Then he Great tamer of all human art! First in my care, and ever at my heart; Dulness! whose good old cause I yet defend, With whom my Muse began, with whom shall end, 166 Some demon stole my pen (forgive the' offence) IMITATIONS. VIRG. Ecl. viii. 166 With whom my Muse began, with whom shall end.] A te principium, tibi desinet.'Ἐκ Διος αρχωμεσθα, και εις Δια ληγείς Μεσαι. THEOC. 'Prima dicte mihi, summa dicenda Camœna.' HOR. Did the dead letter unsuccessful prove? [198 Yet sure, had Heaven decreed to save the state, 195 --to the minister I more incline; REMARKS. 208 George Ridpath, author of a Whig paper, called the Flying Post: Nath. Mist. of a famous Tory journal. 195 IMITATIONS. had Heav'n decreed, &c.] 'Me si cœlicolæ voluissent ducere vitam, Has mihi servassent sedes.' W. VIRG. En. It. 197, 198 Could Troy be sav'd-This gray-goose weapon.] -Si Pergama dextra Defendi possent, etiam hac defensa fuissent.' VIRG. ibid. This box my thunder, this right hand my god?] 'Dextra mihi Deus, et telum quod missile libro." VIRGIL, of the Gods of Mezentius. And see! thy very Gazetteers give o'er, Ev'n Ralph repents, and Henley writes no more. This brazen brightness to the 'squire so dear; 229 “O born in sin, and forth in folly brought! Works damn'd, or to be damn'd, (your father's fault) Go, purified by flames ascend the sky, My better and more Christian progeny! Unstain'd, untouch'd, and yet in maiden sheets, While all your smutty sisters walk the streets. Ye shall not beg, like gratis-given Bland, 231 Sent with a pass and vagrant through the land; Nor sail with Ward to ape-and-monkey climes, Where vile Mundungus trucks for viler rhymes; REMARKS. 232 233 917 An happy parody on the famous Moi in Corneille's Medea. 231, 239-gratis-given Bland,-Sent with a pass.] It was a practice so to give the Daily Gazetteer, and ministerial pamphlets (in which this B. was a writer), and to send them post-free to all the towns in the kingdom. ་ W. 299with Ward to ape-and-monkey climes.] Edward Ward, a very voluminous poet in Hudibrastic verse, but best kuown by the London Spy, in prose. He has of late years IMITATIONS. 29 Unstain'd untouch'd, &c.] Felix Priameia virgo! Jussa mori quæ sortitus non pertulit ullos, Nos, patria incensa, diversa par æquora vectæ,' &c. VIRG. EB. lIl. Not sulphur-tipt, emblaze an ale-house fire! REMARKS. 250 kept a public house in the city, (but in a genteel way) and with his wit, humour, and good liquor, (ale) afforded his guests a pleasurable entertainment, especially those of the High-church party.' JACOB, Lives of Poets, Vol. II. p. 225. Great numbers of his works were yearly sold into the Plantations.-Ward, in a book called Apollo's Maggot, declared this account to be a great falsity, protesting that his publicHouse was not in the city, but in Moorfields. W. 258, 240-Tate-Shadwell.] Two of his predecessors in the laurel. IMITATIONS. W. 945 And thrice he lifted high the birth-day brand.] Ovid, of Althæ, on a like occasion, burning her offspring : 'Tum conata quater flammis imponere torrem, 250 Now flames the Cid, &c.] --Jam Deiphobi dedit ampla ruinam, Vulcano superante domos; jam proximus ardet No merit now the dear Nonjuror claims, Rous'd by the light, old Dulness heav'd the head, A veil of fogs dilates her awful face: [may'rs 263 Great in her charms! as when on shrieves and She looks, and breathes herself into their airs. She bids him wait her to her sacred dome : Well pleas'd he enter'd, and confess'd his home. So spirits, ending their terrestrial race, Ascend, and recognise their native place. This the great mother dearer held than all 269 The clubs of quidnuncs, or her own Guildhall : Here stood her opium, here she nurs'd her owls, And here she plan'd the' imperial seat of fools. REMARKS. 258 Thule.] An unfinished poem by Ambrose Philips. IMITATIONS. 963 Great in her charms! as when on shrieves and may'rs She looks, and breathes herself into their airs.] 'Alma parens confessa deam; qualisque videri VIRG. En. II. Et lætos oculis afflavit honores. Id. Æn. I. 269 This the great mother, &c.] Urbs antiqua fuit Quam Juno fertur terris magis omnibus unam VIRG. Æn. I. |