These thoughts put Phoebus in the spleen,
(For gods, like men, can feel chagrin)
And left him on the point to shroud
His head in one eternal cloud;
When, lo his all-difcerning eye
Chanc'd one remaining friend to spy,
Juft crept abroad, as is his way,
To bafk him in the noon-tide ray.
This Phoebus noting, call'd aloud
To every interpofing cloud;
And bade their gather'd mists afcend,
That he might warm his good old friend :
Then, as his chariot roll'd along,
Tun'd to his lyre this grateful fong.
"With talents, fuch as God has given
To common mortals, fix in feven;
Who yet have titles, ribbons, pay,
And govern whom they should obey;
With no more frailties than are found
In thousand others, count them round;
With much good-will, inftead of parts,
Express'd for artists and for arts;
Who fmiles, if you have fmartly spoke ;
Or nods applause to his own joke;
This bearded child, this grey-hair'd boy,
Still plays with life, as with a toy ;
Still keeps amufement full in view:
Wife? Now and then-but oftener new;
His coach, this hour, at Watson's door;
The next, in waiting on a whore.
Whene'er the welcome tidings ran
Of monster strange, or stranger man,
A Selkirke from his defart-ifle,
Or Alligator from the Nile;
He faw the monster in its fhrine,
And had the man, next day, to dine.
Or was it an hermaphrodite ?
You found him in a two-fold hurry;
Neglecting, for this he-the-fight,
The single charms of Fanny Murray.
Gathering, from fuburb and from city,
Who were, who would be, wife or witty.
The full-wigg'd fons of pills and potions
The bags, of maggot and new notions;
The fage, of microscopic eye,
Who reads him lectures on a fly;
Grave Antiquaries, with their flams;
And Poets, fquirting epigrams:
With fome few Lords of those that think,
And dip, at times, their pen in ink :
Nay, Ladies too, of diverse fame,
Who are, and are not, of the game.
For he has look'd the world around,
And pleasure, in each quarter, found.
Now young, now old, now grave, now gay,
He finks from life by foft decay;
And fees at hand, without affright,
Th' inevitable hour of night."
But here, some pillar of the state,
Whofe life is one long dull debate ;
Some pedant of the fable gown,
Who fpares no failings, but his own,
Set up at once their deep mouth'd hollow
Is this a fubject for Apollo !
What! can the God of wit and verfe
Such trifles in our ears rehearse ?
"Know, puppies, this man's easy life,
Serene from cares, unvex'd with ftrife,.
Was oft employ'd in doing good;
A fcience you ne'er understood ::
And Charity, ye fons of Pride,
A multitude of faults will hide.
I, at his board, more fenfe have found;
Than at a hundred dinners round.
Taste, learning, mirth, my western eye-
Could often, there, collected fpy:
And I have gone well-pleas'd to bed,
Revolving what was fung or faid.
"And he, who entertain'd them all With much good liquor, ftrong and small;
With foot in plenty, and a welcome,
Which would become my Lord of Melcombe *,
Whofe foupes and fauces duly feafon'd,
Whofe wit well-tim'd, and fenfe well reafon'd,
Give burgundy a brighter stain,
And add new flavor to champagne-
Shall this man to the grave defcend,
* This Poem was certainly written in 1757; but the reader has only to remember, that Apollo is the God of Prophecy as well as of Poetry. MALLET,
Unown'd, unhonour'd as my friend?
No by my deity. I swear,
Nor fhall the vow be loft in air;
While and millions fuch as you,
Are funk for ever from my view,
And loft in kindred-darkness lye,
This good old man fhall never die
No matter where I place his name,
His love of learning shall be fame.
ADVERTISE MEN T.
THE defign of the Marine Society is in itself so laudable, and has been purfued fo fuccefsfully for the public good, that I thought it merited a public acknowledgment. But, to take off from the flatnefs of a direct compliment, I have through the whole poem loaded their inftitution with fuch reproaches as will show, I hope, in the most striking manner, its real utility.
By authentic accounts, it appears, that from the first rife of this Society to the present year 1762, they have collected, clothed, and fitted out for the fea-service, 5452 grown men, 4511 boys; in all 9963 perfons: whom they have thus not only faved, in all probability, from perdition and infamy, but rendered them ufeful members of the community; at a time too when their country ftood moft in need of their affistance.
T has been, all examples fhow it,
The privilege of every poet,
From ancient down through modern time,
To bid dead matter live in rhyme;
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