EPISTLE VI.

ર

To Mr. MURRAY.

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OT to admire, is all the Art I know, To make men happy, and to keep them fo." (Plain Truth, dear MURRAY, needs no flow'rs of

speech,

So take it in the very words of Creech.)

This Vault of Air, this congregated Ball, Self-center'd Sun, and Stars that rise and fall, There are, my Friend! whofe philofophic eyes Look thro', and truft the Ruler with his fkies, To him commit the hour, the day, the year, And view this dreadful All without a fear.

d

Admire we then what & Earth's low entrails hold, Arabian fhores, or Indian feas infold;

All the mad trade of

Fools and Slaves for Gold?

NOTES.

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VER. 10. And view this dreadful All without a fear.] He has added this idea to his text; and it greatly heightens the dignity of the whole thought. He gives it the appellation of a dreadful All, because the immenfity of God's creation, which modern philofophy has fo infinitely enlarged, is apt to affect narrow minds, who measure the divine comprehenfion by their own, with dreadful fufpicions of man's being overlooked in this dark and narrower corner of existence, by a Governor occupied and bufied. with the sum of things.

f

Ludicra, quid, plaufus, et amici dona Quiritis?

Quo spectanda modo, & quo fenfu credis et ore?

Qui timet his adverfa, fere miratur eodem

Quo cupiens pacto: pavor eft utrobique moleftus:

Improvifa fimul fpecies exterret utrumque :

* Gaudeat, an doleat; cupiat, metuatne; quid ad rem, Si, quidquid videt melius pejusve sua spe, Defixis oculis, animoque et corpore torpet?

* Infani fapiens nomen ferat, aequus iniqui;

Ultra quam fatis eft, virtutem fi petat ipsam.

VER. 21. In either cafe, believe me, we admire ;] i. e. Thefe objects, in either cafe, affect us, as objects unknown affect the mind, and confequently betray us into falfe judgments.

VER. 22. Whether we joy or grieve, the fame the curse, Surpriz'd at better, or furpriz'd at worse.] The elegance of this is fuperior to the Original. The curfe is the fame

f

Or Popularity? or Stars and Strings?

The Mob's applauses, or the gifts of Kings?

g

Say with what & eyes we ought at Courts to gaze,
And pay the Great our homage of Amaze?

h

If weak the 1 pleasure that from these can spring,

The fear to want them is as weak a thing:

Whether we dread, or whether we defire,

In either cafe, believe me, we admire;

i

Whether we 1 joy or grieve, the same the curse,
Surpriz'd at better, or surpriz'd at worse.
Thus good or bad, to one extreme betray

Th' unbalanc'd Mind, and snatch the Man away;

k

For Virtue's felf may too much zeal be had;

The worst of Madmen is a Saint run mad.

1 Go then, and if you can, admire the state
Of beaming diamonds, and reflected plate;
Procure a TASTE to double the furprize,
And

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m Parian Charms with learned eyes:
gaze on
Be ftruck with bright " Brocade, or Tyrian Dye,
Our Birth-day Nobles' splendid Livery.

NOTES.

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(lays he) whether we joy or grieve. Why fo? Because, in either cafe, the man is furprized, hurried of, and lea away captive.

(The good or bad to one extreme betray

Th' unbalanc'd Mind, and snatch the Man away.) This happy advantage, in the imitation, arifes from the ambiguity of the word surprize.

Gaude, quod fpectant oculi te mille loquentem:

Gnavus P mane forum, et vefpertinus pete tectum;

Ne plus frumenti dotalibus emetat agris.

Mutus et (indignum; quod fit pejoribus ortus)

' Hic tibi fit potius, quam tu mirabilis illi.

Quicquid fub terra eft, in apricum proferet aetas;

t

Defodiet, condetque nitentia. cum bene notum

Porticus Agrippae, et via te confpexerit Appi;

Ire tamen reftat, Numa quo devenit et Ancus.

w Si latus aut renes morbo tentantur acuto,

If not fo pleas'd, at Council-board rejoice,
To see their judgments hang upon thy Voice;
From P morn to night, at Senate, Rolls, and Hall,
Plead much, read more, dine late, or not at all.
But wherefore all this labour, all this ftrife?

For Fame, for Riches, for a noble Wife?

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Shall One whom Nature, Learning, Birth, con

fpir'd

To form, not to admire but be admir'd,

Sigh, while his Chloe blind to Wit and Worth
Weds the rich Dulness of fome Son of earth?
Yet Time ennobles, or degrades each Line;
It brighten'd CRAGGS's, and may darken thine:
And what is Fame? the Meanest have their day,
The Greatest can but blaze, and pass away.
Grac❜d as thou art, t with all the Pow'r of Words,
So known, fo honour'd, at the Houfe of Lords;
Confpicuous Scene! another yet is nigh,

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(More filent far) where Kings and Poets lie; Where MURRAY (long enough his Country's pride) Shall be no more than TULLY, or than HYDE!

w Rack'd with Sciatics, martyr'd with the Stone, Will any mortal let himself alone?

See Ward by batter'd Beaus invited over,
And defp'rate Mifery lays hold on Dover.
The cafe is eafier in the Mind's disease;

There all Men may be cur'd, whene'er they please.

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