JOHN DENNIS.

1657-1734.

A man who could make so vile a pun would not scruple to pick a pocket.1

They will not let my play run; and yet they steal my thunder.2

NIVER
Libra

JOHN POMFRET. 1667-1703.

We bear it calmly, though a ponderous woe,
And still adore the hand that gives the blow.3
Verses to his Friend under Affliction.

Heaven is not always angry when he strikes,
But most chastises those whom most he likes.

Ibid.

1 This on the authority of The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. li. p. 324.

2 Our author, for the advantage of this play [Appius and Virginia], had invented a new species of thunder, which was approved of by the actors, and is the very sort that at present is used in the theatre. The tragedy, however, was coldly received notwithstanding such assistance, and was acted but a short time. Some nights after, Mr. Dennis being in the pit, at the representation of Macbeth, heard his own thunder made use of; upon which he rose in a violent passion, and exclaimed, with an oath, that it was his thunder. "See," said he, "how the rascals use me! They will not let my play run; and yet they steal my thunder." - Biog. Britannica, Vol. v. p. 103.

8 Bless the hand that gave the blow.

Dryden, The Spanish Friar, Act ii. Sc. 1.

Of Californ

240 Defoe. Bentley. - Brown.

DANIEL DEFOE. 1663-1731.

Wherever God erects a house of prayer,
The Devil always builds a chapel there ;1
And 't will be found, upon examination,
The latter has the largest congregation.

1

The True-Born Englishman. Part i. Line 1. Great families of yesterday we show, And lords, whose parents were the Lord knows Ibid. Lin. ult.

who.

RICHARD BENTLEY. 1662-1742.

It is a maxim with me that no man was ever written out of reputation but by himself.

Monk's Life of Bentley. p. 90.

I do not love thee, Doctor Fell,
The reason why I cannot tell;
But this alone I know full well,

I do not love thee, Doctor Fell.2

1 See Proverbs, p. 612.

2 A slightly different version is found in Brown's Works collected and published after his death.

Non amo te, Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare;

Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te.

Martial, Ep. 1. xxxiii.

Je ne vous aime pas, Hylas ;
Je n'en saurois dire la cause,
Je sais seulement une chose;
C'est que je ne vous aime pas.

Bussy, Comte de Rabutin, Epistle 33, Book i.

MATTHEW PRIOR. 1664 – 1721.

Be to her virtues very kind ;

Be to her faults a little blind.

An English Padlock.

Abra was ready ere I call'd her name;

And, though I call'd another, Abra came. Solomon on the Vanity of the World. Book ii. Line 364. For hope is but the dream of those that wake.1

Ibid. Book iii. Line 102.

Who breathes, must suffer, and who thinks, must

mourn;

And he alone is bless'd who ne'er was born. Ibid. Book iii. Line 240.

Now fitted the halter, now travers'd the cart,
And often took leave; but was loth to depart.
The Thief and the Cordelier.

Till their own dreams at length deceive 'em,
And, oft repeating, they believe 'em.

Alma. Canto iii. Line 13.

And thought the nation ne'er would thrive
Till all the whores were burnt alive.

Paulo Purganti.

1 This thought is ascribed to Aristotle by Diogenes Laertius, Lib. v. § 18. Ερωτηθεὶς τί ἐστιν ἐλπίς; Εγρηγορότος, εἶπεν, ἐνύπνιον.

Menage, in his Observations upon Laertius, says that Stobæus (Serm. cix.) ascribes it to Pindar, whilst Ælian (Var. Hist. xiii. 29) refers it to Plato: "Eλeyev ó IIλáтwv, τὰς ἐλπίδας ἐγρηγορότων ἀνθρώπων ὀνείρους εἶναι.

Nobles and heralds, by your leave,

Here lies what once was Matthew Prior; The son of Adam and of Eve:

Can Bourbon or Nassau claim higher?1

Epitaph on Himself.

Odds life! must one swear to the truth of a song?

A Better Answer.

That, if weak women went astray,

Their stars were more in fault than they.

The end must justify the means.

Hans Carvel.

Ibid.

That air and harmony of shape express,
Fine by degrees, and beautifully less."

Henry and Emma.

Our hopes, like tow'ring falcons, aim
At objects in an airy height;
The little pleasure of the game
Is from afar to view the flight.3

To the Hon. Charles Montague.

1 The following epitaph was written long before the

time of Prior:

Johnnie Carnegie lais heer.

Descendit of Adam and Eve,

Gif ony con gang hieher,

Ise willing give him leve.

2 Cf. Pope, Moral Essays, Epistle ii. Line 43.

8 But all the pleasure of the game

Is afar off to view the flight.

Variations in a copy printed 1692.

Prior continued.]

From ignorance our comfort flows.
The only wretched are the wise.1

They never taste who always drink;
They always talk who never think.

Ibid.

Upon a Passage in the Scaligerana

HENRY CAREY. 1663-1743.

God save our gracious king,

Long live our noble king,

God save the king. God save the King.

Aldeborontiphoscophornio !

Where left you Chrononhotonthologos?

Chronon. Acti. Sc. I.

His cogitative faculties immers'd

In cogibundity of cogitation. Ibid. Act i. Sc. I.

Let the singing singers

With vocal voices, most vociferous,

In sweet vociferation, out-vociferize

Ev'n sound itself.

Ibid. Acti. Sc. I.

To thee, and gentle Rigdom Funnidos,
Our gratulations flow in streams unbounded.

Ibid. Act i. Sc. 3.

Go call a coach, and let a coach be called,
And let the man who calleth be the caller;
And in his calling let him nothing call,

But Coach! Coach! Coach! O for a coach, ye

gods!

Ibid. Act ii. Sc. 4.

1 Cf. Gray, Eton College, p. 329.