 | The Ninth Epistle Of the First Book of Horace Imitated |  |
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THE NINTH EPISTLE OF THE First Book of HORACE Imitated.
To the Right Honourable
EDWARD WALPOLE, Esq;
Candler has found, (and, doubtless, He alone)
How much You value Me, how long have known!
Hence, when He prays, He forces Me, to write,
And try to place Him in your Trust and Sight.
For so He prays, by all the Ties of Youth,
He forces Me to add, and add with Truth;
‘That He is One, whom, try'd, You must approve,
‘Hold worthy your Esteem, if not your Love;
‘The Kind of Man to suit You and attend:’
For 'tis the Man of Merit You befriend.
How much You value Me, how long have known!
Hence, when He prays, He forces Me, to write,
And try to place Him in your Trust and Sight.
For so He prays, by all the Ties of Youth,
He forces Me to add, and add with Truth;
‘That He is One, whom, try'd, You must approve,
‘Hold worthy your Esteem, if not your Love;
‘The Kind of Man to suit You and attend:’
For 'tis the Man of Merit You befriend.
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But when He holds it, as a Point most clear,
That I, the first in Grace, possess your Ear;
And that the Influence of a single Line,
From Me to You, wou'd crown his whole Design:
How much below the Value must He rate
Your Judgment, my Repute above the Weight?
But This, (so strong his Faith!) He sees, and knows,
Better than I. 'Tis Folly to oppose.
Sure of his Project, till the Glass be flown,
The Chymist schemes his Philosophic Stone.
That I, the first in Grace, possess your Ear;
And that the Influence of a single Line,
From Me to You, wou'd crown his whole Design:
How much below the Value must He rate
Your Judgment, my Repute above the Weight?
But This, (so strong his Faith!) He sees, and knows,
Better than I. 'Tis Folly to oppose.
Sure of his Project, till the Glass be flown,
The Chymist schemes his Philosophic Stone.
His fond Credulity to disabuse
What urg'd I not? But Nothing to excuse.
Our Friends too thought, and think it to this Hour,
My Will, to serve Him, weaker than my Pow'r.
A selfish Wretch, that plans a separate Scheme,
(What, tho' I scorn to be, I fear to seem!)
That feigns, his Foes are many, Friends but few,
Yet holds some profitable Place in View!
That saves his Int'rest, least it should be blown,
In no Man's Service hearty, but his own!
What urg'd I not? But Nothing to excuse.
Our Friends too thought, and think it to this Hour,
My Will, to serve Him, weaker than my Pow'r.
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(What, tho' I scorn to be, I fear to seem!)
That feigns, his Foes are many, Friends but few,
Yet holds some profitable Place in View!
That saves his Int'rest, least it should be blown,
In no Man's Service hearty, but his own!
Walpole, for This improperly I press;
To scape a greater Scandal seek a less.
Such as I am, determin'd to appear,
To You impertinent, to Him sincere.
Prepar'd your full Refusal to support
With Face as steady, as if train'd at Court.
Where, daily the Repuls'd renews his Claim,
He that has Worth! And He that has no Shame!
Alike solicitous for Post or Place,
From Right of Service, or from Want of Grace!
But if You cou'd excuse, tho' not commend,
All Modesty thrown off to please a Friend;
High in the Roll of Chaplains write his Name:
An easy Competence is all his Aim.
A Layman, He was Honest, and was Brave;
The Church-man neither seeks to waste, nor save.
To call Him, Learn'd as Modest, is the Lest;
The Man has Nothing in Him of the Priest.
To scape a greater Scandal seek a less.
Such as I am, determin'd to appear,
To You impertinent, to Him sincere.
Prepar'd your full Refusal to support
With Face as steady, as if train'd at Court.
Where, daily the Repuls'd renews his Claim,
He that has Worth! And He that has no Shame!
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From Right of Service, or from Want of Grace!
But if You cou'd excuse, tho' not commend,
All Modesty thrown off to please a Friend;
High in the Roll of Chaplains write his Name:
An easy Competence is all his Aim.
A Layman, He was Honest, and was Brave;
The Church-man neither seeks to waste, nor save.
To call Him, Learn'd as Modest, is the Lest;
The Man has Nothing in Him of the Priest.
FINIS.
| The Ninth Epistle Of the First Book of Horace Imitated | |