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M

S

By MR. PRIOR.

To the Right Honourable Mr. HARLEY.

HORACE, 1 Ep. ix. imitated.

"Septimius, Claudi, nimirum intelligit unus, "Quanti me facias, &c."

DEAR Dick, howe'er it comes into his head,

Believes as firmly as he does his creed,

That you and I, Sir, are extremely great;
Though I plain Mat, you Minister of State:
One word from me, without all doubt, he says,
Would fix his fortune in fome little place.
Thus better than myself, it seems, he knows,
How far my intereft with my patron goes ;
And, answering all objections I can make,
Still plunges deeper in his dear mistake.

VOL. II.

* Richard Shelton Efquire.

B

From

From this wild fancy, Sir, there may proceed
One wilder yet, which I foresee and dread;
That I, in fact, a real intereft have,
Which to my own advantage I would fave,
And, with the ufual courtier's trick, intend
To ferve myself, forgetful of my friend.

To fhun this cenfure, I all fhame lay by ;
And make my reason with his will comply;
Hoping, for my excufe, 't will be confeft,
That of two evils I have chofe the least.
So, Sir, with this epiftolary scroll,
Receive the partner of my inmost foul :
Him you will find in letters and in laws
Not unexpert, firm to his country's cause,
Warm in the glorious intereft you pursue,
And, in one word, a good man and a true.

To Mr. HARLEY, wounded by GUISCARD, 1711.

"Ab ipfo

HOR.

"Ducit opes animumque ferro."

I.

IN one great now, fuperior to an age,

The full extremes of Nature's force we find : How heavenly Virtue can exalt; or Rage Infernal how degrade the human mind.

IE. While

II.

While the fierce monk does at his trial stand;
He chews revenge, abjuring his offence:
Guile in his tongue, and murder in his hand,
He ftabs his judge, to prove his innocence.
III.

The guilty stroke and torture of the steel

Infix'd, our dauntless Briton scarce perceives : The wounds his country from his death must feel, The Patriot views; for thofe alone he grieves.

IV.

The barbarous rage that durft attempt thy life,
Harley, great counsellor, extends thy fame:
And the sharp point of cruel Guifcard's knife,
In brafs and marble carves thy deathlefs name.
V.

Faithful affertor of thy country's cause,

Britain with tears shall bathe thy glorious wound :

She for thy fafety fhall enlarge her laws;

And in her statutes shall thy worth be found.

VI.

Yet 'midft her fighs fhe triumphs, on the hand
Reflecting, that diffus'd the public woe;

A ftranger to her altars, and her land-
No fon of her's could meditate this blow.

VII.

Mean time thy pain is gracious Anna's care:
Our Queen, our Saint, with facrificing breath
Softens thy anguifh: in her powerful prayer
She pleads thy fervice, and forbids thy death.
VIII. Great

B 2

VIII.

Great as thou art, thou canft demand no more,
O breaft bewail'd by earth: preferv'd by Heaven!
No higher can afpiring Virtue foar:
Enough to thee of grief and fame is given.

AN EXTEMPORE INVITATION

TO THE

Earl of OXFORD, Lord High Treasurer, 1712.

MY LORD,

Ου

UR weekly friends to-morrow meet
At Matthew's palace, in Duke-street,

To try for once if they can dine
On bacon-ham and mutton-chine :

If, weary'd with the great affairs

Which Britain trufts to Harley's cares,

Thou, humble statesman, may'st descend,
Thy mind one moment to unbend;

To fee thy fervant from his foul

Crown with thy health the sprightly bowl:
Among the guests which e'er my house
Receiv'd, it never can produce
Of honour a more glorious proof
Though Dorfet us'd to blefs the roof.

ERLE

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