I think, I need use no other argument to justify
my opinion, than that of this one line, taken from
the eighth book of the JE^eis, If be bad aot well



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DEDICATION TO THE ^NEW.



SS*



i^aJied hit patron's temper, it might have ruined
him with another prince. But Augustus was not '
diicontentedy at least that we can And, that Cato
was placed, by his own poet, in Elysium; and
there giving laws to the holy souls, who desenred
to be separated from the vulgar sort of good spirits.
For his conscience could not but whisper to the
arbitrary monarch, that the kings of Rome were
at first elective, and governed not without a senate :
that Romulus was no hereditary prince, and
though, after his death, he received divine honours,
for the good he did on Earth, yet he was but a god
of their own making: that the last Tarquin was
cacpelled justly for overt*«cts of tyranny, and male-
aJministratiou ; for such are the conditions of an
elective kingdom : and I meddle not with others :
being, for my own opinion, of Montaigne's prin-
ciples, that an honest man ought to be contented
with that form of government, and with those fun-
dameutal constitations of it, which he received
from his ancestors, and under which himself was
bom. Though at the same time he confess^
freely, that if he could have chosen bis place of
birth, it should have been at Venice : which, for
many reasons, I dislike, and am better pleased to
have been bom an Englishman.

But to retaixk from my long rambling : I say
that Virgil having maturely weighed the condition
id the times in which be lived ; that an entire
liberty was not to be retrieved : that the present
settlement had the prospect of a long cont'muance
IB the same family, or those adopted into it : that
be held his paternal estate from the bounty of the
oonqoeror, by whom he was likewise enriched,
esteemed, and cherished: that this conqueror,
though of a bad kind, was the very best of it : that
the arts of peace flourished under him : that all
men might be happy, if they would be quiet :
that now he was in [iossession of the whole, yet he
shared a great part of his authority with the
senate : that he would be chosen into the ancient
offices of the commonwealth, and ru|ed by the
power which he derived from them; and prorogued
his government from time to time : still, as it
were, threatening to 'dismiss himself from public
cares, which he exercised more for the common
good, than for any delight he took in greatness:
these things, I say, being considered by the poet,
be concluded it to be the interest of his country
to be so governed : to infuse an awful respect into
the people towards such a prince : by that respoct
to confirm their obedience to him: and by that
obedience to make them happ^. This was the
KQfml of his divine p^xfoi: honest in tlo- poets



honourable to the emperor, whom he derives from
a divine extraction; and reflecting part of that
honour on the Roman people, whom he derives
also from the IVojans ; ^ and not only profitable,
but necessary to the present age; and likely to be
such to their posterity. That it was t^e received
opinion that the Romans were descended from the
Trojans, and JuUus Csesar from lulus the son of
.Eneas, was enough for Virgil : though perhaps be
thought not (to himself : or that .£oeas ever was in
Italy, which Bochartus manifestly proves. And
Homer, where he says that Jupiter hated the
house of Priam, and was resolved to transfer the
kingdom to the family of .£neas, yet mentions
nothing of his leading a colony into a forei|fa
country, and settling there ; but that the Romans
valued themselves on their Trojan ancestry, is m>
undoubted a truth, that I need not prove it. Even
the seals which we have remaining of Julius Oesar,
which we know to be antique, have the star of
Venus over them, though they were all graven
after his death, as a note that he was deified. I
doubt not but one reason, why Augustus should
be so passionately concerned for the preservation
of the JEneis, which its author had condemned to
be burnt, as an imperfect poem, by his last will
and testament, was, because it did him a real
service, as well as an honour; that a work should
not be lost, where his>divine original was celebrated
in verse, which had the character of immortolity
stamped upon it.

Neither were the great Roman families which
flourished in his time, less obliged to him than the
emperor. Your lordship knows with what address
he makes mention of them, as captains of ships
or leaders in the wat ; and even some of Italian
extraction are not forgotten. These are the single
stars which are sprinkled through the -ffineis; but
there are whole constellations of them in the fifth
book. And I could not but Uke notice, when I
translated it, of some favourite families to which he
gives the victory, and awards the prizes, in the
person of his hero, at the funeral games which
were celebrated in honour of Anchises. 1 insist
not on their names ; but am pleased to find the
Memmii amongst them, derived from Mencstheus,
because Lucretius dedicates to one of that family,
a branch of which destroyed Corinth. I likewise
cither found or formed ^n image to myself of the
contrary kind: that those who lost the prizes,
were such as disobliged the poet, or were in dis-
grace with Augustus, or enemies to Majcenas:
and this was the poetical revenge be took. For
genus irriubae Vatam, as Hora«e says. Whaa



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334



DRYDEN'S TRANSLATIONS.



a poet if tborongUy prafoked, he will do himself
jottioey bowerer dear it cost him, animamqoe
Stt Talnefe pomt I think these are not hare
Imaginatioiis of my own, though I find no trace of
them in the commentators; bnt one poet may
jadge ef another, by himself. The vengeance we
dafer, is not Ibrgotten. I hinted before, that the
whole Roman people were obliged by Virgil, in
^riTiog them firom IVoy : an ancestry which they
aftcted. We, and the French, are of the same
hnmour? they wonld be thought to descend from
a son, I think, of Hector : and we would have our
Britain both named and planted by a descendant
of .Soeas. Spenser &Tours this optnion what he
can. His prince Arthur, or whoever he intends
by him, is a. TMjan. Thus the hero of Homer
was a Grecian, of Virgil a Roman, of Tssso an
Italian.

I have transgresMd my bounds, and gene tether
than the moral leads me. But If your lofdihip is
not tired, I am safe enough.

Thus far, Ithink, my author is defended. Bnt
m Augustus is still shadowed in the person of
jGneas, of which I shall say more when I come
to the manners which the poet gives^ hk hero, I
must prepare that snigect, by showing how dex-
tronsly he managed both the prince and people,
so as to displease neither, and to do good to both :
which is the part of a wise and an honest man,
and provn, that it is possible for a oonrtier not
to be a knave. I shall continue still to speak my
thoughto like a freebom subject, as I am : though
snch things perhaps, as no Dutch commentator
could, and I am sure no Frenchman durst I have
already told your lordship my opinion of Virgil ;
that he was no aihitrary man : obliged he was to
bis' master for his bounty ; and he repays him
with good counsel, how to behave himself in his
new monarehy, so as to gain the affeictions of his
snyects, and deserve to be Called the father of his
country. From this consideration it is, that he
chose the ground-woik of his poem, one empire
destroyed, and another raised firom the ruins of
it. This was the just paralleL JEneas could not
pretend to be Priam's heir, in a lineal succession :
for Anchises, the hero's father, was only of the
second branch of the royal family ; and Helenus,
a. son of Priam, was yet surviving, and might
lawfully claim before him. 'it may be, Viigil
mentions him on that account Neither has he
forgotten Priamus, m the fifth of his JEaeis, the
son of Polite, youngest son to Priam ; who was
dain by Pyrrhus, in the second book. .Sneas had
«Jy married Creiisa, Priam's daughter, and by



her eonld have no tiUe, wUle any of the mala
israe were remaining. In thk case, tiiepoet gsiw
him the next tide, wfiich is that of an elective khig.
The remafaiing Tnjvm chose him to lead them
forth, and settle them in some fbreign coontry.
lUoneus, ra his speech to Dido, calls him ez«
pressly by the name of kmg. Our poet, who all
this while had Augustas in his eye, had no deshe
he should seem to succeed by any right of fai-
beiitanoe, derived from Julius Csssar: such a
title bemg but one degree removed from conquest
For what was introduced by force, by fbroe may
be removed. It was better for the people that
they shonM give, than he Ihottld take. Sincetfaat
gift was indeed no more at bottom than a trust;
'^^l gives ns an example of this, m thepenoa
ofMcseathis. HegovemedarbitFarily, hewasbe-
pdied ;<«nd came to the deserved endof aUty.
rants. Our author shows ns another sort of kiog-
sbip, in the person of Latinos: he was descended
from Satoni, and, as I remember, in the thini
degne. He H described a jnst and gncioos
prince; solicitous for thewelfhre of his people;
always consuitbig with his senate, to promote the
comijpoB good. We find him at the head of them,
when he enters mto tiia oonneil-hjdL Sjpeskrog
first, but ttiU demanding their advice, and steer,
iagbyit, asforasthami(|Nity ofthelimeswodd
suffinrhim. And this is the proper character of a
kmg by inheritance, who is bom a fother of his
country. iEneas, though he married the heiiass
of the crown, yet claimed no title to it dnriog ths
life of his fiuher-in-law. Pater arma latinos ha^
beto, &c are Vita's words. Aa fbr himself, he
was conteoAed to take care of his coutiy-fods,
who were not those of Latium : wherein onr diviae
author seems to relate to the afier-practiceor the
Romans, which was to adopt the gods of those
they conquered, or received as members of their
commonwealth. Yet withal, he plainly toocbes
at the office of the high pneethood, with which
Augustus was invested : and which made his per*
son ^more sacred and inviolable, than even the
tribuniUal power. It was not therefore fbr nothing,
that the most judicious of all poeu made that office
vacant, by the dea^h of Pantheos, in the second
book of the j£neis, for his hero tosaoceed ia it;
and consequently for Augustus, toeajoy. 1 know
not that any of the commeotatofs hav% takea
notice of that passage. If they have not, I aai
snretheyought; an4.iftheyhave, I am not ia-
debted to them for the obserration ; the words of
Virgil are very plain.

Sacra, suosque tibi ooamendat IVcja Penates.



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il^Cor Aufoitiis, or Iris uncle JoKot, clmimiiig
Iby dnoent from JEncui thmt title it already oat
€# doors, iBneas racceeded not, bnt waf elected.
IVoy WES foredoomed to fkll for erer.

Postquam res Asie, Priamique evertere regnum
Immeritum visum Soperis,— > JEneis, lib. iii. 1.

J^f^oaitm, it ii tme, bad onee lesohed to re»
boild that dty^ and thereto make the seat of em-
lire ; bvt Horice writes an ode oo purpgte te
delerkim firom that tlieugbt » declaring the place
to be aecnrsed, and that the gods would as often
destroy it, as it sbouM be raised. Hereupon the
e m p er or laid aside a project so ungratefol to the
Xoman people. But by this, my loid, we may
condode that be bad still bis pedigree fai bis
bead; and bad an itch of being thought 4 di-
irine king, if bis poets bad not gifun him beUer



I will pass by many Ism material ob^eotioM,
for want of ruom to answer them ; what follows
next is of great importanoe« if the critios can make
out their charge : for it is lereBed at the manneri
which our poet gitcs bis hero, and ifbich are the
same which were eminently seen m his Auguatus :
those masnets were, piety to the gods,, and a
dtttilbl afcctfon to bis fother ; tore to his rela-
tions; care of his people; courage and eooiuct
ID. the wais{ giatitude to those who had obliged
him, and justice in general to numkiod.

Piety, as your lordship seel, takes place of all,
as the chief part of his character i and the wovd
in Latin is mora loll than k can possibly be ex*
peessed in any â– mdem langukge; for there it
comprehend not only derotion to the gods, but
filial loreand tender affection to relation of all
aofts. As instances of thia, the deities of IVoy,
a»d his own penates, are made the companions
of his flight : they appear to him in bis voyage^
msd adrise him ; and at last be replaces them in
Italy, their nattre country. For his fotber, he
takes him on his back; be leads his b'ttle son|
bis wife follows him; but^ losing his footsteps
through fear or ignorance, he goes back into the
Budst of his enemies to find her ; and leares not
bis pursuit tQl her ghost appears, to forbid bis
foizther search. I will my nothing of bis doty to
bis fotber while he lired, bis sorrow for his death ;
of the games instituted in honour of his memory ;
im, by his command, eteu after his
in the Elysian fields. I will not mention
bis tendernem for his son, which every where is
risible ; of bis raising a tomb for Polydorus, the
obsequies for Miseuus, his pious remembrance of
Deipbobus; the funeral of bis nurse; his grief



DEDICATION TO THE ^NEia «5

for Pallas, and bis terenge tskeft mi bte mtt a| 8f er ,

whom otherwise, by hb natural compassion, bft
hadfofgiTsn; and then the poem had bean left im-
perfect I for we could have had no certain prospect '
of his happiness, while the last obstacle to it was
unremared« Of the other parts which composa
his character, as a king, or asa general, I need s^
nothing; the whole Aaeis is one oonthMied hi*
stanceof some one or ether of them'; and when I<
find any thing of thsm taxed, it should sui&oe me^'
as briefiy as I can, to Tindicate my diiine master
to your lordship, and by you to the reader. But
herein, Segrais, in bis admirable prefisfie to bin
translation of the SotiM, as the author of tbn
Oaupbia'B Viqgil justly calls it, has pferentod ma*
Him I follow, and whati borrow from him, am
ready to acknowledge to him. For, hnpartially
spcakiagy the Frenoh are as much better critioi
than the £i«lisli« as they are wosse poets. Thut
we generally allow, thiit tbey better understand
the management of a war, than our islanders ;
but we know we are superiour to them in the di^
of battle. They ralue themselves on their generals^
we on our soldiers. But this is not the propac
place to decide that question, if they make it
one. I shall perhaps my as much of other na«
tiom, and their poets, ejrcepting only Tbsso;. and
hope to make my assertion good, which is but
doing justice to my country; part of which ha*
nourwill reflect on your lordship, whose thougbte
are always just ; your numbers harmonious, your
words chosen, your expressions strong and manly,
your verse flowing* and your turns as happy aa
they are easy. If you would set us more copies,
your example would make all precepts needless.
In th^ mean time;, that little you have written is
owned, and that particulariy by the poets (who
are a nation not ov^ lavish of praise to their con*
temporaries), as a principal ornament of our lan-
guage : but the sweetest essences are always con*
fined in the smallest glasses.

When I speak of your lordship, it is never a
digression, and therefore I need beg no pardon for
it; but take up Segrais where I left him, and
shall use bim less often than I have occasion for
him. For his prefece is a perfect piece of criticism,
full and clear, and digested into an exact method ;
mine is loose, and, as I intended it, epistolary.
Yet I dwell on many things which be durst net
touch : for it is dangerous to offend an arbitrary
master; and every patron who has the power of
Augustus, has not his clemency. In short, my
lord, I woukl not translate him, because I would
bring you somewhat of my oWn. His notes and
observations on every book are of th^ saine ex^



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DRYDEN»S TRANSLATIONS.

m rewooy I omit the



ttWeofj; and, for tlie
freater part

He ukes no notice that \ugi\ k arraigned Ibr
placing piety befoie raloor; and making that
piety the chief character of his hero. I have al-
ready said, from Bona, that a poet it not oUifed
to make his htro a virtuoos man : therefore neither
Homer nor TaMo are to be blamed, for giving
what predominant qnality they pleased to their
first character. But Virgil, who designed to form
a perfect prince, and would insinuato that Au>
gustus, whom he calls Aneas in his poem, was
truly such, found himself obliged to make hhn
without blemish ; thoroughly virtoous : and a
thorough virtue both begins and ends in piety.
Tasso, without question, observed this before me ;
and therefore split his hero in two : he gave God-
frey piety, and Riaaldo fortitude, for their chief
qualities or manners. Homer, who had chosen
enother moral, makes both Agamemnon and
Achilles vicious $ for his design was, to mstruct
in virtue, by showing the deformity of vice. I
avoid repetition of what I have said above. What
follows is translated literally from Segrais.

Virgil had considered, that the greatest virtues
•f Augustus consisted in the perfect art of go-
verning bb people : which caused him to reign
above forty years in great felicity. He considered
that his emperor was valiant, civil, popular, elo-
quent, politic, and religious: he has given all
these qualities to ^Eneas. But, knowing that piety
alone comprehends the whole dnty of man towards
the gods, towards his country, and towards hb
relations, he judged that this ought to be his irst
character, whom he would set for a pattern of
perfection. In reality, they who believe that the
praises which arifie from valour, are superior to
those which proceed from any other virtues, have
not considered (as they ought) that valour, desti-
tute of other virtues, cannot render a man worthy
of any true esteem. That quality, which signifies
â– o more than .an intrepid courage, may be sepa-
rated from many others which are good, igid ac-
companied with many which are ill. A man may
be very valiant, and yet impious and vicious. But
the same cannot be said of piety, which excludes all
ill qualities, and comprehends even valour Itself,
with all other qualities which are good. Can we,
for example, give the praise of valour to a man
who should see his gods profaned, and should
want the courage to defend them ? to a man who
should abandon his father, or desert hia king in'
his last necessity ?
Thitf for Segrais, in giving the preference to



piety, before vakmr. I will now follow bSm iAttn
he considers this valour, or intrepid courage^
singly in itself ; and this also Virgil gives to hit
JEneas, and that in an heroical degree.

Having first concluded that our poet did for the
best In taking the first character of his hero from
that essentia] virtue on which the reyt depend,
he proceeds to toll us, that in tke ten yean^ war
of Tray, he was consklered as the aecood champioo'
of his country ; allowing^ Hector the first place ;
and this, even by the confession of Homer, who
teok all oocaskms of settmg up bis own country-
men the Grecians, and of undervaluing the Tro<
janchsefe. But Virgil (whom Segrais forgot to
cite) makes Diomede give him a higher diaracter
for strength and courage. His testimony is tbis^
in the eleventh book i
— Stetimns tela aspera oontrt,
Contulimusquemanus: exporto credite, quantos
In clypelnn aisurgat, qoO turbine torqneat hastaoL
Si duo prsterea tales Idaea tuUsset
Terra viras; nltro Inachias ve nia te t ad nihei
Dardanus, 3t versis lugere Gnscta fotis.
Quicquid apud dur» cessatum est mcenia Trqjo^
Hectcris, .Cnessque menu viptoria GraiftflS
HsBsit, & m decumum vestigia retulit annum*
Ambo animis, ambo imignet prsistantibns-annisi
Hie pietate prior.-——

I give not here my translation of these verses ;
though I think I have not ill sacceeded in them ;
because your lordship is so great a master of the
original, that I have no reason to desire that yoil
should see Virgil and me so near together. But
you may please, my lord, to take notice, thst
the Latin author refines upon the Greek, and hi'
sinuates that Homer has done his hero wrong, id
giving the advantage of the duel to his own coun-
tryman ; though Diomedes was manifestly the
second champion of the Grecians ; and Ulyises
preferred him before Ajax, when he chose him
for the champion of his nightly expedltioo; fer
he had a head-piece of bis own ; and wanted odIJT
the fortitude of another, to bring htm off with
safety ; and ' that he might compass bis design
with honour.

The French translator thus proceeds : they who
accuse .^eas for want of courage, either oudcT"
stand not Virgil, or have read him slightly ; otheN
wise they would not raise an objection so easy to
be answered. Hereupon he gives so rosny in*
sUnces of the hero's valour, that to repeat them
after him would tire your lordship, and pet me to
the unnecessary trouble of transcribing the grestest
part ef the three last £neids. In ibort, mw»



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•oald not be expected firom an ' Amadis, a sir tan
fe/ot, or a whole round table, than he performs.
Proxiina quasque metit gladio, ig the perfect
account of a knight errant If it be replied, con-
tinued Segrais, that it was not difficult for him
to undertake and achieve such harder enterprises,
because he wore enchanted arms ; that accusation,'
in the first place, must fall on Homer ere it can
reach Vii^il. Achilles was as well provided with
them as ^eas, though he was invulnerable with-
out them : and Ariosto, the two Tassos, Ber-
nardo, andTorquato, even our own Spenser ; in a
^rd, all modern poets have copied Homer, as
well as Virgil ; he is neither the first nor last, but
in the midst of them ; and therefore is safe, if
they are sa Who knows, says Segrais, but that
his fated armour was only an allegorical de-
fence, and signified no more than that he was un-
der the peculiar protection of the gods ? bom, as
the astrologers will tell us, out of Virgil (who
was well versed in the Chaldean mysteries), under
the favourable influence of Jupiter, Venus, and
the Sun. But I insist not on this, because I know
you believe not there is such an art ; though not
only Horace and Persius, but Augustus himself
thought otherwise. But, in defence of Virgil, I
d3re positively say, that he has been more cauti-
ous in this particular, than cither his predecessor
or his descendants. For .^neas was actually wound-
ed, in the twelfth of the JEnc'is; though he had
the same god-smith to forge his anns, as had
iichilles. It seems he was no war-luck, as the
Scots commonly call such men, who, they say,
are iron.free, or lead-free. Yet after this experi-
Jnent, that his arms were not impenetrable, when
fee was cured indeed by his motlier's help : be-
ause he was that day to conclude the war by the
death of Tumus, the pdct durst not cany the
miracle too far, and restore him wholly to his
former vigour ; he was still too weak to overtake
his enemy; yet we see with what courage he at-
tacks Tumus, when he facts and renews the com-
l«t. I need say no more : for Virgil d«^fends hiin-
»elf without needing my assistance; and provt-s
iis hero truly to deserve that name. He was not
then a second -r^te chami)ion, as they would have
tiin, who think fortitude the first virtue in a hero.
But being beaten from this hold, they will n'>t yet
allow him to be valiant: beejuise lie utpt irujie
oftfo, as they they think, than well becomes a
Ban of courage.

In the first place, if tears are arguments of
c^jwaidice, what shall I say of Homer's hero ?
Stall Achilles pass for tUnorous, because he wept,
VOL XIX,



DEDICATION TO THE ^NEia sjt

and wept on less occasioBS than JEnems i Herein
Virgil must be granted to have excelled his master.
For once both heroes are described, lamenting
their lost loves : Briseis was taken away by force
from the Grecian ; Cretisa was lost for ever to her
husband. But Achilles went roaring along the
salt-sea shore ; and, like a booby, was complain-
iug to his mother, when he should have revenged
his injury by his arms. Mneas took a nobler
course; for, having secured his father and bod,
he repeated all his former dangers to have found
his wife, if she had been above ground. And
here your lordship may observe the address of
Virgil ; it was not for nothing that this passage
was related with all these tender circumstances.
/Eneas told it ; Dido heard it That h« had been
so affectionate a husband, was no ill argument to
the coming dowager, that he might prove as kind