Page:Virgil's Pastorals, Georgics and Aeneis - Dryden (1709) - volume 1.pdf/19

Rh Si Pergama dextrâ Defendi possint, etiam hâc defensa fuissent. But Spencer being Master of our Northern Dialect; and skill'd in Chaucer's English, has so exactly imitated the Doric of Theocritus, that his Love is a perfect Image of that Passion which God infus'd into both Sexes, before it was corrupted with the Knowledge of Arts, and the Ceremonies of what we call good Manners.

My Lord, I know to whom I dedicate: And cou'd not have been induc'd by any motive to put this part of Virgil'', or any other, into unlearned Hands. You have read him with pleasure, and I dare say, with admiration in the Latin, of which you are a Master. You have added to your Natural Endowments, which without flattery are Eminent, the superstructures of Study, and the knowledge of good Authors. Courage, Probity, and Humanity are inherent in you. These Virtues have ever been habitual to the Ancient House of Cumberland, from whence''