Whose baseless fame by vanity is buoy'd, NOTES VARIORUM, and Katy, but from these venerable authorities, Hill puffs himself, forbear to chide; Must first, he knows, be magnify'd 'Pothecary, Play'r,] For both these, vide Woodward's letter, passim. Like the huge Earth.] The allusion here seems to be taken from Ovid, who describes the Earth fixed in the air, by its own stupidity, or vis inertia: Pendebat in aere tellus, But, reader, dilate your imagination to take in 'Twas on a day (0 may that day appear NOTES VARIORUM. all the Inspectors. May that day appear] This seems to be wrote with an eye to a beautiful passage in a very elegant poem; Ye gods, annihilate both space and time, The request is extremely modest, and I really A tatter'd tap'stry] Our author has been extremely negligent upon this occasion, and has indolently omitted an opportunity of displaying his talent for poetic imagery. Homer has described the shield of Achilles with all the art of his imagination; Virgil has followed him in this point, and indeed both he and Ovid seem to be delighted when they have either a picture to describe, or some representation in the labours of the loom. Hence arises a double delight; we admire the work of the artificer, and the poet's account of it; and this pleasure Mr. Smart might have impressed upon his readers in this passage, as many things were wrought into the tapestry here-mentioned. In one part our hero was administering to a patient," and the fresh vomit Say, Muse,] Observe, gentle reader, how ten- runs for ever green." The theatre at May-fair derly our author treats his hero throughout his made a conspicuous figure in the piece-the pit whole poem; he does not here impute his ridi- seemed to rise in an uproar-the gallery opened culous conduct, and all that train of errours which its rude throats and apples, oranges and halfhave attended his consummate vanity, to his pence flew about our hero's ears.-The Mall in own perverse inclination, but with greater can- St. James's Park was displayed in a beautiful dour insinuates that some demon, foe to Hil- vista, and you might perceive Hillario with his lario's repose, first misled his youthful imagina-janty air waddling along.-In Mary-le-Bone tion; which is a kind of apology for his life and character. He is not the only one who has been seduced to his ruin in this manner. We read it in Pope, This note is partly by Macularius, and partly by Mr. Jinkyns, Philomath. Some demon whisper'd, Visto have a taste. Hence then arise our hero's misfortunes; and that the demon above-mentioned was a foe to truth, will appear from Hillario's notable talent Fields, he was dancing round a glow worm, and POLYMETIS CANTABRIGIENSIS, With voice far-fetch'd from hollow throat profound O come and leave that clyster pipe behind; Straight with his only six-pence grac'd her hand. While, big with fate, again she silence broke, "In these three lines athwart thy palm I see, Either a tripod, or a triple-tree, For, Oh! I ken by mysteries profound, [well, And be th' Inspector of th' infected herd; NOTES VARIORUM. Th' astonish'd hair :] This passage seems to be an imitation of the Sybil in the sixth book of Virgil; Subito non vultus, non color unus Nec comte mansere comæ. and is admirably expressive of the witch's prophetic fury, and ushers in the prediction of Hillario's fortune with proper solemnity. This note is by one of the Eolists, mentioned with honour in the Tale of a Tub. Be th' Inspector, &c.] When the distemper first raged among the horned cattle, the king and council ordered a certain officer to superintend the beasts, and to direct that such, as were found to be infected, should be knocked on the head. This officer was called the Inspector, and from thence I would venture to lay a wager, our hero derived his title. BENTLEY, Junior. Beware of Irishmen, &c.] It is extremely probable that our poet is intimately acquainted with the classics; he seems frequently to have them in his eye, and such an air of enthusiasm runs through his whole speech, that the learned reader may easily perceive he has taken fire at some of the prophecies in Homer and Virgil.— The whole is delivered in breaks, and unconnected transitions, which denote vehement emotions in the mind; and the hint here concerning the Irish is perfectly in the manner of all great epic 47 Fir'd with his fate, and conscious of his worth, A Quick with the word his way the hero made, NOTES VARIORUM. poets, who generally give the reader some idea of what is to ensue, without unfolding the whole, Thus we find in Virgil, Bella, horrida bella, Et Tybrim multo spumantem sanguine cerno and again Alius Latio jam partus Achilles. And in the sequel of this work, I believe, it will be found, that as Æneas had another Achilles, so our hero has had as formidable an adversary. Farewell, a long farewell,] The ingenious Mr. L-der says that the following passage is taken from a work, which he intends shortly to publish by subscription, and he has now in the press a pamphlet, called Mr. Smart's Use and Abuse of the Moderns. But, with his leave, this passage is partly imitated from cardinal Wolsey's speech, and from Othello. Neutral Nonsense, &c.]The train here described, Word-valiant wight, thou great he shrew, Thou'rt no man's foe or friend. Falsehood,] This lady is described with two books in her hand, but our author chusing to preserve a neutrality, though not a nonsensical one, upon this occasion, the Tories are at liberty to fill up this blank with Rapin, Burnet, or any names On th' earth crawls Flatt'ry with her bosom bare, Such was the groupe-they bow'd and they And hail'd Hillario for their sovereign lord. And round my nobler brow his forfeit laurel twine." NOTES VARIORUM. While Jargon grav'd his titles on a block, But now the harbingers of fate and fame And gnats and grubworms crouded on his view, Gigantic by the eye of Dulness made! NOTES VARIORUM. Adam the first Dutchman-victorious stroke for Oratory-Right-Reason-Chapel, Saturday. 13th of January, and old style for ever that will fit the niches; and the Whigs may, if To beat one man great Hill was fated; What H―ll one day says, he the next does And candidly tells us 'tis all a damn'd lye: Dear doctor-this candour from you is not wanted; For why shou'd you own it? 'tis taken for granted. Crawls Flattry, &c.] Our hero is as remarkable for his encomiumis, where it is his interest to commend, as for his abuse, where he has taken a dislike; but from the latter he is easily to be bought off, as may be seen in the following excellent epigram, An author's writings oft reveal, Where now and then he takes a meal. Invite him once a week to dinner, He'll saint you, tho' the vilest sinner. Have you a smiling, vacant face, He gives you soul, expression, grace. Swears what you will, unswears it too; What will not beef and pudding do? Without a Muse, &c.] No the devil a bit!I am the only person that can do that!-My poems, written at fifteen, were done without the assistance of any Muse, and better than all Smart's poetry.-The Muses are strumpetsthey frequently give an intellectual gonorrhoeaCourt debt not paid-I'll never be poet laureate. -Coup de grace unanswerable-Our foes shall knuckle-five pounds to any bishop that will equal this-Gum guiacum for Latin lignum vitæ. 6 Jargon grav'd &c.] Jargon is here properly introduced graving our hero's titles, which are admirably brought into verse, but the gentleman who wrote the last note, Mr. Orator H-ley, takes umbrage at this passage, and exclaimeth to the following effect, 'Jargon is meant for me. There is more music in a peal of marrowbones and cleavers than in these verses.-I am a logician upon fundamentals.-A rationalist,— lover of mankande, Glastonbury thorn,-huzza boys.-Wit a vivacious command of all objects and ideas.—I am the only wit in Great Britain.” See Oratory Tracts, &c 10036. Patience, good Mr. Orator! we are not at leisure to answer thee at present, but must observe that jargon has done more for our hero, than ever did the society at Bordeaux, as will appear from the following extract of a letter sent to Martinus Marcularius, by a fellow of that society: l'honneur le 12me passé. A l'égard de ce Mon- The important objects of his future specu- As things seem large which we through mists descry, on in Dulness is very apt to magnify. Lo! on his crown the lotion choice and large, a Not coy Prudelia, when she knows what's what, No more he spoke; but slightly slid along, NOTES VARIORUM. by Addison and Steele, though now reduced to that state of blockheadism, which is so conspicuous in his máster. Ficulnus, inutile lignum. BENTLEY junior. A full discharge,] Reader, do not turn up your nose at this passage! it is much more decent than Pope's-Recollect what Swift says, that a nice man has filthy ideas, and let it be considered this discharge may have the same effect upon our hero, as a similar accident had upon a person of equal parts and genius. Renew'd by ordure's sympathetic force, POPE'S Dunciad. *Archimedes, &c.] As soon as the philosopher here mentioned discovered the modern save-all, and the new invented-patent black-ball, he threw down his pipe, and ran all along Piccadilly, with his shirt out of his breeches, crying out like a madman, tvenna! evenna! which in modern English is, the job is done! the job is done! VETUS SCHOL. Another Duck,] Hillario having a mind to celebrate and recommend a genius to the world, compares him to Stephen Duck, and at the close of a late luspector, cries out, "I have found another Duck, but who shall find a Caroline?" Print my soft essays, ]Our hero for once bas spoke truth of himself, for which we could produce the testimonies of several persons of distinction. Bath and Tunbridge-wells have upon many occasions testified their gratitude to him on this head, as his works have been always found of singular use with the waters of those places. To this effect also speaketh that excellent comedian, Mr. Henry Woodward, in an ingenious parody on Busy, curious, thirsty fly, &c. Busy, curious, hungry Hill, And now, thou goddess, whose fire-darting Defy all distance and transpierce the skies, The cloud-compelling thund'rer, at whose call NOTES VARIORUM. Freely welcome to abuse, And now thou goddess, &c.] This invocationis perfectly in the spirit of ancient poetry. If I may use Milton's words, our author here presumes into the Heavens, an earthly guest, and draws empyreal air. Hence he calls upon the goddess to assist his strain, while he relates the councils of the gods. Virgil, when the plot thickens upon his hands, as Mr. Bayes has it, has offered up his prayer a second time to the Muse, and he seems to labour under the weight of his subject, when he cries out, Majus opus moveo, major rerum mihi nasci tur ordo. This is the case at present with the writer of the Hilliad, and this piece of machinery will evince the absurdity of that Lucretian doctrine, which asserts that the gods are wrapped up in a lazy indolence, and do not trouble themselves about human affairs. The words of Lucretius are, Omnis enim per se divûm natura necesse est Immortali ævo sumina cum pace fruatur, Semota a rebus nostris, disjunctaque longè. It is now recommended to the editors of the Anti-Lucretius to make use of this instance to the contrary in the next publication of that work. M. MACULARIUS. Encumber'd space.] Jupiter's speech is full of pomp and solemnity, and is finally closed by a description of our hero, who is here said to take up a place in the creation to no purpose. What a dif ferent notion of the end of his existence has Hillario, from what we find delivered by the excellent Longinus, in his treatise on the Sublime. E "Good is his cause, and just is his pretence," (Replies the god of theft and eloquence.) A hand mercurial, ready to convey, E'en in the presence of the garish day, The work an English classic late has writ, And by adoption be the sire of witSure to be this is to be something-sure, Next to perform, 'tis glorious to procure. Small was th' exertion of my god-like soul, When privately Apollo's herd I stole, Compar'd to him, who braves th' all-seeing Sun, And boldly bids th' astonish'd world look on." NOTES VARIORUM. The passage is admirable, translated by the author of the Pleasures of Imagination. "The godlike geniuses of Greece were well-assured that nature had not intended man for a low spirited or ignoble being; but bringing us into life and the midst of this wide universe, as before a multitude assembled at some heroic solemnity, that we might be spectators of all her magnificence, and candidates high in emulation for the prize of glory: she has therefore implanted in our souls an inextinguishable love of every thing great and exalted, of every thing which appears divine beyond our comprehension. Hence by the very propensity of nature we are led to admire, not little springs or shallow rivulets, however clear and delicious, but the Nile, the Rhine, the Danube, and much more than all the ocean."-Instead of acting upon this plan, Hillario is employed in pursuit of insects in Kensington-gardens, and as this is all the gratitude he pays for the being conferred upon him, he is finely termed an insolvent te Glorious to procure.] If our author could be thought capable of punning, I should imagine that the word procure, in this place, is made use of in preference to an appellation given to our hero in the commencement of this poem, viz. a pimp; but the reader will please to recollect that the term pimp is not in that passage used in its modern acceptation. Small was th' exertion, &c.] Not so fast, good poet, cries out in this place, M. Macularius. We do not find that Hillario, upon any occasion whatever, has been charged with stealing Apollo's quiver, and certain it is, that those arrows, which he has shot at all the world, never were taken from thence. But of Mercury it is recorded by Horace, that he really did receive the god of wit in this manner; Her approbation Venus next exprest, NOTES VARIORUM. Venus next express'd,] Venus rises in this assembly quite in the manner attributed to her in the ancient poets; thus we see in Virgil that she is all mildness, and at every word breathes ambrosia ; At non Venus aurea contra, She is to speak upon this occasion, as well as in the case produced from the Æneid, in favour of a much loved son, though indeed we cannot say that she has been quite so kind to Hillario, as formerly she was to Æneas, it being evident that she has not bestowed upon him that lustre of youthful bloom, and that liquid radiance of the eye, which she is said to have given the pious Trojan. Lumenque juventæ Purpureum, et lætos oculis afflavit honores. On the contrary Venus here talks of his black self, which makes it suspected that she reconciled herself to this hue, out of a compliment to Vulcan, of whom she has frequent favours to solicit and perhaps it may appear hereafter, that she procured a sword for our hero from the celestial blacksmith's forge. One thing is not a little surprising, that while Venus speaks on the side of Hillario, she should omit the real utility he has been of to the cause of love by his experience as an apothecary, of which, he himself hath told us, several have profited; and it should be remembered at the same time, that be actually has employed his person in the service of Venus, and has now an offspring of the amorous congress. It is moreover notorious, that having, in his elegant language, tasted of the cool stream, he was ready to plunge in again, and therefore publicly set himself up for a wife, and thus, became a fortune-hunter with his pen; and if he has failed in his design, it is because the ladies do not approve the new scheme of propagation without the knowledge of a man, which Hillario pretended to explain so handsomely in the Lucina sine concubitu.-But the truth is, he never wrote a syllable of this book, though he transcribed part of it, and showed it to a bookseller, in order to procure a higher price for his productions. QUINBUS FLESTRIN. |