Who knows (tho' it had rag'd no higher)
What pretty Feet had fwell'd by Fire?
But fee that Knot of Shepherdeffes,
And Shepherds-well-they're pretty Dreffes..
Such the Arcadian Shepherds wear,
When Love alone could charm the Fair:
Such the Arcadian Nymphs, when Love
Beauty alone in Men cou'd move.-
How happy did they fport away,
In fragrant Bow'rs, the fcorching Day;
Or, to the Nightingale's foft Tune,
Danc'd by the Luftre of the Moon!
Beauteous the Nymphs, the Swains fincere,
They knew no Jealoufy, no Fear:
Together flock'd, like Turtle-Doves,
All conftant to their plighted Loves.
How different is now their Fate !
Both equally conspire to cheat.
Florus, with lying Billet-doux
The charming Rofalind purfues;
Follows her to the Play-to Court,
Where-ever the Beau-Monde refort.
Some half a Year he's made that Tool,.
The wife yclepe a Woman's Fool :
At laft the pitying Fair relents,
And to his utmost With confents.
No fooner is the Nymph enjoy'd,
Than Floras, fickle Youth, is cloy'd.
He leaves her for another Toaft;
She laughs and crys-Pray-who has loft?
Madam, faid I, a Simile

Of mine will with your Tale agree.
So have I feen two Gamefters meet,
(Both ignorant that both wou'd cheat).
Throw Half an Hour of Life away,
Cheating by Turns in fruitlefs Play..

A

At laft each other's Tricks discover,
And wifely give their throwing over :
At one another laugh, as Fools,
And run away to feek new Culls.
Poet, your Simile is juft.

But what comes here? quoth I—A Ghost;
I hope the Phantom does not fcare you?
O no, fays fhe: But fee what's near you.
O hideous! what a dreadful Face!
Worfe than the Mafter's of the Place?
Has Nature been fo very fparing
Of Uglinefs, to th' Age we are in,
That our Deformity by Nature
Art muft contrive to render greater?
Quoth fhe, for different Reafons here,
In different Mafques, we all appear.
Some ugly Vizards are defign'd
To raife Ideas in the Mind;

Which may, like Foils, confpire to grace
The leffer Horrors of the Face.
Others in beauteous Mafques delight,
To be thought Belles for Half a Night;
As proud of this fhort Transformation,.
As Juftice Dk at C-r-n—t-nə
For know, (tho' 'tis by few believ'd)
Muft go away from hence deceiv'd:
Error, (ftrange Goddefs!) ruleth here,
And from her Castle in the Air,
Carefully watches o'er our Motions,
Receives our Off'rings and Devotions.
Behold, aloft, the Goddefs fit,

In her Appearance a Coquette;
Six Beaus, as many Belles, are shown
On Right and Left-hand of her Throne..
See Venus, Bacchus, Fortune there;
So, at this Diftance, they appear:
But all are Pictures, view them near.
A 6

-e,.

The Goddess thefe, with fubtle Art,
Has plac'd to captivate each Heart.
For whilft you with a vain Entreaty,
Attack the Favourite painted Deity,
You fall into an unfeen Net;
(By Error on that Purpose fet).
Thus caught, you are oblig'd to wander
Through a myfterious wild Meander:
Wearied, at laft you find the Door,
Then hey to Wine, or Wife, or W-
Of thefe, no Matter which, a Dofe
Your Senfes does in Sleep compofe ;
Waking, all your Adventures feem
An idle, trifling, feverish Dream.
This Fate, indeed, does not befal
(Tho' much the greater Numbers) all:
For fome o'er-leap with nimble Feet;
Others, with stronger, break the Net:
Then kneeling at the favourite Shrine,
They make the Deity benign.

Now that a G-d may be entreated,
By Prayers to Images related ;
Twill not be credited by fome

In England, but by all at Rome.

Thus Fortune fends the Gamefters Luck,
Venus her Votary a

-Miftrefs--Oh! Criticks, fpare the Crime,.
Of one who cou'd not find a Rhyme.
Bacchus, that jolly Power Divine,

To his Petitioner fends Wine.

The lucky Gamefter, when Repose

No longer will his Eye-lids clofe,
With Triumph feels his loaded Breeches,
That bend beneath the weighty Riches.
The happy Lover, when he wakes,
And a Survey of Celia takes,

As

As fleeping by his Side the lies,

Kiffes, in Ecftafy, her Eyes,

Her Lips, her Breaft; devours her Charms,

And dies in Raptures in her Arms.
The honeft Sot, difdaining Reft,
Finds Joy imperial in his Breaft;
As great an Emperor as any
In Bedlam, Ruffia, or Germany.

But tho' each Godship kindly grants
To fome Petitioners their Wants,
Each does refuse (I know not why):
With fome Petitions to comply;
And oft requites a hearty Prayer
(Inftead of Joys) with Woes and Care:
For view the young unfeafon'd Drinker,
Oh Lord methinks I fmell him stink here;
Welt'ring, he in his Pig-fty lies,

And curses all Debaucheries.

The undone Gamester wakes, and tears,,
From his ill-fated Head, his Hairs.
The Lover, who has now poffefs'd,
From unknown Flora, his Requeft;
(Who with a pretty, modeft Grace,
Difcover'd all Things but her Face)
Pulls off her Mafque in am'rous Fury,
And finds a gentle Nymph of Drury,
Curfes his Luftlaments his Fate,
And kicks her out of Bed too late.
From different Springs, of equal Pain,
The Gamester and Gallant complain;
The Gamefter mourns his lofing Lot,
The Lover fears-that he has got→→→
These are the Scenes wherein engage
The Numbers now upon this Stage.
These are the different Ends, which all
In different Degrees befal.

-

Now

Now I'll difcover who I am:
A Mufe Calliope my Name.
I ftood furpriz'd, whilft from my Sight
She vanish'd, in a fudden Flight.

Harmony in an Uproar :

A Letter to Frederick Handel, Efq; Mafter of the Opera Houfe in the HayMarket, from Hurlothrumbo Johnfon, Efq; Compofer Extraordinary to all the Theatres in Great-Eritain, excepting that of the HAY-MARKET.

In which the Rights and Merits of both O-S are properly confider'd.

-Neq; ut me miretur turba, laboro,

Contentus paucis Auditoribus ;

-Nec pluribus impar.

Wonderful SIR!

T

HE mounting Flames of my Ambition having long afpired to the Honour of holding a fmall Converfation with you; but being fenfible of the almost infuperable Difficulty of getting at you, I bethought me, a Paper Kite might beft reach you, and foar to your Apartment, though feated in the highest Clouds; for all the World knows, I can top you, fly as high as you will.

But all preliminary Compliments, and introductory Paragraphs laid afide, let us fall to Bufinefs

-You