Such speeches bring the wealthy Tonfons gain,
From age to age they minuted remain,
As precedents for George the twentieth's reign.
45 Is there a man on earth fo perfect found,
Who ne'er miftook a word in fenfe 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 fputt'ring mortals, 'tis the fatal curfe,
By mending blunders ftill to make them worse.
Men fneer when gets a lucky thought,
And ftare if Wyndham fhould be nodding caught.
45 Sunt delicta tamen, quibus ignoviffe velimus;
Nen 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, veniâ caret : & Citharœdus
Ridetur, chordâ qui femper oberrat eâdem :
Sic mihi, qui multùm ceffat, fit Charilus ille,
Quem bis terque bonum, cum rifu miror: & idem
Indignor quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus :
Verum opere in longo fas eft obrepere fomnum.
e Sir William Wyndham, chancellor of the exchequer under queen Anne: he made, fays Mr. Pope, early a confiderable figure, but afterwards a much greater, both by his ability and eloquence, joined with the utmost judgment and temper.
But fleeping's what the wisest men may do,
Should the committee chance to fit 'till two.
46 Not unlike paintings, principles appear, Some beft at distance, some 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.
47 Whoe'er you are that have a feat fecurè,
Duly return'd, and from petition fure,
Stick to your friends in whatfoe'er you fay;
With ftrong averfion fhun the middle-way;
The middle-way the best we fometimes call,
But 'tis in politics no way at all.
46 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.
47 O major juvenum-hoc tibi dictum
Tolle memor, certis medium & tolerabile rebus
Recte concedi
Non homines, non Dii, non concefsêre columnæ;
Sic animis natum inventumque Poëma juvandis,
Si paulum a fummo deceffit, vergit ad imum.
VOL. I.
A Trimmer's what both parties turn to sport,
By country hated, and defpis'd at court.
Who would in earnest to a party come,
Must give his vote not whimfical, but plumb.
There is no medium; for the term in vogue,
On either fide, is, honest man, or rogue,
Can it be difficult our minds to fhew,
Where all the difference is, yes, or no?
48 In all profeffions, time and pains give skill
Without hard study dare phyficians kill ?
Can he that ne'er read ftatutes or reports,
Give chamber counfel, 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 eftate be clear?.
Sure he may speak his mind, and tell the houfe
He matters not the government
loufe.
48 Ludere qui nefcit, campeftribus abftinet armis :
Indoctufque pilæ, difcive, trochive, quiefcit,
Ne fpiffæ rifum tollant impunè corona;
Qui nefcit, verfus tamen audet fingere.
Liber & ingenuus, præfertim cenfus equeftrem
Summam nummorum, vitioque remotus ab omni.
Membranis intus pofitis, delere licebit
Quod non edideris: nefcit vox miffa reverti.
Lack-learning knights, thefe things are fafely 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.
Words to recall is in no member's power,
One fingle word may fend you to the Tower.
49 The wrong'd to help, the lawless to restrain,
Thrice every year in ancient Egbert's reign,
The members to the Mitchelgemot went,
In after-ages called the Parliament;
Early the Mitchelgemot did begin
T' inroll their ftatutes on a parchment skin :
For impious treafon hence no room was left,
For murder, for polygamy, or theft :
Since when the fenate's power both fexes know
From hops and claret, foap and callico.
49 Sylveftres homines facer interprefque Deorum
Cædibus & victu fædo deterruit Orpheus.
Fuit hæc fapientia quondam,
Publica privatis fecernere, facra profanis ;
Concubitu prohibere vago, dare jura maritis;
Oppida moliri, leges incidere ligno.
Dictæ per carmina fortes,
Et vitæ monftrata via eft, & gratia regum
Pieriis tentata modis: ludufque repertus,
Et longorum operum finis:
Now wholesome laws young fenators bring in
'Gainft gaols, attorneys, bribery, and gin.
Since fuch the nature of the British ftate,
The power of parliament fo old and great,
Ye 'fquires and Irish lords, 'tis worth your care
To be return'd for city, town, or shire,
By sheriff, bailiff, conftable, or mayor.
so Some doubt, which to a seat has best pretence,
A man of substance, or a man of sense:
But never any member feats will do,
Without a head-piece and a pocket too;
Senfe is requir'd the depth of things to reach,
And money gives authority to speech.
51 A man of bus’nefs won't 'till evening dine,
Abftains from women, company, and wine :
From Fig's f new theatre he'll miss a night,
Though cocks, and bulls, and Irish women fight :
50 Naturâ fieret laudabile carmen, an arte,
Quæfitum eft; ego nec ftudium fine divite venâ,
Nec rude quid profit video ingenium: alterius fic
Altera pofcit opem res, & conjurat amice.
51 Quid ftudet optatam curfu contingere metam,
Multa tulit fecitque puer; fudavit & alfit,
Abftinuit venere & vino.
Nunc fatis eft dixiffe, Ego mira poëmata pango:
Occupet extremum fcabies, mihi turpe relinqui eft,
Et, quod non didici, fane nescire fateri.
f Fig was the most celebrated prize-fighter of the times, He died De
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