THE

WORKS

OF
PETRONIUS ARBITER,

Translated by several Hands.
With a KEY by a Person of Honour,

AND ALSO
His Life and CHARACTER,
By Monsieur St. E.VREMONT.
The fourth Edition.

To which is added,
Some other of the Roman Poets, viz. Ca.

tullus, Tibullus and Propertius. And Translations
from the Greek of Pindar, Anacreon and Sappho.

With a Poem on TELEMACHUS,
Ry the Duke of DEVONSHIRE;

And an Essay on Poetry, by
ITOHN Duke of BUCKINGHAM.

The whole Adorn'd with Cuts.
LONDON, Printed for SAM, BRISCoe, and Sold by

W.Taylor in Pater-noster-Row, W. Brand and J. Kent, Temple.
Gate; J. Graves in St. James's-Street. 1714.

ce

archiah alden 10-22-40 .417662

THE

PREFA C E.

Oncerning the Difficulty of Tran-
Cam p aring this Author I shall say

l nothing, tho the French Tran19 fiator bas bestow'd half his

Preface to enforce it, because if the Difficulty
was greater than the Undertakers could well
go through with, or vanquish with Reputa-
tion, the Infamy is not lesen'd, but their
Folly much magnify'd. Besides, this Ver-
fion has already been receiv'd with such suc-
cefs, that the Bookseller has thought it worth
his while to venture a new Impression, by le.
veral Hands : In short, both the Prose and
Verfe is so much improv’d, that this may just-
ly be said to be wholly new; besides a Third
Part never before made English.

Having said in few words all that was ne.
cessary as to the Translation, I shall come to
the main point of this Præludium, which is,
to remove some Reflections on the Original ;

A 2

and

and to give some few Remarks upon its Author. · There are some People that are prepossessid with a Prejudice against the Works of Petronius Arbiter, not from their own Reading, or Knowledge of the Matter, but from a sort of traditional Calumny, that the Devotees have rais'd against him. But such I desire to per. use the Life of Petronius without prejudice, and what I here shall offer in his Defence against those Censures which unfair Criticks or gross Ignorance have laid upon him.

We have nothing to fear from any Charge on the Defe&t of his Wit, and the Purity of his Stile, his Fame for that is but too upell esta: blish'd all Europe over, and his Party every where too numerous to apprebend an Attaque from that fide, for I may venture to assert, that Petronius is not much less admir'd now, than he was in ancient Rome; for our Age, by an admirable circulation of Temper, bas very much of that of the time in which our Author liv’d, and of which he has left us so agreeable a Draught.

This general Inclination to Petronius is not confind to thofe learned Men of my $cquaint ance, but reaches all such who have eper discover'd any just claim to Knowledge

and