Enough, that virtue filled the space between ;
Proved, by the ends of being, to have been.
When Hopkins dies,1 a thousand lights attend
The wretch, who living saved a candle's end:
Shouldering God's altar a vile image stands,
Belies his features, nay extends his hands;
That live-long wig which Gorgon's self might own,
Eternal buckle takes in Parian stone.2

Behold what blessings wealth to life can lend!
And see, what comfort it affords our end.

In the worst inn's worst room, with mat half-hung,
The floors of plaister, and the walls of dung,
On once a flock-bed, but repaired with straw,
With tape-tyed curtains, never meant to draw,
The George and Garter dangling from that bed
Where tawdry yellow strove with dirty red,'
Great Villiers lies 3-alas! how changed from him,
That life of pleasure, and that soul of whim!
Gallant and gay, in Cliveden's proud alcove,
The bower of wanton Shrewsbury 5 and love;
Or just as gay, at council, in a ring

290

300

1 Edmund Boulter, Esq., executor to Vulture Hopkins, made so splendid a funeral for him, that the expenses amounted to £7666. - Bowles.

2 The poet ridicules the wretched taste of carving large perriwigs on bustos, of which there are several vile examples in the tombs at Westminster and elsewhere.

3 This lord, yet more famous for his vices than his misfortunes, after having been possessed of about £50,000 a year, and passed through many of the highest posts in the kingdom, died in the year 1687, in a remote inn in Yorkshire, reduced to the utmost misery. A delightful palace, on the banks of the Thames, built by the Duke of Buckingham.

5 The Countess of Shrewsbury, a woman abandoned to gallantries. The earl, her husband, was killed by the Duke of Buckingham in a duel; and it has been said, that during the combat she held the duke's horses in the habit of a page.

Of mimicked statesmen, and their merry king.
No wit to flatter left of all his store!
No fool to laugh at, which he valued more.
There, victor of his health, of fortune, friends,
And fame, this lord of useless thousands ends.
His grace's fate sage Cutler1 could foresee,
And well (he thought) advised him, "Live like me."
As well his grace replied, "Like you, Sir John?
That I can do, when all I have is gone."
Resolve me, reason, which of these is worse,
Want with a fool, or with an empty purse?
Thy life more wretched, Cutler, was confessed,
Arise, and tell me, was thy death more blessed?
Cutler saw tenants break, and houses fall,
For very want; he could not build a wall.
His only daughter in a stranger's power,
For very want; he could not pay a dower.
A few grey hairs his reverend temples crowned,
'Twas very want that sold them for two pound.
What even denied a cordial at his end,
Banished the doctor, and expelled the friend?
What but a want, which you perhaps think mad,
Yet numbers feel the want of what he had!
Cutler and Brutus. dying both exclaim,
"Virtue! and wealth! what are ye but a name!"
Say, for such worth are other worlds prepared?
Or are they both, in this their own reward?
A knotty point! to which we now proceed.
But you are tired—I'll tell a tale-- B. Agreed.

310

320

330

Sir John Cutler, a wealthy citizen of the Restoration period, accused of rapacity on account of a large claim made by his executors against the College of Physicians which he had aided by a loan.-Carruthers.

P. Where London's column,1 pointing at the

skies,

Like a tall bully, lifts the head, and lies;

There dwelt a citizen of sober fame,

A plain good man, and Balaam was his name;
Religious, punctual, frugal, and so forth;

340

His word would pass for more than he was worth.
One solid dish his week-day meal affords,
An added pudding solemnised the Lord's:
Constant at church, and change; his gains were sure,
His givings rare, save farthings to the poor.

350

The devil was piqued such saintship to behold, And longed to tempt him like good Job of old: But Satan now is wiser than of yore, And tempts by making rich, not making poor. Roused by the Prince of Air, the whirlwinds sweep The surge, and plunge his father in the deep; Then full against his Cornish2 lands they roar, And two rich shipwrecks bless the lucky shore. Sir Balaam now, he lives like other folks, He takes his chirping pint, and cracks his jokes ; "Live like yourself," was soon my lady's word; And lo! two puddings smoked upon the board. Asleep and naked as an Indian lay,

360

1 The monument on Fish Street Hill, built in memory of the fire of London, of 1666, with an inscription, importing that city to have been burnt by the papists.

2 The author has placed the scene of these shipwrecks in Cornwall, not only from their frequency on that coast, but from the inhumanity of the inhabitants to those to whom that misfortune arrives. When a ship happens to be stranded there, they have been known to bore holes in it, to prevent its getting off; to plunder, and sometimes even to massacre the people: nor has the Parliament of England been yet able wholly to suppress these barbarities.

An honest factor stole a gem away :'

He pledged it to the knight; the knight had wit,
So kept the diamond, and the rogue was bit.
Some scruple rose, but thus he eased his thought,
"I'll now give sixpence where I gave a groat;
Where once I went to church, I'll now go twice—
And am so clear too of all other vice."

The tempter saw his time; the work he plied;
Stocks and subscriptions poured on every side,
Till all the demon makes his full descent
In one abundant shower of cent. per cent,
Sinks deep within him, and possesses whole,
Then dubs director, and secures his soul.

Behold Sir Balaam, now a man of spirit,
Ascribes his gettings to his parts and merit;
What late he called a blessing, now was wit,
And God's good providence, a lucky hit.
Things change their titles, as our manners turn :
His counting-house employed the Sunday morn;
Seldom at church ('twas such a busy life)
But duly sent his family and wife.

There (so the devil ordained) one Christmas-tide
My good old lady catched a cold and died.

1

A nymph of quality admires our knight;
He marries, bows at court, and grows polite :
Leaves the dull cits, and joins (to please the pair)
The well-bred cuckolds in St. James's air:
First, for his son a gay commission buys,

370

380

Who drinks, whores, fights, and in a duel dies:

390

1 Pope was supposed to allude here to the Pitt diamond brought to England by Thomas Pitt, governor of Madras, about 1700, and sold to the King of France for £20,000. Thomas Pitt was grandfather of the first Earl of Chatham.-Carruthers.

His daughter flaunts a viscount's tawdry wife;
She bears a coronet and pox for life.

In Britain's senate he a seat obtains,
And one more pensioner St. Stephen gains.1
My lady falls to play; so bad her chance,
He must repair it; takes a bribe from France;
The House impeach him; Coningsby harangues;2
The court forsake him, and Sir Balaam hangs :
Wife, son, and daughter, Satan! are thy own,
His wealth, yet dearer, forfeits to the crown:
The devil and the king divide the prize,
And sad Sir Balaam curses God and dies.

400

EPISTLE IV,

TO RICHARD BOYLE, EARL OF BURLINGTON.3

ARGUMENT.

OF THE USE OF RICHES.

The vanity of expense in people of wealth and quality. The abuse of the word taste, ver. 13. That the first principle and foundation, in this as in everything else, is good sense, ver. 40. The chief proof of it is to follow nature even in works of mere luxury and elegance. Instanced in architecture and gardening, where all must be adapted to the genius and use of the place, and the beauties not forced into it, but resulting from it, ver. 50. How men are disappointed in their most expensive undertakings, for want of this true foundation, without which nothing can please long, if at all; and the best examples and

1 --atque unum civem donare Sibyllæ.

Juv. iii. 3.-Warburton. 2 The impeachment of Oxford in 1715 was moved by Lord Coningsby.

3 Richard Boyle, third Earl of Burlington, obtained fame by his taste in architecture.