RICHARD, who now was half asleep,
Rous'd; nor would longer filence keep:
And fenfe like this, in vocal breath,
Broke from his two-fold hedge of teeth.
Now, if this phrase too harsh be thought;
Pope, tell the word, 'tis not my fault.
Old Homer taught us thus to fpeak;
If 'tis not sense, at least 'tis Greek.
As folks, quoth Richard, prone to leafing,
Say things at firft, because they 're, pleafing;
Then prove what they have once afferted;
Nor care to have their lie deserted;
Till their own dreams at length deceive 'em ;
And, oft' repeating, they believe 'em ;
Or as, again, those amorous blades,
Who trifle with their mothers' maids;
Though at the first their wild defire
Was but to quench a prefent 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;
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But, by the flattering glafs 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 fantastic birth beget
And, pleas'd to find your fyftem mended
Beyond what you at firft intended,
The happy whimfey you purfue,
Till you at length believe it true.
Caught by your own delufive art,
You fancy first, and then affert.
Quoth Matthew friend, as far as I
Through art or nature caft my eye,
This axiom clearly I difcern,
That one must teach, and t' other learn.
No fool Pythagoras was thought;
Whilft he his weighty doctrines taught,
He made his liftening 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 scenes,
And introduc'd the ufe of beans.
From great Lucretius take his void;
And all the world is quite deftroy'd.
Deny Des-cart his fubtil matter;
You leave him neither fire nor water.
How oddly would Sir Ifaac look,
If you, in answer to his book,
Say in the front of your discourse,
That things have no elastic force!
How could our CHEMIC friends go on,
To find the PHILOSOPHIC ftone;
If you more powerful reasons bring,
To prove, that there is no such thing?
Your chiefs in fciences and arts
Have great contempt of Alma's parts.
They find, fhe giddy is, or dull;
She doubts, if things are void, or full:
And who should be prefum'd to tell
What the herself fhould fee, or feel?
She doubts if two and two make four,
Though she has told them ten times o'er.
It can't-it may be-and it muft:
To which of thefe muft Alma truft?
Nay further yet they make her go
In doubting, if she doubts, or no.
Can SYLLOGISM fet things right?
No: MAJORS foon with MINORS fight;
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Or, both in friendly confort join'd,
The CONSEQUENCE limps falfe behind.
So to fome cunning-man fhe goes,
And afks of him, how much she knows.
With patience grave he hears her speak;
And from his fhort notes gives her back
What from her tale he comprehended:
Thus the difpute is wifely ended.
From the account the lofer brings,.
The Conjurer knows, who ftole the things.
'Squire (interrupted Dick) fince when
Were you amongst thefe cunning-men?
Dear Dick, quoth Mat, let not thy force
Of eloquence fpoil my difcourse.
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 fpell,
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 must break.
IDEAS, FORMS, and INTELECTS,
Have furnish'd out three different fects.
SUBSTANCE, 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 PHILOSOPHIC matters fo
Your judgment must with others' go:
For as in fenates, fo in fchools,
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 erit 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 stream, or leaps the pales.
He then, quoth Dick, who by your rule
Thinks for himself, becomes a fool;
As party men, who leaves the rest,
*
WHIMSICAL at beft.
Now, by your favour, mafter Mat,
Like Ralpho, here I fmell a rat.
I must he lifted in your fect;
Who, though they teach not, can protect.
Right, Richard, Mat in triumph cry'd:
So put off all mistrust and pride.
Some of the Tories, in the queen's reign, were diftin
guished by that appellation.
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