Who fcorn a Lad should teach his father fkill,,
And, having once been wrong, will be fo ftill.
He, who to feem more deep than you or I,
Extols old Bards, wor Merlin's Prophecy,
Miftake him not; he envies, not admires,
And to debase the Sons, exalts the Sires.
* Had ancient times confpir'd to dif-allow

130

135

What then was new, what had been ancient now?

Or what remain❜d, fo worthy to be read

1

By learned Critics, of the mighty Dead?

y In Days of Eafe, 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 Peers grew proud in Horfemanship 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.

NOTES.

Earl of Orrery, and most of the French Romances tranflated by Persons of Quality. P.

VER. 146. And ev'ry flow'ry Courtier writ Romance.] A kind of heroical Romances, whofe fubject was some celebrated story of antiquity. In these voluminous extravagancies, love and honour fupplied the place of life and manners, which were fcarce ever thought of till Mr. De Marivaux in France, and Mr. Fielding in England introduced this fpecies of fable: and, by iariching it with the best part of the comic art, may be faid to have brought it to perfection.

*K ↑

Quid placet, aut odio eft, quod non mutabile credas?

Hoc paces habuere bonae, ventique fecundi.

• Romae dulce diu fuit et folemne, reclufa

Mane domo vigilare, clienti promere jura ;
Scriptos & nominibus rectis expendere nummos;

f Majores audire, minori dicere, per quae

Crefcere res poffet, minui damnofa libido.

NOTES.

VER. 149. Lely on animated Canvas ftole The fleepy Eve, etc.] This was the Characteristic of this excellent Colourist's expreffion; who was an exceffive Manierest.

VER. 153. On each enervate string, etc.] The Siege of Rhodes by Sir William Davenant, the firft Opera fung in England. P.

२

a

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

b

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

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

Effects unhappy! from a Noble Caufe.

e

Time was, a fober Englishman wou'd knock
His fervants up, and rise by five o'clock,

Inftruct his Family in ev'ry rule,

And send his Wife to church, his Son to school.

f

To worship like his Fathers, was his care;

To teach their frugal Virtues to his Heir;

To prove, that Luxury could never hold;
And place, on good Security, his Gold. |

NOTES.

150

155

160

165

VER. 158. Now all for Pleasure, now for Church and Stare;] The first half of Charles the Second's Reign was paffed in an abandoned diffoluteness of manners; the other half, in factious difputes about popih plots and French prerogative.

Mutavit mentem populus levis, het calet uno

Scribendi ftudio: puerique patrefque feveri

Fronde comas vincti coenant, et carmina dictant.

Ipfe ego, qui nullos me affirmo fcribere versus,

i

Invenior Parthis mendacior; et prius orto

Sole vigil, calamum et chartas et fcrinia pofco.

k

* Navem agere ignarus navis timet: abrotonum aegro

Non audet, nifi qui didicit, dare: quod medicorum est,

Promittunt1 medici: tractant fabrilia fabri:

m Scribimus indocti doctique poemata paffim.

" Hic error tamen et levis haec infania, quantas

NOTES.

VIR. 180. to shew our Wit.] The force of this confifts in the ambiguity.-To fhew how conftant we are to our refolutions-or, to fhew what fine verfes we can make. VER. 181. He ferv'd etc.] To the fimple elegance of the original, the Poet has here added great spirit and vi

h

Now times are chang'd, and one Poetic Itch

170

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 Theatres, and to Rehearsals throng,
And all our Grace at table is a Song.

1, who fo oft renounce the Mufes, i lye,
Not's felf e'er tells more Fibs than I;
When fick of Mufe, our follies we deplore,
And promise our beft Friends to rhyme no more;
We wake next morning in a raging fit,
And call for pen and ink to show our Wit.

175

180

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

n

Yet, Sir, reflect, the mischief is not great;

These Madmen never hurt the Church or State: 190 NOTES.

vacity, without departing from the fidelity of a transation.

VER. 182. Ward] A famous Empiric, whose Pill and Drop had several furprizing effects, and were one of the principal fubjects of writing and converfation at this time.

P.