court, sets a stake to fortune, which she can seldom answer if he gains nothing, he loses all, or part, of what was once his own; and if he gets, he cannot be certain but he may refund. In short, however he succeeds, it is covetousness that induced him first to play, and covetousness is the

been a looker on, without venturing to play; that a man may know false dice another time, though he never means to use them. I commend not him who never knew a court, but him who forsakes it, because he knows it. A young man deser

court, sets a stake to fortune, which she can seldom answer if he gains nothing, he loses all, or part, of what was once his own; and if he gets, he cannot be certain but he may refund. In short, however he succeeds, it is covetousness that induced him first to play, and covetousness is the undoubted sign of ill sense at bottom. The odds are against him that he loses, and one loss may be of more consequence to him than all his former winnings. It is like the present war of the Christians against the Turk; every year they gain a victory, and by that a town; but if they are once defeated, they lose a province at a blow, and endanger the safety of the whole empire.

You, my Lord, enjoy your quiet in a garden,* where you have not only the leisure of thinking, but the pleasure to think of nothing which can discompose your mind. A good conscience is a port which is land-locked on every side; and where no winds can possibly invade, no tempests can arise. There a man may stand upon the shore, and not only see his own image, but that of his Maker, clearly reflected from the undisturbed and silent waters. Reason was intended for a blessing, and such it is to men of honour and integrity,. who desire no more than what they are able to give themselves; like the happy old Corycian,

* The second Earl of Chesterfield, in the latter part of his life, passed much of his time at an elegant villa near Twickenham.

whom my author describes in his Fourth Georgick; whose fruits and sallads, on which he lived contented, were all of his own growth and his own plantation. Virgil seems to think that the blessings of a country life are not complete, without an improvement of knowledge by contemplation. and reading.

O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint,

Agricolas !

It is but half possession, not to understand that happiness which we possess: a foundation of good sense, and a cultivation of learning, are required to give a seasoning to retirement, and make us taste the blessing. GOD has bestowed on your Lordship the first of these, and you have bestowed on yourself the second. Eden was not made for beasts, though they were suffered to live in it; but for their master, who studied GOD in the works of his creation. Neither could the devil have been happy there with all his knowledge, for he wanted innocence to make him so. He brought envy, malice, and ambition, into paradise, which soured to him the sweetness of the place. Wherever inordinate affections are, it is hell. Such only can enjoy the country, who are capable of thinking when they are there, and have left their passions behind them in the town. Then they are prepared for solitude; and in that solitude is prepared for them

Et secura quies, et nescia fallere vita.

As I began this Dedication with a verse of Virgil, so I conclude it with another. The continuance of your health to enjoy that happiness which you so well deserve, and which you have provided for yourself, is the sincere and earnest wish of

Your Lordship's most devoted,

and most obedient servant,

JOHN DRYDEN.

Mr. Spence, in his ANECDOTES, has preserved the following remarks made by Pope, in conversation, on the works of the great Roman poet :

"Virgil is very sparing in his commendation of other poets, and scarce ever does it, unless he is forced. He hints at Theocritus, (ECL. vii. 2.) because he has taken so much from him, and his subject led to it; and does the same by Hesiod, (GEO. ii. 176,) for the same reason. He never speaks a single word of Homer, and indeed could not do it, where some would have had him, because of the anachronism. They blame him for not mentioning Homer instead of Musæus, (ÆNEID. vi. 667,) without considering, that then Homer must have been put into Elysium long before he was born.

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Virgil's triumph over the Greek poets in his GEORGICKS, is one of the vainest things that ever was written.

"There are not above two or three lines in Virgil, from what we now have of Hesiod's works. Virgil owns the imitating that poet, and would not do so for two or three lines only.

Perhaps what we call Hesiod's works at present, is