Rev'rent I touch thee! but with honeft zeal; 216
To roufe the watchmen of the public weal,
To Virtue's work provoke the tardy hall,
And goad the prelate flumb'ring in his stall.
Ye tinfel infects! whom a Court maintains,
That counts your beauties only by your stains,
Spin all your Cobwebs o'er the eye of day!
The Mufe's wing fhall brush you all away:
All his Grace preaches, all his Lordship fings,
All that make faints of Queens, and gods of Kings.
All, all but Truth, drops dead-born from the prefs,
Like the last Gazette, or the last Address.
277

When black Ambition ftains a public caufe,
A Monarch's fword when mad Vain-glory draws,
P
.Not

VOL. II.

229

NOTES.

Ver. 219. And goad the prelate flumbʼring in his fall.] The good Eufebius, in his Evangelical Preparation, draws a long parallel between the Ox and the Chriftian Priesthood. Hence the dignified clergy, out of mere humility, have ever fince called their thrones by the name of falls. To which a great prelate of Winchefter, one W. Edinton, modeftly alluding, (who otherwife had been long fince forgotten), has rendered his name immortal by this ecclefiaftical aphorifm, Canterbury is the higher rack, but Winchefter is the better manger. By which, however, it appears, that he was not one of thofe here condemned, who fumber in their stalls.

Ver. 222. Cobwebs] Weak and flight sophistry against virtue and honour. Thin colours over vice, as unable to hide the light of truth, as cobwebs to fhade the fun.

Ver. 228. When black ambition, &c.] The case of Cromwell in the civil war of England; and (ver. 229.) of Louis XIV. in his conqueft of the Low Countries.

VARIATIONS.

After ver. 227. in the MS.

Where's now the ftar that lighted Charles to rife?
---With that which followed Julius to the skies.
Angels, that watch'd the royal oak fo well,
How chanc'd ye nod, when lucklefs Sorel fell?

Not Waller's wreath can hide the nation's fcar,
Nor Boileau turn the feather to a ftar.

231

Not fo when diadem'd with rays divine, Touch'd with the flame that breaks from Virtue's fhrine,

Her prieftefs Mufe forbids the good to die,
And opes the Temple of Eternity.

There, other tropies deck the truly brave,
Than fuch as Anftis cafts into the
grave;
Far other ftars than * and ** wear,
And may defcend to Mordington from STAIR:
(Such as an HOUGH's unfully'd mitre shine,
Or beam, good DIGBY, from a heart like thine.)
Let Envy howl, while Heav'n's whole chorus fings,
And bark at honour not conferr'd by kings;

249

235

NOTES.

Ver. 231. Nor Boileau turn the feather to a star.] See his ode on Namur: where (to ufe his own words) "Il a fait un Aftre de la Plume blanche que le Roy porte ordinairement a fon chapeau, et qui est en effet une espece de Comere, fattale a nos ennemis."

Ver. 137. Anftis] The chief herald at arms. It is the cuftom, at the funeral of great peers, to caft into the grave the broken staves and enfigns of honour.

Ver 239. Stair] John Dalrymple, Earl of Stair, knight of the thistle; ferved in all the wars under the Duke of Marlborough; and afterwards as ambaffador in France.

Ver. 240, 241. Hough and Digby] Dr John Hough, Bishop of Worcester, and the Lord Digby. The one an afferter of the church of England, in oppofition to the false measures of King James II. The other as firmly attached to the cause of that King. Both acting out of principle, and equally men of honour and virtue.

VARIATIONS.
Hence, lying miracles! reduc'd fo low
As to the Regal touch, and Papal toe;
Hence haughty Edgar's title to the main,
Britain's to France, and thine to India, Spain!

Let

i,

231

e't

35

Let Flatt'ry fick'ning fee the incenfe rife,
Sweet to the world, and grateful to the Ikies: 245
Truth guards the poet, fanctifies the line,
And makes immortal, Verse as mean as mine,

Yes, the last pen for freedom let me draw,
When Truth ftands trembling on the edge of Law;
Here, last of Britons! let your names be read; 250
Are none, none living? let me praise the dead,
And for that cause which made your fathers fhine,
Fall by the votes of their degen'rate line.

Fr. Alas! alas! pray end what you began,
And write next winter more Ejays on Man. 255

NOTES:

Ver. ult.] This was the lat poem of the kind printed by our author, with a resolution to publish no more; but to enter thus in the most plain and folemn manner he could, a fort of PROTEST against that infuperable corruption and depravity of manners, which he had been fo unhappy as to live to fee. Could he have hoped to have amended any, he had continued thofe attacks; but bad men were grown fo fhameless, and fo powerful, that Ridicule was become as unfafe as it was ineffectual. The poem raifed him, as he knew it would, fome enemies; but he had reafon to be fas tisfied with the approbation of good men, and the testimony of his own conscience.

VARIATIONS

Ver. 255. in the MS.

Quit, quit, these themes, and write Effays on Man:

ΟΝ

Receiving from the Right Hon. the Lady

FRANCES SHIRLEY *

A STANDISH and Two Pens.

"ES, I beheld th' Athenian Queen

Y

"And take (she said, and fmil'd ferene), Take at this hand celeftial arms:

Secure the radiant weapons wield;

This golden lance shall guard Defert, And if a Vice dares keep the field,

This fteel fhall ftab it to the heart."

Aw'd, on my bended knees I fell,

Receiv'd the weapons of the sky; And dipt them in the fable Well,

The fount of Fame or Infamy.

"What Well? what Weapon? (Flavia cries),
A ftandish, steel and golden pen!
It came from Bertrand's +, not the skies;
I gave it you to write again.

*A lady whofe great merit Mr Pope took a real pleasure in celebrating.

† A famous toy-fhop at Bath.

But

But, friend, take heed whom you attack;
You'll bring a House (I mean of Peers)
Red, blue, and green, nay white and black,
L----- and all about your ears.

You'd write'as fmooth again on glass,
And run, on ivory, fo glib,

As not to ftick at fool or afs*.
Nor ftop at Flattery or Fib†.

Athenian Queen! and fober charms!

I tell ye, fool, there's nothing in't:
'Tis Venus, Venus gives thefe arms;
In Dryden's Virgil see the print ||.

Come, if you'll be a quiet foul,

That dares tell neither truth nor lies ¶,
I'll lift you in the harmless roll

Of those that fing of these poor eyes."

NOTES.

*The Dunciad.

+ The Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot.

Such toys being the ufual prefents from lovers to their miftreffes.

When the delivers Æneas a fuit of heavenly armour. Tie. If you have neither the courage to write fatire, nor he application to attempt an epic poem.---He was then meditating on fuch a work.

MACER: