And Pallas, if she broke the laws,
Muft yield her foe the ftronger caufe;
A fhame to one fo much ador'd
For wifdom, at Jove's council-board..
Befides, the fear'd the queen of love
Would meet with better friends above..
And though the muft with grief reflect,
To fee a mortal virgin deck'd
With graces hitherto unknown
To female breafts, except her. own;
Yet fhe would act as beft became
A goddess of unfpotted fame..
She knew, by augury divine,.
Venus would fail in her design:
She study'd well the point, and found
Her foe's conclufions were not found,
From premiffes erroneous brought,
And therefore the deduction's nought,
And must have contrary effects,.
To what her treach'rous foe expects..
In proper season Pallas meets

'The queen of love, whom thus she greets,.
(For gods, we are by Homer told,
Can in celestial language scold)、
"Perfidious goddess! but in vain
You form'd this project in your brain ;.
A project for thy talents fit,

With much deceit, and little wit.

Thou haft, as thou shalt quickly see,.
Deceiv'd thyfelf, instead of me:

For how can heav'nly wisdom prove

An inftrument to earthly love?

Know'st thou not yet, that men commence

Thy votaries for want of fenfe è

Nor fhall Vaneffa be the theme
To manage thy abortive scheme :
She'll prove the greatest of thy foes;
And yet 1 fcorn to interpofe,

But ufing neither skill, nor force,
Leave all things to their nat'ral courfe."
The goddess thus pronounc'd her doom:
When, lo! Vaneffa in her bloom
Advanc'd, like Atalanta's ftar,
But rarely feen, and feen from far
In a new world with caution stept,
Watch'd all the company fhe kept,
Well knowing, from the books she read,
What dangerous paths young virgins tread:
Would feldom at the park appear,

Nor faw the playhouse twice a year;
Yet, not incurious, was inclin'd

To know the converfe of mankind.
First iffu'd from perfumers shops

A croud of fashionable fops:

They afk'd her, how fhe lik'd the play
Then told the tattle of the day;
A duel fought last night at two,
About a lady-You know who ;
Mention'd a new Italian, come
Either from Muscovy or Rome;

Gave

Gave hints of who and who's together:

Then fell to talking of the weather:
Laft night was fo extremely fine,
The ladies walk'd till after nine.

Then in foft voice, and fpeech abfurd,
With nonfenfe ev'ry fecond word, N
With fuftian from exploded plays,
They celebrate her beauty's praise ;
Run o'er their cant of ftupid lyes,
And tell the murders of her eyes.
With filent fcorn Vanessa fat,
Scarce lift'ning to their idle chat;
Further than fometimes with a frown,
When they grew pert, to pull them down.
At last fhe fpitefully was bent

To try their wifdom's full extent;

And faid, fhe valu'd nothing lefs

Than titles, figure, fhape, and drefs;
That merit fhould be chiefly plac'd
In judgment, knowledge, wit, and tafte;
And thefe, the offer'd to difpute,
Alone diftinguifh'd man from brute:
That present times have no pretence
To virtue, in the noble fenfe
By Greeks and Romans understood
To perish for our country's good.
She nam'd the ancient heroes round,
Explain'd for what they were renown'd;
Then spoke with cenfure, or applause,
Of foreign customs, rites, and laws;

Thro

Thro' nature and thro' art she rang'd,
And gracefully her fubject chang'd:

In vain her hearers had no fhare

:

In all the fpoke, except to ftare.
Their judgment was upon the whole,
-That lady is the dulleft foul--
Then tipt their forehead in a jeer,
As who should fay-she wants it here;
She may be handfome, young, and rich,
But none will burn her for a witch.

A party next of glitt❜ring dames,
From round the purlieus of St. James,
Came early, out of pure good-will,
To fee the girl in deshabille.

Their clamour, 'lighting from their chairs,
Grew louder all the way up ftairs;
At entrance loudeft; where they found
The room with volumes litter'd round.
Vaneffa held Montaigne, and read,
Whilft Mrs. Sufan comb'd her head:
They call'd for tea and chocolate,
And fell into their ufual chat,
Difcourfing, with important face,
On ribbons, fans, and gloves, and lace;
Shew'd patterns just from India brought,
And gravely afk'd her what she thought;
Whether the red or green were best,
And what they coft? Vaneffa guess'd,
As came into her fancy firft;

Nam'd half the rates, and lik'd the worft.

To

To scandal next-What aukward thing
Was that laft Sunday in the ring?
I'm forry Mopfa breaks fo faft;
I faid her face would never last.
Corinna, with that youthful air,
Is thirty, and a bit to spare :
Her fondness for a certain earl
Began, when I was but a girl.
Phillis, who but a month ago
Was marry'd to the Tunbridge beau,
I faw coquetting t'other night
In public with that odious knight.
They rally'd next Vaneffa's drefs:
That gown was made for old

queen Dear madam, let me fee your head:

Don't you intend to put on red?

A petticoat without a hoop!

Befs

Sure, you are not asham'd to stoop;
With handsome garters at your knees,
No matter what a fellow fees.

Fill'd with difdain, with rage inflam'd,
Both of herself and fex afham'd,
The nymph flood filent out of fpight,
Nor would vouchfafe to fet them right.
Away the fair detractors went,

And gave by turns their cenfures vent.
She's not fo handsome in my eyes:

For wit, I wonder where it lies.

She's fair and clean, and that's the most :
But why proclaim her for a toaft?

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