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" Once (and but once) I caught him in a lie, "And then, unwhipp'd, he had the grace to cry : “The fault he has I fairly fhall reveal, "(Could you o'erlook but that) it is, to fteal."

(c) If, after this, you took the graceful lad, Could you complain, my friend, he prov'd fo bad? Faith, in fuch cafe, if you fhould profecute, I think sir Godfrey should decide the fuit:" Who fent the thief that ftole the cash, away, And punish'& him that put it in his way.

(4) Confider then, and judge me in this light; I told you when I went, I could not write; You fad the fame; and are you difcontent With laws, to which you gave your own assent? Nay worse, to ask for verfe at fuch a time! D'ye think me good for nothing but to rhyme? () In Anna's wars, a foldier poor and old Had dearly earn'd a little purfe of gold: Tir'd with a tedious march, one luckless night, He flept, poor dog and loft it, to a doit, This put the man in fuch a defperate mind, Between revenge, and grief, and hunger join'd, Against the foe, himself, and all mankind, He leap'd the trenches, fcal'd a castle wall, Tore down a ftandard, took the fort and all. "Prodigious well!" his great commander cry'd, Gave him much praife, and fome reward befide. Next, pleas'd his excellence a town to batter (Its name I know not, and 'tis no great matter); "Go on, my friend, (he cry'd) fee yonder walls! "Advance and conquer! go where glory calls! "More honours, more rewards, attend the brave." Don't you remember what reply he gave?

D'ye think me, noble general, fuch a fot? "Let him take caftles who has ne'er a groat." (f) Bred up at home, full early I begun To read in Greek the wrath of Peleus' fon.

() Ille ferat pretium, poenae fecurus, opinor. Prudens emifti vitiofum: dicta tibi eft lex. Infequeris tamen hunc, et lite moraris iniqua.

(4) Dixi me pigium proficifcenti tibi, dixi Talibus officiis prope mancum; ne mea faevus Jurgares ad te quod epiftola nulla veniret. Quid tum profeci, mecum facientia jura Si tamen attentas? quereris fuper hoc etiam, quod Expectata gibi non mittam carmina mendax. (e) Luculli miles collecta viatica multis Aerumnis, laffus dum noctu stertit, ad affem Perdiderat poft hoc vehemens lupus, et fibi et hofti

fratus pariter, jejunis dentibus acer,
Praefidium regale loco dejecit, ut aiunt,
Summe munito, et multarum divite rerum.
Clarus ob id factum, donis ornatur honestis, -
Accipit et his dena fuper feftertia numnûm.
Forte fab hoc tempus caftellum evertere praetor
Nefcio quod cupiens, hortari coepit eundem [tem:
Verbis, quae timido quoque poffent addere men-
1, bone, quo virtus tua te vocat: i pede fausto,
Grandia laturus meritorum praemia: quid ftas?
Poft hacc ille catus, quantumvis rufticus, "Ibit,
"Ibit eo, quo vis, qui zonam perdidit, inquit."

Besides, my father taught me from a lad,
The better art to know the good from bad:
(And little fure imported to remove,
To hunt for truth in Maudlin's learned grove.}
But knottier points, we knew not half fo well,
Depriv'd us foon of our paternal cell;
And certain laws, by fufferers thought unjust,
Deny'd all posts of profit or of truft:
Hopes after hopes of pious Papifts fail'd, [vail'd.
While mighty William's thundering arm pres
For right hereditary tax'd and fin'd,

He fuck to poverty with peace of mind;
And me, the mufes help'd to undergo it;
Convict a Papist he, and I a poet.

But (thanks to Homer) hence I live and thrive,
Indebted to no prince or peer alive,

Sure I should want the care of ten Monroes,
If I would fcribble, rather than repose.

(g) Years following years, steal something
every day,

At laft they fteal us from ourselves away;
In one our frolics, one amusements end,
In one a mistress drops, in one a friend;
This fubtle thief of life, this paltry time,
What will it leave me, if it fnatch my rhyme?
If every wheel of that unweary'd mill,
That turn'd ten thousand verfes, now ftands till?
(b) But after all, what would you have me do?
When out of twenty I can please not two;
When this heroics only deigns to praise,
Sharp fatire that, and that Pindaric lays?
One likes the pheafant's wing, and one the leg;
The vulgar boil, the learned roast an egg.
Hard task to hit the palate of fuch guests,
When Oldfield loves what Dartineuf detefts.

(i) But graut 1 may relapfe, for want of grace, Again to rhyme: can London be the place?

Iratus Graiis quantum nocuiffer Achilles.
Adjecere bonae paulo plus artis Athenae:
Scilicet ut poffem curvo dignofcere rectum,
Atque inter fylvas academi quaerere veruni.
Dura fed emovere loco me tempora grato;
Civilifque rudem belli tulit aeftus in arma,
Caefaris Augufti non refponfura lacertis.
Unde fimul primum me demifere Philippi,
Decifis humilem pennis, inopemque paterni
Et laris et fundi, paupertas impulit audax
Ut verfus facerem : fed, quod non defit, habentem,
Quac poterunt unquam fatis expurgare cicutae,
Ni melius dormire putem, quam fcribere verfus?

(g) Singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes; Eripuere jocos, venerem, convivia, ludum; Tendunt extorquere poemata. quid faciam vis? (4) Denique non omnes eadem mirantur amant

que.

Carmine tu gaudes: hic delectatur iambis;
Ille Bioneis fermonibus, et fale nigro.
Tres mihi convivae prope diffentire videntur,
Pofcentes vario multum diverfa palato.
Quid dem? quid non dem? renuis quod tu, jubet
Quod petis, id fane eft invifum acidumque duobus.
(i) Praeter caetera me Romae ne poemiata cer-

[alter:

Who there his mufe, or felf, or foul attends,
In crowds, and courts, law, business, feafts, and
friends?

My counsel fends to execute a deed:
A poet begs me I will hear him read:

In Palace-yard at nine you'll find me there-
At ten, for certain, Sir, in Bloomsbury-square-
Before the Lords at twelve my caufe comes on-
There's a rehearsal, Sir, exact at one-
"Oh but a wit can study in the streets,
"And raise his mind above the mob he meets."
Not quite fo well however as one ought;
A hackney-coach may chance to fpoil a thought;
And then a nodding beam, or pig of lead,
God knows, may hurt the very ableft head.
Have you not feen, at Guildhall's narrow pafs,
Two Aldermen difpute it with an afs?
And peers give way, exalted as they are,
Ev'n to their own f-r-v-nce in a car?

(k) Go, lofty poet and in fuch a crowd,
Sing thy fonorous verfe-but not aloud.
Alas! to grottoes and to groves we run,
To cafe and filence, every mufe's fon :
Blackmore himself, for any grand effort,

And here, while town, and court, and city roars;
With mobs, and duns, and foldiers, at their doors,
Shall I, in London, act this idle part?
Compofing fongs, for fools to get by heart?

(m) The temple late two brother fergeants faw,
Who deem'd each other oracles of law!
With equal talents, these congenial fouls,
One lull'd th' Exchequer, and one stunn'd the
rolls;

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Each had a gravity would make you split,
And fhook his head at Murray, as a wit.
'Twas, "Sir, your law"-and "Sir, your elo-
quence,"
[fenfe."
"Yours, Cowper's manner-and yours, Talbot's
(") Thus we difpofe of all poetic merit,
Yours Milton's genius, and mine Homer's fpirit..
Call Tibbald Shakespeare, and he'll swear the
Nine,

Dear Cibber never match'd one ode of thine.
Lord! how we ftrut through Merlin's cave, to fee
No poets there, but Stephen, you, and me.
Walk with refpect behind, while we at cafe
Weave laurel crowns, and take what names we
please.

Would drink and doze at Tooting or Earl's Court. My dear Tibullus!" if that will not do,

How fhall I rhyme in this eternal roar?

How match the bards whom none e'er match'd before?

(1) The man, who, ftretch'd in Ifis' calm re-
treat,

To books and study gives seven years complete,
See, ftrow'd with learned duft, his nightcap on,
He walks, an object new beneath the fun!
The boys flock round him, and the people stare:
So ftiff, fo mute! føme ftatue you would fwear,
Stepp'd from its pedeftal to take the air!

Scribere poffe, inter tot curas totque labores?
Hic fponfum vocat, hic auditum fcripta, relictis
Omnibus officiis: cubat hic in colle Quirini,
Hic extremo in Aventino; vifendus uterque.
Intervalla vides humane commoda. "Verum

"Let me be Horace, and be Ovid you!
"Or, I'm content, allow me Dryden's strains,
"And you fhall rife up Otway for your pains."
Much do I fuffer, much to keep in peace
This jealous, wafpith, wrong-head, rhyming race;
And much muft flatter, if the whim fhould bite
To court applause by printing what I write :
But let the fit pafs o'er, I'm wife enough
To flop my ears to their confounded suff.

() In vain, bad rhymers all mankind reject, They treat themselves with most profound refpect 'Tis to fmall purp fe that you hold your tongue, Each prais'd within, is happy all day long:

(m) Frater erat Romae confulti rhetor; ut alter
Alterius fermone meros audiret honores:
Gracchus ut hic illi foret, huic ut Mucius ille.
Qui minus argutos vexat furor ifte poetas?

"Purae funt platea, nihil ut meditantibus ob- () Carmina compono, hic elegos; mirabile visu;

ftet."

Feftinat calidus mulis gerulifque redemtor:
Torquet nunc lapidem, nunc ingens machina

num:

Caelatumque novem Mufis opus. afpice primum, Quanto cum faftu, quanto molimine circumtig-fpectemus vacuam Romanis vatibus aedemi

Triftia robuftis luctantur funera plauftris:
Hac rabiofa fugit canis, hac lutulenta ruit fus.
(4) I nunc, et verfus tecum meditare canoros.
Scriptorum chorus omnis amat nemus, et fugit
urbes,

Mox etiam (fi forte vacas) fequere, et procul audi,
Quid ferat, et quare fibi nectat uterque coronami.
Caedimar, et totidem plagis confumimus hoftem,
Lento Samnites ad lumina prima duello.
Difcedo Alcaeus puncto illius; ille meo quis?
Quis, nifi Callimachus? fi plus adpofcere vifus?
Fit Mimnermus, et optivo cognomine crefcit.
Multa fero, ut placem genus irritabile vatum,
Cum fcribo, et fupplex populi fuffragia capto
Athe-Idem, finitis ftudiis, et mente recepta,

Rite cliens Bacchi, fomno gaudentis et umbra.
Tu me inter ftrepitus nocturnos atque diurnos
Vis canere, et contracta fequi veftigia vatum ?
(4) Ingenium, fibi quod vacuas defumfit

nas,

Et ftudiis annos feptem dedit, infenuitque
Libris et curis, ftatua taciturnius exit
Plerumque, et rifu populum quatit; hic ego re-

rum

Fluctibus in mediis, et tempeftatibus urbis,

Obturem patulas impune legentibus aures.

(0) Ridentur mala qui componunt carmina :

verum

Gaudet fcribentes, et fe venerantur, et ultro,
Si taceas, laudant; quidquid fcripfere, beati.
At qui legitimum cupiet feciffe poema,

But how feverely with themselves proceed
The men, who write fuch verfe as we can read?
Their own strict judges, not a word they spare,
That wants or force, or light, or weight, or care,
Howe'er unwillingly it quits its place,
Nay though at Court (perhaps) it may find grace:
Such they'll degrade; and fometimes, in its ftead,
(p) In downright charity revive the dead;
Mark where a bold, expreffive phrafe appears,
Bright through the rubbish of some hundred years;
Command old words that long have flept, to wake,
Words, that wife Bacon, or brave Raleigh spake;
Or bid the new be English, ages hence,
(For ufe will father what's begot by fenfe)
Pour the full tide of eloquence along,
Serenely pure, and yet divinely strong,
Rich with the treasures of each foreign tongue!
Prune the luxuriant, the uncouth refine,
But fhow no mercy to an empty line:
Then polish all, with so much life and ease,
You think 'tis nature, and a knack to please:
"But eafe in writing flows from art, not chance;
"Asthofe move eafieft who have learn'd to dance."
(9) If fuch the plague and pains to write by rule,
Better (fay 1) be pleas'd, and play the fool;
Call, if you will, bad rhyming a disease,
It gives men happiness, or leaves them case.
There liv'd in primo Georgii (they record)
A worthy member, no small fool, a lord;
Who, though the house was up, delighted fate,
Heard, noted, anfwer'd, as in full debate:
In all but this, a man of fober life,
Fond of his friend, and civil to his wife;
Not quite a madman, though a pasty fell;
And much too wife to walk into a well.
Him, the damn'd doctors and his friends immur'd,
They bled, they cupp'd, they purg'd; in fhort,

they cur'd:

Whereat the gentleman began to ftare

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My friends! he cry'd, p→→x take you for your care!
That from a patriot of diftinguifh'd note,
Have bled and purg'd me to a fimple vote,

Audebit quaecunque parum fplendoris habebunt,
Et fine pondere erunt, et honore indigna ferentur,
Verba movere loco; quamvis invita recedant,
Et verfentur adhuc intra penetralia Vestae:
(p) Obscurata diu populo bonus eruet, atque
Proferet in lucem fpeciofa vocabula rerum,
Quae prifcis memorata Catonibus atque Cethegis,
Func fitus informis premit et deserta vetuftas;
adfcifcet nova, quae genitor produxerit ufus :
Vehemens et liquidus, puroque fimillimus amni,
Fundet opes, Latiumque beabit divite lingua:
Luxuriantia compefcet: nimis afpera fano
Levabit cultu, virtute carentia tollet:
Laudentis fpeciem dabit, torquebitur, ut qui
Nunc Satyrum, nunc agreftem Cyclopa movetur.
(9) Praetulerim fcriptor delirus inerfque videri,
Dum mea dele&tent mala me, vel denique fallant,
Quam fapere, et ringi. Fuit haud ignobilis argis,
Qui fe credebat miros audire tragoedos,
In vacuo laetus feffor plauforque theatro:

(7) Well, on the whole, plain prose must be my fate :

Wisdom (curse on it) will come foon or late.
There is a time when poets will grow dull:
I'll e'en leave verfes to the boys at school:
To rules of poetry no more confin'd,
I'll learn to fmooth and harmonise my mind,
Teach every thought within its bounds to roll,
And keep the equal measure of the foul.

[crave,

(s) Soon as I enter at my country door, My mind refumes the thread it dropp'd before; Thoughts which at Hyde-park corner I forgot, Meet and rejoin me, in the penfive grot. There all alone, and compliments apart, I ask these fober questions of my heart. (4) If, when the more you drink, the more you You tell the doctor; when the more you have, The more you want, why not with equal cafe Confefs as well your folly, as difeafe? The heart refolves this matter in a trice, "Men only feel the smart, but not the vice."

(u) When golden angels cease to cure the evil, You give all royal witchcraft to the devil: When fervile chaplains cry, that birth and place Indue a peer with honour, truth, and grace; Look in that breast, most dirty Dean be fair, Say, can you find out one fuch lodger there? Yet ftill, not heeding what your heart can teach, You go to church to hear these flatterers preach. Indeed, could wealth bestow or wit or merit, A grain of courage, or a spark of spirit, The wifeft man might blush, I must agree, If D lov'd fixpence, more than he.

(v) If there be truth in law, and use can give A property, that's yours on which you live.

More; bonus fane vicinus, amabilis hofpes,
Comis in uxorem ? poffet qui ignofcere fervis,
Et figno laefo non infanire lagenae :
Poffet qui rupem, et puteum vitare patentem.
Hic ubi cognatorum opibus curifque refectus,
Expulit elleboro morbum bilemque meraco,
Et redit ad fefe; Pol me occidiftis, amici,
Non fervaftis, ait; cui fic extorta voluptas,
Et demptus per vim mentis gratiffimus error.

(r) Nimirum fapere eft abjectis utile nugis, Et tempeftivum pueris concedere ludum; (s) Ac non verba fequi fidibus modulanda Latinis, Sed verae numerofque modofque edifcere vitae. Quocirca mecum loquor haec, tacitufque recordor: (t) Si tibi nulla fitim finiret copia lymphae, Narrares medicis: quod quanto plura parasti, Tanto plura cupis, nulline faterier asdes?

(u) Si vulnus tibi monftrata radice vel herba
Non fieret levius, fugeres radice vel herba
Proficiente nihil curarier: audieras, cui
Rem Dî donarint, ille decedere pravam
Stultitiam; et, cum fis nihilo fapientior, ex quo
Plenior es, tamen uteris monitoribus îfdem ?

At fi divitiae prudentem reddere poffent,
Si capidum timidumque minus te: nempe ruberes,
Viveret in terris, te fi quis avarior uno.

(v) Si proprium eft, quod quis libra mercatus et

Delightful Abs-court, if its fields afford
Their fruits to you, confeffes you its lord:
All(x) Worldly's hens, nay, partridge, fold to town,
His venifon too, a guinea makes your own:
He bought at thousands, what with better wit
You purchase as you want, and bit by bit;
Now, or long fince, what difference will be found?
You pay a penny, and he paid a pound.

(y) Heathcote himself, and fuch large-acred men,
Lords of fat E'sham, or of Lincoln-fen,
Buy every stick of wood that lends them heat;
Buy every pullet they afford to eat.

Yet these are wights, who fondly call their own
Half that the devil o'erlooks from Lincoln-town.
The laws of God, as well as of the land,
Abhor a perpetuity should stand:

Eftates have wings, and hang in fortune's power (x) Loofe on the point of every wavering hour, Ready, by force, or of your own accord,

By fale, at leaft by death, to change their lord. Man? and for ever? wretch! what wouldst thou have?

Heir urges heir, like wave impelling wave.
All vaft poffeffions (just the fame the cafe
Whether you call them villa, park, or chase)
Alas, my Bathurft what will they avail?
Join Cotfwood's hills to Saperton's fair dale,
Let rifing granaries and temples here,
There mingled farms and pyramids appear,
Link towns to towns with avenues of oak,
Enclose whole downs in walls, 'tis all a joke!
Inexorable Death fhall level all,

And trees, and ftones, and farms, and farmer fall, (a) Gold, filver, ivory, vafes fculptur'd high, Paint, marble, gems, and robes of Perfian dye,

Quaedam (fi credis confultis) mancipat ufus:
Qui te pafcit ager, tuus eft ; et villicus Orbi,
Cum fegetes occat tibi mox frumenta daturus,
Te dominum fentit.

(x) das nummos; accipis uvam,
Pullos, ova, cadum, temeti : nempe modo isto
Paulatim mercaris agrum, fortaffe trecentis,
Aut etiam fupra, nummorum millibus emtum.
Quid refert, vivas numerato nuper, an olim?

(3) Emtor Aricini quondam, Veientis et arvi, Emtum coenat olus, quamvis aliter putat ; emtis Sub noctem gelidam lignis calefactat ahenum. Sed vocat ufque fuum, qua populus ad fi a certis Limitibus dicina refigit jurgia: tanquam (z) Sit proprium cuiquam, puncto quod mobilis horae, [prema, Nunc prece, nunc pretio, nunc vi, nunc forte fuPermutet dominos, et cedat in altera jura.

Sic, quia perpetuus nulli datur ufus, et haeres Hacredem alterius, velut unda fupervenit undam: Quid vici profunt, aut horrea? quidve Calabris Saltibus adjecti Lucani; fi metit Orcus Grandia cum parvis, non exorabilis auro? (a) Gemmas, marmor, ebur, Tyrrhena figilla, tabellas,

Argentum, veles Gaetulo murice tinctas,

There are who have not-and thank heaven there

are,

Who, if they have not, think not worth their care. (6) Talk what you will of tafte, my friend, you'll find

Two of a face, as soon as of a mind.
Why, of two brothers, rich and restless one
Ploughs, burus, manures, and toils from fun to fun ;
The other flights, for women, sports, and wines,
All Townshend's turnips,andall Grosvenor's mines:
Why one like Bu- with pay and scorn content,
Bows and votes on, in court and parliament;
One, driven by strong benevolence of soul,
Shall fly, like Oglethorpe. from pole to pole:
is known alone to that Directing Power,
Who forms the genius in the natal hour;
That God of Nature, who, within us ftill,
Inclines our action, not constrains our will;
Various of temper, as of face or frame,
Each individual; his great end the fame.

(c) Yes, Sir, how small foever be my heap,
A part I will enjoy, as well as keep.
My heir may figh, and think it want of grace
A man fo poor would live without a place :
But fure no ftatute in his favour fays,
How free, or frugal, I fhail paf3 my days:
I, who at fome times fpend, at others spare,
Divided between carelessness and care.
'Tis one thing madly to disperse my store;
Another, not to heed to treasure more :
Glad, like a boy, to snatch the first good day,
And pleas'd, if fordid want be far away.

(f) What is 't to me (a paffenger God wot)
Whether my veffel be first-rate or not?
The ship itself may make a better figure;
But I that fail, am neither lefs nor bigger:
I neither frut with every favouring breath,
Nor ftrive with all the tempeft in my teeth.
In power, wit, figure, virtue, fortune, plac'd
Behind the foremost, and before the last.

(b) Cur alter fratrum ceffaré, et ludere, et ungi Praeferat Herodis palmeti pinguibus; alter Dives et importunus, ad umbram lucis ab ortu Silveftrem flammis et ferro mitiget agrum : Scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat aftrum : Naturae Deus humane, mortalis in unum.— Quodque caput, vulta mutabilis, albus, et ater. (c) Utar, et ex modico, quantum res pofcet,

acervo

Tollam: nec metuam, quid de me judicet haeres, Quod non plura datis invenerit. et tamen idem Scire volam, quantum fimplex hilarisque nepoti Difcrepet, et quantum difcordet parcus avaro. Diftat enim, fpargas tua prodigus, an neque fum.

tum.

Invitus facias, nec plura parare labores;
Ac potius, puer ut festis Quinquatribus olim,
Exiguo gratoque fruaris tempore raptim. [atrum
(f) Pauperics immunda domûs procul abfit: ego,
Nave ferar magna an parva, ferar unus et idem.
Non agimur tumidis velis Aquilone fecundo:

(g)" But why all this of avarice? I have none." | Has age but melted the rough parts away,

I with you joy, Sir, of a tyrant gone;
But does no other lord it at this hour,
As wild and mad? the avarice of power?
Does neither rage inflame, nor fear appall?
Not the black fear of death, that faddens all?
With terrors round, can reason hold her throne,
Despise the known, nor trouble at th' unknown?
Survey both worlds, intrepid and entire,
In spite of witches, devils, dreams, and fire ?
Pleas'd to look forward, pleas'd to look behind,
And count each birth-day with a grateful mind?
Has life no fournefs, drawn so near its end;
Canft thou endure a foe, forgive a friend?

Viribus, ingenio, fpecie, virtute, loco, re,
Extremi primorum, extremis ufque priores.
(g) Non es avarus: abi. quid? caetera jam fi-
mul ifto

Cam vitio fugere? caret tibi pectis inani
Ambitione? caret mortis formidine et ira?

As winter fruits grow mild ere they decay?
Or will you think, my friend, your business done,
When, of a hundred thorns, you pull out one?

(b) Learn to live well, or fairly make your will; You've play'd, and lov'd, and eat, and drank your fill:

Walk fober off; before a fprightlier age

Comes tittering on, and fhoves you from the ftage:
Leave fuch to trifle with more grace and ease,
Whom folly pleases, and whose follies please.

Somnia, terrores magicos, miracula, fagas,
Nocturnos lemures, portentaque Thessala rides?
Natales grate numeras? ignofcis amicis?
Lenior et melior fis accedente fenecta?
Quid te extrema levat fpinis de pluribus una
(b) Vivere fi recte nefcis, decede peritis.
Lufifti fatis, edifti fatis, atque bibifti:
Tempus abire tibi eft: ne potum largius aeque
Rideat, et pulfet lafciva decentius aetas.

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