EPISTLE III.

Our bolder talents in full life display'd ;

Let fops or Fortune fly which way they will, Your virtues open fairest in the shade.

Disdains all loss of tickets, or codille; Bred to disguise, in public 'tis you hide ;

Spleen, vapours, or small-pox, above them all, There, none «listinguish 'twixt your shame or pride. And mistress of herself, though china fall. Weakness or delicacy; all so nice,

And yet, believe me, good as well as ill, That each may seem a virtue, or a vice.

Woman's at best a contradiction still.

270 In men we various ruling passions find;

Heaven when it strives to polish all it can In women, two almost divide the kind :

Its last best work, but forms a softer man; Those, only fix'd, they first or last obey,

Picks from each sex, to make the favourite blesta The love of pleasure, and the love of sway. 210 Your love of pleasure, our desire of rest :

That, Nature gives; and where the lesson taught Blends, in exception to all general rules,
Is but to please, can pleasure seem a fault? Your taste of follies, with our scorn of fools :
Experience, this; by man's oppression curst, Reserve with frankness, art with truth ally'd,
They seek the second not to lose the first.

Courage with softness, modesty with pride;
Men, some to business, some to pleasure take; Fix'd principles, with fancy ever new;
But every woman is at heart a rake:

Shakes all together, and produces--you.

286 Men, some to quiet, some to public strife; Be this a woman's fame! with this unblest, But every lady would be queen for life.

Toasts live a scorn, and queens may die a jest. Yet mark the fate of a whole sex of queens ! This Phæbus promis'd (I forget the year) Power all their end, but beauty all the means : 220 When those blue eyes first open'd on the sphere ; In youth they conquer with so wild a rage,

Ascendant Phoebus watch'd that hour with care, As leaves them scarce a subject in their age: Averted half your parents' simple prayer; For foreigu glory, foreign joy, they roam ; And gave you beauty, but deny'd the pelf No thought of peace or happiness at home. That buys your sex a tyrant o'er itself. But wisdoin's triumph is well-tim'd retreat, The generous god, who wit and gold refines, As hard a science to the fair as great!

And ripens spirits as he ripens mines,

296 Beauties, like tyrants, old and friendless grown, Kept dross for dutchesses, the world shall know it, Yet hate repose, and dread to be alone,

To you gave sense, good-humour, and a poet. Wom-out in public, weary every eye, Nor leave one siyh behind them when they die. 230

Pleasures the sex, as children birds, pursue,
Still out of reach, yet never out of view;

TO ALLEN, LORD BATHURST.
Sure, if they catch, to spoil the toy at most,
To covet flying, and regret when lost:

ARGUMENT.
At last, to follies youth could scarce defend,
It grows their age's prudence to pretend;
Asham'd to own they gave delight before,
Reduc'd to feign it, when they give no more,

That it is known to few, most falling into one of As hags hold sabbaths, less für joy than spite,

the extremes, avarice or profusion, ver. 1, &c. So these their merry, miserable night; 240

The point discussed, whether the invention of Still round and round the ghosts of beauty glide,

money has been more commodious or perniciAdd haunt the places where their honour dyd.

ous to mankind, ver. 21 to 77. That riches, See how the world its veterans rewards!

either to the avaricious or the prodigal, cannot A youth of frolics, an old-age of cards;

atford happiness, scarcely necessaries, ver. 89

to 160. That avarice is an absolute frenzy, Fair to no purppse, artful to no end ; Young without lovers, old withont a friend;

without an end or purpose, ver. 113, &c. 152. A fop their passion, but their prize a sot ;

Conjectures about the motives of avaricious Alive, ridiculous; and dead, forgot !

men, ver. 121 to 153. That the conduct of Ab! friend! to dazzle let the vain design; (250

Inen, with respect to riches, can only be acTo raise the thought, and touch the heart, be thine!

counted for by the order of Providence, which That charm shall grow, while what fatigues the ring,

works the general good out of extremes, and Flaunts and goes down, an unregarded thing :

brings all to its great end by perpetual revoluSo when the Sun's broad beam lias tir'd the sight,

tions, ver. 161 to 178. How a miser acts upon All mild ascends the Moon's more sober light,

principles which appear to him reasonable, ver. Serene in virgin modesty she shines,

179.. How a prodigal does the same, ver. 199. And unobserv'd the giaring orb declines.

The due medium, and true use of riches, ver. Oh! blest with temper, whose unclouded ray

219. The man of Ross, ver. 250. The fate of Can make to morrow chearful as to day :

the profuse and the coretous, in two examples ; She, wbo can love a sister's charms, or hear

both miserable in life and in death, ver. 300, &c. Sighs for a dangliter with unwounded ear; 260 The story of Sir Balaam, ver. 339 to the end. She who ne'er answers till a husband cools, Or, if she rules him, never shows she rules; Charms by accepting, by submitting sways, Yet has her humour must, wben she obeys;

This Epistle was written after a violent outcry

against onr author, on a supposition that he had ridiculed a worthy nobleman merely for his wrong taste.

He justified himself upon that Ver. 207, in the first edition :

ON THE USE OE RICHES.

n

EPISTLE III.

VARIATION.

be wicked than ridiculous : and therefore it A statesman's slumbers how this speech would spoil! may be safer to attack vices than follies. I will “ Sir, Spain has sent a thousand jars of oil ; therefore leave my betters in the quiet posses. Huge bales of British cloth blockade the door ; sion of their idols, their groves, and their high- A hundred oxen at your levee roar.” places; and change my subject from their pride Poor Avarice one torment more would find; to their meanness, from their vanities to their Nor could Profusion squander all in kind, 60 miseries; and as the only certain way to avoid | Astride his cheese sir Morgan might we meet : misconstructions, to lessen offence, and not to And Worldly crying coals from street to street, multiply ill-natured applications, I may proba- | Whom, with a wig so wild, and mien so maz'd, bly in my next make use of real names instead Pity mistakes for some poor tradesinan craz'd, of fictitious ones."

Had Colepepper's whole wealth been hops and hogs,

Could he himself have sent it to the dogs ? P. Who shall decide when doctors disagree,

His grace will game: to White's a bull be led, And soundest casuists doubt, like you and me ?

With spurning heels and with a butting head. You hold the word, from Jove to Momus given,

To White's be carry'd, as to ancient games,

Fair coursers, vases, and alluring dames. 70 That man was made the standing jest of Heaven;

Shall then Uxorio, if the stakes he swecp,
And gold but sent to keep the fools in play,
For some to heap, and some to throw away,

Bear home six whores, and make his lady weep? But I, who think more highly of our kind,

Or soft Adonis, so perfum'd and fine, (And, surely, Heaven and are of a mind)

Drive to St. James's a whole herd of swine ? Opine, that Nature, as in duty bound,

Oh filthy check on all industrious skill, Deep hid the shining mischief under ground:

To spoil the nation's last great trade, quadrille !

10 But when, by man's audacious labour won,

Since then, my lord, on such a world we fall, Flam'd forth this rival too, its sire, the Sun,

What say you? B. Say? Why take it, gold and all, Then careful Heayen supply'd two sorts of men,

P. What riches give us, let us then inquire ? To squander these, and those to hide again,

Meat, fire, and clothes. B. What more? P. Meat, clothes, and fire.

80 Like doctors thus, when much dispute has past, We find our tenets just the same at last,

Is this too little ? would you more than live? Both fairly owning, riches, in effect,

Alas! 'Tis more than Turner finds they give,

Alas! 'tis more than (all his visions past)
No grace of Heaven, or token of th’ elect;
Given to the fool, the mall, the vain, the evil,

Unhappy Wharton, waking, found at last !
To Ward, to Waters, Chartres, and the Devil. 20

What can they give to dying Hopkins, heirs B. What nature wants, commodious

gold bestows; Can they, in gems bid pallid Hippia glow,

To Chartres, vigour ; Japhet, nose and ears 'Tis thus we eat the bread another sows.

In Fulvia's buckle ease the throbs below; P. But how unequal it bestows, observe ; 'Tis thus we riot, while, who sow it, starve :

Or heal, old Narses, tly obscener ail, What nature wants (a phrase I must distrust)

With all th' embroidery plaister'd at thy tail ! 90 Extends to luxury, extends to lust :

They might (were Harpax not too wise to spend) l'seful, I grant, it serves what life requires,

Give Harpax self the blessing of a friend ;

Or tind some doctor that would save the life
But dreadful too, the dark assassin hires.
B. Trade it may help, society extend : 30

Of wretched Shylock, spite of Shylock's wife; P.. But lures the pirate, and corrupts the friend.

But thousands die, without or this or that,
B. It raises armies in a nation's aid :

Die, and endow a college, or a cat,
P. But bribes a senate, and the land's betray'd.fr enrich a bastard, or a son they hate,

To some, indeed, Heaven grants the happier fate,
In vain may heroes fight, and patriots rave,
If secret gold sap on from knave to knave.

Perhaps you think the poor might have their part; Once we confess, beneath the patriot's cloak,

Bond darnps the poor, and hates them from his heart: From the crack'd bag the dropping Guinea spoke,

The grave sir Gilbert holds it for a rule [100 And jingling down the back-stairs, told the crew,

That every inan in want is knave or fuol : “ old Cato is as great a rogue as you."

“God cannot love" (says Blunt, with tearless eyes)

“ The wretch he starves"--and piously denies : Blest Paper-credit ! last and best supply! That lends Corruption lighter wings to fly! 40

But the good bishop, with a meeker air, Gold, imp'd by thee, can compass hardest things, Admits, and leaves them, Providence's care, Can pocket states, can fetch or carry kings;

Yet to be just to these poor men of pelf,

Each does but hate his neighbour as himself : A single leaf shall waft an army o'er,

Damp'd to the mines, an equal fate betides [110 Or ship off senates to some distant shore ;

The slave that digs it, and the slave that hides. A leaf, like Sibyl's, scatter to and fro

B. Who suffer thus, mere charity should own, Our fates and fortunes, as the wind shall blow : Pregnant with thousands flits the scrap unseen,

Must act on motives powerful, though unknown. And silent sells a king, or buys a queen.

P. Some war, some plague, or famine, they foresee,

Some revelation hid from you and me.
Oh! that such bulky bribes as all might see,
Still, as of old, encumber'd villainy!

Why Shylock wants a meal, the cause is found ; 50

He thinks a loaf will rise to fifty pound. Could France or Rome divert our brave designs,

What made directors cheat in South-Sea year? With all their brandies, or with all their wines ? What could they more than knights and 's juires To live on venison when it sold so dear. Or waterall the quorum ten miles round? (confound,

VARIATION.

VARIATION.
After ver. 50, in the MS.

To break a trust were Peter brib'd with wine,
Peter! 'twould pose as wise a head thine.

Ver. 77. Since then, &c ] In the former edit.'

Well then, since with the world we stand or fall,
Come take it, as we find it, gold and all.

Ask you why Phryne the whole auction buys ? No rafter'd roofs with dance and tabór sound, Phryne foresees a general excise.

120 No noontide bell invites the country round : 190 Why she and Sappho raise that monstrous sum? Tenants with sighs the smoakless towers survey, Alas! they fear a man will cost a plum.

And turn th' unwilling steeds another way : Wise Peter sees the world's respect for gold, Benighted wanderers, the forest o'er, And therefore hopes this nation may be sold: Curs'd the sav'd candle, and unopening door ; Glorious ambition ! Peter, swell thy store, While the gaunt mastiff, growling at the gate, And be what Rome's great Didius was before. Affrights the beggar whom he longs to eat.

The crown of Poland, venal twice an age, Not so his son: he mark'd this oversight, To just three millions stinted inodest Gage. And then mistook reverse of wrong for right. But nobler scenes, Maria's dreams unfold, (For what to shun, will no great knowledge need ; Hereditary realms, and worlds of gold. 130 But what to follow, is a task indeed.)

2001 Congenial souls; whose life one avarice joins, Yet sure, of qualities deserving praise, And one fate bories in th’ Asturian mines.

More go to ruin fortunes, than to raise. Much-injard Blunt! why bears he Britain's What slaughter'd hecatombs, what floods of wine, A wizard told him in these words our fate : [hate? Fill the capacious 'squire, and deep divine ! " At length Corruption, like a general food, Yet no mean motives this profusion draws, (So long by watchful ministers withstood)

His oxen perish in his country's cause; Shall deluge all; and Avarice, creeping on, 'Tis George and Liberty that crowns the cup, Spread like a low-born mist, and blot the Sun; And zeal for that great house which eats him up. Statesman and patriot ply alike the stocks, The wools recede around the naked seat, Peeress and butler share alike the box, 110 The Sylvans groan—no matter--for the fleet: 210 And judges job, and bishops bite the town, Next goes his wool--to clothe our valiant bands : And mighty dukes pack cards for half a crown. Last, for his country's love, he sells his lands. See Britain sunk in Lucre's sordid charms, To town he comes, completes the nation's hope, And France revengd of Anne's and Edward's arms!" And heads the bold train-bands, and burns a pope. 'Twas no court-badge, great scrivener, fir'd thy And shall not Britain now reward his toils, Nor lordly luxury, nor city gain : (brain, Britain that pays her patriots with her spoils ? No, 'twas thy righteous end, asham'd to see In vain at court the bankrupt pleads his cause, Senates degenerate, patriots disagree,

His thankless country leaves him to her laws. And nobly wishing pa.ty-rage to cease,

The sense to value riches, with the art To buy both sides, and give thy country prace. 130T enjoy thein, and the virtue to impart, 230

“ All this is madness," cries a sober sage: Not meanly, nor ambitiously pursued, But who, my friend has reason in his rage? Not sunk by sloth, nor rais'd by servitude; “ The ruling passion, be it what it will,

To balance fortune by a just expense, The ruling passion conquers reason still.”

Join with economy, magnificence; Less mad the wildest whimsry we can frame, With splendour, charity; with plenty, health; Than even that passion, if it has no aim;

Oh teach us, Bathurst! yet unspoil'd by wealth! For though such motives furry you may call, That secret rare, between th' extremes to move The folly's greater to have none at all. [sends, Of mad Good-nature, and of mean Self-love.

Hear then the truth : “ 'Tis Heaven each passion B. To worth or want well-weigh'd, be bounty And different men directs to different ends. 160

given, Extremes in Nature equal good produce,

And ease, or emulate, the care of Heaven ; 230 Extremes in man concur to general use.'

(Whose measure full o'erflows on human race) Ask we what makes one keep, and one bestow ? Mend Fortune's fault, and justify her grace. That Power who bids the ocean ebb and flow, Wealth in the gross is death, but life diffus'd ; Bids seed-time, harvest, equal course maintain, As poison heals, in just proportion us'd : Through reconcil'd extremes of drought and rain, In heaps, like ambergris, a stink it lies, Builds life on death, on change duration founds, But well dispers'd, is incense to the skies. And gives th' eternal wheels to know their rounds. P. Who starves by nobles, or with nobles eats ?

Riches, like insects, when conceal'd they lie, The wretch that trusts them, and the rogue that
Wait but for wings, and in their season fly. 170 | Is there a lord, who knows a chearful noon (cheats.
Who sees pale Mammon pine amidst his store, Without a fiddler, flatterer, or buffoon? 940
Sees but a backward steward for the poor ;

Whose table, Wit, or modest Merit share,
This year a reservoir, to keep and spare ; Un-elbow'd by a gamester, pimp, or player?
The next, a fountain, spouting through bis heir,
In lavish streams to quench a country's thirst,
And men and dogs shall drink him till they burst.

After ver. 218, in the MS.
Old Cotta sham'd his fortune and his birth,

Where one lean herring furnish'd Cotta's board, Yet was not Cotta void of wit or worth:

And nettles grew, fit porridge for their lord ; What though (the use of barbarous spits forgot)

Where mad Good-nature, bounty misapply'd, His kitchen vied in coolness with his grot? 180

In lavish Curio blaz'd awhile, and dy'd; His court with nettles, moats with cresses stor'd,

There Providence once more shall shift the scene, With soaps unbought and sallads bless'd his board? If Cotta liv'd on pulse, it was no more

And showing Hậy, teach the golden mean. Than Bramins, saints, and sages did before ;

After ver. 226, in the MS. To cram the rich, was prodigal expense,

The secret rare, which Amuence hardly join'd, And who would take the poor from Providence?

Which W-n lost, yet B-y ne'er could find : Like some lone Chartreux stands the good old Hall, Still miss'd by Vice, and scarce by Virtue hit, Silence without, and fasts within the wall;.

By G's goodness, or by So's wit.

а

VARIATIONS.

a

Who copies your's, or Oxford's better part, On once a flock-bed, but repaird with straw,
To ease th' oppress'd, and raise the sinking heart? With tape-ty'd curtains, never meant to draw,
Where'er he shines, oh Fortune, gild the scene, The George and Garter dangling from that bed
And angels guard him in the golden mean! Where tawdry yellow strove with dirty red,
There, English Bounty yet a while may stand, Great Villers lies--alas how chang'd from him,
And Honour linger ere it leaves the land.

That life of pleasure, and that soul of whim !
But all our praises why should lords engross? Gallant and gay, in Cliveden's proud alcore,
Risc, honest Muse! and sing the Man of Ross : 250 The bower of wanton Shrewsbury and Love;
Pleas'd Vaga echoes through her winding bounds, Or just as gay, at council, in a ring
And rapid Severn hoarse applause resounds. Of mimick'd statesmen, and their merry king. 310
Who hing with woods yon mountain's sultry brow? No wit to flatter, left of all his store !
Froin the dry rock who bade the waters flow? No fool to laugh at, which he valued more.
Not to the skies in useless columns tost,

There, victor of his health, of fortune, friends,
Or in proud falls magnificently lost,

And fame, this lord of useless thousands ends.
But clear and artless pouring through the plain His grace's fate sage Cutler could foresee,
Health to the sick, and solace to the swain. And well (he thought) advis'd him, “ Live like me!"
Whos. causeway parts the vale with shady rows ? As well his grace reply'd, “ Like you, sir John
Whose seats the weary traveller repose ? 260 | That I can do, when all I have is gone.”
Who tanght that heaven-direct: d spire to rise ? Resolve me, Reason, which of these are worse,
“ The Man of Ross,” each lisping babe replies. Want with a full, or with an empty purse? 320
Behold the market-place with poor o'erspread! Thy life more wretched, Cutler, was confessid,
The Man of Ross divides the weekly bread: Arise, and tell me, was thy death more bless'd?
He feeds yon alms-house, neat, but void of state, Cutler saw tenants break, and houses fall,
Where Age and Want sit smiling at the gate; For very want he could not build a wall.
Hin portion'l maids, apprentic'd orphans blest, His only daughter in a stranger's power,
The young who labour, and the old who rest. For very want; he could not pay a dower.
Is any sick? the Man of Ross relievi's, 7270 | A few grey hairs his reverend temples crown'd,
Prescribes, attends, the medicine makes, and gives. | 'T'was very want that sold them for two pound.
Is thre a variance? enter but his door,

What! ev'n deny'd a cordial at his end,
Balk'd are the courts, and contest is no more. Banish'd the doctor, and expell’d the friend? 330
Despairing quacks with curses fled the place, What but a want, which you perhaps think inad,
And vile attorneys, now an useless race.

Yet numbers feel, the want of what he had !
B. Thrice happy man! enabled to pursue Cutler and Brutus dying, both exclaim,
What all so wish, but want the power to do! “ Virtue! and Wealth! what are ve but a name!!!
Oh say, what sums that generous hand supply? Say, for such worth are other worlds prepard ?
Wbat mines to swell that boundless charity? Or are they both, in this, their own reward ?

P. Of debts and taxes, wife and children clcar, A knotty point! to which we now proceed.
This man possest-five hundred pounds a year. 280 But you are tir'd—I'll tell a tale-B. Agreed.
Blush, Grandeur, blush! proud courts, withdraw P. Where London's column, pointing at the skies

Like a tall bully, lifts the head, and lies; 340
Ye little stars ! hide your diminish'd rays.

There dwelt a citizen of sober fame,
B. And what? no inonument, inscription, stone? A plain good man, and Balaam was his name;
Ilis race, his form, his mme alınost unknown? Religious, punctual, frugal, and so forth;

P. Who builds a church to God, and not to Fame, His word would pass for more than he was worth.
Will never mark the marble with his name: One solid dish his week-day meal afforis,
Go, search it there, where to be born and die, And added pudling soleinniz'd the Lord's :
Of rich and poor makes all the history;

Constant at church, and Change; his gains were
Enough, that Virtue fill'd the space between; His givings rare, save farthings to the poor. (sure,
Prov'd by the ends of being, to have been.

290 The devil was piqu’d such saintship to behold,
When Hopkins dies, a thousand lights attend And long'd to tempt bim, like good Job of old ;
The wretch, who living sar' a candle's end; But Satan now is wiser than of yore, (350
Shouldering Cod's altar a vile image stands, And tempts by making rich, not making poor.
Belies his features, nay extends his hands;

Rou'd by the prince of air, the whirlwinds sweep
That live-long wig, which Gorgon's self might own, The surge, and plunge his father in the deep;
Eternal bukle takes in Parian stone.

Then full against his Cornish lands theỹ ront,
Behold what blessings wealth to life can lend ! And two rich shipwrecks bless the lucky shore.
And see, what comfort it affords our end.

Sir Balaam now, he lives like other folks.
In the worst inn's wirst room, with mat half-hung, He takes his chirping pint, and cracks his jokes :
The floors of plaister, and the walls of dung, 300 “ Live like yourself," was soon my lady's word ;

And lo! two puldings smoak'd upon the board.360

Asleep ani naked as an Indian lay,

An honest factor stole a gem away :
After ver. 250, in the MS.
Trare humble worth bi yond Sabrina's shore,

He pledy'd it to the knight, the knight had wit,
Who sings not him, oh inay he sing no inore !

So kept the diamond, and the rogue was dit
Ver. 287. Thus in the MS.
The register inrolls him with his poor,

VARJATION.
Tells he was born, and dy'd, and tells no more. Ver. 337. In the former editions,
Just as he ought, he fillid the space between ; That knotty point, my lord, shall I discuss,
Then stole to rest, unheeded and unscen.

Orwell a tale,a tale it follows this.

your blaze!

VARIATIONS.

EPISTLE IV.

Some scruple rose, but thus he eas'd his thought, harmony of the whole, ver. 97, and the second, " I'll now give sixpence where I gave a groat; either in joining together parts incoherent, or Where once I went to church, I'll now go twice- too minutely resembling, or in the repetition of And ath so clear too of all other vice.”

the same too frequently, ver. 105, &c. A word The tempter saw his time: the work he ply'd; or two of false taste in books, in music, in Stocks and subscriptions pour on every side,

370 painting, even in preaching and prayer, and Till all the demon makes his full descent

lastly, in entertainments, ver. 133, &c. Yet In one abundant shower of cent per cent,

Providence is justified in giving wealth to be Sinks deep within him, and possesses whole, squandered in this manner, since it is dispersed Then dubs director, and secures his soul.

to the poor and laborious part of mankind, Behold sir Balaam, now a man of spirit,

ver. 169, (recurring to what is laid down in the Ascribes bis gettings to his parts and merit;

first book, Ep. j. and in the Epistle preceding this, What late he call'd a blessing, now was wit,

ver. 159, &c.] What are the proper objects of And God's good providence, a lucky hit.

magnificence, and a proper field for the expense Things change their titles, as our manners turn : of great men, ver. 177, &c. and finally the great His compting house employ'd the Sunday morn: and public works which become a prince, ver. 191, Seldom at church, ('twas such a busy life) [380 to the end. But duly sent his family and wife. There (so the devil ordaind) one Christinas-tide My good old lady catch'd a cold, and dy'd.

A nymph of quality admires our knight; He marries, bows at court, and grows polite :

Tue extremes of avarice and profusion being treat

ed of in the foregoing epistle; this takes up one Leaves the dull cits, and joins (to please the fair) The well-bred cuckolds in St. James's air :

particular branch of the latter, the vanity of First, for his son a gay commission buys, (390

expense in people of wealth and quality; and is

therefore a corollary to the preceding, just as Who drinks, whores, fights, and in a duel dies : His daughter flaunts a viscount's tawdry wife ;

the epistle on the characters of women is to that

of the knowledge and characters of men. It is She bears a coronet and p-x for life. In Britain's senate be a seat obtains,

equally remarkable for exactness of method with

the rest. And one more pensioner St. Stephen gains.

But the nature of the subject, which My lady falls to play: so bad ber chance,

is less philosophical, makes it capable of being

analyzed in a much narrower compass. He must repair it; takes a bribe froin France ; The house impeach him, Coningsby harangues ; The court forsake him, and sir Balaam hangs : Wie, son, and daughter, Satan! are thy own, 'Tis strange, the miser should his cares emplog His wealth, yet dearer, forfeit to the crown: 400 To gain those riches he can ne'er enjoy : The devil and the king divide the prize,

Is it less strange, the prodigal should waste
And sad sir Balaam curses God and dies.

His wealth, to purchase what he ve'er can taste?
Not for himself he sees, or hears, or eats;
Artists must choose his pictures, music, meats :
He buys for Topham drawings and designs;
For Pembroke statues, dirty gods, and coins;
Rare monkish manuscripts for Hearne alone,

And books for Mead, and butterfies for Sloane. 10 TO RICHARD BOYLE, EARL OF BURLINGTOX.

Think we all these are for himself? no more
Than his fine wife, alas! or finer whore.

For what has Virro painted, built, and planted ?
ARGUMENT.

Only to show how many tastes he wanted.
What brought sir Visto's ill-got wealth to waste?
Some demon whisperid,

" Visto? bave a taste.” Tre vanity of expense in people of wealth and

Heaven visits with a taste the wealthy fool, quality. The abuse of the word taste, ver. 13.

And needs no rod but Ripley with a rule. That the first principle and foundation in this,

See! sportive Fate, to punish awkward pride, as in every thing else, is good sense, ver. 40.

Bids Bubo build, and sends him such a guide : 20 The chief proof of it is to follow Nature, even in

A standing sermon, at each year's expense, works of mere luxury and elegance. Instanced

That never coxcomb reach'd magnificence! in architecture and gardening, whe all must

You show us, Rome was glorious, not profuse, be adapted to the genius and use of the place, / And pompous buildings once were things of use. and the beautics not forced into it, but resulting Fill half the land with imitating fools ;

Yet shall (my lord) your just, your noble rules froin it, ver. 50. How men are disappointed in their most expensive undertakings, for want of

Who random drawings from your sheets shall take, this true foundation, without which nothing can

And of one beauty inany blunders make; please long, if at all; and the best examples and rules will be but perverted into something burthensore and ridiculous, rer. 05, After ver. 99, in the MS. &c. to 92. A description of the false taste of Must bishops, lawyers, statesmen, have the skill magnificence; the first grand errour of which is, To build, to plant, judge paintings, what you will? to imagine that greatness consists in the size Then why not Kent as well our treaties draw, and dimension, intead of the propertion and Bridgman explain the gospel, Gibbs the laws

EPSSTLE IV.

OF THE USE OF RICHES.

VARIATION.