UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES THE ROLLIAD, IN TWO PARTS i PROBATIONARY ODES FOR THE LAUREATSHIPi AND POLITICAL MISCELLANIES : \VITH CRITICISMS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. REVISED, CORRECTED AND ENLARGED BY THfi ORIGINAL AUTHORS 1 O N D O Nt PRINTED TOR J. RIDGWAY, YORK-STREET, 5T, JAMES'S-SQJJARE, MCCCXCV. ADVERTISEMENT. THE CRITICISMS on the ROLLIAD,, in their original form, excited fuch a general curiofity, that three fpurious edi- tions have already been fold, independent- ly of their publication in various of the. Daily Papers, and Monthly Magazines. Such a marked teflimony in their favour, cannot but be peculiarly flattering to us. We therefore thought it incumbent on us in. return, to exert our utmoft endeavours, in rendering them, as far as our judgment will direct us, yet more worthy of that attention with which they have been ho- noured, imperfect as they fell from us, through a channel, that did not leem ne- ceffarily to demand any very great decree of precifion, In the prefent edition fome few paflageg- have been expunged ; others foftcncd ; many enlarged ; more corrected : and two whole numbers, with the greater part of a a 3 IV AIVERTISEMENT. third, are altogether new. A poeticopro- faical Dedication to SIR LLOYD KENYON now Lord Chief Juftice of the Court of King's Bench, has alfo been added ; and an Appendix is now given, confiding of Mifcellaneous Pieces, to which the Cri- ticiiins incidentally refer. It may perhaps give offence to fome very chaftized judgments, that in this our authentic edition, we have fubjoined notes on a profeffed commentary. Some fhort explanations, however, appeared occafion- ally neceflary, more efpecially as the fub- jects of Political Wit in their very nature are fugitive and evanefcent. We only fear that our illuftrations have not been fuf- ficiently frequent, as we have privately been afked to what " Mr. Hardinge's Arithmetic" in the Dedication alluded ; fa little impreffion was made on the public by the learned Gentleman's elaborate cal- culation of the Orations fpoken, and the time expended in the diicuffion of the Weftminfler Scrutiny ! Indeed, we have known ADVERTISEMENT. V known perfons even ignorant, that Sir Lloyd Kenyon voted for his ftables. This Edition has further been orna- s~ mented with a Tree of the Genealogy, and the Arms, Motto, and Creftof the ROLLOS, now ROLLES; for an explanation of which we beg leave to refer the reader to page ix. The Genealogy is likewiie given at full length from the Morning Herald, where it was originally published, and was pro- bably the foundation of the ROLLIAD. It is therefore inierted in its proper place, be- fore the firfl extract from the Dedication to the Poem, which immediately preceded he firft Numbers of the CRITICISMS. a 3 ADVER- ADVERTISEMENT FOURTH EDITION. THREE very large imprefftons of the following work being already fold, and the demand for it daily increafing, it is now a fourth time fubmitted to the Pub- lic, revifed and corrected from the many literal errors, which, with every precaution, will too often deform a firft edition ; efpeci- ally when circumftances render an early publication neceflary. In the prefent edition fbme few altera- tions have been made, but none of any connderable magnitude ; except that the Appendix of Mifcellaneous Pieces is here fupprefTed. This has been done, in fome degree, for the conveniency of binding this nrft part of the CRITICISMS ON THE ROLLIAD with the fecond ; but more in- a 4 deed, Vlll ADVERTISEMENT. deed, in confequence of a defign, which we at prefent entertain, of printing moft of thofe pieces with other productions of the fame Authors in one octavo volume, under the title of POLITICAL MISCELLANIES. As the bulk and matter of the book are thus diminished, the price alfo is propor- tionally reduced. Where THE CRITI- CISMS feem to require any elucidation from the contents of the former Appendix, ex- tracts are now given at the bottom of the page inftead of the references in our former Editions, This flight change we flatter ourfelves will not be difapproved by the Public ; and we hope, that they will not receive with a lefs degree ( of favour the intimation here given of the Mifcellaneous Volume, which will probably be published in the courfe of the eufuinjj winter. Expla- Explanation of the FRONTISPIECE and TITLE-PAGE. THE FRONTISPIECE reprefents Duke ROLLO, with his Sword and Ducal Coronet lying by his fide. It is fuppofed to be a ftriking likenefs, and was copied from a painting in the Window of a Church at Rouen in Normandy. From this illuftrious Warrior fprings a Tree of the Genealogy of the ROL LOS, now ROLLES. The moft eminent of this great Family alone are noticed. The particulars of their hiftory may be found in page xx vii and xxviii. The TITLE-PAGE exhibits the Arms, Motto, and Creft of the Family. The Arms are, Three French Rolls, Or, be- tween two Rolls of Parchment, Proper, placed in form of a Cheveron on a Field Argent The Motto is Jouez bien votre Rule, or, as we have fometimes feen it fpelt , Rolle. The Creft, which has been lately changed by the prefent Mr. ROLLE,. is -a half-length of the Mailer of the Rolls, like a Lion demi-rampant with a Roll of Parch- ment inftead of a Pheon's Head between his Paws. DEDI- DEDICATION'. To Sir Lloyd Kenyon, Bart. MASTER OF THE ROLLS, &c. &c. MAY IT PLEASE YOUR HONOUR, IT was originally my intention to have dedicated the CRITICISMS on the ROL- XJAD, as the ROLLIAD itfelf is dedicated to the illuftrious character, from whofe hereditary name the Poem derives its title; and*, as I fome time ilnce apprized the public, 1 had actually obtained his permif- fion to lay this little work at his feet. No fooner, however, was he made acquainted with my after-thought of infcribing my book to YOUR HONOUR, but, with the li- berality, which ever marks a great mind, he wrote to me of his own accord, declar- ing his com pleat acquiefcence in the pro- priety of the alteration. For if I may take the liberty of tranfcribing his own ingeni- * In a Poftfcript originally fubjoined to the eighth Number. OILS Xll DEDICATION. ous and modeft expreflion, " I am my- felf," faid he, " but a fimple Rolle; SIR " LLOYD KENYON is a Majler of Rolls.' 9 Great ROLLO'S heir, whofe cough, whofe laugh, whofe groan, The' Antaeus EI>MUND has fo oft o'erthrown ; Whofe cry of " queftion" filenc'd CHARLES'S fenfej That cry, more powerful than PITT'S eloquence; Ev'n he, thus high in glory, as in birth, YieUs willing way to thy fuperior worth. Indeed, if I had not been fb happy as to receive this exprefs fanction of Mr. ROLLE'S concurrence, I mould neverthe- lefs have thought myfelf juftified in pre- fuming it from the very diflinguiihed tefti- mony, which he has lately borne to your merits, by taking a demi-rampant of YOUR HONOUR for his crefl ; a circumfbnce, in my opinion, fo highly complimentary to YOUR HONOUR, that I was fludious to have it as exteniively known as poflible. I have therefore given directions to my Publifher, to exhibit your portrait, with the ROLLE Arms and Motto, by way of Vignette in the Title Page ; that diiplaycd,. as I trufl DEDICATION. X1U it will be at the Window of every Book- feller in Great-Britain, it may thus attract the admiration of the mod incurious, as they pafs along the ftreets. This folici- tude, to diffufe the knowledge of your perfon, as widely as your fame, may pof- fibly occanon fome little diftrefs to your modefty ; yet permit me to hope, SIR LLOYD, that the motive will plead my pardon ; and, perhaps, even win the ap- probation of your fmile ; if you can be fuppofed to fmile without offence to the gravity of that nature, which feems from your very birth to have marked you for a Judge. Behold the' Engraver's mimic labours trace The fober image of that fapient face : See him, in each peculiar charm exac~t, Below dilate it, and above contract; For Nature thus, inverting her defign, From vulgar ovals hath diftinguifh'd thine : See htm each nicer character fupply, The pert no -meaning puckering round the eye, The mouth in plaits precife demurely clos'd, Each order'd feature, and each line compos'd, Where Wifdom fits a-fquat, in ftarch difguife, Like Dulnefs couch'd, to catch us by furprife. And 1V DEDICATION. And now hs fpreads around thy pmp of wig> In owl-like pride of legal honours big; That wig, which once of curl on curl profufe, In well-kept buckle (tiff, and fmugly fpruce, Declc'd the plain Pleader ; then in nobler tafte, With well-friz'd bum. the' Attorney-General grac'd; And widely waving now with ampler flow, . Still with thy titles and thy fame fhall grow. Behold, SIR LLOYD, and while with fond delight The dear refemblance feafts thy partial fight, ''Smile, if thou canft ; and, fmiling on this book Caft the glad omen of one favouring look. But it is on public grounds, that I prin- cipally wifh to vindicate my choice of YOUR HONOUR for my Patron. The ROLLJAD, I have reafon to believe, owed its exiftence to the * memorable fpeech of the Member for Devonfhire on the firft Difcuffion of the Weftminfter Scrutiny, when he fo emphatically proved himfelf the genuine defcendant of DUKE ROLLO ; and in the noble contempt which he * Mr. Rolle faid, " he could not be kept all the Cum.* mer debating about the rights of the Weftminfter Elec- tors. His private concerns were of more importance to him, than his right as a Weftminfter Eleclor." DEDICATION XV avowed, for the boafted rights of Electors, feemed to breathe the very foul of his great progenitor, who came to extirpate the liberties of Englifhmen with the fword. It muft be remembered, however, that YOUR HONOUR miniftered the occafion to his glory. You, SIR LLOYD, have ever been reputed the immediate Author of the Scrutiny. Your opinion is (aid to have been privately confulted on the framing of the Return; and your public defence of the High-Bailiff's proceeding, notorioufly furnimed Mr.RoLLO, and the other friends of the Minifter, with all the little argu- ment, which they advanced againft the objected exigency of the Writ. You taught them to reverence that holy thing, the Confcience of a Returning Officer, above all Law, Precedent, Analogy, Public Ex- pediency, and the popluar Right of Re- prefentation, to which our Forefathers er- roneoufly paid religious refpet, as to the moil facred franchife of our Conftitution. You prevailed on them to manifeft an im- partiality fmgularlv honourable ; and to prefer the fanftity of this fingle Confcience, to SCV1 DEDICATION. to a round dozen of the mofl immaculate conferences, chofen in the pureft poffible manner from their own pure Houfe of Commons. Thine is the glorious meafure ; thine alone : Thee, Father of the Scrutiny, we own. Ah ! without thee, what treafures had we loft, More worth, than twenty Scrutinies would coft ! To' inftrut the Veftry, and convince the Houfe, What Law from MURPHY ! what plain fenfe from Rous! What wit from MULGRAVE ! from DUNDAS, what truth ! What perfect virtue from the VIRTUOUS YOUTH! What deep refearch from ARDEN the profound ! What argument from BEARCROFT ever found ! By MUNCASTER, what generous offers made ; By HARDINGE, what arithmetic difplay'd ! And, oh! what rhetoric, from MAHON that broke In printed fpeeches, which he never fpoke ! Ah ! without thee, what worth negle&ed long, Had wanted ftill its deareft meed of fong ! In vain high-blooded ROLLE, unknown to fame, Had boafted ftill the honours of his name : In vain had exercis'd his noble fpleen pn BURKE and Fox the ROJJJAD had not been. But, DEDICATION. XVll But. alas ! SIR LLOYD, at the very mo- ment, while I am writing, intelligence has reached me, that the Scrutiny is at an end. Your favourite meafure is no more. The child of your affection has mot a fudden and a violent fate. I truft, however, that " the Ghoft of the departed Scrutiny" (in the bold but beautiful language of Mr. DUNDAS) will yet haunt the fpot, where it was brought forth, where it was foftered, and where it fell. Like the Ghoft of Ham- let it fhall be a perturbed fpirit, though it may not come in a queftionable fhape. It mail fleet before the eyes of thofe to whom it was dear, to admonifh them, how they rufh into future dangers ; to make known the fecret of its private hoards ; or to con- fefs to them the fins of its former days, and to implore their piety, that they would give peace to Its fhade, by making juft reparation. Perhaps too, it may feme- times vifit the murderer, like the ghoft of Banquo, to dam, his joys. It cannot in- deed rife up in its proper form to pufh him from his feat, yet it may affume fome other b formidable XV111 DEDICATION. formidable appearance to be his eternal, tormentor. Thefe, however, are but vi- fionary confolations, while every loyal bo- fom mufl feel fubftantial affliction from the late iniquitous vote, tyrannically com- pelling the High-Bailiff to make a return after an enquiry of nine months only ; ef- pecially when you had fo lately armed him with all power neceffary to make his en- quiry effectual. * Ah .! how fhall I th' unrighteous vote bewail ? Again corrupt Majorities prevail. Poor CORBETT'S Confcience, tho' a Ijttle loth, Muft blindly gape, and gulph the' untafted oath; If he, whofe confcience never felt a qualm, If GROJAN fail the good-man's doubts to calm. No more (hall MORGAN, for his fix months hire, Contend, that Fox (hould (hare the' expence of fire; Whole * I fhall give the Reader in one continued note, what information I think neceffary for underftanding thefe verfes. During the fix months that the Scrutiny con- tinued in St. Martin's, the moft difHnguiilied exhibi- tion of Mr. Morgan's talents was the maintenance of an argument, that Mr. Fox ought to pay half the ex- pence of fire in the room where the Witnefles attended. The! "teamed Gentleman is familiarly called Frog, to which DEDICATION. XIX XVhole SefTions fhall he croak, nor b?ar away The price, that paid the filence of a day : No more, till COLLICK fome new ftory hatch, Long-winded Rous for hours fhall praife Difoatchj COLLICK to Wigs and Warrants back {hall {link, And Rous, a Pamphleteer, re-plunge in ink: MURPHY again French Comedies fhall fteal, Call them his own, and garble, to conce 1 ; Or, pilfering ftill, and patching without grace His thread-bare fhreds of Virgil out of place, With Drefs and Scenery, Attitude and Trick, Swords, Daggers, Shouts, and Trumpets in the nick, \V ith Ahs ! and Ohs ! Starts, Paufes, Rant, and Rage, Give a new GRECIAN DAUGHTER to the Stage : But, Oh, SIR CECIL ! Fled to fhades again From the proud roofs, which here he raifed in vain, He feeks, unhappy ! with the Mufe to cheer His rifing griefs, or drown them in fmall beer; which I prefume the Author alludes in the word croak. Mr. Rous fpoke two hours to recommend Expedition. At the time the late Parliament was difiblved, he wrote two Pamphlets in favour of the Miniftry. I have for- got the titles of thefe Pamphlets, as probably the reader has too, if he ever knew them. However, I can afTure him of the fad. Mr. Collide, the Witnefs-General of Sir Cecil Wray, is a Hair-Merchant and Juftice of Peace. Sir Cecil's tafte both for Poetry and Small- beer are well known, as is the prefent unfinifhed ft ate f his newly-fronted houfein Pall-Mall; ba Alas! XX DEDICATION. Al.:s ! the Mufe capricious flies the hour When moil we need her, and the beer is four : Mean time Fox thunders faction tincontrol'd, Crown'd with frefh laurels, from new triumphs held. Thefe general evils arifing from the ter- mitlation of the Scrutiny, YOUR HONOUR, I doubt not, will fincerely lament in com- mon with all true lovers of their King and Country. But in addition to thcfe, you, SIR LLOYD, have particular caufe to re- gret, that* " the laft hair in this tail of procraftiiiation" is plucked. I well know, what eager anxiety you felt to eftablifh the fufFrage, which you gave, as the delegate of your Coach- horfes : and I unaffectedly condole with you, that you have loft this 0-reat opportunity of difplaying your un- fathomable knowledge and irreliftible logic to the confufion of your enemies. How learnedly would you have quoted the me- morable inftance of Darius, who was elected King of Perfia by the cafting vote * " This appears to be the laft hair in the tail of pro- craftination." The Matter of the Rolls, who firft ufed this phrafe, is a mod eloquent fpealcer. See Lord Mulg. %s on Eloquence, Vol.11. of DEDICATION. XXI of his Horfe ! Though indeed the merits of that election have been fince impeached, not from any alledged illegality of the vote itfelf, if it had been fairly given; but becaufe fome jockeyfhip has been fuipected, and the voter, it has been faid, was bribed the night before the election ! How ably too would you have applied the cafe of Ca- ligula's horfe, who was chofen Conful of Pvcme ! For if he was capable of being elected, (you would have faid) a fortiori, there could have been no natural impedi- ment to his being an elector ; fince oiwi? majus continet in fe minu s, and the truft is certainly greater to fill the firft ofEces of the (late, than to have one fhare amon^ O many in appointing to them. Neither can 1 fuppofe that you would have omitted fb grave and weighty an authority as Captain Gulliver, who, in the courfe of his voy- ages, difcovered a country, where Horils difcharged every Duty of Political Society. You might then have paired to the .early hiftory of our own ifland, and have ex r a- tiated on the known veneration in which horfes were held by our Saxon Anccfiors ; b 3 who, XX11 DEDICATION. who, by the way, are fuppofed alfo to have been the founders of Parliaments. You might have touched on their famous ftand- 1 ard ; digreffed to the antiquities of the White Horfe, in Berkshire, and other fimi- lar monuments in different counties ; and from thence have urged the improbability, that when they inftituted elections, they fhould have neglected the rights of art animal, thus highly efteemed and almoft fanctified among them ^ I am afraid in- deed, that with all your Religion and Loyalty, you could not have made much ufe of the White Horfe of Death, or the White tlorfe of Hanover. But for a bonne louche, how beautifully might you have introduced your favourite maxim of ubi ratio , ibijus/ and to prove the reafon of the thing, how convincingly might you have defcanted, in an elegant panegyric on the virtues and abilities of horfes, From Xanthus the Grecian -Conjuring Horfe, whofe pro- phecies are celebrated by Homer, down to the Learned Little Horfe over Weftminfter ]5 ridge ! with whom you might have con- cluded, lamenting that, as he is not an Elector, DEDICATION. XX111 Elector, the Veftry could not have the affiftance of one, capable of doing" fo much more jufHce to the queftion than yourfelf ! Pardon me, SIR LLOYD, that I have thus attempted to follow the fuppofed courfe of your oratory. I feel it to be truly inimitable. Yet fuch was the im- preffion made on my mind by fome of YOUR HONOUR'S late reafonings refpecling the Scrutiny, that I could not withftand the involuntary impulfe of endeavouring, for my own improvement, to attain fome faint likenefs of that wonderful pertinency and cogency, which I fo much admired in the great original. How fhall the neighing kind thy deeds requite, Great YAHOO Champion of the HOUYHNHNM'S right ? In grateful memory may thy dock-tail pair, Unharm'd convey thee with fure-footed care. Oh ! may they gently pacing o'er the /kmes With no rude fhock annoy thy batter'd bones, Crufh thy judicial cauiiflow'r, and down Shower the mix'd lard and powder o'er thy gown ; Or in unfeemly wrinkles creafe that band, Fair work of fairer LADY KEN.YON'S hand. b 4 No ! XXIV DEDICATION. No ! May the pious brutes, with meafur'd fwing, A/lift the friendly motion of the fpring, While golden dreams of perquifites and fees Employ thce, {lumbering o'er thine own decrees. Bi t when a Statefman in St. Stephen's walls Thy Country claims thee, and the Treafury calls, To pour thy fplendid bile in bitter tide On hardened' Sinners who with FQX divide, Then may they rattling on in jumbling trot With rage and jolting make thee doubly hor, Fire thy Welch blood, enflamed with zeal and leeks And kindle the red terrors of thy cheeks, Till a'l thy gather'd wrath in furious' fit On RIGBY burfts unlefs/he votes with PITT. - I might here, SIR LLOYD, launch into a new panegyric on the fubjecl: of this con- cluding couplet. But in this I mall imi- tate your moderation, who, for reafbns heft known to yourfelf, have long abandoned to Mr ROLLE * " thofe loud and repeat- ed calls on notorious defaulters, which will never be forgiven by certain patriots.'* Befides, I confider your public-fpirited be- haviour in the late Election and Scrutiny * Mr. R'dgway tells me, he thinks there is fome- thing like thefe words in one of the Review. , where tt.e ROLL: AD is criticifed, 8 for DEDICATION XXV for Weftminfter, as the great monument of your fame to all pofterity. I have, therefore, dwelt on this, more efpeciallj as it was immediately connected with the origin of the ROLLIAD till my dedication, has run to fuch a length, that I cannot think of detaining your valuable time any longer ; unlefs merely to requeft YOUR HONOUR'S zealous protection of a work which may be in fome fort attributed to you, as its ultimate caufe, which is em- bellifhed with your portrait, and which now records in this addrefs, the moft bril- liant exploit of your political glory. Choak'd by a Roll, 'tis faid, that Ox WAY died; OTWAY the Tragic Mufe's tender pride. Oh ! may my ROLLE to me thus favour'd give A better fate ; that I may eat, and live I I am, YOUR HONOUR'S Moft obedient, Moft refpeclful, Moft devoted, humble fervant, THE EDITOR. SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE FAMILY OF THE R L L 5, now RO L L E 5, FAITHFULLY EXTRACTED FROM THE RECORDS OF THE HERALD's OFFICE. JOHN ROLLE, Efq. is descended from the ancient Duke ROLLO, of Normandy ; ROLLO patted over into Britain, anno. 983, where he foon begat another ROLLO, upon the wife of a Saxon drummer. Our young ROLLO was diftinguiflied by h : .s gigantic ftature, and, as we learn from ODERICUS VITALIS, was {lain by Hildebrand,, the Danifh Champion, in a fit of jealoufy. We find in Camden, that the race of the ROLLOS fell into adverfity in the reign of Stephen, and in the fucceeding reign, CASPAR DE ROLLO was an Oftler in Denbighshire. But during the unhappy contefts of York and Lancafter, William de Wyrcefter, and the continuator of the annals of Croyland have it, that the ROLLOS became ScherirTes of Devon. " Schenffi Devonienfes ROLLI fuerunt" and in an- other. pafTage, " arrejtaverunt Debitor es plurime XXV111 ACCOUNT OF THE HOLLO FAMILY. flurime ROLLORUM " hence a doubt in Fabian, whether this ROLLO was not Bailiff, ipfe potius guam Scheriffus. From ^ttlis period, however they gradually ad- vanced in circumftances ; ROLLO, in Henry the Vlllth, being amerced in 800 marks for pilfering two manchetts of beef from the King's buttery, the which, faith Selden, facillime pay avit. In ;th and 8th of Phil, and Mar. three ROLLOS indeed were gibetted for piracy, and from that date the family changed the final O of the name into an E* In the latter annals of the ROLLOS, now ROLLES, but little of confequence is handed down to us. We have it that TIMOTHY ROLLE of Plympton, in the 8th of Queen Anne, endowed three alms-houfes in faid town, JEREMIAH his fecond fon was counted the fatteft man of his day, and DOROTHEA ROLLE his third coufin died of a terrible dyfentery. From this period the ROLLES have burft upon public notice, with fuch a blaze of fplendour, as renders all further accounts of this illuflrious race entirely unnecefiary. EXTRACT EXTRACT FROM THE DEDICATION R O L L I A D, EPIC POEM, TWELVE BOOKS. TT f HEN Norman ROLLO fought fair Albion's coaft, (Long may his offspring prove their country's boaft!) Thy genius, Britain, fure infpir'd his foul To blefs this Ifland with the race of ROLLE ! Illuftrious ROLLE ! O may thy honour'd name Roll down 'diftinguifh'd on the Rolls of fame ! Still firft be found on Devon's county polls ! Still future Senates boaft their future ROLLES ! Since of all Rolls which in this world we fee, The world has ne'er produc'd a Roll like thee. Hot Rolls and butter break the Briton's faft, Thy fpeeches yield a more fublime repaft. Compar'd to thine, how fmall their boafted heat ! Nor, mix'd with treacle, are they half fo fweet. O'er Rolls of parchment Antiquarians pore, Thy mind, O ROLLE, affords a richer ftore. Let thofe on law or hiftory who write, To Rolls of Parliament refort for light, Whilft 3tXX EXTRACTS, &C. Whilft o'er our Senate, from our living ROLLE Beam the bright rays of an enlighten'd foul ; In wonder loft, we flight their ufelefs fluff, And feel one ROLLE of Parliament enough. The skill'd mufician to direct his band, Waves high a Roll of paper in his hand ; When PITT would drown the eloquence of BURKE, You feem the ROLLE beft fuited to his work ; His well-train'd band, obedient know their cue, And cough and groan in unifon with you. Thy god-like anceftor, in valour tried, Still bravely fought by conqu'ring WILLIAM'S fide j In Rritifh blood he drench'd his purple fvvord, Proud to partake the triumphs of his lord : So you, with zeal, fupport through each debate, The conqu'ring WILLIAM of a latter date : Whene'er he fpeaks, attentive ftill to cheat The lofty nothing with^a friendly " hear," And proud your leader's glory to promote, Partake his triumph in a-faithful vote. Ah ! fure while Coronets like hailftones fly, When Peers are made, the Gods alone know why, Thy hero's gratitude, O ROLLE, to thee, A ducal diadem might well decree ; Great ROLLO'S title to thyhoufe reftore, Let E ufurp the place of O no more. Then ROLLE himfelf fhould be what ROLLO was before .1 CONTENTS* CONTENTS; Page CRITICISMS on the Rolliad. Part the Firft i Ditto. Part the Second - . ^5 Political Eclogues . jyj TheRofe - . , 99 The Lyars - - , . 215 Margaret Nicholfon - - 223 Charles Jenkinfon - 231 Jekyll - 24.1 Probationary Odes - - 249 Preliminary Difcourfe - 251 Thoughts on Ode Writing . 2 g o Recommendatory Teftimonies i 264 Account of Mr. Warton's Afcenfion - 277 Laureat Ele&ion - - - 284 ODE, by Sir C. Wray, Bart. - 292 Ditto, by Lord Mulgrave - - 294 Ditto, by Sir Jofeph Mawbey, Bart. . 296 Ditto, by Sir Richard Hill, Bart. - 299 Ditto, by Mr. Macpherfon - 002 Ditto, by Mr. Mafon - o g Ditto, by the Attorney-General - - 311 Ditto, by N. W. Wtaxhall, Efq. - . 3I4 Ditto, by Sir G. P. Turner, Bart. - 3 , 7 Ditto, by M. A. Taylor, Efq. - 319 Ditto, by Major John Scott, M. P. 323 Ditto, by Henry Dundas, Efq. - - 327 Ditto, by Dr, Jofeph Warton - 332 Ditto, by Lord Mountmorres - - 336 Ditto, by Lord Thurlow - 341 Ditto, XXXII CONTENTS. Ditto, by Dr. Prettyman - - 346 Ditto, by the Marquis of Graham - - 356 Second ODE, by Lord Mountmorrcs - 362 Ditto, by Sir George Howard, K. B. 367 Ditto, by Abp. Maricham 374 Official Ode, by the Rev. Thomas Warton - 381 Proclamation, &c. ... 390 Table of Inftru6lions - 394 CRITICISMS CRITICISMS ON THE ROLLIAD. NUMBER i. K Credite Roman! Scriptores, cedite Graeci." NOTHING can be more confonant to the advice of Horace and Ariftotle, than the conduct of our author throughout this Poem. The action is one, entire and great event,, being the procreation of a child on the wife of a ; Saxon Drummer. The Poem opens with a moft laboured and mafter- ly defcription of a ftorm. ROLLO'S ftate of mind in this arduous fituation is finely painted : Now ROLLO ftorms more loudly than the wind, Now doubts and black dcfpair perplex his mind > Hopelefs to fee his veflTel fafely harbou&'d, He hardly knows his ftarboard for That a hero in diftrefs mould not know his right hand from his left, is moft natural B and f CRITICISES titf and affecting; in other hands, indeed, it would not have appeared fufficiently poetical, but the technical expreflions of our author tonvey the idea irt. all the blaze of metaphor* The ftorm. at length fubfides, and ROLLO Is fafely landed on the coaft of Suflex. His firft exploit, like that of ^Eneas, is deer-ftealing, He then fets out in the difguife of a Suffex Smuggler, to obtain intelligence of the coun* try and its inhabitants : Wrapt in a clofe great-coat, he plods along ; A feemirig Smuggler, to deceive the throng. This expedient of the Smuggler's Great- coat, We muft acknowledge, is not quite fo 'Epic, as the veil of clouds, with which Mi- nerva, in the Odyfley, and Venus in the ./Eneid, iurround their refpeclive heroes. It is, however, infinitely more natural, and gains in propriety, what it lofes in fublimity. Thus <}ifguifed, our adventurer arrives at the Coun- try-houfe of Dame SHIPTON, a lady of ex- quifite beauty, and firft Concubine to the Ufurper HAROLD. Her l&enefs (as we all know) is {lift preferred at the wax- work in Fleet-ftreet. To this lady^, ROLLO difcovers himfelfj tHE ROLLIAD, J himfelf, and is received by her in the mod hofpitable manner. At flipper, he relates to her, with great modefty, his Former actions, and his defign of conquering England ; in which (charmed with the grace with which he eats and tells ftories) fhe promifes to affift him, and they fet off together for London. In the third book Dame SHIPTON, or as the au- thor ftyles her, S^IPTONIA, propofes a party to the puppet-fhetv ; oh the walk they are furprized by a mower, and retire under Temple-bar, where Shiptonia forgets her fidelity to Harold. We are ferry to obferve, that this incident is not fufficientiy poetical, nor does Shiptonia part with her chaftity in fo folemn a manner as Dido in the ^Eneid. In the opening of the fourth book likewife, we think our author inferior to Virgil, whom he exactly copies, and in fome places tranf- lates ; he begins iri this manner : But now (for thus it wa-s decreed above) SHIPTONIA falls exceflively in love; In every vein, great ROLLO'S eyes and fame, Light up, and then add fuel to the flarhe ! His words, his beauty, ftick within her breaff^ Nor do her cares afford her any reft. B 2 Here 4 CRITICISMS oi* Here we think that Virgil's " haerent in- fixi peftore vultus verbaque," is ill tranflated by the profaic \voi&JlicL We muft confefs, however, that from the defpair and death of Shiptonia, to the battle of Haftings, in. which ROLLO kills with his own hand the Saxon Drummer, and carries off his wife, the Poem abounds with beautiful details, cold-blooded matter of fals> Critics may perhaps object that it appears from the Genealogy of the Hollos, Duke ROLLO came to England mor than 60 years before the Battle of Haftings ; though the Poet reprefents him as the princi- pal hero in that memorable engagement. But fuch deviations from hiftory are among the common licences of poetry. Thus Virgil, for the fake of a beautiful Epifode, makes Dido live in the time of ^Eneas, whereas fhe lived in reality 200 years before the Trojan war ; and if authority more in point be de- fired, Mr. Cumberland wrote a Tragedy, called the Battle of Haftings, in which there was not a fingle event, except the death of Harold, that had the flighteft foundation iu hiftorical fads, or even probability. But THE ROLLIAD. 5 But the flxth book, in which ROLLO al- moft defpairing of fuccefs, defcends into a Night Cellar to confult the illuftrious MERLIN on his future deftiny , is a mafter-piece of ele- gance. In this book, as the Philofopher's magic lantern exhibits the characters of all ROLLO'S defendants, and even all thoie who are to a6l on the fame ftage with the JV^ar- cellus of the piece, the prefent illuftrious Mr. ROLLE, we mean to felecl in our next num- ber Ibme of the moft flriking pafTages of this inexhaufliblc Magazine of Poetry ! B 3 MJM- CRITICISMS ON NUMBER II. OUR author, after giving an account of the immediate defcendants of ROLLO, finds himfelf confiderably embarrafTed by the three unfortunate ROLLOS*, whom hiftory re- lates to have been hanged. From this diffi- culty, however, he relieves himfelf, by a con- trivance equally new and arduous, viz. by verifying the bill of indictment, and infert- ing in it a flaw, by which they are faved from condemnation. But in the tranfactions of thofe early times, however dignified the ^hrafeology, and enlivened by fancy, there is little to amaze and lefs to intereft ; let us haften, therefore, to thofe characters about Whom, not to be felicitous, is to want cu- rioiity, and whom not to admire, is to want gratitude to thofe characters, in fhort, whofc iplendour illuminates the prefent Houfe of Commons. Of thefe,, our author's principal favourite appears to be that amiable f young Noble- * See the Genealogy, p. xxvii, xxviii. t Lord Grahanj. \ man. THE ROLLIAD. *J man, whofe Diary we have all perufed with fo much pleafure. Of him, he fays, ' Superior to abufe, He nobly glories in the name of GOOSE ; Such Geefe at Rome from the perfidious Gaul, Preferv'd the Treas'ry-Bench and Capitol, &c. &c. Ill the defcription of Lord MAHON, our author departs a little from his wonted gra- vity, This Quixote of the Nation, Beats his own Windmills in gefticulation, Tojlrike, not pleafe^ his utmoft force he bends, And all his fenfe is at his fingers end, &c. &c. But the moft beautiful effort of our author's, genius, (if we except only the character of Mr. ROLLE himfelf) is contained in the <3e- fcription of Mr. PITT, Pert Without fire, without experience fage, Young with more art than SHELBURNE glean'd from a.ge a Too proud from pilfer'd greatnefs to defcend, Too humble not to call DUNDAS his friend, In folemn dignity and fullen {rate, This new Oclavius rifes to debate ! Mild and more mild he fees each placid row Qf Country Gentlemen with rapture glow 3 5 4 He O CRITICISMS ON He fees, convuls'd with fympathetic throbs, Apprentice Peers, and deputy Nabobs ! Nor Rum Contractors think his fpeech too long, While words, like treacle, trickle from his Tongue ! O Soul congenial to the Souls of ROLLES ! Whether you tax the luxury of Coals, Or vote fome neceflary millions more, To feed an Indian friend's exhaufted ftore. Fain would I praife (if I like thee qould praife) Thy matchlefs virtues in congenial lays. But, Ah ! too weak, &cc. &c. This apology, however, is like the nol& epifcopari of Bifhops ; for our author con- tinues his panegyric during about one hun- dred and fifty lines more, after which he proceeds to a talk (as he fays) more con- genial to his abilities, and paints in.fmooth confectionary ftile, The fimpering fadnefs of his MULGRAVE'S fmile. From the character of this nobleman we lhall only felect a part of one couplet, which tends to elucidate our author's aftonifhing powers in imitative harmony, '* "^within his lab'ring throat .. The fKril)' flnick ftruggles with the harfti hoarfe note." As THE ROLLIAD, 9 As we mean to excite, and not to fatisfy at once the curiolity of our readers, we (hall here put a period to our extracts for the pre- fent. We cannot, however, conclude this eflay, without obferving, that there are very few lines in the whole work which are at all inferior to thofe we have felefted for the entertainment of our readers. NUMBER CRITICISMS Oil NUMBER III. IN proof of the afTurance with which we concluded our lafl number, we fhall now proceed to give the character of SIR RICHARP HILL. Our Readers, probably, are well acquainted!, with the worthy Baronet's promifcuous quo- tations from the Bible and Rochefter ; and they may poffibly remember (if they were awake, when they read them) fome elegant verfes, which te repeated in the Houfe of Commons, and afterwards inferted in the public papers, as the produ&ion of a ileep- lefs Night. We know not, however, if they may fo eafily recal to mind his remarkable de- claration, both of his Loyalty and Religion, in the prettily- turned phrafe, " that indeed he loved King GEORGE very well, but he loved King JESUS better.'* But as our Poet has alluded to it, we thought neceflary to mention it ; and for the fame reafon to add, that like Lord MAHON., Major SCOTT, Mr, ATKINSON, THE ROLHAD, II ATKINSON, Mr. WILKES, and Captain J. LUTTRELL, he writes his own Speeches for the public Reporters. We fhould alfo have been happy to have enlivened our commentary with fbme extracts from the controverfy, at which our Author glances ; we mean the an- fwer of Sir Richard to Mr. Madan, on the doctrine of Polygamy ; a lu eject, which the tenour of our Baronet/s reading in his two favourite books, peculiarly qualified him to handle with equally pleafantry and orthodoxy. But all our induftry to procure his pamphlet, unfortunately proved ineffectual. We never faw more of it than the title-page, which we formerly purchafed, in the lining of a trunk, at the corner of St. Paul's Church-yard. We are confcious, that thefe introductory explanations muft feem doubly dull, to Readers impatient for fuch exquifite poetry as the ROLLIAD. They appeared, however, indifl penfible to the due understanding of the yerfes, which we fhall now give withou^ further preface* Brother of ROWLAND, or, if yet more dear, Sounds thy new title, Coufin of a Peer j Scholai 12 CRIflCISMS O3T Scholar of various learning, good or evif, Alike what God infpir'd, or what the Devil; Speaker well skiil'd, what no man hears, te write i Sleep-giving Poet, of a fleeplefs night; Polemic, Politician, Saint, and Wit, Now lafhing MADAN, now defending PITT ; . Thy praife fhall live till time itfelf be o'er, Friend of King GEORGE, tho' of King JESUS more ! The folemnity of this opening is well (luted ^Q the dignity of the occafion. The heroes of Homer generally addrefs each other by aa appellative, marking their affinity to fbme illuftrious perfbnage. The Grecian poet, it muft be confefled, in fuch cafes, ufes a patro- nymic, expreffive of the genealogy ; as Pe- lides y jEacidcfa Lqerliades ; but it is not abfolutely necenary to obfeiTe this rule. For, *M'Pherfon, a poet with whom our author is moft likely to be intimately ac- quainted, makes his hero Fingal, addrefs. Offian by the title of " Father of Ofcar." It mould feem therefore to be fufficient, if in ^tddrefling a great man, you particularife any celebrated character of the family who may * Mr. M'Pherfon is faid to be one of the principal writers on the fide of the prefent adminiftration. frHE ROLLIAD.' '13 be fuppofed to reflect honour on his connec- tions ; and the Reverend ROWLAND HILL was certainly the moft celebrated of our worthy Baronet's relations, before the late creation of Lord BERWICK, on which the next line happily touches. Our author feems very fond of Mr* DUNDAS, Whofe exalted foul No bonds of vulgar prejudice controul. Of fliame unconfcious in his bold career, He fpurns that honour, which the weak revere ; For true to public Virtue's patriot plan, He loves the Minlfler and not thejlflan ; Alike the advocate of NORTH arid Wit, The friend of SHELBUKNE, and the gukb of PITT* His ready tongue with fophiftries at will, Can Fay, unlay, and be confiftent ft ill ; This day can cenfure, and the next retract 1 , In fpeech extol, and ftigmatize in act ; Turn and re-turn; whole hours at HASTINGS bawlj Defend, praife, thank, affront him, and recal. By oppofition, he his King fhall court; And damn the People's caufe bp his fupport. He like fome Angel, fent to fcourge mankind, Shall deal forth plagues, in charity defign'di The Weft he would have ftarv'd ; yet, ever good, But meant to fave the effufion of her blood : And 14 CRITICISMS ON And if, frdm fears of his Controul releaft He loofes Rapine now, to fpoil the Eaft ; 'Tis but to fire another SYKES to plan Some new ftarvation-fcheme for Hindoftan 5 Secure, to make her flourifh, as before, More populous, by Ibfing myriads more Our author here feerris to underftartct the famous ftarvation-fcheme of Mr; DUNDAS^ as literally defighed' to produce an aclual fa- mine in America, though undoubtedly frorri the moft benevolent motives imaginable. But this is contradicted by a *late writer, who appears to be perfectly converfaht with the language and purpofeS of our prefent meri in power. " Starvation (fays he) is not lynonymous with famine ; for Mr. Duridas inoft certainly could not intend to produce a famine in America, which is the granary of the Weft-Indies, and of n great part of Europe. The word Starvation (continues he) \vas intended by Mr. Dundas to exprefs a fcheme of his own, by which he meant to prevent the Americans from eating wheri they Were hungry, and had food within their reach ; thereby infuring their reduction with- * Key to Parliamentary Debates, publiihed by Debrctr.- out 15 out blood- med." However both authors agree that Mr. Dundas propofed to ftarve the Americans (whatever was to be the mode of doing it) in mere compaffion, to lave them, from the horrors of throat-cutting. How finely too does the Poet trace the fame charita- ble difpofition in the late meafures of Mr* Dundas and his Colleagues at the Board of Controul ! Factious men have faid, that the Indian politics of the new Commiffioners have a direct tendency beyond any former fyftem, to encourage every kind of peculation and extortion. But what kind Mr. Dundas would peculiarly wiih to encourage, can ad- mit of no doubt from his known partiality to flarving any body, but himfelf* And how, indeed^ can the profperity of the Eaft be better confulted than by fbme new flarvation- fcheme ; fuch as was contrived and executed by certain humane individuals in the year 1770, with the moft falutary event! For, notwithftanding one -third of the inhabitants of Bengal were then fwept away by the famine, the province, in confequence, is now become more populous than ever. This may a little difturb all vulgar notions of caufe and but the writer above-mentioned proves l6 CRITICISMS ON proves the fa& by the teftimony of Major Scott. ' There are many more lines relating to Mr. Dundas. But as. this Gentleman's character is fo perfectly underflood by the public, we Ihall rather felect a fhort catalogue of fome among the inferior Minifterial Heroes, who have hitherto been lefs frequently defcribed. DRAKE, whofe cold rhetoric freezes in its courfe, BANKS the precife, and fluent WILEERFORCE, With either PHIFPS, a fcribbling, prattling pair ! And VILLERS, comley with the flaxen hair; The gentle GRENVIIIE'S ever-grihning Son, And the dark brow of folemn HAMILTON. Thefe miniatures, as we may call them, prefent us with very finking likenefTes of the living originals ; moft of whom are feen to as much advantage in this fmall fize, as they could poffibly have been, had they been taken at full length. How happy is the allulion to Mr. DRAKE'S * well-known fpeech, which in the metaphor of our poet, we may ftile, a beautiful icicle of the mofl tranfparent elo- * " Behold, Sir, another feature of the procraftinating fyftem. Not fo the Athenian Patriots Sir, the Romanf Sir, I have loft the clue of my argument Sir, I will fit down." quence ! THE fcOLLIAD." 1J -qnence J How juft too, and yet how concife is the defcription of the literary and parliamen- tary talents, fo equally pofTeiTed by Brother CHARLES and Brother HARRY, 43 Lord Mul- grave affectionately calls them. We muft, however, obferve, that in the jXtanufcript of the ROLL i AD, obligingly communicated to us by the Author, the line appears to have been firffc written, RefplenJent PHIPPS, who ftiines our le/Ter Bear; ' the noble head of this illuftrious family hav- ing been called the Great Bear. But this was corrected, probably in confequence of the Poet having difcovered, like Mr. Herfchel, that the fplendor, which he long attributed to a fmgle conftellation, or (if we mv.y de- part a little from critical nicety in our figure) to a lingle fbr, in reality flowed from the united rays of two. We have nothing fur- ther to add on this pafTage, only that the character of VILLERS feems to be drawn after the Nireus *qf Homer; who, as the , Commentators remark, is celebrated in the catalogue of warriors, for the handibmefl: man in the Grecian army, and is never mentioned again through the whole twenty- fpur books of the Iliad. C l8 CRITICISMS ON NUMBER IV. A New edition (being the nineteenth) of this univerfally admired poem, having been recently publimed, the ingenious author has taken that opportunity to introduce fome new lines on an occafion perfectly con- genial to his mufe, and in the higheft degree interefting to the public, namely, the late Faft and Thankfgiving ; together with the famous difcourfe preached in celebration of that day by that illuflrious orator and divine, the Reverend Mr. SECRETARY PRETTYMAN. This epifode, which is v emphatically termed by himfelf, in his prefatory addrefs to this laft edition, his Epifode Parfonic, feems to have been written perfectly con amore, and is confidered by critics as one of the happieft cffunons of the diftinguimed genius from whofe high-rapped fancy it originated. It confifts of nine-and-forty lines, of which, without farther exordiuih, wd mall fubmit the following extracts to the inflection, or, more properly fpeaking, the admiration of our readers. He fets ?ut with a moft ipirit- THE ROLLIAD. 19 ed compliment to Dr. PRETTYMAN. The two firft lines are conildered by critics as the moft fuccefsful example of the alliterative ornament upon record. Prim Preacher, Prince of Priefls, and * Prince's Prieft ; Pembroke's pale pride in PITT'S pr&cordia plac'd. Thy merits all fhall future ages fcan, And PRINCE be loft in PARSON PRETTYMAN. The heauty of the hiftorical allufion to Prince Pretty man, need not be pointed out to our readers ; and the prefage that the fame of this Royal perfonage fhall be loft and ab- forbed in. the rifing reputation of the inge- nious divine, is peculiarly happy and well turned. The celebrated pafifage of Virgil, Tu Marcellus eris :" Is fuppofed to have been in the Poet's recol- lecYion. at the moment of his conceiving this o paiTage, not that the " Oh miferande puer !" jn the preceding line, is imagined to have excited any idea of Mr. Pitt. * The Doctor is Chaplain to his Majefty. He was bred at Pembroke-hall, in Cambridge. C 2 Our 2O CRITICISMS ON Our author now purfues his Hero to the pulpit, and there, in imitation of Homer, whol always takes the opportunity for giving a mi- nute defcription of his perfontZ) when they are on the very verge of entering upon an engagement, he gives a laboured, but animat- ed detail of the Doctor's perfonal manners and deportment. Speaking of the penetrat- ing countenance for which the Doctor is diftinguimed, he fays, ARGUS could boaft an hundred eyes, 'tis true, "I The DOCTOR looks an hundred ways with two : > Gimlets they are, and bore you through and through. J This is a very elegant and claffic compli* ment, and mews clearly what a decided ad- vantage our Reverend Hero poffeffes over the celebrated OpOaApoJaAor of antiquity. Ad-- difon is juflly famous in the literary world, for the judgment with which he felects and applies familiar words to great occafions, as in the inftances : <{ The great, the important day, " Big with the fate of Cato and of Rome." v The fun grows dim with age, &c, 6cc." This THE ROLLIAiy. 2.1 This is a very great beauty, for it fares with ideas, as with individuals ; we are the more interefted in their fate, the better we are ac- quainted with them. But how inferior is Addilbn in this refpect to our author ? Gim 1 ets they are, &c. There is not fuch a word in all Cato ! How well-known and domeftic the image ! How fpecific and forcible the application! Our author proceeds : Having defcribed very accurately the flile of the Doctor's hair-dref- fing, and devoted ten beautiful lines to an eulogy upon the brilliant on the little finger of his right hand, of which he emphatically fays : No veal putrefcent, no dead whiting's eye, In the true water with this ring could vie ; he breaks out into the following mofl in- fpirited and vigorous apoftrophe Oh ! had you feen his lily, lily hand,. troke his fpare cheek, and coax his fnow-white band : That adding force to all his pow'rs of fpeech, This the prote&or of his facred breech ; That point the way to Heav'n's coeteftial grace, This keep his fmall-clothes in their proper place. C 3 Oh I' it CRITICISMS ON Oh ! how the comley preacher you had As now the right, and now the left he rais'd ? ! I Who does not perceive, in this defcnptiori,- as if before their eyes, the thin figure of ema- ciated divinity, divided between religion and decorum ; anxious to produce fome truths, and conceal others ; at once concerned for fundamental points of various kinds ; ever at the bottom of things Who does not fee this, and feeing, who does not admire ? The notes that accompany this excellent epifode, contain admirable mftances of OUT author's profound knowledge in all 'the literature of our eftablifhed religion ; and we are forry that our plan will not fuffer us to produce them, as a full and decifive proof that his- learning is perfectly on a level with his ge- nius, and his divinity quite equal to his poetry. NUM- THE ROLLIAB. NUMBER V. ON Monday laft, the twentieth edition of this incomparable poem made its appearance : and we may fafely venture to predict, that fhould it be followed by an hundred more, while the fertile and inexhauf- tible genius of the author continues to enrich every new edition with new beauties, they will not fail to run through, with the fame rapidity that the former have done ; fo uni- verfal is the enthufiafm prevailing among the genuine lovers of poetry, and all perfons of acknowledged tafte, with refpecl: to this Wonderful and unparalleled production. What chiefly diftinguifhes this edition, and renders it peculiarly interefting at the prefent moment, is the admirable defcription contain- ed in it of the newly-appointed India Board * in which the characters of the members com- pofing it are mofl happily, though perhaps fomewhat feverely, contrafled with thofe to whom the fame high office had been allotted fey a former administration, 4 That 24 CRITICISMS 'O'N That the feelings of the public are in urii- fon with thofe of our author upon" this occa- fion, is fufficiently apparent from the frequent Panegyrics with which the public papers have of late been filled, upon the characters of thefe difringuimed perfonages. In truth, the fuperiority of our prefent excellent adminif- f ration over thsir opponents, can in no in- ftance be more clearly 'demonftrated, than by a candid examination of the comparative merits of the perfons appointed by each of them to prefide in this arduous and important department. Our author opens this- comparifon by the following elegant compliment to the accom- pli ^d Nobleman, whole fituation, as Secre- taiy of State, entitles him to a priority of notice, as the eminence of his abilities will ever enfure him a due fuperiority of weight- in the deliberations of the board. SYDNEY, whom all the pow'rs of rhetoric grace, Confident SYDNEY fills FITZWJLLIAM'S place j O^hacl by nature but proportion'd been His ftrength of genius to his length of chin, His m;ghty mind in foine prodigious plan, At once with eafe had reach'd to Indoftan ! The" T&E OLLIAD. 25 l s he idea conveyed in thefe lines, of the poffibility of a feature in the human face ex- tending to fo prodigious a dhlance as the Eafl- Indies, has been objected to as fomewhat hy- perbolical. But thofe who are well acquaint- ed with the perfon, as well as the character of the noble lord alluded to, and who are un- quefKonably the beft judges of the extent of the compliment, will certainly be of a differ- ent opinion, Neither indeed is the objection founded in truth, but mufh have arifen merely from the pafTage not having been properly underflood. It by no means fuppofes his Lordfhip to have literally a chin of fuch pre- pofterous dimeniioris, as muft be imagined, for the purpofe of reaching to the Eaft-In- dies ; but figuratively fpeaking, only purports, that if his Lordmip's mental faculties are co- extenfi^ r e with that diflinguimed feature of his face, they may readily embrace, and be com- petent to the consideration of the mofl diftant objects. The meaning of the author is fo obvious, that this cavil probably originated in wilful mifappr-ehenrfion, with a view of de- tracting from the merit of one of the moil beautiful paiFages in the w : hole poem. What 26 CRITICISMS ON What reader can refufe his admiration td the following lines, in which the leading fea- tures of the characters are fo juftly, ftrongly* and at the fame time fo concifely delineated ? Acute obfervers, who with skilful ken Defcry the chara&ers of public men, Rejoice that pow'r and patronage (hould pafs From jobbing MONTAGUE to pure DUNDAS ; Exchange with pleafure, ELLIOT, LEW'SHAM,NORTH^ For MULG RAVE'S tried integrity and worth ; And all muft own, that worth completely tried,] By tUrns experienc'd upon every fide. How happy is the felecldorl of epithets in thefe lines! How forcibly defcriptive of the character to which they are applied ! In the fame ftrain he proceeds : ; Whate'er experience GREGORY might bdaft, Say, is not WALSINGHAM himfelf a hoft? His grateful countrymen, with joyful eyes, From SACKVILLE'S afhes fee this Phoenix rife: Perhaps with all his matter's talents bleft, To fave the Eaft as he fubdu'd the Weft. The hiflorical allufion is here judicioufly Introduced ; and the pleating profpect hint- ed at of the lame happy iflue attending our affairs in the Eaflern, ,that has already crown- erf THE ROLLIAD, *7 ed them in the Weftern world, muft afford peculiar fatisfadion to the feelings of every Britifh reader. The next character is moft ingenioufly de- fcribed, but like a former one, containing fome perfonal allufions, requires, in order to be fully understood, a more intimate acquain- tance with the exterior qualifications of the gentleman in queftion, than can have fallen to the lot of every reader. All who have had the pleafure of feeing him, however, will immediately acknowledge the refem- blance of the portrait. See next advance, in knowing FLETCHER'S ftead, A youth, who boafts no common fhare of h ead ; What plenteous ftores of knowledge may contain The fpacious tenement of GRENVILLE'S brain ? Nature, in all her difpenfations wife, Who form'd his head- piece of fo vaft a Hze. Hath not, 'tis true, neglected to beftow Its due proportion to the part below; And hence we reafon, that, to ferve the ftate, His top and bottom may have equal weight. Every reader will naturally conceive, that In the defcription of the principal perfon of the board, the author has exerted the whole force of his genius, and he will not find his expefta- 2 CRITICISMS btf fcxpe&ations difappointed ; he has referved him for the laft, and has judicioufly evaded disgracing him by a companion with any other, upon the principle, no doubt, quoted from Mr. Theobald, by that excellent critic, Martinus Scriblerus* " None but himfelf can be h's parallel." DOUBLE FALSEHOOD. As he has drawn this character at confi- tferable length, we fhall content ourfelves with fele&ing fome few of the moil ftriking pafTages, whatever may be the difficulty of Electing where almorr, the whole is equally beautiful. The grandeur of the opening prepares the mind for the fublime fenlations fuitable to the dignity of a fubjecl: fo exalted. Above the reft, majeftlcally great, Behold the infant Atlas of the tfate, The matchlefs miracle of modern days, In whom Britannia to the world difplays A fi'ght to make furrounding nations ftare ; ; A kingdom trufted to a fchool-boy's care. It is to be obferved to the credit of our au- thor, that although his political principles are unqueftionably favourable to ' the prefent happy government, he does not fcruple, with that THE ROLLIAD. 2$ that boldnefs which ever ehara&erifes real genius, to animadvert with freedom on per- fons of the moil elevated rank and ftation ; and he has accordingly interfperfed his com- mendations of our favourite young Minifter with much excellent and reafonable counfel, fore-warning him of the dangers to which h& is by his fituation expofe'd. After having mentioned his introduction into public life, and concurred in that admirable panegyric of his immaculate virtues, made in the Houfe of Commons by a noble Lord already cele- brated in the poem, upon which he has the following obfervation ; * As MUL GRAVE, Who fo fit, To chaunt the praifes of ingenious PITT ? The nymph unhackney'd and unknown abroad, Is thus commended by the hackney'd bawd. The dupe enraptur'd, views her fancied charms, And clafps the maiden mifchief to his arms, Till dire difeafe reveals the truth too late : O grant my country, Heav'n, a milder fate J He attends him to the high and diftinguifii- ed {ration he now fb ably fills, and in a ner- vous ftrain of manly eloquence, defcribes the defe&s of character and conduct to which his fituation and the means by which he came JO CRITICISMS ON came to it, render him peculiarly liable. The ipirit of the following lines is remarkable ; Oft in one bofom may be found allied, Excefe of meannefs, and excefs of pride : Oft may the Statefman, in St. Stephen's brave, Sink in St. James's to an abje flave ; Ereft and proud at Weftminfter, may fall Proftrate and pitiful at Leadenhall ; Jn word a giant, though a dwarf in deed, Be led by others while he feems to lead. He afterwards with great force defcribes the lamentable flate of humiliation into which he may fall from his prefent pinnacle of greatnefs, by too great a fubferviency to thofe from whom he has derived it, and appeals to his pride in the following beautiful excla-f mation ; Shall CHATHAM'S offspring bafely beg fupport, New from the India, now St. James's court; With pow'r admiring Senates' to bewitch, Now kifs a Monarch's now a Merchant's breech ; .And prove a pupil of St. Omer's fchool, Of either KIXSONT, AT. or JIN. the tool ? Though cold and cautious criticifm may perhaps {tare at the boldnefs of the concluding line, we will venture to pronounce it the moft THE ROLLIAD. Jt. mofl mafterly flroke of the fublime to be met with in this, or any other poem. It may be juftly faid, as Mr. Pope has fb hap- pily expreffed it " To fnatch a grace beyond the reach of art." ESSAY ON CRITICISM. As we defpair of offering any thing equal to this lofty flight of genius to the reader of true tafte, we mall conclude with recom- mending to him the immediate perufal of the whole poem, arid in the name of an admir- ing public, returning our heart-felt thanks to the wonderful author of this invaluable work- NUM- ^CRITICISMS ON NUMBER VL IN our two laft numbers we were happy to give our readers the earliefl relim of thofe additional beauties, with which the nineteenth and twentieth impreftions of the ROLLIAD are enriched. And thefe interpolations we doubt not have been fufficiently admired for their intrinfie merit, eyen in their detached ftate, as we gave them. But what fiiperior fatisfaction muft they have afforded to thofe, who have read them in their proper places ! They are parts of a whole, and as fuch won- derfully improve the effect of the general defign, by an agreeable interruption of profaic regularity. This may appear to fo.me but a paradoxical kind of an improvement, which is fubverfive of order. It muft be remembered, however, that the defcent of ROLLO to the night-cellar, was undoubtedly fuggefted by the defcent of ./Eneas to hell in the Sixth Book of Virgil ; and every claffical Critic knows what a noble contempt of order the Roman Poet ftudioufly difplays in the review of his countrymen. From THE ROLLIAD. 33 From Romulus he jumps at once to Augbf- ttis ; gets back how he can to Numa ; goes ftraight forward to Brutus ; takes a fhort run to Camillus ; makes a long ftride to Julius Casfar and Porhpey ; from Catb retreats again to the Gracchi and the Scipios ; and at lafl arrives in a beautiful zig-zag at Marcellus, with whom he concludes. .And this muft be right, becaufe it is in Virgil. A {Imilar confufion, therefore, has now been judicioufly introduced by our Author ia the Sixth Book of the ROLLIAD. He firft fingles out'fome of the great ftatefmen of the prefent age ; then carries us to church, to hear Dr. Prettyjnan preach before the Speaker and the pews ; arid next fhews us, all that Mr. DUNDAS means to let the public know of the new India Board ; that is to fay, the Members of whom it is compofed. He now proceeds, where a dull Genius would probably have begun, with ah accurate defcription of the Houfe of Commons, preparatory to the exhibition of Mr. ROLLE, and fome other of our political heroes, on that theatre of their glory. Maps of trie country round Troy have been drawn %>m the Iliad ; and we D doubt 34 CRITICISMS ON doubt not, that a plan of St. Stephen's might now be delineated with the utmoft accuracy from the ROLLIAD, Merlin firft urtiers Duke ROLLO into the LOBBY ; marks the fituation of the two en- trances ; one in the front, the other com- municating laterally with the Court of Re- quefts ; and points out the topography of the fire-place and the box, in which Sits PEARSON, lik a pagod in his niche; The Gomgom PEARSON, whofe fonorous lungs With " Silence ! Room there !" drown an hundred tongues. This r5afTage is in the very fpirit of pro- phecy, which delights to' reprefent things in the moft lively manner. We not only fee, but hear Pearfon in the execution of his of- fice. The language too, is truly prophetic ; unintelligible, perhaps, to t-hofe to whom it is addreffed, but perfectly clear, full, and forcible to thofe who live in the time of the accomplishment. Duke ROLLO might reafon- ably be fuppqfed to ftare at the barbarous words " Pagod" and " Gomgom'," but we, who THE ROLLIAD. 35 \vho know one to fignify an Indian Idol, and the other an Indian Inflrument of mufic, perceive at once the peculiar pro- priety with which fuch images are applied to an officer of a Houfe of Commons, fo com- pletely Indian as the prefent. A writer of lefs judgment would have contented himfelf with comparing Pearfon (imply to a Statue in his nich and with calling him a Stentor, perhaps in the next line : but fiich unappropriated fimi- lies and metaphors could not fatisfy the nice tafte of Our author. The defcription of the Lobby alfb fur- nifhes an opportunity of interiperfing a paf- fage of the tender kind, in praife of the Po- mona who attends there with oranges. Our poet calls her HUCSTERIA, and, by a dexterous ftroke of art, compares her to Shiptonia, whofe amours with ROLLO form the third and fourth books of the ROLLIAD; Behold the lovely wanton, kind and fair, As bright SHIPTONIA, late thy amorous care! D 2 Marfc 36 CRITICISMS ON Mark how her winning fmiles, and witching eyes, On yonder unfledg'd orator fhe tries ? Mark, with what grace fhe offers to his hand The tempting orange, pride of China's land f This gives rife to a panegyric on the me- dical virtues of oranges, and an oblique cen- fure on the indecent practice of our young Senators, who come down drunk from the eating-room, to ileep in the gallery. O ! take, wife youth, the* Hefperian fruit, of ufe Thy lungs to cherifh with baHamic juice. With this thy parch'd roof moiften ; nor confume Thy hours and guineas in the eating-room, Till, full of claret, down with wild uproar You reel, and itretch'd alone the gallery, fnore. From this the poet naturally flides into a : general caution againft the vice of drunkere- nefs, which he more particularly enforces, by the inflance of Mr. PITT'S late peril, from the farmer at Wandfworth. Ah ! think, what danger on debauch attends : Let PITT, once drunk, preach temp'rance to his friends ; How, as he wand^r'd darkling o'er the plain, His reafon drown'd in JENKINSON'S champaign?, A ruftic's hand, but righteous fate withftood, Had flied a Premier's for a robber's blood, We THE ROLLIAD. 37 We have been thus minute in tracing the transitions in this inimitable paflage, as they difplay, in a fuperior degree, the wonderf&l fkill of our poet, who could thus bring to- gether an orange-girl, and the prefent pure and immaculate Minifter ; a connection, which, it is more than probable, few of our readers would in any- wife have fufpecTted. -Ex fumo dare lucem Cogitat, ui fpeciofa dehinc miracula promat. From the Lobby we are next led into the feveral committee-rooms, and other offices adjoining ; and among the reft^ MERLIN, like a noble Lord, whofe diary was fome time fince printed, " takes occafion to in- iped the water-clofets," Where offerings, worthy of thofe altars, lie, Speech, letter, narrative, remark, reply ; With dead-born taxes, innocent of ill, With cancell'd claufes of the India bill : 1 There pious NORTHCOTE'S meek rebukes, and here The laboured nothings of the SCRUTINEER; And reams on reams of tracts, that without pain, Inceflant fpring from SCOTT'S prolific brain. Yet wherefore to this age ftiould names be known^ But heard, and then forgotten in their own i Turn then, my fon, &c. &c, D 3 This 51562 38 CRITICISMS ON This pafTage will probably furprife many of our readers, who muft have difcovered our author to be, as every good and wife man^ muft be, firmly attached to the prefent fyf- tem. It- was natural for Dante to fend his enemies to hell ; but it feems ftrange that our poet mould place the writings of his own friends and fellow-labourers in a water-clofet. It has indeed been hinted to us, that it might ariie from envy, to find fome of them better rewarded for their exertions in the caule, than himfelf. But though great mhids have fome- times been fubject to this paffion, we cannot fuppofe it to have influenced the author of the ROLLIAD in the prefent inftance. For in that cafe we doubt not he would have fhewn more tendernefs to his fellow-fufFerer, the unfortunate Mr. NORTHCOTE, who, after facrificing his time, degrading his profeffion, and hazarding his ears twice or thrice every week, for thefe two or three years paft, has at length confefTed his patriotifm weary of employing his, talents for the good of his country, without receiving the reward of his labours. To confefs the truth, we ourfelves think the apparent Angularity "of the poet's conduct on this occalion, may be readily af- cribed THE ROLLIAD. 39 cribed to that independence of fuperior ge- nius, which we noticed in our lad number. We there remarked, with what becoming freedom he {poke to the Minifler himlelf ; and in the pafTage now before us, we may find traces of the fame fpirit, in the allufions to the coal-tax, gauze-tax, and ribbon-tax, as well as the unexampled alterations and corrections of the celebrated India-bill. Why then fhould it appear extraordinary, that he mould take the fame liberty with two or three brother-authors, which he had before taken with their mailer ; and without fcruple in- timate, what he and every one elfe mutt think of their productions, notwithstanding he may pofTefs all poffible charity for the good inten- tion of their endeavours ? We cannot difmifs thefe criticifms, without obferving on the concluding lines ; how hap- ' pily our author, here again, as before, by the mention of Shiptonia, contrives to recal our attention to the perfonages more immediately before us, MERLIN arid Duke ROLLO ! D 4 NUM- 4O CRITICISMS ON NUMBER VII. WE come now to" the Sanffium San&o- rum, the Holy of Holies, where the glory of political integrity fhines vinbly, iince the fhrine has been purified from Lord J. CAVENDISH, Mr. FOLJAMBE, Sir C. BUN- BURY, Mr. COKE, Mr. BAKER, Major HART- LEY, and the reft of its pollutions. To drop our metaphor, after making a minute furvey of the Lobby, peeping into the Eating-room, and infpecting the Water-clofets, we are at length admitted into the Houfe itfelf. The transition here is peculiarly grand and folemn. MERLIN, having corrected himfelf for wafting fo much time on inngnificant objects, (Yet wherefore to this age fliould names be known, But heard, and then forgotten in their own ?) immediately directs the attention of Rollo to the doors of the houfe, which are repre- fented in the vifion, as opening at that mo- ment to gratify the hero's curiofity ; then the prophet fuddenly cries out, in the lan T guage of ancient Religion, Procu\ THE ROLLIAD. 4! . Procul, 6 procul efte profani 1 Turn then, my fon, where to thy hallow'd eye Yon doors unfold Let none profane be nigh ! It feems as if the poet, in the . preceding defcriptions, had purpofely ftooped to amufe himfelf with the Gomgom Pearfon, Hucfteria, Major Scott, Mr. Northcote, and the Reve- rend author of the Scrutineer, that he might rife again with the more ftrikhig dignity on this great occafion. MERLIN now leads ROLLO to the centre of the Houfe, Conventus trahit in medios, turbamque fonantem. He points out to him the gallery for ftrangers to lit in, and members to deep in ; the bar below, and the clock above. Of the clock he obferves, When this (halt point, the hour of queftion come, ' Mutes fliall find voice, and Orators be dumb. This, if in lengthen'd parle the night they pafs, Shall furnifli ftill his opening to DUN DAS ; To PITT, when "hear-hims" flag, fliall oft fupply The chcar-trap trick of ftale apology ; And, ftrange to tell ! in Nature's fpite, provoke Hot ARDEN once to blunder at a joke. The 42 CRITICISMS ON The beauty of thefe lines will be inftantly perceived by all who have witnefled the de- bates ; as they cannot but have remarked, how perpetually " the late hour of night' 9 occupies the exordiums of Mr. DUNDAS, after eleven o'clock ; and how frequently it Is introduced by Mr. PITT as a hint, for what is called chearing, whenever his arguments and inveftives are received by his young friends with the unparliamentary compliment ef facred filence. The miracle of a jefl from Mr. ARDEN, happened on the occafion of fome Refolutions having pafled between the hours of Jix and feven in the morning ; for which reafon the Attorney- General faceti- oufly contended, tjiat they were entitled to no refpect, " as the houfe was thereat jfc and fevens" Any approximation to wit in debate, being perfet4y unufual with this gen- tleman, however entertaining his friends may think him in private, our author very pro- perly diftinguifhes this memorable attempt by the fame kind of admiration, with which poets commonly mention fome great prodigy as for inflance, of a cow's fpeaking ; .pscudefque locutje Jnfaadum ! We THE ROLLIAD. 43 We hope none of our readers will attribute to us the moil diftant intention of any invi- dious companion. The table, mace, &c. are next defcribed, but thefe we mail pafs over in filence, that we may get where moft who enter the Houfe of Commons wim to get to the TREASURY-BENCH, Where fit the gowned clerks, by antlent rule, " This on a chair, and that upon a ftool; "Where ftands the well-pil'd table, cloth'd in green ; There on the left the TREASURY-BENCH is feen. No fattin covering decks the' unfightly boards ; No velvet cuftiion holds the youthful Lords : And claim illuftrious Tails fuch fmall regard ? Ah ! Tails too tender for a feat fo hard. This paflage touches on a fubject of much offence to the young friends of the minifter ; we mean the barbarous and Gothic appear- ance of the benches in the Houfe of Com- mons. The Treafury-bench itfelf looks no better than a fail form in one of our public fchools : No fattin covering decks the* unfightly boards, No velvet cufhion holds the youthful Lords. Th< 4.4 CRITICISMS ON The above couplet ftates with much ele-? gance the matter of complaint, and glances with equal dexterity at the proper remedy. The compolition is then judicioufly varied. The whole art of the poet is employed to Intereft ourpaffions in favour of. the necefiary reform, by expoftulatory interrogations and iHterje&ions the moft affectingly pathetic. And who can read the former, without feel- ing "his fenfe .of national honour moft deeply injured by the fuppofed indignity ; or who can read the latter, without melting into the moft unfeigned commiferation for the actual fuffermgs to which the youthful Lords are at prefent expofed ? ' It muft, doubtlefs, be a ieafonable relief to the minds of our readers, to t>e informed, that Mr. PITT (as it has been laid, in fome of the daily papers) means to propaie, for one article of his Parliamentary Reform, to cover the feats in general with crimibn fattin, and to decorate the Treafury- fc;ench, in particular, with cumions of crim- fon velvet; one of * extraordinary dimen- fions being to be appropriated to Mr. W, GRENVILLE. * For a defcription of this young gentleman's perfon, from top to. bott A fecond HASTINGS, if the Fates allow. The bold but truly poetical apocope, by which the Meffrs. At-kinfon and Jen-kinfon, are called the two kinfons, is already familiar to the public. The minor Kinfon, or Kinfon the lefs, is obvioufly Mr. Atkinfon ; Mr. Jen- kinfon being confefledly greater than Mr; Atkinfon, or any other man, except ONE, in the kingdom. The antitheiis of the Major Scott to the minor Kinfon, feems to afcertain E the iJO CRITICISMS OJT the fenfe of the word Major, as fignifying iff this place the greater ; it might mean alfq the elder ; or it might equally refer to the mi- litary rank of the gentleman intended. This is a beautiful example of the figure fo much admired by the antients under the name of the Paronomafia, or Pun. They who recol- lect the light in which our author before re* preferred Major Scott, as a pamphleteer, fit only to furnifh a water-clofet, may poffibly wonder to find him here mentioned as THE GREATER SCOTT ; but whatever may be his literary talents, he muft be acknowledged to , be truly great, and worthy of the confpicuous place here afligned him, if we confider him in his capacity of agent to Mr. Haltings, and of confequence chief manager of the Bengal Squad ; and it mutt be remembered, that this is the character in which he is here intro- duced. The circumftance of Mr. Le Me- furier's origin from Norman Smugglers, has been erroneoufly fuppofed by fome critics to be defigned for a reproach ; but they could not poffibly have fallen into this miftake, if they had for a moment reflected that it is addreffed by MERLIN to RQLLO, who was" hirnfelf THE kOLLIAD. 51 himfelf no more than a Norman pirate. Smuggling and piracy in heroic times were not only efteemed not infamous, but abfolutely honourable. The Smiths, Call and Palk of our poetj referrible the Alcandrumque, Haliumquej Noe'monaque, Prytanimque, of Homer and Virgil ; who introduce thofe gallant warriors for the fake of a fmooth verfe, and difpatch them at a flroke without the diftinction of a fingle epithet. Our poet too has more profeflfedly imitated Virgil in the lines refpecting Mr. Vanfittart, now a candidate to fucceed Mr* Haftings. And, VANSITTART, thou A fecond HASTINGS, if the fates allow. Si qua fata afpera rumpas, Tu Marcellus eris ! The paflage however is, as might be hoped From the genius of our author, obvioufly im- proved in the imitation ; as it involves a cli- max, moil happily exprefled. Mr. Barwell has been panegyrized in the lines immediately foregoing, as fecond to Haftings ; but of Mr. Vanfittart it is prophefied, that he will be a fecond Haftings ; fecond indeed in time, E a but 52 CRITICISMS ON but equal perhaps in the diftinguifliing merits of that great and good man, in obedience to the Court of Directors, attention to the in- terefts of the Company in preference to his own, abftinence from rapacity and extortion, juftice and policy towards the princes, and humanity to all the natives of Hindoftan. The ingenious turn on the words fecond to ffaftings, and a fecond Ha/lings, would have furnifhed matter for whole pages to the Dionyfius's, Longinus's, and Quintilians of antiquity, though the affected delicacy of modern tafle may condemn it as quibble and jingle. The poet then hints at a moft ingenious propofal for the embellishment of the India- bench, according to the new plan of Par- liamentary Reform ; not by fitting it up like the Treafury-bench, with velvet cumions, but by erecting for the accommodation of the Leadenhall worthies,, the ivory bed, which was lately prefented to her Majelly by Mrs. Haftings. O that for you, in Oriental ftate, At eafe reclin'd to watch the long debate, Beneath the gallery's pillar'd height were fpread (With the QUEEN'S leave) your WARREN'S ivory bed ! The TfiE ROLLIAD. $$ The pannels of the gallery too, over the canopy of the bed, are to be ornamented with fuitable paintings. Above, in colours warm with mimic life, The German hufband of your WARREN'S wife His rival's deeds fhould blazon ; and difplay, In his bleft rule the glories of your fway. What fingular propriety, what ftriking beauty muft the reader of tafle immediately perceive in this choice of a painter to execute the author's defign ! It cannot be doubted but Mrs. Raftings would exert all her own private and all Major Scott's public influence with every branch of the Legiflature, to ob- tain fo illuftrious a job for the man to whofe affection, or to whofe want of affection, me owes her prefent fortunes. The name of this artifl is Imhoff; but though he was once honoured with Royal Patronage, he is now beffc remembered from the circumftance. by which our author has difHnguimed him of his former relation to Mrs, Haftings. Then follow the fubjects of the paintings, which are felected with the ufual judgment of our poet. Here might the tribes of ROHILCUND expire, And quench with blood their towns, that fink in fire ; 3 The 54 CRITICISMS ON The BEGUMS there, of pow'r, of wealth forlorn, With female cries their haplefs fortune mourn. Here hardly refcu'd from his guard, GHEYT SING Aghaft mould fly ; there NUNDCOM AR mould fwing 5 Happy for him ! if he had borne to fee His country beggar'd of the laft rupee ; Nor call'd thofc laws, O HASTINGS, on thy head, Which, mock'd by thee, thy flaves alone fhould dread. Thefe ftories, we prefume, are too public to require any explanation. But if our readers Should wifh to be more particularly acquaint- ed with them, they will find them in the * Adventures of Robinfon Crufoe, commonly called the Reports of the Select and Secret Committees, with Appendixes of Letters, Minutes, and Narratives written by Mr. Plaftings himfelf. Or they may confult the Hiftory of Alexander the Great, contained in Major John Scott's narrative of theadmini- ft ration of Mr. Haftings. Though we would rather refer them to the latter work, as in our opinion it is one of the moft fatisfactory de- fences ever published ; and proves to demon- ft ration, that Mr. Ha/lings never committee! a {ingle aft of injuftice or cruelty, but hecon- fcantly obtained forty or fifty lacks for the Company or himfelf That an enquiry into * We have the higheft law authority for this title ; as well as for calling Mr. Haftings Alexander the Great. paft THE ROLLIAD. ^ /' paft abufes is an impolitic order ; becaufe " much valuable time muft be loft, and much " odium incurred by the attempt;" and there- fore Mr. Haftings of courfe ought not to have been cenfured at all, unlefs he had been ceil- fured before he had done any thing to deferve it. That it was right for Mr. Haftings to keep up the good old cuftom of receiving prefents, in defiance of a pofitive law ; be- caufe his predeceffors had received as large flims when they were authorized by cuftom, and not prohibited by any law. That Mr. Haftings was juftified in difobeying the orders of the Directors, becaufe he could no other- wife have convinced the Country Powers of his luperiority over his Mafters, which was, and is abfolutely neceffary that, though it may be queftioned if Nundcomar was legally condemned, it was proper to execute him, in order to mew the juftice and impartiality of the Judges in hanging the natives, whom they were fent efpecially to protect That a Treaty of Peace between two nations is of no force, if you can get one of the individu- als who officially figned it, to confeiit to the of it together with many other E 4 ' portions > 56 CRITICISMS ON portions, equally juft and novel, both h\ Ethics and Politics. But to return to our Poet. MERLIN now drops his apoftrophe, and eulogizes the India-bench in the third perfon for the blef- fings of Tea and the Commutation Tax. The following pafTage will mew our author to be, probably a much better Grocer than Mr. Pitt ; and perhaps little inferior to the, Tea-Purchafer's Guide. What tongue can tell the various kind of Tea ? Of Blacks and Greens, of Hyfon and Bohea ; With Single, Congou, Pekoe, and Souchong: Couflip the fragrant, Gun-powder the ftrong ; And more, all heathenifh alike in name, Of humbler fome, and .fome of nobler fame. The prophet then compares the breakfafls, of his own times with thofe of ours : attri- butes to the former the intractable ipirit of that age ; and from the latter fervently prays, like a loyal fubjecl, for the perfect accomplifli- ment of their natural effects ; that they may relax the nerves of Englishmen into a pro-; per irate of fubmiffion to the fuperior We mall infert the lines at length, On mighty beef, bedew'd with potent ale, Pur Saxons, rous'd at early dawn, regale j THE ROLLIAD. 7 And hence, a fturdy, bold, rebellious race, ' Strength in the frame, and fpirit in the face, All facred right of Sovereign Pow'r defy, For Freedom conquer, or for Freedom die. Not fo their fons of manners more polite j How would they ficken at the very fight ! O'er Chocolate's rich froth, o'er Coffee's fume, Or Tea's hot tide their noons fliall they confume. But chief, all fexes, every rank and age, Scandal and Tea, more grateful, (hall engage j In gilded roofs, befide fome hedge in none, On polifh'd tables, or the cafual ftone. Be Bloom recjuc'd ; and PITT no more a foe, Ev'n PITT, the favourite of the fair fliall grow: Be but Mundungus cheap ; on light and air New burthens gladly fljall our peafants bear, And boil their peaceful kettles, gentle fouls ! Contented, if no tax be laid on coals. Aid then, kind 'Providence, yon* generous Bench, With copious draughts the thirfty realm to drench And oh ! thy equal aid let PRESTON find, With * mujly-fweet) and mouldy-frejb combin'd, To palfy half our ifles : 'till, wan, and weak, Each nerve unftrung, and bloodlefs every cheek, Head anfwering head, and noddling thro' the ftreet, The deftin'd change of Britons is complete ; Things without will, like India's feeble brood, Or China's fhaking Mandarins of wood. So may the Crown in native luftre fhine, And Britifh Kings re-fume their right divine. * The Tea-dealers affure us, that Mr. PRES TON'S fweet /b Teas contain a great part of the mujly and mouldy which the Ttadereje&eq 1 , We 58 CRITICISMS ON We have been thus prolix in giving tne whole of this quotation, as we think it glances very finely at the true policy, why it is ex- pedient to encourage the univerfal confump* lion of an article, which fome factious people Iiave called a pernicious luxury. And our leaders, we are perfiiaded, will agree with us, when we decidedly pronounce this as good a defence of the Commutation Tax, as we have yet feen. We muft obferve however that our au- thor is probably indebted to the extenfive in- formation of Lord Sydney, for the hint of the following couplet : In gilded roofs, beficje fome hedge in none, On polifh'd tables, or the cafual ftone. The Secretary of State in the difcuffion of the above-mentioned tax, very ably calculat- ed the great quantity of tea confumed under hedges by vagrants, who have no houfes ; from which he moft ingenioufly argued to the juflice and equity of laying the impoft on perfons who have houfes, whether they con- fume it or not. We THE ROLLIAD. 9 We fhall conclude this number, as the Poet concludes the fubjecl:, with fome ai- mated verfes on Mr. Fox and Mr. PITT, Crown the froth'd Porter, flay the fatted Ox, And give the Britifli meal to Britifh Fox, But for an Indian minifter more fit, Ten cups of pureft Padrae pour for PITT, Pure as himfelf ; add fugar too and cream, Sweet as his temper, bland as flows the ftream Of his fmooth eloquence j then crifply nice The muffin toaft, or bread and butter flice, Thin as his arguments, that mpck the mind, Gone, ere you tafte, no relifh left behind. Where beauteous Brighton overlooks the fea, Thefe be his joys ; and STEELE fhall make the Tesj, How neat ! how delicate ! and how nex- pedled is the allufion in the laft couplet J Thefe two lines alone include the fubftance of whole columns, in the minifterial papers of laft fummer, on the fober, the chafte, the virtuous, the edifying manner in which the Immaculate Young Man pafTed the recels from public bulinefs ; not in riot and de- bauchery, not in gaming, not in attendance on ladies, either modefl or immodeft, but in drinking Tea with Mr. Steele, at the Cattle in Brighthelmftone, Let future ages read and admire \ OTM- CRITICISMS ON NUMBER IN every new edition of this incomparable poem, it has been the invariable prac- tice of the author, to take an opportunity of adverting to fuch recent circumftances, as have occurred fmce the original publication of it relative to any of the illuftrious charac- ters he has celebrated. The public has lately been allured, that the Marquis of Graham is elected Chancellor of the Univerfity of Glaf- gow, and has prefented that learned body with a complete fet of the engravings of Piranefi, an eminent Italian artift ; of which we are happy to acquaint the Dilettanti, a few remaining fets are to be purchafed at Mr. Alderman BoydelFs printfhop, in Cheapfide, price twelve pounds twelve millings each, An anecdote reflecting fo much honour upon one of the favourite characters of our author, could not pafs unnoticed in the ROLLIAD ; and accordingly, in his laft edition, we find the following complimentary lines upon the. fubjeft : If right the Bard, whofe numbers fwcetly flow, our knowledge is ourfelyes to know ; A fage THE ROLL IAD. fa A fcge like GRAHAM, can the world produce, Who in full fenate call'd himfelf a goofe ? The' admiring Commons, from the high-born youth, With wonder heard this undifputed'truth ; Exulting Glafgow claim'd him for her own, And plac'd the prodigy on Learning's throne. He then alludes to the magnificent prefent above-mentioned, and concludes in that hap- py vein of alliterative excellence, for whicla he is fb juftly admked With gorgeous gifts from gen'rous GRAHAM graced, Great Glafgow grows the granary of tafte. Our readers will doubtlefs recoiled, that this is not the firft tribute of applaufe paid to the diflinguimed merit of the public-fpirit- ed young Nobleman in queftion. In the firft edition of the poem, his character was drawn at length, the many fervices he has rendered his country were enumerated, and we have lately been afTured by our worthy friend and correfpondent, Mr. Malcolm M'Gregor, the ingenious author of the Heroic Epiflle to Sir William Chambers, and c'Jier valuable poems, that the following fpirited verfes, re- cording the ever -memorable circumftance of his Lordfhip's having procured for the in- habitants CRITICISMS habitants of* the Northern extremity of otif Ifland, the inefiimable privilege of exempt- ing their pofteriors from thofe ignominious fymbols of flavery, vulgarly denominated breeches, are actually univerfally repeated with enthufiafm, throughout every part of the Highlands of Scotland Thee, GRAHAM ! thee, the frozen Chieftains Who feel thy bounties thro' their fav'rite drefs ; By thee they view their refcu'd country clad In the bleak honours of their long-loft plaid } Thy patriot zeal has bar'd their parts behind To the keen whiftlings of the wint'ry wind ; XVhile Lairds the dirk, while lafles bag-pipes prizej And oat-meal cake the want of bread fupplies ; The fcurvy fkin, while fcaly fcabs enrich, While contaft gives, and brimftone cures the itch, Each breeze that blows upon thofe brawny parts, Shall wake thy lov'd remembrance in their hearts ; And while they frefhen from the Northern blaft, So long thy honour, name, and praife fhall laft. We need not call to the recollection of the claffical reader, Dum juga montis aper, fluvios dum pifcis amabitj Semper honos, nomenque tuum laudefque manebuntt And the reader of tafte will not hefitate to pronounce, that the copy has much improved upon, THE ROLLIAD. 63 tpon, and very far furpaffed the original. la thefe lines we alfo find the moft ftriking in- fiances of the beauties of alliteration ; and however fbme faftidious critics have affeded to undervalue this excellence, it is no fnaall triumph to thofe of a contrary fentiment to find, that next to our own incomparable author, the moft exalted genius of the pre- fent age has not difdained to borrow the affiftance of this ornament, in many paffages of the beautiful dramatic treafure with which he has recently enriched the ftage. Is it ne- ceflary for us to add, that it is the new tra- gedy of the Carmelite to which we allude ? A tragedy, the beauties of which, we will venture confidently to aflert, will be admired and felt, when thofe of Shakefpeare, Dryden, Otway, Southerne, and Rowe, fhall be no longer held in eftimation. As examples of alliterative beauty, we fliall felecl the fol- lowing : The hand of Heav'n hangs o'er me and my houfe, To their untimely graves feven fons fwept off. Again So much for tears^tho' twenty years they flow, They wear no channels in a widow's cheek. The 64 CRITICISMS oir The alternate alliteration of the fecond line, in this inftance, feems an improvement upon the art, to the whole merit of which Mr* Cumberland is himfelf unqueflionably en- titled. Afterwards we read, Treafures hoarded up, With carking care, and a long life of thrift* In addition to the alliterative merit, we cannot here fail to admire the judicioufly'fe- le&ed epithet of " carking ;" and the two lines immediately following, although no ex- ample of that merit, mould not be omitted : Now, without intereft, or redemption fwallow'd, By the devouring bankrupt waves for ever. How finking is the comparifon of the ocean, to g. bankrupt fwallowing without in- tereft or redemption, the property of his un- fortunate creditors ? Where mall we find a fimile of equal beauty, unlefs fbme may pof- fibly judge the following to be fo, which is to be found in another part of the fame fublime work, of two perfons weeping We THE ROLLIAD. 65 We will fit Like fountain ftatues, face to face oppos'd, And each to other tell our griefs in tears, Yet neither utter word Our readers, we truft, will pardon our having been diverted from the tafk we have undertaken, by the fatisfaction of dwelling on a few of the many beauties of this juftly po- pular and univerfally admired tragedy, which, jn. our humble opinion, infinitely furpafle5 every other theatrical competition, being in truth an afTemblage of every poflible dramatic excellence : nor do we believe, that any pro- duction, whether of antient or modern date, can exhibit a more uncommon and peculiar fele&ion of language, a greater variety of iur- prifing incidents, a more rapid fucceffion of extraordinary difcoveries, a more curious col- leclion of defcriptions, lirnilies, metaphors, images, ftorms, fhipwrecks, challenges, and vifions, or a more mifcellaneous and ftriking picture of the contending paflions of love, hatred, piety, madnefs, rage, jealoufy, re- morfe, and hunger, than this unparalleled performance prefents to the admiration of the enraptured fpedator. Mr. Cumberland has F been 66 CRITICISMS ON been repreiented, perhaps unjuftly, as partU cularly jealous of the fame of his cotempo-? raries, but we are perfuaded he will not be offended when, in the ranks of modern writers, we place him fecond only to the inimitable author of the ROLLIAD. To return from the digreflion'into which a fubjecl: fo feducing has involuntarily betrayed us. The reader will recoiled, that in our laft we left MERLIN gratifying the curioiity of ROLLO, with a view of that AfTembly of which his Defcendant -is one day deftined to become fo confpicuous an ornament. After having given the due preference to the India- Bench, he proceeds to point out to him others of the moft diftingutihed fupporters of the prefent virtuous AdminiH:ration. Having already mentioned the mofr. confidential friends of the Minifler, he now introduces us to the acquaintance of an active young Member, who has upon all occafions been pointedly fe- vere upon the noble Lord in the blue ribbon, and who is remarkable for never having de- livered his fentiments upon any fubject, whe- ther relating to the Eaft-Indies, the Reform pf Parliament, or the Weflminfler Election, without; THE ROLLIAD. 6j without a copious difTertation upon the prin- ciples, caufes, and conduct of the American war. Lo! BEAUFOY rifes, friend to foft repofej Whofe gentle accents prompt the houfe to dofe : His cadence juft, a general fleep provokes, Almoft as quickly as SIR RICHARD'S jokes. Thy /lumbers, NORTH, he ftrives in vain to break, When all are fleeping, thou vvould'ft fcarce awake ', Though from his lips fevere infectives fell, Sharp as the acid he delights to fell. In explanation of the laft line, it may be, perhaps, neceflary to apprife our readers, that this accomplished orator, although the ele- gance of his didtion, and fmoothnefs of his manner, partake rather of the properties of oil, is in his commercial capacity, a dealer in vinegar. The fpeaker alluded to, under the name of Sir Richard, v is probably the fame whom our author, upon the former occafion, Sleep-giving poet of a fleeplefs night. The limits of our plan will not allow us to enlarge upon the various beauties with which- this part of the work abounds ; we cannot, F 2 however, 68 CRITICISMS ON however, omit the pathetic defcription of the SPEAKER'S fituation, nor the admirable com-^ parifon of Lord MAHON preying on his patience, to the vulture devouring the liver of Prometheus. The neceffity of the Speaker's continuing in the chair while the Houfe fits, naturally reminds our author of his favourite Virgil : - fedet aeternumque fedebit Infelix Thefeus. There CORNEWELL fits, and, oh unhappy fate ! Mud fit for ever through the long debate ; Save, when compell'd by Nature's fovereign will, Sometimes to empty, and fometimes to fill. Painful pre-eminence ! he hears, 'tis true, Fox, NORTH, and BURKE, but hears SIR JOSEPH too, * Then follows the fimile : * Like fad PROMETHEUS, faften'd to his rock, In vain he looks for pity to the clock ; In vain the' effe&s of ftrength'ning porter tries, And nods to BELLAMY for frefh fupplies ; While vulture-like, the dire MAHON appears, And, far more favage, rends his fuff'ring ears, ROLLIAE. 69 NUMBER X. AMONGST the various pretentious to critical approbation, which are to be found in the excellent and never-fufficiently to be admired production, which is the object' of thefe comments, there is one that will ftrike the claffical obferver as peculiarly pro- minent and praife-worthy : namely, the un- common ability fhewn by the author, in the (election of his heroes. The perjbrue that are introduced in the courfe of this poem, are characters that fpeak for themfelves. The very mention of their names, is a fiimmons to approbation ; and the relation of their hntory, if given in detail, would prove no- thing more than a lengthened panegyric. Who that has heard of the names of a Jenkin- fon, a Robinfon, or a Dundas, has not in the fame breath heard alfo what they are ? This is the fecret of our author's fcience and ex- cellence. It is this that enables him to omit the dull detail of introductory explanation^ F and 70 CRITICISMS ON and to fatten upon his bufinefs, if one may ufe the expreffion, flap-dafh, and at once. Semper ad eventum feftinat, et in medias refs, Non fecus ac notas auditorum rapit. HOR. Homer himfelf yields, in this refpect, to our author ; for who would not perceive the evident injuftice done to the modern bard, if we were to place the wifdom of an Ulyfles on any competition with the experience of a Pitt ; to mention the bully Ajax, as half fo genuine a bully, as the bully Thurlow ; if we were to look upon Neftor as having a quarter of the intereftlng circumlocution of the ambiguous Nugent ; to confider Achilles as pofTefled of half the anger of a ROLLE ; or to fuppofe for a moment, that the famous HroJ?-xu? of an- tiquity, could run nearly fo fail: in a rage, as the member for Devon in a fright ; to con- ceive the yellow-haired Paris to have had half the beauty of the ten times more yellow-hair- ed Villiers ; to look upon Agamemnon as in any degree fo dictatorial to his chiefs as thb high-minded Richmond ; to confider the friendmip of Patroclus, as porTefTed of a mil- lionth portion of the difintereiled attachment of THE ROLLIAD. )l of" a Dundas; to have any conception that the chofen band of Thefialian Myrmidons, were to be any way compared, in point of implicit fubmiffidn, to the ftill more dexteroufly chofen. band of the Minifter in the Britim Houfe of Commons. Or but there is no end to fo invidious a ctfmparifon ; and we will not ex- pofe poor Homer, to the farther mortification of purfuing it. MERLIN proceeds in his relation, and fixes* upon an object that will not, we believe, prove any difgrace to our author's general judgment of felection ; namely, that worthy Baronet, and univerfaily admired wit, Sir RICHARD HILL, of whom it may be truly faid, Pariter pietate jocifque, Egregius. He looks upon him as an individual merit- ing every diftinftiori, and has thought proper therefore, in the hit edition of the ROLLIAD, though the Baronet had been * (lightly touch- ed upon before, to enlarge what was then * See No. IK. F 4 faid. 72 CRITICISMS OS faid, into a more particular description. Speak- ing of Sir Richard's {tile of elocution, our author obferves With quaint formality of facred fmut, His rev 'rend jokes fee pious RICHARD cut. Let meaner talents from the Bible draw Their faith, their morals Thefe, and Thofe their law ! His lively genius finds in holy writ A richer mine of unfufpe&ed wit. What never Jew, what never Chri ft ian taught, What never fir'd one fectary's heated thought, What not e'en f ROWLAND dream'd, he faw alone, And to the wondering fenate firb made known; How bright o'er mortal jokes the Scriptures fhine Refplendent Jeft-book of bon-mots divine. This defcription will be readily felt, and we truft, not lefs cordially admired, by all thofe who may have enjoyed the pleafure of auricular evidence to^ Sir Richard's oratory. The thought of converting the Bible into a jeft book, is, we believe, quite new ; and not more original in itfelf, than characterifHcally juft in its application to the fpeaker. We all know that Saul affected infanity for the fake of religion, in the early periods of our holy t The Reverend ROWLAND HILL, brother of Sir Richard. fakh ; tHE &OLLIAB. 73 faith ; and why fo great an example fhould not be imitated in later times, we leave it to the prophane to fhew. We know not whether it Is worth obierv- ing, that the eloquence of this illuftrious fa- mily is not confined to Sir Richard alone ; but that his brother inherits the fame gift, and if poffible, in a greater degree. It is faid, there is an intention of diverting this latter gentleman of his clerical robe, and bringing him into the fenar^e, as the avowed compe- titor of our modern Cromwell. If this happy event (hould luckily take place, we fhall lite- rally fee the obfervation then realized, that {he Miniftry will give to their wicked enemies, on the other fide of the Houfe, what they have fo long wanted and deferved. " A Rowland for their Oliver" This, however, by the way. Our author refumes his fubject with the following fpirite4 apoftrophe : Methinks I fee him from the Bench arife, His words all keennefs, but all meek his eyes ; Define the good religion might produce, PracW? its highefl excellence 2&uie; Anil 74 CRITICISMS Otf And with his tongue, that two-edged weapon, fhew^ At once, the double worth of JOB and JOE. job, as fome of our more learned readers may know, is a book in the Old Teflament, and is ufed here per fynechdochen^ as a part for the whole. Nothing can be more natural, than the preference given to this book, on this occafion, as Sir Richard is well known in his fpeeches to be fo admirable an auxiliary to its precepts. The perfon of the name of Joe, who has received fo laconic a mention in the laft line of the above extract., will be recognifed by the critical and the intelligent, as the fame individual who diiHnguimed him-- felf fo eminently in the fixteenth century, as a writer and a wit, namely, Mr. Jofeph Miller; a great genius, and an author, avowedly in the highefl eflimation with our learned Baronet. The bufinefs of the competition goes on. It is evident, however, the poet was extreme- ly averfe to quit a fubjecl: upon which his congenial talents repofed fo kindly. He does not leave Sir Richard, therefore, without the following finimed arid moil high-wrought compliment : With THE ROLLIAD, 75 With wit fo various, piety fo odd, Quoting by turns from Miller, and from God ; Shall no diftinc~Hon wait thy honour'd name ? No lofty epithet tranfmit thy fame ? Forbid it wit, from mirth refin'd away ! Forbid it Scripture, which thou mak'ft fo gay ! SCIPIO, we know, was AFRICANUS call'd, RICHARD ftyl'd LONG-SHANKS CHARLES furnam'd the BALD ; Shall thefe for petty merits be renown'd, And no proud phrafe, with panegyric found, Swell thy fhort name, great HILL r Here take thy due, And hence be call'd the SCRIPTURAL KILLIGREW. The adminiftration of baptifm to adults, Is quite confonant to Sir Richard's creed ; and we are perfectly fatisfied, there is not a Mem- ber in the Houfe of Commons, that will not fland fponfor for him on this honourable oc- cafion. Should any one aik him in future, who gave you that name ? Sir Richard may fairly and truly repty, My Godfathers, &c. and quote the whole of the lower aflembly, as coming under that defcription. MERLIK, led, as may be eafily fuppofed, by fympathy of rank, talents, and character, now pointed his wand to another worthy baronet, hardly lefs worthy of diftinclion than } CRITICISMS 01* than the laft perfonage himfelf, namely, Sir JOSEPH MAWBEY. Of him the author fets out with faying, Let this, ye wife, be ever underftood, SIR JOSEPH is as witty as he's good. Here, for the firft time, the arinotators upon this immortal poem, find themfelves compelled, in critical juftice to own, that the author has not kept entire pace with the ori- ginal which he has afFefted to imitate. The diftich, of which the above is a parody, was compofed by the worthy hero of this part of the ROLLIAD, the amiable Sir Jofeph him- felf, and runs thus : Ye ladies, of your hearts beware : SIR JOSEPH'S falfe as he is fair. How kind, and how difcreet a caution ! This couplet, independent of its other merits, pofTefTes. a recommendation not 'frequently found in poetry, the tranfcendent ornament of Truth. How far, indeed, the falfliood of this refpe&able individual has been difplayed in his gallantries, it is not the province of fober criticifm to enquire. We take up the afier- tion THE ROLLIAD. 77 tion with a large comprehenfion, and with a ftricter eye to general character SIR JOSEPH'S falfeas he is fair. Is it necefTary to challenge, what no one will be abfurd enough to give a contradic- tion to fo acknowledged a truth ? Or is it neceffary to ftate to the fafhionable reader, that whatever may be the degree of Sir Jofeph's boafted falfhood, it cannot furpafs the fairnefs of his complexion ? The pofition, therefore, is what logicians call convertible : nothing can equal his falfhood but his fair- nefs ; nothing his fairnefs but his falfhood,- Incomparable ! Proceeding to a defcription of his elo- quence, he fays, A fty of pigs, though all at once it fqueaks, Means not fo much as MAWBEY when he fpeaks; And hift'ry fays, he never yet had bred A pig with fuch a voice, or fuch a head ! Except, indeed, when he efTays to joke; And then his wit is truly pig-in-poke. Defcribing Sir Jofeph's acquifltions as a fcholar, the author adds a Hit 78 CRITICISMS ON His various knowledge I will {till maintain, He is indeed a knowing man in grain. Some commentators have invidioufly fug- gefted, that the laft line of this couplet fliould be printed thus, He is indeed a knowing man in grain. afftgning as their reafon, that the phrafe in grain evidently alludes to bran, with which Sir Jofeph*s little grunting commonwealth is flipported ; and for the dtfcreet and prudent purchafe of which our worthy baronet i famous. Our author concludes his defcription of this great fenator with the following diftich ; Such adaptation ne'er was feen before, His trade a hog is, and his wit a, boar. It has been propofed to us to amend the Spelling of the laft word, thus, bore ; this improvement, however, as it was called, we rejedl as a calumny, Where the beauty of a pafTage is pre-emi- nently finking as above, we wafte not criti- cifm in ufelefs efforts a.t emendation. The THE ROLLIAD. 79 The writer goes on. . He tells you he cannot quit this hiftory of wits, without fay- ing fomething of another individual ; whom, however, he defcribes as every way inferior to the two lad mentioned, but who, never- thelefs, pOiTefTes fome pretenfions to a place in the ROLLIAD. The individual alluded to, is Mr. GEORGE SELWYN; The author defcribes him as a man pofTeffed of A plenteous magazine of retail wit Vamp'd up at leifure for fome future hit; Cut for fuppos'd occafions, like, the trade, Where old new things for every (hape are made ! To this aflbrtment well prepar'd at home, No human chance unfitted e'er can come : No accident, however ftrange or queer, But meets its ready well-kept comment here. The wary beavers thus their {tores increafe, And fpend their winter on. their fummer's greafe. The whole of the above defcription will doubtlefs remind the claffic reader of the fol- lowing beautiful paffage in the Tufculan Queftions of Cicero ; Nefcio quomodo in- haret in mentibus quaji faculorum quod- dam augurium futurorutn idque in maximis ingeniis altiffimifque animis exiftit maxims $i apparet facillimc. This will eafily ac- count o CRITICISMS ON count for the fyftem of previous fabrication & well known as the character of Mr. Sel- wyn's jokes. Speaking of an accident that befel this gentleman in the wars, our author proceeds thus : Of old, when men from fevers made efcape, They facrific'd a Cock to ^SCULAPE : Thus, Love's hot fever now for ever o'er, The prey of amorous malady no more, SELWYN remembers what his tutor taught, That old examples ever fhould be fought ! And, gaily grateful, to his furgeon cries, ** I've given to you the Ancient Sacrifice.'* The delicacy with which this hiftorical in- cident is pourtrayed, would of itfelf have beei> fuificient to transmit our author's merit to pofterity: and with the above extrad we fall, finim the prefect number of our mentaries. NUM. THE ROLLIAD. Si NUMBER XI. THE next perfon among the adherents of the Minifter, whom MERLIN now points out to the notice of ROLLO, is SIR SAMUEL HANNAY, Baronet, a name recol- lefted with great gratitude in the Houfe : for there are few Members in it to whom he has not been ferviceable. This worthy character indeed has done more to difprove Martial's famous afTertion, Non cuicuntque datum eft habere nafum, than any individual upon record. The author proceeds But why, my HANNAY, does the ling'ring Mufe The tribute of a line to thee refufe ? Say, what diftin&ion moft delights thine ear, Or Philo-Pill^ or Phik- Minifter? Oh ! may'ft thou none of all thy titles lack, Or Scot, or Statefman, Baronet or Quack ; For what is due to him, whofe conftant view is Preventing private, or a public lues ? Who, that read the above defcription, do not during the firfl impreflion of it, fuppofe G that 82. CRITICISMS ON that they iee the worthy Baronet once more the pride of front advertifement once more diipenfing disregard and oblivion amongft all his competitors ; and making your Leakes, your Lockyers, and your Velnos, Hide their diminifh'd heads. In the paflges which immediately follow, the poet goes on to felicitate the community upon the probable advantages to be derived to them from the junction of this illuftrious perfbnage with our immaculate Minifter. He divides his congratulations into two parts. He firft coniiders the confequence of the union, as they may affect the body perfonal ; and fecondly, as they may concern the body politic. Upon the former fubjecl, he lays, This famous pair, in happy league cornbin'd, No rifques {hall man from wand'ring beauty find For, ihould not chafie example fave from ill, There's (till a refuge in another's pill. With a (ketch equally brief and maflerly as the above, he clefcribes his hopes on the other branch of his divilion. The body politic no more mail grieve The motley ftains that dire corruptions leave j No THE ROLLIAD. 3 No dang'rous humours {hall infeft the ftate, Nor rotten Members haften Britain's fate. Our author who, notwithftanding his ufual and characterise gravity, has yet not un- frequently an obvious tendency to the fpor- tive, condefcends now to take notice of a rumour, which in thefe times had been uni- verfally circulated, that Sir Samuel had part- ed with his fpecific, and difpofed of it to a gentleman often mentioned, and always with infinite and due refpect in the ROLLIAD, namely Mr. Dundas. Upon this he ad- drefTes Sir Samuel with equal truth and good- humour in the following couplet : Then (hall thy med'cine boaft its native bent, Then fpread its genuine bleiling to prevent. Our readers cannot but know, it was by the means of a noft.ru m, emphatically called a Specific, that Mr. Dundas fo long contrived to prevent the conftitutional lues of a Parlia- mentary Reform. The author, however, does not profefs to give implicit credit to the fact of Sir Samuel's having ungratefully dif- pofed of his favourite recipe, the happy fource of his livelihood and fame ; the more fo, as G 2 it 84 CRITICISMS ON it appears that Mr. Dundas had found the very word fpedjic, fufficient for protracting a dreaded political evil on the three feveral in- ftances of its application. Under this im- preffion of the thing, the poet ftrongly re- commends Sir Samuel to go on in the profe- cution of his original profeffion, and thus expreffes his wifh upon the occafion, with the correct tranfcript of which we fhall clofe the hiftory of this great man : In thofe fnug corners be thy skill difplay'd, Where Nature's tribute modeftly is paid : Or near fam'd Temple-bar may fome good dame, Herfelf paft fport, but yet a friend to game Difperfe thy bills, and eternize thy fame. MERLIN now calls the attention of our hero to a man whom there is little doubt this country will long remember, and ftill lefs, that they will have abundant reafon for fo doing, namely, Mr. SECRETARY ORDE. It may feem odd by what latent affociation our author was led to appeal next to the Right Honourable Secretary, immediately after the defer iption of a Quack Doctor-; but let it be recollected in the firft place, to the honour of Sir Samuel Hannay, that he is, perhaps, the THE ROLLIAD. 85 the only man of his order that ever had a place in the Britifh Houfe of Commons ; and in the fecond, that there are fbme lead- ing circurrifrances in the character of Mr. Orde, which will intitle him to rank under the very lame defcription as the worthy Ba- ronet himfelf. We all know that the moil: famous of all phyficians, Le Medecin malgre lui, is reprefented by Moliere, as a man who changes the feat of the heart, and reverfes the intire pofition of the vital parts of the human body. Now let it be aiked, has not Mr. Orde done this moft completely and effectually with refped to the general body of the State ? Has he not transferred the heart of the Empire ? Has he not changed its circulation, and alter- ed the fituation of the vital part of the whole, from the left to the right, from the one fide to the. other, from Great Britain to Ireland ? Surely no one will deny this ; and there- fore none will be now ignorant of the natural gradation of thought, by which our author was led, from the contemplation of Sir Samuel Hannay, to the character of Mr. Orde. 03 .We 86 CRITICISMS ON We know not whether it be worth re- marking, that the term Le Medecin malgre lui, has been tranflated into Englifh with the ufual incivility of that people to every thing foreign, by the uncourtly phrafe of Mock Doctor. We truft, however, that no one will think it applicable in this interpretation to Mr. Orde, as it is pretty evident he has difplayed no mockery in his State Practices, but has per- formed the character of Moliere's Medecin, even beyond the notion of the original ; by having effected in fad and fober truth, to the full as complete a change in the petition of the Caur de F Empire, as the lively fancy of the Dramatift had imputed to his phyfician, with relpect to the human body, in mere fpe- culative joke. With a great many apologies for fo long a note, we proceed now to the much more pleafant part of our duty that of tranfcribing from tliis excellent competition ; and pro- ceed to the defcription of Mr. Orde's perfon, which the Poet commences thus : Tall and erer, untreaning, mute, and pale, O'er his blank face no gleams of thought prevail 5 Wan THE ROLLIAP. 7 Wau as the man in clafiic ftory fam'd, Who told old PRIAM that his Ilion flam'd ; Yet foon the time will come when fpeak he fhall, And at his voice another Ilion fall ! The excellence of this defcription confifts as that of a portrait always muft, in a moft fcrupulous and inveterate attention to like- nefs. Thofe who know the original, will not queftion the accuracy of refemblance on this occafion. The idea conveyed in the laft line, And at his voice another Ilion fall. is a fpirited imitation of the fuimus Troes, fuit Ilium, of Virgil, and a moft ftatefman- like anticipation of the future fate of Eng- land. The author now takes an opportunity of fhewing the profundity of his learning in Britim tiiftory. He goes on to fay, C^SAR, we know, with anxious effort try'd, To fwell, with Britain's name, his triumph's pride: . Oft he effay'd, but {till effay'd'in vain; - Great in herfelf, me mock'd the menac'd chain. But fruitlefs all for what was CESAR'S fword, To thy all-conquering fpeeches, mighty ORDE ! ! ! G 4 Our 88 CRITICISMS ON Our author cannot fo far refift his clafllcal propenfity in this place, as to refrain from the following allufion ; which, however, muft be confefled at leaft, to be applied with juftice. AHPION'S lyre, they fay, could raife a town ; ORDE'S elocution pulls a Nation down. He proceeds with equal fpirit and erudi- tion to another circumftance in the earlier periods of Englifh hiftory, The lab'ring bofom of the teeming North Long pour'd, in vain, her valiant offspring forth; For GOTH or VANDAI, once on Britifh {hore, Relax'd his nerve, and conq icr'd ftates no more. Not fo the VANDAL of the modern time, This latter offspring cf the Northern clime ; He, with a breath, gives Britain's wealth away, And fmiles, triumphant, o'er her fetting ray. It will be neceflary to obferve here, that after much enquiry and very laborious fearch, as to the birth -place of the Right Honour- aMe Secretary (for the honour of which, however difficult now to dlfcover, Hiber- nia's cities will, doubtlefs, hereafter contend) we found that he was born in NORTHUM- BERLAND ; which, added to other circum- ftaiices, clearly eflablimes the applicability of THE ROLLIAD. 89 of the defcription of the word Goth, &c. and particularly in the lines where he calls him the VANDAL of the modern time, The latter offspring of the Northern clime. Having inveftigated, with an acumen and minutenefs feldom incident to genius, and very rarely met with in the fublimer poetry, all the circumftances attending an event which he emphatically defcribes as the Revo- lution of feventeen hundred and eighty-five, he makes the following addrefs to the Engiifh : No more, ye Englifli, high in claffic pride, The phrafe uncouth of Ireland's fons deride ; For fay, ye wife, which moft performs the fool, Or he who-fpta&s, or he who acts a BULL. The Poet catches fire as he runs ; Poetica furgit Tempeftas, He approximates now to the magnificent, or perhaps more properly to the mania of Poetry, and like another CafTandra, begins to try his fkill at prophecy ; like her he pre- dias 90 CRITICISMS ON di&s truly, and like her, for the prefent at leaft, is not, perhaps, very implicitly credited. He proceeds thus ; 'Rapt into future times, the Mufe furveys, The rip'ning wonders of fucceeding days : Sees Albion proftrate, all her fplendour gone ! In ufelefs tears her priftine ftate bemoan ; Sees the fair fources of her pow'r and pride, In purer channels roll their golden tide ; Sees her at once of wealth and honour fhorn, No more the nations' envy, but their fcorn; A fad example of capricious fate, Portentous warning to the proud and great : Sees Commerce quit her defolated ifle, And feek in other climes a kinder foil ; Sees fair lerne rife from England's flame, And build on Britifh ruin, Iriih fame. The Poet in the above pafTage, is fuppofed to have had an eye to Juno's addrefs to ./Eolus in the firft book of the ^Eneid. Gens inimica mihi Tyrrhenum navigat aequor Ilium in Italian portans, Pictos que Penates. NUM- THE ROLLIAD. & NUMBER XII. THOUGH we have at length nearly ex- haufted the beauties of that part of our author's Work, in which the characters of the leading Members of the Houfe of Commons are fo poetically and forcibly delineated ; we fhall find, however, that the genius of the poet feems to receive frefh vigour, as he ap- proaches the period of his exertions, in the illuftrious Mr. ROLLE. What can be more fublime or picturefque than the following de- fcription 1 Ere& in perfon, fee yon Knight advance, With trufty 'Squire, who bears his fhield and lance ; The Quixote HOWARD ! Royal Windfor's pride, And Sancho Panca POWNEY by his fide; A monarch's champion, with indignant frown And haughty mien, he cafts his gauntlet down ; Majeftic fits, and hears, devoid of dread, The dire Phillippicks whizzing round his head. Your venom'd (hafts, ye fons of Faaion fpare ; However keen, they cannot enter there. And 92, CRITICISMS ON And how well do thefe lines, immediately fucceeding, defcribe the mariner of fpeaking, which characterizes an orator of fuch con- fiderable weight and authority. He fpeaks, he fpeaks ! Sedition's chiefs around, With unfeign'd terror hear the folemn found ; While little POVVNE y chears with livelier note, And (hares his triumph in a filent vote. Same have ignorantly objected to this as an inftance of that figure for which a neighbour- ing kingdom is fo generally celebrated, vul- garly diftinguimed by the appellation of a Bull;. erroneoufly conceiving a filent vote to be in- compatible with the vociferation here alluded to : thofe, however, who have attended par- liamentary debates, will inform them, that numbers who moft loudly exert themfelves, in what is called chearing fpeakers, are not upon that account entitled to be themfelves confidered as fuch. Our author has indeed done injuftice to the worthy member in queftion, by claffing him among the number of mutes, he having uniformly taken a very a&ive part in all debates relating to the militia ; of which truly conftitutional body, he is a rnoft THE ROLLIAD. 93 moft refpe&able Pillar, and one of the moft confpicuous ornaments. It is unqueftionably the higheft praife we can beftow upon a member of the Britim Houfe of Commons, to fay, that he is a faith- ful reprefentative of the people, and upon all occafions fpeaks the real fentiments of his conftituents ; nor can an honeft ambition to attain the firft dignities of the ftate, by ho- nourable means, be ever imputed to him as a crime. The following encomium, therefore, muft be acknowledged to have been juftly merited by a noble Lord, whofe indepen- dent and difinterefted conduct has drawn upon him the cenfures of difappointed faction. The Noble CONVERT, Berwick's honour'd choice, That faithful echo of the people's voice, One day, to gain an Irifli title glad, For Fox he voted fo the people bad ; 'Mongft Englifh Lords ambitious grown to fit, Next day the people bade hitn vote for PITT : To join the ftream our Patriot nothing loth, By tarns difcreetly gave his voice to both. The title of Noble Convert, which was beftowed upon his Lordmip by a Speaker of the degraded Whig faction, is here moft ju- dicioufly 94 CRITICISMS ON dicioufly adopted: by our Author, implying thereby that this denomination, intended, no doubt, to convey a fevere reproach, ought rather to be confidered as a fubjeft of pane- gyric : this is turning the artillery of the enemy againft themfelves u Nequelex eft juftior ulla, &c." In the next character introduced, fbme perfbns may perhaps object to the feeming impropriety of alluding to a bodily defect ; efpecially one which has been the confequence of a moft cruel accident ; but when it is con- fidered, that the mention of the perfonal im- perfection is made the vehicle of an elegant compliment to the fuperior qualifications of the mind, this objection, though founded in liberality, will naturally fall to the ground. The circumftance of one of the Repre- fentatives of the firft city in the world having loft his leg, while bathing in the fea, by the bite of a fhark, is well known ; nor can the dexterity with which he avails himfelf of the ufe of an artificial one, have efcaped the ob- fervation of thofe who have feen him in the Houfc THE ROLLIAD. 95 Houfe of Commons, any more than the re- markable humility with which he is accuf- tomed to introduce his very pointed and im- portant obfervations upon the matters in da- liberation before that auguft aflembly. * c One moment's time might I prefume to beg ?" Cries modeft WATSON, on his wooden leg; That leg, in which fuch wond'rous art is fhown, It almoft Teems to ferve him like his own ; Oh ! had the monfter, who for breakfaft eat That lucklefs limb, his nobler noddle met, The belt of workmen, rior the befl of wood, Had fcarce fupply'd him with a head fo good. To have aflerted that neither the utmoft ex- tent of human fkill, nor the greateft perfection in the materials, could have been equal to an undertaking fo arduous, would have been a fpecies of adulation fo fulfome, as to have fhocked the known modefly of the worthy magiftrate ; but the forcible manner in which the difficulty of fupplying fo capital a lofs is exprefTed, conveys, with the utmoft delicacy, a handfome, and, it muft be confeffed, a moil juftly merited compliment to the Alderman's abilities. The g6 CRITICISMS ON The imitation of celebrated writers is re- commended by Longinus, and has, as our readers muft have frequently obferved, been pradtifed with great fuccefs, by our author ; yet we cannot help thinking that he has puflied the precept of this great critic fomewhat too far, in having condefcended to copy, may we venture to fay with too much fervility, a genius fo much inferior to himfelf as Mr. Pope, We allude to the following lines : Can T, NEWHAVEN, FERGUSON forget, While Roman fpirit charms, or Scottifh wit ? MACDONALD, fhining a refulgent ftar, To light alike the fenate and the bar ; And HARLEY, eonftant to fupport the Throne, Great follower of its interefts and his own. The fubftitution of Scottijh for Attic, in the fecond line, is unqueftionably an improve- ment, fince however Attic wit may have been proverbial in ancient times, the natives of Scotland are fo confefledly diftinguimed among modern nations for this quality, that the al- teration certainly adds connderable force to the compliment. But however happily and juftly the characters are here defcribed, we cannot think this merit fufficient to counter- balance THE ROLLIAD. 97 the objection we have prefumed to fugged, and which is principally founded upon the ex- treme veneration and high refpect we enter- tain for the genius of our author* Mr. Addifon has obferved, that Vii'gil falls infinitely fhort of Homer in the characters of his Epic Poem, both as to their variety and novelty, but he could not with juftice have faid the fame of the author of the ROLLIAD; and we will venture "to aflert, that the fingle book of this Poem, now under our confidera- tion, is, in this refpect, fuperior to the whole, both of the Iliad and the ^Eneid together. The characters fucceed each other with a ra- pidity that fcarcely allows the reader time to admire and feel their feveral beauties. GALWAY and GIDEON, in themfelves a hoft, Of York and Coventry the fplendid boaft : WHITBREAD and ONGLEY, pride of Bedford's vale, This fam'd for felling, that for faving ale ; And NANCY POULETT, as the morning fair, Bright as the fun, but common as the air; Inconftant nymph ! who ftill with open arms, To ev'ry Minifter devotes her charms. But when the Poet comes to defcribe the character of the hero of his work, the prefent H Member 98 CRITICISMS ON Member for the county of Devon, whom MERLIN points out to his illustrious anceftor, as uniting in himfelf all the various merits of the worthies whofe excellencies he has re- corded, -he feems to rife even above himfelf. It is impoffible to do juftice to his character, without tranfcribing the whole, which would exceed the limits of our work ; we fhall therefore only give to our readers the con- cluding lines, becaufe they contain cha- racleriuSc obfervations, upon other diftinguiih- ed Members, moft of whom have hitherto palled unnoticed. In thee, my fon, fhall ev'ry virtue meet, To form both fenator and man complete j A mind like V/RAY'S, with ftores of fancy fraught, The wife vSir WATKIN'S vaft extent of thought j, Old Nu GEN 1*5 ftyle, fublime, yet ne'er obfcure, With BAMBER'S Grammar, as his confcience purej BRETT'S brilliant fallies, MARTIN'S fterling fenfe, And GILBERT'S wit, that never gave offence : Like WILKES, a zealot in his Sovereign's caufe, Learn'd as MACDUNALD in his country's lawsj Acute as AUBREY, as Sir LLOYD polite, As EASTWJCK.E lively, and as AMBLER bright* The THE ROLLIAD; 9 dtjja veuve & catin j D'elle recut un fils & la v le. Ainii^Lecleur, naquit 1 p premier ROLLE ! But to return to~pur author. After the vifion of the column, MERLIN proceeds in a fhort Ipeech to intimat.e to ROLLO, that higher honours may yet awa'it his defcendant in the Houfe of Lords, Where ROLLE may be , what ROLLO was before. This, as may be naturally fuppofed, excites the curiofity of the Duke ; but MERLIN de- clares, that i,t is not permitted him to reveal the glories of" the Upper Houfe. The hero muft firft fulfil his fates, by mortally wound- ing the Saxon LVummer, whom Providence fhall infpire in his 1 laft moments for this par- ticular purpofe. Ere yet thou know, what hi< ^ ner honours wait fa Tiff future race, accomplish t.'^ ou ^7 ^ ate * When now the braveft of our Sa,. xon tram Beneath thy conquering arms fhall p ^fs the plain ; What THE ROLLIAD. 131 What yet remains, his voice divine in death Shall tell> and Heav'n for this fhall lengthen out his breatb. Which laft line is moft happily lengthened out into an alexandrine, to make the found an echo to the fenfe. The paufe too after the words " fhall tell," finely marks the fud- den catches and fpafmodic efforts of a dying man. Some ex trails from the Drummer's prophecies have already been given to the public ; and from thefe fpecimens of his lo- quacity with a thruft in quarte through his lungs, our readers will probably fee the pro- priety with which the immediate hand of Heaven is here, introduced. The moft rigid critic will not deny that here is truly the Dignus vindice nodus, which Horace requires, jjp juftify the interpo- fition of a Divinity. We are now come to the concluding lines of the fixth book. Our readers are probably acquainted with the commonly-received &- perftition relative to the exit of Magicians, that they are carried away by Devils. The poet 122 CRITICISMS ON poet has made exquifite ufe of this popular belief, though he could not help returning in the laft line to his favourite Virgil. Claflical obfervers will immediately perceive the allu- fion to Revocare gradam, fuperafque cvadere ad auras Hie labor, hoc opus eft - t in the defcription of ROLLO'S re-afcent from the night-cellar into the open air. The Prophet forefeeing his inftant end, " At once, farewel," he faid. But, as he faid, Like mortal bailiffs to the fight array'd, Two fiends advancing feiz'd, and bore away To their dark dens the much-refitting prey : While ROLLO nimbly clamber'd in a fright, Tho' fleep, and difficult the way, to light. And thus ends the fixth book of the ROLLIAD ; which we have chofen for the fubjeft of the FIRST PART of our CRITICISMS. In the fecond part, which is now going on in the Morning- Herald, where the firft draughts of the, preient numbers were originally publifh- cd, we mall purfue our Commentary through the Hcufe of Peers ; and in a third part, for which THE ROLLIAD. 12^ which we are now preparing and arranging materials, it is our intention to prefent our readers with a feries of anecdotes from the political hiftory of our miniflry, which our author has artfully contrived to interweave in his inimitable poem. And here, while we are clofing this firft Part, we cannot but congratulate ourfelves, that we have been the humble inftruments of firft calling the attention of the learned to this wonderful effort of modern genius, the fame of which has already exceeded the limits of this ifland, and perhaps may not be cir- cumfcribed by the prefent age ; which, we have the Deft reafon to believe, will very fhortly difFufe the glory of our prefent Rulers in many and diftant quarters of the globe ; and which may not improbably defcend to exhibit them in their true colours to remote poflerity. That we indeed imagine our Cri- ticifms to have contibuted very much to this great popularity of the ROLLIAD, we will not attempt to conceal. And this perfuafion fhall animate us to continue our endeavours with redoubled application, that we may complete, as early as poffible, the defign, which we have 124 CRITICISMS ojr have fome time fince formed to and which we* have now fubmitted to the Public ; happy, if that which is yet to come, be received with the fame degree of favour as this, which is now finished, fo peculiarly experienced even in its moft imperfed dition. ND OF PART THE FIRST* CRITICISMS CRITICISMS ON THE ROLLIAD. PART THE SECOND, CRITICISMS ON THE ROLLIAD. PART THE SECOND. NUMBER I. WE have now followed our admirable author through the Sixth Book of his poem ; very much to our own edification, and, we flatter ourfelves, no lefs to the fatis- faction of our readers. We have mewn the art with which he has introduced a defcrip- tiou of the leading characters of our prefent Houfe of Commons, by a contrivance fbme- thing iimilar indeed to that employed by Virgil ; but at the fame time fufficiently un- like to fubftantiate his own claim to originality. And furely every candid critic will admit, that had he fatisfied himfelf with the fame device, in 128 CRI'TICISMS in order to panegyrize his favourites in the other Houfe, he would have been perfectly blamelefs. But to the writer of the ROLLIAD, it was not fufficient to efcape cenfure ; he muft extort our praife, and excite our admiration. Our claffical readers will recoiled, that all Epic Heroes poifefs, in common with the poets who celebrate their actions, the gift of prophecy ; with this difference however, that poets prophecy while they are in found health, whereas the hero never begins to talk about futurity, until he has received fuch a mortal wound in his lungs as would prevent any man but a hero from talking at all : and it is pro- bably in allufion to this circumftance, that the power of divination is diftinguimed in North Britain by the name of SECOND SIGHT, as commencing when common viiion ends. This faculty has been attributed to dying war- riors, both by Homer and Virgil \ but neither of thefe poets have made fb good ufe of it as our author, who has introduced into the laft dying fpeech of the Saxon Drummer, the whole birth, parentage, and education, life, character, and behaviour of all thofe bene- factors of their country, who at prefent adorn the THE ROLLIAD. 129 the Houfe of Peers, thereby conforming him- lelf to modern ufage, and at the fame time diftinguifhing the vi Glorious R olio's prowefs in fubduing an adverfary, .who dies infinitely harder than either Turnus or Hector. Without farther comment, we fhall now proceed to favour our readers with a few ex- tracls. The firfl: Peer mentioned by the Dying Drummer ', is the prefent Marquis of Buckingham : his appearance is ufhered in by an elegant panegyric on his father, Mr. George Grenville, of which we (hall only give the concluding lines : George^ in whofe fubtle brain, if Fame fay true, Full-fraught with wars, the fatal ftamp-aft grew ; Great financier ! ftupenduous calculator ! utj George the foil is twenty-one times greater ! It would require a volume, not only to point out all the merits of the laft line, but even to do juftice to that Pindaric fpirit, that abrupt beauty, that graceful aberration from rigid grammatical contexts, which appears in the imgle word but. We had however a further intention in quoting this pafTage, viz* K to I^O CRITICISMS ON to aflert our author's claim to the invention of that fpecies of MORAL ARITHMETIC, which, by the means of proper additions, fubtra&ions, multiplications, and divisions, afcertains the relative merits of two characters more cor- rectly than any other mode of iiwefrigcition hitherto invented. Lord Thurlow, when he informed the Houfe of Peers, that, " one Haftings is worth twenty Macartneys," had certainly the merit of afcertaining the com- parative value of the two men in whole num- bers, and without a fraclion. He likewiie enabled his auditors, by means of the, rule of three, to find out the numerical excellence of any other individual ; but to compare Lord Thurlow with our author, would be to compare the fcholar with the inventor ; to compare a common houfe-fteward with Euclid or Archimedes. We now return to the poem. After the lines already quoted, our dying drummer breaks out into the following won- derful apoftrophe : Approach ye foph?, who, in your northern den, -Wield, with both hands, your huge didafiic pen; Who, t THE ROLLIAD; t^1 Who, &ep by flep, o'er Pindus* up-hill road, Drag flowly on your learning's pond'rous load ; Though many a (hock your perilous march encumbefSj Ere the fliffprofe can ftruggle into numbers \ And you, at comets' tails, who fondly flare, And find a miftrefs in the lejjer bear\ And you, who, full with metaphyfics fraught, Detect fenfatton flarting into thought, And trace each sketch by Memory's hand defign'd On that flrange magic lantern, call'd the MIND; And you, who watch each loit'ring empire's fate ; Who heap up fact on fact, and date on date ; Who count the threads that fill the myftic loom, Where patient vengeance wove the fate of Rome ; Who tell that wealth unnerv'd her foldier*s That Folly urg'd the fate by traitors ph Or, that (he fell becaufe (he could not {land Approach, and view, in this capacious mind, Your fcatter'd fcience, in one mafs ccmbin'd ; Whate'er tradition tells, or poets fing, Of giant-killing John, or John the King;. Whate'er But we are apprehenfive that our 2eal had already hurried us too far, and that we have exceeded the juft bounds of this paper* We lhall therefore take ibme future opportunity of reverting to the character of this prodi- gious nobleman, who pofleiTes, and deferves to pofTefs, fo diftinguiihed a fhare in his mailer's confidence. Suffice it to fay, that K 2 our 's hand^ *1 Mj and : J 132, CRITICISMS ON our author does full juftice to every part of his character. He ccnfiders him as a walking warehoufe of fads of all kinds, whether re- lating to hiftory, aftrencmy, metaphyfics, heraldry, fortifications, naval taclics, or mid- wifery ; at the fame time reprefenting him as a kind of habei darner of frnall talents, which he retails to the female part of his fa- mily, inftrudting them in the myftery of pre- cedence, the whole art of fcented pomatums, the ddcVme of falves for broken heads, of putty for broken windows, &c. &c. &c. NUM. THE ROLLIAD. 133 NUMBER II. WE now return to the dying drummer, whom we left in the middle of his eulooy on the Marquis of Buckingham. It being admitted, that the powers of the human mind depend on the number and aflb- ciation of our ideas, it is eafy to mew that the iiluftrious Marquis is entitled to the highefl rank in the fcale of human intelli- gence. His mind pofTefTes an unlimited power of inglutition, and his ideas adhere to. each other with fuch tenacity, that when- ever his memory is Simulated by any power- ful interrogatory, it not only difcharges a full anfwer to that individual queftion, but like- wife fuch a prodigious flood of "collateral knowledge, derived from copious and re- peated infufions, as no common ikull would be capable of containing. For theie reafons, his Lordship's tnefs for 'the department of the Admiralty, a department connected with the whole cyclopoedia of icience, and requir- K 3 ing 134 CRITICISMS ON ing the greatefr. variety of talents and exer- tions, feems to be pointed out by the hand of Heaven ; it is like wife pointed out by the dying drummer, who defcribes in the fol^. lowing lines, the immediate caufe of his no- es minatioii : On the great day, when Buckingham, by pairs Afcended, Heaven impell'd, the K ~'s back-ftairs ; And panting, breathlcfs, ftram'd his lungs to fhow From Fox's bill what mighty ills would flow : That foon, itsjource corrupt^ Opinion's thready On India's deleterious jlreams wpu^ Jhed j That Battings, Munny Begum, Scott, muft fall, And Pitt, and Jenkinfon, and Leadenhall ; Still, as with ftammering tongue, he told his tale, Unufual terrors Brunfwick's heart aflail ; Wide {tarts his white wig from his royal ear, And each particular hair {lands ftiff with fear. We flatter ourfelves that few of our read- ers are fo void of tafte, as not to feel the tran- fcendent beauties of this defcription. Firft, we fee the noble Marquis mount the fatal fteps " by pairs," i. e. by two at a time ; and with a degree of effort and fatigue : and then he is out of breath, which is perfectly na- tural. The obfcmity of the third couplet, an cbfciirity which has been imitated by all the miniflerial writers on the India bill, arifes from THE ROLLIAD. 135 from a confufion of metaphor, fo inexprefUbly beautiful, that Mr. Haftings has thought fit to copy it almoft verbatum, in his celebrated letter from Lucknow. The effects of terror on the royal wig, are happily imagined, and are infinitely more fublime than the ''Jlete- runtque coma" of the Roman poet; as the attachment of a wig to its wearer, is obviouf- lymore generous and difmterefted than that of the perion's own hair, which naturally par- ticipates in the good or ill fortune of the head on which it grows. But to proceed. Men in a fright are ufually generous ; on that great day, therefore, the Marquis obtained the promife of the Admiralty. The dying drummer then proceeds to defcribe the Mar- quis's well-known vifion, which he prefaces by a compliment on his Lordfhip's extraordi- nary proficiency in the art of lace-making. We have all admired the parliamentary exertions of this great man, on every fubject that related to an art in which the county of Bucking- ham is fo deeply interested ; an art, by means of which Britannia (as our author happily exprefTes it) Puckers round naked breafts, a decent trimming. Spreads the thread-trade, and propagates old women \ K.4 Haw CRITICISMS ON How naturally do we feel difpofed to join with the dying drummer, in the pathetic apof- trophe which*" he addreffes to his hero, when he forefees that this attention will neceiTarilY be diverted to other objedts: Alas ! no longer round thy favorite ST. OWE, Shalt thou the nicer arts to artifts (how ; No more on thumb-worn cufhions deign to trace, With critic touch, the texture of bone-lace ; And from feverer toils, fome moments robbing ! Reclaim the vagrant thread, or truant bobbin ! Far, other. fcenes of future glory rife, To glad thy fleeping, and thy waking eyes: As bufy fancy paints ths gaudy dream, Ideal docks, with fhadowy navies teem : Whate'er on fea, on lake, or river floats, Ships, barges, rafts, fkiffs, tubs, flat-bottom'd boats, Smiths, failors, carpenters, in bufy crowds, Ivlaft, cable, yard, fail, bow-fprit, anchor, flirowds, Knives, gig?, harpoons, fwords, handfpikes, cutlafs blades, Guns, piftols, fwivels, cannons, carronades : All rife to view ! All blend in gorgeous (how ! Tritons, and tridents, turpentine, tar tow ! We will take upon ourfelves to atteft, that neither Homer nor Virgil ever produced any thing like this. How aimable, how intereir- ing, is the condefceniion of the illuilrious Marquis, while he affifts the old women in his THE ROLLIAD. 137 his neighbourhood- in making bone-lace! How artfully is the modeft appearance of the aforefaid old women's cufhions, (which we are alfo told were dirty cufhions) contrafled with the fplendor and magnificence of the fubfequent vifion ! How mafterly is the ftruc- ture of the laft verle, and how nobly does the climax rife from tritons and tridents; from ob- jects which are rather piclurefque than necef- fary, to that moft important article tow! an article " without which," in the opinion of Lord Mulgrave, " it would be impofiible to fit out a fmgle fhip. " The drummer is next led to invefligate the different modes of meliorating our navy ; in the courfe of which he introduces the Marquis's private thoughts onjlax zndforeft- trees ; the natural hiftory of nettles, with proofs of their excellence in making cables ; a project to produce aurum fulminans from Pinchbeck's metal, inftead of gold, occasioned by Admiral Barrington's complaint of bad powder ; a difcuffion of Lord Ferrers's ma- thematical mode of fhip-building ; and a lamentation on the pertinacity with which his Lordfhip's vefTels have hitherto refufed to fail. l^S CRITICISMS ON fail. The grief of the Marquis on this oc* cafion, awaking all our fympathy Sighing, he flruck his breaft, and cried, " Alas ! *' Shall a three decker's huge unwieldy mafs, w 'Mid croud of foes, (land ftupidly at bay, K And by rude force, like Ajax, gain the day ? " No ! Jet Invention ! " And at the moment his Lordfhip becomes pregnant, and is delivered of a project that fblves every difficulty. The reader will recollect Commodore Johnftorie's difcovery, that *' The aliquot " parts being equal to the whole, two frigates " are indifputably tantamount to a line of *' battle-fhip ; nay, that they are fuperior to " it, as being more manageable.** Now, a floop being more docile than a frigate, and a cutter more verfatile than a {loop, &c. &c. is it not obvious that the force of any veffel muft be in an inverfe ratio to its Jlrength? Hence, Lord Buckingham moft properly oh- ferves", Cur light arm'd fleet will fpread a general panic, For fpeed is power, fays Pinchbeck, the mechanic. The THE ROLLIAD. ^39 , The only obje&iori to this fyftem, is the trite profeffional idea, that fhips having been for fome years paft in the habit of failing direftly forwards, muft neceflarily form and fight in a Jlraight line ; but According to Lord Buckingham's plan, the line of battle in future is to be like the line of beauty, waving and tortuous ; fothat if the French, whocon- fefledly are the moft imitative people on the earth, mould wifli to copy our manoeuvres, their larger fhips will neceflarily be thrown into confufion, and confequently be beaten. But as Sir Gregory Page Turner finely fays, " infallibility is not given to human nature." Our prodigious Marquis, therefore, diffident of his talents, and not yet fatisfied with his plan, rakes into that vaft heap of knowledge, which he has collected from reading, and forms into one compqft, all the naval inven- tions of every age and country, in order to meliorate and fertilize the colder genius of Great Britain. " In future," fays the drum- mer, All ages, and all countries, (hall combine, To form our navy's variegated line. Like 140 CRITICISMS ON Like feme vaft whale, or all devouring fliark, High in the midft fhall rife old Noah's ark: Or, if that ark: be loft, of equal bulk, Our novel Noah rigs the J lift ice Hulk. An Argo next, the peerlefs Catherine fends, The gorgeous gift of her Mlngrelian friends : Here we cannot reprefs our admiration at the drummer's ikiil in geography and politics. He not only tells us, that Mingrdia is the ancient Colchis, the country vifited by the Argonauts, the country which was then fb famous for its fleeces, and which even now fends fo many virgins to the Grand Seignior's feraglio, but he forefees the advantages that will be derived t the navy of this kingdom, by the fubmiffion of his Mingrelian majefty to the Emprefs of Rufiia. But to proceed, And next, at our Canadian brethren's pray'r, Ten flo.-t triremes the good pope fhall fpare ! We apprehend, with all due fubmiffion to the drummer, that here is a frnali miftake. Our Canadian brethren may indeed pofiefs great influence with the Pope, on account of their perfeverance in the catholic religion ; but as all the triremes in his holinefs's pofTef- iion, THE ROLLIAD. 141 fion, are unfortunately in bafs- relief, and mar- ble, we have fome doubt of their utility at fea. Light arm'd evaa^ canoes that feem to fly, Our faithful Oberea fhvtll fupply: Gatt'us fhall Venice yield, Algiers, xebecs But thou, Nanquin, gay yachts with towering declcs j While fierce Kamtfchatka But it is unnecefTary to transcribe all the names of places mentioned by our drummer in failing eaftward towards Cape Horn, and weflward to the Cape of > Good Hope. We flatter ourfelves that we have fufficiently proved the ftupendous and almofc unnatural excellence of the new Lord Buckingham ; and that we have fhewn the neceffity of innovation in the navy as well as in the conftitution; we therefore mall conclude this number, by ex- preffing our hope and afllirance, that the falu- tary amputations which are meditated by the two ftate furgeons, Mr. Pitt, and Mr. Wy- vill will Ipeedily be followed by equally fldl- ful operations in our marine ; and that the prophecy of the dying drummer will be ful- filled in the completion of that delightful event, the nomination of the noble Marquis to the department of the Admiralty ! NUM- CRITICISMS ON NUMBER III. HAVING concluded his defcriptioii of the Marquis of Buckingham, our expiring prophet proceeds to the con- templation of other glories, hardly lefs re- fplendent than thofe of the noble Marquis himfelf. He goes on to the DUKE of RICHMOND. In travelling round this wide world of virtue, for as fuch may the mind of the no- ble Duke be defcribed, it muft be obvious to every one, that the principal difficulty conflfts in determining from what quarter to fet out; whether to commence in the frigid zone of his benevolence, or in the torrid 'hemifphere o his loyalty ; from the equinox of his oeconomy, or from the terra aujlralis of his patriotism. Our author feels himfelf reduced to the dilemma of the fa- mous Archimedes in this cafe, though for .a very different reaibn, and exclaims violent- ly for the A?,- TZV r, not becaufe he has no ground to fland upon, but becaufe he has too THE ROLLIAD. 1^3 too much becaufe puzzled by the variety, he feels an incapacity to make a felection. He reprefents himfelf as being exactly in the fituation of Paris between the different and contending charms of the three Heathen Goddeffes, and is equally at a lofs on which to beflow his detur pulcherima. There is indeed more beauty in this latter fimilitude than may at firft view appear to a carelefs and vulgar obferver; the three goddefles in queflion being, in all the leading points of their defcription, moft correctly typical of the noole Duke himfelf. As for ex- ample, Minerva, we know, was produced out of the head of Jove, complete ' and perfect at once. Thus the Duke of Rich- mond ftarts into the perfection of a full- grown engineer, without the ceremony of gradual organization, or the painful tediouf- nefs of progreffive maturity. Juno was par- ticularly famed for an unceafing ipirit of active perfecution againft the braveft and moft honourable men of antiquity. Col. Debbei^e, and fome other individuals of modern time, might be felectsd, to fhew that the noble Duke is not in this refpect without fome pre- tcniions to fympathy with the queen of the ikies. 144 CRITICISMS ON flues. Venus too, we all know, originated from froth. For refemblance in this point, vide the noble Duke's admirable theories on the fubjecl: of parliamentary melioration. Having dated thefe circumfbnces of em- barraffment in a few introductory lines to this part of the poem, our author goes on to ob- ferve, that not knowing, after much and anx- ious thought, how to adjuft the important dif- ficulty in queftiori, herefolves at 1 aft to truft himfelf entirely to the guidance of his mufe, who, under the influence of her ufual infpira- ration, proceeds as follows : Hail thou, for either talent juftly known, To fpend the nation's calh or keep thj own ; Expert alike to fave, or be profufe, As money goes for thine, or England's ufe ; In whofe efteem, of equal worth are thought, A public million, and a private groat. Hail, and &c. Longirius, as the learned well know, reck- ons the figure Amplification, amongft the principal fources of the fublime, as does Quin- tilian amongft the leading requifites of rhe- toric. That it constitutes the very foul of eloquence, THE ROLLIAD. 1/j.j eloquence, is demonftrable from the example of that fublimeft of all orators, and profoundeft of all ftatefmen, Mr. William Pitt. If no expedient had been devifed, by the help of which the fame idea could be inverted in a thoufand different and glittering habiliments, by which one final! fpark of meaning could be inflated into a blaze of elocution, how many delectable fpeeches would have been loft to the fenate of Great Britain ? How fevere an in- jury would have been fuflained to the literary eftimation of the age ? The above admirable fpecimen of the figure, however, adds to the other natural graces of it, the excellent re- commendation'of ftricl and literal truth. The author proceeds to defcribe the noble Duke's uncommon popularity, and to reprefent, that whatever be his employment, whether the gay bufinefs of the ftate, or the ferious occupation of amuferaent, his Grace is alike fure of the approbation of his countrymen. Whether thy prefent vaft ambition be, To check the rudenefs of th' intruding fca; Or elfe, immergLng in a civil ftorm, With equal wifdom to project reform; Whether thou go'ft while fummer funs prevail, To enjoy the frefhnefs of thy kitchen's gale, L Where, 146 CRITICISMS ON Where, unpolluted by luxurious heat, Its large expanfe affords a cool retreat; Or (hould'ft thou now, no more the theme of mirth, Hail the great day that gave thy fov'reign birth, With kind anticipating zeal prepare, And make the fourth of June thy anxious care; O ! wherefoe'er thy hallow'd fteps fhail itray Still, ftill, for thee, the grateful poor fhall pray, Since all the bounty wh:ch thy heart denies, Drain'd by thy fchemes, the treafury fupplies. . , The reference to the noble- Duke's kitchen, is a moft exquiiite compliment to his Grace's well-known and determined averfion to the Ipecious, popular, and prevailing vices of eating and drinking-, and the four lines which follow, contain a no lefs admirable al- luvion' to the memorable witticifm of his Grace (memorable for the fubjecl: of it, as well as for the cii cumftance of its being the only known inftance of his Grace's attempting to degrade himfelf into the vulgarity of joke.) When a minifterwas found in this country daring and wicked enough to propoie the fuf- penfion of a turnpike bill for one whole day, fimply for the reafon, that he confidered fbme little ceremony due to the natal anniverfary of the highejl, and beyond all comparison, the beft individual in the country ; what was the THE ROLLIAD. 147 the noble Duke's reply to this frivolous pre- tence for the protraction of the national bufi- nefs? 6t What care I," faid this great per- fonage, with a noble warmth of patriotic in- folence, never yet attained by any of the pre- lent timid-minded fons of faction, " What care I for the King's birth- day ! W T hat is fuch nonfenfe tome!" &c. &c. &c. It is true, indeed, times have been a little changed fi nce but what of that! there is a folid truth in the obfervation of Horace, which its tritifm does not, nor cannot deftroy, and which the noble Duke, if he could read the original, might, with great truth, apply to himfelf and his fovereign : Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis. A great critic affirms, that the higheft excellence of writing, and particularly of poetical writing, confifts in this one power to furprife. Surely this fenfation was never more fuccefsfully excited, than by the line in the above pafTage, when confidered as ad- drefled to the Duke of Richmond Still, ftill, for thee, the grateful poor fhall pray I I L 2 148 CRITICISMS ON Our author, however, whofe correct judg- ment fuggefted to him," that even the fubli- mity of iurprife was not to be obtained at the expence of truth and probability, haftens to reconcile all contradictions, by informing the reader, that' the treafury is to fupply the fburces of the charity, on account of which the noble Duke is to be prayed for. The poet, with his ufual philanthropy, proceeds to give a piece of good advice to a perfon, with whom he does not appear at firft fight to have. any natural connexion. He con- trives, however, even to make his feeming digreffion contribute to his purpoie. He ad- dreffes Colonel Debbeige in the following good-natured, fublime, and parental apof- trophe Learn thoughtlefs Debbeige y now no more a youth, The woes unnumber'd that encompafs itrxnk. Nor of experience, nor of knowledge w^m, Mock the chimaeras of a fea-ck foraiaa : Oh, learn on happier terms with ham Jo 1iv.e, Who ne'er knew twlce^ the weaknefs to farg'ive ! Then (houldhis Grace fome vaft expedient nd, To govern tempefts, and controul the wind ; Should he, like great Canute, forbid the wave, T' approach his prefence, or his foot to lave^ THE ROLLIAD. 149 Conftru<5l fome baftion, or contrive fome mound, The world's wide limits to encompafs round; Rear a redoubt, that to the ftars (hould rile, And lift himfelf, like Typhoa, to the skies ; Or mould the mightier fcheme engage his foul, To raife a platform on the northern po/e y With fofs, with rampart, ftick, and frone, and clay, To build a breaft-work on the milky-way , Or to protect his fovereign's bleft abode, t Bid numerous batteries guard the turnpike road\ Left foul Invafion in difguife approach, Or Treafon lurk within the Dover coach. Oh, let the wifer duty then be thine, Thy skill, thy fcience, judgment to refign ! With patient ear, the high-wrapt tale attend, Nor marl at fancies which no skill can mend. So fhali thy comforts with thy days increafe, And all thy laft, unlike thy firft, be peace; No rude courts martial (hall thy fame decry, But half-pay plenty all thy wants fupply. It is difficult to determine which part of the above paflage pofTefTes the fuperior claim to our admiration, whether its fck-tv.'?, its refemblance, its benevolence, or its fublimity. Each has its turn, and each is diiT.inguiihed.by fome of our author's happieft touches. The cli- max from the pole of the heavens -to the pole of a coach, and from the milky- way to a turnpike road, is conceived and expreft with admirable fancy and ability. The abfurd ilory of the L 3 wooden IjjO CRITICISMS ON wooden horfe in Virgil, is indeed remotely parodied in the line, Or Treafbn lurk within the Dover coach, but with what acceffion of beauty, nature, and probability, we leave judicious critics to determine. Indeed there is no other defence for the paflage alluded to in Virgil, but to fuppofe that the paft commentators upon it have been egregioufly miftaken, and that this, famous equus hgneus, of which he fpeaks, was neither more nor lefs than the Jlage coach of antiquity. What, under any other fuppoiition, can be the meaning of the paf- fage Aut hoc inclufi ligno occultantur Achlw? Befides this, the term machina we know is almoft conftantly ufed by Virgil himfelf as a fynonyme for this horfe, as in the/* line Scandit fatalh machina muros, &c. And do we not fee that thofe authentic re- cords of modern literature, the ne\vfpapers, are continually and daily announcing to us " This, THE ROLLIAD. 151 " This day fets off from the Blue-boar Inn " precifely at half paft five, the Bath and " Briftol machine /" meaning thereby merely thejtage coaches to Bath and to Briflol. Again immediately after the line laft quoted, to wit (fcandit fatalis machina muros} come theie words, F&ta armJS) i. e. filled with arms. Now what can they pofiibly allude to in the eye of fober judgment and rational criti- cifm, but the guard, or armed watchman , who, in thole days, went in the infide, or perhaps had a place in the boot, and was em- ployed, as in our modern conveyances, to protect the paffenger in his approximation to the metropolis. We truft the above autho- rities will be. deemed conclufive upon the fub- jetl ; and indeed, to fay the truth, this idea does not occur to us now for the firft time, as in fome hints for a few critical lucubrations intended as ' farther addenda to the Virgilius Re/iauratus of the great Scriblerus, we find this remark precisely " In our judgment, 44 this horfe (meaning Virgil's) may be very " properly denominated the DARDANIAN " DILLY, or the POST COACH to PERGAMUS." L 4 We 152 CRITICISMS ON We know not whether it be worth addin^ o as a matter of mere fact, that the great object of the noble Duke's erections at Chatham, which have not yet coft the nation a million, is fimply and exclusively this to enfilade the turnpike road, in cafe of a foreign invafion. The poet goes on he forms a fcientific and interefting prefage of the noble Duke's future greatnefs. o With gorges, fcaffblds, breaches, ditches, mines, With culverins, whole and demi, and gabines; With trench, with counterfcarp, with efplanade, With curtain, moat, and rhombo, and chamade; With polygon, epaulement, hedge and bank, With angle falient, and with angle flank: Oh ! thou (halt prove, fhould all thy fchemes prevail, An UNCLE TOBY on a larger fcale. While dapper, daify, prating, puffing JIM, May haply perfonate good Corporal 'Trim. Every reader will anticipate us in the re- collection, that the perfon here honoured with our author's difiinction, by the abbre- viated appellative of Jim, can be no other than the Hon. James Luttrel himfelf, fur- veyor-general to the ordnance, the famous friend, defender, and commit of the Duke of THE ROLLIAD. 153 of Richmond. The words dapper and daify in the laft line of the above paffage, approxi- mate perhaps more nearly to the familiarity of common life, than is ufual with our au- thor ; but it is to be obferved in the defence of them, that our language iupplies no terms in any degree fo peculiarly characterise of the object to whom they are addreffed. As for the remaining part of the line, to wit, "prating, puffing Jim" it will require no vindication or illustration with thofe who have heard this honourable gentleman's fpeeches in parliament, and who have read the fiibfequent reprefentations of them in the diurnal prints. Our immortal author, whofe province it is to give poetical construction and local ha- bitation to the infpired efFufions of the dying drummer, (exactly as Virgil did to the pre- dictions of Anchifes) proceeds to finiih the portrait exhibited in the above paffage by the following lines As like your prototypes as pea to pea, Save in the weaknefs of humanity \ Congenial quite in every other part, The fame in bead, but differing in the heart. NUM- CRITICISMS ON NUMBER IV. WE reflime with "great pleafure our critical lucubrations on that mod interefling part of this divine poem, which pourtrays the character, and tranfmits to im- mortality the name of the Duke of RICH- MOND. Our author, who fbmetimes con- defcends to a cafual imitation of ancient writers, employs more than ufual pains in the elaborate delineation of this illuflrious per- fbnage. Thus, in Virgil, we find whole pages devoted to the defcription of ^Eneas 9 while Glacus and TherJUochusl like the Luttrels, the Palkes, or the Macnamaras of modern times, are honoured only with the tranfient difKn&ion of a -fimple mention. He pro- ceeds to ridicule the fuperftition which exifts in this country, and, as he informs us, had alfo prevailed in one / of the morl: famous ilates of antiquity, that a navy could be any fource of fecurity to a great empire, or that fhipping could in any way be conlidered as the natural defence of an i/land % W THE ROLLIAB, 1^5 Th' Athenian fages, once of old, 'tis faid, Urg'd by their country's love by wifdom led, Befought the Delphic oracle to fhow What beft mould fave them from the neighb'ring foe; Wjth holy fervor firft the priejlefs burn'd, Then fraught with prefage, this reply return'd ; <( Tour city, men qf Athens, nier will fall, tl If wifely guarded by a WOODEN WALL." Thus have our fathers indifcreetly thought, By ancient practice ancient ,fafety taught, That this, Great Britain, ftill fhould prove to thee, Thy firft, thy bell, thy laft fecurity ; That what in thee we find or great or good, Had ow'd its being to this WALL of WOOD. Above fuch weaknefs fee great Lenox foar, This fence prefcriptive guards us now no more ; Of fuch grofs ignorance afham'd and Tick, Richmond protects us with a wall of brick ; Contemns the prejudice of former time, And faves his countrymen by latb and lime. It is our intention to embarrafs this part of the Rolliad as little as pomble with any com- mentaries of our own. We cannot, however, retifl the temptation which the occafion fug- gefts, of pronouncing a particular panegyric upon the delicacy as well as dexterity of our author, who, in fpeaking upon the fubjecl: of the Duke of Richmond , that is, upon a man who knows no more of tfye hiftory, writings, or 156 CRITICISMS ON or languages of antiquity than the Marquis of Landfdown himfelf, or great Rollo's groom, has yet contrived to collect a great portion of his illuflratioris from the fources of ancient literature. By this admirable expedient, the immediate ignorance of the hero is inveloped and concealed in the vaft erudition of the author, and the unhappy truth that his Grace never proceeded farther in his Latinity,.ti&n through the neat and fimple pages of Cor- deriusy is fo far thrown into the back ground as to be hardly obfervable, and to conftitute no'effential blernim to the general brilliancy of the piElure. The poet proceeds to fpeak of a tribunal which was inflituted in the ezra he is defcrib- ing, for an invefiigation into the profeffional merits of the noble Duke, and of which hehim- felf was very properly the head. The author mentions the individuals who compofed this inquifition, as men of opulent, independent* difinterejled characters, three only excepted, whom he regrets as apoftates to the general characler of the arbitrators. He fpeaks, how- ever, fuch Is the omnipotence of truth, even of THE fcOLLIAD. 157' of them, wkb a fort of relu&ant tendency to panegyric. He fays, Keen without fhow, with modeft learning, fly, The fubtle comment fpeaking in his eye ; Of manners polifli'd, yet of ftubborn foul, Which Hope allures not nor which fears control See Hurgoyne rapt in all a foldier's pride, Damn with a ftireg, and with a look deride j While cearfe Macbride a bufier task afiumes, And tears with gracelefs rage our hero's plumes ; blunts his rude fcience in the chieftains face, Nor deems, forgive him, Pitt / a truth, difgrace : And Perqtoo, of lineage juftly vain, Surveys the fyfteoi with a mild difdain. He cxmlbks the reader, however, for the paka. gsrssn Mm fey the contemplation of fuch wieakEads aaad mjiaffice, fey halleiiing to inform, laim cf tfcbe better and wlfer di^ofitioxis of the cfiter membErs of the tiibmial ; Bttt aih i! act fo the S nrflikc to tfeefc, Thej try each sjixkms Handil-hmeut to pleafe ; INb r. . ~ /T_J r> LI j ,v, r> ^ i .iu5 1 M ti! & g.iiOu i^us --.-:., u:iu ..e ^: Haply reminded him ofj$ f r""fy tiHf,) To the juftice of the difgrace thrown upon the above couplet, we by no means concede. What it wants in poetical conftruclion, it amply makes up in the deep knowledge which it contains of the more latent feelings of the human heart, and its philofophic de- tection of fome of the true fources of human action. We all know how long, and how tenacioufly, original prejudices flick by us. No man lives long enough to get rid of his nurfery. That the noble duke therefore might not be free from the common influence of a very common fenfation, no one can rea- fonably wonder at, and the befl proof that be M was ll CRITICISMS ON was not fo is, that we defy any perfon to fhow us, upon what poflible principle, if not upon this, the conduct of the noble duke, in the transaction alluded to, is to be explained or defended. The Duke of Richmond a gentleman by a thoufand pretenfions a fol- dier a legiflator a peer in two countries a duke in a third a prince a man whofe honour is not a mere point of fpeculative .courtefy, but is his oath impeaches the re- putation of another individual of pure and unblemifhed character, and with the fame publicity that he had applied the original im- putation, this peer, prince, legiflator, and fol- dier, eats every fyllable he had faid, and re- tracts every item of his charge. Is this to be credited \vithout a relbrt to iome principle of a very paramount nature in the heart of man indeed ? -Is the original depravity, in the rft inftance, of publicly attempting to fully the fair honour of that interefting and facred character, a youthful ioldier, or the meannets in the fecond, of an equally public and un- precedentedly pufillanimous retraction of the whole of the calumny, to be believed in Ib a perfonage-as the Duke of Richmond, without a reference to a caufe of a very pe- culiar THE ROLLIAD. 163 culiar kind, to an impulfe of more than or- dinary potency ? Evidently not and what is there, as we have before obferved, that ad- heres fo clofely, or controuls fo abfolutely as the legends of our boyifh days, or the fuper- flitions of a nurfery ? For thefe realbns, therefore, we give our mofl decided fufFrage for the full re-eftablifhment of the couplet to the fair legitimate honours that are due to it. The poet concludes his portrait of this il- luftrious perfon, with the following lines The triple honours that adorn his head, A three- fold influence o'er his virtue filed ; As Gal/ia's prince, behold him proud and vain ; Thrifty and clofe as Caledonia $ thane ; In Richmond's duke, we trace our own JOHN BULL, Offchemesenamour'd and of fchemes the GULL. M ^ NUM. 164 CRITICISMS ON NUMBER V. THE author of the Rolliad has, in his laft edition, introduced fo confiderable an alteration, that we fhould hold ourfelves inexcuiable, after the very favourable recep- tion our commentaries have been honoured with, in omitting to feize the earlieft oppor- tunity of pointing it out to the public. Finding the variety and importance of the chara&ers he is called upon to defcribe, like- ly to demand a greater portion both of time and words than an expiring man can be reaibnabiy fuppofed to afford, inftead of leav- ing the whole defcription of that illuftrious afiembly, or which the dying drummer has already delineated fome of the principal orna- ments, to the. fame character, he has made an addition to the vlfion in which the Houfe of Commons is reprefented, at the conclufion of the Sixth Book, by contriving that the lantern of Merlin mould be ihifted in fuch a manner, as to diiplay at once to the eager eye of Rollo, the whole interior of the Upper Houfe ; to gain THE ROtLIAD, 165 gain a feat in which the hero immediately expreffes a laudable impatience, as well as a juft indignation, on beholding perlbns, far lefs worthy than himfelf, among thofe whom the late very numerous creations prevent our calling panel q uos tcquus amamt Jupiter With ftill lefs propriety, perhaps, we mould add Ant ardens evexlt ad tether a virtus. VIRG. The hero's difpleafure is thus forcibly de- fcribed : Zounds ! quoth great Roilo t with indignant frown, 'Mid Britifh nobles fhall a bafe-born clown, With air imperious ape a monarch's nod, Lefs fit to fit there than my groom, by G d* ? Longinus, in his chapter on interrogations, proves them to be a iburce of the fublime. They are, indeed, fays Dr. Young, the pro- per flile of majefly incenfed. Where, there- fore, can they be with more propriety intro- duced, than from the mouth of our offended * See Mr. Rolle's fpeech in the parliamentary debates. M 3 hero ? I 66 CHITIC'lSMS ON hero ? Merlin, after fympathizing with him in the juflice of thefe feelings, proceeds to a defcription of the augufl aflembly they are viewing. The author's reverence for the religion of his country naturally difpofes him firft to take notice of the fpiritual lords of Par> liament Yon rev'rend prelates, rob'd in fleeves of lawn, Too meek to murmur, and too proud to fawn, Who dill fubmiffive to their Maker's nod, Adore their Sov'reign, and refpect their God ; And wait, good men ! all worldly things forgot, In humble hope of Enoch's happy lot. We apprehend that the fourth line, by an error in the prefs, the words " adore and aron fiere Dotfi lie, " 3!apcif) nat, men of JSocmanfcie " Eollo noug&t feoft !jte DpanD " Df po^nt mo pcrranD tljan a leal folke of OBnglelonOe fjatien Ijem j)t)ir mo in fconlie* O z 196 CRITICISMS, &C. " 15ot (jim tbat in f)i# life 31 trotoe, " Df Cbepi0 ffegnneg fte 6aD gnotoe, '* jTor i>t)ir fie DrommeU thereupon : 6e, parDie, 10 Detie anO gone, no man cfjefe a fljepte flignne Co torappe 6i0 D^ano toorHejei inne. * jfraunci POLITICAL ECLOGUES. ROSE; OR, THE COMPLAINT. ARGUMENT. In this Eclogue our Author has imitated the Second of his favourite Firgil, with more than his uJualPre* cijion. ThefubjeftofMr. ROSE'S COMPLAINT is, that he is left to do the whole Bujinefs of the Treafury during the broiling Heats of Summer , 'while his Colleague, Mr. STEELE, enjoys the cod - Breezes from the Sea, with Mr. PITT, at Bright- he Imjl one. In this the Scholar has improved on the Original of his great Majler, as the Caufe of the Diftrefs, vjhich he relates, is much more na- tural. 'This Eclogue, from fome internal Evidence, ^ve believe to have been written in the Summer of 1785, though there may be one or two Allujiom that have been inferted at a later Period. POLITICAL ECLOGUES. 2Ot ROSE; OR, THE COMPLAINT. IN ONE more than ROSE, amid the courtly ring, Lov'd BILLY, joy of JENKY and the KING. But vain his hope to fhine in BILLY'S eyes ; Vain all his votes, his fpeeches, and his lies. STEELE'S happier claims the boy's regard engage ; 5 Alike their ftudies, nor unlike their age : With STEELE, companion of his vacant hours, Oft would he feek Brighthelmftone's fea-girt tow'rs ; For STEELE, relinquifh Beauty's trifling talk, With STEELE, each morning ride, each evening walkj lo Or in full tea-cups drowning cares of ftate, On gentler topics urge the mock debate On coffee now the previous queftion move j Now rife a furplufege of cream to prove ; IMITATIONS. VIRGIL. ECLOGUE II. Formofum paftor Corydon, ardebat Alexin Delichis domini 5 nee, quid fperaret, habebat, Pafs 2.O2. POLITICAL ECLOGUES. Pafs muffins in Committees of Supply, 15 And " butter'd toaft" amend by adding " dry :" Then gravely fage, as in St. Stephen's fcenes, With grief more true, propofe the Ways and Means ; Or wanting thefe, unanimous of will, They negative the leave to bring a bill. 20 In one fad joy all ROSE'S comfort lay j Penfive he fought the Treafury, day by day ; There, in his inmoft chamber lock'd alone, To boxes red and green he pour'd his moan In rhymes uncouth ; for ROSE, to bufmefs bred 25 A purfer's clerk, in rhyme was little read ; Nor, fince his learning ^with his fortunes grew, Had fuch vain arts engag'd his fober view, For STOCKDALE'S (helves contented to compofe The humbler poetry of lying profe, ?o O barb'rous BILLY ! (thus would he begin) ROSE and his lies you value not a pin ; Yet to companion callous as a Turk, You kill me, cruel ; with eternal work. IMITATIONS. Tantum inter denfas, umbrofa cacumina, fagos Afiidue veniebat j ibi hasc incondita folus Montibus et fylvis ftudio jaclabat inani. O crudelis Alexi ! nihil mea carmina curas ; 'Nil noftri miferere : mcri me denique coges. NOTES. Ver. 29 and 32 allude to a pamphlet on the Iri/h Propofitions, commonly called the Treafury Pamphlet, and univerfally attributed to Mr. Rofe. This work of the Honourable Secretary's was eminently diftinguiflied by- a gentleman- like contempt for the pedantry of grammar, and a poetical abhorrence of dull fatf. Now POLITICAL ECLOGUES. 203 Now after fix long months of nothing done, 35 Each to his home, our youthful ftatefmen run ; The mongrel 'fquires, whofe votes our Treafury pays, Now, with their hunters, till the winter graze j Now e'en the reptiles of the Blue and Buff, In rural leifure, fcrawl their factious fluff; jya Already pious HILL, with timely cares, New fongs, new hymns, for harveft-home prepares: But with the love-lorne beauties, whom I mark Thin and more thin, parading in the park, I yet remain ; and ply my bufy feet 45 FromDuKE-STREET hither, hencetoDowNiNG-STREET; In vain ! while far from this deferted fcene, With happier STEELE you faunter on the Steine. And for a paltry falary, ftript of fees, Thus (hall I toil, while others live at eafe ? 50 Better, IMITATIONS. Nanc etiam pecudes umbras & frigora captant j Nunc virides etiam occultant fpineta lacertos j Theftylis & rapido feffis meflbribus zftu Allia ferpyllumque herbas contundit olentes. At mecum raucis, tua dum veftigia luflro, Sole lub ardent! refonant arbufh cicadis. NOTES. Ver, 42. For a long account of Sir Richard Hill's harveft-home, and of the godly hymns and ungodly ballads, fung on the occafion, fee the newfpapers in Autumn 1784. Ver - 49- Juftice to the Minifter obliges us to obferve, that he is by no means chargeable with the fcandalous illiberality above intimated, of reducing the income of the Secretaries of the Treafury to the miferabie pittance of 3000!. a year, This was one of the many infamous aits which fo defcmdly drew dowa 204 POLITICAL ECLOGUES. Better, another fummer long, obey Self-weening LANSDOWNE'S tranfitory fway : Tho' GRAFTON call'd him proud, I found him kind ; With me he puzzled, and with him I din'd. Better with Fox in oppofition {hare, 55 Black tho' he be, and tho' my BILLY fair. Think, BILLY, think JOHN BULL, a taftelefs brute, By black, or fair, decides not the difpute : Ah ! think, how politics refemble chefs j Tho' now the white exult in fhort fuccefs, 60 One erring move a fad reverfe may bring, The black may triumph, and check-mate our king. You flight me, BILLY ; and but little heed, "What talents I pofTefs, what merits plead ; . How in white lies abounds my fertile brain j 65 And with what forgeries I thofe lies fuflain. A thoufand fictions wander in my mind ; With me all feafons ready forgeries find. IMITATIONS. Nonne fu'it melius trifles Amyrillidis Iras Atque fuperba pata faftidia ? Nonne Menalcan Quamvis ille niger, quamvis tu candidus efles, O formofe puer, nimium ne crede colori. Alba liguflra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur. NOTES. iown the hatred of all true friends to their king and country t on thofe pre- tended patriots, the Whigs. Ver. 66. We know not of what forgeries Mr. Rofe here boafts. Perhaps he may mean the paper relative to his interview with Mr. Gibbon and Mr. Reynolds, fo opportunely 'found in an obfcure drawer of Mr. Pitt's bureau. e the Parliamentary Debates of 1785. I know POLITICAL ECLOGUES, I know the charm by ROBINSON employ'd, How to the Treas'ry JACK, his rats decoy'd. 73 Not wit, but malice, PRETTYMAN reveals, When to my head he argues from my heels. My skull is not fo thick ; but laft recefs I finifh'd a whole pamphlet for the prefs ; And if by fome feditious fcribbier maul'd,' 75 The pen of CHALMERS to my aid I call'd, With PRETTY would I write, tho' judg'd by you j If all, that auhtors think themfelves be true. O ! to the fmoky town would BILLY come; With me draw eftimates, or caft a fum ; 80 Pore on the papers which thefe trunks contain, Then with red tape in bundles tie again ; Chafte tho' he be, if BILLY cannot fing, Yet (hould he play to captivate the KING. Beneath two Monarchs of the Brunfwick line, 85 In wealth to flourim,, and in arms to fhine, I IMITATIONS. Sum tibi defpeclus ; nee qui fim quseris, Alexi : Quam dives pecoris nivei, quam ladtis abundant. Mille meae Siculis errant in montibus agnae : Lac mihi non ajftate novum, none frigore defit. Canto, qua folitus, fi quando armenta vccabat, Amphion Dircaeus in A&ceo Aracyntho. NOTES. Ver. 71. Alludes to a couplet in the LVARS, which was written before the prefent Eclogue. Ver. 78. The Reply to the Treaftuy Pamftlft was anfwcred not by Mr. Rfe himfelf, but by Mr, George Chalmers. Was Z06 POLITICAL ECLOGUES. Was Britain's boaft ; 'till GEORGE THE THIRD arofe, In arts to gain his triumphs o'er our foes. From RAMSAY'S pallet, and from WHITEHEAD'S lyre, He fought renown that ages may admire: g And RAMSAY gone, the honours of a name To REYNOLDS gives, but trufts to WEST for fame : For he alone, with fubtler judgment bleft, Shall teach the world how REYNOLDS yields to WEST. IM IT AT IONS. Nee fum adeo informis : nuper me in littore vidi, Cum placidum ventis flaret mare : non ego Daphnim, Judice te, metuam, fi nurquam fallat imago. O tantum libeat mecum tibi fordida rura Atque humiles habitare cafab, & figere cervos, Hsedorumque gregem viridi compellere hibifco. Mecum una in Sy'ois imitabere Pana canendo. Pan primus calamos cera conjungere plures Inftituit j - - ... NOTES. Ver. 88. The following digreffion on his Majefty's love of the fine arts* though it be fomewhat long, will carry its apology with it in the truth and beauty of the panegyric. The judicious reader will obferve that the ftyle is more elevated, like the fubject, and for this the poet may plead both the example and precept of his favourite Virgil. Sylvae fint confule dignae. Vcr. 91 and 92. Since the death of Ramfay, Sir Jolhua Reynolds is ainter to the king, though his Majefty fits only to Mr. Weft. Vcr. 03. This line affords a ftriking inftance of our poet's dexterity in the wfe of his claffical learning. He he-re traoflates a fingle phiafe from Horace. jfudicium fubtile videndis artibus illud. When he could not poflibly apply wh.it concludes^ Eceotum in craflb jurares are nat'wn. He POLITICAL ECLOGUES. t.O'J He too, by merit meafuring the meed, 95 Bids WARTON now to WHITEHEAD'S bays fucceed; But, to reward FAUQJJIER'S illuftrious toils, Referves the richer half of WHITEHEAD'S fpoils. For well the monarch f-iW with prefcient eye, That WARTON'S wants kind OXFORD would Supply, 100 Who, juftly liberal to the task uncouth, Learns from St. JAMES'S bard hiftoric truth. Eleft OXFORD ! in whofe bowers the Laureate fings ! O faithful to the worft, and beft of Kings, Firm to the Right Divine, of regal fway* 105 Though Heav'i: and Thou long differ'd where it lay ! Still of preferment be thy Sifter Queen !" Thy nobler zeal difdains a thought fo mean ; Still in thy German Coufm's martial fchool, Be each young hope of BRITAIN train'd to rule; no But thine are honours of diftinguifh'd grace, Thou once a year fhall view thy Sovereign's face, While round him croud thy loyal fons, amaz'd, To fee him ftare at tow'rs, by WYATT rais'd. NOTES. Ver. 95. Our mod gracious Sovereign's comparative eftimate of Meflrs. Whitehead and Warton, is here happily elucidated, from a circumftar.ee highly honourable to his Majefty's tafte ; that, whereas he thought the former worthy of two places, he has given the latter only the worft of the two. Mr. Fauquier is made Secretary and Regifter to the Order of the Bath, in the room of the deceafea .Laureat. Ver. 107. We fufpecl the whole of this paffage in praife of his Majerty, has been retouched by Mr. Warton, as this line, or fomething very like it, occurs in his <{ Triumphs of Ifis," a fpirited poem, whith is omitted, we know not why, in hi? publication of his woiks. Yet ao8 POLITICAL ECLOGUES. Yet fear not, OXFORD, left a Monarch's fmiles 115 Lure fickle WYATT from the unfinifh'd piles 5 To thee fhall WYATT ftill be left in peace, 'Till ENGLISH ATHENS rival ancient Greece. For him fee CHAMBERS, greatly pretty, draw, Far other plans, than ever Grecian faw ; I2O Where two trim dove-cotes rife on either hand, O'er the proud roofs, whofe front adorns the Strand ; While thro' three gateways, like three key-holes (pied, A bowl inverted crowns the diftant fide. But mufic moft great GEORGE'S cares relieves, 125 Sage arbiter of minims, and of breves I Yet not by him is living genius fed, With tafte more frugal he protects the dead ; Not all alike j for though a Briton born, He laughs all natal prejudice to fcorn ; 130 His nicer ear our barbarous matters pain, Though PURCELL, our own Orpheus, fwell the ftrain j And mighty HANDEL, a gigantic name, Owes to his country half his tuneful fame. Nor of our fouls neglectful, GEORGE provides, 135 To lead his flocks, his own Right Reverend guides; Kimfelf makes bifhops, and himfelf promotes,. Nor feeks to influence, tho' he gives their votes.. Then for a Prince fo pious, fo refm'd, AM air of HANDEL, or a pfalm to grind, 140 Diidain not, BILLY : for his fovereign's fake What pains did PAGET with his gamut take ! IMITATIONS. " Pan curat oves, oviumque magiftres. Neu te pcenitcat calamo triviflc labellum, Hoec eadem ut fciret, quid non faciebat Amyntas ? And POLITICAL ECLOGUES. izog> And to an Earl what rais'd the fimple Peer ? What but that gamut, to his Sovereign dear ? O come, my BILLY. I have bought for you 145 The barrel-organ of a ftrolling Jew; Dying, he fold it meat fecond-hand : Sev'n flops it boafts, with barrels at command. How at my prize did envious UXBRIDGE furire, Juft wfct he wifh'd for his new mufic-room. 150 Come, BILLY, come. Two wantons late I clodg'd, And mark'd the dangerous alley where they lodg'd. Fair as pearl-powder are their opening charms, In tender beauty fit for BILLY'S arms j And from the toilet blooming as they feem, 155 Two cows would fcarce fupply them with cold cream. The IMITATIONS. Eft mihi difparibus feptem compafta cicutis Fiftula, Damaetas dono mihi quam dedk olim, Ex dixit moriens, lf te nunc habet ifta fecundum.'* Dixh Damaetas : invidit ftultus Amyntas. Praeterea, duo nee tuta mihi valle repcrti Cipseoli, fpari;s etiamhunc pellibus albo, Bina dis ficcant ovis ubera ; quos tibi fervo. Jarnpridem a me illos abduccre Theftylis orat, Et faciat j quoniam fordent tibi munera noftra ! NOTES. Ver. 149. Our readers, we truft, have alraady admired the fereral ad* iitions which our post has made to the ideas of his great original. He his here given an equal proof o his judgment in a flight omiflion. When he inverted Amynus into Lord Uxbvidge, with what ftriking propriety did he fink upon us the epithet ofjlultus, or falljh ; for furely we cannot fuppoft-that ) be conveyed above b the term of finite peer. Ver. 156. In the manufcript we find two lines which were ftruckf ot.t'j jofiibly becaufe c Dardaniufque Paris. Pallas, quas condidit, arces Ipfc col at : Nobis placeant ante omnia fylvz. NOTES. Ver.iSl. The orders of the Board of Controul, relative to the debts of the Nabob of Arcot, certainly off ear diametrically oppofite to Mr. Dundas's Reports, and to an exprefs claufe of Mr. Pitt's bill. Our author, however, fike Mr. Pitt and Mr. Dundas, roundly aflerts the confiftency of the whole. Ver. 189. This unfortunate flip of the Honourable Secretary's conftitutional tt^ic happened in % debate on the Jriih Propofitions. Aaiong the many wild. Pa 114 fOLITICAL ECLOGUES. Ah ! foolifh boy, whom fly you ? Once a week The KING from Windfor deigns thefe fcenes to feelc. Young GALLOWAY too is here, in waiting ftill. Our coafts let RICHMOND vifit, if he will ; There let him build, and garrifon his forts, 195 If fuch his whim : Be our delight in courts. What various taftes divide the fickle town ! One likes the fair, and one admires the brown ; The irately, QUEENSB'RY ; HINCHINBROOK, thefmall ; THURLOW loves fervant-maids; D UNO AS loves all. 200 O'er MORNINGTON French prattle holds command i HASTINGS buys German phlegm at fecond-hand; The dancer's agile limbs win DORSET'S choice; Whilfr. BRUDENELL dies enamour'd of a voice: 'Tis PEMBROKE'S deareft pleafure to elope, 205 And BILLY, beft of all things, loves a trope j My BILLY I : to each his tafle allow: Well faid the dame, I ween, who kifs'd her cow. Lo ! in the Weft the fun's broad orb difplay'd O'er the Queen's Palace, lengthens every (hade : 2IC IMITATIONS. Torva lesena lupum fcquitur, lupus ipfe capellam, Florenttm cytafum fcquitur lafciva capella j Te Corydon, O Alexi : trahit fua quemque voluptas. Me tamen urit amor : quis enim modis adfit amori. Afpice ! aratrajugo referunt fufpenfa juvenci, Et fol crefcentes difcendens duplicat umbras : NOTES. chimeras of faftion on that memorable occafion, one objection was, that the produce of the French Weft-Indian Iflands might be legally Imuggled through lieinnd into this country. To which Mr. Rofc replied, " That we might repeal all our afts in perfeft fecurity, becaufe the French King had lately iflued an ariet wliith would prevent this fmugglin. v * See POLITICAL ECLOGUES. 213 See the laft loiterers now the Mall refiga ; E'en Poets go, that they may feem to dine : Yet, fafting, here I linger to complain. Ah ! ROSE, GEORGE ROSE! what phrenzy fires your brain! With pointlefs paragraphs the POST runs wild j 215 And Fox, a whole week long, is unrevil'd : Our vouchers lie half-vamp'd, and without end Tax-bills on tax-bills rife to mend and mend. Thefe, or what more we need, fome new deceit Prepare to gull the Commons, when they meet. 220 Tho* fcorn'd by BILLY, you ere long may find Some other Minifter, Like LANSDOWNE kind. He ceas'd, went home, ate, drank his fill, and then Snor'd in his chair, 'till fupper came at ten. - 224 IMITATIONS. Ah ! Corydon, Corydon, quze te dementia cepit ? Semiputata tibi frondofa vitis in ulmo eft. Quin tu aliquid faltem, potius quorum indiget ufus, Viminibus, mollique paras detexere junco ? Invenies alium, fi te hie faftidit, Alexin. NOTES. Ver. 216. We flattered ourfelves that this line might have enabled us to afcertain the precife time when this eclogue was written. We were, however, difappointed, as on examining the file of Morning Pofts for 1784, we.could not find a fingle week in which Mr. Fox is ablolutely without fome attack or other. We fuppofe therefore our author here fpeaks with the allowed latitude of poetry. THE THE LYARS. ARGUMENT. THIS Eclogue is principally an Imitation of the third Bucolic of Virgil^ which, as is obferved by Dr. Jo- feph War ion, the Brother of our incomparable Lau- reat, is of that Species called Amozbcea, where the Characters introduced contend in alternate Verfe ; the fecond always endeavouring to furpafs the firft Speaker in an equal Number of Lines. As this -was in point of time the firft of $ur Auttors Paf~ toral Attempts, he has taken rather more Latitude than he afterwards allowed himfelf in the rej}, and has interfperfed one or two cccajional Imitations from other Eclogues of the Roman Poet. POLITICAL ECLOGUES. THE L Y A R S. J.N Downing-ftreet, the breakfaft duly fet, As BANKS and PRETTYMAN one morn were meet, A ftrife arifing who could beft fupply, In urgent cafes, a convenient lie ; His skill fuperior each effay'd to prove In verfe alternate which the Mufes love ! While BILLY, liftening to their tuneful plea, In filence fipp*d his Commutation Tea, And heard them boaft, how loudly both had ly'd, The Prieft began, the Layman thus reply'd ! ^ PAETTYMAN. Why wilt thou, BANKS, with me difpute the prize? Who is not cheated when a Parfon lies? Since pious Chriftians, ev'ry Sabbath-day, Muft needs believe whatever the Clergy fay ! In fpite of all you Laity can do, i. One lie from MS is more than ten from you ! BANKS. O witlefs lout ! in lies that touch the ftate, We, Country Gentlemen, have far more weight ; Fiction IMITATIONS, Ver* 6. Amant altema Camenae. Ver. 10. Bos Corydon, jUcs referebat in ordine Thyrfis, NOTES. Ver. 17. Our poet here feems to deviate from his general rule, by the istrodu&ioa of a phraft which appears rather adapted to $e l who, at the period of the jglwlous revolution of 1784, held frequent meetings at the Saint Alban's Ta vern, for the purpofe of bringing about an union that misht have prevented the diffolution of Parliament ; which meetings afforded time to one of the .members of the propofed union to concert means throughout every part of the kingdom, for cnfuring the fiicCefs of that falutary and constitutional mcafure which, through his friend Mr. B ks, he had folemnly pledged himfelfnot to adopt. How truly doe? this conduct mark " the ftatefmaii born !" ..... ! Dolus wi virtus, quk!aWkiifV*bfcf BANKI B22 POLITICAL ECLOGUES. BANKS. Say what that mineral, brought from diftant clime?, 9$ Which fcreens delinquents, and abfolves their crimes j Whofe dazzling rays confound the fpace between A tainted ftrumpet and a fpotlefs Queen j "Which Afia's Princes give, which Europe's take ; Tell this, dear Doctor, and I yield the ilake. 100 Enough,. my friends break off your tuneful fporr, *Tis levee day and I muft drefs for Court ; Which hath more boldly or expertly lied, Not mine th' important conteft to decide. Take thou this MITRF, Doctor, which before 105 A greater hypocrite fure never wore ; ivid if to fervices rewards be due, Dear BANKS, this CORONET belongs to you : Each from that Government deferves a prize, Which thrives by fhuffling, and fubfifts by lies. HO IMITATIONS. Ver. 104. Non noftrum Inter vos tantas componere Ikes. Vcr. 105. Et vitula tu dignus & hie. NOTES. Vcr. 9?. It muft be acknowledged that there is fome obfcurity In this paf_ Jfage, as well as in the following line, " Which Afia's princes give, which Europe's take : " and of this certain fedit'.ous, malevolent, difaffeftcd critics have taken advan- tage, and have endeavoured, by a forced conftrudlion, to difcover in them an- unwarrantable insinuation againft the higheft and moft facred characters ; from *hich infamous imputation, however, we truft, the well-known and acknow- ledged loyalty of our author's principles will fufficiently protect him. MARGARET _ MARGARET NICHOLSON. ARGUMENT. alternately congratulate each other on his Majejlys late happy tfcape. 'The one dejcribes the joy which pervades the country : the other fings the dangers from which 'our conftitution has been preferred. Though in the following Eclogue our author has not feleSted any Jingle one of Virgil for a clofe and exaff parody, be feems to have had his eye principally upon the Vtb, or the DAPHNIS, which contains the Elegy and APOTHEOSIS of Julius C^far. POLITICAL ECLOGUES. MARGARET NICHOLSON. 1 HE Sefllon up : the INDIA-BENCH appeas'd, The LANDSDOWNES fatisfied, the LOWTHERS pleas'd, Each job difpatch'd : the Treafury boys depart, As various fancy prompts each youthful heart, PITT, in chafte kifles feeking virtuous joy, om the lips of thtfe melodious fwains: Alternate was tie fong ; but firfl began, With hands uplifted, the regenerate man. WllKES. Blefs'd be the beef-fed guard, whofe vigorous twift Wrench'd the rais'd weapon from the murderer's fift, 40 Him Lords in waiting ffcall with awe behold In red tremendous, and hirfute in gold. On him, great monarch, let thy bounty fhine, What meed can match a life fo dear as thine ? Well was that bounty meafured, all muft own, 45 That gave him half of what he faved -a crown. Blefs'd the dull edge, for treafon's views unfit, Harmlefs as SYDNEY'S rage, or BEARCROFT'S wit. Blum clumfy patriots, for degenerate zeal^ WILKES had. not guided thus the faithlefs fteel ! 50 Round your fad miftids flock, ye. maids elect, Whofe charms fevere your chaftity protect ; Scar'd by whofe glance, defpairing love defcries, That virtue fteals no triumph from your eyes. NOT E s. Ver. 46. balf<~a cn,w>t .'Literally fo. Round POLITICAL ECLOGUES; 227 Round your bold mafter flock, ye mitred hive, 55 With ^nathems on Whigs hi* foul revive ! Saints ! wjiom the fight of human blood appals," Save when to pleafe the Royal will it falls. He breathes ! he lives ! the veftal choir advance, Each takes a Biihop, and leads up the dance, 60 Nor dreads to break her long-refpected vow, For chafte ah ftrange to tell ! are bimops now: Saturnian times return 'the age of truth, And long foretold is come, the virgin youth. Now fage profeflbrs, for their learning's curie, 65 Die of their duty in remorfelefs verfe : Now fentimental Aldermen expire In profe, half flaming with the Mufes fire ; Their's while rich dainties fwim on every plate, IT* heir's the glad toil to feaft for Britain's fate ; 76 Nor mean the gift the Royal grace affords, Ail fhall be knights but thofe that (hall be lords. IMITATIONS. Ver. 59. Ergo alacris fylvts & cetera rura voluptas, Panaque pssiorefque tenet, Dryadafque puellrs. - Ver. 6 1. Nee lupus in/id : as pecori, &c. Ver. 63. Jam iredit eC Virgo, redeunt Saturnia irgna^ K O T E S. VvT. 63, 64. It is remarkable that thefe are the only lines which our Poet has imitated from the iVth Eclogue (or the Pollio) of Virgil. Perhaps the dire& and obvious application of that whole Eclogue appeared to our author to tse an undertaking too eafy for the txercife of his fupetior talents; or perhaps he felt himfelf too well anticipated by a firnilar imitadon of Pope's Mcif,. h, ivhich was inferted fome time fince in one of the public papers. If the author wiil favour us with a co'rre&ed copy, adapted rather to the Pollio than the Mefllah, we fhall be happy to give it a place In our fubfequent editions of which we doubt not the good taile of the town will derr.and as many as of the rest of our celebrated bard's immortal compositions. Q, 2 Fountain 228 POLITICAL ECLOGUES. Fountain of Honour, that art never dry, Touch'd with whofe drops of grace no thief can die, Still with new titles (oak the delug'd land, 75 Still may we all be fate from KETCH'S menac'd hand ! JENKINSON. Oh wond'rous man, with a more wond'rous Mufe ! O'er rny lank limbs thy drains a fleep diffufe, Sweet as when PITT with words difdaining end, Toils to explain, yet fcorns to comprehend. 80 Ah ! whitlier had we fled, had that foul day Torn him untimely from our arms away ? "What ills had mark'd the age, had that dire thruft Pierc'd his foft heart, and bow'd his bob to duft ? Gods ! to my labouring fight what phantoms rife ! 85 Here Juries triumph, and there droops Excifc ! Fierce from defeat, and with colle&ed might, The low-born Commons claim the people's right : And mad for freedom, vainly deem their own, Their eye prefumptuous dares to fcan the throne. 90 See in the general wreck that fmothers all, Juft ripe for juftice fee my HASTINGS fall. Lo, the d:ar Major meets a rude repulfe, Though biazing in each hand he bears a BULSE ? Nor Minifters attend, nor Kings relent, 95 Though rich Nabobs fo fplendidJy repent. See r DEN'S faith expos 'd to fale again, Who takes his plate, and learns his French in vain. See countlefs egg? for us oMcure the sky, tach blanket trembles, and eac;i pump is dry. JOO I M IT A T I O N S. Ver. 78. Tal<- taum carmen n.ibis, divine Poeta* Quale fopor fefiis in gramine. Fas POLITICAL ECLOGUES; 229 Far from good things D UNO AS is fent to roam, Ah ! worfe than banifh'd, doom'd to live at home. Hence dire illufiens ! difnal fcenes away Again he cries, " What, what !" and all is gay. Come, BRUNSWICK, come, great king ofloaves and fifties, Be bounteous ftill to grant us all our wiflies ! 106 Twice every year with BEAUFOY as we dine, Pour'd to the brim eternal George be thine Two foaming cups of his necrareous juice, Which new to gods, no mortal vines produce. 1 10 To us (hall BRUDENELL fing his choiceft airs, And capering MULGRAVE ape the grace of bears; A grand thankfgiving pious YORK compofe, In all the proud parade of pulpit profe ; For fure Omnifcience will delight to hear, 115 Thou 'fcapeft a danger, that was never near. While ductile PITT thy whifper'd wifti obeys, While dupes believe whate'er the Doctor fays, While panting to be tax'd, the famim'd poor Grow to their chains, and only beg for more; 120 While fortunate in ill, thy fervants rind No fnares too flight to catch the vulgar mind : Fix'd IMITATIONS. Ver. 106. Sis bonus ; O ! felixque tuis Ver. 107. Pocula bina novo fpumantia lade quot annis Craterafque duo statuam tibi. Ver. 109. Vima no-vum fundum calathis Arvifia nectar. Ver. 114. Cantabunt mihi Damaetas et Licti"S /Egon. Saltantes Satyros imiubitur Alphaefibaeus. Ver. izi. Dum juga, mentis aper, Sec.. Semper honos, nomenque tuum, laudefque manebunt. NOTES. Ver. 119. The public alarm crprefled upon the event which is th? f^bjedl f this Pastoral, was Certainly a very proper token of atfe&ion to a Monarch, 0.3 vy 30 POLITICAL ECLOGUES. Fix'd as the doom, thy power fhall ftili remain, And thouj wife King, as uncontroul'd {halt reign. WILKES. Thanks, Jenky^ thanes, for ever coujd'ft tho.u fing, 12$ For ever could I fit and hear thee praife the King. Then take this book, which with a Patriot's pride, Once to his fccred warrant I deny'd, Fond though he was of reading all I wrote : No gift can "better fuit thy tuneful throat. 130 J E N K 1 N SO N . And thou this Scottish pipe, which JAMIE'S breath, Infpir'd when living, and bequeath'd in death, From lips unhallow'd I've preferv'd it long: Take the juft tribute of thy loyal fong. 134. IMITATIONS. Ver, 130. At tu furre pedum, quod cum me faepe rogaret Non tulit Antigenes, et erat turn dignus amarL Ver. 134. 1st mini Fistula, Damaetas dono mihi quam deditolim, Et'dixit moriens, " Te nunc habet ista fecundum.'* Eel. II. NOTES. every aV;on of whcfe reigi denotes him to be the father of his people. Whe- ther it has fufficient'y fubfided to ad nit of a calm enquiry into fab, is a mat- ter of lome doubt, as the addreiTes were not riniihed in fome late Gazettes. If ever that time iriould arrive, the world will be very well pleafed to hear that the milerable woman whom the Privy Council have judicioufly confined ia Bedlam for her life, never even aimed a blow at his August Perfon. Ver. 127. Tin cok, &c. E^.-y on Woman. Ver. 150. Nogif^an better jui: tby throat. The ungrateful peo- ple of Er.glard, we have too much rjafon to fear, may be of a different opinion. CHARLES CHARLES JENKINSON. ARGUMENT. THE following is a very clofe franjlation of VIR- GIL's SILENUS ; fo ckfe indeed that many readers may be furprifed at fuch a deviation from cur author's ufual mode of imitating the ancients. But we are to confider that VIRGIL is revered by his Countrymen, not only as a Poet, but likewife as a prophet and magician ; and our incomparable Translator, who was, not ignorant of this circum- fiance, was convinced, that VIRGIL in his SILENUS had really and bona fide meant to- allude to the Wonders of the prefent Reign, and consequently that it became his Duty to adhere moft Jirittly to his Original, and to convey the true. Meaning of this hitherto inexplicable Eclogue. POfTICAL ECLOGUES, CHARLES JENKINSON, JVlINE was the Mufc, that from Norman fcroll Firft rais'd to fame the barbarous worth of ROLLE, And dar'd on DEVON'S hero to difpenfe The gifts of Language, Poetry, and Senfc. In proud Pindarics next my skill I try'd, But SALISB'RY wav'd his wand and check'd my pride: " Write Englifli, friend, (he cry'd) be plain, and flatter, * ( Nor thus confound your compliment and fatire. w Even I, a critic by the King's command, Cl Find thefe here Odes damn'd hard to underftand." 10 Now then, O deathlefs theme of WARTON'S Mufe, Oh great in War ! Oh glorious at Reviews ! While many a rival, anxious for the bays, Purfues thy virtues with relentlefs praife -, IMITATIONS. Ver. I. Prima Syracofio dignata eft ludere verfu, Noftra nee erubuit fylvas habitare Thalia. Ciflta cancrem regis & pralia, Cynthius aurem Vellit, & admonuit, &c. &c. Ver. II. Nuncego (namque fupertibi, erunt, qui dicere kudu Vare, tuus cupiant, & triftia condere bella) Sylvdljreoi tenul'meditabor aruadine mu&n. Whik POLITICAL ECLOGtfES. While at thy levee fmiling crouds appear, i blocks, To flrangle NORTH, to fcalp and eat CHARLES Fox. 50 There H 's fobei*band in filence wait, Jnur'd to deep, and patient of debate 5 IMITATIONS. Ver. 39. '! Quid vincula nccYitis ? inquit, Solvite me pueri Carmina.quae vultis cognofclte, carmina vobls i Huic aliud mercedis erit. Ver. 43, Turn vero In numerum faunofque ferafque videre, Ludere, turn rigidas motare cacumina quercus. NOTES. Ver. 42. To fair Pomona, &c.] We are forry to inform our reader^ that the promife which Mr. Jenkinfon here intimates in favour of the lady was, we fear, but the promife of a courtier. Truth obliges us to declare, that having taken fome pains to enquire into the fads, we were aflured by the lady hcrfelf, that flie never received any other gift, prefent, or com- pliment whatever from Mr. Jenkinfon. Firm POLITICAL Firm in their ranks, each rooted to his chair They fit, and wave their wooden heads in air. Lefs mute the rocks while tuneful Phoebus fung, 55 Lefs fage the critic brutes round Orpheus fcung j For true and pleafant were the tales he told, His theme great GEORGE'S age, the age of gold. Ere GEORGE appear'd a Briton born and bred, One general Chaos all the land o'erfpread : 60 There lurking feeds of adverfe factions lay, Which warm*d and nurtured by his uuwning ray, Sprang into life. Then firft began to thrive The tender fhoots of young Prerogative ; Then fpread luxuriant, when unclouded (hone 65 The full meridian fplendour of the throne. Yet was the Court a folitary wafte ; Twelve lords alone the Royal chamber graced! IMITATIONS. Vcr. 55. Nee tantum Photbo gaudet Parnaflia rupes, Nee tantum i< hodope miratur et Ifmarus Orphot Ver. 57. Namque canebat, uti magnum per inane coafta, Semiaa terrarumque animaeque marifque fuiffent, Et liquid! irr.ul ignis : Ut his exordia primis Oi. -IK., Sc ipfe tener mundi concreverit orbis. Ver. 62. iijcipianc fylvae cum primum furgere Jamque novum ut terras ftupeant lucefcere folera. Ver. 2. ; , ..... . . . Cumqut- ^Lara per ignotos e.rrant animalia montes. NOTES. Ver, 6S. Our Poet, ftir- fo careftjl a fludent of the Court Calendar, as fit jtnu;' cer' '; , ' -u curate here. The Lords of die Bed-chamber were in truth thirteen, ;..i.i ieven only were added. Tht numbers in the text were probably preitrviu as mere eujhonius, When POLITICAL ECLOGtTES. When BUTE, the good DEUCALION of the reign To gracious BRUNSWICK pray'd, nor pray'd in vain. 70 For ftraight (oh goodnefs of the royal mind !) Eight blocks, to duft and rubbifh long confin'd, Now wak'd by mandate from their trance of years^ Grew living creatures, juft like other Peers. Nor here his kindnefs ends From wild debate j$ And fa&ious rage he guards his infant ftate. Refolv'd alone his empire's toils to bear, ** Be all men dull !" he cry'd, and dull they were. Then fenfe was treafon j then with bloody claw Exulting foar'd the vultures of the law : g Then ruffians robb'd by minifterial writ, And GRENVILLE plunder'd reams of ufelefs wit, While mobs got drunk 'till learning fhould revive, And loudly bawl'd for WILKES and Forty-five. Next to WILL PITT he paft, fo fage, fo young, 8$ So cas'd with wifdom, and fo arm'd with tongue ; His breaft with every royal virtue full, "Yet ftrange to tell, the minion of JOHN BULL, Prepoft'rous pafHon ! fay, what fiend pofTefr, Mifguided youth, what phrenzy fir'd thy breaft ? ^o IMITATIONS. Ver. 69. HInc lapides Pyrrhae jaftos n Ver. 78. Saturnla regna. Ver. S i. Gaucafeafque refert volucres. Ver. 8z. - Furtumque Promethel. Ver. 84. ' ' Hylan nautse quo tonte reliftum, ClamafTent ut littus Hyla, Hyla, omne fonaret, Ver. 88. Pafaphaen nivei folatur amore juvenci. ; Ver. 89. Ah virgo infelix quae te dementia cepit ? 'Tis POLITICAL ECLOGUES. 'Tis true, in Senates, many a hopeful lad Has rav'd in metaphor, and run ftark mad ; His friend, the heir-apparent of MON THOSE, Feels for his beak, and ftarts to find a nofe j Yet at thefe times preferve the little fhare 9$ Of fenfe and thought intrufted to their care ; While thou wir,h ceafelefs folly, endlefs labour, Now coaxing JOHN, now flirting with his neighbour, Haft feen thy lover from his bonds fet free, Damning the {hop-tax, and himfelf, and thee. joo Now good MACPHERSON, whofe prolific mufe Begets falfe tongues, falfe heroes, and faife news, Now frame new lies, noiw fcrutinize thy brain, And bring th' inconftant to thefe arms again ! Next of the Yankeys' fraud the mafter told, 105 And GRENVILLE'S fondnefc for Hefperian gold j And IMITATIONS. Ver. 93. Prstides Implerunt falfis mugitibus agros. Ver. 96. Et faepe in laevi quaefiflent cornua fronte At non, &c. Ver. 99. Ille latus niveurh, &c; Ver. 10 1. Claudite nymphae Di&sex nymphas, nemorum jam claudlte faltus,' Si qua forte ferant oculis fefe obvia noftris, Errabunda bovis veftigia. Ver. 1 06. Turn canit Hefperidum miratam mala puellam. NOTES. Ver. 101. GoodMacp!>erfoH,&c.~\ This ingenious gentleman, who nrft Cg- lized himfelf by a bombaft tranfladon of poems which never exifted, is now (aid occafionally to indulge his native genius for fiction in paragraphs of poetical profe for fome of our daily papers. Ver. 106. Hefftrian gold.] The American revenue,- which the late Mr. Gwnvilk was to have raifed by his celebrated Scamp Ail. Mr. Jenki.ifony who POLITICAL ECLOGUES^ 239 And GRENVILLE'S friends confpicuous from afar, In mofly down incas'd, and bitter tar. SIR CECIL next adorn'd the pompous fong, Led by his CJEJLIA through th' admiring throng, 1 10 AH C DELIA'S fitters hail'd the prince of bards, Reforming failors bow'd, and patriot guards : While thus SIR JOSEPH (his ftupendious head Crown* d with green-groc'ry, and with flow'rs o'erfpread) From the high huftings fpoke " This pipe be thine, 115 * This pipe, the fav'rite prefent of the Nine, ** On which WILL WHITEHEAD play'd thofe powerful " airs, Which to ST. JAMES'S drew relu&ant May'rs, IMITATIONS. Ver. 108. Turn Phaetontiadas mufco circumdat amar Corticis, atque folo proceras erigit. Ver. 109. Turn canit errantem Gallum, Aonas in monies ut duxerit una fororum, Utque viro Phcebi chorus aflurrexerit omnis j Ut Linus haec illi divino carmine paftor Floribus, atque apio crines ornatus amara, Dixerit j hos tibi dant calamos, en accipej mufae, Afcraeo quos ante feni, quibus ille folebat Cantando rigidas deducere montibus ornos, &c. Sec. &c. NOTES. who was hlmfelf the author of that al, here delicately touches on the true origin of the American war ; a meafure in which, however unfuccefsful, we doubt not, he will ever be ready to glory. Ver. no. SIR CECIL'S poems to Cslia are well known; and we are perfuaded will live to preferve the fame of his talents, when his admirable letter to the Scottifti reformers, and his pamphlet on the Weftminfter Eleftion, fhall be forgotten. "And POLITICAL ECLOGUES* * And forc'd ftiff-jointed Aldermen to bend ; " Singthou on this thy SAL'SBURY, fing thy friend j il6 ** Long may he live in thy prote&ing ftrains, *' And HATFIELD vie with TEMPE'S fabled plains ?'* Why fliould I tell th' election's horrid tale, That fcene of libels, riots, blood, and ale f There of SAM HOUSE the horrid form appeared ; 125 Round his white apron howling monfters reared Their angry clubs ; mid broken heads they polled j And HOOD'S beft failors in the kennel rolled ! Ah ! why MAHON'S difaftrous fate record ? Alas ! how fear can change the fierceft lord ! 130 See the fad fequel of the grocers' treat Behold him darting up St. James's- ft reet, Pelted, and fcar'd, by BROOKE'S hellifh fprites, And vainly fluttering round the door of WHITE'S ! All this, and more he told, and every word 135 With filent awe th' attentive ftriplings heard, When, burfting on their ears, ftern PEARSON'S note Proclaim'd the queftion put, and called them forth to vote* IMITATIONS. Ver. 127. Quid loquar Scyllum quam fama fecuta eft Candida fuccindlam latrantibus inguina monftris gurgite in alto Ah timidos nautas canibus lacerafTe marinis. Ver. I3Z. Aut ut mutates Terei Jiorraverit artus : Quas illi Philomela dapes, quae dona pararit> Quo cursu deferta pedverit, & quibus ante Infelix fua tcta fupervoliue erh all}. JEKYLL. J E K Y L L. POLITICAL ECLOGUES; 243 J E K Y L L, -mifonbHe Carrrer Integral, Sc msest'is late !oca questibus irnpltt. Vis GIL. JEKYLL, the wag of law, th? fcribblef's pride, Calne to the fenate fent when TOWNSKEND died. So LANDSDOWNE will'd : the old hoarfe rook at r^ir, A jackdaw phoenix chatters from his ncft. Statefman and lawyer now, with clafhing care?* 5 Th' important yoath roams thro' the Temple fquares j Yet flays his ftep, where, with congenial play, The well-known fountain babbles day by day : The "little fountain ! whofe reftricled courfe, In low faint Eflays owns its Ihalldw fource. 10 There, to the tinkling jet he tun'd his tongue^ While LANSDOV/NE'S fame^and LANSDOWNE'S fall, hefung. " Where were our friends, when the remcrfeleis crew ^ Of felon whigs -great LANSDOWNE'S pow'r o'erthrew ? iorneby. haws, and berries of the wood." 50 '* Bleil peer ! eternal wreaths adorn thy brow ! " Thou CINCINNATUS of the BritiHi plough ! " B.^t roufc again thy talents and thy zeal ! Thy Sovereign, fure, muft wilh thee Privy-feaL "Or, ECLOGUES. 245 * c Or, what if from the feals thou art debarr'd ? ' 55 tlement ; one hundred a year, together with a tierce of Canary, or a but of fack, are furely moft princely endowments, for the honour of literature and the advancement of poetical genius. And hence (thank God and the King for it !) there fcarcely ever has been want- Ing fome great and good man both willing and able to fupply fo important a charge. At one time we find that great immortal genius, Mr. Thomas Shadwel, (better known by the names of Og and Mac Flecknoe) chanting the prerogative praifes of that blefTed aera. At a nearer period, we obferve the whole force of Colley Cibber's genius devot- ed Bt THE EDITOR. &$$ ed .to the labours of the fame reputable em- ployment. And finally, in the example of a Whitehead's Mufe, 'expatiating on the vir- tues of our gracious Sovereign, have we not beheld the beft of Poets, in the beft of Verfes, doing ample juftice to the beft of Kings !-^- The fire of Lyric Poefy, the rapid lightening of modern Pindarics, were equally required to record the virtues of the Stuarts, or to immortalize the Talents ofaBrunfwick. On either theme there was ample fubject for the boldeft flights of inventive genius, the full fcope for the moft daring powers of poetical creation ; from the free unfettered ftrain of liberty in honour of Charles the Firft, to the kindred Genius and congenial Talents that immortalize the Wifdom and the Worth of George the Third. But on no occafion has thd ardour for prerogative panegyrics ib con- fpicuoufly flamed forth, as on the latfe election for fucceeding to Mr. Whitehead's honours. To account for this unparalleled ftruggle, let us recoiled that the ridiculous reforms of the late Parliament having cut off many gentle- manly offices, it was a neceffary confequence that the few which were fpared, became ob- jefts of rather more emulation than ufual. Befides, 256 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE, Befides, there is a decency. and regularity in producing at fixed and certain periods of the year, the fame fettled quantity of metre on the fame unalterable fubjects, which cannot fail to give a particular attraction to the Office of the Laureatfhip, at a crifis like the prefent. It is admitted, that we are now in pofleffion of much founder judgment, and more re- gulated tafte than our anceftors had any idea of; and hence does it not immediately fol- low, that the occupancy of a poetical office, which, from its uniformity of {iibjecl: a"nd li- mitation of duty, precludes all hafty extrava- gance of ftyle, as well as any plurality of ef- forts, is fure to be a more pleafing object than ever to gentlemen of regular habits and a becoming degree of literary indolence ? Is it not N evident too, that in compositions of this kind, all fermentation of thought is cer- tain in a very fhort time to fubfide and fet- tle into mild and gentle compofition till at length the pofiefTors of this grave and orderly office prepare their ftipulated return of me- tre, by as proportionate and gradual exertions, as many other clalTes of induftrious tenants provide for the due payment of their particu- lar rents ? Surely it is not too much to fay, that BY THE EDITOR. 257 that the bufmefs of Laurcat to his Majefty is, under fiich provifion, to the full as inge- nious, reputable, and regular a trade, as that of Almanack Maker to the Stationer's Com- pany. The conteft therefore for fo excellent an office, having been warmer in the late in- ftance than at any preceding period, is per- fectly to be accounted for ; efpecially too at a time, when, from' nobler eaufes, the Soul of Genius may reaforiably be fuppofed to kin- dle into uncommon enthufiafm, at a train of new and unexampled prodigies. In an age of Reform ; beneath the mild fway of a Bri- tim Auguftus ; under the Miniftry of a pure Immaculate Youth ; the Temple of Janus ihut ; the Trade of Otaheite Open ; not an angry American to be heard of, except the Lottery Loyalifts ; the fine Arts in full Glory ; Sir William Chambers the Royal Architect ; Lord Sydney a Cabinet Minifter ! What a golden aera ! From this aufpicious moment, Peers, Bifhops, Baronets, Methodifts, Mem- bers of Parliament, Chaplains, all genuine Beaux Efprits, all legitimate heirs of Parnaf- fus, rum forward, with unfeigned ardour, to delight the world by the united efforts of liberal genius and comtitutional loyalty. S Thtf 2^3 PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE* The illuftrious candidates aflemble the wileft of Earls fits as Judge the archeft of Buffos becomes his affeilbr the Odes are read thfc election is determined how juftly is not for us to decide.' To the great Tribunal of the Public the whole of this important conteft is now fubmitted. Every document that can illuftrate, every teftimony that tends to fup- port the respective merits of the Probationers, is impartially communicated to the world of letters. Even the Editor of fuch a collection may hope for fome reveriionary fame from the humble, but not inglorious talk, of col- lecting the fcattered rays of Genius. At the eve of a long laborious life, devoted to a Sifter Mufe, (vide my Hiflory, printed for T. Payne and Son, at the Mews-Gate) poffibly it may not wholly appear an irregular vanity, if I fome'times have entertained a hope that my tomb may not want the fympathetic re- cord of Poetry. I avow my motive. It is with this expectation I appear as an Editor on the prefent occafion. The Au- thors, whofe Compofitions I collect for public notice, are twenty-three. The odds of fur- yivorihip, according to Doctor Price are, that Bt THE EDITOR. that thriteen of thefe will outlive me, my- ielf being in clafs III. of his ingenious tables. Surely, therefore, it is no mark of that fan- guine difpofition which my enemies, have been pleafed to afcribe to me, if I deem it poffible that fome one of the famethirteen, willrequke my x protecl:ioii of their harmonious effufions ivith a ftrain of elegiac gratitude, faying, po^ibly, (pardon me, ye Survivors that may be, for prefuming to hint the thought to minds fo richly fraught as yours are) faying, I fay, Here lies Sir John Hawkins, Without his (hoes or ftockings * ! * Said Survivors ar not bound to fald Rhime, if not JsgreeabJe. I'HE 260 THOUGHTS ON ODE WRITING. 1 H E FOLLG\VIN:G excellent obfervations on the LYRIC STYLE, have been kindly communicated to the EDITOR by the Rev. THOMAS WARTON. They appear to have been taken ahnoft verbatim from feveral of the former works of that ingenious author; but chiefly from his lat edition of Milton's Minora. We fincerely hope, there- fore, that they may ferve the double purpofe of enriching the prefent collection, and of attra&ing the public attention to that very critical work from which they are principally extracted. THOUGHTS ON ODE WRITING. flAH MOATTJJ Carmen, Cantus, Cantilena, Chanfon, Canzone, all fignify what, Anglice, we denominate ODE Among the Greeks, Piudar ; among the Latins, Horace ; with the Italians, Petrarch ; with the French, Boileau; are the principes hujufce fcientias Tom Killegrew took the lead in Englifh Lyrics ; and indeed, till our own Mafon, was nuirly unrivalled Jofephus Miller too hath penned iomething of the Odaic, inter his Opera Minora. My grandfather had a MS. Ode THOUGHTS ON ODE WRITING. 261 Ode on a Gilliflower, the which, as .our family had it, was an efquijje of Gammer Gurton's ; and I myfelf have feen various Cantilenes of Stephen Duck's of a pure relifh Of Shad well, time hath little impaired the fame Colley's Bays ruft cankereth not Dr. Cafaubon meafures the Strophe by Anapaefts In the Polyglott, the epitrotus primus is the metrimenfura. I venture to recommend " Waly, waly, up the bank," as no bad model of the pure Trochaic There is alib a little firnple {train, commencing " Saw ye my father, faw ye my mother ;'* which to my fancy, gives an excellent ratio of hen- decafyllables. Dr. Warton indeed prefers the Adonic, as incomparably the neateft, ay, and the neweft OXWK ptlpo* A notion too has prevailed, that the Black Joke, or MA*/*puAAt Aaipvat is not the " cofa deta in profa mai, ne in rima ;" whereas the Dtva Ceftrenf^ or Chevy Chafe, according to Dr. * Jofeph Warton, is the exemplar of, Trip and go, Heave and hoe, 1 f p and down, To and fro. S 3 Vide 26s THOUGHTS ON ODE WRITING. Vide Nafhe's Summer'? Lr.ft Will and Teftament, 1600. I obferve that Ravifhment is a favourite word with Milton, Paradife Loft, B. V. 46. Again, B. IX. 541. Again Com. V. 24$. Spenfer has it alfo in Aftrophel. ft. 7. Whereof I earneftly recommend early rifmg to all minor Poets, as far better than fleeping to concoft furfeits. Vid. Apology for Smec- tymnuus. For the liftening to Throftles or Thrufhes, awaking the lujllefs Sun, is an unreproved or innocent paftime : As alfo are cranks-, by which I underftood crofs purpofes. Vid. my Milton, 41. " Filling a wife with a daughter fair ," is not an unclailical notion (vid. my Milton, 39) if, according 'to Sir Richard Brathwaite, " She had a dimpled chin, made for love to lodge within," (vid. my Milton 4 1.) "While the cock" vid. the fame, 44. Indeed, " My mother faid I could be no Iad 9 till I was twentye," is a paffage I notice in my Milton with a view to this ; which fee ; and therein alfo of a fhepherdefs, " taking the tale." 'Twere v well like wile if Bards learned the Rebeck, or Rebible, being a fpecies of Fiddle ; for it folaceth the fatigued fpirit much ; though, to fay the truth, THOUGHTS ON ODE WRITING. 263 truth, we have- it ; 'tis prefent death for Fiddlers to time their Rebecks, or Rebibles, before the great Turk's grace. However, Middletorfs Game of Chefs is good for a Poet to perufe, having quaint phrafes fitting to be married to immortal verfe. JOSHUA POOLE, of Clare-hall, I alfo recommend as an apt guide for an alumnus of the Mufe. Jofhua edited a choice Parnaffus 1657, * n tne which I find many " delicious, mellow hangings'* of poefy He is undoubtedly a " ibnorous- daftylift" and to him I add Mr. Jenner, Proctor of the Commons, and CommiiTar y ot St. Paul's, who is a gentleman of indefa- tigable politenefs in opening the Archives of a Chapter- houfe, for the delectation of a found critic. TottelPs Songs and Sonnets ofuncer- tainAuffiouresislikewife a bufful, or plenteous work. I conclude with afluring the Public, that my brother remembers to have heard my father tell his (i. e. my brother's) firft wife's, fecond coufin, that he, once, at Magdalen College, Oxford, had it explained to him, that the famous, paffage " His reafons are as. two grains of wheat hid in two bumels of chaff," has no fort of reference to verbal cri- ticifm and flale quotations*. S'4 RECQM- RECOMMENDATORY T E S T I M O N I E S t -ACCORDING tq the old and laudable ufage of Editors, we fhall now prefent our Readers with the judgments of the learned concerning our Poets. Thefe Telti monies, if they proceed from critical pens, cannot fail to have due influence on all impartial obfervers. They pafs an author from one end of the kingdom to the other, as rapidly as the pauper Certificates of Magiftracy. Indeed it were much to be wifhed, that as we have no State Li- cenfcr of Poetry, it might at leaft be made penal, to put forth rhymes without previoufly producing a ceitain num- ber of lureties for their goodnefs and utility ; which pre- caution, if aflifted with a few other regulations} fuch as re- quiring all Practitioners in Verfe to take out a Licenfe, in the'manner of many other Dealers in Spirits, &c. could not fail to introduce good order among this chfs of au- thors, and alfo to bring in a handfome fum towards the aid of the public revenue. Happy indeed will be thofe Bards, who are fupplied with as reputable vouchers as thofe which are here fubjoined. TESTIMONIES, 465 Teftimonics of Sir JOSEPH MAWBEY'S good Parts for Poetry^ MISS HANNAH MORE. " Sift JOSEPH, with the gentleft fympathy, begged me to contrive that he fhould meet Laffiilla, in her morning walk, towards the Hot-Wells. I took the proper meafures for this tete-a-tete between my two naturals, as I call this uneducated couple. It fucceeded beyond my utmoft hopes. For the firfr. ten minutes they exchanged a world of fimple pbfervations on the different fpecies of the brute creation, to which each had moft obli- gations. La&illa praifed her Cows Sir Jofeph his Hogs. An artlefs eclogue, my dear madam, but warm from the heart. At laft the Mufe took her turn on the tapis of fimple dialogue. In an inftant both kindled into all the fervors the delightful fervors, that are better imagined than defcribed Suffice it to relate the fequeJ. Lattilla pocketed a generous ha)/- crown, and Sir Jofeph RECOMMENDATORY Jofeph was inchanted ! Heavens I what would this amiable Baronet have been, with the education of a curate ?'* Mijs Hannah Mori s Letter tothf Ducbef; of Chandas. OF THE SAME. By JONAS HANWAY, Efq. " In fiiort, thefe poor children who arc employed in fweeping our chimnies. are not treated half fo well as fo many black Pigs nor, indeed, a hundredth part fo well, where the latter have the good fortune to belong to a benevolent mafter, fbch as Sir Jofepry Mawbey a man who, notwithftanding he Is, a bright Magiftrate, a diligeni Voter in Par* liarnent, and a chafteHufband, is nevertheless author of not a few faiicies in the poetical way. 1 * Thoughts en ourfavaga Treatment of Cbtfaney-faefpfr^ Tef* TESTIMONIES. in Favour of Sir CECIL Bart. DR. STRATFORD.* ALCAI^DER, thou'rt a Gad, more than a God ! Thou'rt pride of all the Gods, thpu mount'ft by wees Hell fqueaks, Eurus and Aufter (hake the skies Yet fhall thy barge dance through the hiffing wave, And on the foaming billows float to heaven ! Erf/tie to Sir Cecil Wray, under the character ofAlcander. OF THE SAME. By MRS. GEORGE ANNE BELLAMY. " I WAS fitting oae evening, (as indeed I was wont to do when out of cafli) aftride the balluftrade of Weftminfter-bridge, with my favourite little dog under my arm, I had that day- parted with my diamond wind- mill. Life was never very dear to me but * Author of 58 Tragedies, only one of which, to the difgrace of our Theatres, has as yet appeared. % thou-i 268 RECOMMENDATORY a thoufand thoughts then rufhed into my heart, to jump this world, and fpring into eternity. I determined that my faithful Pompey (hould bear me company. I prefTed him clofe, and actually ftretched out, fully refblved to plunge into the flream ; when, luckily (ought I to call it fo ?) that charming fellow, (for fuch he then was) Sir Cecil Wray, catching hold of Pompey's tail, pulled him back, and with him pulled back me. In a moment I found myfelf in a clean hackney coach, drawn by grey horfes, with a remarkable civil coach- man, fainting in my Cecil's arms; and though I then loft a little diamond pin, yet (contrary to what I hear has been aflerted) I NEVER profecuted that gallant Baronet ; who, in lefs than a, fortnight after, with his ufual wit and genius, difpatched me the following extempore poem : While you prepar'd, dear Anne, on Styx to fail Lo ! one dog fav'd you by another's tail. To which, in little more than a month, I penned, andfentthe following reply : You pinch r d my dog, 'tis true, and check'd my fail- But then my pin--an, there you fqueez'd my tail. Ninth volume cf Mrs. George Anne Bellamy's dpdogy y now preparing far the Prefs. Tcjii- TESTIMONIES. 269 Tejlimony of the great Parts of CONSTAN- TINE, LORD MUI/GRAVE, and his Ere- thrcn. MR, BOSWELL* " AMONG thofe who will vote for con- tinuing the old eftablimed number of our Sef- lion Juftices, may I not count on the tribe of Phipps they love good places; and I know Mulgrave is a bit of a poet as well as myfelf ; for I dined in company once, where he dined that very day twelvemonth. My excellent wife, who is a true Montgomery, and whom I like now as well I did twenty years ago, adores the man who felt for the maternal pangs of a whelplefs bear. For my own part, however, there is no aftion I more conftantly ridicule, than his Lordmip's prepoflerous pity for thofe very furFerings which he himfelf ox> cafioned, by ordering his failors to Irioot the young bears. - But though /laugh at him; how handfbme will it be if he votes Dundas to oblige me. My difliking him and his family is no reafon for his difliking me on the contrary, if he oppofes us, is it not probable that that great young man, whom I fincerely *7<5 RECOMMENDATORY fincerely adore, may fay, in his own lofty laiiJ guage, 6C Mulgrave, Mulgrave, don't vex the Scotch ! don't provoke 'em ! God damn your ugly head ! if we don't crouch to Bute, we fhall all be turned out ; God eternally damn you for a ftupid boar ! I know we fhall ! Par- don me, great Sir, for prefuming to forge the omnipotent bolts of your Incomparable thunder." Appendix to Mr. BofwelFs Pamphlet on the Scotch Judges. Teftimony ^/NATHANIEL WILLIAM WRAX- ALL, Efq. his great Merit. LORD MONBODDO. " SINCE I put forth my laft volume, I -have read the excellent Ode of Mr, Wraxall, and was pleafed to find that bold spoftrophe irr his delicious lyric, " Hail Ouran Outangs ! Hail Anthropophagi !" " My principals are now pretty univerfally known ; but on this occaiion I will repeat. them fuccinclly. I believe, from the bottom of TESTIMONIES. v^^ fc^f of my foul, that all mankind are abfoltfu Qu- ran Outangs. That the feudal tenures are tht great caufe of our not retaining the perfect ap- pearance of Ourans. That human beings ori- ginally moved on all fours That we had bet- ter move in the fame way again That there has been giants ninety feet high That fucli giants ought to have moved on all fours That we all continue to be Ouran Outangs Hill fome more fa, fome lefs but that Na- thaniel William Wraxall, Efq % is the trueft Ouran Outang in Great Britain, and therefore ought immediately to take to all fours, and efpecially to make all his motions in Parliament in that way." Poftfcrtpt to Lord Monboddo's Ancient Metapbyfics. Teflimony of the great Powers for Poefy, in* nate in MICHEL ANGELO TAYLOR, E/q. DR. BURNEY. I SHALL myfelf compofe Mr. Taylor's Ode His merit I admire his origin I have traced He is defcended from Mr. John Taylor, the famous Water Poet, who witli good natural talents, never proceeded farther in 72. RECOMMENDATORY in education than his accidence John Tay- lor was born in Gloucefterfhire I find that he was bound apprentice to a Waterman but in proceis of time &ept a public houfe in Phoe- nix-alley, Long-acre.* Read John's modeft recital of his humble culture ** I muft confefs I do want eloquence, u And never fcarce did learn my Accidence ; tc For having got from PofTum to Poffct, 11 I there was gravell'd, nor could farther get." John wrote fourfcore books, but djed ill 1654. Here you have John's Epitaph " Here lies the Water Poet, honed John, " Who rowed on the dreams of Helicon; " Whercj having many rocks and dangers pad, * c He at the haven of heav'n arrived at lad." There is a print of John, holding an oar iri *me hand, and an empty purfe in the other. Motto Et habeo, meaning the oar Et ca- * This anecdote was majeftically inferted in my manu- feiipt copy of Handel's Commemoration, by that Great Perfonage to whofe judgment I fubmitted it. (I take every occafion of flievving the infertion ss a good puff. I wifh, however, the fame hand had fubfcribed for the book.) I did rot publiih any of the faid alterations in that work, re- fer ving fome of them for my edition of TbeTaylona. TESTIMONIES^ 273 riiJ0, meaning the cam. It is too bold a ven- ture to predict a clofe analogy 'twixt John and Michael Sure am I, If Michael goeth on, as Michael hath begun, Michael will equal be to famous Taylor John. I fliall publifh both the Taylors' works, with the fcore of Michael's Ode, fome ihort time hence, in as thin a quarto as my Han- del's commemoration, price one guinea in boards, with a view of John's houfe in Phoe- nix-alley, and Sir Robert's carriage, as Sheriff of London and Middlefex. Tejlimony for PEPPER ARDEN, Efq.In Anfwer to a Cafe /or the . Opinion of GEORGE HARDINGE, Efq. Attorney Gene- ral to her Majefty. I HAVE perufed this Ode, and find it containeth eight hundred and forty-Jeven WORDS two thoufand one hundfed and four sYLLABLEs^/bwr thoufand three hun- dred and forty-four LETTERS*. It is, there - * See the learned Gentleman's arithmetical Speech on the Weftminfter Scrutiny. * '- fore, 274 v RECOMMENDATORY fore, my opinion, that fa id Ode is a good and complete title to all thofe fees, honours, per- quiiites, emoluments, and gratuities, ufually annexed, adjunct to, and dependant on, the office of Poet Laureat, late in the occupation of William Whitehead, Efq. defundT:. G. HARDINGE, Tejlimony in favour of Sir RICHARD HILL, Bart. LORD GEORGE GORDON. To the EDITOR of the PUBLIC ADVERTISER. Mn. PRINTER, I CALL upon all the Privy Council, Charles Jenkinfon, Mr. Bond, and the Lord Mayor of London, to protect my perfbn from the Popifh Spies fet over me by the Cabinet of William Pitt. On Thurfday ult. having read the Ode of my friend, Sir Richard, in a print amicable to my Proteftant Brethren, and approving it, I accordingly vifited that pious Baronet, who, if called on, will verify the lame. I then told Sir Richard what I new repeat, TESTIMONIES. Repeat, that George the Third ought to fend away all Papift AmbafTadors. 1 joined Sir Richard, Lady Hill, and her coufin, in an excellent hymrt, turned from the i ft of Mat- thew, by Sir Richard. I hereby recommend it to the eighty Societies of Proteflants in Glafgow, knowing it to be found orthodox truth ; for thatpurpofe, Mr. \Voodfall, I now lentruft it to your fpecial care, conjuring you to print it, as you hope to be faved. Salmon begat Booz Booz begat Obed- Obed begat JefTe, fo a* Jcfle begat David. AMEN; And I am, Sir, Your humble Servant^ GEO. GORDON. T i 2^6 RECOMMENDATORY, &C. Tcjlimony in favour ^/MAJOR JOHN SCOTT'J Poetical Talents. WARREN HASTINGS, ESQ^ In an Extract from a private Letter to a Great Perfonage. " I TRUST, therefore, that the rough di- amonds will meet with your favourable con- ftrucYion. They will be delivered by my ex- cellent friend, Major John Scott, who, in obe- dience to my orders, has taken a feat in Par- liament, and published fundry traces on my integrity. I can venture to recommend him as an impenetrable arguer, no man's propofi- tions flowing in a more deleterious ftream ; no man's expreffions fo little hanging on the thread of opinion. He has it in command to compofe the beft and mod magnificent Ode on your Majefty's birth-day. " What can I fay more ?" A FULL A FULL AND TRUE ACCOUNT OF THE REV. THOMAS' WARTON'S ASCENSION FROM CHRIST- CHURCH MEADOW, OXFORD. (In the Balloon of James Sad'er, Paftry-Cook to the faid Univerfity) 'on Friday the iot\ of May, 1785, for the purpofe of compofing a fublime^ODE in, honour of his Majefty's Birth-day; attefted before JOHN WEY- LAND, Efq. one of his Majefty's Juftices of the Peace for the County of Oxford *. IT was in obedience to the advice of my brother, Dr. Jofeph Warton, that I came to a determination, on the fifth of May ult. to compofe my firft Birth-day Ode, at the eleva- tion of one mile above the earth, in the Bal- loon of my ingenious friend, Mr. James Sad- * It cannot fail to attract the Reader's particular atten- tion to this very curious piece, to inform him, tha ; nor Delpini's decifion, in favour of Mr. Warton , \v:-.s chiefly grounded on the new and extraordinary ftyls of vvr.^ng herein attefted, T 3 ler, 278 REV. T. WARTON'S ASCENSION Icr, of this city. Accordingly, having agreed for the fame, at a very moderate rate per hour, (I paying all charge of inflating, and {landing to repairs) at nine in the morning* on Friday the 28th of faid month, I repaired to (Thrift- church meadow, with my ballaft, provifions, cat, fpeaking trumpet, and other neceffaries. It was my firft defign to have invited Dr. Jofeph to have afcended with me; but apprehending the malicious con- traction that might follow on this, as if, for- footh, my intended Ode was to be a joint pfq- du&ion, I e'en made up my mind to mount alone. My provifions principally confifted of a fmall pot of flewed prunes, and half of a plain diet-bread cake, both prepared, and kindly prefented to me by the fame ingenious hand which had fabricated the Balloon. I had alfo a fmall fubfidiary ftock, viz. a loaf of Sandwiches, three bottles of pld ale, a pint of brandy, a fallad ready mixed, a roll of col- lared eel, a cold goofe, fix damfon tartlets, a few china oranges, and a roafted pig of the Chinefe breed ; together with a fmall light barometer, and a proper ftore of writing uten- fils ; but no note, memorandum, nor loofe bint of any kind, fo help me God \- My afcenfiofi, FROM CHRIST-CHURCH MEADOW, afcenfion was majeftic, to an uncommon de- gree of tardinefs. I was fbon conftramed, therefore, to lighten my Balloon, by throwing out fome part of my ballaft, which confifted of my own Hiflory of Poetry, my late edition of Milton's Minora, my Mifcellaneous Veries, Odes, Sonnets, Elegies, Infcriptions, Mono- dies, and Complaints; my ObfeFvations on Spencer, the King's laft Speech, and Lord Mountmorres's pamphlet on the Irifh Refo- lutions. On throwing out his Lordihip's E- fay, the Balloon fprang up furprizingly ; but the weight of my provifions ftiii retarding the elevation, I was fain to part with both vo- lumes of my Spencer, and all of my laft edi- tion of Poems, except thofe that are marked with an afterilk, as never before printed: which very quickly accelerated my afcenfion. I now found the barometer had fallen four inches and fix lines, in eight minutes. In lefs than eleven minutes after I had afcended very confiderably indeed, the barometer hav- ing then fallen near feventeen inches ; ?nd prefently after I entered a thick bl?.ck cloud, which 1 have ii'nce found rendered me wholly obfcured to all obfervation .. In this iituatioii I loft no time to, begin my Ode ;. and, aecord- T a.8o REV. T. WARTON'S ASCENSION ingly, in the courfe of twenty- five minutes, I produced the very lines which now com- mence it. The judicious critic will notice,, that abfence of the plain and trite ftyle which mark the paffage I refer to ; nor am I fo un- candid to deny the powerful efficacy of mid:, darknefs, and obicurity, on the fublime and mifterious topics I there touch on It cannot fail alfo to ftrike the intelligent obferver, that the exprefTion fo much commented on, of " No echoing car" was obvioufly fuggeiled by that very car in which I myfelf was then ieated Finding, however, that, together with the increafed denfity of the overfhadowing cloud, the coldnefsalib was proportionably in- creafed, fo as at one time to freeze my ink completely over for near twenty minutes, I thought it prudent, by means of opening the valve at the vortex of my Balloon, to emit part of the afcending power. This occafioned a proportionate defcent very fpeedily : but I muft not overlook a phenomenon which had previoufiy occurred It was this : on a fud- den the nibs of all my pens (and I took up forty-eight, in compliment to the number of my Sovereign's years) as if attracted by the polar power, pointed upwards, each pen FROM CHRIST-CHURCH MEADOW. 28* erecting itfelf perpendicular, and retting on the point of its fe?.ther : I found alfo, to my no fmall furprize, that during the whole of this period, everyone of my letters was ac~Ki- ally cut topfy-turvy wife ; which I the rather mention, to account for any appearance of a correspondent inverfioji in the courfe of my ideas at that period. On getting nearer the earth, the appearan- ces I have defcribed altogether ceafed, and I inftantly penned the fecond divifion of my Ode ; I mean that which ftates his moft ex- cellent Majefty to be the patron of the fine arts. But here (for which I am totally at a lofs to account) I found myfelf defcending ib very rapidly, that even after I had thrown out not only two volumes of my Hiftory of Poe- try, but alfo a confiderable portion of my pig, I {truck, neverthelefs, with fuch violence on the weather-cock of a church, that unlefs I had immediately parted with the remainder of my ballaft, excepting only his Majeiry's Speech, one pen, the paper of my Ode, and a fmall ink bottle, I muft infallibly have been a-ground. Fortunately, by fo rapid a dif- charge, I procured a quick re-alcenfion ; when immediately, though much pinched with 282, REV. T. WAR-TON'S ASCENSIOW with the cold, the mercury having fu*MenTy fallen twenty-two inches, I let about my con- cluding ftanza, viz. that which treats of his Majefty's moil excellent chaftity. And here I lay my claim to the indulgence of the critics ta that part of my Ode ; for what with the fiiock I had received in linking on the wea- ther-cock, and 5 the efFecT: of the prunes- which. I had now nearly exhaufted,, on a fudden I ibunxl myfelf very much difcrdered indeed. Caaidour required my juft touching on this cir- cumflance ; but delicacy mufl veil the parti- culars in eternal oblivion*. At length, having- completed the great objecl of my afcent, I now re-opened the valve, and defcended with great rapidity. They only who have travelled m Balloons, can imagine the fincere joy of my heart, at perceiving Dr. Jofeph cantering up a turnip-field, near Kidlington Common,, where I landed exactly at a quarter after two* o'clock ; having, from my firft elevation r completed the period of five hours and fifteen minutes ; four of which, with the fraction of ten leconds, were entirely devoted to my Ode. Dr. Jofeph quite hugged me in his. arms, and kindly lent me a fecond wig, (my own being tjirown over at the time of my JROM CHRIST-CHURCH MEADOW. 283 finking) which, with his iifual precaution, he had brought in his pocket, in cafe of acci- dents. I take this occafion alfo to pay my thanks to Thomas Gore, Efq. for fbme excel- lent milk-punch, which he dire&edhis butler- to furoifh me with moft opportunely ; aiid which I then thought the moft fblacing be- verage I ever had regaled withal. Dr. Jofeph and myfelf reached Oxford in the dilly by five in the evening, the populace moft handfbmely taking off the horles for fbmething more than the laft half mile, in honour of the firft Lite- rary Areonaut of thefe kingdoms fa witnefs my hand this zzd of May y 1785, THOMAS WARTON. CERTIFICATE. ^/f ?*?''} THIS is to certify, to all whom it may concern, That the aforefaid Thomas and Jofeph Warton came before me, one of his Majefty's Jnftices of the Peace for the faid county, and did folemnly make oath to the truth of the above cafe. His Sworn before me ? JOHN|WEYLAND. Mark. LAUREAT LAUREAT ELECTION. ON the demife of the late excellent Bard, William Whitehead, Efq. Poet Lau- reat to his Majefty, it was decidedly the opi- nion of his Majefty's great furperintendant Minifter, that the faid office mould be forth- with declared elective, and in future continue io ; in order as well to provide the ableir. fuc- ceflTor on the prefent melancholy occafion, as alfo to fecure a due preference to fuperior talents, upon all future vacancies : It was in confequence of this determination, that the following Public Notice iflued from the Lord Chamberlain's Office, and became the immediate caufe of the celebrated conteft that is recorded in thefe pages. ADVER- ADVERTISEMENT. Lord Chamberlain 1 1 Office^ April 26. IN order to adminifter ftricl: and impartial juftice to the numerous Candidates for the vacant POET LAUREATSH1P, many of whom are of illuftrious birth, and high cha- racter, NOTICE is hereby given, That the fame form will be attended to in receiving the names of the faid Candidates, which is in- variably obferved in regiftering the Court Dancers. The lift to be finally clofed on Friday evening next. Each Candidate is expe&ed to deliver in a PROBATIONARY BIRTH-DAY ODE, with his name, and alfo perfonally to appear on a future day, to recite the fame before fuch literary judges as the Lord Chamber- lain, in his wifdom, may appoint. LAUREAT LAUREAT ELECTION. The following Account, though modeflly ftiled a Haftj Sketch^ according to the known delicacy of the Edito- rial Style, is in fa6l A Repw /, evidently penned by the hand of a Mafter. HASTY SKETCH of Wednefday* s Bujinefs at the LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S OFFICE. IN confequence of the late general notice, given by public advertifement, of an open ele&ion for the vacant office of Poet Laureat to their Majefties, on the terms of Probation- ary Compositions, a confiderable number of the moft eminent; characters in the fafhion- able world aflernbled at the Lord Chamber- lain? s Office, Stable-yard, St. James's, ori Wednefday laft, between the hours of twelve and two, when Mr. Ramus was immediately difpatched to Lord Salifbury's, acquainting his Lordfhip therewith, and {eliciting his at- tendance to receive the feveral candidates^ and admit their refpe&ive tenders. His Lord- fhip arriving in a fhort time after, the follow- ing Noblemen and Gentlemen were imme- diately LAUREAT ELECTION. 2$7 ^lately prefented to his Lordfhip by John, Catvert, Jun. Efq. in quality of Secretary to the office. James ELey^ Efq. and Mr. &z- muel Betty, attended alfo as firft and fecond Clerk, the following lift of candidates was made out forthwith, and duly entered on the roll, as a preliminary record to the fubfequent proceedings. The Right Rev. Dr. William Markham, Lord Archbifhop of York. The Right Hon. Edward Lord Thurlow, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. The Moft Noble James, Marquis of Gra- ham. The Right Hon. Harvey Redmond, We, Mountmorres, of the kingdom of Ireland. The Right Hon. Conftantine, Lord Mul- grave, ditto. The Right Hon. Henry Dundas. Sir George Howard, K. B. Sir Cecil Wray, Baronet. Sir Jofeph Mawbey, ditto. Sir Richard Hill, ditto. Sir Gregory Page Turner, ditto* The Rev. William Mafon, B. D. The Rev. Thomas Warton, B. D, The 88 LAUREAT ELECTION. The Rev. George Prettyman, D. D. The. Rev. Jofeph Warton, ditto. Pepper Arden, Efq. Attorney-General to his Majefty. Michael Angelo Taylor, Efq. M. P. James M'Pherfon, Efq. ditto. Major John Scott, ditto. Nath. William Wraxhall, Efq. ditto. Monf. Le Mefurier, Membre du Parle- ment d'Angleterre. The feveral candidates having taken their places at a table provided for the oc- cafion, the Lord Chamberlain, in the po- litefl manner, fignified his wifh that each candidate would forthwith recite fome fample of his poetry as he came provided with for the occafion ; at the fame time moil: modeftly con- feting his own inexperience in all fuch mat- ters, and intreating their acquiefcence there- fore in his appointment of his friend Mr. Del- pinii of the Hay- Market Theatre, as an alive and able afleflbr on fo important an occafion. Accordingly Mr. Delpini being immediately introduced, the feveral candidates proceeded to recite their compofitions, according to their rank and precedence in the above lift. LAUREAT ELECTION. 289 lift- both his Lordfhip and his afTefibr at- tended throughout the whole of the readings with the profoundeft reipecl, and taking no refreshment whatfoever, except fome China oranges and bifcuit* which were alfo handed about to the company by Mr. John Seeker, Clerk of the Houfhold, ,and Mr. William Wife, Groom of the Buttery. At half after five, the readings being com- pleted, his Lordmipand Mr. Delpini retired to an adjoining chamber ; Mrs. Elizabeth Dyer, Keeper of the Butter and Egg Office, and Mr. John Hook, Deliverer of Greens, being admitted to the candidates with feveral other refreshments fuitable to the fatigue of the day. Two Yoemeii of the Mouth, and a Turn-broacher attended likewife ; and in- deed every exertion was made to conduct the little occalioned repafl that followed with the utmoft decency and convenience ; the whole being at the expence of the Crown, notwithstanding every effort to the contrary on the part of Mr. Gilbert. At length the awful moment arrived, when the detur digniori was finally to be pro- U nounced 290 LAUREAT ELECTION. nounced on the bufy labours of the day-r- never did Lord Saljfbury appear to greater advantage never did his afTefTor more a- rrrufingly confole the difcomfitures of the failing candidates every thing that was affable, every thing that was mollifying, was ably exprefied by both the judges; but poeti- cal ambition is not eafily allayed. When the "fatal fiat was announced in favour of the Rev. Thomas Warton, a general gloom overfpread the whole fociety a ftill and awful filence long prevailed. At length Sir Cecil Wray ftarted. up, and emphatically pronounced a fcrutiny! a fcrutiny! A fhout of applaufe fucceeded in vain did the incomparable Buffo introduce his moft co- mic geftures in vain was his admirable Jeg pointed horizontally at every x head in the room a fcrutiny was demanded and a fcru- tiny was granted. In a word, the Lord Chamberlain declared his readinefs to fub- mit the, productions of the day to the infpec- tion of the public, referving neverthelefs to himfelf and his aifeiTor, the full power of an- nulling or eftablifhing the fentence already pronounced. It is in confequence of the above direction, that we fhall now give the public LAUREAT ELECTION. 2pl public the faid PROBATIONARY VERSES, com- mencing with thofe, however, which are the production of fuch of the candidates as mofl vehemently infixed on the right of appeal, conceiving fiich priority to be in jufrice grant- ed to the perfbns whofe public Spirit has given fo lucky a turn to this poetical election. Ac- cording to the above order, the firft compofi- tion that we lay before the^ublic is the fol- lowing : U 2 NUM. $Z PROBATIONARY ODES. NUMBER I. IRREGULAR ODE. The WORDS by SIR CECIL WRAY, BART. The SPELLING by Mr. GROJAN, Attorney at Law. TJ ARK ! hark ! hip ! hip ! hoh ! hoh ! What a mort of bards are a finging ! Athwart acrofs below I'm fure there's a dozen a dinging ! I hear fweet Shells, loud Harps, large Lyres- Some, I trow, are tun'd by Squires Some by Priefts, and fome by Lords ! while Joe and I Our bloody hands, hoift up, like meteors, on high ! Yes, Joe and I Are em'lous Why ? It is becaufe, great C^SAR, you are clever Therefore we'd fing of you for ever ! Sing fing fing fing God fave the King ! Smile then, CAESAR, fmile on Wray ! Crown at laft his poll with bay ! Come, oh ! bay, and with thee bring Salary, illuftrious thing ! Laurels vain of Covent-garden, I don't value you a farding ! Let fack my foul cheer For 'tis fick of fmall beer ! C^SAR ! CJESAR ! give it do ! Great C^SAR giv't all, for my Mufe 'doreth you ! Oh faireft of the Heavenly Nine, Enchanting Syntax^ Mufe divine ! Whether on Phoebus' hoary head, By blue-ey'd Rhadamantbus led, Or PROBATIONARY ODES. 293 Or with young Helicon you ftray, Where mad Parna/us points the way ;- Goddefs of Eliziurris hill, Defcend upon my Paan's quill. The light Nymph hears no more ^ By Pegaju? meand'ring fhore, Ambrofia playful boy, Plumps her^V nefcai quoi ! I mount ! I mount ! I'm half a Lark I'm half an Eagle / Twelve ftars I count I fee their dam (he is a Beagle! Ye Royal little ones, I love your fleih and bones. You are an arch, rear'd with immortal ftones ! Hibernia ftrikes his harp ! Shuttle, fly .'woof! wed ! warp ! Far, far, from me and you, In latitude North 52. Rebellion's hufh'd, The merchant's flulh'd ; Hail awful Brunfwick y Saxe-Gotha^ hail !' JSfot George, but Louis^ now (hall turn his tail ! Thus, I a-far from mad debate, Like an old" wren, With my good hen, Or a young gander, Am a by-ftander, To all the peacock pride, and vain regards of (late ! Yet if the laurel prize, Dearer than my eyes,. Curs'd Warton tries For to furprize, By the eternal God I'll SCRUTINIZE \ U 3 NUM. PROBATIONARY ODES. NUMBER II. ODE ON THE NJEW YEAR. BY LORD MULGRAVE. STROPHE. O for a Mufe of Fire, With blazing thumbs to touch my torpid lyre ! Now in the darkfome regions round the Pole, Tigers fierce, and Lions bold, With wild affright would fee the mow-hills roll, Their fharp teeth chattering with the cold, But that Lions dwells not there - Nor beaft, nor Chriftian none but the JWiteBear! The White Bear howls amid the tempefl's roar, And Uft'ning Whales fwim headlong from the fliore \ ANTISTROPHE. (By Brother HARRY.) Farewell awhile, ye fummer breezes ! What is the life of man ? A fpan ! Sometimes it thaws, fometimes it freezes, Juft as it pleafes ! If Heaven decrees, fierce whirlwinds rend the air, And then again (behold !) 'tis fair ! Thus PROBATIONARY O^ES. 295 Thus peace and war on earth alternate reign : Aufpicious GEORGE, thy powerful word Gives peace to France and Spain, And (heaths the martial fword ! STROPHE II. (By Brother CHARLES.) And now gay Hope, her anchor dropping, And blue-ey'd Peace, and biack-ey'd Pleafures, And Plenty in light cadence hopping, - Fain would dance to WHITEHEAD'S meafures. But WHITEHEAD now in death repofes, Crown'd with laurel ! crown'd with rofes ! Yet we, with laurel-crown'd, his dirge will fing, And thus dcferve frelh laurels from the KING. U 4 . NUM. Z<)6 PROBATIONARY ODES. NUMBER III. ODE. By SIR JOSEPH MAWBEY, BART. STROPHE. HARK ! to yon heavenly skies, Nature's congenia! perfumes upwards rife ! From each throng'd ftye That faw my gladfome eye, Incenfe, quite fmoking hot, arofe, And caught myfeven J'weet fenjes by the nofel AIR accompanied by the LEARNED PIG. Tell me, dear Mufe, oh ! tell me, pray, Why JOEY'S fancy frisks fo gay; Is it ! you flut it is fome holy holiday/ [tiere Mufe whifpers I, Sir Jofeph.] Indeed ! Repeat the fragrant found ! Pufh love, and loyalty around, Through lrijb y Scotch, as well as Britijh ground ! CHORUS. 1 For this EIG MORN GREAT GEORGE was born ! The tidings all the Poles {hall ring ! Due homage will I pay, On this, thy native day, GEORGE, by the grace of God, my rightful KING ! AIR PROBATIONARY ODES. 297 AIR with Lutes. Well might my dear lady fay, As lamb-like by her fide I lay, This very, very morn ; Hark! JOEY, hark 1 I hear the lark, Or elfe it is the fvveet Sowgelder's horn ! ANTISTROPHE. Forth, from their ftyes, the briftly vi&ims lead ; A fcore of HOGS, flat on their backs, fhall bleed. Mind they be fuch on which good Gods might feaft ! And that In lily fat, They cut fix inches on the ribs, at leaft f DUET with Marroiv-bones ant} Cleavers. Butcher and Cook begin ! We'll have a royal greafy chin ! Tit bits fo nice and rare, Prepare ! prepare ! Let none abftain, Refrain ! I'll give 'em pork in plenty cut, and come again ! RECITATIVE. Hog ! Porker ! Roafter ! Boar-flag ! Barbicue ! Cheeks ! Chines ! Crow ! Chitterlings ! and Harfelet new ! Springs ! Spare-ribs ! Saufages ! Sous'd-lugs ! and Face ! With piping-hot Veafe-pudding plenteous place ! Hands ! Hooks ! Hams ! Haggis, with high feas'ning fill'd ! Gammons ! Green Griskins ! on gridirons grill'd ! $98 PROBATIONARY ODES. I/iver and Lights ! from Plucks that moment drawn,, Pigs' Puddings ! Black and White ! with Canterbury Brawn ! . TRIO. Fall too Yc Royal crew ! Eat ! Eat your bellies full ! pray do ! At treats I never winces : The Queen fliall fay, Once in^a way, Her maids have been well cramm'd her young ones din'd like Princes ! FULL CHORUS accompanied by the whole HoCGERY, For this BIG MORN GREAT GEORGE was born ! The tidings all the Poles (hall ring ! Due homage will I pay, On this, thy native day, GIORGI ! ly tht grace of God, my rightful KING I ! ! I NUM- PROBATIQKARV ODES, NUMBER IV. , ODE. By SIR RICHARD HILL, BART. HAIL pious Mufe of faintly love, Unmix'd, unftain'd with earthly drofs ! Hail Mufe of Metbodifm^ above The Royal Mew^at Charing- crofs ! Behold both hands I raife ; Behold both knees I bend ; Behold both eye-balls gaze ! Quick, Mufe, detcend, defcend ! Meek Mufe of M/adan^ thee my foul invokes^ Oh point my pious puns ! oh fandYifymy jokes ! II. / Defcend, and, oh ! in mem'ry keep- There's a time to wake a time to fleep A time to laugh a time to cry ! The Bilk fays Co fo do I ! Then broad-awake, oh, come to me ! And thou my Eaflern ftar ihalt be ! III. MILLER, bard of deathlefs name, MOSES, wag of merry fame ; Holy, holy, holy pair, Hearken to your vot'ry's pray'r I Grant, 300 PROBATIONARY ODES. Grant, that like Solomon's of old, My faith be ftill in Proverbs told ; Like his, let my religion be Conundrums of divinity. And oh ! to mine, let each ftrong charm belong, That breathes falacious in the wife man's fong ; And thou fweet bard, for ever dear To each impaffion'd love fraught ear, Soft, luxuriant ROCHESTER ; Defcend, and ev'ry tint btftow, That gives to phrafe its ardent glow; From thee, thy willing Hill lhall learn Thoughts that melt, and words that burn : Then fmile, oh, gracious, fmile on this petition J So Solomon^ gay Wilmot joi.n'd with thee, Shall fhew the world that fuch a thing can be, As, ftrange to tell ! a virtuous Coalition ! IV. Thou too, thou dread and awful fhade Of dear departed WILL WHITEHEAD, Look through the blue actherial Ikies, And view me with propitious eyes ! Whether thou moft delight'lt to loll On Sion*s top, or near the Pole f Bend from thy 'mountains? and remember ftill , The wants ar.d wifhts of a lefier Hill ! Then, like Elijah, fled to realms above, A> me, thy friend, bequeath thy hallow'd cloak, And by its virtue Richard may improve, And in. thy habit preach, and pun, and joke ! Tbt PROBATIONARY ODES. 3OJ The Lord doth give The Lord doth take away.* Then good Lord Sal'Jbury attend to me, Banifh thefe Cons of Belial in difmay; And give the praife to a true Pharifee : For fure of all the fc ribes that Ifrael curft, Thefe forties poetic are by far the worft. To thee, my Samfon, unto thee I call Exert thy jaw and ftraight difperfe them ail- So, as in former times, the Phi/twines (hall fall ! Then as 'twas th' beginning, So toth'end 'tfhallbe; My Mufe will ne'er leave finging The LORD of SAL'SBURY ! ! ! NUM. oa *ROfiATIONA!iy ODES. NUMBER V. D U A N. IN THE TRUE OSSIAN SUBLIMITY. By MR. MACPHERSON. DOES the wind touch thee, O Harp ? Or is it fome pafling Ghoft ? Is it thy hand, Spirit of the departed Scrutiny ? Bring me the Harp, pride of CHATHAM \ Snow is on thy bofom, Maid of the modeft eye \ A fong fhall rife ! Every foul fhall depart at the found ! ! ! The wither'd thiftle (hall crown my head ! ! I I beheld thee, O King ! I behold thee fitting on mift ! ! ! Thy form is like a watery cloud, Singing in the deep like an oyfter ! ! ! ! Thy face is like the beams of the fetting moon ! Thy eyes are of two decaying flames ! Thy nofe is like the fpear of ROLLO ! ! F Thy ears are like three bofly fhields ! ! ! Strangers fhall rejoice at thy chin! The ghofts of dead Tories fhall hear me In their airy hall ! The wither'd thiftle fhall crown my head ! Bring me the Harp, Son of CHATHAM I But thou, O King ! give me the Laurel ! NUMBER PROBATIONARY ODES. 303 NUMBER VI. THOUGH the following OJfianade does not immediately come under the defcription of a Probationary Ode, yet, as it appertains to the nomination of the Laureat, we elate it under the fame head. We muft at the fame time compliment Mr. Macpherfon for his fpirited addrefs^to Lord Salifbury on the fubjeft. The following is a copy of his letter : MY LORD, I TAKE the liberty to addrefs myfelf im- mediately to your Lordfhip, in vindication of my poetical character, which, I am informed, is mod illiberally attacked by the Foreign Gentleman, whom your Lordftiip has thought proper to felecl: as an afleflbr on the prefent fcrutiny for the office of Poet Laureat to his Majefly. Signer Delpini is certainly below my notice but I underfland his objections to my Probationary Ode are two ; firft, its concifenefs ; and next, its being \i\profe. For the prefent I {hall wave all difcuffion of thefe frivolous remarks ; begging leave, however, tp 3P4 PROBATIONARY ODES. to fblicit your Lordfhip's proteHon to the following Supplemental Ode, which, I hope, both from its quantity and itsjtyle, will moft effe&ually do away the paltry, invidious attack of an uninformed reviler, who is equally ig- norant of Britifh Poetry and of Britifh Lan- guage. I have the honour to be, My Lord, Your Lordfhip's moft obedient, and faithful fervant, J. MACPHERSON. THE PROBATIONARY ODES, 30^ THE SONG OF S C R U T I N A, By MR. M A C P H E R S O N. HARK ! 'Tis the difmal found ,that echoes on thy roofs, O Cornwall ; Hail ! double-face fage ! Thou worthy fon of the chair-borne Fletcher! The Great Coun- cil is met to fix the feats of the chofen Chief 5 their voices refound in the gloomy Hall of Rufus, like the roaring winds bf the Cavern Loud were the cries for Rays, but thy voice, O Foxan, rendered the walls like the torrent that guftieth from the Mountain-fide. Cornwall leaped from his throne and fcreamed the friends of Gwelfohang their heads How were the mighty fallen ! Lift up thy face, Dundaffo^ like the brazen fhield of thy chieftain ! Thou art bold to confront difgrace, and fliame is unknown to thy brow, but tender is the youth of thy Leader ; who droopeth his head like a faded Lily leave not Pitts in the day of defeat, when the 'Chiefs of the Counties fly from him like the herd from the galled Deer. -The friends of Pitto are fled. He is alone he layeth himfelf down in defpair, and fleep knitteth up his brow. Soft were his dreams on the green bench Lo ! the fpirit of Jenky arofe, pale as the mift of the morn, twifted was his long lank form his eyes winked as he whifpered to the child in the cradle. " Rife, he fayeth arife bright babe of the dark clofet ! the fliadow of the Throne (hall cover thee, like wings of a hen, fweet chicken of the Back- ftair brood ! Heed not the Thanes of the Counties ; they have fled from thee, like Cackling Geefe from the hard- X bitten 306 JROBATIONARY ODES. bitten Fox ; but will they not rally and return to the charge ? Let the hoft of the King be numbered -, they are as the fands on the barren (bore. There is Powno^ who followeth his mighty leader, and chaceth the ftall- fed flag all day on the dufty road. There is Howard^ great in arms, with the beaming ftar on his fpreading breaft. Red is the fcarf that waves over his ample {boul- ders Gigantic are his ftrides on the terrace, in purfuit of the Royal footfteps of lofty Georgia. ' No more will I number the flitting {hades of Jenky ; for behold the potent jpirit of the black-browed Jacko. 'Tis the Ratten Rob'mfo^ who worketh the works of dark- nefs ! Hither I come, faid Ratten Like the mole of the earth, deep caverns have been my refting place; the ground Rats are rry food. Secret minion of the Crown, raife thy foul ! Droop not at the fpirit of Foxan. Great are thy foes in the fight of the many-tongued war. Shake not thy knees, like the leaves of the Afpen on the mifty hill the doors of the ftairs in the poftern are locked ; the voice of thy foes is as the wind, which wtyftleth through the vale ; it pafleth away like the fwift cloud of the night. The breath of Gwelfo ftilleth the ftormy feas. Whilft thou breatheft the breath of his noftrils, thou flialc live for ever. Firm ftandcth thy heel in the Hall of thy Lord. Mighty art thou in the fight of Give/fo, illuftrious leader of the friends of Gwelfo f greatj art thou, O lovely imp of the interior clofet ! O lovely Guardian of the Royal Junto ! NUM. PROBATIONARY ODES. 30? NUMBER VII. MR. MASON having laid afide the more noble /ubjecl: for a Probationary Ode, viz. the Parliamentary Reform, upon finding that the Rev Mr. Wyvil had already made a con- fiderable progrefs in it, has adopted the fol- ing. The argument is fimple and interefr.- ing, adapted either to the harp of Pindar, or the reed of Theocritus, and as proper for the 4th of June, as any day of the year. It is almoft needlefe to inform the public, that the Univerfity of Oxford has earneftly longed for a vifit from their Sovereign, and, in order to obtain this honour wLhout the fatigue of forms and ceremonies, they have privately delired the Matter of the Stag- hounds, upon turning the flag out of the cart, to fet his head in as ftraight a line as poffible, by the map, towards Oxford ; which pro- bably, on ipme aufpicious day, will bring the Royal Hunt to the walls of that city. This expedient, conceived in fo much wifdom, as well as loyalty, makes the fubjecl: of the following, X 2 IRRE- PROBATIONARY ODE*?. IRREGULAR O D E. By MR. MASON, I. Q ! green-rob'd Goddefs of the hallow'd {hade, Daughter of Jove, to whom of yore Thee, lovely maid, LATONA bore, Chafte virgin, Emprefs of the filent glade! Where lhall I woo thee ?' - Ere the dawn^ While ftill the dewy tiflue of the la-wn Quivering fpangles to the eye, And fills the foul with Nature's harmony ! Or 'mid that murky grove's monaftic night, The tangling net-work of the woodbine's gloom, Each zephyr -pregnant with perfume, Or near that delving dale, or mofly mountain's height* When Neptune ftruck the fcientific ground;, II, From Attfcefs deep-heaving fide, Why did the prancing horfe rebound, Snorting, neighing zlY around, With thund'ring feet and flafhing eyes, Unlefs to fhew how near allied Bright fcience is to exercife ! III. If then the borfe to wifdom is a friend, Why not the hound? why not the born ? While low beneath the furrow fleeps the corn,. Nor yet in tawny veft Delights to bead ! For PROBATIONARY ODES, 3v9 For Jove himfelf decreed, That DIAN, with her fandal'd feet?.:.' White ankled Goddefs, pure and fleet, Should with every Dryad lead, By jovial cry o'er diftant plain, . To England's Athens, BrunfwicK's fylvan train ! " IV. Diana> Goddefs all difcerning ' Hunting is a friend to learning ! If the frag, with hairy nofe, In Autumn ne'er had thought of love ! No buck with fwollen throat the does With dappled fides had fry'd to move, Ne'er had England's King, I ween, The Mufe's feat, fair Oxford fcen. V. Hunting, thus, is learning's friend ! No longer, Virgin Goddefs, bend O'er Endymhns rofeate breaft ; No longer vine-like, chaftly twine Round his milk-white limbs divine! Your brother's car rolls down the Eaft The laughing hours befpeak the day ! With flowery wreaths they drew the way ! Kings of fleep ! ye mortal race ! For George with Dion 'gins the Royal chace ! VI. Vifions of blifs, you tear my aching fight, Spare, O fpare your poet's eyes ! See every gate- way trembles with delight, Streams of glory ftreak the skies : How each College founds, With the cry of the hounds ! X3 How 310 PROBATIONARY ODES. How Peckwater merrily rings ; Founders, Prelates, Queens, and Kings, All have had your hunting-day ! From the dark tomb then break away ! Ah ! fee they ru(h to Friar Bacon's tower, Great Ge&rge to greet, and hail his natal hour ! VII. Radcliffe and Wolfey, hand in hand, Sweet gentle (hades, there take their (land With Pom/ret' 's learned Dame ; And Bodely join'd by Clarendon^ With loyal zeal together run, ' Juft arbiters of fame ! VIII. That fringed cloud fure this way bends,- From it a^brm divine defcends, Minerva's felf ; and in her rear, A thoufand faddled fteeds appear ! On each fhe mounts a learned fon, ProfefTor, Chancellor, or Dean; All by hunting madnefs won, All in Dion's livery feen. How they defpife the tim7ous Hare / Give us they cry, the furious Bear / To chafe the Lion, how they long, Th' Rhinoceros tall, and Tyger ftrong. Hunting thus is learning's prop, Then may hunting never drop ; And thus an hundred Birth-Days more, Shall Heav'n to George afford from its capacious fhore. NUM- PROBATIONARY ODES. NUMBER VIII. ODE, BY THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL. I. INDITED, my Mufe ! indite \ fubpoena'd'i* thy lyre ! The praifes to record, which rules of Court require ! 'Tis thou, O Clio I Mufe divine, And beft of all the GwoiftYNfne, Muft plead my caufe ! Great HATFIELD'S CECIL bids me fing, The talleft, fitted man, to walk before the King ! II. QtfSarjbury's Earh the Firft (fo tells th' hiftoric page) 'Twas Nature's will to make moft wonderfully fage ; But then, as if too liberal to his mind, She made him crook'd before, and crook'd behind *. J Tis not, thank Heav'n ! my Cecil> fo with thee ; Thou laft of Cecils, but unlike the firft ; Thy body bears no mark'd deformity ; The Gods decree J, and judgment was reversed! For veins of Science are like veins of gold ! Pure, for a time, they run ; They end as they begun Alas ! in nothing but a heap of mould ! * Rapin obferves that Robert Cecil, the first Earl of Salisbury, was of a great genius ; and though crcoked before and behind, Nature fupplied that Jefeft with noble endowments of mind. X 4 III. Shall ^2 PROBATIONARY ODES. in. Shall I by eloquence controul, Or challenge fend to mighty ROLLE, Whene'er on Peers he vents his gall ? Uplift my hand? to pull his nofe, And twift and pinch it till it grows, Like mine, afule, and fmall ? Say, by what procefs may I once obtain A verdict, Lord, not let mefue in vain ! In Commons, and in Courts below, My actions have been try'd ; There Clients who pay moft, you know, x Retain the ftrongeft fide ! True to thefe terms, I preach'd in politics for Pitt And Kenyan 1 s law maintain'd againft his Sovereign's writ* What though my father be a porpus, He may be mov'd by Habeas Corpus, Or by a call, whene'er the State Or Pitt requires his vote and weight,- I tender bail for Battle's warm fupporr, Of all the plans of Minifters and Court ! IV. And Oh ! {hould Mrs. Arden blefs me with a child, A lovely boy, as beauteous as myfelf, and mild j The little Pepper would fome caudle lack : Then think of Ardent wife, , My pretty Plaintiff's life, The bell of caudle's made of beft of fack \ Let thy decree But favour me, My bills and briefs, rebutters and detainers, To Archy I'll refign Without a fee or Jin e, jfttackments] replications, and retainers. \ PROBATIONARY ODES. To Juries, Bench, Exchequer, Seals, ^o Chanc'ry Court, and Lords, I'll bid adieu $ No more demurrers nor appeals ; My writs of error fhall be judg'd by you. V. And if perchance great Doctor Arnold fhould retire, fatigued with all the troubles of St. James's Choir \ My Odes two merits {hall unite ; * BEARCROFT, my friend, His aid will lend, And fet to mufic all I write ; Let me then, Chamberlain, without ^ flaw, For June the fourth prepare, The praifes of the King In legal lays to fing, Until they rend the air, And prove my equal fame in poejy and lawl * This Gentleman is a great performer upon the Piano Ftrte, as well as the ^peaking Trumpet and Jew's Harp, NUM- JI4 PROBATIONARY ODES. NUMBER IX. PROBATIONARY ODES FOR THE LAUREATSHIP. ODE. fy NATHANIEL WILLIAM WRAXHALL, ESQ. M. P* J. MURRAIN feize the Houfe of Commons I Hoarfe catarrh their windpipes (hake ! Who, deaf to travell'd Learning's fummons,. Rudely cough'd whene'er I fpake ! North, nor Fox's thund'ring courfe, Nor e'en the Speaker, tyrant, fhall have force To fave thy walls from nightly breaches, from JFraxhall's votes, from WrsxbalTs fpeeches. Geography^ terraqueous maid, Defcend from globes to ftatefmen's aid \ Again to heedlefs crouds unfold Truths unheard, tho' not untold : Come, and once more unlock this vafty world Nations attend ! the map of Earttfs unfurl'd II. Begin the fong, from where the Rhine, The Elbe, the Danube, Wefer rolls Jofepb) nine circles, forty fees are thine Thine, twenty millions fouls- Upon PROBATIONARY ODES, Upon a marim flat and dank States, Six and One, Dam the dykes, the feas embank, Maugre the Don ! A gridiron's form the proud Efcurial rears, While South of Vincent's Cape anchovies glide : But, ah ! o'er Tagus, once auriferous tide, A prieft-rid Queen, Braganza's fceptre bears- Hard fate ! that Lisbon's Diet- drink is known To cure each crazy conftitution but her own I III. I burn ! I burn ! 1 glow ! I glow I With antique and with modern lore l' I rufh from Bofphorus-to Po To Nilus from the Nore. Why were thy Pyramids, O Egypt ! rais'd, But to be meafur'd, and be prais'd ? Avaunt, ye Crocodiles ! your threats are vain ! On Norway's feas, my foul, unfhaken, Brav'd the Sea-Snake and the Craken ! And fhall I heed the River's fcaly train? Afric, I fcorn thy Alligator band ! Quadrant in hand I take my ftand, And eye thy mofs-clad needle, Cleopatra grand ! O, that great Pompey's pillar were my own ! Eighty-eight feet the fhaft, and all one ftone ! But hail, ye loft Athenians f Hail alfo, ye Armenians ! Hail once ye Greeks, ye Romans, Carthagenians ! Twice hail ye Turks, and thrice ye Abyffinians ! Hail too, O Lapland, with thy fquirrels airy ! Hail Comrqerce-catching Tipperary | Hail, }l6 PROBATIONARY OpES, Hail, wonder-working Magi ! Hail Ouran-Outangg ! Hail Anthropophagi ! Hail, all ye cabinets of every ftate, From poor Marino's Hill, to Catherine's Empire great! Afl have their chiefs, who fpealc, who write, who feeni to think, CaermartheWt Vidneysy. Rutlands, paper, pens, and ink ; IV. Thus, through all climes, to earth's remoteft goal, J*rom burning Indus to the freezing Pple, In chaifes and on floats, In dillies, and in boats 5 Now on a camel's native ftool; Now on an afs, now on a mule. Nabobs and Rajahs have I feen ; Old Bramins mild, young Arabs keen : Tall Polygars, Dwarf Zemindars, Mahommed's tomb, Killarney's lake, the fane of Ammon^ With all thy Kings and Queens, ingenious Mrs. Salmon*; Yet vain the majefties of wax ! Vain the cut velvet on their backs GEORGE, mighty GEORGE, is flefh and blood* No head he wants of wax or wood ! His heart is good ! (As a King's fhou'd) And every thing he fays is under ftood ! * Exhibits the Wax Work, in Fleet- Street. PROBATIONARY ODES, 317 NUMBER X. ODE FOR NEW-YEAR'S. DAY. 3y SIR GREGORY PAGE TURNER, BART. M. P. Lord Warden of Blackheath, and Ranger of Greenwich Hill, during the Chriftmas and Eafter Holidays. STROPHE. O DAY of high career Firft of a month, nay more firft of a year"! A monarch day, that hath indeed no peer ! Let huge Biizaglos glow In ev'ry corner of the ifle, To melt away the fnow : And like to May, Be this month gay; And with her at hop ftep -jump play, Dance, grin, and fmile : Ye too, ye Maids of Honour ^ young, and old, Shall each be feen, With a neat warming patent! z'd machine / Becaufe, 'tis faid, that chajlity is cold ! ANTISTROPHE. But ah ! no rofes meet the fight ; No yellow buds of faffron hue, Nor azure bloflbms of pak bluff Nor tulips, pinks, &c. delight, Yet 318 rftOBATJONARY ODES. Yet on fine tiffany will I My genius try, The fpoils of Flora to fupply, Or fay my name's not GREGO RY \ /An Artificial Garland will I bring, That Clement Cottrell {hall declare, q \, With courtly air, Fit for a Prince fit for a KING ! EPODE. Ye milknery fair, To me, ye Mufes are ; Ye are to me ParnaJJus MOUNT ! In you, I find an Aganippe FOUNT \ I venerate your muffs, I bow and kifs your ruffs. Infpire me, O ye Si/ten of the/r/7/,' And teach your votarift how to quill f For oh ! 'tis true indeed, That he can fcarcely read ! f Teach him to flounce, and difregard all qu'rppery, As crapes and blonds, and fuch like frippery j ' Teach him to trim and whip from fide to fide, And puff as long as puffing can be try'd. In crimping metaphor he'll dafh on, For pointy you know, is out of fafliiort. O crown with bay his tete, Delpini, arbiter of fate ! Nor at the trite conceit let witlings fport. A PAGE Ihould be a Dangler at the court; NUM- fROBATIONARY ODES. NUMBER XL O D E. By MICHAEL ANGELO TAYLOR, Esc^. M.P. Only Son of SIR ROBERT TAYLOR, Knt. and )ate She- riff alfo Sub-Deputy, Vice-Chair man to the Irifh Committee, King's Counfel, and Welfli Judge Eleft, &c. &c. HAIL, all hail, thou natal day ! Hail the very half hour, I fay, On which Great GEORGE was born ! Tho' fcarcely fledg'd, I'll try my wing And tho', alas ! I cannot fmg, 1*11 crow on this illuftrious morn ! Sweet bird, that chirp'ft the note of folly, So pleafantly, fo drolly ! Thee, oft the {rable-yards among, I woo, and emulate thy fong ! Thee, for my emblem ftill I choofe ! Oh ! with thy voice infpire a Chicken of the Mufe ! II. And thou, great Earl, ordain'd to fit High arbiter of verfe and wit, Oh crown my wit with fame ! Such as it is, I prithee take it; Or if thou can'ft not find it, make it : To me 'tis juft the fame. Once p PROBATIONARY ODES, Once a white wand, like thine, my father bore: But now, alas ! that white wand is no more ! Yet though his pow'r be fled, Nor Bailiff wait his nod nor Goaler ; Bright honour ftill adorns the head Of my Papa, Sir Robert Taylor I Ah, might that honour on his fon alight ! On this "aufpicious day How my little heart wou'd glow, If, as I bend me low, My gracious King wou'd fay, 1 Arife, SIR MICHAEL ANGELO! O happieft day, that brings the happieft Knight f IIL Thee, too, my fluttering Mufe invokes, Thy guardian aid 1 beg, Thou great ASSESSOR, fam'd for jokes, For jokes of face and leg ! So may I oft thy ftage-box grace, (The firft in beauty as in place) And fmile, refponfive to thy changeful face \ For fay, renowned mimic, fay^ Did e'er a merrier crowd obey Thy laugh-provoking fummonS, Than with fond glee, enraptur'd fit, Whene'er with undefignlng wit, I entertain the Commons ? Lo ! how I fhine St. Stephen's boaft ! There, firft of Chicks j I rule the roaftt There I appear, Pitt's Chanticleer, The PROBATIONARY ODES. 32! The Bantam Cock in oppofition ! Or like a hen With watchful ken, Sit clcfc and hatch the Irifli propofitions f IV, < fiehol j for this great day of pomp and pleafure, The Houfe adjourns, and I'm at leifure ! If thou art To, come, Alufe of fport, With a few rhymes) Delight the times, And coax the Chamberlain, and charm the Court ? By Heaven (lie comes ! more fvvift than profc, .At her command, my metre flows ; Hence ye weak warblers of the rival lays ! Avaunt ye Wrens, ye Codings, and ye Pies ! The Chick of Law (hall win the prize ! The Chick of Law foall peck the bays ! , So, when again the State demands our care, Fierce in my laureFd pride, I'll take the Chair ! GILBERT, I catch thy bright invention, With fomewhat more of found retention* \ But never, never on thy profe I'll border Verfa lofty-founding Verfe? (hall " Call to Order!" Come, facred Nine, come, one and all, Attend your fav'rite Chairman's call \ Oh ! if I well have chirp'd your brood among r Point my keen eye, and tune my b?azen tongue ! And hark ! with Elegiac graces, '* I beg that gentlemen may take their places !" * No refleftion on the organization of Mr. Gilbert's brain, is intended here ; . b.ui rather a pathetic reflection on die ctatioual Diuberes of jo gieat a Member! Y 322 PROBATIONARY ODES. Dida&ic Mufe, bfe thine to ftate, The rules that harmonize debate ! THINE, mighty CLIO, to refound from far, *' The door ! the door ! the bar ! the bar !" Stout Pear/on damns around, at her dread word j " Sit down! " cries Clem*ntfon t andgrafps his filver 1 fword. V. But lo ! where Pitt appears to move Some new refolve of hard digeftion ! Wake then, my Mufe, thy gentler notes of love, And in perfuafive numbers, "put the ~$uejlion" The queftrion's gain'd ! the Treafury- Bench rejoice ! " All hail, thou haft of men" (they cry) with mighty voice ! Bled founds ! my ravifli'd eye furveys Ideal Ermine, fancied Bays ! Wrapt in St. Stephens future fcenes 1 fit perpetual Chairman of the Ways and Means / Ceafe, ceafe, ye Bricklayer Crew, my fire to praife, His mightier offspring claims immortal lays ! The father climb'd the ladder, with a hod ; The fon, like General Jackoo y jumps alone, by God ! NUM. ?fcOBATIOtfARY ODES. 323 NUMBER XII. 6 D EJ By MAJOR JOHN SCOTT, M. P. &c.&c. L WHY does the loitering fun retard his wain, When this glad hour demands a fiercer ray t Not ib he pours his fire on Delhi's plain, To hail the Lord of Afia's natal day. There in mute pomp and crofs-legg'd ftate, The Raja Pouts MAHOMMED SHAH await. There Malabar, There Bifnagar, There Oude and proud Bahar, in joy confederate. II. Curs'd be the dime, and curs'd the laws, that lay Infulting bonds on George's fovereign fway ! ( Arife, my foul, on wings of fire, To God's anointed, tune the lyre ; Hail ! George, thou all-accomplifh'd King ! Juft type of him who rules on high ! Hail ! inexhaufted, boundlefs fpring Of facred truth and Holy Majefty ! Grand is thy form, 'bout five feet ten, 1 Thou well-built, worthier!, beft of men f Y2 Thy 3*4 PROBATIONARY ODE*. Thy chcft is (tout, thy back is broad,- Thy Pages view thee, and are aw'd ! Lo ! how thy white eyes roll ! Thy whiter eye-brows ftare ! Honcft foul ! Thou'rt witty, as thou^t fair ! III. North of the Drawing-room a clofet (lands : The facred nook, St. James's Park commands ! Here, in fequefter'd ftate, Great GEORGE receives Memorials, treaties, and long lifts of thieves ! Here all the force of fov'reign thought is bent, To fix Reviews, or change a Government ! Heav'ns ! how each word with joy Caermartben takes ! Gods ! how the lengthen'd chin of Sydney (hakes ! Bleffing and blefs'd the fage aflbciate fee, The proud triumphant league of incapacity. With fubiile fmiles, With innate wiles, How do thy tricks of (late, Great GEORGE, abound So in thy Hampton's mazy ground, The path that wanders In meanders, Ever bending, Never ending, Winding runs the eternal round. Perplex'd, involved, each thought be wilder 'd moves ; In fhort, quick turns the gay confufion roves ; Contending themes the embarrafs'd liftener baulk, Loft jn the labyrinths of the devious talk ! IV. Now PROBATIONARY ODES. IV. Now fliall the levee's eafe thy foul unbend, Fatigu'd with Royalty's feverer care ! Oh ! happy Few f whom brighter ftars befriend, Who catch the chat the witty whifper fhare ! Methinks I hear In accents clear, Great Brunfwick's voice ftill vibrate on my ear What? what? what? Scott ! Scott ! Scott ! Hot! hot! hot! " What ? what r what ?" Oh ! fancy quick ! oh ! judgment true ! Oh ! facred oracle of regal tafte ! So hafty, and fo generous too ! Not one of all thy queftions will an anfwer wait ! Vain, vain, oh Mufe, thy feeMe art, To paint the beauties of that head and heart ! That heart where all the virtues join ! That head that hangs on many a fign I V. Monarch of mighty Albion^ check thy talk I Behold the Squad approach, led on by Palk / , Smith, Harwell) Cnll^ Vanfittart, form the band Lord of Britannia \ let them kifs thy hand ! For faff*' rich odours fcent the fpherc! ' ris Airs. Ha/lings' felf brings up the r^3f ! Gods ! how her diamonds flock On each unpowdered lock ! Sniff i a new interjection fur the fenfe of fmelling. Y 3 On 326 PROBATIONARY ODES. On every membrane fee a topaz clings ! Behold ! her joints are fewer than her rings \ Ifluflrious dame ! on either ear, The Munny Begums' fpoils appear ! Oh ! Pitt, with awe behold that precious throat, Whofe necklace teems with many a future vote ! Pregnant with Bur gage gems each hand fhe rears jj And lo ! depending queftions gleam upon her ears ! Take her, great George, and fh.ake her by the hand 4 'Twill loofe her jewels, and enrich thy land. But oh ! referve one ring fpr an old (lager ; The ring of future manage for her PROBATIONARY ODES. 3x7 NUMBER XIII. IRREGULAR ODE. BY THE RT. HON. HARRY DUNDAS, Es<*. Treafurer of the Navy, &cc; &c. &c. I. HOOT ! hoot awaw ! Hoot ! hoot awaw ! Yc lawland Bards ! who' are ye aw ? What are your fangs ? what aw your lair too boot ? Vain are your thowghts the prize to win, Sae dight your gobs, and ftint your fenfelefs dia ; ( Hootl hoot awaw ! hoot! hoot ! - Put oot aw your Attic feires, Burn your lutes, and brek your leyres \ A looder, and a looder note I'll ftrieke: Na watter drawghts fra* Helicon I heed, Na will I moont your winged fieed I'll moont the Hanoverian horfe, and ride him whare I leike !-r II. Ye lairdly fowk, wha form the courtly ring, Coom, lend your lugs, and liften wheil I fing 1 Ye canny maidens tee ; wha aw the wheite, Sa fweetly luik, fa fweetly fmeile ; Coom hither aw, and round me thrang, Wheil I lug oot ray peips, and gi' ye aw a canty fang. Y Weel 328 PROBATIONARY ODESr Wccl iaur his bonny bleithfomc hairt ! VVha, gifted by the, gods abuin, \V'i' ineikle talk, and nieikle airt, Fairfb gan 'd his canny peipc to lilt a tune j To the i\\cvt whuill! join'd the plcefan dranc, And made the poo'rs of rr.ufic aw hh ain. On thce, on thee I cuw thou deathlefs fpreight ! Duon fr M. ihtvmc, abuin the lift fa breightj Ah ' futile oa me, inllr.icl me hoo tochairin: And, iou as is the baug beneath my arm^ Infpeire my f,iul, a:u! geuide my tunefoaie tongue. I [eel, i feel thy poa'r divine ? Laurels ! keil ye to the ground, Ajroond n;y heed, my country's priue I tweine-^- Sa Aid a Scottiili baird be croon'd Saiud gretGEovRGfi.be Jung! III. ' F^a h'lls, wi' heathers clad, that fmeilan bluim Speite o' the norlhern bladt ; -Ye breether bairds, tlefcend, and hither coom! Let ilka ane his baugpipe bring, That foonfls fa fWestly, and fa weel ; Sweet foonds ! that pKafo the lu^s o' flc a king ; Lugs that in mufic's foonds ha' mickle tafte. Then, hither hade, and bring them aw, ]]..ith your m tickle peipes and f naw ; !N'ovv, laddies ! locd blaw up your chanters i ron. h'iiv ! vvhare, cled in claics ia leel, Canny dferitrofe' s Ion leads on the ranters. Tho'.) Laird o 1 Graham ! by manic a cheil ador'd, Who boafls his native iiJlab-.g rcitur'd ; I croon PROBATIONARY ODES. 3^9 I croon thee mniflcr o' the fpowtt ! Bid thy breechlefs lc,ons advnunce, \Veind the reel, and wave the daunce; Noo they rant, and noo they loup, And noo thev fliew their brawny doup, And weel, I wat, they pleafe the laffes o' the court. 3a in the guid buik'are we tauid, Befoor the halit ark, The guid King David, in the days of aulcf, Daunc'd. like a wuid thin?;, in his fark ; Wheil Sioa's do'wghters v 'm \vi' ih.im I K.eak't) Aw heedlefs as he Itrack the facred ftrain, 1C' "ck'd, and lawgh'd, AndiavvghM, and keck'd, AnJ lawgh'd, and keck'd a^ain. Scarce coull they keep their waiter at thefbi^hf, Sa micke did the king their glovvran eyne delight. x iv. Anew2;h ! anewgh ! noo haud your haiind ! And ftint your ipowrt^ a\vee : Ken ye, whare clad in eafllan fpoils u brave, O'erflieenan aw the lave ; He comes, he coaies ! Aw hail ! thoo Laird of pagodas and Jacks I Weel could I tell of aw thy mighty awks ; Fain wad my peipe, its loudelt r.ote, JVly tongue, its vvunfomc poor'rs, devote, To grutitudj and thec ; To thee* the fweeteft o' thy ain parfooms, Ori^a's preide fud blaze On thee, thy gems of pureft rays ; Pack (ra' this faund, their genuine fcires fud filed, And JRumbobTs Crawdle vie wuth Hajlings Bed. Eut 330 PROBATIONARY ODES. But heev'n betook us well ! and keep us weife .' Leike thunder, burftan at thy dreed command f < { Keep, keep thy tongue," a warlock cries, And waves his gowden wand, V. Noo, laddies ! gi*-your baugpipes breeth again; Blaw the loo'd, but folemn, ftrain : Thus wheil I hail with heart-felt pleafurej. In majefty fedate, In pride elate, The fmuith cheeks Laird of aw the treafure ;. Onward he ftalks in froonan ftate ; Na fuilifh fmiies his broos unbend,. >J wull he bleithfome luik on aw the JafTes lend*, Hail to ye, lelfer Lairds ! of mickle wit j Hail to ye aw, wha in weife council fit, Fra' Tommy Toonfendup to Wully Pitt ' Weel faur your heeds, ! but noo na mair To ye mau,n I the fang confeine : To nobler Heights the mufe expands her wing. *Tis he, whofe eyne and wit fa breightly (heine^ 'Tis GEOURGE demands her care ; Brcetons ! boo down your heed, and hail your King ? See ! where with Atlantean (boulder Amazing each beholder, Beneath a tott'i ing empire's weight, Full fix feet high he ftands, and therefore great \ t VI. Come then, aw ye Poor's of vairfe \ Gi' me great GJSOURGE'S glprieito rehearfej And PROBATIONARY ODES, 331 And as I chaunt his kingly awks, The lift' nan warld fra me fall lairn Hoo fwuft he rides, hoo flow he walks, And weel he gets "his Queen wj' bairn. Give me, with all a Laureat's art to jumble, Thoughts that foothe, and words that rumble ! Wifdom and Empire, Brunfwick's Royal line; Fame, Honour, Glory, Majefty divine ! Thus, crooned by his lib'ral hand. Give me to lead the choral band j Then, in high-founding words, and grand, Aft fall peipe fwell with his princely name, And this eternal truth proclaim : ?Tls GEOURGE, Imperial GgouRGi, who ruje$ BRITANNIA'S land! $3* PROBATIONARY ODES. NUMBER XIV, O D E. By DR. JOSEPH WARTON, / In humble Imitation of BROTHER THOMAS. O ! for the breathings of the Doric ote ! O ! for the warblings of the Lesbian lyre ? O ! for th' Alcean trump's terrific note ! O ! for the Theban eagle's wing of fire ! O ! for each flop and firing that fwells th' Aonian quire \ Then fliould this hallow'd day in worthy ftrains be fung, And with due laurel wreaths thy cradle, Brunfwick, hung! But tho' uncouth my numbers flow From a rude reed, That drank the dew of Ifis' lowly mead, And wild pipe, famton'd from the embatted fedge Which on the twilight edge Of my own Cherwell loves to grow : The god-like theme alone Should bear me on its towering wing ; Bear me undaunted to the throne, To view with fix'd and fteJfaft eye The delegated majefty Of heaven's dread lord, and what I fee to fing. Like heaven's dread lord, great George his voice can raife, Frdm babes and fuckling's mouths to hymn his perfect fratfa In PROBATIONARY ODES, 333 Inpoefy's trim rhymes and high refounding phrafe* Hence, avaunt ! ye favage train, That drench the earth and dye the main With the tide's of hoftle gore : Who joy in war's terrific charms^ To fee the freely gleam of arms, And hear the cannon's roar ; Unknown the god-like virtue how to yield, To Crefly's or to Blenheim's deathful field ; Begone, and fate your Pagan thirft of blood ; Edward, fell homicide, awaits you there, And Anna's hero, both unskill'd to fpare Whene'er the foe their flaught'ring fword withftood. The pious George to white-floled peace alone His olive fceptre yields, and palm encircled throne. Or if his high decree On the perturbed fea The bloody flag unfurls ; Or o'er the embattl'd plain Ranges the martial train ; On other heads his bolts he huils. Haughty fubjects, wail and weep^ Your angry mailer ploughs the deep. Haughty fubjecls, fwol'n with pride, Tremble at his vengefuljlride. While the regal command Defp'rate ye withfland, He bares his red right hand. As when Kloim's pow'r In Judah's-rebel hour, Let fall the fiery fhow'r That o'er her parchM hills defolation fpread, And heap'dher vales with mountains of the dead. O'er 334 PROBATIONARY ODES.' O'er Schuylkill's cliff's the iempeft roars; O'er Rappahanock's recreant fhoresj Up the rough rocks of Kipps's-bay ; The huge Anfpachar wins- his way ; Or f cares the falcon from the fir-cap' djide "Of each high hill that hangs -o'er Hudfon's haughty tide* Matchlefs victor^ mighty lord ! Sheath the devouring fword ! Strong to punifh, mild tofaife y Clofe the portals of the grave. Exert thy firft prerogative, Ah ! fpare thy fubje&'s blood, and let them live 9 Our tributary breath, Hangs on thine for life or death. Sweet is the balmy breath of orient morn, Sweet are the honied treafiires of the bee j Sweet is the fragrance of the fcented thorn, But fweeter yet the voice of royal clemency 1 . He hears, and from his wifdom's perfect day He fends a bright effulgent ray, The nations to illumine far and wide t And feud and difcord, war zndjlnfifubsidt. His moral fages, all unknown t'untie The wily rage of human policy^ Their equal compafles expand, And mete the globe With philofophic hand. No partial love of country binds, In felfifh chains the lib'ral minds, O gentle Landfdown ! ting'd with thy philanthropy, Let other monarchs vainly boaft A lengthen'd line of conquer'd coaft, Or PROBATIONARY ODES. 335 Or bounclkfs fea of tributary flood, Sought by as wide a fea of blood* Brunfwick, in more faint-likt gu'ife Claims for his fpoils a purer prize, Content at every price to buy A conqueft o'er himfelf, and o'er his progeny. His be dome/lie glory's radient c aim His be thefceptre wreathed with many a palm -> His be the throne with peaceful emblems hung t And mine the laurel'd lyre, to thoft mild conquers Jlrung \ NUM. 33^ PROBATIONARY ODES. NUMBER XV, PINDARIC, By the RIGHT HON. HERVEY REDMOND, s LORD VISCOUNT MOUNTMORRES, Of Caftle Morres, of the Kingdom of Ireland, &c. &c. I. AWAKE, Hibernian lyre, awake, To harmony thy firings attune, O tache their trembling tongue tofptft The glories of the fourth of June. Aufpicious morn ! When George was born To grace (by deputy) our Jrifh throne, North, fouth, aifte^ weft, Of King's the beft, Sure now he's aquall'd by himfelf alone ; Throughout th' aftonifh'd globe fo loud his fame fhall ring, The dif themfelves fhall hart the ftrains the dumb fhall fmg. II, Sons- PROBATIONARY ODES; $3} II. Sons of Fadruig*, drain your throatSj In your native Irifh lays, Sweater than the fcre^ch owl's notes/ Howl aloud your fov'reign's praife. Quick to his halldw'd fane be led A milk-white BULL, on foft potatoes fed: His curling horns and ample neck Let wreaths of verdant fhamrock deck, And perfum'd flames^ to racbe the sky, Let fuel from our bogs fupply, Whilft we to George's health, a'en till the bowl runs o'er, Rxhjtrames of ufquebaugh and fparkling whiskey pour* iii. Of d/thlefs fame immortal heirs, A brave arid patriotic band, Mark where lerne's Voluntaw, Array'd in bright diforder ftand. The Lawyer's corps, red fac'd with blackj Here drive the martial merchants back j Here Sligo's bold brigade advance? There Lim'rick legions found their drum ; Here Gallway's gallant fquadrons prance^ And Cork InVincibles are overcome ! The Union firm of Coleraine, Are fcatter'd o'er the warlike plain, While Tipperary infantry purfues The Clognikelty horfe, and Bally fliannon blues* * Ancient Irifh name given to St. Patrick, 3$ PROBATIONARY ODES. Full fifty thoufand men we fliew All in our Irifli manufactures clad, Whaling, manceuv'ring to and fro, And marching up and down like mad. In frtfdom's holy caufe the bellow, rant, and rave, And fcorn themselves to know what they thems/lves would have ! Ah ! fhould renowned Brunfwick chufe, (The warlike monarch Joves reviews) To fee thflfe heroes in our Phamx fight, Once more, amidft a wond'ring crowd, The enraptur'd prince might cry aloud, " Oh ! Amherft what a h/venly fight*!" The loyal crowd with fhouts fhould n'nd the fkies> To \\arc their fov 'reign make a fp The fex-chang'd liftner flood In furly pcnfive mood, I * Sin from his forehead fprung. ] " A goddefs armed " Cut of thy head I fpiu;jg." See MILTON'S Birth of Sin. AIR, PROBATIONARY ODES. AIR, accompanied with double Bajfoons, &c While the prnmife-ma 1 ' r fpoke The anvil *nifs'd the wonted ftroke; In air And junto's fpeak the thing they mean ; Tell me, ever bufy power, Where (hall I trace thee in that vacant hour ? Art thou content, in the fequefter'd grove, T\- play with hearts and vows of love Or emulous of prouder fway, Doft thou to lift'ning Senates take thy way ? Thy prefence let me ftill enjoy, With Rofe, and the lie-loving boy. A I R. * No rogue that goes Is like that Rofe, Or fcatters fuch deceit : Come to my breaft - There ever reft Aflbciate counterfeit ! he Perfian prtefts, whofe graad al of devotion is to turn round j or whether he merely thinks that the working of the head in circles will give analogous effect to the fpecics of argument in which he excels, we mufc remain in the dark ; but certain it is, that whenever he reafons in public, the capital and wonderful part f the frame I am alluding to, is continually revolving upon its axis : and his yes, as if dazzkd with rays that dart on him exclufively, twinkle in their orbs at die rate of fixty twinks to one revolution. I trust I have given a rational ac- count, and not far-fetched, both of the wrinkle and twinkle in this ingenious compound. * No rogue that goes, &c J The candid reader will put no improp-r In- .terpretation on the word rogue. Pretty rogue, dear rogue, &c. are terms of endearment to one fex j pleafant rogue, witty rogue, -pply as familiar compli- ments to the other : Indeed facetious rsgue is the conoraen Uble appellation of ES 355 Proud lerne's volunteers, ,Abje6l Commons, proftrate Peers-*- All proclaim a prefent God (On the necks of all he trod) A prefent God ! A prefent God i HaMuab ! fway ; and confequently the paltage was meant as a prophetic com- pliment to Auguftos. Thofe who do not think that Britain is yet fufficiently ljelt -will regard the imitation in the fame light. We ihall clofe this fubjeft Jjy obfenring, how much better GRAVIBUS applies in the imitation than in th original $ and how well the untruth of lerne's volunteers joining in the deifka- tioa, xemplLrks the dedicatory addreii of the lie SUBLIME. A a 2 NUM- PROBATIONARY ODES, NUMBER XVIII. IRREGULAR ODE, By the MARQUIS OF GRAHAM. I. HELP ! help ! I fay, Apollo ! To you I call, to you \ hollo ; My Mufe would fain bring forth ; God of Midvvives come along, Bring into light my little fong, See how its parent labours with the birth ; My brain ! my brain ! What horrid pain ; Come, now prithee come, I fay ; Nay, if you won't, then ftay away Without thy help I've fung full many a lay. II. To lighter themes let other bards refort'; My verfe fliall tell the glories of the Court. Behold the Penfioners, a martial band ; Dreadful, with rufty battle-axe in hand Quarterly and daily waiters, Aluftier tioop, ye brave Beefeaters, . Sweepers, Marfhals, Wardrobe brufhers, Patrician, and Plebeian ufliers ; Ye too, who watch in inner rooms ; Ye Lords, ye Gentlemen, and Grooms j Oh! PROBATIONARY ODES. 357 Oh ! careful guard your royal Matter's (lumber, Left factious flies his facred face incumber. But ah ! how weak my fo'ng ! Crouds ftill on crouds impetuous rufh along , I fee, J fee, the motly group appear, Thurlow in front, and Chandos in the rear ; Each takes the path his various genius guides O'er Cabinets this^ and that o'er Cooks prefldes ! III. Hail ! too ye beds where, when his labour clofes, With ponderous limbs great CiNCiNNATUsdofes? Oh ! fay what fate the Arcadian King betides When playful Mab his wandering fancy guides, Perhaps he views his HOWARD'S wit Make SHERIDAN fubmiflive fit,j Perhaps o'er foes he conqueft reaps : Perhaps fome ditch he 1 dauntlefs leaps ; Now (hears his people, now his mutton; Now makes a Peer, and now a button. Now mightier themes demand his care j HASTINGS for affiftance flies ; Bulfes glittering skim the air j Hands unftretch'd would grafp the prize, But no diamond they find there ; For awak'd, by amorous pat, Good lack ! his gentle CHARLOTTE cries, What would your Majefty be at ? The endearing queftion kindles fierce defire, And all the monarch owns the lover's fire ; The pious King fulfils the heav'nly plan, And little annual BRUNSWICKS fpeak the mighty man ! A a 3 IV. At 35 PROBATIONARY ODES. IV. At Pimlico an ancient ftru&ure ftands, Where Sheffield erft, but Brunfwick now commands s Crown'd with a weathercock that points at will, To every part but Conftitution-hill Hence Brunfwick, peeping at the windows, Each ftar-light night, Looks with delight, And fees unfeen, And tells the Queen, What each who pafles out or in, does. Hence too, when eas'd of Faction's dread, With joys furveys, The cattle graze, ^ At half a crown a head Views the canal's tranfparent flood, Now fill'd with water, now with mud : Where various feafons, various charms create, Dogs in the fummer fwim, and boys in winter skait. V. Oh ! for the pencil of a Claud Lorrain, Apelles, Auftin, Sayer, or Luke the faint- What glowing fcenes ; but ah ! the grant were vain^ I know not how to paint Hail ! Royal Park ! what various charms are thine Thy patent lamps pale Cynthia's rays outfhine- Thy limes and elms with grace majeftic grow, All in a row ; Thy Mall's fmooth walk, and facred road befide, Where Treafury Lords by Royal Mandate ride. Hark? PROBATIONARY ODES. 359 Hark ! the merry fife and drum ; Hark ! of beaus the bufy hum j While in the gloom of evening fhade, Gay wood-nymphs ply their wanton trade ; Ah ! nymphs too kind, each vain purfuit give o'er If Death mould call you then can walk no more ! See the children rang'si on benches j See the pretty nurfery wenches ; The cows, fccur'd by halters, ftand, Courting the ruddy milk-maid's hand. Ill-fated cows, when all your milk they've ta'en, At Smithfield fold, you'll fatten'd be, and {lain. ^> i day -J '' ay J vr. Mufe, raife thine eyes and quick behold, The Treafury-office fill'd with gold ; Where f.lliot, Pitt, a#d I, each day The tedious moments pafs away, In bufinefs now, and now in play- The gay Horfe-guards, whofe clock of mighty fame, Directs the dinner of each careful dame ; - Where foldiers with red coats equipp'd, Are fometimes march'd, and fometimes vvhipp'd. Let them not doubt 'Twas heav'n*s eternal plan That perfect blifs (hould ne'er be known to man. Thus Minifters, are in, are out, Turn and turn about. Even Pitt himfelf may lofe his place, -s Or thou, Delpini, fovereign of grimace, Thou, too, by fome falfe ftep, may' ft meet difgrace. * A a 4 , VII. Yc 360 PROBATIONARY ODES. VII. Ye feather'd chorifters your voices tune, 'Tis now, or near the fourth of June ; - All nature fmiles the day of Brunfwick's birth Deftroy'd the iron-age, and made an heav'n on earth. Men and beafts his name repeating, Courtiers talking, calves a bleating ; Horfes neighing, Afles braying, Sheep, hogs, and geefe, with tuneful voices fmg, All praife their King, George the Third, the Great, the Good. France and Spain his anger rue ; Americans, he conquer'd you, Or would have done it if he cou'd. ' And 'midft the general loyal note, Shall not his gosling tune his throat ; Then let me join the jocund band, Crown'd with laurel let me ftand ; My grateful voice fhall their's as far exceed, As the two leg'd excels the bafe four-footed breed. NUM. PROBATIONARY ODES. 361 NUiMBER XIX. LETTER FROM THE RT. HON. LORD VISCOUNT MOUNTMORRES, To THE EARL OF SALISBURY. My LORD, BEING informed from undoubted autho- rity, that the learned Picrot, whom your Lordfhip has thought proper to nominate to the dignity of your AfTefTor, knows no lan- guage but his own, it feemed to me probable he might not understand Iri/Ji. Now as I recoiled my laft Ode to have proceeded on the orthography of that kingdom, I thought his entire ignorance of the tongue might per- haps be fome hindrance to his judgment, upon its merit. On account of this unhappy ignorance, therefore, on the part of the wor- thy Buffo, of any language but Italian, I have taken the liberty to prefent your Lord- Ihip and him with a fecond Ode, written in Englijh ; which I hope he will find no diffi- culty $6t t PROBATIONARY ODES. culty in underftanding, and which certainly has the better chance of being perfectly cor- ret in the true Eriglifti idiom, as it has been very carefully revifed and altered by my wor- thy friend, Mr. Henry Dundas. I have the honour to be, My Lord, Your Lordfhip's devoted fervant, MOUNTMORRES. O D E. By the RT. HON. HARVEY REDMOND MORRES, LORD VISCOUNT MOUNTMORRES, OF THE KINGDOM OF IRELAND, &c. I. YE gentle Nymphs who rule the Song, Who ftray TheJJalian groves among, With forms fo bright and airy ; Whether you pierce Pierian (hades, Or, lefs refin'4, adorn the glades, And wanton with the lufty blades Of fruitful Ttpperary ; Whether PROBATIONARY ODE9, $63 Whether you ilp Aonias* wave, Or in thy ftream, fair Z,$y, lave ; Whether you tafte ambrofial food, Or think potatoes quite as good, Oh, liften to an Irijb Peer, Who has woo'd your fex for many a yean II. Gold! thou bright benignant pow'r ! Parent of the jocund hour, Say, how my breaft has heav'd with many a florm, When thee I worfliip'd in a f email form ! Thou, whofe high and potent skill, Turns things and perforis at thy will ! Thou, whofe omnipotent decree, Mighty as Fate's eternal rule, Can make a wife man of a fool, ' And grace e'en loath'd deformity. Can ftraitnefs give to her that's crook'd, And Grecian grace to nofe that's hook'd ; Can fmooth the mount on Laura's backj And wit fupply to thofe that lack : Say^and take pity on my woes, Record my throbs, recount my throes ; How oft I figh'd, How oft I dy'd : How oft difmifs'd, How feldom kifs'd ; How oft fair Pbylllda^ when thee I woo y d, With cautious forefight all thy charms I view'd. O'er many a fod, How oft I trod, T* 3^4 PROBATIONARY ODES. To count thy acres o'er ; Or fpent my time, For marie or lime, With anxious zeal to bore* ! How Cupid then all great and powerful fate, Pearch'd on the vantage of a rich eftate ; When, for his darts, he us'd fair fpreading trees, ' .Ah ! who cou'd fail that ihot with {hafts like thefe ! nr. Oh, fad example of capricious Fate ! Sue Irijhmen in vain ? Does Pompey's felf, the proud, the great. Fail e 'MI a maid to gain ? What boots my form fo tall and flim, M) legs fo ftout my beard fo grim ? Why have I Alexanders bend ? Emblem of conqueft never gain'd f A nofe fo long a back fo Itrait A chairman's- mein-y-a chairman's gait ? Why wafted ink to make orations ? Defign'd to teach unlift'ning nations ? When Lord Mountmorres went down into the country, Come years ag* to pay his addrefles to a lady of large fortune, whofe name we forbear to men- t'on, his Lordfhip took up his abode for feveral days in a fmall public-houfe in the neighbourhood of her rcfidence, and employed his time in making all proper enquiries, and prudent obfervation upon the nature, extent, and value of her property : he was feen measuring the trees with his eye, and 'was at laft found in the a<3 of boring for marie ; when beinj roughly interrogated by one of the lady's fervants, to avoid chaftifemcnt he confeffed his name, and de- livered his amorous credentials. The amour terminated as len thoufand other* tf the noble Lord's ha\^ done } i Why PROBATIONARY ODES. ' 36$ Why have T view'd th' ideal clock * Or mourn'd the vifionary hour ? Griev'd to behold with well-bred fbock, The fancy'd pointer verge to four ? Then, with a bow, proceed to beg, A general pardon on my leg M Lament that to an hour fo late," 'Twas mine to urge the grave debate !" Or mourn the reft, untimely broken !" All this to fay all this to do, In form fo native, neat, and new, In fpeech intended to be fpoken ! But fruitlefs all, for neither here or there,, My leg has yet obtain'd me place, or fair/ IV. Pontpeys there are of every fhape and fize : Some are the Great y-clep'd, and fome the Lititle Some with their deeds that fill the wond'ring skies, And fome on ladies' laps that eat their vittle ! *Tis Morns 1 boaft 'tis Morns' pride, To be to both ally'd ! J An allufion is here made to a fpeech publifhed by the noble Lotd, which, as the title-page imports, was intended to have been fpoken; in which his Lordlhip, towards the conclufion, gravely remarks : " Having, Sir, fo * long encroached upon the patience of the Houfe, and obferving by the clock " that the hour has become fo exceffively late, nothing remains for me but to " return my fmcere thanks to you, Sir, and the other gentlemen of thii < ( Houfe, for the particular civility, and extreme attention, with which I " have been heard : the interesting nature of the occafion has betrayed me " into a much greater length than 1 had any idea originally of running into; 41 and if the cafual warmth of the moment has led me into the least pgrfonal " indelicacy towards any man alive, I am very ready to keg pardon of him " and this Hgufc, Sir, for having fo done." 066 PROBATIONARY O&$* x That of all various Pampeys, he Forms one complete epitome ! Prepar'd alike fierce Faction's hoft to fight, Or, thankful, ftoop official crumbs to bite- No equal to himfelf on earth to own j Or watch, with anxious eye, on Treafury-bone ! As Rome's fam'd chief, imperious, ftiff, and proud ; Fawning as curs, when fupplicating food ! In him their feveral virtues all refide, The peerlefs Puppy, and of Peers the pride ! V. Say, Critic Buffo, will not powers like thefe, E'en thy reftn'd faftidious j udgment pleafe ? A common butt to all mankind, 'Tis my hard lot to be; O let me then fome juftice find, And give the BUTT to me ! Then deareft DE'L, Thy praife I'll tell, -And with unprojlituted pen. In Wartorfs pure and modeft drain, Unwarp'd by Hope unmov'd by Gain, I'llcall the "beft of husbands," and"moftchafteofmen!" Then from my priftine labours I'll relax : Then will I lay the Tree unto the % Axe / Of all my former grief Refign the bus'nefs of the anxious chace, And for paft failures, and for paft difgrace, Here find a mug relief I The vain purfuit of female game give o'er, And, hound of Fortune, fcour the town no more \ This line is literally tranfcribed from a fpeech of Lord Mcuntmorres's, when Candidate fome years ago for the Reprefentation of the City of Westminster. NUM- PROBATIONARY ODES. 367 NUMBER XX. IRREGULAR ODE. FOR THE KING'S BIRTH-DAY. By SIR GEORGE HO WARD, K. B. CHORUS. - ' Re mi fa Col, Tol de rol lol. I. MY Mufe, for George prepare the fplendid fong Oh may it float on Schwellenburgerf s voice ! Let Maids of Honour fing it all day long, v That Hoggaden's fair ears may hear it, and rejoice. II. What fubjecl firft {hall claim thy courtly ftrains ? Wilt thou begin from Windfor's facred brow, Where erft, with pride and pow'er elate, The Tudors fate in fullen ftate, While Rebel Freedom, forced at length to bow, Retir'd relu&ant from her fav'rite plains ? Ah ! while in each irifulting tower you trace The features of that tyrant race, How wilt thou joy to view the alter'd fcene ! The Giant Caftle quits his threat'ning mien ', The 368 ?ROBATIONARY ODES. The level'd ditch no more its jaws difclofes, ^ But o'er its mouth, to feaft our eyes and nofes, > Brunfwick hath planted pinks and rofesj Hath fpread fmooth gravel walks, and a fmall bawling green ! III. Mighty Sov'rsign ! Mighty Matter ! George is content with lath and plaiftei ! At his own palace- gate In a poor porter's lodge, by Chamber's plann'd, See him with Jenky, hand in hand, In ferious mood, Talking ! talking ! talking ! talking ! Talking of affairs of ftate, All for his country's good ! Oh I Europe's pride ! Britannia's hope I To view his turnips and potatoes, Down his fair Kitchen-garden's dope The victor monarch walks like Cincinnatus. See heavenly Mufe ! I vow to God *Twas thus the laurei'd hero trod Sweet rural joys ! delights without compare ! >, Pleafure fhineS in his eyes, While George with furprize, Sees his cabbages rife, And his 'fparagus wave in the air ! IV. But hark ! I hear the found of coaches, The Levee's hour approaches Halle, ye Poftillions ! o'er the turnpike road j .Back to St. James's bear your royal load ! 'Tis PROBATIONARY ODES; 369 *Tis done his fmoakirig wheels fcarce touch'd the ground- By the Old Magpye and the New, "\ By Colnbrook, Hounflow, Brentford, Kewj Half choak'd with duft the monarch flew, And now, behold, he's landed fafe and found. tf ail to the bleft who tread this hallow'd ground ! Ye firm, invincible beefeaters, Warriors, who love their fellow-creatures, I hail your military features ! Ye gentle Maids of honour, in ftiff hoopsj Buried*alive up to your necks, Who chafte as Phoenixes in coops* Know not the danger that await your fex ! Ye Lords empower'd by fortune or defert, Each in his turn to change your Sovereign's fliirt ! Ye Country Gentlemen, ye City May'rs, Ye Pages of the King's back flairs, Who in thefe precin&s joy to wait- Ye courtly wands r o white and fmall, And you, great pillars of the State, XVho at Stephen's flumber, or debatej Hail to you all ! ! ! C H O R U S. Hail to you all ! ! ! V. How, heavenly Mufe, thy choiceft fong prepare : Let loftier ftrains the glorious fubje fuit : Lo ! hand in hand advance th' enamour'd pair, This Chatham's fon, and that the drudge of Bute ; B b Proud 37 PROBATIONARY ODES. Proud of their mutual love, Like Nifus and Euryalus they move, To Glory's fteepeft heights together tend, Each carclefs for himfelf, each anxious for his friend ! Hail ! aflociate Politicians ! Hail ! fublime Arithmeticians ! Hail Jr vnft exhauftlefs fource of Irifh Propofitions ! Sooner our gracious King From heel to heel fhall ceafe to fwing ; Sooner that brilliant eye (kail leave it* focket ; Eooner that hand defert the breeches pocket, Than conftant George confent his friends to quit, And break his plighted faith to Jenkinfon and Pitt ! CHORUS, Hail ! moft prudent Politicians 1 Hail ! correfl i Arithmeticians ! Hail ! vaft exhauftlefs fource of Irifti Proportions ! VI. Oh ! deep unfathomable Pitt ! To thee lerne owes her happieft days ! Wait a bit, And all her fons fhall loudly ling thy praife ! lerne, h..ppy, happy Maid ! Miftrefs of the Poplin trade ! Old Europa's fkv'rite daughter, Whom firft, emerging from the water, In days of yore, Europa bore, To PROBATIONARY ODES. JJ To the celeftial Bull ! Behold thy vows ate heard, behold thy joys are full ! Thy fav'rite Refolutions greet, They're not much chang'd, there's no deceit ! Pray be convinc'd, they're ftill the true ones, Though fprung from thy prolific head, Each Refolution hath begotten new ones, And like their fires, all Irifh born and bred ! Then hafte, lerne, hafte to fing, God fave great George ! God fave the King ! May thy Tons' fbns to him their voices tune, Ad each revolving year bring back the fourth of June! B b 2 NUM. ye PROBATIONARY ODES, NUMBER XXI. A DDR ESS. AGREEABLY to the requeft of the Right Reverend Author, the following Ode is ad- mitted into this colle&ion ; and I think it but juftice to declare, that I have diligent- ly fcanned it on my fingers ; and, after re- peated trials, to the beft of my knowledge, believe, the Metre to be of the Iambic kind, containing three, four, five, and fix feet in one line, with the occafional addition of the hypercatalecYic fyllable at ftated pe- riods. I am therefore of opinion, that the compofition is certainly verfe ; though I would not wifh to pronounce too confi- dently. For further information I mall print his Grace's letter. To SIR JOHN HAWKINS, BART. * SIR JOHN, AS I underfland you are publifhing an au- thentic Edition of the Probationary Odes, I call upon you to do me the juftice of infert- ing the enclofed. It was rejected on the Scru- tiny PROBATIONARY ODES. 3/3 tiny by Signer Delpini, for reafons which mufl have been fuggefted by the malevolence of forne rival. The reafons were, ift, That the Ode was nothing but profe, written in an odd manner ; and, 2dly, That the Metre/ if there be any, as well as, many of the thoughts, are ftolen from a little Poem, in a Collection called the UNION. To a man, bleft with an ear fo delicate as your's, Sir John, I think it unrie*ceflary to fay any thing on the firft charge ; and as to the fecond, (would you believe it ?) the Poem from which lam acculed of ftealing, is my own ! Surely an Author has a right to make free with his own ideas, efpecially when, if they were ever known, they have long fince been forgotten by his readers.. You are not to learn, Sir John, that de non ap- farentibus & non exiflentilus eadcm eft ratio: and nothing but the active fpirit of literary jealoufy a could have dragged forth my former Ode from the obfcurity, in which it has long flept, to the difgrace of all good tafte in the prefent age. However, that you and the public may fee, how little I have really taken, and how much I have opened the thoughts, and improved the language of B b 3 that 374 PROBATIONARY ODES. that little, I fend you my imitations of my f elf * as well as fome few explanatory Notes, ne- ceflary to elucidate my claffical and hiflorical allufions. I am, SIR JOHN, With every wifh for your fuccefs, Your moft obedient humble fervant> WILLIAM YORK, PINDARIC ODE, By DR. W. MARKHAM, Lord Archbifhop of York, Primate of England,- and Lord High Almoner to his Majefty, formerly Pre-< ccptor to the Princes, Head Mafter of Weftminfter School, &c. &c. &c. STROPHE L THE prieftly mind what virtue fo approves, And teftifies the pure prelatic fpirit, As loyal gratitude ? l* \. This goodly frame what virtue fo approves, And tellifies the piire fetherial fpirit, As mild benevolence ? My Ode to Arthur Onflow, I.fy* Moro PROBATIONARY ODES. 375 More to my King, than to my God, I owe ; God and my father made me man, Yet not without my mother's added aid ; But GEORGE, without, or God, or man, With grace endow'd, anJ hallow'd me Archbilhop. ANTISTROPE I. , In Trojan PRIAM'S court a laurel grew ; So VIRGIL fmgs. But I will fmg the laurel, Which at St. JAMES'S blooms. O may I bend my brows from that bleft tree, Not flourifhing in native green, Refrefh'd with dews from AcANippE'sfprrng : But, * like the precious plant of DIS, Glitt'ring with gold, with royal fack irriguous. E P O D E I. So fliall my aukward gratitude, With fond preemption to the Laureates duty Attune my rugged numbers blank. Little I reek the meed of fuch a fong ; Yet will I ftretch alocf, And tell of Tory principles, The right Divine of Kings ; * See Virgil's /Eneid, b. vi. IMITATIONS OF MYSELF. ffuk I. How fhall my aukward gratitude, And the preemption of untutor'd duty Attune thy numbers all too rude ? Little he recks the meed of fuch a fong j, Yet will' I ftretch aloof, &c. Ibid. B b 4 And 376 PROBATIONARY ODES. And Power Supreme that brooks not bold contention ; Till all the zeal monarchial That fired the Preacher, in the Bard (hall blaze, And what my Sermons were, my Odes once more (hall 1 be. STROPHE II. * Good PRICE, to Kings and me a foe no more, By LANSDOWN won, fhall pay with friendly cenfure His pad hoftiiity. Nor {hall not He affift, my pupil once, Of ftature fmall, but doughty tongue, Bold ABINGDON, whofe rhetoric unreftrain'd, Rufhes, more lyrically wild, f Than GREENE'S mad lays, when he out-pindar'd PINDAR. ANTISTROPHE II. With him too EFFINGHAM his aid (hall join, J Who, erft by GORDON led, with bonfires ufher*d His Sov'reign's natal month. - Secure in fuch allies, to princely themes, To HENRY'S and to EDWARD'S young. * During the Adminiftration of Lord SHELBURNE, I was told by a friend of mine, that Dr. PRICE took occafion, in his prfence, to declare the mod lively abhorrence of the damnable he: efies, which he had formerly advanced againft the Jure diwno dofirines, contained in fome of my Sermons. f See a tranflation of PINDAR, by EDWARD BURNJSY GREENE. | This alludes wholly to a private anecdote, and in no degree to certain ma- licious reports of the noble Earl's conduct during the riots of June, 1780, IMITATIONS OF_MYSELr. Jxtlflropbe II. TOHENRYS and to EDWARDS old, Trend names, I'll meditate the faithful fong, &c. ttid. Dear PROBATIONARY ODES, 377 Dear names, I'll meditate the faithful fong ; How oft beneath my birch fevere, Like EFFINGHAM and ABINGDON, they tingled : E P O D E II. Or to the YOUTH IMMACULATE Afcending thence, I'll fing the ftrain celeftial, By PITT, to blefs our iile reftor'd. 'Trim plenty, not luxuriant as of old, Peace, laurel -crown'd no more; * Juftice, thatfmites by fc ores, unmov'd ; And her of verdant locks, Commerce, like Harlequin, in motley veflure, t Whofe magic fword with fudden fleight, Wav'd o'er the HIBERNIAN treaty, turns to bonds, The dreams of airy wealth, thatplay'd round PATRICK'S I eyes, * The prefent Minlftry have twice gratified the public, with the awful]/ fublime fpeftacle of twenty hanged at one time. , -f Thefe three lines, I muft confefs, have been interpolated fmce the in- troduftion of the fourth Proportion in the new Irijh Refoiutions. Th?y arofe, however, quite naturally out of my preceding pcrfonific.ition of Cum- jnerce. t I have taken the liberty of employing Patrick in the farle fenfe a* Paddy, to perfonify the people of Ireland. The latter name was too Col- loquial for the dignity of my blank verfe. IMITATIONS OF MYSELF. Epede II. Juftice with {ready brew, Trim plenty, Laureat peace, and green-Ixilr'd commerce, In flowing robe of thoufiixJ h:c<, Sec. On this imitation of myfelf, I cannot help remarking, how happi!^ I have now applied fome of thefe epithets, which, it must be cwifelTed', had not half the propriety before. ' STROPHE 378 PROBATIONARY ODES. ST&OPHE IIL But lo ! yon bark, that rich with India fpoils, O'er the wide-fwelling ocean rides triumphant, Oh ! to BRITANNIA'S Ihore In fafety waft, ye winds, the precious freight ! 'Tis HASTINGS; of the proftrate EAST Defpotic arbiter ; whofe * bounty gave My MARKHAM'S delegated rule To-riot in the plunder of BENARES. ANTISTROPHE III. How yet affrighted GANGES, oft diftain'd With GENTOO carnage, quakes thro' all his branches ! Soon may I greet the morn, When, HASTINGS fcreen'd, DUNDAS and GEORGR'S * One of the many frivolous charges brought againft Mr. Haftings by fac- tious men, is the removal of a Mr. FOWKE, contrary to the orders of the Direftors, that he might mike room for his own appointment of my fon to the Reudentifiip of BENARES. 1 have ever thought it my duty to fupport tbV late Governor-General, both at Leadenhall and in the Houfe of Peers, againft aH fuch vexatious accufatious. Strcfbe III. Or trace h:r navy, where in towering, pride O'er the wide-fwelling wafte it rolls avengeful. Kid: Thro* PROBATIONARY ODES. Thro' BISHOPTHORP'S* glad roofs (hall found, Familiar in domeftic merriment ; Or in thy chofen PLACE, ST. JAMES, Be carol'd loud amid th* applauding IMHOFFS! EPODE III. When wealthy Innocence, purfued By Factious Envy, courts a Monarch's fuccour, Mean gifts of vulgar coll, alike Dishonour him, who gives, and him, who takes. Not thus (hall HASTINGS fav'd. Thee, BRUNSWICK, and himfelf difgrace. * As many of my Competitors have complained of Signor Ddpini's igno- jance, 1 cannot help remarking here, that he did not know Bijboflborp to be the name of my palace, in Yorkfhire ; he did not know Mr. Haftings's houfe to be in St. James's-place ; he did not know Mrs. Haftings to have two ions by Mynheer lmboff t her former hulband, ftill living. And what is more fliameful than all in a Critical Afiefibr, he had never heard of the poetical figure, by which I elegantly fay, thy place t St. James's y inftead ofSt.Jamts*** IMITATION! OF MYSZLF. Jnttftreptt III. How headlong Rhone and Ebro, erft diftain'd With Mocrifli carnage, quakes thro' all her branche* ! Soon lhall I greet the mom, When, Europe Caved, BRITAIN and GEORGE'S sa Shall foon o'er FLANDRIA'S level field, Familiar in domeftic merriment f Or by the jolly mariner Ee carol'd loud ado\v the echoing Danube. O PROBATIONARY ODES. * O may thy blooming Heir In virtues equal, be like isee prolific ! Till a new race of little GUELPS, Beneath the rod of future MARKHAMS traiVd, JLifp on their Grandfire's knee his mitred Laureates lays. * Signw Delpini wanted to ftrlke out all that follows, becaufe truly it had BO connexion with the reft. The trantiuon, like fome others in this and my former Ode t Arthur Onflow, E'q. may be too fine for vulgar apprehenlioiUj, fcut it is therefore the more Pindaric. IMITATIONS or Mvsttr. ' III., O may your riling hope, Well-principled in every virtue, bloom, 'Till a frefli-fpringing flock implore, With in 'ant hands, a Grandare's powerful prayer^ Or round your honror'd couch their pratling fports purfue. NUM- PROBATIONARY ODES. 381 NUMBER XXII. ODE. By the REV. THOMAS WARTON, B.D. Fellow of the Trinity College, in Oxford, late Profeflbr of Poetry in that Univerfity, and now Poet Laureat to his Majefty. AMID the thunder of the war, True Glory guides no echoing car; Nor bids the fword her bays bequeath ; Nor ftains with blood her brighteft wreath : No plumed hoft her tranquil triumphs own : Nor fpoils of murder'd multitudes flic brings, To fvvell the ftate of her diftinguifh'd kings, And deck her chofen throne. On that fair throne, to Britain dear, With the flowering olive twin'd, High flie hangs the hero's fpear ; And there, with all the palms of peace combin'd, Her unpolluted hands the milder trophy rear. To kings like thefe, her genuine theme, The Mufe a blamelefs homage pays j To GEORGE, of kings like thefe fupreme, She wifhes honour'd length of days, Nor proftitutes the tribute of her lays. II. 'Tis his to bid neglected genius glow, And teach the regal bounty how to flow ; His tutelary feptre's fwav The vindicated Arts obey, And hail their patron King : *Tis his to judgment's fteady line Their flights fantaftic to confine, And 382, PROBATIONARY ODES, And yet expand their wing : The fleeting forms of Faftion to reftrain, And bind capricious Tafte in Truth's eternal chain. Sculpture, licentious now no more, From Greece her great example takes, With Nature's warmth the marble wakes, And fpurns the toys of modern lore : In native beauty, fimply plann'd, Corinth, thy tufted (hafts afcend ; The Graces guide the painter's hand, His magic mimicry to blend. III. While fuch the gifts his reign beftows, Amid the proud difplay, Thofe gems around the throne he throws That Ihed a fofter ray : While from the fummits of fublime Renown He wafts his favour's univerfal gale, With thofe fweet flowers he binds a crown That bloom in Virtue's humble vale. With rich munificence, the nuptial tye, Unbroken he combines : Confpicuous in a nations eye, The facred patern {bines ! Fair Science to reform, reward, and raife, To fpread the luftre of domeftic praife ; To fofter Emulation's holy flame, To build Society's majeftic frame : Mankind to polifli and to teach, Be this the monarch's aim ; Above Ambition's giant-reach The monarch's meed to claim, THE PROBATIONARY ODES. 33 THE illuftrious Arbiters, of whom we may with great truth defcribe the noble Earl as the very alter-ipfe of Maecenas, and the worthy Pierot, as the moil correct counter- part of Petronius, had carefully revifed the whole of the preceding productions, and had indulged the defeated ambition of refllefs and afpiring Poetry, with a mofl impartial and elaborate Scrutiny, (the whole account of which, faithfully tranflated from the Italian of Signor Delpini, and the Englifh of the Earl of Sali/bury^wi\\, in due time, be fub- mitted to the infpeftion of the curious) were preparing to make a legal return, when an event happened that put a final period to their proceedings. The following is a correct ac- count of this mterefling occurrence : ON Sunday the i yth of the prefent month, to wit, July, Anno Domini, 1 785, juft as his Majefly was afcending the flairs of his gal- lery, to attend divine wormip at WINDSOR, he was furprized by the appearance of a little, thick, fquat, red-faced man, who, in a very odd drefs, and kneeling "upon one knee, pre- fented a piece of paper for th6 Royal accepta- tion. His Majefty, amazed at the fight of * fuch 384 PROBATIONARY ODES. 'fuch a figure in fuch a place, bad already given orders to one of the attendant beef- eaters to difmifs him from his prefence, when, by a certain hafty fpafmodic mumbling, together with two or three prompt quotations from Virgil, the perfon was difcovered to be no other than the Rev. Mr. Thomas War ton himfelf, dreffed in the official vefture of his profeflbrmip, and the paper which he held in his hand being nothing elfe but a fair-written petition, deiigned for the inflection of his Majefty, our gracious Sovereign, made up for the feeming rudenefs of the firft reception, by a hearty embrace on recognition ; and the contents of the petition being forthwith examined, were found to be pretty nearly as * follows. We omit the common-place compliments generally introduced in the ex- ordia of thefe applications, as " relying upon *' your Majefty's well-known clemency ; $ * " convinced of your Royal regard for the " real intereft of your fubjects ;" " pene- " trated with the fullefl conviction of your " wifdom and juftice," &c. &c. which, though undoubtedly very true, when confidered as addreffed to George the Third, might, .per- haps, as matters of mere form, be applied to a Sove- PROBATIONARY ODES. 385 a Sovereign, who neither had proved wifdom nor regard for his fubje&s in one al of his teign, and proceed to the fubftance and mat- -n _. jter of the complaint itfelf. It fcts forth, " That the Petitioner, JMr. Thomas, had " been many years a maker of Poetry, as his * c friend Mr. Sadler, the paflry-cook, of Ox- *' ford, and fome other creditable witnefles ** could well evince : that many of his works *' of fancy, and more particularly that one, " which is known by the name of his Cri- " ticifms upon Milton^ had been well re- " ceived by the learned ; that thus encou- *' raged, he had entered the lift, together 44 with many other great and refpectable can- *' didates, for the honour of a fucceflion to * c the vacant Laureatjliip ; that a decided *' return had been made in his favour by the " officers beft calculated to judge, namely, " the Right Hon. the Earl of Salifbury, and *' the learned Signor Dclfini, his Lordmip's *' worthy coadjutor ; that the Signer's deli- fic cacy, unhappily for the Petitioner, like " that of Mn Corbeti, in the inftance of the *' Weftminfter election, had inclined him to " the grant of a SCRUTINY ; that in confe- " quence of the vexations and pertinacious C c " perfeverance $36 PROBATIONARY ODES. " perfeverance on the part of feveral gentle - " men in this illegal and opprefftve meafure, " the Petitioner had been feverely injured in " his fpirits, his comforts, and his intereft : " that he had been for many years engaged " in a moft laborious and expenfive under- 66 taking, in which he had been honoured * 6 with the moft liberal communications from c< all the univedities in Europe, to wit, a " fplendid and moft correct edition of the " Poemata Alinora, of the immortal Mr. c< Stephen Duck ; that he was alfo under " pofitive articles of literary partnership with " his brother, the learned and well-known " Dr. Jvfephi to fupply two pages per day " in his new work, now in the prels, en- " tit'od his Eflay on the. Life and Writings " of Mr. THOMAS HICKATHRIFT; in both " of which great undertakings, the progrefs t favourite diurnal vehicle through in thefe eiTufions had been here- re lubrnittcd to the public: " Monfieur^ PROBATIONARY ODES, 389 " Monfaur, " On vous requis, you are hereby com- *' mandie not to pooblim any more of de " Ode Probationary mon cher ami,'Mon~ " Jieiir George le Roi, fays it beaver bad to " vex Monueur le petit homme avec le grand "paunch Monfieur Wharton, any more ** vid fcrutinee ; je vous commande derefore 46 to fmif Que le Roi foit loue ! God lave * 4 de King ! mind vat I fay ou le grand " George and le bon Dieu damn votre ame *' & bodie, vos jambes, & vos pies, for evef <{ and ever pour jamais. ^ Signed, " DELPINI." Nothing now remained, but for the Judges to make their return, which having done in favour of Mr. Th&mas War ton > the original objeci of their preference, whom they now pronounced duly elected, the following Im- perial notice was publifhed in the fucceeding Saturday's Gazette, confirming the Nomina- tion, and giving legal Sanction to the Ap- pointment. PRO- PROCLAMATION. To all CHRISTIAN PEOPLE to whom thefe prefents (hall come, greeting, KNOW YE, That by and with the ad- vice, confent, concurrence, and approbation, of our right trufty and well-beloved couims, James Cecil, Earl of Salrfoury, and Antonio Francifo Ignigio Delpini, Eiq. Aur. and Pierot to the Theatre- royal, Hay-market, WE, for divers good caufes and confidera- tions, us thereunto efpecially moving, have made, ordained, nominated, conftituted, and appointed, and by thefe prefents do make, ordain, nominate, conftitute, and appoint,, the Rev. Thomas Warton, B. D. to be our true and only legal Laureat, Poet, and Poetafter ; that is to fay, to pen, write, com- pofe, tranfpofe, felect, dictate, compile, in- dite, edite, invent, defign, fteal, put together, tranfcribe, frame, fabricate, manufacture, make, join, build, fcrape, grub, collect, vamp, find, difcover, catch, fmuggle, pick-up, beg, borrow? or buy, in the fame manner and with the fame privileges as have been ufually fradifed, and heretofore enjoyed by every other PROCLAMATION. 39! other Laureat, whether by our Sacred Self appointed, or by our Royal predeceflbrs, who now dwell with their fathers : And for this purpofe, to produce, deliver, chaunt, or {ing, as in our wifdom aforefaid we mall judge pro- per, at the leaft three good and fiibftantial Odes, in the beft Englifh or German verfe, in every year, tha,t is to fay, one due and proper Ode on the Nativity of our blefled Self; one due and proper Ode on the Nati- vity of our deareft and beft beloved Royal Confbrt, for the time being ; and alfo one due and proper Ode on the day of the Na- tivity of every future Year, of which God grant We may fee many. And we do here- by moil: hitly command and enjoin, that no Scholar, Critic, Wit, Orthographer, or Scnbfoler, fhall, by gibes, fneers, jefts, judg- ments, quibbles, or criticifms, moleft, inter- rupt, incommode, difturb, or confound the faid Thomas Warton, or break the peace of his orderly, quiet, pains- taking and inofFen- iive Mufe, in the faidexercife of his faid duty. And we do hereby will and direct, that if any of the perfon or perfons aforefaid, not- withftanding our abfblute and pofitive com- mand, lhall be found offending againft this cur 392. ^PROCLAMATION, our Royal Proclamation, that he, me, or they being duly convi&ed, {hall, for every fuch crime and mifdemeanor, be puriifhed in the manner and form following ; to wit For the firft offence he mall be drawn on a fledge to the moft confpicuous and notorious part of our ever faithful city of London, and mall then and there, with an audible voice, pronounce, read, and deliver three feveral printed fpeeehes of our right, truiry, and ap- proved MAJOR JOHN SCOTT. For the fecond offence, that he be required to tranflate into good and lawful Englifh one whole unfp6ken fpeech of our right trufty and well-beloved couiin and counfellor, Lord Vifcount MOUNT- MORKES, of the kingdom of Ireland ; and for the third offence, that he be condemned to read one whole page of the Poems, EfTays* or Criticifms of our laid Laureat, Mr. Tho- mas Warton. And whereas the laid office of Laureat is a place of the laft importance, in- afmuch as the perfon holding it has confided to him the care of making the Royal virtues known to the world ; and we being minded and deiirous that the faid T. Warton mould execute and perform the duties of his faid office with the utmofr. dignity and decorum, Now PROCLAMATION* 39J Now KNOW YE, That we have thought it meet to draw up a due and proper Table of Inftructions, hereunto annexed, for the ufe of the faid Thomas Wartou, in his faid poetical exercife and employment, which we do hereby moil ftriclly will and enjoin the faid Thomas Warton to abide by and fol- low, under pain of incurring our rnoft high clifpleafure. Given at our Court at St. James's, this ^oth day of May, one thoufand feven hundred and eighty-five. Vivant Rex & Reginch V d TABL$ TABLE OF INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE REV. THOMAS WARTON, B. D, and P. L. &c. &c, Chamberlain's Office, May 3O/, 1785. i ft, .THAT in fabricating the catalogue of Regal Virtues (in which talk the Poet may much afTift his invention by perufmg the Odes of his feveral predeceflbrs) you be par- ticularly careful not to omit his Chaftity, his Skill in Mechanics, and his Royal Talent of Child-getting. 2dly, It is expected that you fhould be- very liberally endowed with the gift of Pro- phecy ; but be very careful not to predict any event but what may be perfectly acceptable to your Sovereign, fuch as the fubjugation of America, ther deftruclion of the- Wigs, long- life, &c. &c, 3dly, That TABLE OF INSTRUCTIONS; 395 3dly, That you be always provided with a due affortment of true, good-looking, and legitimate words ; and that you do take all neceffary care not to apply them but or\ their proper occafions ; as for example, not to talk of dove-eyed peace, nor the gentle olive in time of war ; nor of trumpets, drums, fifes, nor * ECHOING CARS in times of peace as for the fake of poetical conve- niency, feveral of your predeceffors have been known to do. 4thly, That as the Sovereign for the time being muft always be the beft, the greateft, and the wifeft, that ever exifted ; fo the year alfg, for the time being, muft be the happieft ? the mildeft, the fail-eft, and the moft prolific that ever occurred. What reflections upon the year paft you think proper. * It is evident from this expreffion, that thefe inftruc- tions had not been delivered to Mr. Warton at the time of his writing his laft famous Ode on the Birth-day of -his Majefty: a circumftance which makes that amazing compofiiion ftill more extraordinary. 5thly, 396 frABLE OF INSTRTJCTIOttS. 5thly, That Mufic being a much highef and diviner fcience than Poetry, your Ode muft always be adapted to the Mufic, and not the Mufic to your Ode. The omiffion of a line or two cannot be fuppofed to make any material difference either in the poetry or in fenfe. 6thly, That as thefe fort of invitations have of late years been confidered by the Mufes as mere cards of compliment, and of courfe have been but rarely accepted, you muft not wafte more than twenty lines in invoking the Nine, nor repeat the word " Hail !" more than fifteen times at farthefl; 7th, and finally, That it may not be amifs to be a little intelligible*. * This is an additional proof that Mr. Warton had not received the Inftru&ions at the time he compqfed his faid Ode. POLITICAL POLITICAL MISCELLANIES. PROBATIONARY ODE EXTRAORDINARY. By the Rev, W. MASON, M. A. THE following fecond attempt of Mr. MASON, at the ROYAL SACK, was not inferted in the celebrated colle&ion of Odes formed by Sir JOHN HAWKINS. What might be the motive of the learned Knight for this omiffion can at prefent only be known to himfelf Whether he treafured it up for the next edition of his Life of Dr. JOHNSON, or whether he condemned it for its too clofe refemblance to a for- mer elegant lyric efFufion of the Rev. Author, muft remain for time, or Mr. FRANCIS BARBER, tode- velope. Having, however, been fortunate enough to procure a copy, we have printed both the Odes in oppofite leaves, that in ca(e the latter fuppofi- tion fhould turn out to be well founded, the public may decide how far the worthy magiftrate was juf- tified in this exclufion. Q D E the Honourable WILLIAM PITT. By W. M A S O N, M. A. MJ vvf ; OT va,ru* Qfi MJT' aftroiv mart PINDAR. Ifthm. Ode 2* I. 'TIS May's meridian reign; yet Eurus cold Forbids each fhrinking thorn its leaves unfold, Or hang with filver buds her rural throne : No primrofe fhower from her green lap flie throws*, No daify, violet, or cowflip blows, And Flora weeps her fragrant offspring gone. Hoar froft arrefts the genial dew ; To wake, to warble, and to woo No linnet calls his drooping love : hall then the poet ftrike the lyre, V T hen mute are all the feather'd quire, And Nature fails to warm the fyrens of the grove? * This expreffion is taken from Milton's fong on May Morning, to which this flanza in general alludes, and the 4th verfe in the next. He O D E To the Right Hon. WILLIAM PITT. y W. MASON, M. A. " Give not the Mitre now ! " Leaft bafe tongued ENVY fquintlng at my brow, * Cry, lo ! the price for CAVENDISH betray M !* ** But in gocd time nor that, oh ! PITT ! forget, ** Nor my more early fervice yet unpaid, " My puffs on CHATHAM in his offspring's aid, " Not what this loyal Ode fhall add to fwell the debt," MY OWN TRANSLATION* I. 'TIS now the TENTH of APRIL ; yet the wind In frigid fetters doth each blofibm bind, No iilver buds her rural throne embofs ; No violets Hue from her green lap fhe throws * ; Oh ! lack a daify ! not a daify blows, And (ere fhe has them) FLORA weeps their lofs. Hoar froft, with bailiff's grizly hue, At Winter's fuit, arrefts the dew ; No Cuckow wakes her drowfy mate : His harp then fhall a Parfon Arum, When other Blackbirds all are dumb, When neither Starlings, Daws, or Magpies prate? * Improved from Milton. B 2 He I 4 3 ir. He fhall : for what the fullen Spring denies The orient beam of virtuous youth fupplics ; That moral dawn be his infpiring flame. Beyond the dancing radiance of the eaft Thy glory, fon of CHATHAM ! fires his breaft, And proud to celebrate thy vernal fame. Hark, from this lyre the ftrain afcends, Which but to Freedom's fav'rite friends That lyre difdains to found. Hark and approve, as did thy iire * The lays which once with kindred fire His mufe in attic mood made MONA'S oaks rebound. in. Long filent fince, fave when, in KEP PEL'S name, Detraction, murd'ring BRITAIN'S naval fame, Rous'd into founds of fcorn th' indignant firing f. But now, replenifh'd with a richer theme, The vafe of harmony (hall pour its ftream, Fan'd by free Fancy's rainbow-tin&ur'd wing. Thy country too fliall hail the fong, Her echoing heart the notes prolong ; While they alone with $ envy figh, Whofe rancour to thy parent dead Aim'd, ere his funeral rites were paid, With vain vindidlive rage to flarve his progeny. * The poem of Cara&acus was read in MS. by the late Earl of Chatham, who honoured it with an approbation wh,ich the author is here proud to record. f See Ode to the Naval Officers of Great Britain, written 1779. J See .he motto from Pindar. From C 5 D II. He fhall : for what the fulky Spring denies, An annual but of fugar'd SACK fupplies; That beverage fweet be his infpiring flame. Cloath'd in the radiant influence of the Eart, Thy glory, fon of CHATHAM, fires his breaft; And fwift to adulate thy vernal fame. Hark ! from his lyre a ftrain is heard, In hopes, ere long, to be preferr'd, To fit in ftate 'midil mitred peers. Hark and approve ! as did thy fire, The lays which, nodding by the fire, To gentle {lumbers footh'd his liftening ears. nr. Long filent fince, fave when on 'tother fide, In KEPPEL'S praife to little purpofe tried, -I roufed to well feign'd fcorn the indignant firing; But now replete with a more hopeful theme, The o'erflowing ink-bottle lhall pour its ftream, Through quills by Dullnefs pluck'd from goiling's downy wing. St. JAMES'S too fhall hail the fong, Her echoing walls the notes prolong, Whilft they alone with forrcw figh, Whofe reverence for thy parent dead, Now bids them hang their drooping head, And weep, to mark the conduct of his progeny. From [ 6 IV. From earth and thefe the mufe averts her vie\v, To meet in yonder fea of ether blue A beam to which the blaze of noon is pale : In purpling circles now the glory fpreads, A hoft of angels now unveil their heads, While heav'ns own mufic triumphs on the gale. Ah fee, two white-rob'd feraphs lead Thy father's venerable lhade ; He bends from yonder cloud of gold, While they, the minifters of light, Bear from his breaft a mantle bright, And with the heav'n-wove robe thy youthful limbs enfold, V. " Receive this myftic gift, my fon !" he cries, * And, for fo wills the Sov'reign of the Ikies, " With this receive, at ALBION'S anxious hour, f A double portion of my patriot zeal, ' Aftive to fpread the fire it clar'd to feel ** Thro* raptur'd fenates, and with awful power be thou t be people's fr lend.** * In nlluf.on to a fine and well-known paffage in MILTON'S Lycidas. THE ** Sole energy of many a lordly mind, *' Revere the (hade of BUTE, fubfervient frill " To the high didtates of the Royal will ; * f Awake to felf, to focial intereft blind. " Young as thou art, occafiott calls, " Prerogative or mounts or falls, " As thou and thy compatriots ftrive, *< Scarce in the fatal moment paft, " Which Secret Influence deem'd her laftj '* Oh! fave the expiring fiend, and bid her empire live! VII. " Proceed! -Uphold Prerogative's high claim, *' Give life, give flrength, give fubftance to her name I " The rights divine of Kings with Whigs conteft; ' < Save them from Freedom's bold incroaching hand, " Who dares, in Day's broad eye, thbfe rights withftand, " And be by Bifhops thy endeavours blefs'd !" If foil'd at firfc, refume thy coUrfe, WhiHl I, though writing worfe and worfe, Thy glorious efforts will record; Let others feek by other ways, The public's unavailing praife^ Be mine the BUTT OF SACK be thou the TREASURY'S LORD ! Meflfs. JENKINSON, ROBINSON, DUNDAS, &c; &c. THE THE STATESMEN: AN ECLOGUE. LANSD.OWNE. WHILE on the Treafury-Bench you, PITT, recline, And make men wonder at each vaft defign ; I, haplefs man, my harflier fate deplore, Ordain'd to view the regal face no more ; That face which erft on me with rapture glow'd, And fmiles refponfive to myfmiles beltow'd : But now the Court I leave, my native home, " A banilh'd man, condemn'd in woods to roam ;" While you to fenates, BRUNSWICK J S mandates give, And teach white-wands to chaunt his high prerogative. 10 PITT. Oh! LANSDOWNE, 'twas a more than mortal pow'r My fate controul'd, in that aufpicious hour, THE STATESMEN.] It will be unneceflary to inform the clafllcai reader, that this Eclogue evidently commences as an imitation of the ift. of Virgil the Author, however, with a boldnefs perfectly characterise of the perfonages he was to repreftnt, has in the progrefs of his work carefully avoided every thing like a too clofe adherence to his original d- fit". Line 10. A baniflfd man &c.] Vide the noble Marquis's celebrated fpeech, on the no lefs celebrited IRISH PROPOSITIONS. 2 When r n j When TEMPLE deign'd the dread decree to bring, And ftammer'd out the Firmaun of the King : That power I'll worfhip as my houfhold god, Ij Shrink at his frown, and bow beneath his nod ; At every feaft his prefence I'll invoke, For him my kitchen fires fhall ever fmoke ; Not mightf HASTINGS, whofe illuftrious breath Can bid a RAJAH live, or give him death, 20 Though back'd by SCOTT, by BARWELL, PALK, and all The fable fquadron fcowling from BENGAL j Not the bold Chieftain of the tribe of PHIPPS, Whofe head is fcarce lefs handfome than his {hip's; Not bare-breech'd GRAHAM, nor bare-wicted ROSE, 25 Nor the GREAT LAWYER With the LITTLE NOSE J Not even VILLIERS felf fhall welcome be, To dine fo oft, or dine fo well as he. LANSDOWNE. Think not thefe fighs denote one thought unkind, Wonder, not Envy, occupies my mind j 30 Line 14. And Jlammcr'd out the FIRMAUN, &c.] When a language fiappens to be deficient in a word to exprefs a particular idea, it has been ever cuflomary to borrow one from fome good-natured neighbour, who may happen to be more liberally funiifhed. Our Author, unfortu- nately, could find no nation nearer than TURKEY, that was able to fup- ply him with an expreflion perfectly appofite to the fentiment intended to be here conveyed. Line 2 5. Not bare-treecb'd Gs AH AM.] His Lordmip fome time fince brought in a bill to relieve his countrymen from thofe habilliments which in ENGLAND are deemed a neceflary appendage to decorum, bu among But Reverend JEN KY foon thefe thoughts fuppreft, And drove the glittering phantom from my breaft ; JENKY! Line 51. But Reverend JXNKY.] Our author here, in fome mea. fure deviating from his ufual perfpicuity, has left us in doubt whe- ther the term Reverend, is applied to the years or to the profefiion of the gentleman intended to be complimented. His long experience m the fecrets of the CRITICAL RE-VIEW, and BVCKINGHAM HOUSE, would well juftify the former fuppofition 5 yet his early admiffion into DEACON'S ORDERS, will equally fupport the latter : our readers therefore jnuft decido, while we can only fincerely exult in his Majefty's enjoy- ment [ '3 J that fage, whom mighty GECRCK declares, Next SCHWELLENBUU.CEN, great on the back flairs: J Twas JEN KINS ON ye Deacons catch the found ! ce Ye Treafury fcribes the facred name rebound ! Ye pages fing it echo it ye Peers ! And ye who bell repeat, Right Reverend Seers 1 Whofe pious tongues no wavering fancies fway, But like the needle ever point one way. 63 LANSDOWNE. Thrice happy youth ! fecure from every change, Thy beafls unnumber'd, 'mid the Comr ons range; Whilfl'thou, by JOVE'S setherial fpirit fired, Or by fweet BRUNSWICK'S fweeter breath infpired, Another ORPHEUS every bofom chear, 65 And flicks, and flocks, and flones roar bear! hear! bear! Raifed by thy pipe the favage tribes advance, And BnTls and Bears in myflic mazes dance : For me no cattle now my fleps attend, Ev'n PRICE andPRiESTLY, wearied, fcorn their friend ; 70^ And thefe twin fharers of my feflive board, Hope of my flock now feek fome richer Lord. ment of a man whofe whole pious life has been fpent in fuftaining that beautiful and pathetic injur.dion of fcripture, " SERVE GOD, ANJ> " HONOUR THE KlNG." Line ID. And Bulls and Bean in myjlk mazes dance."] The beau- tiful allufion here made to that glorious ftate of doubt and obfcurity in which our youthful Minifter's meafures have been invariably involved, with its confequent operation on the ftockholders, is here moft fortu- nately introduced. What a ftriking contraft does Mr. PITT'S conducl, in this particular, form to that of the Duke of FOR TLAND, Mr. Fox, and your other plain matter cfjaf? mtn ? Sooner C >4 3 PITT. Sooner fliall EFFINCHAM clean linen wear, Or MORNINGTON without his flar appear ; Sooner each prifoner BULL ER'S law efcape j 75 Sooner lhall QUEENS BURY commit a rape; Sooner mall POVVNEY, HOWARD'S noddle reach ; Sopner ftiall THURLOW hear his brother preach ; Sooner with. VESTRIS, BOOTLE mail contend; Sooner mall EDEN not betray his friend ; 8 Sooner DUN DAS an Indian bribe decline ; Sooner mall I my chaftity refign ; Soonerfhall Ross than PRETTYMAN lie fafter, Than PITT forget that JENKINSON'S his maker. LANSDOWNE. Yet oft in times of yore I've feen thee Hand 8^ Like a tall May-pole 'mid the patriot band ; While with reforms you tried each baneful art, To wring frem forrows from your Sovereign's heart ; That heart, where every virtuous thought is known, But modeltly looks up and keeps them all his own. 99 PITT. Twas then that PITT, for youth fuch warmth allows, To wanton Freedom paid his amorous vows ; Line 83. Sooner Jball Rosz than PRETTYMAN* lie J after. ~\ This beautiful compliment to the happy art of embellishment, fo wonder- fully pofieffed by this par noiile fratrum, merits our warmeft applaufe ; and the fl and f qua! terms to place An union is thy care; But truil me, Powis, in this cafe The equal fhould not pleafe his Grace, And PITT diflikes ihe/air. ANOTHER. The virulent fair, Proteft and declare, This Miniftry's not to their hearts; For fay what they will, To them Matter BILL Has never difcover'd his parts. ANOTHER. Ex nibilo nil jit. When PITT exclaim'd, *' By meafures I'll be tried," That falfe appeal all woman-kind denied. ANOTHER. INCAUTIOUS Fox will oft repofe In fair-one's bofom thoughts of worth j But PITT his fecrets keeps fo clofe, No female arts can draw them forth. f-A coalition between the DUKE or PORTLAND and Mr. PITT, was attempted to be formed by Mr. Powis, and the other Country Gentlemen. This endeavour, however, was defeated in confequence of Mr. PITT'S conftrudtion e f the terms fair and tayual. ANOTHER. C *3 3 ANOTHER. HAD PITT to his advice inclined, SIR CECIL had undone us ; But he, a friend to womankind, Would nothing lay upon us. ANCILLA. ANOTHER. On Mr. P I T T ' s Prudence. THOUGH PITT have to women told fome things, n doubt; Yet his private affairs they have never found out, ANOTHER. WHO dares aflert that virtuous PITT Partakes in female pleafures ; For know there ne'er was woman yet Could e'er endure half meafures. ANOTHER. Puer loquitur. THOUGH big with mathetnatic pride, By me this axiom is denied j I can't conceive, upon my foul, My parts are equal to the whole. THE [ H 3 THE DELAVALIAD, WHY, fays an indignant poet, fliould Mr. ROLLE alone, of all the geniufes that diftin- guifh the prefent period, be thought the only perfon of worth or talents enough to give birth and name to an immortal effufion of di- vine poefy ? He queflions not that great man's pretentions ; far from it ; he reveres his ancef- tors, adores his talents, and feels fomething hardly fhort of idolatry towards his manners and accomplifhments. But ftill, why fuch pro- fufion of diftindtion towards one, to the exclu- fion of many other high chara&ers ? Our Poet profefles to feel this injuftice extremely, and has made the following attempt to refcue one deferving man from fo unmerited an obloquy. The reader will perceive the meafure to be an imitation of that which has been fo defervedly admired in our immortal bard, in his play of " As Ton Like It." From From the Eafl to the Weftern Inde No Jewel is like Rofalind j Her worth being mounted on the wind, Thro' all the world bears Rofalind, Sec. &c. This kind of verfe is adopted by the poet to avoid any appearance of too fervile an imita- tion of the ROLL i AD. He begins, YE patriots all, both great and fmall, Refign the palm to DELAVAL ; The virtues would'ft thou praftife all, So in a month did DELAVAL. A patriot firft both ftout and tall, Firm for the day was DELAVAL. The friend to court, where frowns appal, The next became good DELAVAL. Wilt thou againft oppreffion bawl ? Jull fo did valiant DELAVAL ! Yet in a month, thyfelf enthral, So did the yielding DELAVAL : Yet give to both, a dangerous fall, So did reflecting DELAVAL. If refignation's good in all, Why fo it is in DELAVAL : For if you p againft a wall, Juft fo you may 'gainft DELAVAL : And if with foot you kick a ball, E'en fo you may A DELAVAL. 'Gainft influence would'ft thou vent thy gall, Thus did the patriot DELAVAL : E Yet Yet fervile ftoop to Royal call, So did the loyal DELAVAL. What friend to Freedom's fair-built Hall, Was louder heard than DELAVAL ? Yet who the Commons rights to maul, More ftout was found than DELAVAL ? 'Gainft Lords and Lordlings would'fl thou brawl, Juft fo did he SIR DELAVAL : Yet on thy knees, to honours crawl, Oh ! fo did he LORD DELAVAL. An evil fprite poffefled SAUL, And fo it once did DELAVAL. Muiic did foon the fenfe recal, Of ISRAEL'S King, and DELAVAL. SAUL rofe at DAVID'S vile cat-call, . Not fo the wifer DELAVAL : 'Twas money's fweeteftyi/, lafal, That chear'd the fenfe of DELAVAL When royal power mail inftal, With honours new LORD DELAVAL ; Who won't fay the miraculous hawl, Is caught by faithful DELAVAL ? 'Gainft rapine would'ft thou preach like PAUL, Thus did religious DELAVAL : Yet fcreen the fcourges of BENGAL, Thus did benignant DELAVAL. To future times recorded fhall, Be all the worths of DELAVAL : E'en OSSIAN, or the great FIN GAL, Shall yield the wreath to DELAVAL. From Prince's court to cobler's ftall, Shall found the name of DELAVAL : For C ? 3 For neither fceptre nor the awl, Are ftrong and keen as DELAVAL.- Some, better praife, than this poor fcrawl, Shall fing the fame of DELAVAL : For fure no fong can ever pall, That celebrates great DEL AVAL : Borne on all fours, the fame mall fprawl, To lateft time of DELAVAL : Then come ye Nine, in one great fquall, Proclaim the worths of DELAVAL. [The annotations of the learned are E 2 THIS C 28 ] THIS IS THE HOUSE THAT GEORGE* BUILT. This is the Houfe that George built. This is the Malt that lay in the Houfe that George built Lord NUGENT. This is the RAT, that eat the Malt, that lay in the Houfe that George built. Mr. Fox. This is the CAT, that killed the Rat, that cat the Malt, that lay in the Houfe that George built. PEPPER ARDEN. This is the DOG, that barked at the Cat, that killed the Rat, that eat the Malt, that lay in the Houfe that George built. Lord TIIURLOW. This is the BULL with the crumpled horn, that roared with the Dog, * George Nugent Grenville, Marquis of Bucking- ham* that that backed at the Cat, that killed the Rat, that eat the Malt, that lay in the Houfe that George built. Mr. PITT. This is the MAIDEN f all for- lorn,, that coaxed the Bull with the crumpled horn, that roared with the Dog, that barked at the Cat, that killed the Rat, that eat the Malt, that lay in the Houfe that George built. Mr. DFNDAS. This is the SCOT by all for- fvvorn, that wedded * the Maiden all forlorn, that coaxed the Bull with the crumpled horn, that roared with the Dog, that barked at the Cat, that killed the Rat, that eat the Malt, that lay in the Houfe that George built. Mr. WILKES. This is the PATRIOT co- vered with fcorn, that flattered the Scot by all forfworn, that wedded the Maiden all forlorn, that coaxed the Bull with the crumpled horn, that roared with the Dog, that barked at the f The immaculate continence of the BRITISH SCIPIO, fo ftrongly infilled on by his friends, as confUtuting one of the mod fhining ingredients of his own uncommon cha- racter, is only alluded to here as a received fact, and not by any means as a reproach. * Wedded. This Gentleman's own term for a Co- alition. 3 Cat, [ 30 ] Cat, that killed the Rat, that eat tht Malt,* that lay in the Houfe that George built. CONSCIENCE. This is the COCK that crowed in the morn, that waked the Patriot covered with fcorn, that flattered the Scot by all for- fworn, that wedded the Maiden all forlorn, that coaxed the Bull with the crumpled horn, that roared with the Dog, that barked at the Cat, that killed the Rat, that eat the Malt, that lay in the Houfe that George built. EPIGRAMS EPIGRAMS By SIR CECIL WRAY, Firft publifhed in the Gentleman's Magazine, under the iignatures of DAMON, PHILOMELA, NOLENS VOLENS, and CRITANDBR. To CELIA, (nohe dignity of his deportment, when he firft rifes from the Treafury Bench, with his head and eyes erect, and arms extended, the regu- lar poize of the fame action throughout the whole of his fpeech, the equal pitch of his voice, which is full as fonorous and emphatic in expreflions of the leaft weight ; above all, his words, which are his principal excellence, and are really finer and longer than can be conceived, and clearly prove him, in my judgment, to be far fnperior to every other orator. Mr. Fox, it feems, in perfect defpair of imitating the expreffion and manner of his rival, never attempts to foar above a language that is perfectly plain, obvious, and intelli- gible, to the meaneft underflanding ; whereas, I give you my word, I have more than once met with feveral who have frankly owned to me, that Mr. PITT'S eloquence was often above their capacity to comprehend. In ad- dition to this, it is obfervable, that Mr. PITT has the happy art of exprefling himfelf, even upon the mod trifling occafton, in at leaft three times as many words as any other per- fon ufes in an argument of the utmofl im- portance, r 46 ] / portance, which is fo evident an advantage over all his adversaries, that I wonder they' perfift to engage in fo unequal a combat. I lhall take an early opportunity of com- municating to you fome further obfervations on this fubjedt ; in the mean time believs me, Dear Sir, With the trueft regard, Yours, &c. &c. &c, Cocoa ree, Afoyitj, 1784^ APO- I 47 J THE POLITICAL RECEIPT BOOK, FOR THE TEAR 1784. HOW TO MAKE A PREMIER. TAKE a man with a great quantity of that fort of words which produce the greateft effect upon the many, and the leaft upon the few : mix them with a large portion of affe&ed can- dour and ingenuoufnefs, introduced in a haugh- ty and contemptuous manner. Let there be a great abundance of falfehood, concealed un- der an apparent difmtereflednefs and integrity ;. and the two laft to be the moft profefled when the former is moft pradiifed. Let his engage- ments and declarations, however folemnly made, be broken and difregarded, if he thinks he can procure afterwards a popular indemnity for illegality and deceit. He muft fubfcribe to the dodrine of PASSIVE OBEDIENCE, and to the exercife of patronage independent of hii approbation ; and be carelefs of creating the moft t 43 ] mofl formidable enemies, if he can gratify the perfonal revenge and hatred of thofe who em- ploy him, even at the expence of public ruin and general confufion. HOW TO MAKE A SECRETARY OF STATE. Take a man in a violent paflion, or a man that never has been in one ; but the firfl is the beft. Let him be concerned in making an ig- nominious peace, the articles of which he could not comprehend, and cannot explain. Let him fpeak loud, and yet never be heard ; and to be the kind of man for a SECRETARY OF STATE when nobody elfe will accept it. HOW TO MAKE A PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. Take a man who all his life loved office, merely for its emolument ; and when meafures which he had approved were eventually unfor- tunate, let him be notorious for relinquifhing his lhare of the refponfibility of them ; and be ftigmatized, for political courage in the pe- riod of profperity, and for cowardice when there exifts but the appearance of danger. HOW [ 49 ] HOW TO MAKE A CHANCELLOR. Take a man of great abilities, with a heart as black as his countenance. Let him poflefs a rough inflexibility, without the leaft tincture of generality or affection, and be as manly as oaths and ill manners can make him. He fhould be a man who will acl politically with all parties, hating and deriding every one of the individuals which compofe them. HOW TO MAKE A MASTER OF THE ORDNANCE. Take a man of a bufy, meddling, turn of mind 3 with juft as much parts as will make him troublefome, but never refpetflable. Let him be fo perfectly callous to a fenfe 6f per- fonal honour, and to the diftindtion of public fame, as to be marked for the valour of in- fulting where it cannot be revenged * ; and, if a cafe fhould arife, where he attempts to injure reputation, becaufe it is dignified and abfent, he Ihould poflefs difcretlon enough to apologife and to recant, if it is afterwards divftated to him to do fo, notwithftanding any What care I for the King's Birth-day !" H previoufly [ 50 3 previously declared refolutions to the contrary. Such a man will be found to be the moft fit for fervitude in times of cifgrace and degra- dation. HOW TO MAKE A TREASURER 6p THE NAVY. Take a man, compofed of moft of the in- gredients neceffary to enable him to attack and defend the very fame principles in politics, or any party or parties concerned in them, at all times, and upon all occafions. Mix with thcfe ingredients a very large quantity of the root of intereft, fo that the juice of it may be always fweet and uppermoft. Let him be one who avows a pride in being fo neceflary an in- ftrument for every political meafure, as to be able to extort thofe honours and emoluments from the weaknefs of a government, which he had been deliberately refufed, at a time when it would have been honourable to have obtained them. HOW TO MAKE A LORD OF THE TREASURY. Take the moft ftupid man you can find, but who can make his fignature ; and from igno- rance in every thing will never contradict you * ia I 5- ] in any thing. He fljould not have a brother in the church, for if he has, he will moft pro- bably abandon or betray you. Or, take a man of fafhion, with any fort of celebrity ; if he has accuitomed himfelf to arguments, though the dullnefs can only be meafured by the length of them, he will ferye tp fpeak againft time, with a certainty in that cafe of never be- ing anfvvered. HOW TO MAKE A SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. Take a pleading Country Attorney, without paffion, and without parts. Let him be one who will feize the firft opportunity of re- nouncing his connection with the firfl man who draws him out of obfcurity and ferves him. If he has no affections or friendlhips, fo much the better ; he will be more ready to contri- bute to his own advantage. He Ihould be of a temper fo pliable, and a perfeverance fo in- effectual, as to lead his mailer into troubles, difficulties, and ruin, when he thinks he is labouring to overcome them. Let him be a man, who has cunning enough, at the fame time, to prey upon and deceive franknefs and H 2 confidence ; confidence ; and who, when he can no longer avail himfelf of both, will facrifice even his character in the caufe of treachery, and prefer the interefts refulting from it, to the virtuous diftinctions of honour and gratitude. HOW TO MAKE A SECRETARY AT WAR. Take a man that will take any thing. Let him poffefs all the negative virtues of being able to do no harm, but at the fame time can do no good; for they are qualifications of a* courtly nature, and ma^ in time recommend him to a (ituation fomething worfe, o.r fome- thing better. HOW TO MAKE AN ATTORNEY GENERAL. Take a little ugly man, with an eye to his preferment. It is not requifite that he fhould be much of a lawyer, provided that he be a to- lerable politican ; but in order to qualify him- felf for an Englffi Judge, he Ihould firft be a Welch one. He muft have docility fufficient to do any thing; and, if a period fhould ar- rive, when power has popularity enough to make rules and laws for the .evident purpole of gratifying malignity, he fhould be one who fhoulcj r 53 ] fliould be ready to advife or confent to the cre- ation of new cafes, and be able to defend new remedies for them, though they militate againft every principle of reafon, equity, and juftice. N. B. The greateft part of this Receipt would make a MASTER OF THE ROLLS. HOW TO MAKE A WARDROBE-KEEPER, OR PRIVY PURSE. Take the mod fupercilious fool in the na- tion, and let him be in confidence in propor- tion to his ignorance. HOW TO MAKE A SURVEYOR GENERAL OF THE ORDNANCE. Take a Captain in the Navy, as being beft acquainted with the Army ; he Ihould have been a few years at fea, in order to qualify him for the direction of works onjhore ; and let him be one who will facrince his connections with %| much cafe as he would renounce his profef- iion. sow I 54 1 KOW TO MAKE A PEER. Take a man, with or without parts, of an ancient or a new family, with one, or with two Boroughs at his command, previous to a diffolution. Let him renounce ail former pro- feffions and obligations, and engage to bring in your friends, and to fupport you himfelf. Or, take the Country Gentleman who the lead expects it, and particularly let the honour be conferred when he has done nothing to de- ferve it. HOW TO MAKE SECRET INFLUENCE. Take a tall, ill-looking man, with more va- nity, and lefs reafon for it, than any perfon in Europe. He Jhould be one who does not pof- fefs a fingle confolatory private virtue, under a general public defoliation. His pride and avarice Ihould increafe with his profperity, .while they lead him to negledt and defpife the natural claims of indigence in his own family. If fuch a man can be found, he will eafily be made the inftigator, as well as the inftrument, of a cabal, which has the courage to do mil- chief, [ 5i chief, and the cowardice of not being refpon- fible for it ; convinced that he can never ob- tain any other importance, than that to be de- rived from the execution of purpofes evident- ly purfued for the eftablifhment of tyranny upon the wreck of public ruin. HINTS HINTS FROM DR. PRETTYMAN, THE COMMIS, TO THE PREMIER'S PORTER. To admit Mr. WILBERFORCE, although Mr* PiTT'lhould be even engaged with the SOUTH- WARK agents, fabricating means to defeat Sir RICHARD HOTHAM. WILBE mult have two bows ! ATKINSON to be fhewn into the anti- chamber he will find amufement in reading LAZARRELLO DE TORMEZ, or the complete Rogue. If LORD APSLEY and Mr. PERCIVAL come from the Admiralty, they may be ufhered into the' room where the large looklng-glajjes are fixed in that Cafs they will not regret waiting Don't let LORD MAIION be detained an inflant at the door, the pregnant young lady oppofite having been fufficiently frightened already ! ! ! JACK ROBINSON to be fhewn into the ftudy, as the private papers were all removed this morning Let Lord LONSDALE have my Lord, and your Lordjbip, repeated to his ear as often as poilible the apartment hung with garter-blut is proper for his reception ! The other new Peers [ 57 3 Peers to be greeted only plain Sir! that they may remember their late ignobility, and feel new gratitude to the benefactor of honours / You may, as if upon recollection, addrefs fome of the laft lift, My Lord! and aik their names it will be pleafing to them to found out their own titles. Lord ELIOT is to be an exception, as he will tediouily go through, every degree of his dignity in giving an an- fwer. All letters from BERKELEY-SQUARE to be brought in without mentioning Lord SHEL- BURNE'S name, or even Mr. ROSE'S. The Treafury Meflenger to carry the red-box, as ufual, to CHARLES JENKINSON before it is fent to Buckingham-houfe. Don't blunder a fe- cond time, and queflion Lord MOUNTMORRES as to the life of a hackney chairman- it is wrong to judge by appearances ! Lord GRAHAM may be admitted to the library he can't read, and therefore won't derange the books. A TALE, [ 53 3 A TALE. AT BROOKES'S once, it fo fell out, The box was pufli'd with glee about; With mirth reciprocal inflamed,- 'Twas faid they rather play'd than gamed; A general impulfe through them ran. And feem'd to actuate every man : But as all human pleafures tend At fome fad moment to an end, The hour at laft approach'd, when lo ! 'Twas time for every one to go. Now for the firft time it was feen, A certain fum unowned had been ; To no man's fpot directly fixt, But placed ambiguoufly betwixt : So doubtfully indeed it lay, That none with confidence could fay This cafh is mine I'm certain on't But moft declined with* " Sir, I won't " *' I can' in confcient'e urge a right, 4C To what I am not certain quite." NORTHUMBRIA*9DUKE, who wifh'd tO put An ei>d to this politfc difpute, Whofe generous nature yearn'd to fee The fmalleft feeds of enmity, Arofe and faid " this cafh is mine ' For being afk'd to-day to dine, " You fee I am furbelow'd and fine, " With full-made fleeveslwid pendant lace ; '" HeJy on't, this w*> j.uft the cafe, 2 That [ 59 ] , ** That when by chance my arm I moved, *' The money from me then I moved ; XXVII. If St. PETER was made, Of Religion the head, For boldly his mailer denying ; , Sure, PRETTY may hope At leaft to be Pope, For his greater atchievements in lying, XXVIII. Says PRETTYMA.N, " I'll fib, d'ye fee, " If you'll reward me freely." " Lye on (cries PITT) and claim of me ' The Bilhopnck of E LY,'' XXIX. *Tis faid the */may fanclify the meant, And pious frauds denote a fpecial grace j Thus PRETTY'S lye his matter nobly fcreens < Himfclf, good man ! but feeks a tetter place. XXX. *' Sons of PATRICK ! (cries ORDE) fet up fliop in your bog, And you'll ruin the trade of JOHN BULL and NICK FF.OS." " That's a lye (replies PITT) WE fhall gain by their rjches; If we wear IRISH Jbirts', they muft wear ENGLISH breeclx*** " You both lye (exclaims PRETTY) but I will lye tpp ; And, compar'd with my lye, what you fay will feem true !" For C 7i 3 XXXI. For pert malignity obferv'd alone, Jn all things elfe unnotic'd, and unknown ; Obfcurely odious, I'RETTY pafs'd his days, TU1 more inventive talents won our lays. ." Now write, he cries, an Epigram's my pride : ** Who wou'd have known me, if I ne'er had ly'd ?'* XXXII. With pious whine, and hypocritlc fnivel, Our fathers faid, *' Tell truth, and flame the Devil!" A nobler way bold PR TT- N is trying, Hefeeks to Jbame the Devil by outlying. XXXIII. (In anfwer to a former) No cloven tongue the Doftor boafts from heav'n, Such gifts but little wou'd the Doctor boot ; for preaching Truth the cloven tongues were giv'n His lyes demonftrate more the cloven foot. XXXIV. Maxims, fays PRETT, and adages of old, Were circumfcrib'd, though clever; Thus Truth, they taught, not always {hould be told; But I maintain, not ever. XXXV. Jn the drama of CONGREVE, how charm'd do we read Of Spintext the Par/on, and Maxwell the Cheat', But in life would you (ludy them clofer, indeed, For equal originals fee Downing-ftreett Pirr C 7* 3 XXXVI. PITT and PRETTY came from College To ferve themfclves, and ferve the Hate } And the world muft all acknowledge Half is done fo half may wait: For PRETTY fays, 'tis rather new, When even half they fay is true. xxxvir. The Devil's a dealer in lyes, and we fee That two of a trade never yet could agree ; Then DOCTOR proceed, and d m n delpife^ What Devil would take fuch a rival in lyes. XXXVIII. GRAND TREATY OF LYING. The Devil and PRETTY a treaty have made, On a permanent footing to fettle their trade ; 'Tis the Commerce of Lying, and this is the law; The Devil imports him all lyes that are raiu ; Which, check'd by no docket, unclogg'd with a fee, The Prieft manufactures, and vends duty free ; Except where the lye gives his confcience fuch trouble, The internal expence fhould have recompence double. Thus to navigate falfehood no bar they'll devife ; fcut Hell muft become the EMPORIUM of Lyes. Nay, the Bilhops themfelves, when in pulpit they bark it, Mult fupply their confumption, from Satan's ownmarktt t While reciprocal tribute is paid for the whole In a furplufage d mng of P TTY 's foul. FOREIGN L 73' 1 FOREIGN EPIGRAMS; I. Sj the Chevalier de BOUFFLERS. *' PRETTIMAN eft menteur, il s'eft moque de nous *' tc (Se orient en courroux tous les fots d'Angleterre}" Calmez vous done, Meffieurs eh ! comment favezvous Si c'eft bien un menfonge, ou fi c'eft un myflere? II. By Profeflbr HEYNE, o/V^UNivERsif y O^GOTTINGEN In Dominion PiTTtfM Doftoremque PRETTY MANNUM, Figzilns loquitur Scena, Vicus, vulgo didus Downing, Vivitur hie, cives, pafto quo denique ? Rhetor Ecce loqui refugit ; fcribere fcriba negat. III. BY THE SAME. Falfiloquufne Puer magis, an fallacior ille Scriba? Puer fallax, fcribaqu^ falfiloquUs. IV.. By COMTE CASIMIR, a defcendant of the famous CASI MIR, the great Latin Poet of POL AND. BELLUS HOMO atque//aj vis idem dicier At tu Mendax, nnde Pius? Bellus es unde, Strabo ? [ 74 ] V. $y FATHER MOONY, Parijb Priejl O/K.ILOOBBIN*. A Mick nabraaga Streepy poga ma Thone Na vuifhama da Ghob, Oghone ! Oghone ! VI. * By EUCENIUS, Archbijhop . Sneer Jos & non/actr dicitur. IX. MADRIGALE J^ SIGNOR CAPONINI, c/*RoME. In quel bel di, ch'il Dio del VERO nacque, Per tuttq il mondo tacque Ogni Oracol mendace in ogni fano. Cosi va detto, ma fi e detto in vano. Ecco, in queft' ifola remota, anch'ora L'Oracola s'adora D'un giovinetto Febo, che a le genti Per un fuo facerdote manda fuora Quel, ch'ei rifponde a lufingar lor menti j In guifa, che puo far chiamar verace L'Oracolo de' Grechi piu mendace. X. By Dr. CORTICELLI, C/"BOLOGNA. lo non ho mai veduto un si bel PRETTIMANNO, Con un si gran Perrucho, e d* occhi si fquintanno. - La / C XL / the language ef OTAHEITE. By M. de BOUGAINVILLE. (With an interlined Tranflation, according to Capt. Coon's GLOSSARY.) * Prettyman to call liar interjeclion Peetimai, tooo too, ooo, taata, Allaheueeai ! Jnjtncere man to cuff liar najiy Prettyman Hamaneeno, eparoo, . taata, erepo, Peetimai. XII. In the language of TERRA INCOGNITA, (viz. AUSTRAL is) by the noted Mr. BRUCE. [A tranilation is requefted by the'earlieft dif- coverer, the original being left at the pub- lilher's for his infpeftion by the author, who has moft kindly cQmmunicated the following reprefentation of the genuine words, adapted to the ENGLISH type. May we not prefume to fugged the infinite fervice Mr. M'PHERSON would render to his country, were he gene- roufly to embark in the firfl outward-bound ihip for TERRA AUSTRAL is No man in EU- ROPE being fo well qualified for the ufeful fta- * PEETIMAI is wonderfully near the original PRETTY- MAN, confidering that, after every effort, the inhabitants of OTAHEITE could not approximate to the name of BANKS nearer than OPANO nor of COOK, than*TooTE. tion C 77 3 tion of univerfal linguift and decypherer to tfyc favages " / dcctts, I nq/lrum."] HOT. TOT. HUM, SCUM. KlKEN. ASS. HOT. TOT. Row. Row. KlKEN. ASS. QUIP. LUNK. NUN. SKUMP. KISSEN. Ass. TARRAH. DUD. LlCEN. TOCK. KIKEN. Ass. TOT. We muft apologize to feveral of out more erudite correfpondents, for fufpending fome tfiort time the publication of their moft curious epigrams on the Dodtor. We have not the leaft objection to the extra expence necerTarily in- curred on the prefent occafion, by the purchafe of a variety of antique types. Nay, we have actually contracted with the celebrated CAS- LON, for the cafting of a proper quantity of the COPTIC andRuNic characters, in order to the due reprefentation of the PRETTYMAN- NIANA, communicated bj ProfefTor WHITE, and t 78 ] and Monf. MAILLET. As it might be fome time however, before Mr. CASLON, even with the affiflance of MefT. FRY and SONS' foundery, can furnifh us with the PERSIC, SYRIAC, and CHACHTAW types, we cannot promife the Doctor the infertion of the GENTOO REBUS, or the NEW ZEALAND ACROSTIC in the preknt edition. ADVER- t 79 3 ADVERTISEMENT EXTRAORDINARY. MISSING from the genealogies of .the new Peers three FATHERS five MOTHERS nine GRANDFATHERS fourteen GRANDMOTHERS twenty GREAT-GRANDFATHERS and nearly twice the number of GREAT-GRANDMOTHERS alfo fome COMPLETE GENERATIONS OF AN- CESTORS. If any perfon can give notice at the HE- KALD'S OFFICE of any Fathers, Mothers, Grandfathers, Grandmothers, Great-grandfa- thers, and Great-grandmothers, worth own- ing, of the names of C , D , H , L , P , E , &c. &c. &c. fo as that the faid Fathers, Mothers, Grandfathers, Grandmothers, Great-grandfathers, and Great- grandmothers, may be taken and reftored to the advertifers, the perfon fo informing, for every fuch notice, ihall receive ONE GUINEA reward, and no queflions ihall be afked. And if any perfon wilfundertake to find AN- CESTORS BY THE GENERATION, for CVCry TC- gular defcent of not lefs than three, and not more than five, he Ihall receive TWO GUI- NEAS each anceilor ; and fo every regular de- 2 fcent [ So ] fcent of not lefs than fix, and not more than ten, he fhall receive FIVE GUINEAS each an- ceftor, and fo in proportion for any greater number. A HANDSOME COMPLIMENT Will alfo be given, in addition to the rewards above pro- pofed, for ANCESTORS who diftinguifhed them- felves under JAMES II. CHARLES II. and Charles I. in the caufe of PREROGATIVE. Likewife an extraordinary price will be paid for the difcovery of any ANCESTOR of RE- MOTE ANTIQUITY and HIGH FAMILY ; fuch as the immortal DUKE ROLLO, companion of WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, and founder of the prefent illu^ftrious family of ROLLE. N. B. No greater reward will be offered, as THE HERALDS have received directions for 'making NEW. VIVE C si ] VIVE L E SCRUTINY. CROSS GOSPEL THE FIRST. BUT what fays my good LORD BISHOP OF LONDON to this fame WESTMINSTER SCRU- TiNY-this daily combination of rites, facred and profane ceremonies religious and political under his hallowed roof of ST. ANN'S CHURCH, SOHO ? Should his Lordfhip be unacquainted with this curious procefs, let him know it is briefly this : At ten o'clock the HIGH BAI- LIFF opens his inquiiition in the VESTRY, -for the PERDITION OF VOTES, where he never fails to be honoured with a crowded audience. At eleven o'clock the HIGH PRIEST mounts the roftrurn in the CHURCH for the SALVATION OF SOULS, without a {ingle body to attend him; even his corpulent worlhip, the clerk, after the firil introductory AMEN, filing off to the Veftry, to lend a hand towards reaping a quicker harveft | The alternate vociferations from Church to Veftry, during the different SERVICES, were found to crofs each other fcunetirnes in refponfes fo appoiite, that a gen- M tkman [ s* 3 tleman who writes fhort-hand was induced to take down part of the Church medley dialogue of one day, which he here tranfcribes for ge- neral information, on a fubjeft of fuch fingu- lar importance, viz. HIGH BAILIFF. I cannot fee that this here fel~ low is a juft vote. CURATE. " In thy figbt Jhall no man living Is jujHfied." Mr. Fox. I defpife the pitiful machinations of my opponents, knowing the juft caufe of my ele&ors muft in the end prevail. CURATE. " And with thy favourable kindnefs Jhalt thou defend him as with ajhield" WITNESS. He fwore d n him if he did nof give Fox a plumper ! CLERK." Good Lord! deliver us" Mr. MORGAN. I ftand here as Counfel for Sir CECIL WRAY. CURATE. " ji general Jeftilence v'lfited the land, ferpents and FROGS defiled the holy temple" Mr. PHILLIPS. Mr. HIGH BAILIFF, the au- dacity of that fellow oppofite to me would almoft juftify my chaftiling him in this facred place ; but I will content myfelf with rolling his heavy head in the neigh- pouring kennel. CURATE, [ 83 ] CURATE. " Give peace in our time, Lord!" Sir CECIL WRAY* I rife only to fay thus milch, that is, concerning myfelf though as for the matter of myfelf, I don't care, Mr. HIGH BAILIFF, much about it Mr. Fox. Hear ! hear ! hear ! CURATE." If tbou Jhalt fee the afs of him that hateth thee lying tinder his burthen, thou J/jalt furely help him." Sir CECIL WRAY. I truft I dare fay at leaft I hope I may venture to think that my Right Hon. friend I mould fay ene- my fully comprehends what I have to offer in my own defence. CURATE. " As for me I am a worm, and no man ; a 'Very /corn of men, and the outcajl of the people ! fearfulnefs and trembling are come upon me, and an horrible dread over' whelmed me ! ! ! " HIGH BAILIFF. As that fellow there fays he did not vote for Fox, who did he poll for? CURATE. " BARRABAS ! now Bafrabas was n robber." M a VIVE [ 84 J VIVE LE SCRUTINY* CROSS GOSPEL THE SECOND. HIGH BAILIFF.-? This here eafe is, as I may fay, rather more muddier than I could wifli. DEPUTY GRO-JAN. Ce n j ejl pas clair< I link? Sir, with you. CURATE. " Lighten our darknefs, we befeecb thee, Lord!" Mr. Fox. Having thus recapitulated all the points of fo contradictory an evidence, I leave you, Mr. High Bailiff, to decide upon its merits. CURATE." He leadeth Counfellors awayfpoiled t and maketh Judges fools" HIGH BAILIFF. I don't care three brafs pins points about that there though the poor feller did live in a ihed ; yet as he fays he once boiled a iheep's head under his own roof, which I calls his caftbillum argyle t I declares him a good wote I CLERK. " Oh Lord! incline our hearts to keep this law." BAR- [ 85 3 BAR-KEEPER. Make way for the parilh-ofE- cers, and the other gem men of the IVeftry. CURATE. " I faid my houfe foould be called fl houfe of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves!" ,Mr. ELCOCK. Mr. High Balky I SJr, them there Foxites people are fuiggering and ///- i.v. tering on the other fide of the table ; and from what I can guefs I am fure jt can . be at nobody but you or me. CURATE. " Surely" I am more brutijh than any man, and have not tie under/landing of a man !" Sir CECIL WRAY. I am fure this fame SCRU- TINY proves fufHciently burthenfome to me ! CURATE. " Saddle me an afs, and they f addled him." HIGH BAILIFF. Mr. HARGRAVE here, my counfel, fays it is my opinion that this ivote is legally fubftantiated accordhng to law. C CRATE. OF THE FIRST PART. C .101 3 PART IL ADDRESSED TO MR. HAYLEY. TO thy candour now HAYLEY I offer the line, Which after thy model I fain would refine. Thy fkill, in each trial of melody fvveeter, Can to elegant themes adapt frolickfome metre ; And at will, with a comic or tender controul, Now fpeak to the humour, and now to the foul. We'll turn from the objefts of fatire and fpleen, That late, uncontrafled, disfigured the fcene ; To WRAY leave the rage the defeated attends, And the conqueror hail in the arms of his friends; Count with emulous zeal the felefled and true, Enroll in the lift, and the triumph purfue. Tkefe are friendmips that bloomed in the morning of life, Thofe were grafted on thorns midft political ftrife ; Alike they matured from the Hem, or the flower, Un blighted by int'reft, unfliaken by power. Bright band ! to whofe feelings in conftancy tried, Disfavour is glory, oppreflion is pride ; Attached to his fortunes, and fond of his famej Vicifiitudes pafs but to fhew you the fame. But whence this fidelity, new to the age? Can parts, though fublime, fuch attachments engage > No : the dazzle of parts may the pafiions allure, 'Tis the heart of the friend makes affecYions endure. The t iw 3 The heart that intent on all worth but Its o\vtt> Affifls every talent, and arrogates none; The feeble protects, as it honours the brave, Expands to the juft, and hates only the knave. Thefe are honours, my Fox, that are due to thy deeds 5 But lo ! yet a brighter alliance fucceeds ; The alliance of beauty in luftre of youth, That fhines on thy caufe with the radiance of truth* The convidiun they feel the fair zealots impart, And the eloquent eye fends it home to the heart. Each glance has the touch of Ithuriel's fpear, That no art can withftand, no delufion can bear. And the effort of malice and lie of the day, Detected and fcorn'd, break like vapour away. Avaunt, ye profane I the fair pageantry moves: An entry of VENUS, led on by the loves ! Behold how the urchins round DEVONSHIRE prefs ! For orders, fubmiffive, her eyes they addrefs : She affumes her command with a diffident fmile. And leads, thus attended, the pride of the Ifle. Oh I now for the pencil of GUI DO ! to trace, Of K.EPPEL the features, of WALDEGRAVES the grace j Of FITZROY the bloom the May morning to vie, Of SEFTON the air, of DUNCANNON the eye ; Of LOFTUS the fmiles (though with preference proud. She gives ten to herhulband, for one to the croud) Of PORTLA'ND the manner, that fteals on the breaft, But is too much her own to be caught or exprefled ; The C io3 ] The charms that with fentiment BOUVERIE blends* The faireft of forms and the trueft of friends ; The look that in WARBURTON, humble and chafte, Speaks candour and truth, and difcretion and taite; Or with equal expreffion in HORTON combined, Vivacity's dimples with reafon refined. REYNOLDS, hafte to my aid, for a figure divine. Where the pencil of GUIDO has yielded to thine; Bear witnefs the canvas where SHERIDAN lives, And with angels, the lovely competitor, ftrives While Earth claims her beauty and Heaven her {train, Be it mine to adore ev'ry link of the chain ! But new claimants appear ere the lyre is unftrung, Can PAYNE be patted by ? Shall not MILKER be fung? See DELME and HOWARD, a favourite pair, For grace of both clafles, the zealous and fair A verfe for MORA NT, like her wit may it pleafe, Another for BRADDYLL of elegant eafe, For BAMFYLDE a fimile worthy her frame Quick, quick I have yet half a hundred to name - Not PARNASSUS in concert could anfwer the call. Nor multiplied mufes do juftice to all. Then follow the throng where with feftal delight More pleafing than HEBE, CREVVE opens the night. Not the goblet neftareous of welcome and joy, That DIDO prepared for the hero of TROY ; Not Fiftion, dcfcribing the banquets above, Where goddefles mix at the table of JOVE ; Could C "04 ] Could afford to the foul more ambrofial cheer Than attends on the fairer affociates here. But CREWE, with a mortal's diiHndlion content, Bounds her claim to the rites of this happy event ; For the hero to twine civic garlands of fame, With the laurel and rofe interweaving his name, And while 16 Paeans his merits avow, ^s the Queen of the feaft, place the wreath on his brow, INSCRIP- INSCRIPTION t For tie DUKE OF RICHMOND'^ Ruft to the Memory of tie late MARQJJIS OF ROCKINGHAM. HAIL marble ! happy in a double end ! Raifed to departed principles and friend : The friend once gone, no principles would flay j For very grief, they wept themfelves away ! Let no har(h cenfure fuch conjunction blame, Since join'd in life, their fates fliould be the fame. Therefore from death they feel a common fting, And HEAV'N receives the one, and one theK o. EPIGRAM. Reafcrn fir Mr. FOX'J cruoiued contempt of one PIGOT'J Ad- drefi to him. WHO fhall expeft the country's friend, The darling of the Houfe, Should for a moment condefcend To crack a * PRISON LOUSE. * The fubftantlve in the marked part of this line has been long an eftablifhed SYNONYME for Mr. Pi GOT, and^he PREDICATE, we are aflured, is not at this time lefs juft. P ANOTHER, [ ic6 ] ANOTHER. On one Pi GOT'/ being called a LOUSE. P1GOT is a Loufe, they fay, But if you kick him, you will fee, 'Tis by much the the trueft way, To reprefent him as a FLEA. ANOTHER. FOR fervile meannefs to the great, Let none hold Pi GOT cheap j Who can refill his deftined fate ? A LOUSE muft always CREEP. ANOTHER. PIGOT is fure a moil courageous man, " A word and blow" for ever is his plan ; And thus his friends explain the curious matter, He gives the firft, and then receives the latter. A NEW C '07 ] A NEW BALLAD, ENTITLED AND CALLED BILLY EDEN, OR, T H P RENEGADQ SCOUT. To the Tyne of ALLY CROAKER. J. THERE lived a man at BECKNAM, in KENT, Sir, Who wanted a place to make him content, Sir; Long had he figh'd for BILLY PITT'S protection, When thus he gently courted his affe&ion : Will you give a place, my deareft BILLY PITT Of If I can't have a whole one, oh ! give a little bit O / II. He pimp'd with GEORGE Rosf, he lied with the DOCTOR, He flatter'd Mrs. HASTINQS 'till almoft he had fhock'd her; He got the ARCHBISHOP to write in his favour, And when BILLY gets a beard, he fwears he'll be his fhaver. Then give him a place, oh! deareft BILLY PITT Of jtf he can't have a whole one, oh ! give a little bit O / P * T* To all you young men, who are famous for changing, From party to party continually ranging, I tell you you the place of all places to breed in, For maggots of corruption's the heart of BILLY EDEN. Then give him a place, oh! deareft BILLY PITT / If he can!t have a whole one, oh ! give a little bit O .' EPIGRAMS. [ 109 3 EPIGRAMS, On Sir ELIJAH IMPEY refujtng to rejtgn hit Gown at CHIEF JUSTICE OF BENGAL. OF yore, ELIJAH, it is ftated, By angels when to Heav'n tranflated, Before the faint aloft would ride, His prophet's robe he caft afide ; Thinking the load might forely gravel His porters on fo long a travel ; But our ELIJAH fomewhat doubting, 1 To him SAINT PETER may prove flouting, And wifely of his mantle thinking, That its fur'd weight may aid his finking, Scornful defies his namefake's joke, And fwears by G d he'Jl keep his cloak. ANOTHER. Sy Mr. WILBERFORCE, On reading Mr. ROSE'J Pamphlet on the IRISH PRO- POSITIONS. Uncramp'd yourfelf by grammar's rules, You hate the jargon of the fchools, And C no 3 And think it moft extremely filly j But reading your unfetter'd profe, I wifli the too licentious ROSE Was temper'd by the chatter LILLY*. A famous grammarian, well known for his excellent rules, anrf JBD more for the happy clafiical quotations he has furnifted to Si* CSOKGE HOWARD, anc? others of the mere learned MinifteriaJ PROCLA- PROCLAMATION. TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS MAY COME. WHEREAS it hath been made known to us, from divers good and refpe&able quarters, in feveral parts of the empire, that a practice of great and falutary conferences to the health, wealth, and good order of our fubjedts ; to wit, that of TEA-DRINKING has of late years been very much difcontinued : AND WHEREAS it is a true and admitted principle in all free governments, that the efficient Minifler is the bed and only judge of what fuits the confti- tution, pleafes the appetite, or is adapted to the wants of the fubjecl:. NOW IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, and fiddly ordained, by and with the advice of the PRIVY COUNCIL, that all his Majefty's liege fubjects, of all ranks, defcriptions, or denominations what- ever, be henceforward, and from the date here- of, required and enjoined, under the penalty of a premunlre y to drink, fwill, and make away with a certain quantity of the faid noftrum and falutary decodtion in the courfe of each 2 natural C 3 natural day, in the order and proportion as di- redred and afcertained in the lift or fchedulc herein after following, viz. I. To every DUKE, MARQUIS, EARL, VIS- COUNT, and BARON, within his Majefty's kingdom of GREAT BRITAIN, one pound per day. If GREEN be too ftrong for their nerves, they may ufe SOUCHONG. The method of making it, that is to fay, flrong, weak, and fo on, is left to the noble peribnages them- felves. II. To every IRISH ditto, two pound per ditto. This will be no inconvenience, as fmuggled claret will not be in future to be had. III. DUCHESSES, DUCHESS DOWAGERS, COUNTESSES, and BARONESSES, one pound per ditto. As this regulation is not intended to hurt his Majefty's Cuitoms, a mixture of LIQUEURS will be permitted as ufual. VI. MAIDS OF HONOUR, CHAPLAINS, the MEMBERS of the CLUB AT WHITE'S, and other young gentlemen of that RANK and DE- SCRIPTION, (being pretty nearly the ufual quantity) two pound per ditto* V* To C "3 3 V. To COUNTRY 'SQUIRES, FOX-HUNTERS, tkc. as a molt agreeable fubftitute for STINGO and OCTOBER, three pound per ditto. VI. To DRAYMEN, CHAIRMEN, and BARGEMEN, inftcad of PORTER, two pound per ditto. VII. To the Commonalty of this Realm, to xlrink with their victuals and otherwife, at one pound for each perfon per ditto. AND IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that HO CX- cufe or plea whatever fhall be deemed valid, for the non-compliance with the above regu- lations ; AND that whoever lhall pretend, that the faid wholefome and benign decocYion, either does not agree with him, or is more ex- penfive than his finances or Hate of life will permit, lhall be only considered as aggrava- ting the offence of difobedience, by a contu-. macious doubt of the better knowledge of his fuperiors, and a ridiculous endeavour to feem to be better acquainted with his own confti- tiition and circumftances. than the efficient Minirter of the country. GIVEN at our Palace in DOWN ING- STREET, this 2^th Day of June, 1784. APO- [ H4 3 ORIGINAL LETTER. MANY doubts having arifen, principally among the gentlemen who belong to the fame profeffion with the Matter of the Rolls, whether that diflinguifhed character has really lent a draft to the HIGH BAILIFF of WESTMINSTER, for the expences of a late trial and verdict in the Common Pleas ; and although the fact is not exactly as it has been reprefented, yet the following au- thentic letter will fufrkiently evince the ge- nerous intentions of Sir LL D, as foon as he becomes rich enough for him to anfwer fo heavy a demand. At prefent, all who know the very circumfcribed ftate of his in- come, compared with the liberafity of his expenditure who confider the extent of thofe different eftablifhments, which he feels it neceflary to keep up by way of preferving the dignity of his high office his ward- robe and table for inftance, will acknow* lege the plea of poverty to be juftly urged. C s 3 THOMAS CORBETT, Efq. Chancery-lane. My dear ant faithful friend , Tho. Corbett, " I anticipate your application to me, for the expences of defending yourfelf againft the action brought by that fellow Fox. If eter- nally damning the jury would pay the verdict, I would not fcruple to affift you to the utmoft of my abilities. Though THURLOW is againft us upon this point, and to fwear with him, you know, would be juft as vain a thing as to fwear with the Devil; but, my friend, the long and the ihort of this matter is, that I am wretched poor wretchedly fo, I do affure you, in every fenfe and fignification of the word. 1 have long borne the profitlefs incumbrance of nominal and ideal wealth. My income has been cruelly eftimated at feven, or, as fome will have it, eight thoufand pounds per an- num. The profeffion of which I am a Mem- ber, my dear THOMAS, has taught me to value facts infinitely more than either words or rea- fons. Ilhall fave myfelf, therefore, the mortifi- cation of denying that I am rich, and refer you to the conftant habits, and whole tenor of my 2 life. life. The proof to my friends is cafy Of the economy which I am obliged toobferve in one very neceflary article, my taylor's bill for thefe laft fifteen years is a record of the moil indif- putable authority. There are malicious fouls, who may objed: to this, as by no means the beft evidence of the ftate of my wan', "obe ; they will diredl yon, perhaps, to Lord STOR- MONT'S Valet de Chambre, and accompany the hint with an anecdote, that on the day when I kified hands for my appointment to the office of Attorney General, I appeared in a laced waiilcoat that once belonged to his mailer. The topic is invidious, and I difdain to enter into it I bought the waiflcoat, but defpife the infmuation nor is this the only inftance in xvhich I am obliged to diminilli my wants, and apportion them to my very limited means. Lady K. will be my witnefs, that until my laft appointment, I was an utter flranger to the luxury of a pocket handkerchief. If you wifli to know how I live, come and fatify yourfelf I mall dine at home this day three months, and if you are not engaged, and breakfaft late, fliall be heartily glad of your company ; but, in truth, my butler's place is become an abfolute fmecure early habits of fobriety, [ "7 1 ibbriety, and felf-denial, my friend, have made me what I am have deceived the ap- proach of age, and enabled me to fupport the laborious duties, and hard viciffitudes of my ftation. (e Befkles, my dear BAILIFF, there are many perfons to whom your application would be made with infinitely more propriety than to me. The nature of PEPPER ARDEN is mild, gentle, accommodating to the extreme, and I will venture to engage that he would by no means refufe a reafonable contribution. MAC- DONALD is, among thofe who know him, a very proverb for generofity ; and will certain- ly ftand by you, together with DUNDAS and the LORD ADVOCATE, if there be fidelity in Scotchmen. BEARCROFT too will open his purfe to you with the fame blind and impro- vident magnanimity with which he rifqued his opinion in your favour ; befides, you are fure of PITT. A real zeal for your welfare, a moil difinterefted friendship, and fome confcioumefs that I have materially helped to involve you; and, believe me, not the fordid motive of fhifting either the blame, or the ex pence upon the fhoulders of others, have made me thus eagerly endeavour to put you in the way of confulting t us ] eonfulting your beft friends in this very criti^ cal emergency. " As to myfelf, you are poffeffed already of trie circumftances which render any immediate affiftance on my part wholly out of the quef- tion. Except half a dozen pair of black plum breeches, which I have but this inflant re- ceived, I can offer you nothing. My fuper- fluities extend no further. But better times may foon arrive, and I will not fail you then. The prefent Chief Juflice of the King's Bench cannot long retain his fituation ; and as you are one whom I have felecled from among many to be the friend of my bofom, I will now re- veal to you a great fecret in the laft arrange- ment of judicial offices. Know then, that Sir ELIJAH IMPEY is the man fixed upon to prc- fide in the chief feat of criminal and civil ju- rifprudence of this country. I am to fucceed him in BENGAL ; and then, my dear THOMAS, we may fet the malice of juries at defiance. If they had given Fox as many diamonds by their verdict as they have pounds, reft af- fured that I am not a perfon likely to fail you, after I fhall have been there a little while, either through want of faith, or want of means. Set your mind, therefore, at eafe; cafe ; as to the money why, if PITT is de- termined to have nothing to do with it, and if nobody elie will pay it, I think the moft ad- vifeable thing, in your circumflances, will be to pay it yonrfclf. Not that you are to be ultimately at the expence of a lingle fhilling. The contents of this letter will fully prove that I mean to reimburfe you what I am able. For the prefent, nobody knows better than yonr- felf, not even Lady K , how ill matter? ftand with me, and that I find it utterly iru- poffible to obey the dictates of my feelings. "lam, my dear HIGH BAILIFF, " Your very affectionate friend, " And humble fervant, " Lincoln* s-inn-fields, L. K." June 20, 1786." A CON- A CONGRATULATORY ODE, ADDRESSED TO THE RIGHT HON. CHARLES JENKINSOK, On his being created LORD HAWKESBURY. Quern virum aut heroa lyra vel acrij Tibia fumes celebrare, Clio ? % Quern Deum ? Cujus recinet jocofa Nomen imago? Ha*. JENKY, for you I'll wake the lyre, Tho' not with Laureat WARTON'S fire, Your hard-won meed to grace : Gay was your air, your vifage blyth, Unlefs when Fox has made you writhe, With tortur'd MARSYAS' face. No more you'll dread fuch pointed fneers, But fafely flculk amidft your Peers, * And flavifh do&rines fpread ; As fome ill-omen'd baneful yew That fhe ( ds around a poifonous dew, And lhakes its rueful head. Your frozen heart ne'er learn'd to glow At other's good, nor melt at woe; 2 You Your very roof is chilling. There Bounty never fpreads her ray ; You e'en fhut out the light of day *, To fave a paltry fhilling. A Prince, by fervile knaves addrefl, Ne'er takes a DEMPSTER to his breafr, JACK ROB'SON ferves his endsj Unrivall'd flood the treach'rous name> Till envious EDEN urg'd his claim, While both betray their friends. / On whom devolves your back-flairs cloak; When, prophet-like, " you mount as fmokef ?* Muft little POWNEY catch it? But as 'tis rather worfe for wear, Let mighty BUCKS take fpecial care To brufh it well and patch it. While o'er his loyal breaft fo true, Great G expands the riband blue, * Mr. JENKINSON exhibited a laudable example of political ceco- nomy, by (hutting up feveral of his windows at his feat near Croydon, On the paffing of the Commutation Aft. His Majefty's ben mot on this occafion mould not be forgot. " What ! what ! (/aid the Royal Jefter) ' do my fubjefts complain of? JENKY tells me he does r.ot pay as much to the Window Tax as he did before. Why then don't my " people do like JENKY ?" f- A beautiful oriental allufion, borrowed from Mr. HASTINGS'? de, And care, like J "moke, in turbid wreathes, " Round the gay ceiling flies." R There r ] There Honour's ftar will fhine : As RAWDON was bold RICHMOND'S Squire, To inftall a Knight fo full of fire Let ASTON, BUCKS, be thine. JENKY, purfue Ambition's tafk, The King will give whate'er you afk, Nor heed the frowns of PITT ; Tho' proud, he'll truckle to difgrace, By feudal meannefs keep his place , And turn the royal fpit. With faintly HILL divide your glory , No true King's friend, on iuch a Tory, J FINCHFIELD. Co. ESSEX. JOHN CAMPEs held this manfir ofKingEowARD III. by the fcrvice of turning the fpit at his coronation. Camden's Britannia article EJJ'ex* The King magnanimoufly refufed to create either Sir RICHARD SILL, or Mr. BANKS, Peers, that the fmgular honor beftowed file ly by his Majefty might be more confpicucus, and that Mr. PITT'S humili- ation might no longer be problematic. Sir RICHARD had compofed a beautiful facred cantata on the occafion, dedicated to his brother, the Rev. ROWLAND KILL. The firft ftanza alludes, by an apt quotation from the 68th Pfalm, to the elevation and dignities of the family : Why hop fo high ye little HILLS ?" With joy, the Lord's anointed fills j Let's pray with one accord ! In ileeplefs vifions of the night, , NORTH'S cheek I fmote with all my might, For which I'm made a Lord, &c. &c. The C "3 3 The peerage door will (hut; Canting, he'll fervc both Church and Throne, And make the Reverend Bench your own, By piety and fmut. BANKS at his fide, demure and fly, Will aptly tell a fpecious lye, Then fpeed the royal fummons : He's no raw novice in the trade, His honour's now a batter'd jade PITT flung it to the Commons. While THURLOW damns thefe cold delays, Myfterious diamonds vainly blaze, The impending vote to check ; K. B. and Peer, let HASTINGS fhine, IMPEY, with pride, will clofely twine The collar round his neck. Ennobling thus the mean and bafe, Our gracious S 's art we trace, AflaiPd by factions bold ; So preft, great FREDERICK rofe in fame, On pots de chambre ftamp'd his name f , And pewter pafs'd for gold. Should reftive SYDNEY keep the feal, JENKY, ftill fliew official zeal, f The King of PRUSSIA replenished his exhaufted treafury In thf war of 1756, by a coinage of pewter ducats. [ "4 ] Your friend, your matter charm ; Revive an ANGLO-SAXON place , Let GEORGE'S feet your bofom grace, 1 Your love will keep them warm. f Bcfides the twenty-four officers above defcribed, there were ele- ven others of considerable value in the courts of the ancient Princes, the nrioft remarkable of which was, that of the King's feet-bearer ; this was a young gentleman, whofe duty it was to fit on the floor, with his back towards the fire, and hold the King's feet in his bofom all the time he fat at table, to keep them warm and comfortable." Leges Wallicatip, 58. Henry's Hiflory of Great Britalriy-v. a, />. 275. ODE ODE To SIR ELIJAH IMPEY. J\\, vetufto nobilis a Lamo, Quando et psi; ^5 hinc Lamia ferunt Denominates,, c. ELI-JAH, nobleft of the race Of -j- IMPS, from whom the IMPEYS trace 4 If common fame fays true, Their origin ; and that they found Their claim on juft and folid ground^ Refcj for proof to you- You, who could port nine hundred miles, To fathom an old woman's wiles, Pofiefs'd of dangerous treafure ; Could hurry with a pedlar's pack Of affidavits at your back, In queft of health and pleafure. f MILTON makes honourable mention of the founder of the family: " Tit vefiel, fitteft Imp of Fraud." Paradife Lo/i, I. IX. It may he obferved, in proof of the defcent, as well as to the credit of the preferit Reprefentative, that he has not degenerated from the charac- teriftic " obliquity" of his Anceftcr. [ 1*6 ] And all becaufe the jealous JOVE f Of Eailern climes thought fit to prove The venom of his reign j On which, to minds of light efteem, Some fe~JJ fever ities might fecm To leave a tranfient ftain. Soon I on your head from yon dark {ky, Or WOODFALL'S Hajiy Sketches lye, The gather'd florin will break ! Deep will the vengeful thunder be, And from the fleep he owes to thee, Shall NUNDCOMAR awake! Then arm againft the rude attack, Recall thy roving memory back, And all thy proofs collect? Remember that you cannot gain A fecond hearing to explain, And therefore be correct. f Late Tyraunus. J Demifla tempeftas ab Euro Sternet Nifj fallit Augur Anofa Comix. See Declaration of Sir E I, offered to the Houfe by Mr. SONG. [ "7 3 SONG. To the Tune of " LET THE SULTAN SALADIN," / RICHARD COEUR DE LION. I. LET great GEORGE his porkers bilk, And give his maids the four flcim-milk ; With her ftores let CERES crown him, 'Till the gracious fweat run down him. Making butter night and day: Well ! well ! Every King muft hive his way ; But to my poor way of thinking, True joy is drinking. II. BILLY PITT delights to profe, 'Till admiring Grocers dofe ; Ancient Virgins all adore him, Not a woman falls before him ; Never kifling night nor day : Well! well! Every child muft have its way ; But to my poor way of thinking, True joy is drinking. Yo [ 128 ] III. You too, HASTINGS, know your trade ! No vile fears your heart invade, When you rove for EASTERN plunder, Making Monarchs truckle under, Slitting windpipes night and day: Well ! well ! Governors will have their way ; But to my poor way of thinking, True joy is drinking. A NEW I2 9 A NEW SONG, ENTITLED, MASTER BILLY's BUDGET; O R, A TOUCH ON THE TIMES. To the Tune of A COBLER THERE WAS, &c, YE boobies of Britain, who lately thought fit The care of the ftate to a child to commit, Pray how do you like your young Minister's budget ? Should he take your laft farthing, you never can grudge it. Perry down, &c. A tax on your heads ! there'd be juftice in that ; But he only propofes a tax en your hat; So let every ENGLISHMAN throw up his beaver, And holla, Prerogative BILLY for ever ! Deny down, &c. Not being much favour'd with female applaufes, He takes his revenue on their ribands and gauzes ; Then fhould not each female, Wife, Widow, or Mifs, To Coventry fend Mailer BJLLY for this; Derry down, &c. S How [ 13 3 How oft has he told us his views were upright ! That his a&ions would all bear the teft of the light ! Yet he fure in the dark muft have fomething to do, Who Ihuts out both day-light and candle-light too. Derry down, &c. JbHN BULL'S houfe is tax'd, fo he plays him a trick, By cunningly laying a duty on brick ; Thus JOHN for his dwelling is forc'd to pay twice, But BILLY hopes JOHN will not fmoke the device. . Derry down, &c. What little we may have by induftry made, We muft pay for a licence to fet up a trade ; So that ev'ry poor devil muft now be tax'd more For dealing in goods that paid taxes before. Derry down, &c. The Callico-printers may beg if they pleafe, As dry as a fponge he their cotton will fqueeze ; With their tears let them print their own linens, cries he, But they never mail make an impreffion on me. Derry down, &c. The crazy old hackney-coach, almofl broke down, Muft now pay ten millings inftead of a crown ; And to break him down quite, if the firft will not do't, Ten millings a piece on his horfes to boot. Derry down, &c The tax upon horfes may not be fevere, But his fcheme for collecting it feems very queer ; Did a fchool-boy e'er dream of a projeft fo idle ? A tax on a horfe by a ftamp on a bridle ! Derry down, &c. The [ '3' J The tax upon fportfmen I hold to be right, And only lament that the tax is fo light ; But alas ! it is light for this palpable caule, That fportfmen themfelves are the makers of laws ! Derry down, &c. He fain would have meddled with coals, but I wot For his fingers the Gentleman found them too hot j The rich did not like it, and fo to be fure, In its place he muft find out a tax on the poor. Derry down, &c. Then laft, that our murmurs may teaze him the lefs, By a tax upon paper he'd filence the prefs ; So our forrowby finging can ne'er be relax'd, Since a fong upon taxes itfelf muft be tax'd. Derry down, &c. But now it is time I mould finifti my fong, And I wifh from my foul that it was not fo long, Since at length it evinces in trufting to PITT, Good neighbours, we all have been curfedly bit. Derry down, &c. S 2 EPIGRAM. [ 13* 1 EPIGRAM. WHILE BURKE, in ftrains pathetic, paints The fufferings dire of GENTOO faints, From HOLY CITY * driven ; CriesHAsriNGS, I admit their worth, I thought them far too good for earth, So pack'd them off to Heaven. ANOTHER. MAJOR SCOTT'j/^ffrco/V^RoHiLLA MASSACRE, So poor ROHILLAS overthrown, That HASTINGS has no mercy mown In vain, cries SCOTT, to prove you ftrive ; By G d he never murder'd one, For half are ftill alive. BENARES, tha MECCA of HINDOSTAN MINIS- C '33 ] MINISTERIAL UNDOUBTED FACTS. e And whoever believetTj not all this jhall It damned?* ST. ATHANASIUS. THE Members of Oppofition are all equal- ly poor YET the poor ones are wholly main- tained by the rich. Notwithftanding the above is their only fup- port YET their only means of living arifes at the gaming table. Though thefe poor dogs winfo much money at BROOKES'S YET the Members of 'BROOKES'S are all equally indigent. OPPOSITION cannot raife a JJoilling YET they maintain an army of fcribblers, merely to in- jure an immaculate Minifter, 'whom it is not in their power to hurt. They are too contemptible and infamous to obtain a moment's attention from any gentle- man or man of fenfe, and the people at large hold them in general deteftation YET the gen- tlemen and men of fenfe, who conduct the Minijle- rial papers', are daily employed to attack thefe in- famous wretches, and in endeavouring to convince people who are already, all of one mind. Their [ -34 ] Thek chara&ers are fo notorious that no perfon can be found to give them credit for a Shilling YET they are conftantly running in debt with their tradefmen. They are obliged to fponge for a dinner, or elfe muft go without YET they indulge them- felves in every fpecies of debauchery and dijji- pation. Their profe is as devoid of argument as their verfe is of wit YET whole troops of minijlerial writers are daily employed in answering the one, and criticifing the other. Their fpeeches are laughed at and defpifed by the whole nation YET thefe laughable and defpicable fpeeches , were fo artfully framed, as alone to raife a clamour that dejlroyed the wifejl of all pcjjible plans, THE IRISH PROPOSITIONS. They have traiteroufly raifed a flame in I RE- LAND YET the IRISH are too enlightened to at- tend to the barkings of a degraded faction. Their ROLLIADS and ODES are ftark non- fenfe YET the J 'ale has been fo extenfive as to lave new clothed the whole BLUE AND BUFF GANG. They are poffefTed of palaces purchafed out of the public plunder YET they have not a hole to hide their heads in. The C '35 ] The infernal arts of this accurfed faction, and not his meafures, have rendered Mr. PITT un- popular YET is Mr, PITT much more popular than ever. In Ihort, OPPOSITION are the mod unpopu- \^.r ^popular; poor, rich; axt\ek t artfuls incapable, capable; fenfelefs, fenjible; negle&ftil, induftrious; witlefs , witty ; ftarving, pampered; lazy, indefati- gable ; extravagant, penurious; bold, timid; hypo*, critical, unguarded; fet of defigning, blundering; low-minded, high-minded; difhoneft, honejl knaves, as were ever honored with the notice of tile MINISTERIAL NEWSPAPERS. JOURNAL OF THE RIGHT f Ho N . HENRY D U N D A S. Ottober, 1787. TOLD the Chairman the Company had long been in want of four regiments of King's forces faid it was the firft he had heard of it told him he muft require them as abfolutely ne- ceffary for the fafety of India the man appear- ed ftaggered ; reminded me of my ufual caution; grumbled out fomething about recruits being T cheaper [ 136 J cheaper; muttered that I expected too much from him, and talked of preferving appearances. Called him a fool, and ordered him to do as he was bid. O'clober, November, December, January. Employed in difputes with thofe damned fellows the Directors would not have my regiments told them they muft fwore they would not believe the Chairman manages very badly threatened to provide tranfports, to carry out the troops at the Company's expence found afterwards I had no right ordered PITT to bring in a Declaratory Bill ! February 25th. Bill brought in badly drawn turn ay/ay R u s s E L, and get another Attorney- General could not make MULGRAVE (peak don't fee what ufe he's of. March gd. Bill read a fecond time SHE- RIDAN very troublefome much talk about the conUitution wifh PITT would not let people wander fo from the queftion. MarcA/jth. Bill in a Committee Members begin to fmcll mifchief don't like it -PiTT took fright and fhanuned fick was obliged to fpeak myfelf rcfolved to do it once for all fpokc four hours fo have done my duty, and let PITT now get out of the fcrjpe as well as he can. March [ '37 3 March 7th. PITT moved to recommit the bill talked about checks and the conflitu- tion believe he's mad. Got into a damned fc rape about cotton fecond time I've been de- tected won't fpeak any more. N. B. Not to let BARING come into the Direction again. Fox fpoke PJTT could not anfwer him, and told the Houfe he was too hoarfe-^forgot at the time to difguife his voice. March gth. Got THURLOW to dine with us at Wimbledon gave him my heft Burgundy and Blafphemy, to put him into good humour. After a brace of bottles, ventured to drop a hint of bufinefs THURLOW damned me, and afked PITT for a fentiment PITT looked foolifh GRENVILLE wife MULGRAVE flared SYD- NEY'S chin lengthened tried the effects of ano- ther bottle. PITT began a long fpeech abott the fubjeft of our meeting SYDNEY fell afteep by the fire MULGRAVE and GRENVILLE re- tired to the old game of the board, and played pum-pin for enfigncies in the new corps GRENVILLE won three. Mem. To punifh their prefumption, will not let ekher of them have one. THURLOW very queer. He fwore the bill is abfurd, and rny correfpondence with thofe curf- ed Directors damned ihipid. However, will T 2 vote C -38 ] vote and fpeak with us PITT quite fick of him fays he growls at every thing, propofes no- thing, and fupports any thing. N. B. Muft look about for a new Chancellor SCOTT might do, but cants too much about his indcpendance and his conference what the devil has he to do with independance and confcience befides he has a fnivelling trick of retracing when he- is caught in a lie hate fuch puling fellows GEORGE HARDINGE not much better muft try him tho' - will order him to fpeak on Wednefday. Took PITT to town in my chariot drove to Berkeley-ftreet got P i T T to the door , but he would hot come in lounged an hour with CHARLOTTE promifed her a company in one of the new regiments for a difbanded private of the Horfe Guards. Why not order the whole Houfe to be qualified at DRUMMOND'S, and charge it to the Company's fecret fervice ? March loth. Sent for TWINING when he came, had by me a large bafon of his SOU- CHONG drank it without a wry face the moft ftaufeous black draught I ever fwallowed fwore it was excellent quoted a fcntence from Cicero, which I got from PRETTY MAN for the occafion promifed to put TWINING on my Houfe-lift ne-xt year, give him one of the Chairs, and put the. t 139 ] the Tea Trade under the Secret Committee; TWIN i N G to procure a requifition for a General Court gave him hints .for a fpeech to abufe BARING damnably. Called at W H i T E H A L L took away the laft letters from CORN WALL is, that PITT may not fee them before they are properly copied out by my private Secretary Left orders for PITT and SYDN EY to follow me to my houfe, where they would find my difpatches for India ready for figning. March nth. Dined with the Directors almoft too late; London Tavern not near enough. Mem, to order the Directors in future always to dine in my neighbourhood, and allow them to charge the additional coach-hire to the Com- panyWhy not buy a long Jlage to carry them about wherever I may want them? PITT frightened when we got into the City, left the mob fhould hifs talked about Grocer? Hall and better times; afked me if 1 was not glad they were going to pull down Temple-bar, and hoped there would be no further occafion for it. Tried to prevent his being melancholy threw a (hilling among the blackguards would not do no huzzaing. N. B. Not to forget to make the Chairman repay me, the money being difburfedin the Company's fei vice. Cot [ MO J Got to the LONDON TAVERN at fix. Drew up my Commiffioners in the palfage, and gave them their orders told PITT to follow next to me, and bid MULGRAVE fpeak in his upper voice, and be affable. Tried to laugh as we en- tered the room ^MULGRAVE put us out by one of his growling fighs damn the fellow ! muft get rid of him. Told DEVAYNES to laugh for us all did it well make him Chairman next year. Dinner good don't fee why we mould not dine with them always. N. B. Ordered twelve dozen of their claret to be carried to Wimbledon LUSHINGTON grumbled, and afked by what authority I did it. A very troublefome fellow that remove him. PITT peevifii and out of fpints; ordered MOTTEU x to fing a forrg began " Ah ji t)ou$ " pouviez comprcndrc" PITT turned red, and thought the Chairman alluded to fome dark paflages in the India Bill endeavoured to pa- cify him, and told the Secret Committee to give; us a foft air; they fung in alow voice- "the <; caufe I mvft nof, dare not Ull." MAN SHIP groaned, and drank Colonel CATHCART. By G , if I thought he meant to betray me, I'd indict Irim for perjury { Somebody {truck up " if you trujt before you try." PITT allied if the Directors wifijed to affront him, and began a .long jong harangue about his regard and friendship for die Company; nine Directors offered to fwear for it told them they need not bowed, and thanked me. L E MESURIER begged our attention to a little French Air, " Sous le nom de I'amite enjineffe on " abonde" curfcd mal-d-propos. PITT fwore he was infuited, and got up to go away. The Alderman, much terrified at what he had done, protefted folemnly he meant no offence, and called God to witnefs, it was a very harmlefs fong he learnt fome time ago in Guernfey Could not appeafe PITT fo went away with him, after ordering MULGRAVE not to let SYDNEY drink any more wine, for fear he fhould'begin talking. PITT defired the fervants to put out the flambeaux, as we went through the city (a fad coward!) aiked me if I did not think Fox's a very abie fpeech fighed, and (aid he had promifed io anfwcr it to morrow wifhed however to do nothing in a hurry expreffed much diffidence in his own abilities, and paid me many compli- ments thought I had a fine opportunity to fhew my talents affured me lie mould think nothing of waving his right to reply; and that he had not the leaft objection to letting me anfwer Fox begged to decline the offer. >7. B. He feem- ed C >4* ] ed very uneafy and much frightened never knew him diffident before wifh to-morrow was well over. Came home opened a bottle ofchampaigne which I brought in the carriage with me from the Directors' dinner -looked over my lift of levee men found nine field officers yet unpro- vided for. Wrote to Ross, enclofing the copy of a letter to be fent tome from Lord C LL--S requiring more King's troops; finifhed my bottle, and went to bed. March 12. Went to the levee He looked furly would hardly fpeak to me don't like him tnuft have heard that I can govern INDIA without confulting him. Nothing ever efcapes that damned fellow SHERIDAN! Between four and five went to the Houfe worfe than the levee PITT would not fpeak, pretended it was better to wait for Fox put him in mind of the excufe he made at the end of the laft debate, and his promife to anfwer. calumnies dori't mind promifes a damned good quality that but ought to confider his friends G E o. H A R D i N G E fpoke in confequence of my orders fqrgot I was fitting below him- attacked Lord NORTH'S adminiflration got in- to a curfed fcrape with Powis won't do for CHANCELLOR--- why not try BURGESS ?-- SCOTT C MS ] SCOTT defended what he had faid in the lad de- bate made it worfe than ever quoted from DEBRETT'S debates talked about an adder thought he was alluding to PITT our lawyers fomehow don't anfwer ADAM and ANSTRU-, THER worth them all can't they be bought? Scotchmen! damned ftrange if they can't Mem. to tell Rofe to found them. ADAM fevere on me and the reft that have betrayed Lord NORTH a general confufion all round PITT no one to defend us VIL- LIERS grinned GRAHAM fimpered MUL- GRAVE growled by G d 1 believe PITT enjoyed it always plea fed when his friends get into a fcrape. Mem. to give him a Ie6lure upon that. MULGRAVE fpoke at laft wi(h he'd held his tongue SHERIDAN anfwered him improves every day- wifti we had him very odd "To clever a fellow fhouldn't be able to fee his own intereft wouldn't venture on a reply myfelf, for fear of another lick from that clumfy boor Sir EDWARD ASTLEY faid my long fpeech was dull and tirefome- what's the matter with the fellow ? ufed to vote with us believe LANSDOWN'S got him.- Mem. to tell STEEL E to look out for another Member for the county of Norfolk. U Jogged [ 44 3 Jogged PITT told him SHERIDAN'S fpeecft vnujl be anfwered faid, / might do it then, for he couldn't PULTENEY relieved us a little, pretending to be gull'd by the checks too great nonfenfe to have any effeft on the Houfe BASTARD forgot his laft abufe of PITT, and talked again about confidence; but was againft the Bill what's confidence without a vote ? came to a divifion at laft better than the former - had whipped in well from SCOTLAND the Houfe feems tired hope we (han't have much more of this. Mem. to give orders to MANNERS to make a noife, and let nobody fpeak on third reading a very ufeful fellow that MANNERS does more good fometimes than ten fpeakers. March 14th. God's infinite mercy be praifed AMEN ! This is the laft day that infernal DE- CLARATORY BILL ft ays in the Houfe of Com- mons as for the Lords but that's no bufinefs of mine; only poor SYDNEY! Well God blefs us all AMEN! Got up and^ wrote the above, after a very reftlefs night went to bed again but could not deep troubled with the blue devils ^thought I faw Powis recovered myfelf a little, and fell into a fl umber Dreamt I heard SHERIDAN fpeaking [ MS 3 fpeaking to me through the curtains woke in a fright, and jumped out of bed. Went^down ftairs found fome of the DIREC- TORS waiting in the hall damned their bloods, and told them this was all their doing informed me a General Court was called by the enemy bid them make fuch a noife, that nobody might be heard DEVAYNES undertook it ordered the SECRET COMMITTEE to ftay, andfent the reft about their bufmefs. After breakfaft wrote to Hawk y, and begged his acceptance of a Lieut. Colonelcy^ 2 Majorities, a CollecT,orJJiip 3 3 Shawls and a piece of India Mu/lin for the young ladies fent back one of the Shawls , and faid he'd rather have another Collector's place Damnation ! but it muft be fo, or SYDN EY will be left to himfelf. N. B. Not to forget THUR LOW'S Arrack and Gunpowder Tea, with the India Crackers for his children. MULGRAVE called to know if I wanted him to fpeak to-day told him not had enough of him laft time. Went down to the Houfe ANSTRUTHER played the devil with all our checks zndguards ferves us right for introducing fuch nonfenfe GEORGE NORTH afked when I meant to open my budget, faid, when the RAVENSWORTH U 2 arrives [ 146 ] arrives pray God fhe be loft ! Mem. When I do open my budget, to ftate all the accounts in Tales, Pagados, and Mohurs has a fine effect on the country gentlemen, and prevents many impertinent obfervations. Waited very patiently for PITT'S promifed anfwerto Fox's calumnies till eight o'clock frefh inquiries about it every minute began to be very uneafy faw OPPOSITION fneering SHERIDAN afked PITT if he was hoarfe yet looked exceedingly foolifh pitied him, and, by way of relieving his aukward fituation, fpoke myfelf made fome of my boldeft affertions faid a good thing about " A Mart's Ne/l" coined a few claufes, which I affured the Houfe were in Fox's Bill, and fat down with much ap- plaufe was afterwards unfortunately deteded in every thing I had faid, and univerfally fcouted by all fides. Mem. I Ihould not have got into that fcrape, if I had not tried to help a friend in diftrefs. N. B. Never to do it again there's nothing to be gained by it. As foon as I recovered myfelf, afked PITT whether he really meant to anfwer Fox, or not Owned at lalt, with tears in his eyes, he could not mufter courage enough to attempt it fad work this! N. B. Obferved GKENVILLE made a notCj that a man need not be an orator, to be Char," [ 147 1 Chancellor of the Exchequer he feemed pleafed with the precedent. Nothing left for it but to cry queflion ! di- vided only 54 majority here's a job ! SHERIDAN read a curfed malicious paper, in which he proved PITT an impoftor : and that what Fox had openly demanded, the Board of Controulhdid fecretly ftolen. Brother Commif- fioners all turned pale was obliged to rub their nofes with Thieves Vinegar, and then flunk out oftheHoufeasfaft as I could. N. B. Believe OLD PEARSON'S a fneering fon of a bitch tried to whiftle as I went through the lobby afked me if I was unwell damn his impudence. Came home in a very melancholy mood re- turned thanks in a fhort prayer for our narrow efcape drank a glafs of brandy confefled my fins determined to reform, andfentto WIL- BERFORCE for a good book. a very worthy and religious young man that like him much always votes with us. Was beginning to grow very deje&ed, when ROSE called to infornVme of an excellent fcheme about BANK STOCK a fnug thing, and not more than twenty in the fecret raifed my fpirits again told the fcrvant I would not trouble Mr. WILB ER FORCE ordered a bottle of beft Bur- gundy fet to it with ROSE, hand to fift con- gratulated [ -48 ] gratulated one another on having got the DE- CLARATORY BILL out of our H oufe and drank good luck to SYDNEY, and i fpeedy progrefe through the Lords. INCANTATION, JOR RAISING A PHANTOM, IMITATED FROM MACBETH,. AND LATELY PERFORMED BY HIS MAJESTY'S SER- VANTS IN WESTMINSTER. Thunder* A Cauldron urning. Enter three Witches. Firjl Witch. THRICE the Decors have been heard, Second Witch. Thrice the Houfes have conferred. Third Witch. Thrice hath SYDNEY cock'd his chin, JENK.Y cries begin, begin. Firjl Witch. Round about the cauldron go, In the fell ingredients throw. Still-born Foetus, born and bred, In a Lawyer's puzzled head, Hatch'dby Metaphyfic SCOT, Boil thou in th' enchanted pot. AIL Double, double, toil and trouble; lire burn, and Cauldron bubble. Second [ '49 ] ftcoxd Witch. Skull that holds the fmall remains Of old C AMD EN'S addle brains, Liver of the lily's hue, Which in RiCHMONc'scarcafe grew; Tears which ftealing down the cheek Of the rugged THURLOW. fpeak All the poignant grief he feels For his Sovereign or the Seals- Fora charm of powerful trouble, Like a Hell-broth, boil and bubble.] All. Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn, and Cauldron bubble. Third Witch. Clippings of Corinthian brafs From the vifage of DUNUAS; Forg'd Addrefs, devis'd by Rofe, ialf of PEPPER ARDEN'snofe; Smuggled vote of City Thanks, Promife of infidious BANKS, Add a grain of ROLLO'S courage To enflame the hellifh porridge. firjt Witch. Cool it, with LLOYD KENYON'S blood. Now the charm is firm and good. Alt. Double, double, toil and trouble, Fire burn, and Cauldron bubble. Enter HECATE, Queen of the Witches; Hecate. Oh ! well done ! I commend your pair^j And ev'ry one {hall {hare i'th* gains. Cauldron Jink ft ' Witches fly away upon broomjlicksi thunder , &c, TRANS* TRANSLATIONS. OF LORD BELCRAVE'S MEMORABLE QUOTATION, AS INTRODUCED IN A SPEECH DELIVERED BY HIS LOR J) SHIP IN A LATE DEBATE. It is with fingular fatisf action we communicate the following mojl excellent verfions of Lord Belgrave's never-to-be-for- gotten quotation; trvjling, as wefmcerely, do, that Jo mark'd an attention to his Lord/hip's fcholarjhip may confiderably confole him under his melancholy failure as an orator. Lord BELGRAVE'S Quotation. Tov