The Translator of _Homer_ has an Excuse for Mr. _Dryden_, which is much more generous than just: He says, _His Haste in Writing ought not to be imputed to him as a Fault, but to those who suffer'd so noble a Genius to lie under the Necessity of it._ Mr. _Dryden_'s Genius did not appear in any Thing more than his _Versification_; and whether the Criticks will have it ennobled for that _Versification_ only, is a Question. The Translator seems to make a good _Genius_ and a good Ear to be the same Thing. _Dryden_ himself was more sensible of the Difference between them, and when it was in Debate at _Will_'s Coffee-house, what Character he would have with Posterity; he said, with a sullen Modesty, _I believe they will allow me to be a good Versifier_. If we will believe Mr. _Dryden_, he did not lie under the Necessity of Haste: In several of his Dedications and Prefaces, he has declared, He never wanted. When he renounced his Allegiance to King _William_, and disqualified himself for keeping the Laureat's Place with that of Historiographer, he had a Pension from the then Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of _Dorset_, which was an Instance of Generosity that is rarely to be met with in the History of _Lewis_ XIV, who paid more to Poets and Historians than all the Princes of _Europe_. His Bounty has been extoll'd, even by those whom his Bigotry had banish'd, yet he seldom let it extend to any of the Reformed Religion, let their Merit be ever so great. Mademoiselle _le Fevre_, afterwards Madam _Dacier_, dedicated a Book to that Prince, and the Duke _de Montausier_ introduc'd her at Court; but the King would not accept of the Book, nor admit that his Name should be put before the Epistle.