Page:The Poetical Works of Thomas Parnell (1833).djvu/310

182 P. 60. v. 4. Big Seutlæus tumbling.]Zoilus has happened to brush the dust off some old manuscript, in which the line that kills Seutlæus is wanting. And for this cause he fixes a general conclusion, that there is no dependance upon any thing which is handed down for Homer's, so as to allow it praise; since the different copies vary amongst themselves. But is it fair in Zoilus, or any of his followers, to oppose one copy to a thousand? and are they impartial who would pass this upon us for an honest balance of evidence? When there is such an inequality on each side, is it not more than probable that the number carry the author's sense in them, and the single one its transcriber's errors? It is folly or madness of passion to be thus given over to partiality and prejudices. Men may flourish as much as they please concerning the value of a new found edition, in order to bias the world to particular parts of it; but in a matter easily decided by common sense, it will still continue of its own opinion.

P. 61. v. 21. With Borbocætes fights.]Through the grammatical part of Zoilus's work he frequently rails at Homer for his dialects. These, says he in one place, the poet made use of because he could not write pure Greek; and in another, they strangely contributed to his fame, by making several cities who observed something of their own in his mixed language, contend for his being one of their natives. Now since I have