Puslapio vaizdai
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E deep philofophers who can

Explain that various creature, Man,

Say, is there any point fo nice,

As that of offering an advice?
To bid your friend his errors mend,
Is almoft certain to offend:
Tho' you in fofteft terms advise,
Confefs him good; admit him wife;
In vain you fweeten the difcourse,
He thinks you call him FooL, or worse.
You paint his character, and try
If he will own it, and apply;
Without a name reprove and warn;
Here none are hurt, and all may learn:
This too muft fail, the picture fhewn,
No man will take it for his own.
In moral lectures treat the cafe,
Say this is honeft, that is bafe;
In converfation, none will bear it;
And for the pulpit, few come near it.
And is there then no other way
A moral leffon to convey?
B

Muft

Muft all that fhall attempt to teach,
Admonifh, fatirize, or preach?
Yes, there is one, an ancient art,
By fages found to reach the heart,
Ere fcience, with diftinctions nice,
Had fix'd what virtue is and vice,
Inventing all the various names
On which the moralift declaims:
They wou'd by fimple tales advise,
Which took the hearer by furprise;
Alarm'd his confcience, unprepar'd,
Ere pride had put it on its guard;
And made him from himself receive
The leffons which they meant to give.
That this device will oft prevail,
And gain its end, when others fail,
If any fhall pretend to doubt,

The TALE which follows makes it out.

There was a little ftubborn dame,
Whom no authority could tame;
Reftive, by long indulgence, grown,
No will the minded but her own:
At trifles oft fhe'd fcold and fret,
Then in a corner take a feat,
And, fourly moping all the day,
Difdain alike to work or play.

Papa all fofter arts had try'd,
And sharper remedies apply'd;
But both were vain, for every course
He took ftill made her worse and worse,
'Tis ftrange to think how female wit
So oft fhould make a lucky hit,
When man, with all his high pretence
To deeper judgment, founder fenfe,
Will err, and measures falfe purfue-
Tis very ftrange, 1 own, but true.-
Mamma obferv'd the rifing lafs
By stealth retiring to the glafs,
To practife little airs, unfeen,
In the true genius of thirteen:
On this a deep defign fhe laid
To tame the humour of the maid;

Con

Contriving, like a prudent mother,
To make one folly cure another.
Upon the wall, against the feat
Which-Jeffy us'd for her retreat,
Whene'er by accident offended,

A looking-glafs was ftraight fufpended,
That it might fhow her how deform'd
She look'd, and frightful when she storm'd;
And warn her, as the priz'd her beauty,
To bend her humour to her duty.
All this the looking-glafs atchiev'd,
Its threats were minded and believ'd.
The maid, who fpurn'd at all advice,
Grew tame and gentle in a trice:
So when all other means had fail'd,
The filent monitor prevail'd.
Thus, Fable to the human-kind
Presents an image of the mind;
It is a mirror where we fpy

At large our own deformity;

And learn of courfe thofe faults to mend,
Which but to mention would offend.

The LION, the FOX, and the GEESE

A FABLE.

[GAY.]

Lion, tir'd with ftate affairs,

A quite fick of pomp, and worn with cares,

Refolv'd (remote from noife and strife)
In peace to pass his latter life.

It was proclaim'd; the day was fet:
Behold the gen'ral council met.

The Fox was Viceroy nam'd. The crowd
To the new Regent humbly bow'd.
Wolves, bears, and mighty tygers bend,
And ftrive who moft fhall condefcend.
He ftraight affumes a folemn grace,
Collects his wifdom in his face.
The crowd admire his wit, his fenfe:
Each word has weight and confequence.
The flatt'rer all his art difplays:
He who hath power, is fure of praife.

B 2

A Fox

A Fox ftept forth before the reft,
And thus the fervile throng addrest.

How vaft his talents, born to rule,
And train'd in Virtue's honeft school!
What clemency his temper fways!
How uncorrupt are all his ways!
Beneath his conduct and command,
Rapine fhall cease to wafte the land.
His brain hath ftratagem and art;
Prudence and mercy rule his heart;
What bleffings must attend the nation
Under this good adminiftration!

He faid. A Goofe, who diftant stood,
Harangu'd apart the cackling brood.
Whene'er I hear a knave commend,
He bids me fhun his worthy friend.
What praife! what mighty commendation!
But 'twas a Fox who spoke th' oration.
Foxes this government may prize,
As gentle, plentiful, and wife;
If they enjoy the fweets, 'tis plain
We Geefe muft feel a tyrant reign.
What havock now fhall thin our race,
When ev'ry petty clerk in place,
To prove his tafte, and feem polite,
Will feed on Geefe both noon and night!

The SHEPHERD'S DOG and the WOLF.

A

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Wolf, with hunger fierce and bold,

Ravag'd the plains, and thinn'd the fold:

Deep in the wood fecure he lay,

The thefts of night regal'd the day.
In vain the fhepherd's wakeful care
Had fpread the toils, and watch'd the fnare:
In vain the dog purfu'd his pace,
The fleeter robber mock'd the chace.
As Lightfoot rang'd the foreft round,
By chance his foe's retreat he found.
Let us a while the war fufpend,
And reafon as from friend to friend,

A truce

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