225

230

235

To balance Fortune by a just expense,
Join with Economy, Magnificence;
With Splendour, Charity ; with Plenty, Health ;
O teach us, BATHURSTI yet unspoild by wealth?!
That secret rare, between th' extremes to move
Of mad Good-nature, and of mean Self-love.

B. To Worth or Want well-weigh’d, be Bounty giv'n,
And ease, or emulate, the care of Heay'n;
(Whose measure full o'erflows on human race)
Mend Fortune's fault, and justify her grace.
Wealth in the gross is death, but life diffus'd ;
As Poison heals, in just proportion us'd :
In heaps, like Ambergrise, a stink it lies,
But well-dispers’d, is Incense to the Skies.

P. Who starves by Nobles, or with Nobles eats ?
The Wretch that trusts them, and the Rogue that cheats.
Is there a Lord, who knows a cheerful noon
Without a Fiddler, Flatt'rer, or Buffoon?
Whose table, Wit, or modest Merit share,
Unelbow'd by a Gamester, Pimp, or Play'r?
Who copies Your's or OXFORD's better part,
To ease th'oppress’d, and raise the sinking heart?
Where-e'er he shines, oh Fortune, gild the scene,
And Angels guard him in the golden Mean!
There, English Bounty yet awhile may stand,
And Honour linger ere it leaves the land.

But all our praises why should Lords engross?
Rise, honest Muse ! and sing the Man of Ross 3 :
Pleas'd Vaga* echoes thro' her winding bounds,
And rapid Severn hoarse applause resounds.
Who hung with woods yon mountain's sultry brow?
From the dry rock who bade the waters flow?
Not to the skies in useless columns tost,
Or in proud falls magnificently lost,
But clear and artless, pouring thro' the plain
Health to the sick, and solace to the swain.

240

245

250

255

1 After v. 226 in the MS.

was called Mr John Kyrle. He died in the year ‘That secret rare, with affluence hardly join'd, 1724, aged 90, and lies

interred in the chancel of
Which W-n lost, yet B-y ne'er could find ; the church of Ross in Herefordshire. P.
Still miss'd by Vice, and scarce by Virtue hit, We must understand what is here said, of actu-
By G-'s goodness, or by S-'s Wit.'

ally performing, to mean by the contributions [Possibly Wharton, Granville, Sheffield.] which the Man of Ross, by his assiduity and in

2 OXFORD's better part,) Edward Harley, terest, collected in his neighbourhood. Earl of Oxford. The son of Robert, created Earl

Warburton.
of Oxford and Earl Mortimer by Queen Anne. [Johnson, in his life of Pope, accordingly cen-
This Nobleman died regretted by all men of let. sures this passage as in vain recommending what
ters, great numbers of whom had experienced his is unattainable, inasmuch as the Man of Ross did
benefits. He left behind him one of the most not do the wonders ascribed to him with his five
noble Libraries in Europe. P.

hundred pounds a year.)
3 The Man of Ross:) The person here cele- After V. 250 in the MS.
brated, who with

a small Estate actually perform- ‘Trace humble worth beyond Sabrina's shore, ed all these good works, and whose true name Who sings not him, oh may he sing no more! was almost lost (partly by the title of the Man of

Warburton. Ross given him by way of eminence, and partly 4 [Vaga is Latin name of the river Wye.) by being buried without so much as an inscription)

Whose Cause-way parts the vale with shady rows?
Whose Seats the weary Traveller repose ?

260
Who taught that heav'n-directed spire to rise ?
“The MAN of Ross,” each lisping babe replies.
Behold the Market-place with poor o'erspread !
The MAN of Ross divides the weekly bread ;
He feeds yon Alms-house, neat, but void of state,

265
Where Age and Want sit smiling at the gate';
Him portion'd maids, apprentic'd orphans blest,
The young who labour, and the old who rest.
Is any sick ? the MAN of Ross relieves,
Prescribes, attends, the med'cine makes, and gives.

270
Is there a variance ; enter but his door,
Balk'd are the Courts, and contest is no more,
Despairing Quacks with curses fled the place,
And vile Attorneys, now an useless race.
B. Thrice happy man! enabled to pursue

275
What all so wish, but want the pow'r to do !
Oh say, what sums that gen'rous hand supply?
What mines, to swell that boundless charity ?

P. Of Debts, and Taxes, Wife and Children clear,
This man possest-five hundred pounds a year.

280 Blush, Grandeur, blush ! proud Courts, withdraw your blaze ! Ye little Stars ! hide your diminish'd rays.

B. And what? no monument, inscription, stone??
His race, his form, his name almost unknown?
P. Who builds a Church to God, and not to Fame, 285
Will never mark the marble with his Name :
Go, search it there, where to be born and die 3,
Of rich and poor makes all the history;
Enough, that Virtue filld the space between ;
Prov'd, by the ends of being, to have been.

290
When Hopkins dies“, a thousand lights attend
The wretch, who living sav'd a candle's end :
Should'ring God's altar a vile image stands,
Belies his features, nay extends his hands;
That live-long wig which Gorgon's self might own,

295
Eternal buckle takes in Parian stone5.
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,

300 On once a flock-bed, but repair'd with straw,

? [This deficiency was afterwards supplied by Then stole to rest, unheeded and unseen.' the Earl of Kinnoul, a connexion of the family of

305

2

310

315

7

With tape-ty'd curtains, never meant to draw,
The George and Garter dangling from that bed.
Where tawdry yellow strove with dirty red,
Great Villiers lies alas ! how chang'd from him,
That life of pleasure, and that soul of whim!
Gallant and gay, in Cliveden's ? proud alcove,
The bow'r of wanton Shrewsbury 3 and love ;
Or just as gay, at Council, in a ring
Of mimic'd Statesmen, and their merry King.
No Wit to flatter left of all his store !
No Fool to laugh at, which he valu'd more.
There, Victor of his health, of fortune, friends,
And fame, this lord of useless thousands ends.

His Grace's fate sage 'Cutler could foresee,
And well (he thought) advis'd him, “Live like me.”
As well his Grace reply'd, “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 full, or with an empty purse ?
Thy life more wretched, Cutler, was confessid,
Arise, and tell me, was thy death more bless'd ?
Cutler saw tenants break, and houses fall,
For very want; he could not build a wall.
His only daughter in a stranger's pow'r,
For very want; he could not pay a dow'r.
A few grey hairs his rev'rend temples crown'd,
'Twas very want that sold them for two pound.
What ev'n deny'd a cordial at his end,
Banish'd the doctor, and expell’d 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 5 !”

Say, for such worth are other worlds prepar'd ?
Or are they both, in this their own reward?
A knotty point ! to which we now proceed.
But you are tir'd—I'll tell a tale— B. Agreed.

320

325

330

335

i Great Villiers lies-] This Lord, yet more he died (in 1687) was at Kirby Moor Side, near famous for his vices than his misfortunes, after Helmsly in Yorkshire.) having been possess'd of about £50,000 a year, and • Cliveden) A delightful palace, on the banks passed thro' many of the highest posts in the king- of the Thames, built

by the D. of Buckingham. P. dom, died in the Year 1687, in a remote inn in 3 Shrewsbury] The Countess of Shrewsbury, Yorkshire, reduced to the utmost misery. P. a woman abandoned to gallantries. The Earl her

[George Villiers Duke of Buckingham, the son husband was kill'd by the Duke of Buckingham of the first Duke (the favourite and minister of in a duel; and it has been said, that during the James I. and Charles I.) was born in 1637: He combat she held the Duke's horses in the habit of lost his estates as a royalist, but recovered them a page. P. by his marriage with the daughter of Lord Fair- 4 (Sir John Cutler, a wealthy citizen of the fax. He is the Zimri of the Absalom and Achito- Restoration period, accused of rapacity on acphel of Dryden, whom he had ridiculed as Bayes count of a large claim made by his executors in the burlesque play of the Rehearsal. Thus against the College of Physicians which he had we have portraits of this typical hero of the Re- aided by a loan. Carruthers.) storation period by Dryden and Pope, as well 5 [Wakefield refers to the account of Brutus' as by Burnet and Butler, Count Grammont and death. Dion Cassius (XLVII. 49).] Horace Walpole. The tenant's house at which

340

345

350

355

P. Where London's column, 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 ;
His word would pass for more than he was worth.
One solid dish his week-day meal affords,
An added pudding solemniz'd the Lord's :
Constant at Church, and Change ; his gains were sure,
His givings rare, save farthings to the poor.

The Dev'l was piqu'd 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.

Rous'd by the Prince of Air, the whirlwinds sweep
The surge, and plunge his Father in the deep ;
Then full against his Cornish 2 lands they roar,
And two rich ship-wrecks 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 smok'd upon the board,

Asleep and naked as an Indian lay,
An honest factor stole a Gem away :
He pledg’d it to the knight; the knight had wit,
So kept the Di’mond, and the rogue was bit.
Some scruple rose, but thus he eas'd his thought,
“I'll now give six-pence 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 ply'd ;
Stocks and Subscriptions pour on ev'ry side,
'Till all the Demon makes his full descent
In one abundant show'r 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 callà 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)

360

365

370

375

380

1 Where London's column,] The Monument, it, to prevent its getting off; to plunder, and someon Fish Street Hill, built in memory of the fire of times even to massacre the People: nor has the London, of 1666, with an inscription, importing Parliament of England been yet able wholly to that city to have been burnt by the Papists. P. suppress

385

393

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)
The well-bred cuckolds in St. James's air :
First, for his Son a gay commission buys,
Who drinks, whores, fights, and in a duel dies :
His daughter flaunts a Viscount's tawdry wife;
She bears a Coronet and P-x for life.
In Britain's Senate he a seat obtains,
And one more Pensioner St. Stephen gains ?.
My Lady falls to play ; so bad her chance,
He must repair it; takes a bribe from France ;
The House impeach him ; Coningsby harangues ? ;
The Court forsake him, and Sir Balaam hangs :
Wife, son, and daughter, Satan! are thy own,
His wealth, yet dearer, forfeit to the Crown :
The Devil and the King divide the prize,
And sad Sir Balaam curses God and dies.

395

400

Of the Use of Riches. The Vanity of Expence in People of Wealth and Quality. The abuse of the word Taste, v. 13. That the first principle and foundation, in this as in every thing else, is Good Sense, v. 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, v. 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 Rules will but be perverted into something burdensome or ridiculous, v. 65, &c. to 92. A description of the false ! Taste of Magnificence; the first grand Error of which is to imagine that Greatness

And one more Pensioner St Stephen gains.] and educated by studies in Italy. Horace Wal. -atque unum civem donare Sibylla.