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EPIST. XX. AdLIBRUM SUUM.

ERTUMNUM Janumque, liber, spectare videris,

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Scilicet ut proftes Sofiorum pumice mundus.
Odisti claves, & grata figilla pudico;
Paucia oftendi gemis, & communia laudas,
Non ita nutritus. Fuge quò defcendere geftis.
Non erit emiffo reditus tibi. Quid mifer egi?
Quid volui? dices; ubi quid te læferit, & fcis
In breve te cogi, plenus quum languet amator.

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In 733 Horace published a Collection of his Epiftles and Satires, and probably placed this Epiftle at the Head of them, from whence Mr. Sanadon places it as a Preface to his Moral Poetry. Under an Allegory of a Child, unwillingly confined in his Father's House, and wishing for Liberty, the Poet gives his Book fome critical Advice, which may be of much Importance to Authors in general. The Character he draws of himself is natural, and nothing is disguised either by Modesty or Vanity.

Verf. 1. Vertumnum Janumque.] Vertumnus, according to the Scholiaft, was the God, who prefided over buying and felling, from whence he had a Statue and Temple in the Forum. We have given fome Account, in the first Epistle, of thofe grand Arcades in Rome called Janos, where Bookfellers kept their Shops.

2. Sofiorum.] The Sofii were a Plebeian Family well known in Rome, two Brothers of which diftinguished themselves by the Correctness of their Books, and Beauty of the Binding. COMMENT.

3. Grata figilla pudico.] So careful were the Romans of the Education of their Children, that they not only locked, but fealed the Doors of their Apartments, that no Perfons, who might be fuf

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EPIST. XX. TO HIS BOOK.

HE Shops of Rome impatient to behold,
And, elegantly polifh'd, to be fold,

You hate the tender Seal, and guardian Keys,
Which modest Volumes love, and fondly praise
The public World, even fighing to be read,
Unhappy Book! to other Manners bred.
Indulge the fond Defire, with which You burn,
Pursue thy Flight, yet think not to return.

But, when infulted by the Critic's Scorn,
How often fhall You cry, Ah! me forlorn?
When he shall throw the tedious Volume by,
Nor longer view thee with a Lover's Eye.

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pected of corrupting their Innocence, might be permitted to fee
them.

TORR

5. Fuge, quo defcendere geftis.] The Forum was fituated between
the Hills on which Rome was built, from whence we frequently
find in forum defcendere in Cicero and Seneca. The present Reading
is of all the Manufcripts.
BENT. CUN. SAN.

8. In breve te cogi.] In ar&tum volumen contrabi. The Poet
threatens his Book, that it fhall be rolled up, as if condemned never
to be read again. The Books of the Ancients were written on Skins
of Parchment, which they were obliged to unfold and extend when
they defigned to read.
TORR.

Plenus quum languet amator.] The Lover here fignifies a paffionate Reader, who feizes a Book with Rapture; runs it over in Hafte; his Curiofity begins to be fatisfied; his Appetite is cloyed; he throws it away, and never opens it again.

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Quòd fi non odio peccantis defipit augur,

Carus eris Romæ, donec te deferet ætas.
Contrectatus ubi manibus fordefcere vulgi-
Cœperis; aut tineas pafces taciturnus inertes,
Aut fugies Uticam, aut vinctus mittêris Ilerdam.
Ridebit monitor non exauditus: ut ille,

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Qui malè parentem in rupes protrufit asellum
Iratus. Quis enim invitum fervare laboret ?
Hoc quoque te manet, ut pueros elementa docentem
Occupet extremis in vicis balba fenectus.
Quum tibi fol tepidus plures admoverit aures,
Me libertino natum patre, & in tenui re,
Majores pennas nido extendiffe loquêris ;
Ut, quantum generi demas, virtutibus addas :
Me primis urbis belli placuiffe domique;

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Corporis

10. Donec te deferet atas.] Novelty is a kind of Youth, which gives to every Thing a certain Grace and Value. Few Books have a Privilege of not growing old. In general, their Youth is extremely short, and hardly divided from their Age. SAN.

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13. Aut fugies Uticam, aut vinētus.] Manuscripts must have been of fuch Value, that People of moderate Fortune could not chafe them when they were firft published, and when they came into their Hands they became contemptible. They were then fent by the Bookfellers into the Colonies for a better Sale. Horace therefore tells his Book, that when it hath loft the Charms of Novelty and Youth, it shall either feed Moths at Rome, or willingly take its Flight to Afric, or be fent by Force to Spain. Dr. Bentley affures us that vinctus is of all the Manufcripts, tam aliorum quam noftrorum codices omnes vinctus babent. They who read unctus, do not understand the Paffage.

SAN.

18. Extremis in vicis.] There were Schools in the most frequented Parts of the City, where Profeffors of Abilities and Reputation explained the beft Greek and Latin Authors. Children were taught to read in the Suburbs, whither Horace prefages his Book fhould be banished in its old Age. This Prediction fhould be confidered as a modeft Pleafantry, for our Poet knew too well the Value of his Works to be afraid of fuch a Destiny.

If Rage pervert not my prophetic Truth,

Rome shall admire, while you can charm with Youth,

But foon as vulgar Hands thy Beauty soil,
The Moth fhall batten on the filent Spoil;
Then fly to Afric, or be sent to Spain,
Our Colonies of Wits to entertain.
This fhall thy fond Adviser laughing fee,
As, when his Afs was obftinate like thee,

The Clown in Vengeance pufh'd him down the Hill:
For who would fave an Ass against his Will?
At last thy ftammering Age in Suburb-Schools
Shall toil in teaching Boys their Grammar-Rules:
But when in Evening mild the listening Tribe
Around thee throng, thy Master thus describe;
A Free-man's Son, with moderate Fortune bleft,
Who boldly spread his Wings beyond his Neft;
What from my Birth you take, to Virtue give,
And fay, with Ease and Happiness I live,
With all that Rome in Peace and War calls great:
Of lowly Stature: fond of Summer's Heat:

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19. Sol tepidus.] Mr. Dacier and the reft of the Commentators understand the Middle of the Day, when the Sun is moft violent, but this was a Time when People usually retired into their Houses to avoid the Heat. Sol tepidus may therefore mean the Mildness and moderate Warmth of Evening, when Men of Letters affembled either in the public Walks or Shops of Bookfellers, to read any Works lately published.

SAN.

22. Ut quantum generi.] Nature made Horace the Son of a public Crier, but his own Merit made him the Companion of an Emperor, and gained him the Friendship of the greateft, as well as moft ingenious Men of the Auguftan Age. There is an honourable and eafy Method in our own Power to correct the Misfortune of a mean Birth, by Probity, Learning, Good-Nature and Politenefs.

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Corporis exigui, præcanum, folibus aptum ;
Irafci celerem, tamen ut placabilis effem.
Fortè meum fi quis te percontabitur ævum ;
Me quater undenos fciat impleviffe decembres,
Collegam Lepidum quo duxit Lollius anno.

24. Solibus aptum.] We may remark, in many Places of his Works, that our Poet was very fenfible to Cold: that in Winter he went to the Sea-coaft, and was particularly fond of Tarentum in that Seafon, because it was milder there. We may likewise understand the Words of his Exercifes in the Campus Martius, as in his Odes patiens pulveris atque folis, but the former Sense is more natural.

28. Quo duxit Lollius anno.] Auguftus being in the Year 733 in Sicily, the Senate made him an Offer of the Confulfhip, which he refufed. This Refufal and his Abfence occafioned a very strongly difputed Election between Lepidus and Silanus, who pretended to fill his Place. Auguftus fent for them into Sicily, forbad them to return to Rome until the Election was ended. By this means, Lollius, who had been appointed Collegue with Auguftus, eafily carried the Votes in Favour of Lepidus, which Horace means by the Word duxit. Our Poet was born on the eighth of December 689, and confequently his forty-fourth Year ended 733.

SAN.

Q. Ho

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