Thou triumph'st, Victor of the high-wrought day,[R 1]
And the pleas'd dame, soft-smiling, lead'st away.
Osborne, thro' perfect modesty o'ercome,
Crown'd with the Jordan, walks contented home.190
But now for Authors nobler palms remain;
Room for my Lord! three jockeys in his train;
Six huntsmen with a shout precede his chair:
He grins, and looks broad nonsense with a stare.
His Honour's meaning Dulness thus exprest,195
"He wins this Patron, who can tickle best."
He chinks his purse, and takes his seat of state:
With ready quills the Dedicators wait;
Remarks
- ↑ Ver. 187. The high-wrought day,] Some affirm, this was originally, well p—st day; but the Poet's decency would not suffer it.
Here the learned Scriblerus manifests great anger; he exclaims against all such Conjectural Emendations in this manner: Let it suffice, O Pallas! that every noble Ancient, Greek or Roman, hath suffered the impertinent correction of every Dutch, German, and Switz Schoolmaster! Let our English at least escape, whose intrinsic is scarce of marble so solid, as not to be impaired or soiled by such rude and dirty hands. Suffer them to call their works their own, and after death at least to find rest and sanctuary from Critics! When these men have ceased to rail, let them not begin to do worse, to comment! Let them not conjecture into nonsense, correct out of all correctness, and restore into obscurity and confusion. Miserable fate! which can befal only the sprightliest wits that have written, and will befal them only from such dull ones as could never write!"Scribl.
ful word, which, therefore, let all future editions replace here.
I am aware, after all, that burn is the proper word to convey an idea of what was said to be Mr. Curl's condition at this time: But from that very reason I infer the direct contrary. For surely every lover of our author will conclude he had more humanity than to insult a man on such a misfortune or calamity, which could never befal him purely by his own fault, but from an unhappy communication with another. This Note is half Mr. Theobald, half Scribl.
