Sages and Chiefs long fince had birth Ere Cæfar was, or Newton nam'd; These rais'd new Empires o'er the Earth, And Thofe, new Heav'ns and Systems fram'd... Vain was the Chief's, the Sage's pride! In vain they fchem'd, in vain they bled! Nec, fi quid olim lufit Anacreon, Vixere fortes ante Agamemnona MISCELLANIES. EPISTLE то ROBERT Earl of OXFORD, and Earl MORTIMER. UCH were the notes thy once-lov'd Poet fung, 'Till Death untimely ftop'd his tuneful tongue. Oh just beheld! and loft! admir'd and mourn'd! With softest manners, gentlest arts adorn'd! Bleft in each science, bleft in ev'ry strain ! Dear to the Mufe! to HARLEY dear-in vain! For him, thou oft had bid the World attend, Fond to forget the ftatefman in the friend; For SWIFT and him, defpis'd the farce of ftate, The fober follies of the wife and great ; Dextrous the craving, fawning crowd to quit, And pleas'd to 'fcape from Flattery to Wit. 5 IO Epift. to Robert Earl of Oxford ] This Epiftle was fent to the Earl of Oxford with Dr Parnell's poems published by our Author, after the faid Earl's Imprifonment in the Tower, and Retreat into the Country, in the year 1721 Abfent or dead, fill let a friend be dear, (A figh the abfent claims, the dead a tear) Recall thofe nights that clos'd thy toilfome days, 15 Who, careless now of Int'reft, Fame, or Fate, And fure, if aught below the feats divine In vain to Deserts thy retreat is made; The Mufe attends thee to thy filent fhade; 20 25 'Tis hers, the brave man's latest steps to trace, Rejudge his acts, and dignify difgrace. 30 When Int'reft calls off all her fneaking train, And all th' oblig'd defert, and all the vain; She waits, or to the Scaffold, or the cell, When the laft ling'ring friend has bid farewel. Ev'n now, fhe fhades thy Ev'ning-walk with bays, (No hireling fhe, no prostitute to praise) 36 Ev'n now, obfervant of the parting ray, Eyes the calm Sun-fet of thy various Day, Thro' Fortuen's cloud one truely great can fee, Nor fears to tell, that MORTIMER is he. 40 EPISTLE To JAMES CRAGGS, Efq; SECRETARY of STATE. A Soul as full of Worth, as void of Pride, Which nothing feeks to fhew, or needs to hide, Know, Kings and Fortune cannot make thee more. Nor wish to lose a Foe these Virtues raise; Proceed- -a Minifter, but still a Man. The Patriot's plain, but untrod, path purfue; If not, 'tis I must be afham'd of You. [Secretary of State] In the year 1720, 5 10 |