AN

EPISTLE

To His GRACE the

Duke of SOMERSET,

Humbly Infcrib'd :

Petitioning for a Master of Art's Degree at the ROYAL COMMENCEMENT.

NCE more the Muse to your protection flies; The Muse that artless fung your nuptial Joys. Mov'd by her vows, may Fate for SEYMOUR twine, Life's lengthen'd thread, a golden-even line.

And will he deign to lend a gentle ear,
Her plaintive Tale, and fad diftrefs to hear?
Eager for liberty, fhe left the nod

Of Grammar Pedants, and the flavish rod:
At will to wander on the banks of Cam,
T'enjoy his quiet fhades and cooling ftream;

Where

Where gentle Spencer tun'd his myftic lays,
And claim'd in fairy-land immortal bays.
The lyre by love-fick Gowley here was strung;
And Dryden first his flowing numbers fung.
Milton, O facred name! hence dar'd his flight:
And Montague's rich vein was brought to light.
When Prior touch'd the reed in sportive ftrains,
The nymphs and fatyrs skipp'd along the plains:
Ev'n. Venus liften'd, and the Graces join

T' applaud the decent tale and wit divine.

But foon, alas thefe pleafing Dreams are fled,
Vexations, cares, and crabbed toils fucceed.
Custom, fell tyrant, here afferts his reign,
And holds his vaffals in a formal chain.
The path to honours, thro' a defart lies,
Craggy and steep, and painfull to the eyes.
No Pegafus frequents the barren road,

By foundering jades, and beafts of burden trod.

Were Metaphyficks ever brought to chime ? Sounds inharmonious, and the foes to rhyme ! While Logick-fhackles cramp the Poet's wing, That tries dull rules in aukward verse to fing. Afferit A, negat E, verùm generaliter ambo Euge, Apollo! this is worse than Crambo.

O, fave the frighten'd Muse from this disgrace,
From Goths and Vandals of Dun-Scotus' race.
'Tis your's the royal favour to bestow:

O, fnatch her from the plodding tribe below.
Her much-lov'd authors then she will resume,
And to her daily task unweary'd come.
Horace, whofe manly rules and polish'd art,
Improve the judgment, and instruct the heart,
Shall be her faithful guide. His influence
Shames us from vice, and smiles us into sense.
Virgil's chaste verse shall teach her to persue
Nature in ev'ry scene, in ev'ry view :
Whether the glories of the fields he fings,
Or in fublimeft ftrains the deeds of Kings.
Then fearch the wonders of th' Auguftan age,
Th' harmonious ftory, and well-labour'd page;
That tells, how great Octavius, still ador'd,
Rome to herself and antient fame reftor'd.
Then flourish arts, and peace triumphant reigns,
Nor merit then of cold neglect complains.

Stop, babbling Muse, the God of verse appears, And monitory whispers in thy ears;

Recall thy thoughts: why will the wanton mind,
Fixt on the paft, be to the present blind?

A

A new AUGUSTUS holds his righteous sway,
And willing nations his commands obey.
The female virtues in full luftre fhine,
Unknown to former days, in CAROLINE.
Britain my kindly favour long fhall prove,
Nor want Mecenas to the arts I love.

Be thou an Horace, or the Mantuan Bard,
And SEYMOUR's fmiles fhall be thy great reward.

An Epitaph on a Child.

ENEATH, a fleeping infant lies,

B To earth whose body lent:

Hereafter, fhall more glorious rife,

Tho' not more innocent.

When the Arch-angel's trump fhall blow,

And fouls to bodies join:

What crouds on earth fhall wish their lives

Had been as fhort as thine!

You that more ftrict account must give,

Prepare below to lie:

You that know what it is to live,

Learn what it is to die.

INDEX

TO THE

First VOLUME.

O

N Mr. Pope, and his Poems, by his Grace the
Duke of Buckingham,

Page 1

To Mr. Pope, by A. Countess of Winchelsea,

4

To Mr. Pope, on the publishing of his Works, by the
Hon. Simon Harcourt Efq;

To Mr. Pope, on his Windfor Foreft, by the
Mr. Dean Knapp,

9

Rev.

18

To Mr. Pope, on his Tranflation of Homer, by the

Rev. Mr. Chriftopher Pitt,

To Mr. Pope,

To Mr. Pope,

20

24

26

To Mr. Pope, on his Tranflation of Homer's Iliad, by

the Rev. Dr. Evans,

30

To Mr. Pope, upon the Edition of his Works, by the
Rev. Mr. Broome,

XIG:

36

By