Behold yon' pair, in strict embraces join'd; How like in manners, and how like in mind! 180 Equal in wit, and equally polite,

Shall this a Pasquin, that a Grumbler write;
Like are their merits, like rewards they share,
That shines a Consul, this Commissioner.

But who is he, in closet closely-pent,

185

• Of sober face, with learned dust besprent ?'
Right well mine eyes arede the myster wight,
On parchment scrapes y-fed, and Wormius hight.
To future ages may thy dulness last,

As thou preserv'st the dulness of the past! 190
There, dim in clouds, the poring scholiasts mark:
Wits, who, like owls, see only in the dark,
A lumberhouse of books in ev'ry head,
For ever reading, never to be read!

196

But, where each science lifts its modern type, Hist'ry her pot, Divinity her pipe, While proud Philosophy repines to show, Dishonest sight! his breeches rent below;

IMITATIONS.

r. 179. Behold yon' pair, in strict embraces join'd.] Virg. En. VI.

Illae autem, paribus quas fulgere cernis in armis, 'Concordes animæ......

And in En. V.

Euryalus, forma insignis viridique juventa,
Nisus amore pio pueri.'

v. 185. But who is he, &c.] Virg. Æn. VI. questions and answers in this manner, of Numa:

Quis procul ille autem camis insignis olivæ,

'Sacra ferens?-nosco crines, in canaque menta,' &c.

VARIATIONS.

v. 197.] In the first edition it was,

200

205

Imbrown'd with native bronze, lo! Henley stands,
Tuning his voice, and balancing his hands.
How fluent nonsense trickles from his tongue!
How sweet the periods, neither said nor sung!
Still break the benches, Henley! with thy strain,
While Sherlock, Hare, and Gibson, preach in vain.
Oh great restorer of the good old stage,
Preacher at once, and Zany of thy age!
Oh worthy thou of Egypt's wise abodes,
A decent priest, where monkeys were the gods!
But Fate with butchers plac'd thy priestly stall,
Meek modern faith to murder, hack, and mawl; 210
And bade thee live, to crown Britannia's praise,
In Toland's, Tindal's, and in Woolston's days.
Yet, oh, my sons! a father's words attend:
(So may
the Fates preserve the ears you lend)

REMARKS.

v. 199...lo! Henley stands, &c.] J. Henley the orator; he preached on the Sundays upon Theological matters, and on the Wednesdays upon all other Sciences. Each auditor paid one shilling. He declaimed some years against the greatest persons, and occasionally did our Author that honor.

v. 204..Sherlock, Hare,..Gibson.[ Bishops of Salisbury, Chichester, and London; whose Sermons and Pastoral Letters did honor to their country as well as stations.

v. 212. Of Toland and Tindal, see Book H. ver 99. Thomas Woolston was an impious madman, who wrote, in a most inso lent style, against the miracles of the Gospel, in the years 1626,

&c.

VARIATIONS.

And proud Philosophy with breeches tore,
And English music with a dismal score.
Fast by in darkness palpable inshrin'd
W—s, B―r, M-n, all the poring kind.

215

'Tis yours a Bacon, or a Locke to blame,
A Newton's genius, or a Milton's flame:
But, oh! with one, immortal one, dispense,
The source of Newton's light, of Bacon's sense.
Content, each emanation of his fires

That beams on earth, each virtue he inspires, 220
Each heart he prompts, each charm he can create,
Whate'er he gives are giv'n for you to hate.
Persist, by all divine in man unaw'd,

225

231

But, Learn, ye Dunces! not to scorn your God."
Thus he, for then a ray of reason stole
Half through the solid darkness of his soul;
But soon the cloud return'd-and thus the sire:
See now, what Dulness, and her Sons admire !
See, what the charms that smite the simple heart,
Not touch'd by Nature, and not reach'd by Art.
His never-blushing head he turn'd aside,
(Not half so pleas'd when Goodman prophesy'd),
And look'd, and saw a sable sorc'rer rise,
Swift to whose hand a winged volume flies:
All sudden, gorgons hiss, and dragons glare, 235
And ten-horn'd fiends and giants rush to war.
Hell rises, heav'n descends, and dance on earth;
Gods, imps, and monsters, music, rage, and mirth,
A fire, a jig, a battle, and a ball,

'Till one wide conflagration swallows all.

240

Thence a new world to Nature's laws unknown,

Breaks out refulgent, with a heav'n its own:

T. 224

IMITATIONS.

'Learn, ye Dunces! not to scorn your God. 'Discite justitiam moniti et non temnere divos.'

Another Cynthia her new journey runs,
And other planets circle other suns.
The forests dance, the rivers upward rise,

245

Whales sport in woods, and dolphins in the skies;
And last, to give the whole creation grace,
Lo! one vast egg produces human race.

Joy fills his soul, joy innocent of thought; What pow'r, he cries, what pow'r these wonders wrought?

250

Son, what thou seek'st is in thee! look and find
Each monster meets his likeness in thy mind.
Yet would'st thou more? in yonder cloud behold,
Whose sarsenet skirts are edg'd with flamy gold,
A matchless youth! his nod these worlds controls,
Wings the red lightning, and the thunder rolls. 256
Angel of Dulness, sent to scatter round

Her magic charms o'er all unclassic ground:
Yon' stars, yon' suns, he rears at pleasure higher,
Illumes their light, and sets their flames on fire. 260

IMITATIONS.

v. 244. And other planets.]

...Solemque suum, sua sidera norunt."

Virg. Æn. VI.

v. 246. Whales sport in woods, and dolphins in the skies.] Delphinum sylvis appingit, fluctibus aprum.'

v. 251. Sort, what thou seekest is in thee!]

Quod petis in te est....

..Ne te quaesiveris extra.'

Hor.

Pert.

v. 256. Wings the red lightning, &c.] Like Salmoneus in En. VI.

"Dum flammas Jovis, et sonitus imitatur Olympi.

< .Nimbos, et non imitabile fulmen,

"Aere et cornipedum cursu simularet equorum."

v. 258...o'er all unclassic ground.] Alludes to Mr. Addison's verse in the praises of Italy:

Poetic fields encompass me around,

And still I seem to tread on classic ground.'

Immortal Rich! how calm he sits at ease,
Midst snows of paper, and fierce hail of pease!
And proud his mistress' orders to perform,
Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm.
But lo! to dark encounter in mid air
New wizards rise; I see my Cibber there!
Booth in his cloudy tabernacle shrin'd,

265

On grinning dragons thou shalt mount the wind.
Dire is the conflict, dismal is the din,
Here shouts all Drury, there all Lincoln's-inn; 270
Contending theatres our empire raise,
Alike their labors, and alike their praise.

And are these wonders, Son, to thee unknown?
Unknown to thee! these wonders are thy own.
These Fate reserv'd to grace thy reign divine, 275
Foreseen by me, but, ah! with-held from mine.
In Lud's old walls, though long I rul'd, renown'd
Far as loud Bow's stupendous bells resound;

REMARKS.

v. 261. Immortal Rick!] Mr. John Rich, master of the theatre-royal in Covent-garden, was the first that excelled this way. v. 266, 267.] Booth and Cibber were joint managers of the theatre in Drury-lane.

IMITATIONS.

As ver. 264, is a parody on a noble one of the same author in the Campaign: and ver. 259, 260, on two sublime verses of Dr. Y.

VARIATIONS.

After v. 274. in the former edit. followed,

For works like these let deathless Journals tell,
None but thyself can be thy parallel.