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Relate, who first, who last resign'd to rest; 107
Whose heads she partly, whose completely blest;
What charms could faction, what ambition, lull
The venal quiet, and intrance the dull;

Till drown'd was sense and shame, and right and wrong:

625

O sing, and hush the nations with thy song!

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In vain, in vain,-the all-composing hour
Resistless falls: the Muse obeys the power.

She comes! she comes the sable throne behold
Of Night primeval, and of Chaos old!
Before her, Fancy's gilded clouds decay,
And all its varying rainbows die away.
Wit shoots in vain its momentary fires,
The meteor drops, and in a flash expires.
As one by one, at dread Medea's strain,
The sick'ning stars fade off the ethereal plain;

As Argus' eyes, by Hermes' wand oppress'd,108
Closed one by one to everlasting rest;
Thus, at her felt approach, and secret might,
Art after art goes out, and all is night.
See skulking Truth to her old cavern fled,
Mountains of Casuistry heap'd o'er her head!
Philosophy, that lean'd on Heaven before,

630

635

640

Shrinks to her second cause, and is no more.
Physic of Metaphysic begs defence,

645

And Metaphysic calls for aid on Sense!

catalogue, constantly call for help on the Muses, who, as the daughters of Memory, are obliged not to forget anything. So Homer, Iliad. ii. :

“Πληθύν δ' οὐκ ἂν ἐγὼ μυθήσομαι οὐδ ̓ ὀνομήνω,

Εἰ μὴ Ὀλυμπιάδες Μούσαι, Διός αιγιόχοιο

Θυγατέρες, μνησαίαθ

And Virg. Æneid, vii.

"Et meministis enim, Divæ, et memorare potestis:

Ad nos vix tenuis famæ perlabitur aura."

But our poet had yet another reason for putting this task upon the Muse, that, all besides being asleep, she could only relate what passed.

107 "Quem telo primum, quem postremum aspera Virgo
Dejicis? aut quot humi morientia corpora fundis?"-Virg.
108 "Et quamvis sopor est oculorum parte receptus,
Parte tamen vigilat-

Vidit Cyllenius omnes

Succubuisse oculus," &c.-Ovid. Met. ii.

See Mystery to Mathematics fly!

In vain! they gaze, turn giddy, rave, and die.
Religion, blushing, veils her sacred fires,
And unawares Morality expires.

Nor public flame, nor private, dares to shine;
Nor human spark is left, nor glimpse divine!
Lo! thy dread empire, Chaos! is restored;
Light dies before thy uncreating word:
Thy hand, great Anarch! lets the curtain fall;
And universal darkness buries all.

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655

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153

BY THE AUTHOR,

A DECLARATION.

WHEREAS certain haberdashers of points and particles, being instigated by the spirit of pride, and assuming to themselves the name of critics and restorers, have taken upon them to adulterate the common and current sense of our glorious ancestors, poets of this realm, by clipping, coining, defacing the images, mixing their own base alloy, or otherwise falsifying the same; which they publish, utter, and vend as genuine: The said haberdashers having no right thereto, as neither heirs, executors, adminis. trators, assigns, or in any sort related to such poets, to all or any of them: Now we, having carefully revised this our Dunciad,1 beginning with the words, "The mighty mother," and ending with the words, "buries all," containing the entire sum of one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four verses, declare every word, figure, point, and comma of this impression to be authentic: And do therefore strictly enjoin and forbid any person or persons whatsoever, to erase, reverse, put between hooks, or by any other means, directly or indirectly, change or mangle any of them. And we do hereby earnestly exhort all our brethren to follow this our example, which we heartily with our great predecessors had heretofore set, as a remedy and prevention of all such abuses. Provided always, that nothing in this declaration shall be construed to limit the lawful and undoubted right of every subject of this realm, to judge, censure, or condemn, in the whole or in part, any poem or poet whatsoever.

Given under our hand, at London, this third day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred thirty and two.

Declarat' cor' me,

JOHN BARBER, Mayor.

1 Read thus confidently, instead of "beginning with the word Books, and ending with the word flies," as formerly it stood. Read also," containing the entire sum of one thousand seven hundred and fifty-four verses," instead of" one thousand and twelve lines;" such being the initial and final words, and such the true and entire contents of this poem. Thou art to know, reader! that the first edition thereof, like that of Milton, was never seen by the author (though living and not blind). The editor himself confessed as much in his Preface; and no two poems were ever published in so arbitrary a manner. The editor of this had as boldly suppressed whole passages, yea the entire last book, as the editor of Paradise Lost added and augmented. Milton himself gave but ten books, his editor twelve; this author gave four books, his editor only three. But we have happily done justice to both; and presume we shall live in this, our last labour, as long as in any of our others.-Bentley.

APPENDIX.

A LIST OF BOOKS, PAPERS, AND VERSES,

IN WHICH OUR AUTHOR WAS ABUSED, BEFORE THE PUBLICATION OF THE

DUNCIAD;

WITH THE TRUE NAMES OF THE AUTHORS.

REFLECTIONS Critical and Satirical, on a late Rhapsody, called An Essay on Criticism. By Mr. Dennis. Printed by B. Lintot, price 6d.

A New Rehearsal, or Bayes the younger; containing an Examen of Mr. Rowe's plays, and a word or two on Mr. Pope's Rape of the Lock. Anon. [By Charles Gildon.] Printed for J. Roberts, 1714, price 18.

Homerides; or, a Letter to Mr. Pope, occasioned by his intended translation of Homer. By Sir Iliad Doggrel. [Tho. Burnet and G. Ducket, esquires.] Printed for W. Wilkins, 1715, price 9d.

Æsop at the Bear Garden; a Vision, in imitation of the Temple of Fame, by Mr. Preston. Sold by John Morphew, 1715, price 6d.

The Catholic Poet, or Protestant Barnaby's Sorrowful Lamentation; a Ballad about Homer's Iliad. By Mrs. Centlivre, and others, 1715, price ld.

An Epilogue to a Puppet-Show at Bath, concerning the said Iliad. By George Ducket, Esq. Printed by E. Curl

A complete Key to the What d'ye call it. Anon. [By Griffin, a player; supervised by Mr. Th―] Printed by J. Roberts, 1715.

A True Character of Mr. P. and his Writings, in a Letter to a Friend. Anon. [Dennis.] Printed for S. Popping, 1716, price 3d.

The Confederates; a Farce. By Joseph Gay. [J. D. Breval.] Printed for R. Burleigh, 1717, price 18.

Remarks upon Mr. Pope's Translation of Homer; with two Letters con cerning Windsor Forest, and the Temple of Fame. By Mr. Dennis. Printed for E. Curl, 1717, price 18. 6d.

Satires on the Translators of Homer, Mr. P. and Mr. T. Anon. [Bez. Morris.] 1717, price 6d.

The Triumvirate; or, a Letter from Palæmon to Celia at Bath. Anon. [Leonard Welsted.] 1711, folio, price 18.

The Battle of Poets; an Heroic Poem. By Tho. Cooke. Printed for J. Roberts. Folio, 1725.1

[ Here properly the list should have closed, for the publications afterwards named were subsequent to the Dunciad, and consequently were not unprovoked attacks.]

Memoirs of Lilliput. Anon. [Eliza Haywood.] Octavo, printed in 1727. An Essay on Criticism, in Prose. By the author of the Critical History of England. [J. Oldmixon.] Octavo, printed 1728.

Gulliveriana and Alexandriana; with an ample Preface and Critique on Swift and Pope's Miscellanies. By Jonathan Smedley. Printed by J. Roberts. Octavo, 1728.

Characters of the Times; or, an Account of the Writings, Characters, &c., of several Gentlemen Libelled by S- and P, in a late Miscellany. Octavo, 1728.

Remarks on Mr. Pope's Rape of the Lock, in Letters to a Friend. By Mr. Dennis. Written in 1724, though not printed till 1728. Octavo.

VERSES, LETTERS, ESSAYS, OR ADVERTISEMENTS

IN THE PUBLIC PRINTS.

British Journal, Nov. 25, 1727. A Letter on Swift and Pope's Miscellanies. [Writ by M. Concanen.]

Daily Journal, March 18, 1728. A Letter by Philomauri. James-Moore Smythe.

Id. March 29. A Letter about Thersites; accusing the author of disaffection to the Government. By James-Moore Smythe.

Mist's Weekly Journal, March 30. An Essay on the Arts of a Poet's Sinking in Reputation; or a Supplement to the Art of Sinking in Poetry. [Supposed by Mr. Theobald.]

Daily Journal, April 3. A Letter under the name of Philo-ditto. By James-Moore Smythe.

Flying Post, April 4. A Letter against Gulliver and Mr. P. [By Mr. Oldmixon.]

Daily Journal, April 6. An Auction of Goods at Twickenham. By JamesMoore Smythe.

1

The Flying Post, April 7. A Fragment of a Treatise upon Swift and Pope. By Mr. Oldmixon.

The Senator, April 9. On the Same. By Edward Roome.

Daily Journal, April 8.

Flying Post, April 13. Homer. By J. Oldmixon.

Advertisement by James-Moore, Smythe.

Verses against Dr. Swift, and against Mr. P——'s

Daily Journal, April 23. Letter about the Translation of the Character of Thersites in Homer. By Thomas Cooke, &c.

Mist's Weekly Journal, April 27. A Letter of Lewis Theobald.

Daily Journal, May 11. A Letter against Mr. P. at large. Anon. [John Dennis.]

All these were afterwards reprinted in a pamphlet, entitled, A Collection of all the Verses, Essays, Letters, and Advertisements occasioned by Mr. Pope and Swift's Miscellanies, prefaced by Concanen, Anonymous, octavo, and printed for A. Moore, 1728, price 18. Others of an elder date, having lain as waste paper many years, were, upon the publication of the Dunciad

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