1808.] 
the emanations of an oracle. No ma- 
thematician can be more confident of a 
demonstration, than he is of the. truth 
of his philosophy. He is every where 
apparently conscious of his own reason, 
and assumes an absolute command not 
only over his readers, but his patron 
Memmius,. to whom* he addresses him- 
self. He seems to disdain reply, and is 
so confident of his cause, that he is will- 
jug to anticipate his antagonists, urging 
for them whatever he imagines they could 
say, aud having them, as he supposes, 
without an objection for the future, And 
this is done with so much haughtiness of 
Janguage and impatience of contradiction, 
as if he were assured of the triumph, be- 
fore he entered the lists. We far sur- 
passes his master in the boldness of his 
impiety, and the extent of his infidelity. 
Lambinus,* with that partiality for his au- 
thor which is the fault of every editor, 
asserts that this is not so much the crime 
of Lucretius as of Epicurus, whose doc- 
trine it was; as if the poet, who extended 
the circulation of a pernicious doctrine, 
adorned it with all the attractive elecance 
of verse, and alluring harmony of num- 
bers, were not equally guilty with the ori- 
ginal founder. Weare more disposed to 
coincide with Lambinus, when he asks, 
** Quid lum postea? Numidcirco nos quoque 
quilegimus, imp sumus? ‘ What danger 
can accrue to us, says Gifanius,} from the 
ridiculous doctrine of his atoms, since it 
is SO easy to be refuted? On the con- 
trary, we may from tbence derive this 
great advantage, that, having discovered 
the falsity of his assertions concerning 
the nature of things, we shall be the more 
diligent to find out the truth, and having 
found it, to retain it the more strongly in 
vurmemory.” Inthisage when our rea- 
son is assisted with a more enlightened 
philosophy, and strengthened by the cor- 
roborating evidence of revelation, when 
whatever may be the doubts or arguments 
of the deist, the dreary comfortiess te- 
nets of the atheist, at least, are derided 
or detested; there can be little danger, 
we apprehend, in entrusting the volume 
of Lueretius into the hands of the stu- 
dent. Tle will admire the beauty of his 
style, the fervour of his imagination, and 
the rapidity of his thoughts; but he *will 
* Dionys. Lambinus; in Epist. ded. ad. 
Car. IX. reg. Christ, in Havercamp. Edit. 
Luc. 
t+ Obert. Gif, in Vit. Luc.3 apud Haver- 
camp. 
Lyceum of Ancient Literature—Lucretius. 
g17 
execrate the pernicious tendency of his 
doctrines, the impious absurdity of his 
theory, and the bold avowal of his infide- 
lity. Ifhe should be for a moment at- 
tracted by the novelty of the subject, or 
seduced by the plausibility of the rea- 
soning, it may be sufficient to remind 
him, that Lucretius, who thus arrogated 
to himself the right of scanning the mys- 
terious ways of Providence, lived a ma- 
niac, and died a suicide, and that Creech, 
his ingenious translator, while he copied 
these ravings of a distempered imagina- 
tion, perhaps caught the spark of insa- 
nity, under the probable influence of 
which he destroyed himself. 
Having thas briefly explained to the 
reader the nature, and we trust, expos- 
ed the absurdity, of the theory ascribed 
to Epicurus, and enlarged by Lucretius, 
it may be equally proper to refer him to 
the Anti-Lucretius, ceu de Deo et Na- 
turd, a Latin poem, written by the cele- 
brated Cardinal de Polignac. The ob- 
ject of this work is to refute the errors of 
the Roman poet, to place the summum 
bonum of life in more important pursuits, 
and to expose, in its proper light, the doc- 
trine of atoms, motion, and space. The 
cardinal is, indeed, somewhat diffusive in 
hisistyle, and there is little variety in his 
plan; but many passages are admired, 
as uniting the strength of Lucretius with 
the elegance of Virgil. The happy turn 
of his expressions, the flowing abundance 
of his imagery, and the facility with which 
he discusses a subject so arduous in ite 
self, and so little susceptible of the graces 
of poetry, are not surpassed in any other 
instance of modern latinity. It is to be 
wished, that he had laid aside the fruit- 
less attempt to combat the opinions of 
Newton, and recommend, in their place, 
the reveries of Descartes. But it is at all 
times difficult to detach ourselves from 
the notions which we have imbibed in 
our infancy, and that of the cardinai had 
been strongly biassed by the Cartesian 
philosophy of the seventeenth century. 
ae 
Lo the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
N looking over the “ literal Trans- 
lation of Virgil’s description of the 
Shield of /Eneas”,* to which I am ready 
ta award the general praise of fidelity 
and spirit, 1 find your Correspondent 
A. B. E. has given a novel, and, I think, 
* Monthly Magazine for February, p. 97. 
objcction= 
