Mr . Pope.
Kneller pinx 1722. Parr sculp.
Mr. POPE's Literary Correspondence.
VOLUME the SECOND.
With LETTERS
To,
and
From,
Lord SOMERS.
Lord HARRINGTON.
Lord PARKER.
Bishop ATTERBURY.
Judge POWYS.
Mr. DRYDEN.
Mr. Secretary HARLEY.
Mr. Secretary ADDISON.
MATTHEW PRIOR,
Esq
Mr. STEELE,
&c.
LONDON:
Printed for E. CURLL, in
Rose-Street, Covent-Garden,
M.DCC.XXXV.
TO THE READER.
W E presume we stand not in need of any more Apology to the
Reader
for
THIS Publication,
than we did for the
LAST
; for we hereby declare, that Mr.
POPE, E.P. P.T.
and
R.S.
are
ALL out of the Question.
Mr.
CURLL
is the sole Editor of this Volume, and it
Is,,
what the former
Was,
a
Collection
of what has been printed, and a
Compilation
from
Original Manuscripts
; but not stollen, either from
Twickenham, Wimpole,
or
Dover-street
; but at the last Place, while Mr.
Pope
was dangling, and making
Gilliver
and
Cooper
his Cabinet-Counsel, away goes Mr.
CURLL,
on the 12th Day of
June,
in the Year of our Lord God 1735, and, by the Assistance of that Celebrated Artist Mr.
Rijsbrack,
takes a full View of our Bard's Grotto, Subterraneous Way, Gardens, Statues, Inscriptions, and his Dog
BOUNCE.
An Account of some of them are hereunto subjoined. And a
Prospect
of Mr.
Pope
's
House,
from the
Surrey Side,
will be shortly exhibited, in a very curious Print, engraven by the best Hands.
We have not any thing farther to add in this Place, Mr.
CURLL
himself having opened the Work, and fully made good his Promise, to the Lords, of being a Match for Mr.
Pope
in Prose. And he may really say, in regard to all the Attacks which have been made upon him,
by this petulant little Gentleman, especially the last,
VENI VIDI VICI.
PHILALETHES.
LONDINI,
14 Julii, Die Natali, 1735.
TO Mr. POPE.
SIR,
T HAT great Philosopher, and Honour of the
English
Nation, the Lord Chancellor
Bacon,
See his
Essay
on
Deformity.
gives it us as his Opinion,
'That
Deformed Persons
are commonly
even
with
Nature,
for as
Nature
hath done
ill
by them, so
do
they by
Nature,
being for the most part (as the Scripture saith)
void of natural Affection,
and so they have Revenge of Nature. Certainly, there is a Consent between the Body and the Mind, and where
Nature
erreth in the one, she ventureth in the other;—
Ubi
peccat in uno, periclatur in altero.
But because there is in Man an Election touching the Frame of his Mind, and a Necessity in the Frame of his Body; the Stars of natural Inclination are sometimes obscured by the Sun of Discipline and Virtue: Therefore it is good to consider
Deformity,
not as a Sign which is more deceivable, but as a Cause which seldom faileth of the Effect. Whosoever hath any thing fixed in his Person that doth induce Contempt, hath also a perpetual Spur in himself, to rescue and deliver himself from Scorn. Therefore all
Deformed Persons
are extreme Bold. First, in their own Defence, as being exposed to Scorn; but in Process of Time, by a General Habit. Also it stirreth in them Industry, and especially of this kind, to watch and observe the Weakness of others, that they may have somewhat to repay. Again, in their Superiors, it quencheth Jealousy towards them, as Persons that they think they may at Pleasure despise; and it layeth their Competitors and Emulators asleep, as never believing they should be in a Possibility of Advancement, till they see them in Possession; so that upon the Matter, in a great Wit,
Deformity
is an Advantage to rising; Kings in antient Times (and at this present in some Countries) were wont to put great Trust in
Eunuchs;
because they that are envious towards All, are more obnoxious and officious towards One. But yet their Trust towards them hath rather been as to good Spyals, and good Whisperers, than good Magistrates and Officers; and much like is the Reason of
Deformed Persons.
Still the Ground is, they will, if they be of Spirit, seek to free themselves from Scorn, which must be either by Virtue or Malice; and therefore, let it not be marvelled, if sometimes they prove excellent Persons; as was
Agesilaus, Zanger
the Son of
Solyman, Aesop, Gasca,
President of
Peru;
and
Socrates
may go likewise amongst them; with others.'
His Lordship observes, that these Men were Instances of the most exalted Virtue; but I wish I was not obliged to say, that You are a Precedent of the most depraved Vice. For a Demonstration of which, I shall regularly proceed,
viz.
You very well know, Sir, that in the Year 1717, when the
Court-Poems,
(
viz.
The
Basset-Table,
The
Toilet,
and The
Drawing-Room
) were published, upon your sending for me to the
Swan-Tavern
in
Fleetstreet,
in Company with Mr.
Lintot,
and enquiring into the Publication of that Pamphlet, I then frankly told you, that those Pieces, were by Mr.
Joseph Jacobs,
a Dissenting Teacher, given to Mr.
John Oldmixon,
who sent the same to be published by Mr.
James Roberts
in
Warwick-Lane;
and that my Neighbour Mr.
Pemberton,
and
myself,
had each of us a Share, with Mr.
Oldmixon,
in the said Pamphlet. For this you were pleased to treat me, with half a Pint of Canary, antimonially prepared; for the emetic Effects of which, it has been the Opinion of all Mankind, you deserved the Stab. My Purgation was soon over, but yours will last (without a timely Repentance) till, as the
Ghost
says in
Hamlet; with all your Imperfections on your Head you are called to your Accompt; and your Offences purged by Fire.
Yet notwithstanding your Behaviour to me, in turning this Matter into Ridicule, and making me the Subject of several of your Libels, all which I have equally despised, I made you an Offer of Reconciliation, tho' You yourself was the Aggressor.
Evidenced by my Letter of the 22d of March last.
You were by me acquainted, that you had disobliged a Gentleman, the Initials of whose Name were
P.T.
who to shew his Resentment, was resolved to publish a large Collection of your Letters. To this you thought fit, suitable to your former Behaviour, to return me a very impertinent and false Answer, (in the
Grubstreet Journal, Daily Journal,
and
Daily Post Boy
) that you believed the whole to be a
Forgery,
and should not trouble yourself at all about it. In the last of which Papers, on the 5th of
April,
I gave you a full Reply, to which it was not in your Power to rejoin. What Steps were afterwards taken in this Affair, I shall impartially relate.
P.T.
(from whom I had not heard in two Years before) wrote me a Letter, that you should soon be convinced of your Mistake, and being indisposed himself, appointed
R.S.
to be his Agent.
An Account of which whole Transaction
I have laid before the Public in the
Initial Correspondence.
See the 2d. Volume of Mr.
Pope
's Letters, &c. Printed by Mr.
Curll.
On the 12th of
May
last I published the said Collection of your Letters, and on the same Day, upon your being told by a Gentleman, who saw you in the Court of Requests at
Westminster,
that it was pretty plain the Letters published were no
Forgeries;
you very pertly reply'd,
so much the worse.
But this, by the bye, Sir, was owning them to be Genuine.
Upon your Complaint to
some
Lords
Bolingbroke
(Attainted)
Oxford
(Impeached)
&c.
vid.
your
Epistles.
(whom
you make
Patrons to the
Abuse
of
others
) it was owing that the Books were
seized,
and not to the Advertisement, which was but the Shoeing-Horn to your groundless Resentment against me. But you have met a
Second
Defeat before that most August Assembly, as you did in your
first
Attack, relating to the Duke of
Buckingham
's Works.
Therefore, confess you have a
Tartar
caught,
Be, once, sincere; and frankly own your Fault.
You say, Sir,
It will be but Justice to you, to believe, that nothing more is yours
than what you have owned,
notwithstanding all that hath been publish'd in your Name, or added to your Miscellanies since 1717, by any Bookseller whatsoever.
Your Booksellers
ab origine
are indeed pretty numerous,
viz. J. Tonson, W. Lewis
(who sold your
Essay
on
Criticism
to
B. Lintot,
)
L. Gilliver, B. Motte
(a Printer)
J. Brindley, O. Payne, T. Boreman,
and
C. Corbet
(all Hereditary Bookbinders) to whom you sold, by Agency, your
Sober Advice
from
Horace,
as will be prov'd,
notwithstanding you are resolved still to deny it.
Awake! Dear Poet! leave all meaner things
To low Ambition, and the Pride of Kings.
Let us (since Life can little more supply
Than just to look about us, and to die)
Expatiate free—
O! while along the Stream of Time, thy Name
Expanded flies, and gathers all its Fame,
Say, shall my little Bark attendant sail,
Pursue the Triumph, and partake the Gale?
And shall thy Verse to future Age pretend,
Thou wert
Curll
's Enemy, but Now his
Friend?
That urg'd by thee, He turn'd the tuneful Art
From Sounds to Things, from
Envy
to the Heart;
For Wit's false Mirror held up Nature's Light;
And prov'd the
Air of Lying
It would have a better Air in him
(Curll)
to own the
Printing
as well as
Publishing,
of Mr.
Pope
's Letters, &c. But he the said
Curll
was of a different Opinion.
was
not
Right;
That
Virtue
only makes our Bliss below;
And all our
Knowledge
is
Ourselves to know.
See the Beginning and End of the
Essay on Man.
But to return, Sir, you say I was
first threaten'd and afterwards punish'd for printing
the Court Poems.
See the Notes Variorum on the
Dunciad. Page,
121.
Pray who gave you the Authority of Punishing? remember only, that now is my turn to Punish, and if I have not the Spleen of a warpt Poet, or a
Scots
Medicaster, I will find some other Prescription that shall, once more, as
Shakespeare
says,
harrow up your Soul.
To believe nothing is yours, but what you own,
would be merely ridiculous. Did you not deny the
Dunciad
for seven Years? Did you not offer a Reward of three Guineas, by an Advertisement in the
Post-Man,
to know the Publisher of your Version of the
First-Psalm?
And when you were inform'd, did you ever pay the Premium? Did you not publish the
Worms
yourself, and leave out the Foecundifying Stanza? And do you
own
any of these in the Preface to the second Volume of your Works. In short, Sir, your Conduct as to your Poetical Productions, is exactly of a Piece with what I once met with at the
Old Bailey.
A most flagrant Offender was put upon his Tryal for a notorious Theft, and by his egregious Shuffling, he put Mr. Recorder
Lovel
into a violent Passion. Sirrah, says he, you have got a Trick of
Denying
what you ought to
own;
and of
owning
what you might as well
deny.
An' please your Honour, quoth
Culprit,
that's the Way
not to be hang'd.
However impudent
Jack
was tuck'd up, by a fresh Fact proved upon him that very Sessions.
Thus if with small, great Things may be compar'd,
Kind Fate, at length, may wait on Thief and Bard.
As to the Publication of your Letters, a State Decypherer has assured me, that by a Transposition of Initials the Plot is unravelled,
ex. gr. P.T.
is Trickster
Pope, R.S.
is Silly Rascal, to sell imperfect Books, and then cry out Whore first. Pray, most sincere Sir, how could either
P.T.
or
R.S.
come by the Letter I wrote to You, if
A.P. R.S.
and
P.T.
were not all of a Clan.
Risum teneatis amici?
Who was it play'd the Gardener, (sure it could not be honest
Searle
Mr.
Pope
's Gardener at
Twickenham.
) in Lopping some Branches, Inoculating others, and Transplanting a large Shoot from one of your Letters to Mr.
Cromwell,
and Graffing it upon Mr.
Walsh
's Stock?
Refrain the Path that leads to Evil;
Tell the plain Truth, and
shame the Devil.
Ananias
and
Saphyra
felt the Divine Vengeance for one Lye; what then do your Confederates expect, or justly ought to dread, for so many as have been told about the Publication of your Letters?
The Plot is now discover'd:
Lawton Gilliver
has declared that you bought of him the Remainder of the Impression of
Wycherley
's Letters, which he printed, by your Direction, in 1728, and have printed Six Hundred of the additional Letters, with those to Mr.
Cromwell,
to make up the Volume.
Yet still it must be given out that a Nobleman has been robbed, and his innocent Servant must be discarded, to support
Your most flagrant Falshood.
This, Sir, is
Eating
Shame and
Drinking
after it. Therefore, if you have any Remorse of Conscience, take Dr.
Arbuthnot
's Last Advice,
Study more to
Reform
than
Chastise; and begin with making yourself the Precedent.
Let various
Painters
Kneller, Richardson, Jarvas, Rijsbrack,
and my Sign Painter.
draw your outward Part,
But
Human
Pencils cannot shew the Heart.
I shall take my Leave of you at present, and only acquaint the Public, under your Cover, that this Volume contains the Remainder of your
Correspondence
with Mr.
Cromwell,
and your
Submission
to Mr.
Dennis:
Some other Pieces, which if you speak Truth you cannot
Deny,
tho', as yet, you have not had the Candour to
Own.
Every thing herein attributed to Bishop
Atterbury
is genuine; and the Performances of the other Gentlemen will subsist by their intrinsic Merit.
I have large Materials towards a Third Volume, and if, Sir, notwithstanding our present Bickerings, you will be so kind to favour me with any Assistance, it shall be gratefully acknowledged, by,
SIR,
Your Humble Servant, E. CURLL.
P.S.
My Bookbinder,
J. Jackson
in
Pall-Mall,
told me, he had Your Leave to sell the Pyrated Edition of your Letters; for which Reason neither He, nor
Dodsley,
shall sell mine. Once more,
Yours, &c. E.C.
Mr.
Alexander Pope,
Debtor to Mr.
Edmund Curll.
To an
Advertisement
in the
Post-Man,
1717, promising Three Guineas to discover the Publisher of his Version of the
First
Psalm,
3 3 0
To a Promise of Ten Pounds, on producing one of Bishop
Atterbury
's Letters,
10 0 0
To discover the
Publishers
of Mr.
Pope
's
Letters,
42 0 0
Total
55 3 0
All these Articles I have made good, and therefore think myself justly intitled to the promissory Rewards above-mention'd.
A fitter Couple, sure, were never hatch'd,
Some marry'd are, indeed, but we are match'd.
E. CURLL.
A True NARRATIVE of the Method by which Mr
Pope
's Letters have been published.
I T has been judged, that to clear an Affair which seemed at first sight a little mysterious, and which, tho' it concerned only
one Gentleman
Mr
Pope
is the Son of a Trader, and so is Mr
Curll—par nobile.
, is of such a Consequence, as justly to alarm every Person in the Nation, would not only be acceptable as a
Curiosity,
but useful as a
Warning,
and perhaps flagrant enough as an
Example,
to induce the LEGISLATURE to prevent for the future, an Enormity so prejudicial to every private Subject, and so destructive of Society itself.
This will be made so plain by the ensuing Papers, that it will scarce be needful to attend them with any Reflexions, more than what every Reader may make.
In the Year 1727,
Edmund Curll,
Bookseller, published a Collection of several private Letters of Mr
Pope
to
Henry Cromwell,
Esq
which he obtained in this Manner.
Mr
Cromwell
was acquainted with one Mrs
Thomas,
to whom he had the Indiscretion to lend these Letters, and who falling into Misfortunes seven Years after, sold them to Mr
Curll,
without the Consent either of Mr
Pope
or Mr
Cromwell
These Letters were a free Gift; so that there was not any Occasion to ask the Consent of either of those Parties. Mr
Curll
purchased them as justly as Mr
Lintot
did the Copy of Mr
Pope
's
Homer,
&c.
. [See the Letters in the Preface to
Vol.
I.]
This Treatment being extreamly disagreeable to Mr
Pope,
he was advised to re-call any Letters which might happen to be preserved by any of his Friends, particularly those written to Persons deceased, which would be most subject to such an Accident. Many of these were returned him.
Some of his Friends advised him to print a Collection himself, to prevent a worse; but this
he would by no means
agree to
This is a notorious Falshood, for it will be proved that the Books sold by
R.S.
to Mr
Curll,
were printed at Mr
Pope
's Expence.
. However, as some of the Letters served to revive several past Scenes of Friendship, and others to clear the Truth of
Facts
in which he had been misrepresented by the common Scriblers, he was induced to preserve a few of his own Letters, as well as of his Friends. These, as I have been told, he inserted in Two Books, some Originals, others Copies, with a few Notes and Extracts here and there added. In the same Books he causes to be copied some small Pieces in Verse and Prose, either of his own, or his Correspondents; which, tho' not finished enough for the Public, were such as the Partiality of any Friend would be sorry to be deprived of.
To this Purpose, an Amanuensis or two were employed by Mr
Pope,
when the Books were in the Country, and by the Earl of
Oxford,
when they were in Town.
It happened soon after, that the
Posthumous Works
of Mr
Wycherley
were published, in such a Manner, as could no way increase the Reputation of that Gentleman, who had been Mr
Pope
's first Correspondent and Friend; and several of these Letters so fully shewed the State of that Case, that it was thought but a Justice to Mr
Wycherley
's Memory to print a few, to discredit that Imposition. These were accordingly transcribed for the Press from the
Manuscript Books
above-mentioned.
They were no sooner printed but
Edmund Curll
looked on these too as his Property; for a Copy is extant, which he corrected in order for another Impression, interlin'd, and added marginal Notes to, in his own Hand
This is another Falshood, Mr
Curll
only gave a Copy of this Pamphlet to
R.S.
to shew
P.T.
that he had reprinted those Letters which came out in 1728, and corrected the
Errata
therein.
.
He then advertised a-new the Letters to Mr
Cromwell,
with
Additions,
and promis'd Encouragement to all Persons who should send him more
Falshood the
Third.
Mr
Curll
defies any Man living to produce any such Advertisement.
.
This is a Practice frequent with Booksellers, to swell an Author's Works, in which they have some Property, with any Trash that can be got from any Hand; or where they have no such Works, to procure some.
Curll
has in the same manner since advertised the
Letters
of Mr
Prior,
and Mr
Addison.
A Practice highly deserving some Check from the Legislature; since every such Advertisement, is really a
Watch-word
to every
Scoundrel
None can be more a
Scoundrel
than the Writer of this Narrative, as the many Falshoods detected in it will prove.
in the Nation, and to every
Domestic
of a Family, to get a Penny, by producing any Scrap of a Man's Writing, (of what Nature soever) or by picking his Master's Pocket of Letters and Papers.
A most flagrant Instance of this kind was the Advertisement of an intended Book, called
Gulliveriana Secunda;
where it was promis'd,
"that
any Thing,
which
any Body
should send as Mr
Pope
's, or Dr
Swift
's, should be printed and inserted
as Theirs.
"
By these honest means, Mr
Curll
went on increasing his Collection
Stupid Impertinence! what has Mr
Curll
to do with Dean
Smedley
's Book called
Gulliveriana?
or with the Conduct of any other Person? nor was Mr
Curll
any ways concern'd in printing
Gulliveriana.
; and finding (as will be seen hereafter) a farther Prospect of doing so, he retarded his Edition of Mr
Cromwell
's Letters, till the 22d of
March,
1734-5, and then sent Mr
Pope
the following Letter, the first he ever received from him
A greater Favour than Mr
Pope
deserved at his Hands.
.
SIR,
TO convince you of my readiness to oblige you, the
Inclosed
is a Demonstration. You have, as he says, disobliged a Gentleman, the initial Letters of whose Name are
P.T.
I have some other Papers in the same Hand relating to your
Family,
which I will show you if you desire a Sight of them. Your Letters to Mr
Cromwell
are out of Print, and I intend to print them very beautifully in an
Octavo Volume.
I have more to say than is proper to write, and if you'll give me a Meeting, I will wait on you with Pleasure, and close all Differences betwixt you and your's
E. CURLL.
Rose-street,
22 March, 1735.
P.S.
I expect the Civility of an Answer or Message.
The
Inclosed
were two Scraps of Paper, supposed to be
P.T.
's (a feigned Hand) the first containing this Advertisement.
LEtters of
Alexander Pope,
Esq
and several eminent Hands. From the Year 1705, to 1727. Containing a Critical, Philological, and Historical Correspondence, between him and
Henry Cromwell,
Esq
William Wycherley,
Esq
William Walsh,
Esq
William Congreve,
Esq
Sir
William Trumbull;
Sir
Richard Steele;
E. O— Mr
Addison;
Mr
Craggs;
Mr
Gay;
Dean
Swift,
&c. with several Letters to Ladies; to the Number of Two hundred.
N.B.
The Originals will be shewn at
E. Curll
's when the Book is publish'd.
The other Paper was a Scrap of some Letter in the same Hand, which expressed
"a Dissatisfaction at
Curll
for not having printed his Advertisement."
—What more cannot be seen, for the rest is cut off close to the Writing.
Mr
Pope
's Friends imagin'd that the whole Design of
E. Curll
was to get him but to look on the Edition of
Cromwell
's Letters, and so to print it as
revis'd
by Mr
Pope
Doubtless that was Mr
Curll
's Intent, or he need not have acquainted Mr
Pope
with his Design of printing a new Edition.
, in the same manner as he sent an
obscene Book
to a
Reverend Bishop,
and then advertis'd it as
corrected
and
revis'd
by him
Falshood the
Fourth.
One hundred Guineas shall be paid to this Narrative-Writer if he can produce any such Advertisement of Mr
Curll
's. This is founded on a merry Story, and the Fact as follows,
viz.
Mr
Henry Hoare,
eldest Son of Sir
Richard Hoare,
came to Mr
Curll
and told him, that Dr
Robinson,
then Bishop of
London,
heard he was concern'd in printing an Edition of the Earl of
Rochester
's Poems. Mr
Curll
told Mr
Hoare,
that he was, among other Bookssellers and Printers, (
viz.
Mr
Darby,
in
Bartholomew-Close,
Mr
Bettesworth,
in
Pater-noster-row,
Mr
Rivington,
in
St Paul's Church-yard,
Mr
Pemberton,
in
Fleet-street,
&c.) concerned in an Edition of that Nobleman's Works. But likewise told Mr
Hoare,
that he would get a Book interleav'd for my Lord Bishop, and whatever his Lordship saw amiss, if he would be pleased to strike out any Lines, or Poems therein, such Leaves should be re-printed, and render'd conformable to his Lordship's Opinion. Away goes Mr
Hoare,
overjoy'd with this Message from Mr
Curll,
with a tender of his Duty to the Bishop, and opens his Credentials; upon hearing which the Bishop smil'd, and made the following Reply to Mr
Hoare.
Sir, I am told that Mr
Curll
is a shrewd Man, and should I revise the Book you have brought me, he would publish it as approv'd by me. This no doubt Mr
Curll
might justly have done, for whatever is not condemn'd is approv'd; a Standing-Maxim This, in Civil, Canon, and Common Law.
. Or if there was any such Proposal from
P.T. Curll
would not fail to embrace it, perhaps pay for the Copy with the very Money he might draw from Mr
P—
to suppress it, and say
P.T.
had kept another Copy. He therefore answer'd the only way he thought it safe to correspond with him, by a public Advertisement in the
Daily Post-Boy
[
Daily Journal,
and
Grub-street Journal
].
E. Curll
return'd an impertinent Answer
It was universally allow'd to be a very pertinent one.
in the same Paper the next Day, denying that he
endeavour'd to correspond with Mr
P. and affirming that he wrote by
Direction,
but declaring that he would
instantly print the said Collection.
In a few Days more he publish'd the
Advertisement of the Book
as above, with this Addition,
"
E.C.
as before in the like Case, will be faithful."
He now talk'd of it every where, said
"That
P.T.
was a LORD
This is false:
E.P.
is a Nobleman,
P.T.
is a Scrub.
, or a PERSON of CONSEQUENCE, who printed the Book at a
great Expence,
and sought no Profit, but
Revenge
on Mr
Pope, who had offended him:
"
particularly,
"That some of the Letters would be such as both
Church
and
State would take Notice of;
but that
P.T.
would by no means be known in it, that he never would once be
seen
by him, but treated in a very
secret Manner.
"
He told some Persons that sifted him in this Affair,
"That he had convers'd only with his Agent, a Clergyman of the Name of
Smith,
who came, as he said, from
Southwark.
"
With this Person it was that
Curll
transacted the Affair, who before all the Letters of the Book were deliver'd to
Curll,
insisted on the Letters of
P.T.
being return'd him, to secure him from all possibility of a Discovery, as appears from a following Letter.
Mr
Pope,
on hearing of this
Smith,
and finding when the Book came out, that several of the Letters could only have come from the
Manuscript Book
before-mentioned, publish'd this Advertisement.
WHEREAS a Person who signs himself
P.T.
and another who writes himself
R. Smith,
and passes for a Clergyman, have transacted for some time past with
Edm. Curll,
and have in Combination printed the
Private Letters
of Mr
Pope
and his Correspondents [some of which could only be procured from his own Library, or that of a Noble Lord, and which have given a Pretence to the publishing others as his which are not so, as well as interpolating those which are;] This is to advertise, that if either of the said Persons will discover the whole of this Affair, he shall receive a Reward of
Twenty Guineas;
or if he can prove he hath acted by
For
Curll
had said in his Advertisement, that he wrote to Mr
P. By Direction,
and another of his drawing up of Mr
Pope's Life,
began thus,
By Direction.
N.B.
This was true,
E. Curll.
Direction of any other,
and of
what Person,
he shall receive double that Sum.
Whether this Advertisement, or the future Quarrel of
Curll
and
Smith
about Profits produced what followed, we cannot say, but in a few Days the ensuing Papers, being the whole
False. It is not
Half
; see the
Initial Correspondence
hereto subjoined.
Correspondence of
P.T.
and
Edm. Curll,
were sent to the Publisher,
T. Cooper,
which we shall here lay before the Reader.
There appear but two Letters from
P.T.
till one of
April
the 4th, which must be in 1735, as it relates plainly to Mr
Pope
's Advertisement in answer to
Curll
's Letter to him of
March
22d.
I.
April 4.
I Saw an Advertisement in the
Daily Advertiser,
which I take to relate to me. I did not expect you of all Men would have betray'd me to 'Squire
Pope;
but you and he both shall soon be convinc'd it was no
Forgery.
For since you would not comply with my Proposal to advertise, I have printed them at my own Expence, being advis'd that I could safely do so. I wou'd still give you the Preference, if you'll pay the Paper and Print, and allow me handsomely for the Copy. But I shall not trust you to meet and converse upon it [after the Suspicion I have of your Dealings with Master
P.
] unless I see my Advertisement of the Book printed first, within these four or five Days. If you are afraid of Mr
P.
and dare not set your Name to it, as I propos'd at first, I do not insist thereupon, so I be but conceal'd. By this I shall determine, and if you will not, another will. It makes a Five Shilling Book. I am
Your Servant. P.T.
II.
SIR,
I Should not deal thus cautiously or in the Dark with you, but that 'tis plain from your own Advertisement, that you have been treating with Mr
Pope.
III.
I Still give you, Sir, the Preference. If you will give me 3
l.
a Score for 650 [each Book containing 380 Pages 8vo.] and pay down 75
l.
of the same, the whole Impression shall be your's, and there are Letters enough remaining (if you require) to make another 30 Sheets 8
vo.
a Five Shillings Book. You need only answer thus in the
Daily Post,
or
Advertiser,
in four Days—[
E.C.
will meet
P.T.
at the
Rose Tavern
by the Play-House at seven in the Evening,
April
22d.] and one will come and show you the Sheets.
Mr CURLL's Answers.
April 29, 1735.
SIR,
I Have not ever met with any thing more inconsistent than the several Proposals of your Letters. The first bearing Date
Oct.
11th, 1733, gives some Particulars of Mr
Pope
's
Life,
which I shall shortly make a public Use of, in his Life now going to the Press.
The second of your Letters of
Nov.
15th, 1733, informs me, That if I would publish an Advertisement of a Collection of Mr
Pope
's Letters in your Custody, the Originals should be forthwith sent me, and for which you would expect no more than what would pay for a Transcript of 'em.
In your third Letter of the fourth Instant, you groundlessly imagine I have attempted to betray you to Mr
Pope;
say, you have printed these Letters yourself, and now want to be handsomely allow'd for the Copy,
viz.
3
l.
a Score, which is 2
l.
more than they cost printing; appoint a Meeting at the
Rose
on the 22d Instant, where I was to see the Sheets, dealing thus, as you truly call it, in the Dark.
April
21, You put off this Meeting, fearing a Surprize from Mr
Pope.
How should he know of this Appointment, unless you gave him Notice? I fear no such Besettings either of him or his Agents. That the paying of Seventy five Pounds would bring you to Town in a Fortnight, would I be so silly as to declare it. By your last Letter, of last Night, a Gentleman is to be at my Door at 8 this Evening, who has full Commission from you.
You want seventy five Pounds for a Person you would serve; that Sum I can easily pay, if I think the Purchase would be of any Service to me. But in one Word, Sir, I am engaged all this Evening, and shall not give myself any further Trouble about such jealous, groundless, and dark Negotiations. An HONOURABLE and OPEN DEALING is what I have been always used to, and if you will come into such a Method, I will meet you any where, or shall be glad to see you at my own House, otherwise apply to whom you please.
Your's, E.C.
For
P.T.
or the Gentleman who comes from him at eight this Evening.
This appears to be the first time
Curll
had any personal Conference with
R. Smith
the Clergyman.
To the Reverend Mr ***
(Smythe.)
SIR,
I Am ready to discharge the Expence of Paper, Print, and Copy-Money, and make the Copy my own, if we agree. But if I am to be your Agent, then I insist to be solely so, and will punctually pay every Week for what I sell, to you.
Answer to P.T's of
May
3.
SIR,
YOU shall, as all I have ever had any Dealings with, have, find a JUST and HONOURABLE Treatment from me. But consider, Sir, as the Public, by your Means entirely, have been led into an Initial Correspondence betwixt
E.C.
and
P.T.
and betwixt
A.P.
and
E.C.
the Secret is still as recondite as that of the
Free-Masons. P.T.
are not, I dare say, the true Initials of your Name; or if they were, Mr
Pope
has publickly declar'd,
That he knows no such Person as
P.T. how then can any thing you have communicated to me, discover you, or expose you to his Resentment?
I have had Letters from another Correspondent, who subscribes himself
E.P.
which I shall print as Vouchers, in Mr
Pope
's Life, as well as those from
P.T.
which, as I take it, were all sent me for that Purpose, or why were they sent at all?
Your Friend was with me on
Wednesday
last, but I had not your last till this Morning,
Saturday,
3d
May,
I am, Sir,
Your's, E.C.
P.S.
What you say appears by my Advertisement in relation to Mr
Pope,
I faithfully told your Friend the Clergyman. I wrote to Mr
Pope,
to acquaint him that I was going to print a new Edition of his Letters to Mr
Cromwell,
and offer'd him the Revisal of the Sheets, hoping likewise, that it was now time to close all Resentments, which, on HONOURABLE TERMS, I was ready to do. I told him likewise I had a large Collection of others of his Letters, which,
from your two Years Silence on that Head, I thought was neither unjust nor dishonourable.
—I Cannot send the
P.T.
's Letters to
Curll.
Letters now, because I have them not all by me, but either this Evening or To-morrow, you shall not fail of them, for some of them are in a Scrutore of mine out of Town, and I have sent a Messenger for them, who will return about three or four this afternoon. Be not uneasy, I NEVER BREAK MY WORD, and as HONOURABLE and JUST Treatment shall be shewn by me, I shall expect the same Return.
The Estimate and Letters you shall have together, but I desire the Bearer may bring me fifty more Books. Pray come to Night if you can.
I am faithfully your's, E. CURLL.
For the Rev. Mr
Smythe,
(half an Hour past Ten.)
Curll
was now so elated with his Success, the Books in his Hands, and, as he thought, the Men too, that he raised the Style of his Advertisement, which he published on the 12th of
May,
in these Words in the
Daily Post-Boy.
THIS Day are published, and most beautifully printed, price five Shillings, Mr
Pope's Literary Correspondence
for
thirty
Years; from 1704, to 1734. Being a Collection of Letters, regularly digested, written by him to the Right Honourable the late Earl of
Halifax,
Earl of
Burlington,
Secretary
Craggs,
Sir
William Trumbull,
Honourable
J.C.
General ****, Honourable
Robert Digby,
Esq
Honourable
Edward Blount,
Esq: Mr
Addison,
Mr
Congreve,
Mr
Wycherley,
Mr
Walsh,
Mr
Steele,
Mr
Gay,
Mr
Jarvas,
Dr
Arbuthnot,
Dean
Berkeley,
Dean
Parnelle,
&c. Also Letters from Mr
Pope
to Mrs
Arabella Fermor,
and many other Ladies.
With the respective Answers of each Correspondent.
Printed for
E. Curll,
in
Rose-street, Covent-Garden,
and sold by all Booksellers.
N.B.
The
Original Manuscripts
(of which Affidavit is made) may be seen at Mr
Curll's
House by all who desire it.
And immediately after he writes thus to
Smith.
May 12, 1735.
SIR,
YOUR Letter written at two Afternoon on
Saturday,
I did not receive till past ten at Night. The
Title
will be done to Day, and according to your Promise, I fully depend on the Books and
MSS.
to-morrow. I hope you have seen the
Post-Boy,
and
By this it appears, it was of
Curll
's own drawing up, which he deny'd before the Lords. [This is
False.
Mr
Curll
told the Lords he copied the Advertisement, and returned the Original. This
R.S.
knows to be
True.
]
approve the
Manner
of the Advertisement.
I shall think every Hour a long Period of Time 'till I have more Books, and see you, being, Sir,
Sincerely your's, E. CURLL.
(For the Reverend Mr
Smythe,
)
But the Tables now begin to turn. It happened that the
Bookseller's Bill
(for so it was properly called, tho' intituled,
An Act for the better Encouragement of Learning
) came on this Day in the House of Lords. Some of their Lordships having seen an Advertisement of so
strange a Nature,
thought it very unfitting such a Bill should pass, without a
Clause
to prevent such an enormous
Licence
for the future. And the Earl of
I—y
having read it to the House, observed further, that as it pretended to publish several Letters to
Lords,
with the
respective Answers of each Correspondent,
it was a
Breach of Privilege, and
contrary to a standing Order of the House. Whereupon it was order'd that the Gentleman-Usher of the Black Rod do forthwith seize the Impression of the said Book, and that the said
E. Curll,
with
J. Wilford,
for whom the
Daily Post-Boy
is printed, do attend the House to-morrow. And it was also order'd that the
Bill for the better Encouragement of Learning,
be read a second time on this Day Sevennight.
By THIS INCIDENT THE BOOKSELLERS BILL WAS THROWN OUT
This is likewise a flagrant FALSHOOD.
.
May 13, 1735.
The Order made Yesterday upon Complaint of an Advertisement in the
Post-Boy,
of the Publication of a Book intituled Mr
Pope's Literary Correspondence for thirty Years past,
being read, Mr
Wilford
the Publisher, and Mr
E. Curll,
were severally called in and examined, and being withdrawn,
Order'd, That the Matter of the said Complaint be refer'd to a Committee to meet to-morrow, and that
E. Curll
do attend the said Committee. And that the Black Rod do attend with some of the said Books.
May
14.
P.T.
writes to
Curll,
on the unexpected Incident of the Lords, to instruct him in his Answers to their Examination, and with the utmost Care to conceal himself, to this effect.
THAT he congratulates him on his Victory over the
Lords,
the
Pope,
and the
Devil;
that the Lords could not touch a Hair of his Head, if he continued to behave boldly; that it would have a better Air
Mr
Curll
was resolved not to put on that
Air of Lying P.T.
advised, but told the Lords
strict Truth;
which occasioned the Breach (not Quarrel) between them.
in him to own the
Printing
as well as the
Publishing,
since he was no more punishable for one than for the other; that he should answer nothing more to their Interrogatories, than that he receiv'd the Letters from
different Hands;
that some of them he
bought,
others were
given him,
and that some of the
Originals he had,
and the rest he
should shortly have.
P.T.
tells him further,
That he shall soon take off the
Mask
he complains of; that he is not a
MAN OF QUALITY
(as he imagined) but
one conversant with such,
and was concern'd particularly with a noble Friend of Mr
Pope
's, in preparing for the Press the Letters of Mr
Wycherley;
that he caused a Number over and above to be printed, having from that time conceived the Thought of publishing a Volume of
P
's Letters, which he went on with, and order'd, as nearly as possible,
to resemble That Impression.
But this was only
in ordine ad,
to another more material Volume, of his Correspondence with Bishop
Atterbury,
and the late Lord
Oxford
and
Bolingbroke.
And he confesses he made some
Alterations
in
these
Letters, with a
View to those,
which Mr
Curll
shall certainly have, if he behaves as he directs, and every way conceals
P.T.
We have not this Original Letter, but we hope Mr
Curll
will print it
Which he has done, in the
Initial Correspondence,
with several others.
; if not, it can only be for this Reason, That it preceeded their Quarrel but one Day
Mr
Curll
knows of no Quarrel, but much Roguery.
, it proves the Letters of Bishop
Atterbury,
Lord
Bolingbroke,
&c. cannot be in
Curll
's Hands, tho' he has pretended to advertise them
Bishop
Atterbury
's Letters, &c. are in Mr
Curll
's Hands, which he is ready to produce.
.
The next Day
Curll
answers him thus.
For the Reverend Mr
Smythe.
Thursday 9 Manè, 15th May, 1735.
Dear Sir,
I Am just again going to the Lords to finish
Pope.
I desire you to send me the Sheets to perfect the first fifty Books, and likewise the remaining three hundred Books, and pray be at the
Standard
Tavern this Evening, and I will pay you twenty Pounds more. My Defence is right, I only told the Lords, I did not know from whence the Books came, and that my Wife received them. This was strict Truth, and prevented all further Enquiry. The
Lords declar'd
they had been made
Pope
's
Tool.
I put myself upon this single Point, and insisted, as there was not any Peer's Letter in the Book, I had not been guilty of any Breach of Privilege.—
Lord
DELAWAR
will be in the Chair by ten this Morning,
and the House will be up before three.—I depend that the Books and the Imperfections will be sent, and believe of
P.T.
what I hope he believes of me.
The Book was this Day produc'd, and it appearing that, contrary to the Advertisement
False.
The Advertisement did not say there were any Peers Letters in the Book.
, there were no Letters of Lords contained in it, and consequently not falling under the Order of the House, the Books were re-deliver'd.
At the same time
Curll
produc'd, and shew'd to several of the Lords the
foregoing Letter
of
P.T.
False
again. Mr
Curll
shewed the Letter at
Large,
not the
Extract
herein recited.
which seems extraordinary, unless they had begun to quarrel about
Profits
before that Day. But after it, it is evident from the next Letter, that they had an Information of his Willingness to betray them, and so get the whole Impression to himself
This is false,
R.S.
having before contracted with Mr
Curll
for 600 Books, and given him a Receipt for 300, but deliver'd only 240, and those all imperfect.
.
To the Reverend Mr
Smythe.
Rose-Street,
past three, Friday 16 May, 1735.
SIR,
1. I Am falsely accus'd, 2. I value not any Man's Change of Temper; I will never change MY VERACITY for Falshood, in owning a Fact of which I am innocent. 3. I did not own the Books came from
a-cross the Water,
nor ever
nam'd you,
all I said was, that the Books came
by Water.
4. When the Books were seiz'd I sent my Son to convey a Letter to you, and as you told me every body knew you in
Southwark,
I bid him make a
strict Enquiry,
as I am sure you wou'd have done in such an Exigency. 5. Sir I HAVE ACTED JUSTLY in this Affair, and that is what I shall always think wisely. 6. I will be kept no longer in the dark:
P.T.
is
Will o' the Wisp;
all the Books I have had are imperfect; the first 50 had no Titles nor Prefaces, the last five Bundles seiz'd by the Lords contain'd but 38 in each Bundle, which amounts to 190, and 50, is in all but 240 Books. 7. As to the Loss of a future Copy, I despise it, nor will I be concern'd with any more such dark suspicious Dealers. But now, Sir, I'll tell you what I will do; when I have the Books perfected which I have already receiv'd, and the rest of the Impression, I will pay you for them. But what do you call this Usage? First take a Note for a Month, and then want it to be chang'd for one of Sir
Richard Hoare
's—My Note is as good, for any Sum I give it, as the BANK, and shall be as punctually paid. I always say,
Gold is better than Paper,
and 20
l.
I will pay if the Books are perfect to-morrow Morning, and the rest sent, or to Night is the same thing to me. But if this dark Converse goes on, I will instantly
reprint the whole Book,
and as a Supplement to it,
all the Letters
P.T.
ever sent me,
of which I have
exact Copies;
together with
all your Originals,
and give them in upon Oath to my Lord-Chancellor. You talk of
Trust; P.T.
has not repos'd any in me, for he has my Money and Notes for imperfect Books. Let me see, Sir, either
P.T.
or yourself, or you'll find the
Scots
Proverb verify'd:
Nemo me impune lacessit.
Your abus'd humble Servant, E. CURLL.
P.S.
Lord
O—,
and Lord
Delaware,
I attend this Day. I'll Sup with you to Night. Where
Pope
has
one
Lord, I have
twenty
This
P.S.
as
Cooper
printed it, contradicts itself. Mr
Curll
called at Lord
Delawar
's House, and found him and Lord
Cowper
gone to
Holland.
And that Evening Mr
Curll
had the Honour to spend with Lord
Haversham.
As to Lords, Mr
Curll
might have double his Number.
.
Mr
Curll,
just after, in the
London Daily Post:
or,
General Advertiser,
printed an Advertisement, that he would publish all the Letters sent him by
E.P. P.T.
and
R.S.
To which in two Days his Correspondents return'd the following Answer:
TO manifest to the World the Insolence of
E. Curll,
we hereby declare that neither
P.T.
much less
R.S.
his Agent, ever did give, or could pretend to give any Title whatever in Mr
Pope
's Letters to the said
E. Curll,
and he is hereby challeng'd to produce any Pretence to the Copy whatsoever.—We help'd the said
E. Curll
to the Letters, and join'd with him, on condition he should pay a certain Sum for the Books
as he sold them;
accordingly the said
E. Curll
received 250 Books which he sold (Perfect and Imperfect) at five Shillings each, and for all which he never paid more than ten Guineas, and gave
Notes
for the rest which prov'd
not Negotionable.
Besides which,
P.T.
was persuaded by
R.S.
at the Instigation of
E. Curll,
to pay the Expence of the whole Impression,
viz.
75
l.
no part whereof was re-paid by the said
Curll.
Therefore every Bookseller will be indemnify'd every way from any possible Prosecution or Molestation of the said
E. Curll,
and whereas the said
E. Curll
threatens to publish our Correspondence, and as much as in him lies, to
betray his Benefactors,
we shall also publish
his Letters to us,
which will open a Scene of Baseness and foul Dealing, that will sufficiently show to Mankind his Character and Conduct
To this Mr
Curll
replied, in the
Daily Post-Boy
of
May
27,
viz.
Gentlemen, The Scurility of your Advertisement I despise;
Falshood
under your own Hands I shall here prove upon you; and as to your
Scandal
in affirming that
my Notes proved not Negotiable,
I will take proper Measures. It is declared, that neither
P.T.
much less
R.S.
his Agent, ever did give, or could pretend to give, any Title whatever, in Mr
Pope
's Letters to Mr
Curll,
and he is challenged to produce any Pretence to the Copy whatsoever.
P.T.
in his first Letter to Mr
Curll,
writes thus; To shew you my Sincerity and determinate Resolution, these Letters shall be sent you, they will make a four or five Shilling Book, yet
I expect no more than what will barely pay a Transcriber,
that the Originals may be preserved in your Hands to vouch the Truth of them.
Your's,
P.T.
P.S. I would have you add to them what you formerly printed of those to Mr
Cromwell. In a Letter from
R.S.
to Mr
Curll,
he thus writes. Sir, my Cousin
(P.T.)
desires you will get 600 of the Titles printed with all Expedition; and assures you, that no Man whatsoever shall vend a Book but yourself, for you shall have the whole Impression to be sure.
I shall leave it to your Generosity to consider me for the Copy.
I am, your Friend and Servant,
R.S.
On
Monday
the 12th Instant, Mr
Curll,
published these Letters, tho' he had but 50 Books, and those wanting Titles and Prefaces: But the same Day at Noon
R.S.
sent for Mr
Curll
to the
Standard
Tavern in
Leicester-Fields,
where Mr
Curll
paid him 30
l.
(in Cash 10
l.
by a negotiable Note, payable in a Month, 15
l.
and a conditional Note for 5
l.
) for which
R.S.
gave a Receipt to Mr
Curll
in full for 300 Books, delivering then by two Porters, five Bundles of 38 Books in each, making 190, which he said came by Water, and they were sent to Mr
Curll
's House, and his Wife received them in his Absence. Mr
Curll
having had in all but 240 Books, tho' a Receipt given for 300, and the last 190 all delivered imperfect. I therefore desire to know, if this does not open a Scene of Baseness and foul Dealing, that sufficiently shew to Mankind the Characters and Conduct of
P.T.
and
R.S.?
I shall say no more till I publish the whole of their Transactions upon Oath.
E. Curll.
.
P.T.
R.S.
May 23, 1735.
The Effects of this Quarrel has been the putting into our Hands all the Correspondence above; which having given the Reader, to make what Reflections he pleases on, we have nothing to add but our hearty Wishes, (in which we doubt not every honest Man will concur) that the next
Sessions,
when the BOOKSELLERS BILL shall again be brought in, the Legislature will be pleas'd not to
extend
the
Privileges,
without at the same time
restraining the Licence, of Booksellers.
Since in a Case so
notorious
as the printing a Gentleman's PRIVATE LETTERS, most Eminent
Mr
Pope
is no more a Gentleman than Mr
Curll,
nor more eminent as a Poet, than he as a Bookseller.
, both
Printers
and
Booksellers,
conspired to assist the Pyracy
T. Cooper
's Edition is the pirated one, and which all honest Booksellers, and the Public, have agreed to discourage.
, both in printing and vending the same.
P.S.
We are inform'd, that notwithstanding the Pretences of
Edmund Curll
Mr
Curll
never pretended to have any more Letters of Mr
Pope
's, than he produced to the Lords in Committee.
, the Original Letters of Mr
Pope,
with the Post-Marks upon them, remain still in the Books from whence they were copy'd, and that so many Omissions and Interpolations have been made in this Publication, as to render it impossible for Mr
P.
to own them in the Condition they
appear
Mr
Pope
well knows that these Letters now
appear
as he directed them to be printed; which will hereafter be made more fully
appear.
.
THE
Initial Correspondence:
OR, ANECDOTES OF THE LIFE and FAMILY OF Mr
POPE.
Who can shame
P—
? break all his Cobwebs thro,
He spins the slight
self-pleasing
Threads anew:
Destroy his
Lies,
or
Sophistry,
in vain,
The
Creature
's at his
dirty Work
again;
Thron'd in the Centre of his
base Designs
;
Proud of extending his
vain-glorious Lines.
Epist. to ARB.
His
own Example
strengthens
all his Laws,
He is that
petulant, poor-wretch he draws.
Ess. on Crit.
ANECDOTES OF THE LIFE and FAMILY OF
Alexander Pope,
Esq
I T is a very just Observation, made by a late impartial Biographer,
The Author of some Anecdotes of the Life of Mr
Tho. Hearne
of
Edmund Hall,
Oxon.
that those Persons, who have been most industrious in handing down to Posterity the Memorials of other Men, have generally had the Misfortune to be neglected themselves. Unwilling that so hard a Fate should befal a Man who so little deserves it, I was glad to embrace any opportunity rather than trust a Thing of such Consequence to
Hereafter;
and I have this Satisfaction (how uncommon soever it may be thought to give an Account of a Man in his Life-time) that I have preserved some Memorials of an indefatigable Gentleman now
living,
which an able pen may improve greatly to his Honour when
dead.
With this View then I shall begin my Labour with the Account Mr
Pope
has given us of himself; and proceed to other Authorities to which I shall all along refer.
E. CURLL.
MR
ALEXANDER POPE
was born in
Cheapside, London,
on the 8th Day of June, in the Year 1688; so that one Week produced both
Pope
and the
Pretender.
Memorable
Aera!
His Parents, being of the
Roman
Catholic Persuasion, educated him by a private Tutor, of whom he learned
Latin
and
Greek
at one and the same time.
He passed through some Seminaries with little Improvement till twelve Years of Age, after which he perfected his Studies by his own Industry.
See
Jacob's
Lives of the Poets, 8vo. pag. 145.
So early a Propensity had he to the Muses, that among several other pretty Poetical Productions, he sent his Friend Mr
Cromwell An Ode on Solitude,
written when he was not twelve Years old
See his Letters to
Henry Cromwell,
Esq
. And before this time, he had severely satirized his School-Master, as appears from the following Original Letter,
viz.
To Mr CURLL.
March 27, 1733.
SIR,
IN pursuance to your Advertisement desiring such Accounts of Mr
Pope as his Deserts demand,
I send you these
Anecdotes,
the Truth of which I can testify (and will, if called upon) as having been his Schoolfellow my self at the time.
The fact is very remarkable, as it is a proof of that
natural spleen
which constitutes his
Temperament,
and from which he has never deviated in the whole course of his Life.
The last School he was put to, before the twelfth Year of his Age, was in
Devonshire-Street
near
Bloomsbury,
there I also was, and the late Duke of
Norfolk,
at the same time. It was kept by one
Bromley,
a
Popish Renegado,
who had been a Parson, and was one of
King James's
Converts in
Oxford,
some Years after that Prince's Abdication;
His Name was
William Bromley,
Son of
Henry Bromley,
of
Holt
in
Worcestershire
Esq
He was entered a Gentleman-Commoner of Christ-Church-College,
Oxon,
1673. See
Wood's Athen. Oxon.
p. 1063. Vol. II. Edit. ult.
he kept
a little Senary,
till upon an advantagious offer made him, he went a
Travelling-Tutor
to the present Lord
Gage.
Mr
Alexander Pope
before he had been four Months at this School (or was able to construe
Tully's Offices
) employed his Muse in satirizing his Master. It was a Libel of at least one hundred Verses, which a Fellow-Student having given information of, was found in his pocket, and the young Satirist was soundly whipp'd, and kept a Prisoner to his Room seven days; whereupon his Father fetch'd him away, and I have been told, he never went to School more.
How much
past Correction
has wrought upon him, the World is Judge; and how much
present
Correction might, may be collected from this sample. I thought it a curious Fact, and therefore it is at your service, as one of the Ornaments of this excellent Person's Life.
Your's, &c. E.P.
Thursday Oct. 11, 1733.
Mr CURLL,
UNderstanding you propose to write the Life of Mr
Pope,
this is only to inform you I can send you divers Memoirs which may be serviceable, if your design be really to do him neither Injustice nor shew him Favour.
I was well acquainted with his Father, and with the first part of his own Life, tho' since he hath treated me as a Stranger.
It is certain some late Pamphlets are not fair in respect to his Father. He was of the younger Branch of a Family in good repute in
Ireland,
and related to the Lord
Downe,
formerly of the same Name. He was as he hath told Me himself, [and he was very different from his Son, a modest and plain honest Man] a Posthumous Son, and left little provided for, his elder Brother having what small Estate there was, who afterwards studied and died at
Oxford.
He was put to a Merchant in
Flanders,
and acquired a moderate Fortune by Merchandize, which he quitted, at the Revolution, in very good Circumstances, and retired to
Windsor-Forest,
where he purchased a small Estate, and took great delight in Husbandry and Gardens. His Mother was one of the seventeen Children of
William Turnor,
Esq
formerly of
Burfit-Hall
in the *** Riding of
Yorkshire.
Two of her Brothers were killed in the Civil-Wars.
This is a true Account of Mr
Pope
's Family and Parentage;
The
Oxford
Antiquary informs us, that,
Thomas Pope,
the young Earl of
Downe,
died in St.
Mary
's Parish in
Oxford,
28
Dec.
1660, aged 38 Years leaving behind him one only Daughter named
Elizabeth,
who was first married to
Henry-Francis Lee
of
Dichley
in
Oxfordshire,
and afterwards to
Robert
Earl of
Lindsey.
The Earldom of
Downe,
went to
Thomas Pope,
Esq
his Uncle, who, likewise, leaving no Male-Issue, the Estate went away among
Three
Daughters; the
Second
of whom was married to Sir
Francis North,
afterwards Lord
North
of
Guilford.
Both these Earls of
Downe
were buried at
Wroxton,
near
Banbury,
in
Oxfordshire
with their Ancestors. [See
Wood
's
Athen. Oxon.
Vol. II. pag. 543, Edit. ult.]
of his Manners I cannot give so good a one: yet, as I would not wrong any Man, both ought to be true; and if such be your Design, I may serve you in it, not entering into any thing, in any wise libellous.
P.S. You may please to direct an Answer in
The Daily Advertiser,
this Day se'ennight, in these Terms.
E.C.
hath received a Letter and will comply with P.T.
Your's, P.T.
Notice was accordingly given, at the time appointed, in
the Daily Advertiser,
upon which was sent the following Letter,
viz.
To Mr CURLL.
Nov. 15, 1733.
SIR,
I Troubled you with a Line some time since, concerning your design of the Life of Mr
Pope:
to which I desired your Answer in
the Daily Advertiser
of
Thursday
the 18th. Inst.
Oct.
I do not intend my self any other Profit in it, than that of doing Justice to, and on, that Person, upon whom, Sir, you have constantly bestowed some Care, as well as Pains in the Course of your Life; and I intend him the like for his Conduct towards me.
A propos,
to his Life, there have lately fallen into my hands a large Collection of his Letters, from the former part of his Days till the Year 1727, which being more considerable than any yet seen, and opening very many Scenes new to the World, will alone make a perfect and the most Authentic Life and Memoirs of him that could be.
To show you my Sincerity and determinate Resolution of assisting you herein, I will give you an Advertisement which you may publish, if you please, forthwith; and, on your so doing, the Letters shall be sent you. They will make a four of five Shilling Book; yet I expect no more than what will barely pay a Transcriber, that the Originals may be preserved in mine, or your Hands, to vouch the Truth of them.
I am of opinion these alone will contain his whole History (if you add to them, what you formerly printed of those to
H. Cromwell,
Esq
); but you must put out an
Advertisement,
for otherwise I shall not be justified, to some people who have influence, and on whom I have some Dependance; unless it seem to the public Eye as no entire Act of mine. But I may be justified and excused, if, after they see such a Collection is made by you, I acknowledge I sent some Letters to contribute thereto.
They who know what has passed betwixt Mr
Pope,
and Me formerly, may otherwise think it dishonourable I should set such a Thing a-foot. Therefore print the Advertisement I here send you; and you shall instantly hear from, or see me.
Adieu. P.T.
The old Gentleman, P.T. not calling upon me, I did not put the
Advertisement,
into any News-Paper, and this whole Transaction lay dormant near two Years. But upon regulating some Papers in my Scritoire, about the Close of
March
1735, this
Advertisement
came to my Hands, and reflecting within my self that the Resentment between Mr
Pope
and me, tho' from the first ungenerously taken up by him, had continued much too long, being almost eight Years, I was willing to lay hold of an Opportunity for proposing an Accommodation. Accordingly, I wrote to Mr
Pope
and inclosed the abovementioned
Advertisement
in the Hand-writing of P.T. and desired his Answer which he thought fit in a very ungentleman-like Manner to return me in three Papers, viz the
Grub-Street Journal.
The
Daily Journal,
and the
Daily Post-Boy;
in the last of which I replied
April
5th.
See the
Appendix
No. I. and II.
Upon this Incident, P.T. renewed his Correspondence, and sent me word he had seen an
Advertisement
of Mr
Pope
which related to him, and that Mr
Pope
should soon see the
Collection of Letters
published, for that, upon my
not advertising them
he had been persuaded to print them himself, and offered me the refusal of the Impression, his Demands for which were 75 pounds, and added, that a Person should meet me at the Rose Tavern in
Bridges-Street,
and bring me, at a Day appointed, one of the Books in sheets. But on the Day appointed I received a Countermand, that he thought he had lost his Wits by making such an Appointment, and seemed in a terrible Panic lest Mr
Pope
should send some of his
Twickenham-Bravoes,
to assault us; but how Mr
Pope
was to know of this Meeting is the Cream of the Jest. I sent him word that I commiserated his fears, but as to my own part, I did not at all dread any
Assassination
whatever from Mr
Pope,
even tho' it were a
Poetical One.
To this P.T. rejoined, that a Gentleman should call at my House precisely at eight in the Evening in a Week's Time; but in the Interim I received the following Letter,
viz.
To Mr CURLL.
May 3, 1735.
SIR,
P.T. will send you 50 Books, [all but the Title, which you may order as you please, and therefore was not wrought] in five or six Days time, and you may pay for them as you propose at the Week's end: It will be left to your Honour (to shew you my Intentions are honourable).
You may therefore advertise as you propose, five or six Days together, that the Book will be published by you the 12th instant.
Your Servant, P.T.
Accordingly on the 7th of May, R.S. a short, squat Man came to my House not at 8 but near 10 at Night. He had on a Clergyman's Gown, and his neck was surrounded with a large, Lawn, Barrister's Band. He shewed me a Book in sheets, almost finished, and about a Dozen original Letters, and promised me the whole at our next meeting; and the next Day I received the following Note from P.T. and a Letter from R.S.
viz.
To Mr CURLL.
SIR,
YOu see I leave all to your own Prudence, and you now see I trust your Honour as to
Price,
&c. which settle with the Bearer against the Week's end: [for
Out
they must come now forthwith] I doubt not you'll return my Letters, and we must by no means seem to use
Pope
with Disregard, but rather commend, &c. lest, by any Circumstances I writ to you, the Publisher be detected.
Yours P.T.
The Clergyman you saw will bring you the Books, to whom I insist you will deliver my former Letters concerning Mr
Pope,
whom I must be concealed from, and he tells me you had written an
Advertisement of Mr Pope's Life,
in which if you insert any one Circumstance of what I told you in a private Letter, I shall be discovered and exposed to his Resentment. I insist on your Honour in returning them therefore.
You may do as you please your self in relation to the References to CROMWELL's
Letters,
and therefore you may add any such Advertisement to the Title of the Book it self, for I do not thoroughly understand you, as to that. P.T.
To Mr CURLL.
May 8, 1735.
Dear Sir,
PLease to send by the bearer the Title and the Preface, and an Estimate, and the Papers you promised me last Night; I mean the Letters. The Printer is drawing out the Sheets, and you shall have the rest with Expedition. If I should get off my Engagement for this Evening, leave Word where I shall meet you. I am,
Your Friend and Servant, R. SMYTHE.
P.S.
The old Gentleman is vastly pleas'd at our Meeting last Night: don't fail to send by the Bearer the Letters. I shall have great News, and good, to tell you Friday to both our Advantage.
Two a Clock Saturday May 10, 1735.
Dear SIR,
MY Cousin desires you will get 600. of the Titles printed with all Expedition, and assures you that no Man whatsoever shall vend one Book but your self, for you shall have the whole Impression to be sure. He says Tuesday. I am,
SIR, Your Friend and Servant, R.S.
P.S.
Why don't you advertise.
12, May 1735.
SIR,
YOU see how earnest
P.T.
is to have these Books out, therefore you will receive by the Bearer some Titles. By one a-Clock, you shall have more Books; but he must insist on some Money to pay the Printer. The Number I shall bring you will be near 200, be at home at 12, for I may get them before. I am,
Your Friend and Servant, R.S.
According to the Request herein, I staid at home; and, about one o'Clock,
R.S.
sent for me to the
Standard Tavern
in
Leicester-Fields,
where I paid him ten pounds, and gave him a negotiable Note for fifteen pounds, payable in a Month, as he desired.
We had not been together half an hour, before two Porters brought to the Tavern five Bundles of Books upon a Horse, which R.S. told me came by Water. He ordered the Porters to carry them to my House and my Wife took them in. They contained but 38 Books in each bundle making in the 5 Bundles 190 Books (all wanting the Letters to Mess.
Jarvas, Digby, Blount
and Dr
Arbuthnot
's Letter). But he said they contained 50 in each Bundle, which with 50 I had before (without Titles or Prefaces,) made 300, and gave me the following Receipts.
May 12, 1735.
Then receiv'd of Mr
Curll
ten pounds on Account, by me R. SMYTHE.
Receiv'd at the same Time a Note of hand of Fifteen pounds, one Month after date, which when paid is in full for three Hundred Books, by me R. SMYTHE.
N.B.
He had a conditional Note of mine besides, payable on Demand, for five pounds.
E. CURLL.
About two a Clock, on the very Day of Publication, the 12th Instant, all the Books that were in my Custody were seized by a Warrant from the House of Lords, and my self, and Mr
John Wilford,
Publisher of the Post-Boy, were both ordered to attend their Lordships, the next Day; which we did accordingly. Mr
Wilford,
and the Printer of the
Post-Boy,
whom he brought with him, were upon Examination discharged. But the Lords Resolving themselves into a Committee, I was ordered to attend the next Day.
At my Return home I found the following Letter from. R.S.
To Mr CURLL.
13 May 1735.
SIR,
AS SOON as I heard of our Misfortune of the Books being seiz'd, I posted away to P.T. he said he found his great Caution was but necessary: but tho' he knew Mr
Pope
's Interest with the Great, he apprehended only his personal Revenge, or a Chancery Suit; (knowing he would spare no Cost to gratify his Revenge) he said, if you had been more cautious, than to
name Lords
in your Advertisement, this could not have happen'd; but since it has happen'd, you shall not only find him punctual, but
Generous.
He immediately sent me with Money to pay off the Printer, and I have the whole Impression in my hands: I then found that the Rogue had deliver'd your last Parcel imperfect: but I will bring you both those Sheets, and the whole Impression, the very first day they can be safely deliver'd you.
P.T. says he never intended any more Advantage, but meerly not to be out of pocket. (Except you had been willing to gratify me a little), but now he will be Just, and act handsomely to you, tho' ever so much to his own Loss: provided you keep secret our whole Transaction—As it is plain that
Pope
's whole Point is only to
suppress the Books,
and find out
who gave the Letters.
You will intirely disappoint him in both, if, whatever Questions the Lords ask, you will answer no more than thus:
that you had the Letters
from
different Hands,
some of which you
paid
for, that
you printed these as you did Mr Cromwell's
before, without Mr
Pope
's ever
gainsaying
it; and that as to the
Originals, many you can
shew now,
and the rest you can
very speedily.
It is well that an Accident hinders you at present from the Originals, which now, they would seize. P.T. thinks it was indiscreet to advertise the Originals so very quick as the first Day, until you actually had them, which by his own falling ill, he cou'd not come at so soon in the place where they lay.
The Lords cannot stop the Books above two or three Days, if at all.
And P.T's wonderful Caution as it happens, will enable you to sell them whatever Orders they may make. For he, apprehending Injunctions in Chancery might suppress the Book, had already printed
another Title and Preface,
which throws the Publication intirely off you, and might be safely vended even in that Case.
In short, if you absolutely conceal all that has passed between P.T. Me, and Your self, you win the old Gentleman for ever. For his whole Heart is set upon publishing the Letters, not so much for this Volume as,
in Ordine ad
to much more important Correspondence that will follow,
viz.
with SWIFT, late Lord OX....D Bp. ROCHESTER, and Lord BOL.
You shall hear soon from me. I hope this will be quickly over. I remain,
Your Faithful Servant, R. SMYTHE.
14 May.
SIR,
WE heartily congratulate you on your Victory over the Lords, the
Pope,
and the Devil: for we have sure Information, that the Books will be restor'd to you either this day, or to morrow—The old Gentleman is charm'd with your Behaviour yesterday; only thinks it wrong that he hears you own'd the
Books were sent to your Wife
by an unknown Hand.—This may induce Enquiry and Suspicion of some dark Transaction; and be thought shuffling. The Lords will think you more sincere, and 'twill have a betrer Air, to say,
you had the Originals and Copies from different Hands, and that some you paid for, some were given you, and you printed them in your own Right.
—You can suffer no more for printing than for publishing them, and the Lords can't touch a Hair of your Head.
All that
P.T.
can apprehend is that
Pope
may obtain an Injunction in Chancery, against
E. Curll
by Name, notwithstanding which, those Books may be selling, which have not your Name, with the Preface which he provided for that Purpose.
And you cannot but observe when you read that Preface, that at the same Time, that it makes you not Publisher, it yet proves your Right to
Cromwell
's
Letters.
This is as lucky as can be, and
Pope
cannot obtain an Injunction without owning himself, in the Bill, Author of the Letters, which will serve you to prove the Letters genuine.
If you observe all the old Gentleman's Directions you will soon be fully acquainted both with his Person and Designs; in the mean Time, to shew you he will take off the Mask, and clear the
Mysterium magnum
you complain of, I have his Leave to tell you these things which he would have, writ to you himself, but that his Arm is now disabled by the Rheumatism.
He is no Man of Quality, but conversant with many, and happening to be concern'd with a noble Lord (a Friend of Mr
Pope
's) in handing to the Press his Letters to
Wycherley,
he got some Copies over and above. This Incident put first into his Head the Thought of collecting more, and afterwards finding you did not comply in printing his Advertisement, he went on with it by himself. Found
Cromwell
's Answers in the same Lord's Possession, with many others, which he printed as near as possible to correspond with the Letter and Paper,
&c.
The Observations he made in some Paragraphs
&c.
were necessary, the same things being repeated in other Letters, either of this or the next Volume, particularly the Original of the Letter to Mr
Walsh
is in his Hand.
I hope to have some of his Originals when we meet. The Books that Rascal sent imperfect, you shall have perfected on your first Desire by a Line to
Dicks;
in which you are disir'd to send us Word of what you now think of the Honour and Candour of
Your faithful Friend. P.T.
15 May, Thursday 5 a Clock.
SIR,
YOU are happily got off, to my extreme Pleasure, I take the first Minute I hear of your Acquittal to tell you, from certain Information, that ***** (
Pope's
Friends) particularly *** wou'd have done any sort of illegal Injustice to have come at you, even to Imprisonment and Confiscation of the Books. It was wholly owing to *****************, that your are defended in your Rights: and it will be but common Gratitude in you (as well as may possibly, nay certainly, recommend you to their Patronage) to take the first Opportunity to return them your public Thanks. The Coach waits, and I am going with this joyful News to the old Gentleman, and to have his Orders for what he promis'd, is the Reason I cannot possibly see you this Night. I am,
Your's most sincerely, R. SMYTHE.
May 17.
SIR,
I Have seen
P.T.
from whom I hop'd to have had the MSS. But I found him in a very different Humour from what I left him. He says you did not follow the Instructions he sent you, in not owning the Printing; which tho' in your Letter you seem to think nothing, yet joyn'd to your having own'd to others, that you had them from a-cross the Water, was almost all that you could discover. Yet further, we are certainly inform'd that you have nam'd me as the Hand that convey'd them. This you've said, that I was a Clergyman belonging to
C. Church
in
Southwark.
Judge you whether we can think of you as you've Reason to think of us, whether this be honourable Usage, after you had known what
P.T.
had done, and what a Sum he paid to get you the whole Impression.
P.T.
had Reason to think you would betray him assoon as you had it. Judge too if you have done wisely, to hazard, by your blabbing, the Loss of a future Copy of immense Value, which I much doubt he will ever let you have. He has positively enjoyn'd me not to trust my self with you till better Assurance: and the best way for my Part that I know you can give any Assurance is, to send the 20 pound first, to
Dicks Coffee-House,
in a Note on Mr
Hoare,
by 10 to-morrow morning; and to show P.T. that you trust him as absolutely in that small Sum, as he has done you in a much greater. As soon as you do this (and not before) he'll send all the things you desire, which I believe he would never have done after your naming me, and coming so near, as
Southwark,
but for his being so earnest to have the Book publish'd.
In one Word he has put it upon this Test.
I am sorry you have given him this Occasion of Distrust. I wou'd be glad to do you a good Office with him; but I fear you've done me a bad one in naming me. I am,
Yours, R.S.
Your Answer ought to be very satisfactory.
19 May, 1735.
SIR,
I Will bring you the Remainder of the Impression Thursday Evening. For I am really tir'd with this capricious Temper of the old Gentleman, he suspects his own shadow; I shall leave it to your Generosity to consider me for the Copy. I am just sent for to him, and am told he's in good Humour. I have but just time to tell you,
I am, Your Friend and Servant, R.S.
APPENDIX.
No. I.
W HEREAS
E.C.
Bookseller, has written to Mr
P—,
pretending that a Person, the Initials of whose Name are
P.T.
hath offered him to print a large Collection of the said Mr
P—
's Letters, to which
E.C.
requires an Answer: This is to certify, that Mr
P—
having never had, nor intending ever to have, any private Correspondence with
E.C.
gives his Answer in this Manner: That he knows no such Person as
P.T.
that he thinks no Man has any such Collection; that he believes the whole a Forgery, and shall not trouble himself at all about it.
No. II.
WHEREAS
A.P.
Poet, has certified in the
Daily Post-Boy,
that he shall not trouble himself at all about the Publication of a large Collection of the said Mr
P—'s
Letters which
P.T.
hath offered
E.C.
to print. This is to certify, that Mr
C.
never had, nor intended ever to have, any private Correspondence with
A.P.
but was directed to give him Notice of these Letters. Now to put all
Forgeries,
even
Popish ones,
to flight; this is to give Notice, that any Person, (or,
A.P.
himself) may see the ORIGINALS, in Mr
P—'s
own Hand, when printed.
Initials
are a
Joke;
Names at length are
real.
No longer now like Suppliants we come,
E.C.
makes War, and
A.P.
is the Drum.
WHEREAS a Person who signs himself
P.T.
and another who writes himself
R. Smith,
and passes for a Clergyman, have transacted for some time past with
Edm. Curll,
and have in Combination printed the
Private Letters
of Mr
Pope
and his Correspondents [some of which could only be procured from his own Library, or that of a noble Lord, and which have given a Pretence to the publishing others as his which are not so, as well as interpolating those which are;] This is to advertise, that if either of the said Persons will apply to Mr
Pope,
and discover the whole of this Affair, he shall receive a Reward of
Twenty Guineas;
or if he can prove he hath acted by
Direction
of
any other,
and of what Person, he shall receive double that Sum.
WHEREAS it is promised in Mr
Pope
's Name (in the
Daily Post-Boy
) that
Twenty Guineas
shall be paid to a Person who signs himself
P.T.
to discover
R.S.
or
Forty Guineas
shall be paid to
R.S.
if he will discover
P.T.
or any body else who was in the Confederacy of publishing Mr
Pope
's Letters. This is to give Notice, that another Person who writes himself
E.P.
was likewise concerned with
Edm. Curll
in the said Important Confederacy, who have all jointly and severally agreed to oblige Mr
Pope,
if he will make it better worth their while, and let
E. Curll
print his Works for the future; who hereby promises, in Justice to all the Purchasers of the said Mr.
Pope
's Letters bought of him, to deliver this Week
gratis,
the Letters to Mr
Jarvas,
Mr
Digby,
Mr
Blount,
and Dr
Arbuthnot,
which were wanting in all the Copies seized. And in a Month will be also published, Letters Political and Familiar, by Mr
Prior,
Mr
Addison,
Mr
Pope,
Sir
Richard Steele,
&c. being the Second Volume of Literary Correspondence, &c. Printed for
E. Curll.
Rose-street, Convent-Garden,
May 22, 1735.
To the most Noble and Right Honourable the PEERS of
Great-Britain.
My Lords,
THIS Day se'ennight I was in the same Jeopardy as Mr
Dryden's Hind.
Doom'd to Death, tho' fated not to die.
But, till the Hour of my Death, I shall with the most grateful Acknowledgements always remember both the Justice and Honour your Lordship's have done me on this Occasion.
Prevarication,
my Lords, is a noted
Finesse
of the
Society
of
Jesus
; Mr
Pope
says, in
one
of his
Letters,
that an
Evasion
is a
Lye
guarded; but in
another
to Mr
Wycherley,
he thus writes, pag. 24, 25.
"
I am sorry you told the Great Man, whom you met in the Court of Requests, that your Papers were in my Hands: No Man alive shall ever know any such thing from me; and I give you this Warning besides, that tho' your self should say I had any way assisted you,
I am notwithstanding resolved to deny it."
An excellent Proof
This
of the Modesty of
Alexander Pope
of
Twickenham,
Esq
Now, my Lords, to Matter of Fact, I shall this Week publish a new Edition of Mr
Pope's Literary Correspondence,
&c. wherein the Letters to Mr
Jarvas,
Mr
Digby,
Mr
Blount,
and Dr
Arbuthnot
(which were wanting in all the Copies seized by your Lordship's Order) shall be by me delivered
gratis.
And as I am resolved to detect, if possible, the Contrivers of this gross Imposition upon your Lordships. I will, by way of Supplement, print all the Letters I have received from
E.P. P.T.
and
R.S.
with some other Correspondences which, as Mr
Bays
says, shall both
Elevate
and
Surprize
the Public.
I have engraven a new Plate of Mr
Pope
's Head from Mr
Jarvas
's Painting; and likewise intend to hang him up in Effigy for a Sign to all Spectators of
his Falshood
and
my
own Veracity,
which I will always maintain under the
Scots
Motto;
Nemo me impune lacessit.
E. CURLL.
To the BOOKSELLERS.
Gentlemen,
BEING informed that there are clandestinely sent to Mess.
Innys
and
Manby
some Copies of Mr
Pope's
Letters, this is to give both Them and you Notice, that if They, or any Person whatsoever, sell one Copy of the said Letters, but what comes from me, I will take Reprisals on their Copies. Farther, my new Edition will have considerable Additions never before printed, with Cuts of the most eminent Persons, which I will sell you cheaper; therefore use me as you would be used yourselves. The Person who complains of me shall be by me used as he deserves.
E. CURLL.
Rose-Street,
22 May 1735.
POSTSCRIPT.
The Blanks in
Smythe's
Letter of
May
15th I could not let pass; his Reflections were so gross upon the
Lords
in general, and
one
noble Peer in particular. But this whole Transaction, with some others relating to Mr
Pope,
I will lay before the House at their Meeting.
June
20, 1735.
E. CURLL.
TO Mr EDMUND CURLL, BOOK SELLER, IN
ROSE-STREET,
NEAR
COVENT-GARDEN.
SIR,
I Having long lain under Mr
Pope
's Displeasure, am thinking now of making my Peace with him; and, as I have had Obligations to you, I am desirous that you should be included in the Treaty. I have written here my Submission to him (which is in the Way of my Calling), and if you please to print it (which is in the Way of your's), I hope, whatever becomes of me, you may receive some Benefit from it. I am,
Your obliged and most humble Servant, The AUTHOR.
The 17th
Epode
of HORACE Imitated.
A PALINODY to Mr
POPE,
by one of the Heroes of the
DUNCIAD,
occasion'd by his
Epistle
to Dr
Arbuthnot.
F Orbear,
Canidius,
O stop the Source,
I feel your
Of all mad Creatures, if the learn'd are right
It is the
Slaver
kills, and not the
Bite.
Ep.
to Dr
Arb.
L. 101.
In my Edition of
The Works of the Learned,
I find it is not the
fawning
Slaver, but the
furious,
that kills.
Slaver
and I dread it's Force.
From it's full Torrent I for Safety fly
To your good Nature, sad Extremity!
And beg, by all that moves you to relent,
You would forgive
'Tis ten Times worse if they repent.
Ibid.
L. 104.
altho' I do repent.
By
See
Pope's
Works, Vol. II. Quarto, pag. 13.
th' Epitaph'd Remains of your
John Gay,
By the dear Manes of your
Three
Hours
after
Marriage.
joint-writ Play,
By th' awful Dust in which sad
Lawton
views,
Some mould'ring Children of your fruitful Muse,
In private mourn'd but publickly deny'd,
By You their wary Sire, because they dy'd;
By all good friendly Souls in Peace dismiss'd,
By those fore-Buttocks, which You sucking kiss'd,
I here conjure You wou'd some Pity take,
Th' impending Lines from Your lank Dewlaps shake,
Your dire contaminating Flow give o'er,
Beseech'd, and spit and spawl on me no more.
Or (if You can) more generously act
And with your
Epist. to Dr
Arb.
line 289.
Silver Bell one Dunce retract.
Your English
Laelius
by Petition meek,
Could make his Rival soft Forgiveness speak,
Against whose Force he once durst proudly stand,
Leading to prosp'rous War his chosen Band;
Great Souls inspir'd by Knowledge of the Chace,
The monosyllabic West-Saxon Race.
Vanquish'd at last by a superiour shaft
He su'd for Grace: the Victor mildly laugh'd,
Forgave, and made him Warden of his Craft.
i.e. The Craftsman.
Deep wounded
Finch
his Murd'ress
Mrs Sally Salisbury.
cou'd forgive,
He sigh'd tow'rds
Newgate,
and he bid her live.
Ev'n Women have forgiv'n! offended
Con,
Her Justice satisfy'd, wish'd all undone,
And melting took, assur'd from farther Harms,
Her mastigated Knight unto her Arms.
O much belov'd by those who truly hate
Their Oaths, and
King,
and
Ministers
of
State,
Can Sins in scrib'ling no Remission find?
No Length of Time appease your anger'd Mind?
Dunciad
passim.
In Tickling, Braying, Dozing, Chattering,
In Starving, Spouting, Diving, every thing,
That Bile suggests bedunc'd, bepiss'd, bemir'd,
Thro' all poetic Vengeance dragg'd and tir'd
I hop'd at last for Rest, but hop'd in vain;
You write afresh and revel in my Pain,
Epistles into new Invectives turn,
Court my Resentment, at my Friendship spurn,
On my
Happy to catch me just at Dinner Time.
Ep. to Dr
Arb.
L. 14.
few Meals your cruel Satire wreak,
Shut, shut the Door, good John—
Ibid.
L. 1.
Shut your own Door and my poor
Lull'd by soft Zephyrs thro' the broken Pane.
Ibid.
L. 42.
Windows break.
What would You have? See trembling I am brought
To own (what once indeed I little thought)
My Head, nay any Head as well as mine,
Without your Licence cannot write a Line;
And, if you please, I here consent to plead
My careless Parents taught me not to read.
Say if all this can't pacify your Ire,
What other Expiation you require
I shall most readily the Task fulfil,
Not
B—t
's self more plyant to your Will:
Whether for Sacrifice your Rigour looks,
An Hecatomb of hated Critics Books;
Or else would have my yet unflatt'ring Lays,
Reluctant turn'd to celebrate your Praise.
I'll sing the Man who, out of high good Nature,
His gentle Genius sooth'd in writing Satire.
I'll shew the Work
Essay on Man.
confess'd divinely penn'd,
With ev'ry Muse, and
Phoebus
too your Friend;
The great Incomprehensible explor'd
As high as human Thought yet ever soar'd;
And
Man,
almost inexplicable too,
Thro' all his mazy Depths pursu'd by You;
His secret Vices drawn to public Sight,
His Virtues plac'd in most inchanting Light.
Then, to evince how You those Virtues rate,
I'll mark how You your Morals dedicate
To pious
St John
's Name immaculate.
From thence I'll shew your natural Transition
To
Sober Advice
for casual
Fruition
See,
Sober Advice from Horace, to the young Gentlemen about Town.
This Profane and Lewd Satire is the Production of Mr
P.
and was by sold to four Booksellers for sixty Guineas, as can be proved. E.C.
.
Farther to testify my Complaisance
I'll vouch each Paradox you shall advance.
The Man's a Fool, I'll echo to your Voice,
Who living with the Fair no Fame destroys,
Nor other
Epist. to Dr
Arb.
line 300.
Beauties than his Wife enjoys.
Clean Courtiers shall with
Ibid.
line 299.
Stinks the Sense offend,
And
Twick'nam
-Monks Perfumes from Flannel send.
Epist. line 314.
Beauty shall shock, the contrary shall please,
And fifty Painters for it's Picture teaze.
Despised Innocents shall carry Stings,
Ibid.
L. 299.
Mad
Dogs
shall fawning
lick,
Ibid.
line 100.
One Flatt'rer's worse than all
Lin. 102.
It is the Slaver kills.
and
Buggs
have
Wings.
Ibid.
line 298.
This Bugg with gilded Wings.
CANIDIUS's ANSWER.
In vain You cry to
One
who careless hears.
Go, you're a
Dunce,
an
Ass,
prick up your
Ears.
CURLL Triumphant; AND POPE
Out-witted.
I.
POPE,
meditating to disgrace
Those, whom his
Satire
jeers,
Not long since to a wildgoose chace
Entic'd
Great-Britain
's Peers.
II.
He led 'em to pursue a Wight
Egregious—
Curll
his name,
Who not surpriz'd, and in no Fright,
By this pursuit reap'd Fame,
III.
He undeceiv'd the
Nobles
all,
More cou'd he wish or hope?
While
Pope
had thus contriv'd his Fall,
He triumph'd over
Pope.
IV.
The
Vomit
foul, the
Dunciad
keen,
Vex'd
Curll
—but all admit,
Tho'
Pope
twice
shew'd he had most spleen
Curll
once
has shewn most Wit.
LETTERS TO HENRY CROMWELL,
Esq
LETTER I.
April 25th. 1708.
SIR,
T HIS Letter greets you from the Shades;
(Not those which thin unbody'd Shadows fill,
That glide along th'
Elysian
Glades,
Or skim the flow'ry Meads of
Asphodill:
)
But those, in which a learned Author said,
Strong Drink was drunk, and Gambols play'd
And two substantial Meals a Day were made.
The Bus'ness of it is t' express,
From me and from my Holiness,
To you and to your Gentleness,
How much I wish you Health and Happiness;
And much good News, and little Spleen as may be;
A hearty Stomach, and sound Lady;
And ev'ry Day a double Dose of Coffee,
To make you look as sage as any Sophy.
For the rest I must be content in plain Prose to assure you, that I am very much oblig'd to you for the Favour of your Letter▪
But if I may be allow'd to object against any thing you write (which I must do, if it were only to be even with you for your Severity to me) it shou'd be that Passage in your's, where you are pleas'd to call the Whores of
Drury-lane,
the Nymphs of
Drury.
I must own it was some Time before I could frame to my self any plausible Excuse for this Expression; but Affection (which you know, Sir, excuses all Things) at last furnish'd me with one in your Justification; which I have here sent you, in Verse, that you may have at least some Rhyme to defend you, tho' you shou'd have no Reason.
If Wit or Critic blame the tender Swain,
Who stil'd the gentle Damsels in his Strain
The Nymphs of
Drury,
not of
Drury-lane;
Be this his Answer, and the most just Excuse—
' Far be it, Sirs, from my more civil Muse,
' Those loving Ladies rudely to traduce.
' Alleys and Lanes are Terms too vile and base,
' And give Ideas of a narrow Pass;
' But the well-worn Paths of the Nymphs of
Drury
' Are large and wide,
Tydcombe
and I assure ye.
I made no question but the News of
Sapho
's staying behind me in the Town wou'd surprize you. But she is since come into the Country, and to surprize you more, I will inform you, that the first Person she nam'd when I waited on her, was one Mr
Cromwell.
What an Ascendant have you over all the Sex, who could gain the Fair-one's Heart by appearing before her in a long, black, unpowder'd Perriwig; nay, without so much as the very Extremities of clean Linnen in Neckcloth and Cuffs! I guess that your Friend
Vertumnus,
among all the Forms he assum'd to win the good Graces of
Pomona,
never took upon him that of slovenly Beau. Well, Sir, I leave you to your Meditations on this Occasion, and to languish unactive (as you call it).
But I find I have exceeded my Bounds, and begin to travel on the Confines of Impertinence. However, to make you amends, I shall desire Mr
Wycherley
to deliver you this Letter, who will be sure in less than a Quarter of an Hour's Conversation with you, to give you Wit enough to attone for twice as much Dulness as I have troubled you with. Therefore I shall only give my Respects to some of our Acquaintance, and conclude.
To
Baker
first my Service, pray;
To
Tydcomb
eke,
And Mr
Cheek;
Last to
yourself
my best Respects I pay,
And so remain, for ever and for ay.
SIR,
Your affectionate humble Servant, A POPE.
LETTER II.
Nov. 30th, 1709.
SIR,
ABOUT the Time that Mr
Wycherley
came to
London,
I troubled you with a Letter of mine, in hopes of prevailing with you to continue, the Favour of your's. But I now write, to convince you that Silence is not always the surest Guard against Impertinence: I have too great a Sense of those many Civilities receiv'd from you, to desist from expressing it, till I receive more: For you not only have acquainted me with many of my Errors in scribbling, but with some in my Conduct; and I owe to you the Knowledge of Things infinitely more of Concern to myself, than any thing of mine can be to others. The Advantage I have obtain'd from both might endanger your being put upon an endless Trouble of criticizing on the rest of my Faults, and therefore you have reason to make some delay with those now under your Examination. Tho' I never cou'd expect you shou'd once look upon them, but when you were perfectly at Leisure; yet so much Assurance your former Kindness had given me, that I was under some Apprehensions for your Health, on the Score of your Silence; and I desir'd Mr
Wycherley
to inform me on that Subject; which he did not, either through Forgetfulness, or else believing I shou'd be soon in Town. And I had certainly been there before this Time, had it been in my Power to comply with his most obliging Invitation, and my Desires of seeing him and you. But since I find I must not hope for that Satisfaction till after
Christmas,
I entreat you will not, in the mean time, let me be so unhappy as to doubt of your Welfare; which is the sole Business of this Letter, that (to make you some amends for the unconscionable Length of my last) shall not add a Word more but that which I hope you will ever believe, that I am,
Dear SIR,
Your most oblig'd and most humble Servant, A. POPE.
P.S.
Pray continue to assure Mr
Wycherley
of my real Affection for, and Service to, him, and let him know I writ to him two Posts since. You will likewise oblige me by giving my Service to Mr
Betterton
when you see him, who (I am afraid) is not well, not having seen his Name among the Actors in the public Advertisements.
LETTER III.
December 15, 1709.
Dear Sir,
I Receiv'd the Favour of your kind Letter, wherein I find you have oblig'd me before I expected it, in reviewing the Papers I sent you; I have been ask'd, I believe twenty times, by Sir
William Trumbull
for a Sight of that Translation, but have deferr'd it till I cou'd supply the blank Spaces I left in the fair Copy, by your Approbation. If therefore you will send it inclos'd to Mr
Thorold
the Tobacconist in
Duke-street,
to be sent me by the Coach, as soon as you can conveniently; it will come very opportunely; since I find I can no longer refuse to show it to Sir
William
with any Decency. I am mightily pleas'd with your Objection to my attributing Friendship to Dogs, yet think the Want of Equality is no Obstacle to the Friendship of some Country Gentlemen of my Acquaintance, with theirs▪ I am extreamly impatient to enjoy your agreeable Conversation, and to let you know how much I prefer it to any here, where indeed Dogs and Men are much on a Level, only the first have more Good-nature and more Sagacity. If I were not at this instant very much afflicted with the Head-ach, I would offer a few more Considerations in Behalf of the fourlegg'd Part of the Creation. But I will only add one Word, that you and I will never disagree about Dogs, or any Thing else, for I am with very much Esteem, and ever will be,
SIR,
Your most faithful Friend, and humble Servant, A. POPE.
P.S.
I design to write to Mr
Wycherley
by this Post, in Answer to the most kind and friendly Letter I ever receiv'd. I shall never be unhappy or melancholy in the Country, as long as he and you will oblige me with your Letters.
LETTER IV.
June 10th. 1711.
Dear Sir,
I WAS extreamly concern'd to leave you ill when I parted from the Town, and desir'd Mr.
Thorold
to give me an Account of the State of your Health by the next Coach: He omitted to do it, and I have been since at Mr
Englefyld
's till yesterday, when I receiv'd the ill News that you continu'd ill, or much as I left you: I hope this is not true, and shall be very uneasy in my Fears for your Health till I have a farther Account from yourself, which I beg you not to defer. I hope the Air of this Forest may perfectly recover you, and wish you wou'd to that end try it sooner than the End of the Month; if you desire Mr.
Thorold,
he will at a Day's Warning take a Place for you. My Father joins in this Request, and Mr
Englefyld
is overjoy'd with the Hopes of seeing you at his House. When I have your Company I cannot but be well, and hope from the Knowledge of this, that you can't be very ill in mine. I beg you to believe no Man can take a greater Interest in your Welfare, or be more heartily affected towards you than my self; who am with all the Esteem and Tenderness of a Friend,
Dear SIR,
Your faithful Humble Servant, A. POPE.
LETTER V.
June 25th. 1711.
Dear Sir,
IF my Letter pleas'd you, your's overjoy'd me; and I expect impatiently your kind Visit: A little Room and a little Heart are both at your Service, and you may be secure of being easy in 'em at least, tho' not happy. For you shall go just your own Way, and keep your own Hours, which is more than can be done often in Places of greater Entertainment.—As to your Letter of Critical Remarks on
Dryden
's VIRGIL, I can only say, most of what you observe are true enough, but of no great Consequence (in my Opinion at least)
Line
250.
And sanctify the Shame
—seems to me very beautiful: and so does—
'tis doubly to be dead.
Line 946.
And bandy'd Words still beat about his Ears,
—This I have thought gross as well as you; I agree with you that the 993
d Line (And clos'd her Lids at last in endless Night)
—is contradictory to the Sense of
Virgil,
for so, as you say,
Iris
might have been spar'd. And in the main, 'tis to be confess'd that the Translator has been freer with the Character of
Dido
than his modest Author wou'd allow. I am just taking Horse to see a Friend five Miles off, that I have no little Visits abroad to interrupt my Happiness at Home when you are here. So that I can but just assure you, how pleas'd I am in the Expectation of it, and how sincerely I shall ever be,
Dear SIR,
Your most oblig'd and affectionate Servant, A POPE.
P.S.
Pray bring a very considerable Number of Pint Bottles with you; this might seem a strange odd Request, if you had not told me you wou'd stay but as many Days as you brought Bottles; therefore you can't bring too many, tho' we are here no Drunkards. 'Tis a fine thing to have a learned Quotation for ev'ry Occasion, and
Horace
helps me to one now.
—Non ego te meis
Immunem meditor tingere poculis,
Plena dives ut in domo.
Ode 12. l. 4.
And to another,
Ep.
5.
l.
1
.
Haec ego procurare & idoneus imperor, & non
Invitus, ne turpe toral, ne sordida mappa
Corruget nares—
And once more
Sat.
2.
l.
2.
—bene erit, non piscibus urbe petitis
Sed pullo atque haedo; tum pensilis uva secundus
Et nux ornabit mensas, cum duplice ficu.
Nil mihi rescribas, attamen ipse veni.
P.S.
Mr
Lintot
favour'd me with a Sight of Mr
Dennis
's Piece of fine Satire
Remarks on the Essay on
Criticism.
before 'twas publish'd; I desire you to read it, and give me your Opinion, in what Manner such a Critic ought to be answer'd?
LETTER VI.
Dear Sir,
I SEND this only to let you know how much our whole Family desire to hear of your safe Arrival in
London,
and the Continuance of your Health: You have, without Compliment, oblig'd us all so much by your Friendly Acceptance of so poor an Entertainment here, that you cou'd by nothing have oblig'd us more, but by staying longer. But I take so short a Visit only as an earnest of a more kind one hereafter; as we just call upon a Friend sometimes only to tell him he shall see us again.—All you saw in this Country charge me to assure you of their humble Service, and the Ladies in particular, who look upon us but as plain Country-Fellows since they saw you, and heard more civil Things in that Fortnight, than they expect from the whole Shire of us, in an Age. The Trophy you bore away from one of 'em, in your Snuff-box, will doubtless preserve her Memory, and be a Testimony of your Admiration, for ever.
As long as
Mocha
's happy Tree shall grow,
While Berries crackle, or while Mills shall go;
While smoaking Streams from silver Spouts shall glide,
Or
China
's Earth receive the sable Tide;
While
Coffee
shall to
British
Nymphs be dear;
While fragrant Steams the bended Head shall chear;
Or grateful Bitters shall delight the Taste,
So long her Honour, Name, and Praise, shall last!
Pray give my Service to all my few Friends, and to Mr
Gay
in particular. Farewel, that is, drink strong Coffee.
Ingere tibi calices, amariores.
I am, with all Sincerity,
Dear SIR,
Your most faithful Friend, and humble Servant, A. POPE.
July 15th, 1711.
LETTER VII.
Dear Sir,
I Receiv'd your most welcome Letter, and am asham'd you shou'd seem to give us Thanks, where you ought to assure us of Pardon, for so ill an Entertainment. Your heroic Intention of flying to the Relief of a distressed Lady, was glorious, and noble; such as might be expected from your Character, for as
Chaucer
says (I think)
As noblest Metals are most soft to melt,
So Pity soonest runs in gentle Minds.
But what you tell me of her Relations Account of the State of her Mind, is not to be wonder'd at. 'Tis the easiest Way they have to make some seeming Excuse for a shameful Indolence and Neglect of afflicted Virtue, to represent it as willing to suffer, and endure the Cross. Alas, Sir! These good People of large Estates, and little Souls, have no mind to ease her, by bearing it off her Shoulders by a generous Assistance! OUr Saviour himself did not refuse to be eas'd of the Weight of Part of his Cross; tho' perhaps
Simon
of
Cyrene
might alledge to the
Jews
that 'twas Christ's Desire to bear it all himself; and he, for his Part, might be willing to go quietly on his Journey, without the Trouble.—
Be pleas'd to assure Mr
Ballam
of my faithful Service: I can never enough esteem a Zeal so ardent in my Concerns, from one I never cou'd any Way oblige, or induce to it. 'Tis an Effect of the purest, most disinterested Strain of natural Good-humour in the World. Pray at your Leisure return me those Papers in
my Hand
which you have, and in Mr
Wycherley
's, and favour me as often as you can with your Letters, which will ever be the most entertaining Things I can receive in your Absence.—All those fine Persons you mention return you their humble Service—The Fate of the
Berry
moves at once my Compassion, and Envy: It deserves an Elegy; but who besides
Catullus
and
Voiture
can write agreeably upon Trifles? My humble Service to the Lady in the
Clouds,
where if I am once so happy as to be admitted, I will not be put off like
Ixion,
but lay hold on the real
Juno. I am, most seriously,
Dear SIR,
Your most oblig'd and most affectionate Servant and Friend. A. POPE.
July 24, 1711.
To Mr LINTOT, Bookseller.
Aug. 4, 1713.
Mr LINTOT,
MR
Addison
desired me to tell you, that he wholly disapproves the Manner of treating Mr
Dennis
in a little Pamphlet, by way of Dr
Norris
's Account
Of the Frenzy of Mr
Den
—A Narrative written by Mr
Pope.
See his Letter to Mr
Addison,
of
July
30, 1713, in Vol. I.
. When he thinks fit to take notice of Mr
Dennis
's Objections to his Writings
Remarks
upon CATO.
, he will do it in a way Mr
Dennis
shall have no just Reason to complain of. But when the Papers abovementioned were offered to be communicated to him, he said, he could not, either in Honour or Conscience, be privy to such a Treatment, and was sorry to hear of it. I am,
SIR,
Your very humble Servant, RICHARD STEELE.
Mr POPE to Mr DENNIS.
May 3, 1721.
SIR,
I Called to receive the
two Books of your Letters
These Books were intituled,
Original Letters, Familiar, Moral, and Critical.
In two Volumes 8vo. Printed by
E. Curll
for Mr
Dennis;
for whose Benefit only they were subscribed at one Guinea a Set. Mr
Dennis
died 1733, and was buried at St.
Martin
's in the Fields,
London.
from Mr
Congreve,
and have left with him the
little
Money I am in your Debt. I look upon my self to be
much
more so, for the
Omissions you have been pleased to make in those
Letters
in my Favour, and sincerely join with you in the Desire, that not the least Traces may remain of that Difference between Us which indeed
I AM SORRY FOR
If Mr
Pope
will not allow this to be called his
Recantation,
I know not what
Submission
of
any kind
can be so termed.
. You may therefore believe me, without either Ceremony or Falseness,
SIR,
Your most obedient humble Servant, A. POPE.
Mrs THOMAS to Mr CURLL.
SIR,
BEing informed by a Person of great Worth and Quality that you designed to publish a
Collection
of
Original Letters,
&c. from the best Hands since the
Restauration,
I here therefore transmit some very good ones which I am possessed of, that I may contribute my little Mite thereto. And I am the more encouraged to pursue my first Intentions of sending you the inclosed Papers, especially those from Mr
Dryden,
(from the great Usefulness of such an Undertaking) who, notwithstanding he was the Honour and Ornament of his Country; yet, misled by the Vices of that Age, had been too great a Libertine in many of his Writings; but dearly did he repent of it before he died (as certainly all must who have but even the Principles of Natural Religion, when they come to take a serious View of Eternity) he was continually bewailing the Impossibility of calling in all his Works, and making a thorough Reformation, and therefore took all Opportunities of deterring others from treading in his Steps; nay, sometimes his Zeal carried him so far as to chide, even when there was no Occasion, as witness one of his Letters to me, who had desired his Correction of some Verses, and had innocently said they were written in Imitation of Mr
Behn
's Numbers. I own I was pleased with the Cadence of her Verse, tho' at the same Time I no ways approved the Licentiousness of her Morals. But you will see how severe he is upon me for it; and I am very certain if he had lived but a few Months longer, he would have published a
Treatise
by Way of
Recantation;
which, as he often used to say, was
the only Method whereby he could redeem his Crime, and prevent a growing Evil.
Sir, if you think the
private Thoughts
of this
Great Man
may be useful to the Public, and worthy a Place in your Collection, they are freely at your Service, from,
Your sincere Friend, E.T.
June 16th 1726.
LETTERS OF Mr
DRYDEN
TO
CORINNA
Mrs
Elizabeth Thomas,
jun.
.
MADAM,
T HE Letter you were pleased to direct for me, to be left at the Coffee-house last Summer, was a great Honour; and your
Verses
A
Pastoral
hereafter mentioned.
were, I thought, too good to be a Woman's; some of my Friends, to whom I read them, were of the same Opinion. 'Tis not over gallant, I must confess, to say this of the fair Sex; but most certain it is, that they generally write with more Softness than Strength. On the contrary, you want neither Vigour in your Thoughts, nor Force in your Expressions, nor Harmony in your Numbers, and methinks I find much of ORINDA
The celebrated Mrs
Catherine Philips.
in your Manner (to whom I had the Honour to be related, and also to be known). But I continued not a Day in the Ignorance of the Person to whom I was obliged; for, if you remember, you brought the
Verses
to a Bookseller's Shop, and enquired there, how they might be sent to me. There happened to be in the same Shop a Gentleman, who hearing you speak of me, and seeing a Paper in your Hand, imagined it was a
Libel against me,
and had you watched by his Servant, till he knew both your Name, and where you lived, of which he sent me word immediately. Tho' I have lost his Letter, yet I remember you live some where about
St Giles
's
She lived with her Mother in
Dyott-Street.
, and are an only Daughter. You must have passed your Time in reading much better Books than mine; or otherwise you could not have arrived to so much Knowledge as I find you have. But whether
Sylph
or
Nymph
I know not;
Those fine Creatures,
as your Author Count
Gabalis
A Translation of the entertaining History of the
Count de
GABALIS, by Mr.
Ozell,
is printed by
E. Curll.
Price 1 s. 6 d.
assures us,
have a mind to be christened,
and since you do me the Favour to desire a Name from me, take that of CORINNA if you please; I mean not the Lady with whom OVID was in Love, but the famous
Theban
Poetess, who overcame PINDAR five Times, as Historians tell us. I would have call'd you SAPHO, but that I hear you are handsomer. Since you find I am not altogether a Stranger to you, be pleased to make me happier by a better Knowledge of you; and instead of so many unjust Praises which you give me, think me only worthy of being,
MADAM,
Your most humble Servant, and Admirer, JOHN DRYDEN.
LETTER II.
MADAM,
THE great Desire which I observe in you to write well, and those good Parts which God Almighty and Nature have bestowed on you, make me not to doubt that by Application to Study, and the Reading of the best Authors, you may be absolute Mistress of POETRY. 'Tis an unprofitable Art, to those who profess it; but you, who write only for your Diversion, may pass your Hours with Pleasure in it and without Prejudice, always avoiding (as I know you will) the Licences which Mrs
Behn
allowed herself, of writing loosely, and giving (if I my have leave to say so)
some Scandal to the Modesty of her Sex.
I confess, I am the last Man who ought, in Justice to arraign her, who have been myself too much a Libertine in most of my Poems, which I should be well contented
I had Time either to purge, or to see them fairly burned.
But this I need not say to you, who are too well born, and too well principled, to fall into that Mire.
In the mean Time, I would advise you not to trust too much to VIRGIL
's Pastorals;
for as excellent as they are, yet THEOCRITUS is far before him, both in Softness of Thought, and Simplicity of Expression. Mr
Creech
Mr
Creech
's Translation of
Theocritus
is printed for
E. Curll,
Pr. 2s. 6d.
has translated that
Greek
Poet, which I have not read in
English.
If you have any considerable Faults, they consist chiefly in the Choice of Words, and the placing them so as to make the Verse run smoothly; but I am at present so taken up with my own Studies, that I have not Leisure to descend to Particulars; being, in the mean time, the fair CORINNA
's
Most humble and most faithful Servant, JOHN DRYDEN.
P.S.
I keep your two
1. A
Pastoral Elegy,
to the Memory of the honourable
Cecilia Bew.
2. The
Triple League,
to Mrs
Susan Dove;
written in Imitation of Mrs
Behn.
Copies till you want them, and are pleased to send for them.
LETTER III.
Fair CORINNA,
I Have sent your
Poems
back again, after having kept them so long from you: By which you see I am like the rest of the World, an
impudent Borrower,
and a
bad Pay-master.
You take more Care of my Health than it deserves; that of an old Man is always crazy, and at present, mine is worse than usual, by a
St Anthony
's
Fire
in one of my Legs; tho' the Swelling is much abated, yet the Pain is not wholly gone, and I am too weak to stand upon it. If I recover, it is possible I may attempt
Homer
's
Iliad:
A Specimen of it (the first Book) is now in the Press, among other Poems of mine, which will make a Volume in Folio, of twelve Shillings Price
Fables,
Ancient and Modern, translated into Verse, from
Homer, Ovid, Boccace
and
Chaucer:
With
Original Poems. N.B.
Mr
Dryden
Died, 1700.
; and will be published within this Month. I desire, fair Author, that you will be pleas'd to continue me in your good Graces, who am with all Sincerity and Gratitude,
Your most humble Servant, and Admirer, JOHN DRYDEN.
Friday, December 29th 1699.
Mr CHARLES DRYDEN to CORINNA.
MADAM,
NOtwithstanding I have been seized with a Fever ever since I saw you last, I have this Afternoon endeavoured to do my self the Honour of obeying my Lady
Chudleigh
's Commands. My Fever is still increasing, and I beg you to peruse the following Verses according to your own Sense and Discretion, which far surpasses mine in all Respects. In a small Time of Intermission from my Illness I wrote these following,
viz.
MADAM,
HOw happy is our
British
Isle to bear
Such Crops of Wit and Beauty to the Fair?
A
female Muse
each vying Age has blest;
And the last
Phoenix
still excels the rest:
But you, such solid Learning add to Rhymes,
Your Sense looks fatal to succeeding Times;
Which rais'd to such a Pitch, o'erflows like
Nile,
And with an after Dearth must seize our Isle.
Alone, of all your Sex, without the Rules,
Of formal Pedants, or the noisy Schools.
(What Nature has bestow'd will Art supply)
Have trac'd the various Tracks of dark Philosophy.
What happy Days had wise
Aurelius
seen,
If, for
Faustina,
you his Wife had been!
No jarring Nonsense had his Soul opprest;
For he,
with all he wish'd for,
had been blest.
Be pleased to tell me what you find amiss, or correct it yourself, and excuse this Trouble from,
MADAM,
Your most humble and most obedient Servant, CHARLES DRYDEN.
Son of Mr
Dryden,
he was unfortunately drowned in swimming at
Windsor,
1704.
LETTERS OF Mr ADDISON.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER at Paris.
Whitehall,
Aug. 12, 1707. O.S.
My LORD,
MR WALPOLE is lately arrived from Mr
Stanhope,
and has brought with him the Treaty of Commerce concluded with the King of
Spain.
I believe the Envoy will be here himself this Winter, his Presence being perhaps necessary in case a certain Earl should raise any Uneasinesses in the House of Lords. Our Merchants are very angry at their late Losses on the
Russia
Fleet, and pretend the Enemy must have had Advices of the Convoy's Orders, to meet them in so critical a Juncture; but it seems the Orders were such as the Merchants themselves desired. Our Wagers on
Toulon
are sunk, but we still think the Odds are for us. The Duke of
Devonshire
The Right Noble and Honourable WILLIAM Duke of
Devonshire,
to whom Mr
Hobbes
was Tutor.
is dangerously gerously ill of a Retention of Urine, which will prove fatal unless very suddenly remedied.
I am, &c. J. ADDISON.
To the same.
Whitehall,
Aug. 18, 1707. O.S.
My LORD,
WE had yesterday a
Lisbon
Mail, in which we received Letters from
Barcelona
of
June
the 9th. They all tax very much the
French
Generals for not having made more use of their Victory at
Almanza,
which, till the coming away of those Letters, had been followed by very insignificant Success. This had given our Forces time to recover themselves, and to take all the necessary Precautions for the Defence of
Catalonia,
where the People appeared firm to the
Austrian
Interest; and the more so, since they saw by the Treatment of the
Valentians
and
Arragenians,
what they were to expect in case of Conquest. The
Lisbon
Letters gives us hopes of retaking
Moura
and
Serpa,
tho' we are afraid our four
English
Regiments may suffer much before them, not being seasoned to the Heats of the Country, which are at present in their greatest strength. The Parliament of
Ireland
seems very much pleased with their new Lord Lieutenent
The Rt. Hon.
Thomas
Lord
Wharton.
.
I am, &c. J. ADDISON.
To Mr COLE at
Venice.
Whitehall
Sept. 16, 1707.
SIR,
MR
Stepney
died yesterday at
Chelsey,
and will be buried in
Westminster Abbey.
I need not tell you how much he is lamented by every body here. He has left Mr
Prior
a Legacy of 50 Pounds: to my Lord
Halifax
a
Golden Cup
and a hundred Tomes of his Library: the rest of it is to go to Mr
Lewis:
and a Silver
Ewer and Bason
to Mr
Cardonnel.
His Estate is divided between his two Sisters. The best part of it lies in the Treasury, which owes him 7000 Pounds. The
Observator
in Dead
Mr
John Tutchin,
Author of that Paper, did, in King
James
's Reign, petition to be hanged.
.
J. ADDISON.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER at Paris.
Whitehall,
Oct 7, 1707.
My LORD,
THE Earl of
Sunderland
is now at
New-Market,
and will return with
Her Majesty
on Friday next. I have been with Sir
Charles Hedges,
to ask him for a Draught of a Treaty of Commerce with the Republic of
Venice;
but he does not remember that ever he had any such in his Hands. I have therefore sent to Mr
Palmer
on the same Subject; who, with two or three other
Venetian
Merchants, brought me the Project of a Treaty, which they desired me to read to my Lord
Sunderland,
upon his Return from
New-Market,
in Order to have it laid before the Queen and Cabinet, to be examined and transmitted to your Lordship, with proper Instructions. In the mean Time I am ordered to send a Copy of it to your Lordship, that you may please to consider it, and, if you think fit, may have time to give your Opinion on any Part of it. Our Forces designed for
Portugal
are ready to sail with the first fair Wind.
I am &c. J. ADDISON.
To Mr COLE, at
Venice.
Whitehall,
Oct. 31, 1707.
YEsterday we had News that the Body of Sir
Cloudesly Shovel
was found on the Coast of
Cornwall.
The Fishermen who were searching among the Wrecks, took a Tin Box out of the Pocket of one of the Carcasses that was floating, and found in it a Commission of an Admiral; upon which, examining the Body more narrowly, they saw it was poor Sir
Cloudesly.
You may guess the Condition of his unhappy Wife, who lost, in the same Ship with her Husband, her two only Sons by Sir
John Narborough.
We begin to despair of the two other Men of War, and the Fireship, that engaged among the same Rocks.
I am, &c. J. ADDISON.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER, at
Paris.
Cockpit,
July 23, 1708.
My LORD,
I Make bold to congratulate your Lordship on the appearance of so honourable a Conclusion as your Lordship is putting to your Dispute with the Senate of
Venice.
I had the pleasure to day of hearing your Lordship's Conduct in this Affair very much applauded by some of our first Peers. We had an unlucky Business about two Days ago that befel the
Muscovite
Ambassador, who was arrested going out of his House, and rudely treated by the Bayliffs. He was then upon his Departure for his own Country, and the Sum under a Hundred Pounds that stopt him; and what makes the Business the worse, he has been punctual in his Payments, and had given Order that this very Sum should be paid the Day after. However, as he is very well convinced that the Government intirely disapproves such a Proceeding, there are no ill Consequences apprehended from it. Your Lordship knows that the Privileges of Ambassadors are under very little Regulations in
England,
and I believe that a Bill will be promoted in the next Parliament for setting them upon a certain foot; at least it is what we talk of in both Offices on this Occasion.
I am, &c. J. ADDISON.
To the Hon. Major DAVID DUNBAR,
1715.
SIR,
I This Morning urged to my Lord Lieutenant, every thing you suggest in your Letter, and what else came into my Thoughts. He told me it stopped with the Secretary, and that he would still see what could be done in it. I spoke to Sir
William Saint Quintin
to remove all Difficulties with the Secretary, and will again plead your Cause with his Excellency tomorrow Morning. If you send me word where I may wait on you about eleven o'Clock, in some Bye-Coffee-House, I will inform you of the Issue of this Matter, if I find my Lord
Sunderland
at home, and will convince you that I was in earnest when I wrote to you before, by shewing myself,
Your most Disinterested Humble Servant, J. ADDISON.
To the Hon. Major DUNBAR.
SIR,
I Find there is a very strong Opposition formed against you, but I shall wait on my Lord Lieutenant this Morning, and lay your Case before him as advantageously as I can, if he is not engaged in other Company.
I am afraid what you say of his Grace
The Duke of
Marlborough.
, does not portend you any Good.
And now, Sir, believe me, when I assure you I never did, nor ever will, on any pretence whatsoever, take more than the stated and customary Fees of my Office. I might keep the contrary Practice concealed from the World, were I capable of it, but I could not from my self. And I hope I shall always fear the Reproaches of my own Heart, more than those of all Mankind. In the mean Time if I can serve a Gentleman of Merit, and such a Character as you bear in the World, the Satisfaction I meet with on such an Occasion, is always a sufficient, and the only Reward to,
SIR,
Your most Obedient, Humble Servant, J. ADDISON *
* These two Letters relate to a very signal piece of Service which Mr
Addison
did this Gentleman in the Year 1715, when he was Secretary to the Earl of
Sunderland,
Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland.
It was so great a Favour that Major
Dunbar
sent Mr
Addison
a Bank-Bill of 300
l.
which he would not by any means accept. After which he laid out the Money in a Diamond-Ring, which Mr
Addison
likewise rejected.
Mr
B—ll—s
's LETTER to Mr
T—r
at BATH.
Aug. 1732.
SIR,
AT this Season,
London
ceases to be the Metropolis of Pleasure; the few of the polite World that remain here, become considerable by their scarceness.
Valentine,
the vainest thing alive, calls the Town his Retreat, and continues in it only to preside over the Scarcity of Fools. Pretty Miss D— exposes her Reputation to a Thousand daily Sollicitations; it is possible she may as yet retain her Virtue, if so, she is certainly weary of her Profession. Greatly opposite, my Friend, is the Character of the Lady you inquire after; whom I have not been able to see these six Weeks, save at her Devotions on the Sabbath, where she was too deeply (tho' most unfashionably) engaged, for me to claim any part of her Attention. I know you expect a Rapture when I speak of her, but I assure you her Virtue awes and suppresses every idle Thought; she is a Pattern to form an Angel by, and seems as tho' she would revenge on all Mankind, the devastations they have committed on her Sex; nothing has appeared worthy Notice since your last; I have however sent you something that has been handed about here, I suppose intended as a Satire upon your self, you'll smile to see all the Rage of
Parnassus
dwindled to this gentle Hum, with which, my dear Friend, I shall conclude.
Yours &c.
To the AUTHOR
Mr
Jos. Turner.
It was printed in Fol. 1732.
of an Epistle to Mr POPE; Occasion'd by
his
Epistle to the Earl of BURLINGTON.
I.
WHILE to our
Second
JONES
's
Praise,
The Bard officiously severe,
Attempts a Monument to raise,
What Rhyming
Ape
in mimic Lays
Applauds the servile Sonneteer.
II.
Forgets
Palladio
's grand Design,
His bending Arch, his rising Pile.
Tells how Apostle
Pope
can shine,
And prostitutes his venal Line
To the malicious Pigmy's Smile.
III.
Thus when return'd from
Powell
's Show,
Mamma asks
Jack
what pleas'd his Eyes;
Tho'
Danube's
Streams in Ribbons flow
Tho'
Alps
rise white with Paper Snow,
To him in vain they flow and rise.
IV.
Master forgets the noblest thing,
The Hero's Strut and haughty Tone,
Raves of the Crumpt-Back Puppet-King,
His ribbald Joke, his smutty Sting,
And deifies a
Punch
alone.
To Mr CURLL &c.
Norwich,
June 12, 1735.
SIR,
FOR your
second
Volume of
Literary Correspondence
&c. I here send you an Imitation of
the
FEAST
of
TRIMALCHIO, from
Petronius Arbiter.
Compare it your self with the Original, or shew it to Mr
Pope,
or commit it to the Flames, which you please. But, if you print it, you may say, it was design'd for the Entertainment of our present Mayor
Mr Alderman
Vere,
Member of Parliament for
Norwich.
.
Your humble Servant, The TRANSLATOR.
THE FEAST OF TRIMALCHIO, Imitaded.
From TITUS PETRONIUS ARBITER.
Convivium Sybariticum.
PRAELUDIUM.
T HE present Age, by a strange Revolution of Manners greatly resembles those Profligate, Corrupt, Debauched, Vicious, and Abandoned Times in which
Titus Petronius Arbiter
lived, and of which he has given so warm and lively a Description in his
Satire.
That part relating to the
Feast
of
Trimalchio
remained, through the Injury of Time, imperfect, till within these Fourscore Years, when some Fragments were found which compleated the Relation; this is generally thought to represent the Vices of
Nero,
who having devoted himself to the Counsels of
Tigellinus,
his sole Minister and Favourite, a Man of obscure Birth, and corrupt Principles, did from the highest Expectancy become a stubborn and a foolish Tyrant. There are some who think
Seneca
to be described under the Name of
Trimalchio,
others
Tigellinus,
in which view I shall at present take it, altho' it is not so probable that he was the Person intended by
Petronius
in that Character.
The FEAST of TRIMALCHIO.
GLUTTED with the public Diversions, of Theatres, Amphitheatres, and Bacchanalian Revels, we visited the most Sacred Palaces of Monarchy, and beheld with aweful Reverence, the public Banquettings of these earthly Gods! we saw the August Emperor at his Meals, and we did see the People gape as he did eat; I truly wondered that they should betray so much of the Imperfection of human Nature, to the Multitude, who by this might discover that Kings differed not at all from common Men. The Luxury of the Nation encouraged no Entertainment which we did not partake of, our Ears were feasted with the most wanton and lascivious Strains of Instruments and Voices, and we could perceive the Passions these Airs inspired in the Faces of an Hundred Beauties almost naked to the Waist; and now we purposed to retire, and enjoy a Week's Interval from the Fatigues of Pleasure, when a Slave came to inform us, that his Master,
Caius Pompeius Trimalchio
invited us to a Repast, where every Man might speak his mind. He is, says the Slave, a Man of infinite Humour, and a most excellent Politician I assure you. Having drest our selves, we bid him conduct us to his Master; but in our way thither, the streets were greatly thronged with Horsemen, who had been hunting and were now returning from the Chace; I was wholly taken up with the Homage that was paid to one of the Sportsmen, and the Grandeur of his Equipage, when
Menelaus,
a Nobleman and one of his Attendants, steps up to us, presenting a Gentleman, saying this is he with whom you are to dine.
He was a portly Man, somewhat Gouty, and accosted every body with an affected Smile; upon our Appearance he made an offer of alighting to receive us, when the greater part of his Retinue dismounted in an instant; some of them held his Bridle, others took hold of his Stirrup, the rest bent their Backs, reclined their Heads, and threw themselves into the resemblance of so many Horse-Blocks, seeming to court his Foot to tread upon their Necks, about which they wore a chain, loose and careless, to denote the pleasure they took in their Servitude. You may imagine this Submission reduced the Cavalcade to some disorder; for my part, I was quite abashed, having never seen the like, so flung my self upon the Ground, amongst the rest, as did my Companions, in which we were very lucky, for I afterwards understood it was a Ceremony required of every body that were to be his Guests. We were soon raised up, mounted on led Horses, and the Troop renewed it's former Order, marching regularly into a Court-Yard, where we dismounted; and walking to the Entrance of the Portico read this Inscription:
If any Slave shall say
AYE
or
NO,
contrary to the Will of his Master, he shall be stript of his Livery and lose his Wages.
At the entrance of the Hall was a Glass Room, which I took to be the Porter's Lodge, and admired the Contrivance, but was presently convinced of my Mistake, when raised by Pullies to the Roof, I discovered it to be a most stupendious Lanthorn.
We advanced to the Stair-case, where a Market-Place was described, with Slaves setting upon Benches to the
right
and
left,
to be BOUGHT and SOLD,
Trimalchio
hard by with a Whip and Bridle; a little farther was represented how he first learnt to spell, and beyond that was
Mercury
holding him up by the Chin and placing him on a Throne;
Fortune
presented him with a
Cornucopia
and the
three fatal Sisters,
spun a Thread of Gold. He was in different places painted as a Judge, a General, and a Priest; the whole was excellently performed, and highly finished: surfeited with this fulsom Pageantry, as we proceeded, a Slave, stript of his Livery, cast himself at our feet, imploring our Protection, protesting his Fault was Inadvertency only, that being roused from sleep, and asked a question he knew nothing of, he had said NO when he should have said YES. We were saluted by him in the Dining-Room with thanks for the Obligation, which he told us was well bestowed, for, says he, the Wine, my Lord drinks, you shall anon find to be in the disposal of his Servants; having viewed the Sideboard, the huge Piles of massy Plate, and spacious Cisterns, double gilt, on which
Trimalchio
's Arms and Name were engraven, and it's weight markt on each peice, we all seated ourselves, except
Trimalchio,
for whom the chief Place was reserved. At the striking up of a Band of Music he made his Entrance,
My Friends,
says he,
I have business to dispatch, but came thus soon, lest my Absence should make you uneasy.
Now the Servants entered sweating beneath the ponderous Dishes, which they seemed hardly able to support; the flesh of Bulls, Calves, Sheep, Deer, and other Quadrupeds; all Kinds of Fish and Fowl, were stewed for the Juices they contained, which, blended into one Fluid, formed a most delicious Soup. Near, in a golden Charger were an hundred mangled Vipers, buried in their own blood; in other Dishes were the Palates of
Cuckows,
the Rumps of
Wheat-Ears,
the Brains of
Nightingales,
Cavear of
Todpoles,
an
Onocrotalon,
the Hump of a
Camel,
the Proboscis of an
Elephant,
and a
Sow
's Paps. I knew not a seventh part of this Course; the greatest share of which was scrambled away before it could be distinctly viewed; a Slave in the Hurry threw down a golden Dish, and stooping to take it up,
Trimalchio
gave him a sound Box on the Ear, and ordered it to be swept out of the Room; the Salvers rang, and Wine went briskly round, when, every body said something in praise of this Service, this Applause was followed with a second, and that indifferent considering the Place, the Novelty of it however drew our Attention, it was a round Table on which were placed the
twelve Signs
in their proper Order, upon each of which the Disposer had put some thing suitable. Upon ARIES was a
Sheep's-Head;
upon TAURUS, a
Chine
of
Beef;
upon GEMINI,
Lamb's-Stones
and
Kidneys;
upon CANCER, a
Ducal-Coronet;
upon LEO, the
African-Fruit;
upon VIRGO,
Sausages;
upon LIBRA, a
Pair of Scales,
in the
one
a
Pudding,
in the
other
a Panegyric; upon SCORPIO, a
Sprat;
upon SAGITTARIUS, a
Hare;
upon CAPRICORN, a
Lobster;
upon AQUARIUS, a
Goose;
upon PISCES, two
Mullets;
and in the middle, a Plate of
sweet Herbs.
Now
Trimalchio,
intreated us to be merry, called for more Wine, and larger Glasses, the Company were highly elevated, several Courses followed too nauseous and tedious to relate. I asked one of the Guests who that
Woman
was, that scutled up and down the Room, her Name is FORTUNATA, says he, she is the Wife of
Trimalchio,
she measures her Money by the Bushel; and yet she sprang from a Dunghil not long since, no Man would have touched her with a Pair of Tongs; now she is his Heaven, his
all
in
all!
what she says must be truth, she's a
Wagtail,
a meer
Shrew,
a
Magpye,
whom she loves, she loves; and whom she loves
not,
she hates.
Trimalchio
knows not half his Income, nor extent of his Estate.
The
Sun,
himself, surveys it not at once, but travels for the view; a
Crow
cannot fly over it in a Week; he buys nothing, yet owns the whole Town, inhabits it all, and is himself the People. A twentieth part of his Tenants don't know their Landlord; there are
Thirty
Degrees amongst his Servants; he has
twenty-six
Domestic-Chaplains, and
three Orders
of his Favourites, whom he teaches to jump over a Stick; he is himself a Lover of Peace; for when the
Alemains
and
Gauls
were at war, he sent and desired to be Friends.
Upon this, another
Orator
arose and thus delivered himself. The World, the whole World, cannot be ignorant of the Virtues of our Patron CAIUS. The Government of Provinces, the high Trusts and principal Employments of
Rome,
are not bestowed by Favour but Merit, nothing is now considered but Integrity and Worth. What good Work is left undone? The luminous Dignitaries of the Church, the immortal Charges of the War, the Trade and flourishing Opulency of the People, the increasing Glory and Grandeur of the State! These our
Romans
shall record to Perpetuity, the Honours of
Trimalchio,
which consist not in his many eminent and great Employments, but in his transcendent Liberality, profound Policy, and the ardent and unextinguished Love he bears his Country, in whose uncorrupt hands we are as Counters, and what just now stood for Millions shall at his pleasure dwindle to Cyphers. We had now got our full Dose, and were grown sick of this fulsom Slave; when
Trimalchio
leaning on his Elbow thus spoke—
This Wine,
said he,
is good; and Fish should swim: let's be merry, and exercise our Lungs as well as Teeth. Well,
Peace be with my Master's bones,
say I, who made a Man of me. You can tell me nothing which I don't know, I never was outwitted; for, I am a thorough Master of the Practicks!
Here he explained the
Heavens
by
Banquets,
and shewed us the Influence of each
Sign
upon our Nativity. Clapping our Hands and hollooing we rang an universal Peal to his Applause, and swore all the
Philosophers
and
Astrologers
in the World were Fools to him; upon this, he called for his Will, and order'd it to be read, this set the whole Family in Tears, and their howling was as grievous, as their Joy before had been excessive; he repeated his Epitaph himself, which he assured us was of his own composing; no doubt, says he, you wonder how I became so Great! considering my Age, for these Teeth I lost, when I was a Boy, and I have prospered ever since. I was ever bold and confident, because a
Fortune-teller
inform'd me,
how long I had to live.
He run on thus for a great while, when one, behind, thus whispered me. This
Trimalchio,
says he, is a pitiful Scoundrel, and his Retinue a Pack of Rascals, he became the mighty despicable thing he is, by Fawning, Wriggling, Whispering, Intriguing, Bargaining, and Backbiting; no honest Man can Eat, Drink, Sleep, or enjoy the Light of the Sun without paying an EXCISE for the support of his Luxury: as if the Gifts of Providence were at his sole Disposal. Sir, continued he, I never would wish for a better Estate, than the Property of Printing his
Last Dying Speech.
This Fellow's Bluntness made me smile, and the Company withdrawing to the Baths,
Gito, Ascyltos,
and my self, took this opportunity of stealing away, unperceiv'd, among the Croud.
PLAUDITE.
To Colonel WILLIAM STANHOPE
Now Earl of
Harrington.
Oct. 4, 1714.
Dear SIR,
THO' after addressing two Letters to you just before, it may seem impertinent to trouble you so soon with a Third, yet I cannot resist the Temptation of giving you Joy upon your
late Promotion;
in which I hope you may find your
Interest,
as well as your
Inclination gratified.
While the rest of the World are
making their Court,
upon
this Occasion,
in
Town,
I am content here in the
Country
to read the
Triumphs
of my FRIENDS twice a Week in the
Gazette.
My
Ambition
at present is turned
quite another Way;
and all
my humble Endeavours
are directed to
please
the FAIR. There is a little
Papist Villain
in the Neighbourhood, ('tis a Defect in our Language, that the Termination of the
Adjective
doth not mark the
Gender,
but you are to understand this in the
Foeminine
) who hath robbed me of my
Heart;
and I have scarce had an Hour's sound Sleep, except it was at
Church,
these two Months. I know that all this is
very ridiculous;
and that an HALF-PAY OFFICER ought no more to be in
Love
than a COMMON WHORE. People of such
Precarious Subsistence
should give into no
Passion
that is not supported by
Gain.
But when INDISCRETION cheats us in the Shape of PLEASURE,
who can escape the Snare?
I have
this Comfort
still in Reserve, that, as I have an HEART
entirely
ENGLISH, it is odds I shall not continue Two Months longer in the
same Mind.
There is
one
Instance, however, of my
Constancy,
that will never, I am sure, be
impeached:
I wish indeed it were not clogged with the
Obligations
you have laid upon me, and then you would know it as much upon the Account of
your Personal Merit,
as any
Favours
you have
conferred
on ME, that I profess my self,
SIR,
Your most Faithful and Obedient Servant, RICHARDSON PACK.
To YOUNG LADY, who told me, the Army had no Religion; and challenged me to show her a PRAYER, that had been made by a Soldier.
MADAM,
IT was always with the greatest Attention that I received the Honour of your Commands, and it is an equal Pleasure to me when I am employed to execute them: But the Task you imposed upon me last Night, was what, I confess, surprized me. In a Visit where I hoped to have been entertained as a
Lover,
I little expected to be consulted as a
Divine;
nor did I believe you would have had the Curiosity, instead of hearkening to the faithful
Vows
I was addressing to YOU, to enquire about those I made to
Heaven.
As St
Paul
became
All Things to All Men,
that he might
gain some,
so I find too (I speak it under all the Restrictions of Modesty) that a Man must become
All Things to all Women,
if he would pretend to
succeed
with
any.
It is an unaccountable Prejudice, that prevails of late against our PROFESSION; and particularly among the FAIR SEX, who seem to judge that
Virtue
and
Vice
consist rather in the
Dress
of a TRIBE, than the
Habit
of the MIND. The PRAYER I send you inclosed, (which I give you my Word of Honour, was made by a SOLDIER) will, I hope, convince you, there are some MILITARY MEN who deserve not to be
Excommunicated
from the
Chastest
DRAWING-ROOMS. I shall submit to your LADY MOTHER, whether the AUTHOR, or her CHAPLAIN, be the better CASUIST of the Two: But when the Question shall arise about a GALLANT, I beg you to believe, you'll never find one, who is with more
Devotion
than my self,
MADAM,
Your most Faithful, &c. RICHARDSON PACK.
A SOLDIER'S PRAYER.
O GOD, thou Searcher of Hearts, and Judge of all Men, before whose awful Throne we should tremble to approach, did not thy Mercy make thy Justice less terrible; look down, I beseech Thee, with Favour and Compassion upon me, miserable Sinner! Pardon my Offences, and Pity my Infirmities. Be not extreme to mark my Follies:
For in thy sight shall no Man living be justified.
Remember, I am but poor Dust and Ashes, the Child of Vanity, and the Sport of Passions. Without thy Aid, O Lord, all our Endeavours after Righteousness are fruitless, all our Wisdom empty Pride, all our Happiness, Delusion. Do thou enlighten therefore my Mind, and sanctify my Heart, that I may know and practise the Things that
belong to my Peace.
Redeem me from the Bondage of my Sins, and raise me to the Fellowship of thy Saints. O let not the many and repeated Instances of my Guilt provoke thee to withdraw from me the Assistance of thy Holy Spirit. But accept of my unfeigned Repentance; second my Resolutions of Amendment; and secure me from the Danger of a Relapse. Particularly, O Lord, guard me from the Temptation of *******
Here mention those Sins to which you are most subject by Nature, or evil Custom.
which I have so often committed, even after the clear Conviction, and professed Abhorrence of my own Conscience, and thereby merited thy most heavy Displeasure.
Set thy Law ever before me,
that the Terror of thy Threats may restrain me from Vice; and the Encouragement of thy Promises incite me to Virtue. Make my Obedience to thy Will my Delight; as well as my Duty; that I may serve thee with Purity and Truth; not by Starts only, when Afflictions may humble me, or the Eye of the World observe me; but in a Constant, Uniform, and Sincere Devotion, without Lukewarmness, without. Hyprocrisy.
After thy Spiritual Graces, in the second Place, I beg a Blessing upon my Temporal Concerns. Prosper my honest Endeavours in that Station wherein thy Providence has placed me in this World. Give me the Benefit of Health, and the Quiet of Contentment in all my Fortunes. Protect me from all open Violence or Injuries, and defend me from the
Arrows that fly in the Dark,
the Backbitings of a malicious, and the Flatteries of a deceitful Tongue. Bless all my Relations and Friends. Forgive and reconcile my Enemies: Teach me to make a right Use of both; that the Malice of the one my awaken my Caution, and the Kindness of the other confirm my Constancy. Let me not live wholly unprofitable in my Generation. Give me the honest Ambition of deserving well of as many as I am able. In all my Aims, Desires, and Hopes, let me consider the Dignity of my Nature, and study to promote the Glory of thy Name.
Lastly, as in Duty bound, I offer up my most hearty Praise and Thanksgiving for all thy Mercies and Benefits vouchsafed to me, thy unworthy Servant: For my Creation, Preservation, amidst all the Dangers with which I have been encompassed; and for all the Comforts and Advantages of this Life: But above all, for the glorious Prospect of a better, through the Merits of thy Son, my Redeemer. To whom with Thee and the Holy Ghost be ascribed, &c.
To Mr CURLL.
Sussex,
June 20, 1735.
SIR,
NOT long since here happen'd a very agreeable Adventure. The Duchess of
Richmond,
and two Ladies, her Companions (greatly honour'd in being made so), had so close an Affection for each other, that nothing but
Night
could separate them. In the
Day
-time, whatever was propos'd by
one,
the other
two
instantly complied with; and there was but
one
Inconvenience of which they complain'd: The
Retiring-Room
in the Garden, had but TWO Holes. To redress this Grievance, an ingenious Gentleman
Mr
Tho. Hill,
Fellow of Trin. Coll. Camb.
, made the following merry Ballad, call'd
The Third Hole,
which needs no farther Explanation than what will be found in the Performance it self.
Yours, &c.
THE THIRD HOLE. A BALLAD.
To the Tune of,
Packington's Pound.
I.
THE GRACES were
Play-fellows
never asunder,
As
Horace
and all the
old Poets
agree:
This being once granted, why then 'tis no wonder,
That whene'er you saw
One,
you always saw
Three.
In Bed and at Table,
Still inseparable;
Nor Mortal, nor God, to part 'em was able.
Nay even to do
that,
which Goddesses do,
If
One
had occasion, still went t'other
Two.
II.
So in
Sussex
At
Goodwood,
the Seat of his Grace the Duke of
Richmond.
THREE
Nymphs,
or three
Graces,
chuse whether,
(O were I but
Horace,
their Praises to thrill)
From Morning to Even, were always together:
And did, as we say,
The same Thing in a Quill.
In the Park, or the Grove,
Below, or Above,
Not an Inch e'er a
One,
from the
Other
wou'd move;
One only thing
griev'd 'em, and fretted their Souls,
Where there shou'd have been
three,
there were but
two
Holes.
III.
With Curt'sy full low, to the
Prince
of the Place,
In Terms the most moving, they jointly Petition,
By all that is sacred, beseeching his Grace,
To have some regard to their hapless Condition.
The Paper he read,
Then nodding his Head;
Send for
Smart
to come over, this Moment he said;
For sure in the World, there is no Reason why,
When
two
Friends are
sitting
A
Dutch
Commentator would have spelt sitting with an
h.
, the
third
shou'd
stand by.
IV.
The Chalk-Pit was dug, and the Mortar was made,
And Bricks, without Number, from
Hampnet
there came,
When our Architect soon, who well knew his Trade,
Made, by one single Fabric immortal his Name.
Then
Harry
give o'er,
Think of building no more,
Throw thy Plummet and Trowel, and Hod, out of Door;
So had done, without Question, both
Archer,
and
Van,
Had they had but the Honour to furnish the Plan.
V.
Now all You, that these
Three,
of your Zeal wou'd convince,
And desire that in Pain they may never be long,
Congratulate them, and give Thanks to the Prince,
By clearing your Voices, and aiding my Song:
For now they may squat,
And sing, laugh, or chat,
Yet, all under One, without hind'rance do
That;
And at the same Time, may their Friendship improve,
By what we all count, the
Beginning of Love.
VI.
As for me, this same Ballad. which now I compose,
With whatever else I hereafter shall write;
Or Poem, or Letter, in Verse or in Prose,
Be the Subject what 'twill, or serious, or light:
Nay yet farther still,
My Intent to fulfil,
The last and the soberest Writing,
my Will,
I as freely
resign,
as I wou'd my
own Soul,
To
that
of the THREE, that's Your
Ladyship's
HOLE.
A DECREE for Concluding the TREATY between Dr. SWIFT and Mrs. LONG.
The following Papers are published from the Cabinet of Mrs.
Anne Long,
of
Draycot
in
Wiltshire.
WHEREAS it hath been signified to us, that there is now a Treaty of Acquaintance on Foot between Dr.
Swift
of
Leicester-fields,
on the One part, and Mrs.
Long
of
Albemarle-street,
on the Other Part: And whereas the said Dr.
Swift,
upon the Score of his Merit, and extraordinary Qualities, doth claim the sole and undoubted
Right,
That all Persons whatsoever, shall make such Advances to him, as he pleases to demand; any Law, Claim, Custom, Privilege of Sex, Beauty, Fortune, or Quality, to the contrary notwithstanding.
And whereas the said Mrs.
Long,
humbly acknowledging and allowing the
Right
of the said Doctor, doth yet insist upon certain Privileges and Exceptions, as a Lady of the TOAST
These Verses were written by the late Earl of
Wharton,
(in the Year 1703) round one of the
Toasting Glasses
of the
Kit-Cat-Club.
Fill the Glass; let Hautboys sound,
Whilst bright
Longy
's Health goes round:
With eternal Beauty blest,
Ever blooming, still the best;
Drink your Glass, and Think the rest.
; which Privileges, she doth alledge, are excepted out of the Doctor's general Claim, and which she cannot betray, without injuring the
whole Body,
whereof she is a
Member:
By which Impediment, the said Treaty is not yet brought to a Conclusion; to the great Grievance and Damage of Mrs.
Van Homrigh,
and her fair Daughter
Hessy.
It was this Lady, who occasioned the
Dean
's Poem, intitled
CADENUS
and
VANESSA.
And whereas the Decision of this weighty Cause is refered to Us, in our
Judicial-Capacity;
We, out of our tender Regard to Truth and Justice, having heard and duly considered the Allegations of both Parties, do declare, adjudge, decree, and determine, That the said Mrs.
Long,
notwithstanding any Privileges she may claim as aforesaid, as a Lady of the TOAST, shall, without
Essoîn
or
Demurr,
in two Hours after the Publishing of this
Decree,
make all Advances to the said Doctor, that he shall demand; and that the said Advances shall not be made to the said Doctor, as
Un Homme sans Consequence,
but purely upon Account of his great Merit.
And We do hereby strictly forbid the said Mrs.
Van Homrigh,
and her fair Daughter
Hessy,
to aid, abet, comfort, to encourage her, the said Mrs.
Long,
in her Disobedience for the future. And in Consideration of the said Mrs.
Long
's being a TOAST, we think it just and reasonable, that the Doctor should permit her, in all Companies, to give herself the Reputation of being
one of his Acquaintance;
which no other Lady shall presume to do, upon any Pretence whatsoever, without his especial Leave and Licence first had and obtained.
By Especial Command, G. V. HOMRIGH.
To Mrs. ANNE LONG, at
Draycot,
near
Chippenham,
in
Wiltshire.
From the Orifice of my Ink-pot, when
January
was just expiring, in the Year 1690.
BY your genteel Respite of Writing, and seeming Silence, I began to be divided with myself, whether to congratulate your joyful Resurrection, or to condole your late ill Distemper, 'till the Transport of your obliging Lines soon resolved my Doubt.
And glad am I, my Med'cine came too late,
But why don't You your Cure communicate.
I am (altho' I say it) of a very flexible Disposition towards Reconcilements; and the rather, when conjured to it by so potent a Charmer as yourself. And therefore, musty Mrs.
Muse,
let's kiss and be Friends; for thy
Metre
(they say) exceeds more
Medicines;
and yet, I fancy, I have a
Medicine
that out-does thy
Metre.
And tho'
Lerinda,
perhaps, may not want it herself, yet haply she may have an Opportunity of befriending a Passion of her own creating with it: and therefore it is but requisite and civil, that she be soon supplied, to save the sweet Life of a Languisher from expiring at the Shadow of her Shoe-buckle.
To cure the Wound of LOVE.
TAKE 4 Ounces of
Discretion,
8 of
Consideration,
10 Grains of
Jucundity,
12 Drachms of
Indifferency,
6 Pounds of
Inconstancy,
3 Scruples of
Patience,
half a Handful of
Hatred,
3 good Handfuls of
Employment,
11 Years
Hebetude,
14 Years
Absence,
5 Ounces of the
Under-Leather
of that Man's
Shoes
who never knew
Sorrow;
the
constant Company
of 9 Travellers, that returned home
Honest:
When you have obtained these, boil them in your Brain 7 Months without Intermission, 'till a third Part is consumed; still stirring it as it boils, with that End of a
NUN's Busk
which is usually next to her
Navel;
cooling it with 7
Sighs
of a forsaken-Lover's
Breath:
And when it is cool enough, spread it on the
Skin
of a discontented Lover's
Breast
who has newly hanged himself; and apply it Plaister-wise, blood-warm to your Heart. Be sure you take not off the Plaister till it comes away of itself.
Probatum est.
Well! and what say you now, Forsooth? Am not I to be trusted 24 Hours with my own Heart, think you, when I have such a pure Piece of Infallibility by me? This is a Preparative in Pickle, in Case the fair
Bellicinda
should breathe out some sore Symptoms of Severity.
O rare! now the Murder is out: And now I am thinking of Scandal, pray do you know the Man who hath caused all this Tattle about Beau
Dormer
's Spouse? Pray do I know the fair Lady who asks me that cunning Question? Do but see how she blushes in the very repeating it! Sure there is something more than ordinary in the Matter; my quick-scented Jealousy smells a
Rat.
It must be so. It is he, and can be nobody else. Now must I forgive him too, and pardon all his Insinuation, it having let me into such a happy Converse with so sweet a Scribe. I must confess, had it been my own Case, I know not how I might have been tempted into the like Enormity, under such powerful Charms as
Lerinda
is Mistress of. However, he shall never make me eat the Words I have said of him; for that would be somewhat too hard upon me to do, they being written over the Steam of an Inchanted Castle.
Your
Flead-Rabbit
Beau
Litton.
left the Town Yesterday, and is gone to suck his dry Grandame. If he makes you not a Visit before he returns, I will pronounce him Clown of all Clowns. You seem to express a most wonderful sweet Disposition, in making the best Construction of my ill Nature. For I will still stick to my new Humour of
Woman-hating,
as Occasion shall offer: Nor expect no Cause of Prevention, except it be by a Smile from
Bellicinda.
What flattering Author is it, I wonder, whom you have so luckily stumbled upon to delude and tickle your Fancy: For,
If
you
the
Silver
were, and
we
the
Dross,
Why did Dame
Eve
hop home by
Weeping-Cross?
Was she not fram'd of Father
Adam's
Rib?
Then, by your Leave, your
Author
tells a Fib.
TO Mrs. LONG.
May-Day, 1704.
My Dearst LONGY,
ACcept the Product of a two Hours Walk by
Severn
Side; had the Subject been better handled, I know there are some Thoughts in it would please you: But since you are humbly contented with dull Friends, you must e'en take up with dull Poetry. My chief Reason for writing it, was to convince you, that I was
out
of the
Spleen;
and in the best Manner I could, to shew my Gratitude, for your not resenting my Impertinencies whilst I was
in it.
How unequally does Fate dispose of our Intentions and Actions! Poor
Peggy
desired a fine Thing, to put in her Table Book, and hers is yet to be thought on: You did not think it worth while to ask for one, and, lo! It is come unlooked for, and perhaps, unwelcome. It is unreasonable to trouble thee with an Inundation of ridiculous Stuff, both in Verse and Prose, all in one Day; therefore, in mere Pity to thee, I end with the old, disagreeable Assurance, of being,
&c.
To the Honourable Lady
Mary Chambers.
MADAM,
THat imaginary Creature, which your Ladyship is pleased to call
my Muse,
no less than the
real Charmer of my Heart,
which I must not name, is alike unkind to me upon all Occasions.
All
Apollo
's Sisters hate me, from
Diana
to the
Nine
who inspire us; so that your Ladyship may readily conclude, I am in a very fair Way, either to be a Poet, or Happy.
Sir
William,
Sir
W. Trumbull,
who was Embassad;r at the
Ottoman Porte, &c.
See VOL. 1.
that Christian Hero, who cannot indure a
Turk,
and wishes heartily for another
Holy-War,
to be at them, humbly presumes to advise the Lady
Betty
not to trust herself among
Infidels,
and to have nothing to do out of
Christendom.
In the Midst of his Concern for her, being a gallant Knight, he flew out into Raptures: My bad Memory has recovered a few of them, which I here send your Ladyship.
Why shou'd the charming
Galatea
shun
The bleeding Conquests which her Eyes have won?
O! stay, and give us yet a gentler Fate;
For Absence is more cruel than your Hate.
Love in those Eyes so absolutely reigns,
We're Slaves by Choice, nor wish to quit our Chains;
Vain of our Wounds, and proud to be undone,
We wou'd not from the glorious Ruin run.
Her Charms, the Limits of an Isle disdain,
And spread a pow'rful Empire o'er the Main,
Shall she to barb'rous Coasts from hence remove,
And melt their Tyrant Hearts with Flames of Love?
To punish haughty Slaves who proudly dare
Triumph o'er Beauty, and insult the Fair.
Ev'n He,
The
Grand Signor.
whose Nod a Thousand Beauties wait,
And wishing, silently, expect their Fate;
Aw'd by her Charms, shall a just Vengeance meet,
And lie a Slave despairing at her Feet.
But, O! bright Nymph, let not a long Return,
Make wretched We, your tedious Absence mourn.
Let then the barb'rous Nations soon restore
Fair
Galatea
to the
British
Shore:
Else they expect in vain the War should cease,
And
England
's Moderator signs, in vain, the PEACE.
A RECEIPT To Make
SOUP.
Sent by Dean
Swift
to Mr.
Pope.
TAKE a Knuckle of
Veal,
(You may buy it, or steal)
In a few Pieces cut it,
In a Stew-Pan put it.
Salt, Pepper,
and
Mace
Must season this Knuckle,
And what's join'd to a Place,
Salary.
With other Herbs muckle.
That which killed King
Will.
Sorrel.
And what never stands still,
Time.
Some Sprigs of that Bed
Parsley.
Where Children are bred:
This, much you may mend, if
Both
Spinage
and
Endive,
And
Lettice
and
Beet,
With
Marigolds
meet,
Put no Water at all,
For it maketh Things small,
Which left it should happen,
A close Cover clap on.
Put in Pot of
Wood
's
Metal,
Copper.
(That's a boiling hot Kettle)
And there let it be,
(Mark the Doctrine I teach)
About—let me see,
Thrice as long as I preach:
So skimming the Fat off,
Say Grace with your Hat off;
And then with what Rapture
Will it fill
Dean
and
Chapter?
The Right Reverend BISHOP ATTERBURY.
M.
Gucht sculp
LETTERS OF Bishop
ATTERBURY
TO Mr. POPE.
Paris
Nov. 23, 1732.
Dear SIR,
YOU will wonder to see me in Print; but how could I avoid it? The Dead and the Living, my Friends and my Foes, at home and abroad, call upon me to say something; and the Reputation of an History, which I, and all the World value, must have suffered, had I continued silent. I have printed
here,
in hopes that somebody afterward may venture to reprint in
England,
notwithstanding those two frightening Words at the Close of it.
His Name.
Whether that happens or not, it is fit you should have a Sight of it, who I know will read it with some degree of Satisfaction, as it is mine, tho' it should have (as it really has) nothing else to recommend it. Such as it is,
Extremum hoc munus morientis habeto;
For that may well be the Case, considering that within a few Months I am entring into my Seventieth Year; after which, even the Healthy and the Happy cannot much depend upon Life, and will not, if they are wise, much desire it. Whenever I go, you will lose a Friend, who loves and values you extremely, if in my Circumstances I can be said to be lost to any one, when dead, more than I am already whilst living. I expected to have heard from you by Mr.
Morice,
and wondered a little that I did not; but he owns himself in a Fault, for not giving you due Notice of his Motions. It was not amiss that you forbore writing to me on a Head, wherein I promis'd more than I was able to perform. Disgraced Men fancy sometimes, that they preserve an Influence, where, when they endeavour to exert it, they soon see their Mistake. I did so, my good Friend, and acknowledge it under my Hand. You sounded the Coast and found out my Error, it seems, before I was aware of it; but enough on this Subject.
What are you doing in
England
to the Honour of Letters? and particularly what are you doing?
Ipse quid audes? Quae circumvolitas agilis Thyma?
Do you pursue the moral Plan
The Essay on Man.
you marked out, and seemed sixteen Months ago so intent upon? Am I to see it perfected ere I die? And are you to enjoy the Reputation of it while you live? Or do you rather chuse to leave the Marks of your Friendship, like the Legacies of a Will, to be read and enjoy'd only by those who survive you? Were I as near you as I have been, I should hope to peep into the Manuscript before it was finished. But alas! there is and will ever probably be, a great deal of Land and Sea between us. How many Books have come out of late in your Parts, which you think I should be glad to peruse? Name them: the Catalogue, I believe, will not cost you much Trouble. They must be good ones indeed to challenge any Part of my Time, now I have so little of it left. I, who squandred whole Days heretofore, now husband Hours, when the Glass begins to run low, and care not to mis-spend them on Trifles. At the End of the Lottery of Life, our last Minutes, like Tickets left in the Wheel, rise in their Valuation. They are not of so much worth, perhaps, in themselves, as those which preceded, but we are apt to prize them more, and with Reason. I do so, my dear Friend, and yet think the most precious Minutes of my Life are well employ'd, in reading what you write. But this is a Satisfaction I cannot much hope for, and therefore must betake myself to others,
which
are less entertaining. Adieu, Dear Sir, and forgive me engaging with one, whom you, I think, have reckoned among the Heroes of the
Dunciad.
It was necessary for me either to accept of his dirty Challenge, or to have suffer'd in the Esteem of the World by declining it. My Respects to your Mother; I send a Paper for Dean
Swift,
if you have an Opportunity, and think it worth your while to convey it. My Country at this Distance seems to me a strange Sight, I know not how it appears to you, who are in the midst of the Scene, and yourself a Part of it; I wish you would tell me. You may write safely to Mr.
Morice,
by the honest Hand that conveys this, and will return into these Parts before
Christmas;
sketch out a rough Draught of it, that I may be able to judge, whether a Return to it be really eligible, or whether I should not, like the Chymist in the Bottle, upon hearing Don
Quevedo
's Account of
Spain,
desire to be corked up again. After all, I do and must love my Country, with all its Faults and Blemishes; even that Part of the Constitution, which wounded me unjustly, and itself thro' my Side, shall ever be dear to me. My last Wish will be like that of Father
Paul, Esto perpetua;
and when I die at a Distance from it, it will be in the same manner as
Virgil
describes the expiring
Peloponnesian,
Sternitur, & dulces moriens reminiscitur Argos.
Do I still live in the Memory of my Friends, as they certainly do in mine? I have read a good many of your Paper Squabbles about me, and am glad to see such free Concessions on that Head, tho' made with no View of doing me a Pleasure, but merely of loading another.
I am, &c. FR. ROFFEN.
Bishop
ATTERBURY
's VINDICATION.
Paris,
Oct. 26, 1731.
I HAVE lately seen an Extract of some Passages in Mr.
Oldmixon
's History of
England.
The first of them is said to be taken from his Preface to that History,
page
9. and runs in these Words.
'I have, in more than one Place of this History, mentioned the great Reason there is to suspect, that the History of the Rebellion, as it was published at
Oxford,
was not entirely the Work of the Lord
Clarendon;
who did indeed write an History of those Times, and, I doubt not, a very good one; wherein, as I have been (I believe) well inform'd, the
Characters
of the
Kings,
whose Reigns are written, were different from what they appear in the
Oxford
History, and its Copy, Mr.
Echard
's. I speak this by Hear-say, but
Hear-say from a Person superior to all Suspicion, and too illustrious to be named,
without Leave.'
'I also humbly refer it to the Decision of
another very honourable Person,
whether there is not, to his Knowledge, such an History, in Manuscript, still extant; and
to a Reverend Doctor, now living,
whether he did not see the
Oxford
Copy, by which the Book was printed, altered, and interpolated, while it was at the Press.'
'To which I must add, that there is now in Custody of
a Gentleman of Distinction, both for Merit and Quality,
George Duckett,
Esq
one of the Commissioners of the Excise.
a History of the Rebellion, of the first
Folio
Edition, scored, in many Places, by Mr.
Edmund Smith,
of
Christ-Church, Oxon,
Author of that excellent Tragedy,
Phaedra
and
Hippolytus;
who himself alter'd the Manuscript History, and added what he has there marked, as he confessed with some of his last Words, before his Death. These Alterations, written with his own Hand, and to be seen by any one that knows it, may be published, on another Occasion, with a farther Account of this Discovery. In the mean time, for the Satisfaction of the Public, I insert a Letter, entire, which I received since the last Paragraph was written.'
To Mr. *******
Oldmixon.
SIR,
'ACcidentally looking on some of the Sheets of your History of
England,
during the Reigns of the Royal House of
Stuart,
at the Bookseller's, I find that you mention the History of Lord
Clarendon,
wherein you justly question the Genuineness of that Book: In order to put the Matter out of doubt, I here send you the following Account.'
'Mr.
Edmund Smith,
a Man very well known to the learned World, came down to make me a Visit at *** about
June,
1710, where he continu'd till he died, about six Weeks after.'
'As our Conversation chiefly ran upon Learning and History, you may easily think that
Clarendon
's was not forgotten: Upon mentioning that Book, he frankly told me, that there had been a fine History written by Lord
Clarendon,
but what was published under his Name was only Patchwork, and might as properly be call'd, the
History of
AL-SMALL-
and
ATTERBURY:
For, to his Knowledge, 'twas alter'd;
nay,
that he himself was employ'd by them to interpolate and alter the Original.
'
'He then asked me, whether I had the Book by me? If I had, he would
convince me of the Truth of his Assertion,
by the very printed Copy: I immediately brought him the
Folio
Edition; and the first Thing he turned to was the Character of Mr.
Hampden,
where is that Expression: He
had a Head to contrive, a Heart to conceive, and a Hand to execute any Villany.
The Words are much softer in the History, where, instead of a
Heart to conceive,
we find,
a Tongue to persuade;
and instead of the Word
Villany,
that of
Mischief;
as the Citation is, in another Part of this Extract, truly made. The unknown Writer of this Letter, while he is charging others with the Crime of falsifying Lord
Clarendon
's History, should have taken care to stand clear of it himself.
He then declared,
it was foisted in by those Reverends.
Sir, I have only to add this, that he not only
underlined
this Passage, as a Forgery, but gave, during the short Time he lived with me, the same Remark to some Hundreds more.'
I am, SIR, &c.
George Duckett.
In a second Passage, said to be taken from
page
227. of the History itself, Mr.
Oldmixon
is represented as expressing himself thus.
'In the Character of this great and excellent Man, Mr.
Hampden,
which we could wish had escaped his (Lord
Clarendon
's) Drawings, or the Drawings of those clumsey Painters, into whose Hands his Work fell, there is something so very false and base, that such Coin could only come from a College Mint.
(In a word, what was said of
CINNA
might well be apply'd to
HAMPDEN;
he had a Head to contrive,
and
a Tongue to persuade,
and
a Hand to execute any Mischief. His Death, therefore, seemed to be a great Deliverance to the Nation.)
'
'There are not Words to express the
Infamy of this Slander and Imposture, nor the unparallel'd Wickedness of those Doctors, who foisted so horrid a Reflection into that Character.
The Person who did it was Mr.
Edmund Smith,
of
Oxford,
Author of
Phaedra
and
Hippolytus,
a Tragedy; who, at his Death, confessed to the Gentleman, in whose House he died, that, among a great Number of
Alterations
and
Additions,
which he himself made, in the
History of the Rebellion, by Order of Doctor
ALDRICH,
Doctor
ATTERBURY,
and Doctor
SMALLRIDGE,
successive Deans of
Christ-Church,
this very saying of
CINNA, apply'd to Mr.
Hampden,
was one; and when he read it to
one of those Doctors,
he clapped him on the Back, and cry'd, with an Asseveration,
It will do.
The Confession Mr.
Smith
made, and the Remorse he expressed for being concerned in this Imposture, were his last Words.'
A great Part of the first of these Passages, including the Letter, is translated
verbatim
into
French,
and published in a Journal, entitled,
Bibliotheque Raisonnée des Ouvrages des Savans de l'Europe, pour les Mois de Juillet, Aoust, Septembre
1730.
Tome
5
me,
1
re Partie. A
Amsterdam,
chez les
Westeins & Smith 1730.
Art.
5.
Page
154, &c.
After which the
Journalist
adds the
following Reflection.
Cette decouverte fait peu d'honneur auxtrois Theologiens qui sont nommez dans la Lettre, & qui ont pourtant tenu un grand rang dans
l'Angleterre, & dans la Republique des Lettres. Comme Mr.
ATTERBURY,
ci-devant Evesque de
Rochester,
l'un des trois est encore vivant, il ne sera pas apparemment insensible a une accusation si grave; & le Public attend de lui les eclaircissemens que l'interest seul de sa reputation semble en exiger. S'il se tait, dans cette rencontre, il n'y a point de doute que la falsification est prouvée; & quand mesme il ne ce tairoit pas, il faut que les eclaircissemens soient bien forts pour detruire ces faits.
This Discovery does little Honour to the three Divines named in the Letter,
&c.
As Mr.
ATTERBURY,
heretofore Bishop of
Rochester,
one of the Three, is still living, he will not probably be insensible of so grievous an Accusation; and the Public expects from him such Accounts of it, as even the Interest of his own Reputation seems to require. If he is silent on this Occasion, there can be no doubt, but that the Falsification is proved; and should he not be silent, what he shall say, to clear up this Matter, must be very strong, to destroy the Credit of such a Testimony.
Being called upon in this public Manner, I myself obliged to declare, that the foregoing Account, in all its Parts, as far as I am any ways concerned, is entirely false and groundless; for I never saw my Lord
Clarendon
's History in Manuscript, either before, or since the Edition of it; nor ever read a Line of it, but in Print. It was impossible, therefore, that I should deal with Mr.
Smith
in the Manner represented, with whom (as far as I can recollect) I never exchanged one Word in all my Life; and whom I know not that I ever saw, till after the Edition of that History. If therefore he expressed himself to this Purpose, in his last Moments (as I charitably hope he did not) he wronged me extremely, and died with a Lie in his Mouth.
This Vindication of the Truth and myself, is necessary, since I happen to survive the two other worthy Persons mentioned. Were they alive, they would, I doubt not, be equally able and ready to clear themselves from so foul an Aspersion. As to one of them, Dr.
Smallridge,
the late Bishop of
Bristol,
no Suspicion of this kind can possibly rest on his Memory, because he was not any ways concerned in preparing that History for the Press; but as much a Stranger to the Contents of it, as I myself was, till it came forth in Print. I speak with the more Assurance on this Head, because my great Intimacy with him, as my Contemporary, both at
Westminster
and
Christ-Church,
gave me all the Advantages requisite towards knowing the Truth of what I say: With Dr.
Aldrich,
the third Person accused, I was acquainted more at a distance: However, being called upon in the Manner I am, I will add also what has come to my Knowledge, with regard to the Share He and Others had in the Publication of that History.
The Revising of the Manuscript (written, as I have heard, not very correctly) was committed to the Care of Bishop
Sprat,
and Dean
Aldrich,
by the late Earl of
Rochester,
who himself also assisted in that Revisal, from the Beginning to the End of the Work: So that any Changes, made in it, must have had the Consent of those three Persons. They were Men of Probity and Truth, and incapable of conspiring in a Design to impose on the Publick. I can cite nothing, that is material in this Point, from the Mouth of the
Earl,
with whom I rarely conversed; but the
Bishop
and the
Dean,
to whom I severally succeeded in the Deaneries of
Christ-Church
and
Westminster,
and in the See of
Rochester,
have occasionally more than once assured me, that no Additions whatsoever were made to the Manuscript History: And even the
Earl,
in his Preface to the first Volume (for His I take it to be, tho' no Name is affixed to it) has publickly protested his Innocence in this respect, where he declares, that
They who put forth the History
(he means himself and his Brother, as appears from what follows)
durst not take upon them to make any Alterations in a Work of this Kind, solemnly left with them to be published, whenever it should be published, as it was delivered to them.
Could he, and the two other Persons by him employed, be supposed to have made any Additions, notwithstanding such Assurances to the contrary, yet their good Sense (if not their Integrity) would have prevented, at least, their re-touching those
Characters,
which are allowed to be the most distinguished and beautiful Part of the Work, and to have something of Original in them, that is not to be imitated. The After-strokes of any less able Pencil, intermix'd with those of the first Masterly Hand, would soon be discovered: And yet I am persuaded, the most discerning Eye can find out no Traces of such a Mixture; no, not in the Character of Mr.
Hampden,
even in those Words, at the Close of it, against which Mr.
Oldmixon
so warmly declaims: They are perfectly in the Style and Manner of my Lord
Clarendon;
they contain nothing new in them, but only sum up, in short, what he had scattered through different Parts of the two first Volumes. Let the Reflections there made be never so severe, they may naturally be supposed, in the Warmth of Composure, to have come from the Pen of an Historian, who had himself with Zeal opposed Mr.
Hampden
's Measures, and both seen and felt the sad Consequences of them: But that the Editors of his History, no ways concerned in those Transactions, should, 60 Years afterwards, coolly and deliberately make such a needless Insertion, is not to be imagined.
The Complaint, on this and other Heads, should have been brought against these Editors, while it was capable of being thoroughly examined; at present, it comes a little too late, unless it were better supported: Their very Characters, to those who knew them, and the Nature of the Evidence, to those who did not, will be judged a sufficient Confutation of it: For, pray, what is this Evidence? It consists in an
Hear-say from a Person, superior to all Suspicion,
it seems, but
too illustrious to be named:
In an Appeal to
another very honourable Person,
to
a Reverend Doctor now living,
and
to a Gentleman of Distinction, both for Merit and Quality;
none of whose Names are thought fit to be owned: The only one produced in the Case, is that of Mr.
Smith, the Author of an excellent Tragedy;
but certainly not an Author of Rank and Weight enough to blast the Credit of such an excellent History: Of what Use can this Testimony be to his Purpose (even supposing the Account of it exact) when it is undoubtedly false, as to two of the three Persons it is levelled at, Dr.
Smallridge
and myself: and may therefore be justly presumed alike false, as to the third, Dr.
Aldrich?
Mr.
Smith
appears to have been so little in the Secret of the Edition of that Book, as not to have known even the Hands thro' which it passed; and is not therefore to be rely'd upon in his Accounts of any other Circumstances relating to it, especially with regard to Dr.
Aldrich,
his Governor at
Christ-Church;
for whom his Personal Aversion, and the true Reasons of it, are too well understood to need explaining. I forbear saying any thing harsh of one, not able to answer for himself; but many, now alive, who knew them both, know how improbable, and altogether incredible it is, that Mr.
Smith
should have had the least Share in Dr.
Aldrich
's Confidence, on so nice, or, indeed, on any Occasion. The Gentleman, who seems to be
convinced of the Truth of Mr.
Smith
's Assertions,
by his having pointed out and
underlined
the Passages,
in Print,
which he said he was employ'd (by the three successive Deans) to
interpolate and alter,
in Manuscript, must surely have been very willing to be convinced; otherwise, he would not have taken a mere
Assertion
for a Proof, in such a Cause, and from such a Person. The Story of this Death-bed Declaration slept for about twenty Years; near thirty have passed since the History of the Rebellion was published (I mean the first Part of it) and not a few, since the Death of every Person that either was, or is falsly said to have been, concerned in that Publication, myself only excepted. I might, probably, at the Distance of
Montpelier,
where I was when Mr.
Oldmixon
wrote, never have heard of what he lays to my Charge (Intelligence of that kind being, as he knows, not very open to me) or, should it reach me, I might yet, in my present Circumstances, be supposed not over-sollicitous to appear in the Disproof of it. The Delay of the Accusation therefore, if without Design, was not without its Advantages; and had it been deferred a little longer, till I was not only out of the Way, but out of the World, it had had a still fairer Chance towards being uncontradicted, and consequently credited. I have lived to hear this idle Tale, and to bear witness against it: There is no Vanity in hoping, that, old as I am, I shall outlive the Belief of it. An
Holland
Journal gave me the first Notice how I had been treated, and by that Means an Opportunity of vindicating myself; which I was the rather determined not to decline, because I suffer'd in Company with others, Men of great Note and Merit, thro' whose Sides the Authority of a noble and useful Part of our
English
History was struck at. Where I only am aspersed and wrong'd, I can, I thank God, more easily practise Patience, and submit to Indignities and Injuries in Silence. A foreign Writer has used me, in this Case, with greater Civility, and Temper, than Mr.
Oldmixon,
whom I know not that I have ever offended. I forgive him his ill Words, and his hard Thoughts, and only desire him for the future not to indulge himself in ill-natur'd Relations of this Kind, without better Vouchers. His Attack on me, and on the Dead, who he thought might be insulted with equal Safety, is no Proof of a generous and worthy Mind; nor has he done any Honour to his own History, by the fruitless Pains he has taken to discredit that of my Lord
Clarendon;
which, like the Character of its Author, will gain Strength by Time; and will be in the Hands and Esteem of all Men, when Mr.
Oldmixon
's unjust Censure of it will not be remembered, or not regarded.
FR. ROFFEN.
To *****
Dear SIR,
YOUR Endeavours, that I may forget my Misfortunes, are truly Noble. It would be to deserve them to fly from Resolution. They shall not depress me, but I must help to bear what you tell me lies so heavy upon my Friends. I preserve a Mean, which is the Excellence, Justice and Fitness of all things in the Moral System,
Virtue's a Mean, and Vice is an Excess,
In doing more than's fit, or doing less.
To Poetise, my Friend, is no Mark of a depressed Fancy or excessive Sorrow, but a sort of a Comical Way of treating things serious, not after the subtle Fashions of those you speak of, that would magnify Nature by depressing the Deity; who, setting forth their necessary Agreement, make unnecessary Strife; with Reverence do I mention these things, and know,
How the great Love of Nature fills thy Mind,
And Universal Kindness to thy Kind.
I am, while thus Juvenile, an Advocate for, and not a Railer against Extremes; these Symptoms strongly bode a second Youth, that vapours with a feeble and defective Flame; it is the innervated Arm of
Priam,
impotently raised against the thundering Rage of youthful
Pyrrhus.
However this Epistle, my Dear Friend, shall not become more tawdry by its not being of a Piece, for I will conclude with answering your last serious Question, with another Scrap of Poetry.
Whate'er the Soul of Nature has design'd,
And wrought on Matter, is the Effect of Mind;
The Form of Substance, is the Former's Art,
Hence Beauty and Design that strike the Heart;
There's nought in simple Matter to delight,
'Tis the fair Workmanship that takes the Sight.
The beautiful Effect of Mind alone,
Is comely, and in all things comely shown.
Where Mind is not, there Horror needs must be,
For Matter formless, is Deformity.
EXTRACTS of several ORIGINAL LETTERS, written about the Year 1727, by Bishop
Atterbury,
to an ingenious
French
Gentleman, for whom he had a great Esteem.
—THE Book
Memoirs & Reflexions,
Sur les principaux Evenemens du Regne de
Louis XIV.
I now restore you, gave me Pleasure when I read it. The Turn is Natural and Familiar, and there is an Air of Truth in all he says; but, I think, not the Hand of a Master. He tells his Tale, not like a Man who knows any thing of the Rules of Writing well, but as an easy Companion at a Table. I say of his Style, what he says of his Figure,
Ma figure, qui n' êtoit pas déplaisante, quoique je ne fusse pas du premier Ordre des Gens bien faits....
i.e. My Figure, which did not displease, tho' I could not be ranked among handsome People of the first Class. Tho' not of the first (or even second) order of good Writers, he is yet agreeable.... I cannot possibly digest his taking Notice, p. 145. of the
Chevalier de Rohan
's fine Legs. An Observation, that I should have expected rather from the Pen of a fine Lady, and which shews that the
Marquis
was in his Nature a little too intent on such Trifles. He is sensible of it, and excuses himself in the Words which follow; but that Excuse serves only to shew the Strength of the Impression he was under in this respect, since he had Judgment enough to see the Fault, and commits it notwithstanding ...... Though I see he is manifestly piqu'd against
Lewis
XIV. and his Minister
Louvois,
yet I am apt to believe him in all he says of both of them. His Resentment seems to carry him no farther than to give him the Privilege of speaking what he knew to be true; and, as the World goes, he that allows himself to censure the Great even thus far, must say a great deal of Ill of them...
Of several
French
Poets he speaks thus.
Rousseau
appears to me still a greater Poet, the more I consider him. His Talents are unconfined, and enable him in every sort of writing to which he turns himself equally to excel. But the old hard Words he makes use of puzzle me often (who care not to consult a Dictionary) and chiefly in his Allegories....
Chaulieu, La Fare
and
Chapelle,
have many Graces of the easy and natural Style, but I do not think them so perfect in their way as
Rousseau
is in his; nor (to tell you the Truth) do I take such Pleasure in reading them. The Letters particularly of
Chaulieu,
&c. are not Master-pieces in their kind, and many of his little Copies of Verses have nothing extraordinary in them. The Copy which touched me most is the Ode on
Fontenay.
Muses qui dans ce lieu champetre, &c.
I cannot but observe, that under all
Chaulieu
's seeming Gaiety, there is an Air of Melancholy which breaks out by Fits, and shews he was not at Ease in his own Mind. He endeavours to conceal it, and acts the Brave; but his Readers, with a little Penetration, may see through the Disguise. The Fears of Death haunt him perpetually, and appear even in those Places, where he says, he is not afraid of it. I should be glad to know how he died, whether with the same Courage he commends in Lady
Mazarine.
I should guess not, by the Observations I have made of him.
After perusing a Dissertation of Mr.
de Boze,
the Bishop makes the following Remark.
This Book, I find, was written two and thirty Years ago, and therefore it is no wonder that it should not be equal to the later Performances of the same Author. One may say of it as
Tully
speaks of his Collection of Paradoxes;
Non tale est hoc opus ut in arte poni possit, quasi illa Minerva Phidiae; sed tamen, ut ex eâdem officinâ exisse appareat.
Though it be not of the same Value with his other Works, yet it is such, as that one may perceive the same Workman's Hand and Skill in it. He chose a little contracted Subject; and had not Room therefore to shew his Talents at full length in managing it. And yet, narrow and dry as his Subject is, he has, by making several little Digressions, and by taking Occasion to say many things which were not necessary to his Point, rendered it, not only instructive but entertaining.
In tenui labor, at tenuis non gloria, si quem
Numina laeva sinunt, auditque vocatus Apollo.
Whether his forth
Gordean
be a Reality or a Phantom; whether he owes his very being to this Gentleman, or is only rescued from Oblivion, and brought again to Life by him, let the Antiquaries determine: I am so easy and indolent as not to think it of much Moment, which Way such Facts are settled; nor should I have thought what is written on this Point worth reading, if this Author had not writ it. In all he writes, one sees the same Candor and Impartiality; the same Learning, good Sense and Exactness. If the Argument he handles be not of Importance, he makes it so by his manner of handling it. So that I could wish, instead of four Books, he had written forty: as old as I am, and as many other things as I have to do, I should read all of them.... I have perus'd
(says the Bishop in another Letter)
the Book about
This is the Work intitled,
Reflexions critiques sur la Poesie & la Peinture,
by
Abbé du Bos.
A new Edition of it, with Corrections and Additions, has been published by the Author, since the writing of this Letter.
Poetry and Painting, with Attention. It is written in a very good Goût, and has excellent things in it. I have been pleased with no Book so much that has fallen in my way, since I came into
France.
However, I could wish those philosophical Reasonings had been omitted; they belong rather to a Member of the Academy of Sciences, than to one of the Forty, and perhaps will neither convince nor please in such a Performance. The Author seems to have gone too deep in that sort of Reflections, and sometimes not to have gone deep enough in others, which relate more immediately and naturally to his Subject. Forgive this Freedom, but it is my real sense of the Matter. Besides, there is, I think, a want of Method in the whole
The Author has changed the Order and Disposition of his Work, in the last Edition of it.
; and the 19th Section, which is so long, is to me a little obscure. The many learned Citations there, do not clear, but cloud the Author's Meaning, I am apt to imagine that in the musical Part of it, he speaks of what he does not himself thoroughly understand; for if he does, he would probably have expressed himself so, that his Reader also would have understood it, which, (as to me at least) is not the Case. In one thing I differ from him essentially; my fixed Opinion is, that the Reputation of all Books which are perfectly well writ, comes Originally from the Few, and not from the Many; and I think I could say a good deal in Defence of that Opinion...... I see him here, and every where, under the Image of
.... Urbani parcentis viribus, atque
Extenuantis eas consultò.
He seldom speaks out, where he is likely to offend, but contents himself oftentimes rather to infinuate, than affirm; and makes use of other Mens Words to express his own Sense, where he is unwilling too openly to own it, or too strongly to press it.
Ab arte suâ non recessit,
as
Tully
says of
Aristoxenus.
Even in his Judgment of the
Belles Lettres
he plays the Politician.... I could not but observe, how in the last Section but one, he has furnished Mr.
de Voltaire
with the Hint of his Poem on the
Ligue...
Upon the whole, I repeat my Thanks to you for the great Satisfaction which the reading of these
The last Edition is in Three Volumes.
two Volumes has given me.... As to Mr.
Arnauld
's Piece, intitled,
Reflexions sur l'Eloquence,
though what he says there be sensible and just; yet I do not see much of the great Man in it, and had no great Pleasure in perusing it.
The following Remarks are made upon Mr.
Fontenelle
's Manner of Writing,
&c.
I return you, Sir, the two Eloges, which I have perused with Pleasure. I borrow that Word from your Language, because we have none in our own that exactly expresses it. By the Account I had of those Pieces, I imagined them very different from what I find them. Mr.
Fontenelle
's Talents, as to the Knowledge of Nature, Mathematicks, and the
Belles Lettres,
are sufficiently understood. But I take notice particularly of the Art and Address with which he conducts himself in nice Points, and the prudent and political Views by which his Pen is guided; a Quality, that does not often belong to Men who have spent so much of their time in studying the Arts and Sciences. He has been misinformed as to one little Particular, in the short Draught he has given us of Sir
Isaac Newton
's Figure. The
The very lively and piercing Eye.
oeil fort vif, & fort perçant,
which he gives him, did not belong to him, at least not for twenty Years past, about which time I first came acquainted with him. Indeed, in the whole Air of his Face and make, there was nothing of that penetrating Sagacity which appears in his Composures. He had something rather languid in his Look and Manner, which did not raise any great Expectation in those who did not know him. I see Mr.
Fontenelle
speaks warily as to the MSS. relating to Antiquity, History and Divinity, which Sir
Isaac
left behind him: I wish, for the Honour of our Country, that they may be as excellent in their Kind as those he published. But I fear the Case is otherwise, and that he will be found to have been a great Master only in that one way to which he was by Nature inclined. It is enough for us poor limited Creatures, if we remarkably excel in any one Branch of Knowledge. We may have a Smattering of more; but it is beyond the Lot of our Nature, to attain any Perfection in them. Mr.
Fontenelle
's Praise of Sir
Isaac
's Modesty (and of Modesty in general) is to me the most pleasing Part of that Description he has given us of him. It is that Modesty which will teach us to speak, and think of the Antients with Reverence, especially if we happen not to be thoroughly acquainted with them. Sir
Isaac
certainly was, and his great Veneration for them was one distinguishing Part of his Character, which I wonder (or rather, I do not wonder) that Mr.
Fontenelle
has omitted. His Opinion of them was, that they were Men of great Genius and superior Minds, who had carried their Discoveries (particularly in Astronomy and other Parts of Mathematicks) much farther than now appears from what remains of their Writings. One may apply to them, what was said by an old learned Man, to one of less Knowledge and fewer Years, who insulted him,
I have forgot more Knowledge than ever you had.
More of the Antients is lost, than is preserved, and perhaps our new Discoveries are not equal to those old Losses.— But this was not what I had in my Thoughts, when I sat down to write: my Intention was only to express the Satisfaction I had in the Perusal of what I return, of which I could say more, if the End of the Page did not admonish me to tell you how much I am &c.
The Book intitled,
Dissertation sur la Musique des Anciens,
By the Abbé
de Chateneuf.
I send you back, is written in a very sensible and agreeable Manner, with a fine Turn of Thoughts and Words, as far as I am able to judge. I could wish only that the Writer had been a greater Master of his Subject, so as to have given us distincter and fuller Accounts of it, which would have left no Doubts upon the Minds of his Readers. I am satisfied that a Pen like his would have been able to express the most nice and difficult Points of which he treats in a Way equally instructive and pleasing, and have opened to us in Dialogue the Mysteries of Music, as easily and familiarly as Monsieur
Fontenelle
has done those of Astronomy. The Picture of
Leontium,
with which the Reflections conclude, is exquisitely drawn; not only
con Studio,
but
con Amore,
as the
Italians
speak of the favourite Pieces of their best Masters. One would think the Book was written on purpose for the sake of the Character at the End of it: as the most material Part of a Letter is sometimes carelesly thrown into a Postscript...... I dare say
Madamoiselle
A celebrated
French
Actress.
Lenclos
was of the Author's Acquaintance. Hear-say could not have furnished him with so lively a Description of her. There is something in the Picture, that shews, it was painted by the Life, and not copied from another.... One thing he says of her, P. 9. (pardon the Remark) seems in some degree applicable to himself. His Words are very good, and therefore I transcribe them.
Son gout en le conduisant de fleur en fleur, comme les Abeilles, lui fait courir indifferemment tous les pays, & tous les siecles. Mais ces sortes d'imaginations, si legeres & si brillantes, a dedaignent pour l'ordinaire le travail d'attention. Un esprit né pour les agremens, & qui n'a jamais sacrifié qu'aux Graces, n'a garde de s'assujetir à la patience qui seroit necessaire pour comparer les beautés d'un tems avec celles d'une autre, pour étudier les rapports & les oppositions qui sont entre elles, pour les tourner de tous les sens, dont on peut les envisager;
ensin, pour y rapporter la triste & penible exactitude que demande une parallele.
i.e.
His Taste guiding him from Flower to Flower, like the Bees, makes him rove indiscriminately through all Countries and all Ages. But these kind of very sprightly and shining Imaginations, generally disdain a Labour that requires Attention. A Genius born for Charms, and which has never sacrificed but to the Graces, can never subject itself to the Patience that would be necessary in order for comparing the Beauties of one Age; with those of another; to study the Relations and Oppositions that are between them; to view them in all the Lights in which they can be considered; in sine, to bestow upon them the melancholy and painful Exactness, which is requisite for the forming of a Parallel.
Let me ask you for my own Information, whether
tourner de tous les sens,
be a proper Phrase in that Case. To me it seems to spoil the Metaphor. He cites some Authorities, which I am at a Loss to explain; particularly p. 58. that of
Varro de Repub. Rom. L.
1.
C.
1. Sure he does not mean the antient
Varro,
who wrote nothing that I know of, under that Title. He is beholden, I find, to the long Chapter of
Abbé du Bois,
where the antient Authorities, relating to his Subject, are collected; and he has made a free Use of them. But my Intention was, to tell you rather what pleased me in the Book, than what I disliked.
From what I have read (in these Books) and other Pieces, since I came on this side of the Water, I have conceived a much greater Opinion of the Bishop of
Meaux,
than I had while in
England,
and give him readily the Preference to all those Writers of the Church of
France
which I am acquainted with. He is an universal Genius, and manages every thing he takes in Hand, like a Master. Good Sense, and sound Reflections attend all he says; which is expressed in the most agreeable and beautiful Manner, without any of the Pomp or Paint of false Oratory. He has particularly the Secret of knowing, not only what to say, but what not to say; the hardest Task even of the most exact and excellent Writers! ... But you know him, Sir, better than I; and I should be to blame therefore in attempting any Part of his Character, did not Gratitude forbid me to return your Books, without giving you an Account of the Pleasure I had in perusing them. Even the Lady's Memoirs relating to our
English
Princess, gave me a good deal; particularly that Part of them, where the Story of her Death is told, in as natural and affecting a Manner, I think, as is possible. It has such a melancholy Air of Truth in it, as, at the same Time that it gives Conviction, moves Compassion; and one can no more read it, than one could have been present at the sad Scene of it, without Tears. I really prefer the Bishop of
Meaux
's Funeral Oration, to those of
Flechier
or
Bourdaloüe;
tho' I think he would have wrote still better, had he imitated them less; for, by that means, he now and then heightens his Expression a little too much, and becomes unnatural. I gave you one Instance of that when I saw you last.
The more I read of the Bishop of
Meaux,
the more I value him, as a great and able Writer, and particularly for that Talent of taking as many Advantages of an Adversary, and giving him as few as any Man, I believe, that ever entered the Lists of Controversy. There is a serious Warmth in all he says, and his manner of saying it, is noble and moving; and yet I question, after all, whether he sometimes is in good Earnest. Pardon that Freedom, Sir, I have read him with Attention, and watched him narrowly. I have read all the Bishop of
Meaux
's
Pieces
that have been procured for me: and will wait for the rest, till I can have them from your Hands. In the mean time, I will read worse Books, that I may relish his the more, when I return to them; tho', to speak the Truth, I know no Writer in your Tongue, that has less need to have his Reader so prepared for him. Do you hear nothing from your Friend
Voltaire?
Is
England
as well pleased with him, as it was? And is he as well pleased with
England?
Or, does the Satisfaction on one side abate, in Proportion as it lessens on the other? When will the second Edition of his
Henriade
come out? Will it afford us a better Monument to the Memory of that Prince, and a nobler Likeness, than the Statue on
Pont-neuf?
It will, if it be as well finished as it should be. For
Non magis expressi vultus per ahenea signa,
Quàm per vatis opus mores animique virorum
Clarorum apparent.
But the Spirit of Pedantry is coming upon me, and it is time therefore that I tell you, I am &c.
I find the very last Works of that great Man,
the Bishop of
Meaux are inferior to the rest; but, nevertheless, I would be Master of all he certainly wrote. It is useful to observe even the Defects of First-rate Writers, as well as their Excellencies. There is an ill-natured Pleasure in finding, that, as far exalted above us as they are, they sometimes sink down to our Level. The Bishop of
Meaux
studied Critical Knowledge late, with respect to the Interpretation of Scripture; and was never therefore so true a Master of it, as he was of the Way of interpreting it by the Stream of Tradition. But the older he grew, the more admired he was; and that led him to think himself equal to every Man, in every thing; and particularly to write Books in
Latin,
and Comments on Scripture, in both which ways I find him unequal to himself; and I dare say, that is the Opinion of candid and judicious Persons in your Communion.
Our Friend, Father
Courayer,
has been pursued with Mandements, Censures and Arrêts; nor have they, I fear, yet done with him. I am concerned for the Fate of so valuable a Man, and so excellent a Writer, whose Views, I am persuaded, were innocent and good, however in the Manner of executing them, he comes to have given so much Offence. The twenty Bishops that have censured him, seem to decline that Part of the Dispute which relates to the Validity of our
English
Ordinations. However, they have not spared the Church of
England,
on other Accounts, but have represented her in a more disadvantageous Light than she deserves; purely, I suppose, for want of knowing her. They cite the Bishop of
Meaux,
and cite those Works of his, which were written expresly against us; which surely is a very odd Way of representing our Sentiments; just as if I should quote Monsieur
Claude
's Words, from any Pieces of his written against the Church of
France,
to prove what she held in any Doctrine of Importance. I should think it became me rather to produce the Writers of that Church, and the Acts and Monuments of it, for my Vouchers. The twenty Bishops have taken this Method, once or twice; and if they had taken it always, they would have been less liable to Mistakes in their Representations of us. What the Bishop of
Meaux
says, with regard to our Polity and Affairs, is not always to be rely'd on; for he was not a Master of that Subject. He was a very great Man; nor would he have lessened his Character, not to have aimed sometimes at seeming to know, what he really did not, in Matters that lay a little out of his Compass. Excuse the Freedom I take with the Censurers, and the Authority on which they build, in relation to our Matters; because I have good Reason to think, that they have paid a Deference to it, at the Expence of Truth. My Knowledge is very limited; and yet it would be no Presumption in me to say, that I know better than the Bishop of
Meaux
did, what is the Constitution, and what are the Principles and Tenets of the Church of
England.
But enough of these Reflections, into which the Mention of Father
Courayer
has led me.
FR. ROFFEN.
This great Man suffered the Rigours of his Exile by Study, and Conversation with Men of Learning, and kept a constant Correspondence by Letters, with the most eminent Scholars and Persons of Genius.
He translated
Virgil
's
Georgics
into
English,
and wrote an
Harmonia Evangelica
in a New and more perspicuous Method than any yet extant. He sent his Version of the
Georgics,
to a Friend with the following Verses,
viz.
—Haec ego lusi
Ad Sequanae ripas, Thamesino à flumine longè,
Jam senior, fractusque sed ipsâ morte, meorum,
Quos colui, patriaeque memor, neque degener usquam.
Which have been thus Paraphrased,
Thus where the
Seine
thro' Realms of Slav'ry strays,
With sportive Verse I wing my tedious Days;
Far from
Britannia
's happy Climate torn,
Bow'd down with Age and with Diseases worn;
Yet e'en in Death I act a steady Part,
And still my Friends and Country share my Heart.
HORACE, Ode 9. Book III.
A Dialogue between
Horace
and
Lydia.
WHILST I was fond, and you were kind,
Nor any dearer Youth, reclin'd
On your soft Bosom, sought to rest,
Phraates
was not half so blest.
Whilst you ador'd no other Face,
Nor lov'd me in the second Place,
My happy celebrated Fame
Outshone ev'n
Ilia
's envy'd Flame.
Me
Chloe
now possesses whole,
Her Voice and Lyre command my Soul:
Nor would I Death itself decline,
Could her Life ransom'd be with mine.
For me young lovely
Calais
burns,
And Warmth for Warmth my Heart returns.
Twice would I Life with Ease resign,
Could his be ransom'd once with mine.
What if sweet Love, whose Bands we broke,
Again should tame us to the Yoke;
Should banish'd
Chloe
cease to reign,
And
Lydia
her lost Power regain?
Tho'
Hesp'rus
be less fair than he,
Thou wilder than the raging Sen,
Lighter than Down, yet gladly I▪
With thee would live, with thee would die.
HORACE, Ode 3. Book IV.
To his Muse, by whose Favour he acquires immortal Fame.
HE, on whose Birth the Lyric Queen
Of Numbers smil'd, shall never grace
The
Isthmian
Gauntlet, nor be seen
First in the fam'd Olympick Race.
He shall not after Toils of War
And taming haughty Monarch's Pride,
With lawrell'd Brows conspicuous far,
To
Jove
's
Tarpeian
Temple ride.
But him the Streams, that warbling flow
Rich
Tybet
's flowery Meads along,
And shady Groves, (his Haunts) shall know
The Master of the
Aeolian
Song.
The Sons of
Rome,
majestic
Rome!
Have fix'd me in the Poet's Choir,
And Envy now, or dead, or dumb,
Forbear to blame what they admire.
Goddess of the sweet-sounding Lute,
Which thy harmonious Touch obeys,
Who canst the finny Race, tho' mute,
To
Cygnet
's dying Accents raise;
Thy Gift it is, that all with Ease
My new unrival'd Honours own;
That I still live, and living please,
O Goddess! is thy Gift alone.
In OBITUM Egregii Juvenis ***** SHIRLEY.
I.
DUM te canorae turba sciens lyrae,
Urgent adeptum flebilibus modis,
Hoc, dulcis Umbra, ne recuses
Officium tenuis Camaenae.
II.
Cui si favebit Phoebus amicior,
Tot illa Famae, chare Puer, tuae
Apponet annos, quot caducae
Mors adimit properata vitae.
III.
Non hic fideles quod bene feceris,
Chartae silebunt, te Pudor & Fides,
Commendat, integrique mores,
Et decorans benè nata virtus.
IV.
Praesens fugacem sistere spiritum
Heu! nulla Virtus, nec Pietas moram,
Pudorve, febri luctuosae
Attulit indomitaeque morti.
V.
Quid illa velox profuit indoles
Aut mens virilis? Omnium breve,
Virtutis aevum! praecocisque
Ingenii fragiles honores.
VI.
Sic mille flores inter amabiles
Narcissus horti gloria, verticem
Attollit altè, mox reclinem
Sternit humi pluvialis Auster.
EPIGRAM, written on a White Fan belonging to the Lady whom he married.
FLavia,
the least and slightest Toy
Can with resistless Art employ:
This Fan in meaner Hands would prove
An Engine of small Force in Love;
Yet she, with graceful Air and Mein,
Not to be told, or safely seen,
Directs its wanton Motions so,
That it wounds more than
Cupid
's Bow;
Gives Coolness to the matchless Dame;
To ev'ry other Breast a Flame.
ORATIO Viri Reverendi Francisci Atterbury, S.T.P.
Habita
Oxonii
die Admissionis ad Decanatum,
Aedis Christi, An. Dom.
MDCCXI.
GRatissimus est mihi, Juvenis Eximie, tuus in Atrii hujusce Vestibulo occursus, gratissima Oratio; quâ non tam me quàm Aedem hanc, quae bonorum semper ingeniorum nutrix habita est; ornari gaudeo. Facile adducer ut credam; caeteros qui tuae Aetati suppares sunt, Alumnos, tibi esse quam simillimos. Ea si me haud fefellerit spes, vos ego vicissim omnia quaecunque a me proficisci poterint studiorum vestrorum hortamenta ac proemia, fidenter sperare jubeo.
Eò mihi jucundior est tua, tuorum
que
lectissime Baccalauree, sodalium Gratulatio, quod ab iis profecta sit, quorum jam ad maturitatem quandam adolescunt ingenia, praeceptis institutis
que
Philosophiae, ac multiplici doctrinarum genere, aucta at
que
exculta. Utinam is essem omnino quem, te authore, ab illis me haberi intelligo! Is certè sum, qui literatam juventutem ad optima quaeque feliciter nitentem summa cum voluptate intueri soleam, quique adeo crescenti indies vestri ordinis laudi impensè faveam. Multa de mirifico vestro erga Artes reconditas amore, de laudabili studiorum cursu, ac progressione discendi a Viro Optimo, Aedis hujusce Sub-Decano dignissimo me auditurum confido, cujus quidem Vigilantiae at
que
Industriae siqua etiam a nobis subsidia possint offerri habebit ille me curarum suarum omnium ac Consiliorum Socium, & non inertem, ubi opus est, Adjutorem.
Parem te quidem Muneri illi tuo, quod jam per annos aliquot sustinuisti, facundissime Rhetorices Praelector, ostendis, cum exile nactus argumentum uberrimâ id verborum copiâ summâ Eloquentiae vi auges at
que
amplificas. Quantum ab his absim laudibus, & egomet mihi satis sum conscius, & te utcun
que
de me magnifica praedicantem, minimè latet. Sed tu quâ mente, qui modestiâ es, quùm apertis mecum monitis agendum esse non existimes, ab illa Artis tuae Praecepta decurris, quae Hortationem tunc optimè institui aiunt, eum cum laudes, quem cohortere. Si quis ita
que
tuo hoc dicendi artificio deceptus, meas esse putet, quae a te percensentur, virtutes, mea quae celebrantur praeconia, nolo illum in tanto errore versari; alia tibi erat Ratio, aliud longè consilium, ut tuo scilicet dum fungereris Officio, mihi interim meum subindicares, & in id totus incumberes, ut intelligant qui te perorantem audiunt, non quis ego sim, sed cujusmodi is esse debeat, qui florentissimae huic Aedi cum dignitate praesideat, qui tam numeroso aut doctorum aut discentium Gregi Custos admotus, tuendae Religioni, excolendis Moribus, Literis promovendis ritè invigilet. Arduum sanè opus! cui tamen proficiendo in promptu erant quae sumeris. Jam enim in uniuscujus
que
nostrum animis inhaeret Excellentium Virorum, qui me in hoc munere praeiverint, memoria, quam quidem studiosè recolenti facile tibi erat ea exinde omnia delibare quaecunque ad exprimendam perpoliendam
que
Viri summi & scientissimi Rectoris imaginem pertinerent.
Utcunque me de implendâ hâc quae mihi obtigit Provinciâ cogitantem, meas
que
vires aestimantem, subortus illicò conturbet metus, obruat pudor; nunquam tamen animo sum demissiore, nunquam mihi magis displiceo, quam cum
Fellum
&
Aldricium,
duo illa Reipublicae nostrae Literariae Lumina, mente contempler. Quis enim non jure reformidaverit, illorum vestigiis insistere; qui optimis Naturae donis praediti, magnâ artium varietate instructi, longo rerum Academicarum usu exercitati, Aedem hanc nunquam gloriae expertem, nunquam non Doctrinae laude illustrem, ad summum splendoris at
que
amplitudinis fastigium perduxere.
Inerat utri
que
literarum flagrans studium, propensissima liberalium artium cultores voluntas; inerat eximius ingenii candor, omnia quae aliquam boni speciem prae se ferent amplectentis; omnia de quibus ambigi possit, in mitiorem semper partem interpretantis; Inerat eximius, liber, excelsus, nullâ divitiarum, nullâ honorum cupiditate correptus, rei privatae negligens, ad publicam unicè attentus. Nemo unquam Familiam suam ardentius dilexit, benignius fovit, quam eorum uter
que
hanc Domum; nemini unquam suae carior erat Patriae, quam illis haec Academia. Rem Typographicam suo labore, suis sumptibus augere, nostra haec moenia instaurare, condere, id iis curae semper, id voluptati fuit; his cogitationibus, his studiis occupati vixere, his etiam ne quidem ad extremum vitae spiritum intermissis, sunt immortui.
Nota vobis ac perspecta penitus loquor; quae tamen in auribus at
que
in oculis vestris utcun
que
haereant infixa, juvat us
que
repetere at
que
ipsâ hominum omni laude praestantium jucundissima recordatione mentem pascere ac conformare. Nunquam mihi aut vobis excidet ex animis Viri illius humanissimi atque optimi Imago, cujus morte, tanquam, Parente suo orbata, jam luctu ac moerore jacuit haec domus. Faxit Deus, ut adventu tandem meo, aliquâ ex parte aliquando refici potest, ac recreari! Nihil illi defuit, quod ad Literas promovendas atque ornandas cuiquam unquam mortalium indulsit natura; nihil, quod eorum quibus praefuit, aut Amorem, aut Admirationem possit excitare. Quae illi mentis acies, quae vis, quae volubilitas, in omnes omnigenae doctrinae partes celerrimè se versantis, in quamcunque scientiae oram delata esset, nusquam rudis, nusquam hospitis. Quicquid in arte aliquâ elaboratum proferret, quicquid moliretur, aut investigaret, ad id illum quod quidem ageret, agendum unicè natum esse diceres, in eo omnem operam suam atque aetatem contrivisse. Seu studia graviora persequeretur, seu levibus se oblectaret, seu res humanas, seu divinas susciperet tractandas; an his, an illis aptior esset atque accomodatior, multum dubitares. Jam vero in aditu atque sermone, in otio, in negotiis, quae illi morum facilitas, quam simplex & aperta mens! quae in vita integritas, in verbis fides? quae frontis modestia, quae oris dignitas? His ille naturae muneribus ornatus, quod in percipiendis severioribus disciplinis, asperum plerum
que
& triste visum est, miro quodam lepore solitus est mitigare, ita ut Tyronum animos non praeceptis solum aut hortationibus, sed vultu ipso atque congressu, ad amorem literarum, ad omnem humanitatis laudem fingeret at
que
erudiret.
Multa in hoc Viro admiranda erant, multa praeclara, nihil tamen praeclarius, quam quod Beatissimi
Felli
memoriam singulari quodam cultu ac veneratione semper prosequeretur, quod illum tanquam certissimum rerum pulchrè gerendarum ducem atque auctorem, optimum instituendae regendae
que
juventutis magistrum, intermissae apud nos luctuosissimis temporibus disciplinae vindicem, hujus deni
que
amplissimi domicilii statorem suspiceret semper ac praedicaret. Et sanè, ex quo verae Religioni bonis
que
literis, ad suas unde expulsae sunt, sedes patuit reditus, quicquid artibus juvandis, aut pietati augendae, quicquid in Reipublicae aut Ecclesiae usus contulerit haec Aedes, id omne ex sanctissimi illius Praesulis, Laboribus, Curis, Conciliis profluxit. Ab illo jacta sunt fundamenta laudum nostrarum, ab illo sparsa virtutis, Industriae, Doctrinae semina, quae etiamnum vigent, quaeque illo & superstiti & extincto, in uberem multoties messem laetam
que
maturuere.
Hunc ita
que
Alumnorum Chorum, hanc Domum
Felli
ad huc institutis florentem, quoties intueor, videre mihi videor celebrem illum agrum, diligenter consitum, quem Lysandro olim ostendit Cyrus; ubi mirari libet Arborum (ut ita dicam) proceritates & ordines rite dispositos, humum etiam subactam at
que
puram & suavitatem Odorum, qui quidem afflentur è Floribus, potissimum vero diligentiam & solertiam ejus a quo sunt ista dimensa at
que
descripta. Foelix ille noster Agricola, cui fas erat cum Cyro; dicere, Ego ista omnia sum dimensus, mei sunt Ordines, mea Descriptio, multae etiam istarum Arborum mea manu sunt satae, & huic & alteri fortasse saeculo profuturae.
Mihi ita
que
qui in obeundo hoc munere viris talibus tantis
que
(felicitati dicam, an fato quodam meo?) proximus succedam, quid restat, nisi ut earum, quibus inclaruerint virtutum memoriam languentem me diffidentem viribus meis erigam atque incendam, nisi ut optimis iisdem, quibus usus sum, dum viverent Magistris, utar & mortuis, eorum
que
ad exemplum, qua licet qua possim cunque via, me totum componam?
Magnis quidem illi atque eximiis quibusdam animi Bonis hoc assecuti sunt, ut possent vobis insigniter prodesse. Istorum quem nihil ad me pertineat, satis intelligo. Unum tantummodo mihi ut cum illis commune existimetur contendo; Benevolentiae, at
que
amoris incredibilis quaedam vis, qua in aedem hanc feror, qua vos, vestras
que
res omnes complector, & in qua nequidem ab ipsis illis Antecessoribus meis (quibusdam nulla alia in re sum conferendus) superatum me iri confido.
N.B.
Bishop
Atterbury
died at
Paris
the 15th of
February
1732, and his Body was brought to
England,
and interred on the 12th of
May
following, in his Vault in
Westminster Abbey.
His Bowels were in an Urn, thus inscribed,
In hac Urnâ depositi sunt cineres
FRANCISCI ATTERBURY
Episcopi Roffensis.
TO His Excellency the Right Honourable THOMAS Lord PARKER, Lord High Chancellor of GREAT-BRITAIN, one of his Majesty's Lords Justices. LONDON.
Henley, near Ludlow,
Aug. 4. 1719.
MY LORD,
I Taking
London
in my Way between
Lewes
and
Kingston,
came to your Lordship's House the Morning before I went to
Kingston,
but your Lordship was then sitting. I did then intend to have informed your Lordship of what occurred in the Circuit thitherto, relating to the Publick, especially in
Kent:
and after I came from
Kingston,
I found your Lordship was gone out of Town; and before your Return I set out for my Country-concerns here in
Shropshire,
'till near next Term; so that what Account I give your Lordship must be by Letter.
Tho' your Lordship has heard how the Verdict went in the Tryal at
Rochester,
Occasioned by a Charity-Sermon preached there, by one
Hendley
of
Istington.
He died not long after.
yet perhaps it may not be unacceptable to your Lordship, to have some Abstract of the Matter arising in it. I began at six in the Morning, by my Appointment, and held till twelve. The Court was very full of Clergymen, and a great Auditory; and I gave both Sides Liberty to expatiate as they pleased, especially the Defendants, that they might not say but that they had a full and fair Tryal. Most of the Witnesses for the Prosecution were unwilling, and did prove the Facts but meanly; but afterwards the Witnesses for the Defendants did, upon questioning, prove all the Facts very fully upon all the Defendants, viz.
Hendley
the Preacher, the School-master and the two Collectors, being all who were served with Process. Serjeant
Comins,
Sir
Const. Phipps
and Mr.
Blunden,
Defendants, after an Harangue upon the Vertue of Charity, and how essential to Christianity (tho' I thought the Texts they cited proved another sort of Charity, viz. Good-Nature and Good-Neighbourhood, but I thought it not proper then to take Notice of the Distinction) they insisted chiefly,
1. That it would discourage all Charity, and Charity-Schools, which would thus be in Danger of Subversion.
2. That every Parson might order Collections, in his own Parish, for what Charities he please, especially if approved of by the Bishop.
3. That the Rubrick in the Communion Service, a Common-Prayer Book being produced in Court, does imply that the Parson and the Bishop are intrusted in Collections of Charity in the Church; for it says, that if the Parson and Church-wardens disagree in the Distribution, the Bishop shall determine.
4. That the Parson of the Parish, and also the Bishop of
Rochester,
did give
Hendley
Leave to preach this Sermon, for this Purpose.
5. That tho' the Sermon was done, yet the Prayer for the holy Catholic Church at the Communion Table was not quite finished, as were not also the Sentences for exciting Charity, when Mr.
Farrington,
the Justice of Peace, interrupted the Collection.
6. That the two present Archbishops have preached Charity-Sermons, in
London,
for the Children of other Parishes there.
7. That there is no Precedent of such an Indictment ever before.
Too much Time was spent on both Sides, relating to what Power the Bishops had antiently in the Distribution even of Tythes and Profits relating to the Church, and their Rights to licence Preaching, and to direct what is to be done in Churches, and that Laymen are not to intermeddle there.
Serjeant
Darnel,
Mr.
Baines
and Mr.
Marsh
were
pro Rege.
The Substance of what they all said is herein mentioned, intermixed with my own Thoughts in my summing up to the Jury.
I first said, that there were three Things much insisted on by the Defendants Counsel, and answered by the Counsel on the other Side, which I thought ought to be pared off and put out of the Case,
viz.
1. All Jealousy of discouraging all Charity and Charity-Schools; for that they remained just as they were before, as long as they kept within the Bounds of their proper Parishes. But tho' this Case was quite of a different Nature, relating to arbitrary Collections, and that in other Parishes, and the coming of fifty Boys and Girls together begging for that Purpose; and if this was practised, it might do more Harm to Charity-Schools, by making them odious to their Parishes, whose Poor would be injured, by lessening the Charity to them.
2. It ought to be put out of the Case, whether Mr.
Hendley
was authorized to preach there, or not; for that I thought it the same Case if the Parson of the Parish himself had then preached, [It was at my Tongue's End,
if the Bishop himself had preached,
as indeed it was the same; but I thought it better not to heat the Question by a Supposal of the Bishop's preaching] for that the Preaching was not the Point, being used only to excite giving; but the true Point was, whether the Collection was without lawful Authority; and therefore the Collecting of it in the Church is not a Jot better, in Point of Law, than if the fifty Boys and Girls had stood at the Market-place, and the Collectors had there received the Charity of whom they could assemble about them.
3. Another Matter I thought proper to be pared off (tho' so much debated on both Sides) whether it was a Crime (I suppose the Crime suggested in the Bishop of
Rochester
's Court) to interrupt the Collection before the Prayer for the holy Catholic Church, and the Sentences for Charity, were fully read, since they thought, that if such Collecting is an unlawful Act, the proper Time to stop it is just when it begins, or soon after, as here was done by Mr.
Farrington;
for otherwise Common-Prayer, or a Sermon might be used to justify and give a Sanction to any unlawful Act, and this Stop might as well have been in the Middle of the Common-Prayer, or of the Sermon, in case the unlawful Collection had then begun: so that the true Point is, whether the Collection was unlawful; and upon that all the Case depends.
As for the Assertion, that every Parson of a Parish may order Collections, in his Parish for Charities, when and for what he pleases; I declared my Opinion, that he could not; it not being any Part of his Function, like reading Prayers, Preaching, Christening, Burying,
&c.
nd I knew not how he was made Judge of the Times and Objects of all Charities within his Parish, tho' he might preach as much as he pleased upon the general Duty of Charity.
As to the Rubrick in the Communion Service, I said, I thought that was to be taken
secundum subjectam materiam,
viz. the ordinary Collection at the Communion, which is ever then used to be made for the Poor of that Parish, but should not extend to every Collection the Parson should appoint for any foreign Charity, and that I did not till now hear that the Clergy did claim such a Power. And farther I said, that I thought those Words of the Rubrick did not imply such a Power in the Parson; for the Words being [the Money given at the Offering shall be disposed of to such pious and charitable Uses as the Parson and the Church-wardens shall think fit, wherein if they disagree, it shall be disposed of as the Ordinary shall appoint.] Such a Power of appointing a Collection at Pleasure is as much implied in the Church-wardens as in the Parson, for they have as much Liberty to disagree from the Parson in the Distribution, as the Parson has to disagree from them; and so the Church-wardens might also appoint Collections for what Charities they pleased: but that I thought that the Parson and Church-wardens, either jointly or severally, could not appoint any Collection for Charity otherwise than in common Form for the Poor of their own Parish, and that those are the charitable Uses intended by the Rubrick, and particularly at the Communion, to the Service of which those Words of the Rubrick are subjoined. [I hope your Lordship, on reading that Part of the Rubrick at the End of the Communion Service will be of my Opinion, which I then suddenly declared, as to the Implication, and do not since alter, unless otherwise convinced.]
As to what was mentioned of the two present Archbishops, it was for the Poor of the same Town, tho' of a different Parish: and all the Circumstances of those Cases do not now appear, nor were they litigated, as this Case is.
As to the Objection, that there is no Precedent of such an Indictment ever before.
Sol.—There never was such an Attempt before, that fifty Boys and Girls should go into another Parish, in another County, and make a kind of Migration in such a Body, really begging, tho' with great Formality. And tho' much might be said (as the Counsel for the King insisted) to bring them within the Statute of Vagrants, especially seeing the Stat. of 39.
Eliz.
C. 4. Paragr. 2. says, That all Persons calling themselves Scholars, going about begging, shall be accounted Vagrants: yet I judged it not proper to put the Case upon that Point, when I thought it so clear otherways, and fit so to be mentioned.
I also told the Jury, that this Case did consist of two Parts: the first but particular, and the other very general.
As to the particular, it is relating to the Maintenance of the Poor, which is not of a Spiritual Nature, but a mere Lay-Concern, and relating to the Civil Government; and the several Acts of Parliament do plainly esteem it as such, by ordering the Rates and Collections for the Poor, and putting the whole Managment into the Lay Hands of the Justices of the Peace, and the Over-seers of the Poor, who are to be nominated by the Justices of the Peace, and accountable to them, and by their Directions to set the Poor at Work, if they thought proper; and therefore a Justice of Peace, being then in the Church, might well take it to be a Matter within his Jurisdiction, and that he might stop such a new and extraordinary Proceeding, newly begun among the Clergy, relating to the Maintenance of the Poor, and a Collection made by Strangers, without the Consent or Assistance of the Church-wardens or Over-seers of the Poor of that Parish.
But this Case, if under a general Consideration, is of a vast Extent, and mighty Consequence to the King and the People, and at which the very Legislature may take great Umbrage. The levying of Money is the tenderest Part of our Constitution, and if it may be done arbitrarily, under the Shew and Form of Charity, (which may comprize all good Works and all good Intentions) it cannot be said whither it may go, any more than it can be said whither these fifty Boys and Girls may go: for as, by the same Reason, they may go into all the Parishes in
England,
so Collections, as for Charities, may be set up in all the Churches in
England
by the Clergy, as often as they please: and tho' it be said, it is all but Voluntary giving, yet it is a sort of Compulsion, by the Solemnity in the Church, and vying with others, and being marked out, if refusing, or giving meanly.
In the Time of
Charles
I. the Parliament took great Offence at some Attempts for free Gifts to the Crown; and we hear that Cardinal
Alberoni
is now setting up the like all over
Spain.
But besides, here in
England
no Collection, even for Charity (unless for the Poor of the same Parish) is, by Law, to be made, but by the Leave and Permission of the King, gathering of Money being so nice a Matter, that it must not be done, even for Charity, without his Leave, in the most compassionate Cases; and thence the antient Method of Briefs, under the Great Seal, has been used, even upon extreme great Losses by Fire. And the Stat. of 4 and 5 of
Anne,
have put the whole Management of Briefs under the Regulation of the Court of Chancery, and impower the laying great Fines upon the Offenders. But this Method were giving a Go-by to all Royal Licences, and putting it in the Power of the Clergy to do all Acts of Charity of themselves at the Expence of the People, and to be sole Judges of the Occasions, and to make what Application and Account they please.
I told the Jury, that I was very clear of Opinion, in Point of Law, this was a Case of dangerous Consequence, and was an Invasion not only on the King's Prerogative, but also upon the Legislature, and that I thought the Defendants Guilty.
The Jury stayed out but a little while and brought them in all Guilty. I then told the Defendants Counsel, that if they did not like my Opinion, in Point of Law, they might bring their Writ of Error; and the Indictment being so special, it did equal a special Verdict, and they might have the Opinion of a special Court, if they pleased.
I then set a Fine of a Noble upon each Defendant, I saying, it was so small only because it was made a Question; but now that a Verdict had settled it, there would be very heavy Fines upon those who should presume to offend in like Manner hereafter. Yet I heard that some Gentlemen in the Town had thereupon said, that I had been too favourable to them by so small Fines: but it was far from my Intention of any Favour to them, but of Service to the King; whereas, if great, it might have been said, that, while they were prosecuted for levying Money on the People, the Prosecution was only to levy Money upon them, when it was really to settle the Point: and great Fines might have raised Compassion, and perhaps a Collection for them. It would be great Satisfaction to me if your Lordship be of the same Opinion with me, as to the Smallness of the Fines; I am sure I intended it for the best.
I gave Mr.
Woodford
a News-Paper, wherein was an Advertisement, which I thought very fit to be shewed to Superiors: that the Bishop of
London
had issued a Circular Letter, to all his Clergy, to collect Charities in their Parishes for the poor Vicarages in
England,
which I thought much of a Kin to the late Collection in
Kent,
or rather more dangerous, not only by raising a vast Sum of Money (if the like in all Dioceses) but also by marking out People how far affected to the Church throughout
England,
and casting some Reflection upon Queen
Anne
's Bounty, and upon a beneficial Explanation after by his present Majesty, yet as if to be supported by begging: and this done in a Time of Taxes, which must appear the more heavy after such Collections; and the Clergy would thus gain a Power of raising Money as they please, and applying it as they please. How this Project goes on I know not; but sure it ought to be stopped: and for that Purpose, a Thing very apposite was mentioned in the Debate of the late Tryal in
Kent,
That commonly about
Christmas,
when it is hard with the Poor for want of Work, in great Frost and Snow, then the Bishop of
London
does send a Circular Letter, to the Parishes within the Bills of Mortality, to make Collections for the Poor, to be put into the Hands of the Lord Mayor. But it was also alledged in the same Tryal, that, pre-cedent to such Circular Letter, of that Bishop, the King sends a Letter, under his Sign Manual, to that Bishop, authorizing and requiring him so to do. This deserves to be inquired into, and, if true, it is a Case in Point against this new Letter of the Bishop of
London,
if without the King's Licence.
A Man of
Rochester,
worth nothing, was convicted before me of drinking the Pretender's Health. I ordered him to be whipped, in open Market, twice, till his Back was bloody, with a Month between the first and second Whipping.
And at
Lewes,
a Man of
Rye
was convicted before me for drinking the Health of King
James
the Third, and saying, he knew no such Person as King
George.
He had run out a good Estate by Looseness, and had nothing left but an Annuity of thirty Pounds
per Annum,
for his Life. I fined him a hundred Pounds, and committed him till paid, and that he should find good Sureties for his good Behaviour for three Years next after the Payment of the Fine. I told him, that by his paying a hundred Pounds to King
George,
he would certainly know there is such a Person.
Your Lordship's Notion, against setting a State Offender in the Pillory, was certainly very right, and did so convince me, that I have ever since ordered corporal or pecuniary Punishments upon them, as having a better Effect upon shameless People, and without giving the Mob an Opportunity to be troublesome.
I declared in all my Charges in this Circuit, as I did the two last Terms at
Westminster,
that the Number of base Libels, and seditious Papers, is intolerable, and that now a quicker Course will be taken about them; for that now the Government will not be so much troubling itself to find out the Authors of them, but as often as any such Papers are found on the Tables of Coffee-Houses, or other News-Houses, the Master of the House shall be answerable for such Papers, and shall be prosecuted as the Publisher of them, and let him find out the Author, Letter-Writer, or Printer, and take Care, at his Peril, what Papers he takes in.
This last was a Maiden Home-Circuit, which had not been known before, and is to be attributed to the late good Law of Transportation, which is well put in Execution in the Counties near
London,
whence Transporting is easy, but not so well in other Parts of
England.
The Treasury would save much Money, partly by paying fewer Rewards of forty Pounds, and partly by not long maintaining Fellows in Gaol, if some Rates were agreed to be given to Merchants to carry them off speedily.
Your Lordship's Order of Notification, to the Justices of Peace, had a very good Effect, for they appeared much better this Circuit than formerly, especially in
Surrey,
where I told them, that I would request your Lordship, that you would please to acquaint his Majesty, at his Return, how very well, in particular, his Justices of Peace in
Surrey
had appeared, upon his Pleasure being notified to them for that Purpose.
I did, in all my Charges, inform the Audience of the Occasion and Necessity of that Notification, for that there was grown a Sort of general Neglect, all over
England,
of the Appearance of the Justices of Peace at the Assizes, when the Judges had often Matters to inform them of, by Command of his Majesty; and Trials of Felons were often imperfect, by the Non-attendance of the committing Justice of Peace; and that their Attendance was a Respect due to the King and his Government, upon those solemn Occasions: and that it is no Hardship upon them; there being three Excuses, which will be readily admitted, if, upon the Call, mentioned to the Court, barely upon the Word of some other Justice, or Proof upon Oath by some other Person.
viz.
1. If not fit to travel, by Age or want of Health. 2. If living out of the County. 3. If then actually out of the County. But if Justices of Peace shall remain at home, about their private Affairs, or to avoid the Trouble of a Journey to the Assizes, it ought to be looked on as a Neglect of the Duty of their Office: for they are not called only to notify to the People, that they are in Commission, but to answer to their Names in Person.
Many of those in Commission do not act, and have not taken the Oath of Office: whereupon I ordered, in open Court, each Clerk of the Peace, against next Term, to transmit to your Lordship a List of such as reside in the County, and refuse to act; yet that he does, in the mean time, know of them, if they persist in such Refusal; that so it may be their own doing if they are put out of the Commission, after his Majesty's Favour to them in being put in.
I fear I have tired your Lordship with this long, tho' abridged, Account: but your Lordship's Pardon will be an Addition to all your former Favours, to
My Lord,
Your Lordship's Most Faithful and Most Humble Servant, LITTLETON POWYS.
ABSALON ET ACHITOPHEL.
Carmine Latino Heroico.
At two Years standing, 1682,
Francis Atterbury,
of
Ch. Ch.
translated, from
English
into
Latin, Absalom
and
Achitophel.
Athen. Oxon. p. 1064. Vol. II.
COgnovere
pias
nondum pia secula
fraudes
Arte sacerdotum, nondum vetuere maritos
Multiplici
celebrare
jugo
connubia leges;
Cum Vir
sponsarum
numeraverat
agmen,
& uni
Non servire toro, sato adversante, coactus
Plurima fertilibus produxit stemmata lumbis;
Cum stimulos Natura daret, nec legibus ullis
Et sponsae & lenae vetitum est
commune
cubile:
Tunc
Israelis,
coelo cedente, Monarcha
Concubitu vario vernas, nuptasque fovebat:
Quáque erat Imperii limes, ibi messe feraci
Transcripta
Archetypi
sparsim generatur imago.
Ornavit Regale caput Diadema
Michalis;
Cultori ingratum, vel quod sterilesceret, arvum:
Non aliud par hujus erat; nam plurima mater
Jam pridem multos utero satis ubere natos
Jessidi
peperit. Sed sacra cubilia vernae
Cum premerent, soboles
obliquo tramite
Sceptrum
Arripuit, spurioque fuit de sanguine Princeps.
Has inter stirpes eluxerat
Absalon,
ipsâ
Nec formâ inferior, cessit virtute nec ulli.
An magè divino Pater inspiratus amore
Ipsum progenuit
majore libidinis aestro
Praecocis ing'nii,
vel quòd bene
conscia
fata
Felicem dederint ad Sceptra
virilibus
ansam
Formae
ornamentis,
& iter proclive parâssent,
Huic
Fama
in campis sonuit
matura
remotis
Invictumque Ducem agnorant socialia Regna:
Pace minas oculis, animoque excusserat arma
Quaelibet, ut natus tantum
videatur amori.
Siquod agat, mentes adeò mulcebat, ut ipsum
Jusserit,
aut saltem docuit
Natura
placere:
Quicquid agit,
genio
peragi
ridente
videtur,
Et vultu amotis rugis
afflabat amores.
Laetitiâ hunc tacitâ fovet indulgentia Patris,
Qui quasi bis natum se viva in imagine vidit:
Nil inconcessum voto sitiente rogavit,
Annabal
at thalamo cessit socianda jugali.
Crimina siqua, Pater (quis enim sine crimine vivit?)
Non potuit,
lippis vel saltem aspexit ocellis.
Quosdam, quêis mirè lex blanda pepercerat, aestus
Impete commotos nimio dixere Juventam,
Fermento
tantum quae
desaecanda,
calenti.
Impia &
Amnonis
specioso nomine caedes
Justa obtrectatae famae vindicta vocatur.
Sic
inconcussâ
regeret dum
pace Sionem
Rex
David,
juvenis laudatur, & unus amatur.
At rarò faustae series manet integra vitae,
Dii poenâ pravos urgent, tentamine justos.
Judoei,
populus rigidae cervicis, & asper
Moribus, & querulus; Gens nulla
procacius illâ
Vim velut extremam
est Divini experta favoris;
Gens adamata Deo,
nimiâ lasciva quiete,
Impatiens Regis, placandaque Numine nullo:
(Numina nam variae molis, variaeque figurae.
Quae faber ex sacro potuit procudere ferro,
Aut pius Antistes effingere mente, probâsset)
Egregiè sapiens populus,
nimiumque beatus
Somniat heu! justae se libertatis egenum.
Et cum per terras usquam Gens nulla reperta est,
Quae magis arbitrio vixit, vel lege soluta,
Moxanimum ad sylvas flectit, nemorum
que
recessus,
Et
proeter Satyros
omnes servire putabat.
Qui post funebrem
Sauli
sine vulnere pompam
Isboset
insulsum
Diadema odisse
coegit;
Cujus ope ad solium
David
redit exul ab
Hebron,
Rexque inter medios uno velut ore triumphos
Saepe salutatur plausu resonante catervae.
Ipsi hi
Judoei,
vel tum cùm summa professi,
Non Regi obsequium, ast
animi
sua vana
sequacis
Arbitria
ostentant, & jam mirantur ad annos
Factitium
tanto colerent quid honore Monarcham.
Quem manibus fecêre suis, fas tollere credunt,
Aut
titulo
donare
mero,
quo
Regia
tantum,
Aureus ut quondam vitulus,
coleretur imago.
Ventilat haec
obiter
tumida plebecula bile,
In scelus, aut quaestum nondum coalescere coepit,
Optima pars populi
Judoei,
& criminis expers
Dulcia tranquilli bene noverat otia Regni;
Seclaque respiciens
cauto terrore
relapsa,
Vulnera conspexit
malè sarta,
& turpia visu.
Cumque cicatrices
grumoso sanguine
plenas
Viderit, execrata memor civilia bella est.
Quorum animus nimiâ tunc non excanduit irâ
His moti, positâ dubiae libramina lancis
Mole premunt, vigilisque
sagax clementia
Regis
Sustulit optatam populis discordibus ansam.
Cum tamen in vetitum
genio labente
feramur,
Providus
hamatam
Satanas mox projicit
offam,
Et quasi
nequitioe leno
mala praebet amata.
Jam conjurati malefidae
Foederis
artes
Erupere,
Bonâ Causâ veterique
jubente.
Vera, an falsa licèt, nam Conjuratio Regum
Excidium est, ipsâque trahit Respublica vitam.
Antiquam
Solymam Jebusito
semine nati
Incoluere viri, traxit urbs nomen ab illis;
Jus His nativum fuerat—
Cùm tamen Electus geminatis viribus arma
Movisset populus,
Jus ipsum evasit iniquum:
Et quo plura mali tulerat dispendia fati
Incola, censetur magè displicuisse Tonanti.
Viribus effoetis, aut fractis hinc
Jebusitoe
Vellent, an nollent,
Jessidem
agnoscere Regem
Coguntur, facti
extorto moderamine servi,
Auctaque cùm victâ solvunt tellure tributa.
Et quod vix animo humano tolerabile, salfis
Luduntur probris,
vilique oequalia ligno
Numina
vulgari crepitant
combusta
favillâ.
Moverat hoc rapidam Pagani Antistitis iram:
Ambit idem in varia nam Relligione Sacerdos.
Qualiscunque sui fuerit prosapia Divi,
Seu lapide, aut trunco, tenui vel origine nati,
Ipsum defendunt parili virtute ministri,
Tanquam
explorato
genus enumerasset ab
auro.
Atque haec Rabbinis, quamvis hostilibus ipsos.
Incessant odiis, solers prudentia visa est.
Nam
Gens
obstrictos credit pietate
togata
Det vitae quicunque penu commune tueri.
Hinc ortum duxit
Patrioe communis
Virgil.
Erinnis,
Re mala, sed specie nova conjuratio pejor.
Excessu laudata pari, & traducta, probata
Jurantum verbis, morientum voce negata.
Non
excussa
vagae
penso libramine
plebis,
Indigesta tamen, massâque absorpta recenti.
Quaedam vera tulit, sed cum
farragine mirâ
Falsorum mixta, & mendacibus abdita larvis,
Subtili ingenio paradoxa, crepundia crasso.
Qui nullis, facilemve dedit omnibus olim
Traditur aequali sibi delirâsse furore.
Ritibus
Aegyptis
fatuus
Jebusita
colendis
Se devovit, ubi commendat Numina Gustus.
Numina nec dubium est, cùm non insulsa, placere,
Quae simul
in Divos cultori & pabula
cedent.
Vi potuit nullâ spretos obtrudere Divos
(Nam binis impar fuit &
Tyrinthius
Heros.)
Hinc placuit tentare dolos (Antistitis artes)
Nam stolidos suasu citius quàm robore vinces.
Judoeos
tandem facto velut agmine coetus
Clamosi invadunt praefrictâ fronte magistri,
Fautoresque sui cultus scrutantur in Aula,
Atque
ipsum
alliciunt ad pulpita sacra
lupanar.
Quod tulit
Hebroeus
non aequâ mente Sacerdos,
Balantem quòd lana gregem sua jure sequatur.
Persuasum est aliis intenta pericula Regi
Bombardis olim per secula longa repertis.
Non hoc jurabit vates, sed Daemone junctus
Quis novit quantum poterit
Jebusita
cruentus?
Hoc, quod vulgari tantum strategemate fultum
Sperato nunquam successu
Foedius
egeret,
Omen, & occulti dederat praesagia damni.
Nam velut accensus cùm corda per intima flagrat
Febre cruor, celeri
stagnum
delabitur undâ
Protinus, & peccans citò quilibet aestuat humor,
Qui prius innocuas
lambit sine murmure ripas:
Sic cùm
divisum est studia in contraria vulgus,
In spumam fervet parilem, Regnoque minatur.
Quidam
judicio
facilis censentur amici,
Sed
plures sapuisse suo,
& velut obice jacto
Imperio, frustrâ quod captavêre, resistunt.
Quosdam Aulae immeritus favor insignivit, at illinc
Ejecti, Lemurum ritu,
obdurantur
in ipsis
Flagitiis. Alios ad munera publica Regni
Affines solio, condonatosque rebelles
Fatali
extulerat Rex
mansuetudine David.
(
Arcta
quidem
vincla,
ingratos si vincla ligârint,)
Achitophel
fallax horum vetus agmina duxit
Signifer, exosum ventura in secula nomen.
Consiliis
promptus
vafris,
versutiùs illo
Occultos ageret nemo cum fraude cunîclos.
Turbidus ingenii, capitis subtilis & audax,
Judicii nullo constans dictamine, nullâ
Sede, sed imperio
fremit
indignatus in omni,
Dedecus incensum, velut unguis in ulcere, torquet.
Ignea mens
latè dum sese
expandere
nisa est,
Pygmaeam
senio quasi
molem attrivit
edaci
Corporis, obducens
limosa habitacula formâ.
Rebus in angustis audax Nauclerus & idem
Exultans ipsis,
dum saeviat unda,
periclis.
Tempestate frui
gaudet, pelagoque sereno
Iratus brevia, & scopulos accedere gestit,
Ut tantùm ostentet, quantum scirà arte valeret.
Ingeniis certè comes est dementia summis,
Atque horum tenui distat discrimine limes.
Aut hic divitiis, titulisque onoratus honoris,
Sedata
effaetae
cur deneget otia
vitae?
Torqueat &
carnis
ficcam
insatialibus
offam?
Quae quamvis
fundo quasi suspirârit in imo
Exhaurique timet, tranquillae est prodiga vitae.
Totus & hic sudor tanto ut conamine partis
Filius iste,
bipes, animalque implume,
fruatur.
Qui confusa vagae est inter phantasmata mentis
Editus, informis moles, rudis instar Anarchae.
Infidus fidis, & inexorabilis irâ,
Aut geret Imperii, penitúsve excindet habenas.
Hic
triplici
rupit socialia
foedera nodo,
Ut prope divulsis tremeret quassata columnis
Ipsa salus populi; sub quo
cervice paratâ
Longinquo
servire
jugo sterit Incola
Judae.
Hunc famae ambitio cepit terroribus actum
Grata,
nec erubuit patriae pater ipse vocari.
Tam facile est
animis saevit cùm mobile vulgus,
Si
Commune Bonum
specie simuliter inani,
Crimina
fucatâ
privata recondere
larvâ.
Quàm sacra nequitia, & tutò
Catilina
rebellat!
Quà nemo in blandam poterit delinquere plebem.
Crimina quà spectat
nictanti
vulgus
ocello,
Culpa nec ulla patet, quia quo delicta videntur
Alterius,
speculo
sua contemplatur
eodem.
At
meritae famae
nec perfidus invidet hostis,
Quòd
fora
clamosis moderator
litibus orba
Fecerit, & trutinâ justum deciderit aequâ;
Sed vix Patricium
merito dignamur honore.
Justior
Abbethdin Israelitica
nunquam
In fora descendit, neque jura latentia lotis
Purior explicuit manibúsve
intactior auro.
Sponte, &
judiciis
miseros protexit
inemptis,
Accessu facilis,
succinctae ad munera curae.
O! Sibi si Regem meritis obstringere tantùm
Aemulus ambiret sola exercendo Togatae
Munera militiae, vel
si non nobile semen
Ingrata lolio, & sterili premeretur avenâ:
Huic
David
Lyricas pulsaret pollice chordas,
Aeternoque uno caruisset carmine coelum.
Ambitio at properat praeceps ad lubrica, in uno
Nescia stare loco, solida tellure gravatur
Compingi; at gaudet glaciali tramite duci
Achitophel,
justae famae
pigreque beatae
Pertaesus
vitae
jam
fastidivit
onustos
Fructibus auratis
impune
excerpere ramos,
Brachia sed cupido dedit auxiliaria vulgo,
Regia quêis fructus
concusset remitteret
arbor,
Jam detecta suum
vulpecula vafra
reatum,
Qui quodam latuit foetante reconditus ovo,
Praedicat, in stratam Regemque lacessit arenam.
Jus contra Regem Causae popularis
aperto
Defendit
clypeo
&
postico crimine leges
Persequitur.
Posthac speratam
Foederis
ansam
Arripit horrendi, quod tam
praegnante
receptum
Ingenio
plura eduxit, majoraque factis.
Hince
mala
secretis refert
inventa
susurris
Nescio quae, capiti timidae impendentia plebis.
Mox tamen arbitrio
sobolet
tractanda meraco
Imperia, & Regem
Jebusitam
detegit ipsum.
Argumenta quidem
delumbia,
sed bene novit
Quam facilè his capitur populis proclivis ad arma
Sponte sua,
Dominae
namque ad
ludibria Lunae
Judaei
rapti motus imitantur eosdem:
Et post lustra (ferunt ut Scribae) quatuor
ipso
Naturae instinctu
Dominum mutare docentur.
Achitophel
frendebat adhuc Ducis indigus apti;
Absalon
hinc placuit, caput insuperabile bello:
Non quòd
tergeminis
optaret
honoribus
ipsum
Tollere
(Patricius nam raro flagrat
amore
Aut odio)
titulo,
sed quòd cognoverit
orbum
Et justo
mancum,
cogi
dare vela favori
Plebeio, ut regum
velut expirante supremam
Majestate Animam
tandem delata Potestas
Ad plebem, &
populi faeces,
Regalia ferret,
Compositis
mulcere
dolis
hunc tentat, & acre
Effeundens
viris verborum,
talia fatur.
Angustissime Princeps!
In natalia cujus
Regale Australi pollebat in aethere sydus;
Deliciae, patriaeque idem redamantis
Adonis:
Et
Tutelari
trepidam qui protegis
igne,
Obscuraeque die defendis tegmine nubis.
Tu
Moses
alter cujus vibrata marinos
Virga secat fluctus, sanctae confinia terrae
Ostendens, cujus surgentem in quolibet aevo
Lucem
inspirato
cecinit sacra
ore
propheta.
Optantis populi votum, laetabile vatum
Augurium, juvenum demissum coelitus aestrum;
Religiosa senes de Te sua somnia fingunt.
Conscia Gens omnis Te, Te
satetur,
Omen &
aspectu nunquam saliata
precatur.
Sic
non quoesitis
celebrat vestigia
pompis;
Nomen & Infantes
lingua titubante
docentur
Balbutire
Tuum,
blaesaque extollere Voce.
Quid tantâ suspensa morâ communia differs
Gaudia?
jejunae
tanquàm moderamine
gentis
Defraudes genium,
peragisque inglorius annos.
Ecce!
pie stupidus
vento pascêris inani
Virtutis, donec quae jam Tua gloria fulget,
Palleat, & fiat repetito evanida
visu.
Crede mihi, extensâ subitò, stirps Regia, dex
College maturum, aut putrescet in arbore fructus.
Aut serò aut citius coelesti lege jubentur
Fausta repentinae fortunae emergere fata;
Quêis benè si vigili velut
insidiamur
ocello,
Artis ope (Humano nam res humana regenda est
Arbitrio) tanquàm clivo delabitur aequo
Fortuna, &
primo
resumit ab
impite
vires.
Indeprensa tamen celeri velocior aurâ
Evolat, &
rictu
stupidos
inhiante
relinquit
Mirantes
ad terga
fugax, jam jam tibi palmâ
Insigni occurrit, dumque exagitata volatu
Festinat, pandit laxos in fronte capillos.
Si
David,
cujus genitali enascere lumbo,
Sceptra recusâsset fortunâ oblata secundâ,
Exul perpetuus
Gathi
manisisset, &
unctus
Incassum coelesti oleo
diadema petîsset.
Erigat objectam spem fortunata juventus,
Ejus.
Sed defecturae vites exempla Senectae.
Aspicis occiduo dùm mergitur aequore Phaebus
Crescit ut elatis
extensa
vaporibus
umbra.
Non jam qualis erat Jordani in littore quondam
Ad vada cum populus grege confertissimus uno
Applausu reboans stetit, & laetante propinquum
Prae turba
obductum latuit caligine
littus:
Sed velut Angelicus Princeps è culmine lapsus,
Contractâ
praeceps descendit ad Infima
luce,
Quem
fatuum Foedus
populari prodidit irae
(Solus ab exoso reditu successus) adunco
Undi
que
Plebs naso, salibus
que
illudet amaris.
Grex hominum, qui quondam uno quasi fasce ligatus
Difflatus
tenus sparsim
raresset
ab aurâ.
Viribusille Tuis quibus obluctabitur armis,
Hostibus assiduis septus, nudatus amicis?
Ancipitem Pharaonis opem si posceret, illo
Judaeam auxilio magis irritaverit iram.
Auxiliatricem Aegyptus
simularet amicam,
Et non suppetiis Regem, sed fomite bellum
Promotura novo; nec Regi astricta fidelis
Pars populi Ogygiis Jebusitae assisteret armis.
Si tamen assistat, Jessidem in visa potestas
Franget,
auxiliis magis enervabitur auctis:
Dum Gens tota
meâ
Reges feliciter
arte
Detestata suos miseri Jessidis iniquum
Imperium
excutiat.
Nam jam clamantur ad omnes
Relligio, Libertas,
&
Respublica
vicos.
Publicus ipse pugil
dignum Te vindice nodum
Si solvas, titulum & regalem insignibus addas,
Quid non Israel speret? Praeconia quanta
Talis,
&
ob talem
dux Ipse merebere
Causam?
Non laudis sonitu, aut vacuâ celebrabere famâ,
Quae fatuis sola est blandita, ut Tulipa, formâ,
Ast erit imperium
solido tibicine fultum;
Limite nobilior justoque inclusa potestas,
Dilectae unanimi Patriae Tibi tradita voto est,
Quàm longâ titulus serie, &
caligine multâ,
Semesusque situ
Sacrâ direptus ab Arco.
Quid non Laus animis generosis imprimet?
Ambitio quos caeca rapit,
palpantque salaces
Blanditiae. Sitis Imperii vapidissima terrae,
Noxiaque herba soli coelesti semine nata est;
Gloria
dicta
Dei:
Sed cùm Natura laborat
Hâc humana siti, praecordia mollia tantùm,
Coeligenae nimiùm torret scintillula flammae
Pruritu imperii, famoeque libidine
vanae.
Turgidus Angelicâ Juvenis nimis indole, captus
Illecebris Virtutis iter malè sedulus erro
Deseruit.
Bibulas
sic blandus
inebriat aures
Vid.
Juv.
Sat. xi. v. 114.
Applausus, sic
laude satur
vitiatur adeptâ.
Dissentire malo, nec consentire gravatus
(Nam
vel adhuc
tumidae Regali sanguine venae
Fervebant
) sic effatur—
—Quo publica Gentis,
Jam mihi praetextu libertas suggerit arma?
Indubiâ Genitor populum ditione coercet,
Deliciae Humani Generis, fideique columna
Antiquae, comis,
legum observantior ipsâ
Plebe suâ,
& multis coelestia Numina miris
Susceptae partes egêre faventia causae.
Cui mala
curriculo
regni dispendia
toto
Intulit?
Incassum
vel quis Regale tribunal
Adfugit? venia quot mille beaverat hostes,
Justa implicatae quos ultio tradidit irae?
Humanus, facilis, nostrae utilitatis avarè
Aemulus,
& clemens, fundendo in sanguine parcus.
Candida Judaea malè si cervice feratur
Mansuetudo,
Dei est ipsius amabile crimen.
Proderit infido populum quid fallere fuco,
Arbitrióve mero jus inviolabile regni
Commutare sui;
Pharaoh
moderamine tali
Dicat frugifero verba execrantia Nilo,
Servilique jugo paret: At Jessidis amaena
Si nimis
ingratam
moveant moderamina
bilem
Judaeis, illo premit aegra Canicula morbo.
Cur igitur pravos
pressis calcaribus
urgens
Insanire
juvet motis
populariter
armis?
Si sua crudeli vexâsse tyrranide regna,
Aut Jebusitaeis cuperet succurrere turmis,
Non indigna querar; sed nexa ligamine sacro
Compescat motus Natura, manúsque retardet.
Arma quidem populus pro libertate moveret;
Sed quod
jus illi
tribuit,
mihi crimen
habetur.
Festinus
mihi nulla
favos
optanda relinquit,
Auxius at
tardis properat
praecurrere
votis.
Dum spirat
David
quid plura rapaciùs optem?
Omnia, regali excepto diademate, cedit.
Atque hoc—Tunc aegro ducens suspiria corde,
Devotum est
meliùs
caput insignire
merentis.
Nam cùm transactae Genitor post taedia vitae
Serus
ad aethereas
fato
properaverit auras,
In solio stirps
vera suo
dominabitur: expers
Hujus, in
Collaterari.
agnato descendet tramite, sceptrum,
Invidiâ quamvis populari oppressus, at audax
Frater, jura tenens
certo pendentia fato,
Omne quod
incoctum est generoso pectus honesto
Subjecit, vel charus adhuc, quêis vita fidesque
Inculpata manet. Stabili pronuntiat hostis
Virtute infractum, fidum profitentur amici,
Ejus.
Obsequium Princeps, famam testabitur orbis.
Hujus &
indigno
parcet clementia
vulgo,
Namque indulgenti certè est à stemmate natus.
Cur adeò decreta querar nimis improba coeli
Quòd gestanda mea non det regalia dextra?
O! mihi si flatu spirantia fata secundo
Nobiliúsve Genus, mentémve ad sordida pronam
Contulerint, animam mihi tantorumque capacem
Non tam
plebeiâ
misceri
sorde
dedissent.
Sentio, jam
spirant altos proecordia motus
Maternusque movet Patri fastidia venter.
Natali
arctatus
tenui quid origine claudor?
En! Anima irridet mea tali affinia nexu,
Et dictat tacitis
sceptro prognata
susurris,
Magnorum coeleste famem fore nobile crimen.
Sic dum
Tartareo
Juvenis
mangone
vacillans,
Et nisa imbelli Virtus munimine pressa est
Hic nova semicremis
fomes
incendia lignis
Subjicit, & tales emisit pectore voces.
En! Deus aeternus, qui prudentissimus idem,
Optimus haec Genio non est largitus
inani
Eventu
miranda Tuo tot dona: beatum
Quot reddent Vestrum miracla
recondita
regnum?
Ipsa Tua,
inviti licet,
argumenta probârunt,
Te tantum solio dignum, sceptrumque mereri.
Non mihi quod sannas moveat Clementia Patris,
Sed magis exornat
virtus
diadema
virilis.
Vera loquor, lenis
populo
concedit
hianti
Quicquid avet, fortè &
votis non debita justis.
Sed
favor imbellem
testatur
prodigus,
& non
Ingenii, blandae sed verior indolis index.
Quò populus vinêlis spatiari in compita ruptis
Certaret, nisi sub distracto, & deside Rege?
Concedat,
donec
sua concedendo
fatiscat;
Pauperiem
frugi Sanhedrim
sufferre docebit:
Quilibet & siclus,, fixa quem clauserit arca,
Abrasoe
pretio
quasi majestatis
emetur.
Insidiis vexare novis mihi provida cura
Incumbit, rigidive malis immergere belli,
Quod multis opibus constabit, sanguine multo.
Dum velut
exhaustis
infirma
oeraria venis
Deficiant,
jurisque
inopes
regalis
eodem
Relliquioe
pretio
curti centussis
emantur.
Omnibus imponam Jebusitae nomen amicis,
Aut de Niliaco stipendia principe dicam
Venali
data ferre
side;
quos nostra revulsos
Extorsit
rabies cùm tutelaribus
ulnis
Crispata
vulgi suspensum
nare
relinquam.
Imperii, quem jam tremebundus abominor, haeres
Proximus,
invidice nostrâ comtemptior arte
Prostat &
ex ipsâ traxit virtute ruinam;
Me duce presbyteris & publicus audiit hostis.
Pignore
depositi primo
licitabimur
auri
Jus ejus, donec fixâ venale sub hastâ est:
Dum
laris incerti titulum
rescindere lege
Jessidem
duris urgens in rebus egestas
Constringat, det jusque Tibi. Sed nolle putemus;
Et
populi
reges regnant, &
jure
creantur.
Imperium tantum est
fidei commissa
potestas,
Quae domino substracta semel, non amplius aequa est.
Communi sancita bono successio, Gentem
Consensu invitam
dispendia ferre tenebit?
Si populum series querulum mutata levârit,
Unum pro populo dabitur caput.
Judaeis vis nota sua est, moderamina
Saulo
Cum nondum commissa truci, sub Numine Rege
Vivebant,
ipsumque ausi detrudere regno.
Dic mihi quà Pietas? Nati quà nomen? & aequum
Jus patris? & famae manet anxia cura futurae?
Haec
commune bonum
(cui coelum paruit ipsum,
Vox Populi) rapido quasi dissipat omnia vento.
Non mentitus amor generosae fascina menti
Injiciat. Natura suum genus
arte
propagat.
Indulgens Genitor, fata etsi sera perosus,
Diligit in vivâ se prolis imagine tantum.
Emicet aut factis
favor exploratus
amicis,
Desinat aut natum praetextu eludere vano.
Dilexisse Tuum Patrem Deus ipse fatetur,
Veracemque dato
(Ratio solidissima)
regno
Se probat, indicium nec erat fallacis amoris
Pastorique gregem & conferre peculia tanta.
Dilectum
David
Te vellet Adonida credi?
Cur capiti ignoto diademata regia tradat?
Quo vultu, nomenque Pii quo vendicet ore?
Diis placet haeredem
structa
deludere
fraude?
Aemulus
Hic summo cumulat moderamine fratrem hymnos,
Sed sterilis legata soli tibi perdita tradet.
Fortè Lyram Antiquam, veteres quâ
obmurmurat
Quaedam
insulsa
Tuas Hebraea aut
cantica
laudes.
Proximus hinc haeres, princeps austerus & acer,
Jamjam
zelotypo
spectat Te
lumine,
spectat
Ille dolosque Tuos
raro velamîne textos;
Observat quali praecordia decipis escâ
Humana, ingentes quantumvis murmure luctus
Strangulet
interno: Nam siqua injuria quaestu
Non patet introrsum meditans vindicta rependet.
Qualiter hirsutus Lybicis dormitat in arvis,
Aut inhians praedae
simulat
Leo ducere
somnos,
Dum lustra
incaute securus
obambulate hostis
Rugitu presso, contractoque excubat ungue;
Maturo
tandem juvat insanire
furore
Terribilique feris celer exilit ore latebris:
Iratusque licet,
prostrato ignoscere vulgo
Gestit, at indomitae post flagra reciproca caudae
Pinguefacit tremulo se venatore triumphans.
Res Tua consiliis tardis nec lenibus upta est;
Stet tibi seu fato vinci, vel acuminis ense
Laetiferi victâ de gente referre triumphos:
Quem, cum vita Tibi statuatur palma, relaxa
Vagina inclusum; Nam cum Natura vocarit,
Te
primogenita
mandat quasi
lege
tueri.
Nec semel incensam sine defervescere plebem,
Audiat infandum nè
justa Rebellio
crimen.
Ipse datam capias, quaecunque extenditur, ansam,
At tituli aethereâ Genitor dum vescitur aura
Jus inquire Tui, nullaque ut imagine sumi
Arma putent, capta in tutelam Principis ede,
Cui secreti hostes, ficti insidiantur amici.
Et Jessidaeae quis tum penetralia mentis
Rimari poterit? Nimiâ formidine forsan
Exuat ingenium suspecti affabile damni.
Quid? quamvis natum propter sponsale jugalis
Connubii votum,
serâque
solubile
lege,
Depereat; toto metuit sed pectore fratrem.
Haec ita?
speratae vi se
submittere flagrat,
Utque salax mulier, tantum
ut videatur
iniquo
Constringi fato, & rapido torrente referri.
Nec metuas,
mistâ
si cum
subriserit irâ,
Optatum
gratâ
diadema auferre
rapinâ.
Sed patrocinium capto sine Principe causae
Enerve
est, captum Regem nam jura sequuntur.
Dixerat arecta magis auscultaverat aure
Absalon
his, vitae (tantum ambitione remotâ)
Integer, immani nunquam feritate notatus,
Nec faustus tumuit
vesicâ
inflatus
inani.
Quàm felix esset si provida fata dedissent,
Aut non tam dignis, aut nobilioribus ortum
Stemmatibus! solium juste Tua Regia virtus
Assereret; Gens quaeque Tuo, nisi
Patria,
felix
Viverit influxu: tamen incantamina summi
Cum pauci Imperii
rigida cervice
recusent
Non agimus sontem, sed lamentamur ineptum.
Spes intensa fuit
rivalia
viribus
arma
Frangendi oppositis, dubium populique favorem
Captandi blandis
(merces vilissima!)
verbis.
Sic dum zelotypâ caluit plebecula flamma,
Hic conjuratum
populari
efferre
boatu
Molitur
Foedus,
quem providus agmine juncto
Incitat
Achitophel,
studiis discordibus actâ
Stipatus turbâ, quam conglutinavit
in omne
Concordem facinus
subtili callidus arte.
Optima Pars regni, numerosaque principe multo
Censuit
imperio nimio
regnare Monarcham.
Rerum ignara cohors, Patriam quae pectore caeco
Deperiit, seducta malâ, non impia, fraude.
Impulsa Haec
Proprio,
velut elatere premente
Fune nimis tenso contorserat omnia (tantus
Error erat)
Regni
crepuit dum
machina
laxi.
Civiles alii lucro movere tumultus,
Tam vili Officium nè sit venale tributo.
Judaeis exposta foris Regalia vendunt,
Communis
que
boni
proprium
sub imagine
quaerunt.
Credebant alii grave pondus, inutile, Reges,
Qui quanti steterant, nullo cum foenore solvunt.
Hi studuêre
merâ
Jessidem expellere
sorde,
Ut
frugi,
& parcè fierent impendia regni.
His latus adjunxit coetus clamosus, & omnes
Qui
meritâ
sperant tolli ad fastidia
linguâ.
Proxima turba quidem
gemino
discrimine terret,
Nec tantum Jessidem, at Regem infestius odit.
Gens Solymaea,
pios
olim benè docta
tumultus
Moliri, motis in seditionibus audax:
Victoris gladio perculsa & territa, Regi
Legitimoque minax, restauratoque superba.
Viderat invisum Pagani
Foederis
ortum,
Indignata suas Jebusitae cedere palmas.
Duxerat hanc Levita furens, divulsus ab Arca,
(Quam, dum Judicibus pareret Juda, tenebat,)
Mugitus
iterare
novos
per compita coepit,
Et
clamore pio
Regem sibi poscere Numen.
Sub quo cum sacro
Inspirato.
Sanhedrin antistite Gentem
Expilent,
ipsoque probent afflamine justum.
Nam jus ad sceptrum dederit si Gratia, regnum
Quis melior Princeps Aaronis prole meretur?
Dux gregis Haec fuerat, quamvis & naris obesae,
Imperium
sed latratu majore lacessit.
Post hanc Sanctorum sequitur numerosa propago,
Obstipo capite, & defigens lumina terrae,
A cunis ipsis
divino afflata furore.
Huic rerum forma, & compostus displicet ordo:
Chaos
antiquum placet,
indigestaque moles
Imperii.
Emicuit sed grex numerosior horum
Qui blaterant multa, & meditantur paucula, solo
Instinctu, genibus flexis, & poplite curvo
Majorum ignari numen,
Propriumque
colebant.
Qui caeco ejusdem Jebusitam munere fati
Daemonaque oderunt,
licèt invitique
saluti
Devoti aeternae coeli
natalibus ipsis,
Non possunt quia vera fide non vana fateri.
Machina
quanta
virum
quis
que
horum! at turba relicta
Majori numero seu caesa repullulat Hydra.
Imperii quidam Proceres, quos emicat inter
Dux primus
Zimri, vento inconstantior ipso,
Et vernis levior foliis,
videatur ut esse
Non homo,
at humani generis
compendia
solus.
Dogmatis usque tenax,
ductusque errore perenni,
Subsultim quasi quaeque, diu sed nulla
professus;
Nam dum praescriptum
Nova luna
recurreret orbem,
Idem & Patricius, Citharaedus, Scurra, Chymista.
Nunc lenae, rythmi, commercia laeta bibonum
Picturaeve placent, praeter phantasmata mille
In
meditabundâ
secùs
expirantia mente.
O felix demens! dederat cui quaelibet hora
Aut nova quae cuperes, quibus aut fruerêre cupitis.
Laudibus aut probris
vulgari
calluit
usu
Afficere, & nimiùm (sapere ut videatur) utrisque
Excessu urbanus tanto, tanto efferus, omnis
Ut Deus, aut Daemon, cum fratre audiret
Nota satis fabula est,
viz.
Aut Deus, aut meus
Erasmus.
Erasmo.
Exhaurire
levi
patrimonia noverat
arte,
Omne data,
praeter meritum,
mercede rependens.
Fortunis
ipsi
miserè
emunxere choraebi,
Utque joco frueretur inops patrimonia solvit.
Explosit sese Regali subdolus Aulâ,
Dividit hinc
facilem studia in contraria plebem,
At nequiit praeferre facem; Namque
Absalon
(
illo
Invito
) & juncta curarum mole premuntur
Achitophel: animo
tantùm sic
improbus
Ille,
Suppetiis nudus, non
seditiosa malorum
Deseruit conventa, sed est desertus ab illis.
Sed Titulos Procerum,
vel honorem carminis
infra
Nominaque, ambages nimis est prolixa referre.
Quos juvat ingenium vivax, Respublica, Bellum,
Optima pars; blandi sed caetera turba mariti
Censentur,
Satrapaeque meri.
Crassae ergo
Minervae
Juv. Sat.
1
v.
40.
Nomine, sis
Balaam,
cum magno elate deunce,
Unciolaeque Tuae cum pondere frigide
Caleb,
Intracti Satyra; & memori de pectore
Nadab
Excidat aeternum, licèt ad suggesta remugit,
Pascalique olim nova juscula coxerat agno.
Abscondet quaedam secreta nomina larva
Foedus amicitiae, meritorum fama suorum
His munimen erit,
contemptus
proteget illos.
Non locus hic
vili vulgo,
cui gratia coeli
Nulla datur, tribuunt cui nulla insignia Reges.
Nec
Jonae,
cujus
palearia
pendula
colli
Turgescunt,
tortâ
potuit qui
lege
rebelles,
Civilisque faces motus,
defendere jure.
Hunc tamen insequitur
presso pede
nequior alter,
Quem Deus unxislet diris feralibus ausus
Sectari
Shimei,
cujus matura juventus
Praedixit superis zelotem, & regibus hostem.
Ingentis
caute
sumptus peccata perosus,
Nec
nisi pro modico
violabat Sabbata
quaestu.
Non mordax quenquam
Stygiis
incessere diris
Traditur, imperio nisi quòd fortasse reclamet.
Sic sibi thesauros
notis satis artibus inter
Judaeos, precibus multis & fraude,
recondit.
Mox
odium
in dominum digna quo dote rependat
Urbs obstricta
pium,
dederat cum fasce secures.
Justitiae tenuit vibrata insignia dextra,
Aurea pendebant sudante monilia collo.
Dum tulit hic fraenos,
impune & vindice nullo
Oppetitur Princeps, tota è
Beliale
propago
Lascivit, festosque dies genialiter egit.
Nam
Shimei,
quamvis rerum non prodigus, aequo
Vicini scelus & sese dilexit amore.
Nam conspirassent uno si foedere pauci
Contra
Judaeum probra effutire
Monarcham
Perpetuus
medio
Shimei
consederat horum
Dictator
petulans, & si maledicta caterva
Evomat in Regem, ne displicuisse tacendo
Credatur missis
palpat commercia
diris.
Insimulare reos quis seditionis amicos
Ejus.
Auderet?
Censura fori duodena
paratur
Ex tot
Judaeis,
animoque & dispare cultu,
Quae
fratres
impunè
pios
à verbere legis
Eximet humanae. Poenam nam publica Jura
In fidos Regi statuunt, Solioque tuentur
Infestos. At si majora negotia Regni
Forte vacâsse darent (quia perdita luditur hora,
Nec sine peccato,
qua nulla negotia tractat)
Tentabat populum scriptis impellere chartis,
Ut credat vanos Reges, & inutile pondus
Affore Mechanicae (tantum prospexerat!) arti.
Scriptorumque gravis
stylus
ut
limatior
esset
Fumantes calices
Rechabitâ
impensiùs odit.
Intemerata cadis cellaria;
spreverat urbis
Praepinguem luxum sua mensa duumque-viralis,
Segnitie longa coquus obliviscitur artis,
Inque caput domini
migravit flamma
culinae.
Frugalem hanc curam monstrato
Zoilus
ungue
Rideat, at certe populus
Judaeus
egebat.
Oppida suppositis nam si semel ignibus ardent
His merito fasces tradunt, qui cautius iram
Coelestem succenso
iterum
non igne lacessent.
Pabula
jejunis sat
spiritualia
servis
Praebuit, at carnis parcus, quia
Juda
rebellis
Hac erat, & pluris pendet
Mosaica
Jura
Monte quod in sacro lux quadragesima vidit
Jejunum. Sed cuncta loqui, quae digna raceri,
Foederis
infidi testem
lassaret
anhelum.
At tenebris Te nulla tegent oblivia,
Corah
Effer Te solido monumentum
erectius oere
Altius elato parilis Serpente metalli,
Dum
Tutelaris
Gentes tua protegat
umbra.
Quid si nascatur vili? Terrena Cometae
Materia est tantâ fulgentis in aethere luce.
Prodigiosa pari proles textoria famâ
Gesta patret, quam si
Thusco de stemmate
natus.
Testantum Hi
facile Princeps
excusserat uno
Hoc facto veteres vili de sanguine faeces.
Quis dubitat Testes proavis clarescere, quorum
Martyrio
Stephanum
pia juramenta bearunt?
Noster erat
Levita,
utque inscia credidit aetas,
Tota tribus
divinus
erat
famulatus
Olympi.
Huic oculi latuêre cavi, vox rauca sonansque,
Indica
irati nunquam,
aut manifesta
superbi.
Ingenium
pendens mentum
subtile probavit;
Ore tenus rubuit sacro, quasi
Mosis
adinstar
Fulgeret facies radiis circundata lucis.
Abdita
mirando
prospexit
acumine
fata,
Humanamque fidem superantia
Foedera
novit:
Quae malè censeret petulans mendacia livor,
Nam mens singendis humana est talibus impar.
Vera refert quaedam
cauto
ventura
libello,
Ast ubi dicipitur Testis, dat verba Propheta.
Ante oculos quaedam, totidem quasi phasmata ludum,
Spiritus hunc rapuit, quo nescio, turbinis instar,
Rabbinique gradu, intutuloque ornavit honesto,
Quem non ulla tamen longinqua Academia novit.
Judicium ast animo memori praestabat acutum
Tam bene quod Testis verba indigesta resarcit:
Concinne
Sêcli genio
quadraverat
ipsi
Tunc
Jebusitaei
sceleris sub mole gementis.
Suspiciat temerè coelesti voce citatum,
Atque antiquatum putet ostentare libellum.
Qui mala
Judaeis
vovet, ast injuria tanta
Decreta est poenis, & vindice lege rependi:
Nam tollit vitam, qui subdolus involat artem.
Ipse ego si simili,
Corae
vice testis, honore
Dignaret, siquis tam durae frontis inurat
Stigmate me tanto,
quamvis semel immemor essem,
Obtusam exacuam mentem,
chartâque recenti
Illo
rescribam sceleratum
appendice Foedus.
In Coelum zelus Regem perstringere sannis
Impulit, & justae tenebras offundere famae.
At zelo, tanquam genuino jure, malignis
Indulta est verbis, & mira licentia factis.
Et tali
Corah
caesum mandaret
Agagum,
Increpuit quali
Saulum
sermone
Samuel.
Propheta.
Vi junctâ quicunque fidem fovêre labantem
Testis (& hi quales precibus quaeruntur, & aere)
Cum
Cora
unanimes in classe locantur eadem;
Nam resonant omnes communi nomine
Testis.
Cinctus Amicorum
variâ
miser inde
farina
Absalon,
elusus Regalem deserit Aulam;
Spe
tumidâ
praegnans,
vano stimulatus honore,
Atque inflammatus
visu propiore
Coronae.
Laetitiâ tacitâ
sese in spectacula praebet,
Undique submissè
populari poplite
flexus,
Composito gestu, vultu, & sermone facetus.
Sic bene natura instructus,
limatus & arte
Labitur ignoto
per pectoris intima
motu.
Tum blando aspectu comis,
gemituque loquaci
Et lachry mas suadente prius, quam verba profatur;
Pauca refert, grato sed demulcentia sensu,
Dulcius Hyblaeo & levius stillantia melle.
Conqueror, Indigenae Patrii, deperdita fata,
Praevertendi impar. En! hic miserabilis Exul
Crudeli insidiis ego praeda tyrannide Legum
Exponor vestrâ Causâ, tamen O
mihi soli
Contigerit periisse! mihi si sola fuisset
Jactura Imperii, natusque nec amplius essem!
Sed spolia, &
fractâ de libertate
triumphos
Quisque refert vestrâ,
Tyrus
ac
Aegyptia
tellus
Praecidunt artis quaestus, Jebusitaque
sacros
Invadit ritus. Genitor (cui dignor honorem
Dum loquor) ignavâ capitur torpedine famae
Securus, minimique lucro corrumpitur auri,
Et
Bathshebaeis
senuit mollitus in ulnis.
Evehit ad fasces hostes, confundit amicos
Ille suos,
secum
commissis
dimicat
armis.
Cedit,
jusque meum
longaeva in secula cedat,
Sed proprium, ac Vestrum sumpto quid proderet auro?
Hic tantum, Hic Genti poterit pertundere venas
Solus,
& ultrices impunè
elabitur
iras.
Ergo meas lachrymas (madidosque abstersit ocellos)
Excipite, his tantum
nunc
auxiliaribus armis
Instruor,
haec
nullus carpet Parasiticus Aulae
Delator, cum Jura sinant asperrima natum
His uti in Patrem: votisque ardentius opto,
Ut sub venturi moderamine Successoris
Non alius justè miser
Isralita
quaeratur.
Raro lite
cadunt Facundia, Forma, Juventus,
Sed
Commune Bonum
nullo non praevalet aevo.
Nec Populus moesto misereri desinet ore
Publica miscentis proprio infortunia fato.
Plebs (quae continuâ regnare tyrannide Reges
Cogitat) elatis Juvenilem carmine palmis
Messiam celebrat, qui pompâ instructus equestri
Propositum jam pergit iter stipante caterva;
Solis ad occasum
radios disfundit
ab ortu,
Cumque illo
lustrat Promissam lumine Terram.
Illi Fama
loquax,
quasi Phosphorus, alitè penna
Praecurrit, laetisque sonis tremit aether ovantûm
Eminus, Hospitio secum tulit Ille Penates
Quo fruitur, sacrisque dicat quâcunque moratur
Aede diu; at lautae propter convivia mensae
Dives in occiduis, famaeque per oppida notae,
Partibus,
Issacharus
digno celebratur honore.
Haec oculos populi quae
mobilis
oblinit
Aula
Praetulit & pompam, mentitâ abscondita larvâ est.
Struxerat
Achitophel
tacitos ut
ubique
recessus
Secretasque dolo poterat novisse latebras
Pectoris humani: verum
haec
distinxit amicum
Tessera,
ut expensae vires in bella paterent.
Omnia nam pulchro latuerunt abdita fuco
Dum speciosus amor, Regique obtenditur ardens
Obsequium. Miseris iterata voce
Levamen
Aerumnis
petitur
regni,
& solennia sacra
Relligionis agi
nusquam cum pace
quaeruntur;
(His semper capimur, semper mulcemur & escis)
Et Regem dubio positum in discrimine vitae
A Fratre, & Sponsâ. Sic Conjuratio
pompâ
Fingitur
ingenti,
&
bellum larvale
videtur
Pax ipsa.
O vecors, nec damnis cautior ullis
Israel! escâ
deludere
semper eâdem?
An quiquam vegetae steterant dum corpore vires
Vexatum miserise finxit
imagine
morbi,
Contemnens placidae, quae jam trahit, otia vitae?
Anxius ardebat mala praesagire futura?
Regibus Haeredes, decreta imponere coelo?
Quid? Poterit populus sua, natorumque suorum,
Imperia invitis nativa remittere natis?
Cuilibet expositi domino, rabidoque Neroni
Effraenis cui stat sua pro ratione voluntas,
Tunc essent,
jurisque bases
condantur inanes
Principibus
si impune datur rescindere
leges.
At si quid justum est statuatur
judice plebe
Et regum fidei tantum commissa tenentur
Imperia, hoc pactum revocans
concredita jura
Rex iniit primus, vel in omne abrumpitur aevum.
Si qui sceptra darent propriis obstringere factis
Non poterant natos, seros quo jure Nepotes
Et Genus Humanum
peccando
obstrinxit Adamus?
Et cur Justitiâ Coeli damnemur ad Orcum
Qui lapsum
voto non sussragante
Paternam
Laudamus? domiti juga tum servilia Reges
Supposito ferrent collo,
populique favore
Emendicato
sibi tradita regna capessant.
Adde quod ignarâ posita est in plebe potestas
Quâ
Proprium
pendat. Nam quis privata tueri
Jura potest, victâ de Majestate triumphet
Si vis effraenis, solioque exturbet avito?
Omnia
nec dubio
populi suffragio
vero
Semper egent, multi paucis sed
crassius
errent.
Clamosis vulgi Princeps ululatibus insons
Audiat Oppressor, Pestis scelerata, Tyrannus.
Quae fixa instabili vulgo mensura ruenti
Continuo fluxu, & celeri magis impete metae
Quo propior? Nec plebs vertigine sola laboret
Lunari hâc, Sanhedrim sed corripiatur eâdem;
Cum seclo possit simul insanire rebelli,
Mentiteque
reos
delicti
excindere Reges.
At si det quodcunque libet, cuicunque placebit,
Non tantum Reges (simulachra expressa Deorum?)
Sed quasi subductis ruet ipsum imbelle columnis
Imperium, regnumque vetus
Natura
relapsum
Restituet,
quo cuncta licent & omnia jus est.
Fingere tamen Reges
populo omnipotente
creatos,
Quis benè constructo solium fundamine fixum
Evertat? series nam qualiscunque malorum
Prima fuit, nullum est poenae lenimen asello
Vid. Fabulam de
Asino & Fullone.
Tot dominis servire novis: Respublica tantùm
Erratis aliis agitatur, at improba fata
Laethali,
cum
regna novant,
ea
verbere
caedunt.
Fabrica si nutet vetus impendente ruinâ,
Maenia qui fulcit, rimasque obducit hiantes,
Officium praestat; tamen hic ponenda labori
Meta suo, & siquis fixi pomaeria finis
Transiliat praescripta vagus, det sanguine poenas,
Seu temeris manibus Sacram contingeret
Arcam.
Ut Remus.
Qui studet injustis,
& in improba dirigit arcum,
Fundamenta novis modulis aptare vetusta
Nititur, humanas Sacrasque refringere leges
Totiusque
gravi
partes sarcire ruinâ.
Maxima pars hominum
nimiâ sic sedula curâ
Elicuit morbum morbo graviore minorem.
Jam quibus auxiliis poterit succurrere
David?
Quàm Regi
fatale nimis
candore benigno
Indulgere suis! Paucos numeravit amicos
Et, furor huc crevit, talem quicunque
vel ausus
Dicere se sprevit populus
cane pejus, & angue.
Ast aliquos etiam
vel secula pessima
norant
Quos repetam, &
tantum repeto dum nomina, laudo.
Hoc prior exiguum
Barzillai
duxerat agmen,
Barzillai,
clarusque annis, &
honore senilis.
Ultra Jordanum vastis regionibus olim
Fregerat oppositis Hic arma rebellia turmis.
In regni columen, tunc tristia fata luentis,
Infausti domini
nimis infoelicitur
audax.
Maestus in exilio Sacro cum Principe consors
Vivebat, miserique tulit dispendia fati
Expulso pro Rege, comes redeuntis & idem.
Huic Aula,
at vafrâ
placuit
non Aulicus arte,
Dives opum, ast
animi thesauris ditior
amplis.
Qui bene praecautâ sibi legerat optima curâ,
Militiaeque sagum, & scribentes gesta Camaenas.
Jactabat multa foecunda cubilia prole,
Nominis at plusquam
jam decurtata
Paterni.
Vox resonat. Primum lecti sponsalis amaenum
Pignus Ego luctu (mandant ita fata) perenni
Deploro, semperque colam, quod flore juventae
Invisis fatis, &
coeli crimine
raptum est.
Nec prius abscessit summam posuisset honori
Quam metam, natusque patri, regique fidelis
Subditus, obsequii signis eluxerat arcti:
Curriculum vitae celer, at breve temporis egit.
Circule proh! parve, & spatio angustare minuto,
Sed vis divinae, & summe perfecta figura.
Per mare, per terras, omnes Tua fama vagata est
Non aequanda,
Tuum, bellum fuit; Arma, voluptas;
Vis Tua suffulxit Tyrios infusa labantes,
Te
sensit
Pharaoh
properam velut
obice
sisti
Fortunam tumidus, laus O! antiqua, manusque
Invicta! indemnis cui nunquam obvenerat hostis.
Sed tamen
Israel
non tanto nomine dignus:
Martial.
Immodicis brevis est aetas, & rara senectus.
Decrevisse Dei quoddam fatale videntur,
Fortunam mentique parem
donare
nec ausi.
Nunc Anima,
excussâ terrenâ mole,
relata est
Ad superos, nubes
stellataque regna
reliquit.
Affines illinc legiones mille reducas
Quae
Tutelari
poterunt succurrere Regis
Usque Tui
genio, junctoque umbone tueri.
Lassa fatigatas hic Musa sed exue pennas;
Coeli aeterna domus nullis attingitur alis.
I, dic
Barzillai
Tibi defecisse loquelam,
Quod priùs in tenues foret exhalanda vapores
Dic Animaeque Tuae. Tamen expiraverat unà,
Atque haec defuncti tumulo scribenda reliquit
Carmina Patroni. Sed jam descende supernis
E coelis praeceps, licèt
accensâque lucernâ
Diogenes.
Terris quaere parem, si par tamen emicat usquam.
Hunc
sequitur, pressoque legit vestigia passu,
Antistes
Zadoc,
qui dedignatus honores
Ambiit immeritum submissâ mente favorem
Davidis.
Huic comes est
Sagan Solymaeus
opimo
Hospitio, & longo proavorum stemmate clarus
Tellure occiduâ, cujus divinus ab ore
Sensus &
appositis
manat facundia
dictis.
Hoc monstrante viam Gens tota prophetica paret
Regibus,
ingenuas discitque fideliter artes.
Nam stant munificis Collegia fulta Monarchis,
Et bellum Musis prius indixere rebelles,
Quàm Regi.
Legum
sunt proxima turba
columnae,
Quae dirimit lites, causasque disertiùs orat.
Hanc sequitur Procerum Regi devincta fideli
Nexu turma, sagax Adriel, Musisque benignus,
Ipse etiam vates
—Qui, cùm fremuisset iniquis
Consiliis Sanhedrim, Regi fidissimus haesit,
Nec tamen imperio servit;
cui
David
amicus
Contulit effraeni direpra insignia nato.
Vividus ingenio
Jotham,
&
limante Minervâ
Acrior,
imbutus Naturâ, atque arte politâ
Suadendi instructus, qui deterioribus actus
Paulisper studiis
Partium.
tandem meliora sequutus.
Nec tantum sequitur, posito sed pondere lancem
Depressit dubiam, & trutinam libravit iniquam.
Rebus in angustis Regi addictissimus
Hushai,
Pertulit adversas immotâ mente procellas
Publica quas rabidi excivit dementia vulgi.
Hic Jessidaeae prudens elementa juventae
Erudiit, Pactis longinqua per aequora notis,
Nativoque suo non experientia vero
Defuit. Hic
solium parcâ
ditavit egenum
Sedulitate, manu
at
sua
praebuit omnia
largâ.
Cum
turget
pleno cumulata
pecunia
fisco
Res tractare leve est, sed deficiente crumenâ
Artis opus. Depressa nimis, nimiúmve superbit,
Vendere Majestas, cum Plebs emisse, coacta est.
Lassa lyram digito saliente repercute Musa
In laudes
Amielis
ovans; quo carmine dignus
Non
Amiel?
veterum qui nobilitate parentum
Illustris,
meritisque suis illustrior
extat,
Nobilis
absque novo titulo,
vel nomine clarus.
Insanos aequâ Sanhedrin compressit habena
Dux gregis Ille diu, &
ratione
coercuit
aestus.
Tam benè defendit Regalia nemo, fideli
Nec pro Gente loqui potuit
formatior ullus.
Utque tribus uno Solymaeas turba maniplo
Haec retulit, sic ille repraesentaverat Ipsam.
Jam tamen Aurigae currus temerarius urgent,
Quorum testatur laxis nimis effera fraenis
Vis artem veteris.
Aurigae.
Quippe hi,
Phaethontis
adinstar,
Invertunt annum,
tritoque
è
calle
vagantur;
Anxia dum placidus Sanhedrim deliria ridet,
Et
securus agit
tranquillae
Sabbata
vitae.
Obtinuit primas Haec parva, at turma fidelis
Heroüm, impavidum steterat laethalis Hiatus
Illa Satellitium, strictasque retuderat hastas,
Et rabiem unitam fuit ausa lacessere Gentis.
Undique balistas vidit gemebunda paratas,
Imperium Regale solo quae impulsibus aeqent.
Seditione potens
ficto ut terrore caterva
In Sanhedrim vero Regem
deglubere
jure
Enisa est, regni Successor ut exul ab Aulâ,
Et
conductitio
mala conjuratio
teste
Creverat, aspexit; Pietas ut jusserat ipsa
Ostenditque suo laethalia vulnera Regi.
Nunquam concessos vulgo placuisse fovores
Indicat, at stabilem
foverunt lenia morbum.
Absalon
interea, Sceptri quem prona libido
Concitat,
elato
populum seducere
palpo
Calluit;
Achitophel
odio stimulatus iniquo
Sub conjurati
speciosa
Foederis
umbra
Communi impetiit Sacra & Civilia fato.
Concilii magna est, Plebis vecordia major,
Et
Shimei
diras
Solymam eructare
docebat.
Quem pressit tantâ cumulata injuria mole
Eventus rerum meditanti corde volutat.
Cum tandem lassata foret patientia,
David
Erexit solio sese divinus avito,
Et
coeli afflatu
profert haec dicta, loquente
Turma Creatorem in domino reverentior audit.
Hactenus indociles Ego mansuetudine Gentes
Nativâ rexi, simulatâ concitus irâ
Aspexi, & tardo pede damna illata rependi.
Tam facilè ingrato peccata remitteret aevo;
Mulcebat tanto Genitor lenimine Regem.
At jam
tam vili
prostat Clementia nostra,
Jus audent
ipsi
veniae
perquirere sontes.
Unum pro multis clamant ab origine natum;
Natus at imperio est, haec
que
ultima meta Monarchae.
Appellant Timidum, rarò quia sanguine poenas
Exigo, tot Genium quantumvis probro virilem
Affligunt levius, plagisque minoribus urgent.
At cum nativo deducant tramite, lenem
Me non invito, Geniove obstante,
docebo.
Subditus
elatâ
quae fert opprobria
cristâ
Non Regem, at
dignâ
lassarent
mole Camelum.
Si meus obtento juvenilis Jure Columnam
Concuteret
Sampson,
pereat
consorte ruinâ.
Ast O poeniteat scelerum, moresque retractet!
Quàm mala condonant faciles faciles ingrata parentes!
Quàm paucis lachrymis veniam mereatur
Adonis
Ille meus,
cujus partes Natura tuetur!
O Juvenis miserande! meâ provecte paternâ
Fabrica quanta levis tulit ad fastigia curâ
Si natum Imperio voluissent fata, sereno
Donâsset terrenam Animam magis igne
Prometheus.
Ingenti
capitur Patriotae
nomine,
qui jam
Nil nisi conscriptâ justum qui lege Monarcham
Opprimeret, solióque suo depelleret, audit.
Grandiloquus vani populi Thraso,
machina cauti
Patricii,
nunquam crassi Patriota cerebri
Non fuit. Unde tamen, quod Relligione tuente,
Et patrocinio Legum majore, Paternam
Absalon
explodat Causam? Direpta magistro
Cum nondum antiquo fuerant insignia, nunquam
Coelestis tantâ
cumulari
dote favoris
Traditur. O Superi, quali Patriota colore
Pingitur,
indomitas cum Plebs ardescit in iras?
Quem populus
trepidante
colit
pietate,
rebellis
Ille mihi.
Obtrusus
tot suffragantibus
haeres
Ascendet solium? Sanhedrim
sua munera
discat
Largiri. Saltem diviso Jure coercet
Imperium Princeps, vincet neque calculus ullus
Si
non
communem
meus
immittatur in urnam.
Me Princeps votis non subscribente legetur?
Jus tacitum confert praesentem expellere Regem.
Electum impresso sed confirmare sigillo
Supplicat, at
Jacob
(cutis est cui laevis)
Esavi
Non manus hirsutis bene convenit hispida villis.
Vota pii coelo pro nostra aeterna salute
Subjecti fundunt, sitque ut discriminis expers
Imperio nudant. A seditione latente,
Consutisque dolis,
Superi defendite salvum:
Sed mihi
Petitioners.
Mendicam
praesertim avertite
turbam;
Non uterus sterilis, tumulúsve rapacius ambit,
Largiri nequit
ipse Deus
sibi quanta rogabit.
Quid superest? vigili Juris Regalis ocello
Quàm
quasi relliquias, minima & fragmenta,
caverem,
Lex erit Imperii directrix regula nostri,
Coget & infractos eadem parere Rebelles.
Non jam continuo
legum tibicine nisum
Vota,
quibus totum minus unâ parte probatur,
Imperium, quacun
que
volunt,
dominantia
flectent.
Non accusantum fidos
garritus
amicos
Damnabit, noto nec plebs sine crimine poenas
Infliget. Famulos namque in discrimine nullâ
Dii Regesque suos non sedulitate tuentur.
O si praescripto Salvandi limite tantùm
Clauderer? Heu! coelo similis, cur
mente coactâ
Invito
poenas
genioque
reposcere dignas
Impellor? Nudo tandem mucrone ferire
Justitiae cogor? Fatum proh Legis iniquum!
Quam malè perpendunt animo clemente timorem!
Praemoneo, non
laesa
fremit
patientia saevit.
Exposcunt Legem? quaesitâ Lege fruantur.
His
quasi monstrato
placuit non
Gratia tergo,
Sed sacram inspiciunt audaci lumine frontem,
Atque
ipso intuitu pereunt. Nec justior ulla
Lex est, quàm propriâ artifices necis arte perire.
In se jurabunt per conscia sydera Testes,
Dum, velut erosis depasta est vipera matris
Visceribus, parili sic Conjuratio fato
Haec materna ruat, plenosque voraciter haustus
Sanguinis
epotent,
primoevoe alimenta juventoe.
Belzebub
cum fratre suo
Beliale.
fera bella movebit,
Vindictâ
hostili
sic
castigabitur hostis.
Nec desperatur certus successus, in ipso
Effera Plebs aditu namque irruit
impete toto.
Deinde frui campo da liberiore, recede,
Elude intentas
obliquo corpore
plagas.
Sed preme pectoribus cum respirarit anhelis,
Et pete lassatas
geminato robore
vires.
Semper enim injustae supereminet aequa Potestas,
Pulsa diu &
fixâ tandem statione
quiescet.
Dixerat; Omnipotens consenserat
indice natu,
Propitioque
gravem
tonitru
tremefecit Olympum.
Fausta novâ serie posthac effluxerat aetas,
Festinis laeti fugerunt passibus anni.
Jessides
iterum solio consedit avito,
Et promptae agnôrant dominum sine murmure gentes.
Extracted from the Registry of the Prerogative Court of
Canterbury.
IN the Name of God. Amen.
I
Francis Atterbury,
some time Bishop of
Rochester
in
England,
and now residing at
Paris,
being of Health in Body, and of sound and disposing Mind and Memory, but considering the Certainty of Death, and the Uncertainty of the Time when, do make and publish this my Last Will and Testament, in Manner following,
Imprimis,
I recommend my Soul to Almighty God, hoping for Salvation through the alone Merits and Mediation of
JESUS CHRIST,
in a firm Belief of whose Religion, as professed in the
Church
of
England,
and in strict Communion with that Church, I resolve, by God's Grace, to live and die.
And as to such Personal Estate as I shall die possessed of, or any ways interested in, I give and devise the same unto my only Daughter
Mary Morice,
Wife of
William Morice,
Esq
And I also give unto her the said
Mary Morice,
her Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, all my Goods, Chattles, Plate, Ready Money, Houshold Stuff, and Utensils of Houshold, and all other my Personal Estate whatsoever and wheresoever, To have and to hold to her, her Executors, Administrators, and Assigns, for ever: And I do hereby revoke, annul, and make void all former and other Wills by me made, and do declare this to be my last. And I do constitute and appoint my Son
William Morice,
and my said Daughter
Mary,
his Wife, Executors of this my Will.
In Witness
whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and Seal, this Thirty-first Day of
December,
One thousand Seven hundred and Twenty-five.
FRANCIS ATTERBURY,
Episcopus Roffensis.
Signed, Sealed, Published, and Declared by the said Testator, as and for his last Will and Testament, in the Presence of us, who at his Request, and in his Presence, and in the Presence of each other, have subscribed our Names as Witnesses,
Red. Everard.
F. Panton.
K. Panton.
Wm. Walker.
Joane. Jamsson.
Probatum fuit hujusmodi Testamentum, apud London' decimo die mensis Maii, Anno Domini Millesimo Septingentesimo Tricesimo Secundo, coram venerabili viro
Gulielmo Strahan,
Legum Doctore, Surrogato, & Juramento
Gulielmi Morice,
Arm' Executoris Superstitis in dicto Testamento Nominat' cui, &c. de bene, &c. Jurat'
Deputy Registers,
W. Legard,
P. St. Eloy,
H. Stevens,
SWAFHAM, in Norfolk,
June 25, 1735.
Mr. Curll,
I HERE transmit for your Second Volume of
Literary Correspondence,
&c. the Religious Remains of
Peter le Neve
Esq
and am,
Your Humble Servant, PHILALETHES.
The Papers which came with this Letter, were very defective, but I have obtain'd a perfect Copy of my very Worthy Friend
John Weld,
Esq
of
Axe-Yard, Westminster.
EPITAPHIUM.
Siste gradum Lector et perlege
Hic jacet quem credas haud bene meruisse
De Trinitate
Quia noluit unicum Deum Omniscientem / Omnipotentem &c.
In Tres dividi Personas.
De Ecclesia Anglicana
Quia omnes credebat Religiones Dei permissione
Origines habuisse.
De Rege Gulielmo
Quia nihil sibi utrum ipse vel Jacobus Gubernator.
De Patria
Quia nunquam intelligebat Dulce est pro Patria Mori.
De superiori Domo Parliamenti
Quia Causae in Eà non secundum Justitiam
Sed interesse Partium terminatae.
De Inferiori Domo
Quia Feodas omnium aliarum Curiarum examinari
Curaverunt, non tamen extorsiones Prolocutoris
Domus, Clerici, Servientis ad Arma, et aliorum
Servor' suorum.
De Curijs Municipalibus
Quia Eae ex Vociferationibus Causidicorum
Et nequitijs Attornatorum compositae.
De Cancellaria
Quia per futiles rationes Communis Legis non
Secundam Conscientiam et Leges Gentium sicut
Olim gubernantur.
De Collegio Heraldorum
Quia inveniebat Socios inter se divises,
Et sic reliquit.
De Amicis
Quia nunquam deflebat mortem alicujus.
De Foeminis
Quia nullam nisi ipso momento deamabat.
De uxore
Quia Leges Matrimoniales haud una vice flectebat.
Nec de Seipso
Quia per nimiam parsimoniam negligebat
Curam Festulae ex qua correptus suit.
Hic fuit, dum fuit,
Petrus Le Neve
Gen'
Unius dudum ex Vice-Camerarijs Curiae Receptorum
Scaccarij et Prosecutor Armorum a Rubra
à Cruce vulgo
Rouge-Croix
nuncupatus.
Postea Richmondiae Heraldus et demum
Norroy
Rex Armorum, Avus Firmianus
Le Neve
de Rougland in Com: Norff' Gen'
Avia Maria filia
Thomae Cory
Norwicensis,
Pater
Franciscus
Civit: Londinensis, Mater
Amia filia
Petri Wright
Mercatoris Londinensis
Frater unicus, junior et haeres ex Asse
Petri
Fratis sui
Olivarius Le Neve
de Wichingham
Magna in Norff' Armiger. Uxor Prudentia
Filia
Johannis Hughes
de Bristol filij
Meredith
Hughes
de Clairwall Agri Radnor-senr. ex
Prudentia Uxore suscepit Gemellas vidlt
Elizabetham
et
Annam,
mortuas in primo
Aetatis Mense, quia dicas Canis pessimae
Ne Catulum esse relinquendum; Obijt
Petrus
Die Mensis Anno Juliani Calendarij
Dic nunc Lector quid sim,
Et eris mihi magnus Apollo.
Haec ipse
Petrus
inscribi curavit,
Quia semper Adulatores odio habuit, et
Adulatoribus odiosus fuit.
This Indenture,
made the first Day of Eternity, between
Peter Le Neve,
one of the Inhabitants of the little Part of the Terrestrial Globe, called the Earth, and one of the Subjects of the Lord-Grim-Death, of the one Part; and the said Right Dreadful Lord-Grim-Death, Lord of Black-Castle, with all the other Towns, Hamlets, Counties and Provinces of the vast Kingdom of Darkness, of the other Part; Witnesseth,
That the said
Peter Le Neve
doth hereby Covenant, Grant, and Agree to, and with, the said Right Dreadful Lord-Grim-Death, to Surrender and Yield up into the Hands and Power of the said Dreadful L—
Lord.
the whole, and every Particle of the Terrene Carcase of the said
Peter Le Neve,
whensoever he shall be thereto lawfully summoned, by any Disease, his Messenger; whether it be in Church, or Church Yard, Garden, High-Way, or any other Ground, Hallowed or Profane, Part of the Territories of the said Lord, and to be devoured by Maggots Worms, or any other Vermin, his Servants, in order to its Annihilation.
Provided always, that it shall and may be lawful, to and for the Almighty-One, Maker and Professor of the vast Regions of
Light,
and Lord Paramount of the said Kingdom of
Darkness,
to dispose of, and convey from, and out of the said Possession of the said Lord Death, at the same Instan of Time, the
better-part
of the said
Peter Le Neve,
commonly called the Soul, into any of his said Mansions of
Light,
there to remain
in Infinitum,
according to his unbounded Will and Pleasure; into whose Power and Possession the said
Peter Le Neve,
with most profound Reverence and Humility, assigns his said Soul, though unworthy to be received by Him; In Consideration whereof, the said Lord Death, doth Covenant and Agree with the said A. O.
Almighty-One.
that it shall and may be lawful, to and for the said
Peter Le Neve
to dispose of, and assign, to any other Person, or Persons, Subjects of the said Lord, and Inhabitants of the said Terrestrial Globe, the Portion, or any Part, or Parts, of his worldly Goods, with which it hath pleased the
Almighty-One
to endow him, by his last Will and Testament in Writing made, or to be made, in Manner and Form following,
viz.
—
In Witness thereof, to one Part of these Presents, the said
Peter Le Neve
hath put his Seal; and the Sealing and Confirming the other Part thereof, is deferred to the Time when the said
Peter
enters the
Kingdom of Darkness.
My CREED.
I
Believe
in One God, Omniscient, Omnipotent, All-Merciful; and that Creator whose Name is Blessed, is One, and there is no Unity like His; who alone Was, Is, and Will be my God. Who by his Almighty Power in one Moment created the Heaven and Earth; whose second Thoughts cannot be more perfect than his first; and, therefore,
I
Believe
that He, the Same Instant He, replenished the World with Human Creatures, Male and Female; as well as with Beasts of the Earth, and Fowls of the Air; and that his Mercy on his poor Creatures is so great, that he ordained none of them to feel the Fury of his Wrath.
I
Believe
his Wisdom to be so great, that He contrived at that Instant the Frame of all Things so wisely, that on no Manner of Event, or Accident whatsoever, he will alter his first Design of Nature, to produce that which is called a Miracle.
I
Believe
him so powerful, that without the Assistance of Angels, Devil, or any other inferior Beings, He is able to punish the Evil and reward the Good done by us Mortals; and that the same Breath of his Nostrils can annihilate all which He created: But, if it so please Him, it may be as much to his Glory to have the World endure to Eternity.
I
Believe
the Historical Books (Part of the Old Testament) to be wrote, as other Books are, by faithful Historians; and that they contain certain select things worthy of Observation, and for Instruction, in order to the directing our Affairs in this World, and the Adoration of one God. And for the rest, which contain the Prophesies of several Persons, they were wrote according to the Style of the
Eastern
Nations, to reduce the
Jews
to good Living, and from the Idolatry and evil Customs of their Neighbour-Nations; and see no Reason why some of those Books called
Apocrypha,
should not be admitted into the same Authority with the rest; since they contain as good Precepts, and the Historical Parts better confirmed by the
Roman
Authors of the same Time.
As for them of the New-Testament, I
Believe
they were wrote by the Followers of a Great Man, to make the rest of the World believe what they, through their Zeal and Love for his Person, saw through a Magnifying Glass, and for so much thereof as relates to Precepts of Life and Conversation, very good.
I
Believe
Christ to have been a great and good Man; conceived, born, died, and was buried as other Holy-Men. For I cannot think him God Omniscient, since he Himself saith, that
he did not know the time of the Day of Judgment, but the Father only.
(Mark, Cap. 13. v. 32.)
I
Believe
he may be preferred to a nearer Participation in the Beatific Vision of God, than the rest of good Men, to incline them to live peaceably and inoffensively in this World, and to the Adoration of an Eternal Being.
I
Believe
the several Religions of this World, so far as they center in the Worship of his Holy-Name, and conduce to well Living, to be equally acceptable to him.
I
Believe
no Person hath Power to remit Sins but God himself.
I think the Mercy of God so much a greater Attribute than his Justice, that he will not punish eternally for a temporary Fault; since most Transgressions against the Law of Nature, meet with some Part of their Punishment in this World, and that there cannot be a Rational Being, who can deny a Deity and the Providence thereof.
Extracted from the Registry of the Prerogative Court of
Canterbury.
In the Testamentor, or last Will of
Peter Le Neve,
late of
Great Wychingham
in the County of
Norfolk
Esq
deceas'd, bearing Date the Fifth Day of May, in the Year of our Lord 1729, now remaining in the Registry of this Court, amongst other things therein, is contained as follows, to wit.
MEmorandum, This Fifth Day of
May,
in the Year One thousand seven hundred and Twenty-nine, I
Peter Le Neve
of
Great Wychingham
in the County of
Norfolk,
Esq
Norroy
King of Arms, and late one of the under Chamberlains of the Court of Receipts in the
Exchequer
at
Westminster,
Son and Heir of
Francis Neve,
alias
Le Neve,
late Citizen and Draper of
London,
Son of
Fermian Neve,
alias
Le Neve,
late of
Ringland
in the County of
Norfolk,
Gent. both long since deceas'd, being somewhat indisposed in Body, but of a sound and disposing Mind and Memory (praised be the Almighty-One, God) and knowing I must go hence and be no more seen, do make and ordain this my last Will and Testament, in manner following,
viz.
First, As to my putrid Carcase, I Will, that it shall be deposited in the Chancel of the Church of
Great Wychingham,
and be carryed down thither in an Hearse, my own Coach, and one other Coach only to follow: I Will no Mourning to any of my Relations, or others, excepting to my Wife, Ten Pounds; to my three Nieces hereafter mentioned, Ten Pounds apiece; and to such Servants only, whom my Wife shall think fit to continue in her Service, Four Pounds apiece for Mourning; the rest of my Servants to be dismiss'd as soon as possible after my Decease, with their Wages only. No Rings to be given to any Person, no Room hung with Black, no Undertaker of Funerals,
alias
Cold Cooks, no Upholders Company, nor
Smith
in
Cockey-Lane, Norwich,
to intermeddle in the Direction or Management of my Funeral. I would have some few Escutcheons on Silk upon the Pall, with the Arms of my Office, without the Crown impaled with the Arms of my Family, which to be quartered with the Coat of
Corey
of
Norfolk
(the which I have a Right to quarter, all the Issue of my Grandmother's Brothers being deceased without Issue) and of my Grandfather
Peter Wright,
of
London,
Merchant. No Funeral Oration. Let a plain Marble Stone be set up in the Church Wall, on the Inside thereof, over-against my Grave, signifying that my Body lies thereabouts.
Probatum Londini, &c.
Decimo Septimo die Mensis
Novembris,
Anno Domini 1729,
coram Venli Viro
Carolo Pinfold,
Legum Doctore, Surro &c. Juramentis
Edvardi Holden,
&
Thomae Martin,
Executorum, &c.
Quibus, &c. de bene, &c.
Jurat'
Deputy Registers,
W. Legard,
P. St. Eloy,
H. Stevens,
CASTRATIONS made by the EDITOR of Mr. POPE's Letters to HENRY CROMWELL,
Esq
POSTSCRIPT.
I HAVE not heard these two Months from Mr.
Wycherley,
tho' I have written to him twice. I am since told he has been ill, which I am very much concerned for, and fear is the Occasion of his Silence since his last Letters, which were the kindest in the World. If you happen at your Return to find him in Town, it will be very obliging to let me know of it; in the mean time a Letter from you, will make me the best Amends for my
Solitude.
This Postscript of Mr.
Pope
's, to his Letter to Mr.
Cromwell
of
Aug.
29, 1709. is omitted. See Vol. I.
EXTRACT from Mr. POPE's Letter to Mr. CROMWELL, of Dec. 21, 1711.
—I AM at this Instant plac'd betwixt two such Ladies, that in good Faith 'tis all I'm able to do to keep myself in my Skin.
He! Monsieur Cromvell! Entendez vous bien.
And now (since you find what a blessed Disposition I am in)
Tell me, by all the melting Joys of Love,
By the warm Transports and intrancing Languors,
By the soft Fannings of the wafting Sheets,
By the dear Tremblings of the Bed of Bliss,
By all these tender Adjurations tell me,
Am I not fit to write a Tragedy?
And would not these Lines sound admirably in the Mouth of
Wilks,
especially if he humour'd each Period with his Leg, and stamp'd with just Alacrity at the Cadences?
These Passages are likewise omitted. See
Vol. I.
AN Epistle to
Henry Cromwell,
Esq
The Author's Age 19.
Dear Mr. Cromwell,
May it please ye!
Sit still a Moment; pray be easy—
Faith 'tis not five; no Play's begun;
No Game at
Ombre
lost or won.
Read something of a diff'rent Nature,
Than
Ev'ning Post,
or
Observator
;
And pardon me a little Fooling,
—Just while your Coffee stands a Cooling.
Since your Acquaintance with one
Brocas,
Commonly call'd Bean
Brocas.
Who needs will back the Muses Cock-horse,
I know you dread all those who write,
And both with Mouth and Hand recite;
Who slow, and leisurely rehearse,
As loath t' enrich you with their Verse;
Just as a
Still,
with
Simples
in it,
Betwixt each Drop stays half a Minute.
(That Simile is not my own,
But lawfully belongs to
Donne
;
You see how well I can contrive a
INTERPOLATIO FURTIVA)
To
Brocas'
Lays no more you listen
Than to the wicked Works of
Whiston
;
In vain he strains to reach your Ear,
With what it wisely, will
not
hear:
You bless the Powers who made that Organ
Deaf to the Voice of such a
Gorgon,
(For so one sure may call that Head,
Which does not
Look,
but
Read Men dead.
)
I hope, you think me none of those
Who
shew their Parts,
as
Pentlow
A Gamester remarkable for his
Virile
Parts, which he us'd to be fond of Shewing.
does;
I but lug out to one or two,
Such Friends, if such there are, as You,
Such, who read
Heinsius
and
Masson,
And as you please to pass their Doom,
(Who are to
Me
both
Smith
and
Johnson
)
Bays
's two Friends in the
Rehearsal.
So seize them Flames, or take them
Tonson.
His PASTORALS.
But, Sir, from
Brocas, Fowler, Me,
In vain you think to 'scape Rhyme-free,
When was it known one Bard did follow
Whig Maxims, and abjure
Apollo?
Sooner shall Major-General cease
To talk of War, and live in Peace;
Yourself for Goose reject Crow Quill,
And for plain
Spanish,
quit
Brasil
;
Sooner shall
Rowe
lampoon the UNION,
Tydcombe
take Oaths on the Communion;
The
Granvilles
write their Name plain
Greenfield,
Nay, Mr.
Wycherley
see
Binfield.
I'm told, you think to take a Step, some
Ten Miles from Town, t' a Place call'd
Epsom,
To treat those Nymphs like yours of
Drury,
With—
I protest,
and
I'll assure ye
;—
But tho' from Flame to Flame you wander,
Beware; your Heart's no
Salamander!
But burnt so long, may soon turn Tinder,
And so be fir'd by any Cinder-
(Wench, I'd have said, did Rhyme not hinder.)
Shou'd it so prove, yet who'd admire?
'Tis known, a Cook-maid roasted
Prior,
One of Mr.
Prior
's
Does
was of that Vocati
n.
Lardella
fir'd a famous Author,
And for a Butcher's well-fed Daughter
Great
Dennis
roar'd, like
Ox
at Slaughter.
(Now, if you're weary of my Style,
Take out your Box of right
Brasil,
First lay this Paper under, then,
Snuff just three Times, and read again.)
I had to see you some Intent,
But for a curst Impediment,
Which spoils full many a good Design,
That is to say, the
Want of Coin.
For which, I had resolv'd almost,
To raise
Tiberius Gracchus
' Ghost;
To get, by once more murd'ring
Caius
'
As much as did
Septimuleius
;
But who so dear will buy the Lead,
That lies within a Poet's Head,
As that which in the Hero's Pate
Deserv'd of Gold an equal Weight?
Sir, you're so stiff in your Opinion,
I wish you do not turn
Socinian
;
Or prove Reviver of a Schism,
By modern Wits call'd
Quixotism.
What mov'd you, pray, without compelling,
Like
Trojan
true, to draw for
Helen
:
Quarrel with
Dryden
for a Strumpet,
(For so she was, as e'er show'd Rump, yet
Tho' I confess, she had much Grace,
Especially about the Face.)
Virgil,
when call'd
Phasiphae Virgo
(You say) he'd more good Breeding;
Ergo
—
Well argu'd, Faith! Your Point you urge
As home, as ever did
Panurge
:
And one may say of
Dryden
too,
(As once you said of
you know of who
)
He had some Fancy, and cou'd write;
Was very learn'd, but not polite—
However from my Soul I judge
He ne'er (good Man) bore
Helen
Grudge,
But lov'd her full as well, it may be,
As e'er he did
his own dear Lady.
Mr.
Dryden
married Lady
Elizabeth Howard.
You have no Cause to take Offence, Sir,
Z—ds, you're as sour as
Cato Censor!
Ten times more like him, I profess,
Than I'm like
Aristophanes.
To end with News—the best I know,
Is, I've been well a Week, or so.
The Season of
Green Pease
is fled,
And
Artichoaks
reign in their Stead.
Th' Allies to bomb
Toulon
prepare;
G—d save the pretty Ladies there!
One of our
Dogs
is dead and gone,
And I, unhappy! left alone.
If you have any Consolation
T' administer on this Occasion,
Send it, I pray, by the next Post,
Before my Sorrow be quite lost.
The
twelfth
or
thirteenth
Day of
July,
1707.
But which, I cannot tell you truly.
A. POPE.
VERSES
To be prefix'd to
Bernard Lintot
's New
Miscellany.
SOME
Colinaeus
praise, some
Bleau,
Others account 'em but so, so;
Some
Plantin
to the rest prefer,
And some esteem
Old-Elzevir;
Others with
Aldus
wou'd besot us;
I, for my part, admire
Lintottus
—
His Character's beyond Compare,
Like his own Person, large and fair—
They print their Names in Letters small,
But
LINTOT
stands in Capital:
Author, and He, with equal Grace,
Appear, and stare you in the Face,—
Stephens
prints
Heathen Greek,
'tis said,
Which some can't construe, some can't read;
But all that come from
Lintot
's Hand
Ev'n
Rawlinson
Thomas Rawlinson,
Esq
eldest Son of the Lord Mayor
might understand—
Oft in an
Aldus,
or a
Plantin,
A Page is blotted, or Leaf wanting;
Of
Lintot
's Books this can't be said,
All fair, and not so much as read.—
Their Copy cost 'em not a Penny
To
Homer, Virgil,
or to
any,
They ne'er gave Six-pence for two Lines,
To them, their Heirs, or their Assigns;
But
Lintot
is at vast Expence,
And pays prodigious dear for Sense.—
Their Books are useful but to few,
A Scholar, or a Wit or two;
Lintot
's for gen'ral Use are fit,
For, some Folks read, but all Folks sh—
To a fair LADY singing to her LUTE.
In Imitation of Mr.
Waller.
FAIR Charmer cease, nor make your Voice's prize,
A Heart, resign'd the Conquest of your Eyes.
Well might, alas! that threatned Vessel fail,
Which Winds and Lightning, both at once assail:
We were too blest, with these inchanting Lays,
Which must be heav'nly when an Angel plays:
But killing Charms, your Lover's Death contrive,
Lest Heav'nly Musick shou'd be heard alive.
ORPHEUS cou'd charm the Trees, but thus, a Tree,
Taught by your Hand, can charm no less than he,
A Poet made the silent Wood pursue,
This vocal Wood had drawn the Poet too.
The TRANSLATOR.
OZELL
at
Sanger
's
Egbert Sanger
served his Apprenticeship with
Jacob Tonson,
and succeeded
Bernard Lintot
in his Shop at the
Middle-Temple
Gate,
Fleetstreet.
Call, invok'd his Muse
For who to sing for
Sanger
cou'd refuse?
His Numbers such as
Sanger
's self might use.
Reviving
Perault,
Mr.
Lintot
printed
Ozell
's Translation of
Perault
's Characters, and
Sanger
his Translation of
Boileau
's Lutrin, recommended by Mr.
Rowe,
Anno 1709.
murd'ring
Boileau,
he
Slander'd the Antients first, then
Wycherley;
Which yet not much that
old Bard
's Anger rais'd,
Since
those
were slander'd most, whom
Ozell
prais'd.
Nor had the
gentle Satire
caus'd complaining,
Had not sage
Rowe
pronounc'd it entertaining:
How great must be the Judgment of that Writer,
Who the
Plain-Dealer
damns, and prints the
Biter!
TO Lady MARY WORTLEY MONTAGUE.
I.
IN Beauty, or Wit,
No Mortal as yet
To question your Empire has dar'd;
But Men of Discerning,
Have thought that in Learning,
To yield to a Lady was hard.
II.
Impertinent Schools,
With musty dull Rules,
Have Reading to Females deny'd,
So
Papists
refuse
The BIBLE to use,
Lest
Flocks
shou'd be wise as their
Guide.
III.
'Twas a WOMAN at first,
(Indeed she was curst)
In
Knowledge
that tasted
Delight,
And Sages agree,
The Laws shou'd decree,
To the first Possessor the Right.
IV.
Then bravely, fair Dame,
Resume the old Claim,
Which to your whole Sex does belong,
And let MEN receive,
From a
Second
bright EVE,
The Knowledge of
Right,
and of
Wrong.
V.
But if the
First
EVE
Hard Doom did receive,
When only
One Apple
had She,
What a Punishment New,
Shall be found out for You,
Who Tasting, have robb'd the
whole Tree.
A Version of the first PSALM. For the Use of a Young Lady.
I.
THE Maid is blest that will not hear
Of Masquerading Tricks,
Nor lends to wanton Songs an Ear
Nor sighs for Coach and Six.
II.
To please her shall her Husband strive
With all his Main and Might,
And in her Love shall exercise
Himself both Day and Night.
III.
She
shall bring forth most pleasant Fruit,
He Flourish still, and Stand,
Even so all
Things
shall prosper well,
That this Maid takes in
Hand.
IV.
No wicked Whores shall have such Luck,
Who follow their own Wills,
But purg'd shall be to Skin and Bone,
With
Mercury
and
Pills.
V.
For why, The Pure and Cleanly Maids,
Shall All, good Husbands gain;
But Filthy and Uncleanly Jades
Shall Rot in
Drury-Lane.
TO THE Ingenious Mr.
MOORE,
AUTHOR of the Celebrated WORM-POWDER.
HOW much, Egregious
Moore,
are We
Deceiv'd by Shows, and Forms?
Whate'er we think, whate'er we see,
All human Race are
Worms.
Man,
is a very
Worm
by Birth,
Proud
Reptile
Mr.
Pope
took this Hint from
Homer.
O Son of
Tydeus,
cease! be wise and see
How vast the Diff'rence of the Gods and Thee,
Distance immense; between the Pow'rs that shine
Above, Eternal, Deathless, and Divine,
And mortal Man! a Wretch of humble Birth,
A short-liv'd
Reptile
in the Dust of Earth.
See
Apollo
's Speech to
Diomede,
Book 15.
, vile and vain,
A while he crawls upon the Earth,
Then shrinks to Earth again.
That
Woman
is a
Worm,
we find,
E'er since our Grannum's Evil;
She first convers'd with her own Kind,
That Ancient
Worm,
the
Devil.
But whether
Man,
or
He,
God knows,
Foecundified her Belly,
With that pure Stuff from whence we rose,
The Genial
Vermicelli.
The
Learn'd
themselves, we
Book-Worms
name,
The
Block-head
is a
Slow-Worm;
The
Nymph,
whose Tail is all on Flame,
Is aptly term'd a
Glow-Worm.
The
Fops
are painted Butter-Flies,
That flutter for a Day;
First from a
Worm
they took their Rise,
Then in a
Worm
decay.
The
Flatterer
an Ear-wig grows,
Some
Worms
suit all Conditions;
Misers
are
Muck-Worms, Silk-Worms, Beaus,
And
Death-Watches, Physicians.
That
Statesmen
have a
Worm
is seen,
By all their winding Play;
Their Conscience is a
Worm
within,
That gnaws them Night and Day.
Ah,
Moore!
thy Skill were well employ'd,
And greater Gain would rise,
If thou could'st make the Courtier void
The
Worm
that never dies.
O Learned Friend of
Abchurch-Lane,
Who sett'st our Entrails free,
Vain is thy Art, thy Powder vain,
Since
Worms
shall eat e'en Thee.
Thou only canst our Fate adjourn,
Some few short Years, no more;
E'en
Button
's Wits to
Worms
shall turn,
Who
Maggots
were before.
EPITAPH, At
Stanton-Harcourt
in
Oxfordshire.
Near this Place lie the Bodies of
JOHN HEWETT and MARY DREW,
An industrious young Man and
Virtuous Maiden, of this Parish,
Who being at Harvest-Work,
(With several others)
Were in one Instant killed by Lightening,
The last Day of
July,
1718.
Think not by rig'rous Judgment seiz'd,
A Pair so Faithful cou'd expire;
Victims so Pure, Heav'n saw, well pleas'd,
And snatch'd them in Coelestial Fire.
Live well, and fear no Sudden Fate;
When God calls Virtue to the Grave,
Alike 'tis Justice, soon or late,
Mercy alike, to Kill or Save.
Virtue unmov'd, can hear the Call,
And face the Flash, that melts the Ball.
Mr. POPE's ANSWER To the following QUESTION of Mrs. HOWE.
WHAT is
Prudery?
'Tis a Beldam,
Seen with Wit and Beauty seldom.
'Tis a Fear that starts at Shadows,
'Tis (no, 'tis n't) like Miss
Meadowes.
'Tis a Virgin hard of Feature,
Old, and void of all Good Nature;
Lean and fretful, wou'd seem wise,
Yet plays the Fool before she dies.
'Tis an ugly envious
Shrew,
That rails at dear
L'epell
and
You.
THE LOOKING-GLASS.
WITH Scornful Mein, and various toss of Air
Fantastic, Vain, and Insolently Fair.
Grandeur Intoxicates her giddy Brain,
She Looks Ambition, and she Moves Disdain.
Far other Carriage, grac'd her Virgin Life,
But charming
G—
's lost, in
P—
's Wife.
Not greater Arrogance in Him we find,
And this Conjunction, swells at least her Mind:
O could the Sire, renown'd in Glass, produce
One faithful Mirrour for his Daughter's Use,
Wherein she might her haughty Errors trace,
And, by Reflexion, learn to mend her Face▪
The wonted Sweetness to her Form restore
Be what She was, and charm Mankind once more.
THREE LETTERS FROM THE Abbe
C—n
to ** at St. OMERS.
IF obliging Expressions, fine Wit, and noble Sentiments can tempt; you have the most infallible Way of compelling your Friends to write to you, of any body I know; yet should my Ignorance in the Modes of writing cause you to esteem me less, I shall repent my having learnt to write.
Your excellent Judgment, and the Diffidence I justly bear to my own Abilities, always put a Check to that sincere and honest Warmth I am impatient to address you with: But when I reflect on your many Friendly Indulgencies, and see two kind Letters of yours now before me (both unanswer'd) I plunge in Ink, lest my Silence should be more criminal than Impertinence itself. Remember, however, it is in compliance to your Request, and no fancied Skill of mine, in drawing Characters. You are very singular in your Inquiry after Mr. *** Morals; such Questions are very uncommon here.
—De moribus ultima fiet
Quaestio—
Ought I not, my Friend, to be cautious in discovering the Blemishes and Defects of this my native Spot, to One so resolutely determined to Publish all the Truths he knows of it, even the worst, with the Sincerity and Justice of an unconcerned Historian. Now, methinks, I see you smile, and ask me, What is it you thus endeavour to conceal? Is not the Fidelity of your Island become a Proverb; your Policy a Jest; your Politeness, Wantonness and Mimickry; your Commerce, a Combination of protected Thieves, the Bane of Industry and Trade? Nor is there any other Sign of Divinity or Liberty remaining with you, except the opening of your Churches and the Courts of Justice; in a Word it is become the Characteristic of the
English;
that they account it less Glorious to act wisely, than to defend the doing otherwise. Yes, there is too much Truth in your Remarks, the Remembrance of Virtue is almost lost, and if any retain Sentiments of Honesty and Religion they must be very secret, if they would escape the Public Laughter. This may be an Excuse for the Son of your Friend; he came Green upon the Stage, was hurried into the Triumph of Vice, and bore down by the Torrent of Corruption, his Beauty and Comeliness of Parts
—Rara est adeo concordia Formae,
Atque Pudicitiae—
Were no small Temptation to engage him with the Vain, the Gay, and the Vicious. They were the prevailing Party, in whose Society he squander'd an Estate dishonourably, and now (I had almost said deservedly) seeks a servile Maintenance from that Sink—a Court—his fall occasioned this Reflection of mine on Beauty; with which I'll conclude.
Beauty doth recommend, the Bearer to
Our Notice; and works a kind Impression
On all Spectators, in its own Behalf.
But if it bring not Matter of more Worth,
As Wisdom, Reason, and the Charms of Virtue,
It is the worthless Owner's Brand of Shame,
And makes the stalking Idiot more our Scorn.
LETTER II.
SIR,
ALL the Books which have been Published here, worthy Notice, I have constantly sent as you directed; if I have with-held my Opinion of their Merit, as you complain, it was for many Reasons I judged it unnecessary. Why do you so continually attack my Vanity, by the Compliments you pay my Judgment? But since you seek some Particulars of Mr.
Pope,
whose Writings I profess, amongst Thousands, to be an Admirer of, as I have often intimated; I will take this Occasion to inform you what I know concerning him. Many Pieces of his, The Essay on Criticism. The Rape of the Lock. The Essays and Dissertations on
Homer,
have appeared in your Parts: and one Proof of their Excellency, is their being naturalized by Persons of very eminent Ability and Rank
See our former Volume.
. Other Languages
They have been translated both into
French
and
Italian.
are inrich'd with these and others of his Works; yet, would you believe it, He has translated
Homer,
preserved the Sublimity, Strength, Harmony, Closeness, and every other Excellence of that venerable Poet, without knowing a Syllable of
Greek;
and with an absolute Ignorance of the
English.
His Essay on Criticism, is a smooth Repetition of
Vida's
Nonsense. His Pastorals are no Pastorals. Nor is he a Poet. These things are brayed about our Street. The
Asinorum crepitus,
the Din of
Grubstreet,
Pretenders to Poetry, and false Critics, have arose to poison our Judgments; some say he is too little to write Well; others that he has only a Knack of writing, and these Wretches all write themselves, to convince us it is without a Knack; Cellars are full of their Murmurings, where, like so many merciless Chymists, they violently rack and torture Nature to confess some Worth she has not in her. Mr.
Pope
is accounted by those, not his Enemies, of over-much Borrowing; this you will rather praise then disapprove, when you shall know, that the finest Thoughts of the best Writers were never made use of by him, till he had improved and made them better. View him in his Public Character, he is an Honour to our Nation; the Good and Wise rejoice, that such and so notable a Genius is manifested amongst us; he has the Satisfaction of not having lived in vain, and has obliged the valuable Part of Mankind, and is beloved by all the Learned, Good, and Wise. View him in Private Life, there is nothing more amiable and endearing. He is an Example of the Duty we owe our Parents, and the Love we ought to bear our Friends. There is no Truth, if what I tell you is not true, no Friendship if I am not your Friend.
LETTER III.
SIR,
FORGIVE me, if I obtrude my Advice; think not of Publishing, as yet. Your Works, like fine Painting and Wine, will ripen into more Worth by Age; you should certainly complete the Catastrophe. I rejoice you have resisted the Temptation offer'd; it would be Madness to throw an Appearance of Partiality on the Face of your Performance, which you have so bravely avoided in every other Part. The Devil is black enough in his real Character; the truer you can paint him, the more damnable he will appear. I can but laugh to see what an Appearance Kings, and Ministers, (the Guardians of Kings) make, when they are shewn in History, strip'd of Courtiers and Attendants. If in their Lives they had few sure Friends, after their Deaths they shall have fewer. It is then that are Glory is taken from their Heads, and their Pride trampled on. Are they not deceived, my Friend, who think by Power to bury in Oblivion the ill Actions they are guilty of; or to keep Posterity from the Knowledge of their Vices? I was the other Day at a Great Man's Levée; it made me shudder: He was corpulent and gross of Body; and seem'd to me as if Fatning for some Sacrifice. I then thought a corrupt Minister, surrounded by his Creatures and Mercenaries, like the Man, who by unlawful Practices had obtained the Services of evil Spirits, and thinks it noble to be attended on by Friends, but yet expects in the End, that they will tear him to Pieces.
N.B.
Here I strongly smell another Plot, and Abbe
C—n,
certainly lives at
Twickenham.
By the Help of
Fortunatus
's
Cap,
Mr.
POPE
has made the Tour of St.
Omers,
in order,
1.
to
satyrize
the Conduct of the present Ministry;
2.
to
whitewash
himself; and,
3.
to
compliment
his Friend Mr.
Gay,
to whom the Three foregoing Letters were written, as surely as those in the former Volume: For the
Works
of his
Friend,
and the
Catastrophe
of his
Play,
evidently allude to the
Beggars Opera.
E.C.
AN EPISTLE FROM Dr. LITTLETON at
Cambridge,
To his Friend at
Eton.
YOU see, dear Sir, that I've found time,
T' express my Sentiments in Rhime;
For why, my Friend, should distant Parts,
Or Time, disjoin united Hearts.
What, tho' by intervening Space,
Depriv'd of speaking Face to Face,
By faithful emissary Letter
We may converse as well, or better;
And, not to stretch my narrow Fancy,
To shew what pretty Things I can-say,
Add
Butler
's Rhymes to
Prior
's Thoughts,
And chuse to mimic all their Faults;
By Head and Shoulders bring-in-a-Stick,
To shew my Knack at
Hudibrastick.
I'll tell you, as a Friend and Crony,
How here I spend my Time and Money.
No more Majestic
Virgil
's Flights,
Or Tow'ring
Milton
's loftier Heights,
Or Courtly
Horace
's Rebukes,
Who banters Vice, with Friendly Jokes,
Or
Cowley
's Wit, or
Congreve
's Fire,
Or all the Beauties that conspire
To place the greenest Bays upon
Th' immortal Brows of
Addison,
Or
Prior
's inimitable Ease,
Or
Pope
's harmonious Numbers please;
For I to
Phoebus
bid adieu,
When last I took my Leave of you.
Now
Algebra, Geometry,
Arithmetic, Astronomy,
Optics, Chronology,
and
Statics,
All tiresome Parts of
Mathematics,
With twenty harder Names than these,
Disturb my Brains, and break my Peace.
All seeming Inconsistencies,
Are nicely solv'd by
A
's and
B
's.
Should you the Poker want, and take it
When it looks hot as Fire can make it,
And burn your Finger, or your Coat,
They'll stiffly tell you, 'tis not Hot.
The Fire, they say, has in't, 'tis true,
The Power of causing Pain in you;
But not more Heat in Fire that heats you,
Than there is Pain in Stick that beats you.
And thus Philosophers expound
The Names of Smell, and Taste, and Sound.
Thus when the fam'd
Faustina
sings,
Or
Handel
tunes the trembling strings,
The Voice, they say, is untun'd Air,
And all the Music's in the Ear.
There's not a Man of us can tell
That we have either Taste or Smell.
I hope, in a short time, to know
Whether the Moon's a Cheese, or no;
Whether a Man's in't, as some tell ye,
Who stuffs, with Powder'd Beef, his Belly.
No more—This, due to Friendship, take,
Not barely writ for writing sake,
For he who his Invention strains,
To shew his Wit, and cracks his Brains,
Merits his Madness for his Pains.
J. Clark sculp. 1722
THE NEGOTIATIONS OF
Matthew Prior,
Esq
To the Earl of JERSEY.
Extract.
Paris,
Aug. 8, 1699, N.S.
My Lord,
I Can now acquaint your Lordship, that I arrived here the 5th, and the next Day I sent a Compliment to Monsieur
Saintot,
Master of the Ceremonies.
who immediately waited on me, and gave me to understand that Monsieur
de Torcy
was expected in Town. Mr.
Prior
wrote to him, and he appointed the Afternoon to see me. Your Lordship knows the usual Ceremonies on such Occasions—
I am obliged to your Lordship for letting me have your House, which I like extremely; though my Equipage not being come from
Rouen
puts me under some Difficulties: but with the Help of Mr.
Prior
all Things are made easy. He has delivered your Lordship's Letter to Monsieur
de Torcy,
and he took Notice to me how well Mr.
Prior
has behaved himself during his Stay here,
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To the Earl of JERSEY.
Extract.
Paris,
Aug. 15, 1699.
My Lord,
I Am now entering upon a troublesome Part of my Business, the King having appointed to morrow for an Audience at
Versailles.
I cannot tell whether
Monsieur
and
Madame
will be there. Mr.
Prior
intends to set out for
Loo
as soon as these Audiences are over,
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
Loo,
Sept. 11, 1699,
My Lord,
I Did not trouble you by last Post, not being then able to give a very good Account of myself; which I can do now, having had the Honour of a very long and particular Audience of his Majesty this Morning; the Effect of which is, that he knows all I was able to inform him of in Relation to the present State of our Affairs in the Kingdom where you are, and that I am ordered to go from hence to morrow Morning for the
Hague,
to receive what Orders his Majesty may send me, and to wait there till his farther Pleasure be known.
Your Excellency sees by the inclosed Memoir the Case of one
Girard,
a Minister of
Neufchattel,
whom his most
Christian
Majesty will protect against what Madame
de Nemours,
the lawful Soveraign of the Place, designs to do in Relation to her own Subject. His Majesty commands me to intimate to your Excellency, That it is his Pleasure, that you concert with Monsieur
Fribergen
upon this Subject, and use your best Endeavours with the Court of
France,
that they should let the Matter be examined and decided by its competent Judges, according to the Sense of the inclosed Memoir, of which Monsieur
Fribergen
has likewise a Copy.
You will have heard of the King of
Denmark's
Death before this reaches you, so that as to public News I shall not trouble you.
As to more private Affairs,
Obrian
is taken up at
Brussels,
so your Excellency must get
Bayly
to tell you the Particulars of what he knows relating to that Man, and what he thinks would be best to do that his being taken up may be serviceable to his Majesty's Interests.
I write this Letter inclosed to
Bayly
upon this Head: the Account he gives your Excellency you will be pleased to send directly to Mr.
Blathwayt.
I take this Opportunity, my Lord, to repeat my Thanks to you for your Favours to me while I stayed with you at
Paris;
and to assure your Excellency, that in all Places and Stations I continue with great Respect,
&c.
M. PRIOR.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
Hague,
Oct. 16, 1699.
My Lord.
I Have the Honour of your Excellency's Letters, that of the 5th, which came strait hither, and that of the 30th past by Way of
England,
and returned thence. I understand by the Gentleman, nothing can be done so soon as we wish: but as I have spoken to the Persons concerned here, in a little Time I shall be able to give him a better Answer than I can at present. It is thought proper that
Bayly
be continued
in statu quo.
Mr.
Yard
has let my Lord
Jersey
know what he has done in Relation to the Answer which
Couchman
brought. This, at present, my Lord, is all I can say upon this Subject in general; as soon as we can get together in
England,
I hope to be more particular upon it, and more satisfactory to the Gentlemen concerned.
We expect the King here to morrow Night for certain, and about
Saturday
following we shall be wishing the Wind fair.
Obrian
is by this Time on board, in order to his going for
England.
The other Persons seized this Summer, about
Loo,
are still in Custody at
Arnheim.
I trouble Mr.
Stanyan
with what is less material, and detain your Excellency no longer than to repeat to you the Assurances of my being, with Zeal and Respect,
M. PRIOR.
To the Earl of JERSEY.
Extract.
Paris,
Oct. 29, 1699.
My Lord,
I Am to acquaint your Lordship, that
Bryerly,
one of the Assassinators, who had formerly some Thoughts of going into
England,
and discovering what he knew, in Hopes of obtaining his Pardon, and getting a Recompense, continues still in great Necessity, and is said to be in the same Resolution. Some Steps were made by Mr.
Prior
in that Matter, when he was here, of which he can inform your Lordship; and in case it may be judged for his Majesty's Service to have him come over, I am sure the Promise of a Pardon and some Reward will tempt him. I therefore desire your Lordship would send me his Majesty's Directions thereupon, which I shall contrive to perform in the safest Manner for him, and the Person who is to go between us.
MANCHESTER.
To Mr. PRIOR.
Paris.
Oct. 31, 1699.
SIR,
I Shall now begin to trouble you often, believing you are settled in the Office, which will be another Sort of Life than that in
France;
but when I consider you have so worthy a Person, and so good a Friend to act under, I then think nothing can stand in Conpetition with it. I shall be every Day more sensible of the Loss of you here, which I hope you will make up to me, by letting me hear often from you. I have acquainted my Lord
Jersey
with what passed in Relation to me and the
Portugal
Embassador in the Apartment of Monsieur
de Torcy.
He is going away, else it would be impossible but there must be farther Disputes of that Nature. The first Opportunity I have, I shall certainly return his Rudeness. When you can do it conveniently, put my Lord
Jersey
in Mind of what we have often discoursed about, in Relation to the Affairs of
France,
and what he was so kind as to say he would prevent, if possible, when I had the Honour of seeing him last. You can easily imagine I shall not be able to obtain any Thing of this Court, if Matters of Moment must be only transacted by Monsieur
de Tallard.
Not that I am desirous of knowing more than what he would think proper, in the Post I am in. I need not tell you that as a great Expence is necessary here, so an Esteem for the Person is as much; and I flatter myself I) shall not forfeit it, unless this Court finds I am only here to make a Show.
Monsieur
de Tallard
is daily expected, and it may be will still make his Complaints, as formerly, of the Delays he meets with in
England.
If so, I can now answer him much better, by what I have seen since my coming here.
The Day of Parade is near, and, with the Help of the Advice you give me, it will go well. The Calash is done, and I like it; though I assure you the Coaches I brought from
England
do exceed it in gilding, painting and carving. All who see it do own, and the
French
confess, they cannot come up to our gilding, though they pretend theirs will last longer. I wish you was to be here for a few Days. The best Apartment is now
a la Françoise,
Velvet and Damask Chairs with Gold Galoon, the Frames gilded, Marble Tables, with large Looking Glasses, and I found it was absolutely necessary, and when I was doing it I would do it well. The Chapel, which I have inlarged into the Garden, looks very handsome.
I cannot finish this without my Wishes that you may succeed in all Things for your Advantage,
&c.
I am,
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
Whitehall,
Oct. 23, 1699. O.S.
My Lord,
I Have received your Lordship's Letter of the 28th of
October.
Before you receive this Mr.
Prior
will be with you. It is his Majesty's Desire that you discourse the Business of the Partition Treaty with Mr.
Prior,
who has already Knowledge of it; and according to the Account your Lordship gives next of it, you shall receive his Majesty's farther Directions. What else your Letters contain, I must beg Leave to put off the answering it to another Time. I am,
&c.
JERSEY.
N.B.
The Earl of
Manchester's
to the Earl of
Jersey
[
Paris. Nov
6, 1699.] begins thus;
My Lord,
Mr.
Prior
informed your Lordship, by
Wednesday's
Post, of his Arrival here. He having explained to me the Subject upon which he was sent, I wrote to Monsieur
de Torcy,
&c.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
London,
Nov. 3/10, 1699.
My Lord,
I Arrived here on
Friday
Night, and every Body confesses that
Roger
is fitter than I to be sent Express: On
Saturday
Morning my Lord
Jersey
carried me to the King. I first read to his Majesty what your Lordship said to the King of
France,
and what the King answered thereupon, and then I explained to his Majesty the Substance of the whole that had past during my being in
France.
His Majesty is satisfied with every Step your Excellency made; and, in one Word we did as we ought to do. His Majesty asked me a great many Questions about your Entry. You will easily believe I was glad, on that Occasion, to do you Justice. Hi
Majesty asked me about the Rank which Monsieur
de Torcy
's Coach had; and in all this Affair I can assure your Excellency he is very well satisfied. I have seen as well
Charles
as
James Erby,
and
Christopher Montague.
I have been asked ten thousand Questions, and gave them the News of my Lord
Mandevil
being to arrive at
Paris
within these six Months; for which we wish all very heartily. I contracted a Cold in the Voyage, and wisely increased it by running about these two Days. I am blooded and keep my Chamber to-day, which is the Reason of my using another Hand: I hope your Excellency will excuse it. The King dined to-day with my Lord
Rochester
at his House near
Richmond;
my Lord
Jersey
is gone to dine with him. Whig and Tory are, as of old, implacable. Dr.
D'Avenant
is coming out with another Book, in which he attacks the Grants, and is (as I am told) very scurrilous against my Lord Chancellor,
Lord
Somers
and
Halisax.
and our dear Friend
Charles.
This, I think, is all the News I have known since my Arrival. I have only to add my great Thanks to your Excellency for your Hospitality and Kindness to me in
France,
and wish you Success in every Thing there, with all possible Zeal and Sincerity. I am,
&c.
M. PRIOR.
To the Earl of JERSEY.
Extract.
Paris,
Nov. 17, 1699.
My Lord,
I Shall always discharge his Majesty's Orders with all Secrecy and Care imaginable; and I am apt to think this Occasion will make Monsieur
de Tallard
take Care how he behaves himself; for he was not very easy when he found Mr.
Prior
was come, and that I was to have an Audience. I am,
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To Mr. PRIOR.
Paris,
Dec. 8, 1699.
SIR,
I Could wish this Court was so well inclined as to grant any Favour in Relation to the
French
Protestants; but at present I cannot see any Inclination, neither can I hope ever to have such Credit with Monsieur
de Torcy
as on my Account to persuade him: if at any Time I see a Probability, I shall not fail to act as is desired. I have not yet made all my Visits of Ceremony; and this Day I am going to the Arsenal You will be so kind as to make my Excuse to Lord
Jersey,
having nothing at present to acquaint him with, only that King
James
continues still ill. His Distemper is Boils in his Backside. I do not hear there is much Danger, unless it should turn to a Fistula. In a little Time you shall hear more. Monsieur
de Tallard
could not be so soon with you as he intended, because the Wind continued some Days against him, and obliged him to stay at
Calais.
I am glad to hear our Proceedings were approved of, and I am impatient to know the Success of that Matter, though it may be I shall hear it first from Monsieur
de Torcy.
I am,
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To the Rt. Hon. CHA. MONTAGUE,
Esq
Extract.
Paris,
Dec. 8, 1699, N.S.
SIR,
MR.
Prior
's coming here, and the private Audience I had of the King the Day of my Entry, occasioned much Discourse, and did me Service with the Ministers, for now they see the King does not wholly rely on Monsieur
de Tallard
—King
James,
upon Mr.
Prior
's coming hither, believed I was to be recalled, and he to be left here; which, for some Time, gave him great Satisfaction. It is not agreeable to them to see me live in such a Manner, that none of the
English
come to
Paris
but they address themselves to me.
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
Whitehall,
Dec. 7, 1699, O.S.
My Lord,
THough I have written to You by my Lord's Order,
i.e.
The Earl of
Jersey.
that is his Letter; I am to add a Word from myself.
You see by the News, which accompanies this Letter, what was done in both Houses Yesterday. In the Upper-House, the Bishop of
St. David
's Business
Dr.
Watson,
who was accused of Simony.
was thrown out; and in the Other House, Proceedings in Relation to
Kidd
's Matter
Relating to the
Case
of
Pyracy.
came to nothing: so that we gained two Triumphs that Day.
Oh! si sic omnia.
The Commons Address you will observe to be somewhat high; but the Moderation and Wisdom of the King's Answer is thought, even by his Enemies, to be inimitable.
D'Avenant
has printed his Book against Grants,
Intitled,
An Essay upon Grants and Resumptions.
Octavo.
which I take to be a scandalous Libel against the Government: I will send it you when we employ a Messenger; for I think it would cost you too dear if it came by the Post.
Smith,
In the Characters of the
English
and
Scots
Nobility, drawn up at the Request of the Princess
Sophia,
by
John Macky,
Esq
which were publish'd by his Son, 1733, Octavo. In the Character of Lord
Peterborough,
p. 64, has this remarkable Paragraph,
viz.
"His promising Sir
John Fenwick
his Life, if he would accuse the Duke of
Shrewsbury,
and the Lord
Orford,
to have a Design to bring in King
James;
and his writing a Book by the Assistance of Dr.
D'Avenent,
and putting one
Smith
's Name to it, against that Duke, lost him with all honest Men; the House of Commons having voted the
One a scurrilous Design to make a Difference between the King and his best Friends;
and the House of Peers having ordered the
Second
to be burnt by the Hands of the common Hangman."
This Book was intitled,
Memoirs of Secret Service.
By
Matthew Smith,
of the
Inner Temple,
Esq
Octavo, 1699.
who was a Sort of Discoverer of the Plot, and printed a Book last Year reflecting upon the Duke of
Shrewsbury,
has printed another now to the same Tune.
O Tempora! O Mores!
Every Man says and writes what he will. Next Week I intend to come out myself with a Panegyric upon the King. I am ever, my Lord, with all imaginable Respect,
&c.
M. PRIOR.
P.S.
I do not write to
Stanyan;
for he has not a Park, nor a Doe
Mr.
Prior
is waggish here. These Gentlemen called their Mistresses their
Does.
in the World: I mean a Doe fit for a Pasty.
To the Earl of JERSEY.
Extract.
Paris,
Dec. 23, 1699.
My Lord,
MR.
Prior,
may remember that I talked to him, when he was here last, about taking up one
Claude,
a
Frenchman,
as he says he is, who served the late Lord
B—l,
in order to exchange him for
Pierre Perault,
or
Arnold.
If your Lordship be of that Mind, he is almost every Day at the
Dog-Tavern
in
Drury-Lane,
and
Couchman,
the Messenger, will be a proper Person to apprehend him, because he was acquainted with him when he was at
Paris.
This
Claude
was very much at
St. Germains
while he stayed in
France,
and endeavoured to seduce several
English
thither: but that which will be a better Reason for seizing him is, his having attended
Richardson,
one of the Assassins, while he lay concealed in the late Lord
B—l's
House, which I am told he bragged of, when he was here last,
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To Mr. PRIOR.
Paris,
Jan. 2, 1700.
SIR,
HAving writ so lately, by Mr.
Stanhope,
to the Earl of
Jersey,
I do not trouble him now. I must desire you to make my Excuse, and acquaint him with the Contents of this. There is nothing at present acting at
St. Germains,
King
James
being not well, and wholly giving himself up to Devotions and Prayers. The Wound, which was very large, is healed; but it is thought they have done it too soon, because the same Humours run all over his Body, sometimes in his Stomach, Legs,
&c.
He is extremely broke, and most Men are of Opinion he cannot recover, though he may go on some Time as he is. Father
Cosme
is run away with fifty thousand Livres, which he had in his Hands, and which he was to distribute among the
Irish.
They think he may be gone for
England,
since he cannot be safe in any other Place. If I learn any Thing of him you shall hear from me: nevertheless it may not be improper to make some Inquiry after him; and you will find by my former Accounts where his Acquaintance live in
London.
I was Yesterday at
Versailles,
where I made a Compliment to the King and the rest of the Court, it being New-Years Day. I dined with Monsieur
de Boufflers.
I find them all very civil; but how long it will last you can best judge. I wonder my Servant has not been with you: the Buck-Season must make it up. We want two Posts, having had no Letters since the 31st of
December
last. I am,
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
Whitehall,
Jan. 18, 1700.
My Lord,
WE have this Morning two Posts from
France,
of the 20th and 23d. My Lord
Jersey
commands me to acknowledge your Letter to him; and to tell you, that the House of Lords sitting so late, and he being obliged, after its rising, to go to
Kensington,
is the Reason why he does not write to you. You will see, by the Inclosed, what a Day's Work has been performed in the House of Commons; the
Irish
Grants to be reassumed, and not even the third Part of them to be reserved to the King; and the Ministry, some of our Friends particularly, meaned and aimed at in the latter Part of their Vote. This all comes like a Torrent; and the few who would, cannot. In the House of Lords, the King is a little more civilly used. As to the Business of
Darien,
his Majesty is at least justified in his Letters to the Governors of the Plantations. Thus we are, my good Lord, scrambling, and doing our best on one Side against the other, who are very troublesome, not to say dangerous.
We hear of the Complaints you make from Monsieur
de Tallard,
and prepare to redress them as well as we can. As to the Persons mentioned in your Letter, Care will be taken.
The King has not yet seen Lord
Bazil,
or any Address from him. I do not hear that this Lord's Countrymen are quieter: I know not how far your House's Resolution of to Day will go towards calming them. I am ever,
&c.
M. PRIOR.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
Extract.
Whitehall,
Jan. 5, O.S.
My Lord,
I Do not find the King willing to be at a great Expence about the
Personne dont il s'agit,
The Person who is to serve us.
without having some Assurance of the Service he can do. Mr.
Prior
has been ill, which is the Reason I have not been able to know of him in what this Person can be most useful. I desire your Lordship will, in the mean Time, keep this Matter on foot, and let me know your Opinion as to the Expence and Advantage we may have by it,
&c.
JERSEY.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
Whitehall,
Feb. 20, O.S.
My Lord,
MY Lord
Jersey
gives me in Charge to own the Receipt of your Letters, of the 16th and 17th, the Substance of which my Lord will lay before his Majesty the first Opportunity.
If you hear no more of the great Affair, it is because nothing is transacted in it farther than when your Excellency was last advised of it; consequently
Roger
is not yet dispatched.
I must congratulate your Happiness, that you are out of this Noise and Tumult, where we are tearing and destroying every Man his Neighbour. To-Morrow is the great Day when we expect that my Lord Chancellor
Somers.
will be fallen upon, though God knows what Crime he is guilty of, but that of being a very great Man, and a wise and upright Judge. Lord
Bellemont,
you will read in the Votes, was fallen upon to-Day; thus every Day a Minister, till at last we reach the King. By next Post I shall, I presume be able to write to you what relates to Matters on your Side: I am heartily tired with them on our Side. I am,
&c.
M. PRIOR.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
Whitehall,
Feb. 22, O.S.
My Lord,
I Have no particular Commands from your Lordship, so can only acknowledge the Receipt of the
French
Letters of the 24th and 27th. The great Affair was transacted this Morning, though I believe Count
Tallard
will not be able to send his Express away these two or three Days. My Lord
Jersey
still keeps his Bed, his Gout had a Fever which accompanied it; but God be thanked both those Distempers abate, and I hope by next Post he will tell you so in his own Hand. In the mean Time, we take what Care we can about the Contents of your last Letter to my Lord; though God knows all the Care we take signifies little, considering how we are restrained as to the taking any Body, though the Informations given make it highly necessary for the public Good: but you know
England
well enough in this Point my Lord.
The Speaker's Illness gives the House of Commons Leave to play till
Monday.
The Address they presented Yesterday to the King, he answered very civilly, but smartly: I have not yet the Words, but shall send them with the first. The Sense was, That he was sensible the Nation lay under great Taxes; that he had and would contribute to the easing them by every Way which was just; that he thought he had the Power of gratifying some who had been actually in the Reduction of
Ireland,
out of what was his.
I had written your Lordship a long politic Letter, for I thought that
Roger
would have been dispatched to you; but since there are no Particularities in the Affair I have spoke of, I have sent Word to Mr.
Woolaston,
that
Roger
may stay to go over with the Midwife for my Lady:
Quod felix faustum
que
sit,
&c.
If I might speak my particular Sentiments concerning
la Personne dont il s'agit,
I would have him well sifted and tried if he means to act in Earnest, and is really disposed to the Thing; otherwise we may be bantered, to say no worse of it: but this is only to yourself, my Lord, and from him who is eternally, with great Respect,
&c.
M. PRIOR.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
April 1, 1700. O.S.
My Lord,
FOr above these two Months passed I have not had an Opportunity of sending over a
Horace,
which we printed at
Cambridge,
and which my Lord Duke of
Somerset,
our Chancellor, presents to the King of
France
's Library, with a Letter which his Grace writes on that Subject to the Abbé
de Louvois:
but I have at last sent them by a Footman who quitted my Service. The Book and Letter will be, or are already, delivered to Mr.
Stanyan,
and the Favour we beg of your Excellency is, that you would honour this Book with a Word, by which the Court of
France,
and particularly the Archbishop of
Rheims
and Abbé
Louvois
may take Notice, that the University of
Cambridge
would establish a fair Correspondence with the Learned on your Side. By next Post, I shall write something to the
Soubibliothecaire,
Under-Librarian.
Monsieur
Clermont,
concerning the
Greek
Cyphers we would buy of them: in this I must likewise desire your Lordship's Good Offices, since without your appearing concerned in it we shall hardly make our Matters bear as we desire. Monsieur
Vrybergen
came on
Friday.
I have not yet seen him, I am
&c.
M. PRIOR.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
Whitehall,
April 10, 1700, O.S.
My Lord,
HAving written for my Master, I have very little to add for myself; except that I am very glad my Lord
Mandeville
is come to Town, and hope he will stay long with us. I am glad he is born at
Paris,
for had he been born here, he would have liked living among us so little, that I question whether he would have thought it worth his while to have Sucked. The Votes of to Day pretty well explain what I mean. God knows how the Business will turn, or where this Violence of the House of Commons will end. The Lords seem as yet to adhere to their Point: On
Wednesday
we expect the Issue of all this.
Seymour
Sir
Edward Seymour.
plainly said to Day, That the Original of all this proceeded from the Ministers, and from the chief of them, the Chancellor. Many other angry Sayings of this Kind have been vented; and in the Heat of this Hurry
Kidd
is arrived, and sent up for, with his Papers, by an Order from the Admiralty. Our Friend
Late Earl of
Halifax.
has said nothing of late in the House of Commons. My Lord Chancellor is very sick. This is the
Abbregé
of our Case, I think no very good one. I am going to
Kensington
the Moment after I have told you that I am,
&c.
M. PRIOR.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
Whitehall,
April 11, 1700, O.S.
My Lord,
OUR long Session is this Day, God be thanked, finished; the
Irish
Grants resumed, and the Commons satisfied, at least for some Time. Yesterday was indeed a great Crisis, from the Morning, when it was doubtful if the Lords would adhere to their Amendments or no; the Commons fell directly upon Impeaching. The Persons they named were my Lords
Portland
and
Albemarle,
the Articles upon which they were going, for procuring for themselves exorbitant Grants. In this State the Affair lasted till after the second Conference with the Lords; and immediately upon the Managers returning from the Conference, the House, though they thought the Lords would recede, locked themselves up till ten at Night, of which you see the good Effects in the Votes. They threw Fire about at every Body, had a great Mind to fling at our Friend
Charles;
Late Earl of
Halifax.
you see what they would have done to my Lord Chancellor, and how Duke
Schomberg
and Lord
Portland
suffer in their Address, that Strangers shall not be Privy-Counsellors. God knows whither this Heat would have gone, if it had not been timely dispatched by every Body's striving to come in, so this Bill passed: Upon the Main, we have Life for six Months longer, and
alors comme alors.
Then as before.
The Affair upon which I came into
France,
will be quite ended to Night. Your Lordship will pretend, in any Discourse you may have on that Subject, to think it was quite ended three Weeks since, or at least, that you heard nothing to the contrary. I hope my Lord
Mandeville
is well, and his beautiful Mother, whom the
French
Ladies will talk to Death, unless you get your Doors locked up, like those of the House of Commons.
My Lord
The Earl of
Jersey.
commands me to acknowledge yours of the 17th, and says, the perpetual Hurry in which we have been must serve for a Reason that, as yet he has not spoke to the King to be your Gossip: But this, my Lord says is a Favour which he doubts not but the King will grant, and he will tell you so himself next Post. I am,
&c.
M. PRIOR.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
Whitehall,
April 18, 1700, O.S.
My Lord,
OUR Parliament Affairs being at length finished, we have a little Time to think of our private Devoirs. I must therefore beg your Excellency (if you have not done it already) to give the
Horace,
and the Duke of
Somerset
's Letter, to
Abbé de Louvois,
making the Archbishop of
Rheims
acquainted with the Duke's Present, and the Desire we have to correspond with the Learned at
Paris.
I have written to Mr.
Clement
what the University desires, as to the procuring us some
Greek
Types. If your Excellency expends the Money, and are pleased to draw upon me, I will answer the Bills: I should be glad they could be got ready soon. I should not dare to trouble your Excellency, but that your Protection to the University is absolutely necessary in this Occasion.
His Majesty goes to Morrow to
Hampton-Court,
and will stay there, we say, these six Weeks. At the End of a Session of Parliament, you know, we always talk of a Change in the Ministry. We do so at present, but upon what Ground I know not. I am,
&c.
M. PRIOR.
To Mr. PRIOR.
Paris,
May 5, 1700.
SIR,
THe Court being at
Marly,
Monsieur
de Torcy
will not be in Town till to morrow; so I must make my Excuse to my Lord
Jersey
by you, for my not writing. My Wife lays all the Fault on you, that we have not yet heard, if we may give the Little-one the King's Name, and I dare not venture without knowing that positively: so that, at present, you are a little out of Favour, and will be so, unless we hear by the next Letters.
I shall do all I can to serve the University, and shall take Care about the
Horace,
when I have it. Mr.
Stanyan
will acquaint you how that Matter stands, and how this Book is seized at
Diepe.
I have not seen the Archbishop of
Rheims
for some Time, and I believe he is gone to his Diocese.
Several of the Great Men here will dine with me to-morrow, and among them the Mareschal
de Villeroy.
He will certainly ask after you, as he often does: The little Hopes our Friends at
St. Germains
have left, is in
Scotland,
and if that fails, all Things will be quiet till the next Meeting of the Parliament. I think instead of a Change in the Ministers, we should have a new Parliament. that would be more for the King's Service. Not much Good can be expected from a last Session. We hear the King intends to go for
Holland
next Summer. When that is certain, pray let me know it, which will oblige,
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
Hampton-Court,
May 2, 1700, O.S.
My Lord,
I Am to acknowledge the Receipt of your Letter of the 8th. I do not believe, there will be Occasion for
Roger
's Stay. As the Affairs of Sir
William,
&c. has gone through the Hands of the Church, so it is convenient that it should so continue: and as to the great Affair, I shall take Care to manage it as you have already done, in Relation to that Person's knowing it. whom you mention in your Letter. The Thing itself cannot, I think, in its own Nature, be long a Secret: God only knows what Effect it may have when it comes out, so strange a People are we, and so resolved not to be pleased with any Thing. I shall be able, in a Post or two, to send
Brocard
some Money, out of which your Excellency will repay yourself what you have expended, before you give or order him the rest: I believe, there is no great Matter to be known; but such as it is, he must be encouraged.
I have only in Charge, from my Lord
Jersey,
to own the Receipt of yours of the 8th, and to tell your Lordship, that he will answer you by sending away your Express with the first Opportunity. My Lord Chief-Justice
Holt
having been here to-day, and with the King in private, has given People Occasion to say, that he has refused the Seals: if it be so, or not, I cannot say; but as yet the Seals are not disposed of. The King, God be thanked, is well, which is all the News I can send you from this Place. I dined to-day with Mr.
Montague
here, and drank my Lord
Manchester
's Health. I am,
&c.
M. PRIOR.
To Mr. PRIOR.
Paris,
June 30, 1700.
SIR,
I Do not write by this Post to my Lord
Jersey,
because Mr.
Stanyan
intends to set out on
Friday
next, and by him I will let his Lordship know what occurs.
I find by yours, of the 13th Instant, O.S. that there are not to be any Changes. By this I see the Town follows its old Custom of placing and displacing several. As for my own particular, I shall never like
France
so well as not to wish to be at Home. You know the
French
very well, and I believe you find the Diversions at
Hampton-Court,
where I hear you are often, more to your Satisfaction than any Thing here.
The News we have at present is, that the Pope has made a Promotion for the Crowns,
viz.
the Archbishop of
Paris
(who was Yesterday at
Versailles
to thank the King) for
France;
the Bishop of
Passaro,
for the Emperor; and
Borgia,
a Canon of
Toledo,
for
Spain.
There are still two
in Petto.
We have sometimes Reports here of the King's being indisposed; but I hope it is not true, I am,
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To Mr. PRIOR.
Paris,
July 10, 1700.
SIR,
I Was very sorry to hear my Lord
Jersey
had quitted the Office, and much more so because you also leave it. I suppose you have long foreseen this, and cannot but have taken Care of yourself, being upon the Place: for you often said, Men were forgot when abroad. The Hopes you give, that I am to correspond with Mr.
Vernon,
makes me more easy than I should have been.
The Embassador of
Savoy
was with me, to let me know, that the Duke his Master had ordered Monsieur
de la Tour,
who was formerly his Envoy in
England,
to return thither with the same Character. This will cause a great Discourse, because he was his chief Minister: but the Reason why he comes is not hard to guess. I was in Hopes to have heard something concerning Sir,
&c.
whose Letter I sent lately to
England.
As soon as I hear from my Lord
Jersey,
I shall not fail to congratulate with him, I am
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
Whitehall,
Dec. 10, 1700, O.S.
My Lord,
I Am indebted to my good Lord
Manchester
for two or three Letters; and it would be unreasonable, if I did not take the Opportunity of Mr.
Chetwynd
's Return, to tell your Lordship what I know of the State of Things here. That we shall have a new Parliament is, I think, certain; at least as far as I can see into the Matter. What Sort of Parliament it may prove, I cannot any Ways foresee; but sure there never was so much Work, as at present, in securing Parties and bribing Elections. Whig and Tory are railing, on both Sides, so violent, that the Government may easily be over-turned by the Madness of either Faction. We take it to be our Play to do nothing against common Sense or common Law, and to be for those who will support the Crown, rather than oblige their Party; and in order to this, Men are preferred who are looked upon to be honest and moderate. In this Number (whether with Reason or not, Time must decide) we comprehend our Lord-Keeper and our new Secretary. Lord
Rochester
and Lord
Godolphin
are in the Cabinet-Council; the latter is at the Head of the Treasury; the former (we take it for granted) is to go Lord-Lieutenant of
Ireland,
though it be yet a Secret. The two Companies are to be brought to an Agreement. (if possible) and Mr.
Montague
's being made a Peer (we take for granted) may contribute to this Union, since, being in the House of Commons, he would make an ill Figure, if he either declined to support the new, or should find too great an Opposition in his endeavouring so to do. As to the Great Affair, I presume the King will wholly defer it to the Parliament, and act conjointly with their Consent, which I take to be the only Method. All that I can say more on this Head is, that I take it to be happy for the King, that the Will is preferred, by the
French,
at a Time when every Body was peevish against the Court (though with Reason God knows) about the Treaty. Count
Tallard
makes a foolish Figure here: I do not know, as yet, what he says to the King on this Occasion; but every Body observes his Excellency to be very melancholy and desponding, and one may judge he has Reason to be so, as to his own Particular, concerning the Part he has been made to act, however his Country in general may approve their Monarch's Breach of Truth and Treaty. This I think is the present Figure of our Affairs, which I am glad to write to so good a Friend as my Lord
Manchester,
though to most of the World here, I am of Opinion that to say least is to do best. Your Friend my Lord
Jersey
grows very much a Minister, and is in a fair Way of being very great. As to my own Affairs, I have a great many Friends who would set me up at
Cambridge:
I know I shall find great Opposition from Mr.
Hammond
's Party there, and great Trouble, in case I should throw him out, from those Men, who will never be satisfied, let me act as I will or can. If your Lordship thinks it convenient, I know you will not refuse me your Letter to the University. My Lord
Sandwich
is gone to
Hinchinbrook,
I hear, in order to set up
Charles Boyle
against Mr.
Wortley Montague
's Interest at
Huntington: Vive la Guerre,
whosoever is chosen or cast out, or on what Side soever Things turn. I am, most truly, &c.
M. PRIOR.
P.S.
Though I am no longer in a Secretary's Office, Venison would not poison a Commissioner of Commerce, and Does are now in Season; which may be useful to inform Mr.
Woolaston
when next your Lordship writes to him.
N.B.
It has been thought proper to accompany Mr. PRIOR's
Negociations
with the following Letter of the Immortal King WILLIAM III. as the Basis upon which they were founded.
His Majesty's Letter to Lord SOMERS.
Loo,
Aug. 15, 1698.
I Imparted to you before I left
England
that in
F.
France.
there was expressed to my Lord
P.
Portland.
some Insinuation to come to an Agreement with us, concerning the Succession of the King of
Sp.
Spain.
Since which C.
Tall.
Count
Tallard.
has mentioned it to me, and has made Propositions, the Particulars of which my Lord
P.
will write to
Vernon,
to whom I have given Orders not to communicate them to any other besides yourself, and to leave to your Judgment whom else you should think proper to impart them; to the End that I might know your Opinion upon so important an Affair, and which requires the greatest Secrecy. If it be fit this Negociation should be carried on, there is no Time to be lost; and you must send me the full Powers, under the Great Seal, with the Names in blank, to treat with C.
Tall.
I believe this may be done secretly, that none but you and
Vernon,
and those to whom you shall have communicated it, may have Knowledge of it: so that the Clerks who are to write the Warrant, and the full Powers, may not know what it is. According to all Intelligence, the King of
Sp.
cannot out-live the Month of
October,
and the least Accident may carry him off every Day. I received your Letter of the 9th. Since my Lord
Wharton
cannot at this Time leave
England,
I must think of some other to send Embassador into
Sp.
If you can think of any one proper, let me know it, and be always assured of my Friendship.
W.R.
His Lordship's ANSWER.
Tunbridge-Wells,
Aug. 28, 1698.
HAving your Majesty's Permission to try if the Waters would contribute to the Re-establishment of my Health, I was just got to this Place when I had the Honour of your Commands. I thought the best Way of executing them would be to communicate to my Lord
Orf.
Mr.
Mont.
and the D. of
Shrew.
(who before I left
London
had agreed upon a Meeting about that Time) the Subject of my Lord
P
's Letters, at the same Time letting them know how strictly Your Majesty required, that it should remain an inviolable Secret.
Since them Mr. M. and my Secretary are come down hither; and, upon their whole Discourse, three Things have principally occurred, and are humbly suggested to your Majesty.
1. That the entertaining a Proposal of this Nature seems to be attended with very many ill Consequences, if the
F.
did not act a sincere Part. But we were soon at Ease as to any Apprehension of this Sort; being fully assured Your Majesty would not act but with the utmost Nicety in an Affair wherein the Glory, and the Safety of
Europe
were so highly concerned.
2. The second Thing considered was, the very ill Prospect of what was like to happen upon the Death of the King of
Sp.
in Case nothing was done, previously, towards the providing against that Accident, which seemed probably to be very near; the King of
F.
having so great a Force, in such a Readiness, that he was in a Condition to take Possession of
Sp.
before any other Prince could be ready to make a Stand. Your Majesty is the best Judge, whether this be the Case, who are so perfectly informed of the Circumstances of Parts abroad. But so far as relates to
England,
it would be Want of Duty not to give Your Majesty this clear Account, That there is a Deadness and Want of Spirit in the Nation universally, so as not at all to be disposed to the Thought of entering into a new War, and that they seemed to be tired out with Taxes, to a Degree beyond what discerned, till it appeared upon the Occasion of the late Elections. This is the Truth of the Fact, upon which Your Majesty will determine what Resolutions are proper to be taken.
3. That which remained was, the Consideration what would be the Condition of
Europe,
if the Proposal took Place. Of this we thought ourselves little capable of judging: But it seemed, that if
Sicily
was in the Hands of the
F.
they would be entirely Masters of the
Levant
Trade; that if they were possessed of
Final,
and those Ports on that Side, whereby
Milan
would be intirely shut out from Relief or any other Commerce, that Duchy would be of little Signification in the Hands of any Prince; and that if the King of
F.
was in Possession of any Part of
Guipuscoa,
which is mentioned in the Proposal, besides the Ports he would have in the Ocean, it does seem he would have as easy a Way of invading
Sp.
on that Side, as he now has on the Side of
Catalonia.
But it is not to be hoped, that
F.
will quit its Pretences to so great a Succession, without considerable Advantages; and we are all assured your Majesty will reduce the Terms as low as can be done, and make them as far as is possible in the present Circumstances of Things, such as may be some Foundation of the future Quiet of the Kingdom; which all your Subjects cannot but be convinced is your true Aim. If it could be brought to pass, that
England
might be some Way a Gainer by this Transaction, whether it was by the Elector of
Bavaria
(who is the Gainer by your Majesty's Interposition in this Treaty) his coming to an Agreement to let us have some Trade to the
Spanish
Plantations, or in any other Manner, it would wonderfully indear your Majesty to your
English
Subjects.
It does not appear, in Case this Negociation should proceed, what is to be done on your Part, in Order to make it take Place; whether any more be required than that the
English
and
Dutch
sit still, and
F.
itself is to see it executed; and if that be so, what Security ought to be expected, that, if our being nearer the
French
be successful, they will confine themselves to the Terms of the Treaty, and not attempt to make farther Advantages of their Success.
I have put the Seal to the Commission, without expecting the Return of the Warrant. The Commission is written by Mr. Secretary, and no Creature has the least Knowledge of any Thing, besides the Persons already named. I pray God give your Majesty Honour and Success in all your Undertakings.
I am, with the utmost Duty and Respect, SIR,
Your MAJESTY's Most Dutiful and most obedient Subject and Servant, SOMERS.
Mr. Secretary ADDISON's
Negociations
being at the same Period with those of Mr. Secretary
Harley;
we have thought proper to subjoin them.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER.
Whitehall,
March 7/18, 1707.
My Lord,
I Am very sorry the ill State of my Health rendered me so unfortunate as not to find your Lordship at your own House, and that I was not in a Condition to receive your Excellency, when you did me the Honour to call at mine, before you left the Town. I thought I should not have had Occasion to give you any Trouble so soon, more than to wish your Excellency a happy and prosperous Journey: but this Morning, Monsieur
Vryberge,
the Envoy of the States-General, delivered a Memorial to her Majesty, a Copy whereof the Queen has commanded me to transmit to your Excellency, that you may see the Opinion of the States upon that Affair in
Italy,
in which her Majesty does intirely concur: And therefore you will please, both at
Vienna,
and all other Places where you shall think it necessary, to express her Majesty's Sentiments upon that Affair, and do your utmost to prevent any Alteration of the Project which has been agreed with Prince
Eugene
for carrying the War into
France,
under Pretence of taking
Naples
and
Sicily;
which are Views no Ways to be brought into Comparison with the other Design. I am, with the greatest Respect,
&c.
RO. HARLEY.
To Mr. Secretary HARLEY.
Hague,
March 25, 1707.
SIR,
LAst Night I came to this Place, where I received the Favour of yours, of the 18th Instant, with a Copy of the Memorial of Monsieur
Vryberge.
I have since waited on the Pensionary, to acquaint him that her Majesty did intirely concur with the States-General in that Affair, and that I had Orders to use what Diligence I could for
Vienna,
in Order to prevent any Alteration of the Project, concerted with the Duke of
Savoy,
for carrying the War into
France,
on that Side. I found, by the Advices he had received from
Vienna,
that he is apprehensive that the Imperial Court may have a particular View towards
Naples,
which is certain will be of fatal Consequence. Besides, the Manner of evacuating all the Places by the
French
Troops in
Italy,
without the least Notice of it, either to the Queen or to the States-General, gives them some Reasons to mistrust the Intentions of that Court. He tells me, that they have received an Answer from Monsieur
Amelot,
and that the Elector
Palatine
will order the Recruits he is to send for
Italy.
I hope I shall be able to set out for
Dusseldorp
in a few Days, and then nothing will, I hope, prevent my being soon at
Vienna,
where I shall execute her Majesty's Commands, to the utmost of my Power. I shall continue to send you an Account how I proceed, as often as I can. I am,
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To Mr. Secretary HARLEY.
Frankfort,
April 10, 1707.
SIR,
I Had not Time to write to you from
Dusseldorp,
neither was their any Thing material that required Haste. I came thither on the 4th, about Noon; and I had an Audience of the Elector this Evening: where, after a Compliment in the Name of her Majesty, I acquainted him with my Orders, in Relation to his Interests at the Court of
Vienna;
and that the Queen's Minister, who was going to reside there, would have the same Instructions. He expressed a very great Sense of her Majesty's Goodness to him, and he did enter into the whole Matter of his Right to the
Upper-Palatinate,
with some Warmth, complaining of the Usage of that Court. He mentioned, besides his several Titles, also a Treaty between the late Emperor and him, wherein it is agreed, that he shall be put in Possession: which is since renewed by the present Emperor. I told him, it was of the last Importance, that his Troops in
Italy
should be immediately recruited; that her Majesty did not doubt but he had put it in such a Method as that I might find them so at my Arrival in
Italy.
I must confess that I very much fear it, though I am persuaded he will do all that is possible, for he seemed not to disguise the Difficulties he was under; as that his Officers were but lately arrived from
Italy,
and that the last Accounts he had, were that his Troops were at the Blockade of
Cremona;
that he was buying a Battalion at
Onspach,
and that nothing should be wanting that was in his Power to do. As to the Affair on the
Upper-Rhine,
he says, there will be an Army of 60,000 Men; that the Emperor will make his 12,000; the
Circles
have agreed on 20,000. This, with the Rest who are there, and will be there, makes up the Number: That there was also Care taken for a sufficient Quantity of Ammunition,
&c.
His two chief Ministers were to see me, and I did find them agree in every Thing the Elector had told me. I did press them also about the Recruits in
Italy.
The next Day I had an Audience of the Electoress, and in the Evening I took Leave of both them. I need not mention the Expressions they both made Use of in Relation to her Majesty, and how great a Sense they should ever have of it. The Electoress recommended to me the Interest of their House, and also that of
Florence.
I found by the Elector, that the Great Duke had agreed to pay 100,000 Pistoles; but that the
Imperial
Court insisted on 300,000, which he thought very extravagant, and which they seemed to own at
Vienna,
but that they thought it just, since he contributed, and was one of the chief Instruments in procuring the Will in Favour of the Duke of
Anjou.
That they threatened to send Troops thither, as also to
Genoua,
in Case they would not pay what was demanded. I cannot tell what may be the Consequence, in Case the
Imperial
Court should carry this Matter too far. But if these Sums are actually employed in carrying on the War in
Italy,
we have no great Reason to complain. The Elector of
Mayence
being at
Bamberg
I shall not wait on him, but to-morrow I shall set out for
Vienna,
where I shall certainly be in ten Days. I suppose the Wind has been contrary, for I have received no Letters, nor shall I now till I come to
Vienna,
where I shall pursue my Instructions, and acquaint you how I find Matters there. I am,
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To Mr. Secretary HARLEY.
Vienna,
April 25, 1707.
SIR,
I Arrived here on the 21st, and had been here sooner, had I not met with contrary Winds on the
Danube;
though I find it would have been much the same Thing; for this Week every one is in Devotion. I have nevertheless seen Monsieur
Zinzendorf,
and Monsieur
Wratislaw,
and did not fail to take the first Opportunity to shew them the ill Consequence to the intended Design of prosecuting the War into
France,
should they first undertake that of
Naples;
and I did acquaint them with the Orders I had received from her Majesty. As for Count
Zinzendorf,
he was not so positive as the latter; but they both agreed in this; that it would not in the least prejudice that Undertaking: for, since the
French
were intirely out of
Italy,
there were Troops sufficient for both: that Prince
Eugene
was to stay, though his Presence would have been of very great Consequence: that they had given their Reasons to Monsieur
Dopf,
which they hoped would satisfy her Majesty, as also the States-General. I had a great Deal of Discourse on that Subject, with the latter, who I fear has no great Opinion of the Project, concerted with the Duke of
Savoy.
When I pressed that Matter, he did say, that, by the grand Alliance, that of
Naples
was first to be undertaken, and that the Emperor was not able to sustain this War with some Assistance of that Nature: that every Thing was ready here, and they had Reason to believe they should succeed with a small Number of Troops. I do not doubt but her Majesty is already informed of the Reasons they alledge, and I cannot but think, though they do not positively own it, that the Orders are already gone to
Italy.
I have not as yet seen the Prince of
Salms,
he being indisposed. I believe I shall have my Audience of the Emperor in a few Days. I fear the Duke of
Marlborough
is still in
England,
for there are now three Posts wanting here. I have received none from
England
since I left the
Hague.
I hope by the next Post to give you a farther Account, and I am,
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To Mr. Secretary HARLEY.
Vienna,
April 30, 1707.
SIR,
BY the last Post I acquainted my Lord
Sunderland
with my Proceedings here; and I have every little to add. The Emperor returns from
Luxenburg
to-day, and I suppose I shall have my Audience of the Empress to-morrow. That of the Empress Dowager is over. Here are no Letters yet from
England,
so that I continue, as often as I see the Ministers, to persuade them to lay aside the Expedition to
Naples,
which I believe they will do, unless it be approved of by her Majesty. What makes them more zealous in that Matter is, the Apprehension that, in
Holland,
they might be brought to consent to the dismembering it from the
Spanish
Monarchy; and if once they are in Possession of it,
England
will never consent to it. They flatter themselves that, upon their appearing, the People will declare. As to the intended Expedition into
France,
it is certain that this Court has sent the Recruits they promised, as also the Mounting for their Horse. They also assure me, that they are doing what is necessary in Relation to their Magazines: but I am confident that, in this, they will fall short; and I can easily perceive, that their Meaning is only till their Troops can enter into
France,
and then they must subsist themselves, or we must do it; which I find is the true Reason which makes them say, that of
Provence
is most practicable, because, as I suppose, they think they can be subsisted by our Fleet. They assure me, that what is agreed on will be performed. They wait, with a great Deal of Impatience the Success of the Duke of
Marlborough.
Count
Piper
did deliver a Memorial to the Emperor's Ministers, in Relation to the Battalion of
Muscovites,
in such Terms that he could not receive it. They did afterwards make some Alterations, but in Substance it is the same. You will soon see the true Intentions of this Court, in Relation to the Malecontents; for they have seemed of late to desire an Accommodation; but it was on such Terms that they might easily judge were impossible. So that Matter is at an End, and they have procured a Bull, from the Pope, for the excommunicating of Prince
Rogotzky,
and the Rest of the considerable Men of the Catholics. Whether it goes so far as to all who adhere to them, I cannot tell. This is at present a Secret, but I suppose it will soon be otherwise, if they intend it shall have any Effect. I should imagine that they will not find their Account in it. It may be the Means to exasperate them, and it may possibly induce them to quit that Religion.
I am doing all I can in the Affair of the Duke of
Savoy:
I hope I shall soon bring it to some Conclusion. I wait to see what Orders I shall receive, for I believe there are some to come which do not please this Court. After that I shall go to
Turin.
I find they intend to send Count
Galas
for the
Hague,
and Count
Questenberg
for
England.
This is what Monsieur
Galas
does not like, and his Gentleman of the Horse is come here on that Account. I have seen him who is intended for
England,
and he seems to own it. I am,
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To the Earl of MANCHESTER
May 6/13, 1707.
My Lord,
I Received this Morning the Honour of your Excellency's Letter of
April
30. I am heartily glad your Excellency has had so much Success as to shake that Court from their speculative Expedition against
Naples:
but I am very sorry, that the Misfortune of our Army in
Spain
is an irresistible Argument to lay aside wholly that Project. The Accounts we have of this Disaster are only got from
France;
yet they bring too many Marks of Truth not to be credited, so far as that we have received a very great Loss there. The Queen has done all that is possible on the sudden Event; and, in this great Uncertainty, Orders are gone, this Night, to encourage the King of
Portugal
to keep firm to the Alliance, and likewise to
Holland,
to consult with them the best Way to recover the Blow: But all this will be to no Purpose, unless the Emperor will exert himself on this Occasion, not only to lay aside the Expedition to
Naples,
to push vigorously into
France,
but also to act offensively upon the
Rhine.
These are Points which the Queen hath so much at Heart, that her Majesty hath written to the Emperor, with her own Hand. It follows this which I inclose herewith to your Excellency, that you may please to deliver it with all possible Speed, and that you may be the better apprized of it. I inclose also a Copy for your own Perusal. Your Excellency will inforce it with such Arguments as you will find, according to your own Sagacity, may best incline H. I. M.
Her Imperial Majesty.
to comply with so reasonable a Desire; and you will be pleased also to press the Emperor to send his Brother, the King of
Spain,
some Troops; without that, it will be hard for her Majesty to prevail with the States-General to join with her in sending more Troops. I hope my Lord
Rivers
will be prevailed with to return immediately to
Spain:
It would be a very ill Return, if her Majesty's Zeal should occasion a Coldness in the Court of
Vienna.
I am, with the greatest Respect,
&c.
RO. HARLEY.
Her MAJESTY's Letter to the EMPEROR. From the
French.
SIR, my BROTHER,
THE Advantage, which the Enemy has now obtained in
Spain,
might have such dismal Consequences, that I could not forbear to tell you that it is of the utmost Importance, that all your Troops which are in
Italy
should be employed to make an Invasion into
France,
and that, at the same Time, the Army in the Empire should act with Vigour on the
Rhine. Spain
is so far from the Countries in which my Troops and those of the States-General are, that there is no Remedy so quick, nor so powerful, as that of making this Invasion. Your Majesty is too well informed, to amuse yourself with a little Expedition, for some Member or Dependency of that Kingdom, when the noble and principal Parts of the Monarchy in Question, the Honour and Welfare of my Brother, the
Catholick
King, are concerned. I promise myself therefore, from your Prudence, that you will think only on the Re-establishment of the Affairs of that Prince, by obliging his Enemies to recall their Troops for the Defence of their own Dominions. I am,
Your MAJESTY's Most Affectionate Sister, ANNE R.
Kensington,
May 6, 1707.
To Mr. Secretary HARLEY.
Vienna,
May 18, 1707.
SIR,
I Have taken my Leave of this Court, and have but this Day obtained the Answer in Relation to the Duke of
Savoy.
I have had a good Deal of Difficulty to bring them to this, which is far short of what the Ministers of the Duke of
Savoy
in
England
expected. It is certain that their Intention here is, to delay all the farther Execution of the Treaty till after the Peace, and I suppose I shall find his R.H. not in the least satisfied. I have not been wanting to press this Matter, and I have been here a Month. Tomorrow I set out for
Turin.
They do assure me I shall find every Thing ready for the Expedition of
France.
The Detachment for
Naples
is now advanced to
Bologna,
and in about a Month more they will be in the Kingdom of
Naples.
They think themselves sure of Success. I have inclosed the Emperor's recredential Letter, and have nothing farther to add, but that I am,
&c.
MANCHESTER.
To Mr. Secretary HARLEY.
Turin,
June 8, 1707.
SIR,
I Received here the Honour of yours of the 6/13 of
May,
with her Majesty's Letter to the Emperor. I do find they had at
Vienna
the Notice of our Misfortune in
Spain
on the 18th, which was the Day before I left that Pla
, by an Express from Prince
Eugene,
which they did not think fit to communicate to me, and that, at the same Time, Mr.
Chetwynd
had given me an Account of that Matter, and directed it to the
Dutch
Envoy, in Case I was gone; which Letter that Envoy received some Time after by the Post. I am sensible that, had I stayed, there was no Possibility of stopping the Detachment for
Naples;
for they have since sent a positive Order to Prince
Eugene,
and threatened him if they did not proceed. What they alledge since is, that our Fleet being not come, they may be imbarked as well from thence, in Case it is thought proper; but, I fear, the Court of
Vienna
will not be very ready to send any of their Troops to
Spain.
I have inclosed her Majesty's Letter; and I do not doubt but Sir
Philip Meadows,
who I understand is on his Way to
Vienna,
will have the necessary Orders. I am,
&c.
MANCHESTER.
N.B.
We are obliged to break off our Political Correspondence, till the Publication of our Third Volume, by Reason several valuable Letters of Mr.
Prior,
Mr. Secretary
Harley,
and Mr. Secretary
Addison
are expected, as promised, from Abroad.
A
LETTER
of
ADVICE
to a
Young LADY,
who had married above herself, grew vain, and despis'd her Husband.
By the Rev. Dr. *****
Madam,
GIVE me Leave to speak my Mind to you a little; sure you will, because you know whatever I shall say, proceeds from my Value for you. Consider that a Surgeon must probe a Wound if he would make a perfect Cure; and give Pain to give Health. Would a Person in his Sences, whom I should save from drowning, by pulling him out by the Hair, quarrel with me for hurting him, when he is safe out of the Water; therefore say, down, down
Self,
and read what follows.
Christianity, common Humanity, and my Profession obliges me to do every Body all the real Service I can; but the Civility, the kind and friendly Welcome, which you have always received me with, does more particularly oblige me to do all I can to promote your Satisfaction; therefore let me put you in a Way to be easy in this World, and happy in the next. Don't imagine now that you are fated to be unhappy: There's no such Thing: God puts it in all our Powers to be happy; it is we make ourselves miserable: The Reason we don't find Happiness, is, that we seek it
without
us, and would rather bring Things to agree with our Humour, than suit our Humour to what happens. Let us do as
Mahomet
did, when he called to the Mountain to come to him, to shew a Miracle to his gaping Disciples, and the sullen Mountain did not stir: He said to them, with all the Chearfulness in the World, since the Mountain will not come to
Mahomet, Mahomet
shall go to the Mountain; and so climbing up he pleased the People, and was perfectly satisfied himself. Since therefore Happiness is to be found only within, give me Leave to draw your Picture, by setting the Mirror of Truth before you; which if you view attentively, and without Partiality, you'll find your Happiness and lay hold of it: I don't mean your outward Form; or what fluttering Fellows call Roses, Lillies, Diamonds, Pearls, Balls of Snow, and Bowers of Bliss; should I attempt it I might do you as much Wrong as the Painter has done: I don't mean what may be seen or felt, but what may be heard or understood: Your Inside therefore is doubly, composed of
Soul
and
Self,
which God having made, united together like Man and Wife: Now they can never be parted from one another whilst Life continues, and yet they often jar by the Devil's subtle Arts, who continually endeavours to set them at Variance; in which when he succeeds he makes a Person miserable: But when
Soul
and
Self
go Hand in Hand,
Soul,
like a good Husband, by his strong Reason, governing with easy Sway, and
Self,
diffident of her own Strength, gladly submitting to be governed; how bless'd are both! Guardian Angels attend to protect them, and nothing from without can disturb their Happiness: But if
Soul
happens to be pusillanimous or tyrannical; or if
Self
gets it in her Head to wear the Breeches, then all the Guardian Angels leave
Self,
and the Devil sends Evil Genii to take Possession, and stir up all the Passions to become Tormentors of
Self,
which before that, were all her Servants very submissive and useful when
Soul
helped to keep them under. On the other Hand, the Evil Genii are so continually contending with harrassing
Soul
's Guardians, that they grow tired, and soon sleep, regardless of their Charge; then does Unhappiness fill the whole mortal Frame; then it is we feel all the Racks and Tortures possible; and if we are now and then easy, it is when we are in most Danger; it is then the black Genii have put on the Apparel of the sleeping Angel, and makes us mistake Evil for Good: This is my poor Friend's Case at present; but
Soul
has still Force enough left to overcome
Self,
and Reason to bring it to a right Temper, if we can but rouse
Soul
's Guardians to our Assistance, which we will do, by drawing
Self
's Picture as it is at present; but I am afraid you'll scarce know or own it, on Account of its Deformity: But if you do know it, and bring it to an
Examen,
a little Conversation with
Soul
will strangely mend it, and then Reason will make the Colours have a quite contrary Effect to Sir
Godfrey Kneller
's; for they will brighten and beautify by Time, and the Picture which was shocking will become the Admiration of all Beholders. I have been thus long before I begin to draw, to prepare you; and in Order to make you read with Patience, I promise you that
Soul
's Picture which follows after this, will please better.
First then,
Self
is plaguy forgetful▪ she does not remember that ever she was younger or handsomer; she does not remember that ever she was worse in Circumstances, and much unhappier than she is at present; she does not remember the Time when she was much less respected than she is at present; she does not remember that she was taught, and should believe, that Religion is the most useful Thing in Life; and I am afraid poor
Self
has forgot to say her Prayers.
Secondly, Self
is very vain and arrogant; for
Self
does not attribute her good Success to the Blessing and unbounded Mercy of Providence, but fancies that all is owing to Wit and Beauty, and a fine Voice; but to snow you how much
Self
is mistaken, tho' you may have these Qualities, remember, that the Captain is no Judge, and all is a Gift from Heaven: It is a Sign of too much Arrogance in
Self,
to let the World, and every new Acquaintance see, that she manages All, by too often exposing the Weakness of her Consort; for tho' some may praise that Spirit which conquers a Man, others will put wrong Constructions upon it, not only reflecting upon
Self's Choice,
which calls her Judgment in Question, but say hard Things, tho' very undeserved; and
Self
wont believe it without she hears it; however, when
Soul
gets the Management again,
Self
will only do it in Cases of Necessity, and before particular Friends.
Thirdly, Self
is very short-sighted, and a little Dust, called
Praise,
thrown into her Eyes, makes her quite blind; for otherwise she would not do the very same Thing she blames and dislikes in Others:
Self
will often swallow down a Heap of Flattery offer'd by Sneerers, drink Poison because sweeten'd with Honey, and believes the Givers to be sincere, tho' the next Moment they expose the Credulity of the Person who they here have been praising: If they call her a Goddess, she believes herself Divine, and expects to be worshipped; if the next that comes pays no Homage, but is more sincere, and gives Advice or Reproof, he is called an Enemy, or at least said to be very ill bred; and if any comes to mortify her with direct Contradiction, she could crush him to Atoms, and if she has no Power to hurt him, she will tear and pinch her own Flesh. Tho' it was ridiculous in
Teague
to say,
Arra Faith my Master, was my very good Friend and a Man of Sense, and I am a very honest Man;
and in somebody else to say,
Do you know what it is to affront one of
my Character, I am a S—;
yet if
Self
could remember, she often says the very same Things in other Words. But when
Soul
teaches,
Self,
even as a Dart thrown from an Enemy that wounds, may be made useful; if the Point be taken off, it will prove a good Walking-Cane to help
Self
to go upright.
Fourthly, Self
is very passionate, and therefore cannot bear to be controul'd; she thinks him an Enemy that does it in Earnest, and believes he can be no Friend that does it in Jest: She miscalls her Passions, not to part with them; Rage she calls High-Spirit and Courage; and filling in with her Humour, True Friendship; but she is a great Coward; tho' she can scratch and tear: If I mistake not,
Self
is terribly afraid of
Self,
and the Thoughts of being alone is a most uncomfortable Prospect: To have One that we can unbosom to without Reserve or Fear, may be called having a Friend; but it is not natural Friendship to have One that shall love where we love, and hate because we hate, without any Regard to the Unreasonableness of every Passion, or the Justice or Injustice of Affection and Resentment; this is by no Means to be called Friendship; it is only a Union of Interest; God forbid that should be called Friendship. Can Highwaymen be called Friends? Yet they do all this, they sing together, they kill together, they eat, drink, and whore together; but as they don't act upon Principle, upon the least Jar, or falling out, they hang one another. Friendship is a Virtue, and nothing of Crime can be consistent with it: Follies and Weaknesses we cannot be without in this L se; but a true Friendship is to pity and forgive, not to encourage them: It is having a Slave and fawning Parasite, not a Fri
nd, to have such a One as
Self
calls so: A True Friend will advise, and repro
▪ and condemn
Self
for the Sake of
Soul,
even to the Hazard of disobliging
Self:
A Friend must help us to curb our Passions, refuse Assistances in Things unjust, endeavour to engage Heaven in our Cause, when just, and never let us alone till we apply also to the Almighty Power, and make Him our common Friend: In a Word, Friendship is directed by Right Reason, and cannot consist without Christianity.
Fifthly, Self
is a great Fop and agreat Slattern:
Soul
has given her very good Cloaths, fine Ornaments, plain and neat, but
Self
either leaves them, like a Slut, in every Corner of the House; or when she puts them on, she does bedizen them with Lace and Embroidery, Fringes and Ruffles, Patches, and Powder, that you can hardly see enough of the Garment to distinguish the excellent Stuff which it is made of:
Soul
has given her a fine Gown, called
Good Humour,
whose Outside was a celestial Blue, called
Meekness,
Lin'd with a white Persian, called
Humility;
what does
Self,
but throws off the Outside, saying it was foolish Stuff, and tramples the Lining under Foot, so that one could scarce know it:
Soul
had given her a Stomacher, called
Sincerity,
and charg'd her to wear it only on
Sundays
and Holy-Days, and never to put it on without serpentine Lace, called
Discretion,
with a Charge to let other People discover it, and not do as Court Ladies commonly do by their Cloaths, that is, shew them to all their Acquaintance as soon as they get them; but the giddy Thing wears it every Day, loses her Lace, and, as Children do, cries every Moment, who see my fine Stomacher; so that it must be a discerning Eye that knows it to be genuine:
Soul
gives her a fine Snuff-Box, in the Shape of a Heart, full of plain
Spanish
Snuff;
Self
throws it out, and fills it with Gunpowder and Hellebore:
Soul
gives her a Censor full of Balm, called
Gratitude,
charging her to turn the Pipe of it upwards, and set it on Fire twice a Day, to make the Smoke of it rise up to Heaven; assuring her, that she would then find such a Fragrancy spread around, that would cure all Distempers of Mind, and ease all bodily Pain; but poor
Self
said there was too much Trouble in the Management of it; that she had forgot her Instructions, and the Book was too big that gave an Account of it; that there was indeed a Place where People met to use their Censors, but she had more Inclination to sleep, than manage her Censor, when she came there; and therefore thought it better to stay at Home: Since that,
Self
has never been rightly easy.
SOUL
's PICTURE in MINIATURE.
SOUL
is honest, generous, grateful, unwilling to do, but unwilling to bear Wrong; sincere and open, but wants Help to distinguisn and correct the Faults of
Self,
and has not enough been used to reason and reflect, which makes us sometimes mistake Right for Wrong; but let him put on Passions and Consideration, and once rouse his good Qualities, and
Self
will be reformed and re-united; the Angels will resume their Charge; Hell will be baffled, Heaven will rejoice, and Earth will honour and admire: If
Soul
will learn to forgive, he will learn to be easy; and such is the Pleasure of the Victory over
Self,
in that Case, that it is worth all the Pains, and none know but those who have felt it: It is of the Nature of Generosity, but far superior; without Forgiveness here, there is no Forgiveness in Heaven, with it there is endless Joy, and Humility is the Way to Exaltation here and hereafter: To become Good, consider how many you may see excel you in Goodness, on whom Heaven has not bestowed the Tenth Part of what you enjoy, to make yourself happy; nor can you murmur, when you consider how many, far more deserving than yourself, in every Respect, are infinitely more miserable than ever you was in your Life. I don't doubt but the good Sense you are Mistress of, will make you know, when you read, and consider what I have said; and I hope you will believe I wish you as well, and am as much Your Friend, as any one living.
I am, Madam, Your, &c.
30 July, 1723.
A KEY To the FIRST VOLUME of Mr. POPE's Literary Correspondence.
IN the Year 1727 Mr.
Curll
purchased a Collection of Mr.
Popes
's Letters to
Henry Cromwell,
Esq
written between the Years 1708, and 1711. These Letters Mr.
Pope
in his Remarks on the
Dunciad
BOOK II. Verse 66.
says, were procured by one Mrs.
Thomas,
while he was almost a Boy, which the Author was ashamed of as very trivial Things; full not only of Levities, but of wrong Judgments of Men and Books, and only excusable from the Youth and Inexperience of the Writer.
We desire the Reader to observe, That Mr.
Pope
being born on the 8th of
June
1688, and the last of his Letters to Mr.
Cromwell,
bearing Date
December
21 1711, proves Him to have been in the 23d Year of his Age. How inexperienced a Writer he was at that Time, we shall not determine, but in the Year 1728 Mr.
Pope
himself published some Letters, which he wrote to Mr.
Wycherley,
before he was 17 Years of Age: So that his Experience, like a Crab, goes backwards: Monstrous Absurdity!
The Letters between Mr.
Wycherley
and Mr.
Pope,
open our Literary Correspondence, about which there has been such an
Eclat.
There is little more to be seen in these Letters, but that Mr.
Pope
rubs the old Bard's Back, and he in return chucks our young Poetical Saplin under the Chin.
In Mr.
Pope
's Account of Mr.
Lintot
's Journey with him to
Oxford,
speaking of Mr.
Oldisworth,
I lost, says Mr.
Lintot,
by his
Timothy
's. This alludes to a Book intituled,
A Dialogue between
Timothy
and
Philatheus,
&c.
written against
the Rights of the Church.
LETTERS of Mr.
Pope
to
H.C.
Esq
from 1708 to 1711,
i.e.
to
Henry Cromwell,
Esq
and where-ever in the said Letters Mr.
C.
is mentioned, Mr.
Cromwell
is meant.
LETTERS to several LADIES.
LETTER IX. Read the Beginning thus, I will not describe
Bl—
(that is)
Bleinheim
near
Woodstock,
the Seat of the Duchess of
Marlborough.
LETTER X. Mrs.
B—
and Mrs.
L—, i.e.
Mrs.
Bellenden,
and Mrs.
Lepell.
Mrs.
H—, i.e.
Mrs.
Howe. B—
Park,
i.e. Bushey
Park, near
Hampton-Court,
the Seat of the Earl of
Halifax.
LETTER XI. At Lord
H—
's,
i.e.
Lord
Harcourt
's Seat,
viz. Stanton-Harcourt,
in
Oxfordshire.
LETTER XVI. Mr.
C—, i.e.
Mr.
Carol. Ibid.
The Duke of
B—m, i.e.
the Duke of
Buckingham.
LETTERS to the Honourable
Edward Blount,
Esquire.
Mr.
D—
in Letter of
March
20, 1715/16,
i.e.
Mr.
Dodwell.
LETTER of
June
27, 1723, The Christian Bishop therein mentioned,
i.e.
Bishop
Atterbury.
LETTERS of Mr.
Pope
to Mr.
Gay,
from 1712 to 1730.
LETTER,
Dec.
24, 1712. The Duchess,
i.e.
the Duchess of
Queensberry. Ib.
He who does what
Chaucer
says—
for Sustenance. (i.e. Swive)
LETTER of
Aug.
23, 1713. Mr.
J—s, i.e.
Mr.
Jarvas
the Painter.
LETTER,
May
4, 1714. Breathing in Smoke, Walking in Crouds, and making fine Pictures of this Way of Life,
&c.
This is a Compliment to Mr.
Gay,
upon his Poem called
Trivia,
or the Art of walking the Streets of
London,
Octavo.
Ibid.
the Dean,
i.e. Swift.
In the next Letter,
T—g, i.e.
Dr.
Edward Young,
Author of
Busiris
a Tragedy.
Ibid.
The Close of this Letter,
viz.
I am, Divine
Bucoliast,
Thy Loving Countryman,
i.e.
a Compliment paid by Dean
Parnel
to Mr.
Gay,
upon his Pastorals, intituled,
The Shepherd's Week.
LETTER of
Nov.
8, 1718. Mr.
Gay
's Letter to Mr.
Lowndes,
therein mentioned, alludes to a Poem in his Works, thus inscribed;
To my Ingenious and Worthy Friend,
William Lowndes,
Esq
Author of that Celebrated Treatise in Folio, called,
The Land-Tax Bill.
WHEN Poets print their Works, the scribling Crew,
Stick the Bard o'er with Bays like
Christmas Pew:
Can meagre Poetry such Fame deserve?
Can Poetry; that only writes to sharve?
And shall no Laurels deck that samous Head,
In which the Senate's
Annual Law
is bred?
That hoary Head, which greater Glory fires,
By nobler
Ways
and
Means
true Fame acquires.
O had I
Virgil
's Force to
sing the Man,
Whose learned Lines can Millions raise
per Ann.
Great
Lowndes
's Praise should swell the Trump of Fame,
And
Rapes
and
Wapentakes
resound his Name.
N.B.
The Remainder of this fine Piece of Humour may be found in Mr.
Gay
's Life, Printed for Mr.
E. Curll.
LETTER
ibid.
Mr.
Pope
thus writes to Mr.
Gay;
Her Grace the Duchess of
Hamilton
has won in a Raffle a very fine
Tweezer-Case;
at the Sight of which, my
Tweezer-Case,
and all other
Tweezer-Cases
on the Globe,
hide their diminish'd Heads.
Query, Whether Mr.
Pope
might not have spoke plainer, and said his P—.
LETTER of
Septemb.
11, 1722. Lady Duchess of
M. i.e.
Duchess of
Marlborough.
Mrs.
A—
's Navel, Mrs.
Arbuthnot
's Navel.
LETTER Beginning Dear
Gay,
the Dean therein mentioned,
i.e. Swift.
LETTER of 18
Aug.
1727. Mr.
Pope
says, I now Honour Sir
Robert Walpole,
&c. This is arrant Sneer, for it can be proved, that altho' this Gentleman has done Mr.
Pope
some signal Favours, yet he wrote the Character of
The Norfolk Steward
in the
Craftsman,
to abuse him.
Ibid.
Dr.
A—, i.e.
Dr.
Arbuthnot. Ibid.
The Dean,
i.e. Swift. Ibid,
Old Duchess of
M. i.e.
of
Marlborough.
LETTER of
Sept.
18, 1730. The Sink of Human Greatness at
W—r, i.e.
the Royal Family and Court at
Windsor. Ibid.
Mrs.
B. i.e.
Mrs.
Blount
of
Petersham
in
Surrey.
Here follows the present Description of
Mr. POPE's HOUSE.
IT must be allow'd, by all who have seen this Place, that the Owner's Description of it is very just; and every Spectator must bear Testimony how little it owes to Art, either the Place itself, or the Image he has given of it.
See his Letter to Mr.
Blount,
Vol. I. Dated
June
2, 1725.
But, since that Time, he has been annually improving the Gardens, to the Amount of above Five Thousand Pounds, as Mr.
Serle
his Gardener assured us. He has lived with Mr.
Pope
above Eleven Years, and in the Hortulan Dialect told us, that,
there were not Ten Sticks in the Ground when his Master took the House;
so that all the Embellishments to this natural Situation have been at the sole Expence of Mr.
Pope.
There is now in the Ground a fine Statue of the
Grecian Venus
Dancing, (but it is in the leaden Taste); at the End of one Walk, is a
Buslo
of Sir
Isaac Newton.
And in a little Summer-House, another of Mr.
Dryden.
He has likewife, as a very commendable Act of Filial Respect, raised an Obelisk to the Memory of his Mother, with this Inscription round the Verge;
AH EDITHA
MATRVM OPTVMA
MVLIERVM AMANTISSIMA
VALE
Over the Entrance of the Grotto, or Subterraneous Way, is this Inscription;
SECRETVM ITER
ET FALLENTIS
SEMITA VITAE.
Mr.
POPE
's INSCRIPTIONS; Attempted in
English.
Round the OBELISK.
EDITHA! best of Mothers; let this tell
My Grief; most loving of thy Sex, Farewel.
Over the GROTTO.
Alike deceiving is
This
Secret Way
With
That
wherein▪ bewilder'd Mortals stray.
THE First SATIRE of the Second Book of HORACE, Imitated.
In a Dialogue between Mr. ALEXANDER POPE, and the ORDINARY of
Newgate.
It is hoped the Reader will compare this
Parodie,
with Mr.
Pope
's Imitation of this
Satire.
E. CURLL.
Nox &
Via
Lethi.
THERE are
(whate'er you think, Sir) I
am told,
Wretches as bad as me, and full as
bold,
Who libel all Mankind with
Satire rough,
And never think they're dissolute
enough.
Oft has my Verse been lame, I can't but say,
Like
Ward,
I've spun
a Thousand
in
a Day!
Tim'rous by Nature, of the
Bench
in Awe,
I come to you
in
Gospel
skill'd, and
Law;
You'll give me, like a Friend, both sage and free,
Ghostly
Advice,
(as wont)
without a Fee.
I'd write no more.
Not write? But then I
THINK,
And for my
Sins
I cannot sleep a Wink,
I nod in Company, I wake at Night,
Spleen
fills my
Heart
and
Head, and so I write.
You could not do a worse Thing for your Life
How ten low Words here creep in one dull Line!
.
Why if the Nights seem tedious—take a Wife;
Or rather truly, if your Point be Rest,
Of
Opium
take a Dose;
Probatum est.
Talk with your 'Pothecary, he'll
advise,
This
or some
other Thing
to
close your Eyes.
Or if you needs must write,
write
Hymns
of
Praise
See MESSIAH. An Imit. of
Virgil.
See
Ess.
on
Crit.
;
And sing
Jehovah
in seraphic Lays.
What, like
old
Herbert
then, must
I advise?
A Verse may find, him who a Sermon flies
See The TEMPLE. Sacred Poems. By
Herbert.
With Emblematic
Quarles
shew
Human Life
Is but a
Vapour,
and a
Scene of Strife.
Yes.
All your Muse's
Art-Divine
display,
With holy
David
touch a tuneful
Lay,
With his
Repentance
lull th' harmonious
Nine,
Let great
Jessides
in thy Numbers shine.
Alas!
such
Verse
with
Statesmen
find no Grace,
They scarce can bear a
Church,
but for a
Place.
Superior is our Court to
David
's Days,
Quadrille
See the
RAPE
of the
Lock.
, than
Psalms
is fitter for my Lays.
Better be
BLACKMORE,
I'll maintain it still,
Than blaspheme
David
See Mr.
Pope
's Version of the
first
Psalm.
, or adore
Quadrille,
Patients, Sir
Richard
got, by pious Metre,
And Gold, as
Gay
says, makes the Verse run sweeter.
Ev'n those you touch not, hate you.
What should ail 'em?
They say you're like the
Ass
that spoke to
Balaam:
The fewer
Folks
you Name, you wound the more;
J—y
's but one, but
M—ue
's a Score.
Each Mortal has his Pleasure: None deny;
Budgell
his BEE, or
Two-Penny
Lamb-Pye;
P—y
the
Senate
loves,
Sutton
The Prize-Fighter.
his Brother,
Like in all else, as one Egg to another.
I love to pour out all myself,
PROFANE,
And
mock
the SCRIPTURES in
Heroick Strain.
In me what
Spots
(for
Spots
I have) appear,
Will
fully
prove the Medium
can't
be clear,
In a false partial Light my Muse intends,
Fair
to set forth
myself,
and foul
my Friends;
T'expose the present Age, but where my Text
Is
Virtue's Cause,
reserve it for the next:
Both High and Low wish me the shortest
Date,
I've not one Friend who will
lament my Fate.
My Head and Heart thus flowing thro' my Quill,
Verse-Man
or
Prose-Man,
term me which you will,
Papist
or
Protestant,
or both between,
Like
Lucifer,
mine's an infernal Mean,
I cannot boast of any Party's
Glory,
Tho'
Tories
call me
Whig;
and
Whigs a Tory.
Satire's my Weapon,
I'm
so
indiscreet,
To run a Muck, and tilt at all I meet:
I'm only fit to herd with
Drury
's
Hectors,
Thieves, Supercargoes, Sharpers, and Directors.
Sink but our
Army! O could
I incrust
Swords, Pikes, and Guns, with everlasting Rust.
Mischief's
my dear Delight,—not
Satan's more:
But touch me,
and no Statesman is so sore.
I rave, I foam, my utmost Venom hurl,
And in the
Grubstreet-Journal
libel
Curll.
By
Popiads, Keys, Court-Poems,
I'm become
Of Ridicule, his universal Drum;
And shall continue thus my
whole Life long'
The
grievous
Burthen of his
merry
Song.
Slander or Poison's
dreaded
from
my
Rage,
And hang'd I shall be, if my
Judge be
P—
It's proper Pow'r to hurt, each Creature feels,
Bull
aim their Horns, and
Asses
lift their Heels;
'Tis
a Bear's
Talent not to
kick,
but hug,
And wond'rous is it to be
stung by
Pug
i.e.
Pope
's Dunciad.
Then, Rev'rend Sir! (to cut the Matter short)
Whate'er my Fate, or well, or ill in Court
i.e.
Justice-Hall
in the
Old Bailey.
,
Whether old Age, with
dire Rheumatick Ray,
Attends to
Pain
the Ev'ning of my Day,
Or
Lord-Mayor's-Officers
will me invade,
And see me wrapt in Death's eternal
Shade;
Whether
my
darken'd
Cell
to Muse invite,
Or whiten'd Wall provoke the Skewer to write,
In durance
in the Fleet, King's-Bench,
or Mint,
Like
EUSTACE,
Budgell.
any Man may
Rhime and Print.
Alas, young Man! your Days can ne'er be long,
In Flow'r of Age
Mr.
Pope
was born 1688.
you'll
dangle
i.e.
Sus per Coll.
for a Song.
Ralph, Cooke, Concanen, Henley,
and his
Wife,
Will club their Testers, now, to take your Life!
Vengeance pursu'd me, when I took
the Pen,
To brand with Calumny industrious
Men.
I was ambitious of a
gilded Car,
Hated the Minister that wore
a Star.
Now will I bare myself, and shew the Knave,
Un-pension'd,
and un-worthy of a Grave.
If I must fall in such a flagrant
Cause,
Hear this and tremble! you, who
break
the Laws:
Sworn Foe to
Virtue,
and to all
her Friends,
The World knows this, and therefore none commends.
Nor Bolts, nor Bars, can me in Safety
keep;
Methinks I feel the Bow-String in
my Sleep.
My
Twick'nam
Cott, the worst
Companion
's
Grace,
Attainted Peers, Commanders
out of Place,
And un-hang'd
Savage,
with his rueful Face,
Saint John
of Burnt-Gin-Punch accepts my
Bowl,
And dictates Treason with a
Flow of Soul:
And HE, whose Light'ning pierc'd th'
Iberian
Lines,
Now
snuffs my Candles, and
now
cuts
my Vines;
Or Stubs the Weeds from out the walking
Plain,
Almost as quickly as he conquer'd
Spain.
Envy'd I've always liv'd
among the Great,
Tho' I've been
Pimp,
and often
Spy of State
For Mr.
P—y;
and writing several
Craftsmen
against the
Court
and
Ministry.
;
My Eyes pry ev'ry where, my Tongue
repeats
The falsest Slanders; I foment all
Heats,
Help
no Man's Wants, in Wickedness
excel;
This, all who know me, know,
and truly
tell:
My own black Deeds
defame me,
I shall
be
Less pity'd then
Jack Shephard
at the Tree.
This is my
Case, how runs the
English
Laws;
What
thinks my Rev'rend Father of
my Cause?
Your case is bad. Be not in Court severe,
Laws are explain'd by
Judges,—
have a Care.
It stands on Record, that in ancient Times.
Poets were
hang'd for very honest Rhimes.
Consult the Statute:
Quart.
I think it is,
Edvardi
sext.
or
prim. & quint.
Eliz.
See
Libels, Satires;
—there you have it—read.
Libels
and
Satires,—lawless Things indeed!
Had I been just, set Virtue's Deeds
to Light,
Such as a
King
might read, a
Bishop
write,
Such as Sir
Robert
would approve—
Indeed?
Alter'd
had been
your Case:
—But to proceed.
Fatal is now your Doom, you will be Cast,
And your
first
Psalm, I fear, will be your
last.
Be comforted my Son, I'll stand your Friend,
John Applebee
and
I,
will both attend,
GUTHRY.
Bolt-Court, Fleetstreet,
26 Feb. 1732-3.
THE CONTENTS OF This VOLUME.
I. T HE Fox Unkennelled: Being a true Narrative of the Methods by which Mr.
Pope's
Letters have been published.
II. The Initial Correspondence: Or, Anecdotes of the Life and Family if Mr.
Pope.
III. The 17th Epode of
Horace
imitated. A Palinody to Mr.
Pope.
By one of the Heroes of the
Dunciad.
Occasioned by his Epistle to Dr.
Arbuthnot.
Sent in a Letter to Mr.
Curll.
IV. Stanzas, intitled, Curll
Triumphant, and
Pope
Outwitted.
Seven Letters from Mr.
Pope
to
Henry Cromwell,
Esq
From
Page
1. to
p.
17
Mr.
Steele
to Mr.
Lintot, p.
17
Mr.
Pope
's Submission to Mr.
Dennis, p.
18
Mrs.
Thomas
to Mr.
Curll, p.
19
Letters of Mr.
Dryden
and his
Son
to
Corinna, p.
21
Letters of Mr. Secretary
Addison
to several Persons,
p.
29
Mr.
Billers
's Letter to Mr.
Turner
at
Bath, p.
37
A Letter from
Norwich
to Mr.
Curll,
with an Imitation of the Feast of
Trimalchio,
from
Petronius Arbiter, p.
41
Letters to Colonel
William Stanhope,
now Lord
Harrington.
By Major
Pack, p.
52
A Letter to a Young Lady, with a Soldier's Prayer. By Major
Pack, p.
54
A Letter from
Goodwood
in
Sussex,
the Seat of his Grace the Duke of
Richmond:
With The
THIRD HOLE.
A Ballad. To the Tune of
Packington
's
Pound.
By Mr.
Hill,
Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge, p.
58
Mrs.
Long
's Cabinet Unlock'd,
p.
66
VOLUME II. PART II.
Letters of Bishop
Atterbury
to Mr.
Pope,
&c.
p.
1
Poetical Miscellanies,
&c.
by the same,
p.
41
Oratio Viri Reverendi
Francisci Atterbury,
S.T.P. Habita
Oxonii
Die Admissionis
ad Decanatum
Aedis Christi, An. Dom. 1711.
p.
46
A Letter from Judge
Powys
to Lord
Parker, p.
54
ABSALON & ACHITOPHEL, Carmine Latino Heroico.
F. Atterbury,
p.
71
The last Will and Testament of Bishop
Atterbury, p.
112
The Remains of
Peter Le Neve,
Esq
p.
116
Castrations made by the late Editors,
P.T. R.S.
or
A.P.
of Mr.
Pope
's Letters to
Henry Cromwell,
Esq
p.
128
An
Epistle
from Mr.
Alexander Pope
to
Henry Cromwell,
Esq
with some Poetical Miscellanies,
p.
130
Several Pieces of Mr.
Pope
and Dean
Swift,
not printed in their joint Miscellanies,
p.
136
Letters from the Abbe
C—n,
to **** at St.
Omers, p.
156
A Letter from Dr.
Littleton
at
Cambridge,
to his Friend at
Eton, p.
158
VOLUME II. PART III.
The
Negotiations
of
Matthew Prior,
Esq
p.
1
A Letter from KING
William III.
to Lord
Somers, p.
39
His Lordship's Answer,
p.
41
Letters of Mr. Secretary
Harley, p.
45
A Letter of Advice to a Young Lady. By Dr. *****
p.
62
A Key to Mr.
Pope
's Literary Correspondence,
p.
73
Description of his Gardens, Statues, and Inscriptions,
p.
78
The First Satire of the Second Book of
Horace,
imitated,
p.
82
ERRATA to VOL. II. PART II.
Page 25. Line 20.
for
forth,
read
fourth. p. 40. l. 1
for
suffered,
read
softened. p. 125. l. 3.
for
Testamentor,
read
Testament.
FINIS.