How mournful Myrrha for her crimes appears,
And heals hysteric matrons still with tears;
How Mentha and Althea, nymphs no more,
Revive in sacred plants, and health restore;
How sanguine swains their amorous hours repent,
When pleasure's past, and pains are permanent;
And how frail nymphs oft, by abortion, aim
To lose a substance, to preserve a name.
Soon as each member in his rank was plac'd,
The assembly Diasenna1 thus address'd:
"My kind confederates, if my poor intent,
As 't is sincere, had been but prevalent,
We here had met on some more safe design,
And on no other business but to dine;
The faculty had still maintain'd their sway,
And interest then had bid us but obey;
This only emulation we had known,
Who best could fill his purse, and thin the town.
But now from gathering clouds destruction pours,
Which ruins with mad rage our halcyon hours:
Mists from black jealousies the tempests form,
Whilst late divisions reinforce the storm.
Know, when these feuds, like those at law, were
past,
The winners will be losers at the last.
Like heroes in sea-fights we seek renown;
To fire some hostile ship, we burn our own.
Whoe'er throws dust against the wind, descries
He throws it, in effect, but in his eyes.
That juggler which another's sleight will show,
But teaches how the world his own may know.
"Thrice happy were those golden days of old,
When dear as Burgundy, ptisans were sold;
When patients chose to die with better will,
Than breathe, and pay th' apothecary's bill:
And, cheaper than for our assistance call,
Might go to Aix or Bourbon, spring and fall.
Then priests increas'd, and piety decay'd,
Churchmen the church's purity betray'd,
Their lives and doctrine slaves and atheists made.
The laws were but the hireling judge's sense;
Juries were sway'd by venal evidence.
Fools were promoted to the council-board,
Tools to the bench, and bullies to the sword.
Pensions in private were the senate's aim;
And patriots for a place abandon'd fame.
"But now no influencing art remains,
For Somers has the seal, and Nassau reigns.
And we, in spite of our resolves, must bow,
And suffer by a reformation too.
For now late jars our practices detect,
And mines, when once discovered, lose effect.
Dissensions, like small streams, are first begun,
Scarce seen they rise, but gather as they run:
So lines that from their parallel decline,
More they proceed, the more they still disjoin.
Ver. 182. "But now late jars our practices detect,
For mines, when once discover'd, lose th' effect.
Dissensions, like small streams, are first begun,
Scarce seen they rise, but gather as they run.
So lines that from their parallel decline,
More they advance, the more they still disjoin.
'Tis therefore my advice, in haste we send,
And beg the faculty to be our friend,"
As he revolving stood to say the rest,
Rough Colocynthus thus his rage exprest.
'Gilstorp, an apothecary;
'Tis therefore my advice, in haste we send,
And beg the faculty to be our friend;
Send swarms of patients, and our quarrels end.
So awful beadies, if the vagrant treat,
Straight turn familiar, and their fasces quit.
In vain we but contend, that planet's power
Those vapours can disperse it rais'd before."
As he prepar'd the mischief to recite,
Keen Colocynthus 2 paus'd, and foam'd with spite.
Sour ferments on his shining surface swim,
Work up the froth, and bubble o'er the brim:
Not beauties fret so much if freckles come,
Or nose should redden in the drawing-room; 200
Or lovers that mistake th' appointed hour,
Or in the lucky minute want the power.
Thus he "Thou scandal of great Pæan's art, At thy approach the springs of Nature start, The nerves unbrace: nay, at the sight of thee, A scratch turns cancer, itch a leprosy. Could'st thou propose, that we; the friends of Fates, Who fill churchyards, and who unpeople states, Who baffle Nature, and dispose of lives, Whilst Russel, as we please, or starves or thrives, Should e'er submit to their despotic will, Who out of consolation scarce can kill? The towering Alps shall sooner sink to vales, And leeches, in our glasses, swell to whales; Or Norwich trade in instruments of steel, And Birmingham in stuffs and druggets deal! Alleys at Wapping furnish us new modes, And Monmouth-street, Versailles with ridinghoods!
The sick to th' Hundreds in pale throngs repair, And change the Gravel-pits for Kentish air! 220 Our properties must on our arms depend; 'Tis next to conquer, bravely to defend. "T is to the vulgar death too harsh appears; The ill we feel is only in our fears.
"To die, is landing on some silent shore, Where billows never break, nor tempests roar: Ere well we feel the friendly stroke, 'tis o'er. The wise through thought th' insults of death defy; The fools, through blest insensibility. 'Tis what the guilty fear, the pious crave; Sought by the wretch, and vanquish'd by the brave. It eases lovers, sets the captive free; And, though a tyrant, offers liberty.
"Sound but to arms, the foe shall soon confess Our force increases, as our funds grow less; And what requir'd such industry to raise, We'll scatter into nothing as we please. Thus they'll acknowledge, to annihilate Shows no less wondrous power than to create. We'll raise our numerous cohorts, and oppose The feeble forces of our pigmy foes; Legions of quacks shall join us on the place, From great Kirleus down to doctor Case. Though such vile rubbish sink, yet we shall rise; Directors still secure the greatest prize. Such poor supports serve only like a stay; The tree once fix'd, its rest is torn away.
"So patriots, in time of peace and ease, Forget the fury of the late disease: On dangers past serenely think no more, And curse the hand that heal'd the wound before. "Arm therefore, gallant friends, 't is honour's Or let us boldly fight, or bravely fall!" [call;
2 Dare, an apothecary.
3A celebrated undertaker of funerals.
To this the session seem'd to give consent,
Much lik'd the war, but dreaded much th' event
At length, the growing difference to compose,
Two brothers, nam'd Ascarides 4, arose.
Both had the volubility of tongue,
In meaning faint, but in opinion strong.
To speak, they both assum'd a like pretence; 260
The elder gain'd his just pre-eminence.
Thus he: "Tis true, when privilege and right
Are once invaded, honour bids us fight.
But ere we once engage in honour's cause,
First know what honour is, and whence it was.
"Scorn'd by the base, 'tis courted by the brave,
The hero's tyrant, and the coward's slave;
Born in the noisy camp, it lives on air,
And both exists by hope and by despair:
Angry whene'er a moment's ease we gain,
And reconcil'd at our returns of pain.
It lives, when in death's arms the hero lies:
But when his safety he consults, it dies.
Bigoted to this idol, we disclaim
Where Bentley, by old writers, wealthy grew,
And Briscoe lately was undone by new;
There triumphs a physician of renown,
To none, but such as rust in health, unknown.
None e'er was plac'd more fitly, to impart
His known experience, and his healing art.
When Burgess deafens all the listening press
With peals of most seraphic emptiness;
Or when mysterious Freeman mounts on high,
To preach his parish to a lethargy;
This Esculapius waits hard by, to ease
The martyrs of such Christian cruelties.
Long has this darling quarter of the town,
For lewdness, wit, and gallantry, been known.
All sorts meet here, of whatsoe'er degree,
To blend and justle into harmony.
270 The critics each adventurous author scan,
And praise or censure as they like the man.
The weeds of writings for the flowers they cull
So nicely tasteless, so correctly dull!
The politicians of Parnassus prate,
And poets canvass the affairs of state;
The cits ne'er talk of trade and stock, but tell
How Virgil writ, how bravely Turnus fell.
The country-dames drive to Hippolito's,
First find a spark, and after lose a nose.
The lawyer for lac'd coat the robe does quit,
He grows a madınan, and then turns a wit.
And in th' cloister pensive Strephon waits,
Till Cloe's hackney comes, and then retreats;
And if th' ungenerous nymph a shaft lets fly,
More fatally than from a sparkling eye,
Mirmillo, that fam'd Opifer, is nigh.
Rest, health, and ease, for nothing but a name.
"Then let us, to the field before we move,
Know, if the gods our enterprise approve.
Suppose th' unthinking faculty unveil
What we, through wiser conduct, would conceal:
Is 't reason we should quarrel with the glass 280
That shows the monstrous features of our face?
Or grant some grave pretenders have of late
Thought fit an innovation to create ;
Soon they'll repent what rashly they begun :
Though projects please, projectors are undone.
All novelties must this success expect,
When good, our envy; and when bad, neglect;
If reason could direct, ere now each gate
Had born some trophy of triumphal state;
The trading tribe oft, thither throng to dine,
And want of elbow-room supply in wine.
Cloy'd with variety, they surfeit there,
Temples had told how Greece and Belgia owe 290 Whilst the wan patients on thin gruel fare.
Troy and Namur to Jove and to Nassau.
"Then, since no veneration is allow'd,
Or to the real, or th' appearing good;
The project that we vainly apprehend
Must, as it blindly rose, as vilely end.
Some members of the faculty there are,
Who interest prudently to oaths prefer.
Our friendship with feign'd airs they poorly court,
And boast, their politics are our support:
Them we'll consult about this enterprise,
And boldly execute what they advise."
"Twas here the champions of the party met,
Of their heroic enterprise to treat.
Each hero a tremendous air put on,
And stern Mirmillo in these words begun!
""Tis with concern, my friends, I meet you here; No grievance you can know, but I must share. 'Tis plain, my interest you 've advanc'd so long, Each fee, though I was mute, would find a tongue. And, inreturn, though I have strove to rend 50 300 Those statutes, which on oath I should defend; Such arts are trifles to a generous mind:
But from below, while such resolves they took, Great services, as great returns should find. Some Aurum Fulminans the fabric shook.
The champions, daunted at the crack, retreat,
Regard their safety, and their rage forget.
So when at Bathos Earth's big offspring strove
To scale the skies, and wage a war with Jove;
Soon as the ass of old Silenus bray'd,
The trembling rebels in confusion fled.
NOT far from that frequented theatre,
Where wandering punks each night at five repair;
Where purple emperors in buskins tread,
And rule imaginary worlds for bread;
And you'll perceive, this hand, when glory calls,
Can brandish arms as well as urinals.
"Oxford and all her passing-bells can tell,
By this right-arm what mighty numbers fell.
Whilst others meanly ask'd whole months to slay,
I oft dispatch'd the patient in a day:
With pen in hand I push'd to that degree,
I scarce had left a wretch to give a fee.
Some fell by laudanum, and some by steel,
And death in ambush lay in every pill,
For, save or slay, this privilege we claim,
Though credit suffers, the reward's the same.
"What though the art of healing we pretend,
He that designs it least, is most a friend.
Into the right we err, and must confess
To oversights we often owe success.
Ver. 288. If things of use were valued, there had Thus Bessus got the battle in the play;
Some workhouse where the Monument is seen.
His glorious cowardice restor❜d the day.
The Pearces, apothecaries.
So the fam'd Grecian piece ow'd its desert
To chance, and not the labour'd strokes of art.
"Physicians, if they're wise, should never think
Of any arins but such as pen and ink:
But th' enemy, at their expense, shall find
When honour calls, I'll scorn to stay behind."
He said and seal'd th' engagement with a kiss,
Which was return'd by younger Ascaris 3;
Who thus advanc'd: "Each word, Sir, you impart,
Has something killing in it, like your art.
How much we to your boundless friendship owe,
80
Our files can speak, and your prescriptions show.
Your ink descends in such excessive showers,
'Tis plain, you can regard no health but ours.
Whilst poor pretenders puzzle o'er a case,
You but appear, and give the coup de grace.
O that near Xanthus' banks you had but dwelt,
When Ilium first Achaian fury felt!
The horned river then had curs'd in vain [slain:
Young Peleus' arm, that chok'd his stream with
No trophies you had left for Greeks to raise; 91
Their ten years toil, you'd finish'd in ten days.
Fate smiles on your attempts; and, when you list,
In vain the cowards fly, or brave resist.
Then let us arm, we need not fear success;
No labours are too hard for Hercules.
Our military ensigns we'll display;
Conquest pursues, where courage leads the way."
To this design shrill Querpo did agree,
A zealous member of the faculty;
His sire's pretended pious steps he treads,
And where the doctor fails, the saint succeeds.
A conventicle flesh'd his greener years,
And his full age the righteous rancour shares.
Thus boys hatch game-eggs under birds of prey,
To make the fowl more furious for the fray.
Slow Carus next discover'd his intent,
With painful pauses muttering what he meant.
His sparks of life, in spite of drugs, retreat,
So cold, that only calentures can heat.
In his chill veins the sluggish puddle flows,
And loads with lazy fogs his sable brows.
Legions of lunatics about him press;
His province is, lost reason to redress.
So when perfumes their fragrant scent give o'er,
Nought can their odour, like a jakes, restore.
When for advice the vulgar throng, he's found
With lumber of vile books beseig'd around.
The gazing throng-acknowledge their surprise,
And, deaf to reason, still consult their eves.
Well he perceives, the world will often find,
To catch the eye is to convince the mind.
Thus a weak state by wise distrust inclines
To numerous stores, and strength in magazines.
So fools are always most profuse of words,
And cowards never fail of longest swords.
Abandon'd authors here a refuge meet,
And from the world to dust and worms retreat.
Here dregs and sediment of auctions reign,
Refuse of fairs, and gleanings of Duck-lane.
And up these walls much Gothic lumber climbs,
With Swiss philosophy, and Rhunic rhymes.
Hither, retriev'd from cooks and grocers, come
Mede's works entire, and endless reams of Blome.
Where would the long neglected Collins fly,
If bounteous Carus should refuse to buy?
But each vile scribbler's happy on this score:
He'll find some Carus stili to read him o'er.
5 Dr. Tyson.
Nor must we the obsequious Umbra 6 spare,
Who soft by nature, yet declar'd for war.
But when some rival power invades a right,
Flies set on flies, and turtles turtles fight.
Else courteous Umbra to the last had been
Demurely meek, insipidly serene.
With him, the present still some virtues have;
The slothful, negligent; the foppish, neat;
The vain are sprightly; and the stupid grave;
The lewd are airy; and the sly, discreet;
Colt, a Lycurgus; and a Phocion, Rowe. 150
A wren, an eagle; a baboon, a beau;
Heroic ardour now th' assembly warms,
Each combatant breathes nothing but alarms.
For future glory while the scheme is laid,
Fam'd Horoscope thus offers to dissuade :
"Since of each enterprise th' event's unknown,
Nigh lives Vagellius, one reputed long
We'll quit the sword, and hearken to the gown.
For strength of lungs, and pliancy of tongue.
For fees, to any form he moulds a cause,
Five guineas make a criminal to-day;
The worst has merits, and the best has flaws. 160
And ten to morrow wipe the stain away.
Whatever he affirms is undeny'd,
Milo's the letcher, Clodius th' homicide;
Orford suspected, Duncomb innocent.
Cato pernicious, Cataline a saint,
To law then, friends, for 'tis by Fate decreed,
Vagellius, and our money, shall succeed.
Know, when I first invok'd disease by charms
To prove propitious to our future arms,
Ill omens did the sacrifice attend,
Nor would the Sybil from her grot ascend."
As Horoscope urg'd farther to be heard,
He thus was interrupted by a bard' :
"In vain your magic mysteries you use,
Such sounds the Sibyl's sacred ears abuse.
These lines the pale divinity shall raise,
Such is the power of sound, and force of lays.
Arms meet with arms, fauchions with fau-
chions clash,"
And sparks of fire struck out from armour flash.
180
Thick clouds of dust contending warriors raise,
3 And hideous war o'er all the region brays.
Some raging ran with huge Herculean clubs,
Some massy balls of brass, some mighty tubs
Of cinders bore.-
4 Naked and half-burnt hills with hideous wreck
Affright the skies, and fry the ocean's back."
As he went rumbling on, the fury straight Crawl'd in, her limbs could scarce support her weight.
A rueful rag her meagre forehead bound,
And faintly her furr'd lips these accents sound:
"Mortal, how dar'st thou with such lines address
My awful seat, and trouble my recess?
In Essex marshy hundreds is a cell,
Thither raw Damps on drooping wings repair,
Where lazy Fogs and drizzling Vapours dwell;
And shivering Quartans shake the sickly air.
There, when fatigu'd, some silent hours I pass,
Then dare not, for the future, once rehearse
And substitute physicians in my place.
The dissonance of such untuneful verse;
Mr. Anthony Rowe. 9 Sir Barth. Shower. 1 Sir Richard Blackmore. King Arthur, p. 307. King Arthur, p. 327. Prince Arthur, p. 130.
But in your lines let energy be found,
And learn to rise in sense and sink in sound.
Harsh words, though pertinent, uncouth appear;
None please the fancy, who offend the car.
In sense and numbers if you would excel,
Read Wycherley, consider Dryden well.
In one, what vigorous turns of fancy shine!
In th' other, Syrens warble in each line.
If Dorset's sprightly Muse but touch the lyre,
The Smiles and Graces melt in soft desire,
And little Loves confess their amorous fire.
The gentle Isis claims the ivy crown,
To bind th' immortal brows of Addison.
As tuneful Congreve tries his rural strains,
Pan quits the woods, the listening Fawns the
plains;
And Philomel, in notes like his, complains.
And Britain, since Pausanias 7 was writ,
Knows Spartan virtue, and Athenian wit.
When Stepney paints the godlike acts of kings,
Or, what Apollo dictates, Prior sings;
The banks of Rhine a pleas'd attention show,
And silver Sequana forgets to flow.
"Such just examples carefully read o'er, Slide without falling; without straining soar. Oft though your strokes surprise, you should not A theme so mighty for a virgin Muse. Long did Apelles his fam'd piece decline; His Alexander was his last design.
'Tis Montague's rich vein alone mast prove, 230 None but a Phidias should attempt a Jove."
The fury paus'd, till with a frightful sound A rising whirlwind burst th' unhallow'd ground. Then she "The deity we Fortune call, Though distant, rules and influences all. Straight for her favour to her court repair; Important embassies ask wings of air."
Each wondering stood; but Horoscope's great soul,
That dangers ne'er alarm, nor doubts control, Rais'd on the pinions of the bounding wind, 240 Out-flew the rack, and left the hours behind.
The evening now with blushes warms the air,
The steer resigns the yoke, the hind his care.
The clouds above with golden edgings glow,
And falling dews refresh the earth below.
The bat with sooty wings flits through the grove,
The reeds scarce rustle, nor the aspines move,
And all the feather'd folks forbear their lays of
love.
Through the transparent region of the skies,
Swift as a wish, the missionary flies:
With wonder he surveys the upper air,
And the gay gilded meteors sporting there;
How lambent jellies, kindling in the night,
Shoot through the ether in a trail of light;
How rising steams in th'azure fluid blend,
Or fleet in clouds, or soft in showers descend;
After ver. 212, these lines are omitted:
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Or, if the stubborn rage of cold prevail,
In flakes they fly, or fall in moulded bail;
How honey-dews embalm the fragrant morn,
And the fair oak with luscious sweets adorn; 260
How heat and moisture mingle in a mass,
Or belch in thunder, or in lightning blaze;
Why nimble corruscations strike the eye,
And bold tornados bluster in the sky;
Why a prolific aura upwards tends,
Ferments, and in a living shower descends;
How vapours hanging on the towering bills
In breezes sigh, or weep in warbling rills;
Whence infant winds their tender pinions try,
And river-gods their thirsty urns supply.
270
The wondering sage pursues his airy flight,
And braves the chill unwholesome damps of night:
He views the tracts where luminaries rove,
To settle seasons here, and fates above;
To bleak Arcturus still forbid the seas,
The stormy Kids the weeping Hyades;
The shining lyre with strains attracting more
Heaven's glittering mansions now than Hell's
Glad Cassiopeia circling in the sky, [before;
And each fair Churchill of the galaxy.
280
Aurora, on Etesion breezes borne, With blushing lips breathes out the sprightly morn: Each flower in dew their short-liv'd empire weeps, And Cynthia with her lov'd Endymion sleeps. As through the gloom the magus cuts his way Imperfect objects tell the doubtful day; Dim he discerns majestic Atlas rise, And bend beneath the burden of the skies; His towering brows aloft no tempests know, Whilst lightning flies, and thunder rolls below.290 Distant from hence beyond a waste of plains, Proud Teneriff, his giant brother, reigns; With breathing fire his pitchy nostrils glow, As from his sides he shakes the fleecy snow. Around this hoary prince, from watery beds, His subject islands raise their verdant heads; The waves so gently wash each rising bill, The land seems floating, and the ocean still. Eternal spring with smiling verdure here Warms the mild air, and crowns the youthful year. From crystal rocks transparent rivulets flow; 301 The tuberose ever breathes, and violets blow; The vine undress'd her swelling clusters bears, The labouring hind the mellow olive cheers; Blossoms and fruit at once the citron shows, And, as she pays, discovers still she owes. The orange to her sun her pride displays, And gilds her fragrant apples with his rays. No blasts e'er discompose the peaceful sky, The springs but murmur, and the winds but sigh. The tuneful swans on gliding rivers float, And warbling dirges die on every note. Where Flora treads, her zephyr garlands flings, And scatters odours from his purple wings; groves Whilst birds from woodbine bowers and jasmine Chant their glad nuptials, and unenvy'd loves. Mild seasons, rising hills, and silent dales, Cool grottos, silver brooks, and flowery vales, Groves fill'd with balmy shrubs, in pomp appear, And scent with gales of sweets the circling year.320 These happy isles, where endless pleasures wait, Are styl'd by tuneful bards-the Fortunate. On high, where no hoarse winds nor clouds resort, The hoodwink'd goddess keeps her partial court Upon a wheel of amethyst she sits,
Gives and resumes, and smiles and frowns by fits.
In this still labyrinth, around her lie
Spells, philters, globes, and schemes of palmistry:
A sigil in this hand the gipsy bears,
In th' other a prophetic sieve and sheers.
Have I made South and Sherlock disagree, nd puzzle truth with learn'd obscurity? And does the faithful Ferguson profess 330 His ardour still for animosities?
The dame, by divination, knew that soon
The magus would appear-and then begun :
"Hail sacred seer! thy embassy I know:
Wars must ensue, the Fates will have it so.
Dread feats shall follow, and disasters great,
Pills charge on pills, and bolus bolus meet:
Both sides shall conquer, and yet both shall fail;
The mortar now, and then the urinal.
Have I, Britannia's safety to ensure,
Expos'd her naked to be most secure?
Have I made parties opposite, unite,
In monstrous leagues of amicable spite,
To curse their country, whilst the common cry
Is freedom; but their aim the ministry?
And shall a dastard's cowardice prevent
The war, so long I've labour'd to foment?
340 Or I'll renounce my wan divinity."
No, 'tis resolv'd, he either shall comply,
"To thee alone my influence I owe;
Where Nature has deny'd, my favours flow.
'Tis 1 that give, so mighty is my power,'
Faith to the Jew, complexion to the Moor.
I am the wretch's wish, the rook's pretence,
The sluggard's ease, the coxcomb's providence.
Sir Scrape-quill, once a supple smiling slave,
Looks lofty now, and insolently grave;
Builds, settles, purchases, and has each hour
Caps from the rich, and curses from the poor.
Spadillio, that at table serv'd of late,
Drinksrich tockay himself, and eates in plate; 350
Has levees, villas, mistresses in store,
And owns the racers which he rubb'd before.
"Souls heavenly born my faithless boons defy;
The brave is to himself a deity.
Though blest Astrea's gone, some soil remains
Where Fortune is the slave, and Merit reigns.
"The Tiber boasts his Julian progeny,
Thames his Nassau, the Nile his Ptolemy.
Iberia, yet for future sway design'd,
Shall, for a Hesse, a greater Mordaunt find.
Thus Ariadne in proud triumph rode;
She lost a hero, and she found a god."
With that, the hag approach'd Mirmillo's bed,
And, taking Querpo's meagre shape, she said:
"At noon of night I hasten, to dispel
Those tumults in your pensive bosom dwell.
I dreamt but now I heard your heaving sighs,
Nay, saw the tears debating in your eyes.
O that 't were but a dream! but threats I find
Lour in your looks, and rankle'in your mind.
That shakes your soui and troubles your repose.
Speak, whence it is this late disorder flows,
Mistakes in practice scarce could give you pain;
Too well you know the dead will ne'er complain.
"What looks discover, said the homicide,
Would be a fruitless industry to hide.
My safety first I must consult, and then
I'll serve our suffering party with my pen."
"All should," reply'd the bag, "their talent The most attempting oft the least discern. [learn; 360 Soft Acon court, and rough Cæcinna fight: Let Peterborough speak, and Vanbrugh write,
WHEN the still Night, with peaceful poppies
crown'd,
Had spread her shady pinions o'er the ground;
And slumbering chiefs of painted triumphs dream,
While groves and streams are the soft virgin's
The surges gently dash against the shore, [theme;
Flocks quit the plains, and galley-slaves the oar;
Sleep shakes its downy wings o'er mortal eyes;
Marmillo is the only wretch it flies;
He finds no respite from his anxious grief;
Then seeks from this soliloquy relief.
"Long have I reign'd unival'd in the town,
Oppress'd with fees, and deafen'd with renown.
"None e'er could die with due solemnity,
Unless his passport first was sign'd by me.
My arbitrary bounty's undeny'd;
I give reversions, and for heirs provide.
None could the tedious nuptial state support,
But I, to make it easy, make it short.
I set the discontented matrons free,
And ransom husbands from captivity.
Shall one of such importance then engage
In noisy riot and in civil rage?
No: I'll endeavour straight a peace, and so
Preserve my character and person too."
Such must succeed; but when th' enervate aim
Beyond their force, they still contend for shame.
Had Coldbatch printed nothing of his own,
He had not been the Saffold of the town.
If these attempt to hoot, or those to bray.
Asses and owls, unseen, their kind betray,
Had Wesley never aim'd in verse to please,
Still censures will on dull pretenders fall;
We had not rank'd him with our Ogilbys.
A Codrus should expect a Juvenal.
Ill lines, but like ill paintings, are allow'd,
To set off, and to recommend the good.
So diamonds take a lustre from their foil;
And to a Bentley 't is we owe a Boyle.
"Consider well the talent you possess;
To strive to make it more, would make it less: 80
And recollect what gratitude is due,
To those whose party you abandon now.
To them you owe your odd magnificence,
But to your stars your magazine of sense.
Haspt in a tombril, awkward have you shin'd,
With one fat slave before, and none behind,
Then haste and join your true intrepid friends,
Success on vigour and dispatch depends."
Labouring in doubts Mirmillo stood; then said, 20T is hard to undertake, if gain dissuade;
But Discord, that still haunts with hideous mien
Those dire abodes where Hymen once hath been,
O'erheard Mirmillo's anguish; then begun
In peevish accents to express her own:
"Have I so often banish'd lazy peace From her dark solitude, and lov'd recess?
Ver. 87-104. Originally thus,
But soon what they 've exalted they'll discard,
And set up Carus or the city bard.
Alarm'd at this the hero courage took,
And storms of terrour threaten'd in his look. "My dread resolves," he cry'd "I'll straight pur50 The fury, satisfy'd, in smiles withdrew. [sue;"
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