t preferibed his dormoufe, I fhould upon the ft occafion be glad to vifit it, if I knew its viing days and hours, fo as not to disturb it. My friend faid, there remained but two books ore, one of fea, and the other of river fish; in e account of which he would not be long, feeing memory began to fail him almost as much as y patience. 'Tis true, in a long work, foft flumbers creep, And gently fink the artist into fleep *;" pecially when treating of dormice. The ninth book is concerning fea fish; where, nongst other learned annotations, is recorded at famous voyage of Apicius, who, having spent any millions, and being retired into Campania, He card that there were lobsters of a vaft and unusual gnefs in Africa, and thereupon impatiently got 1 fhipboard the fame day; and, having fuffered uch at fea, came at last to the coaft. But the me of fo great a man's coming had landed before im, and all the fishermen failed out to meet him, ad prefented him with their faireft lobsters. ked, if they had no larger. They answered, Their fea produced nothing more excellent than what they had brought." This honeft freedom f theirs, with his difappointment, fo difgufted him, hat he took pet, and bade the master return home gain immediately and fo, it seems, Africa loft he breed of one monster more than it had beforet. There are many receipts in the book, to drefs ramp-fish, that numb the hands of those that ouch them; the cuttle-fith, whofe blood is like nk; the pourcontrel, or many-feet; the fea-urchin, r hedge-hog; with feveral others, whofe fauces re agreeable to their natures. But, to the comort of us moderns, the ancients often ate their yfters alive, and fpread hard eggs minced over their fprats as we do now over our falt-fish. There s one thing very curious concerning herrings: It feems, the ancients were very fantastical, in makng one thing pafs for another; fo, at Petronius's fupper, the cook fent up a fat goose, fish, and wild-fowl of all forts to appearance, but ftill all were made out of the feveral parts of one fingle porker. The great Nicomedes, king of Bithynia, had a very delightful deception of this nature put upon him by his cook: the king was extremely affected with fresh herrings; (as indeed who is not?) bat, being far up in Afia from the fea-coaft, his whole wealth could not have purchafed one; but his cook contrived fome fort of meat, which, put into a frame, fo refembled a herring, that it was extremely fatisfactory both to this prince's eyes and gufto. My friend told me, that, to the honour of the city of London, he had feen a thing of this nature there; that is, a herring, or rather a falmogundy, with the head and tail fo neatly laid, that it furprized him. He fays, many of the pe cies may be found at the Sugar Loaf in Bell Yard, as giving an excellent relish to Burton ale, and not cofting above fixpence, an inconfiderable price for fo imperial a dainty! The tenth book, as my friend tells me, is concerning fib fauces, which confift of variety of ingredients, amongst which is generally a kind of frumetary. But it is not to be forgotten by any person who would boil fish exactly, that they threw them alive into the water, which at prefent is faid to be a Dutch receipt, but was derived from the Romans. It seems, Seneca the philofopher (a man from whofe morofe temper little good in the art of Natural Queftions, correcting the luxury of the of cookery could be expected), in his third book times, fays, the Romans were come to that daintinefs, that they would not eat a fish unless upon the fame day it was taken," that it might tafte "of the fea," as they expreffed it; and therefore had them brought by perfons who rode post, and made a great outcry, whereupon all other people were obliged to give them the road. It was an ufual expreffion for a Roman to fay, " In other "matters I may confide in you; but in a thing of "this weight, it is not confiftent with my gravity "and prudence. I will truft nothing but my own << eyes. Bring the fish hither, let me fee him "breathe his laft." And, when the poor fish was brought to table fwimming and gafping, would cry out," Nothing is more beautiful than a dying "mullet!" My friend fays, the annotator looks upon these as jefts made by the ftoics, and fpoken abfurdly and beyond nature;" though the annotator at the fame time tells us, that it was a law at Athens, that the fishermen fhould not wash their fish, but bring them as they came out of the fea. Happy were the Athenians in good laws, and the Romans in great examples! But I believe our Britons need with their friends no longer life, than till they fee London ferved with live herrings and gafping mackarel. It is true, we are not quite fo barbarous but that we throw our crabs alive into fcalding water, and tie our lobsters to the fpit to hear them fqueak when they are roafted; qur eels ufe the fame peristaltic motion upon the gridiron, when their skin is off and their guts are out, as they did before; and our gudgeons, taking opportunity of jumping after they are flowered, give occafion to the admirable remark of fome perfons' folly, when, to avoid the danger of the frying-pan, they leap into the fire. My friend faid, that the mention of eels put him in mind of the concluding remark of the annotator, "That they who amongst the Sybarites would "fish for eels, or fell them, fhould be free from all "taxes." I was glad to hear of the word conclude; and told him nothing could be more acceptable to me than the mention of the Sybarites, of whom I fhortly intend a hiftory, fhewing how they defervedly banished cocks for waking them in a morning, and fmiths for being useful; how one cried out because one of the rofe-leaves he lay on was rumpled; how they taught their horses to dance; and fo their enemies, coming against them with guitars and harpsichords, set them fo upon their round-o's and minuets, that the form of their battle U u iij was broken, and three hundred thousand of them flain, as Guldman, Littleton, and feveral other god authors, affirm. I told my friend, I had much overitayed my hour; but if at any time, he would find Dick Humelbergius, Cafpar Barthius, and another friend, with himself, I would invite him to dinner of a few but choice difhe. to cover the table at once, which, except they would think of any thing better, should be a falacacaby, a difa of fenugreek, a wild-fheep's head and appurtenance with a fuitable electuary, a ragout of capon's ftones, and fome dormoufe faufages. If, as friends do with one another at a venifonpafty, you should fend for a plate, you knew you may command it; for what is mine is yours, as being entirely your, &c. ? THE ART OF IN IMITATION OF HORACE DE ARTE AMANDI. TO THE LORD HERBERT*, Eldest Son of his Excellency the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, Baron Herbert of Caerdiff, Rofs of Kendal, Parr, Fitzhugh Marmion, St. Quintin, and Herbert of Shutland, Knight of the Garter, &c. &c. PREFACE. teral translator: and, after all, he lies under th`. misfortune, that the faults are all his own; and, if there is any thing that may seem pardonable, the Latiu at the bottom fhews to whom he is cogaged for it. An imitator and his author fland much upon the fame terms as Ben does with his father in the comedy † : Ir is endeavoured, in the following poems, to | ་་ What thof he be my father, I an't bound pren"tice to 'en." There were many reasons why the imitator tranfposed several verses of Ovid, and has divided the whole into fourteen parts, rather than keep it in three books. Thefe may be too tedious to be re ters of the fame fubject might lié more compact; that too large a heap of precepts together might appear too burthenfome; and therefore (if fmad matters may allude to greater) as Virgil in his "Georgics," to here most of the parts end with font remarkable fable, which carries with it fome mo ral: yet, if any perfons please to take the fix fire parts as the firft book, and divide the eight laf, they may make three books of them again. Ther: have by chance fome twenty lines crept into the poem out of the "Remedy of Love," which (23 inanimate things are generally the most wayward and provoking) fince they would stay, have been fuffered to stand there. But as for the love here mentioned, it being all prudent, honourable, and virtuous, there is no need of any remedy to be prescribed for it, but the speedy obtaining of what it defires. Should the imitator's ftyle feem not to be fufficiently restrained, should he not have afforded pains for review or correction, let it be confidered, that perhaps even in that he defired to imitate his author, and would not peruse them; left, as fome of Ovid's works were, fo these might be committed to the flames. But he leaves that for the reader to do, if he pleafes, when he has bought them. The prefent imitation of him is at least such a one as Mr. Dryden mentions, " to be an endea-cited; but, among the rest, some were, that matvour of a later poet to write like one who has s written before him on the fame fubject; that is, "not to translate his words, or be confined to his fenfe, but only to fet him as a pattern, and to "write as he supposes that author would have "done, had he lived in our age and in our coun'try. But he dares not fay that Sir John Den"ham, or Mr. Cowley, have carried this libertine "way, as the latter calls it, fo far as this definition "reaches." But, alas! the prefent imitator has come up to it, if not perhaps exceeded it. Sir John Denham had Virgil, and Mr. Cowley had Pindar, to deal with, who both wrote upon lafting foundations; but the prefent fubject being love, it would be unreafonable to think of too great a confinement to be laid on it. And though the paffion and grounds of it will continue the fame through all ages; yet there will be many little modes, fashions, and graces, ways of complaifance and addrefs, entertainments and diverfions, which time will vary. Since the world will expect new things, and perfons will write, and the ancients | have to great a fund of learning; whom can the noderns take better to copy than fuch originals? It is moft likely they may not come up to them; but it is a thoufand to one but their imitation is better than any clumfy invention of their own. Whoever undertakes this way of writing, has as much reafon to understand the true fcope, genius, and force of the expreffions of his author, as a li the In the first editions of the "Art of Cookery," and e Art of Love," Dr. King printed the original ende the respective pages of his trandations. + Love for Love. WHOEVER knows not what it is TO LOVE, And his rough manners with foft music fram'd: And where the foaming boar fecures his brawn. And he, that fuel seeks for chaste desire, Bring tawny skins, and puppets that can dance. To Bath and Tunbridge they fometimes retreat, Sometimes at marriage-rites you may espy * George Prince o. Denmark, confort to the Queen, greatly admired thefe fine gardens. They were purchased by King William from Lord Chancellor Finch, were enlarged by Queen Mary, and improved by Queen Anne, who was so pleased with the place, that the frequently fupped during the fummer in the green-houfe. Queen Caroline extended the gardens to their prefent fize, three miles and a half in compafs. |