"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 Minister of State :
Onc word from me, without all doubt, he says,
Would fix his fortune in some little place.
Thus better than myself, it seems, he knows, ,
How far my interest with my patron goes ;
And, answering all objections I can make,
Still plunges deeper in his dear mistake.

* Richard Shelton Esquire. VOL. II.

B

From my

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

To fhun this censure, I all fhame lay by ;
And make my reason with his will comply;
Hoping, for my excuse, 't will be confest,
That of two evils I have chose the least.
So, Sir, with this epistolary scroll,
Receive the

partner

of
my

inmost foul :
Him
you

will find in letters and in laws Not unexpert, firm to his country's cause, Warm in the glorious interest you pursue, And, in one word, a good man and a true.

To Mr. HARLEY, wounded by GUISCARD, 1711,

* Ab ipfo

“ Ducit opes animumque ferro."

HOR.

I. IS

N one great now, superior 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

II.
While the fierce monk does at his trial stand ;

He chews revenge, abjuring his offence:
Guile in his tongue, and murder in his hand,
He stabs his judge, to prove his innocence.

III.
The guilty stroke and torture of the steel

Infix'd, our dauntless Briton scarce perceives :
The wounds his country from his death must feel,
The Patriot views; for those alone he grieves.

IV.
The barbarous rage that durft attempt thy life,

Harley, great counsellor, extends thy faine :
And the sharp point of cruel Guiscard's knife,

In brass and marble carves thy deathless name,

V.

Faithful assertor of thy country's cause,

Britain with tears shall bathe thy glorious wound :
She for thy safety shall enlarge her laws;
And in her statutes shall thy worth be found.

VI.
Yet 'midst her fighs she triumphs, on the hand

Reflecting, that diffus'd the public woe ;
A stranger to her altars, and her land :
No son of her's could meditate this blow.

VII.
Mean time thy pain is gracious Anna's care :

Our Queen, our Saint, with sacrificing breath
Softens thy anguish : in her powerful prayer
She pleads thy service, and forbids thy death.

VIII. Great

B 2

VIII.
Great as thou art, thou canst demand no more,

O breast bewail'd by earth : preserv'd by Heaven ! No higher can aspiring Virtue foar:

Enough to thec of grief and fame is given.

AN EXTEMPORE INVITATION

TO THE

Earl of OXFORD, Lord High Treasurer, 1712.

MY LORD,

04

UR weekly friends to-morrow meet

At Matthew's palace, in Duke-street,
To try for once if they can dine
On bacon-ham and mutton-chine :
· If, weary'd with the great

affairs
Which Dritain trufts to Harley's cares,
Thou, humble statesman, may't descend,
Thy inind one inoment to unbend ;
'To see thy servant from his soul
Crown with thy health the sprightly bowl :
Among the guests which e'er house
Receiv'd, it never can produce
Of honour a more glorious proof
Though Dorset ys'd to bless the roof.

my

ERLE