But having amply stuff'd his skin,
Could not get out as he got in:
Which one belonging to the house
('Twas not a man, it was a mouse)
Observing, cried, " You 'scape not so;
Lean as you came, Sir, you must go."
Sir, you may spare your application,
I'm no such beast, nor his relation;
Nor one that temperance advance,
Cramm'd to the throat with Ortolans:
Extremely ready to resign
All that may make me none of mine.
South-sea subscriptions take who please,
Leave me but liberty and ease.
'Twas what I said to Craggs and Child,
Who praised my modesty, and smiled.
Give me, I cried, (enough for me)
My bread and independency!
So bought an annual rent or two,
And lived-just as you see I do;
Near fifty, and without a wife,
I trust that sinking fund, my life.
Can I retrench? Yes, mighty well,
Shrink back to my paternal cell,
A little house, with trees a-row,
And, like its master, very low;
There died my father, no man's debtor,
And there I'll die, nor worse nor better.
To set this matter full before ye,
Our old friend Swift will tell his story.
Harley, the nation's great support,"— But you may read it; I stop short.
Hoc erat in votis: modus agri non ita magnus,
Hortus ubi, et tecto vicinus jugis aquæ fons,
Et paulum silvæ super his foret. Auctiùs, atque
Dî meliùs fecere. Bene est: nil ampliùs oro,
Maiâ nate, nisi ut propria hæc mihi munera faxis.
Si neque majorem feci ratione malâ rem,
Nec sum facturus vitio culpâve minorem:
Si veneror stultus nihil horum; O si angulus ille
Proximus accedat, qui nunc denormat agellum!
O si urnam argenti fors quà mihi monstret! ut illi,
Thesauro invento qui mercenarius, agrum
Illum ipsum mercatus, aravit, dives amico
Ver. 22. And to be kept in my right wits;] An apprehension of the loss of intellect gave the Dean great uneasiness through life. Some hereditary expectation, or some peculiarity of feeling, I presume, occasioned a perpetual anticipation of that sad event, which at length befel him. Pope's part of the imitation begins at verse 125, but I cannot accede to Warburton's opinion, that his portion of the performance is executed with more dexterity than that of Swift, who is unexceptionably excellent, and preserves with most happy accommodation the playful urbanity of his author. There are indeed several strokes in the more humorous passages of Pope's division, after Swift's best manner; but the following seems to me the most successful:
Tells all their names, lays down the law:
"Que ça est bon! Ah goutez ça!
That jelly's rich, this malmsey healing:
'Pray dip your whiskers and your tail in!"
THE FIRST PART imitated in thE YEAR 1714, BY DR. SWIFT;
THE LATTER PART ADDED AFTERWARDS.
I've often wish'd that I had clear
For life, six hundred pounds a-year,
A handsome house to lodge a friend,
A river at my garden's end,
A terrace-walk, and half a rood
Of land, set out to plant a wood.
Well, now I have all this and more,
I ask not to increase my store;
But here a grievance seems to lie,
All this is mine but till I die;
I can't but think 'twould sound more clever,
To me and to my heirs for ever.
If I ne'er got or lost a groat,
By any trick, or any fault;
And if I pray by reason's rules,
And not like forty other fools:
As thus," Vouchsafe, oh gracious Maker!
To grant me this and t'other acre:
Or, if it be thy will and pleasure,
Direct my plough to find a treasure:"
But only what my station fits,
And to be kept in my right wits;
Hercule: si, quod adest, gratum juvat: hâc prece
Pingue pecus domino facias, et cætera, præter
Ingenium; utque soles, custos mihi maximus adsis.
Ergo ubi me in montes et in arcem ex urbe re-
movi,
(Quid prius illustrem Satiris Musâque pedestri?)
Nec mala me ambitio perdit, nec plumbeus Auster,
Autumnusque gravis, Libitinæ quæstus acerbæ.
Matutine pater, seu Jane libentiùs audis,
Unde homines operum primos vitæque labores
Instituunt (sic Dîs placitum) tu carminis esto
Principium. Romæ sponsorem me rapis: Eia,
Ne prior officio quisquam respondeat, urge:
Sive Aquilo radit terras, seu bruma nivalem
Interiore diem gyro trahit, ire necesse est.
Postmodo, quod mî obsit, clarè certumque locuto,
Luctandum in turbâ; facienda injuria tardis.
Quid vis, insane? et quas res agis? improbus ur-
get
Ver. 30. on this side Trent;] He was perpetually expressing his discontent at his Irish preferment, and forming schemes for exchanging it for a smaller in England; and courted Queen Caroline and Sir Robert Walpole to effect such a change. A negociation had nearly taken place between the Dean and a Mr. Talbot for the living of Burfield, in Berkshire. Mr. Talbot himself informed me of this negociation. Burfield is in the neighbourhood of Bucklebery, Lord Bolingbroke's seat.
Preserve, Almighty Providence!
Just what you gave me, competence :
And let me in these shades compose
Something in verse as true as prose;
Removed from all the ambitious scene,
Nor puff'd by pride, nor sunk by spleen.
In short, I'm perfectly content,
Let me but live on this side Trent;
Nor cross the Channel twice a-year,
To spend six months with statesmen here.
I must by all means come to town,
"Tis for the service of the crown.
"Lewis, the Dean will be of use,
Send for him up, take no excuse."
The toil, the danger of the seas;
Great ministers ne'er think of these;
Or let it cost five hundred pound,
No matter where the money's found.
It is but so much more in debt,
And that they ne'er consider'd yet.
"Good Mr. Dean, go change your gown,
Let my Lord know you're come to town."
I hurry me in haste away,
Not thinking it is Levee-day;
And find his Honour in a pound,
Hemm'd by a triple circle round,
Chequer'd with ribbons blue and green :
How should I thrust myself between?
Some wag observes me thus perplex'd
And smiling, whispers to the next,
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