He views his food, but dreads, with lifted eye, Whether the stile of Titan please thee more, 860 In order to give young readers a just notion of chasteness and simplicity of style, I have seen it of use to let them compare the mild majesty of Virgil and the violent exuberance of Statius, by reading ten lines of each immediately after one another. The motto for the style of the age of Augustus may be the "Simplex munditiis," of Horace; for the age of Domitian and the succeeding ages, the "Cultûque laborat multiplici," of Lucan. After this censure of Statius's manner, it is but justice to add, that in The Thebais there are many strokes of a strong imagination; and indeed the picture of Amphiaraus, swallowed up suddenly by a chasm that opened in the ground, is truly sublime: "Illum ingens haurit specus, et transire parantes Mergit equos; non arma manu non frena remisit Sicut erat, rectos defert in Tartara currus, Respexitque cadens cœlum, campumque coire Ingemuit !" B. vi. v. 817.-Warton. In this translation there are some excellent passages, particularly those pointed out by Dr. Warton-" O father Phoebus," and the exquisite lines descriptive of Evening, ""Twas now the time," &c.; but some of the most striking images are omitted, some added, and some misunderstood. Let us however confess, that the versification is truly wonderful, considering the age of the author. It would would be endless to point out, more particularly, occasional errors and inaccuracies, in a composition which can be considered no otherwise than as an extraordinary specimen of versification, before the writer's judgment and taste were matured. Bowles. Dr. Warton is of opinion, that no youth of genius should ever be suffered to look into Statius, Lucan, Claudian, or Seneca the Tragedian, lest it should prove injurious to his taste; but there is perhaps a still stronger reason, why young persons should not be permitted the perusal of these and other ancient authors, without great caution, from the unfavourable effect which it is likely to produce on their moral feelings, by the false ideas they tend to inculcate of the first principles of justice, truth, and liberty, and of every thing most important to the interests of society. What must be the result, to an inexperienced mind, to find the ideas of right and wrong utterly confounded; persons pursued by divine vengeance for unintentional offences, and rewarded or excused for the most atrocious crimes? The Gods themselves acting under the influence of the basest and most degrading passions? and the most detestable tyrants exalted above the divinities, as if because they exceeded them in cruelty and injustice? and this too presented to the imagination with all the plausibility, force, and elegance, of which language is capable? It may be possible, that from the study of these authors, a pupil may rise up a more accomplished scholar; but it is not easy to perceive how he can become a better That they exhibit the sentiments of a false and impious religion, is admitted; but for that very reason they ought not to precede the inculcation of pure and correct ideas of Christian morality, on the minds of youth. This difficulty would be avoided, if the present mode of education were reversed; if the earlier years of life were devoted to the proper direction and improvement of the moral sense, by those simple, clear, and positive precepts of which youth is so soon sensible; and the acquisition of the ancient languages, and the improvement of the taste were postponed, till the intellectual powers were so far strengthened, as to prevent the possibility of any dangerous result. man. per ABOUT this time it became fashionable among the wits at Button's, "the mob of gentlemen that wrote with ease,”, to translate Ovid. Their united performances were published in form by Garth, with a Preface written in a flowing and lively style, but full of strange opinions. He declares that none of the classic poets had the talent of expressing himself with more force and spicuity than Ovid; that the Fiat of the Hebrew Lawgiver is not more sublime than the "jussit et extendi campos" of the Latin Poet; that he excels in the propriety of his similes and epithets, the perspicuity of his allegories, and the instructive excellence of his morals. Above all, he commends him for his unforced transitions, and for the ease with which he slides into some new circumstances, without any violation of the unity of the story; the texture, says he, is so artful, that it may be compared to the work of his own Arachne, where the shade dies so gradually, and the light revives so imperceptibly, that it is hard to tell where the one ceases and the other begins. But it is remarkable that Quintilian thought very differently on this subject of the transitions; and the admirers of Ovid would do well to consider his opinion: "Illa vero frigida et puerilis est in scholis affectatio, et hujus velut præstigiæ plausum petat." Garth was a most amiable and benevolent man: It was said of him, " that no physician knew his art more, nor his trade less." Pope told Mr. Richardson, that there was hardly an alteration, of the innumerable corrections that were made throughout every edition of the Dispensary, that was not for the better. The vivacity of his conversation, the elegance of his manners, and the sweetness of his temper, made Garth an universal favourite, both with Whigs and Tories, when party-rage ran high. The notes which Addison wrote on those parts of Ovid which he translated are full of good sense, candour, and instruction. Great is the change in passing from Statius to Ovid; from force to facility of style, from thoughts and images too much studied and unnatural, to such as are obvious, careless, and familiar. Voltaire has treated Augustus with pointed, but just severity, for banishing Ovid to Pontus, and assigning for a reason his having written The Art of Love; a work even of decency, compared with several parts of Horace, whom Augustus so much |