DR. DARWIN. 239 



lent the ceftus, but attired the Goddefs 

 herfelf ; and paffing over the claffic cere- 

 mony of the bath, and the operation of the 

 oils, which perhaps he thought too Hotten- 

 totifli, he defcribes more concifely, yet not 

 lefs brilliantly, this magnificent labour of 

 the toilette; thus, 



So, rob'd by Beauty's Queen, with fofter charms, 

 Saturn! a woo'd the Thunderer to her arms j 

 O'er her fair limbs a veil of light (he fpread, 

 And bound a ftarry diadem on her head j 

 Long braids of pearls her golden trefles grac'd, 

 And the charm'd ceftus fparkled round her waift. 



The ceftus is here a vifible and brilliant 

 ornament, inftead of being, as Homer af- 

 terwards tells us, hid in Juno's bofbm. 

 Pope, in a note to this paffage, obferves, 

 that, by this difpofal, the Poet meant to 

 convey an idea of the matron-like modefty 

 of Juno, who conceals what is to render 

 her engaging ; while Venus, wearing the 

 ceftus in open fight, oftentatioufly difplays 

 the means by which me captivates : but 

 7 this 



