choly ftate of defpondency. He would say a great many ill-natured things, but never do one. He was made up of tenderness and pity, and tears would fall from him on the smallest occafion.

His poems have been often printed, and are generally know M oft of his tales, and other levities and pieces of humour, came abroad in manuscript, at various times, as they happened to be finished, and were collected and published, with other pieces, in his "Mifcellanies," without a date, and afterwards reprinted in Lintot's "Mifcellaneous Poems and Tranflations," 2 vols. 1722.

His Remains were published from the original manuscripts in the poffeffion of his fifter, by Jofeph Brown, M. D., 1732, and reprinted, under the title of "Pofthumous Works," in 1734 and 1739.

A complete collection of his “ Original Works, in Prose and Verse,” was published, in 3 vols., Evo., 1776, by John Nichols, the learned printer of " the Gentleman's Magazine" a man who merits the praise of the compiler of these little narratives, for his zeal in restoring the noblest monuments of the dead; and who deferves the gratitude of every man of letters, for his laborious and useful researches in topographical history, and his numerous and valuable additions to the poctical and literary biography of his country.

His Pocms, distinctly confidered, do not seem unworthy of his reputation; neither do they appear to entitle him to rank among our best poets. He feems to have cultivated the grotesque and familiar ftyle, without aiming at seriousness or fublimity. His Imitations and Tales, therefore, do not display that boldness of invention and vivacity of fancy which characterife the higher poetry, but are chiefly diftinguished by their sprightliness, familiarity, and ease. His Art of Cookery is an ingenious and fkilful imitation of Horace, and juftly reckoned an admirable fatirico-didactic poem, His Art of I ove is remarkable, notwithstanding its title, for purity of fentiment, and chaste defcription. It is divided into fourteen books, most of which end with fome remarkable fable, or interesting novel. His Tales have obtained general approbation. They are facetious and familiar. The language is easy, but seldom grofs, and the verfification smooth, without appearance of study. It is not known, whether he was the original author of any of them. Some of them are undoubtedly older than his time: But the art of telling them is his own, and that is the chief merit of fuch trifling compofitions. His Political Verses, dictated by party rage, and designed to asperse the friends of the Revolution and the Proteftant fucceffion, may be permitted to perish, without any di minution of his fame.

"His poems," fays Dr. Johnfon, "were rather the amusements of idlenefs, than efforts of ftudy. He endeavoured rather to divert than astonish; his thought seldom afpired to fublimity; if his verfe was cafy, and his images familiar, he attained what he defired. His purpofe is to be merry; but, perhaps, to enjoy his mirth, it may be fometimes neceffary to think well of his opi

THE

ART OF COOKERY:

IN IMITATION OF

HORACE'S ART OF POETRY.

WITH SOME

LETTERS TO DR. LISTER AND OTHERS,

Occafioned principally by

THE TITLE OF A BOOK PUBLISHED BY THE DOCTOR,

Being the

Works of APICIUS COELIUS, concerning the Soups and Sauces of the Ancients.

WITH

AN EXTRACT OF THE GREATEST CURIOSITIES CONTAINED IN THAT BOOK,

Humbly infcribed to

THE HONOURABLE BEEF STEAK CLUB.

FIRST PRINTED IN 1708.

Or Dr. Lifter's book only 120 copies were printed in 1705. It was reprinted at Amfterdam, in 1709, by Theod. Janf. Almeloveen, under the title of "Apicii Cœlii de Opfoniis et Condimentis, "five Arte Coquinaria, Libri Decem. cum Annotationibus Martini Lifter, è Medicis Domesticis "Sereniffimæ Majeftatis Reginæ Annæ, et Notis fele&tioribus, variisque Lectionibus integris, Humelbergii, Barthii, Reinefii, A Van Der Linden, et aliorum, ut et variorum Lectionum Libella. "Editio Secunda." Dr. Alkew had a copy of each edition.

VOL. VI.

T&

THE PUBLISHER TO THE
TO THE READER.

the laying a stress upon improper words will make
the moft correct piece ridiculous. Falfe concord
tenfes and grammar, nonfenfe, impropriety, and
confufion, may go down with fome perfons; but
it fhould not be in the power of a bork'eller
lampoon an author, and tell him, "You d
"write all this: I have got it; and you
"ftand to the fcandal, and I will have the bers

Ir is now-a-days the hard fate of fuch as pretend to be authors, that they are not permitted to be mafter of their own works; for, if fuch papers (however imperfect) as may be called a copy of them, either by a fervant or any other means, come to the hands of a bookfeller, he never confiders whether it be for the perfon's reputation to come into the world, whether it is agreeable to his fentiments, whether to his ftyle or correctnefs," fit." Yet this is the prefent cafe, notwe or whether he has for fome time looked over it; nor doth he care what name or character he puts to it, fo he imagines he may get by it.

It was the fate of the following Foem to be f ufed, and printed with as much imperfection and as many mistakes as a bookfeller that has common fenfe could imagine fhould pafs upon the town, efpecially in an age fo polite and critical as the prefent.

ftanding there are above threefcore faults of this nature; verfes tranfpofed, fome added, others a tered, or rather that fhould have been altered, and near forty omitted. The author does not lue himfelf upon the whole: but, if he fhews his efteem for Horace, and can by any means provoke perfons to read fo ufeful a treatise; he fhews his averfion to the introduction of lurers, which may tend to the corruption of matter, and declares his love to the old British hofpital, charity, and valour, when the arms of the family, the old pikes, muikets, and halberts, hung up a the hall over the long table, and the marrowbones lay on the floor, and "Chevy Chace" and

Thefe following Letters and Poem were at the prefs fome time betore the other paper pretending to the fame title was crep out: and hey had elfe, as the learned fay, groaned under the prefs till fuch time as the theets had one by one been perufed and corrected, not only by the author," The old Courtier of the Queen's" were placed but his friends; whofe judgment, as he is fenfible he wants, fo is he proud to own that they fometimes condefcend to afford him.

For many faults, that at firft feem fmall, yet create unpardonable errors. The number of the verfe turns upon the harthnefs of a fyllable; and

over the carved mantle-piece, and the beef and brown bread were carried every day to the poor, he defires little farther, than that the reader wo for the future give all fuch bookfellers as are be fore spoken of no manner of encouragement.

LETTERS

то

DR. LISTER AND OTHERS.

Confider, dear Sir, in what uncertainties we muft remain at prefent. You know my neigh-jugular of a carp, fo as the blood may iffue thence bour Mr. Greatrix is a learned antiquary. I fhewed him your letter; which threw him into fuch a dubiousness, and indeed perplexity of mind, | that the next day he durft not put any catchup in his fifb-fauce, nor have his beloved pepper, oil, and lemon, with his partridge, left, before he had feen De Lifter's book, he might tranfgrefs in using fomething not common to the ancients.