See now, half cur'd, and perfectly well-bred,
With nothing but a Solo in his head;

As much Estate, and Principle, and Wit,

325

As Janfen, Fleetwood, Cibber shall think fit;

Stol'n from a Duel, follow'd by a Nun,

And, if a Borough chuse him, not undone !

See, to my country happy I reftore

This glorious Youth, and add one Venus more.

330

Her too receive (for her my foul adores)

So may the fons of fons of fons of whores,

Prop thine, O Empress! like each neighbour Throne, And make a long Posterity thy own.

Pleas'd, the accepts the Hero and the Dame,

Wraps in her Veil, and frees from sense of shame.

REMARKS.

335

Then

Ver. 324. With nothing but a Solo in his head ;] With nothing but a Solo? Why, if it be a Solo, how fhould there be any thing elfe? Palpable tautology! Read boldly an Opera, which is enough of confcience for fuch a head as has loft all its Latin. BENTL.

Ver. 326. Janfen, Fleetwood, Cibber] Three very eminent perfons, all Managers of Plays; who, though not Governors by profeffion, had, each in his way, concerned themselves in the Education of Youth: and regulated their Wits, their Morals, or their Finances, at that Period of their age which is the most important, their entrance into the polite world. Of the laft of thefe, and his Talents for this end, fee Book i. ver. 199, &c.

Ver. 331. Her too receive, &c.] This confirms what the learned Scriblerus advanced in his Note on ver. 272, that the Governor, as well as the Pupil, had a particular intereft in this lady.

Then look'd, and saw a lazy, lolling fort,
Unfeen at Church, at Senate, or at Court,
Of ever-liftlefs Loiterers, that attend

No Caufe, no Truft, no Duty, and no Friend.
Thee too, my Paridel! fhe mark'd thee there,
Stretch'd, on the rack of a too easy chair.
And heard thy everlasting yawn confess
The Pains and Penalties of Idlenefs.
She pity'd! but her Pity only fhed
Benigner influence on thy nodding head.

But Annius, crafty Seer, with ebon wand,

And well-diffembled emerald on his hand,

Faife as his Gems, and canker'd as his Coins,

340

345

Came, cramm'd with capon, from where Pollio dines, Soft, as the wily Fox is feen to creep,

Where bask on funny banks the fimple sheep,

351

Walk round and round, now prying here, now there, So he; but pious, whisper'd first his prayer.

Grant, gracious Goddess! grant me still to cheat, O may thy cloud ftill cover the deceit !

REMARKS.

Thy

Ver. 341. Thee too, my Paridel!] The Poet feems to fpeak of this young gentleman with great affection. The name is taken from Spenfer, who gives it to a wandering Courtly Squire, that travelled about for the fame reafon for which many young Squires are now fond of travelling, and especially to Paris.

Ver. 347. Annius,] The name taken from Annius the Monk of Viterbo, famous for many impofitions and Forgeries of ancient manufcripts and infcriptions, which he was prompted to by mere Vanity, but our Annius had a more fubftantial motive.

Thy choicer mifts on this affembly shed,
But pour
them thickest on the noble head.
So fhall each youth, affifted by our eyes,

See other Cæfars, other Homers rife ;

360

Through twilight ages hunt th' Athenian fowl,

Which Chalcis Gods, and Mortals call an Owl,

Now fee an Attys, now a Cecrops clear,

Nay, Mahomet! the Pigeon at thine ear;

Be rich in ancient brass, though not in gold,

365

And keep his Lares, though his houfe be fold;
To headless Phoebe his fair bride postpone,
Honour a Syrian Prince above his own;

Lord of an Otho, if I vouch it true;

Bleft in one Niger, till he knows of two.

370

Mummius o'erheard him; Mummius, Fool-renown'd,

Who like his Cheops stinks above the ground,

Fierce

REMARKS.

Ver. 363. Attys and Cecrops] The firft King of Athens, of whom it is hard to fuppofe any Coins are extant; but not fo improbable as what follows, that there should be any of Mahomet, who forbad all Images; and the ftory of whofe Pigeon was a monkish fable. Nevertheless one of thefe Anniufès made a counterfeit medal of that impoftor, now in the collection of a learned Nobleman.

Ver. 371. Mummius] This name is not merely an allufion to the Mummius he was fo fond of, but probably referred to the Roman General of that name, who burned Corinth, and committed the curious Statues to the Captain of a Ship, assuring him," that if any were "loft or broken, he should procure others to be made "in their stead ;" by which it fhould feem (whatever may be pretended) that Mummius was no Virtuofo.

Fierce as a startled Adder, fwell'd, and faid,
Rattling an ancient Siftrum at his head :
Speak'ft thou of Syrian Princes? Traitor base!
Mine, Goddefs! mine is all the horned race.

Ibid.

REMARKS.

375

True,

Fool-renown'd] A compound epithet in the Greek manner, renowned by fools, or renowned for making Fools.

Ver. 372. Cheops] A King of Egypt whose body was certainly to be known, as being buried alone in his Pyramid, and is therefore more genuine than any of the Cleopatras. This Royal Mummy, being ftolen by a wild Arab, was purchased by the Conful of Alexandria, and tranfmitted to the Museum of Mummius; for proof of which he brings a paffage in Sandys's Travels, where that accurate and learned Voyager affures us that he faw the Sepulchre empty, which agrees exactly (faith he) with the time of the theft above mentioned. But he omits to obferve that Herodotus tells the fame thing of it in his time.

Ver. 375. Speak'ft thou of Syrian Princes? &c.] The ftrange ftory following, which may be taken for a fiction of the Poet, is juftified by a true relation in Spon's Voyages. Vaillant (who wrote the Hiftory of the Syrian Kings as it is to be found on medals) coming from the Levant, where he had been collecting various coins, and being pursued by a Corfair of Sallee, fwallowed down twenty gold medals. A fudden Bourafque freed him from the Rover, and he got to land with them in his belly. On his road to Avignon he met two Physicians, of whom he demanded affiftance. One advifed Purgations, the other Vomits. In this uncertainty he took neither, but purfued his way to Lyons, where he found his ancient friend the famous Physician and Antiquary Dufour, to whom he related his adventure.

R 2

Dufour,

True, he had wit, to make their value rise;
From foolish Greeks to steal them, was as wife :
More glorious yet, from barbarous hands to keep,
When Sallee Rovers chac'd him on the deep.
Then taught by Hermes, and divinely bold,
Down his own throat he risqu'd the Grecian Gold,
Receiv'd each Demi-God, with pious care,
Deep in his Entrails-I rever'd them there,

I bought them, shrouded in that living shrine,
And, at their fecond birth, they iffue mine.
Witness great Ammon! by whose horns I swore,
(Reply'd foft Annius) this our paunch before
Still bears them, faithful; and that thus I eat,
Is to refund the Medals with the meat.
To prove me, Goddess! clear of all defign,
Bid me with Pollio fup, as well as dine :
There all the Learn'd fhall at the labour ftand,
And Douglas lend his foft, obstetric hand.

REMARKS.

380

385

390

The

Dufour, without ftaying to inquire about the uneafy fymptoms of the burthen he carried, first asked him, Whether the Medals were of the higher empire? He affured him they were. Dufour was ravifhed with the hope of poffeffing fo rare a treasure; he bargained with him on the fpot for the most curious of them, and was to recover them at his own expence.

Ver. 387. Witness great Ammon!] Jupiter Ammon is called to witness, as the father of Alexander, to whom those Kings fucceeded in the divifion of the Macedonian Empire, and whose Horns they wore on their Medals.