Book III.
The Dunciad.
129
See the bold Ostrogoths on Latium fall;
See the fierce Visigoths on Spain and Gaull
95 See, where the morning gilds the palmy shore
(The soil that arts and infant letters bore)[R 1]
His conqu'ring tribes th'Arabian prophet draws,
And saving Ignorance enthrones by Laws.
See Christians, Jews, one heavy sabbath keep,
100 And all the western world believe and sleep.
Lo! Rome herself, proud mistress now no more
Of arts, but thund'ring against heathen lore;[R 2]
Her grey-hair'd Synods damning books unread,
And Bacon trembling for his brazen head.
See the fierce Visigoths on Spain and Gaull
95 See, where the morning gilds the palmy shore
(The soil that arts and infant letters bore)[R 1]
His conqu'ring tribes th'Arabian prophet draws,
And saving Ignorance enthrones by Laws.
See Christians, Jews, one heavy sabbath keep,
100 And all the western world believe and sleep.
Lo! Rome herself, proud mistress now no more
Of arts, but thund'ring against heathen lore;[R 2]
Her grey-hair'd Synods damning books unread,
And Bacon trembling for his brazen head.
Remarks
- ↑ Ver. 96. (The soil that arts and infant letters bore)] Phœnicia, Syria, &c. where Letters are said to have been invented. In these countries Mahomet began his conquests.
- ↑ Ver. 102. thund'ring against heathen lore;] A strong instance of this pious rage is placed to Pope Gregory's account. John of Salisbury gives a very odd encomium of this Pope, at the same time that he mentions one of the strangest effects of this excess of zeal in him: Doctor sanctissimus ille Gregorius, qui melleo prædicationis imbre totam rigavit & inebriavit ecclesiam; non modo Mathesin jussit ab aula, sed, ut traditur a majoribus, incendio dedit probatæ lectionis scripta, Palatinus quæcunque tenebat Apollo. And in another place: Fertur beatus Gregorius bibliothecam combussisse gentilem; quo divinæ paginæ gratior esset locus, & major authoritas, et diligentia studiosior. Desiderius Archbishop of Vienna was sharply reproved by him for teaching Grammar and Literature, and explaining the Poets; because (says this Pope) In uno se ore cum Jovis laudibus Christi laudes non capiunt: Et quam grave nefandumque sit Episcopis canere quod nec Laico religioso conveniat, ipse considera. He is said, among the rest, to have burned Livy; Quia in superstitionibus et sacris Romanorum perpetuo versatur. The same Pope is accused by Vossius, and others, of having caused the noble monuments of the old Roman magnificence to be destroyed, lest those who came to Rome should give more attention to Triumphal Arches, &c. than to holy things. Bayle, Dict.
