I thought it probable that the passage here in our author's thoughts was in Aristotle's POETICKS; but when this page was printing, I had not leisure to examine it with sufficient care. But the learned and ingenious Mr. Twining, to whom the publick is indebted for an excellent translation and commentary on that work, has discovered the words which Dryden seems to have had in view; ΠΕΡΙ ΠΟΙΗΤΙΚΗΣ, p. 24. edit. Tyrwhitt : Τρίτον δὲ ἡ διάνοια τοῦτο δέ ἐσι τὸ λέγειν δύνασθαι τὰ ἐνόντα καὶ τὰ αρ. ματίοντα.”. P. 394. n. 4. l. 5. For Bucal, r. Bucol. P. 401. n. *. l. 5. For was the inventor, r. is generally supposed to have been the inventor. And add, after the word videatur, in l. 11., as follows: The claim of Sannazarius, however, to the invention of this species of Eclogue, may be doubted; for from a line of Ovid (EPIST. EX PONTO. iv. 16.) it should seem that a Roman poet of the Augustan age, had written Piscatory Eclogues, though none of his works has come down to us: "Tityrus antiquas et erat qui pasceret herbas, P. 427. n. l. penult. r. any heroick poem, P. 427. l. 10 from the bottom. "Stavo ben," &c. I have in vain consulted many books of travels into Italy, in order to discover where or when this monumental inscription was set up, and on whom it was written; and merely mention it here, with a view to a further and more successful inquiry. Its having been quoted in the SPECTATOR, No. 25, has made it familiar to English readers but Addison does not furnish us with the desired information; for he only says, that it is "an Italian epitaph written on the monument of a Valetudinarian." P. 452. l. 12. For Montange's, r. Montagne's. P. 495. "From whence did he borrow his design of bringing Æneas into Italy ?"—Add to the note here. Aurelius Victor, who wrote in the fourth century, quotes a work then extant, written by A. Posthumius, De Adventu Enea in Italiam. Posthumius lived a century before Virgil. P. 516. I. 13. "I doubt not but the adverb, solum, is to be understood," &c. Turnus certainly would not acknowlege, that the menaces of his antagonist had any effect whatsoever on him; and, therefore, solum is not admissible. As for the valour of his opponent, there is no question concerning it, that being introduced by our author's false reading of the passage. See P. 514. n.. P. 517. l. ult. Ornari res ipsa negat, contenta doceri. This line is by many supposed to be in Horace; but it is found in the ASTRONOMICON of Manilius, lib. iii. v. 39. Our author affixed it as a motto to his RELIGIO LAICI. P. 561. n. 6. Sir William Trumbull's character of Archbishop Dolben, I have since observed, was printed in "the History of Rochester," 1774, and again in the new edition of the BIOGRAPHIA BRITANNICA. P. 575. n. 1. 4. For about the year 1662, г. April 9, 1665. P. 612. n. The observation quoted was not made by Catullus, as Dryden supposed, but by Martial, lib. iii. epig. 44: "Occurrit tibi nemo quod libenter; r. Quod quocunque venis, fuga est, et ingens "Circa te, Ligurine, solitudo; "Quid sit, scire cupis? nimis poeta es.” P. 657. n. The circumstance here mentioned, which explains and illustrates some of our author's verses, is ascertained by a letter written by Congreve to Joseph Keally, Esq. a gentleman who resided at Keally-mount, in the county of Kilkenny, in Ireland. In this letter, which appears to have been written, Sep. 28, 1697, (though falsely dated by the publisher, or some person through whose hands it passed, Sep. 1707,) is the following passage:-" My Lord Duke of Ormond, whom I waited on yesterday, talks of going for Ireland on Monday next. I believe my Lady, and the good Bishop, [Dr. John Hartstong, Bishop of Ossory, who had been the Duke of Ormond's Chaplain,] will have their books at that time. [Probably Dryden's Virgil.] Tell the good Bishop, I must have very good fortune before I am reconciled to the necessity of my staying in England, at a time when I promised myself the happiness of seeing him at Kilkenny. I would say somewhat very devout to the Duchess; but you are a profane dog, and would spoil it." See LITERARY RELICKS, published by George Monck Berkeley, Esq. 8vo. 1789. P. 352. ERRATA. In the Life of Dryden, p. 461, l. 3. For has, r. have. |