*

That, bending down its top, divines
Whene'er the foil has golden mines
Where there are none, it ftands erect,
Scorning to fhew the leaft refpect;
As ready was the wand of Sid
To bend where golden mines were hid
In Scottish hills found precious ore †,
Where none e'ér look'd for it before
And by a gentle bow divin'd
How well a cully's purfe was lin’d ;
To a forlorn and broken rake,
Stood without motion, like a stake.

;

The rod of Hermes was renown'd
For charms above and under ground;
To fleep could mortal eye-lids fix,
And drive departed fouls to Styx.
That rod was juft a type of Sid's
Which o'er a British senate's lids'
Could scatter opium full as well,
And drive as many fouls to hell.

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SID's rod was flender, white, and tall,

Which oft he us'd to fish withal;

A plaice was faften'd to the hook,
And many score of gudgeons took:
Yet ftill so happy was his fate,

He caught his fish, and fav'd his bait.
SID's brethren of the conj'ring tribe

40

A circle with their rod defcribe,

50

The virgula divina, or divining rod, is deferibed to be a forked branch of a hazel or willow, two feet and an half long. It is to be held in the palms of the hands, with the fingle end elevated about eighty degrees; and in this pofition is faid to be attracted by minerals and fprings, fo as by a forcible inclination to direct where they are to be found. Hawkef.

↑ Suppofed to allude to the union of the two kingdoms.

Hawkef.

Which proves a magical redoubt...
To keep mischievous fpirits out.
Sid's rod was of a larger ftride,
And made a circle thrice as wide, !
Where Spirits throng'd with hideous din,
And he stood there to take them in :
But when th' inchanted rod was broke,
They vanish'd in a stinking smoke.

ACHILLES' fceptre was of wood,
Like Sid's, but nothing near fo good;
That down from ancestors divine
Tranfmitted to the hero's line;
Thence, thro' a long defcent of kings,
Came an heir-loom, as Homer fings.
Tho' this description looks fo big,
That fceptre was a faplefs twig
Which from the fatal day, when firft
It left the foreft where 'twas nurs'd,
As Homer tells us o'er and o'er,
Nor leaf, nor fruit, nor bloffom bore.
Sid's fceptre, full of juice, did shoot
In golden boughs, and golden fruit;
And he, the dragon, never fleeping,
Guarded each fair Hefperian pippin.
No holly-berfe, with gorgeous top,.
The dearest in Charles Mather's fhop
Or glittering tinfel of May fair,,
Could with this rod of Sid compare.

DEAR Sid, then why wert thou so mad
To break thy red like naughty lad!:
You fhould have kifs'd it in your distress,
And then return'd it to your mistress;
Or made it a Newmarket fwitch,
And not a rod for thy own breech.
But, fince old Sid has broken this,
His next may be a rod in piss.

An eminent toyman in Fleet-ftreet.

ATLAS;

O R,

The MINISTER of STATE.

To the Lord Treasurer OXFORD.

Written in the year 1712.

ATLAS, we read in antient fong,

Was fo exceeding tall and strong,

He bore the fkies upon his back,
Just as a pedlar does his pack:
But, as a pedlar overprest
Unloads upon a stall to rest,
Or, when he can no longer ftand,
Defires a friend to lend a hand;
So Atlas, left the pond'rous spheres
Should fink, and fall about his ears,
Got Hercules to bear the pile,
That he might fit and reft a while.

YET Hercules was not fo ftrong,

Suppofe then Atlas ne'er fo wife,

Yet, when the weight of kingdoms lies
Too long upon his fingle fhoulders,

Sink down he muft, or find upholders.

VOL. VI.

H

20

The DESCRIPTION of a SALAMANDER*.

Out of Pliny's Natural history, lib. 10. c. 67. and

lib. 29. c. 4.

As

Written in the year 1706.

S mastiff dogs in modern phrase are
Call'd Pompey, Scipio, and Cæfar;

As pyes and daws are often styl'd

With Chriftian nicknames like a child;
As we fay Monfieur to an ape,
Without offence to human shape;
So men have got from bird and brute
Names that would beft their natures fuit.]
The lion, eagle, fox, and boar,

Were heroes titles heretofore.
Befow'd as hi'rogliphics fit

To fhew their valour, ftrength, or wit:
For what is understood by fame,

Befides the getting of a name?

But, e'er fince men invented

guns,

A diff'rent way their fancy runs:

To paint a hero, we inquire

For fomething that will conquer fire.

*

Would you describe Turenne or Trump †?
Think of a bucket or a pump.

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*This exceffive bitter defcription of a falamander, was occafioned by the Duke of Marlborough's giving that appellation to Lord Cuts, after he had come off victorious, and without a wound, from an engagement with part of the French army, whose fire was fo extremely brifk, and fo inceffantly poured in upon the English forces, that it was fuppofed nothing but a falamander could have lived in the midft of it. Swift.

*The famous Marefchal Turenne, General of the French forces, faid to have been the greatest commander of the age. H. + Van Trump, Admiral of the States-General in their last war with England, eminent for his courage and his victories. H.

Are these too low? —then find out grander,
Call my Lord Cuts a falamander *.

"Tis well ;- -but fince we live among
Detractors with an evil tongue,

Who may object against the term,
Pliny fhall

prove what we affirm :
Pliny fhall prove, and we'll apply,
And I'll be judg'd by ftanders-by.
FIRST, then, our author has defin'd
This reptile of the ferpent kind,
- With gaudy coat, and fhining train;
But loathfome fpots his body ftain:
Out from fome hole obfcure he flies,
When rains defcend, and tempefts rife,
Till the fun clears the air; and then
Crawls back neglected to his den.

So, when the war has rais'd a storm,
I've seen a Jnake in human form,
All ftain'd with infamy and vice,
Leap from the dunghill in a trice,
Burnish, and make a gaudy show,
Became a genʼral, peer, and beau,
Till peace hath made the sky ferene;
Then fhrink into its hole again.

All this we grant-why then look yonder,
Sure that must be a falamander!

FARTHER, we are by Pliny told,
This ferpent is extremely cold;

Lord Cuts. Salamander was a name given him by his flatterers, upon his having furvived an engagement in which he stood an inceflant fire for many hours. He is faid frequently to have lamented himself in these terms: "G-d d-n my bl--d, I'm "the most unlucky dog upon earth: for I never engaged an ene"my without being wounded, nor a whore without being p-x'd."

Hawkef