H. Quid? cum eft Lucilius aufus

Primus in hunc operis componere carmina morem, f Detrabere et pellem, nitidus qua quifque per ora · Cederet, introrfum turpis; num Laelius, et qui

Duxit ab oppreffa meritum Carthagine nomen,

VER. 97. Whether the darker'd room-Or whiten'd walk_] This is only a wanton joke upon the terms of his Original

Quifquis erit vitae color.

VER. 104. Will club their Tefters, &c.] The image is exceeding humourous, and, at the same time, betrays the injustice of their resentment in the very circumftance of their indulging it; as it fhews the Poet had said no more of their avarice, than what was true. Our Author's abundance of Wit has made his readers backward in acknowledging his talent for Humour. But the veins are equally rich; and the one flows with ease, and the other is always placed with propriety.

VER. 105.-120. What? arm'd for Virtue, etc.] This is not only fuperior to Horace, but equal to any thing in himself. VER. 110. Lights of the Church, or Guardians of the Lars? Becaufe juft Satire is an useful fupplement to the fanctions of Law and Religion; and has, therefore, a claim to the protection of those who prefide in the administration either of church or state.

Whether the darken'd room to muse invite,

Or whiten'd wall provoke the skew'r to writed
In durance, exile, Bedlam, or the Mint,

'Like Lee or Budgell, I will rhyme and print. 100

d

F. Alas young man! your days can ne'er be long, In flow'r of age you perish for a fong!

106

Plums and Directors, Shylock and his Wife,
Will club their Testers, now, to take your life!
P. e What? arm'd for Virtue when I point the pen,
Brand the bold front of shameless guilty men;
Dash the proud Gamefter in his gilded Car;
Bare the mean Heart that lurks beneath a Star;
Can there be wanting, to defend Her caufe,
Lights of the Church, or Guardians of the Laws?
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 strip the gilding off a Knave,
Unplac'd, unpenfion'd, no man's heir, or slave?

f

115

VER. 111. Could perfion'd Boileau—Could Laureate Dryden] It was Horace's purpose to compliment the former times, and therefore he gives the virtuous examples of Scipio and Lælius; it was Mr. Pope's, to satirize the present, and therefore he gives the vicious examples of Louis, Charles, and James. Either way the inftances are equally pertinent; but in the latter they have rather greater force. Only the line,

Uni æquus virtuti atque ejus amicis,

lofes fomething of its fpirit in the imitation; for the amici, res

Ingenio offenfi? aut laefo doluere Metello,
Famofifque Lupo cooperto verfibus? atqui

Primores populi arripuit populumque tributim;

Scilicet UN AEQUUS VIRTUTI ATQUE EJUS

AMICIS.

Quin ubi fé a vulgo en fcena it fecreta remorant

Virtus Scipiadae et mitis fapientia Laeli,

Nugari cum illo, et difcincti ludere, donec

Decoqueretur ôlus, foliti.

Quidquid fum ego, quamvis

Infra Lucili cenfum, ingeniumque ; tamen me
1 Cum magnis vixiffe invita fatebitur ufque
Invidia; et fragili quaerens illidere dentem,
Offendet folido:

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 280 horfe and 900 foot enterprized and accomplished the Conquest of Valentia.

VER. 133. Envy must own, etc.] Horace makes the point of honour to confift fimply in his living familiarly with the Great,

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

Hear this, and tremble! you, who 'fcape the Laws.
Yes, while I live, no rich or noble knave

Shall walk the World, in credit, to his grave. 120
8 TO VIRTUE ONLY and HER FRIENDS a FRIEND,
The World befide may murmur, or commend,
Know, all the diftant din that world can keep,
Rolls o'er my Grotto, and but fooths my fleep.
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, whofe lightning pierc'd th'Iberian Lines,
Now forms my Quincunx, and now ranks my Vines,
Or tames the Genius of the stubborn plain,
Almoft as quickly as he conquer'd Spain.

132

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 n'er repeats,135 Fond to spread friendships, but to cover heats; To help who want, to forward who excel; This, all who know me, know; who love me, tell;

Cum magnis vixiffe invita fatebitur ufque

Invidia..

Our poet, more nobly, in his living with them on the footing of an honest man.-He prided himself in this fuperiority, as appears from the following words, in a letter to Dr. Swift, "To "have pleased great men, according to Horace, is a praife; but "not to have flattered them, and yet not have displeased " them, is a greater," Let, v11, Jan. 12, 1723,

Diffentis.

* nifi quid tu, docte Trebati,

1 T. Equidem nihil hinc diffingere poffum. Sed tamen ut monitus caveas, ne forte negotî Incutiat tibi quid fanctarum infcitia legum : m«. Și mala condiderit in quem quis carmina, jus eft Judiciumque."

H. Efto, fiquis" mala. fed bona fi quis Judice condiderit laudatus CAESARE? fi quis Opprobriis dignum laceraverit, integer ipse ?

VER. 146. A man was bang'd, &c] Si mala condiderit-A great French Lawyer explains this matter very truly. "L'Ari

ftocratie eft le Gouvernement qui proferit les plus les Ouvrages "fatiriques. Les Magiftrats y font de petits fouverains, qui ne "font pas affez grands pour meprifer les injures, Si dans la "Monarchie quelque trait va contre le Monarque, il est si haut 68 que le trait n'arrive point jufqu'à lui; une Seigneur Aristocra"tique en eft percé de part en part. Auffi les Decemvirs, qui "formoient une Ariftocratie, punirent-ils de mort les Ecrits "Satiriques." De L'Esprit des Loix, L. xii. c. 13.

VER. 150. Libels and Satires! lawless things indeed! But grave Epiftles, etc.]. 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 Epiftles fhew the fatire to be a serious reproof, and therefore juftifiable; which the integer ipfe of the Original does not: for however this might plead in mitigation of the offence, nothing but their being grave Epiftles could juftify the attack.

VER. 152. F. Indeed ?] Hor.