Rid by some lumpish minister of state."
In 1717, Mr. Tonson published Poems by the earl of Roscommon; and added thereto the Essay on poetry, "with the leave and with the corrections of the author." The lines shall now be given in their amended state, as they appear in that volume, with the accompanying notes:—
"The Laureat[[2]] here may justly claim our praise,
Crown'd by Mack-Fleckno[[3]] with immortal bays;
Tho' prais'd and punish'd once for other's[[4]] rhimes,
His own deserve as great applause sometimes;
Yet Pegasus[[5]], of late, has born dead weight,
Rid by some lumpish ministers of state."
Next to Dryden and the earl of Mulgrave, as authorities on this question, comes the elder Jacob Tonson. Both writers were contributors to his Poetical miscellanies. In 1701 he published Poems on various occasions, etc. By Mr. John Dryden. The volume has not the Essay on satire. The same
Tonson, as we have just seen, gave currency to the assertion that Dryden was "ignorant of the whole matter."