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moft prodigiously exafperated the Lady, who neglected no Opportunity of raifing whoever fhe could against Mr. Pope and his Writings; imagining him the great Difperfer of this Tale, and, perhaps, he was not entirely clear. He, on the defenfive Part, flies to Horace and Dr. Donne, and imitates the former and modernizes the latter, which he introduces into the World by Advertisement :

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HE Occafion of publishing, thefe Imitations was the Clamour raifed on fome of my Epiftless. An Answer from Horace was both more full, and of more Dignity, than any I could have made in my own Perfon; and the Example of fo much greater Freedom in fo eminent a Divine as Dr. Donne, feem'd a Proof with what Indignation and Contempt a Christian may treat Vice or Folly, in ever fo low, or ever fo high a Station. Both these Authors were acceptable to the Princes and Minifters under whom they lived: The Satires of Dr. Donne I verfify'd, at the Defire of the Earl of Oxford while he was Lord Treasurer, and of the Duke of Shrewsbury who had been Secretary of State; neither of whom look'd upon a Satire on vicious Courts as any Reflection on those they serv'd in. And indeed there is not in the World a greater Error, than that which Fools are fo apt to fall into, and Knaves with good Reafon to encourage, the mistaking a Satyrift for a Libeller; whereas to a true Satyrift nothing is fo odious as a Libeller, for the fame Reason as to a Man truly virtuous nothing is fo hateful as a Hypocrites

In the first Satyr of Horace imitated, he vindicates himself, and fhows the Reafons why he writes fo feverely, and then declares, that he would not spare even himself:

In this impartial Glafs, my Mufe intends
Fair to expofe myself, my Foes, my Friends;
Publifh the present Age, but where my Text
Is Vice too high, referve it to the next.

Peace is my dear Delight, not Fleury's moré ;
But touch me, and no Minister so fore.
Whoe'er offends at fome unlucky Time,
Slides into Verse and hitches into Rhyme;
Sacred to Ridicule his whole Life long,
And the fad Burthen of fome merry Song.

To this his Friend makes Anfwer, that it is dangerous, and that there are People who take Revenges upon fuch Occafions; infinuating, that a Sixpenny Drug may chance to cut him off in the Middle of a Song: To which he makes this bold and open Reply:

What? arm'd for Virtue when I point the Pen,
Brand the bold Front of fhameless, guilty Men,
Dafh the proud Gamefter in his gilded Car,
Bare the mean Heart that lurks beneath a Star;
Can there be wanting, to defend her Cause,
Lights of the Church, or Guardians of the Laws?
Could penfion'd Boileau lash in honest Strain
Flatt'rers and Bigots ev'n in Louis' Reign?
Could Laureate Dryden Pimp and Fry'r engage,
Yet neither Charles nor James fall in a Rage?
And I not strip the Gilding off a Knave,
Un-plac'd, un-penfion'd, no Man's Heir, or Slave?
I will, or perifh in the gen'rous Cause:

Hear this and tremble! you, who 'fcape the Laws.
Yes, while I live, no rich or noble Knave
Shall walk in Peace, and Credit, to his Grave.

In this Satire, (though we point not out the Place, it being too harfh) the forenamed Lady of Qualty and great Wit is faid to be ftruck at, or at leaft fhe imagined fo; for now, comes into the Publick: Verfes addrefs'd to the Imitator, of the firft Satire of the Second Book of Horace, BY A LADY; where she takes a Fling at him about his Birth.

Hard as thy Heart, and as thy Birth obfcure.. She, having taking it upon Truft, that Mr. Pope was meanly born; whereas, we have already prov'd him to be descended from genteel Families. But, this angry Lady let's nothing flip, that might any way contribute to the making Mr. Pope look mean and contemptible; fhe calls his Numbers crabbed, and makes a stinging Reflection on the Badness of his Perfon.

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Thine is but fuch an Image of his Pen, As thou thyfelf art of the Sons of Men: Where our own Species in Burlesque we trace, A Sign-poft Likeness of the noble Race; That is at once Refemblance and Difgrace. Horace can laugh, is delicate, is clear; You, only coarsely rail, or darkly fneer: His Stile is elegant, his Diction pure, Whilft none thy crabbed Numbers can endure. If he has Thorns, they all on Rofes grow; Thine like rude Thiftles, and mean Brambles fhow, With this Exception, that tho' rank the Soil, Weeds as they are, they feem produc'd by Toil. Satire fhould like a polifh'd Razor keen, Wound with a Touch, that's fcarcely felt or feen.

She keeps up her Spirit, and after having (as the thinks) lower'd his Pride pretty handfomely, the ondeavours to infult him:

Is this the Thing to keep Mankind in Awe,
To make thofe tremble who efcape the Law?
Is this the Ridicule to live fo long,

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The deathlefs Satire, and immortal Song?
No: like thy felf-blown Praife, thy Scandal flies
And, as we're told of Wafps, it ftings and dies.

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It was faid, that this Lady was one of those who hired the Perfons to wait for Mr. Pope in HamWalks; and, indeed, in another Part of this Poem, she seems to hint at fomething like it:

When God created Thee, one would believe,
He said the fame as to the Snake of Eve;
To human Race Antipathy declare,

'Twixt them and Thee be everlafting War.
But oh! the Sequel of the Sentence dread,
And whilft you bruife their Heel, beware your Head.
Nor think thy Weakness fhall be thy Defence;
The Female Scold's Protection in Offence.
Sure 'tis as fair to beat who cannot fight,
'As 'tis to libel those who cannot write.
And if thou draw'ft thy Pen to aid the Law,
Others a Cudgel, or a ROD, may draw.
If none with Vengeance yet thy Crimes purfue,
Or give thy manifold Affronts their Due:
If Limbs unbroken, Skin without a Stain,
Unwhipt, unblanketted, unkick'd, unflain,
That wretched little Carcass you. retain ;
The Reason is, not that the World wants Eyes;
But thou'rt fo mean, they fee, and they despise.

By this an Obfervation may be made, that this Lady's Pen is fharp enough, and too fharp for her Subject; for all muft own Mr. Pope's Numbers not crabbed, that he is not thorny, and full of Thiftles

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and Brambles, the Beauty of his Perfon is not contended for, fo that the Lady got nothing there; neither was Mr. Pope ever defpis'd fo, as to be thought too mean for Notice: Tho' we think the Lady's Anger juft, yet had she show'd the real Injury the receiv'd by his Reports or Pen, and prov'd what was faid or wrote to have been Falfhood, Mr. Pope, in the Opinion of moral People, would have fuffer'd more; for now nothing is feen but the Lady's Refentment, while the Caufe, or pretended Caufe, lies conceal'd. Mr. Pope, towards the latter End of his Time, faid, that setting apart Raillery and the Love of Satire, he wifh'd he had never offended this Lady; which Repentance will, we hope, palliate and mitigate any too hard Sentence from the Ladies on him. 'Tis great Pity that any private Pique should fo far influence Wits and Scholars, as to divide them against themselves; they have already too many Enemies, the Ignorant, the Dull, even the Schools and Colleges are Seminaries for their Foes, and the reverend Tutor breathes his No-fpirit into the Pupil. If the few (tho' they are but few) of Wit, Senfe, Tafte, and Learning, would unite, the Dunces would either reform, or elfe it would be eafy to keep them quiet; now they riggle to the Bar, up to the Pulpit, and higher up, where none but wife and good Men ought to fit.

The Second Satire of Horace, which Mr. Pope has imitated, is chiefly a Satire against Luxury and bad Oeconomy, and takes Occafion to fhow the Waste of fome, and the fordid Penurioufnefs of others, recommending the Medium to him that knows how to live properly, then shows the great Advantages of Temperance, and the contrary:

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