I ILLINOIS

Production Note
Digital Rare Book Collections
Rare Book & Manuscript Library
University of Illinois Library at
Urbana-Champaign
2020
 
 
 

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OF THE

Knowledge and Charac;
ters of ME N.

T‘O
RICHARD Lord COBHAM;
ByMnPOPE

 

 
 
  

AN

EPISTLE

To the Right Honourable

Rielmrd Lord Vifcount Coéba/m

By MF.POPE.

 

 

E/i Brevitate 0pm, at eurrat fientmtia, 72w [5:
.Impediat verbi: laflas anerantiém aures;

Et Sermane 0pm eff, mode trifli, fiepe jaw/b
Defindente 'vicem mode Rke-toris, argue Poem,
Imerdum Urbani, parcemi: 'w'riém, argue

Extenuanti: ea: canfulta
Hon. SAT. 10. hi). I;

W

M

 

 

L O N D O N .- Printed. And

Reprinted in Duélin, by GEORGE FAULKNER, in Efl
flex- Street, oppofite to the Bridge, 1734.

  

 

 
 
 

EPIST'L E

To the Right Honourable
Rickard Lord Vifc‘. Cob/mm.

E 3, you dcfpifc the Man to books confin'd,
I Who from his Study rails at human kind ;
Tho’ what he learns he fpcaks, and may ad-
Some‘gen’ral Maxims, or be right by Chance. [vanCc
The coxcomb Bird, {0 talkative and grave,

That from his Cage cries Cuckold, Whore, and Knavef
Tho’ many a Pafl'cngcr he rightly call,
You hold him no Philofopher at all“

3 And

 
' ( 6 )
And yet the fate of all Extremes i? fueh? 1‘
‘Men’ may be read? as well as Books, too much.
Tp Obfervatipns which our felvet we make,
Wp-‘gtow more partial forth’ Obférver’s‘fakcl; .
To “fitten Wifdom, as another’s, lefs; .

Maxims are drawn from Notions, thof'e from Guefs:

There’s fome Peculiar in each Leaf and grain ; ,
nge unmark’d Fibre, .or fame varying Vein : V
Shall only Man be taken in the gtpfs ?

 

Grant but as tnany forts of Mind, as * M0173:

That each from other difl'ers, firfl confefs;
Next, that he varies from himfelf nb lefs: "
Add Nature’s, Cufiqus, Reafon’s, Pafllon’s flvrife,
And all opinionfs Colours call: on Life. '

 

Yet more ; the diE’rence is as.‘ great between
The thics feeing, as the Ohjeé'ts feen.

   
     

..
’3 {There are abowe‘gqg £9911: cf Mel} obfirggdé} Hawaii/lg
‘ ‘ All
      

( 7 J
All Manners fa‘ke a tiné‘ture from our own,
0: come difcolour’d thro’ our Pallions fhoWn,

Or FanCy’s beam inlarges, multiplies,
Contraéts; inverts, and gives ten thouf'and‘ dYes;

Our Depths who fatho‘ms, Or on? Shal’lows finds ?
Qliek Whirls, and fliifiing Eddies, of our minds ?
Life's Stream for Obfervation will not flay,

It hurries all too fall to marl: their way.

In vain fedate refle&ions we would make,-

When half our knowledge we mull fia’a‘tch; not take;:
On human Aétions reafon tho’ you can,

It may be Reafon, but it is not .Man :

His Principle of A&ion once explore,

That inflant ’tis his Principleno more;

Like following Life thro’ Creatures you diffeét;
You lofe it, in the Moment you detefi.

0ft, in the Paflions wild rotation toflr,’

. ‘0ur Spring of Aftion to our felves is loll: ; ‘
L‘ B 2: Tir’é.

 
 

 

 

 
 
    

.. _ .- --_ -- -_. ‘2' .,;_.,. u 3..

(8i

Tir’d, not determin’d, to the hut we yield”,-

And what comes then is Matter of the fieldi

As the lafi Image of that troubled heap,

When ,Senfe fubfides, and fancy {ports in fleep,
(Tho' pafl the rccolle&ion of the thought)
Becomes the fluff of which our Dream is wrought ;:
Something, as dim to our internal View,

1% thus perhaps the caufe of all we do.

In vain the grave, with retrofpeé‘tive eye,
Would from th’ apparent what conclude the twin},
Inter the Motive from the Deed, and {how ‘

That what we chanc’d, was what wekmeant, to dam

Behold! if Fortune, or a Miflrefs frowns,

Some plunge in bus‘nefit, others fltave their crowns;

To eafe the foul of one oppreifive weight,

This quits an Empire, that embroils a State:

The fame aduf’t Compleétion has impell‘d

*"Clmrle: to theConvent, Philip to the Field;

We
* CH AIR LES, V. P HIL [1’ II.

A Note
 
 

( 9 )
Not always Amen fhew the Man ; we find,
Who does a Kindnef‘s is not therefore kind ;

  

Perhaps Profperity becalm’d his Bread ;

Perhaps the Wind jufi fhifte‘d from the Eafi.

Not therefore humble he, who feeks Retreat ;
Pride guides his Steps, and bids him'ihun the Great.
Who combats bravely is not therefore brave ;,
He dreads a Death»bed, like the meanefl Slave,
Who reafons wifely, is not therefore wife ;,

His Pride in reas’ning, not in a-Eting lies.

But grant that Aétions bel’t difco-ver Man ;
Take the mofiflrcmg, and fir: them as you can :
The flaw, that glare, each Characflzer mull: mark?
You balance not the many in the dark.

What will» you do with fuch as difagree ?
Supprefs them, or mifcall them Policy 2
Mutt then at once (the Charafier to fave):

A plain, rough Hero turn a crafty Knave?

Alas 5

 
Alas! in Truth the man but chang’d‘ his Mififi;
Perhaps was fick, in Love, or had not din’d.

Ask how from Britain Cacfizr made Retreat?
Cajizr perhaps had told you he was beat. 3
The mighty Czar what'mov’d to wed a Punk 2
The mighty Czar might anfwer, he was drunk."
But fage Hiflorians! ’tis your Task to prove’
One Aétion Condué‘c, one Heroic Love.

 

’Tis from high Lifiz high Charaé’ters are drawn;
A Saint m Crape lS twice a Saint in Lawn;-
A Judge is jufl, a Chanc’ior jufifer 3311;
A Gownman learn’ d; a Bifhop what you will:
Wife, if a Minifler ; but if a King,
lMore wife, more l'earn’d, more juf’t, more ev’i‘y th‘i'ng‘
Court-Virtues bear, like Gems, the highefi Rate, ‘ .

 

Born where Heav’ n ’3 Influence fearce can penetrate.
In Life' 5 Low Vale, (the Soil the Virtue- like)“
They pleafe as Beauties, here as Wonders (trike.

The"

 
 
   
   
(I!)

Tho’ the fame Sun with all-diffufive Rays "

Blufh in the Rof'e, and in the Di’mond blaze, . . A
We prize the flrongerEffort of his Pow’r, ’
And always fer the Gem above the F lohwfr. .

’Tis Education forms the Vulgar Mind,
Juli as the Twig is bent, the Tree’s inclin'd.
Boafiful and rough, your flrf’c Son is a Squire ; ~
The next, aTrades-man, meek, and mucha Liar;
Yam flruts a Soldier, open, hold, and brave ;
1W2]! {beaks a Scriv'ner, an exceeding Knave :
Is he a Churchman ? then he’s fond of Pow'r;
A Qiaker 2 fly ; a Presbyterian 2; four ; , E
A {mart Free-thinker 2 all things in an Hour.

True, fome are open, and to all Men known;
Others to very clofe, they’re hid from none;
(So Darknefs fills the Eye no lef's than Light)
Thus gracious C H A N n o s is belov’d at Sight: »
And ev’ry Child hates Sbj'loc/e, tho’» his Soul
§till fits at fquat, and peeps not from its Hole;

At

 
(, 12 )

At half Mankind when generous Manly raves,
All know, ’tis Virtue, for he thinks them Knew“:
When-univerfal Homage Umbra pays,

All fee ’tis Vice, and Itch of vulgar Praifé.
Who but detefis th‘ Endeatments of Counting ?
While One there 15, who charms us with his Spice».

4"

But thefe plain Cha-raEters we rarely find, /
Tho’ firohg the Bent, yet quick the Tums of Mind;
Here puzzling Contraries confound the wholcx,

 

 

There Afiectations quite reverfe the Soul :
The dull flat, F alfehood ferves for Policy,
And in the Cunning, Truth itfelf’s a Lye ;
,gUnthought of Frailties cheat us in the Wife;
The Fool lies hid in Inconlifiencies.

 

See thefame Man, in Vigour, in the Gout;
Alone ; in Company ; in Place ; Grout;
Early at Bm’nefis; and at Hezard‘latc;

   

Mad at a Foxwhal‘e ; wife at :1 Debate 5
      

(1;)

Drunk at a Borough ; civil at a Ball ;”
Friendly at Hackney 3 iaithlefs at Whitehall;

Catim is ever moral, ever grave,
Thinks Who endures a Knave, is next a Knave;
Savejufi at Dinner—-—-then prefers, no doubt,
A Rogue with Ven'f'on to a (Saint without.

Who wou’d not praife» Patritio's high Defert 3
His Hand unflain‘d, his uncorrnpted Heart,
His comprehenfive Head? all Int'relis weigh'd,
All Europe fav’d, 'yet Britain not betray’d ?
He thanks you not; his Pride is in Piquette,
Newmdrket-fame, and Judgment at a Bert,

What made (fay Montague, or more Sage Charms !)
Otlzo a Warrior, Cromwell a Balkan .9
A perjur’d Prince 3 leader: Saint revere:
A god-leis Regent tremble at a Star?
The Throne a Bigot keep, a Genius quit,

Faithlefs thro’ Piety, and dup’d thro' Wit 2
' " (3 ” Karate

 
(14.)

Europe, aWoman, Child, or Dotard m1e;
And jun her 46in Monarch made .a F001 2

Know, God and Nature only are the féme:
In Man, the Judgment flloots at' flying. Game;
A Bird of I ‘Pafl'age! ' lofl, as foon as found; _
Now in: the Moon perhaps, now under Ground

Ask Mens Opinions: .* 7mm now {hall tell
How Trade increafes, and the World goes well;
Strike off his Penfion by {he fettingSun,

And Britain, if not Enrqw, is undones

 

 

Manner: with Fortunes, Humour: change with Climes
gene,“ with Books, and Principles with Times.

 

* Sir Theodore Jaunffen, one of the Direfior: of the
South~Sea Company in the Tear 1729, who awafledyfneh
wjl Sum: of Money, that he jettled upon each .of hi: ex
Children only fixi} thonfand Pound: ; and yet ‘ pleaded a-
wrty to the Hen/e of Commons, when gndee Examina-

flen. ‘ ,
' ‘ ~.: ‘ -‘ fjudge

     
I

"A A..-‘ no

i . ."‘ Izixfuppwd (g; flgz‘éor 17mm :1ng 151;; Duke quhatthf

    

(I5)

jndgc We by Nature 2 Habit can CEflCC‘g
Interefi o’erc‘o‘m‘e, or Policy take place:
By Afiiom 2 thofe Uncertainty divides;
By Pafliom? thefe Diifimulation hides: . 4
Afiflz‘om ? they [fill take a wider range :4

Find, if you can, in what you cannot change 2

’Tis in the ruling Pajz'on: There, alone;
The wild are conflant,.and the cunning known,
The Fool Confiflent; and the falfe fincere;
Priefls, Primes, Women, no Dillemblers-herc;
This Clue once found unravels all the refl;
The Pgmifieét clears, and Clodio Hands confeil.‘
* Clodz‘d; the Scorn and Wonder of our Days,
Whole ruling Paflion was the La]! of szfi;
Born with Whate’ere could win it from the Wire;
Women and Fools mufi like him, or he dies.
Tho’ wond’ring S’en‘at’eé hung on all he spoke,
The Cluh mufi hail him Mailer of the yoke;
5112111 Parts foivarious Aim at nothing new?!
13671 flline a ‘Iully, and a II/ilmot too : Then

“a... . v‘lmmu-c—m- u, nw.=-

 

m‘mue um, .—

 
- m“..- ‘4'“

(,5,

Then turns Repentant, and his God adores

With the fame Spirit that he Drinks and Whores:
And now the Funk applaud, and now the F ry’r.
Enough, if all around him but Admire,

Thus, with each gift of Nature and of Art,

And wanting nothing but an honel’c Heart;

Grown all to an, from no and Vice exempt,”

And mol’c contemptiblc to fliun Contempt ;

His Paiiion flill to: cover gen’ral Praife,

His Life, to forfeit it a Thoufand ways;

His confiaut Bounty no one Friend has made;

His Angel Tongue no Mortal can perfuade :

A Fool, with more of Wit than half "Mankind, ’
Too quick for Thought, for Action too ‘refin’d: ' V
A Tyrant to the Wife his" Heart approves;

A Rebel to the very King he loves,

He dies, fad out~cali of each Church and State,
And (harder .f’till) flagitious, yet not great!

 

Ask you why Clodio broke »- thro’ every Rule 7 .

’Twas all for fear, the Knaves mou’d call him Fool
Nature

   
 
 

(17)

Nature well known, no Miracles remain,
Comets are regular, and Clodio plain.
Yet, in the fearch, the wififi may mifl'ake,
If [Econd Qualities for firfl they take.
When Cataline by Rapine fwell’d his Store,
When Ccfar made -a noble Dame a Whore,
In this the Lufi, in that the Avarice
Were Means, not Ends; Ambition was the Vice:
That very foar, born in Scipio’s Days,
Had aim’d, like him, by Chaflity at Praifc:
Lucullm, when Frugality could charm,
Had roaf’ted Turnips in the Sabin Farm :
In vain th’Obf'erver eyes the Builder’s Tail,
But quite miflakes the Scafold for the Pile.

In this one Paflion, Man can Strength enjoy,
As Fits give Vigour, jufi when they deflroy. _ -
Time, that on all things lays his lenient Hand, .,
Yet tames not this ; it flicks to our lat} Sand.

 

 

 

 

 

 
(18)

Confiftent in our Follies, and our Sins,
Here honefi: Nature ends as file begins;

Behold a *reti’rend Sire, whom Want of Grace
Has made the Father of a namelefs Race, .
Crawl thro’ the Street, fliov’d on, or rudely prefs’d
By his own Sons, that pafs him by unblefs'dl «
Still to hisWench he creeps, on knocking Knees, ,.
And envies evfry Sparrow that he fees. ‘

A Salmon’s Belly, Helluo, wash, thy Fates ’
The Dofior call’d declares all Help too late.
Mercy cries Helluo, mercy on my Stud 2
Is there no hope? alas !-—-then bring the Jowl.

‘ 0diou$l in malls”! ’fW‘Oll’d a Saint prOVOke," ’
(Were the Iaft Words that poor Narczfl‘d fpéke)
‘ No, let a charming Chintz, and Brufllzk Lace
5 Wrap my cold Limbs, and fhade my lifelefs Facef

 

One
3 Sir G-—-¢ MTkh'ZT'mi

 
     

(19)

c One wou’d not, fure, be frightful when one’ 3 dead-

And, Betty! give this Check a little Red.

Old Politicianschew on Wifdom- pafiz,
And blunder on in Bus’nefs to the left;
As weak as earnefi; and as gravely out,

As fober L**w, dancing in the Gout.

The Courtier fmooth, who Forty Years had fhin’d
An humble Servant to all human Kind,
Juli: brought out this, when fcarce his Tongue cou’d
flir,

f Ill—where I’m going—J could ferve you, Sir?

‘ I give andI devife (old Euclio faid, ‘
And figh’d) ‘ my LandS'and Tenements to Ned.’
Your Money Sir? ‘ My Money Sir! what all?
‘ Why—if I .mui’t—(then wept)——I give it Prml.’
The Mannor, Sir ?--‘ The Mannor! hold, he cry’d,
I Not that—I cannot part with that.’—-v-and dy’d.

And

 
 
  
 
  
  

(,20 )

And You! brave Comum, to the latcfi Breath,
Shall fccl your ruling Paflion firong in Death:
_ Such in thofc Moments, as in All the pafi,
f Ob fave m3} Country, Heav’n !' {hall be your lam}
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