F. Yet none but you by name the guilty lash : ΙΟ Ev'n Guthry faves half Newgate by a Dash. Spare then the Perfon, and expofe the Vice. 16 P. How, Sir!not damn the Sharper, but the Dice? Come on then, Satire! gen'ral, unconfin'd, Spread thy broad wing, and fouce on all the kind. Ye Statesmen, Priefts, of one Religion all! Ye Tradesmen, vile, in Army, Court, or Hall; Ye Rev'rend Atheifts. F. Scandal! name them, Who? P. Why that's the thing you bid me not to do. Who ftarv'd a Sifter, who forfwore a Debt, I never nam'd; the Town's enquiring yet. The pois'ning Dame-F. You mean-P. I don't. F. You do. 20 P. See, now I keep the Secret, and not you ! The bribing Statefman-F. Hold, too high you go. P. The brib'd Elector-F. There you ftoop too low. 25 P. I fain would please you, if I knew with what; Tell me, which Knave is lawful Game, which not? VER. 11. Ev'n Guthry.] The Ordinary of Newgate, who publishes the memoirs of the Malefactors, and is often prevailed upon to be fo tender of their reputation, as to fet down no more than the initials of their name. VER. 13. How, Sir! not damn the Sharper, but the Dice?] The liveliness of the reply may excufe the bad reasoning; otherwife the dice, tho' they rhyme to vice, can never stand for it, which his argument requires they fhould do. For the dice are only the inftruments of fraud; but the question is not, whether the instrument, but whether the act committed by it, should be expofed, instead of the perfon. Muft great Offenders, once efcap'd the Crown, F. A Dean, Sir? no: his Fortune is not made, P. If not the Tradesman who fet up to day, Much lefs the 'Prentice who to morrow may. Down, down, proud Satire! tho' a Realm be spoil'd, Arraign no mightier Thief than wretched Wild; Or, if a Court or Country's made a job, Go drench a Pick-pocket, and join the Mob. But, Sir, I beg you (for the Love of Vice!) The matter's weighty, pray confider twice; Have you lefs pity for the needy Cheat, 30 35 40 The poor and friendlefs Villain, than the Great? 45 VER. 29. Like Royal Hearts, etc.] Alluding to the old Game-laws, when our Kings spent all the time they could fpare from human flaughter, in Woods and Forests. VER. 35. You burt a man that's rifing in the Trade.] For, as the reasonable De la Bruyere observes, "Qui ne fait être 66 un ERASME, doit penser à être Evêque.” VER. 39. wretched Wild,] Jonathan Wild, a famous Thief, and Thief-Impeacher, who was at laft caught in his own train and hanged. VER. 42. for the love of Vice] We must confider the Poet as here directing his difcourfe to a follower of the new fyftem of Politics, That private vices are publick benefits. SCRIBL. Alas! the fmall Difcredit of a Bribe Scarce hurts the Lawyer, but undoes the Scribe. To tax Directors, who (thank God) have Plums ; P. Muft Satire, then, nor rife nor fall? 50 F. Yes, ftrike that Wild, I'll justify the blow. P. Strike? why the man was hang'd ten years ago : Who now that obfolete Example fears? Ev'n Peter trembles only for his Ears. 56 F. What always Peter? Peter thinks you mad, You make men defp'rate, if they once are bad : Elfe might he take to Virtue fome years hence-to P. As S-k, if he lives, will love the PRINCE. F. Strange spleen to S-k! P. Do I wrong the Man? God knows, I praise a Courtier where I can. When I confefs, there is who feels for Fame, And melts to Goodness, need I SCARB'ROW name? 65 VER. 51. why lay it on a King.] He is serious in the foregoing fubjects of fatire; but ironical here, and only alludes to the common practice of Ministers, in laying their own mifcarriages on their masters. VER. 57. Ev'n Peter trembles only for his ears.] Peter had, the year before this, narrowly escaped the Pillory for forgery: and got off with a fevere rebuke only from the bench. VER. 65. Scarb'rew] Earl of, and Knight of the Carter, Pleas'd let me own, in Efher's peaceful Grove Ev'n in a Bishop I can spy Desert ; But does the Court a worthy Man remove? I fhun his Zenith, court his mild Decline; Thus SOMMERS once, and HALIFAX, were mine. 70 75 whofe perfonal attachments to the king appeared from his fteady adherence to the royal intereft, after his refignation of his great employment of Mafter of the Horfe; and whofe known honour and virtue made him esteemed by all parties. VER. 66. Efber's peaceful Grove,] The house and gardens of Efher in Surry, belonging to the Honourable Mr. Pelham, Brother of the Duke of Newcastle. The author could not have given a more amiable idea of his Character than in comparing him to Mr. Craggs. VER. 3. 74. But does the Court a worthy Man remove?] The poet means remove him from his worth: not that he esteemed the being in or out a proof either of corruption, or virtue. "I had a glympfe of a letter of yours lately (fays he to Dr. "Swift) by which I find you are, like the vulgar, apter to "think well of people out of power, than of people in power. "Perhaps 'tis a mistake; but, however, there is something "in it generous." Lett. xvii. Sept. 3, 1726. VER. 77. Sommers] John Lord Sommers died in 1716. He had been Lord Keeper in the reign of William III. who took from him the feals in 1700. The author had the honour of knowing him in 1706. A faithful, able, and incorrupt 3 Oft, in the clear, ftill Mirrour of Retreat, I ftudy'd SHREWSBURY, the wife and great: Compar'd, and knew their gen'rous End the fame: 80 85 minifter; who, to the qualities of a confummate statesman, added thofe of a man of Learning and Politeness. VER. 77. Halifax] A peer, no less distinguished by his love of letters than his abilities in Parliament. He was difgraced in 1710, on the change of Queen Anne's ministry. VER. 79. Shrewsbury,] Charles Talbot, Duke of Shrewsbury, had been Secretary of State, Embassador in France, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Chamberlain, and Lord Treasurer. He feveral times quitted his employments, and was often re called. He died in 1718. VER. 80. Carleton.] Hen. Boyle, Lord Carleton (nephew of the famous Robert Boyle) who was Secretary of state under William JII. and Prefident of the council under Q. Anne. Ibid. Stanhope] James Earl Stanhope. A Nobleman of equal courage, fpirit, and learning. General in Spain, and Se cretary of state. VER. 88. Wyndham] Sir William Wyndham, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Queen Anne, made early a confiderable figure; but fince a much greater both by his ability and eloquence, joined with the utmost judgment and temper. |