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BOOK I.

EPISTLE I.

TO LORD BOLINGBROKE.

ST.

T. JOHN, whofe love indulg'd my labours paft, Matures my prefent, and shall bound my last! Why b will break the Sabbath of my days? you Now fick alike of Envy and of Praife. Public too long, ah let me hide my Age! See modeft Cibber now has left the Stage: Our Generals now, d retir'd to their Estates, Hang their Old Trophies o'er the Garden gates, In Life's cool Evening fatiate of Applause, Nore fond of bleeding, ev'n in BRUNSWICK'S cause. f A voice there is, that whispers in my ear,

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('Tis Reason's voice, which fometimes one can hear) "Friend Pope! be prudent, let your s Mufe take "breath,

"And never gallop Pegasus to death;

EPISTOLA I.

RIMA dicte mihi, fumma dicende camena,

PR

.: Let

b Spectatum fatis, et donatum jam rude, quaeris, Maecenas, iterum antiquo me includere ludo. Non eadem eft aetas, non mens. c Veianius, armis d Herculis ad poftem fixis, latet abditus agro; Ne populum e extrema toties exoret arena.

f Eft mihi purgatam crebro qui personet aurem ; Solveg fenefcentem mature fanus equum, ne

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"Left ftiff, and stately, void of fire or force,
"You limp, like Blackmore on a Lord Mayor's horse."
Farewell then h Verfe, and Love, and every Toy,
The Rhymes and Rattles of the Man or Boy;
What i right, what true, what fit we justly call,
Let this be all my care-for this is All:
To lay this k harvest up, and hoard with haste,
What every day will want, and most, the last.

But ask not, to what 1 Doctors I apply?
Sworn to no Mafter, of no Sect am I :
As drives the m ftcrm, at any door I knock :

And houfe with Montagne now, or now with Locke,
Sometimes a n Patriot, active in debate,'

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Mix with the World, and battle for the State,
Free as young Lyttelton, her cause pursue,

Still true to Virtue, and as warm as true:
Sometimes with Aristippus, or St. Paul,
Indulge my candour, and grow all to all;

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Peccet ad extremum ridendus, et ilia ducat.

Nunc itaque et h verfus, et caetera ludicra pono:
Quid i verum atque decens, curo et rogo, et omnis in

hoc fum:

k Condo, et compono, quae mox depromere poffim.

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Ac ne forte roges, 1 quo me duce, quo Lare tuter :
Nullius addictus jurare in verba magiftri,

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Quo me cunque rapit tempeftas, deferor hofpes. Nunc agilis fio, et merfor n civilibus undis,

Virtutis verae cuftos, o rigidusque satelles;

VOL. II.

Back to my p native Moderation slide,

And win my way by yielding to the tide.

q Long, as to him who works for debt, the day,
Long as the Night to her whose Love's away,
Long as the Year's dull circle feems to run,
When the brifk Minor pants for twenty-one;

r

So flow th' unprofitable moments roll,

That lock up all the Functions of my foul;
That keep me from myself; and still delay
Life's inftant business to a future day:
That task, which as we follow, or despise,
The eldeft is a fool, the youngest wise:
Which done, the poorest can no wants endure;
And which not done, the richest must be poor.
t Late as it is, I put myself to school,

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And feel fome a comfort, not to be a fool.
w Weak though I am of limb, and short of sight,
Far from a Lynx, and not a Giant quite :

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I'll

Nunc in Ariftippi P furtim praecepta relabor
Et mihi res, non me rebus, fubjungere conor.
q Ut nox longa, quibus mentitur amica; diefque
Lenta videtur opus debentibus: ut piger annus
Pupillis, quos dura premit custodia matrum :
Sic mihi tarda fluunt ingrataque tempora, quae fpem
Confiliumque morantur agendi gnaviter id, quod
Aeque pauperibus prodeft, locupletibus aeque,
Aeque neglectum pueris fenibufque nocebit.

t Reftat, ut his ego me ipfe regam " folerque elementis: Non poffis oculo quantum contendere Lynceus ;

I'll do what Mead and Chefelden advise,

To keep thefe limbs, and to preferve thefe eyes.
Not to go back, is fomewhat to advance,
And men must walk at least before they dance.

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Say, does thy y blood rebel, thy bofom move With wretched Avarice, or as wretched Love? Know, there are Worlds, and Spells, which can control z Between the Fits this Fever of the foul:

Know, there are Rhymes, which a fresh and fresh apply'd Will cure the arrant'ft Puppy of his Pride.

Be b furious, envious, flothful, mad, or drunk,
c Slave to a Wife, or Vaffal to a Punk,

A Switz, a High-dutch, or a Low-dutch & Bear;
All that we ask is but a patient Ear.

e 'Tis the firft Virtue, Vices to abhor: And the first Wisdom, to be Fool no more.

Non tamen idcirco contemnas lippus inungi :
Nec, quia defperes inviti membra Glyconis,
Nodofa corpus nolis prohibere chiragra.
Eft quadam prodire x tenus, fi non datur ultra.

y Fervet avaritia, miferoque cupidine pectus ?
Sunt verba et voces, quibus hunc lenire dolorem
Poffis, et z magnam morbi deponere partem.
Laudis amore tumes? funt a certa piacula, quae te
Ter pure lecto poterunt recreare libello.

C

b Invidus, iracundus, iners, vinofus, amator; Nemo d adeo ferus eft, ut non mitefcere poffit, Si modo culturae patientem commodet aurem. e Virtus eft, vitium fugere; et fapientia prima,

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But

But to the world no f bugbear is fo great,

As want of figure, and a small Estate.

To either India fee the Merchant fly,
Scar'd at the spectre of pale Poverty!

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See him, with pains of body, pangs of foul,

Burn through the Tropic, freeze beneath the Pole!
Wilt thou do nothing for a nobler end,
Nothing, to make Philosophy thy friend?
To stop thy foolish views, thy long defires,
And & eafe thy heart of all that it admires ?

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h Here Wisdom calls: i" Seek Virtue first, be bold! "As Gold to Silver, Virtue is to Gold." There, London's voice, k "Get Money, Money ftill! "And then let Virtue follow, if the will."

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This, this the faving doctrine, preach'd to all,

From low St. James's up to high St. Paul!

From

Stultitia caruiffe. vides, quae f maxima credis
Effe mala, exiguum cenfum, turpemque repulfam,
Quanto devites animi capitifque labore.

Impiger extremos curris mercator ad Indos,
Per & mare pauperiem fugiens, per faxa, per ignes:
Ne cures h ea, quae ftulte miraris et optas,
Difcere, et audire, et meliori credere non vis?
Quis circum pagos et circum compita pugnax
Magna coronari contemnat Olympia, cui fpes,
Cui fit conditio dulcis fine pulvere palmae ?
"i Vilius argentum eft auro, virtutibus aurum.
❝k O cives, cives! quaerenda pecunia primum eft;
"Virtus poft nummos:" haec. Janus fummus ab imo

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