2

TO MY

FRIEND

DR. GARTH,

pen.

Sufficiently confirm'd is your renown,
And I but fill the chorus of the town.
That let me waive, and only now admire
The dazzling rays of your poetic fire:
Which its diffufive virtue does difpenfe,
In flowing verfe, and elevated fenfe.

The town, which long has fwallow'd foolish
verfe,

Which poetafters every where rehearse,
Will mend their judgment now, refine their taste,
And gather up th' applause they threw in waste.
The play-house shan't encourage falfe fublime,
Abortive thoughts, with decoration-rhyme.

The fatire of vile fcribblers fhall appear
On none, except upon themselves fevere :
While yours contemns the gall of vulgar fpite;
And when you feem to finile the moft, you bite.

THO. CHEEX.

TO MY FRIEND, UPON THE DISPENSARY.

A

S when the people of the northern zone Find the approach of the revolving fun, Pleas'd and reviv'd, they see the new-born light, And dread no more eternity of night:

Thus we, who lately, as of fummer's heat,
Have felt a dearth of poetry and wit,
Once fear'd, Apollo would return no more
From warmer climes to an ungrateful shore.
But you, the favourite of the tuneful Nine,
Have made the God in his full luftre thine;
Our night have chang'd into a glorious day;
And reach'd perfection in your first essay.
So the young eagle, that his force would try,
Faces the fun, and towers it to the sky.

Others proceed to art by flow degrees,
Aukward at first, at length they faintly please ;
And ftill, whate'er their first efforts produce,
"Tis an abortive, or an infant Mufe:
Whilft yours, like Pallas, from the head of Jove,
Steps out full-grown, with nobleft pace to move.
What ancient poets to their fubje&s owe,
Is here inverted, and this owes to you:
You found it little, but have made it great,
They could defcribe, but you alone create.

Now let your Mufe rife with expanded wings, To fing the fate of empires and of kings; Great William's victories fhe'll next rehearse, And raise a trophy of immortal verse : Thus to your art proportion the design, And mighty things with mighty numbers join, A fecond Namur, or a future Boyne.

H. BLOUNT.

THE

DISPENSARY.

CANTO I.

PEAK, Goddefs! fince 'tis thou that beft

SPEAK cant tell,

5

How ancient leagues to modern difcord fell;
And why Phyficians were fo cautious grown
Of others' lives, and lavifh of their own;
How by a journey to th' Elyfian plain
Peace triumph'd, and old Time return'd again.
Not far from that most celebrated place,
Where angry Juftice fhews her awful face;
Where little villains muft fubmit to fate,
That great ones may enjoy the world in ftate; 10
There ftands at dome, majeftic to the fight,
And fumptuous arches bear its oval height;
A golden globe, plac'd high with artful skill,
Seems, to the distant fight, a gilded pill :
This pile was, by the pious patron's aim,
Rais'd for a ufe as noble as its frame;
Nor did the learn'd fociety decline
The propagation of that great defign;
In all her mazes, Nature's face they view'd,
And, as the disappear'd, their fearch pursued. 20
Wrapt in the shade of night the Goddess lies,
Yet to the learn'd unveils her dark difguife,
But fhuns the grofs accefs of vulgar eyes.

15

25

Now the unfolds the faint and dawning firife Of infant atoms kindling into life; How ductile matter new meanders takes, And flender trains of twifting fibres makes;

And how the viscous feeks a closer tone,
By juft degrees to harden into bone;
While the more loose flow from the vital urn, 30
And in full tides of purple ftreams return;
How lambent flames from life's bright lamps
arife,

And dart in emanations through the eyes;
How from each fluice a gentle torrent pours,
To flake a feverish heat with ambient fhowers; 35
Whence their mechanic powers the fpirits claim;
How great their force, how delicate their frame;
How the fame nerves are fashion'd to fuftain
The greatest pleasure and the greatest pain;
Why bilious juice a golden light puts on,
And floods of chyle in filver currents run;
How the dim fpeck of entity began

40

T" extend its recent form, and ftretch to man;
To how minute an origin we owe
Young Ammon, Cæfar, and the great Nassau ; 45
Why paler looks impetuous rage proclaim,
And why chill virgins redden into flame;
Why envy oft' transforms with wan difguife,
And why gay mirth fits fmiling in the eyes;
All ice why Lucrece; or Sempronia, fire;
Why Scarfdale rages to furvive defire;
When Milo's vigour at th' Olympick's fhown,
When tropes to Finch, or impudence to Sloane;
How matter, by the vary'd fhape of pores,
Or ideots frames, or folemn fenators.

50

55

Ve 53 Why Atticus polite, Brutus fevere, Why Methwin muddy Montague why

clear.

B 2

How quick their faculties the limbs fulfil,
And act at every summons of the will;
With mighty truths, myfterious to defcry,
Which in the womb of diftant caufes lie.

But now no grand enquiries are defcry'd, Mean faction reigns where knowledge should prefide,

71

Feuds are increas'd, and learning laid afide.
Thus fynods oft' concern for faith conceal,
And for important nothings fhew a zeal :
The drooping fciences neglected pine,
And Paan's beams with fading luftre shine.
No readers here with hectic looks are found, 75
Nor eyes in rheum, through midnight-watching,
drown'd;

80

The lonely edifice in fweats complains
That nothing there but fullen filence reigns.
This place, fo fit for undisturb'd repofe,
The God of Sloth for his afylum chofe;
Upon a couch of down in these abodes,
Supine with folded arms he thoughtless nods;
Indulging dreams his Godhead lull to cafe,
With murmurs of foft rills, and whifpering trees:
The poppy and each numbing plant difpenfe 85
'Their drowzy virtue, and dull indolence;
No paffions interrupt his eafy reign,
No problems puzzle his lethargic brain;
But dark oblivion guards his peaceful bed,
And lazy fogs hang lingering o'er his head. 90
As at full length the pamper'd monarch lay,
Battening in eafe, and flumbering life away;
A fpiteful noife his downy chains untics,
Haftes forward, and increafes as it flies.

135

139

No learn'd debates moleft their downy trance,
Or difcompofe their pompous ignorance;
But, undisturb'd, they loiter life away,
So wither green, and bloffom in decay;
Deep funk in down, they, by my gentle care,
Avoid th' inclemencies of morning air,
And leave to tatter'd crape the drudgery of

96

100

First, fome to cleave the stubborn * flint engage, Till, urg'd by blows, it fparkles into rage: Some temper lute, fome fpacious veffels move; Thefe furnaces erect, and those approve; Here phials in nice difcipline are fet, There gallipots are rang'd in alphabet. In this place, magazines of pills you spy; In that, like forage, herbs in bundles lie; While lifted peftles, brandifh'd in the air, Defcend in peals, and civil wars declare. Loud ftrokes, with pounding fpice, the fabric rend, And aromatic clouds in fpires afcend.

106

So when the Cyclops o'er their anvils fweat, And fwelling finews echoing blows repeat; From the volcanos grofs eruptions rite, And curling fheets of fmoke obfcure the fkies. 110

The flumbering God, amaz'd at this new din, Thrice ftrove to rife, and thrice funk down again. Liftless he stretch'd, and gaping rubb'd his eyes, Then falter'd thus betwixt half words and fighs: How impotent a deity am I! 115 With Godhead born, but curs'd, that cannot die! Through my indulgence, mortals hourly fhare A grateful negligence, and cafe from care. Lui'd in my arms, how long have I withheld The northern monarchs from the dufty field! 120 How I have kept the British fleet at eafe, From tempting the rough dangers of the feas! Hibernia owns the mildnefs of my reign, And my divinity's ador'd in Spain.

The building of the Difpenfary.

124

Thus writ till none would read, becoming foon A wretched feribbler, of a rare buffoon.

Mankind my fond propitious power has try'd, Too oft' to own, too much to be deny'd. And all I afk are fhades and filent bowers, 165 To pafs in foft forgetfulness my hours. Oft' have my fears fome distant villa chofe, O'er their quietus where fat judges dofe, And lull their cough and confcience to repose: Or, if fome cloifter's refuge I implore, Where holy drones o'er dying tapers fnore,

Ver. 170.

VARIATIONS.

170

Sometimes among the Cafpian cliffs I creep,
Where folitary bats and fwallows fleep;
Or, if fome cloifter's refuge I implore,
Where holy drones o'er dying tapers fnore,
Still Naffau's arms a foft repofe deny,
Keep me awake, and follow where I fly.
Since he has blefs'd the weary world with
peace,

And with a nod has bid Bellona ceafe;
fought the covert of fome peaceful cell,
Where filent fhades in harmlefs raptures dwell i
That reftight paft tranquillity restore,
And mortal never interrupt me more.

See Doileau's Lutrin. † Dr. Atterbury,

175

*The peals of * Naffau's arms these eyes unclose,
Mine he molefts, to give the world repofe.
That eafe 1 offer with contempt he flies,
His couch a trench, his canopy the skies.
For climes nor feafons his refolves control,
Th' equator has no heat, no ice the pole.
With arms refiflefs o'e the globe he flies,
And leaves to Jove the empire of the skies.

180

But, as the flothful God to yawn begun, He fhook off the dull mist, and thus went on : "Twas in this reverend dome 1 fought repose, Thefe walls were that afylum I had chofe. Here have I rul'd long undifturb'd with broils, And laugh'd at heroes, and their glorious toils. 185 My annals are in mouldy mildews wrought, With eafy infignificance of thought. But now fome bufy, enterprizing brain Invents new fancies to renew my pain, And labours to diffolve my easy reign. With that, the God his darling Phantom calls, 191 And from his faltering lips this meffage falls :

Since mortals will difpute my power, I'll try Who has the greatest empire, they or I. Find Envy out, fome prince's court attend, 195 Moft likely there you'll meet the famifh'd fiend; Or where dull critics authors' fate foretell; Or where stale maids, or meagre eunuchs, dwell; Tell the bleak fury what new projects rain Among the homicides of Warwick-lane; And what th' event, unlefs fhe strait inclines To blaft their hopes, and baffle their defigns. More he had spoke, but fudden vapours rife, And with their filken cords tie down his eyes,

200

as the evening veil'd the mountains heads, And winds lay huth'd in fubterranean beds; Whilft fickening flowers drink up the filver dew, And beaux for fome affembly drefs anew; The city faints to prayers and play-houfe hafte; 5 The rich to dinner, and the poor to rest: Th' officious phantom then prepar'd with care To flide on tender pinions through the air.

10

15

Oft' he attempts the fummit of a rock,
And oft' the hollow of fom: blafted oak;
At length approaching where bleak Envy lay;
The hifling of her fnakes proclaim'd the way.
Beneath the gloomy covert of an yew,
That taints the grafs with fickly fweats of dew;
No verdant beauty entertains the fight,
But baneful hemlock, and cold aconite;
In a dark grot the baleful haggard lay,
Breathing black vengeance, and infecting day.
But how deform'd, and worn with fpiteful woes,
When Accius has applaufe, Dorfennus fhews. 20
The cheerful blood her meagre cheeks forfook,
And bafilifks fate brooding in her look;

A bald and bloated toad-ftool rais'd her head;
The plumes of boding ravens were her bed:
From her chapp'd nostrils fcalding torrents fall, 25
And her funk eyes boil o'er in floods of gall.
Volcanos labour thus with inward pains,
While feas of melted ore lay wafte the plains.
Around the fiend in hideous order fate
Foul bawling Infamy, and bold Debate ;
Gruff Difcontent, through ignorance misled,
And clamorous Faction at her party's head;
Reftlets Sedition ftill diffembling fear,
And fly Hypocrify with pious leer.

30

Glouting with fudden fpite the fury fhook 35 Her clotted locks, and blafted with each look; Then tore with canker'd teeth the pregnant fcrolls, Where Fame the acts of demi-gods enrols; And as the rent-records in pieces fell, Each ferap did fome immortal action tell.

40

45

This fhow'd, how fix'd as fate Torquatus ftood, That, the fam'd paffage of the Granic flood; The Julian cagics, here, their wings difplay, And there, like fetting ftars, the Decii lay; This does Camillus as a God extol, That points at Manlius in the capitol; How Cocles did the Tiber's furges brave, How Curtius plung'd into the gaping grave. Great Cyrus, here, the Medes and Perfians join, And, there, th' immortal battle of the Boyne. 50 As the light meffenger the fury spy'd, Awhile his curdling blood forgot to glide: Confufion on his fainting vitals hung, And faltering accents flutter'd on his tongue : At length, aluming courage, he convey'd 55 His errand, then he fhrunk into a fhade.

The Hag lay long revolving what might be The bleft event of fuch an embally: Then blazons in dread fmiles her hideous form; 60 So lightning gilds the unrelenting ftorm.

Ver. 60.

VARIATIONS.

Then fhe Alas! how long in vain have I
Aim'd at thefe noble ills the fates deny?
Within this ifle for ever muft I find
Difafters to diftract my reftlefs mind?
Good Tenifon's celeftial piety

At laft has rais'd him to the facred fee.
Somers does fickening equity reftore,

And helpless orphans are opprefa'd no more

Thus fhe-Mankind are bleft, they riot ftill
Unbounded in exorbitance of ill.

ly devaftation the rough warrior gains,
And farmers fatten moft when famine reigns;
For fickly fcafons the phyficians wait,
And politicians thrive in broils of state;
The lover's eafy when the fair-one fighs,
And Gods fubfiit not but by facrifice.

Fach other being fome indulgence knows :
Few are my joys, but infinite my woes
My prefent pain Britannia's genius wills,
And thus the fates record my future ills.
A heroine fhall Albion's fceptre bear,

65

70

With arms fhall vanquish earth, and heaven with prayer.

75

80

perfon

She on the world her clemency fhall fhower,
And only to preferve exert her power.
Tyrants shall then their impious aims forbear,
And Blenheim's thunder more than Etna's fear.
Since by no arts I therefore can defeat
The happy enterprizes of the great,
I'll calmly ftoop to more inferior things,
And try if my lov'd fnakes have teeth or ftings.
She faid; and ftraight fhrill Colon's
took,
In morals loofe, but most precife in look.
Black-friars annals lately pleas'd to call
Him warden of Apothecaries-hall;
And, when fo dignify'd, did not forbear
That operation which the learn'd declare
Gives celics cafe, and makes the ladies fair.
In trifling fhow his tinfel talent lies;
And form the want of intellects fupplics.
Ja afpect grand and goodly he appears,
Rever'd as patriarchs in primæval years.
Hourly his learn'd impertinence affords
A barren fuperfluity of words;
The patient's ears remorfelefs he affails,
Murders with jargon where his medicine fails.
The Fury thus affuming Colon's grace,
So flung her armis, fo fhul'd in her pace.

୨୦

95

VARIATIONS, (Ver. 60.) CONTINUED. Pembroke to Britain endless bleffings brings. He fpoke; and Peace clapp'd her triumphant wings.

Great Ormond fhines illuftrioufly bright
With blazes of hereditary right.
The noble ardour of a royal fire
Infpires the generous breaft of Devonshire.
And Macclesfield is active to defend

His country with the zeal he loves his friend.
Like Leda's radiant fons divinely clear,
Portland and Jerfey deck'd in rays appear,
To gild by turns the Gallic hemifphere.
Worth in diftrefs is rais'd by Montague;
Auguftus lifters if Mecenas fue;

And Vernon's vigilance no flumber takes,
Whilft faction peeps abroad, and anarchy

Ver. 95.

awakes.

In hafte he ftrides along, to recompenfe The want of bufinefs with its vain pretence.

*Lee, an apothecary.

In this place, drugs in mufty heaps decay'd;
In that, dry'd bladders and drawn teeth were laid.
An inner room receives the numerous fhoals 130
Of fuch as pay to be reputed fools.
Globes ftand by globes, volumes on volumes lie,
And planetary fchemes amufe the eye.
The fage, ia velvet chair, here lolls at eafe,
To promife future health for prefent fees;
Then, as from tripod, folemn fhame reveals,
And what the ftars know nothing of, foretels.

135

345

One afks how foon Panthea may be won, And longs to feel the marriage-fetters on : Others, convinc'd by melancholy proof, Enquire when courteous fates will strike them off. Some by what means they may redrefs their wrong, When fathers the poffeffion keep too long. And fome would know the iffue of their caufe, And whether gold can folder up its flaws. Poor pregnant Lais his advice would have, To lofe by art what fruitful Nature gave; And Portia, old in expectation grown, Laments her barren curfe, and begs a fon : Whilst Iris his cofinetic wath would try, To make her bloom revive, and lovers die. Some afk for charms, and others philtres choose, To gain Corinna, and their quartans lofe. Young Hylas, botch'd with flains too foul to name, In cradle here renews his youthful frame: Cloy'd with defire, and furfeited with charms, A hot-houfe he prefers to Julia's arms. And old Lucullus would th' arcanum prove, Of kindling in cold veins the fparks of love.

150

155

301

Bleak Favy thefe dull frauds with pleasure fees, And wonders at the fenfelefs myfteries. In Colon's voice fhe thus calls out aloud On Hronope environ'd by the croud:

† Dr. Barnard.