As folks, quoth Richard, prone to leafing,
Say things at first, because they 're pleasing;
Then prove what they have once afferted;
Nor care to have their lie deferted;
Till their own dreams at length deceive 'em ;
And, oft' repeating, they believe 'em :
Or as, again, thofe amorous blades,
Who trifle with their mothers' maids;
Though at the first their wild defire
Was but to quench a present fire;
Yet if the object of their love
Chance by Lucina's aid to prove ;
They feldom let the bantling roar
In basket at a neighbour's door;
But, by the flattering glaf of nature
Viewing themselves in cake-bread's feature,
With ferious thought and care fupport
What only was begun in fport:
Juft fo with you, my friend, it fares,
Who deal in philofophic wares.
Atoms you cut, and forms you measure,
To gratify your private pleasure;
Till airy feeds of cafual wit
Do fome fantaftic birth beget;
And, pleas'd to find your fyftem mended
Beyond what you at first intended,
The happy whimsey you purfue,
Till you at length believe it true.
Caught by your own delufive art,
You fancy firft, and then affert.
Quoth Matthew: Friend, as far as I
Through art or nature caft my eye,
This axiom clearly I discern,
That one muft teach, and t' other learn.
No fool Pythagoras was thought;
Whilft he his weighty doctrines taught,
He made his listening scholars ftand,
Their mouth ftill cover'd with their hand:
Elfe, may be, fome odd-thinking youth,
Lefs friend to doctrine than to truth,
Might have refus'd to let his ears
Attend the mufic of the fpheres ;
Deny'd all tranfmigrating fcenes,
And introduc'd the use of beans.
From great Lucretius take his void;
And all the world is quite destroy'd.
Deny Des-cart his fubtil matter;
You leave him neither fire nor water.
How oddly would Sir Ifaac look,
If you, in anfwer to his book,
Say in the front of your difcourfe,
That things have no elastic force!
How could our chemic friends go on,
To find the philofophic ftone;
If you more powerful reasons bring,
To prove, that there is no fuch thing?
Your chiefs in fciences and arts
Have great contempt of Alma's parts.
They find, the giddy is, or dull;
She doubts, if things are void, or full:
And who should be prefum'd to tell
What the herself should fee, or feel?
She doubts if two and two make four,
Though fhe has told them ten times o'er.
To which of these muft Alma truft?
Nay further yet they make her go
In doubting, if fhe doubts, or no.
Can fyllogifm fet things right?
No: majors foon with minors fight;
Or, both in friendly confort join'd,
The confequence limps falfe behind.
So to fome cunning man fhe goes,
And afks of him, how much he knows..
With patience grave he hears her speak ;
And from his short notes gives her back
What from her tale he comprehended :
Thus the difpute is wifely ended.
From the account the lofer brings,
The Conjuror knows, who ftole the things.
'Squire (interrupted Dick) fince when
Were you amongst these cunning-men?
Dear Dick, quoth Mat, let not thy force
Of eloquence fpoil my difcourfe.
I tell thee, this is Alma's cafe,
Still afking, what fome wife-man fays,
Who does his mind in words reveal,
Which all muft grant; though few can spell.
You tell your doctor, that y' are ill :
And what does he, but write a bill,
Of which you need not read one letter:
The worse the fcrawl, the dofe the better.
For if you knew but what you take ;
Though you recover, he muft break.
Ideas, forms, and intellects,
Have furnish'd out three different fects.
Subftance, or accident, divides
All Europe into adverfe fides.
Now, as, engag'd in arms or laws,
You must have friends to back your cause;
In philofophic matters fo
Your judgement must with others' go:
For as in fenates, fo in schools,
Majority of voices rules.
Poor Alma, like a lonely deer,
O'er hills and dales does doubtful err:
With panting hafte, and quick furprize,
From every leaf that ftirs, fhe flies;
Till, mingled with the neighbouring herd,
She flights what erft the fingly fear'd:
And now, exempt from doubt and dread,
She dares purfue, if they dare lead ;
As their example still prevails,
She tempts the ftream, or leaps the pales.
He then, quoth Dick, who by your rule
Thinks for himfelf, becomes a fool;
As party-man, who leaves the reft,
Is call'd but whimsical at best.
* Some of the Tories, in the queen's reign, were diftinguished by that appellation..
Now, by your favour, mafter Mat,
Like Ralpho, here I smell a rat. fe&t;
I must be lifted in your
Who, though they teach not, can protect.
Right, Richard, Mat in triumph cry'd :
So put off all mistrust and pride.
And, while my principles I beg,
Pray anfwer only with your leg.
Believe what friendly I advise:
Be first fecure; and then be wife.
The man within the coach that fits,.
And to another's fkill fubmits,
Is fafer much (whate'er arrives)
And warmer too, than he that drives..
So Dick Adept, tuck back thy hair;
And I will pour into thy ear
Remarks, which none did e'er disclose
In fmooth-pac'd verfe, or hobbling profe.
Attend, dear Dick; but don't reply:
And thou may'ft prove as wife as I.
When Alma now, in different ages,
Has finish'd her afcending stages;
Into the head at length fhe gets,
And there in public grandeur fits,
To judge of things, and cenfure wits.
Here, Richard, how could I explain
The various labyrinths of the brain!
Surprize my readers, whilft I tell 'em
Of cerebrum, and cerebellum!
How could I play the commentator
On dura and on pia mater!
|