Per & mare pauperiem fugiens, per faxa, ́per ignès:
Ne cures ea, quae ftulte miraris et optas,

h

Difcere, et audire, et meliori credere non vis?
Quis circum pagos et circum compita pugnax
Magna coronari contemnat Olympia, cui fpes,
Cui fit conditio dulcis fine pulvere palmae?
❝i Vilius eft auro argentum, virtutibus aurum.

O cives, cives! quaerenda pecunia primum eft; Virtus poft nummos: haec 1 Janus fummus ab imo Prodocet haec recinunt juvenes dictata fenefque, Laevo fufpenfi loculos tabulamque lacerto.

n

Eft animus tibi, funt mores, eft lingua, fidefque:

NOTES.

VIR. 77. Here, Wisdom calls: etc.] All from hence to 110, is a pretty close tranflation: but in general done with fo masterly a fpirit, that the Original, tho' one of the most finished paflages in Horace, looks only like the imitation of it.

VER. 78. As Gald to Silver, Virtue is to Gold.] This perhaps is the most faulty line in the whole collection, The Original is,

Vilius eft auro argentum, virtutibus qurum. which only fays, that as Silver is of lefs value than Gold, fo Gold is of lefs value than Virtue in which fimple inferiority, and not the proportion of it, is implied. For it was as contrary to the Author's purpose, as it is to common fenfe, to fappofe, that Virtue was but just as much better than gold, as gold is better than filver. Yet Mr. Pope, too attentive to his conftant object, conciseness, has, before he was aware, fallen into this meaning.

VER. 82. From low St. James's up to high St. Paul ;]

To ftop thy foolish views, thy long defires,
And ease thy heart of all that it admires?

i

75

Here, Wisdom calls: "Seek Virtue firft, be bold! "As Gold to Silver, Virtue is to Gold."

There, London's voice: "Get Money, Money ftill ! "And then let Virtue follow, if the will."

This, this the faving doctrine, preach'd to all,
From low St. James's up to high St. Paul;

1

From him whofe " quills ftand quiver'd at his ear,
To him who notches fticks at Westminster.

80

Barnard in " fpirit, sense, and truth abounds; 85 "Pray then, what wants he?" Fourfcore thousand pounds;

NOTES.

i. e. This is a doctrine in which both Whigs and Tories agree.

VER. 83. From him whofe quills ftand quiver'd at his ear,] They who do not take the delicacy of this satire, may think the figure of ftanding quiver'd, extremely hard and quaint; but it has an exquifite beauty, infinuating that the pen of a Scrivener is as ready as the quill of a porcupine, and as fatal as the fhafts of a Parthian.-Quiver'd at his ear, which describes the pofition it is ufually found in, alludes to the cuftom of the American canibals, who make use of their hair (tied in a knot on the top their heads) for a quiver for their poifon'd arrows.

VER. 84. notches fticks] Exchequer Tallies.

of

VER. 85. Barnard in fpirit, fenfe, and truth abounds;] Sir John Barnard. It was the Poet's purpose to say, that this great man (who does fo much honour to his Country) had a fine genius, improved and put in ufe by a true understanding; and both, under the guidance of an integrity

Sed quadringentis fex feptem millia defint,

• Plebs eris. Pat pueri ludentes, Rex eris, aiunt,

Si recte facies. Hic murus aheneus efto,

Nil confcire fibi, nulla pallefcere culpa.

Rofcia, dic fodes, melior lex, an puerorum eft

Naenia, quae regnum recte facientibus offert,

Et maribus Curiis et decantata Camillis?

* Ifne tibi melius fuadet, qui, "Rem facias; rem,

"Si poffis, recte; fi non, quocunque modo rem."

fuperior to all the temptations of intereft, honours, or any meaner paffion. Many events, fince the paying this tribute to his virtue, have fhewn how much, and how particularly it was due to him.

A Penfion, or fuch Harness for a flave
As Bug now has, and Dorimant would have.
Barnard, thou art a Cit, with all thy worth;
But Bug and D*1, Their Honours, and fo forth.

P

Yet ev'ry child another fong will fing,

"Virtue, brave boys! 'tis Virtue makes a King.” True, confcious Honour is to feel no fin,

He's arm'd without that's innocent within;

90

Be this thy Screen, and this thy Wall of Brafs; 95 Compar❜d to this, a Minister's an Afs.

And fay, to which shall our applause belong, This new Court jargon, or the good old fong? The modern language of corrupted Peers,

Or what was spoke at $ CRESSY and POITIERS? 100
Who counfels beft? who whispers, "Be but great,
"With Praise or Infamy leave that to fate;
"Get Place and Wealth, if poffible, with grace;
"If not, by any means get Wealth and Place."
For what? to have a Box where Eunuchs fing, 105
And foremost in the Circle eye a King.

Or "he, who bids thee face with steady view
Proud Fortune, and look fhallow Greatness thro:
And," while he bids thee, fets th' Example too?
If y fuch a Doctrine, in St. James's air,

Shou'd chance to make the well-dreft Rabble ftare;

VER. 97. And fay, etc.] These four lines greatly fuperior to any thing in the Original.

Non, ut porticibus, fic judiciis fruar iifdem,

Nec fequar aut fugiam, quae diligit ipse vel odit ;

Olim quod vulpes aegroto cauta leoni

Refpondit, referam: Quia me veftigia terrent

Omnia te adverfum fpectantia, nulla retrorfum.

Bellua multorum es capitum, nam quid fequar, aut

quem?

NOTES.

VER. 117. Full many a Beaft goes in,] This expreffion is ufed for the joke's fake; but it hurts his maral; which is, that they come out beafs. He fhould here have stuck to the terms of his Original, veftigia omnia te adverfum Spectantia.

VER. 118. Adieu to Virtue, etc.] Thefe two lines are intended for the application or moral of a fable, which needs no explaining; and, confequently, they impair the grace of it, which at beft is inferior to his Original. For Horace fpeaks of the common people, Populus Romanus, to whom one of fop's Fables was properly addressed: too fimple a method of conveying truth to the well-dreft Rabble of St. James's.

VER. 124. Alike in nothing but one Luft of Gold, Juft half the land would buy, and half be fold:] Here the argument fuffers a little for the fake of the fatire. The rea