That Charm shall grow, while what fatigues the Ring, And unobserv'd the glaring orb declines. Oh! bleft with Temper, whofe unclouded ray And yet, believe me, good as well as ill, Your taste of Follies, with our fcorn of Fools: 255 260 265 270 275 280 Be this a Woman's Fame: with this unbleft, Kept Drofs for Ducheffes, the world shall know it, 285 290 MORAL MORA L ESSAY S. EPISTLE III. TO ALLEN, LORD BATHURST. ARGUMENT. Of the Ufe of RICHES. THAT it is known to few, most falling into one of the extremes, Avarice or Profufion, ver. 1, &c. The Point difcuffed, whether the invention of Money has been more commodious or pernicious to Mankind, ver. 21 to 77. That Riches, either to the Avaricious or the Prodigal, cannot afford Happiness, scarcely Neceffaries, ver. 89 to 160. That Avarice is an abfolute Frenzy, without an End or Purpose, ver. 113, &c. 152. Conjectures about the Motives of Avaricious men, ver. 121 to 153. That the conduct of men, with respect to Riches, can only be accountedfor by the Order of Providence, which works the general Good out of Extremes, and brings all to its great End by perpetual Revolutions, ver. 161 to 178. How a Mifer acts upon Principles which appear to him reasonable, ver. 179. How a Prodigal does the fame, ver. 199. The due Medium, and true ufe of Riches, ver. 219. The Man of Rofs, ver. 250. The fate of the Profufe and the Covetous, in two examples; both miferable in Life and in Death, ver. 300, &c. The Story of Sir Balaam, vér. 339 to the end. EPISTLE III. THIS Epiftle was written after a violent outcry against our Author, on a fuppofition that he had ridiculed a worthy nobleman merely for his wrong taste. He juftified himself upon that article in a letter to the Earl of Burlington; at the end of which are these words: "I have learnt that there are some who would ❝rather be wicked than ridiculous: and therefore it may be fafer to attack vices than follies. I will "therefore leave my betters in the quiet poffeffion of "their idols, their groves, and their high-places; "and change my subject from their pride to their "meannefs, from their vanities to their miferies; "and as the only certain way to avoid misconstruc "tions, to leffen offence, and not to multiply ill"natured applications, I may probably in my next, "make use of real names instead of fictitious ones." P. WHO fhall decide, when Doctors difagree, And foundest Casuists doubt, like you and me ? But I, who think more highly of our kind, 5 10 But But when, by Man's audacious labour won, Like Doctors thus, when much difpute has past. We find our tenets just the same at last. Both fairly owning, Riches, in effect, No grace of Heaven or token of th' Ele&t; Given to the Fool, the Mad, the Vain, the Evil, To Ward, to Waters, Chartres, and the Devil. 20 B. What Nature wants, commodious Gold bestows, 'Tis thus we eat the bread another fows. P. But how unequal it beftows, obferve; 'Tis thus we riot, while, who sow it, starve: 2.5 B. Trade it may help, Society extend: P. But lures the Pirate, and corrupts the Friend. 30 P. But bribes a Senate, and the Land 's betray'd. Bleft Paper-credit! last and best supply! I 4 40 Gold, |