Nunc omnes repetam quàm claro corpore fint res And Tu mihi fupreme præfcripta ad candida calcis To lead him on, and fhow the path to gain Creech. Lastly, To ftrengthen all the foregoing arguments, we may obferve, that in thefe fix books only is contained the whole doctrine, and all the philofophy of Epicurus, in as much as it relates to the explication of nature, or natural caufes and effects; and there is nothing left for any one to fay farther upon that subject. on the other hand, I am readily inclined to be- -Superi fpoliatus luminis aër. which may perhaps have been his, though it be no where found in any of his books; nor can it eafily be discovered where it has been left out. To reftore it to its due place, would require an accurateness of judgment as great, if poffible, as was their difingenuity who firft left it out. declares, wrote thefe fix books of Epicurean phiI now return to Lucretius, who, as Eufebius lofophy, in his lucid intervals, when the strength of nature had thrown off all the disturbing particles, and his mind, as it is obferved of madmen, was fprightly and vigorous. Then, in a poetical rapture, he could fly with his Epicurus beyond the flaming limits of this world; frame and diffolve feas and heavens in an instant; and, by fome unusual fallies, be the ftrongest argument of his own opinion; for it feems impoffible that fome things which he delivers fhould proceed from reafon and judgment, or from any other caufe but chance, and unthinking fortune. After his death, as I hinted before, Cicero, as Eufebius witneffes, revifed and corrected his writings. Lambinus contradicts this; but the arguments he brings against the affertion of Eufebius are but weak, and of little validity. Virgil, who was eager and affiduous in the study of them, has borrowed from him in many places: as both Macrobius and Gellius teftify: the last of whom calls him "Poëtam ingenio et facundiâ Add to this the manifeft and pertinent connection of one book to another, the judicious method he has obferved in handling the several subjects of which he treats, and his artfulness in the difpofition of them. They feem naturally to follow one another. In the first book, he treats of the principles of things; in the laft, of meteors and" præcellentem;" and Cornelius Nepos has placed of the heavens. Has not this method been conftantly practifed by all who have treated of the knowledge of nature? Even Epicurus himself obferved the very fame disposition, as appears by the few furviving remains of that philofopher, his three epiftles to Herodotus, Maneceus, and Pythocles. But as, for the reasons above alleged, I am verily perfuaded that Lucretius never writ more than thefe fix books of the Nature of Things; fo, him" inter elegantiffimos poëtas." So that if some great divines have given him the ill name of Canis, it was not for any rudeness in his verse, but due rather to his Grecian mafter; the eternity of matter, and the like abfurd affertions, having corrupted most of the philofophies of Athens. As a corollary to these few remaining memoirs of the life of Lucretius, I will here give the opinions of feveral learned men, concerning him and his writings. Y iij TESTIMONIES OF ANCIENT AND MODERN LEARNED MEN, CONCERNING LUCRETIUS AND HIS WRITINGS. M. Cicero to bis Brother . Cicero, book ii. epift. 11. THE poems of Lucretius, as you obferve, are not written with much brightnefs of wit, but with a great deal of art. Upon which paffage of Cicero, the learned P. Victorius, in his Cattigations on Tully's Epifties, makes the following remark: If any one, fays he, thinks it ftrange that fome have been of opinion, that the poems of the most elegant and excellent poet Lucretius, are written with no great brightness of wit, let him blame the judgment of Quin&us; for we may reasonably miftruft, that, fince M. Cicero defends and commends him in the manner he does, he was not altogether of his brother's opinion, though he feems indeed, to confirm it; but that he would not thwart a tefty man, who, perhaps, because he writ verfes himfelf, was blinded with envy, and did not perceive the truth: Befides, he might be of that opinion, because Lucretius compofed not his poem to boaft his shining wit, but to explain, with his utmost art and induftry, the whole philofophy of Epicurus. The fame Victorious Var. Left. lib. xvii. cap. 16. The copioufnefs and purity of the Latin tongue, appear chiefly in Lucretius.. Barthius. There are many things in Lucretius, that are not to be found elsewhere. The fame Author. So great is the beauty of the pure and fimple, that is to fay, of the ancient, and almost only Latinity, that it cafily prevails with intelligent readers, and fuch as are not fuperftitious, to contema, in comparison of it, the borrowed charms of a gaudy and painted diâion. This comes into my mind, chiefly when I read the poems of Catullus and Lucretius; for, of all the Latin poets, who have furvived to our days, these two deferve the preference; and, therefore, no diligence can be mifemployed, no pain nor ftudy fuperfluous, that may tend to the right understanding of then, or to prevent their being corrupted. La&antius. All the errors that Lucretius advances, were long before afferted by Epicurus. Petrus Crinitus. T. Lucretius Carus is believed to be defcended of the family of the Lucretii, which, at Rome, was held to be very ancient and noble. He was a M. Vitruvius, in bis Treatise of Architecture, book ix. little older than Terentius Varro, and Marcus Ci свар. 3. cero, as fome have written: this is the rather to be taken notice of, because in the annals which we Thofe, whofe minds are inftructed with the de-have from the Grecks, there are many things erlights of learning, cannot, but with veneration, roneously related, and perverfely fet down, concarry in their breafts, as they do the images of the trary to the truth of chronology. He is reprefentgods, fo too, that of the poet Ennius Thole, who ed to have been a man of a vaft and foaring wit, are pleasingly diverted with the poems of Attius, in writing of vertes. He was wont to apply himfeeni to have prefent with them, not only his vir- felf to the mufes at feveral intervals of time; not tues, but his figure and refemblance like wife. In without a certain fury and rupture of mind, as the like manner, many will, in after ages, feem to authors of antiquity deliver. Quintilian witneldifpute, as it were, face to face with Lucretius, fes, that Æmilius Macer, and Titus Lucretius, exconcerning the Nature of Things, as they will cel in elegance of ftyle; but that the poem of with Cicero, or the Art of Rhetoric. Lucretius is very difficult and obfcure: this was occafioned not only by the fubject itself, but by reafon of the poorness of the tongue, and the newnefs of the doctrine he taught, as he him!elf teftifies. He writ fix books of the Nature of Things; in which he has followed the doctrine of Epicurus, and the example of the poet Empedocles, whofe wit and poetry he praifes with admiration. There are fome who write, that the poem of Lu-. cretius was corrected by Tully: it is not, therefore, improbable, that, by reafon of his fudden death, he left it incorrect and imperfect. Quinc tus, the brother of Cicero, held in high efteen the Quintilian, book x. For Macer and Lucretius are, indeed, worth the reading: but not as if they contained the whole body of eloquence. Each of them is clegant in the fubject he treats of; but the one is low, the other crabbed and obfcure, Upon which paffuge of Quintilian, Gifarius thus : This opinion of Quintilian is, the greatest part of it, unanimously colluemined by the ancients and moderns. poetry of Lucretius; and allows his work to have a great deal of artfulness and wit: befides, that it ought not to be wondered at, that fome of his verfes feem rough, and almoft like profe. This was peculiar to the age in which he writ, as Furius Albinus fully witneffes in Macrobius, whofe words are as follows: No man ought to have the worfe efteem for the ancient pocets upon this account, because their verfes feem to be fcabrous; for that style was then in greatest vogue; and the following age had much ado to bring themfelves at length to relish this fmoother diction. Therefore, even in the days of the emperors the Velpafians, there were not wanting fome, who chose to read Lucretius rather than Virgil, and Lucilius than Horace. Francifcus Floridus Sabinus. T. Lucretius was an excellent philofopher, and often gives very satisfactory reasons of the things that feem to happen contrary to nature. Lucretius, even in the judgment of the ancients, is both a very great poet and philofopher, but full of lies; for, having followed the Epicurean fect, his opinions concerning God, and of the creation of this gs, are quite different from the doctrine of Plato, and of the other academics; for which reafon, fome believe that he ought not to be read by Chriftians, who adore and worship the true God. But fince truth, the more it is inquired into, fhines the more bright, and appears the more venerable, Lucretius, and all that are like Lucretius, even though they be liars, as they certamly are, ought, in my opinion, to be read. Adrianus Turnebus. Lucretius, in his pleafing poem, has feafoned his verses with a certain delightful relifh of antiSty Dionyfius Lambinus, in bis Epiftle Dedicatory to Charles If among the few remains of the writings of the ancients, which have efcaped as from a fhipwreck, there be any fort of learning, from whence many and great advantages have accrued to us, it is from their poems, &c. But you will fay, that Lucretius argues against the immortality of the foul, denies the providence of the gods, overthrows all religion, and places the chief good in pleasure.. This is not the fault of Lucretius, but of Epicurus, whofe doctrines Lucretius followed. His poem, though he advances in it fome opinions that are repugnant to our religion, is, nevertheless, a poem; nay, and a beautiful noble poem too, diftinguifhed, illuftrated, and adorned with all the brightnefs of wit, &c.-What though Epicurus and Lucretius were impious; are we, who read them, therefore impious too? How many affertions are there in this poem, that are confentaneous to the opinions and maxims of the other philofophers How many probable! How many excellent and almost divine! Thefe let us lay hold on; thefe let us feize; thefe let us approve of.— Befides, are we fo credulous and eafy of faith as te believe, that what affertions foever all manner of writers have left recorded in their works, are as true as if they had been pronounced from the o racle of Apollo? And fince we daily read many things that are fabulous, incredible, and falfe, either to give fome refpite to our minds, or to make us the more willingly acquiefce in, and the moft conftantly adhere to fuch as are uncontrovertibly true; what reafon is there, that we fhould contemn or neglect Lucretius, a most elegant and beautiful poet? &c.-1 return to our great and excellent poet Lucretius, the most polite, most ancient, and moft elegant of all the Latin writers; from whom Virgil and Horace have in many places borrowed not half, but whole verfes, He, when he difputes of the indivifible corpufcles, or first principles of things; of their motion, and of their various figuration; of the void; of the the furface of all bodies; of the nature of the images, or tenuitous membranes that fly off from mind and foul; of the rifing and fetting of the planets; of the eclipfe of the fun and moon; of the nature of lightning; of the rainbow; of the Averni; of the caufes of difeafes, and of many other things, is learned, witty, judicious, and ele gant. In the introductions to his books; in his comparifons; in his examples; in his difputations against the fear of death; concerning the inconveniences and harms of love; of fleep and of dreams, he is copious, difcreer, cloquent, knowing, and fublime.-We not only read Homer, but even get him by heart, because, under the veils of fables, partly obfcene, and partly ablurd, he is deemed to have included the knowledge of all natural and human things. Shall we not then hear Lucretius, who, without the difquife of fables, and fuch trifles, not truly indeed, nor piously, but plainly and openly, and as an Epicurean, inge, niously, wittily, and learnedly, and in the moft correct and purcft of ftyles, difputes of the prin ciples and causes of things; of the univerfe; of the parts of the world; of a happy life; and of things celeftial and terrestrial. And, though in many places he diffent from Plato, though he advance many affertions that are repugnant to our religion, we ought not therefore to defpife and fet at nought thofe opinions of his, in which not only the ancient philofophers, but we who profefs Chriftianity agree with him. How admirably does he dif. pute of the reftraining of pleasures, of the bridling the paffions, and of the attaining tranquillity of mind! how wittily does he rebuke and confute those who affirm, that nothing can be perceived and nothing known; and who fay that the fenfes are fallacious! How fully he defends the senses! &c.-How beautiful are his defcriptions! How graceful, as the Greeks call them, his epifodes! How fine are his difputations of colours, of mirrors, of the loadftone, and of the Averni! How ferious and awful are his exhortations to live continently, juftly, temperately, and innocently! What fhall we fay of his diction; than which nothing can be faid or imagined to be more pure, more correct, more clear, or more elegant? I make not the leaft fcruple to affirm, that in all the Latin tongue, no author fpeaks Latin better than Lucretius; and that the diction neither of Cicero nor of Cæfar is more pure. Obertus Gifanius in the Life of Lucretius. I have retained the common title, of the Nature of Things: for, besides that the ancient copies have it fo, and that Sofipather in the second book of his Gram. mentions the third book of Lucretius, of Natural Things; our poet himself confirms it in book v. verfe 381, where he says, Thefe truths, this rife of things we lately know: Creech. Lucretius is in the right to fay this of himself: for he was the firft, who in the Latin tongue, writ of the Nature of Things; though afterwards many others followed his example; as C. Amafinius, Catius, M. Cicero Varro, and Ignatius: of the laft of whom Aur. Macrobius cites the third book. But the fame fubject had, many ages before, been treated of in Greek by Empedocles, whom Lucretius held in great veneration, as appears by the following elegy, which he gives of him in his first book, where, speaking of Sicily, he fays, that that inland, Though rich with men and fruit, has rarely shown And juilly too, to think him more than man. Creech, B. i. v. 748. Him, therefore, our poet carefully imitated: For, what Ariftotle fays of Empedocles, that he writ in the fame ftyle as Homer, and was a great master of his own language, as being full of metaphors, and making use of all other advantages that might conduce to the beauty of his poetry; all these perfections, I say, though they are scarce to be found in any other of the Latin poets, manifestly discover themselves in Lucretius: for he excels all the reft in purity of diction; and, if I may use the expreffion, in fublimity of eloquence befides, he has adorned his whole poem with an infinite number of excellent metaphors, as with so many badges of diftinction and honour. Tully, who was well able to judge, calls him a very artful poet: and, would I had leifure enough to show, not only what he has borrowed from Homer and others, but chiefly from Ennius, whom of all the Latin poets he most admired, and studied to imitate, but what Virgil likewife has taken from Lucretius for that would make manifeft what I have often faid, that Ennius is the grandfather, Lucretius the father, and Virgil the fon, they being the moft illuftrious triumvirate of the epic Latin poets. The fame Gifanius in his Preface to Sambacus. Some there are, who will chiefly blame me for beftowing fo much labour on an impious poet; for this, will they fay, is the very Lucretius, who endeavours to evince that the foul is mortal; and thus takes away all hope of our falvation, and of a happy futurity; who denies the providence of God! which is the main bafis and fupport of the Chriftian religion: and, laftly, who afferts in his poem that moft abfurd doctrine of Democritus and Epicurus, concerning the indivifible corpuf cles or principles of all things. This being a griev ous accufation, did indeed at firft very much ftartle me; but having maturely weighed this objection, I was perfuaded that it was not of fuch moment as to make us neglect the labours of this moft excellent poet, or fuffer them to be totally loft: For, by the fame reafon, we ought to condemn many of the writings of Cicero; fince in them as well as in this poem, the fame doctrine of the providence of God, of the nature of the foul; but above all of the atoms, is proposed, and often ftrenuously defended; nay, we must in that cafe be obliged to neglect almoft all the writers of antiquity. And, to say all in a word, almoft all the authors of the preceding ages, the poets, the hiftorians, the orators, and the philofophers, must all be laid afide, if their writings were once to be tried by the standard of our religion, and by the precepts of Chriftianity.-The affertions we find in Lucretius that are contrary to the Chriftian faith, are indeed of the greatest moment: but then they are fo evidently falfe, that they can by no means lead a Christian into error. What danger can accrue to us from the ridiculous doctrine of his atoms, fince it is fo easy to be refuted? On the contrary, we may from thence reap this great advantage, that, having difcovered the falfity of his affertions concerning the Nature of Things, we fhall be the more diligent to find out the truth; and, having found it, to retain it the more ftrongly in our memory. It cannot nons of the heavens, he advances indeed feveral Thomas Scauranus. How Carus alone, of all the Aufonian bards, in fearch of truth employed his painful mufe, greedy to view the fecret holds of nature, and towering, foar even to the immortal gods: but oft, alas! he fwerves, by thee milled, O Epicurus, from the Quintus Serenus in his Poem of Phyfic. If, after many years of kind endeavours, no tender offspring blefs the nuptial joys; whether the female or the male be curfed with barrenness, fhall be unfung by me: The fourth of great Lucretius folves the doubt. Though in the writings of Lucretius there are fome opinions that disagree with the doctrine of the Chriftian religion; yet, of all the Latin authors, he is esteemed to be the most judicious and elegant. For, laying afide the veil of fables, he disputes, plainly, accurately, and with great ftrength of wit, concerning the whole Nature of Things: his exceeding elegant, his ftyle plain and easy, though language is entirely correct and pure, his diction at the fame time domeftic and fublime: his poem abounds with a wonderful plenty of moral fentences; and the admirable connection obferved through the whole, is indeed furprising: By the lecture of it, not to mention the other advantages, blows of fortune, a greater fortitude against the we may acquire a nobler magnanimity against the fear of death, a ftronger conftancy against fuperftition, and a more conftant temperance against the burning rage of luft. Add to this, that, excepting a few foolish affertions and impieties, he delivers many things that are confonant to truth and reafon; more, to good manners; and that fome of his difputations are almoft divine. As bees, therefore, gather from each flower only what is ufeful and proper to make honey; fo too, moft judicious prince, do you accurately and diligently collect from this author, only what seems to conduce to Mr. Dryden in his Preface to the fecond Volume of I have, in the next place, to confider the genius of Lucretius.--If he was not of the beft age of Roman poetry, he was at least of that which preceded it; and he himself refined it to that degree of perfection, both in the language and the thoughts, that he left an eafy tafk to Virgil, who, as he fucceeded him in time, fo he copied his excellencies for the method of the Gcorgics is plainly derived from him. Lucretius had chofen a fubject naturally crabbed ; he therefore adorned it with poetical defcriptions, and precepts of morality in the beginning and ending of his books; which you fee Virgil has imitated with great fuccefs in those four books, which, in my opinion, are more perfect in their kind than even his divine neids. The turn of his verfes he has likewife followed in thofe places which Lucretius has moft laboured, and fome of his very lines he has tranfplanted into his own works, with |