Line 662.Nor I, his mighty Syre, cou'd ward the Blow.
I have mention'd this Passage in my Preface to the Æneis; to prove, that Fate was superiour to the Gods; and that Jove cou'd neither defer nor alter its Decrees. Sir Robert Howard has since, been pleas'd to send me the concurrent Testimony of Ovid; tis in the last Book of his Metamorphoses; where Venus complains, that her Descendant, Julius Caesar, was in danger of being Murther'd by Brutus and Cassius, at the head of the Commonwealth-Faction, and desires them to prevent that Barbarous Assassination. They are mov'd to Compassion; they are concern'd for Caesar; but the Poet plainly tells us, that it was not in their power to change Destiny: All they cou'd do, was to testifie their sorrow for his approaching Death, by fore-shewing it with Signs and Prodigies, as appears by the following Lines.
Talia nequicquàm toto Venus aurea Coelo
Verba jacit: Superosque movet: Qui rumpere quanquam
Ferrea non possunt veterum decreta Sororum,
Signa tamen luctus dant haud incerta futuri.
Then she Addresses to her Father Jupiter, hoping Aid from him, because he was thought Omnipotent. But he, it seems, cou'd do as little as the rest, for he answers thus.
