friendly, yet truly poetical: He closes it with the following beautiful moral Reflection:

Yet fhould the Graces all thy Figures place,
And breathe an Air divine on ev'ry Face;
Yet fhould the Mufes bid my Numbers roll,
Strong as their Charms, and gentle as their Soul;
With Zeuxis, Helen thy Bridgwater vie,
And these be fung till Granville's Myra die :
Alas! how little from the Grave we claim?
Thou but preferv'ft a Face, and I a Name,

Which was more pleafing to Mr. Fervas than all the Reft of the Poem, and without Doubt our Poet on Purpose inserted it, knowing him to be a thinking Man, and one who spent many Hours in Reading, chiefly Books of Moral Philofophy, to which Study he inclin'd, and few were better able to express in Words as well as in Colours, the Difference of the Paffions; so that he would have gain'd the Reputation (though not so much Money) as a Hiftory Painter, Whoever obferves any of his Pourtraits, will fee a certain Expreffion, with a Livelinefs in the Caft of the Face, or Countenance, that convinces in a Manner, without feeing the Originals, that they are Refemblances of real Life, not the meer Picture of the Painter's Hand, but of the Idea the Object fix'd upon his Mind.

He once drew the Picture of a Lady of Quality, who return'd it on his Hands, as not thinking it fo handfome as she herself was, and he painted another Pourtrait for her, with which fhe was exceedingly pleas'd, for it was very beautiful; Mr. Jervas confefs'd, that except the Colour of the Hair, and a few Reiterations, (that there might be, though ever fo diftant,. fome Refemblance) he had taken it from

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one of his own Pictures of the Dutchefs of Bridgewater, one of the Duke of Marlborough's Daughters, and esteem'd at that Time a finish'd Beauty. A little while after, the first mentioned Lady dying, her Husband being defirous to have a true Likeness, purchas'd that first painted by by Mr. Jervas, and gave him ten Guineas more than the Countess was to have given him for it.

We have not forgot Mr. Pope's Epiftles, it would be lofing Sight of fome of the choiceft Poems in our Language: They are, that is I mean the Ethic ones, to bad Men, almoft the fame as the Dunciad to bad Poets, and as there, fo in thefe Epiftles, he does not entirely fpare the Ladies; it had been Pity to neglect doing Good to that lovely and defireable Part of the Creation, befides, that they might have_triumph'd too much over the Men, and, finding themfelves free from Judgment and Penalties, might have indulg'd their Humour, Vanity, or Caprice, without Fear, or Blufhing; but this, we think, is now happily prevented.

Of thefe Ethic Epiftles, to take them in Order, let us begin with that to Sir Richard Temple, Lord Cobham, of the Knowledge and Characters of Men, which begins thus:

Yes, you defpife the Man to Books confin'd,
Who from his Study rails at human Kind;
Tho' what he learns he fpeaks, and may advance
Some gen'ral Maxims, or be right by Chance.
The coxcomb Bird fo talkative and grave, [Knave,
That from his Cage crics Cuckold, Whore, and
Tho' many a Paflenger he rightly call,
You hold him no Philofopher at all,

feems

And though all may not agree to what he fays (for he feems to think it impoffible to know Men without knowing Books) concerning the Knowledge of Men, yet his Characters (for there lies our Author's Beauty) all must applaud, as well as his Sentiment, that we differ at Times as much from ourselves, as we do from one another, and oftentimes tir'd in Purfuit of one Thing, we yield to another, which at first we thought not of, and fo Actions done meerly by Accident, feem to the unthinking Part of the World, our moral Purpose,

Behold! if Fortune, or a Mistress frowns, Some plunge in Bus'nefs, others fhave their Crowns; To ease the Soul of one oppreffive Weight, This quits an Empire, that embroils a State : The fame aduft Complexion has impell'd * Charles to the Convent, † Philip to the Field,

Not therefore humble he who seeks Retreat, Pride guides his Steps and bids him itun the Great, Who combats bravely, is not therefore brave; He dreads a Death-Bed like the meaneft Slave. Who reasons wifely, is not therefore wife; His Pride in reas'ning, not in acting lies.

There is nothing more difficult than to know the real Character of a Man, further than the present Action, and that must be done in our Sight, we must fee

* Charles V.

+ Philip II.

fee the Manner and the Motive; for what we hear is generally spoke according to the Rank that Men fill in the World, as Shakespear says, That what in the General is but a hafty Word, is in the Soldier's Mouth flat Blafphemy, fo as it takes from the Blacknefs and Infamy of any Person to be great, it adds confiderably to the Luftre of those who are great, with any Degree of Goodness or Defert.

-A Saint in Crape is twice a Saint in Lawn;
A Judge is juft, a Chanc❜lor jufter ftill;
A Gownman learn'd; a Bifhop, what you will:
Wife, if a Minifter; but if a King, [Thing
More wife, more learn'd, more juft, more ev'ry

That we may not seem to draw a Picture without Fault, we beg Leave here to cenfure that Opinion of Mr. Pope's which here afferts, that all Mankind bring into the World, or receive at the Moment of their Birth, (this, indeed, he foftens with perhaps) a Disease of their Mind, which he calls the ruling Paffion, and always feems very fond of difcourfing of it; he says, all that should feed either Body or Soul flies to it, whether it be what warms the Heart or fills the Head, to which Imagination likewise lends all her Helps, and the more Wit, Faculties, or Spirit, the Man has, it only makes this Paffion stronger, even Reafon itself, he fays helps it; now this being quite contrary to our Sentiments of Philosophy, we fhall leave Mr. W to defend it, with his ufual Perfpicuity, and Soundness of Thinking, not doubting but at laft, the World will be convinc'd of that Gentleman's Force of Argument, and that Commentations will be wrote on his Commentations. Mr. Pope endeavours to give fome Examples of this ruling Paffion, which only serve to prove, that many

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die in the fame Habit of Mind they have liv'd; that Description of the dying Mifer making his Will, is very humorous:

"I give and devife (old Euclio faid, And figh'd) "my Lands and Tenements to Ned." Your Money, Sir? My Money, Sir! what all? "Why-if I muft-(then wept) I give it Paul." The Mannor, Sir?" The Mannor! hold, he cry'd, "Not that I cannot part with that"-and dy'd.

From this Notion of the ruling Paffion, he takes Occafion to make a fine prophetical Compliment (very poffibly true) to the Noble, Brave, and Patriot Lord, to whom the Epistle was address'd :

And you! brave COBHAM, to the latest Breath, Shall feel your ruling Paffion ftrong in Death: Such in thofe Moments, as in all the past, "Oh fave my Country, Heav'n!" shall be your last.

The Friendship of this Nobleman increas'd with Mr. Pope, after a certain Change in the Army, about ten or eleven Years ago, and continued without Interruption, notwithstanding a fresh Alteration, so that we must still infift upon it, that our Author never loft any Friends, by their being more or lefs in Favour at Court, neither did he ever feem fond of any Foreigners, let them be of what Religion they might, as of his own Countrymen, always a Difcourager of Italian Operas, always a Promoter of English Senfe, and fo particular in Regard to the Manufactures of England, that when he us'd Things of foreign Factory or Growth, he would often fayPardon me my Country, I offend but feldom.

This Epiftle of the Characters of Men, which we