SALAMANDER,
Out of Pliny's Natural History, Lib. 10. C. 67. and Lib. 29. C. 4.
S mastiff dogs in modern phrase are
Call'd Pompey, Scipio, and Cæfar;
As pyes and daws are often ftil'd
With chriftian nick-names like a child
As we fay monfieur to an ape,
Without offence to human fhape;
So men have got from bird and brute
Names that would beft their natures fuit.
The lion, eagle, fox, and boar,
Were heroes titles heretofore,
Bestow'd as hi'roglyphicks fit
To fhew their valour, ftrength, or wit:
For what is understood by fame,
Befides the getting of a name?
But, e'er fince men invented guns,
A diff'rent way their fancy runs:
To paint a hero, we enquire
For fomething that will conquer fire.
Would you defcribe Turenne® or Trump' ?
Think of a bucket or a pump.
Are these too low ?--then find out grander,
Call my lord Cuts a falamander.
'Tis well;-but fince we live among
Detractors with an evil tongue,
Who may object against the term,
Pliny fhall
prove what we affirm; Pliny fhall prove, and we'll apply, And I'll be judg'd by ftanders-by.
First, then, our author has defin'd
This reptile of the ferpent kind,
With gaudy coat, and fhining train ;
But loathfome fpots his body ftain:
Out from fome hole obfcure he flies,
When rains defcend, and tempefts rife,
Till the fun clears the air; and then
Crawls back neglected to his den.
So, when the war has rais'd a ftorm,
I've seen a fnake in human form,
All ftain'd with infamy and vice,
Leap from the dunghill in a trice,
Burnish, and make a gaudy fhow,
Become a gen'ral, peer, and beau,
Till peace hath make the fky ferene;
Then fhrink into its hole again.
All this we grant-why then look yonder,
Sure that must be a falamander!
Farther, we are by Pliny told, This ferpent is extremely cold; So cold, that, put it in the fire, "Twill make the very flames expire: Befides, it fpews a filthy froth (Whether thro' rage, or love, or both,) Of matter purulent and white, Which happening on the skin to light, And there corrupting to a wound, Spreads leprofy and baldness round. So have I feen a batter'd beau, By age and claps grown cold as fnow, Whose breath or touch, where-e'er he came, Blew out love's torch, or chill'd the flame : And fhou'd fome nymph who ne'er was cruel,
Like Charleton cheap, or fam'd Du-Ruel, Receive
Receive the filth which he ejects,
She foon wou'd find the fame effects
Her tainted carcafs to purfue,
As from the falamander's fpue;
A dismal fhedding of her locks,
And, if no leprofy, a pox.
Then I'll appeal to each by-flander,
If this be not a Salamander?
The precepts of lord Coke perufe:
Obferve an elephant, says he,
And let like him your member be:
First, take a man that's free from gall ;
For elephants have none at all:
In flocks or parties he must keep;
For elephants live just like sheep:
Stubborn in honour he must be ;
For elephants ne'er bend the knee:
Laft, let his memory be found,
In which your elephant's profound:
That old examples from the wife
May prompt him in his No's and I's.
Thus the lord Coke hath gravely writ,
In all the form of lawyers wit;
And then with Latin, and all that,
Shews the comparison is pat.
Yet in fome points my lord is wrong:
One's teeth are fold, and t'other's tongue:
Now men of parliament, God knows,
Are more like elephants of shows,
Whofe docile memory and fenfe
Are turn'd to trick, to gather pence.
To get their master half a crown,
They spread their flag, or lay it down:
Those who bore bulwarks on their backs,
And guarded nations from attacks,
Now practise ev'ry pliant gesture,
Op'ning their trunk for ev'ry tefter.
Siam, for elephants fo fam'd,
Is not with England to be nam'd:
Their elephants by men are fold;
Ours fell themselves, and take the gold.
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