I Receiv'd a Letter from the best of Men, inrich'd with all those Strains of Civility and Goodness, which are so natu­ral to him: There was one thing in it, which I could not at first distinguish, whether it was a Complement, or a Re­proach; when, with so serious an Air, you Congratulate my late Repulse; You seem to be as glad, as if I was sav'd from Ship-wrack, or retriev'd from a Precipice. I have another Inge­nuous, Gentile Friend in the World, who can bear witness how Cold and Reserv'd I was in that Matter, and what slender En­couragement I gave to those Advances, which were afterwards made in my behalf: I must needs say, I weighed every Consequence to a Grain, & easily foresaw, what Childish & Revengeful Hands I was falling into; who only waited for such a luscious Opportunity, that they might Grin, and shew the foulness and rancour of their Teeth for my last Poem: Did their ill Humour only terminate in my self, it would require but little Stoicism to digest it, and I could throw it off with a great Indifference; for it is but only passing by, and dis­regarding these little Creatures, and their Clamours are quickly si­lenced: But when they are sapping the Foundation of our Reli­gion, and English Liberty, ‘—Quis tam ferreus ut teneat se?’ This would unlosse Dumbness it self into an Exclamation, when he sees his Country going to be Destroy'd.

These were the Men, who, in the Two last Reigns, were made the wretched Instruments to bring in Tyranny, and Superstition upon [Page]us in a full Torrent, and Impunity hath harden'd their Fore-heads to nibble at the same Attempts in this: Indeed they were like Puppets manag'd upon a Wire by the Craft and Finess of the Je­suites, a Race of Men sprung up in the World to extinguish all that is Just, Honest, or Merciful in it; So that the Character, which wise Tacitus gives of one of the Roman Emperours, exactly Quadrates with them: He saith that he was Natura factus, & consuetudine exercitus, velare odium fallacibus blanditiis: So these are fram'd by Nature, and train'd up by Custome, to dissem­ble their Hatred with false Caresses. It was by these Cajole­ries, which any, but themselves, might have seen thro'; the Cheat was so Transparent, that they were wrought upon to give up the vital Priviledges of their City without the least Regret; and so not only Enslav'd themselves, but Betray'd their Posterity too, for which they were only Guardians, and Trustees, and that with the Breach of the most Solemn Oath that ever was Administer'd. And here I think it a just Opportunity to record an Action of one, who was nearly related to me; Who tho' the Rites of a Father's Funeral were to be performed that very day, Yet he left the Body Dead upon the Table, and went in his Mourning (a very proper Habit even upon that Occasion too) to Assert his native City in its last Agonies, and gave his Vote against the Surrender: This was such an In­stance of honest Gallantry in our Family, that it may serve to Ex­piate for all the Mis-fortunes which have since befallen it; and yet these Designs are farded over with very specious Pretences, and as an illiterate Person prefer'd to an Office, doth his Name, so they Stamp the Church upon every thing that comes under their Hands, but she doth not stand in need of such Defenders; 'Tis not the Vollies of their Oaths, nor the Noise of their profane Healths, that, like a Tempest, must root Her the faster: And I think it extreamly hard that the best Constituted, and most equally pois'd Govern­ment upon the Face of the Earth, should be undermin'd by every turbulent Pretender, and rail'd at by every sawcy Mechanick: But their Ignorance is an Antidote against their Malice, and the File will be too hard for their Teeth, let them be never so Venemous.

[Page]There is one thing (my Lycophron) would kindle Resentment even in the most sedate Temper, to see a bold Fellow mount the Pulpit, and there Desecrate, and Profane that solemn Place, by almost down-right Ribaldry against the Government; where, with­out any regard to Sense, Civility, or good Manners, he Vomits up his ill-bred Choller, manfully Encounters with his own Shadow, and makes Passes at the Air; Whilst the Audience are Tortur'd upon the Rack, and are in Pain for him, when he hath not one Blush of Modesty to be asham'd for himself: He seems to be a Compound made up of Brass and Lead, which Aldrovandus tells us was a Mettal once found in the Mines of Germany, all Effrontery and Dulness; He is an Ordeal Plough-share Red-hot, or rather a Rocket-Candle, which sputters out a ridiculous Fire for a time, and then goes out with a Crack, and proves Offensive to the whole Com­pany: Indeed an Embargo should be laid upon his Text, and be strictly examin'd, whether Contraband-Divinity doth not lye un­der it, for a Bible and a Sword are equally dangerous in the Hands of such Men. I have often applied a Story to them in my Thoughts, which I have somewhere read in a Physician; He relates that the Heir of an Honourable Family made his Addresses to a Young Lady, which she answer'd with a mutual Complaisance; there was no Ex­ception to his Person, for it was very Inviting, there was a plentiful Estate, and a firm Consent on both Sides: But it seems the unhappy Gentleman had formerly been bit by a Dog, which he did not then apprehend to be Mad; and Books tell you amazing Stories of those, who are so assaulted, that they have been almost chang'd into the Nature of those Creatures, which have so infected them, that they will Lap, Foam, and Bark like them; So here the poysonous Ferment, which had lain so long Dormant in his Blood, took this fatal Occasion to exert it self; For upon his Wedding-Night, he made most dreadful Howlings, and with a Violence so sudden, that it admitted no rescue, he tore the poor Bride to pieces: So these fu­rious Bigots devour the Church, they make Court to, and pour out their precious Balms, only in order to her Funeral.

I believe (Lycophron) you Concur with all those, who love the [Page]Prosperity of England, in wishing a Fortunate and Glorious De­scent upon France; and that our Great Scipio would Transport the War to the Walls of the Modern Carthage, which is as Cruel, and Perfidious, as the Old; and the Gallick is as false as the Punick Faith: We will then be a Convulsion in their Bowels, and Tear them worse than the Earthquake did Sicily. Our English Sto­machs will never be Satisfy'd, till they have swallow'd those Mush­rooms, as Aelian tells us, in his Natural History, That a sick Lyon can't be recover'd, till he hath eaten an Ape. There is one thing you cannot but observe, which runs with a very popular Train, That some People are very liberal of their Invectives against the Dutch, when take them on every Side of the Prospect, they are useful Neighbours, and a seasonable Allie; the Proofs they have given of their Courage, in Vindicating their Liberty against Spain, with the Heroes of Nassau at the Head of them, are not to be par­allel'd in History: And as for Learning, the Church of Rome, as diffusive as it is, never equal'd them; Petau, tho' a Nervous Writer, never came up to Grotius; Bidderman, a delicious Poet, is distanc'd by Daniel, and Nicolas Heinsius; and all the Doctors of the Sorbon, and Jesuits of the Minerve, did never reach either Vossius, Father or Son: As for a Climate we should cease to Ri­dicule that, unless we had a better of our own, where we have not Sun enough to ripen any generous Fruit; And I heard a smart Italian once say, Il mezzo dell' anno fra voi Inglesi e spaven­tole borasca & l' altro mezzo e invierno, Half of your English Year is terrible Wind and Rain; and the other half is Winter. Some Men are very apt to charge others with Ingratitude, when they are enormously Guilty of it themselves, and that accompany'd with Stupidity too; For though they were reliev'd with Manna in the Wilderness, yet they still long for the Darkness and Slavery of Egypt: These, tho' Masters of so much Knowledge, yet were so Sensless as to worship the Leeks and Oynions in their Gardens; and we have some who can match them in that Point of their Idolatry too: For as they swallow'd their Deities in a Salade, so the Papists chew down their God in a Wafer. If they should ever bring the [Page] French in upon us (but I hope Heaven and Earth, and the Stars in their Courses will fight against them) we shall be all shut up in one common Dungeon together; and then we shall have nothing left to do, but to Revile, and shake our Chains one at another; or if there is any Civility remaining, it will be like that which pass'd between Two French Porters at the going through a Gate: They had both heavy Burthens upon their Necks, but were resolv'd to stoop down lower with a Complement; and the Seene of nice Beha­viour between these well-bred Gentlemen was after this manner, C'est à vous, pardonnez moy, C'est à vous, passez; Which I will take the liberty thus to Translate; The Preheminence of place belongs to You, Noble Sir; To whom the other submissively Re­parteed, I most humbly beg your Pardon, and kiss your Hands, it is more strictly your due as the Elder Slave, therefore move on without any more Ceremony. I would make an Apology to any one but your self for this Poem, but you can Witness how long it hath lain by me, and by what Importunities it is at last Sollicited out of that Retirement: Besides, I am certain, you will be pleased with any thing that contributes to my Recreation; For you know I only use Poetry as a Relaxation from severer Studies: and as I disturb no Man's Diversion, so I desire the fair Liberty to be allowed mine. I must confess, when I am stuck fast in an Antiquary, have lost my way in a dark Author, and made my Head Ake with Polemical Gladiators; I then refresh my wearied Spirits with more brisk and lively Meditations; that is, I walk up an Hill to throw off so much Phlegm and Indigestion. There is a Notion obtains amongst some Weak People, that if a Man is not at the Anvil, or the Ham­mer, that he is Lazy and Ʋn-employ'd: They can form no Idea of the Fatigues of the Mind, what a Labour 'tis to lay down Propositions, and draw true Inferences from them, to reconcile the repugnancy of Authors, and rightly to understand the Meaning and Customes of the Ancients: But I will for the future Abridge my self of this Pleasure too, least what is Innocent at first, by too much Indulgence, may become an ill habit, and the Distemper grow­ing Chronical, I shall relapse into Rhiming every Spring and Fall. [Page]You will find in one place, that I have Translated a piece of Tasso, Compos'd in that sort of measure, which they call their Octaves; and which the Italians extreamly delight in, beyond their Ter­zetti, Sciolti and Sdruccioli, a sort of Verses which you are well acquainted with: Mine is but a rude Essay, and it is only fit for the Sublime Genius of Mr. Dryden, to imitate and pursue to an Ex­cellence.

And now (Lycophron, Dulcissime rerum) I must be farther re­mov'd from You, almost out of the Commerce of the World, at least the Beau Monde; I shall now more than ever Lament the loss of your Polite, and Obliging Conversation, when I am depriv'd of One who was so Judicious in his Remarks, and Candid in his Censures; and whom I never saw the least Passion to dis-compose: I never obser­ved him Ʋneasy, but when the Calamities of Mankind made him so, and then a generous Pity touch'd him, and he Languish'd, when others were in Distress: He had always a serene Countenance, and chearful Spirit, and an attracting Gayety displaying it self in all his Discourses: His Raillery was very Just and In-offensive, and only had due Picquancy, which is the relish of the Fruit; but when any Points of Learning came before him, no Difficulty was too hard for his Solution. Then like another Xerxes he cut through Mount Athos to make a passage for his Eloquence to flow; and he level'd the harsh and irregular Soil into a smooth and equal Surface: His Reason was Free and Ʋnconfin'd, not fetter'd by the Barbarous Terms of the Schools; and his Rhetorick stream'd from him with a gentile Easiness, without the least Affectation. Indeed always Profit and Delight were derived from his Mouth, as if the Swarm of Bees which pitch'd upon St. Ambrose's Face, had lighted upon his too, and Sweetness hath distill'd from his Lips ever since, with a Source never to be exhausted. There is One thing Particular in our Friendship, That it hath hitherto shin'd without a Cloud, and there hath not been the least Pique or Disgust to over-cast it; if any thing had been capable to give it Disturbance, I fancy it would be like the Well mention'd by Pliny, which if any Dirt was thrown into it, it would Rage and grow Impetuous, till it had cleared it [Page]self from the impure Mixture, and recover'd its limpid Beauty again: And as it first rose with a Lustre, so in this Decline of our Years, let it go down so too; but if Providence ordains, that I must never see that Face again, which is the seat of Modesty, Courtesy and good Nature, yet let your Correspondence reach me, though at this distance: A Letter from you, like one fix'd to an Arrow, and shot into a Besieged Town, will flatter me with some hopes that Succours are approaching. Though I am Buried to all the World besides, yet let me live in the Thoughts of Lycophron, and find a shelter in that Breast, whereon I have so often taken de­light to lay my Head: As Dying Augustus to his Livia, Let me enjoyn You to cherish the Remembrance of our former Endear­ments, and constantly to believe, That Lycophron was Lov'd with the strongest and most Sincere Passion that ever Heart was capable of, By