Eneïs, vi, 788. Salmoneus, suff'ring cruel pains, I found, Few readers will deny that Dryden certainly wrote The walls of Pluto's palace are in view. In the second edition, the printer, under the idea, no doubt, of correcting and improving the passage, gave it thus: The walls of Pluto's palace are in view. The gate, and iron arch above it, stands A foundation of anvils! Not quite amiss, I grant, in point of strength, if Virgil or any other ancient writer had laid such a foundation. But a reference to the Latin will immediately dispel the cloud of nonsense which envelops these lines, and direct us to read them as follows i. e. The walls of Pluto's palace are in view, "The walls, gate, and arch, are in view: -it [that is, the entire palace] stands [a firm edifice of eternal steel] laboured on anvils by the hands of the Cyclops." Eneïs, vi, 1061. (first edit.) His sire already signs him for the skies, And marks his seat amidst the deities. Second edition, by a typographic error, "the seat." The mighty Cæsar waits his vital hour. In the Latin, Virgil points to him-" Hic Casar," &c. so, no doubt, did Dryden in his English There mighty Cæsar, &c. Eneïs, vii, 359. (first edit.) Partake and use my kingdom as your own: All shall be yours, while I command the crown. The second, by a typographic error, And shall be yours..... Æneïs, vii, 445. (first edit.) nia. Another queen brings forth another brand, In thus translating, Dryden had applied the original passage of Virgil to the queen Amata and her daughter LaviOn second thoughts, he saw better reason to apply it to Venus and Æneas: consequently, "her native land" was wrong. He ought indeed to have new-moulded the entire distich, but contented himself with directing that the latter verse should be read To burn with foreign fires another land and it was accordingly so published in the second edition. In the third, however, the printer thought proper to restore the rejected error; and he has been too faithfully copied in all succeeding editions. Eneïs, vii, 544 Eva, O Bacchus, thus began the song, And Eva answer'd all the female throng. Although here be no mistake either of the author or the printer, the classic reader will, I trust, not disapprove my restitution of the original sonorous exclamation," Euoi," instead of the puny un-impressive modern corruption, "Eva." Eneïs, vii, 933. Arm'd Argive horse they led, and in the front appear. Dryden wrote "lead." The gods with hate beheld the nether sky; A typographic error, for "behold.” Then saw two heaps of ruins..... ༣. * I have not a doubt that Dryden had here imitated Virgil, in suddenly dropping the character of a mere narrator, to introduce Evander himself speaking in person, and pointing to the objects he describes and I regret that I scrupled to make the alteration. Eneis, viii, 502. With humble suit I beg thy needful art, O still propitious pow'r, that rules my heart! The printer, not the poet, here gave "rules" for "rul'st." Eneis, viii, 831. For those, emboss'd, the heav'nly smith had wrought The wars in order, &c. Even without looking to Virgil's Illic res Italas, &c. it is at once evident that Dryden wrote For there, emboss'd, the heav'nly smith, &c. Æneïs, viii, 879. Hard by, the leaping Salian priests advance: And naked through the streets the mad Luperci dance: 、 This passage is nonsense; and nonsense it must remain ; for there is no remedy, unless we could obtain a sight of Dryden's original manuscript. But the source of the mischief I think I can easily point out. At first (I presume) Dryden had, in imitation of his prototype, expressed himself to the following effect-" Here the artist god had engraven [or, here were engraven] the dancing Salii-the naked Luperci the caps of wool-the targets dropt from heaven."-Afterwards he altered the first part of the sen T tence to its present construction, and forgot to make a correspondent and necessary alteration in the latter. The printer, to make some sense of the passage, right or wrong, corrected" The caps of wool" to "In caps of wool;" and succeeding printers completed the correction by striking out the colon after" dance," and making the "naked Luperci dance in caps of wool," little dreaming that those bonnets or mitres, surmounted with woollen crests or tassels, (which Dryden not very accurately describes in terms better suited to vulgar worsted night-caps) were appropriate to the priesthood alone; and that it was just as much in character to bestow them on the "naked Luperci," as it would be in our right reverend bench of bishops to lend their mitres and lawn surplices to a gang of chimney-sweepers, to play their anniversary gambols about the streets on Mayday! Eneïs, ix, 64. He rides around the camp with rolling eyes, And stops at ev'ry post, and ev'ry passage tries. Whoever consults the Latin, and considers the situation of the besiegers and the besieged, will readily admit that Dryden must have written, as I have printed, " ev'ry port," i. e. every gate or entrance. Eneïs, ix, 414. The noble Trojans wait A single glance at the original Latin is sufficient to justify my different arrangement, viz. ric HSI DHA IL The noble Trojans wait Their issuing forth, and follow to the gate -2100 - With pray'rs and vows. Above the rest appears (9mAscanius, manly far beyond his years, -mid And messages committed to their care. bad mby pawodlot sits og fisa Æneïs, ix, 796. As a costarist of pre mo Him, when he spy'd from far the Tuscan king, Laid by the lance, and took him to the sling. Any schoolboy might at once have discovered that Dryden had written Him when he spy'd from far, the Tuscan kingĀ Yet-strange to relate!the absurd punctuation of the first edition has never till now been corrected. Æneïs, ix, 1040. He joints the neck..... T Although the word "disjoint" has, by butchers and cooks, been gradually chopped down to simple "joint," I hope I may be allowed to suppose that Dryden most probably wrote 'sjoints (which I have accordingly ventured to print), as Milton had before written 'sdeign, in imitation of the Italian 'sdegno, 'sdegnar. Eneïs, x, 247· From Asium brought No copy of Virgil giving Asium, which indeed the measure of the verse in the original would not admit, we doubtless owe it to an error of the English printer, instead of Clusium, the proper reading. Æneis, x, 698. O mortals, blind in fate.... Dryden having elsewhere adopted the Latin construction, 66 Blind of the future,' ..... A I have here ventured to introduce his own phraseology, "blind of fate," instead of "in," which appears to have been only a typographic mis-correction from the preceding line. Eneïs, x, 1240. .1 Thou wilt no foreign reins, or Trojan load, endure. A Although "lord" occurs in the preceding line, whoever |