2

obstinate

That man for such employments e'er was made ?
Far be that thought! But let us now relate
A character as opposite, as great,
In him, who living gave to Athens fame, plecsado.
And, by his death, immortaliz'd her shame. knalu
Great scourge of sophists ! he from heaven brought

down,
And plac'd true wisdom on th’usurper's throne :
Philosopher in all things, but pretence;
He taught what they neglected, common sense.
They o'er the stiff Lyceum form'd to rule ;
He, o'er mankind; all Athens was his school.
The sober tradesman, and smart petit-maitre,
Great lords, and wits, in their own eyes still greater,
With him grew wise ; unknowing they were taught ;
He spoke like them, though not like them he

thought :
Nor wept, nor laugh’d, at man's perverted state ;
But left to women this, to idiots that.
View him with sophists fam'd for fieree contest,
Or crown'd with roses at the jovial feast; 080
Insulted by a peevish, noisy wife,
Or at the bar foredoom'd to lose his life;
What moving words flow from his artless tongue,
Sublime with ease, with condescension strong!
Yet scorn'd to flatter vice, or virtue blame;
Nor chang'd to please, but pleas'd because the same;
The same by friends caress’d, by foes withstood,
Still unaffected, cheerful, mild, and good.

Behold one pagan, drawn in colors faint,
Outshine ten thousand monks, though each a saint!

39
Here let us fix our foot, hence take our view,
And learn to try false merit by the true.
We see, when reason stagnates in the brain,
The dregs of fancy cloud its purest vein ;
But circulation betwixt mind and mind
Extends its course, and renders it refin'd.
When warm with youth we tread the flow'ry way,
All nature charms, and every scene looks gay ;
Each object gratifies each sense in turn,
Whilst now for rattles, now for nymphs we burn;
Enslav'd by friendship’s or by love's soft smile,
We ne'er suspect, because we mean no guile ;
Till, fush'd with hope from views of past success,
We lay on some main trifle all our stress;
When lo! the mistress or the friend betrays,
And the whole fancied cheat of life displays :
Stun'd with an ill that from ourselves arose ;
For instinct rul'd, when reason should have chose :
We Ay for comfort to some lonely scene,
Victims henceforth of dirt, and drink, and spleen,
But let no obstacles that cross our views,
Pervert our talents from their destin'd use;
For, as upon life's hill we upwards press,
Our views will be obstructed less and less.
Be all false delicacy far away,
Lest it from nature lead us quite astray ;

And for th' imagin’d vice of human race, Destroy our virtue, or our parts debase ; Since God with reason joins to make us own, That 'tis not good for man to be alone.

END OF EPISTLES

SATIRICAL AND PRECEPTIVE.

NOTES

ON

EPISTLES
SATIRICAL AND PRECEPTIVE.

EPISTLE I.

CONTENTS OF PART I.

Page 1. OF the end and efficacy of Satire. The leve of glory and fear of shame universal.

This passion, implanted in man as a spur to virtue, is generally perverted. And thus becomes the occasion of the greatest follies, vices, and miseries. It is the work of Satire to rectify this passion, to reduce it to its proper channel, and to convert it into an incentive to wisdom and virtue. Hence it appears that Satire may influence those who defy all laws human and divine. An objection answered.

4. Dauntless pursues the path Spinoza trod;] Benedict de Spinoza, son of a Portuguese Jew settled at Amsterdam, was born in 1633, and commenced phi. losopher very early in life. His great atheistical principle was, That there is nothing properly and ab. solutely existing, but matter and the modifications of