Page:The Poetical Works of Thomas Parnell (1833).djvu/312

184 3dly, Those who presume by their critical licenses to alter Ithe spellings of words; an affectation which destroys the etymology of a language, and being carried on by private hands for fancy or fashion, would be a thing we should never have an end of.

P. 64. v. 21.Nor Pallas, Jove.]I cannot, says Zoilus, reflect upon this speech of Mars, where a mouse is opposed to the god of war, the goddess of valour, the thunder of Jupiter, and all the gods at once, but I rejoice to think that Pythagoras saw Homer's soul in Hell, hanging on a tree, and surrounded with serpents, for what he said of the gods. Thus he who hates fables answers one with another, and can rejoice in them when they flatter his envy. He appears at the head of his squadron of critics, in the full spirit of one utterly devoted to a party; with whom truth is a lie, or as bad as a lie, when it makes against him; and false quotations, pass for truth, or as good as truth, when they are necessary to a cause.

P. 66. v. 20.And a whole war.] Here, says Zoilus, is an end of a very foolish poem, of which by this time I have effectually convinced the world, and silenced all such for the future, who, like Homer, write fables to which others find morals, characters whose justness is questioned, unnecessary digressions, and impious episodes. But what assurance can such as Zoilus have, that the world will ever be convinced against an established reputation, by such people whose