All, all but Truth, drops dead-born from the press, When black ambition ftains a public caufe, Not fo, when diadem'd with rays divine, 230 Touch'd with the flame that breaks from Virtue's shrine, § There, other trophies deck the truly brave, And may defcend to Mordington from STAIR; † 235 240 245 250 Are none, none living? let me praise the dead, *The cafe of Cromwell in the civil war of England; and (ver. 229) of Louis XIV. in his conqueft of the Low Countries. § The chief herald at arms. It is the custom, at the funeral of great peers, to caft into the grave the broken staves and ensigns of honour. ↑ John Dalrymple earl of Stair, knight of the thistle, served in all the wars under the duke of Marlborough; and afterwards as ambaffador in France. Dr. John Hough, bishop of Worcester, and the lord Digby. The one an affertor of the church of England, in opposition to the faife measures of king James II. The other as firmly attached to the cause of that king. Both acting out of principle, and equally men of honour and virtue. And And for that cause which made your fathers fhine, F. Alas! alas! pray end what you began, This was the last poem of the kind printed by our author, with a refolution to publish no more; but to enter thus, in the most plain and folemn manner he could, a fort of PROTEST against that infuperable corruption and depravity of manners, which he had been fo unhappy as to live to fee. Could he have hoped to have amended any, he had continued thofe attacks: but bad men were grown fo fhameless and fo powerful, that ridicule was become as unsafe as it was ineffectual. The Poem raised him, as he knew it would, fome enemies; but he had reason to be satisfied with the approbation of good men, and the testimony of his own conscience. ON Ο Ν Receiving from the Right Hon, the Lady FRANCES SHIRLEY * A STANDISH and TWO PENS. YES, I beheld th' Athenian queen Descend in all her fober charms! "And take (fhe faid, and fmil'd ferene) "Take at this hand celeftial arms. "Secure the radiant weapons wield; Aw'd on my bended knees I fell, "What well? what weapon? (Flavia cries) A lady whofe great merit Mr. Pope took a real pleasure in celebrating. But, |