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Once, we confefs, beneath the Patriot's Cloak, From the crack'd Bag the dropping Guinea fpoke, And jingling down the Back-ftairs, told the Crew, "Old Cato is as great a Rogue as you."

Bleft Paper-credit! that advanc'd fo high,
Now lends Corruption lighter Wings to fly!
Gold, imp'd with this, can compass hardest Things,
Can pocket States, or fetch or carry Kings;
A fingle Leaf can waft an Army o'er,
Or fhip off Senates to fome diftant Shore;
A Leaf like Sybil's fcatters to and fro

Our Fates and Fortunes as the Wind fhall blow;
Pregnant with Thousands flits the Scrap unfeen,
And filent fells a King, or buys a Queen.

Mr. Pope knew well how to enjoy the Fortune he was bleft with, the foberer Pleasures were those he only dar'd aim at, his Conftitution did not permit him to run into Exceffes, nor his Inclination lead him to it; he thought himself rich, nay, he thought there was no Poverty where there was Health, Peace, and Competence; he had a charitable Tenderness for the Distress of Poverry, and reproaches in this Poem all hard Hearts, and those who fix an Odium on it:

-Bond damns the Poor, and hates them from his The grave Sir Gilbert holds it for a Rule, [Heart: That every Man in Want is Knave or Fool:

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God

*This is a true Story which happened in the Reign of King William III. to an unfufpected old Patriot, who coming out at the Back-Door from having been closeted by the King, where he had receiv'd a large Bag of Guineas, the bursting of the Bag difcover'd his Bufiness there.

"God cannot love (fays Blunt, with lifted Eyes) "The Wretch he starves" and piously denies: But Rev'rend S**n with a fofter Air, Admits, and leaves them Providence's Care.

In the Year 1730, a Corporation was establish'd to lend Money to the Poor upon Pledges, by the Name of the Charitable Corporation. It was under the Direction of the Right Honourable Sir R. S. Sir Arch. Grant, Mr. Dennis Bond, Mr. Burroughs, &c. But the Whole was turn'd only to an iniquitous Method of enriching particular People, to the Ruin of fuch Numbers, that it became a parliamentary Concern to endeavour the Relief of thofe unhappy Sufferers, and three of the Managers, who were Members of the Houfe, were expell'd. That " God bates the Poor, and That every Man in Want is Knave or Fool, &c. were the general Apothegms of fome of the Perfons here mention'd..

Such Perfons as these are perfectly deteftable, and who is there that would not prefer the most extreme Poverty, before Riches, and such a contemptible and indigent Mind? How many great Philofophers, how many admirable Painters, Poets, and Wits, have been poor? How many reputed Saints, and holy Men and Women? How many have embrac'd a voluntary Poverty rather than fell their Innocence and Honefty to Courts or Colleges? And it is recommended in Holy Writ as a great Bleffing, and the Means of arriving at Heaven, which is faid to be extremely difficult for the Rich, and eafier for a Camel to pass through the Eye of a Needle. Is it not ftrange, that in a Country profeffing Christianity and Reformation, there fhould be any fuch unpurg'd and fordid Spirits!

But

But think not Reader that there are many fuch abominable human Brutes: Let us take our Eyes off those blafphemous Mifers, and turn to a Character which we have read with Pleasure more than an hundred Times:

But all our Praises why should Lords engross?
Rife honest Muse! and fing the * Man of Ross:
Pleas'd Vaga ecchoes thro' her winding Bounds,
And rapid Severn hoarfe Applause resounds.
Who hung with Woods yon Mountain's fultry Brow?
From the dry Rock who made the Waters flow?
Not to the Skies in ufelefs Columns toft,
Or in proud Falls magnificently loft,

But clear and artlefs, pouring through the Plain
Health to the Sick, and Solace to the Swain.
Whose Caufe-way parts the Vale with fhady Rows?
Whofe Seats the weary Traveller repofe?
Who taught that Heav'n directed Spires to rife?
The Man of Ross, each lifping Babe replies.
Behold the Market-place with Poor oe'rfpread!
The Man of Ross divides the weekly Bread:
He feeds yon Alms-house neat, but void of State,
Where Age and Want fit fmiling at the Gate:
Him portion'd Maids, apprentic'd Orphans bleft,
The Young who labour, and the Old who reft.
Is any fick? the Man of Ross relieves,
Prescribes, attends, the Med'cine makes, and gives.
VOL. II.

F

Is

*The Perfon here celebrated, who with a small Estate actually perform'd all thefe good Works, and whofe true Name was almoft loft (partly by the Title of the Man of Rofs given him by Way of Eminence, and partly by being buried without fo much as an Infcription) was call'd Mr. John Kyrle. He died in the Year 1724, aged 90, and lie interr'd in the Chancel of the Church of Refs in Herefordshire.

Is there a Variance? enter but his Door, Balk'd are the Courts, and Contest is no more. Depairing Quacks with Curfes fled the Place, And vile Attornies, now an ufelefs Race. "Thrice happy Man ! enabled to purfue "What all fo wish, but want the Pow'r to do. "Oh fay, what Sums that gen'rous Hand fupply? -"What Mines to fwell that boundless Charity? Of Debts and Taxes, Wife and Children clear, This Man poffeft-five hundred Pounds a Year. Blush Grandeur, blush! proud Courts withdraw your Ye little Stars! hide your diminish'd Rays. [Blaze!

"And what? no Monument, Infeription, Stone? "His Race, his Form, his Name almoft unknown? Who builds a Church to God, and not to Fame, Will never mark the Marble with his Name: Go fearch it there*, where to be born and die, Of Rich and Poor makes all the History; Enough, that Virtue fills the Space between ; Prov'd, by the Ends of Being, to have been.

It may be plainly perceiv'd that Mr. Pope preferr'd the Man of Rofs to the great Man mention'd immediately after, which was no less then George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who died, after a whimfical and chimerical Life exceeding poor, in the worst Room of a very bad Inn.

Riches are doubtlefs very great Bleffings, if made fo, and it must be an extreme pleafing Thought to have it one's Power to do good, to relieve the Sick. and Hungry, and cloath the Naked, to relieve the Orphan and the Widow, and fet the Prisoner at Liberty; to have the neceffary Comforts of Life always at Command, and the Power of faving a Friend from

*The Parish Register.

from Bankruptcy, perhaps from quitting his Country, or being forc'd into a Confinement for Life, thefe Things are all exceeding great Pleasures to Minds well feafon'd with Humanity, and the generous Delight of doing and communicating Good; it is not fufficient to love or praife Society, and Actions of Benevolence and Beneficence, but to do them too, and there are very few, if any, in fuch diftrefs'd Circumftances, but they might find frequent Occafions to exercise their Talent, and the Power which they at Times may have to do Good: But on the contrary, Riches are the fpoiling of many People, who without them were fafe enough, fome they make imperious, fome covetous, fome extravagant, and others only make ufe of them to obtain and purchafe that very Iniquity that they ought to be glad to be depriv'd of all their Riches to avoid; it is in these Cafes that Riches are dangerous and a Snare; but, on the other Hand, they bring Safety, and certain Peace: They are, as they are employ'd, may be a Bribe, or a Reward, may purchase Neceffaries or Prodigalities, pay Harlots, or give Portions to Virgins, buy Criminals from Punishment, or hire Affaffins to murder the Innocent; they are like most other Things (if not all with which Man has to do) in his Power, to be made to become to him very ufeful, or very hurtfvl.

An Inftance of the total Deftruction of a Man by becoming very rich, Mr. Pope concludes this Epiftle to the Lord Bathurst with :

Where* London's Column pointing at the Skies Like a tall Bully, lifts the Head, and lyes:

F 2

There

* The Monument built in memory of the Fire of Lon don, with an Infcription importing that City to have been burnt by the Papifts, which Mr. Pope, as a Papist, is loth

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