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Not meanly, nor ambitiously purfu'd,

Not funk by floth, nor rais'd by fervitude;
To balance Fortune by a just expence,
Join with Occonomy, Magnificence;

With Splendor, Charity; with Plenty, Health; 225
Oh teach us BATHURST! yet unfpoil'd by wealth!
That fecret rare, between th'extremes to move
Of mad Good-nature, and of mean Self-love.

VARIATIONS.

After 226. in the MS.

That fecret rare, with affluence hardly join'd,
Which W-n loft, yet B-y ne'er could find;
Still mifs'd by Vice, and fcarce by Virtue hit,
By G's goodness, or by S-'s wit.

COMMENTARY.

fame way, fhew the USE likewife: He therefore (from 218, to 249) calls for an EXAMPLE, in which may be found, againft the Prodigal, the Senfe to value Riches; against the Vain, the Art to enjoy them; and againft the Avaricious, the Virtue to impart them, when acquired. This whole Art (he tells us) may be comprized in one great and general precept, which is this. "That the rich man fhould confider himfelf as the fubftitute "of Providence in this unequal diftribution of things; as the "perfon who is

To cafe, or emulate, the care of Heav'n;

To mend the faults of fortune, or to juflify her graces." And thus the poet fides naturally into the profecution of his fubject in an Example of the true Ufe of Riches.

NOTFS.

Rides, is not, in the City-meaning, the Senfe in valuing them: For as Riches may be enjoyed without Art, and imparted with

B. To Worth or Want well-weigh'd, be Bounty

giv❜n,

And ease, or emulate, the care of Heav'n; 230
(Whose measure full o'erflows on human race)
Mend Fortune's fault, and juftify her grace.
Wealth in the gross is death, but life diffus'd;
As poifon heals, in juft proportion us'd:
In heaps, like Ambergrife, a ftink it lies,
But well-difpers'd, is Incense to the Skies.

235

P. Who ftarves by Nobles, or with Nobles eats? The Wretch that trufts them, and the Rogue that cheats.

Is there a Lord, who knows a chearful noon
Without a Fiddler, Flatt'rer, or Buffoon?.... 24.0
Whofe table, Wit, or modeft Merit fhare,
Un-elbow'd by a Gamefter, Pimp, or Play'r?

NOTES.

Virtue, fo they may be valued without Senfe. That man therefore only fhews he has the fenfe to value Riches, who keeps what he has acquired, in order to enjoy one part of it innocently and elegantly, in fuch measure and degree as his ftation may juftify, which the poet calls the Art of enjoying; and to impart the remainder amongst objects of worth, or want well weigh'd; which is, indeed, the Virtue of imparting.

VER. 231, 232. (Whofe measure full o'erflows on human race) Mend Fortune's fault, and juftify her grace.] i. e. Such of the Rich whofe full measure overflows on human race, repair the wrongs of Fortune done to the indigent; and at the fanie time, juftify the favours the had beftowed upon themfelves.

Who copies Your's, or OXFORD's better part,
To ease the opprefs'd, and raise the finking heart?
Where-e'er he shines, oh Fortune, gild the scene,
And Angels guard him in the golden Mean! 246
There, English Bounty yet a-while may ftand,
And honour linger ere it leaves the land.

But all our praises why should Lords engross? Rife,honest Muse! and fing the MAN of Ross: 250

VARIATIONS.

After 250, in the MS.

Trace humble worth beyond Sabrina's fhore,
Who fings not him, oh may he fing no more!

COMMENTARY.

VER. 249. But all our praises why should Lords engrofs? Rife, honeft Mufe!] This invidious expreffion of the poet's unwillingnefs that the Nobility fhould engrofs all his praises, is ftrongly ironical; their example having been given hitherto only to fhew the abuse of Riches. But there is great juftness of Defign as well as agreeablenefs of Manner in the preference here given to the Man of Rofs. The purpose of the poet is to fhew, that an immenfe fortune is not wanted for all the good that Riches

NOTES.

VER. 243, OXFORD's better part,] Edward Harley, Earl of Oxford. The fon of Robert, created Earl of Oxford, and Earl Mortimer by Queen Anne. This Nobleman died regretted by all men of letters, great numbers of whom had experienced his benefits. He left behind him one of the most noble Libraries in Europe, P.

VER. 250. The MAN of Ross:] The perfon here celebrated, who with a small Eftate actually performed all thefe good works,

Pleas'd Vaga echoes thro' her winding bounds,
And rapid Severn hoarfe applause resounds.
Who hung with woods yon mountain's fultry brow?
From the dry rock who bade the waters flow?

COMMENTARY.

are capable of doing; he therefore chufes fuch an instance, as proves, that a man with five hundred pounds à year could become a bleffing to a whole country; and, confequently, that the poet's precepts for the true ufe of money, are of more general service than a bad heart will give an indifferent head leave to conceive. This was a truth of the greatest importance to inculcate He therefore (from 249 to 297) exalts the character of a very private man, one Mr. J. Kyrle, of Herefordshire: And in ending his description, ftruck as it were with admiration at a fublimity of his own creating, and warmed with fentiments of a gratitude he had raised in himfelf in behalf of the public, the poet bursts out,

And what? no monument, infcription, stone?

His race, his form, his name almost unknown? Then transported with indignation at a contrary object, he exclaims,

When Hopkins dies, a thousand lights attend
The wretch, who living fav'd a candle's end:

NOTES.

and whose true name was almost loft (partly by the title of the Man of Rofs given him by way of eminence, and partly by being buried without fo much as an infcription) was called Mr. John Kyrle. He died in the year 1724, aged 90, and lies interred in the chancel of the church of Rofs in Herefordfhire. P.

We must understand what is here faid, of actually performing, to mean by the contributions which the Man of Rojs, by his affiduity and intereft, collected in his neighbourhood.

Not to the fkies in ufelefs columns toft,

Or in proud falls magnificently loft,

255

260

But clear and artlefs, pouring thro' the plain
Health to the fick, and folace to the fwain,
Whose Caufe-way parts the vale with shady rows?
Whofe Seats the weary Traveller repofe?
Who taught that heav'n-directed fpire to rise?
"The MAN of Ross," each lifping babe replies.
Behold the Market-place with poor o'erfpread!
The MAN of Ross divides the weekly bread:
He feeds yon Alms-house, neat, but void of state,
Where Age and Want fit fmiling at the gate: 266
Him portion'd maids, apprentic'd orphans bleft,
The young who labour, and the old who rest,

COMMENTARY.

Should'ring God's altar a vile image ftands,
Belies his features, nay, extends his bands.

I take notice of this defcription of the portentous vanity of a miferable Extortioner, chiefly for the ufe we fhall now fee he makes of it in carrying on his subject.

NOTES.

VER. 255. Not to the skies in ufeless columns toft, Or in proud falls magnificently loft,] The intimation, in the first line, well ridicules the madness of fafhionable Magnificence; these columns afpiring to prop the fkies, in a very different fenfe from the heav'n-directed fprre, in the verfe that follows: As the expreffion, in the fecond line, expofes the meanness of it, in falling proudly to no purpose.

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