We have not wherewithal to imagine fo ftrongly, fo juftly, and fo pleasantly: In fhort, if we have the fame Knowledge, we cannot draw out of it the fame Quinteffence; we cannot give it such a Term, fuch a Propriety, and fuch a Beauty: Something is deficient in the Manner, or the Words, but more in the Noblenefs of our Conception. Yet when you have finish'd all, and it appears in its full Luftre, when the Diamond is not only found, but the Roughness smooth'd, when it is cut into a Form, and fet in Gold, then we cannot but acknowledge, that it is the perfect Work of Art and Nature: And every one will be fo vain, to think he himself cou'd have perform'd the like, 'till he attempts it. 'Fis juft the Defcription that Horace makes of fuch a finish'd Piece: It appears fo eafie, Ut fibi quivis fperet idem; fudet multum, fruftraque laboret, aufus idem. And befides all this, 'tis your Lordship's particular Talent to lay your Thoughts fo close together, that were they clofer they wou'd be crouded, and even a due Connexion wou'd be wanting. We are not kept in expectation of Two good Lines, which are to come after a long Parenthesis of Twenty bad; which is the April-Poetry of other Writers, a Mixture of Rain and Sun-fhine by fits: You are always bright, even alinoft to a Fault, by reafon of the Excels. There is continual Abundance, a Magazine of Thought, and yet a perpetual Variety of Entertainment; which creates fuch an Appetite in your Reader, that he is not cloy'd with any thing, but fatisfy'd with all. 'Tis that which the Romans call Čana dubia; where there is fuch Plenty, yet withal fo much Diverfity, and fo good Order, that the Choice is difficult betwixt one Excellency and another; and yet the Conclufion, by a due Climax, is evermore the beft; that is, as a Con clufion clufion ought to be, ever the moft proper for its Place. See, my Lord, whether I have not ftudy'd your Lordship with fome Application: And fince You are fo Modeft, that you will not be Judge and Party, I appeal to the whole World, ifI have not drawn your Picture to a great degree of Likenefs, tho' 'tis but in Miniature: And that fome of the best Features are yet wanting. Yet what I have done, is enough to diftinguish You from any other, which is the Propofition that I took upon me to demonstrate. And now, my Lord, to apply what I have faid to my present Bufinefs; the Satyrs of Juvenal and Perfius, appearing in this new English Drefs, cannot fo properly be infcrib'd to any Man as to your Lordship, who are the Firft of the Age in that Way of Writing. Your Lordship, amongst many other Favours, has given me your Permiffion for this Addrefs; and you have particularly encourag'd me by your Perufal and Approbation of the Sixth and Tenth Satyrs of Juvenal, as I have Tranflated them. My Fellow-Labourers have likewife Commiffion'd me, to perform in their behalf this Office of a Dedication to you; and will acknowledge with all poffible Refpect and Gratitude, your Acceptance of their Work. Some of them have the Honour to be known to your Lordship already; and they who have not yet that Happiness, defire it now. Be pleas'd to receive our common Endeavours with your wonted Candour, without Intitling you to the Protection of our common Failings, in fo difficult an Undertaking. And allow me your Patience, if it be not already tir'd with this long Epile, to give you from the belt Authors, the Origin, the Antiquity, the Growth, the Change, and the Compleatment of Satyr among the Romans. To defcribe, if not define, the Nature of that a f Poem, nem, with its feverál Qualifications and Virtues, ether with the feveral Sorts of it. To compare e Excellencies of Horace, Perfius and Juvenal, and how the particular Manners of their Satyrs. And lastly, to give an Account of this new Way of Verfion which is attempted in our Performance. All which, according to the Weakness of my Ability, and the beft Lights which I can get from others, fhall be the Subje& of my following Dif course. The most perfect Work of Poetry, fays our Mafter Ariftotle, is Tragedy. His Reason is, becaufe 'tis the moft united; being more feverely confin'd within the Rules of Action, Time, and Place. The Action is entire, of a Piece, and One, without Episodes: The Time limited to a Natural Day; and the Place circumfcrib'd at least within the Compafs of one Town, or City. Being exactly proportion'd thus, and uniform in all its Parts, the Mind is more capable of comprehending the whole Beauty of it without Diftraction. But after all thefe Advantages, an Heroique Poem is certainly the greateft Work of Human Nature. The Beauties and Perfections of the other are but Mechanical; thofe of the Epique are more Noble. Tho' Homer has limited his Place to Troy, and the Fields about it; his A&tion to Forty Eight Natural Days, whereof Twelve are Holy-days, or Ceflation from Bufinefs, during the Funerals of Patroclus. To proceed, the Action of the Epique is greater: The Extenfion of Time enlarges the Pleasure of the Reader, and the Epifodes give it moré Ornament, and more Variety. The Inftru&tion is equal; but the firft is only Inftructive, the latter forms a Heroe, and a Prince. If it fignifies any thing which of them is of the more Ancient Family, the beft and moft abfolute Heroique Heroique Poem was written by Homer long before Tragedy was invented: But, if we confider the natural Endowments, and acquir'd Parts, which are neceffary to make an accomplish'd Writer in either Kind, Tragedy requires a lefs and more confin'd Knowledge: Moderate Learning, and Obfervation of the Rules is fufficient, if a Genius be not wanting. But in an Epique Poet, one who is worthy of that Name, befides an univerfal Genius, is requir'd univerfal Learning, together with all thofe Qualities and Acquifitions which I have nam'd above, and as many more as I have through Halte or Negligence omitted. And after all, he must have exactly study'd Homer and Virgil, as his Patterns, Ariftotle and Horace as his Guides, and Vida and Buffu, as their Commentators, with many others both Italian and French Critiques, which I want Leifure here to recommend. In a word, What I have to fay, in relation to This Subject, which does not particularly concern Satyr, is, That the Greatness of an Heroique Poem, beyond that of a Tragedy, may easily be dif cover'd, by obferving how few have attempted that Work, in Comparison of those who have written Drama's; and of those few, how finall a Number have fucceeded. But leaving the Critiques on either fide, to contend about the Preference due to this or that Sort of Poetry; I will haften to my prefent Business, which is the Antiquity and Origin of Satyr, according to thofe Informations which I have receiv'd from the learned Cafaubon, Heinfius, Rigaltius, Dacier, and the Dauphin's Juvenal; to which I fhall add fome Obfervations of my own. There has been a long Difpute among the Modern Critiques, whether the Romans deriv'd their Satyr from the Grecians, or firft invented it them felves. felves. Julius Scaliger and Heinfius, are of th firft Opinion; Cafaubon, Rigaltius, Dacier, and the Publisher of the Dauphin's Juvenal, maintain the latter. If we take Satyr in the general Signification of the World, as it is us'd in all modern Languages for an Invective, 'tis certain that 'tis almost as old as Verse; and tho' Hymns, which are Praises of God, may be allow'd to have been before it, yet the Defamation of others was not long after it. After God had curs'd Adam and Eve in Paradise, the Husband and Wife excus'd theinfelves, by laying the Blame on one another; and gave a Beginning to thofe conjugal Dialogues in Profe, which the Pocts have perfected in Verfe. The Third Chapter of Job is one of the firft Inftances of this Poem in Holy Scripture: Unless we will take it higher, from the latter end of the Second; where his Wife advifes him to curfe his Maker, This Original, I confefs, is not much to the Honour of Satyr; but here it was Nature, and that deprav'd: When it became an Art, it bore better Fruit. Only we have learnt thus much. already, that Scoffs and Revilings are of the Growth: of all Nations; and confequently that neither the Greek Poets borrow'd from other People their Art of Railing, neither needed the Romans to take it from them. But confidering Satyr as a Species of Poetry; here the War begins amongst the Critiques. Scaliger the Father will have it defcend from Greece to Rome; aud derives the Word Satyr, from Satyrus, that mixt kind of Animal, or, as the Ancients thought him, Rural God, made up betwixt a Man and a Goat; with a Human Head, hook'd Nose, powting Lips, a Bunch of Struma under the Chin, prick'd Ears, and upright Horns; the Body fhagg'd with Hair, efpecially from the Waift, and ending |