MISCELLANIES. OCCASIONED BY SOME VERSES OF HIS GRACE MUSE, 'tis enough; at length thy labour ends NOTES. 1 The verses referred to, are the first among the Commendatory Poems in the preceding volume. MACER: A CHARACTER. WHEN Simple Macer, now of high renown, NOTES. Ver. 1. When simple Macer,] Said to be the character of James Moore Smith, author of the Rival Modes, a comedy, in 1726. He pilfered verses from Pope. He joined in a political paper with the Duke of Wharton, called The Inquisitor, written with such violence against government, that he was soon obliged to drop it. This character was first printed in the Miscellanies of Swift and Pope, 1727.-Warton. Dr. Warton thinks this character was intended for J. Moore Smith; but it seems to me more likely that Phillips, Pope's redoubted rival in Pastoral, was intended. My reasons for thinking so are, he is elsewhere called lean Phillips, VOL. III. "Lean Phillips and fat Johnson." [" Macer" Ꮐ "Twas all th' ambition his high soul could feel, Now he begs Verse, and what he gets commends, So some coarse Country Wench, almost decay'd, 15 Trudges to town, and first turns Chambermaid; Aukward and supple, each devoir to pay; She flatters her good Lady twice a day; Tho' wondrous honest, tho' of mean degree, And strangely lik'd for her Simplicity: In a translated Suit, then tries the Town, 20 With borrow'd Pins, and Patches not her own: But just endur'd the winter she began, And in four months a batter'd Harridan, Now nothing left, but wither'd, pale, and shrunk, 25 NOTES. "Macer" certainly alludes to this. He began his literary career with worshipping" Steele" and Addison. He "borrow'd" a play from Voltaire, the Distrest Mother; Simplicity," is applied to the " Pastorals," and "Translated Suit," to the translation of the Persian Tales: TO MR. JOHN MOORE, AUTHOR OF THE CELEBRATED WORM-POWDER. How much, egregious Moore, are we Man is a very Worm by birth, That Woman is a Worm, we find That ancient Worm, the Devil. The Learn'd themselves we Book-worms name, The Blockhead is a Slow-worm ; The Nymph whose tail is all on flame, Is aptly term'd a Glow-worm. The Fops are painted Butterflies, That flutter for a day; First from a Worm they take their rise, And in a Worm decay. The Flatterer an Earwig grows; Thus Worms suit all conditions; Misers are Muck-worms, Silk-worms Beaus, That Statesmen have the Worm, is seen, By all their winding play; Ah Moore! thy skill were well employ'd, If thou couldst make the Courtier void O learned Friend of Abchurch-Lane, Our fate thou only canst adjourn SONG, BY A PERSON OF QUALITY. WRITTEN IN THE YEAR 1733. I. FLUTT'RING spread thy purple pinions, II. Mild Arcadians, ever blooming, |