P. Where London's column, pointing at the skies, Like a tall bully, lifts the head, and lies; 340 A plain good man, and Balaam was his name; sure;. His givings rare, save farthings to the poor. 345 351 The devil was piqued such saintship to behold, And long'd 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 Cornish lands they roar, 355 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. 339 Where London's column. The Monument, built in memory of the fire of London, with an inscription importing that city to have been burnt by the papists.-Pope. 340 Lifts the head, and lies. A line unworthy of the poetic dexterity of Pope: but the apologue of sir Balaam is admirable. Warton compares it to the exquisite history' of Eugenio and Crosodes in one of Swift's Intelligencers.' But its strength, clearness, and consecutiveness of story, are unrivalled in modern versification. Asleep and naked as an Indian lay, An honest factor stole a gem away: 361 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 pour on every side; 370 Till all the demon makes his full descent In one abundant shower of cent per cent : 375 381 Behold sir Balaam, now a man of spirit, Ascribes his gettings to his parts and merit; What late he call'd a blessing, now was wit; And God's good providence, a lucky hit. Things change their titles as our manners turn: His counting-house employ'd the Sunday morn; Seldom at church, ('twas such a busy life!) But duly sent his family and wife: There, so the devil ordain'd, one Christmas-tide My good old lady catch'd a cold, and died, A nymph of quality admires our knight: He marries, bows at court, and grows polite; Leaves the dull cits, and joins, to please the fair, 385 389 The well-bred cuckolds in St. James's air: In Britain's senate he a seat obtains, 395 400 401 The devil and the king divide the prize. Warburton, in that perpetual struggle between the judgment of a critic and the zeal of an advocate, which renders his commentary so amusing, toils to take the sting out of this passage. 'This,' says he, is to be understood in a very sober and decent sense; as a satire only on such ministers of state (whom history informs us to have been found) who aided the devil in his temptations, in order to foment, if not to make, plots for the sake of confiscations.' After having thus exonerated the ministerial character, he undertakes the panegyric of the poet :-'So sure always and just is our author's satire, even in those places where he seems most to have indulged himself only in an elegant badinage!' Some information, collected by Mr. Bowles, relative to the 'Man of Ross,' deserves a place here, from its giving a more distinct statement of the actual services of a man whose example might be imitated with such national effect, and whose spirit ought to be a model to country gentlemen. The statement is given in the words of his immediate descendant, the late Thomas Hutchison, barrister, whose sister is now in possession of the property. OBSERVATIONS ON THE FACTS STATED BY POPE AS THEY RESPECT THE CHARACTER OF THE 'MAN OF ROSS.' 'Who hung with woods yon mountain's sultry brow?' There was, and still is, a very long shady walk, of nearly a mile and a half in length, called Kyrle's Walks, which, whilst I had the estate, was kept in good preservation, and is on the summit of an eminence, commanding a beautiful prospect of the river Wye and the country to a great extent. There is a summer-house now remaining thereon, erected by the Man of Ross,' with a motto over the door, 'Si non tibi, non ibi.' 'From the dry rock who bade the waters flow?' ་ The Man of Ross' promoted, and partly assisted by his own pecuniary aid, the erection of a small water-work near the river, which supplied the town of Ross with water, in which article it was very deficient before. Whose causeway parts the vale with shady rows?' A causeway, of the greatest safety to the country in the time of floods, was, when surveyor of the roads, made by him; and his estate being on each side of it, he, I think, gave up some land for the conveniency of its erection, and caused the same to be completed. Whose seats the weary traveller repose?' Seats were fixed by him in the walks first mentioned, which the different possessors of the estates kept, until lately, in good repair. The church-path being through them, also being a short way to Goodrich-ferry, &c. they certainly afforded rest and pleasure to passengers, and to the inhabitants of the town of Ross. Who taught that heaven-directed spire to rise?' The Man of Ross' certainly first promoted the erection of that beautiful structure, by both his pecuniary aid and personal attention, each of which was considerable. 'Behold the market-place with poor o'erspread.' His house was opposite to the market-place. He kept an open house every market-day: any person without distinction might meet on that day at his hospitable board, which, according to the stories related to me by some old tenants, consisted of a joint of meat of each sort. The poor, who were always in waiting on that day, and every other, had distributed to them, by his own superintendence, the whole of the remains of each day, besides continual distributions of bread, &c. 'He feeds yon alms-house.' He founded a small alms-house in Ross, and left an annual sum charged on his estate towards its assistance. His chari ties, whether by pecuniary aids, sustenance, or the gift of medicines, were more than commensurate with his income. He was the constant and just arbitrator of all differences. 'And what? no monument.' This stigma on provincial gratitude was removed some years since by lord Kinnoul, a relative, by marriage, of Kyrle; a handsome monument was erected at an expense of £200. The 'Man of Ross' was of one of the best families of Herefordshire, and was allied to the Scudamores, Traceys, and principal families of the county: the estates of his cousin, sir John Kyrle of Much Marcle, amounted to £4000 a-year. But his simple liberality has eclipsed all their rent-rolls! |