The critic Eye, that microscope of Wit,

Sees hairs and pores, examines bit by bit:

How parts relate to parts, or they to whole,
The body's harmony, the beaming soul,

235

Are things which Kuster, Burman, Wasse1 shall see,
When Man's whole frame is obvious to a Flea.

'Ah, think not, Mistress! more true Dulness lies

240

In Folly's Cap, than Wisdom's grave disguise.
Like buoys that never sink into the flood,
On Learning's surface we but lie and nod.
Thine is the genuine head of many a house,
And much Divinity without a Noûs.
Nor could a BARROW 2 work on ev'ry block,
Nor has one ATTERBURY spoil'd the flock.
See! still thy own, the heavy Canon roll,
And Metaphysic smokes involve the Pole.
For thee we dim the eyes, and stuff the head
With all such reading as was never read:
For thee explain a thing till all men doubt it,
And write about it, Goddess, and about it:
So spins the silk-worm small its slender store,
And labours till it clouds itself all o'er.

'What tho' we let some better sort of fool
Thrid ev'ry science, run thro' ev'ry school?
Never by tumbler thro' the hoops was shown
Such skill in passing all, and touching none;
He may indeed (if sober all this time)
Plague with Dispute, or persecute with Rhyme.
We only furnish what he cannot use,

Or wed to what he must divorce, a Muse:
Full in the midst of Euclid dip at once,
And petrify a Genius to a Dunce:
Or set on Metaphysic ground to prance,

[A. Gellius' Noctes Attica is little but a scrapbook from other authors, and Stobæus' famous work was Ecloga, or selections from about 500 authors.]

1 Burmann, Küster and Wasse were men of real and useful erudition. Warton. [Burmann is Peter Burmann, who died at Utrecht in 1741, the most illustrious of a family of scholars. [Note 1. p. 411.] Ludolf Küster, of Amsterdam, the editor of Aristophanes and a correspondent of Bentley's, died in 1716.-Joseph Wasse, fellow of Queens' College Cambridge, was co-editor with Jebb, of the Bibliotheca Litteraria (1722); and also edited Sallust.]

2 Barrow, Atterbury] Isaac Barrow, Master of Trinity, Francis Atterbury, Dean of Christchurch, both great Geniuses and eloquent Preachers; one more conversant in the sublime Geometry; the other in classical Learning; but who equally made it their care to advance the polite Arts in their several Societies. P. and Warburton. [Dr Isaac Barrow, the illustrious author of the treatise On the Supremacy of the Pope,

245

250

255

200

master of Trinity, Cambridge, with which college
his name is indelibly associated, and successive y
Professor of Greek and Lucasian Professor of
Mathematics. To him more than any other man
is owing the direction taken by Cambridge to
wards mathematical studies. He died in 1677-]
3 [Cf. Epitaph No. xiii.]

4 Canon here, if spoken of Artillery, is in the plural number; if of the Canons of the Hous in the singular, and meant only of one; in which case I suspect the Pole to be a false reading and that it should be the Poll, or Head of that Canon. It may be objected, that this is a mere Paronomasia or Pun. But what of that? Is any figure of speech more apposite to our gente Goddess, or more frequently used by her and her Children, especially of the University? Scribleras Pope and Warburton. [Part om.] [Some Canos of Christ-Church is evidently alluded to.]

5 These two verses are verbatim from an ep gram of Dr Evans, of St John's College, Oxford. given to my father twenty years before the Dunciad was written. Warton.

Show all his paces, not a step advance.
With the same CEMENT, ever sure to bind,
We bring to one dead level ev'ry mind.
Then take him to develop, if you can,

And hew the Block off1, and get out the Man.
But wherefore waste I words? I see advance
Whore, Pupil, and lac'd Governor from France.
Walker! our hat'- -nor more he deign'd to say,
But, stern as Ajax' spectre, strode away 2.

270

In flow'd at once a gay embroider'd race,
And titt'ring push'd the Pedants off the place:

275

Some would have spoken, but the voice was drown'd

280

By the French horn, or by the op'ning hound.
The first came forwards, with as easy mien,
As if he saw St James's and the Queen.
When thus th' attendant Orator begun,
Receive, great Empress! thy accomplish'd Son:
Thine from the birth, and sacred from the rod,
A dauntless infant! never scar'd with God.
The Sire saw, one by one, his Virtues wake:
The Mother begg'd the blessing of a Rake.
Thou gav'st that Ripeness, which so soon began,
And ceas'd so soon, he ne'er was Boy, nor Man,
Thro' School and College, thy kind cloud o'ercast,
Safe and unseen the young Æneas past:
Thence bursting glorious, all at once let down,
Stunn'd with his giddy Larum half the town.
Intrepid then, o'er seas and lands he flew:
Europe he saw, and Europe saw him too.
There all thy gifts and graces we display,
Thou, only thou, directing all our way!

285

290

295

To where the Seine, obsequious as she runs,

Pours at great Bourbon's feet her silken sons;
Or Tiber, now no longer Roman, rolls,
Vain of Italian Arts, Italian Souls:

300

To happy Convents, bosom'd deep in vines,

Where slumber Abbots, purple as their wines*:
To Isles of fragrance, lily-silver'd vales",
Diffusing languor in the panting gales:
To lands of singing, or of dancing slaves,
Love-whisp'ring woods, and lute-resounding waves.

And hew the Block off,] A notion of Aristotle, that there was originally in every block of marble a Statue, which would appear on the removal of the superfluous parts. P. and Warburton.

2 stern as Ajax' spectre, strode away.] See Homer, Odyss. xi., where the Ghost of Ajax turns sullenly from Ulysses the Traveller, who had succeeded against him in the dispute for the arms of Achilles. There had been the same contention between the Travelling and the University tutor, for the spoils of our young heroes, and fashion adjudged it to the former; so that this might well occasion the sullen dignity in departure, which Longinus so much admired. SCRIBL. Warbur

ton and Warton.

3

305

unseen the young Eneas past: Thence bursting glorious,] See Virg. Æn. 1. [vv. 411-417], where he enumerates the causes why his mother took this care of him; to wit, 1. that nobody might touch or correct him: 2. might stop or detain him: 3. examine him about the progress he had made, or so much as guess why he came there. P. and Warburton.

4 [This phrase, which Warton traces to J. B. Rousseau, alludes to the purple stockings worn by Abbés.]

5 lily-silver'd vales,] Tuberoses. P.

But chief her shrine where naked Venus keeps,
And Cupids ride the Lion of the Deeps1;
Where, eas'd of Fleets, the Adriatic main
Wafts the smooth Eunuch and enamour'd swain.
Led by my hand, he saunter'd Europe round,
And gather'd ev'ry Vice on Christian ground;
Saw ev'ry Court, heard ev'ry King declare
His royal Sense of Op'ras or the Fair;
The Stews and Palace equally explor'd,
Intrigu'd with glory, and with spirit whor'd;
Try'd all hors-d'œuvres, all liqueurs defin'd,
Judicious drank, and greatly-daring din'd;
Dropt the dull lumber of the Latin store,
Spoil'd his own language, and acquir'd no more;
All Classic learning lost on Classic ground;
And last turn'd Air, the Echo of a Sound'!
See now, half-cur'd, and perfectly well-bred,
With nothing but a Solo in his head3;
As much Estate, and Principle, and Wit,
As Jansen, Fleetwood, Cibber shall think fit;
Stol'n from a Duel, follow'd by a Nun,
And, if a Borough choose him not, undone5;
See, to my country happy I restore

This glorious Youth, and add one Venus more.

Her too receive (for her my soul adores)

330

So may the sons of sons of sons of whores,

Prop thine, O Empress! like each neighbour Throne,
And make a long Posterity thy own.'

Pleas'd, she accepts the Hero, and the Dame

Wraps in her Veil, and frees from sense of Shame.
Then look'd, and saw a lazy, lolling sort,

Unseen at Church, at Senate, or at Court,
Of ever-listless Loit'rers, that attend

No Cause, no Trust, no Duty, and no Friend.
Thee too, my Paridel! she mark'd thee there,
Stretch'd on the rack of a too easy chair,

1 And Cupids ride the Lion of the Deeps;] The winged Lion, the Arms of Venice. This Republic heretofore the most considerable in Europe, for her Naval Force and the extent of her Commerce; now illustrious for her Carnivals.

P. and Warburton.

2 And last turn'd Air, the Echo of a Sound!] Yet less a Body than Echo itself; for Echo reflects Sense or Words at least, this Gentleman only Airs and Tunes:

'Sonus est, qui vivit in illo.' Ovid, Met. [III. v. 401]. SCRIBLERUS.

3 With nothing but a Solo in his head;] With nothing but a Solo? Why, if it be a Solo, how should there be any thing else? Palpable Tautology! Read boldly an Opera, which is enough of conscience for such a head as has lost all its Latin. 'BENT.'

A Jansen, Fleetwood, Cibber] Three very eminent persons, all Managers of Plays; who,

349

tho' not Governors by profession, had, each in his way, concerned themselves in the Education Youth: and regulated their Wits, their Morals or their Finances, at that period of their age which is the most important, their entrance int the polite world. Of the last of these, and his Talents for this end, see Book 1. ver. 199, &c P. and Warburton. [Fleetwood was patentee of Drury-Lane Theatre from 1734 to 1745; it was the attempted secession of his actors in 1743 which gave rise to the famous quarrel of Macka with Garrick.]

5 [This seems to allude to the protection of member of Parliament against arrest for debt.)

6 Thee too, my Paridel!] The Poet seems speak of this young gentleman with great affe tion. The name is taken from Spenser, wa gives it to a wandering Courtly 'Squire, that travelled about for the same reason, for which many young Squires are now fond of travelling,

And heard thy everlasting yawn confess
The Pains and Penalties of Idleness.
She pity'd! but her Pity only shed
Benigner influence on thy nodding head.

But Annius1, crafty Seer, with ebon wand,

345

And well-dissembled em'rald on his hand,

False as his Gems, and canker'd as his Coins,

Came, cramm'd with capon, from where Pollio dines 2.
Soft, as the wily Fox is seen to creep,

350

Where bask on sunny banks the simple sheep,

Walk round and round, now prying here, now there,

So he; but pious, whisper'd first his pray'r.

"Grant, gracious Goddess! grant me still to cheat,

355

O may thy cloud still cover the deceit !
Thy choicer mists on this assembly shed,
But pour them thickest on the noble head.
So shall each youth, assisted by our eyes,
See other Cæsars, other Homers rise;
Thro' twilight ages hunt th' Athenian fowl3,
Which Chalcis Gods, and mortals call an Owl,
Now see an Attys, now a Cecrops clear,
Nay, Mahomet! the Pigeon at thine ear;
Be rich in ancient brass, tho' not in gold,
And keep his Lares, tho' his house be sold;
To headless Phoebe his fair bride postpone,
Honour a Syrian Prince above his own;
Lord of an Otho, if I vouch it true;
Blest in one Niger, till he knows of two 5."

Mummius o'erheard him; Mummius, Fool-renown'd7,
Who like his Cheops stinks above the ground,

and especially to Paris. P. and Warburton. [Paridell narrates his lineage in Canto x. of Book III. of the Faerie Queene; and acts in accordance with it in the following Canto.]

1 Annius,] The name taken from Annius the Monk of Viterbo, famous for many Impositions and Forgeries of ancient manuscripts and inscriptions, which he was prompted to by mere vanity, but our Annius had a more substantial motive. P. and Warburton. Sir Andrew Fountaine. Warton. [But this is doubted by Roscoe, since Sir A. F. was a friend of Swift's.]

2 This seems more obscure than almost any other passage in the whole. Perhaps he meant the Prince of Wales's dinners. Bowles.

3 hunt th' Athenian fowl,] The Owl stamp'd on the reverse on the ancient money of Athens. 'Which Chalcis Gods, and mortals call an Owl,' is the verse by which Hobbes renders that of Homer [I. XIV. 291]. P. and Warburton. [Kúpidis is a kind of hawk.]

Attys, Cecrops] The first Kings of Athens, of whom it is hard to suppose any Coins are extant; but not so improbable as what follows, that there should be any of Mahomet, who forbad all Images; and the story of whose Pigeon was a monkish fable. Nevertheless one of these An

360

365

370

nius's made a counterfeit medal of that Impostor, now in the collection of a learned Nobleman. P. and Warburton.

5 [Compare with this passage Moral Essays, Ep. v.]

[Said by Warton to refer to Dr Mead, which is highly improbable.]

6 Mummius] This name is not merely an allusion to the Mummies he was so fond of, but probably referred to the Roman General of that name, who burned Corinth, and committed the curious Statues to the Captain of a ship, assuring him, "that if any were lost or broken, he should procure others to be made in their stead:" by which it should seem (whatever may be pretended) that Mummius was no Virtuoso. P. and Warburton.

7 Fool-renown'd,] A compound epithet in the Greek manner, renown'd by Fools, or renown'd for making Fools. P.

8 Cheops] A King of Egypt, whose body was certainly to be known, as being buried alone in his Pyramid, and is therefore more genuine than any of the Cleopatras. This Royal Mummy, being stolen by a wild Arab, was purchased by the Consul of Alexandria, and transmitted to the Museum of Mummius; for proof of which he brings a passage in Sandys's Travels, where that

Fierce as a startled Adder, swell'd, and said,
Rattling an ancient Sistrum1 at his head:

'Speak'st thou of Syrian Princes?? Traitor base!
Mine, Goddess! mine is all the horned race.
True, he had wit, to make their value rise;
From foolish Greeks to steal them, was as wise;
More glorious yet, from barb'rous hands to keep,
When Sallee Rovers chas'd him on the deep.
Then taught by Hermes, and divinely bold,
Down his own throat he risk'd the Grecian gold,
Receiv'd each Demi-God3, with pious care,
Deep in his Entrails-I rever'd them there,
I bought them, shrouded in that living shrine,
And, at their second birth, they issue mine.'

"Witness, great Ammon1! by whose horns I swore,"
(Reply'd soft Annius) "this our paunch before
Still bears them, faithful; and that thus I eat,
Is to refund the Medals with the meat.
To prove me, Goddess! clear of all design,
Bid me with Pollio sup, as well as dine:

There all the Learn'd shall at the labour stand,
And Douglas lend his soft, obstetric hand."

The Goddess smiling seem'd to give consent;
So back to Pollio, hand in hand, they went.

Then thick as Locusts black'ning all the ground,

A tribe, with weeds and shells fantastic crown'd,

Each with some wond'rous gift approach'd the Pow'r,
A Nest, a Toad, a Fungus, or a Flow'r.
But far the foremost, two, with earnest zeal,
And aspect ardent to the Throne appeal.

The first thus open'd: "Hear thy suppliant's call,
Great Queen, and common Mother of us all!
Fair from its humble bed I rear'd this Flow'r,
Suckled, and cheer'd, with air, and sun, and show'r,
Soft on the paper ruff its leaves I spread,
Bright with the gilded button tipt its head;
Then thron'd in glass, and named it CAROLINE:

accurate and learned Voyager assures us that he saw the Sepulchre empty; which agrees exactly (saith he) with the time of the theft above-mentioned. But he omits to observe that Herodotus tells the same thing of it in his time. P. and Warburton.

[The rattle used in the worship of Isis.] Speak'st thou of Syrian Princes? &c.] The strange story following, which may be taken for a fiction of the Poet, is justified by a true relation in Spon's Voyages [of Vaillant, the French historian of the Syrian kings, swallowing twenty gold medals when the ship in which he was returning to France was attacked by Sallee pirates]. P. and Warburton.

3 Each Demi-God,] They are called coù on their Coins, P. and Warburton.

4 Witness, great Ammon!] Jupiter Ammon

375

380

395

395

400

405

is called to witness, as the father of Alexander, to whom those Kings succeeded in the division of the Macedonian Empire, and whose Horns they wore on their Medals, P. and Warburton,

Douglas] A Physician of great Learning and no less Taste; above all curious in what related to Horace, of whom he collected every Edition. Translation, and comment, to the number of several hundred volumes. P. and Warburten.

6 and nam'd it Caroline:] It is a compliment which the Florists usually pay to Princes and great persons, to give their names to the most curious Flowers of their raising: Some have been very jealous of vindicating this honour, but non: more than that ambitious Gardener at Hammersmith, who caused his Favourite to be painted ca his sign, with this inscription, This is My Queen Caroline. P. and Warburton.