Ingenio accedunt! quam prodigialitèr acer
Fit ftubito ftylus! omnigenam venerabile nomen
Prætexit facris culpam radiis, & ubique
Carmina culta nitent, & pagina parturit omnis.
Stultula plebs doctos ftudiofa imitarier errat,
Ut docti nullos imitando fæpius ipfi;
Qui, fi forte unquam plebs rectum viderit, (illis
Tanto turba odio eft) confultò lumina claudunt.
Talis fchifmaticus Chrifti, grege fæpe relicto,
Cœlos ingenii pro laude pacifcitur ipsos.
Non defunt quibus incertum mutatur in horas
Si caufam rogites, aliquis tibi dicat eundo
Quifque dies teneræ præbet nova pabula menti,
Et fapimus magis atque magis. Nos docta propago
Scilicet et fapiens proavos contemnimus omnes,
Heu! pariter noftris temnenda nepotibus olim.
Quondam per noftros dum turba fcholaftica fines
Regnavit, fi cui quam plurima claufula femper
In promptu, ille inter doctiffimus audiit omnes;
Faith, gospel, all, feem'd made to be difputed,
And none had fenfe enough to be confuted:
Scotifts and Thomifts, now in peace remain,
Amidft their kindred cobwebs in Duck-lane.
If faith itfelf has diff'rent dreffes worn,
What wonder modes in wit fhou'd take their turn?
Oft leaving what is natural and fit,
The current folly proves the ready wit;
And authors think their reputation safe,
Which lives as long as fools are pleas'd to laugh.
Some valuing those of their own fide or mind,
Still make themselves the measure of mankind;
Fondly we think we honour merit then,
When we but praise ourselves in other men.
Parties in wit attend on those of state,
And public faction doubles private hate.
Pride, malice, folly, against Dryden rose,
In various fhapes of parfons, critics, beaus;
But fenfe furviv'd when merry jests were past;
For rifing merit will buoy up at last.
Might he return and bless once more our eyes,
New Blackmores and new Milbournes muft arise;
Nay, fhou'd great Homer lift his awful head,
Zoilus again wou'd start up from the dead.
Religiofa fides fimul ac facra omnia nasci
Sunt vifa in litem; fapuit fat nemo refelli
Ut fe fit paffus. Jam gens infulfa Scotiftæ,
Intactique abaci Thomistä pace fruentes
Inter araneolos pandunt fua retia fratres.
Ipfa fides igitur cum fit variata, quid ergo,
Quid mirum ingenium quoque fi varia induat ora?
Naturæ verique relictis finibus amens
Sæpius infanire parat popularitèr author,
Suppetit ufque fuus plebi quia rifus ineptæ
Expectatque fibi vitalem hoc nomine famam,
Hic folitus propriâ metirier omnia normâ,
Solos, qui fecum funt mente et partibus iisdem
Approbat, at vanos virtuti reddit honores,
Cui tantum fibi fic larvata fuperbia plaudit.
Partium in ingenio ftudium quoque regnat, ut aulâ,
Seditioque auget privatas publica rixas.
DRYDENO obftabant odium atque fuperbia nuper
Et fupor omnigenæ latitans fub imagine formæ,
Nunc criticus, nunc bellus homo, mox deinde facerdos;
Attamen ingenium, joca cum filuêre, fuperftes
Vivit adhuc, namque olim utcunque fepulta profundis
Pulchrior emerget tenebris tamen inclyta virtus.
Milbourni, rurfus fi fas foret ora tueri,
Blackmorique novi reducem infequerenter; HOMERUS
Ipfe etiam erigeret vultus fi forte verendos
ZOILUS ex orco greffus revocaret. Ubique
L
Envy will merit, as its fhade purfue,
But like a fhadow proves the fubftance true;
For envy'd wit, like Sol eclips'd, makes known
Th' oppofing body's groffness, not its own.
When first the fun too pow'rful beams displays,
It draws up vapours which obfcure the rays;
But ev❜n those clouds at laft adorn its way,
Reflect new glories and augment the day.
Be thou the first true merit to befriend,
His praise is loft who ftays till all commend.
Short is the date, alas! of modern rhymes,
And 'tis but just to let them live betimes.
No longer now that golden age appears,
When patriarch-wits furviv'd a thousand years;
Now length of fame (our second life) is lost,
And bare threefcore, is all ev'n that can boast;
Our fons their fathers failing language see,
And fuch as Chaucer is, fhall Dryden be.
So when the faithful pencil has defign'd
Some bright idea of the master's mind,
Where a new world leaps out at his command,
And ready nature waits upon his hand;
Virtuti malus, umbra velut nigra, livor adhæret,
Sed verum ex vanâ corpus cognofcitur umbrâ.
Ingenium, folis jam deficientis ad instar
Invifum, oppofiti tenebras tantum arguit orbis,
Dum claro intemerata manent fua lumina divo.
Sol prodit cum primum, atque intolerabilè fulget
Attrahit obfcuros flammâ magnete vapores;
Mox vero pingunt etiam invida nubila callem
Multa coloratum, & crefcentia nubila spargunt
Uberiùs, geminoque die viridaria donant.
Tu primus meritis plaudas, nihil ipfe meretur,
Qui ferus laudator adeft. Brevis, heu! brevis ævi
Participes noftri vates celebrantur, et æquum eft
Anguftam quam primum affuefcant degere vitam.
Aurea nimirum jamjudum evanuit ætas,
Cum vates patriarchæ extabant mille
Jam fpes deperiit, nobis vita altera, famæ,
Noftraque marcefcit fexagenaria laurus!
Protinus ad nutum novus emicat orbis, et ipfa
Evolvit manui fefe natura difertæ;
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