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Laugh'd at the loss of Friends he never had, 330
The dull, the proud, the wicked, and the mad;
The Tales of Vengeance; Lyes so oft o'erthrown[1]
The imputed Trash,[2] the Dulness not his own;
Th' Morals blacken'd when the Writings scape;
The libel'd Person, and the pictur'd Shape; 335
Th' Abuse on all he lov'd, or lov'd him, spread,[3]
A Friend in Exile, or a Father, dead;
The Whisper that to Greatness still too near,
Perhaps, yet vibrates on his Sovereign's Ear—
Welcome for thee, fair Virtue! all the past: 340
For thee, fair Virtue! welcome ev'n the last!
The dull, the proud, the wicked, and the mad;
The Tales of Vengeance; Lyes so oft o'erthrown[1]
The imputed Trash,[2] the Dulness not his own;
Th' Morals blacken'd when the Writings scape;
The libel'd Person, and the pictur'd Shape; 335
Th' Abuse on all he lov'd, or lov'd him, spread,[3]
A Friend in Exile, or a Father, dead;
The Whisper that to Greatness still too near,
Perhaps, yet vibrates on his Sovereign's Ear—
Welcome for thee, fair Virtue! all the past: 340
For thee, fair Virtue! welcome ev'n the last!
"But why insult the Poor, affront the Great?"
A Knave's a Knave, to me, in ev'ry State,
Alike my scorn, if he succeed or fail,
Glencus at Court, or Japhet in a Jail, 345
A hireling Scribler, or a hireling Peer,
Knight of the Post corrupt, or of the Shire,
If on a Pillory, or near a Throne,
He gain his Prince's Ear, or lose his own.
A Knave's a Knave, to me, in ev'ry State,
Alike my scorn, if he succeed or fail,
Glencus at Court, or Japhet in a Jail, 345
A hireling Scribler, or a hireling Peer,
Knight of the Post corrupt, or of the Shire,
If on a Pillory, or near a Throne,
He gain his Prince's Ear, or lose his own.
- ↑ Lies so oft o'erthrown.] Such as those in relation to Mr. A—, that Mr. P. writ his Character after his death, &c. that he set his Name to Mr. Broom's Verses, that he receiv'd Subscriptions for Shakespear, &c. which tho' publickly disprov'd by the Testimonies prefix'd to the Dunciad, were nevertheless shamelesly repeated in the Libels, and even in the Paper called, The Nobleman's Epistle.
- ↑ Th' imputed Trash] Profane Psalms, Court Poems, and many Libellous Things in his Name, printed by Curl, &c.
- ↑ Abuse on all he lov'd, or lov'd him spread.] Namely on the Duke of Buckingham, Earl of Burlington, Bishop Atterbury, Dr. Swift, Mr. Gay, Dr. Arbuthnot, his Friends, his Parents, and his very Nurse, aspers'd in printed Papers.
Yet
