Stood forth and thrice he wav'd his lily hand,
And thrice he twirl'd his tye, thrice ftrok'd his band.
At Friendship's call,' (thus oft, with trait'rous aim,
Men void of faith, ufurp Faith's facred name)
At Friendship's call I come, by Murphy fent,
Who thus, by me, developes his intent :
But left, transfus'd, the spirit fhould be loft,
That fpirit which, in ftorms of rhet❜rick tofs'd,
• Bounces about, and flies like bottled beer,
In his own words his own intentions hear.
"Thanks to my friends-but, to vile fortunes born, No robes of fur these shoulders must adorn.
"Vain your applause, no aid from thence I draw;
“Vain all my wit, for what is wit in law!
"Twice, (curs'd remembrance!) twice I ftrove to gain
"Admittance 'mongst the law-inftructed train,
"Who in the Temple and Gray's Inn prepare,
For clients wretched feet, the legal fnare;
"Dead to thofe arts which polish and refine,
"Deaf to all worth, because that worth was mine,
"Twice did those blockheads ftartle at my name,
"And foul rejection gave me up to shame;
"To laws and lawyers then I bade adieu,
"And plans of far more lib'ral note pursue.
"Who will, may be a judge-my kindling breaft
Burns for that chair which Rofcius once poffefs'd.
"Here give your votes, your int'reft here exert,
And let fuccefs, for once, attend defert."
With fleek appearance, and with ambling pace,
And type of vacant head with vacant face,
The Proteus Hill put in his modeft plea:
Let favour speak for others, worth for me.'
For who, like him, his various pow'rs could call
Into so many shapes, and shine in all ?
Who could fo nobly grace the motley lift,
Actor, Infpector, Doctor, Botanift ?
Knows any one fo well-fure no one knows→→→
At once to play, prefcribe, compound, compose?
Who canBut Woodward came-Hill flipp'd away,
Melting, like ghosts, before the rifing day.
With that low cunning which in fools fupplies,
And amply too, the place of being wife,
Which Nature, kind indulgent parent! gave
To qualify the blockhead for a knave;
With that smooth falfhood, whofe appearance charms,
And reason of each wholesome doubt difarms;
Which to the loweft depths of guile defcends,
By vileft means purfues the vileft ends,
Wears friendship's mask for purposes of spite,
Fawns in the day, and butchers in the night;
With that malignant envy, which turns pale,
And fickens, even if a friend prevail;
Which merit and fuccefs purfues with hate,
And damns the worth it cannot imitate ;
With the cold caution of a coward's spleen,
Which fears not guilt, but always feeks a screen;
Which keeps this maxim ever in her view-
What's bafely done, fhould be done fafely too;
With that dull, rooted, callous impudence,"
Which, dead to shame, and ev'ry nicer fenfe,
Ne'er blush'd, unlefs, in fpreading vice's fñares,
She blunder'd on fome virtue unawares ;
With all these bleffings, which we seldom find,
Lavifh'd by Nature on one happy mind,
A motley figure, of the fribble tribe,
Which heart can searce conceive, or pen describe,"
Came fimp'ring on; to ascertain whose sex,
Twelve fage impannell'd matrons would perplex;
Nor male, nor female; neither, and yet both;
Of neuter gender, tho' of Irish growth;
A fix foot fuckling, mincing in Ir's gait,
Affected, peevish, prim, and delicate !
Fearful it feem'd, tho' of athletick make,
Left brutal breezes thould too roughly shake
It's tender form, and favage motion fpread
O'er it's pale cheeks the horrid manly red.
Much did it talk, in it's own pretty phrase,
Of genius and of taste, of play'ts and plays;
Much too of writing which itself had wrote,
Of special merit, tho' of little note;
For Fate, in a strange humour, had decreed
That what it wrote, none but itfelf fhould read:
Much, too, it chatter'd of dramatick laws,
Misjudging criticks, and misplac'd applaufe ;
Then, with a felf-complacent, jutting, air,
It fmil'd, it fmirk'd, it wriggled to the chair
And with an aukward brifknefs, not it's own,
Looking around, and perking on the throne,
Triumphant seem'd-when that ftrange favage dame,
Known but to few, or only known by name,
Plain Common Senfe, appear'd; by Nature there
Appointed, with Plain Truth, to guard the chair :
The pageant saw, and blafted with her frown,
To it's first state of nothing melted down.
Nor fhall the Mufe (for even there the pride
Of this vain nothing fhall be mortify'd)
Nor shall the Mufe (fhould Fate ordain her rhymes,
Fond, pleafing thought! to live in after-times)
With fuch a trifler's name her pages blot;
< Known be the character, the thing forgöt
Let it, to disappoint each future aim,
Live without fex, and die without a name !
Cold-blooded criticks, by enervate fires
Scarce hammer'd out, when Nature's feeble fresh nga nylon/180 Glimmer'd their last; whose sluggish blood, half-frozé,in 1071 Creeps lab'ring thro' the veins; whofe hoard ne'er glows: ?Ɔ With fancy-kindled,heata fervile face;
Who in mere want of fault all merit place i
Who blind obedience pay to ancient schools,
Bigots to Greece, and flaves to masty rules,
With folemn confequence declar'd, that none
Could judge that caufe, but Sophocles alone:
Dupes to their fahey'd excellence, the crowd,
Obfequious to the facred dictate, bow'd.
When from amidst the throng a youth stood forth,
Unknown his person, not unknown his worth:
His look bespoke applaufe; alone he flood,
Alone he stemm'd the mighty critick flood:
He talk'd of ancients as the man became,
Who priz'd our own, but envied not their fame
With noble rev'rence fpoke of Greece and Rome,
And fcorn'd to tear the laurel from the tomb.
• But more than just to other countries grown,
• Must we turn base apoftates to our own?
• Where do these words of Greece and Rome excel,
That England may not please the ear as well?
What mighty magick's in the place or air,
◄ That all perfections needs must centre there?
In ftates, let strangers blindly be preferr'd;
• In state of letters, Merit fhould be heard.
• Genius is of no country; her pure tay
Spreads all abroad, as gen'ral as the day;
• Foe to restraint, from place to place the flies,
• And may hereafter e'en in Holland rife.
May not, (to give a pleafing fancy scope,
And chear a patriot heart with patriot hope)
May not fome great, extensive genius, raife
• The name of Britain 'bove Athenian praife;
And, whilft brave thirst of fame his bofom warms,
• Make England great in letters as in arms ?
• There may-there hath and Shakespeare's muse aspires
• Beyond the reach of Greece; with native fires,
Mounting aloft, he wings his daring flight,
Whilft Sophocles below ftands trembling at his height.
D
Why should we then abroad for judges roam,
• When abler judges we may find at home?
Have we not Shakespeare? is not Johnson ours?
For them, your natʼral judges, Britons! vote;
• They'll judge like Britons, who like Britons wrote.'
He said, and conquer'd-Senfe refum'd her fway,
And disappointed pedants stalk'd away :
Shakespeare and Johnson, with deserv'd applause,
Joint judges were ordain'd to try the cause,
Mean time the stranger ev'ry voice employ'd,
To ask or tell his name-Who is it?-Lloyd.
Thus, when the aged friends of Job ftood mute,
And, tamely prudent, gave up the dispute,
Elihu, with the decent warmth of youth,~
Boldly stood forth the advocate of Truth,
Confuted Falfhood, and disabled Pride,
While baffled Age ftood fnarling at his fide.
The day of trial's fix'd; nor any fear
Left day of trial fhould be put off here.
Causes but feldom for delay can call,
In courts where forms are few, fees none at all.
The morning came; nor find I that the fun,
As he on other great events hath done,
Put on a brighter robe than what he wore
To go his journey in the day before.
Full in the centre of a spacious plain,
On plan entirely new, where nothing vain,
Nothing magnificent, appear'd, but Art,TM
With decent modefty perform'd her part,
Rofe a tribunal; from no other court
It borrow'd ornament, or fought fupport:
No juries here were pack'd to kill or clear;
No bribes were taken, nor oaths broken here;
No gownfmen,, partial to a client's caufe, and
To their own purpose turn'd the pliant laws;olgákkal
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