For what is Dryden's Muse, and Otway's plots,
To th' earl of Effex or the queen of Scots ?
''Tis faid that queen Elizabeth could speak,
At twelve years old, right Attic full-mouth'd Greek;
Hence was the student forc'd at Greek to drudge,
If he would be a bishop or a judge.
Divines and lawyers now don't think they thrive,
'Till promis'd places of men still alive :
How old is fuch a one in fuch a post?
The answer is, he's seventy-five almost :
Th' archbishop and the mafter of the rolls?
Neither is young, and one's as old as Paul's.
Will men that afk fuch questions, publish books
Like learned Hooker's, or chief justice Coke's?
* On tender fubjects with discretion touch,
And never fay too little or too much.
• Graiis ingenium, Graiis dedit ore rotundo
Mufa loqui, &c.
Romani pueri longis rationibus affem
Difcunt in partes centum diducere. Dicat
Filius urbani, fi de quincunce remota eft
Uncia, quid fupereft? poteras dixiffe, triens. Eu!
Rem poteris fervare tuam.
Semis. Ad hæc animos ærugo & cura peculî
Cum femel imbuerit, fperamus carmina fingi
Poffe linenda cedro, & lævi fervanda cupreffo?
* Quicquid præcipies, efto brevis ; ut cito dicta
Percipiant animi dociles, teneantque fideles;
Omne fupervacuum pleno de pectore manat,
On trivial matters flourishes are wrong,
Motions for candles never fhould be long:
Or if you move in cafe of fudden rain,
To fhut the windows, fpeak diftinct and plain.
Unless you talk good English, downright sense,
Can you be understood by ferjeant Spence?
"New stories always fhould with truth agree,
Or truth's half fifter, probability:
Scarce could Toft's rabbits and pretended throes
On half the honourable house impose.
* When Cato speaks, young Shallow runs away,
And swears it is fo dull he cannot stay :
When rakes begin on blafphemy to border,
Bromley and Hanmer cry aloud—to order.
The point is this, with manly fense and ease
T' inform the judgment, and the fancy please.
Praise it deferves, nor difficult the thing,
At once to serve one's country, and one's king.
"Ficta voluptatis caufâ, fint proxima veris :
Nec, quodcunque volet, pofcat fibi fabula credi;
Neu pranfæ Lamiæ vivum puerum extrahat alvo.
* Centuriæ feniorum agitant expertia frugis;
Celfi prætereunt auftera poëmata Rhamnes.
Omne tulit punctum qui mifcuit utile dulci,
Lectorem delectando, pariterque monendo.
Hic meret æra liber Sofiis, hic & mare tranfit,
Et longum noto fcriptori prorogat ævum.
Such speeches bring the wealthy Tonfons gain,
From age to age they minuted remain,
As precedents for George the twentieth's reign.
> Is there a man on earth fo perfect found,
Who ne'er miftook a word in sense or found?
Not blund'ring, but perfifting is the fault;
No mortal fin is Lapfus Linguæ thought:
Clerks may mistake; confidering who 'tis from,
I pardon little flips in Cler. Dom. Com.
But let me tell you I'll not take his part,
If every Thursday he date Die Mart.
Of sputt'ring mortals, 'tis the fatal curse,
By mending blunders ftill to make them worse.
Men fneer when-gets a lucky thought,
And ftare if Wyndham fhould be nodding caught.
But fleeping's what the wifest men may do,
Should the committee chance to fit 'till two.
Sunt delicta tamen, quibus ignoviffe velimus;
Non femper feriet quodcunque minabitur arcus:
Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis
Offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit,
Aut humana parum cavit natura. Quid ergo eft?
Ut fcriptor fi peccat idem librarius ufque,
Quamvis eft monitus, venia caret : & Citharœdus
Ridetur, chordâ qui femper oberrat eâdem :
Sic mihi, qui multùm cefat, fit Charilus ille,
Quem bis terque bonum, cum rifu miror: & idem
Indignor quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus :
Verum opere in longo fas eft obrepere fomnum.
* Not unlike paintings, principles appear, Some best at diftance, fome when we are near. The love of politics fo vulgar's grown, My landlord's party from his fign is known: Mark of French wine, fee Ormond's head appear, While Marlb'rough's face directs to beer and beer; Some Buchanan's, the Pope's head fome like beft, The Devil tavern is a standing jeft.
* Whoe'er you are that have a seat secure,
Duly return'd, and from petition sure,
Stick to your friends in whatsoe'er you fay;
With strong averfion fhun the middle-way;
The middle-way the best we sometimes call,
But 'tis in politics no way at all.
A Trimmer's what both parties turn to sport,
By country hated, and despis'd at court.
Who would in earneft to a party come,
Must give his vote not whimsical, but plumb.
z Ut pictura Poëfis erit; quæ, fi propius ftes,
Te capiet magis: & quædam, fi longius abftes.
Hæc amat obfcurum, volet hæc fub luce videri ;
Hæc placuit femel, hæc decies repetita placebit.
O major juvenum hoc tibi dictum
Tolle memor, certis medium & tolerabile rebus
Recte concedi.
-Mediocribus effe Poëtis
Non homines, non Dii, non conceffère columnæ.
There is no medium; for the term in vogue,
On either fide is, honeft man, or rogue.
Can it be difficult our minds to fhew,
Where all the difference is, yes, or no?
"In all profeffions, time and pains give skill;
Without hard study dare physicians kill?
Can he that ne'er read ftatutes or reports,
Give chamber counsel, or urge law in courts?
But every whipster knows affairs of state,
Nor fears on niceft fubjects to debate.
A knight of eighteen hundred pounds a year-
Who minds his head, if his estate be clear?
Sure he may speak his mind, and tell the house,
He matters not the government a louse.
Lack-learning knights, these things are safely faid
To friends in private, at the Bedford-head;
But in the house, before your tongue runs on,
Confult fir James, lord William's dead and gone.
Sic animis natum inventumque Poëma juvandis,
Si paulum a fummo deceffit, vergit ad imum.
Ludere qui nefcit, campeftribus abftinet armis :
Indoctufque pile, difcive, trochive, quiescit,
Ne fpiffe rifum tollant impunè coronæ;
Qui nefcit, verfus tamen audet fingere.
Liber & ingenuus, præfertim cenfus equeftrem
Summam nummorum, vitioque remotus ab omni.
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