Book i

._

A merry monarch, scandalous and poor.

_On the King._

It is a very good world to live in, To lend, or to spend, or to give in; But to beg or to borrow, or to get a man's own, It is the very worst world that ever was known.[279-2]

FOOTNOTES:

[279-1] Thou best-humour'd man with the worst-humour'd muse!--GOLDSMITH: _Retaliation. Postscript._

[279-2] These last four lines are attributed to Rochester.

SHEFFIELD, DUKE OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. 1649-1720.

Of all those arts in which the wise excel, Nature's chief masterpiece is writing well.

_Essay on Poetry._

There 's no such thing in Nature; and you 'll draw A faultless monster which the world ne'er saw.[279-3]

_Essay on Poetry._

Read Homer once, and you can read no more; For all books else appear so mean, so poor, Verse will seem prose; but still persist to read, And Homer will be all the books you need.

_Essay on Poetry._

FOOTNOTES:

[279-3] See Suckling, page 257.

THOMAS OTWAY. 1651-1685.

O woman! lovely woman! Nature made thee To temper man: we had been brutes without you. Angels are painted fair, to look like you: There 's in you all that we believe of heaven,-- Amazing brightness, purity, and truth, Eternal joy, and everlasting love.

_Venice Preserved. Act i. Sc. 1._

Dear as the vital warmth that feeds my life; Dear as these eyes, that weep in fondness o'er thee.[280-1]

_Venice Preserved. Act v. Sc. 1._

And die with decency.

_Venice Preserved. Act v. Sc. 3._

What mighty ills have not been done by woman! Who was 't betrayed the Capitol?--A woman! Who lost Mark Antony the world?--A woman! Who was the cause of a long ten years' war, And laid at last old Troy in ashes?--Woman! Destructive, damnable, deceitful woman![280-2]

_The Orphan. Act iii. Sc. 1._

Let us embrace, and from this very moment, vow an eternal misery together.[280-3]

_The Orphan. Act iv. Sc. 2._

FOOTNOTES:

[280-1] See Shakespeare, page 112.

Dear as the light that visits these sad eyes; Dear as the ruddy drops that warm my heart.

GRAY: _The Bard, part i . stanza 3._

[280-2] O woman, woman! when to ill thy mind Is bent, all hell contains no fouler fiend.

POPE: _Homer's Odyssey,