P. What? arm'd for Virtue when I point the pen,

106

Brand the bold front of shameless guilty men;
Dash the proud Gamester in his gilded Car ;
Bare the mean Heart that lurks beneath a Star;
Can there be wanting, to defend her cause,
Lights of the Church, or Guardians of the Laws? 11
Could penfion'd Boileau lash in honest strain
Flatt'rers and Bigots ev'n in Louis' reign?
Could Laureate Dryden Pimp and Fry'r engage,

Yet neither Charles nor James be in a rage?

And I not f strip the gilding off a Knave,
Unplac'd, unpension'd, no man's heir, or slave?

I will, or perish in the gen'rous cause :

1

Hear this, and tremble! you, who 'scape the Laws.

Yes, while I live, no rich or noble knave

Shall walk the World, in credit, to his grave.

120

TO VIRTUE ONLY and HER FRIENDS A FRIEND,

The World beside may murmur, or commend.
Know, all the distant din that world can keep,
Rolls o'er my Grotto, and but fooths my fleep.

NOTES.

and Laelius; it was Mr. Pope's, to fatirize the present, and therefore he gives the vicious examples of Louis, Charles, and James. Either way the instances are equally pertinent; but in the latter they have rather greater force. Only the line,

Uni aequus virtuti atque ejus amicis, loses something of its spirit in the imitation; for the amici, referred to, were Scipio and Laelius.

Quin ubi se a vulgo et scena in fecreta remorant

Virtus Scipiadae et mitis sapientia Laeli,

Nugari cum illo, et discincti ludere, donec

Decoqueretur olus, soliti,

Quidquid fum ego, quamvis

Infra Lucili cenfum, ingeniumque; tamen me

i Cum magnis vixisse invita fatebitur usque

Invidia; et fragili quaerens illidere dentem,

Offendet folido :

:

* nifi quid tu, docte Trebati,

Dissentis.

T. Equidem nihil hinc diffingere possum.

Sed tamen ut monitus caveas, ne forte negoti

Incutiat tibi quid sanctarum inscitia legum :

m " Si mala condiderit in quem quis carmina,

jus eft

NOTES.

VER. 129. And He, whose lightning, etc.] Charles Mordaunt Earl of Peterborow, who in the year 1705 took Barcelona, and in the winter following with only 2c8

h There, my retreat the best Companions grace, 125
Chiefs out of war, and Statesmen out of place.
There ST. JOHN mingles with my friendly bowl
The Feast of Reason and the Flow of foul:

And HE, whose lightning pierc'd th' Iberian Lines,
Now forms my Quincunx, and now ranks my Vines,
Or tames the Genius of the stubborn plain,
Almost as quickly as he conquer'd Spain.

131

i Envy must own, I live among the Great, No Pimp of pleasure, and no Spy of state, With eyes that pry not, tongue that ne'er repeats, 135 Fond to spread ftiendships, but to cover heats;

To help who want, to forward who excel;

This, all who know me, know; who love me, tell;
And who unknown defame me, let them be

Scriblers or Peers, alike are Mob to me.
This is my plea, on this I rest my cause-
* What faith my Council, learned in the laws ?
F. Your Plea is good; but still I say, beware!
Laws are explain'd by Men-fo have a care.
It ftands on record, that in Richard's times

140

145

A man was hang'd for very honest rhymes.
m Confult the Statute: quart. I think, it is,
Edwardi fext. or prim. et quint. Eliz.

NOTES.

horse and 900 foot enterprized and accomplished the Conquest of Valentia.

P.

“Judiciumque."

H. Esto, fiquis mala. sed bona fi quis

Judice condiderit laudatus CAESARE ? fi quis
Opprobriis dignum laceraverit, integer ipse?

T. Solventur risu tabulae: tu missus abibis.

NOTES.

VER. 150. Libels and Satires! lawless things indeed! But grave Epistles, &c.] The legal objection is here more justly and decently taken off than in the Original. Horace evades the force of it with a quibble,

Efto, fiquis mala; fed bona fi quis. But the Imitator's grave Epistles shew the fatire to be a serious reproof, and therefore justifiable; which the integer ipse of the Original does not for however this might plead in mitigation of the offence, nothing but their being grave Epistles could justify the attack. VER. 152. F. Indeed?] Hor. Solventur rifu tabulae.

See Libels, Satires-here you have it-read.
P. Libels and Satires! lawless things indeed! 150

But grave Epistles, bringing Vice to light,
Such as a King might read, a Bishop write,

Such as Sir ROBERT would approve

F. Indeed?

155

The Cafe is alter'd-you may then proceed;
• In such a cause the Plaintiff will be hiss'd,
My Lords the Judges laugh, and you're dismiss'd.

NOTES.

Some Critics tell us, it is want of taste to put this line in the mouth of Trebatius. But our Poet confutes this cenfure, by shewing how well the sense of it agrees to his Friend's character. The Lawyer is cautious and fearful; but as soon as SIR ROBERT, the Patron both of Law and Gospel, is mentioned as approving them, he changes his note, and, in the language of old Plouden, owns, the Cafe is altered. Now was it not as natural, when Horace had given a hint that Augustus himself supported him, for Trebatius, a Court Advocate, who had been long a Client to him and his Uncle, to confess the Cafe was altered?

1