}

This when unhappy mortals chanc'd to spy,
And the gay colour pleas'd their childish eye;
They dug the certain caufe of mifery.
And then obferving, that it fhow'd the frame,
And figure of the hollow whence it came; [ceive
They thought, thefe, melted, would with cafe re.
Whatever thapes the artift pleas'd to give: 1349
Or drawn to breadth, or take the keenest edge;
And fo the hook be fram'd, or fubtle wedge,
Or other inftruments, all apt, and good
To cut, or cleave, or fcrape, or hollow wood;
But gold they try'd in vain; the metal broke,
Or the foft edge was turn'd at ev'ry stroke:
This they contemn'd, the blunted gold defpis'd,
And feeble filver. brafs alone was priz'd.
But now the feeble, and the useless ore
Gets all the honour: Brafs is priz'd no more.
Thus time does change the dignity of things: 1360
For fome he bears away with fwifteft wings,
And hurls into contempt; brings others forth,
And gets them new, and fill preferves their
worth.

Whilft cruelty was not improv'd by art,

And rage not furnish'd yet with fword nor dart; With fills, or boughs, or ftones, the warriors fought;

Thefe were the only weapons nature taught: But when flames burnt the trees, and fcorch'd the ground,

1370

Then brafs appear'd, and iron fit to wound.
Brafs firft was us'd, because the fofter ore,
And earth's cold veins contain'd a greater ftore:
Thus brais did plough, and brazen trumpets
found,

Their weapons brafs, and brafs gave ev'ry wound: Thus arm'd, they frait invade their neighbours field,

And take his beafts: to arm'd the naked yield:
At lift, they, melting down the rigid mafs,
Made iron fwords, and then de pis'd the brafs.
They then beg. n to plough with iron fhares,
And iron weapons nly ferv'd in wars.

Thus men first learn'd to ride a fingle horse: And whilst their steady left hands rul'd the courfe,

1380

Their ftronger right hands fought before they knew

Or brought to wars, a chariot drawn by wo;
Then four were join'd, and then the armed cars,
And caftled elephants were brought to wars;
The Moors first raught them to endure the blows,
And break the ranks, and order of the foes.
Thus rage invented ftill new arms for fight;
Now dreadful weapon- ftill, and fit to fright;
Some train'd the furious bull, and fome the boar;
Before the Parthian ranks did lions roar, 1391
With armed guides fent out to four the plain,
And fright their foes: but thefe defigns were

vain:

Because when hot in fight they fiercely fall
On either fide, and, common foes to all,
Confus'dly enemies, or friends engage,
Shaking their dreadful heads, and fir'd with rage:
The horfes, frighted with the dreadful roar,
Ran o'er the plain, and would obey no more:

For they obferv'd that falling feeds did grow; They faw them fix'd, and bound to fleady roots, Then rife, and fpread, and promise noble fruits: Then fome began to graft; and till the field, And found the trees a better burden yield, When drefs'd with care, and in a richer foil; The fruits increas'd, and did reward their toil: They forc'd the cumb'ring wood to narrow bounds,

Enlarging fill their corn, and pafture grounds: The tyrant wood, that all the plains did fill, Was now confin'd unto the barren hill :

1450

And left the vales to olive, corn, and vine, Through which fmooth ftreams in fair meanders twine;

Now kifs the tender roots with wanton play,
Now flow again, enriching all their way;
Such beauteous pride did all the vallics thow,
So taking pretty as our gardens now,
Where fruitful trees in decent order grow.

Through all the woods they heard the charm-
ing noife

Of chirping birds; and try'd to frame their voice,
And imitate: The birds inftructed man, 1460
And taught them fongs, before their art began:
And while foft ev'ning gales blew o'er the plains,
And hook the founding reeds, they taught the
[wains:

And thus the pipe was fram'd, and tuneful reed;
And whilst the tender flocks fecurely feed,
The harmless fhepherds tun'd the pipes to love,
And Amaryllis founds in ev'ry grove.
Thus time, and thus fagacious men produce
A thousand things, or for delight, or ufe.
Thefe charm'd the fwains, and thefe were wont
to please
1470
When feafts were done; for then all feek for eafe:
Then underneath a loving myrtle's shade,
Clofe by a purling ftream fupinely laid,
When fpring with gaudy flow'rs the earth has
fpread,

And fweetest rofes grow around their head;
Envy'd by wealth and pow'r, with small expence,
They oft enjoy'd the valt delight of sense:
Then laughing, merry jefts, and country play,
And tales began; as, once upon a day!
Then pleasant fongs they fung, and wanton grown,
Each pluck'd and bound his flow'rs, and made a
crown,
1481

And with uneven steps they danc'd around;
Their heavy leaps ftill fhook the trembling ground:
While all the idle crowd, that flock'd to view,
Laugh much, because the tricks feem ftrange and

new:

And thus they pass'd the day in gay delight;
And watch'd and fed their tender flocks by night.
No need of fleep: that want the fongs fupply:
The noife chas'd Morpheus from their willing

eye.

Thefe now our wantons ufe; with toil and pain, 1490

They learn to dance in méafure: all in vain :
For thefe can reap no joy, no more content,
Than what thofe earth-born fwains did first resent.
For while we know no better, but poffefs
A prefent good, it does extremely please;

The later good our various thoughts employs; And we contemn the guft of former joys. Thus man defpis'd their ancient eafy food, Their acorns, and their apples of the wood: When clothes were found, and other cov'rings fpread, 1500

They fcorn'd their skins of beafts, and graffy
The fkins of beafts; which fure the firit that
found,

Not long enjoy'd, but by a treach'rous wound
He fell fo highly then, the now defpis'd,
Contemn'd, neglected skins of beasts were priz'd.
Thus men did fight for fkins: Those rais'd their

1530

Then letters found; and the poetic rage
First told the noble actions of the age:
But all beyond lies hid in difmal night,
And only feen by fearching reafon's light.
Thus fhips, thus clothes, thus wine, and oil
began;

And towns, the comforts and fupport of man;
But better'd all, to due perfection brought
By fearching wits, from long experience taught.
1 hus time, and thus fagacious men produce
A thousand things, or for delight, or use:
For one thing known does vig'rous light im-
part

For farther fearch, and leads to height or art.

LUCRETIUS begins this book with the praife of Epicurus, an not only makes him equal to th gods, but even roclaims him a god; lecaufe,

fays he, his divine difcoveries have been more beneficial to mankind than the inventions of Ceres, or of Bacchus, or than the many glorious M m iiij

exploits of Hercules: fince men might have lived happily enough without them. But true wifdom, which Epicurus firft difcovered and taught, is of the greatest utility to mankind, because it chases away all uneafinefs from the mind, and inftructs us aright in the nature of all things, and concerning the immortal gods.

Ver. 15 Lactantius, lib iii. cap. 14. " de falfâ fapientiâ:" and many others, pretend from this expreflion of Lucretius, that he did not mean Epicurus, but one of the more ancient philofophers, as Pythagoras, or Socrates, or Thales, or fome other of the feven fages: But they are evidently mistaken, as appears by verfe fixty of this book, where he says,

Cujus ego ingreffus veftigia

His fteps I trace▬▬▬▬

And Cicero certainly had his thoughts on this paffage, when in fufcul. 4. he fays: Qua quidem cogitans foleo fæpe mirari nonnullorum infolentium philofophorum, qui Naturæ cogni. tionem admirantur, ejufque inventori et principi gratias exultantes agunt, eumque venerantur ut Deum iiberatos enim fe per eos dicunt graviffim's Dominis." When I reflect on thefe things, I often wonder at the infolence of fome philofoppers who admire the knowledge of nature, and give thanks with transport of mind to the inventor and first author of natural philofophy; owning that he has delivered them from most tyrar nous lords.

Thus our grateful poet confeffts to whom he owes his knowledge in the Nature of Things: And indeed, if Epicurus did deliver the minds of men from cares, and fears, and fuperftition, he justly deferved to be revered preferably to any of the heathen gods. The words of this paffage run thus in the original,

Qui primus vitæ rationem invenit eam, quæ
Nunc appellatur fapientia-

For wisdom was the name which the Epicureans,

who were a fort of men not burdened with too

much modefty, gave only to their own philofophy. Horat. lib. i. Od. 33.

Parcus Deorum cultor, et infrequens
Infar ientis dum fapientiæ
Confultos erro

But the other philofophers were content to call their doctrine by the name of the love of wifdom: for fo the word philofophy fignifics.

Ver. 15. The fon of Jupiter and Semele: He is faid to have been the drit that planted vines, and made wine of the grapes: For which reafon the poets made him the god of wine: He travelled over the whole earth, conquered the Indies, and was the first who triumphed, which he did, riding upon an elephant. The chief badges and erablems of his power were tygers and the thyr fus: The tygers were harnafled to his car; and thus be was wont to be carried about. Virg. Andid. vi. v. 804.

Nec qui pampineis victor juga flectit habenis, Liber, agens cello Nifæ de vertici tigres. Nor Bacchus, turning from his Indian war, Betygers drawn, triumphant in his car, From Nita's top defcending to the plains, With curling vines around his purple reins. The thyrfus, was a fpear or javelin, wrapped about with vine branches and ivy; whofe point ended in the thape of a cone: Bacchus, and the mad drunken women, his companions, who were called Bacchæ, always carried a thyrfus in their hands: Moreover, Lucretius in this place, calls Bacchus by the name of Liber:

Namque Ceres fertur fruges, Liberque liquoris Vitigeni laticem mortalibus inftituiffe.

Virg. Georg. i. v. 5.

-Vos, O clariffima mundi
Lumina, labentem cœlo quæ ducitis annum,
Liber et alma Ceres; veltro fi munere tellus
Chaoniam pingui glandem mutavit ariflâ,
Poculaque inventis Achelcia mifcuit uvis.

Upon which the interpreters fay, that the poet
calls Liber and Ceres the lights of the world,
either because they were efteemed to be the in-
ventors of, and to prefide over the harvest and
the vintage, which are the chief parts or fealers
of the year, and the chief ornaments of the world,
fince they supply mankind with meat and drink:
or becaufe by them he means the fun and moca.
And indeed Prætextaus, in Macrobius Saturna!
lib. i. cap. 18. evidently proves, that not only
Liber and Dionyfius, which is another of the
names of Bacchus; but that Jupiter, and Mary
and Mercury, and Hercules too, were the 103;
who was called Liber, fays he, 66
quod liberè va
getur." He adds, likewife, that Ceres was the
moon, and that fome derive her name
ando," because fhe conduces very much to the
production of things. Bacchus was called Li et,
either because he made free, and restored to

" à cre

liberty the country of Boeotia, where he was
becaufe wine delivers the mind from cares, in
born, as we learn from Plut. in Quaft. Cert. of
fpires with courage, and occafions a liberty of
freeness of speech. Thus Horace, Carm. lib.
Od. 21. Speaking to a cafk of wine:
Tu lene tormentum ingenio ad moves
Plerum.que duro: tu lapientium

Curas, et arcanum jocofo
Confilium retegis Lyæo.
Tu fpem reducis mentibus anxiis,
Virefque: et addis cornua pauperi,
Poft te neque iratos trementi

Regum apices, neque militum arma. Of Bacchus fee more, Book ii. v. 616. and Book iv. v. 1165.

Ver. 16. Ceres.] She was daughter of Saturn and Ops, and mother of Proferpine. She was believed to be the first that fowed corn, and found out the art of ufing it. Virgil, Georgic i, v. 147.

Prima Ceres ferro mortales vertere terram
Inftituit.

For which reafon they made her the goddess of

corn; and hence too, as Varro, Cicero, and Arnobius, witnefs, fhe was called Ceres, as it were Geres, because, to ufe the very words of Arnobius, lib. iii." Salutarium feminum fruges gerat." See more, Book II. v. 616. and Book IV. v. 1165. Ver. 18. Diodorus Siculus, Book Ill., fays,

That the inhabitants on the coaft of the Gulf of Arabia, and of the countries of Troglodytia and South Ethiopia, know not the ufe of corn or wine; but that fome of them live upon fish and fnails, others upon roots, others upon the leaves, feeds, and fruits of trees, and others upon locufts. Mela witneffes, that the Troglodytes live in dens, and feed upon ferpents: fome of which, fays Pli. ny, Nat. Hift. lib. xxxi. cap. 2. are twenty cubits in length. And Faber, in his note on this paffage of our author, fays, that fcarce the fixth part of mankind do yet know what wheat is. Therefore we may well, fays Lucretius, live without corn and wine, but not without wifdom: "Sapientia enim," fays Cicero, lib. i. de Fin., " eft una quæ mæftitiam pellat ex animis, quæ nos exborrefcere metu non finat, quâ præceptrici in tranquillitate vivi poteft, omnium cupiditatum ardore reftincto:" For wifdom only it is that drives away forrow and uneasiness from the mind,

that fuffers us not to ftand aghaft with fear; and by whofe advice we may extinguish the flame of all inordinate defires, and lives in tranquillity, and exempt from all manner of paffion, Ver. 19. Lucretius:

At bene non poterat fine puro pectore vivi.

Where by puro pectore the poet means a mind undisturbed by ignorance, and not obnoxious to errors; a heart fincere, and free from all anxiety: for, as Horace fays,

their minds, from all vain anxieties, and restless defires: He chafed from our fouls the terrors at which we were ftartled and ftood aghaft, and diffipared the darkness of errors which clouded the happiness of life.

Ver. 25 Hercules: he was called Alcides from his grandfather Alcæus, who was father of Amphitryo of Thebes: For Hercules was the fon of Now, before either Hercules or Euryftheus, king Jupiter, by Alcmena the wife of Amphitryo. of Mycenae, were born, Juno, who knew that the fates had decreed, that whether of them came into the world laft, fhould ferve the other, contrived the matter fo, that Hercules was born af.ter Eurytheus, who, at her inftigation, commanded Hercules to go upon many dangerous exploits; but he proved fuccefsful in all of them, therefore was called Hercules, from "Haz, Juno, his renown, though fore against her will. · Virand asos, glory, becaufe the was the caufe of all gil. Æn. 8. v. 291.

-ut duros mille labores Rege fub Euryftheo, fatis Junonis iniquæ Pertulerit.

Ver. 26. That is the Nemean lion. "Nemæus

magnus hiatus leonis," fays Lucretius. This is the fifth of the labours of Hercules, according to the order in which the chief of them, which are

thirty-four in number, are enumerated. Now

there haunted in the Nemean wood, near Cicone, a city of Achaia, in the country of Peloponnefus, a vaft and terrible lion, that did a world of mifchief: Hercules not being able to kill him, either with his club or with his darts, laid hold of him, and tore him to pieces with his nails; then took his fkin, which neither ftone nor iron could penetrate, and wore it on his fhoulders, as a badge of honour. Diod. Sicul. lib. iii. Plaut in Perf. Virg. En. 8. This gave occafion to the inftitution of the Nemean games, which were celebrated every third year, in honour of Hercules. But fome,

acefcit.

In like manner, without fincerity of heart and purity of mind, it is impoffible to lead a happy life, or to país our days in tranquillity: And Cicero teaches us, that the only way to acquire this purity of mind is by the help of wildom, which, by delivering us from all terrors and defires, and from the temerity of all falle' opinions, is the fureft guide to pleasure. "Mentem autem puram ut habcas, adhibenda eft fapientia, quæ, et terroribus cupiditatibufque detractis, et omnium faifarum opinionum temeritate direptâ, certiffimam fe nobis duceni præbeat ad voluptatem," I. de Fin.

Ver. 24. In these twenty-four verses the poet enumerates fome of the labours of Hercules, which, he tells us, fall as far fhort of the difcoveries of wisdom, made by Epicurus, as the foul is more excellent than the body: For Hercules did indeed deliver men from monsters, that were deftructive to the body; but Epicurus, who first inftructed men in the art of wifdom, delivered

have been first inftituted to celebrate the funeral of Opheltes, fon of Lycurgus, and who was killed by an adder.

Ver. 27. This was his feventh labour; for Lucretius does not obferve the order, and mentions only the chief of them. He fpeaks here of the dreadful boar that haunted upon the mountain Erymanthus in Arcadia, and laid wafte all the country round. Hercules took him, and carried him to Eurytheus, king of Mycene.

Ver. 28. This was his ninth labour. A buil that infefted the country about Crete: Hercules brought him alive likewife to Euryftheus. Some fay this bull was fent into Crete by Neptune, whom Minos, king of Crete, had offended: others, that it was the same bull which brought Europa, the mother of Minos, into Crete; and others, that it was the bull, for love of which, Pafiphae, the wife of Minos, run mad.

Ibid. This was his third labour. It was a ferpent that lived both upon land and in the water, and was called Hydra, from idag, water. It kept