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النشر الإلكتروني

Harcourt I see, for eloquence renown'd,
The mouth of justice, oracle of law!
Another Simon is beside him found,
Another Simon, like a straw to straw.
How Lansdowne smiles, with lasting laurel crown'd!
What mitred prelate there commands our awe!
See Rochester approving nods his head.
And ranks one modern with the mighty dead.'

Carleton and Chandos thy arrival grace;

Hanmer, whose eloquence the' unbiass'd sways; Harley, whose goodness opens in his face, And shows his heart the seat where virtue stays. Ned Blount advances next, with busy pace, In haste, but sauntering, hearty in his ways: I see the friendly Carylls come by dozens, Their wives, their uncles, daughters, sons, and cousins.

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Arbuthnot there I see, in physic's art

As Galen learn'd, or famed Hippocrate;
Whose company drives sorrow from the heart,
As all disease his medicines dissipate :
Kneller, amid the triumph bears his part,

Who could (were mankind lost) anew create :
What can the' extent of his vast soul confine ?
A painter, critic, engineer, divine!

Thee Jervas hails, robust and debonair,

'Now have [we] conquer'd Homer, friend,' he

cries: Darteneuf, grave joker, joyous Ford is there, And wondering Maine, so fat with laughing eyes, (Gay, Maine, and Cheney, boon companions dear, Gay fat, Maine fatter, Cheney huge of size)

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Yea Dennis, Gildon, (hearing thou hast riches). And honest, hatless Cromwell, with red breeches.

O Wanley*, whence com'st thou with shorten'd hair,
And visage from thy shelves with dust bespent;
Forsooth, (quoth he) from placing Homer there,
For ancients to compyle is myne entente:
Of ancients only hath Lord Harley care;

But hither me hath my meeke lady sent :-
In manuscript of Greeke rede we thilke same,
But book yprint best plesyth myn gude dame.'

Yonder I see, among the expecting crowd,
Evans with laugh jocose, and tragic Young;
High-buskin'd Booth, grave Mawbert wandering

Frowde,

And Titçomb's belly waddles slow along.
See Digby faints at Southerne talking loud,
Yea, Steele and Tickell mingle with the throng:
Tickel, whose skiff (in partnershipt they say)
Set forth for Greece, but founder'd in the way.

Lo, the two Doncastles, in Berkshire known!
Lo, Bickford, Fortescue, of Devon land;
Lo, Tooker, Eckershall, Sykes Rawlinson!

See hearty Morley takes thee by the hand; Ayrs, Graham, Buckridge, joy thy voyage done; But who can count the leaves, the stars, the sand? Lo, Stonor, Fenton, Caldwell, Ward, and Broome! Lo, thousands more; but I want rhyme and room!

* The learned librarian to Robert and Edward, Earls of Oxford. + This alludes to the share which Addison was supposed to have taken in Tickell's translation of the first book of the Iliad.

How lov'd! how honour'd thou! yet be not vain:
And sure thou art not, for I hear thee say,
All this, my friends, I owe to Homer's strain,
On whose strong pinions I exalt my lay.
What from contending cities did he gain?
And what rewards his grateful country pay?
None, none were paid :--why then all this for me?
These honours, Homer, had been just to thee!'

ECLOGUES.

THE

BIRTH OF THE SQUIRE.

IN IMITATION OF THE POLLIO OF VIRGIL.

YE silvan Muses! loftier strains recite;
Not all in shades and humble cots delight.
Hark! the bells ring; along the distant grounds
The driving gales convey the swelling sounds:
The' attentive swain, forgetful of his work,
With gaping wonder leans upon his fork.
What sudden news alarms the waking morn?
To the glad 'Squire a hopeful heir is born.
Mourn, mourn, ye stags! and all ye beasts of chase!
This hour destruction brings on all your race;
See the pleas'd tenants duteous offerings bear,
Turkeys, and geese, and grocer's sweetest ware;
With the new health the pondrous tankard flows,
And old October reddens every nose.
Beagles and spaniels round his cradle stand,
Kiss his moist lip, and gently lick his hand;
He joys to hear the shrill horn's echoing sounds,
And learns to lisp the names of all the hounds.
With frothy ale to make his cup o'erflow,
Barley shall in paternal acres grow;

The bee shall sip the fragrant dew from flow'rs,
To give metheglin for his morning hours;
For him the clustering hop shall climb the poles,
And his own orchard sparkle in his bowls.

His sire's exploits he now with wonder hears :
The monstrous tales indulge his greedy ears;
How when youth strung his nerves and warm'd his
He rode the mighty Nimrod of the plains.
(veins,
He leads the staring infant through the hall-
Points out the horny spoils that grace the wall;
Tells how this stag thro' three whole counties fled,
What rivers swam, where bay'd, and where he bled.
Now he the wonders of the fox repeats,
Describes the desperate chase, and all his cheats;
How in one day beneath his furious speed,
He tir'd seven coursers of the fleetest breed;
How high the pale he leapt, how wide the ditch,
When the hound tore the haunches of the witch.*
These stories, which descend from son to son,
The forward boy shall one day make his own.

Ah! too fond Mother! think the time draws nigh That calls the darling from thy tender eye; How shall his spirit brook the rigid rules, And the long tyranny of grammar schools? Let younger brothers o'er dull authors plod, Lash'd into Latin by the tingling rod : No, let him never feel that smart disgrace; Why should he wiser prove than all his race? When twice twelve times the reaper's sweeping With levelled harvests has bestrown the land, [hand

* The most common accident to sportsmen, to hunt a witch in the shape of a hare,

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