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Until thou shalt have eas'd thy conscience,
Of spleen, of politicks, and nonsense;
And, when thou'ft bid adieu to cares,
And fettled Europe's grand affairs,
"Twill then, perhaps, be worth thy while
For Drury-Lane to shape thy ftyle:
"To make a pair of jolly fellows,
"The fon and father, join to tell us,
"How fons may safely disobey,
"And fathers never fhould fay nay;

By which wife conduct they grow friends

"At laft-and fo the ftory ends *."

When first I knew thee, Dick, thou wert
Renown'd for skill in Fauftus' art † ;
Which made thy clofet much frequented
By buxom laffes-fome repented

Their lucklefs choice of husbands-others,
Impatient to be like their mothers,
Receiv'd from thee profound directions
How beft to fettle their affections.
Thus thou, a friend to the diftrefs'd,
Didft in thy calling do thy beft.

But now the Senate (if things hit
And thou at Stockbridge wert not bit)
Muft feel thy eloquence and fire,
Approve thy schemes, thy wit admire,
Thee with immortal honours crown,
While patriot-like, thou'lt ftrut and frown.

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бо

* This is faid to be a plot of a comedy with which Mr. Steele has long threatened the town. SWIFT. In fome particulars it would apply to the "The Confcious Lovers."

+ There were fome tolerable grounds for this reflection. Mr. Steele had actually a laboratory at Poplar.

What though by enemies 'tis faid,
The laurel, which adorns thy head,
Must one day come in competition,
By virtue of some fly petition :
Yet mum for that; hope still the best,
Nor let fuch cares difturb thy rest.

Methinks I hear thee loud as trumpet,
As bagpipe fhrill, or oyfter-ftrumpet ;
Methinks I fee thee, fpruce and fine,
With coat embroider'd richly fhine,
And dazzle all the idol-faces,

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As through the hall thy worship paces;

(Though this I fpeak but at a venture,

Suppofing thou haft tick with Hunter)
Methinks I fee a black-guard rout

Attend thy coach, and hear them shout
In approbation of thy tongue,
Which (in their style) is purely hung,

Now! now you carry all before you!
Nor dares one Jacobite or Tory
Pretend to answer one fyl-lable,

Except the matchlefs hero Abel

What though her highness and her spouse,
In Antwerp † keep a frugal house,
Yet, not forgetful of a friend,
They'll foon enable thee to spend,
If to Macartney thou wilt toast,
And to his pious patron's ghost.

• Abel Roper.

Where the duke of Marlborough then refided. 1 General Macartney, who killed duke Hamilton.

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Now

Now manfully thou'lt run a tilt

"On popes, for all the blood they've fpilt,
"For maffacres, and racks, and flames,
"For lands enrich'd by crimson streams,
"For inquifitions taught by Spain,
"Of which the Chriftian world complain."
Dick, we agree-all's true thou'ft faid,
As that my Mufe is yet a maid.
But, if I may with freedom talk,
All this is foreign to thy walk :
Thy genius has perhaps a knack
At trudging in a beaten track,
But is for ftate-affairs as fit
As mine for politicks and wit,

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Then let us both in time grow wife,

Nor higher than our talents rife ;

To fome fnug cellar let's repair

From duns and debts, and drown our care; 110

Now quaff of honeft ale a quart,

Now venture at a pint of port;

With which infpir'd, we'll club each night

Some tender fonnet to indite,

And with Tom D'Urfey, Philips, Dennis, 115 Immortalize our Dolls and Jenneys.

K 3

HORACE,

HORACE, BOOK 1. EP. V.

JOHN DENNIS, the fheltering Poet's INVITATION to
RICHARD STEELE, the fecluded Party-writer, and
Member, to come and live with him in THE
MINT; 1714*.

IF

Fit to be bound up with THE CRISIS.

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ΙΟ

thou canst lay afide a spendthrift's air,
And condefcend to feed on homely fair,
Such as we Minters, with ragouts unftor'd,
Will, in defiance of the law, afford:
Quit thy patrols with Toby's Christmas-box,
And come to me at The Two Fighting Cocks ;
Since printing by fubfcription now is grown
The ftaleft, idleft cheat about the town;
And ev'n Charles Gildon, who, a Papist bred,
Has an alarm against that worship spread,
Is practifing thofe beaten paths of cruifing,
And for new levies on Propofals mufing.
'Tis true, that Bloomsbury-Square's a noble place:
But what are lofty buildings in thy cafe?
What's a fine houfe embellish'd to profufion,
Where shoulder-dabbers are in execution?
Or whence its timorous tenant feldom fallies,
But apprehenfive of infulting bailiffs?
This once be mindful of a friend's advice,
And ccafe to be improvidently nice;

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This and the preceding poem are printed from copies in the Lambeth Library, K. 1. 2. 29, 30. 410.

Exchange

1

Exchange the profpects that delude thy fight, From Highgate's steep afcent and Hampstead's height, With verdant scenes, that, from St. George's field, More durable and fafe enjoyments yield.

30

Here I, ev'n I, that ne'er till now could find 25 Eafe to my troubled and fufpicious mind, But ever was with jealousies poffefs'd, Am in a ftate of indolence and reft; Fearful no more of Frenchmen in disguise, Nor looking upon ftrangers as on spies, But quite divefted of my former spleen, Am unprovok'd without, and calm within: And here I'll wait thy coming, till the fun Shall its diurnal courfe completely run. Think not that thou of sturdy butt fhall fail, My landlord's cellar's ftock'd with beer and ale,

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With every fort of malt that is in use,
And every county's generous produce.
The ready (for here Christian faith is fick,
Which makes us feldom trefpafs upon tick)
Inftantly brings the choiceft liquors out,
Whether we afk for home-brew'd or for ftout,
For mead or cyder, or, with dainties fed,
Ring for a flask or two of white or red,
Such as the drawer will not fail to fwear
Was drunk by Pilkington when third time mayor.

That name, methinks, fo popularly known
For oppofition to the church and crown,
Might make the Lufitanian grape to pafs,
And almoft give a fanction to the glafs;
Especially with thee, whofe hafty zeal
Against the late rejected commerce-bill

K 4

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Made