130 Who fcorn a Lad fhould teach his father skill, 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 Jam 45 Saliare Numæ carmen qui laudat, & illud, 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 Then 49 Marble soften'd into life, grew warm, The fleepy Eye, that fpoke the melting foul. 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; 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; 53 Time was, a fober Englishman wou'd knock And fend his Wife to Church, his Son to school, 160 To 54 worship like his Fathers, was his care; 165 To prove, that Luxury could never hold; And all our Grace at table is a Song. I, who fo oft renounce the Mufes, 57 lye, Hoc Paces habuere bona, ventique fecundi Mutavit mentem populus levis, 56 & calet uno 179 175 When, When, fick of Mufe, our follies we deplore, 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. 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: 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 ; *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 |