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Matter, as wife logicians say,
Cannot without a form fubfift;
And form, fay I, as well as they,
Must fail, if matter brings no grift.

And this is fair Diana's cafe;

For all aftrologers maintain, Each night a bit drops off her face, When mortals fay fhe's in her wane :

*

While Partridge wifely fhews the cause
Efficient of the moon's decay,
That Cancer with his pois'nous claws
Attacks her in the milky way:

But Gadbury, in art profound,

From her pale cheeks pretends to fhew, That fwain Endymion is not found, Or elfe that Mercury's her foe.

But, let the cause be what it will,

In half a month fhe looks fo thin, That Flamstead can, with all his skill, See but her forehead and her chin.

Partridge and Gadbury wrote each an ephemeris. Endymion, a young shep

herd, of whom Diana was feigned to be enamoured.

Yet

Yet, as she wastes, fhe grows discreet,
'Till midnight never fhews herhead:
So rotting Celia ftroles the ftreet,
When fober folks are all a-bed:

For fure, if this be Luna's fate,
Poor Celia, but of mortal race,
In vain expects a longer date

To the materials of her face.

When Mercury her treffes mows,

To think of black-lead combs is vain

No painting can restore a nose,
Nor will her teeth return again.

Ye pow'rs, who over love prefide!
Since mortal beauties drop fo foon,
If would have us well fupply'd,

you

;

Send us new nymphs with each new moon.

PETHOX THE GREAT.

ROM Venus born, thy beauty fhows;

FR

But who thy father, no man knows: Nor can the fkilful herald trace

The founder of thy ancient race:

Whether

Whether thy temper, full of fire,
Discovers Vulcan for thy fire,
The God who made Scamander boil,
And round his margin fing'd the foil,
From whence, philofophers agree,
An equal pow'r descends to thee:
Whether from dreadful Mars you claim
The high descent from whence you came,
And, as a proof, fhew num'rous scars
By fierce encounters made in wars,
Those honourable wounds you bore
From head to foot, and all before;
And still the bloody field frequent,
Familiar in each leader's tent:
Or whether, as the learn'd contend,
You from the neighb'ring Gaul descend;
Or from* Parthenope the proud,
Where numberlefs thy vot'ries crowd:
Whether thy great forefathers came
From realms that bear Vefputio's name;
For fo conject'rers would obtrude,
And from thy painted skin conclude :
Whether, as Epicurus shows,

The world from juftling feeds arofe,
Which, mingling with prolifick ftrife
In chaos, kindled into life;

* Naples.

Sa

*

So your production was the fame,
And from contending atoms came.
Thy fair indulgent mother crown'd
Thy head with fparkling rubies round:
Beneath thy decent steps the road
Is all with precious jewels ftrow'd.
The bird of Pallas knows his poft,
Thee to attend, where-e'er thou go'st.
Byzantians boaft, that on the clod
Where once their fultan's horfe hath trod,
Grows neither grafs, nor fhrub, nor tree:
The fame thy fubjects boast of thee.
The greatest lord, when you appear,
Will deign your livery to wear,
In all the various colours feen:
Of red, and yellow, blue, and green.
With half a word, when you require,
The man of bus'nefs muft retire.
The haughty minister of state

With trembling must thy leisure wait;
And, while his fate is in thy hands,
The bus'nefs of the nation stands.
Thou dar'ft the greatest prince attack,

Can't hourly fet him on the rack,
And, as an inftance of thy pow'r,
Inclofe him in a wooden tow'r:

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* Bubo, the owl.

With

With pungent pains on ev'ry fide,
So Regulus in torments dy'd.

From thee our youth all virtues learn,
Dangers with prudence to discern;
And well thy fcholars are endu'd
With temp'rance, and with fortitude;
With patience, which all ills fupports;
And fecrecy, the art of courts.

The glitt'ring beau could hardly tell, Without your aid, to read or spell; But, having long convers'd with you, Knows how to write a billet-doux.

With what delight, methinks, I trace Your blood in ev'ry noble race! In whom thy features, shape, and mien Are to the life distinctly seen.

The Britons, once a favage kind, By you were brighten'd and refin'd, Defcendents of the barb'rous Huns, With limbs robuft, and voice that stuns: But you have molded them a fresh, Remov'd the tough fuperfluous flesh, Taught them to modulate their tongues, And speak without the help of lungs. Proteus on you beftow'd the boon To change your visage like the moon ; You fometimes half a face produce, Keep t'other half for private use.

How

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