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AUTHOR: 
 
 MOOR, JAMES 
 
 TITLE: 
 
 VINDICATION OF VIRGIL, 
 FROM THE CHARGE ... 
 
 PLA CE: 
 
 GLASGOW 
 
 DA TE : 
 
 1766 
 
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 Moor, James, 1712-1779. 
 
 Vindication of Virgil, from the charge of a 
 puerility; imputed to him by Doctor Pearce, in 
 his notes on Longinus; an essay, read to a 
 literary society in Glasgow ... by James Moor 
 . , , Glasow, printed by Robert and Andrew 
 Foulis, 1766. 
 
 32 p, 16§ cm, 
 
 Bqund with Hilidorus, of Emesa. Aethiopian 
 adventures: or. The History of Theagenes and 
 Chariclea. 1753. 
 
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 MflNUFflCTURED TO RUM STfiNDRRDS 
 BY APPLIED IMnCE, INC. 
 
VINDICATION 
 
 O F 
 
 VIRGIL, 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 CHARGE 
 
 O F A 
 
 PUERILITY; 
 
 IMPUTED TO HIM BY 
 
 DOCTOR PEARCE, 
 
 IN HIS NOTES ON 
 
 L O N G I N U S; 
 
 AN ESSAY, 
 
 HIAD TO A LITERARY SOCIETY IN GLASGOW, 
 
 AT THEIR. WEEKLY MEETINGS WITHIN 
 
 THE COLLEGE. 
 
 By JAMES MOOR LLD. Pkofessor of Greek 
 'in THE UNIVERSITY OF Glasgow. 
 
 -FRAGILI qjUAERENS ILLIDER.E DENTEM 
 
 OFFENDIT SOLIDO. 
 
 GLASGOW, 
 
 PRIKTED BY ROBERT AMD ANDREW FOULIS, 
 PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 M.DCC.LXVI. 
 
VINDICATION 
 
 V I 
 
 O F 
 
 R G 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 I L, 
 
 CHARGE 
 
 OF A 
 
 P U E R I L I T Yj 
 
 IMPUTED TO HIM BY 
 
 DOCTOR PEARCE, 
 
 IN HIS NOTES ON 
 
 L O N G I N U S. 
 
NOTE, Page 24. 
 
 Deceftum Laborum] Several other such un- 
 common expressions occur both in Virgil and Horace, 
 as well as in other Roman poets, a number of whi<^ 
 kind, collected by Nonius Marcellus, are cited by Tor- 
 rentius; in a very sensible note he gives on Uic words 
 of Horace, B. III. Ode last. v. 1 1. 
 
 Daunus agrestium 
 
 Regnavit Populorum- 
 
 cf which note, what follows is an extract. 
 
 * Regnavit populorum] Sic prisd quoqne in- 
 terpretes legerunt, nee primus hunc locum ex Servio 
 restituit Lambinus. Libri tamen M. S. omnes, quof 
 Tidcre contigit, Regnator habent. tantum potuit Gramr 
 maticorura audada. Solent autem nobiles poetae hu- 
 jusmodi locutionibus hie Ulic aspersis excitare Lecto- 
 rem; idque vel subaudiendo aliquid, vel imitationc 
 Graecofum. Taleillud - 
 
 ViRGiLii. Aim. XI. ia6. 
 Justitiaenc prius mirer, belline hborum i 
 
 Ho RATI I, Od. 
 Desine querelarum^ 
 ylhstineto irarum, 
 
 Decipitur Laborum, 
 
 Damnatus Laborh, 
 Soluts operuvty 
 
 Plauti. 
 
 Desipieham mentis^ 
 Pendet animi, 
 ct similia multa a Nonio ^ongesta*. 
 
 n. 9, %fi 
 
 III. 37. 6^. 
 
 W. 13' 37» 
 
 If. 14. 19^ 
 
 in. 17. ult. 
 
 Epid. I, 2, 3^, 
 
 Merc. I. 18. 54. 
 
NOTE. 
 
 A still more copious collection of such expressions 
 IS to be found in Ruod imam's Latin Grammar, vol. 
 S.p. 115. &c. 
 
 INDEX TO THE QUOTATIONS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 3. Longinus — iii.Sect. 
 
 4. Antiquam— iii. 96 
 
 5. Genus a — iii. 168 
 5, Agnovit — iii. 180 
 
 IX. Surge — iii. 169 
 
 Page, 
 
 12. Anchisem— iii. 179 
 1 3 .Turn memorat iii. 1 8 2 
 1 6. Turn genitor-iii. 102 
 22.PeIagine — vi. 532 
 22. Immoage— i. 7 57 
 
 24. Horace B. II. Ode 13. v. 37. 
 
 w 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page %*for Kerce read Pearce. 
 P. 21 . line 1 1 ,for criticism, read criticism ; 
 P. 24. line 4. y2>r Lydus, r^j^Lydius. 
 p. a 7. line 7. r^j</ Creiisae. 
 
 
 V I N D I CATION 
 
 V 
 
 F 
 
 I R G I : 
 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 • 
 
 CHARGE 
 
 
 F A 
 
 p 
 
 U E R I L I T ' 
 
 
 IMPUTED TO HIM BY 
 
 
 DOCTOR PEARCE, 
 
 
 IN HIS NOTES ON 
 
 
 LONGINUS. 
 
 L. 
 
 Y; 
 
 IN a passage of Longinus, where 
 he is describing that fault in writ- 
 ing which he calls a Puerility; 
 Doctor Pearce, in his note to il- 
 lustrate the definition, gives an 
 example of one very palpable 
 Tuerility, as he thinks, in Virgil. 
 
 * nifallor,'(sayshe,)'optimusille 
 
 * Aeneidos auctor semel hujus 
 
 * vitii arguendus est.' 
 
 A 2 
 
~ ( 4 ) . / 
 
 The passage in Virgil is to 
 this purpose. The oracle had or- 
 dered Aeneas to go and settle in 
 the original mother-country of 
 the Trojans; 
 
 — — Antiquum txquirite matrem, 
 
 Anchises understood that to be 
 Crete; from whence their old 
 kino- Teucer had come, with a 
 colony, to Troy. Aeneas sails to 
 Crete; and begins a settlement 
 there; but, being soon terrified, 
 by a pestilence and famine, re- 
 solves to consult the oracle a- 
 gain. Mean time, the Penates, 
 or Tutelar Gods of Troy, ex- 
 plain to him, in a vision, that the 
 oracle meant he should settle in 
 Italy ; the mother country of Dar- 
 danus; who was their first, and o- 
 riginal, ancestor. 
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 ' • — genus a quo p ri n ci p fe Tiostrtlm ; 
 
 Teucer having come later than 
 him, and united the two families, 
 by marriage^ Upon this, Anchi- 
 ses acknowledges his mistake j 
 
 Agnovit prolem ambiguam, geminosque Parente$ ; 
 Scque NovovETERUM deccptiim errore Locorum^ 
 
 on these two epithets, novo vete- 
 rum, Dr. Pierce makes this re- 
 mark, ' prae nimio studio profe- 
 ^ rendi Ancirheti, scripsit novo^ 
 ^ NULLO, op nor, sensu; novo e- 
 * nim veterum respondet; sedni- 
 thil sentenciae addit; imo pu-^ 
 ^ ERiLiBUs illam ingeniis quam 
 f virilibus apciorem efficit.' here, 
 says he, Virgil joins the epithet 
 novo, tq errore^ without any 
 meaning, {tiutlo sensu\) because,^ 
 to wit, Anchises had made no se- 
 cond mistake; he had only once 
 
( ^ ) 
 
 explained the oracle ; and so, says 
 the Doftor, imvo, taken by itself, 
 respondet, makes a see-saw, with 
 'veterum-, but, against you come 
 to join it with its substantive, er- 
 rore^ it conveys no meaning at 
 all. he might tairly have said, it 
 conveys a false meaning; and, 
 probably, would have said so; 
 but that he is guided a little 
 here, in his opinion, by Servius; 
 who softens the matter thus; ' sa- 
 
 * ne aut per contrarietatem ser- 
 
 * monis declaravit, aut novo pro 
 
 * magno posuit. 
 
 This criticism, when the Im- 
 port of it is fully considered, a- 
 mounts to as heavy a charge, up- 
 on Virgil, as ever, perhaps, was 
 brought against any, even the 
 most contemptible, writer, for, 
 
 (7 ) 
 
 though the circumstances of the 
 thing, to be told here, had, really, 
 in themselves, contained any such 
 opposition, as might present to 
 the imagination of the poet some 
 antithesis of expression; yet, to 
 have wrought that up, or, even, 
 to have let it slip, into such a see- 
 saw as this, would have been a 
 a levity, utterly unworthy of Vir- 
 gil; and altogether unbecoming 
 the dignity and importance of 
 the subject, but the case, here, is 
 far worse. Virgil has not even 
 the excuse of inadvertency; no 
 circumstance could give occasi- 
 on to this antithesis ; for, Anchi- 
 ses had made but one mistake, 
 yet, right or wrong, it seems, the 
 poet was determined to intro- 
 duce it ; and; since it did not na- 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 turally grow out of the subject, 
 he resolved to ingraft it upon it. 
 lastly, and to complete all, his 
 genius is as barren as his taste is 
 bad. he is not able to execute 
 his intention, low as it is. he can- 
 not even make out this same 
 little small antithetical prettir 
 ness; which, as the Doctor says, 
 he had set his heart upon ; (' nimia 
 ' studio proferendi aptitheti ;) and 
 it is, after all, but the embryo of 
 an antithesis; no sooner conceive 
 ed, than dead, at the beginning 
 of the verse, he makes you expect 
 it; but, before the end of it, he 
 fails; you are quite disappointed; 
 and find it a mere abortion, the 
 novo vet e rum turns out a poor 
 collision, without one spark to 
 follow from it. 
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 This, and nothing less than 
 this, is implyed in the Doctor s 
 charge against the poet. 
 
 BuRMAN, ia his edition of Vir- 
 gil, mentions this remark of Doc- 
 tor Pearce ; and owns that ServU 
 us says nothing to the purpose on 
 the difficulty. ' Servhis etiam l a^ 
 \ BOKAT in hoc epithetoexpUcandol 
 Purman takes no notice, indeed, 
 of one part of the criticism ; the 
 impropriety of using an antithe- 
 sis of expression on such a sub^ 
 ject; but he labours very hard to 
 make out, that, the antithesis is a 
 real one; and, that Doctor Pearce 
 is wrong in saying, that, the epi- 
 thet novo is sine ullo sensu) and 
 endeavours to give a sense to it, 
 by imputing several different 
 mistakes to Anchises; and, to 
 
 B 
 
( 10 ) 
 make way for our believing so, 
 he begins by telling us, that, An- 
 chises was but a doting sort of 
 an old fellow, who had lost his 
 memory; ' credo, Anchisen, ob- 
 liviosum senem, voluisse dicere, 
 se olim quidem de Hesperia ex 
 monitu Cassandrae aliquid inau- 
 divisse, sed nunc ex Apollinis 
 oraculo obscuro et dubio, novo 
 errore fuisse deceptum, quum 
 Antiquam Matrem interpreta- 
 tus esset de Teucro, qui ex Gre- 
 ta colonlam duxerat in Tro- 
 ada, quum debuisset de Darda- 
 no explicare, qui ante Teucrum 
 eoadpulerat,etDardaniam con- 
 diderat/ — Anchises had heard 
 something, he says, of Italy, from 
 Cassandra ; but, by a new, or a se- 
 cond mistake, he had misunder- 
 
 A 
 
 ( lO 
 
 stood Apollo. — ^but, where is the 
 first mistake?— he had, indeed, 
 never payed any regard at all to 
 Cassandra's information ; but how 
 can that be called error locorum?. 
 — ' novo veterum deceptum erro- 
 * re locorum/ But, it is needless, 
 indeed, to enter into the particu- 
 lars of this kind of defence of 
 Burmans. the whole passage in 
 Virgil, when viewed together, 
 plainly shows, that, such a de- 
 fence can have no place, for, the 
 Tenates inform Aeneas, that A- 
 poilo had meant he should settle 
 in Italy, as his mother-country. 
 they bid him rise, and tell his fa- 
 ther this. 
 
 Surge, age, et haec laeta longaevo diela parcnti 
 Hand dubitanda refer. 
 
 he does so; 
 
 B 2 
 
( '2 ) 
 
 Anchisem facio certum, remque ordine pando, 
 
 upon which, Anchises, 
 
 Agnovit prokm ambiguam, geminosque paretitcs, 
 Seque, novo, Teterum deceptum, errore, locorum. 
 
 'tis plain, then, that, what An- 
 chises says here refers solely to 
 his mistake of the meaning of 
 Apollo ; and has nothing at all to 
 do with what Cassandra had told 
 him of old. nay, what is much 
 more, when he was making this 
 confession of his mistake, he had 
 not So much as recollected yet 
 Cassandra's former prophecy, he 
 does not do that till afterwards; 
 as is manifest from the words 
 next following; 
 
 Turn meraorat; Nate, Iliacis exercite fatis. 
 Sola mihi tales casus Cassandra canebat ; 
 
 Nunc repeto ; haec gencri portendere debita no- 
 ftro; 
 
 Et sacpc Hesperian), saepe Itala regna tocarc. 
 
 ( '3 ) 
 
 Sed quis ad Hesperiae ventures littora Teucros 
 Crederet; aut quera turn vates Cassandra moyeret. 
 
 where, the tum memo r at ^ and xht 
 NUNC repeto ) now / recollect \ 
 make it perfectly evident, thaf, 
 in what he had said before, Cas- 
 sandra was not yet in his thoughts, 
 besides, from the last verse; 
 
 quem tum vates Cassandra moveret. 
 
 it is plain that he payed no regard 
 at all to what Cassandra told him ; 
 and so it cannot be said that she 
 had led him into any mistake, a- 
 bout the place destined for their 
 Settlement. 
 
 Burman tries further to make 
 out another mistake of Anchises. 
 but eithet I don t understand him, 
 or he contradicts himself, his 
 words, which follow iiftmediate- 
 ly after what was already quoted 
 
 ii 
 
 ! ■ 
 
( '4 ) 
 
 from him, are these. ' Et quia 
 etiam quidam Dardanum ex 
 Creta deduxerunc, inde in erro- 
 rem deductum. nimirum, An- 
 chises de Creta accipiebat, Dar- 
 dano omisso, de Teucro cogi- 
 tans; et quia Trojani, et Teu- 
 cri et Dardanidae dicuntur, pro- 
 les erat ambigua, et geminus 
 Parens/ In the first of these two 
 sentences, if I understand theni, 
 he means; some maintained that 
 Dardanus had come from Crete; 
 and that led Anchises to take 
 Crete for their mother-country, 
 in the next sentence, which is to 
 explain the former, he says ; An- 
 chises took Crete for their mo- 
 ther country; because he forgot 
 Dardanus, and thought only of 
 Teucer; ^ nimirum, Anchises de 
 
 rj 
 
 i 
 
 (15 ) 
 
 * Creta accipiebat, Dardano o* 
 
 ' misso, de Teucro cogitans/ but, 
 if he were ever so consistent with 
 himself here, the whole makes 
 nothing to the purppse. for, still, 
 Anchises makes but one mistake 
 of Crete for Italy ; were there e- 
 ver so many concurring causes 
 which had led him into that mis- 
 take; and though it were granted 
 that one of these causes was this 
 particular opinion, which some 
 held, that Dardanus had come 
 originally from Crete, but there 
 is not indeed any ground for the 
 supposition, as Anchises makes 
 no mention of it, when he inter- 
 prets the oracle, and enumerates 
 very fully the several causes which 
 made him think that by their 
 mother- country Apollo meant 
 
 / 
 
( i6 ) 
 
 Cxctc. VIZ. mount Ida had its 
 name from the Cretan Ida; king 
 Teucer their ancestor had come 
 from thence; and from thence 
 they had got their religion, the 
 rites of Cybele, the ceremonies 
 of the Corybantes in the grove of 
 Ida, the mysteries of the Magna 
 Mater, and the procession of her 
 chariot drawn by lyons — . 
 
 Turn Genitor, veterum volvens monumenta virorum, 
 Audite, proceres, ait, et spes discite veflras, 
 
 Greta, Jovis magni, medio, jacet insula, ponto j 
 Mons Idaeus ubi, et gentis cunabiria noftrae. 
 Centura urbes habitant magnas, uberrima regna ; 
 Maximus unde Pater, si rite audita recorder, 
 Teucrus Rhoeteas primum est advectus ad oras : 
 Optavitque locum regno : nondum Ilium et Arces 
 Pergameae steterant ; habitabant vallibus imis. 
 Hinc Mater Cultrix Cybele, Corybantiaque aera, 
 Idaeumque nemus ; hinc fida silentia sacris, 
 Et juncti currura Dorainae subiere leones. 
 
 Among all which circumstances, 
 of their origin from Crete, there 
 
 ,i. 
 
 ( 17 ) 
 
 IS not the least mention of Dar- 
 danus. 
 
 After what I have just observ- 
 ed, it is scarce worth while to take 
 notice of the third and last way 
 Burman takes, to find a meaning 
 to the novus error y if it were not 
 just to show how much he must 
 have been graveled in this passage. 
 
 * deindc,' says he, ^ quia error loco- 
 
 * /7/;;2,nonwor//;;^dicitur, posset 
 ^ dici Anchises errasse de monce 
 ^ Ida, quae quum aequc in Creta 
 ^ esset, atque inTroade, hinc cu- 
 ^ nabula gentis inde credebat re- 
 ^ petenda/ he means, I suppose, 
 that Anchises had both made a 
 mistake o£ persons and ofp/aces; 
 he had thought of Teucer when 
 he sliould have thought of Dar- 
 danus ; and he had made a second 
 
 C 
 
( '8 ) 
 
 mistake, a novus error ^ about the 
 two mount Idas, this might give 
 a sort of meaning to the epithet 
 novus y which he is labouring for; 
 but it would give a very sorry 
 meaning to the passage in gene- 
 ral; if, to wit, by the vet er urn lo- 
 coriim were meant the tw^o moun- 
 tains, but it is needless to enter 
 into particulars here; as it is, I 
 think, self evident, that vetenim 
 locoriim must undoubtedly be 
 meant of Crete and Italy, for the 
 sense is evidently this; that An- 
 chises acknowledges the Trojans 
 had TWO several Ancestors, who 
 came from these tv^o different 
 mother-countries. 
 
 So that, notwithstanding all 
 Burmans well meant pains to 
 vindicate the poet from at least 
 
 ( ■? ■) 
 
 one part of thecensure,Dr.Pearce, 
 it would scem,has reason to think, 
 that, his criticism, severe as it is, 
 remains in its full force ; and that 
 Virgil is guilty of a premeditat- 
 ed, and yet a meaningless, pueri- 
 lity. 
 
 But, can one really believe, that 
 Virgil could be, deliberately, guil- 
 ty, of affecting such a pitiful, still- 
 born conceit, is it not in writing 
 as in life, there are, in both, some 
 characters far beyond the impu- 
 tation of being capable of a gross 
 violation of the kaaon. such a cha- 
 racter, if any, is Virgil; and such 
 an imputation, surely, is this, is 
 it not far better for a critic, when 
 he meets, in a first rate writer, a 
 passage which suggests to him an 
 apprehension of this kind, to dis- 
 
 C 2 
 
 \ 
 
( 
 
 20 
 
 ) 
 
 ( 
 
 trust himself ; and suspect he does 
 not understand the passage; and, 
 much more so, in a work, where 
 several difficulties confessedly oc- 
 cur; especially with respect to 
 the uncommon turns of expres- 
 sion, for^ though the general run 
 of Virgil's language is more easy, 
 as well as it is more musical, than 
 that of any other Roman poet, 
 or, indeed, of any poet who has 
 wrote in Latin ; yet, at times, we 
 find in him some very uncommon 
 turns of expression, which have 
 not been always equaUy well at- 
 tended to by his commentators, 
 and, therefore, when a passage, at 
 first view, seems to imply a fault, 
 so gross, as to be altogether in- 
 compatible with the character of 
 a poet the njost admired of any 
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
 for delicacy of taste and accura- 
 cy of judgment; I imagine, the 
 best thing which a critic can do 
 is, to distrust himself rather than 
 suspect the poet; and examine 
 well, whether, there may not be 
 there some word, or some ex- 
 pression, which, in its most ordi- 
 nary acceptation, conveys that 
 sense which gives occasion to his 
 criticism, but yet, is taken some- 
 times in another sense, which 
 may clear the passage of all diffi- 
 culty, and this, I imagine, is ve- 
 ry remarkably the case in these 
 two lines of Virgil. Deceptnm 
 errore, deceived by a mistake^ ap- 
 pears, to be sure, very readily, to 
 be the sense here, but yet, error 
 does not always signify a mistake ; 
 in Virgil, it means sometimes a 
 
 A 
 
C 22 ) 
 
 travelling; by sea, or land ; a voy- 
 age, or journey, as, whenDeipho- 
 bus asks Aeneas how he came a- 
 live to the Shades ; 
 
 - Pelagine vcnis error thus actus. 
 
 and, when Dido asks Aeneas to 
 relate his adventures ; 
 
 Immo age, et a primo, die, Hospes, origine, nobis 
 Insidias, inquit, Danaum, casusque tuorum. 
 Err ore J que tuos. 
 
 and so, in the passage I am up- 
 on, to me it seems beyond all 
 doubt, that, by novo errore is 
 meant errore Teucri. Dardanus 
 had made the first voyage, the 
 first adventure, the primus error, 
 in search of a settlement; Teu- 
 cer made a second, a later, or a 
 novus error y and this had deceiv- 
 ed Anchises. and, thus, the epi- 
 thet noviis is no way meant as an 
 
 ( ^3 ) 
 
 antichesis to veferum locorim\ 
 but, in distinccion to the prior 
 voyage of Dardanus. 
 
 So far the sense appears, to 
 me at least, clear, and just, and 
 liable to no criticism, but this is 
 not all; the remaining words of 
 this verse make a further diffi- 
 culty in the expression, by be- 
 ing in an uncommon constructi- 
 on — * Anchises agnovit se decep- 
 
 * tum veterum locorum' — owned 
 himself mistaken in these anci- 
 ent countries — 'novo ErroreTeu - 
 
 * cri' — by that second voyage of 
 Teucer. — deceptum veterum loco- 
 rum is, I say, an uncommon ex- 
 pression ; which has contributed 
 to the difficulty of the passage, 
 and to the mistake of Dr. Pearce. 
 but yet, it is an expression, to 
 
which another, exactly parallel, is 
 to be found, in a poet of the same 
 rank with Virgil, for elegance and, 
 taste. I mean in Horace; in the 
 ode upon his escape from the fall 
 of the tree ; where he is giving a 
 dignity to his own art, and insi- 
 nuating his importance as a poet; 
 by describing the veneration in 
 which the Greek lyric poets were 
 held among the Shades. The 
 Charm, says he, of Alcaeus' poe- 
 try beguiles even the guilty of 
 their tortures. 
 
 Quin et Prometheus, et Pelopis parens, 
 Dulci, laborum decipitur, sooo. 
 
 Here, I say, the expression, Tro- 
 metheus decipitur Laborum, dulci 
 sono Alcaeiy is exactly parallel to 
 the expression, Agnovit se decep- 
 tum.Locorum^ novo errore Teucri. 
 
 { 
 
 ( 25 ) 
 
 And thus, I think, the poet may 
 fairly be vindicated from so po- 
 sitive, and, at the same time, so 
 very severe a censure. 
 
 There is, besides, another kind 
 of objection, which has likewise 
 been made to this very passage 
 of Virgil; and which I shall also 
 endeavour to remove. Ruaeus, 
 and others, have taxed Virgil 
 with want of judgment in the 
 conduct of this part of his poem, 
 for, say they, Anchises and Ae- 
 neas ought to have been sensible 
 of this mistake long before; and 
 that, most especially, from the 
 farewell- words of Creiisa to Ae- 
 neas; when her shade appeared 
 to him, on the night of the de- 
 struction of Troy; and, not only 
 told him of Hesperia by name, 
 
 D 
 
( =6 ) 
 
 but marked out its particular si- 
 tuation, by the river Tyber. for, 
 says she. 
 
 Ad terrain Hesperiam venies, ubi Lydus, arva 
 Inter opima virum, leni fluit agmlne Tybris. 
 
 Eurman, who likewise mentions i 
 this objection, fairly owns that 
 he does not well know what to 
 say to it; he thinks less of Anchi- 
 ses, as an oblivious old man; but 
 seems to wonder that Aeneas 
 should forget it. ^ ftescio quid di- 
 ^camT says he, ' certe Aeneas non 
 * debuerat oblitus esse! then, he, 
 modestly enough, offers two so- 
 lutions, by way of guess or con- 
 jecture, shall we chink, says he, 
 that Aeneas believed, the oracle 
 of Apollo was much more to be 
 depended on than the words of 
 Creiisa— .' credcns, certius Aplli^ 
 
 f/ 
 
 % 
 
 ( ^7 > 
 
 ' nis esse oraculum Creiisae dlctisl 
 or, that Aeneas really had no 
 great faith in the ghost of Crcii- 
 sa, and remained still at a loss 
 where to go. — ' an, incertum Ae- 
 ' neam non multum fidei habuis- 
 * se Creusae umbrae ? num et post 
 ^ illam vis am dicit, 
 
 Incerti quo fata ferant, ubi sistere detur.* 
 
 this solution is almost ludicrous* 
 I shall pass it, and return to the 
 objection; which is, plainly, one 
 of those kind of arguments, which, 
 if they prove any thing at all, prove 
 a great deal too much, for, ac- 
 cording to it, Anchises and Ae- 
 neas should not, properly, have 
 sooner acknowledged their mis- 
 take, as Ruaeus states it; ^ erro- 
 ' rem agnoscereantea debuerat \2iit 
 his words, they should never 
 
 D % 
 
C 28 ) 
 
 have fallen into that mistake at 
 all. they should have sailed for 
 Hesperia from the beginning. 
 whereas, they, first of all, attempt- 
 ed a settlement in Thrace, here, 
 then, i§ the proper objection, 
 how came Aeneas ; so soon after 
 the appearance of Creiisa, even 
 before he left the coast of Troy, 
 while his ships were yet a build- 
 ing only, and his men assembHng ; 
 to be entirely at a loss where to 
 settle, for, says he, 
 
 classemque sub ipso 
 
 Antandro, ct Phrygiac, molimur, montibus Idae; 
 Incerti quo fata fcrant, ubi sistere dctur ; 
 Contrahimusque virps. 
 
 now, I think it is natural, from 
 this passage, to conclude; that 
 Virgil meant here to show, that, 
 from the words of Creiisa, Ae- 
 lieas h^d been able to make que 
 
 1 
 
 f '' < 
 
 •> 
 
 f 
 
 ■ C ^9 ) 
 
 nothing at all, which could be of 
 any service to direct his voyage. 
 Apollo gave him afterwards a 
 response which was obscure) but 
 the prophecy of Creiisa had been 
 utterly unintelligible to him. yet 
 the question remains, if this real- 
 ly be Virgils intention here, is 
 he uniform, throughout, in the 
 whole ^onduct of this part of the 
 poem? has he put such words in 
 the mouth of Creiisa, as must, 
 naturally, to Aeneas, appear un- 
 intelligible ? yes ; even contradic- 
 tory, at least, to me, the poet 
 seems, evidently, to have artfully 
 managed her expressions with 
 that very intention, let us exa- 
 mine them. She tells Aeneas, 
 
 Longa tibi exilia, et rastum marls aequor arandum ; 
 Ad Terram Hesperiam venies. ubi L^dius, arva 
 Inter opinia virum leni fluit agniinc Tybris, 
 
( 3° ) 
 
 lllic, spes laetae, regnumque, et Regia Conjux paf- 
 ta tibi. 
 
 Now, we must remember, that, 
 Aeneas had never yet heard of 
 the word Hesperia^ as the proper 
 name of a country, he is not in- 
 formed of that, till long after- 
 wards ; when the Tenates tell him. 
 
 Est Locus, Hesperiam Graii cognomine dicunt, 
 
 from Creiisa, then, he would, na- 
 turally, take it in its proper, ori- 
 ginal sense, as an adjective, the 
 feminine of EsnEpio^. nay, he is 
 even prevented, as it were, from 
 any suspicion of her using it a- 
 new, as a proper name, or any o- 
 therwise than as an adjective; by 
 her putting the substantive Ter- 
 ram before it. the expression, 
 then, Terr am Hesperiam^ would 
 convey to Aeneas no other idea, 
 than, as if one should say, in En- 
 
 C 31 ) 
 
 glish, a 'Western land, next, as to 
 the other mark of Italy — iihi Ly- 
 dius Tybris fliiit ; as Aeneas was 
 wholly ignorant of Italy, and its 
 inhabitants, he could not possi- 
 bly know, that, by Lydius Tybrts^ 
 she meant the Tyber^ where the 
 Lydian prince Tyrrhenus had set- 
 tled some generations before, he 
 must naturally understand it, 
 then, in the common proper 
 sense, as a river of Lydia; or, at 
 most, a river which run, from 
 Lydia, through this western land^ 
 and, this is what could not but 
 quite confound him, and render 
 the whole utterly unintelligble. 
 for, Lydia is a country lying far 
 to the south east of Troy, and 
 so, the one part of her informa- 
 tion must, naturally, appear to 
 him to contradict the other. 
 
\ 
 
 C 32 ) 
 
 If one ask, why did not Creusa 
 speak plainer? the answer is easy, 
 she knew no more ; or was forbid 
 by the gods to reveal farther, ac- 
 cording to the mythology of the 
 poets, this was often the case with 
 those who foretold future events, 
 thus, the prophet Helenus tells 
 Aeneas, he will discover a few use- 
 ful hints,of what was to befalhim j 
 but, must conceal the rest;-— 
 
 Pauca tlbi e multis* — - 
 
 prohibent nam cetera Fata 
 
 Scire Helenum, farique vetat Saturnia Juno. 
 
 This is the light, in which the 
 poet's intention appears to mej 
 and, in this view, I think his con- 
 duct is perfectly consistent, and 
 extremely judicious, in the whole 
 management of this part of the 
 poem. February 27th, iy6i. 
 
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