Et que tanta, &c.] Tityrus having mentioned Rome, Melibæus immediately asks him what was the occasion of his going thither to which he answers, that it was liberty, which he did not enjoy till he was grown old, when Galatea forsook him, and he gave himself up to Amaryllis.

Libertas.] The commentators generally understand Tityrus to have been a slave; because he makes mention here of his being grown old before he obtained his liberty. But it is very plain that Virgil does not represent him in any such condition; for he is possessed of flocks and herds; and has a farm of his own; tua rura manebunt. The poet, therefore, must mean by liberty, either the restitution of the lands of Tityrus, or his re: leasement from the bondage of his passion for Galatea. It seems to be the latter; because we are told he had no hopes of liberty, so long as Galatea retained possession of him. It will be objected, perhaps, that Tityrus could have no occasion to go to Rome to obtain a dismission from his affection to a mistress; and therefore this cannot be the liberty here mentioned. But to this it may be answered, that his having obtained his liberty, by shaking off the yoke of Galatea, was the cause of his

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going to Rome: for during his passion for her, he neglected his affairs, and lived expensively, sending great quantities of cattle and cheese to market, and yet not being the richer for it.

Candidior postquam, &c.] The commentators, who generally affirm that Virgil describes himself under the name of Tityrus, are much confounded with this mention of his beard being grey, Virgil being but twenty-eight years old when he wrote this eclogue. They, however, seem to think it necessary that some one person should be represented under the name of Tityrus, and thereby lay themselves under inextricable difficulties in explaining their author; which might easily be avoided by allowing that the poet's characters are general, and not intended to be personal.

Postquam nos Amaryllis, &c.] The allegorical commentators fancy that the poet meant Rome by Amaryllis, and Mantua by Galatea. Ruæus justly rejects the allegorical interpretation for the following reasons: 1. As the poet has twice mentioned Rome expressly, and by its proper name, in this eclogue, what could induce him to call it sometimes Rome and sometimes Amaryllis? 2. He distinguishes Galatea from Mantua also, when

he says, that whilst he was a slave to Galatea, he had no profit from the cheeses which he made for the unhappy city.

Peculi.] It is used for peculii. Peculium is commonly understood to signify the private stock which a slave is permitted to enjoy, independent of his master. It must be confessed, that the word is most frequently used in this sense; but there want not instances to prove that it also signifies the property of a freeman, or, as I understand it in the passage now before it, gain. Peculium, no doubt, as well as pecunia, is derived from pecus, because exchanges were made by cattle, before the invention of money; and the most ancient coin had cattle impressed on it.

Septis.] Servius tells us, that septa signified those places in the Campus Martius which were fenced in for the people to give their votes; and that because these septa resemble sheepfolds, or ovilia, the words are often put one for another.

Ingratæ urbi.] Mantua: but some doubt may arise why Mantua is called ingrata, and what is meant by that epithet. It is commonly used to signify either unpleasing or ungrateful. But ingratus signifies also unhappy,

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sad, or melancholy. We do not see any reason why Virgil should call Mantua ungrateful. Tityrus carried his cattle and cheese thither to sell, and if he did not bring his money home with him, it was his own fault to spend it. Nor is there any evident reason why he should call it unpleasing, unless, as Burman interprets it, because it was filled with soldiers. But there appears an evident reason why he should call it unhappy; for it was so in its situation, suffering on account of its nearness to Cremona, as the poet himself intimates in the ninth eclogue ;

Mantua, væ miseræ nimium

vicina Cremonæ.

Mirabar, &c.] Melibœus seems by this last discourse of Tityrus to have found out the amour between him and Amaryllis, with which he was not acquainted before; and therefore wondered whose absence it was that Amaryllis lamented.

Amarylli.] It seems to me very evident that there is not any thing more mysterious in this passage, than that Galatea had been an imperious and expensive mistress to Tityrus, and kept him from growing rich, by draining him of his money as fast as he got it. When he was

Servius says, he is here called juvenis, because the senate had published a decree forbidding any one to call him boy. This word seems, indeed, to have been common in the mouths of his enemies.

Bis senos cui nostra dies altaria fumant.] These twelve days are with good reason supposed by the commentators to be one day in every month. Servius says they were either the kalends or ides.

Submittite tauros.] Servius seems to understand these words in a double sense; as if they signified both ploughing the ground, and propagating the species.

Fortunate senex, &c.] Melibæus congratulates Tityrus on his happiness in enjoying his own estate, though small. It is evident, from the repetition of the word sener in this passage, that Virgil did not intend, under the name of Tityrus, to describe himself, who was under thirty years of age when he wrote this eclogue.

Tua rura.] It is the general opinion, that Virgil here describes his own estate, which does not seem to have been very fertile, but partly rocky and partly fenny. The words of Melibœus seem very plain and

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natural. He congratulates his friend that he is in possession of an estate that is his own, which though neither large nor fruitful, abounding with stones and marshes, yet is sufficient to afford him a decent support. It is not necessary to understand the words in the strictest sense, that it consisted entirely of naked rocks and rushes, without any good herbage. We find these hills were not so barren, but that they afforded room for some vines, by the mention of a pruner in this very passage. Tityrus also was not without apples and chesnuts, as appears from the latter end of this eclogue; where he mentions also his having plenty of milk; and he has already told us, that he used to supply Mantua with many victims and cheeses. We have many rocky lands in England, that are far from being incapable of culture; and our fens are well known not to be wholly void of pasturage.

Limosoque palus obducat pascua junco.] Rushes are a certain indication of a wet soil: but they are of great service in the most rotten morasses, affording the only secure ground to tread upon; which they effect by the strong matting of their roots.