Songs, sonnets, epigrams, the winds uplift,

And whisk 'em back to Evans, Young, and Swift.
Th' embroider'd suit at least he deem'd his prey,
That suit an unpaid tailor snatch'd away.
No rag, no scrap, of all the beau, or wit,
That once so flutter'd, and that once so writ.

115

120

Heav'n rings with laughter: of the laughter vain, .Dulness, good Queen, repeats the jest again. Three wicked imps, of her own Grub-street choir, She deck'd like Congreve, Addison, and Prior; Mears, Warner, Wilkins, run: delusive thought! Breval, Bond, Besaleel, the varlets caught. Curl stretches after Gay, but Gay is gone, He grasps an empty Joseph for a John:

REMARKS.

126

v. 116. Evans, Young, and Swifi. Some of those persons whose writings, epigrams, or jests, he had owned. 7.124.---like Congreve, Addison, and Prior. These authors being such whose names will reach posterity, we shall not give any account of them, but proceed to those of whom it is necessary.---Besaleel Morris was author of some satires on the translators of Homer, with many cther things printed in newspapers---" Bond writ a "satire against Mr. P---, Capt. Breval was author of "The Confederates, an ingenious dramatic performance, to expose Mr. P. Mr. Gay, Dr. Arbuthnot, "and some ladies of quality," says Curl, Key, p. 11. v. 125. Mears, Warner, Wilkins.] Booksellers, and printers of so much anonymous stuff.

v. 128. Joseph Gay. A ficti ious name, put by Curl before several pamphlets, which made them pass with many for Mr. Gay's---The ambiguity of the word Joseph, which likewise signifies a loose upper coat, gives much pleasantry to the idea.

Volume IV.

M

So Porteus, hunted in a nobler shape,

Became, when seiz'd, à puppy, or an ape.

To him the Goddess: Son! thy grief lay down, And turn this whole illusion on the Town.

130

136

As the sage dame, experienc'd in her trade,
By names of toasts retails each batter'd jade;
(Whence hapless Monsieur much complains at Paris
Of wrongs from Duchesses and Lady Maries;)
Be thine, my Stationer! this magic gift;
Cook shall be Prior, and Concanen Swift:
So shall each hostile name become our own,
And we, too, boast our Garth and Addison.
With that she gave him (piteous of his case,
Yet smiling at his rueful length of face)

REMARKS,

140

v. 138. Cook shall be Prior.] The man here specified writ a thing called the Battle of Poets, in which Philips and Welsted were the heroes, and Swift and Pope utterly routed He also published some malevolent things in the British, London, and Daily Journals: and, at the same time, wrote letters to Mr. Pope, protesting his innocence. His chief work was a translation of Hesiod, to which Theobald wrote notes, and half notes, which he carefully owned.

Ibid.---and Concaven Swift.] In the first edition of this Poem there were only asterisks in this place; but the names were since inserted, merely to fill up the verse, and give ease to the ear of the reader.

IMITATIONS.

v. 141, 142.---(piteous of his case,

Ye smiling at bis rueful length of face)]

Risit pater optimus illi.

"Me liceat casum misereri insontis amici----
"Sic fatus, tergum Gaetuli immane leonis," &c.
Virg. Æn. V.

A shaggy tapestry, worthy to be spread

On Codrus' old, or Dunton's modern bed;

Instructive work! whose wry-mouth'd portraiture Display'd the fate her confessors endure.

146

Earless on high stood unbash'd De Foe,

And Tutch in flagrant from the scourge below:
There Ridpath, Roper, cudgell'd might ye view,
The very worsted still look'd black and blue,
Himself among the story'd chiefs he spies,
As from the blanket, high in air he flies,

REMARKS..

150

v. 144.---Dunton's modern bed.] John Dunton was a broken Bookseller, and abusive scribbler; he writ Neck or Nothing, a viclent satire on some ministers of state; a libel on the Dule of Devonshire and the Bishop of Peterborough, &c.

v. 148. And Tutchin flagrant from the scourge. John Tutchin, author of some vile verses, and of a weekly Paper, called The Observator: he was sentenced to be whipped through several towns in the west of England, upon which he petitioned King James II. to be hanged. When that prince died in exile, he wrote an invective against his memory, occasioned by some humane elegies on his death. He lived to the time of Queen Anne.

v. 149. There Ridpath, Roper.] Authors of the Flingpost, and Post-boy, two scandalous papers on different sides, for which they equally and alternately deserved to be cudgelled and were so.

v. 151. Himself among the story'd chiefs he spies.] The history of Curl's being tossed in a blanket, and whipped by the scholars of Westminster, is well known.

IMITATIONS.

v. 151. Himself among the story'd chiefs he spies.] Se quoque principibus permixtum agnovit Achivis-"Constitit, et lacrymans: Quis jam locus, iniquit, [Achate! "Quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris ?"

Miij

Virg. Æn. I