the old comedy, by Lucilius: And, after fome, fucceeding effays, taken up and finally adorned,, by Horace.

HORACE was well known to the public by his lyric compofitions, and ftill more perhaps. by his favour at court, when he took upon him, to correct the manners and taste of his age, by his Lucilian Satires. But, here, he encountered, at once, many prejudices; and all his own credit, together with that of his court-friends, was little enough to fupport him, against the torrent.

FIRST, the kind of writing itself was fure to give offence. For, though men were well enough pleased to have their natural malignity gratified by an old poet's fatire against a former age, yet they were naturally alarmed at the exercise of this talent upon their own, and, as it might chance, upon themselves.

The poet's eminence, and favour, would, befides, give a peculiar force and effect to his cenfures; fo that all who found, or thought themfelves liable to them, were concerned, in intereft, to difcredit the attempt, and blaft his rifing reputation.

Omnes hi metuunt verfus, odere POEtam.

Hence, he was conftrained to ftand upon his own defence, and to vindicate, as well the

thing itself, as his management of it, to the tender and fufpicious public.

But this was not all: For, SECONDLY, an old fatirift, of high birth and quality, LUCILIUS, was confidered, not only as an able writer of this class, but as a perfect model in it; and of course, therefore, this new fatirift would be much decried and undervalued, on the comparifon. This circumftance obliged the poet to reduce this admired writer to his real value; which could not be done without thwarting the general admiration, and pointing out his vices and defects in the freeft manner. This perilous tafk he discharged in the Ivth fatire of his firft book, and with fuch rigour of criticism, that not only the partizans of Lucilius in the poet's own age, but the moft knowing and candid critics of fucceeding times, were difpofed to complain of it. However, the obnoxious ftep had been taken; and nothing remained but to justify himself, as he hath done at large, in his xth fatire.

On the whole, in comparing what he has faid in these two fatires with what Quintilian long after observed on the fubject of them, there feems no reason to conclude, that the poet judged ill though he expreffed his judgment in fuch terms as he would, no doubt, have fome

thing foftened (out of complaisance to the general fentiment, and a becoming deference to the real merits of his mafter), if his adverfaries had been more moderate in urging their charge, or if the occafion had not been fo preffing.

:

Lastly, this attack on Lucilius produced, or rather involved in it, a THIRD quarrel. The poet's main objection to Lucilius was his carelefs, verbofe, and hafty compofition, which his admirers, no doubt, called genius, grace, and ftrength. This being an inveterate folly among his countrymen, he gives it no quarter. Through all his critical works, he employs the utmoft force of his wit and good fenfe to expofe it And his own writings, being at the fame time fupremely correct, afforded his enemies (which would provoke them ftill more) no advantage against him. Yet they attempted, as they could, to repay his perpetual reproaches on the popular writers for their neglect of limae labor, by objecting to him, in their turn, that what he wrote was fine nervis: and this, though they felt his force themselves, and though another fet of men were complaining, at the fame time, of his Severity,

Sunt quibus in fatyrâ videor nimis ACER-
SINE NERVIS altera quicquid

Compofui pars effe putat, fimilefque meorum
Mille die verfus deduci poffe-

VOL. II.

His detractors fatirically alluding, in these last words, to his charge against Lucilius

in horâ faepè ducentos, Ut magnum, verfus dictabat, ftans pede in uno.

It is not my purpose, in this place, to enlarge further on the character of Lucilius, whofe wordy fatires gave occafion to our poet's criticifm. Several of the antient writers fpeak of him occafionally, in terms of the higheft applaufe; and without doubt, he was a poet of diftinguished merit. Yet it will hardly be thought, at this day, that it could be any dif credit to him to be cenfured, rivalled, and excelled by Horace.

What I have here put together is only to furnish the young reader with the proper KEY to Horace's critical works, which generally turn on his own vindication, against the enemies of fatire the admirers of Lucilius-and the patrons of loofe and incorrect compofition.

In managing these feveral topics, he has found means to introduce a great deal of exquifite criticism. And though his fcattered observations go but a little way towards making up a complete critical fyftem, yet they are so luminous, as the French fpeak, that is, they are fo replete with good fenfe, and extend fo much farther than to the cafe to which they are im

mediately

mediately applied, that they furnish many of the principles on which such a system, if ever it be taken in hand, muft be conftructed: And, without carrying matters too far, we may fafely affirm of thefe Critical Difcourses, that, next to Ariftotle's immortal work, they are the moft valuable remains of antient art upon this fubject.

The End of the Notes on the Epiftle to AUGUSTUS.