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And hail her paffage to the Realms of Reft,

All Parts perform'd, and all her Children bleft!
So-Satire is no more I feel it die-
No Gazetteer more innocent than I

--

And let, a God's-name, ev'ry Fool and Knave 85 Be grac'd thro' Life, and flatter'd in his Grave.

F. Why fo if Satire knows its Time and Place,
You ftill may lafh the greateft- in Disgrace:
For Merit will by turns forfake them all;

Would you know when! exactly when they fall. 90
But let all Satire in all Changes spare
Immortal S-k, and grave Dere.

NOTES.

She died in 1737. Her death gave occafion, as is observed above, to many indifcreet and mean performances unworthy of her memory, whofe last moments manifefted the utmost courage and refolution.

P.

How highly our Poet thought of that truly great perfonage may be seen by one of his letters to Mr. Allen, written at that time; in which, amongst others, equally refpectful, are the following words: "The Queen fhewed, "by the confeffion of all about her, the utmost firmness " and temper to her last moments, and through the courfe " of great torments. What character hiftorians will al"low her, I do not know; but all her domeftic fervants, " and those nearest her, give her the best testimony, that "of fincere tears."

VER. 92. Immortal S-k, and grave De-re!] A title given that Lord by King James II. He was of the Bedchamber to King William; he was fo to King George I. he was fo to King George II. This Lord was very skilful

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Silent and foft, as Saints remove to Heav'n,
All Tyes diffolv'd, and ev'ry Sin forgiv❜n,
These may fome gentle minifterial Wing
Receive, and place for ever near a King!
There, where no Paffion, Pride, or Shame transport,
Lull'd with the sweet Nepenthe of a Court;

NOTES.

95

in all the forms of the Houfe, in which he difcharged himself with great gravity. P.

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VER. 97. There, where no Paffion, etc.] The excellent writer De l'Esprit des Loix gives the following character of the Spirit of Courts, and the Principle of Monarchies: Qu'on life ce que les Hiftoriens de tous les tems ont dit "fur la Cour des Monarques; qu'on fe rapelle les con"verfations des hommes de tous les Païs fur le miferable "caractère des COURTISANS; ce ne font point des chofes "de fpeculation, mais d'une trifte expérience. L'ambi❝tion dans l'oifiveté, la basseffe dans l'orgueil, le defir de "s'enrichir fans travail, l'averfion pour la vérité; la fla"terie, la trahifon, la perfidie, l'abandon de tous fes "engagemens, le mepris des devoirs du Citoyen, la crainte "de la vertu du Prince, l'efperance de fes foibleffes, et plus, que tout cela, LE RIDICULE PERPETUEL JETTÉ SUR LA VERTU, font, je crois, le Caractère de la plu. part des Courtifans marqué dans tous les lieux et dans "tous les tems. Or il eft très mal-aifé que les Principaux "d'un Etat foient malhonnêtes-gens, et que les inferieurs "foient gens-de-bien, que ceux-là foyent trompeurs, &

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que ceux-ci confentent à n'être que dupes. Que fi dans "le Peuple il fe trouve quelque malheureux honnête"homme, le Cardinal de Richelieu dans fon Teftament politique infinue, qu'un Monarque doit fe garder de s'en "fervir. Tant-il eft vrai que la Vertu n'est pas le reffort "de ce Gouvernment."

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There, where no Father's, Brother's Friend's difgrace Once break their reft, or ftir them from their Place: But paft the Senfe of human Miseries,

All Tears are wip'd for ever from all eyes;

No cheek is known to blush, no heart to throb,
Save when they lose a Question, or a Job.

ΙΘΙ

P. Good Heav'n forbid, that I fhould blaft their

glory,

105

Who know how like Whig Minifters to Tory,
And when three Sov'reigns dy'd, could scarce be vext,
Confid❜ring what a gracious Prince was next.

Have I, in filent wonder feen fuch things
As Pride in Slaves, and Avarice in Kings;

And at a Peer or Peerefs, fhall I fret,

Who ftarves a Sifter, or forfwears a Debt?
Virtue, I grant you, is an empty boaft;

But fhall the Dignity of Vice be loft?

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Ye Gods! fhall Cibber's Son, without rebuke, 115 Swear like a Lord, or Rich out-whore a Duke;

VARIATIONS.

VER. 112. in fome editions,

Who ftarves a Mother,

NOTES.

VER. 108. gracious Prince] The ftyle of Addreffes on an acceffion.

VER. 115. Cibber's Son, Rich] Two Players: look for them in the Dunciad,

P.

A Fav'rite's Porter with his Mafter vie,

Be brib'd as often, and as often lie?

Shall Ward draw Contracts with a Statesman's skill ? Or Japhet pocket, like his Grace, a Will?

Is it for Bond, or Peter, (paltry things)

120

To pay their. Debts, or keep their Faith, like Kings?
If Blount dispatch'd himself he play'd the man,
And fo may'ft thou, illuftrious Pafferan!

But shall a Printer, weary of his life,

125

Learn, from their Books, to hang himself and Wife? This, this, my Friend, I cannot, must not bear; Vice thus abus'd, demands a Nation's care:

This calls the Church to deprecate our Sin,

And hurls the Thunder of the Laws on Gin. 130 NOTES.

VER. 123. If Blount] Author of an impious and foolish book called the Oracles of Reason, who being in love with a near kinfwoman of his, and rejected, gave himself a ftab in the arm, as pretending to kill himself, of the confequence of which he really died. P..

VER. 124. Pafferan!] Author of another book of the fame ftamp, called A philofophical difcourfe on death, being a defence of fuicide.

VER. 125. But fhall a Printer, etc.] A Fact that happened in London a few years paft. The unhappy man left behind him a paper justifying his action by the reafonings of fome of these authors.

P.

VER. 129. This calls the Church to deprecate our Sin,] Alluding to the forms of prayer, compofed in the times of public calamity; where the fault is generally laid upon the People.

VIR. 130. Gin.] A fpirituous liquor, the exorbitant

Let modeft FOSTER, if he will, excell Ten Metropolitans in preaching well; A fimple Quaker, or a Quaker's Wife, Out-do Landaffe in Doctrine,-yea in Life : Let humble ALLEN, with an aukward Shame, 135 Do good by ftealth, and blush to find it Fame.

NOTES.

use of which had almost destroyed the lowest rank of the People till it was reftrained by an act of Parliament in 1736. P.

VER. 131. Let modeft FOSTER,] This confirms an obfervation which Mr. Hobbes made long ago, That there be very few Bishops that act a fermon fo well, as divers Prefbyterians and fanatic Preachers can do. Hift. of Civ.

Wars. p. 62. SCRIBL.

VER. 134. Landaffe] A poor Bishoprick in Wales, as poorly fupplied.

P.

VER. 135. Let humble ALLEN with an aukward Shame, Do good by fealth, and blush to find it Fame.] The true Character of our Author's moral pieces, confidered as a Supplement to human laws (the force of which they have defervedly obtained) is, that his praise is always delicate, and his reproof never misplaced: and therefore the firft not reaching the head, and the latter too fenfibly touching the heart of his vulgar readers, have made him cenfured as a cold Panegyrift, and a cauftic Satirift; whereas, indeed, he was the warmest friend, and the most placable enemy.

The lines above have been commonly given as an inftance of this ungenerous backwardness in doing justice to merit. And, indeed, if fairly given, would bear hard upon the Author, who believed the person here celebrated to be one of the greatest characters in private life that ever was; aud known by him to be, in fact, all, and

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