kinds of contradictions as Claudian. He loves to fet his Epithet at variance with its fubftantive, and to furprise his Reader with a feeming abfurdity. If this Poet were well examined, one would: find that fome of his greatest beauties as well as faults arife from the frequent ufe of this. particular figure..

I queftion not, fays Philander, but you are tired by this time with the company of fo myfterious a fort of Ladies as those we have had before us. We will now, for our diver-fion, entertain ourfelves with a fet of Riddles, and fee if we can find a key to them among the ancient Poets. The firft of Second Series. them, fays Cynthio, is a Ship FIG. I. under fail, I fuppofe it has at leaft a metaphor or moral precept for its cargo.