The mushrooms shew his wit was sudden,
And for his judgment, lo a pudden!

Roast beef, tho' old, proclaims him stout,
altho' a bard, devout.

And grace,
May Toм, whom heav'n sent down to raise
The price of Prologues and of Plays,
Be ev'ry birth-day more a winner,
Digest his thirty-thousandth dinner;
Walk to his grave without reproach,

And scorn a rascal in a coach.

NOTES.

15

20

Ver. 16. The price of Prologues and of Plays,] This alludes to a story Mr. Southern told of Mr. Dryden, about the same time, to Mr. P. and Mr. W.-When Southern first wrote for the stage, Dryden was so famous for his Prologues, that the Players would act nothing without that decoration. His usual price till then had been four guineas; but when Southern came to him for the Prologue he had bespoke, Dryden told him he must have six guineas for it; "which (said he) young man, is out of no disrespect to you, but the Players have had my goods too cheap."-We now look upon these Prologues with the same admiration that the Virtuosi do on the Apothecaries' pots painted by Raphael. Warburton.

TO LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU.

I.

In beauty, or wit,

No mortal as yet

To question your empire has dar'd;

But men of discerning

Have thought that in learning,

To yield to a Lady was hard.

II.

Impertinent schools,

With musty dull rules,

Have reading to females deny'd:

So papists refuse

The Bible to use,

Lest flocks should be wise as their guide.

III.

'Twas a woman at first,

(Indeed she was curst)

In knowledge that tasted delight,

And sages agree

The laws should decree

To the first possessor the right.

5

10

15

IV.

Then bravely, fair dame,

Resume the old claim,

Which to your whole sex does belong ;
And let men receive,

From a second bright Eve,

The knowledge of right and of wrong.

ས.

But if the first Eve

Hard doom did receive,

When only one apple had she,

What a punishment new

Shall be found out for you,

20

25

Who tasting have robb'd the whole tree?

30

The following Lines were sung by DURASTANTI,* when she took her leave of the English Stage. The words were in haste put together by Mr. POPE, at the request of the Earl of PETER borough.

GENEROUS, gay, and gallant nation,
Bold in arms, and bright in arts;
Land secure from all invasion,

All but Cupid's gentle darts!

From your charms, oh! who would run?
Who would leave you for the sun?

Happy soil, adieu, adieu!

Let old charmers yield to new.

In arms, in arts, be still more shining;

All your joys be still encreasing;

All your tastes be still refining;

All your jars for ever ceasing:

But let old charmers yield to new:

Happy soil, adieu, adieu!

NOTES.

Durastanti was brought to England by Handel to sing at the Opera, 1721. She was so great a favourite at Court, that the King stood godfather to one of her children.

Bowles.

Upon the Duke of MARLBOROUGH's House at
Woodstock.

Atria longè patent; sed nec cœnantibus usquam,
Nec somno locus est: quàm bene non habites!

SEE, Sir, here's the grand approach,

Mart. Epig.

This way is for his Grace's coach;
There lies the bridge, and here's the clock,
Observe the lion and the cock,

The spacious court, the colonnade,

And mark how wide the hall is made!
The chimneys are so well design'd,
They never smoke in any wind.
This gallery's contriv'd for walking,
The windows to retire and talk in;
The council-chamber for debate,
And all the rest are rooms of state.

Thanks, Sir, cry'd I, 'tis very fine,
But where d'ye sleep, or where d'ye dine?
I find by all you have been telling,
That 'tis a house, but not a dwelling.*

NOTES.

* The same idea is used by Lord Chesterfield in his Epigram

on Burlington-House:

"How well you build, let flatt'ry tell;

And all mankind, how ill
you

dwell!"

Bowles.