And him and his, if more devotion warms, Down with the Bible, up with the Pope's Arms. A place there is, betwixt earth, air, and seas, Where, from Ambrosia, Jove retires for ease. There in his seat, two spacious vents appear. 85 90 96 On this he sits, to that he leans his ear, IMITATIONS. v. 83. A place there is betwirt air, earth, and seas.] Orbe locus medio est, inter terrasque, fretuinque, Coelestesque plagas.'.......... 100 105 Ovid. Met. xii. N Repasses Lintot, vindicates the race, Nor heeds the brown dishonors of his face. And now the victor stretch'd his eager hand Where the tall Nothing stood, or seem'd to stand; A shapeless shade, it melted from his sight, 111 Like forms in clouds, or visions of the night. To seize his papers, Curl, was next thy care; His papers light, fly diverse, toss'd in air; Songs, sonnets, epigrams, the winds uplift, 115 And whisk 'em back to Evans, Young, and Swift. IMITATIONS. . 108. Nor heeds the brown dishonours of his face.] 6 .. Faciem ostentabat, et udo Turpia membra fimo.'.. v. 111. A shapeless shade, &c.] .Effugit imago Virg. Æn. V. 'Par levibus ventis, volucrique simillima somno.' Virg. Æn. VI. v. 114. His papers light, fly diverse, toss'd in air.] Virgil, En. VI. of the Sibyls' leaves: Carmina...... 'Turbata volent rapidis ludibria ventis.' REMARKS. v. 116. Evans, Young, and Swift.] Some of those persons whose writings, epigrams, or jests, he had owned. 124...like Congreve, Addison, and Prior.] These authors 126 Mears, Warner, Wilkins, run: delusive thought; 130 To him the Goddess: Son! thy grief lay down, And turn this whole illusion on the Town. As the sage dame, experienc'd in her trade, By names of toasts retails each batter'd jade; (Whence hapless Monsieur much complains at Paris Of wrongs from Duchesses and Lady Maries;) 136 Be thine, my Stationer! this magic gift; Cook shall be Prior, and Concanen Swift: REMARKS. being such whose names will reach posterity, we shall not give any account of them, but proceed to those of whom it is necessary.-Besaleel Morris was author of some satires on the translators of Homer, with many other things printed in newspapers -Bond writ a satire against Mr. P-, Capt. Breval was author of The Confederates, an ingenious dramatic performance, to expose Mr. P. Mr. Gay, Dr. Arbuthnot, and some ladies of quality,' says Curl, Key. p. 11. 6. 125. Mears, Warner, Wilkins.] Booksellers, and printers of much anonymous stuff. v. 128 Joseph Gay.] A fictitious name, put by Curl before several pamphlets, which made them pass with many for Mr. Gay's-The ambiguity of the word Joseph, which likewise signifies a loose upper coat, gives much pleasantry to the idea. v. 138. Cook shall be Prior.] The man here specified writ a thing called the Battle of Poets, in which Philips and Welsted were the heroes, and Swift and Pope utterly routed. He also published some malevolent things in the British, London, and baity Journals: and, at the same time, wrote letters to Mr. Pope, protesting his innocence. His chief work was a translation of Hesiod, to which Theobald wrote notes, and half notes, which be carefully owned. So shall each hostile name become our own, 146 And Tutchin flagrant from the scourge below: There Ridpath, Roper, cudgell'd might ye view, The very worsted still look'd black and blue. 150 REMARKS. Ibid...and Concanen Swift.] In the first edition of this Poem there were only asterisks in this place; but the names were since inserted merely to fill up the verse, and give ease to the ear of the reader. IMITATIONS. v. 141, 142...(piteous of his case, Yet smiling at his rueful length of face)] Me liceat casum misereri insontis amici.... REMARKS. Virg. En. V. D. 144...Dunton's modern bed.] John Dunton was a broken Bookseller, and abusive scribbler; he writ Neck or Nothing, a violent satire on some ministers of state; a libel on the Duke of Devonshire, and the Bishop of Peterborough, &c. v. 148. And Tutchin flagrant from the scourge.] John Tutchin, author of some vile verses, and of a weekly Paper, called The Observator: he was sentenced to be whipped through several towns in the west of England, upon which he petitioned King James II. to be hanged. When that prince died in exile, he wrote an invective against his memory, occasioned by some humane elegies on his death. He lived to the time of Queen Anne. P. 149. There Ridpath, Roper.] Authors of the Flying-post, Himself among the story'd chiefs he spies, See in the circle next Eliza plac'd, Two babes of love close clinging to her waist; REMARKS. 155 and Post-boy, two scandalous papers on different sides, for which they equally and alternately deserved to be cudgelled, and were So. v. 151. Himself among the story'd chiefs he spies.] The history of Curl's being tossed in a blanket, and whipped by the scholars of Westminster, is well known. Of his purging and vo miting, see a full and true account of a horrid revenge on the body of Edmund Curl, &c. in Swift and Pope's Miscellanies. v. 157. Sce on the circle next Eliza plac'd.] Eliza Haywood: this woman was authoress of those most scandalous books called The Court of Carimania, and The New Utopia. For the two Babes of Love, see Curl, Key, p. 22. But whatever reflection he is pleased to throw upon this Lady, surely it was what from him she little deserved, who had celebrated Curl's undertakings for reformation of manners, and declared herself to be so per'fectly acquainted with the sweetness of his disposition, and that tenderness with which he considered the errors of his fellow-creatures, that, though she should find the little inadver IMITATIONS. v. 151. Himself among the story'd chiefs he spies.] Virg. Æn. 1. v. 156. And the fresh comit run for ever green!] A parody of these lines of a late noble author: 'His bleeding arm had furnish'd all their rooms, D. 158. Two babes of love close clinging to her waist.] 'Cressa genus, Pholoe, geminique sub ubere nati. Virg. Æn. V. |