Imatges de pàgina
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In vain; the complicated wands

Were much too strong for all their hands.
See, said the sire, how soon 'tis done :
Then took and broke them one by one.
So strong you'll be, in friendship tied;
So quickly broke, if you divide.

Keep close then, boys, and never quarrel :
Here ends the fable, and the moral.

This tale may be apply'd, in few words,
To treasurers, comptrollers, stewards;
And others, who in solemn sort,
Appear with slender wands at court;
Not firmly join'd to keep their ground,
But lashing one another round:
While wise men think they ought to fight
With quarterstaffs instead of white;
Or constable, with staff of peace,

Should come and make the clattering cease;
Which now disturbs the queen and court,
And gives the whigs and rabble sport.
In history we never found

The consul's fasces were unbound:
Those Romans were too wise to think on't,
Except to lash some grand delinquent.
How would they blush to hear it said,
The prætor broke the consul's head!
Or consul, in his purple gown,

Came up, and knock'd the prætor down!
Come, courtiers: every man his stick!
Lord treasurer, for once be quick :
And that they may the closer cling,

Take your blue ribbon for a string.

Come, trimming Harcourt,* bring your mace And squeeze it in, or quit your place:

*Lord chancellor.

Dispatch, or else that rascal Northey†
Will undertake to do it for thee:

And be assured, the court will find him
Prepared to leap o'er sticks, or bind them.
To make the bundle strong and safe,
Great Ormond, lend thy general's staff:
And, if the crosier could be cramm'd in,
A fig for Lechmere, King, and Hambden!
You'll then defy the strongest whig
With both his hands to bend a twig;
Though with united strength they all pull,
From Somers, down to Craggs and Walpole.

IMITATION

OF PART OF THE SIXTH SATIRE OF THE SECOND BOOK OF HORACE. 1714.

I'VE often wish'd that I had clear,
For life, six hundred pounds a-year,
A handsome house to lodge a friend,
A river at my garden's end,
A terrace walk, and half a rood
Of land, set out to plant a wood.

Hoc erat in votis: modus agri non ita magnus,
Hortus ubi, et tecto vicinus jugis aquæ fons,
Et paulum silvæ super his foret. Auctius atque
Dii melius fecere.-

Sir Edward Northey, attorney-general.

Well, now I have all this and more,
I ask not to increase my store;
["But here a grievance seems to lie,
All this is mine but till I die;

I can't but think 'twould sound more clever,
To me and to my heirs for ever.
"If I ne'er got or lost a groat,
By any trick, or any fault;
And if I pray by reason's rules,
And not like forty other fools:

As thus, Vouchsafe, O gracious Maker!
To grant me this and t'other acre :
Or, if it be thy will and pleasure,
Direct my plough to find a treasure!'
But only what my station fits,
And to be kept in my right wits,†
Preserve, Almighty Providence!
Just what you gave me, competence :
And let me in these shades compose
Something in verse as true as prose;
Removed from all th' ambitious scene,
Nor puff'd by pride, nor sunk by spleen."]
In short, I'm perfectly content,

Let me but live on this side Trent; ‡

Sive Aquilo radit terras, seu bruma nivalem
Interiore diem gyro trahit, ire necesse est.
Quid vis, insane, et quas res agis? improbus urget,
Iratis precibus, tu pulses omne quod obstat,

Ad Mecænatem memori si mente recurras.

* The twenty lines within hooks were added by Mr Pope. † An apprehension of the loss of intellect gave the dean great uneasiness through life.

Swift was perpetually expressing his deep discontent at his Irish preferment, and forming schemes for exchanging it for a smaller in England, and courted queen Caroline and sir Robert

Nor cross the channel twice a-year,

To spend six months with statesmen here.
I must by all means come to town,
"Tis for the service of the crown.
"Lewis, the Dean will be of use;
Send for him up, take no excuse."
The toil, the danger of the seas,
Great ministers ne'er think of these;
Or let it cost five hundred pound,
No matter where the money's found,
It is but so much more in debt,
And that they ne'er consider'd yet.
"Good Mr Dean, go change your gown,
Let my lord know you're come to town."
I hurry me in haste away,

Not thinking it is levee-day;
And find his honour in a pound,
Hemm'd by a triple circle round,
Chequer'd with ribbons blue and green:
How should I trust myself between ?
Some wag observes me thus perplex'd,
And, smiling, whispers to the next,
"I thought the Dean had been too proud,
To justle here among a crowd!"

Another, in a surly fit,

Tells me I have more zeal than wit.

Hoc juvat, et melli est, non mentiar.

-Aliena negotia centum

Per caput, et circa saliunt latus.

-Si vis, potes, addit est instat.

Walpole to effect such a change. A negociation had nearly taken place between the dean and a Mr Talbot for the living of Burfield, in Berkshire. Mr Talbot himself informed me of this negociation. Burfield is in the neighbourhood of Bucklebury, lord Bolingbroke's seat. WARTON.

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"So eager to express your love,
You ne'er consider whom you shove,
But rudely press before a duke."
I own, I'm pleased with this rebuke,
And take it kindly meant, to shew
What I desire the world should know.
I get a whisper, and withdraw;
When twenty fools I never saw
Come with petitions fairly penn'd,
Desiring I would stand their friend.
This humbly offers me his case-
That begs my interest for a place-
A hundred other men's affairs,

Like bees, are humming in my ears.
"To-morrow my appeal comes on;
Without your help, the cause is gone-"
The duke expects my lord and
you,
About some great affair, at two-
"Put my lord Bolingbroke in mind,
To get my warrant quickly sign'd:
Consider, 'tis my first request."
Be satisfied, I'll do my best:
Then presently he falls to teaze,
"You may for certain, if you please;
I doubt not, if his lordship knew-
And, Mr Dean, one word from you
'Tis (let me see) three years and more,
(October next it will be four)

*

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Septimus octavo propior jam fugerit annus,
Ex quo Mecænas me cœpit habere suorum
In numero; duntaxat ad hoc, quem tollere rhedâ
Vellet, iter faciens, et cui concredere nugas.

*Very happily turned from "Si vis potes-" WARTON.

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