Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	call_v	reason_n	write_v	1,710	5	5.2625	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70171	Miscellany poems upon several occasions consisting of original poems / by the late Duke of Buckingham, Mr. Cowly, Mr. Milton, Mr. Prior, Mrs. Behn, Mr. Tho. Brown, &c. ; and the translations from Horace, Persius, Petronius Arbiter, &c. ; with an essay upon satyr, by the famous M. Dacier.	Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, 1628-1687.; Cowley, Abraham, 1618-1667.; Milton, John, 1608-1674.; Behn, Aphra, 1640-1689.; Congreve, William, 1670-1729.; Dacier, André, 1651-1722.; Gildon, Charles, 1665-1724.	1692 (1692)	Wing G733A; ESTC R21564	36,779	146

ought to make of the Works of those extraordinary Men who have only gone before us to be our Guides and serve us as Torches in the thick Darkness of Antiquity But you must not have your Eyes so continually fixt on them as not to regard whither they lead you for they deviate sometimes into Paths where you cannot safely follow them This Rule I my self have observ'd in forsaking my Guides and past that Way which no Body before me has done as the following Discourse will convince you Satyr is a kind of Poesie only known to the Romans being not at all related to the Satyrical Poesie of the Greeks as some learned Men have pretended Quintilian leaves us no Doubt upon this Point when he writes in Chap. 10. Satira quidem tota nostra est The same Reason makes Horace call it in the last Satyr of Book 1. Graecis intactum Carmen The Natural and true Etymology is this The Latins called it SATVR quasi plenum to which there was nothing wanting for its Perfection Thus Satur color when the Wool has taken a good Dye and nothing can be added to the Perfection of it From Satur they have made Satura which they wrote sometimes with an i Satira They used in other Words the same Variation of the Letter u into i as in Maxumus Maximus optumus optimus Satura is an Adjective which has reference to a Substantive understood for the Ancient Romans said Saturam understanding Lancem And Satura Lanx was properly a Bason fill'd with all sorts of Fruit which they offer'd every Year to Ceres and Bacchus as the First Fruits of all they had gathered These Offerings of different things mixt together were not unknown to the Greeks who call'd 'em 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sacrifice of all sorts of Fruit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Offering of all sorts of Grain when they offer'd Potherbs The Grammarian Diomedes has perfectly describ'd both the Custom of the Romans and the Word Satura in this Passage Lanx referta variis multisque primitiis sacris Cereris inferebatur a copia Saturitate rei Satura vocabatur cujus generis lancium Virgilius in Georgicis meminit cum hoc modo dicit Lancibus pandis fumantia reddimus exta and lancesque liba feremus From thence the Word Satura was apply'd to many other Mixtures as in Festus Satira cibi genus ex variis rebus conditum From hence it past to the Works of the Mind for they call'd some Laws Leges Saturas which contain'd many Heads or Titles as the Iulian Papian and Popean Laws which were called Miscellas which is of the same Signification with Satura From hence arose this Phrase Per Saturam legem ferre when the Senate made a Law without gathering and counting the Votes in haste and confusedly all together which was properly call'd Per Saturam sententias exquirere as Salust has it after Lelius But they rested not here but gave this Name to certain Books as Pescennius Festus whose Histories were call'd Saturas or per Saturam From all these Examples 't is not hard to suppose that these Works of Horace took from hence their Name and that they were call'd Saturae quia multis variis rebus hoc carmen refertum est because these Poems are full of a great many different Things as Porphyrius says which is partly true But it must not be thought it is immediately from thence for this Name had been used before for other things which bore a nearer resemblance to the Satyrs of Horace in explanation of which a Method is to be follow'd which Casaubon himself never thought of and which will put things in so clear a Light that there can be no Place left for Doubt The Romans having been almost four hundred Years without any Scenical Plays Chance and Debauchery made them find in one of their Feasts the Saturnian and Fescennine Verses which for six score Years they had instead of Dramatic Pieces But these Verses were rude and almost without any Numbers as being made extempore and by a People as yet but barbarous who had little other Skill than what flow'd from their Joy and the Fumes of Wine They were filled with the grossest sort of Raileries and attended with Gestures and Dances To have a livelier Idea of this you need but reflect upon the honest Peasants whose clownish Dances are attended with extempore Verses in which in a wretched manner they jeer one another with all they know To this Horace refers in the first Epistle of his second Book Fescennina per hunc inventa licentia morem Versibus alt ernis opprobia rustica fudit This Licentious and Irregular Verse was succeeded by a sort more correct filled with a pleasant Railery without the Mixture of any thing scurrilous and these obtain'd the Name of Satyrs by reason of their Variety and had regulated Forms that is regular Dances and Music but undecent Postures were banish'd Titus Livius has it in his seventh Book Vernaculis artificibus quia Hister Tusco verbo Ludio vocabatur nomen Histrionibus inditum qui non sicut ante Fescennino versu similem compositum temere ac rudem alternis jaciebant sed impletas modis Satiras descripto jam ad Tibicinem cantu motusque congruenti peragebant These Satyrs were properly honest Farces in which the Spectators and Actors were rallied without Distinction Livius Andronicus found things in this posture when he first undertook to make Comedies and Tragedies in Imitation of the Grecians This Diversion appearing more noble and perfect they run to it in Multitudes neglecting the Satyrs for some time though they receiv'd them a little after and some model'd them into a purpos'd Form to act at the end of their Comedies as the French act their Farces now And then they alter'd their Name of Satyrs for that of Exodia which they preserve to this day This was the first and most ancient kind of Roman Satyr There are two other sorts which tho' very different from this first yet both owe their Birth to this and are as it were Branches of it This I shall prove the most succinctly I can A Year after Livius Andronicus had caus'd his first Efforts to be Acted Italy gave birth to Ennius who being grown up and having all the leisure in the World to observe the eager Satisfaction with which the Romans receiv'd the Satyrs of which I have already spoke was of Opinion that Poems tho' not adapted to the Theatre yet preserving the Gaul the Railings and Pleasantness which made these Satyrs take with so much Applause would not fail of being well receiv'd he therefore ventur'd at it and compos'd several Discourses to which he retain'd the name of Satyrs These Discourses were entirely like those of Horace both for the Matter and the Variety The only essential difference that is observable is that Ennius in Imitation of some Greeks and of Homer himself

took the liberty of mixing several kinds of Verses together as Hexameters Iambics Trimeters with Tetrimeters Trochaics or Square Verse as it appears from the Fragments which are left us These following Verses are of the Square kind which Aullus Gellius has preserv'd us and which very well merit a place here for the Beauty they contain Hoc erit tibi Argumentum semper in promptu situm Ne quid expectes Amicos quod tute agere possies I attribute also to these Satyrs of Ennius these other kinds of Verses which are of a Beauty and Elegance much above the Age in which they were made nor will the sight of 'em here be unpleasant Non habeo denique nauci Marsum Augurem Non vicanos aruspices non de Cicro Astrologos Non Isiacos Conjectores non Interpretes Hominum Non enim sunt ij aut Scientia aut Arte Divini Sed Superstitiosi vates Impudentesque harioli Aut inertes aut insani aut quibus egestas Imperat Qui sui questus caussa fictas suscitant sententias Qui sibi semitam non sapiunt alteri monstrant viam Quibus devitias pollicentur ab ijs Drachmam petunt De devitijs deducant Drachmam reddant caetera Horace has borrow'd several things from these Satyrs After Ennius came Pacuvius who also writ Satyrs in Imitation of his Uncle Ennius Lucilius was born in the time when Pacuvius was in most Reputation He also wrote Satyrs But he gave 'm a new turn and endeavoured to imitate as near as he could the Character of the old Greek Comedy of which we had but a very imperfect Idea in the ancient Roman Satyr and such as one might find in a Poem which Nature alone had dictated before the Romans had thought of imitating the Grecians and enriching themselves with their Spoils 'T is thus you must understand this Passage of the first Satyr of the second Book of Horace Quid cum est Lucilius ausis Primus in hunc operis componere carmina morem Horace never intended by this to say That there were no Satyrs before Lucilius because Ennius and Pacuvius were before him whose Example he followed He only would have it understood That Lucilius having given a new Turn to this Poem and embellished it ought by way of Excellence to be esteemed the first Author Quintilian had the same Thought when he writ in the first Chapther of the tenth Book Satira quidem tota nostra est in qua primus insignem laudem adeptus est Lucilius You must not therefore be of the Opinion of Casaubon who building on the Judgment of Diomedes thought that the Satyr of Ennius and that of Lucilius were entirely different These are the very Words of this Grammarian which have deceived this Judicious Critick Satira est Carmen apud Romanos non quidem apud Graecos maledicum ad carpenda hominum vitia Archaeae Comoediae charactere compositum quale scripserunt Lucilius Horatius Persius Sed olim Carmen quod ex variis Poematibus constabat Satira dicebatur quale scripserunt Pacuvius Ennius You may see plainly that Diomedes distinguishes the Satyr of Lucilius from that of Ennius and Pacuvius the reason which he gives for this Distinction is ridiculous and absolutely false The good Man had not examin'd the Nature and Origin of these two Satyrs which were entirely like one another both in Matter and Form for Lucilius added to it only a little Politeness and more Salt almost without changing any thing And if he did not put together several Sorts of Verse in the same Piece as Ennius has done yet he made several Pieces of which some were entirely Hexameters others entirely Iambics and others Trochaic's as is evident from his Fragments In short if the Satyrs of Lucilius differ from these of Ennius because the former has added much to the Endeavours of the latter as Casaubon has pretended it will follow from thence that those of Horace and those of Lucilius are also entirely different for Horace has no less refin'd on the Satyrs of Lucilius than he on those of Ennius and Pacuvius This Passage of Diomedes has also deceiv'd Dousa the Son I say not this to expose some Light Faults of these great Men but only to shew with what Exactness and with what Caution their Works must be read when they treat of any thing so Obscure and so ancient I have made appear what was the Ancient Satyr that was made for the Theatre I have shewn That that gave the Idea of the Satyr of Ennius And in fine I have sufficiently prov'd that the Satyrs of Ennius and Pacuvius of Lucilius and Horace are but one kind of Poem which has received its Perfection from the last 'T is Time now to speak of the second kind of Satyr which I promised to explain and which is also derived from the Ancient Satyr 't is that which we call Varronian or the Satyr of Menippus the Cinic Philosopher This Satyr was not only composed of several forts of Verse but Varro added Prose to it and made a Mixture of Greek and Latin Quintilian after he had spoke of the Satyr of Lucilius adds Alterum illud est prius Satirae genus quod non sola Carminum varietate mistum condidit Terentius Varro vir Romanorum Eruditissimus The only Difficulty of this Passage is that Quintilian assures us that this Satyr of Varro was the first for how could that be since Varro was a great while after Lucilius Quintilian meant not that the Satyr of Varro was the first in Order of Time for he knew well enough that in that respect he was the last But he would give us to understand that this kind of Satyr so mixt was more like the Satyr of Ennius and Pacuvius who gave themselves a greater Liberty in this Composition than Lucilius who was more severe and correct We have now only some Fragments left of the Satyr of Varro and those generally very imperfect the Titles which are most commonly double shew the great Variety of Subjects of which Varro treated Seneca's Book on the Death of Claudius Boetius his Consolation of Philosophy and that of Petronius Arbiter are Satyrs entirely like those of Varro This is what I have in general to say on Satyr nor is it necessary I insist any more on this Subject This the Reader may observe that the Name of Satyr in Latin is not less proper for Discourses that recommend Vertue than to those which are design'd against Vice It had nothing so formidable in it as it has now when a bare Mention of Satyr makes them tremble who would fain seem what they are not for Satyr with us signifies the same thing as exposing or lashing of some thing or Person Yet this different Acceptation alters not the Word which is always the same but the Latins in the Titles of their Books have often had regard only to the Word in the extent of its Signification founded on its Etymology

whereas we have had respect only to the first and general Use which has been made of it in the beginning to mock and deride yet this Word ought always to be writ in Latin with an u or i Satura or Satira and in English by an i those who have wrote it with a y thought with Scaliger Heinsius and a great many others that the Divinities of the Groves which the Grecians call'd Satyrs the Romans Fawns gave their Names to these Pieces and that of the Word Satyrus they had made Satyra and that these Satyrs had a great affinity with the Satyric Pieces of the Greeks which is absolutely false as Casaubon has very well prov'd it in making it appear That of the Word Satyrus they could never make Satyra but Satyrica And in shewing the Difference betwixt the Satyric Poems of the Greeks and the Roman Satyrs Mr. Spanheim in his fine Preface to the Caesars concerning the Emperor Iulian has added new Reflections to those which this Judicious Critic had advanced and he has establish'd with a great deal of Judgment five or six essential Differences between those two Poems which you may find in his Book The Greeks had never any thing that came near this Roman Satyr but their Silli 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which were also biting Poems as they may easily be perceived to be yet by some Fragments of the Silli of Timon There was however this Difference That the Silli of the Greeks were Parodious from one End to the other which cannot be said of the Roman Satyrs where if sometimes you find some Parodia's you may plainly see that the Poet did not design to affect it and by consequence the Parodia's do not make the Essence of a Satyr as they do the Essence of the Silli Having explain'd the Nature Origin and Progress of Satyr I 'll now say a Word or two of Horace in particular There cannot be a more just Idea given of this part of his Works than in comparing them to the Statues of the Sileni to which Alcibiades in the Banquet compares Socrates They were Figures that without had nothing agreeable or beautiful but when you took the Pains to open them you found the Figures of all the Gods In the manner that Horace presents himself to us in his Satyrs we discover nothing of him at first that deserves our Attachment He seems to be fitter to amuse Children than to employ the Thoughts of Men but when we remove that which hides him from our Eyes and view him even to the Bottom we find in him all the Gods together that is to say all those Vertues which ought to be the continual Practice of such as seriously endeavour to forsake their Vices Hitherto we have been content to see only his out-side and 't is a strange thing that Satyrs which have been read so long have been so little understood or explain'd They have made a Halt at the out-side and were wholly busi'd in giving the Interpretation of Words They have commented upon him like Grammarians not Philosophers as if Horace had writ meerly to have his Language understood and rather to divert than instruct us That is not the End of this Work of his The end of any Discourse is the Action for which that Discourse is compos'd when it produces no Action 't is only a vain amusement which idly tickles the Ear without ever reaching the Heart In these two Books of his Satyrs Horace would teach us to conquer our Vices to rule our Passions to follow Nature to limit our Desires to distinguish True from False and Ideas from Things to forsake Prejudice to know throughly the Principles and Motives of all our Actions and to shun that Folly which is in all Men who are bigotted to the Opinions they have imbibed under their Teachers which they keep obstinately without examining whether they are well-grounded In a Word he endeavours to make us happy for our selves agreeable and faithful to our Friends easie discreet and honest to all with whom we are oblig'd to live To make us understand the Terms he uses to explain the Figures he employs and to conduct the Reader safely through the Labyrinth of a difficult Expression or obscure Parenthesis is no great matter to perform And as Epictetus says there is nothing in that Beautiful or truly worthy a wise Man The principal and most important Business is to shew the Rise the Reason and the Proof of his Precepts to demonstrate that those who do not endeavour to correct themselvs by so beautiful a Model are just like sick Men who having a Book full of Receipts proper to their Distempers content themselves to read 'em without comprehending them or so much as knowing the Advantage of them I urge not this because I have my self omitted any thing in these Annotations which was the incumbent Duty of a Grammarian to observe this I hope the World will be sensible of and that there remains no more Difficulty in the Text. But that which has been my chief Care is to give an insight into the very matter that Horace treats of to shew the solidity of his Reasons to discover the Turns he makes use of to prove what he aims at and to refute or illude that which is opposed to him to confirm the Truth of his Decisions to make the Delicacy of his Sentiments perceiv'd to expose to open Day the Folly he finds in what he condemns This is what none have done before me On the contrary as Horace is a true Proteus that takes a thousand different Forms they have often lost him and not knowing where to find him have grapled him as well as they could they have palm'd upon him in several Places not only Opinions which he had not but even those which he directly refutes I don't say this to blame those who have taken Pains before me on the Works of this great Poet I commend their Endeavours they have open'd me the way and if it be granted that I have some little Advantage over them I ow it wholly to the great Men of Antiquity whom I have read with more Care and without doubt with more Leisure I speak of Homer of Plato and Aristotle and of some other Greek and Latin Authors which I study continually that I may form my taste on theirs and draw out of their Writings the justness of Wit good Sense and Reason I know very well that there are now adays some Authors who laugh at these great Names who disallow the Acclamations which they have receiv'd from all Ages and who would deprive them of the Crowns which they have so well deserv'd and which they have got before such August Tribunals But for fear of falling into Admiration which they look upon as the Child of Ignorance they do not perceive that they go from that Admiration which Plato calls the Mother of Wisdom and which was the first that opened Mens Eyes I do not wonder that the Celestial Beauties