A Penfion, or fuch Harness for a flave 6 As Bug now has, and Dorimant would have. 90 Be this thy Screen, and this thy Wall of Brafs; 95 Compar'd to this, a Minister's an Ass. And fay, to which shall our applause belong, This new Court jargon, or the good old fong? The modern language of corrupted Peers, Or what was spoke at CRESSY and POITIERS? 100 Or "he, who bids thee face with steady view Shou'd chance to make the well-dreft Rabble ftare; NOTES. 110 VER. 97. And fay, etc.] Thefe four lines greatly fuperior to any thing in the Original. Non, ut porticibus, fic judiciis fruar iifdem, Nec fequar aut fugiam, quae diligit ipfe vel odit ; 2. Olim quod vulpes aegroto cauta leoni Refpondit, referam: Quia me veftigia terrent Omnia te adverfum fpectantia, nulla retrorfum. ▸ Bellua multorum es capitum. nam quid fequar, aut quem? NOTES. VER. 117. Full many a Beaft goes in,] This expreffion is ufed for the joke's fake; but it hurts his moral; which is, that they come out beafs. He fhould here have stuck to the terms of his Original, veftigia omnia te adverfum Spectantia. VER. 118. Adieu to Virtue, etc.] Thefe two lines are intended for the application or moral of a fable, which needs no explaining; and, confequently, they impair the grace of it, which at beft is inferior to his Original. For Horace fpeaks of the common people, Populus Romanus, to whom one of fop's Fables was properly addressed: too fimple a method of conveying truth to the well-dreft Rabble of St. James's. VER. 124. Alike in nothing but one Luft of Gold, Just half the land would buy, and half be fold:] Here the argument fuffers a little for the fake of the fatire. The rea If honeft S*z take fcandal at a Spark, That lefs admires the Palace than the Park: a Faith I fhall give the anfwer Reynard gave: "I cannot like, dread Sir, your Royal Cave: "Becaufe I fee, by all the tracks about, 115 "Full many a Beaft goes in, but none come out." Adieu to Virtue, if you're once a Slave: Send her to Court, you fend her to her grave. Well, if a King's a Lion, at the leaft b The People are a many-headed Beaft: Can they direct what measures to pursue, 120 Just half the land would buy, and half be fold: 125 NOTES. fon why the People should not be followed is because Bellua multorum eft capitum. nam quid fequar, aut quem? they are so divers in their pursuits (fays Horace) that one cannot follow this man without being condemned by that. The imitator fays, they all go on one common principle, the luft of gold. This inaccuracy, tho' Horace has a little of it, yet he has however artfully disguised it, by speaking of the various objects of this one Paffion, avarice, as of fo many various paffions, Pars hominum geftit conducere publica: funt qui, ett. Multis occulto, etc. but his imitator has unwarily drawn them to a point, by the introductory addition of the lines above, Alike in nothing, etc. on NOTES. VER. 126. Their Country's wealth our mightier Mifers drain,] The undertakers for advancing Loans to the Public the Funds. They have been commonly accused of making it a job. But in fo corrupt times, the fault is not always to be imputed to a Ministry: it having been found, on trial, that the wifeft and most virtuous citizen of this or any other age, with every requifite knowledge in fuch matters, and fupported by all the weight an honeft Admi с Their Country's wealth our mightier Misers drain, The reft, fome farm the Poor-box, fome the Pews e Of all these ways, if each pursues his own, 140 135 Sir Job & fail'd forth, the ev'ning bright and still, "No place on earth (he cry'd) like Greenwich hill !” h Up ftarts a Palace, lo, th' obedient base Slopes at its foot, the woods its fides embrace, The filver Thames reflects its marble face. Now let fome whimfy, or that Dev'l within Which guides all those who know not what they mean, But give the Knight (or give his Lady) spleen; 145 NOTES. niftration could afford him, was, they say, unable to abofifh this inveterate myftery of iniquity." VER. 143. Now let fome whimfy, etc.] This is very spirited, but much inferior to the elegance of the Original, Cui fi vitiofa Libido Fecerit aufpicium which no modern imitation can reach. |