130

Who fcorn a Lad fhould teach his father skill,
And having once been wrong, will be so ftill.
He, who to feem more deep than you or I,
Extols old Bards, 45 or Merlin's Prophecy,
Miftake him not; he envies, not admires,
And to debase the Sons, exalts the Sires.
46 Had ancient times confpir'd to dif-allow
What then was new, what had been ancient now?
Or what remain'd, fo worthy to be read

By learned Critics, of the mighty Dead ?

135

47 In Days of Ease, when now the weary Sword Was fheath'd, and Luxury with Charles reftor'd; 140 In ev'ry tafte of foreign Courts improv'd,

"All, by the King's Example, liv'd and lov'd."

Then

Vel quia turpe putant parere minoribus, &, quæ
Imberbes didicere, fenes perdenda fateri.

Jam 45 Saliare Numæ carmen qui laudat, & illud,
Quod mecum ignorat, folus vult feire videri ;
Ingeniis non ille favet, plauditque fepultis,
Noftra fed impugnat, nos, noftraque lividus odit.
46 Quod fi tam Græcis novitas invita fuiffet,
Quam nobis; quid nunc effet vetus? aut quid haberet,
Quod legeret, tereretque viritim publicus ufus ?

47 Ut primum pofitis nugari Græcia bellis Capit, & in Vitium fortuna labier æqua;

*A Verfe of the Lord Lanfdown.

*Then Peers grew proud in 48 Horsemanship t'excell, New-market's Glory rofe, as Britain's fell;

The Soldier breath'd the Gallantries of France, 145
And ev'ry flow'ry Courtier writ Romance.

Then 49 Marble soften'd into life, grew warm,
And yielding Metal flow'd to human form:
Lely on 50 animated Canvas stole

The fleepy Eye, that fpoke the melting foul.
No wonder then, when all was Love and sport,
The willing Muses were debauch'd at Court;
+On 51 each enervate string they taught the note
To pant, or tremble thro' an Eunuch's throat.

150

But 52 Britain, changeful as a Child at play, 155 Now calls in Princes, and now turns away. Now Whig, now Tory, what we lov'd we hate; Now all for Pleafure, now for Church and State;

Nunc Athletarum ftudiis, nunc arfit 48 equorum;
49 Marmoris, aut eboris fabros, aut æris amavit;
Sufpendit 50 pilla vultum mentemque tabella;
Nunc 5 tibicinibus, nunc eft gavifa tragedis:

52 Sub nutrice puella velut fi luderet infans, Quod cupide petiit, mature plena reliquit. Quid placet, aut odio eft, quod non mutabile credas ?

*In Horsemanship t'excell. And ev'ry flow'ry Courtier writ Romance.] The Duke of Newcastle's book of Horfemanship: the Romance of Partheniffa, by the Earl of Orrery, and most of the French Romances tranflated by Perfons of Quality.

+ On each enervate ftring, &c.] The Siege of Rhodes by Sir William Davenant, the firft Opera fung in England.

Now

Now for Prerogative, and now for Laws;
Effects unhappy! from a Noble Cause.

53 Time was, a fober Englishman wou'd knock
His fervants up, and rife by five o'clock,
Inftruct his Family in ev'ry rule,

And fend his Wife to Church, his Son to school,

160

To 54 worship like his Fathers, was his care; 165
To teach their frugal Virtues to his Heir;

To prove, that Luxury could never hold;
And place, on good 55 Security, his Gold.
Now times are chang'd, and one 56 Poetic Itch
Has feiz'd the Court and City, poor and rich :
Sons, Sires, and Grandfires, all will wear the bays,
Our Wives read Milton, and our Daughters Plays,
To Op'ra's, Theatres, Rehearsals throng,

And all our Grace at table is a Song.

I, who fo oft renounce the Mufes, 57 lye,
Not -'s felf e'er tells more Fibs than I;

Hoc Paces habuere bona, ventique fecundi
53 Roma dulce diu fuit & folenne, reclufa
Mane demo vigilare, clienti promere jura,
Cautos 55 nominibus certis expendere nummas,
54 Majores audire, minori dicere, per qua
Crefcere res poffet, minui damnofa libido.

Mutavit mentem populus levis, 56 & calet uno
Scribendi ftudio; pueri, patrefque feveri
Fronde comas vin&ti cœnant, & carmina dictant.
Ipfe ego, qui nullos me affirmo fcribere verfus,
Invenior 57 Parthis mendacior, & prius orto
Sale, vigil calamum, & chartas, ferinia pofco.

179

175

When,

When, fick of Mufe, our follies we deplore,
And promise our best Friends to rhyme no more;
We wake next morning in a raging fit,

And call for pen and ink to fhow our Wit.

180

58 He ferv'd a 'Prenticeship, who fets up fhop; * Ward try'd on Puppies, and the Poor, his Drop; Ev'n 59 Radcliff's Doctors travel first to France, Nor dare to practise till they've learn'd to dance. Who builds a Bridge that never drove a pyle ? 185 (Should Ripley, venture, all the world would fmile) But 60 thofe who cannot write, and those who can, All ryme, and fcrawl, and scribble, to a man.

Yet Sir, 61 reflect, the mischief is not great; These Madmen never hurt the Church or State; 190 Sometimes the Folly benefits mankind;

And rarely 62 Av'rice taints the tuneful mind.
Allow him but his 63 Plaything of a Pen,
He ne'er rebels, or plots, like other men:

58 Navem agere ignarus navis timet: abrotonum ægro Non audet, nifi qui didicit, dare: quod medicorum eft, Promittunt 59 Medici; tractant fabrilia fabri: 60 Scribimus indocti doctique poemata paffim.

61 Hic error tamen & levis hæc infania, quantas Virtutes habeat, fic collige; Vatis 62 avarus Non temere eft animus : 63verfus amat, hoc ftudet unum ;

*Ward.] A famous Empirick, whofe Pill and Drop had feveral iurprizing effects, and were one of the principal fubjects of writing and converfation at this time. 64 Flight

64 Flight of Cashiers, or Mobs, he'll never mind; 195 And knows no loffes while the Mufe is kind.

To 65 cheat a Friend, or Ward, he leaves to Peter:
The good man heaps up nothing but mere metre,
Enjoys his Garden and his book in quiet;

And then

200

a perfect Hermit in his diet. Of little ufe the Man you may fuppose, Who fays in verfe what others say in profe; Yet let me fhow, a Poet's of fome weight, *And (67 tho' no Soldier) ufeful to the State. 68, What will a Child learn fooner than a fong? 205 What better teach a Foreigner the tongue ?

Detrimenta, 64 fugas fervorum, incendia ridet ;
Non 65 fraudem Socio, puerove incogitat ullam
Pupilla: Vivit filiquis, & pane fecundo. 66
67 Militia quanquam piger & malus, utilis urbi,
Si das boc, parvis quoque rebus magna juvari,
68 Os tenerum pueri balbumque poeta figurat :

*And tho' no Soldier.] Horace had not acquitted himfelf much to his credit in this capacity; (non bene reli&a parmula,) in the battle of Philippi. It is manifeft he alludes to himself, in this whole account of a Poet's character; but with an intermixture of Irony: Vivit filiquis & pane fecundo has a relation to his Epicurifm; Os tenerum pueri, is ridicule: The nobler office of a Poet follows, Torquet ab obfcanis — Mox etiam pectus — Rectè facta refert, &c. which the Imitator has apply'd where he thinks it more due than to himself. He hopes to be pardoned, if, as he is fincerely inclined to praife what deferves to be praised, he arraigns what deferves to be arraigned, in the 210, 211, and 212th Verses.

What's