FRIEND.

  Too coy to flatter, and too proud to serve,
  Thine be the joyless dignity to starve.

  POET.

  No;—­thanks to discord, war shall be my friend;
  And mortal rage heroic courage lend
  To pierce the gleaming squadron of the foe,
  And win renown by some distinguish’d blow. 240

  FRIEND.

  Renown! ay, do—­unkennel the whole pack
  Of military cowards on thy back. 
  What difference, say, ’twixt him who bravely stood,
  And him who sought the bosom of the wood?[12]
  Envenom’d calumny the first shall brand;
  The last enjoy a ribbon and command.

  POET.

  If such be life, its wretches I deplore,
  And long to quit the inhospitable shore.

[Footnote 1:  ‘Cope’:  a general famous for an expeditious retreat, though not quite so deliberate as that of the ten thousand Greeks from Persia; having unfortunately forgot to bring his army along with him.]

[Footnote 2:  ‘Newcastle:’  alluding to the philosophical contempt which this great personage manifested for the sensual delights of the stomach.]

[Footnote 3:  ‘Grafton’:  this noble peer, remarkable for sublimity of parts, by virtue of his office (Lord Chamberlain) conferred the laureate on Colley Cibber, Esq., a delectable bard, whose character has already employed, together with his own, the greatest pens of the age.]

[Footnote 4:  ‘Granville and Bath’:  two noblemen famous in their day for nothing more than their fortitude in bearing the scorn and reproach of their country.]

[Footnote 5:  ‘Prolific hum’:  this alludes to a phenomenon, not more strange than true,—­the person here meant having actually laid upwards of forty eggs, as several physicians and fellows of the Royal Society can attest:  one of whom, we hear, has undertaken the incubation, and will no doubt favour the world with an account of his success.]

[Footnote 6:  ‘Drum’:  this is a riotous assembly of fashionable people, of both sexes, at a private house, consisting of some hundreds:  not unaptly styled a drum, from the noise and emptiness of the entertainment.  There are also drum-major, rout, tempest, and hurricane, differing only in degrees of multitude and uproar, as the significant name of each declares.]

[Footnote 7:  ‘Lockman’s fate’:  to be little read, and less approved.]

[Footnote 8:  ‘Chardin’:  this genial knight wore at his own banquet a garland of flowers, in imitation of the ancients; and kept two rosy boys robed in white, for the entertainment of his guests.]

[Footnote 9:  ‘Isis’:  in allusion to the unnatural orgies said to be solemnised on the banks of this river; particularly at one place, where a much greater sanctity of morals and taste might be expected.]

[Footnote 10:  ‘Russell:’  a famous mimic and singer, ruined by the patronage of certain ladies of quality.]