Has ev'n been prov'd to grant a Lover's pray'r, 55
And paid a Tradesman once to make him stare;
Gave alms at Easter, in a Christian trim,
And made a Widow happy, for a whim.
Why then declare Good-nature is her scorn,
When 'tis by that alone she can be born?
Why pique all mortals, yet affect a name?
A fool to Pleasure, yet a slave to Fame:

60

Now deep in Taylor and the Book of Martyrs,
Now drinking Citron with his Grace and Chartres:
Now Conscience chills her, and now passion

burns:

And Atheism and Religion take their turns;

A very Heathen in the carnal part,

Yet still a sad, good Christian at her heart.

65

NOTES.

Juvenal, in his sixth satire, speaking of a great female talker, uses a pleasant hyperbole ;

"Una laboranti poterit succurrere lunæ."

Ver. 57. in a Christian trim,] This is finely expressed; implying that her very charity was as much an exterior of Religion, as the ceremonies of the season. It was not even in a Christian humour, it was only in a Christian trim: not so much as habit, only fashion.

Ver. 58. And made a Widow happy,] There are some female characters sketched with exquisite delicacy and deep knowledge of Nature, in a book where one would not expect to find them, Law's Christian Perfection.

Ver. 65. Now Conscience chills her,] Madame de Montespan, during her criminal intercourse with Louis XIV, kept her Lents so strictly, that she used to have her bread weighed out to her.

Ver. 68. Yet still a sad,] I have been informed, on good authority, that this character was designed for the then Dutchess of Hamilton.

70

See Sin in State, majestically drunk ;
Proud as a Peeress, Prouder as a Punk;
Chaste to her Husband, frank to all beside,
A teeming Mistress, but a barren Bride.
What then? let Blood and Body bear the fault,
Her Head's untouch'd, that noble seat of thought;
Such this day's doctrine-in another fit

She sins with Poets through pure Love of Wit.
What has not fir'd her bosom or her brain?
Cæsar and Tall-boy, Charles and Carlema'ne.
As Helluo, late Dictator of the Feast,
The Nose of Hautgout and the Tip of Taste,
Critiqu'd your wine, and analyz'd your meat,
Yet on plain Pudding deign'd at home to eat :
So Philomedé, lect'ring all mankind,
On the soft Passion, and the Taste refin'd,
Th' address, the Delicacy-stoops at once,
And makes her hearty meal upon a Dunce.

Flavia's a Wit, has too much sense to pray;
To toast our wants and wishes, is her way;

VARIATIONS.

Ver. 77. What has not fir'd, &c.] In the MS.
In whose mad brain the mixt ideas roll,
Of Tall-boy's breeches, and of Cæsar's soul.

NOTES.

Ver. 69. V. In the Lewd and Vicious. P.

75

80

85

Ver. 70. Proud as a Peeress,] Designed for the Dutchess of Marlborough, who so much admired Congreve; and after his death caused a figure in wax-work to be made of him, and placed frequently at her table. This connexion is particularly hinted at in ver. 76.

She sins with Poets

Our Author's declaration, therefore, that no particular character was aimed at, is not true.

Ver. 87. VI. Contrarieties in the Witty and Refined. P.

Nor asks of God, but of her Stars, to give

The mighty blessing, "While we live, to live." 90
Then all for Death, that Opiate of the soul!
Lucretia's dagger, Rosamonda's bowl.
Say, what can cause such impotence of mind?
A Spark too fickle, or a Spouse too kind.

96

Wise Wretch ! with pleasures too refin❜d to please!
With too much Spirit to be e'er at ease:
With too much Quickness ever to be taught;
With too much Thinking to have common Thought:
You purchase Pain with all that Joy can give,
And die of nothing but a Rage to live.

100

Turn then from Wits; and look on Simo's Mate,

No Ass so meek, no Ass so obstinate.

Or her, that owns her faults, but never mends,
Because she's honest, and the best of Friends.

Or her, whose life the Church and Scandal share,
For ever in a Passion or a Pray'r.

106

Or her, who laughs at Hell, but (like her Grace) Cries, "Ah! how charming if there's no such place;" Or who in sweet vissicitude appears,

Of Mirth and Opium, Ratafie and Tears,

110

NOTES.

Ver. 107. Or her, who laughs at Hell,]

"Shall pleasures of a short duration chain

A Lady's soul in everlasting pain?

Will the Great Author us poor worms destroy

For now and then a sip of transient joy?

No; He's for ever in a smiling mood;

He's like themselves; or how could he be good?"

From Young, Sat. 5. The person Pope intended to ridicule was the Dutchess of Montague.

The daily Anodine, and nightly Draught,

115

To kill those foes to fair ones, Time and Thought.
Women and Fool are too hard things to hit;
For true No-meaning puzzles more than Wit.
But what are these to great Atossa's mind?
Scarce once herself, by turns all Womankind :
Who, with herself, or others, from her birth
Finds all her life one warfare upon earth:
Shines in exposing Knaves, and painting Fools,
Yet is, whate'er she hates and ridicules.
No thought advances, but her Eddy Brain
Whisks it about, and down it goes again.

120

VARIATIONS.

After Ver. 122 in the MS.

Oppress'd with wealth and wit, abundance sad!
One makes her poor, the other makes her mad.

NOTES.

Ver. 115. great Atossa's mind?] Atossa is a name mentioned in Herodotus, and said to be a follower of Sappho. She was daughter of Cyrus and sister of Cambyses, and married Darius. She is also named in the Persæ of Eschylus. She is said to be the first that wrote Epistles. See Bensley on Phalaris, p. 385; and Dodswell against Bentley.

Ver. 120. Yet is, whate'er she hates] These spirited lines, that paint a singular character, are designed for the famous Dutchess of Marlborough, whom Swift had also severely satirized in the Examiner. Her beauty, her abilities, her political intrigues, are sufficiently known. The violence of her temper frequently broke out into wonderful and ridiculous indecencies. In the last illness of the great Duke her husband, when Dr. Mead left his chamber, the Dutchess, disliking his advice, followed him down stairs, swore at him bitterly, and was going to tear off his periwig. Her friend Dr. Hoadley, Bishop of Winchester, was present at this scene. These lines were shewn to her Grace as if they were intended for the portrait of the Dutchess of Buckingham; but she soon stopped the person who was reading them to her, as the

Full sixty years the World has been her Trade,
The wisest Fool much Time has ever made.
From loveless Youth to unrespected Age,
No Passion gratify'd, except her Rage.
So much the Fury still outran the Wit,

125

The Pleasure miss'd her, and the Scandal hit.
Who breaks with her, provokes Revenge from Hell,
But he's a bolder man who dares be well.
Her ev'ry turn with Violence pursu'd,

No more a storm her Hate then Gratitude :
To that each Passion turns, or soon or late;
Love, if it makes her yield, must make her hate:

130

NOTES.

Dutchess of Portland informed me, and called out aloud, "I cannot be so imposed upon: I see plainly enough for whom they are designed:" and abused Pope most plentifully on the subject, though she was afterward reconciled to him, and courted him, and gave him a thousand pounds to suppress this portrait, which he accepted, it is said, by the persuasion of Mrs. M. Blount; and, after the Dutchess's death, it was printed in a folio sheet, 1746, and afterward here inserted with those of Philomedé and Cloe. This is the greatest blemish in our Poet's moral character. These three portraits are all animated with the most poignant wit. That of Cloe is particularly just and happy, who is represented as content merely and only to dwell in decencies, and satisfied to avoid giving offence; and is one of those many insig. nificant and useless beings,

"Who want, as thro' blank life they dream along,
Sense to be right, and passion to be wrong."

As says the ingenious author of the Universal Passion; a work that abounds in wit, observation on life, pleasantry, delicacy, urbanity, and the most well-bred raillery, without a single mark of spleen and ill-nature. These were the first characteristical satires in our language, and are written with an ease and familiarity of style very different from this author's other works. The four first were published in folio, in the year 1725; and the fifth and sixth, 1727.