THE
PREFACE.
The great Freedom with which Horace has been used, I hope will be in some Measure an Excuse for the Liberty I take in this Essay.—The Art of Cookery, and Harlequin-Horace are two glaring Instances, not to mention Numberless Translators, Commentators, &c. upon his Works; in which some have so Remark'd and Revis'd, that they have explain'd the Sense of Horace quite away.—I for my Part, either as a Poetical Architect, or an Architectural Poet, profess myself to be only an humble Imitator of him: I have seldom lost sight of the Original, at least as far as the Subject will permit.—-But Architecture is a barren Theme, and a Path so beaten, that to step out of it, though purely to avoid the Crowd, is looked upon as an unpardonable Singularity. How far I may have strayed in this Poetical Excursion, I know not; but of this, I am certain I can with Truth say with Horace,
——Si quid novisti rectius istis,
Candidus imperti; si non, his Utere Mecum.
