Sagacious Bub,1 so late a friend, and there ... So late a foe, yet more sagacious H• •?2 How! what can Ow,6 what can D... The wisdom of the one and other chair, Or thy dread truncheon M's9 mighty peer? What help from J· 's 10 opiates canst thou draw Or H⚫k's11 quibbles voted into law? C. 12 that Roman in his nose alone, Who hears all causes, B.,13 but thy own, Can the light packhorse, or the heavy steer, 1 Dodington. 2 Probably Hare, Bishop of Chichester. 3 Fox and Henley. 4 Hinton. 5 Blackburn, Archbishop of York, and Hoadley, Bishop of Winchester. 6 Onslow, Speaker of the House of Commons, and the Earl of Delawar, Chairman of the Committees of the House of Lords. 7 Newcastle. 8 Dorset; perhaps the last word should be sneer. 9 Duke of Marlborough. 10 Jekyll. 11 Hardwick. 12 Probably Sir John Cummins, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. 13 Britain. Alas! the people curse, the carman swears, The plague is on thee, Britain, and who tries To save thee, in the infectious office dies. The first firm Py soon resign'd his breath, Brave Sw1 loved thee, and was lied to death. Good Mmt's fate tore Pth3 from thy side, And thy last sigh was heard when W.m1 died. Thy nobles sls,5 thy se s6 bought with gold, Thy clergy perjured, thy whole people sold. An atheista' 's ad....... Blotch thee all o'er, and sink...... Alas! on one alone our all relies, .7 Let him be honest, and he must be wise, Nor like his......... still a school, .... Be but a man! unminister'd, alone, And free at once the senate and the throne; Rich with his...... in his ..... strong, His public virtue makes his title good. 9 An allusion perhaps to Frederick Prince of Wales. THE FOURTH EPISTLE OF THE FIRST BOOK OF HORACE.' SAY, St. John, who alone peruse To you (the all envied gift of heaven) And, to enjoy that gift, the art. What could a tender mother's care Wish better, to her favourite heir, Than wit, and fame, and lucky hours, A stock of health, and golden showers, And graceful fluency of speech, Precepts before unknown to teach? 1 Attributed to Pope. Amidst thy various ebbs of fear, In spite of fears, of mercy spite, In I HAVE SO great a trust in your indulgence towards me, as to believe you cannot but patronize this Imitation, so much in your own manner, and whose birth I may truly say is owing to you. that confidence, I would not suppress the criticisms made upon it by the Reverend Doctor; 2 the rather, since he has promised to mend the faults in the next edition, with the same goodness he has practised to Milton. I hope you will believe that while I express my regard for you, it is only out of modesty I conceal my name; since, though perhaps I may not profess myself your admirer, so much as some others, I cannot but be, with as much inward respect, goodwill, and zeal, as any man, Dear Sir, your most affectionate and Faithful Servant. 1 This imitation of the Second Satire of the First Book of Horace was certainly written by Pope. See Memoir prefixed to these volumes, p. c. 2 The Nota Bentleiana are not reprinted in the present work. |