I love to pour out all myself, as plain

As downright Shippen, or as old Montagne:
In them, as certain to be lov'd as seen,

The soul stood forth, nor kept a thought within;
In me, what spots (for spots I have) appear,
Will prove at least the Medium must be clear.
In this impartial glass, my Muse intends
Fair to expose myself, my foes, my friends;
Publish the present age; but where my text
Is Vice too high, reserve it for the next:
My foes shall wish my life a longer date,
And ev'ry friend the less lament my fate.

Millia. me pedibus delectat claudere verba,
Lucilî ritu, nostrum melioris utroque.
Ille velut fidis arcana sodalibus olim

Credebat libris ; neque, si male gesserat, usquam
Decurrens alio, neque si bene: quo fit, ut omnis
Votiva pateat veluti descripta tabella

NOTES.

55

60

For though it may appear odd, that those who come from the same Egg should have tempers and pursuits directly contrary; yet there is nothing strange, that two Brothers, alike in all things else, should have different amusements.

Ver. 52. As downright Shippen, or as old Montagne;] They had this, indeed, in common, to use great liberties of speech, and to profess saying what they thought. Montagne had many qualities, that have gained him the love and esteem of his Readers: The other had one, which always gained him the favourable attention of his Hearers. For, as a celebrated Roman Orator observes, "Maledicit INERUDITUS apertius et saepius, cum periculo etiam suo. Affert et ista res oPINI86 ONEM, quia libentissime homines audiunt ea quae dicere ipsi noluis66 sent.

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 assisted him in the easy and happy change of the metaphor in the following line.

My head and heart thus flowing thro' my quill,
Verse-man or Prose-man, term me which you will,
Papist or Protestant, or both between,

Like good Erasmus in an honest mean,
In moderation placing all my glory,

While Tories call me Whig, and Whigs a Tory.
Satire's my weapon, but I'm too discreet

To run a-muck, and tilt at all I meet;

65

70

Vita senis. sequor hunc, Lucanus an Appulus, anceps:
[Nam Venusinus arat finem sub utrumque colonus,
Missus ad hoc, pulsis (vetus est ut fama) Sabellis,
Quo ne per vacuum Romano incurreret hostis ;
Sive quod Appula gens, seu quod Lucania bellum
Incuteret violenta.] sed hic stylus haud petet ultro
Quemquam animantem, et me veluti custodiet ensis
Vagina tectus, 'quem cur destringere coner,

NOTES.

Ver. 63. My head and heart thus flowing thro' my quill,] Inferior to the Original:

Ille velut fidis arcana sodalibus olim
Credebat libris, etc.

Perseus alluded to this idea, when he said,
Vidi, vidi ipse, Libelle! etc.

Ver. 64. Verse-man or Prose-man, term me which you will,-Papist or Protestant, etc.] The original thought (which is very flat, and so ill and awkwardly expressed, as to be taken for a monkish Addition) is here admirably imitated, 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, says 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 satire. And, at the same time that he vindicates his claim to this his natural weapon, Satire, he shews its moral use; it was to oppose the noxious qualities which nature had given Cervius for informing, Canidia for poisoning, and Turius for passing sentence. The turn of this ludicrous argumentation is fine and delicate; and we find his Imitator saw the whole force of it.

I only wear it in a land of Hectors,

Thieves, Supercargoes, Sharpers, and Directors.
"Save but our Army! and let Jove incrust
Swords, pikes, and guns, with everlasting rust!
Peace is my dear delight, not FLEURY's more:
But touch me, and no Minister so sore.
Whoev'r offends, at some unlucky time
Slides into verse, and hitches in a rhyme,
Sacred to ridicule his whole life long,
And the sad burthen of some merry song.

Tutus ab infestis latronibus ? "O pater et rex
Jupiter, ut pereat positum rubigine telum,
Nec quisquam noceat wcupido mihi pacis! at ille,
Qui me commôrit, (melius non tangere, clamo)
*Flebit, et insignis tota cantabitur urbe.

NOTES.

Ver. 71. I only wear it in a land of Hectors, etc.] Superior to tutus ab infestis latronibus,

which only carries on the metaphor in

ensis Vagina tectus,

75

80

whereas the imitation does more; for, along with the metaphor, it conveys the image of the subject, by presenting the reader with the several objects of satire.

Ver. 72. Thieves, Supercargoes,] The names, at that time, usually bestowed on those whom the trading Companies sent with their Ships, and intrusted with their concerns abroad.

Ver. 73. Save but our Army! etc.] "Une maladie nouvelle," (says the admirable Author de L'esprit des Loix) "s'est répandue en Europe; elle a saisi nos Princes, et leur fait entretenir un nombre de"sordonné de Troupes. Elle a ses redoublemens, et elle devient ne"cessairement_contagieuse. Car si-tot qu'un Etat augmente ce qu'il "appelle ses Troupes, les autres soudain augmentent les leurs, de "façon qu'on ne gagne rien par-là que la Ruine commune. Chaque "Monarque tient sur pied toutes les Armées qu'il pourroit avoir si ses Peuples étoient en danger d'être exterminés; et on nomme Paix, "cet etat d'effort de tous contre tous. Aussi l'Europe est elle si ruïnée, 66 que les particuliers, qui seroient dans la situation où sont les trois "Puissances de cette partie du monde les plus opulentes, n'auroient "pas de quoi vivre. Nous sommes pauvres avec les Richesses et le "Commerce de tout l'Univers; et bientôt à force d'avoir des Soldats, nous n'aurons plus que des Soldats, et nous serons comme des Tar"tares."

Slander or Poison dread from Delia's rage,
Hard words or hanging, if your Judge be Page.
From furious Sappho scarce a milder fate,
P-x'd by her love, or libell'd by her hate.
"Its proper pow'r to hurt, each creature feels;
Bulls aim their horns, and Asses lift their heels;
'Tis a Bear's talent not to kick, but hug;
And no man wonders he's not stung by Pug.
So drink with Walters, or with Chartres eat,
They'll never poison you, they'll only cheat.
bThen, learned Sir! (to cut the matter short)
Whate'er my fate, or well or ill at Court,

85

90

yCervius iratus leges minitatur et urnam; Canidia Albutî, quibus est inimica, venenum ; Grande malum Turius, si quid se judice certes: zUt, quo quisque valet, suspectos terreat, utque Imperet hoc Natura potens, sic collige mecum. Dente lupus, cornu taurus petit; unde, nisi intu Monstratum? aScaevae vivacem crede nepoti Matrem; nil faciet sceleris pia dextra (mirum? Ut neque calce lupus quemquam, neque dente petit bos) Sed mala tollet anum vitiato melle cicuta.

Ne longum faciam : seu me tranquilla senectus Exspectat, seu mors atris circumvolat alis;

NOTES.

Ver. 81, 84. Slander-libell'd by her hate.] There seems to be more spirit here than in the original. But it is hard to pronounce with certainty. For though one may be confident there is more force in the 83d and 84th lines than in

Canidia Albuti, quibus est inimica, venenum; yet there might be something, for ought we know, in the Character or History of Cervius, which might bring up that line to the spirit and poignancy of the 82d verse of the Imitation.

Ver. 85, 90. Its proper pow'r to hurt, etc.] All, except the two last lines, inferior to the elegance and precision of the Original.

ray,

Whether Old age, with faint but cheerful
Attends to gild the Ev'ning of my day,
Or Death's black wing already be display'd,
To wrap me in the universal shade;
Whether the darken'd room to muse invite,
Or whiten❜d wall provoke the skew'r to write:
In durance, exile, Bedlam, or the Mint,
Like Lee or Budgel, I will rhyme and print.

95

100

F. dAlas, young man! your days can ne'er be long,

In flow'r of age you perish for a song!
Plums and Directors, Shylock and his Wife,
Will club their Testers, now, to take your life!
P. What? arm'd for Virtue when I point the pen,
Brand the bold front of shameless guilty men ;

Dives, inops; Romae, seu fors ita jusserit, exsul;
Quisquis erit vitea, scribam, color.

T. O puer, ut sis

Vitalis metuo: et majorum ne quis amicus
Frigore te feriat.

H. Quid? cum est Lucillius ausus
Primus in hunc operis componere carmina morem,

NOTES.

Ver. 93, 96. Whether Old age-shade;] The original is more finished, and even sublime. Besides, the last verse-To wrap me in the universal shade, has a languor and redundancy unusual with our author.

Ver. 97. Whether the darken'd room-or whiten'd wall-] This is only a wanton joke upon the terms of his Original,

Quisquis erit vitae color.

Ver. 104. Will club their Testers, etc.] The image is exceeding humorous, and, at the same time, betrays the injustice of their resentment in the very circumstance of their indulging it; as it shews the Poet has said no more of their avarice than what was true. Our Author's abundance of Wit has made his readers back ward in acknowledging his talent for Humour. But the veins are equally rich; and the one flows with ease, and the other is always placed with propriety.

Ver. 105, 120. What? arm'd for Virtue, etc.] This is not only superior to Horace, but equal to any thing in himself.