gular education, and a courfe of life of which much feems to have paffed inconverfation, it is not very likely that he overflowed with Greek. But when he felt himself deficient he fought af fiftance, and what man of learning would refufe to help him? Minute enquiries into the force of words are lefs neceflary in tranflating Homer than other pocts, because his pofitions are general, and his reprefentations natural, with very little dependence on local or temporary customs, on thofe changeable fcenes of artificial life, which, by mingling original with accidental notions, and crowding the mind with images which time effaces, produce ambiguity in diction, and obfcurity in books. To

this open difplay of unadulterated nature it must be afcribed that Homer has fewer paffages of doubtful meaning than any other poet either in the learned or in modern languages. I have read of a man, who being, by his ignorance of Greek, compelled to gratify his curiofity with the Latin printed on the oppofite page, declared that from the rude fimplicity of the lines literally rendered, he formed nobler ideas of the Homeric majesty than from the laboured elegance of polished verfions.

Thofe literal tranflations were always at hand, and from them he could always obtain his author's fenfe with fuffi-. cient certainty; and among the readers of Homer the number is very small of

thofe

thofe who find much in the Greek more than in the Latin, except the mufick of the numbers.

If more help was wanting, he had the poetical tranflation of Eobanus Hus, an unwearied writer of Latin verses; he had the French Homers of La Valterie and Dacier, and the English of Chapman, Hobbes, and Ogylby. With Chapman, whofe work, though now totally ne glected, feems to have been popular almoft to the end of the last century, he had very frequent confultations, and perhaps never tranflated any paffage till he had read his verfion, which indeed he has been fometimes fufpected of ufing instead of the original.

4

Notes

Notes were likewife to be provided s for the fix volumes would have been very little more than fix pamphlets without them. What the mere perufal of the text could fuggeft, Pope wanted no affiftance to collect or methodize; but more was neceffary; many pages were to be filled, and learning muft fupply materials to wit and judgement. Something might be gathered from Dacier; but no man loves to be indebted to his contemporaries, and Dacier was acceffible to common readers. Euftathius was therefore neceffarily confulted. To read Euftathius, of whofe work there was then no Latin verfion, I fufpect Pope, if he had been willing, not to have been able; fome other was there

fore