Dwell in a Monk, or light upon a King, She's still the fame, belov'd, contented thing. 140 Vice is undone, if the forgets her Birth, And stoops from Angels to the Dregs of Earth; But 'tis the Fall degrades her to a Whore; Let Greatness own her, and she's mean no more, NOTES. These lines, and thofe which precede and follow them, contain an ironical neglect of Virtue, and an ironical concern and care for Vice. So that the Poet's elegant correctness of compofition required, that his language, in the firft cafe, fhould prefent fomething of negligence and cenfure; which is admirably implied in the expreffion of the thought. VER. 138. 'Tis juft alike to Virtue, and to me;] He gives the reason for it, in the line that presently follows, She's still the fame, belov'd, contented thing. So that the fense of the text is this, "It is all one to Virtue on "whom her influence falls, whether on high or low, because "it ftill produces the fame effect, their content; and it is all "one to me, because it ftill produces the fame effect, my love." VER. 144. Let Greatness own her, and fhe's mean no more,] The Poet, in this whole paffage, would be understood to allude to a very extraordinary story told by Procopius in his Secret history: the fum of which is as follows. The Empress THEODORA was the daughter of one Acaces, who had the care of the wild beafts, which the Green faction kept for the entertainment of the people. For the Empire was, at that time, divided between the two Factions of the Green and Blue. But Acaces dying in the infancy of Theodora, and her two Sifters, his place of Master of the Bears was disposed of to a stranger; and his widow had no other way of fupporting herself than by proftituting her three Daughters, who were all very pretty, on the public Theatre. Thither fhe brought them in their turns as they came to years of puberty. Theodera first attended her Sifters in the habit and quality of a Her Birth, her Beauty, Crowds and Courts confefs, Chafte Matrons praise her, and grave Bishops bless; NOTES. flave. And when it came to her turn to mount the stage, as fhe could neither dance, nor play on the flute, fhe was put into the lowest class of Buffoons to make diverfion for the Rabble; which she did in fo arch a manner, and complained of the indignities the suffered in fo ridiculous a tone, that she became the abfolute favourite of the people. After a complete course of infamy and prostitution, the next place we hear of her is at Alexandria, in great poverty and distress: from whence (as it was no wonder) fhe was willing to remove. And to Conftantinople she came, but after a large circuit thro' the East, where the worked her way, by a free course of proftitution. JUSTINIAN was at this time confort in the Empire with his Uncle Juftin, and the management of affairs entirely in his hands. He no fooner faw Theodora than he fell desperately in love with her, and would have married her immediately, but that the Emprefs Euphemia, a barbarian, and unpolite, but not illiberal in her nature, was then alive. And fhe, altho' fhe rarely denied him any thing, yet obftinately refused giving him this inftance of her complaifance. But fhe did not live long: and then, nothing but the ancient Laws, which forbad a fenator to marry with a common prostitute, hindered Juftinian from executing this extraordinary project. Thefe, he obliged Juftin to revoke ; and then, in the face of the fun, married his dear Theodora. A terrible example (fays the Hiftorian) and an encouragement to the most shameless licence. And now no fooner was THEODORA (in the Poet's phrase) owned by Greatness, than fhe, whom not long before it was thought unlucky to meet, and a pollution to touch, became the idol of the Court. There was not a fingle Magiftrate (fays Procopius) that expreffed the least indignation at the fhame and difhonour brought upon the state; not a fingle Prelate that fhewed the least desolation for the public fcandal. They all drove to court fo precipitately, as if they were ftriving to prevent one another in her good graces. Nay, the very foldiers were emulous of the honour of becoming the Champions of her Virtue. As for the common people, who had fo long been the fpectators of her fervility, her Buffoonry, 150 In golden Chains the willing World she draws, NOTES. and her Prostitution, they all in a body threw themselves at her feet, as flaves at the footstool of their Mistress. In a word, there was no man, of what condition foever, that shewed the leaft diflike of fo monftrous an elevation. In the mean time, Theodora's first care was to fill her Coffers, which she foon did, with immenfe wealth. To this end, Juftinian and the pretended to differ in their principles. The one protected the blue, and the other, the green faction; till in a long course of intrigue, by fometimes giving up the one to plunder and confiscation, and sometimes the other, they left nothing to either party. See Procop. Anec. c. ix.-x. VER. 148. And hers the Gospel is, and hers the Laws,] i. e. She difpofed of the honours of both. 1 VER. 149. Scarlet head] Alluding to the Scarlet Whore of the Apocalypfe. In Soldier, Churchman, Patriot, Man in Pow'r, "Tis Av'rice all, Ambition is no more! See, all our Nobles begging to be Slaves! See, all our Fools afpiring to be Knaves! The Wit of Cheats, the Courage of a Whore, 165 Are what ten thousand envy and adore: All, all look up, with reverential Awe, At Crimes that 'fcape, or triumph o'er the Law: While Truth, Worth, Wisdom, daily they decry--Nothing is Sacred now but Villainy." Yet may 170 this Verfe (if fuch a Verfe remain) Show, there was one who held it in difdain. NOTES. VER. 164. See, all our fools afpiring to be Knaves!] This will always be the cafe when knavery is in fafhion, becaufe fools always dread the being unfashionable. VER. 165. The Wit of Cheats, the Courage of a Whore, Ave what ten thousand envy and adore:] And no wonder, for the wit of Cheats being the evasion of Justice, and the Courage of a Whore the contempt for reputation; thefe emancipate men from the two tyrannical restraints upon free fpirits, fear of punishment, and dread of fame. SCRIBL. 'T1 414 IS all a Libel Paxton (Sir) will fay it may; And for that very cause I print to day. Invention strives to be before in vain ; Feign what I will, and paint it e'er so strong, NOTES. VER. 1. Paxton] Late follicitor to the Treasury. 5 VER. 8. Feign what I will, etc.] The Poet has here introduced an oblique apology for himself with great art. You attack perfonal characters, fay his enemies. No, replies he, I paint merely from my invention; and, to prevent a likeness, I then aggravate the features. But alas! the growth of vice |