Now May'rs and Shrieves all hush'd and satiate lay, 95 Yet eat, in dreams, the custard of the day; REMARKS. 100 Mr. Settle was once a writer in some vogue, particularly with his party; for he was the author, or publisher, of many noted pamphlets in the time of King Charles the Second. He answered all Dryden's political poems; and being cried up on one side, succeeded not a little in his Tragedy of The Empress of Morocco, (the first that ever was printed with cuts). "Upon this, he grew insolent; the wits writ against his play; he replied, and the Town judged he had the better. In short, Settle was then thought a formidable rival to Mr. Dryden; and not only the Town, but the University of Cambridge was divided which to prefer: and in both places the younger sort inclined to Elkanah.”—Dennis, Pref. to Remarks on Homer P. Ver. 98. John Heywood, whose Interludes were printed in the time of Henry VIII. Ver. 103. In restless Daniel shine,] The first edition had it She saw in Norton all his father shine. P. A great mistake! for Daniel de Foe had parts, but Norton de Foe was a wretched writer, and never attempted poetry. Much more justly She saw slow Philips creep like Tate's poor page, And all the mighty Mad in Dennis rage. REMARKS. "De justly is Daniel himself made successor to W. Pryn, both of whom wrote verses as well as politics, as appears by the poem jure divino, &c." of De Foe, and by these lines in Cowley's Miscellanies, of the other. "One lately did not fear (Without the Muses' leave) to plant verse here; And both these authors had a resemblance in their fates, as well as writings, having been alike sentenced to the pillory. P. Ver. 103. Restless Daniel] I am sorry to find De Foe placed in such company. He was a writer of uncommon genius and fertility of fancy. Witness his Robinson Crusoe, in which a wonderful reach of invention is displayed; his History of the Plague in London, which for a long time imposed on Dr. Mead, who thought it genuine; and his Memoirs of a Cavalier, a favourite book of of the great Earl of Chatham, who spoke of it as the best account of the Civil Wars extant; and who, when he was at last convinced that it was all a fiction, cried out, Sic extorta voluptas, Et demptus per vim mentis gratissimus error. Among other entertaining works, De Foe wrote, in prison, 1703, a Review, consisting of a Scandal Club, as he entitled it, on questions of Theology, Morals, Politics, Trade, Language, Poetry, Love, &c. which Mr. Chalmers thinks gave a hint for the plan of the Tatler and Spectator. Warton. Ver. 104. And Eusden eke out, &c.] Laurence Eusden, Poet Laureate. Mr. Jacob gives a catalogue of some few only of his works, which were very numerous. Mr. Cook, in his Battle of Poets, saith of him, "Eusden In each she marks her Image full exprest, But chief in BAYS's monster-breeding breast; REMARKS. "Eusden, a laurel'd Bard, by fortune rais'd, By very few was read, by fewer prais'd." Mr. Oldmixon, in his Arts of Logic and Rhetoric, p. 413, 414, affirms, "That of all the Galimatias he ever met with, none comes up to some verses of this poet, which have as much of the Ridiculum and the Fustian in them as can well be jumbled together, and are of that sort of nonsense, which so perfectly confounds all ideas, that there is no distinct one left in the mind." Further, he says of him, "That he hath prophesied his own poetry shall be sweeter than Catullus, Ovid, and Tibullus; but we have little hope of the accomplishment of it, from what he hath lately published." Upon which Mr. Oldmixon has not spared a reflection, "That the putting the Laurel on the head of one who writ such verses, will give futurity a very lively idea of the judgment and justice of those who bestowed it." Ibid. p. 417. But the wellknown learning of that noble Person, who was then Lord Chamberlain, might have screened him from this unmannerly reflection. Nor ought Mr. Oldmixon to complain, so long after, that the Laurel would have better become his own brows, or any others. It were more decent to acquiesce in the opinion of the Duke of Buckingham upon this matter: “In rush'd Eusden, and cried, Who shall have it, But I, the true Laureate, to whom the King gave it? Apollo begg'd pardon, and granted his claim, But vow'd that till then he ne'er heard of his name." Session of Poets. The same plea might also serve for his successor, Mr. Cibber; VARIATIONS. and Ver. 108. But chief in BAYS's, &c.] In the former Editions thus: But chief, in Tibbald's monster-breeding breast; She Bays, form'd by nature Stage and Town to bless, And act, and be, a coxcomb with success. REMARKS. 110 and is further strengthened in the following Epigram, made on that occasion: "In merry Old England it once was a rule, The King had his Poet, and also his Fool: But now we're so frugal, I'd have you to know it, That Cibber can serve both for Fool and for Poet." Of Blackmore, see Book ii. Of Philips, Book i. ver. 262, and Book iii. prope fin. Nahum Tate was Poet Laureate, a cold writer, of no invention; but sometimes translated tolerably, when befriended by Mr. Dryden. In his second part of Absalom and Achitophel are above two hundred admirable lines together of that great hand, which strongly shine through the insipidity of the rest. Something parallel may be observed of another author here mentioned. P. Ver. 106. And all the mighty Mad] This is by no means to be understood literally, as if Mr. Dennis were really mad, (according to the narrative of Dr. Norris, in Swift and Pope's Miscellanies, vol. iii.) No-it is spoken of that excellent and divine madness, so often mentioned by Plato; that poetical rage and enthusiasm, with which Mr. D. hath, in his time, been highly possessed; and of those extraordinary hints and motions, whereof he himself so feelingly treats in his preface to the Rem. on Prince Arthur. P. Ver. 106. And all the mighty Mad in Dennis rage.] Mr. Theobald, in the Censor, vol. ii. N. 33. calls Mr. Dennis by the name of Furius. "The modern Furius is to be looked upon as more an object of pity, than of that which he daily provokes, laughter and contempt. Did we really know how much this poor man [I wish that reflection on poverty had been spared] suffers by being contradicted, VARIATIONS. She ey'd the Bard, where supperless he sate, And pin'd, unconscious of his rising fate; Sinking from thought to thought, &c. Var. Tibbald] Author of a pamphlet intitled, Shakespear restored. VOL. IV. I During Dulness with transport eyes the lively Dunce, REMARKS. tradicted, or, which is the same thing in effect, by hearing another praised; we should, in compassion, sometimes attend to him with a silent nod, and let him go away with the triumphs of his ill-nature.-Poor Furius [again] when any of his cotemporaries are spoken well of, quitting the ground of the present dispute, steps back a thousand years to call in the succour of the Ancients. His very panegyric is spiteful, and he uses it for the same reason as some Ladies do their commendations of a dead beauty, who would never have had their good word, but that a living one happened to be mentioned in their company. His applause is not the tribute of his Heart, but the sacrifice of his Revenge," &c. Indeed his pieces against our poet are somewhat of an angry character, and as they are now scarce extant, a taste of his style may be satisfactory VARIATIONS. During two whole years, while Mr. Pope was preparing his Edition of Shakespear, he published Advertisements, requesting assistance, and promising satisfaction to any who would contribute to its greater perfection. But this Restorer, who was at that time soliciting favours of him by letters, did wholly conceal his design, till after its publication: (which he was since not ashamed to own, in a Daily Journal, of Nov. 26, 1728.) And then an outcry was made in the Prints, that our author had joined with the bookseller, to raise an extravagant subscription; in which he had no share, of which he had no knowledge, and against which he had publicly advertised in his own proposals for Homer. Probably that proceeding elevated Tibbald to the dignity he holds in this poem, which he seems to deserve no other way better than his brethren; unless we impute it to the share he had in the Journals, cited among the Testimonies of Authors prefixed to this work. P. Var. Tibbald] Yet this Tibbald, contemptible as he is here represented to be, was assisted in his edition of Shakespear by Warburton, published in six volumes octavo; and he mentions, as he well might, Warburton's assistance, as a great support of his work. This edition of Tibbald was justly esteemed the best, till those of Malone and Steevens appeared. Warton. |