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Ludicra, quid, plaufus, et amici dona Quiritis?
Quo spectanda modo, & quo fenfu credis et ore ?

► Qui timet his adversa, fere miratur eodem
Quo cupiens pacto : pavor est utrobique molestus :
Improvisa simul species exterret utrumque :
Gaudeat, an doleat; cupiat, metuatne; quid ad rem,
Si, quidquid vidit melius pejusve sua spe,
Defixis oculis, animoque et corpore torpet?
* Insani sapiens nomen ferat, aequus iniqui;
Ultra quam fatis est, virtutem si petat ipfam.

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I nunc, argentum et marmor vetus, aeraque et

artes

VER. 22. Whether we joy or grieve, the fame the curse, Surpriz'd at better, or furpriz'd at worse.] 'The elegance of this is fuperior to the Original. The curse is the fame (says he) wbetber qwe joy or grieve. Why so? Because, in either cafe, the man is furprized, hurried off, and led away captive.

(The good or bad to one extreme betray
Th'unbalanc'd Mind, and snatch the Man away.)

This happy advantage, in the imitation, arifes from the ambiguity of the word furprize.

VER. 30. Procure a TASTE to double the furprize.) This is one of those superior touches that most ennoble a perfect piece. He

Orf Popularity? or Stars and Strings?

The Mob's applauses, or the gifts of Kings?
Say with what & eyes we ought at Courts to gaze,
And pay the Great our homage of Amaze?

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If weak the pleasure that from these can spring,
The fear to want them is as weak a thing:
Whether we dread, or whether we defire,
In either case, believe me, we admire;

Whether we joy or grieve, the fame the curse,
Surpriz'd at better, or surpriz'd at worse.
Thus good or bad, to one extreme betray
Th' unbalanc'd Mind, and snatch the Man away;
For Virtue's self may too much zeal be had;
The worst of Madmen is a Saint run mad.

Go then, and if you can, admire the state
Of beaming diamonds, and reflected plate;
Procure a TASTE to double the surprize,

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And gaze on m Parian Charms with learned eyes:

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speaks here of false tafte, as appears by his directions how to get it, and how to use it when got. Procure a taste, says he. That is, of the Virtuosi; whose science you are to buy for that purpose: for true tafte, which is from nature, comes of itself. And how are you to use it? Not to cure you of that bane of life, admiration, but to raise and inflame it, by doubling your furprize. And this a falfe taste will always do; there being none so given to raptures as the Virtuoso-Tribe: whereas the Man of true tafte finds but few things to approve and those he approves with

moderation.

VOL. II.

H

:

Suspice: cum gemmis Tyrios mirare colores:

Gaude, quod spectant oculite mille loquentem:

Gnavus mane forum, et vespertinus pete tectum;

Ne plus frumenti dotalibus emetat agris

Mutus et (indignum; quod fit pejoribus ortus)

Hic tibi fit potius, quam tu mirabilis illi.

* Quicquid fub terra est, in apricum proferet aetas;

Defodiet condetque nitentia.t cum bene notum

Porticus Agrippae, et via te confpexerit Appî;

Ire tamen restat, Numa quo devenit et Ancus.

* Si latus aut renes morbo tentantur acuto,

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Be ftruck with bright Brocade, or Tyrian Dye,
Our Birth-day Nobles' splendid Livery.
If not fo pleas'd, at Council-board rejoice,
To fee their Judgments hang upon thy Voice;
From morn to night, at Senate, Rolls, and Hall,
Plead much, read more, dine late, or not at all.
But wherefore all this labour, all this strife?
For Fame, for Riches, for a noble Wife ?
Shall One whom Nature, Learning, Birth conspir'd
To form, not to admire but be admir'd,
Sigh, while his Chloe blind to Wit and Worth
Weds the rich Dulness of fome Son of earth?
Yet Time ennobles, or degrades each Line;
It brighten'd CRAGGS's, and may darken thine: 45
And what is Fame? the Meanest have their day,
The Greatest can but blaze, and pass way.
Grac'd as thou art, * with all the Pow'r of Words,
So known, so honour'd, at the House of Lords :
Confpicuous Scene! another yet is nigh,
(More filent far) where Kings and Poets lie;
Where MURRAY (long enough his Country's pride)
Shall be no more than TULLY, or than HYDE!

* Rack'd with Sciatics, martyr'd with the Stone,

Will any mortal let himself alone?

See Ward by batter'd Beaus invited over,
And desp'rate Misery lays hold on Dover.

The case is easier in the Mind's disease;

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There all Men may be cur'd, whene'er they please.

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Quaere fugam morbi. * vis recte vivere? quis non ?

Si virtus hoc una potest dare, fortis omissis..

Hoc age deliciis.

virtutem verba putes, et

Lucum ligna? cave ne portus occupet alter:

Ne Cibyratica, ne Bithyna negotia perdas :

■ Mille talenta rotundentur, totidem altera, porro et

Tertia fuccedant, et quae pars quadret acervum.

Scilicet uxorem cum dote, fidemque, et amicos,

Et genus, et formam, regina Pecunia donat;
Ac bene nummatum decorat Saudela, Venusque.
Mancipiis locuples, eget aeris Cappadocum Rex

Ne fueris hic tu. & chlamydes Lucullus, ut aiunt,

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