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Sinks deep within him, and poffeffes Whole, 'Then dubs Director, and fecures his Soul.

Behold Sir Balaam, now a Man of Spirit,
Afcribes his Gettings to his Parts and Merit,
What late he call'd a Bleffing, now was Wit,
And God's good Providence, a lucky Hit.
Things change their Titles, as our Manners turn,
His Compting-house employ'd the Sunday Morn;
Seldom at Church, ('twas fuch a bufy Life)
But duly fent his Family and Wife.

There (fo the Dev'l ordain'd) one Christmas Tide
My good old Lady catch'd a Cold and dy'd.
A Nymph of Quality admires our Knight;
He marries, bows at Court, and grows polite :
Leaves the dull Cits, and joins (to please the Fair)
The well-bred Cuckolds in St. James's Air:
Firft, for his Son a gay Commiffion buys,

Who drinks, whores, fights, and in a Duel dies :
His Daughter flaunts a Viscount's tawdry Wife;
She bears a Coronet and Pox for Life.
In Britain's Senate he a Seat obtains,
And one more Penfioner St. Stephen gains.
My Lady falls to Play: So bad her Chance,
He muft repair it; takes a Bribe from France;
The House impeach him; Coningsby harangues,
The Court forfake him, and Sir Balaam hangs :
Wife, Son, and Daughter, Satan, are thy own,
His Wealth, yet dearer, forfeit to the Crown:
The Devil and the King divide the Prize,
And fad Sir Balaam curfes God and dies.

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And the Poet goes on upon the fame Subject to the Earl of Burlington, a Nobleman worthy the greatest Praise, of a diftinguifh'd and true Tafte, and a very great Friend to Mr. Pope and his 'Writings, and indeed It has been much Matter of Wonder to us, confidering

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the great Love and Esteem there was between them, that we do not find the Earl of Burlington's Name in Mr. Pope's Will, we do not mean otherwise than that it might have been expected, that out of Mr. Pope's Collection of Books, and other Curiofities, fomething might have been found, which might have remain'd with my Lord, as a Memorial of the long Friendsbp between them-This Epiftle, of which we are now about to speak, is a Corollary to the preceeding. As that treated of the Extremes of Avarice and Profufion, this takes up one Branch of the latter, the Vanity of Expence in People of Quality or Fortune, and the Poet admires that Mifers fhould be fo anxious to heap up Riches, which they never can have Enjoyment of, and Prodigals fpend fo much Money, in what they have no Tafte of; he ridicules feveral patch'd Buildings, and Buildings of ill Tafte, to tafte Architecture he fays, Senfe fhould be previous, of which the chief Proof is to follow Nature, and adapt all to the Nature and Ufe of the Place, the Beauties not forced into it, but refulting from it.

After this, Mr. Pope goes on with a Description, intended to comprize the Principles of a falfe Tafte of Magnificence, and to exemplify what was faid before, that nothing but good Senfe can attain it; the firft wrong Principle is to think that true Greatness confifts in Size and Dimenfion, whereas, let the Work be ever fo vaft, unless the Parts cohere in one Harmony, it will be but a great many Littlenefles put together, theré must be no Difproportion, nor the Ends and Bounds muft not be feen at once, which, however large, will diminish both the Gran deur and the Surprize. Mr. Pope fays thus :

At Timon's Villa let us pafs a Day, Where all cry out, "what Sums are thrown away

!

So

So proud, fo grand, of that ftupendous Air,
Soft and Agreeable come never there.

Greatnefs, with Timon, dwells in fuch a Draught
As brings all Brobdignag before your Thought.
To compafs this, his Building is a Town,
His Pond an Ocean, his Parterre a Down:
Who but muft laugh, the Mafter when he fees?
A puny Infect, fhiv'ring at a Breeze.

Lo, what huge Heaps of Littleness around!
The Whole,
a labour'd Quarry above Ground.
Two Cupids fquirt before: a Lake behind
Improves the Keennefs of a northern Wind.
His Gardens next your Admiration call,
On ev'ry Side you look, behold the Wall!
No pleafing Intricacies intervene,

No artful Wildness to perplex the Scene;
Grove nods at Grove, each Alley has a Brother,
And half the Platform juft reflects the other.
The fuffr'ing Eye inverted Nature fees,
Trees cut to Statues, Statues thick as Trees,
With here a Fountain, never to be play'd,
And there a Summer-Houfe that knows no Shade.
Here Amphitrite fails thro' Myrtle Bowers;
There Gladiators fight, or die in Flow'rs;
Un-water'd fee the drooping Sea-horfe mourn,
And Swallows rooft in Nilus dufty Urn.

My Lord advances with majeftick Mien,
Smit with the mighty Pleafure, to be seen:
But foftby regular Approachnot yet-
First thro' the Length of yon hot Terras fweat,
And when up ten fteep Slopes you've dragg'd your
Juft at his Study-door he'll blefs your Eyes. [Thighs,
His Study? with what Authors is it ftor'd?'
In Books, not Authors, curious is my Lord;
To all their dated Backs he turns you round
Thefe Aldus printed, thofe Du Sueil has bound.

Lo fome are Vellom, and the Reft as good
For all his Lordfhip knows, but they are Wood
For Lock or Milton 'tis in vain to look,
Thefe Shelves admit not any modern Book.

And now the Chappel's filver Bell you hear,
That fummons you to all the Pride of Pray'r :
Light Quirks of Mufick, broken and uneven,
Make the Soul dance upon a Jig to Heav'n.
On painted Cielings you devoutly ftare,
Where sprawl the Saints of Verrio, or Laguerre,
On gilded Clouds in fair Expanfion lie,
And bring all Paradife before your Eye.
To reft, the Cushion and soft * Dean invite,
Who never mentions Hell to Ears polite.
But hark! The chiming Clocks to Dinner call,
A hundred Footsteps fcrape the Marble Hall:
The rich Beaufet well-colour'd Serpents grace,
And gaping Tritons fpew to wash your Face.
Is this a Dinner? this a Genial Room?
No, 'tis a Temple, and a Hecatomb;
A folemn Sacrifice, perform'd in State,
You drink by Meafure, and to Minutes eat.
So quick retires each flying Course, you'd swear
Sancho's dread Doctor and his Wand were there.
Between each Act the trembling Salvers ring,
From Soup to Sweet-wine, and God bless the King
In Plenty starving, tantaliz'd in State,

And complaifantly help'd to all I hate,
Treated, carefs'd, and tir'd, I take my Leave,
Sick of his civil Pride from Morn to Eve;
I curfe fuch lavish Coft, and little Skill,
And fwear no Day was ever, paft fo ill.

Thefe

*This is a Fact, a Reverend Dean of Peterborough preaching at Court, threatned the Sinner with Punishment in a Place which he thought it not decent to name in fo polite an Affembly.'

These Lines to a certain Grandee, no lefs than a Duke, gave great Offence, the Defcription was too plain not to be known (as the malicious Town faid) who was pointed at at firft Sight, and many Perfons began to think that Mr. Pope was out of his Place in attacking a Peer, and one of the first Rank, in fo publick a Manner, and Terms of fo little Refpect, Numbers of Complaints were made, the Duke himfelf wrote Mr. Pope a Letter, and made him fenfible, that he ought to have confin'd himfelf to a made Character, and not pretend to give for a real one, what altogether belong'd to no Body, in fhort, Mr. Pope began to wifh he had not pufh'd the Matter fo far, but there was no receding, all he could do was a little to palliate the Bufinefs, and partly deny that the Character was meant for that noble Duke, and this he chose to do, or rather got Mr. Cleland to do, in a Letter to his dear and intrinfick Friend Mr. Gay, dated December 16, 1731:

Am aftonifh'd at the Complaints occafioned by a late Epiftle to the Earl of Burlington; and I fhould be afflicted, were there the least just Ground for them. Had the Writer attack'd Vice, at a Time when it is not only tolerated, but triumphant, and fo far from being conceal'd as a Defect, that it is proclaim'd with Oftentation as a Merit, I fhould have been apprehenfive of the Confequence: Had he fatiriz'd Gamefters of a hundred thousand Pounds Fortune, acquir'd by fuch Methods as are daily in Practice, and almoft univerfally encourag'd: Had he over warmly defended the Religion of his Country, against fuch Books as come from every Prefs, are publickly vended in every Shop, and greedily bought by almost every Rank of Men; or had he called our excellent Weekly Writers by the fame Names which

they

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