66 EPISTLE VI. TO MR. MURRAY.* Nor to admire, is all the art I know, To make men happy, and to keep them so." Plain truth, dear MURRAY, needs no flowers of speech, So take it in the very words of Creech. b 5 This vault of air, this congregated ball, Self-center'd sun, and stars that rise and fall, There are, my friend! whose philosophic eyes Look through, and trust the Ruler with his skies; To him commit the hour, the day, the year, с And view this dreadful all without a fear. All the mad trade of fools and slaves for gold? 10 15 If weak the "pleasure that from these can spring, The fear to want them is as weak a thing: Whether we dread, or whether we desire, In either case, believe me, we admire; 20 NOTES. Afterwards the celebrated Lord Mansfield. This was writ ten in 1737. Bowles. iGaudeat, an doleat; cupiat, metuatne; quid ad rem, Si, quidquid vidit melius pejusve suâ spe, *Insani sapiens nomen ferat, æquus iniqui; Ultrà quam satis est, virtutem si petat ipsam. 'I nunc, argentum et marmor "vetus, æraque et artes Suspice cum gemmis "Tyrios mirare colores: Gaude, quòd spectant oculi te mille loquentem: Gnavus manè forum, et vespertinus pete tectum; "Ne plus frumenti dotalibus emetat agris Mutus, et (indignum, quod sit pejoribus ortus) 'Hic tibi sit potiùs, quàm tu mirabilis illi. 'Quicquid sub terrâ est, in apricum proferet ætas ; Defodiet, condetque nitentia. 'Cum bene notum Porticus Agrippæ, et via te conspexerit Appî, NOTES. Ver. 44. Yet time ennobles, or degrades each line; It brighten'd Craggs's, and may darken thine:] One of the noblest houses in Europe.-The original is: 66 Quicquid sub terrà est, in apricum proferet ætas ; This wants neither force nor elegance; yet is vastly inferior to the Imitation, where a very fine panegyric on two great characters, in the second line, gives dignity and ease to the masterly conciseness of the first. Warburton. Ver. 45. It brighten'd CRAGGS's,] His father had been in a low situation; but, by industry and ability, got to be Postmaster-General and Agent to the Duke of Marlborough. Warton. Whether we 'joy or grieve, the same the curse, 'Go then, and if you can, admire the state 30 41 If not so pleased, at council-board rejoice, 50 Ire tamen restat, Numa "quò devenit et Ancus. W Si latus aut renes morbo tentantur acuto, Quære fugam morbi. Vis rectè vivere ? quis non ? Si virtus hoc una potest dare, fortis omissis Hoc age deliciis. NOTES. Ver. 52. Where MURRAY, &c.] The concurring testimony of friends and enemies confirms the high panegyric here expressed on Lord Mansfield, yet the intended parallel fails in its most material part. The Roman Consul has left unequivocal proofs of the fertile and comprehensive genius attributed to him by his contemporaries; the British Chancellor will be known to posterity in the character of a wise and virtuous historian. This cannot be said of the late Lord Chief Justice, eminent, learned, and possessed of the highest endowments, as he certainly was. Bowles. Ver. 53. TULLY-HYDE!] Equal to either, in the ministry of his profession; and, where the parallel fails, as it does in the rest of the character, superior to both. TULLY's brightest talents were frequently tarnished by vanity and feur; and HYDE's most virtuous purposes perverted and defeated by superstitious notions concerning the divine origin of government, and the unlimited obedience of the people. Warburton. Ver. 53. than HYDE !] Much beyond the original; particularly on account of the very happy and artful use Pope has made of the neighbourhood of the House of Parliament to Westminster Abbey; and of the well-turned and unexpected compliment he has paid to his illustrious friend. The character of Lord Chancellor Clarendon seems to grow every day brighter, the more it is scrutinized; and his integrity and abilities are more ascertained and acknowledged, even from the publication of private papers, never intended to see the light. When Clarendon was going from Court, just after his profligate and ungrateful master had obliged him to resign the great seal, the Duchess of Cleveland meanly and wantonly insulted him from a window in the palace. He looked up at her, and only said, with a calm and contemptuous dignity: "Madam, if you live, you will grow old." Warton. Ver. 57. Ward cines. Dover.] Celebrated for their quack medi Where MURRAY (long enough his country's pride) See Ward by batter'd beaus invited over, 55 There all men may be cured, whene'er they please. Would ye be blest? 'despise low joys, low gains Disdain whatever CORNBURY disdains; Be virtuous, and be happy for your pains. NOTES. Ver. 60. Would ye be blest?] This amiable young nobleman wrote from Paris, 1752, a very pressing remonstrance to Mr. Mallet, to dissuade him, but in vain, from publishing a very offensive digression on the Old Testament, in Lord Bolingbroke's Letters on History. “I must say to you, Sir, for the world's sake, and for his sake, that part of the work ought by no means to be communicated further.. If this digression be made public, it will be censured, it must be censured, it ought to be censured. It will be criticised too by able pens, whose erudition, as well as their reasonings, will not easily be answered." He concludes by saying: "I therefore recommend to you to suppress that part the work, as a good citizen of the world, for the world's peace, as one intrusted and obliged by Lord Bolingbroke, not to raise storms to his memory." Warton. of Ver. 61. whatever CORNBURY disdains;] When Lord Cornbury returned from his travels, the late Earl of Essex, his brother-inlaw, told him he had got a handsome pension for him. To which Lord Cornbury answered with a composed dignity: "How could you tell, my Lord, that I was to be sold; or, at least, how came you to know my price so exactly?" To this anecdote Pope alludes. Ruffhead. Lord Cornbury, to whom Pope pays so elegant a compliment, was in all respects a most amiable man. He resided for some time at Spa, on account of his health. In a letter from Pope to VOL. VI. N Mrs. |