2η αλλοπρόσαλλω, and I doubt not will continue fo to the laft d. In the Poem called Abfalem and Achitophel are notoriously traduced, The KING, the QUEEN, the LORDS and GENTLEMEN, not only their honourable perfons expos'd, but the whole NATION and its REPRESENTATIVES notoriously libell'd. It is fcandalum magnatum, yea of MAJESTY itself e. f. He looks upon God's Gospel as a foolish fable, like the Pope, to whom he is a pitiful purveyor His very chriftianity may be queftioned &. He ought to expect more severity than other men, as he is moft unmerciful in his own reflections on others 1. With as good a right as his Holiness, he fets up for poetical infallibility 1. Mr. DRYDEN only a Verfifier. His whole Libel is all bad matter, beautified (which is all that can be said of it) with good metre k. Mr. Dryden's genius did not appear in any thing more than his Verfification, and whether he is to be ennobled for that only, is a question 1. Milbourn on Dryden's Virgil, 8vo, 1691. p. 8. • Whip and Key, 4to, printed for R. Janeway, 1682. Pref. i f Ibid. g Milbourn, p. 9. k Whip and Key, Pref. pag. 39. Effay on Criticifm, p. 84. h Ibid. p. 175. Oldmixon, be a tory and high flyer. He is both whig and tory d He hath made it his cuftom to cackle to more than one party in their own sentiments *. In his Mifcellanies, the Perfons abused are, The KING, the QUEEN, His late MAJESTY, both Houses of PARLIAMENT, the Privy-Council, the Bench of BISHOPS, the established CHURCH, the prefent MINISTRY, &c. To make Sense of some passages, they must be conftrued into ROYAL SCANDAL f. He is a Popish Rhymefter, bred up with a contempt of the Sacred Writings %. His Religion allows him to deftroy Hereticks, not only with his pen, but with fire and fword; and fuch were all thofe unhappy Wits whom he facrificed to his accurfed Popish Principles . It deferved Vengeance to fuggeft, that Mr. Pope had lefs Infallibility than his Namefake at Rome i Mr. POPE only a Versifier. The fmooth numbers of the Dunciad are all that recommend it, nor has it any other merit *. It must e Pref. to Gulliveriana. a Dennis, Character of Mr. P. • Theobald, Letter in Mift's Journal, June 22. 1728. f Lift, at the end of a Collection of Verses, Letters, Advertisements, 8vo. Printed for A. Moore, 1728, and the Preface to it, p. 6. g Dennis's Remarks on Homer. p. 27. h Preface to Gulliveriana, p. 11. i Dedication to the Collection of Verfes, Letters, &c. p. 9. k Mist's Journal of June 8, 1728. Mr. DRYDEN'S VIRGIL. Tonfon calls it Dryden's Virgil, to fhew that this is not that Virgil fo admir'd in the Auguftean age; but a Virgil of another ftamp, a filly, impertinent, nonfenfical writer. None but a Bavius, a Mævius, or a Bathyllus carp'd at Virgil m; and none but fuch unthinking Vermin admire his Translator". It is true, foft and eafy lines might become Ovid's Epiftles or Art of Love-But Virgil, who is all great and majestic, &c. requires ftrength of lines, weight of words, and closeness of expreffions; not an ambling Mufe running on Carpet-ground, and fhod as lightly as a Newmarket racer.— -He has numberless faults in his Author's meaning, and in propriety of expreffion °. Mr. DRYDEN understood no Greek nor Latin. Mr. Dryden was once, I have heard, at Westminfter school: Dr. Bufby would have whipt him for fo childish a Paraphrafe P. The meanest Pedant in England would whip a Lubber of twelve for conftruing fo abfurdly 9. The Tranflator is mad, every line betrays his Stupidity. The faults are innumerable, and convince me that Mr. Dryden did not, or Milbourn, p. 2. Pag. 203. n Pag. 35. be owned that he hath got a notable knack of rhyming and writing smooth verse 1. Mr. POPE'S HOMER. The Homer which Lintot prints, does not talk like Homer, but like Pope; and he who translated him, one would swear, had a hill in Tipperary for his Parnaffus, and a puddle in some Bog for his HipEpocrene m. He has no Admirers among those that can distinguish, difcern, and judge ". He hath a knack at smooth verfe, but without either Genius or good fenfe, or any tolerable knowledge of English. The qualities which distinguish Homer are the beauties of his Diction and the Harmony of his Verfification-But this little Author, who is fo much in vogue, has neither fense in his Thoughts nor English in his Expreffions . Mr. POPE understood no Greek. He hath undertaken to translate Homer from the Greek, of which he knows not one word, into English, of which he understands as little P. I wonder how this Gentleman would look, fhould it be discovered, that he has not tranflated ten verfes to 1 Character of Mr. P. and Dennis on Hom. • Character of Mr. P. p. 17. and Re n Ib. p. 14. marks on Hom. p. 91. mer, p. Iz would not understand his Authors. This fhews how fit Mr. D. may be to tranflate Homer! A mistake in a single letter might fall on the Printer well enough, but xwe for ixwe must be the error of the Author: Nor had he art enough to correct it at the Prefs. Mr. Dryden writes for the Court Ladies He writes for the Ladies, and not for ufe ". The Tranflator puts in a little Burlefque now and then into Virgil, for a ragout to his cheated Subscribers w. Mr. DRYDEN trick'd his Subscribers. I wonder that any man, who could not but be confcious of his own unfitnefs for it, fhould go to amufe the learned world with fuch an undertaking! A man ought to value his Reputation more than Money; and not to hope that those who can read for themselves, will be impofed upon, merely by a partially and unfeasonably celebrated Name *. Poetis quidlibet audendi fhall be Mr. Dryden's Motto, though it should extend to picking of pockets v. Names beftowed on Mr. DRYDEN. An APE] A crafty Ape dreft up in a gawdy gown -Whips put into an Ape's paw, to play pranks • Pag. 206. * Pag. 67. t Pag. 19. * Pag. 192. "Pag. 144. 190* 7 Pag. 125. |