A

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POE
O EM S

By MR. P RIO R.

To the Right Honourable Mr. HARLEY. HORACE, 1 Ep. ix. imitated.

"Septimius, Claudi, nimirum intelligit unus, "Quanti me facias, &c."

DEAR Dick*, howe'er it comes into his head,

Believes as firmly as he does his creed,

That you and I, Sir, are extremely great;
Though I plain Mat, you Minifter of State :
One word from me, without all doubt, he fays,
Would fix his fortune in fome little place.
Thus better than myself, it seems, he knows,
How far my intereft with my patron goes ;
And, anfwering all objections I can make,
Still plunges deeper in his dear mistake.

VOL. II.

* Richard Shelton Ésquire.
B

From

From this wild fancy, Sir, there may proceed
One wilder yet, which I foresee and dread;
That I, in fact, a real intereft have,
Which to my own advantage I would save,
And, with the ufual courtier's trick, intend
To ferve myself, forgetful of my friend.

To fhun this cenfure, I all fame lay by ;
And make my reason with his will comply;
Hoping, for my excufe, 't will be confeft,
That of two evils I have chofe the least.
So, Sir, with this epiftolary fcroll,
Receive the partner of my inmost soul :
Him you will find in letters and in laws
Not unexpert, firm to his country's caufe,
Warm in the glorious interest you pursue,
And, in one word, a good man and a true.

To Mr. HARLEY, wounded by GUISCARD, 17.

Ab ipfo

HOR.

Ducit opes animumque ferro."

I.

IN one great now, fuperior to an age,

The full extremes of Nature's force we find : How heavenly Virtue can exalt; or Rage Infernal how degrade the human mind.

II. While