entered Rome in great triumph together, and nothing less than the moft folid and, happy peace was then expected. It was, to this peace therefore, that our Poet afcribed the happiness of the golden age; and to Pollio, the chief author of it, that he dedicated the Poem under confideration. Since he had performed an action of fuch importance, as the reconciliation of these great and powerful enemies, he might juftly tell his patron, that what little fparks now remained of the civil wars, would be eafily extinguished under his conduct. Whether it fucceeded according to the Poet's expectation or not, is not my bufinefs here to examine. I have taken upon me to explain the meaning of my author; but not to fhew, that he was endued with the fpirit of prophecy.

.

Siqua manent, &c.] There were ftill fome remains of the civil war; for Sextus Pompey at that time retained the fhips, which had been put under his government, and infefted the coafts of Italy. Virgil expreffes his hope, that Pollio will by his prudence compofe this difference alfo, fince he had juft effected a more difficult reconciliation..

and the ferpent fhall perish, and the deceitful berb of poison fhall perifb,

"fon of Pollio. As for Marcellus, "fays he, it is probable, that Cae"far caufed him to be brought up

as his own fon, from the very 66 moment of his birth. He was "his own nephew, and he had no "fon. We know that he adopted "Marcellus; and as hiftory has 66 not pointed out the time of this "adoption, we may believe, and "Virgil infinuates it, in this Ec"logue, that it was from the very

time of his birth. In fhort,

would he have given up the hope "of his family to the education and "difcretion of Anthony? In this "fense therefore Virgil fays, that "Marcellus was going to live a"mongst gods and heroes. He had "the blood of both in his veins,

being Caefar by his mother, and "Marcellus by his father."

But this child does not feem to have been born at the time of writing this Eclogue. It is however not impoffible, that Auguftus fhould adopt him, even before his birth. We have feen already, that when he married Livia, he fent the child as foon as born, to his true father Tiberius. In the prefent cafe, Octavia had no former husband living, to whom she might return the child when born. It might therefore very probably be ftipulated, that the infant fhould be returned to his neareft relation, who was his mother's brother, Auguftus. Nor is it improbable, that Auguftus fhould engage to make it his heir, if it proved a male, and he had no

grow common.

fon of his own. Or perhaps it might be an article of the peace, that as Octavia was fo nearly related to both the Triumvirs, being the fifter of one and wife of the other, and pledge of the peace itself, that the child of which fhe was then preg nant, fhould be heir to both. But thefe are only conjectures, and are neither to be proved nor contradicted from hiftory. It must be from fuch an adoption, that Marcellus could claim any relation to the gods; for Catrou forgets himself, when he fays he had divine blood from his mother. Julius Caefar derived his defcent from Iulus or Afcanius, the fon of Aeneas, the son of Venus: his fifter's daughter was married to Octavius, by whom he had young Octavius, who was called alfo Octavianus, and Auguftus Caefar: therefore Auguftus was alfo of divine defcent: but Octavia was the daughter of Octavius by a former wife, and therefore a mere mortal.

Divifque videbit.] What the Poet here fays concerning gods and heroes, feems to relate rather to the general defcription of the golden age, than to any circumstances, which can be fuppofed to have really happened at that time. We need only compare this paffage with the 'fixth and feventh verfes of the ninth chapter of Ifaiah, to be fatisfied that either the Sibyl or the Poet had feen that prophecy. For unto us a child is born, unto us a fon is given, and the government fhall be upon his fhoulder: and his

"name fhall be called Wonderful, "Counsellour, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace."

17. Patriis virtutibus.] By his father's virtues, I believe we must understand thofe of Auguftus, who must already have adopted him, as was faid before. We cannot well underftand him to mean those of Anthony, his mother's husband ; for his licentious life was too well known at that time, and gave great offence to Pollio himself. Nor can it well be supposed, that the Poet would thus exprefs himself of a fon of Pollio, if that was the infant intended: for a prediction of his fon becoming the ruler of the world, publifhed under his published under his patronage, would have expofed both poet and patron to danger, at a time when the Triumvirs were in full power.

18. At tibi prima puer, &c.] He foretels the bleffings, which fhall attend the birth of this infant.

There is a very great fimilitude between this paffage and the following quotation from Ifaiah; t

"The wilderness and the folitary place fhall be glad for them and "the defert fhall rejoice, and blof"fom as the rofe, chap. xxxv. ver. I. The glory of Lebanon fhall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the pine-tree, and the box together, "chap. Ix. ver. 13. The wolf "alfo fhall dwell with the lamb, " and the leopard fhall lie down "with the kid: and the calf, and "the young lion, and the fatling "together, and a little child fhall

"lead

But as foon as thou shalt be able to read the praises of beroes, and the a&ions of thy father,

"lead them. And the cow and "the bear fhall feed, their young ones fhall lie down together: and "the lion fhall eat ftraw like the 66. ox. And the fucking child shall play upon the hole of the afp, " and the weaned child fhall put "his hand on the adder's den, chap. ❝xi. ver. 6, 7, 8." At tibi.] "In the Roman ma"nufcript, it is ac tibi; and after"wards again ac fimul inftead of at fimul but in all the other ancient manuscripts, it is at." PIERIUS. Nullo cultu.] The earth producing it's fruits without culture is amark of the golden age. Thus Thus Ovid;

Baccare.] That the Baccar, Baccharis, or Baccaris was esteemed an herb good against enchantments, is plain from the paffage juft now quoted from the feventh Eclogue. According to Diofcorides, it is a fweet-fmelling herb, that is used in garlands; the leaves of it are rough, and of a middle fize between those of violet and mullen: the ftalk is

angular, about a cubit in height, with fome appendages: the flower is white, inclining to purple, and of

a fweet smell: the roots resemble thofe of black hellebore, and fmell

very like cinnamon: Baxxapis BoTám kóli kuwdns uai oleQavwμatinh ἧς τα φύλλα τραχέα' μέγεθος ἔχοντα μεταξύ του και φλόμου καυλὸς δὲ γομιώδης πήχεως τὸ ὕψος, υπότραχους Exwu wapa Quádas även de éμóp paróλεunα, Euwde písar de ἔμοιαι ταῖς τοῦ μέλανος ἐλλεβόρου ξοικῦιαι τῇ ὀσμὴ κιναμώμῳ. Pliny has not defcribed it; but he tells us, that the fmell of it is very like cinnamon, and quotes the authority of Ariftophanes, to prove that it is not a Barbarous name, but a Greek "Baccar quoque radices tantum odoratus eft, a quibufdam nardum rufticum appellatum. Unguenta ex ea radice fieri fo"lita apud antiquos, Ariftophanes "prifcae comoediae poëta teftis eft. Unde quidam errore falfo barbaricam eam appellabant. Odor eft ei cinnamomo proximus." Of the several plants which the Moderns have supposed to be the baccar, it is more easy to say which is not the plant, than which is. Some

cone;

al

that herb is commonly called Baccharis Monfpelienfium but it feems rather to be the Conyxa of the Anunder the name of Comyza major. cients, and is figured by Matthiolus This laft learned author confedies ingenuoufly, that he never was acquainted with the true baccar, till Andreas Lacuna fent him a dried fpecimen of it, which he had gathered about Rome. This plant, as Lacuna affirms in his letter to Matthiolus, has every property cribed by the Ancients to the barcar. Matthiolus has given a figure of it; but the authors fince his time do not agree, even concerning the plant which he has figured. The general opinion feems to be, that it is only a different reprefentation of his Conyza major or the Baccharis Monfpelienfium. To me they appear very different; and the Baccharis of Matthiolus feems rather to reprefent fome fpecies either of Verbascum or Blattaria. I believe it is the Blattaria purpurea C. B. the leaves of which refemble the Conyza major Matthioli. But whether this is the true baccar of the Ancients or not, I dare not pofitively affirm, and am afraid the root does not greatly refemble that of the black Hellebore.

20. Colocafia.] The Colocafia is, without doubt, an Egyptian plant. Diofcorides affirms, that it is the root of the Egyptian bean, which fome call Pontick. It grows chiefly in Egypt, and is found in the lakes of Afia and Cilicia. It has leaves

as

εν

as large as an umbrello, a ftalk a cubit long, and of the thicknets of a finger, a rofaceous flower, twice as big as a poppy. When the flower goes off, it bears hufks like little bags, in which a fmall bean appears Το beyond the lid, in form of a bottle, which is called Ciborion or Cibotion, a little ark, because the bean is fown on the moift earth, and fo finks into the water. The root is thicker than a reed ; it is eaten both raw and boiled, and is called Collocafia. The bean is eaten green, and when ait is dried it turns black, and is bigger than the Greek bean: Ὁ δὲ Αιγύπλιος Κύαμος ὅν ἔνιοι Πολικὸν καλοῦσι, πλεῖσιος μὲν γίνεται ἐν Αιγύπλῳ καὶ ἐν Ἀσία δὲ καὶ ἐν Κιλικίᾳ ἐν ταῖς λίμναις ἐυρίσκεται· ἔχει δὲ φύλλον μέγα ὡς πέτασον, καυλὸν δὲ πηχυαίον· περὶ δάκτυλον τὸ πάχος· ἄνθος δὲ ῥοδόχρουν· διπλάσιον μήκωνος· · ὅπερ ἀπανθῆσαν φέρει φυσκία παραπλήσια θυλακίσκοις, ἐν οἷς κύαμος μικρὸς ὑπεραίρων τό πῶμα ὡς πομφό· Αυξ· καλεῖται δὲ κιβώριον ἢ κιβώτιον· διὰ τὸ τήν φυτέιαν τοῦ κυάμου γίνεσκαι αυτοῦ ἐντιθεμένου αν ἰκμοβώλῳ, ὄντῳ τὲ εἰς τὸ ὕδωρ αφιεμένου ρίζα δὲ υπεστι παχυτέρα καλάμου βιβρωσκομένη ἐφθή τε καὶ ὡμή. Κολλοκασία καλουμένη· ὁ δὲ κύαμος βιβρώσκεται μὲν καὶ χλωρός· ξηρανθεὶς δὲ γίνεται μέλας καὶ μείζων τοῦ ἐλληνικού. Theophraftus tells us, that the Egyptian bean grows in marthes and lakes ; the ftalks, at the longeft, are four

Το

1

σε

ป

the field fall gradually grow yellow with fofter beards,

2.

cubits, and of the thickness of a finger, and refembling a reed, without joints; it has divifions on the infide, like a lily. It bears a head at the top, like a honey-comb; with one bean in each cell, appearing a little above it, in number about thirty. The flower is twice as big as that of a poppy, and of the colour of a rofe: the head rifes above the water. A great leaf grows by

each bean. . . . . The root is thicker than the largent reed, and has divis fions like the ftalk. It is eaten raw and boiled and roafted, by the inhabitants of the marthes. It' : grows fpontaneoufly in great plenty. It is alfo fown in the mud, with plenty of chaf, that it may fink down, without corrupting; and thus they make their plantations of beans. . . . It grows alfo in Syria and Cilicia: Ὁ δὲ Κύαμος φύεται μὲν ἐν τοῖς ἕλεσε καὶ ταῖς λίμναις· καυλὸς δὲ αὐτοῦ μῆκος μὲν ὁ μακρόταλος εις τέτλαρας πήχεις· πάχος δὲ δακτυλιαῖος ὁ μοιος δὲ καλάμῳ μαλακῷ [μακρῷ] ἀγονάτῳ διαφύσεις δὲ ἔνδοθεν ἔχει διόλου διειλημένας ὁμοίως τοῖς κρίνοις· ἐπὶ τούτῳ δὲ ἡ κωδία παρομοία σφη κίῳ περιφερεῖ καὶ ἐν ἐκάστῳ τῶν κυτ τάρων κύαμος μικρὸν ὑπεραίρων αὐτοῦ, πλῆθος δὲ οἱ πλεῖστοι τριάκοντα· τὸ δὲ άνθος διπλάσιον ἤ μήκωνος χρώμα δὲ ὅμοιον ῥόδῳ κατακορές· ἐπάνω δὲ τοῦ ὕδατος ή κωδία παραφύεται δὲ Φύλλα μεγάλα παρ' ἕκαστον τῶν κυά μων. . . . . Ἡ δὲ ῥίζα παχυτέρα του καλάμου τοῦ παχυτάτου, καὶ διαφύ

σεις