This beautiful paffage in Homer Virgil has borrowed; Venus is there introduced bringing armour to her fon, inftances of this cuftom both in Homer and Virgil: in Milton likewife, vi. 337, Satan when wounded is born on the fhields of his party from off the files of war. Sir Calidore puts his buckler to this ancient and no ignoble use. Take notice too of that balm which he had long provided himself with, according to the good cuftom of ancient knight-errants. This cuftom is mentioned in a note on B. i. C. St. 18. and B. iv. C. 8. St. 20. The fimplicity of the stile feems an imitation of the fcriptural language, And powering balm into his wounds, him up thereon did reare. See Luke xi. 34. 9. CANT I. PRUE is that whilome that good poet fayd, The gentle mind by gentle deeds is known For a man by nothing is fo well bewrayd As by his manners-] The old quarto and Folios 1609, 1611, 1617, all read For a man: but the Folio 1679, and Hughes omit the particle, For man by nothing If we keep the old reading, we muft fup- Lo! who that is most vertuous alway Ch. Wife of Bath's Tale, 1113. DEDIS. Ibid. 1170. "Tis very plain he has Horace in view, 'tis feldom feen that a trotting Stallion gets an ambling colt, Fortes creantur fortibus et bonis, Eft in juvencis, eft in equis patrum Virtus; nec imbellem feroces Progenerant aquilae columbam. Hor. L. iv. Od. 4. As he fays here, that the gentle heart is feen in doing gentle deeds: fo in the beginning of Canto 7. he fays the bafer heart is seen in difcourteous deeds. Like as a GENTLE HEART itself bewrays Convien, ch' ouunque fia, fempre cortefe Sia UN COR GENTIL,ch'effer non può altramente, Orl. Fur. C. xxxvi. I. He gan devize this counter-caft of flight.) courtesy and good manners require us oftentimes to keep back fome part of a story and to glofs over fome other parts: So Ulyffes vindicates the behaviour of Nausicaa in Hom. Odyff. VII. Horace calls Hypermeftra, fplendide mendax. Truth in words may be right; Truth in benevolence must be fo. "The Physician may lye to his patient; the general to his foldiers, provided it be for their good: Truth has been injurious, and even falfhood a benefit to mankind.' Max. Tyrius. XX. And eke the lady was full faire to fee.] Kan ide. XXIII. ideïv. The faire Serena.] one of the old quartos has Crifpina: another, of the fame date, Serena: fo that the place was altered during the printing off the sheets. CANT O IV. V IV. S Ave fuch as fudden rage him lent to smite.] He stayed not l'advize.] So the quarto: but the Milton has the fame expreffions, rage lent Folio, 1609. He ftayd not to advize. them arms. Virg, Furor arma miniftrat. Ibid. He was invulnerable made by magicke leare.] This is agreeable to romances: Orlando was invulnerable except in the foles of his feet; Ferrau, except in his navel. Who does not fee that Orlando's ftory is imitated from what is told of Achilles, and Ferrau's, from what is told of Ibid. Yet in his body made no wound nor bloud appeare.] None of the books read, nor wound nor bloud XV. roode, i. e. the crofs or crucifix. In churches To draw him from his dear beloved dame.] viz. and chapels there was a place left for the crucifix, called the roode-loft, which is to be feen Belphoebe. in many churches to this day. Ibid. That no one beaft but he IT challenge would, And plucke the pray ofttimes out of THEIR greedy hould.] Obferve the change from the fingular to the plural number. See critical obfervations on Shakespeare, pag. 358. XXIV. To whom the fquire nought anfwered-] Obferve in this Stanza the filence of the gentle fquire: the fame filence the Chriftian knight keeps, too confcious of his being mifled by the fcarletwhore, fee B. i. C. 8. St. 43. So likewife Sir Arthegal, B. v. C. 7. St. 41. The difdainful filence of Ajax upon feeing his enemy Ulyffes in the fhades below, and of Dido, when the faw her falfe Æneas, are brought as inftances of a fublime, without a word fpoken. Timias knew no apology could be made, and therefore no apology fhould be made: his filence proceeds from felf-conviction, too confcious of having offended his royal mistress. Ibid. That could his good to all.] That knew and practifed his good manners to all people. See above St. 6. Did he not write here coud? So Ch. in Troil. and Creff. i. 661. Phoebus, that first found art of medicine, i. e. and knew. So above, St. 6. And fought by all the meanes that he could beft, As to them feemed fit time to entertaine.] I leave it i. e. that he knew best. Anglo-Sax. can, fcie to the reader, whether he will read cude, fcivit. XXXVII. But being aged now and weary to Of warres delight-] to is fo fpelt in the quarto and Folios of 1609. in Hughes, too. This knight turned hermit, And hanging up his armes and warlike spoile From all the worlds incumbrance did himself affoyle, The cuftom of old veterans hanging up their arms, when they quitted fervice, is frequently mentioned. Veianius, armis Nunc arma, defunctumque bello Carm. L. iii. Od. 26. So Godfrey, having conquered Jerufalem: See the laft Stanza in Taffo. XXXVIII. Deckt with green boughes and flowers gay befeene] i. e. of a gay appearance. So above St. 36. How each to entertaine with curt'fie well befeene. i. e. well looking and becoming. This phrafe often occurs Chaucer ufes it, and Lydgate Deckt all the roofe and shadowing the roode. The frequently. XL. I. -THAT immortal spright NT O Of Podalyrius] i. e. the immortal Podalyrius himself; who was a fon of the famous phyfician Æfculapius. This manner of expreffion is frequent in the poets. Hoc caverat mens provida Reguli. i. e. ipfe providus Regulus. Narratur et prifci Catonis. Saepe mero caluiffe virtus. Hor. L. iii. Od. 5. Hor. L. iii. Od. 21. Virtus Scipiadae et mitis fapientia Laeli. Serm. L. ii. 1. So Homer frequently, giáo Cín, i. e. ipfe Priamus. Βίη Ηρακληίιη, ipfe Hercules : Πυλαιμένεος λάσιον κῆρ, iple Pylæmenes, Il. 6' 851. Εκτορος μένος, Hector, Il. . 418. obéros Idoμerños, Idomeneus, 11. N. 248. Eleve túxn, i. e. Helenus: Eurip. Hecub. 84. Sipas Ayauíuroros, i. e. Agamemnon, Ibid. 723. Cor jubet hoc Enni, i. e. ipfe Ennius, Perf. vi. 10. See note on B. i. C. 6. St. 1. IV. For whylom he had been a doughty knight As any one that lived in his dayes.-] Compare this Stanza with B. vi. C. 5. St. 37. And here 'twill be not improper once for all to take notice of our poet's repetition of the fame circumftances, in pretty near the fame expreffions. And this is according to the great mafters of antiquity; and the greatest master of all, Homer. But let us hear one of the beft judges of good writing, and a contemporary with Spenfer, The old and beft authors, that ever wrote, were content, if occafion required, to fpeak twice of one matter, not to change the words, but gras, that is, word for word to exprefs it again. For they thought that a matter well expreffed with fit words and apt compofition, was not to be altered, but liking it well their felves, they thought it would alfo be well allowed of 6 VI. ' others. A fchole-master, such a one as I require, knoweth that I fay true. He readeth in Homer almoft in every book, and efpecially in the 2d and 9th Iliad, not only fome verfes, but whole leaves, not to be altered 'with new, but to be uttered with the old felf fame words. He knoweth that Xenophon, writing twice of Agefilaus, once in his life, again in the hiftory of the Greeks, in one matter, keepeth always the felf-fame 'words. He doth the like speaking of Socrates 'both in the beginning of his Apology, and in 'the last end of Аñoμmporevμáτwv. Demofthenes alfo, in the fourth Philippic, doth borrow his own words, uttered before in his oration 'De Cherfonefo. He doth the like, and that more at large, in his oration against Andra'tion and Timocrates. In Latin alfo, Cicero, in 'fome places, and Virgil in more, do repeat one ' matter with the self-fame words. These ex'cellent authors did thus not for lack of words, but by judgment and fkill, whatsoever others more curious and less skilful, do think, write, and do.' Afcham's Schole-mafter, pag. 115. An inftance of this repetition I will here add from Milton, x. 1086. What better can we do, than to the place -They forthwith to the place Repairing, where he judg'd them, proftrate fell Before him reverent; and both confefs'd Humbly their faults and pardon beg'd, with tears Wat'ring the ground, and with their fighs the air Frequenting, fent from hearts contrite, in fign Of forrow' unfeign'd, and humiliation meek. where Dr. Bentley has the fame excellent obfervation that Afcham made before: Note, 4 N 2 • that I |