In golden Chains the willing World the draws,
And hers the Gofpel is, and hers the Laws,
Mounts the Tribunal, lifts her fcarlet head,
And fees pale Virtue carted in her stead.
Lo! at the wheels of her Triumphal Car,
Old England's Genius, rough with many a Scar,
Dragg'd in the duft! his arms hang idly round,
His Flag inverted trails along the ground!
Our Youth, all liv'ry'd o'er with foreign Gold, 155
Before her dance: behind her, crawl the Old!
See thronging Millions to the Pagod run,
And offer Country, Parent, Wife, or Son!
Hear her black Trumpet thro' the Land proclaim,
That NOT TO BE CORRUPTED IS THE SHAME.160

150

NOTES.

and her Proffitution, they all in a body threw themfelves at her feet, as flaves at the footftool of their Miftrefs. In a word, there was no man, of what condition foever, that fhewed the leaft diflike of fo monftrous an elevation. In the mean time, Theodora's first care was to fill her Coffers, which the foon did, with immenfe wealth. To this end, Juftinian and the pretended to differ in their principles. The one protected the blue, and the other, the green faction; till in a long courfe of intrigue, by fometimes giving up the one to plunder and confifcation, and fometimes the other, they left nothing to either party. See Procop. Anec. c. ix.-x.

VER. 148. And hers the Gospel is, and hers the Laws,] i. c. She difpofed of the honours of both.

VER. 149. Scarlet head] Alluding to the fearlet Whore of the Apocalypfe.

In Soldier, Churchman, Patriot, Man in Pow'r,.
"Tis Av'rice all, Ambition is no more!
See, all our Nobles begging to be Slaves!
See, all our Fools afpiring to be Knaves!
The Wit of Cheats, the Courage of a Whore, 165
Are what ten thousand envy and adore:

All, all look up, with reverential Awe,
At Crimes that 'scape, or triumph o'er the Law:
While Truth, Worth, Wifdom, daily they decry---
Nothing is Sacred now but Villainy."
Yet may this Verse (if such a Verse remain)
Show, there was one who held it in difdain.

170

NOTES.

VER. 164. See, all our fools afpiring to be Knaves!] This will always be the cafe when knauery is in fafhion, becaufe fools always dread the being unfashionable.

VER. 165. The Wit of Cheats, the Courage of a Whore,- Are what ten thousand envy and adore:] And no wonder, for the wit of Cheats being the evafion of Juftice, and the Courage of a Whore the contempt for reputation; these emancipate men from the two tyrannical reftraints upon free fpirits, fear of punishment, and dread of shame. SCRIBL.

EPILOGUE

TO THE

SATIRE S.

Written in M DCC XXXVIII.

DIALOGUE II.

FR.

'T'

IS all a Libel --- Paxton (Sir) will fay P. Not yet, my Friend! to morrow 'faith it may; And for that very caufe I print to day. How should I fret to mangle ev'ry line, In rev'rence to the Sins of Thirty nine! Vice with fuch Giant ftrides comes on amain,

Invention strives to be before in vain ;
Feign what I will, and paint it e'er so strong,
Some rifing Genius fins
up to my Song.

NOTES.

VER. 1. Paxton] Late follicitor to the Treasury.

VER. 8. Feign what I will, etc.] The Poet has here introduced an oblique apology for himself with great art. You attack perfonal characters, fay his enemies. No, replies he, I paint merely from my invention; and, to prevent a likeness, I then aggravate the features. But alas! the growth of vice

F. Yet none but you by Name the guilty lash;
Ev'n Guthry faves half Newgate by a Dash. 11
Spare then the Person, and expose the Vice.

P. How, Sir! not damn the Sharper, but the Dice?
Come on then, Satire? gen'ral, unconfin'd,
Spread thy broad wing, and fouce on all the kind.
Ye Statesmen, Priests, of one Religion all! 16
Ye Tradesmen, vile, in Army, Court, or Hall!
Ye Rev'rendAtheists. F.Scandal! name them, Who?

20

P. Why that's the thing you bid me not to do.
Who ftarv'd a Sifter, who forfwore a Debt,
I never nam'd; the Town's enquiring yet.
The pois'ning Dame---F. You mean---P. I don't.
F. You do.

P. See, now I keep the Secret, and not you!

NOTES.

is fo monftroufly fudden, that it rifes up to a refemblance before I can get from the prefs.

VER 11. Ev'n Guthry] The Ordinary of Newgate, who publishes the memoirs of the Malefactors, and is often prevailed upon to be fo tender of their reputation, as to set down no more than the initials of their name. P.

VER. 13. How, Sir! not damn the Sharper, but the Dice?] The liveliness of the reply may excufe the bad reafoning; otherwife the dice, tho' they rhyme to vice, can never stand for it, which his argument requires they fhould do. For the dice are only the inftruments of fraud; but the question is not, whether the inftrument, but whether the act committed by it, fhould be expofed, inftead of the perfon.

The bribing Statesman---F. Hold, too high you go. · P. The brib'd Elector---F. There you ftoop too 25

low.

P. I fain would please you, if I knew with what; Tell me, which Knave is lawful Game, which not? Muft great Offenders, once efcap'd the Crown, Like Royal Harts, be never more run down? Admit your Law to fpare the Knight requires, 30 As Beafts of Nature may we hunt the Squires?

NOTES.

VER. 26. I fain would pleafe you, if I knew with what ;-Tell me, which Knave is lawful Game, which not?] I have obferved, that our author has invented, and introduced into his writings, a new species of the fublime, by heightening it with wit. There is a fpecies of elegance in his works (of which thefe lines are an inftance) almost as peculiar to him, which he has produced by employing the fimpleft and triteft phrafes to prevent stiffness, and yet, by a fupreme effort of his art, giving them the dignity of the choiceft. Quintilian was fo fenfible of the luftre which this throws upon true eloquence under a masterly direction, and of the prejudices against it from the difficulty of fucceeding in it; that he fays, Utinam et verba in ufu quotidiano pofita minus timeremus.

VER. 28. Muft great Offenders, etc.] The cafe is archly put. Those who efcape public juftice being the particular property of

the Satirift.

VER. 29. like Royal Harts, etc.] Alluding to the old Gamelaws, when our Kings spent all the time they could fpare from human flaughter, in Woods and Forefts.

VER. 31. As Beafts of Nature may we hunt the Squires ?] The expreffion is rough, like the fubject, but na reflection: For if beafts of Nature, then not beafts of their own making; a fault too frequently objected to country Squires. However, the Latin is nobler, Ferae natura, Things uncivilized, and free, Ferae,