The Works of Samuel Johnson, Volume 04 - The Adventurer; The Idler by Samuel Johnson
page 60 of 559 (10%)
page 60 of 559 (10%)
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imagined, that Horace, after having given to gold the force of thunder,
and told of its power to storm cities and to conquer kings, would have concluded his account of its efficacy with its influence over naval commanders, had he not alluded to some fact then current in the mouths of men, and therefore more interesting for a time than the conquests of Philip. Of the like kind may be reckoned another stanza in the same book: --_Jussa coram non sine conscio Surgit marito, seu vocat_ institor, _Seu_ navis Hispanae magister, _Dedecorum pretiosus emptor_. HOR. Lib. iii. Ode. vi. 29. The conscious husband bids her rise, _When some rich factor courts her charms_, Who calls the wanton to his arms, And, prodigal of wealth and fame, Profusely buys the costly shame. FRANCIS. He has little knowledge of Horace who imagines that the _factor_, or the _Spanish merchant_, are mentioned by chance: there was undoubtedly some popular story of an intrigue, which those names recalled to the memory of his reader. The flame of his genius in other parts, though somewhat dimmed by time, is not totally eclipsed; his address and judgment yet appear, though much of the spirit and vigour of his sentiment is lost: this has happened in the twentieth Ode of the first book: _Vile potabis modicis Sabinum |
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