[143] "I am going to work at another _Tatler_" (Swift's "Journal," Oct. 4, 1710). "And now I am going in charity to send Steele another _Tatler_, who is very low of late" (_Ib._, Oct. 7, 1710). "I am now writing my poetical description of a 'Shower in London,' and will send it to the _Tatler_" (_Ib._, Oct. 10, 1710). "I have finished my poem on the 'Shower,' all but the beginning; and am going on with my _Tatler_" (_Ib._, Oct. 12, 1710). "This day came out the _Tatler_, made up wholly of my 'Shower,' and a preface to it. They say it is the best thing I ever wrote, and I think so too. I suppose the Bishop of Clogher will show it you. Pray tell me how you like it" (_Ib._, Oct. 17, 1710). "They both [Rowe and Prior] fell commending my 'Shower' beyond anything that has been written of the kind; there never was such a 'Shower' since Danae's," &c. "You must tell me how it is liked among you" (_Ib._, Oct. 27, 1710). "The Bishop of Clogher says, I bid him read the London 'Shaver,' and that you both swore it was 'Shaver,' and not 'Shower.' You all lie, and you are puppies, and can't read Presto's hand" (_Ib._, Nov. 28, 1710). "My 'Shower' admired with you; why the Bishop of Clogher says, he has seen something of mine of the same sort, better than the 'Shower.' I suppose he means 'The Morning'; but it is not half so good" (_Ib._, Nov. 30, 1710).
[144] Altered in Johnson's "Poets," and other editions, to "old aches will throb"; otherwise "aches" must be pronounced as a dissyllable.
From _Tuesday, Oct. 17_, to _Thursday, Oct. 19, 1710_.
----Mecum certasse feretur.--OVID, Met. xiii. 20.
It is ridiculous for any man to criticise on the works of another, who has not distinguished himself by his own performances. A judge would make but an indifferent figure who had never been known at the bar. Cicero was reputed the greatest orator of his age and country before he wrote a book "De Oratore"; and Horace the greatest poet before he published his "Art of Poetry." This observation arises naturally in any one who casts his eye upon this last-mentioned author, where he will find the criticisms placed in the latter end of his book, that is, after the finest odes and satires in the Latin tongue.