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'Well, on the whole, plain Profe must be my fate:
Wifdom (curfe on it) will come foon or late.
There is a time when Poets will grow dull:
I'll e'en leave verfes to the boys at school:
To rules of Poetry no more confin'd,

I'll learn to fmooth and harmonize my Mind,
Teach ev'ry thought within its bounds to roll,
And keep the equal measure of the Soul.

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Soon as I enter at my country door,

My mind refumes the thread it dropt before;
Thoughts, which at Hyde-park-corner I forgot,
Meet and rejoin me, in the pensive Grot.
There all alone, and compliments apart,

I afk thefe fober queftions of my heart.

200

205

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215

'If, when the more you drink, the more you crave, You tell the Doctor; when the more you have, The more you want, why not with equal ease Confefs as well your Folly, as Disease? The heart refolves this matter in a trice, "Men only feel the Smart, but not the Vice." "When golden Angels cease to cure the Evil, You give all royal Witchcraft to the Devil : When fervile Chaplains cry, that birth and place Indue a Peer with honour, truth, and grace,

NOTES.

Tecum habita, et nôris quàm fit tibi curta fupellex.

Survey thy foul; not what thou doft appear,

221

Look

But what thou art; and find the beggar there. Dryden.

WAKEFIELD.

VER. 220. When fervile Chaplains cry,] Dr. Kennet.

WARBURTON.

Proficiente nihil curarier: audieras, cui

Rem Dî donârint, illi decedere pravam

Stultitiam; et, cum fis nihilo fapientior, ex quo
Plenior es, tamen uteris monitoribus îfdem ?
At fi divitiæ prudentem reddere poffent,
Si cupidum timidumque minus te; nempe ruberes
Viveret in terris te fi quis avarior uno.

"Si proprium eft, quod quis libra mercatus et ære eft,

Quædam (fi credis confultis) mancipat ufus:
Qui te pafcit ager, tuus eft; et villicus Orbî,
Cum fegetes occat tibi mox frumenta daturas,
Te dominum fentit.

das nummos; accipis uvam,
Pullos, ova, cadum, temeti: nempe modo isto
Paulatim mercaris agrum, fortaffe trecentis,
Aut etiam fupra, nummorum millibus emptum,
Quid refert, vivas numerato nuper, an olini?

Emptor Aricini quondam, Veientis et arvi, Emptum cœnat olus, quamvis aliter putat; emptis Sub

NOTES.

VER. 229. If D*** lov'd] Warton fays, he fearched in vain for the name to whom this blank belongs. "Of all forts of writing," he justly obferves, "perfonal fatire is not only the most unintelligible, but the most short-liv'd. How many of the characters to whom La Bruyere alludes, are unknown; Theodas, is Santeuil, Menalcas, Count de Brancas.

"It was a long time before it was understood that M. de la Rochefoucault, in his 7ft maxim, meant to point out the Chevalier de Rohan in his 42d maxim, the D. d'Efpernon; and in his 393d, M. le Tellicr; and in maxim 200, the narrow conver

Look in that breast, most dirty D—! be fair,
Say, can you find out one fuch lodger there?
Yet ftill, not heeding what your heart can teach,
You go to Church to hear thefe Flatt'rers preach.
Indeed, could wealth beftow or wit or merit, 226
A grain of courage, or a spark of fpirit,
The wifeft man might blufh, I must agree,
If D*** lov'd fixpence, more than he.

W

If there be truth in Law, and Ufe can give 230 A Property, that's yours on which you

Delightful Abs-court, if its fields afford

live.

Their fruits to you, confeffes you its lord:

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235

All Worldly's hens, nay partridge, fold to town,
His ven'fon too, a guinea makes your own:
He bought at thoufands, what with better wit
You purchase as you want, and bit by bit;
Now, or long fince, what diff'rence will be found!
You
pay a penny, and he paid a pound.

" Heathcote himself, and fuch large-acred men,
Lords of fat E'fham, or of Lincoln fen,
Buy ev'ry stick of wood, that lends them heat,
Buy ev'ry Pullet they afford to eat.

Yet these are Wights, who fondly call their own
Half that the Dev'l o'erlooks from Lincoln town.

NOTES.

241

The

fation of Boileau and Racine, who never talked on any subject

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VER. 232. Delightful Abs-court,] A farm over-againft Hamp ton-Court.

WARBURTON.

Sub noctem gelidam lignis calefactat ahenum.

Sed vocat ufque fuum, qua populus adfita certis
Limitibus vicina refigit jurgia: tanquam

* Sit proprium quidquam, puncto quod mobilis horæ, Nunc prece, nunc pretio, nunc vi, nunc morte fuprema,

Permutet dominos, et cedat in altera jura.

Sic, quia perpetuus nulli datur ufus, at hæres Hæredem alterius, velut unda fupervenit undam : Quid vici profunt, aut horrea? quidve Calabris Saltibus adjecti Lucani; fi metit Orcus

Grandia cum parvis, non exorabilis auro?

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Gemmas, marmor, ebur, Tyrrhena figilla, ta-
bellas,

Argentum, veftes Gætulo murice tinctas,
Sunt qui non habeant; eft qui non curat habere.

NOTES.

Cur

VER. 248. hang in Fortune's pow'r-Loofe on the point of ev'ry wav'ring hour.] A modern idea (the magnetic needle) here fupplied the Imitator with expreffion much fuperior to his Original. WARBURTON.

VER. 254. All vaft poffeffions,] The next ten lines are far fuperior to the Original, both for their poetry and philosophy; and for the artful introduction of the name of his excellent and amiable friend, Lord Bathurst. WARTON.

ton

VER. 257. Join Cotfwood hills to Saperton's fair dale,] SaperHis feat is near the Cotswold hills; and his favourite paffion

is well alluded to in ver. 260.

Link towns to towns with avenues of oak:

for the avenues of oaks at Saperton are very magnificent.

Bennet.

WAREFIELD.

The Laws of God, as well as of the land,
Abhor, a Perpetuity should stand:

Eftates have wings, and hang in Fortune's pow'r
* Loose on the point of ev'ry wav'ring hour.
Ready, by force, or of your own accord,

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250

By fale, at least by death, to change their lord. Man? and for ever? wretch! what would't thou have?

Heir urges heir, like wave impelling wave.

All vaft poffeffions, (just the fame the cafe

Whether call them Villa, Park, or Chafe,) 255 you

Alas, my BATHURST! what will they avail?

Join Cotswood hills to Saperton's fair dale,
Let rifing Granaries and Temples here,
Their mingled farms and pyramids appear,
Link towns to towns with avenues of oak,
Enclose whole downs in walls, 'tis all a joke!
Inexorable Death fhall level all,

And trees, and ftones, and farms, and farmer fall.

a

Gold, Silver, Iv'ry, Vafes fculptur'd high,

Paint, Marble, Gems, and robes of Perfian dye,

260

There are who have not,-and thank Heav'n there

are,

266

Who, if they have not, think not worth their care.

NOTES.

Talk

VER. 264. Gold, Silver,] Thefe four lines are fine examples of the close, energetic, comprehensive, style of which he was fo perfect a master.

WARTON.

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