One's fo good-natur'd, he's beyond all bearing,
He'll ridicule no friend, tho' out of hearing:
Another warm'd with zeal, offends our eyes,
Because he holds the mirror up to vice.
No wonder then, fince fancies wild as these
Can move our fpleen, that real faults displease.
When Mævius, spite of dullness, will be bright,
And teach ARGYLL to fpeak, and SWIFT to write ;
When Flavia entertains us with her dreams,

And Macer with his no less airy schemes;

When peevishness, and jealousy and pride,
Aud int'reft that can brother hearts divide,
In their imagin'd forms our eyefight hit,
Of an old maid, a poet, peer or cit;
Can then, you'll fay, philofophy refrain,
And check the torrent of each boiling vein ?
Yes. She can ftill do more; view paffion's flave
With mind ferene, indulge him, and yet fave.

But felf-conceit fteps in, and with strict eye
Scans every man, and every man awry ;
That reigning paffion, which thro' every stage
Of life, still haunts us with unceafing rage.
No quality fo mean, but what can raife
Some drudging driveling candidate for praise;
Ev'n in the wretch, who wretches can defpife,
Still felf-conceit will find a time to rife.
Quintus falutes you with forbidding face,
And thinks he carries his excufe in lace:

You

You alk, why Clodius bullies all he can ?
Clodius will tell you, he's a gentleman:
Myrtilla ftruts and fhudders half the year,
With a round cap, that fhews a fine turn'd ear:
The lowest jest makes Delia laugh to death;
Yet fhe's no fool, she has only handsome teeth.
Ventofo lolls, and fcorns all human kind

From the gilt coach with four lac'd slaves behind;
Does all this pomp and state proceed from merit?
Mean thought! he deems it nobler to inherit :
While Fopling from fome title draws his pride,
Meanlefs, or infamous, or mifapply'd;
Free-mafon, rake or wit, 'tis just the fame,

The charm is hence, he has gain'd himself a name.
Yet, fpite of all the fools that pride has made,
'Tis not on man an useless burthen laid 16
Pride has ennobled fome, and some disgrac'd ;
It hurts not in itself, but as 'tis plac'd;

When right, its view knows none but virtue's bound;
When wrong, it scarcely looks one inch around.
Mark! with what care the fair one's critic eye
Scans o'er her dress, nor let's a fault flip by;
Each rebel hair must be reduc'd to place
With tedious skill, and tortur'd into grace;
Betty muft o'er and o'er the pins dispose,
"Till into modifh folds the drapery flows,
And the whole frame is fitted to exprefs

The charms of decency and nakedness.

Why

Why all this art, this labour'd ornament;
To captivate, you'll cry no doubt, 'tis meant.
True. But let's wait upon this fair machine
From the lone closet to the social scene;
There view her loud, affected, fcornful, four,
Paining all others, and herself still more.
What means fhe, at one instant to disgrace,
The labour of ten hours, her much-lov'd face?
Why, 'tis the felf-fame paffion gratify'd;
The work is ruin'd, that was rais'd by pride.
Yet of all tempers, it requires least pain,
Could we but rule ourselves, to rule the vain.
The prudent is by reason only sway'd,

With him each sentence and each word is weigh'd;

The gay and giddy can alone be caught

By the quick luftre of a happy thought;
The miser hates, unless he steals your pelf;

The prodigal, unless you rob yourself;

The lewd will fhun you, if your wife prove chaste;
The jealous, if a smile on his be caft;
The steady or the whimsical will blame,
Either, because you're not, or are the fame;
The peevish, fullen, fhrewd, luxurious, rafh,
Will with your virtue, peace, or intereft, clash;
But mark the proud man's price, how very low!
"Tis but a civil fpeech, a fmile, or bow.

Ye who push'd on by noble ardour, aim
In focial life to gain immortal fame,

Obferve the various paffions of mankind,
General, peculiar, fingle or combin'd:
How youth from manhood differs in its views,
And how old age still other paths pursues ;
How zeal in Prifcus nothing more than heats,
In Codex burns, and ruins all it meets ;
How freedom now a lovely face shall wear,
Now fhock us in the likeness of a bear;
How jealousy in some resembles hate,
In others, feems but love grown delicate
How modefty is often pride refin'd,

And virtue but the canker of the mind;
How love of riches, grandeur, life, and fame,
Wear different shapes, and yet are still the fame.
But not our paffions only disagree,

In taste is found as great variety :

Sylvius is ravish'd when he hears a hound,

His lady hates to death the odious found:
Yet both love mufic, tho' in different ways;
He in a kennel, the at opera's.

A florift fhall, perhaps, not grudge fome hours,
To view the colours in a bed of flowers;
Yet, fhew him TITIAN'S workmanship divine,
He paffes on, and only cries, 'tis fine.
A rufty coin, an old worm-eaten post,
The mouldy fragment of an author lost,
A butterfly, an equipage, a ftar,
A globe, a fine lac'd head, a china jar,

A mistress,

A miftrefs, or a fashion, that is new,

Have each their charms, tho' felt but by a few.
Then ftudy each man's paffion and his tafte,

The first to soften, and indulge the last :

Not like the wretch, who beats down virtue's fence,
And deviates from the paths of common sense;
Who daubs with fulfome flattery, blind and bold,
The very weakness we with grief behold.
Paffions are common to the fool and wife,
And all would hide them under art's disguise;

For fo avow'd, in others, is their shame,

None hates them more, than he who has the fame.
But taste seems more peculiarly our own,

And every man is fond to make his known;
Proud of a mark he fancies is defign'd

By nature to advance him o'er his kind;
And where he fees that character impress'd,
With joy he hugs the favourite to his breast.

But the main ftrefs of all our cares muft lie,
To watch ourselves with ftrict and conftant eye:
To mark the working mind, when paffion's course
Begins to fwell, and reafon ftill has force;

Or, if she's conquer'd by the stronger tide,
Obferve the moments when they first subside;
For he who hopes a victory to win
O'er other men, muft with himself begin ;
Elfe like a town by mutiny opprefs'd,
He's ruin'd by the foe within his breast;

And