Page images
PDF
EPUB

It cancels all defects, and in their place
Finds fenfe in Brownlow, charms in lady Grace;
It guides the fancy, and directs the mind;
No bankrupt ever found a fair-one’kind.
So truly Horofcope its virtues knows,
To this lov'd idol 'tis, alone, he bows;
And fancies fuch bright heraldry can prove,
The vile Plebeian but the third from Jove.
Long has he been of that amphibious fry,
Bold to prefcribe, and bufy to apply.
His fhop the gazing vulgar's eyes employs
With foreign trinkets, and domestic toys.
Here mummies lay most reverendly itale;
And there the tortoife hung her coat of mail;
Not far from fome huge Shark's devouring head
The flying fish their finny pinions spread ;
Aloft in rows large poppy-heads were strung,
And near, a fcaly alligator hung;

In this place, drugs in musty heaps decay'd;
In that, dry'd bladders and drawn teeth were laid,
An inner room receives the numerous fhoals
Of fuch as pay to be reputed fools.

Globes ftand by globes, volumes on volumes lie,
And planetary schemes amuse the eye.
The fage, in velvet chair, here lolls at ease,
To promife future health for present fees;
Then, as from tripod, folemn shame reveals,
And what the stars know nothing of, foretels.
One afks how foon Panthea may be won,
And longs to feel the marriage-fetters on:
VOL. I.

[ocr errors]

110

415

120

125

130

135

Others,

Others, convinc'd by melancholy proof,

Enquire when courteous fates will strike them off.
Some, by what means they may redrefs their wrong,
When fathers the poffeffion keep too long.

And fome would know the iffue of their caufe,
And whether gold can folder up its flaws.
Poor pregnant Lais his advice would have,
To lose by art what fruitful Nature gave ;
And Portia, old in expectation grown,
Laments her barren curfe, and begs a fon :
Whilft Iris his cosmetic wath would try,
To make her bloom revive, and lovers die.
Some ask for charms, and others philtres choose,
To gain Corinna, and their quartans lose.

Young Hylas, botch'd with stains too foul to name,
In cradle here renews his youthful frame:
Cloy'd with defire, and furfeited with charms,
A hot-house he prefers to Julia's arms.
And old Lucullus would th' arcanum prove,
Of kindling in cold veins the sparks of love.

140*

145

150

155

* Bleak Envy thefe dull frauds with pleasure fees, 160 And wonders at the fer felefs myfteries.

In Colon's voice fhe thus calls out aloud

On Horoscope environ'd by the croud :

Forbear, forbear, thy vain amufements ceafe, Thy woodcocks from their gins awhile release; And to that dire misfortune liften well,

765

Which thau fhould'ft fear to know, or I to tell. 'Tis true, thou ever waft esteem'd by me

The

great Alcides of our company.

When

When we with noble scorn refolv'd to ease
Ourselves from all parochial offices;
And to our wealthier patients left the care
And draggled dignity of scavenger;
Such zeal in that affair thou didst express,
Nought could be equal, but the great fuccefs.
Now call to mind thy generous prowess past,

170

175

Be what thou fhould'st, by thinking what thou waft: The faculty of Warwick-lane defign,

If not to storm, at least to undermine.

Their gates each day ten thousand night-caps croud,
And mortars utter their attempts aloud.
If they fhould once unmask our mystery,
Each nurse, ere long, would be as learn'd as we;
Our art expos'd to every vulgar eye;

And none, in complaifance to us, would die.
What if we claim their right t' affaffinate,
Muft they needs turn apothecaries ftraight?
Prevent it, Gods! all ftratagems we try,
To croud with new inhabitants your sky.
'Tis we who wait the Deftinies' command,
To purge the troubled air, and weed the land.
And dare the college infolently aim

185

190

To equal our fraternity in fame?

Then let crabs-eyes with pearl for virtue try,

Or Highgate-hill with lofty Pindus vie;

195

So glow-worms may compare with Titan's beams,

And Hare-court pump with Aganippe's streams.

Our manufactures now they meanly fell,
And their true value treacherously tell;
D 2

Nay,

Nay, they difcover too, their spite is fuch,

200

That health, than crowns more valued, coft not much;
Whilst we must steer our conduct by these rules,
To cheat as tradefmen, or to starve as fools.-

At this fam'd Horofcope turn'd pale, and straight
In filence tumbled from his chair of state:

[ocr errors]

The croud in great confufion fought the door,
And left the Magus fainting on the floor;
Whilft in his breast the fury breath'd a storm,
Then fought her cell, and re-affum'd her form.
Thus from the fore although the infect flies,
It leaves a brood of maggots in disguise.
Officious Squirt in hafte forfook his shop,
To fuccour the expiring Horofcope.
Oft' he effay'd the Magus to reftore,
By falt of Succinum's prevailing power;
Yet ftill fupine the folid lumber lay,
An image of scarce-animated clay;
Till Fates, indulgent when difafters call,
By Squirt's nice hand apply'd a urinal.
The wight no fooner did the steam receive,
But rouz'd, and blefs'd the ftale restorative.
The springs of life their former vigour feel;
Such zeal he had for that vile utenfil.

[ocr errors][merged small]

205

210

215

220

He knew the fea-weed fcent, and th' azure Goddefs own'd.

VARIATIONS.

Ver. 202. Whilft we, at our expence, muft perfevere, And for another world, be ruin'd here.

Dr. Barnard's man.

THE

THE

DISPENSA R. Y

Α'

[blocks in formation]

LL night the fage in penfive tumults lay,
Complaining of the flow approach of day;
Oft' turn'd him round, and ftrove to think no more
Of what fhrill Colon faid the day before.
Cowflips and poppies o'er his eyes he fpread,
And Salmon's works he laid beneath his head.
But thofe blefs'd opiates ftill in vain he tries,.
Sleep's gentle image his embraces flies:
Tumultuous cares lay rolling in his breast,
And thus his anxious thoughts the Sage expreft.
Oft' has this planet roll'd around the fun,
Since to confult the skies I first begun :
Such my applause, fo mighty my fuccefs,
Some granted my predictions more than guefs.
But, doubtful as I am, I'll entertain
This faith, there can be no miftake in gain.
For the dull world muft honour pay to those,
Who on their understanding molt impofe.
First man creates, and then he fears the elf;
Thus others cheat him not, but he himself-

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small]
« PreviousContinue »