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Nay, they discover too, their fpite is fuch,

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That health, than crowns more valued, coft not much;
Whilft we muft fteer our conduct by these rules,
To cheat as tradefmen, or to ftarve as fools.
At this fam'd Horofcope turn'd pale, and ftraight
In filence tumbled from his chair of ftate:

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The croud in great confufion fought the door,
And left the Magus fainting on the floor;
Whilft in his breaft 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 difguife.
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 fcarce-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 reftorative.
The fprings of life their former vigour feel;
Such zeal he had for that vile utenfil.

So when the great Pelides Thetis found,

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

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

* Dr. Barnard's man.

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DISPENSARY.

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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 thrill Colon faid the day before. -

eyes

Cowflips and poppies o'er his 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 fkies I first begun
Such my applaufe, 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 mistake in gain.
For the dull world muft honour pay to thofe,
Who on their underftanding molt impose.
First man creates, and then he fears the elf;
Thus others cheat him not, but he himself;

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He loaths the fubftance, and he loves the fhow;
You'll ne'er convince a fool, himself is fo:
He hates realities, and hugs the cheat,
And ftill the only pleasure 's the deceit.
So meteors flatter with a dazzling dye,
Which no existence has, but in the eye.
As diftant profpects pleafe us, but when near
We find but defert rocks and fleeting air;
From ftratagem to ftratagem we run,
And he knows moft, who latest is undone.
Mankind one day ferene and free
The next, they're cloudy, fullen, and fevere :
New paffions new opinions ftill excite;

appear;

And what they like at noon, they leave at night.
They gain with labour what they quit with eafe;
And health, for want of change, becomes disease.
Religion's bright authority they dare,

And yet are flaves to fuperftitious fear.

They counfel others, but themselves deceive;

And though they 're cozen'd ftill, they ftill believe.
So falfe their cenfure, fickle their esteem,
This hour they worship, and the next blafpheme,
Shall I then, who with penetrating fight
Infpect the fprings that guide each appetite ;
Who with unfathom'd fearches hourly pierce
The dark receffes of the universe;
Be aw'd, if puny emmets would oppress ;
Or fear their fury, or their name carefs?
If all the fiends that in low darkness reign
Be not the fictions of a fickly brain,

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That

That project, the Difpenfary they call,

Before the moon can blunt her horns, shall fall.
With that, a glance from mild Aurora's eyes
Shoots through the cryftal kingdoms of the fkies.
The favage kind in forefts ceafe to roam,

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And fots, o'ercharg'd with nauseous loads, reel home;
Drums, trumpets, hautboys, wake the flumbering pair,
Whilft bridegroom fighs, and thinks the bride lefs fair;
Light's chearful smiles o'er th' azure waste are spread,
And Mifs from inns of court bolts out unpaid;
The Sage, tranfported at th' approaching hour,
Imperiously thrice thunder'd on the floor;
Officious Squirt that moment had accefs,
His truft was great, his vigilance no less.
To him thus Horoscope :

My kind companion in this dire affair,
Which is more light, fince you affume a fare;
Fly with what hafte you us'd to do of old,
When clyfter was in danger to be cold ;
With expedition on the beadle call,
To fummon all the company to th' hall.
'Away the friendly coadjutor flies,
Swift as from phial steams of harts-horn rife.
The Magus in the interim mumbles o'er
Vile terms of art to fome infernal power,
And draws myfterious circles on the floor.
But from the gloomy vault no glaring fpright
Afcends, to blaft the tender bloom of light.
No myftic founds from hell's detefted womb
In dulky exhalations upwards come.

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And now to raise an altar he decrees,
To that devouring harpy called Difease:
Then flowers in canisters he haftes to bring,
The wither'd' product of a blighted fpring;
With cold folanum from the Pontic fhore,
The roots of mandrake and black hellebore;
The griper fenna, and the puker rue,
The fweetener faffafras, are added too;
And on the ftructure next he heaps a load
Of fulphur, turpentine, and maftic wood;
Gums, foflils too, the pyramids increas'd;
A mummy next, once monarch of the east;
Then from the compter he takes down the file,
And with prefcriptions lights the folemn pile.

Feebly the flames on clumfy wings afpire,
And fmothering fogs of smoke benight the fire.
With forrow he beheld the fad portent,
Then to the hag thefe orifons he fent:

Difeafe! thou ever moft propitious power,
Whofe kind indulgence we difcern each hour!

Thou well canft boaft thy numerous pedigree,
Begot by floth, maintain'd by luxury.
In gilded palaces thy prowess reigns,
But flies the humble fheds of cottage fwains..
To you fuch might and energy belong,

You nip the blooming, and unnerve the ftrong.

Ver. 101.

VARIATIONS.

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Thou that would'ft lay whole ftates and regions waste, Sooner than we thy cormorants fhould faft.

The

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