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.] [Footnote 11: 'Guthrie:' a scribbler of all work in that age.] [Footnote 12: 'Bosom of the wood:' this last line relates to the behaviour of the Hanoverian general in the battle of Dettingen.] * * * * * REPROOF: A SATIRE. POET.