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w Peace is my dear delight-not FLEURY's more:75 But touch me, and no Minister so fore. Whoe'er offends, at fome unlucky time * Slides into verfe, and hitches in a rhyme, Sacred to Ridicule his whole life long, And the fad burthen of fome merry fong.

y Slander or Poifon dread from Delia's rage, Hard words or hanging, if your Judge be Page, From furious Sappho fcarce a milder fate,

P-x'd by her love, or libell'd by her hate.

80

2 Its proper pow'r to hurt, each creature feels; 85 Bulls aim their horns, and Affes lift their heels; "Tis a Bear's talent not to kick, but hug;

a

And no man wonders he's not stung by Pug.

So drink with Walters, or with Chartres eat,

They'll never poison you, they'll only cheat.

NOTES.

90

VER. 81-84. Slander-libell'd by her hate.] There seems to be more fpirit here than in the original. But it is hard to pronounce with certainty. For tho' one may be confident there is. more force in the 83d and 84th lines than in

Canidia Albuti, quibus eft inimica, venenum; yet there might be fomething, for ought we know, in the Character or Hiftory of Cervius which might bring up that line to the spirit of poinancy of the 82d verfe of the Imitation.

VER. 85.-90. It's proper power to hurt, etc.] All, except the two laft lines, inferior to the elegance and precifion of the Original.

Ne longum faciam: feu me tranquilla fenectus

Exfpectat, feu mors atris circumvolat alis ;

;

Dives, inops; Romae, feu fors ita jufferit, exful;

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VER. 93,-96. Whether old age-fhade] The Original is more finished, and even fublime. Befides, the last verse-To wrap me in the univerfal fhade, has a languor and redundancy unusual with

our author.

VER. 97. Whether the darken'd room-Or whiten'd wall-] This is only a wanton joke upon the terms of his Original

Quifquis erit vitae color.

VER. 99. In durance, exile, Bedlam, or the Mint,] The Poet, in our equal Government, might talk of the disasters incident to wit, at his ease, and with all this levity of ftyle. But it was a serious matter with Horace; and is fo ftill with our witty Neighbours; one of whom has well expreffed their condition, in the following lines,

Eh! Que fait-on? Un fimple badinage,

Mal entendu d'un Prude, ou d'un Sot,

b Then, learned Sir! (to cut the matter short) Whate'er my fate, or well or ill at Court, Whether Old with faint but chearful ray, Attends to gild the Ev'ning of my day,

age,

Or Death's black wing already be display'd,
To wrap me in the univerfal fhade;

Whether the darken'd room to muse invite,
Or whiten❜d wall provoke the skew'r to write :
In durance, exile, Bedlam, or the Mint,

C

95

Like Lee or Budgell, I will rhyme and print. 100 F. Alas young man ! your days can ne'er be long, In flow'r of age you perish for a song! Plums and Directors, Shylock and his Wife, Will club their Tefters, now, to take your life! · P. e What? arm'd for Virtue when I point the pen, Brand the bold front of shameless guilty men; 106

NOTES.

Peut vous jetter fur un autre rivage:

Pour perdre un Sage, il ne faut qu'un Bigot.

VER. 104. Will club their Tefters, &c.] The image is exceeding humourous, and at the fame time betrays the injustice of their refentment in the very circumstance of their indulging it; as it fhews the Poet had faid no more of their avarice, than what was true. Our Author's abundance of Wit has made his readers backward in acknowledging his Humour. But the veins are equally rich; and the one flows with ease, and the other is always placed with propriety. ·

VER. 105-120. What? arm'd for Virtue, etc.] This is not only fuperior to any thing in Horace, but equal to any thing in himself.

F

f Detrahere et pellem, nitidus qua quifque per ora

Cederet, introrfum turpis; num Laelius, et qui

Duxit ab oppreffa meritum Carthagine nomen,

Ingenio offenfi? aut laefo doluere Metello,

Famofifque Lupo cooperto verfibus? atqui

Primores populi arripuit populumque tributim ;

NOTES.

VER.110. Lights of the Church, or Guardians of the Laws?] Because juft Satire is an useful fupplement to the fanctions of Law and Religion; and has, therefore, a claim to the protection of those who prefide in the administration of both.

VER. III. Could Boileau-Could Dryden] I believe neither of them would have been suffered to do this, had they not been egregious flatterers of the feveral Courts to which they belonged.

Ibid. Could penfion'd Boileau-Could Laureate Dryden] It was Horace's purpose to compliment the former times, and therefore he gives the virtuous examples of Scipio and Laelius; it was Mr. Pope's, to fatirize the prefent, and therefore he gives the vicious examples of Louis, Charles, and James. Either way the inftances are equally pertinent; but in the latter they have rather greater force. Only the line,

Uni aequus virtuti atque ejus amicis,

lofes fomething of its spirit in the imitation; for the amici, referred to, were Scipio and Laelius.

VER.116. Unplac'd, unpenfion'd, no man's heir, or flave ?] Mr. Pope, it is well known, made his fortune by his Homers. Lord

111

Dash the proud Gamester in his gilded Car }
Bare the mean Heart that lurks beneath a Star;
Can there be wanting, to defend Her cause,
Lights of the Church, or Guardians of the Laws?
Could penfion'd Boileau lash in honest strain
Flatt'rers and Bigots ev'n in Louis' reign?
Could Laureate Dryden Pimp and Fry'r engage,
Yet neither Charles nor James be in a rage?
And I not strip the gilding off a Knave,
Unplac'd, unpenfion'd, no man's heir, or flave?
I will, or perish in the gen'rous caufe:

f

115

Hear this, and tremble! you, who 'fcape the Laws.

NOTES.

Treafurer Oxford affected to difcourage that defign; for fo great a Genius (he faid) ought not to be confined to Translation. He always used Mr. Pope civilly; and would often exprefs his concern that his religion rendered him incapable of a place. At the fame time, he never spoke one word of a pension. For this offer he was solely indebted to the Whig-Ministers. In the beginning of George I. lord Hallifax, of his own motion, sent for Mr. Pope, and told him, it had often given him concern that fo great a Poet had never been distinguished; that he was glad it was now in his power to serve him; and, if he cared to accept it, he should have a penfion not clogged with any engagements. Mr. Pope thanked him, and defired time to confider of it. After three months (having heard nothing further from that Lord) he wrote him a letter to repeat his thanks; in which he took occafion to mention the affair of the penfion with much indifference. So the thing dropt till Mr. Craggs came into the Ministry. The affair of the penfion was then refumed. And this minifter, in a very frank and friendly manner, told Mr. Pope, that three hundred pounds a year was then at his fervice: that he had the ma

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