supposed to excel in criticism (cf. Section III. of the Tale of a Tub).
P. 25, l. 1. light nimble gods, menial servants to Jupiter, cf. Iliad viii. 19 (and see Leaf's note upon the passage).
P. 25, last line. At her right hand, &c. Cf. Temple (p. 51 of Appendix), 'sufficiency . . . the worst composition out of the pride and ignorance of mankind.' This phrase seems to have annoyed Wotton (Rejections, Chaps. I. and IV.). By making Criticism the child of Pride and Ignorance Swift turns the phrase against him, for Wotton and Bentley are regarded as typical critics.
In the Tale (S, i. 71) every true critic is said to be the descendant of Momus and Hybris (Folly and Insolence).
P. 26, l. 10. her eyes turned inward. The inhabitants of Laputa, (Gulliver's Travels, Part III. Chap. II.) had 'one of their eyes turned inward, and the other directly up to the zenith' (S. viii. 163).
P. 26, l. 21. who . . . will . . . sacrifice, &c. Cf. Verg. Aen, i. 48, 9.
P. 27, l. 3. Momus . . . stayed not for an answer. Cf. the opening of Bacon's Essay on Truth, "'What is truth,' said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer."
P. 27, l. 8. by me children grow wiser, &c. Cf. Temple, p. 69 of Appendix, 'A boy at fifteen,' &c. There does not seem to be any particular person aimed at in this remark, unless it is Wotton, who was only 28 when he ventured to criticise Temple. On the other hand Boyle was only 18 when he produced his Phalaris.
P. 28, l. 9. Gresham and Covent Garden. Gresham College (Gresham's house in Bishopsgate Street) was the meeting-place of the Royal Society until 1710: by Covent Garden is
