Afflicted sense thou kindly dost set free, And routed reason finds a safe retreat in thee. With thee in private modest dulness lies, Yet thy indulgence is by both confess'd; Folly by thee lies sleeping in the breast, And 't is in thee at last that wisdom seeks for rest. Silence, the knave's repute, the whore's good name, The only honour of the wishing dame; Thy very want of tongue makes thee a kind of fame. But couldst thou seize some tongues that now are free, How church and state should be obliged to thee; At senate, and at bar, how welcome wouldst thou be! Yet speech e'en there submissively withdraws, From rights of subjects, and the poor man's cause: Then pompous Silence reigns, and stills the noisy laws. Past services of friends, good deeds of foes, What favourites gain, and what the nation owes, Fly the forgetful world, and in thy arms repose. The country wit, religion of the town, The courtier's learning, policy of the gown, The parson's cant, the lawyer's sophistry, E. OF DORSET. ARTEMISIA. THOUGH Artemisia talks, by fits, Haughty and huge as High-Dutch bride, On her large squab you find her spread, That lies and stinks in state. She wears no colours (sign of grace) All white and black beside: And masculine her stride. So have I seen, in black and white, A stately, worthless animal, That plies the tongue, and wags the tail, All flutter, pride, and talk. PHRYN E. PHRYNE had talents for mankind, Merchants unloaded here their freight, Her learning and good-breeding such, 'T was "Si Signior," 't was "Yaw Mynheer," 'T was "S'il vous plait, Monsieur." Obscure by birth, renown'd by crimes, In diamonds, pearls, and rich brocades, So have I known those insects fair DR. SWIFT. THE HAPPY LIFE OF A COUNTRY PARSON. PARSON, these things in thy possessing, A large Concordance, bound long since; Sermons to Charles the First, when prince: A Chronicle of ancient standing; To sum the whole, the close of all. AN ESSAY ON MAN, IN FOUR EPISTLES TO H. ST. JOHN, LORD BOLINGBROKE. THE DESIGN. HAVING proposed to write some pieces on human life and manners, such as (to use my Lord Bacon's expression) "come home to men's business and bosoms," I thought it more satisfactory to begin with considering man in the abstract, his nature, and his state: since, to prove any moral duty, to enforce any moral precept, or to examine the perfection or imperfection of any creature whatsoever, it is necessary first to know what condition and relation it is placed in, and what is the proper end and purpose of its being. The science of human nature is, like all other sciences, reduced to a few clear points: there are not many certain truths in this world. It is therefore in the anatomy of the mind as in that of the body; more good will accrue to mankind by attending to the large, open, and perceptible parts, than by studying too much such finer nerves and vessels, the conformations and uses of which will for ever escape our observation. The disputes are all upon these last; and I will venture to say, they have less sharpened the wits than the hearts of men against each other, and have diminished the practice more than advanced the theory of morality. If I could flatter myself that this Essay has any merit, it is in steering betwixt the extremes of doctrines seemingly opposite, in passing over terms utterly unintelligible, and in forming a temperate yet not inconsistent, and a short, yet not imperfect, system of ethics. Pope. 12 |