Pity the forrows of a poor old man!

Whofe trembling limbs have borne him to your

door,

Whofe days are dwindled to the shortest span;
Oh! give relief-and heav'n will bless

your store.

ΑΝ

HEROIC EPISTLE

то

SIR WILLIAM CHAMBERS, KNIGHT,
COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF HIS MAJESTY'S WORKS,

AND AUTHOR OF A LATE

DISSERTATION ON ORIENTAL GARDENING.

ENRICHED WITH EXPLANATORY NOTES,

CHIEFLY EXTRACTED FROM THAT ELABORATE
PERFORMANCE.

Non omnes arbufa juvant humilefque myrice.

VIRGIL.

KNIGHT of the Polar Star! by Fortune plac'd,

To shine the Cynosure of British taste ;
Whose orb collects in one refulgent view,
The scatter'd glories of Chinese Virtù ;

And spread their luftre in fo broad a blaze,

5

That Kings themselves are dazzled, while they gaze,

Verse 2. [Cynofure of British taste.] Cynosure, an affected phrase, Cynofura is the constellation of Urfa Minor, or the Leffer Bear, the next ftar to the Pole. Dr. Newton, on the word in Milton.

O let the Mufe attend thy march fublime,
And, with thy profe, caparifon her rhyme,
Teach her, like thee, to gild her splendid fong,
With scenes of Yven-Ming,and fayings of Li-Tfong;
Like thee to fcorn Dame Nature's fimple fence;
Leap each Ha Ha of truth and common sense;
And proudly rifing in her bold career,
Demand attention from the gracious ear

15

Of him, whom we and all the world admit
Patron fupreme of science, tafte, and wit.
Does Envy doubt? Witness ye chosen train !
Who breathe the sweets of his Saturnian reign;
Witness ye H*lls, ye J*ní*ns, Sc*ts, S⭑bb*s,
Hark to my call, for some of you have ears. 20

Verse 10. [With scenes of Yven Ming.] One of the Imperial gardens at Pekin. [Sayings of Li-Tsong.] “ Many trees, fhrubs, and flowers," fayeth Li-Tfong, a Chinese author of great antiquity, "thrive beft in low, moift fitua tions; many on hills and mountains; fome require a rich foil; but others will grow on clay, in fand, or even upon rocks, and in the water to fome a funny expofition is neceffary; but for others the fhade is preferable. There are plants which thrive best in exposed situations, but in general, fhelter is requifite. The skilful gardener, to whom study and experience have taught these qualities, carefully attends to them in his operations; knowing that thereon depend the health and growth of his plants; and confequently the beauty of his plantations." Vide Diff. p. 77. The reader, I prefume, will readily allow, that he never met with fo much recondite truth, as this ancient Chinese here exhibits.

Let D**d He, from the remoteft North,
In fee-faw fceptic fcruples hint his worth;
Dd, who there fupinely deigns to lye
The fatteft Hog of Epicurus' fty;

Tho' drunk with Gallic wine, and Gallic praise,
Dd fhall blefs Old England's halcyon days;
The mighty Home bemir'd in profe fo long,
Again fhall talk upon the filts of fong:
While bold Mac-Ofian, wont in Ghofts to deal,
Bids candid Smollet from his coffin teal;
Bids Mallock quit his fweet Elyfian reft,
Sunk in his St. John's philofophic breaft,
And, like old Orpheus, make fome strong effort
To come from Hell, and warble truth at Court.

30

There was a time," in Efher's peaceful grove, 35 "When Kent and Nature vy'd for Pelham's love,” That Pope beheld them with aufpicious fmile, And own'd that Beauty bleft their mutual toil. Milaken Bard! could fuch a pair defign

40

Scenes fit to live in thy immortal line ?
Hadft thou been born in this enlighten'd day,
Felt, as we feel, Tafte's oriental ray,
Thy fatire fure had given them both a stab,
Called Kent a Driveller, and the Nymph a Drab.

Verfe 34. [Truth at Court.] Vide (if it be extant) a poem under this title, for which (or for the publication of Lord Bolingbroke's philofophical writings) the perfon here mentioned, received a confiderable penfion in the time of Lord B-te's adminiftration.

For what is Nature? Ring her changes round, 45
Her three flat notes are water, plants, and ground;
Prolong the peal, yet spite of all your clatter,
The tedious chime is ftill ground, plants, and water.
So, when fome John his dull invention racks,
To rival Boodle's dinners, or Almack's;
Three uncouth legs of mutton fhock our eyes,
Three roafted geefe, three butter'd apple-pies.

59

Come then, prolifick art, and with thee bring The charms that rise from thy exhaustless spring;

Na

Verfe 45. [For what is Nature ?] This is the great and fundamental axiom, on which oriental tafte is founded. It is therefore expreffed here with the greatest precision, and in the identical phrafe of the great original. The figurative terms, and even the explanatory fimile are entirely borrowed from Sir William's Differtation. ture (fays the Chinese, or Sir William for them) affords us but few materials to work with. Plants, ground, and water, are her only productions; and, though both the forms and arrangements of these may be varied to an incredible degree, yet they have but few striking varieties, the rest being of the nature of changes rung upon bells, which though in reality different, ftili produce the same uniform kind of gingling; the variation being too minute to be easily perceived." "Art must therefore fupply the fcantinefs of Nature," &c. &c. page 14. And again, "Our larger works are only a repetition of the small ones, like the boneft Bachelor's feaft, which confifted in nothing but a multiplication of his own dinner; three legs of mution and turneps, three roafted geese, and three buttered applepies." Preface, page 7.