[] AN EPISTLE TO DR. SHEBBEARE: TO WHICH IS ADDED AN ODE TO SIR FLETCHER NORTON, IN IMITATION OF HORACE, ODE VIII. BOOK IV.
By MALCOLM MACGREGGOR, of Knightſbridge, Eſq. Author of the Heroic Epiſtle to Sir Wm. Chambers, &c.
LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. ALMON, OPPOSITE BURLINGTON-HOUSE, PICCADILLY.
MDCCLXXVII.
[Price One Shilling and Six-pence.]
THOUGH I look upon this Poem, in point of ele⯑vation of diction and ſublimity of ſentiment, to be as highly heroical, as my Epiſtle to Sir William Chambers, yet I have not thought proper to add that epithet to it on the title-page. I am willing to wiſh that firſt production of my muſe may preſerve the di⯑ſtinction which it now poſſeſſes, of being called The He⯑roic Epiſtle, par excellence. Beſides this conſideration, the different ranks of the two perſons, to whom theſe two works are addreſſed, require a difference to be made in this matter; and it would be unpardonable in me not to diſcriminate between a Comptroller of his Majeſty's Works, and the Hackney Scribbler of a Newſpaper; between a Placeman and a Penſioner, a Knight of the Polar Star, and a broken Apothecary.
[] ODE TO SIR FLETCHER NORTON, IN IMITATION OF HORACE, ODE VIII. BOOK IV.
▪ The above three by the ſame author. Printed for J. AL [...]OX, oppoſite Burlington-houſe, Piccadilly. Of whom may be had,
▪ All the above printed in Quarto.
The following are printed in the ſame ſize and manner as the New Foundling for Wit, and being collections of Fugitive Pieces upon the ſame plan, may be had bound uniform with that work, price 1l. 10s. or ſepa⯑rate, at the prices undermentioned.
Ver. 2. Words of ſix feet long.] Seſquipedalia verba. HOR.
Ver. 11. Tickle the tatter'd fragment.] Churchill, in alluding to this capital anecdote in our Doctor's life, ſays, in his poem called The Author,
The whole intent
Of that parade, was fame, not puniſhment.
Intimating that his ears received no detriment in the pillory. My line inti⯑mates, that they did. However, if my intimation be falſe, it is eaſily refuted: the Doctor has only to expoſe his ears again to the public, and the real fact will be flagrant.
Ver. 23. Bladud's Ciceronè.] Anglice, Bath Guide.
Ver. 25. Laſhes unknown prieſts.] Without a note poſterity will never under⯑ſtand this line. Two or three years ago this gentleman found himſelf libelled in a newſpaper; and on ſuſpecting a certain clergyman to be the author, he wrote a firſt canto of a poem, called The Prieſt Diſſected, in which he prepared all chirurgical matters previous to the operation. In the mean time the parſon proved an alibi, and ſaved his bacon. To this firſt and unique canto the author prefixed a ſomething in which he exculpated himſelf from being the author of the Heroic Epiſtle, which it ſeems had been laid to his charge during the time the clan of Macgreggors continued without a name, and which, as the world well knows, was the only reaſon which prevented me from claiming the merit of that production. It is to this ſomething, that the latter part of the line alludes. For in it he had told the public, that his Majeſty had ten children, which it knew very well before. Hence the epithet well-known.
Ver. 33. Sir Thomas.] The Petronius of the preſent age needs not the ad⯑dition of a ſirname to make the world certain who is meant by this appellative.
Ver. 51. The cure of Sh-lb—e's ſoul.] It is not here inſinuated, that the ſoul in queſtion wants curing. The word cure is here put for care, in the ſenſe in which eccleſiaſtical lawyers uſe cura animarum.
Ver. 63. From hunting Price.] See a ſeries of wretched letters, written by Shebbeare, in the Public Advertiſer, and other papers.
Ver. 97. My cocking G—.] A great cock-fighter, and little ſenator, who, in the laſt Parliament, called the Heroic Poſtſcript a libel.
Ver. 111. Which ſome call Liberty.] With courtiers and churchmen the terms are ſynonimous. See a late Sermon.
Ver. 122. Like T—k-r ſwear.] The reverend Dean took a ſolemn oath in one of his late pamphlets, that he would not be a biſhop.
Ver. 155. A mighty hunter.] A line of Mr. Pope's. If our younger ſena⯑tors would take the hint, and now and then hunt a miniſter inſtead of a fox, they might perhaps find ſome fun in it.
Ver. 161. The weaſel Scots.] It is not I, but Shakeſpeare, that gives my countrymen this epithet. See Hen. V. act 1. ſcene 2.
Ver. 168. Earl N—t ſung.] The intellect not only of poſterity, but of the preſent reader, muſt here again be enlightened by a note: for this ſong was ſung above two years ago, and is conſequently forgotten. Yet if the reader will pleaſe to recollect how eaſily I brought to life Sir William Chambers's proſe diſſertation which had been dead half that time, he will, I hope, give me cre⯑dit for being able to recover this dead poem from oblivion alſo. It was ſent to her Majeſty on her birth-day, with a preſent of Iriſh grogram; and the newſpaper of the day ſaid (but I know not how truly) that the Queen was gra⯑ciouſly pleaſed to thank the noble author for both his pieces of ſtuff: The po⯑et's exordium ſeemed to have been taken from that very Ode in Horace which I have alſo attempted to imitate in this pamphlet. It began by aſſuring her Majeſty, that Ireland was too poor to preſent her with a piece of gold plate.
This ſuppoſed poverty of his native country ſtruck me at the time as a mere gratis-dictum. I have therefore, from verſe 180 to verſe 186 of this epiſtle, endeavoured to refute it, for the honour of Ireland.
Ver. 178.] I care not, &c.] Alluding to theſe lines in the ſame poem:
And in a note on the paſſage, he tells us that theſe hinds never eat animal food; but ſays not one word about potatoes, that moſt nutritious of all aliments, which is ſurely very diſingenuous.
Ver. 211. Around one common centre.] I was let into this ſecret by my late patron, Sir William Chambers; who, as Mr. Cox's automata were very much in the Chineſe taſte, was very curious to diſcover their mechaniſm. I muſt do the Knight the juſtice to own that ſome of my beſt things are borrowed from him.
Ver. 11. Guades carminibus.] The imitator found himſelf obliged to deviate in this place a little further from his original, than perhaps the ſtrict critic will tolerate. But as he was not quite ſo certain of Sir Fletcher's fondneſs for poe⯑try, as Horace ſeems to have been about the taſte of Cenformus, he thought it beſt to expreſs himſelf with a modeſt diffidence on that ſubject.
Line 12. A Jollux.] A phraſe uſed by the bon ton for a fat parſon. See a ſet of excellent Caricatures publiſhed by Bretherton, in New Bond-Street.
Ver. 37. Unleſs his treaſurer.] The late promotion of a poet to the treaſu⯑rerſhip of the houſhold, muſt neceſſarily give to all true votaries of the muſes (as it does to me) great delectation. 'Tis whiſpered, by ſome people in the ſecret, that the very pacific caſt of the Laureat's birth-day ode, occaſioned the noble bard's exaltation; as it was thought expedient to have another poetical placeman in readineſs to celebrate the final overthrow of the American rebels. Nay, it is aſſured, that a reverſionary grant of the office of laureat has in this inſtance been ſuperadded to the treaſurerſhip, yet with the defalcation of the annual butt of ſack, which the Lord Steward calculates will be a conſiderable ſaving to the nation.