The poet when he wrote request had forgot that his former preter-imperfect tense, found, was formed without the sign did.

It may not be impertinent to remark, that the Marchioness lamented in this Epitaph of Milton, is probably the same with that celebrated by Jonson, in an Elegie on the Lady Anne PAWLETT, Marchioness of WINTON; the beginning of which Pope seems to have thought of, when he wrote his pathetic Verses to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady.

Jonson begins his Elegic,

What gentle ghost, besprent with April dew,
Hayles me fo folemnly to yonder yew?
And beck’ning wooes me, &c*.

In the same strain Pope beautifully breaks out,

What beck’ning ghoft along the moonlight shade,
Invites my steps, and points to yonder glade ?
'Tis the t.

As Jonson now lies before me, I may perhaps be pardoned for pointing out another passage in him, which Pope probably remembered when he wrote the following

From shelves to shelves fee greedy Vulcan roll,
And lick up all their physic of the foul*.

Thus Jonson, speaking of a parcel of books,

These, hadft thou pleas'd either to dine or sup,
Had made a mealé, for VULCAN TO LICK UPT.

a

I shall now produce some instances of Spenser's confused construction.

B. i. c. iii, f. xii.

Till seeing by her fide the lyon stand
With sudden feare her pitcher downe she threw,
And Aled away; for never in that land

Face of faire lady did she ever view,
And that dred Lyons looke her cast in deadly hew.

After having told us, that feeing the lyon stand by her, she fled away for fear, he adds, that this was because she had never seen a lady before, which certainly was no reason why she should fly from the lyon. What our author intended to express here, was, that « at seeing the lyon, and so beautiful a lady, an ob“ject never seen before in that country, the was « affrighted, and fled.”

B. i. c. vi. s. v.

He gan the fort affaile,
Whereof he weend possessed soone to bee,
And with rich spoile of ransackt chastitie.

Of which he weend soone to be pose led, is not improper ; but, to be possessed with rich spoile, &c. is very inaccurate. Here seems to be likewife fomewhat of an elleipsis, and I think he should have said, rich spoile of ITs ransackt chastitie.

B. i. c. X, s. xl.

The fourth appointed by his office was
Poor prisoners to relieve with gracious ayde,
And captives to redeeme with price of brass,
From Turks and Sarazins which them had staid.
And though they faultie were, yet well he waid
That God to us forgiveth everie howre,
Much more than that why they in bands were laid.

The poet says, that his office was to relieve PRISONERS, and to redeem CAPTIVES with money from

turkish

turkish Slavery; who, though guilty of crimes, yet he considered that god every hour pardons crimes much greater than those for which they were imprisoned. By this it should seem, that those enllaved by the Turks were guilty of crimes, &c. but the poet would fignify by they faultie were, the prisoners first mentioned, who were deservedly imprisoned on account of their crimes.

Another instance of our author's inaccuracy, is, his tautology, or repetition of the same circumstances,

B. iv. c. xii. f. i.

For much more eath to tell the starres on hy,
Albe they endlesle seeme, &c.
Then to recount the seas pofteritie.

The difficulty of numbering the deities present at the marriage of Thames and Medway, he expresses in the same manner, in the stanza immediately preceding. ,

The which more cath it were for mortall wight,
To tell the fands, or count the starres on hye.

B. vi. c. vi. f. iv.

For whylome he had been a doughty knight,
As any one that lived in his dayes,
And proved oft in many a perilous fight,
In which he grace and glory won alwaies ;

And

And in all battles bore away the bayes;
But being now attackt with timely age
And wearie of this world's unquiet waies,
He tooke himselfe unto this hermitage.

All this we were told a few lines before.

a

And soothly it was said by common fame,
So long as age enabled him thereto,
That he had been a man of mickle name,
Renouned much in arms, and derring doe;
But being aged now, and weary too
Of warres delights, and worlds contentious toyle,
The name of knighthood he did disavow,

And hanging up his arms, and warlike spoile, From all the worlds incumbrance did himselfe asfoile.

C. v. f. 374 To this head we may refer the redundancies of a word.

B. iii. c. vi. s. xi.

İt fortuned faire Venus having loft
Her little son, the winged god of love,

xii.

Him for to seeke she left her heavenly house.

She is unnecessary in the last line, as FAIRE VENUS is the nominative case. Other inftances of this fault