Lloyd Epistle to C. Churchill f I. '(:, THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES FREDERIC THOMAS BLANCHARD ENDOWMENT FUND A N EPISTLE T O C. CHURCHILL. Ef^^©®^^^^^^^©^^^^:ja^^®©EE^^©J^®^I5j©©^E ( Price One Shilling. ) A N EPISTLE T O a C H U R C H I L L. Author of the ROSCIAD, lefumque imbelh Jim iSiu Conjecit* V i r g. By R. LLOYD, M. A. LONDON: Printed for William Flexney, near Grays-hiri GatBy Holbam, MDCCLXI, [iii] ADVERTISEMENT. AS in Parts of the following Poem there is an Allufion to a late delicate Produdiion, it may not be improper to let the Reader into fome Secrets concerning its Origin, that He may know the Progrefs of Wit, and how dangerous it is for young Adven- turers to attack J^eterans in the Service, and teach them to pay a due Deference to all diftinguijh''d Writer^. An Author poffefled of thofe happy Qua- lities which appear fo notorioujiy in that Publication, viz. Modesty, Decency, and Good Nature, has an indifputable Right to be believed upon his own Af- fertion j and therefore it would be illiberal to doubt, but that he is, as he ought to be, distinguished. This Ode then was perforrrfd by the Maker ^ as a CofFin to hold the dead Bodies of thofe unfortunate Heroes ^ {lain by his redoubtable Pen. A Gentleman it feems unhap- 885279 [ iv ] unhappily difFer'd in Opinion with our Champion, and exprels'd his Sentiments in a Paper call'd the Craftfman. Out-fallies the vindi61:ive Knight (I Ihould fay Squire) to ufe his own Language, does himy Haps him into the Coffin, where he laid quietly for fome Months, till a fecond Paroxyfm of Indignation, produced a fecond Murder, and the former Body was obliged to give Place to the latter. The Coffin is nailed down, the Plate alter'd, and the brazen Infcription informs us C. Churchill died the 12'^ di yune 1761. Hx\ppY is the Man that is always prepared for his Enemy, and has " his Naiads by him ready made^^ It muft be allowed that this Gentleman has made hucre Strides towards ParnafTus, and hath ftrangely walk'd over all our Heads. I wi(h him Joy of hav- ing exalted himfelf to the Pinnacle of this aery Moun- tain, but beg Leave to remind him, that People fome- times toUuntur in ahum Ut lapfu graviore cadant. An C I ] An Epistle to C. CHURCHILL. F at a Tavern, where you'd wifli to dine, They cheat your Palate with adulterate WinCj P Would you, refolve me Critics, for you can, Send for the Mafter up, or chide the Man, The Man no doubt a knavifli Bufinefs drives. But tell me what's the Mafter who connives ? Hence you'll infer, and fure the Dodrine's true. Which fays, no Quarter to a foul Review. It matters not who vends the naufeous flop, Mafter or Prentice ; we deteft the Shop. Critics of old, a manly liberal Race, Approv'd or cenfur'd with an open Face : Boldly perfu'd the free decifive Tafk, Nor ftabb'd, conceal'd beneath a Ruffian's Mafic, B To C i ] To Works not Men, with honefl: Warmth feverCj, Th'impartial Judges laugh'd at Hope or Fear : Theirs was the noble Skill, with gen'rous Aim, To fan true Genius to an aclive Flame ; To bring forth Merit in its ftrongeft Light, Or damn the Blockhead to his native Ni^^ht. But, as all States are fubjed to Decays The State of Letters too will melt away. Smit with the Harlot Charms of trilling Sound, Softnefs now wantons e'en on Roman Ground; Where 7'hebans, Spartans^ fought their honour' d Graves, Behold a weak enervate Race of Slaves. In ClaiTic Lore, deep Science, Language dead^ Tho' modern V/itiings are but fcantly read, ProfefTors ""' fail not, who will loudly bawl In Praife of either, with the Want of all. Hail'd mighty Critics to this prefent Hour. — The Tribune's Name furviv'd the Tribune's Pow'r. Now * The Author takes this Opportunity, notwichftanding all Infinuations to the contrary, to declare, that he has no particular Aim at a Gentleman, whofe Abilities he fufficiently acknowledges. C 3 ] Now Quack and Critic differ but in Name, Empirics frontlefs both, they mean the fame ; This raw in Phyfic, that in Letters frefli, Both fpring like Warts, Excrefcence from the Flefh, Half form'd, half bred in Printers' hireling Schools, For all Profeffions have their Rogues and Foolsj Tho' the pert Witling, or the coward Knave, Calls no Rcfledion on the Wife or Brave. Yet in thefe leaden Times,, this idle Age, When blind with Dulnefs, or as blind with Rage^ Author 'gainft Author rails with Venom curft. And happy He who calls out Blockhead firft. From the low Earth afpiring Genius fprings, , And fails triumphant, born on Eagle Wings. No toothlefs Spleen, no venom'd Critic's aim, Shull rob thee, Churchill, of thy proper Fame ; While hitch'd for ever in thy nervous Rime, Fool lives, and fliines out Fool to lateft Time, Pity perhaps might with a harmlefs Fool, To fcape the Obfervance of the Critic School 5 But C 4 ] But if low Malice leagu'd with Folly rife, Arm'd with Invedives, and hedg'd round with Lies i Should wakeful Dulnefs, if flie ever wake, Write fleepy Nonfenfe but for Writing Sake, And flung with Rage, and pioufly fevere, Wiili bitter Comforts to your dying Ear ; If fome fmall Wit, fome fix-lin'd Verfeman, rakes For quaint Refledions in the putrid Jakes, Talents ufurp'd, demand a Cenfor's Rage, A Dunce is Dunce profcrib'd in ev'ry Age. CouRTiEP, Phyfician, Lawyer^ Parfon, Cit, All, all are Objedls of Theatric Wit. Are ye then, Adors, priviledg'd alone To make that Weapon Ridicule your own ? Profeflions bleed not from his juft Attack, Who laughs at Pedant, Coxcomb, Knave, or Quack ; Fools on and off the Stage are Fools the fame, And every Dunce is Satire's lawful Game. Freely you thought, where Thought has free'il: Room, Why then apologize ? for what ? to whom ? Though [ S ] Though Grays-Inn Wits with Author Squires unite, And felf-made Giants club their labour'd Mite, Though pointlefs Satire make its weak Efcape In the dull Babble of a mimic Ape, Boldly perfue where Genius points the Way, Nor heed what monthly puny Critics fay. Firm in thyfelf with calm Indifference fmile. When the wife Veteran knows you by your Stile, With critic Scales weighs out the partial Wit, What I, or You, or He, or no one writ ; Denying thee thy juft and proper Worth, But to give Falfliood's fpurious Iflue Birth ; And all felf-will'd with lawlefs Hand to raife Malicious Slander on the Bafe of Praife. Disgrace eternal wait the Wretch's Name Who lives on Credit of a borrow'd Fame; Who wears the Trappings of another's Wit, Or fathers Bantlino-s which he cou'd not ^et. But fhrewd Sufpicion with her fquinting Eye To Truth declar'd, prefers a whifper'd Lye. With [ 6 ] With greedy Mind the proffer'd Tale believes, Relates her Wiflies, and with Joy deceives. The World, a pompous Name, by Cuftom due To the fmall Circle of a talking {qw. With heart-felt Glee th' injurious Tale repeats, And fends the Whifper buzzing through the Streets. The Prude demure with fober faint-like Air, Pities her Neishbour for fhe's v^^ondrous fair. And, when Temptations lie before our Feet, Beauty is frail, and Females indifcreet. . . ^ She hopes the Nymph will every Danger fhun. Yet prays devoutly — that the Deed were done. Mean Time fits watching for the daily Lie, As'Spiders lurk to catch a fimple Fly". Yet is not Scandal to one Sex confin'd, Though Men would fix it on the weaker Kind. Yes, this great Lord, Creation's Mafter Man, Will vent his Malice where the Blockhead can. Imputing Crimes, of which e'en Thought is free, For Inftance noWj your Rosciad all to me. If C 7 ] If partial Friendfhip in thy fterling Lays Grows all too wanton in another's Praife, Critics who judge by Ways themfelves have known, Shall fwear the Praife, the Poem is my own ; For 'tis the Method in thefe learned Days For Wits to fcribble firft, and after praife. Critics and Co. thus vend their wretched Stuff, And help out Nonfenfe by a monthly Puff, Exalt to Giant's Forms weak puny Elves, And defcant fweetly on their own dear felves ; For Works per Month by Learning's Midwives paidj Demand a Puffing in the Way of Trade. Reserv'd and cautious with no partial Aim; My Mufe e'er fought to blaft another's Fame. With willing Hand cou'd twine a Rival's Bays, From Candour filent where fhe cou'd not praife. But if vile Rancour, from (no Matter who] Adtor, or Mimic, Printer, or Review, Lies oft o'erthrown with ceafelefs Veiiom fpread. Still hifs out Scandal from their Hydra Head, If [ 8 ] If the dull Malice boldly walk the Town, Patience herfelf wou'd wrinkle to a Frown. Come then with Juftice draw the ready Pen, Give me the Works, I wou'd not know the Men. All in their Turns might make Reprifals too, Had all the Patience but to read them through* Come, to the utmoft, probe the defperate Wound, Nor fpare the Knife where'er Infection's found. But Prudence, Churchill, or her Sifter Fear, Whifpers Forbearance to my fright'ned Ear, Oh! then with me forfake the thorny Road, Left we fliould flounder in fome Fleet-Ditch Ode, And funk for ever in the lazy Flood, Weep with the Naiads heavy Drops of Mud. Hail mighty Ode ! which like a Pidhire Frame, Hold any Portrait, and with any Name ; Or like your Nitchcs planted thick and thin. Will ferve to cram the Random Hero in. Hail C 9 ] Hail mighty Bard too — whatfoe'er thy Name, or DuRFY, for it's all the fame. To Brother Bards fhall equal Praife belong, For Wit, for Genius, Comedy and Song. No coftive Mufe is thine, which freely rakes With eafe familiar in the well known Jakes, Happy in Skill to foufe through foul and fair, And tofs the Dung out with a /orc^/y Air. So have I feen amidft the grinning Throng The Sledge Proceflion flowly dragg'd along, Where the mock Female Shrew and hen-peck'd Male Scoop'd rich Contents from either copious Pail, Call'd Bur ft s of Laughter from the roaring Rout, And dafli'd and fplafli'd the filthy Grains about. Quit then, my Friend, the Mufes lov'd Abode, Alas ! they lead not to Preferment's Road, Be folemn, fad, put on the prieftly Frown, Be dull, 'tis facred, and becomes the Gown. Leave Wit to others, do a Chriftian Deed, Your Foes (hall thank you, for they know their Need. D Broad E 10 ] Broad is die Path by Learning's Sons poflefs'd A thoufand modern Wits might walk abreaft, Did not each Poet mourn his lucklefs Doom Joftled by Pedants out of Elbow Room, I, who nor court their Love, nor fear their Hate, Mud mourn in Silence o'er the Mufes Fate. No Right of Common now on Pindus Hill, While all our Tenures are by Critics Will. Where, watchful Guardians of the Lady Mufe, Dwell monftrous Giants, dreadful tall Reviews, Who, as we read in fam'd Romance of Yore, Sound but a Horn prefs forward to the Door. But let fome Chief, fome bold advent'rous Knight, Provoke thefe Champions to an equal Fight, Strait into Air to fpacelefs nothing fall The Caftle, Lions, Giants, Dwarf and all. Ill it befits with undifcerning Rage To cenfure Gia?tts in this polifli'd Age. No lack of Genius ftains thefe happy Times, No Want of Learning, and no Dearth of Rimes. The [ II ] The fee-faw Mufe that flows by meafurd Laws, In tuneful Numbers, and affeded Paufe, With Sound alone, Sound's happy Virtue fraught, Which hates the Trouble, and Expence of Thought, Once, every Moon, throughout the circling Year With Even Cadence charms the critic Ear. While, dire Promoter of Poetic Sin, A Magazine muft hand the Lady in. How Moderns write, how nervous, ftrong and well, The Anti-Rosciad's decent Mufe does tell. Which, while fhe ftrives to cleanfe each Adtor hurt. Daubs with her Praife, and rubs him into Dirt, Sure never yet was happy iEra known So gay, fo wife, fo tajiefid as our own. Our curious Hiftories rife at once complete. Yet ftill cofttinued^ as they're paid, per Sheet. See every Science which the World wou'd know, Your Magazines fliall every Month beftov/, Whofe [ I* ] Whofe very Titles fill the Mind with Awe, Imperial, Chrijiian, Royal, BritiJJj, Law ; Their rich Contents will every Reader fit, Stateffnan^ Divi?ie, Philojopher and TVit ; Compendious Schemes! which teach all Things at once, And make a pedant Coxcomb of a Dunce. But let not Anger to fuch Frenzy grow, Drawcanfir like, to ftrike down Friend and Foe. To real Worth be Homage duly paid, But no Allowance to the paltry Trade. My Friends I name not (though I boaft a few, To Me an Honour and to Letters too ) Fain v/ouid I praife, but when fuch Tlmigs oppofe My Praife of Courfe mufl make them 's Foes. If manly Johnson, with fatyric Rage, Lafh the dull Follies of a trifling Age, If his flrong Mufe with genuine Strength afpire. Glows not the Reader with the Poet's Fire ? HIS the true Fire, where creep the witling Fry To warm themfelves, and light their Ruflilights by. What [ 13 ] What Mufe like Gray's fhall pleafing penfive flow Attemper'd fweetly to the ruftic Woe ? Or who like him jfhall fweep the Thebaii Lyre, And, as his Mafter, pour forth Thoughts of Fire ? E'en now to guard afflidled Learning's Caufe, To judge by Reafon's Rules, and Nature's Laws, Boaft we true Critics in their proper Right, While LowTH and Learning, Hurd and Tafte unite. Hail facred Names — Oh arm'd with honeft Rage, Save your lov'd Miftrefs from a Ruffian's Rage ; See how fhe gafps and ftruggles hard for Life, Her Wounds all bleeding from the Butcher's Knife : Critics, like Surgeons, bleft with curious Art, Shou'd mark each Paffage to the human Heart, But not unikilful, yet with lordly Air Read Surgeon's Ledures while they fcalp and tear. To Names like thefe, I pay the hearty Vow, Proud of their Worth, and not afham'd to bow. E To [14] To thefe infcribe my rude, but honeft Lays, And feel the Pleafures of my confcious Praife. Not that I mean to court each letter'd Name, And poorly glimmer from refledted Fame, But that the Mufe which owns no fervile Fear, Is proud to pay her willing Tribute here. FINIS. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACIUTY 405 Hllgard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which It was borrowed. Or ^ 7 TO THE LI3RARY UNIVEKSliY OF r\!JFOR.MA LOS ANGEI.es PR Lloyd - 3^U]. An Rpistle to L77e C. Churchill BiNOiPY ^pjj ]-) ,q^fi PR 35U1 L77e UC SOUTHERN REGIONAl 1 10R4OV CArip tyv illltli|iiii'i'r'ii'"ir"iiiiiiiii''i'i"imr' D 000 000 910 ,' 4/ ^^^5.:.^' jA'ix-inr^^ jfm Uni