Obrazy na stronie
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How should I fret to mangle ev'ry line,
In rev'rence to the Sins of Thirty nine1!
Vice with such Giant strides comes on amain,
Invention strives to be before in vain;

Feign what I will, and paint it e'er so strong 2,
Some rising Genius sins up to my Song.

F. Yet none but you by Name the guilty lash;
Ev'n Guthry saves half Newgate by a Dash.

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Spare then the Person, and expose the Vice.

P. How, Sir? not damn the Sharper, but the Dice?

Come on then, Satire! gen'ral, unconfin'd,

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ΙΟ

Spread thy broad wing, and souse on all the kind.

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Ye Statesmen, Priests, of one Religion all!

Ye Tradesmen vile, in Army, Court, or Hall,

Ye Rev'rend Atheists F. Scandal! name them! Who?

P. Why that's the thing you bid me not to do.

Who starv'd a Sister, who forswore a Debt 4,

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I never nam'd; the Town's enquiring yet.

The pois'ning Dame- F. You mean- P. I don't. F. You do!
P. See, now I keep the Secret, and not you!
The bribing Statesman- F. Hold, too high you go.

P. The brib'd Elector- F. There you stoop too low.

P. I fain would please you, if I knew with what;
Tell me, which Knave is lawful Game, which not?
Must great Offenders, once escap'd the Crown 5,
Like royal Harts, be never more run down?
Admit your Law to spare the Knight requires,
As Beasts of Nature may we hunt the Squires?
Suppose I censure-you know what I mean-
To save a Bishop, may I name a Dean?

F. A Dean, Sir? no: his Fortune is not made;

You hurt a man that's rising in the Trade.

P. If not the Tradesman who set up to-day,
Much less the 'Prentice who to-morrow may.
Down, down, proud Satire! tho' a Realm be spoil'd,
Arraign no mightier Thief than wretched Wild";

Or, if a Court or Country's made a job,
Go drench a Pick-pocket, and join the Mob.
But, Sir, I beg you (for the Love of Vice!)
The matter's weighty, pray consider twice;

[i. e. of next year.]

2 Feign what I will, etc.] The Poet has here introduced an oblique apology for himself with great art. You attack personal characters, say his enemies. No, replies he, so far from that, I paint from my invention; and to prevent a likeness I exaggerate every feature. But alas! the growth of vice is so monstrous quick, that it rises up to a resemblance before I can get from the press.

3 Ev'n Guthry] The Ordinary of Newgate, who publishes the memoirs of the Malefactors, and is often prevailed upon to be so tender of their reputation, as to set down no more than

the initials of their name. P.

4 Cf. ante, Dial. I. v. 112.]

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5 Must great Offenders, etc.] The case is archly put. Those who escape public justice being the particular property of the Satirist.

6 Like royal Harts, etc.] Alluding to the old Game Laws. Warburton.

7 wretched Wild,] Jonathan Wild, a famous Thief, and Thief-Impeacher, who was at last caught in his own train and hanged. P. [Fielding's Jonathan Wild appeared in 1743, nearly a quarter of a century after the death of its hero. But highwaymen flourished till a considerably later date.]

Have you less pity for the needy Cheat,
The poor and friendless Villain, than the Great?

Alas! the small Discredit of a Bribe

Scarce hurts the Lawyer, but undoes the Scribe.
Then better sure it Charity becomes

To tax Directors, who (thank God) have Plums;
Still better, Ministers; or, if the thing

May pinch ev'n there-why lay it on a King.
F. Stop! stop!

P. Must Satire, then, nor rise nor fall?
Speak out, and bid me blame no Rogues at all.
F. Yes, strike that Wild, I'll justify the blow.
P. Strike? why the man was hang'd ten years ago:
Who now that obsolete Example fears?
Ev'n Peter trembles only for his Ears1.

F. What? always Peter? Peter thinks you mad;
You make men desp'rate if they once are bad:
Else might he take to Virtue some years hence-
P. As S-k2, if he lives, will love the PRINCE.
F. Strange spleen to S-k!

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P. Do I wrong the Man?
God knows, I praise a Courtier where I can.
When I confess, there is who feels for Fame,
And melts to Goodness, need I SCARB'ROW name?
Pleas'd let me own, in Esher's peaceful Grove

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(Where Kent and Nature vie for PELHAM'S 6 Love)
The Scene, the Master, opening to my view,
I sit and dream I see my CRAGGS anew!
Ev'n in a Bishop I can spy Desert;
Secker is decent, Rundel8 has a Heart,
Manners with Candour are to Benson giv'n,
To Berkeley 10, ev'ry Virtue under Heav'n.

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But does the Court a worthy Man remove?
That instant, I declare, he has my Love:

Ev'n Peter trembles only for his ears, Peter had, the year before this, narrowly escaped the Pillory for forgery: and got off with a severe rebuke only from the bench. P.

2 [V. ante, Dial. 1. v. 92.]

3 Scarb'row] Earl of, and Knight of the Garter, whose personal attachments to the king appeared from his steady adherence to the royal interest, after his resignation of his great employment of Master of the Horse; and whose known honour and virtue made him esteemed by all parties. P. [He committed suicide in a fit of melancholy in 1740; and was mourned by Lord Chesterfield as 'the best man he ever knew, and the dearest friend he ever had.']

Esher's peaceful Grove,] The house and gardens of Esher in Surrey, belonging to the Honourable Mr Pelham, Brother of the Duke of Newcastle. The author could not have given a more amiable idea of his Character than in comparing him to Mr Craggs. P.

[The architect and friend of Lord Burling

ton.]

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6 [Henry Pelham became First Lord of the treasury in 1743, through Walpole's influence; and died in 1754, the King exclaiming on his death: 'Now I shall have no more peace.']

7 [Thos. Secker (1693-1768), successively bishop of Bristol and of Oxford, and archbishop of Canterbury. His career is accounted for by his personal reputation for liberality and moderation.]

9 [Dr Rundel, bishop of Derry, esteemed equally by Pope and Swift. See their letters of Sept. 3, 1735 and foll.] 9 [Bishop of Gloucester. He ordained Whitfield.]

10 [Dr Berkeley, bishop of Cloyne (born 1684, died 1707), the illustrious author of Alciphron. Ä very different bishop (Atterbury) said of him that so much understanding, so much knowledge, so much innocence, and such humility, I did not think had been the portion of any but angels, till I saw this gentleman.']

I shun his Zenith, court his mild Decline;

Thus SOMERS' once, and HALIFAX, were mine.

Oft, in the clear, still Mirror of Retreat,

I study'd SHREWSBURY 3, the wise and great:

CARLETON'S calm Sense, and STANHOPE'S5 noble Flame, 80
Compar'd, and knew their gen'rous End the same;
How pleasing ATTERBURY'S softer hour!

How shin'd the Soul, unconquer'd in the Tow'r!
How can I PULT'NEY, CHESTERFIELD forget,
While Roman Spirit charms, and Attic Wit:
ARGYLL, the State's whole Thunder born to wield,
And shake alike the Senate and the Field9:

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Or WYNDHAM 10, just to Freedom and the Throne,
The Master of our Passions, and his own?

Names, which I long have lov'd, nor lov'd in vain,

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Rank'd with their Friends, not number'd with their Train;

And if yet higher the proud List should end 11,

Still let me say: No Follower, but a Friend.

Yet think not, Friendship only prompts my lays;

I follow Virtue; where she shines, I praise:
Point she to Priest or Elder, Whig or Tory,
Or round a Quaker's Beaver cast a Glory.
I never (to my sorrow I declare)

Din'd with the MAN of Ross 12, or my LORD MAY'R 13.

1 Somers] John Lord Somers died in 1716. He had been Lord Keeper in the reign of William III. who took from him the seals in 1700. The author had the honour of knowing him in 1706. A faithful, able, and incorrupt minister; who, to the qualities of a consummate statesman, added those of a man of Learning and Politeness. P.

2 Halifax] A peer, no less distinguished by his love of letters than his abilities in Parliament. He was disgraced in 1710, on the Change of Q. Anne's ministry. P.

3 Shrewsbury,] Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury, had been Secretary of state, Embassador in France, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Chamberlain, and Lord Treasurer. He several times quitted his employments, and was often recalled. He died in 1718. P.

4 Carleton] Hen Boyle, Lord Carleton (nephew of the famous Robert Boyle), who was Secretary of state under William III. and President of the Council under Q. Anne. P.

5 Stanhope] James Earl Stanhope. A Nobleman of equal courage, spirit, and learning. General in Spain, and Secretary of state. P. [The first Earl Stanhope, and the uncle of Chatham.]

6 [Francis Atterbury, bishop of Rochester, the friend of Pope and Swift and a consistent Jacobite, was arrested in 1722 on a charge of treasonable complicity in a plot for bringing back the Pretender, and sentenced to banishment. He joined the Pretender's Court, and for some time directed his affairs. He died in 1731.]

7 [William Pulteney (Earl of Bath in 1742),

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the great opponent of Sir Robert Walpole; eloquent as an orator and witty as a pamphleteer.]

8 Chesterfield] Philip Earl of Chesterfield, commonly given by Writers of all Parties for an EXAMPLE to the Age he lives in, of superior talents, and public Virtue. Warburton. [Philip Dormer, Earl of Chesterfield, lord lieutenant of Ireland in 1744 and Secretary of State in 1747. His Irish administration is the highest point in his political career. As a writer he is famous for the sceptical Letters to his Son; of his wit some instances are given in Hayward's Essay on Lord C.]

9 [This Duke of Argyll, after defending Scotland against the Pretender's invasion of 1715, played a very changeful part in political life; and at his death in 1744 was one of the chiefs of the opposition against the Whigs The two lines in the text are said to have been added in consequence of a threat of the Duke's that he would run any man through the body who should dare to use his name in an invective.]

10 Wyndham] Sir William Wyndham, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Queen Anne, made early a considerable figure; but since a much greater both by his ability and eloquence, joined with the utmost judgment and temper. P. [Bolingbroke's friend.]

And if yet higher, etc.] He was at this time honoured with the esteem and favour of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. Warburton.

12 [cf. Moral Essays, Ep. 1.]
13 [Sir John Barnard. Cf. ante, Bk 1. Ep. ii.

v. 85.]

Some, in their choice of Friends (nay, look not grave)
Have still a secret Bias to a Knave:

To find an honest man I beat about,
And love him, court him, praise him, in or out.
F. Then why so few commended?

P. Not so fierce!
Find you the Virtue, and I'll find the Verse.
But random Praise-the task can ne'er be done;
Each Mother asks it for her booby Son,
Each Widow asks it for the Best of Men,
For him she weeps, and him she weds again.
Praise cannot stoop, like Satire, to the ground;
The Number may be hang'd, but not be crown'd.
Enough for half the Greatest of these days,
To 'scape my Censure, not expect my Praise.
And they not rich? what more can they pretend?
Dare they to hope a Poet for their Friend?

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What RICH'LIEU wanted, LOUIS scarce could gain1,
And what young AMMON wish'd, but wish'd in vain.
No Pow'r the Muse's Friendship can command;

No Pow'r, when Virtue claims it, can withstand:
To Cato, Virgil pay'd one honest line2;

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O let my Country's Friends illumine mine!

-What are you thinking? F. 'Faith the thought's no sin:

I think your Friends are out, and would be in.
P. If merely to come in, Sir, they go out,

The way they take is strangely round about.

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F. They too may be corrupted, you'll allow?
P. I only call those Knaves who are so now.
Is that too little? Come then, I'll comply—
Spirit of Arnall3! aid me while I lie.
COBHAM'S a Coward, POLWARTH is a Slave,
And LYTTELTON a dark, designing Knave,
ST. JOHN has ever been a wealthy Fool-
But let me add, Sir ROBERT's mighty dull,
Has never made a Friend in private life,
And was, besides, a Tyrant to his Wife 5.

But pray, when others praise him, do I blame?

Call Verres, Wolsey, any odious name?
Why rail they then, if but a Wreath of mine,
. Oh All-accomplish'd ST. JOHN! deck thy shrine?
What? shall each spur-gall'd Hackney of the day,
When Paxton gives him double Pots and Pay,
Or each new-pension'd Sycophant, pretend

1 Louis scarce could gain,] By this expression finely insinuating, that the great Boileau always falls below himself in those passages where he flatters his Master. Warburton.

2 To Cato, Virgil pay'd one honest line.] It is in the En. [VIII. 670] His dantem jura CatoWarburton.

nem.

3 Spirit of Arnall!] Look for him in his

place. Dunc. B. II. v. 315. P.

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A Polwarth.] The Hon. Hugh Hume, Son of Alexander Earl of Marchmont, Grandson of Patrick Earl of Marchmont, and distinguished, like them, in the cause of Liberty. P. [Afterwards one of Pope's Executors.]

5 Walpole's maxim was 'to go his own way, and let madam go hers.' Carruthers.

To break my Windows, if I treat a Friend?
Then wisely plead, to me they meant no hurt,
But 'twas my Guest at whom they threw the dirt?
Sure, if I spare the Minister, no rules

Of Honour bind me, not to maul his Tools;
Sure, if they cannot cut, it may be said

His Saws are toothless, and his Hatchet's Lead.

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It anger'd TURENNE, once upon a day,
To see a Footman kick'd that took his pay:

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But when he heard th' Affront the Fellow gave,
Knew one a Man of Honour, one a Knave;
The prudent Gen'ral turn'd it to a jest,

And begg'd, he'd take the pains to kick the rest:

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Which not at present having time to do-

F. Hold, Sir! for God's sake where's th' Affront to you?

Against your worship when had S-k writ1?

Or P-ge pour'd forth the Torrent of his Wit??

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Or grant the Bard whose distich all commend 3
[In Pow'r a Servant, out of Pow'r a friend]
To W-le guilty of some venial sin;
What's that to you who ne'er was out nor in?

The Priest whose Flattery be-dropt the Crown 4,
How hurt he you? he only stain'd the Gown.
And' how did, pray, the florid Youth5 offend",
Whose Speech you took, and gave it to a Friend?

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P. 'Faith, it imports not much from whom it came;
Whoever borrow'd, could not be to blame,

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As pure a mess almost as it came in;
The blessed benefit, not there confin'd,
Drops to the third, who nuzzles close behind;
From tail to mouth, they feed and they carouse:
The last full fairly gives it to the House.
F. This filthy simile, this beastly line
Quite turns my stomach-

P. So does Flatt'ry mine;
And all your courtly Civet-cats can vent,

1 1 [Dr Wm. Sherlock, Dean of St Paul's, and the bête noire of the Nonjurors in the reign of William III.]

2 [Judge Page. Warton.] [Sir Francis Page, who seems to have deserved his soubriquet of 'the hanging judge.' He died, according to Carruthers, in 1741.]

3 the Bard] A verse taken out of a poem to Sir R. W. P. By Lord Melcombe [Bubb Doddington]. Warton. Some years afterwards Lord M. addressed the same epistle to Lord

Bute. Bowles.

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4 The Priest, etc.] Spoken not of any particular priest, but of many priests. P. [Meaning Dr Alured Clarke, who wrote a panegyric on Queen Caroline.] Warton.

self.

5 Lord Hervey. Alluding to his painting himBowles.

6 And how did, etc.] This seems to allude to a complaint made v. 71 of the preceding Dialogue. P.

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