202 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2nd s. N» 37., Sept. 13. '56. 



Or, if by chance his Judgment seems to lead. 

 Where one poor Moral faintl}' shews its Head; 

 'Tis like a Judge, that reverendly drest. 

 Peeps thro' the Pageants, at a Lord May'rs Feast ; 

 By Starts he reasons, and seems Wise by Fits, 

 Such Wit's call'd Wisdom, that has lost its Wits. 



"Un-nam'd by me this witling Bard had been, 

 Had not the Writer's caus'd the Reader's Sin ; 

 But less by Comedies and lewd Romances, "^ 

 Are ruin'd, less by French lascivious Dances, V 

 Than by such Rhimer's Masqueraded Fancies.J 



" From such, the Root of Superstition grew, 

 Whose Old Charms fertile, daily branch'd in New ; 

 From such Chimeras first inspir'd, the Fair, 

 The Cnnfrers Ring Approach'd and Jesuits Chair; 

 Thronft'd to the Doors, where Magic Rogues Divin'd, 

 And sold out Ignes-fatui to the Mind. 



" Wizards and Jesuits differ but in Name, 

 Both DcBmorCs Envoys, and their Trade the same ; 

 Weak Wills they lea'd, and vapour'd Minds command, 

 And play the Game into each others Hand ; 

 Like Spiritual luglers at the Cup and Ball, 

 Rising by foolish Maids, that long to Fall. 

 Some into Love they Damn, and some they Pray, 

 For Green-sick Minds are caught a different way ; 

 To the same End, tho' several Paths, thej' run, 

 Priests to Undo, and Maids to be Undone ; . ^ 

 Some blacker Charms, some whiter Spells cajole, ^^ 

 As some lick Wall, and some devour a Coal. 

 Here Ladies, strong in Vapours, see Men's Faces 

 Imprinted in the Conjurers dazling Glasses, 

 There, when, in Spring Time, the too praying Priest, "i 



Toasts, and does something better, to the Best V 



A Spouse is promis'd on next Baptises* Feast. J 



First some young Contrite Rake's enjoin'd to Marry 

 Lest Madam's forc'd to squeak for't — or — Miscarry: 

 In June, the Lass does to the Fields repair, 

 Where good Sir Z>o»i!ne just took the Air. 



When O strange Wonder ! near a Plantane-Root, 



She finds a Conl and so a Spouse to boot, 



She longs to Dream — and to secure the Sport 



That very Daj' the Youth design'd must Court, 



He does — She struck with rapture and delight. 



Bespeaks her Fancy strongly Dreams at 



Night. 

 The yielding Fair, the ravish'd Youth obtains, 



A Maid she passes so his Child's free gains, 



He has the Pleasure, yet is sav'd the Pains. 



Thus when Priest's Wench — to cure the growing Evil 



Poor St. John Baptist must forerun the Devil. 



" But if the Ladies fall, at fall of Leaf, 



Or in the Winter still there's fresh relief; 



Let her Lace close four Months, and if she can 

 St. Agnes^ heals the Breach, and brings the Man. 

 Thus a lewd Priest to Vapoured Virgins cants 

 And into Pimps reverts his Vestal- Saints. 



" ! dire Effects of Masqu'd Impiety ! 

 And shall they (Christian Muse!) have Aids from 



Thee; 

 Wilt Thou, like witty Heathens, lewdly given, 

 To a Gehenna Metamorphose Heaven? 

 Wilt Thou, O no forbid th' unhallow'd 



Song? 

 Such I'rophanations to Rome's Bard belong. 

 Let 0.\E, who Gods and Goddesses adores 

 Paint them like Rakes and Bullies, Bawds, and Whores. 



] 



* See, the Dedication of M. CampbelVs Life, 

 t See, Ibid. 



all Divine, 1 

 nguish'd shine, V 

 s, Thine. J 



nand 



} 



:} 



^} 



" Our Genij, Campbell, shall be all Divine, 

 Shall high o'er Theirs as much distinguish" ' 

 As o'er such Priests or Chiromancers, 

 Thine, which does future Time's events Command 

 To leap to Sight, and in thy Presence stand. 

 Thine, whose Eyes glowing with a gifted Ray, 

 New Roads of Life o'er Wisdom's Alps survey. 

 And guide benighted Travellers to Day 

 Let Me, for once, a daring Prophet be 



Mark from this Hour and Poetry thou'lt see 



Date a new jEra from thy Book and Thee ; 

 Thy Book, where, thro' the Stories, thou hast laid, 

 All Moral Wisdom's to the Mind convey'd ; 

 And thus far Prophecy's each Page, that all 

 Must rise bj' Virtues, or by Vices fall. 



" Poets shall blush to see their Wit outdone, 

 Resume their Reason, and assert it's Throne, 

 Shall Fables still for Virtues-sake Commend 

 And Wit the means, shall Wisdom make its End. 



"Who hopes to Please, shall strive to Please by' 

 Pains, 

 Shall gaining Fame, earn hard whate'er he gains. 

 And Denham's Morals join, to Denham's Strains. 

 Here Paint the Thames * ' When running to the Sea 

 ' Like Mortal Life to meet Eternity. 

 There show both Kings and Subjects * one excess, 

 ' Makes both, by striving to be Greater, Less. 

 Shall climb, and sweat, and falling, climb up still. 

 Before he gains the height of Cooper's Hill. 



" In Windsor- Forest,^ if some trifling Grace, 

 Gives, at first Blush, the whole a pleasing Face, 

 'Tis Wit, 'tis true ; but then 'tis Common Place. 

 The Landscape- Writer, branches out a Wood, 

 Then digging hard for't, finds a Silver Flood. 

 Here paints the Woodcock qniv'ring in the Air, 

 And there, the bounding Stag and quaking Hare. 

 Describes the Pheasant's Scarlet-circled Eye, 

 And next the slaughVring-Gun, that makes him Die. 

 From common Epithets that Fame derives. 

 By which his most uncommon Merit lives. 

 'Tis true ! if finest Notes alone could show, 

 (Tun'd justly high, or regularly low,) 

 That we should Fame to these mere Vocals give, 

 Pope more, than we can offer, should receive. 

 For, when some gliding River is his Theme, 

 His Lines run smoother, than the smoothest Stream ; 

 Not so, when thro' the Trees fierce Boreas blows, 

 The Period blustring with the Tempest grows. 

 But what Fools Periods read, for Periods sake? 

 Such Chimes improve not Heads, but make 'em Ach ; 

 Tho' strict in Cadence on the Niimbers rub. 

 Their frothy Substance is Whip-Syllabub ; 

 With most Seraphic Emptiness they roll, 

 Sound without Sense, and Body without Soul. 



" Not such the Bards, that give you just Applause, 

 Each, from intrinsick Worth, Thy Praises draws, 

 Morals, in ev'ry Page, where-e'er they look, 

 Thej' find divinely scatter'd thro' thy Book : 

 They find Thee studious, with Praise-worthy strife, 

 To smooth the future Roads of Human Life, 

 To help the Weak, and to confirm the Strong, 

 INIake our Griefs vanish, and our Bliss prolong. 

 With Phineus' equal find thy large Desert 

 And in 'I'hy Praise would equal Milton's Art. 



" Some Fools, we know, in spite of Nature born. 

 Would make thee Theirs, as they are Mankind's Scorn, 



* See Cooper's Hill. 



+ See, Pope's String of Verses, upon this Subject, with- 

 out any Connection. 



