k F. Then all your Muse's fofter art display, 30 P. Alas! few verses touch their nicer ear; They scarce can bear their Laureate twice a year ; And justly CAESAR fcorns the Poet's lays, 35 It is to Hiftory he trusts for Praise. F. "Better be Cibber, I'll maintain it still, Than ridicule all Tafte, blafpheme Quadrille, Abuse the City's best good men in metre, And laugh at Peers that put their truft in Peter. 40 "Ev'n thofe you touch not hate you. P. What should ail 'em? F. A hundred smart in Timon and in Balaam: The fewer ftill you name, you wound the more; Bond is but one, but Harpax is a score. P. Each mortal has his pleasure: none deny 45 Scarfdale his bottle, Darty his Ham-pye; Ridotta fips and dances, till fhe fee The doubling Luftres dance as fast as she; NOTES. of his Enemies, who fufpect they may be included under that cover. VER. 46. Darty his Ham-pye;] This lover of Ham-pye own'd the fidelity of the Poet's pencil; and said, he had done justice to his tafte; but that if, inftead of Ham-pye, he had given him Sweet-pyé, he never could have pardoned him, • Caftor gaudet equis; ovo prognatus eodem, Pugnis. quot capitum vivunt, totidem ftudiorum 9 Millia. me pedibus delectat claudere verba, Lucilî ritu, noftrum melioris utroque. Ille velut fidis arcana fodalibus olim Credebat libris; neque, fi male gefferat, usquam Decurrens alio, neque fi bene: quo fit, ut omnis Votiva pateat veluti defcripta tabella Vita fenis. fequor hunc, Lucanus an Appulus, anceps: [Nam Venufinus arat finem fub utrumque colonus, NOTES. VER. 50. Like in all elf, as one Egg to another.] This has neither the juftnefs nor elegance of 66 ovo prognatus eodem:" For though it may appear odd, that thofe who come from the fame Egg, fhould have tempers and purfuits directly contrary; yet there is nothing ftrange, that two Brothers, alike in all things elfe, fhould have different amufements. VER. 52. As downright Shippen, or as old Montagne.] They had this, indeed, in common, to use great liberties of fpeech; and to profefs faying what they thought. Montagne had many qualities, which have gained him the love and efteem of his Readers: the other had one, which always gained him the favourable attention of his Hearers. For, as a celebrated Roman Orator obferves, "Maledicit INERUDITUS apertius et fae"pius, cum periculo etiam fuo. Affert et ifta res OPINIO 50 PF--- loves the Senate, Hockley-hole his brother, The Soul stood forth, nor kept a thought within; NOTES, 60 "NEM, quia libentiffime homines audiunt ea quae dicere ipfi "noluiffent." VER, 56. the Medium must be clear.] Alluding to a fountain of limpid water, through which the contents of the bottom are discovered. This thought affifted him in the easy and happy change of the metaphor in the following line. VER. 63. My head and heart thus flowing thro' my quill,] Inferior to the Original: "Ille velut fidis arcana fodalibus olim "Credebat libris," etc. Perfius alluded to this idea, when he said, "Vidi, vidi ipfe, Libelle!" etc. Miffus ad hoc, pulfis (vetus eft ut fama) Sabellis, Quo ne per vacuum Romano incurreret hoftis; Sive quod Appula gens, feu quod Lucania bellum Incuteret violenta.] 'fed hic ftylus haud petit ultro Quemquam animantem, et me veluti cuftodiet enfis Vagina tectus, quem cur deftringere coner, t Tutus ab infeftis latronibus? "O pater et rex Jupiter, ut pereat pofitum rubigine telum, NOTES. VER. 64. Verfe-man or Profe-man, term me which you will, Papift or Proteftant, &c.] The original thought (which is very flat, and fo ill and aukwardly expreffed, as to be taken for a monkifh Addition) is here admirably improved, in a lively character of himself, and his writings. VER. 69. Satire's my weapon.] In these words our Author has happily explained the true Character of Horace's ironical Apology; which is to this purpose: Nature, fays he, has given all creatures the means of offence and defence: The wolf has teeth, the bull has horns, and I have a talent for fatire. And, at the fame time that he vindicates his claim to this his natural weapon, Satire, he fhews its moral ufe; it was to expose the noxious qualities which nature had given Cervius for informing, Canidia for poifning, and Turius for paffing fentence. The turn of this ludicrous argumentation is fine and delicate; and we find his Imitator faw the whole force of it. VER. 71. I only wear it in a land of Hectors, &c.] Superior to, "tutus ab infeftis latronibus," Papist or Proteftant, or both between, Like good Erasmus in an honest Mean, 65 While Tories call me Whig, and Whigs a Tory. 'Satire's my weapon, but I'm too discreet t To run a muck, and tilt at all I meet; 'I only wear it in a land of Hectors, 70 Thieves, Supercargoes, Sharpers, and Directors. * Save but our Army! and let Jove incruft Swords, pikes, and guns, with everlasting rust! whereas the imitation does more; for, along with the metaphor, it conveys the image of the fubject, by prefenting the reader with the feveral objects of fatire. VER. 72. Thieves, Supercargoes,] The names, at that time, ufually bestowed on those whom the trading Companies fent with their ships, and entrusted with their concerns abroad. VER. 73. Save but our Army! &c.] "Une Maladie nou"velle" (fays the admirable Author of de L'esprit des Loix) "s'eft répandue en Europe; elle a faifi nos Princes, et leur "fait entretenir un nombre defordonné de Troupes. Elle a fes redoublemens, et elle devient neceffairement contagieufe. "Car fi tot qu'un Etat augmente ce qu'il appelle fes Troupes, "les autres foudain augmentent les leurs, de façon qu'on ne gagne rien par-là que la Ruïne commune Chaque Mo"narque tient fur pied toutes les Armées qu'il pourroit "avoir, fi fes Peuples etoient en danger d'étre exterminés ; et ON NOMME PAIX, CET ETAT D'EFFORT DE TOUS |