'TIS strange that in such an improving Age as ours, when Wit and Learning run so high, that among all the parts of polite literature, and so many successful Attempts in pleasing and instructive Poetry, so few English Men, tho' invited thereto by the Example of that great Master in Poetry Ben. Johnson, have since his time addicted themselves to write Epi­grams.

And the more strange (if that be true which the Great Verulam in his Advancement of Learning asserts, That Poetry was ever thought to have some participation of Divinity) since in this Age those of the best parts are very impatient of hearing long Sermons, even now that Pulpit-Ora­tory is at the noblest height it ever was since the Apostle's time; and yet they endure not only to [Page] write, but to read long Poems, as if Poetry were not as expressive as Oratory, and a great deal might not be said in a few Lines of Verse as well as Prose.

The most Ancient Philosophy was wrote in Hiero­glyphicks cut or graven upon Statues, Columns, Obelisks, and the like; afterwards when the inter­pretative Tradition of those Hieroglyphicks was lost or varied, they wrote or engraved short Sen­tences in words at length, which were call'd Epi­grams or Inscriptions, and these in Prose or Verse as it happened.

But Poetry and Philosophy being contempora­ries, the best Inscriptions or Epigrams were for the most part in Verse.

The first sort of these were indeed plain, simple, and natural, without any affectation of either Wit or Humour, such as that of Pausanias in Thucydides.

This was as easie and unstudied as we can ima­gine; but they were not long contented with this plainness. That of Aristotle upon his Friend and Master Plato aims at something higher.

But very low and humble if we consider the great Genius of the Author, and the Dignity of the Sub­ject; yet the conciseness and the vivacity of this Epi­gram is much more admirable than any of those three which Naevius, Plautus, and Pacuvius made for their own Monuments; the best of the three in the Judgment of A. Gellius is that of the last; which that great Critick doth not stick to call Epigramma verecundissimum & purissimum dignumque ejus elegantissima gravitate, and this it is:

[Page]I don't know whether I have translated it with that elegant Gravity, but I have kept to the sence, and cannot but wonder that so Noble a Critick as A. Gellius should bestow such Epithites upon a Piece that deserves not the reading (as the first word in­deed intimates) of any but Boys; for ‘Hic sunt Poetae Pacuvii Marci Ossa,’ was as much as any Man would desire to know; but that was a Melancholly Subject for a Man to write his own Epitaph, and so let it pass.

Nor must we from hence conclude how little Wit was necessary to an Epigram among the Ancients, nor on the other side dare I affirm with some Modern Criticks, that the reason why so few lay out their Talent in this vein, is, that it is an exceeding dif­ficult Undertaking to make a good Epigram.

And if either of these two different Propositions be true, Viz. That a little Wit will serve, or, That 'tis hard to write a good Epigram, the Bookseller will meet with very few Assistants, I doubt, to this well-designed Undertaking: For first, if that will do which every body is Master of, the more refined Understandings will not engage themselves in Con­cert with the Vulgar, they'll look upon it as a lessen­ing of themselves, to go in among the Crowd of pre­tenders.

But this Proposition is false; for a little Wit will not serve in proportion to the bigness of the Poem; [Page] there is much more Wit required in an Epigram, than in any other Poem proportionably to the number of lines; for tho' simple Epigrams, whose chief Or­donnance or Design is Narration, do not require much Wit; yet of the five sorts of Epigrams into which J. Caes. Scaliger divides this kind of Poetry, viz. Mel, Fel, acetum, Sal, & species mixta, i. e. sweet, bitter, sharp, salt, and the mix'd sort; not any of the four first can consist without Wit, or that which is instead of it, and sometimes preferable to it, humour; but the fifth, viz. the Composite or mix'd sort, even of those Contemporary with the forementioned Greek ones, are not only formed with the truest Judgment, and dress'd up in the richest and finest Language, but animated likewise with all the warmths of strong and lively Invention: And as I know no reason why the Collector or Compiler of the Greek Antho­logy should be successful above all that ever selected choice Epigrams, and who have had the Fortune to leave out as good as some they put in; so we should have been more beholding to him, if his Will or Abilities had furnished us with double the number out of those admirable Greek Epigrammatists. Palla­das, Theaetetus the Poet, Straton, Theodorus, Lu­cillius Tarraeus, Athenaeus the Poet, Democritus the Poet, Archytas the Poet, Dorias, Dorus, Ery­cius, and many others; beside Archimelus, who had 5000 Bushels of Wheat sent him by Hiero for one Epigram upon a new built Ship.

[Page]The Latins took to this kind of Poetry in imitation of the Greeks, and well received it was at Rome; scarce any of the great Wits but show'd their Abilities by venturing somewhat this way. Val. Aedituus, Porcius Licinius, Q. Catulus, Q. Hortensius the Orator, M. Brutus, Metellus, M. Octacilius, C. Val. Catullus, C. Licinius, M. T. Cicero, Laurea Tullius, Virgil, Seneca the Philosopher, Martial, Claudian, Ausonius, &c. tho' very little of all they wrote in that kind, hath come to our hands, unless it be of Catullus, Martial, and Ausonius; concerning the last of which three, I say heartily with Jul. Caesar. Scaliger Utinam Epigrammata ne Scripsisset: Yet by what remains of any of the rest, we can take as just a Measure of the Authors, Tanquam ex pede Hercules, as if they had left us no other of their Works; for as Virgil was the best of Poets, so that one Epigram which introduced him into the fa­vour of the Roman Court, may challenge priority to any that was ever made,

as neat, as true, and as lofty a piece of Wit as ever came upon the Worlds Stage. Cicero's Talent lay much in Exaggeration, and so that piece of an Epi­gram, [Page] (for I can't think that Tetrastick was all in fundum Varronis) Shows, and withall that he would never have made a good Poet; tho' we have some better Verses of his making, still extant, than O For­tunatim Natam, which nevertheless might be indu­striously made trivial, that the Cantatores Cyclici might sing it to the Boys and Girls in the street, such like artifices of Popularity having ever been in use.

Seneca in those Epigrams we have of his, speaks as strongly the Philosopher as in any of his Wri­tings,

Comprehends a great part of his de Vita Beata: So

is as high a Consolation as an Heathen could arrive to.

To be brief, an Epigram gives as strong and am­ple a proof of any Man's Abilities in Poetry, as the longest and most elaborate piece can do. A Man's Wit, Judgment, and Literature, may be seen plain­ly in a few Lines (Protògenis knew Apelles's hand as well by drawing one line, as if he had painted a whole Figure) and that he writes no more, must be im­puted to his want of Leisure, Industry or Ambition.

[Page]As to the other Proposition, that 'tis hard to write a good Epigram, 'tis true; but then they who write many, may find excuse; he who writes some good, may afford to publish some indifferent: If Monsieur Rapin's Judgment may pass, who saith 'tis sufficient to have made one admirable Epi­gram in a Mans life. And Martial, who wrote the most good One's, hath wrote likewise the most of an other Character of any in the World; I don't mean only the Lascivious Ones, wherein he hath betray'd his want of judgment; for to write wantonly is as great an incontinency of the Mind, as to act it is of the Body; but in many of his other Epigrams, a­mong his Xenia or Apophoreta especially, I can't for my part taste one Grain of Salt, or any thing that will pass in this Age for Wit: Many of his Epi­grams are guilty likewise of Scurrility, which is mean always, and degenerous;

But for the many good Ones he hath wrote, he hath nevertheless obtain'd the Reputation of having form'd proper Designs, carried 'em on clearly, and fully, in numerous and well-chose Words; concluding for the most part with something pointed, which the Vulgar take to be the best part of an Epigram, and in which the form of it chiefly consists: But if that were true, Catullus can scarce come into the Number of Epi­grammatists, tho' the Learned place him first, who is [Page] not only very unequal to himself, as being now sweet, then harsh; now forced, by and by flowing; sometimes brisk, and otherwhiles flat; but he very often wants that poinancy in the latter end, and rather shines throughout the whole Epigram than in the Close.

His broad Obscenity sometimes passes among the Injudicious for Wit; a Fault of Youth which he li­ved not long enough to correct, dying at the Age of Thirty: But his Latin is delicate and pure, beyond all contradiction, otherwise I doubt not but Andreas Naugerius, who, as Paulus Jovius tells us, every Year on a certain Day dedicated to the Muses, burnt all the Volumes of Martial he could get; would have bestowed some Cost likewise on Catullus, instead of pretending the Ceremony done to his Manes; who comes as short of Martial's Wit and Fancy, as Martial doth of his Turn and Expressions.

But an Apothegm, a Par [...]nomasia, a Pun, a Quibble, and indeed any manner of Point, is the least part of an Epigram; and they who will always esteem it so, may escape their Fate, who had rather many times lose their Jest than their Friend. And were a short and witty Poem as full a definition of an Epigram, as it is a common one, 'twould be ea­sier to write Epigrams than any other Poetry: But that definition is imperfect, there being few Ex­cellencies of Epic, and not many of Drammatick Poetry but are here required; here ought to be a re­gular Design, a clear and plain Narration, choice Epithites, proper Figures, smart Expressions, a hap­py [Page] Turn, and an entertaining Conceit: 'Tis a Poem that cannot be enlarged nor contracted; every thing must be exact and perfect, because the Reader will be more than ordinarily sharp and critical, he can take the whole to judge of at once, and is not so tired by the length, as to let pass Faults for his own Ease; and if an Epigram hath but one Word a­miss, 'tis as much taken notice of, and the whole as much rejected, as if half a Page were faulty in a long Poem; This being in proportion to the whole, as that.

So that it is not the easiest thing to write well in this sort of Poetry, in which so few have excell'd, and of which we have scarce any exact Pattern and Example.

There are indeed in Martial, Patterns as inimita­ble as the Odes of Horace; but there is in every one of his Books, so much Trumpery mix'd, that eve­ry Reader must be a proper Judge of Excellency, to know which to account the Standard, and which the Allay.

The Westminster and the Ingolstad Excerptions take in too many, the Eton too few; and tho' the late Translator of Martial hath gone a Middle way, yet unless we knew who he is, his Authority cannot give any Rules; however, he hath render'd the Au­thor's Sence in English more commendably than he himself did in Latin, occasioning such Criticks as Jo. Pontanus, and Ra. Volaterrane to carp as much at his Style, as Ant. Muret and Lil. Gyraldus did at his Wit and Manners.

[Page]But, after all, the difficulty of Excelling hath not discouraged the learned part of Mankind in all Ages from attempting to write Epigrams.

We have not only the Example of Heathens, but of Christians too of great Fame; Boethius, that No­ble and Pious Philosopher, Pope Damasus who a­dorned the Altars of St. Peter and St. Paul, and the Sepulchres of the Martyrs with Epigrams. Pope Sixtus III. Paulinus, Ennodius, Pope Urban VIII. and most of the noblest restorers of Learning in these last Centuries, have given their Performances in this Kind an Equality to the choicest of their Studies. Boissard, Buchanan, Grotius, Gruter, Heinsius, Petavius, Petrarch, Politian, the Scaligers, and Turnebus, are but a few of those I mean. I must needs say that every Nation in this only particular hath out-done England. The Empire boasts of Bersman, Chytraeus, Lau [...]bach, Sabin, and I don't know how many more. France, of Bellais, Beza, Mercer, Muret, Passeratius, Rapin, Samma­than, &c. Italy, of Alciate, Amalthaeus, Colo­sius, Gauricus, Musconius, Naugerius, Porcatius, Sannazarius, Strozza, Tebaldeus, Vitalis, &c. The Netherlands, of Barlaeus, Bauhusius, Benedictus, Douza, Grudius, Lernutius, Meursius, Secundus, Suertius, Zevecotius, &c. And We, beside Ben. Johnson, More, and Owen, have very few that de­serve the Name of Epigrammatists; if the aboun­dance, and the sprightliness of Owen's Wit may, not­withstanding [Page] his false Quantities and indifferent Latin, sustain that Character.

Not that we want a Genius to Poetry in general, or that Masculine acuteness in particular which an Epigram requires; nor are we wanting at all I be­lieve in this kind of Poetry: But a Modesty peculiar to this Nation, restrains always the most excellent of our Wits, from publisting any thing less than an in­tire work, without some Charitable Motive, or im­portunate Request; on which account some of our ablest Writers having not enow Epigrams of their own to make a Volume, have neglected the Publishing those those they have.

And this might be a reason why so few Epigrams of the Ancients (of their modestest Writers especi­ally) have come to our hands: I hope the Opportu­nity hereby given, will not only encourage many to communicate the performances they have already by 'em in this kind, but put 'em likewise upon writing more, since no Age hath ever afforded better Subjects than this, and no People are better able to write what they please than the English.

This Ʋndertaker therefore doth earnestly invite, and for the sake of Publick benefit doth entreat all those of either Sex, who have any performances of this sort in their hands, that they will be pleased to Communicate 'em in Writing with liberty of Printing 'em, either in their own, or assumed Name.

The Noble Probus hath begun his large Contribu­tion, for which the letter'd World will doubtless [Page] thank him; I wish indeed his Numbers had been more easie, and flowing; but he seems to be above that Consideration, and not to regard that Softness or Delicacy of Verse, so that his Sense be proper and his Expressions strong; his Designs are Natural and Pleasing, his Wit Solid and Ʋniversal, his Words Full and Elegant; many have an easier turn of Verse, but the elevation of his Thoughts, and the manliness of his Style, his continued Vivacity of Hu­mour all along, and his frequency of Points in the Close, show us that he hath neither copied at Catullus or Martial, but successfully enough aim'd at a pro­per Character of his own; if a just Idea, a tempe­rament of Fancy, an universality of Literature, and proportion of Parts are elsewhere (altogether) rarely, if at all found.