If 'tis with reason they complain,
This infant fhall reftore my reign.
I'll fearch where every virtue dwells,
From courts inclufive down to cells:
What preachers talk, or fages write;
Thefe I will gather and unite,
And represent them to mankind
Collected in that infant's mind.

This faid, the plucks in heaven's high bowers A fprig of amaranthine flowers,

In nectar thrice infuses bays,

Three times refin'd in Titan's rays;
Then calls the Graces to her aid,

And sprinkles thrice the new-born maid:
From whence the tender skin affumes
A sweetness above all perfumes:
From whence a cleanliness remains,
Incapable of outward stains:
From whence that decency of mind,
So lovely in the female kind,
Where not one careless thought intrudes,
Lefs modeft than the fpeech of prudes;
Where never blush was call'd in aid,
That spurious virtue in a maid,
A virtue but at fecond-hand;
They blush, because they understand.

The Graces next would act their part,
And show'd but little of their art;
Their work was half already done,
The child with native beauty shone;
The outward form no help requir'd:
Each, breathing on her thrice, infpir'd
That gentle, foft, engaging air,
Which in old times adorn'd the fair:
And faid," Vaneffa be the name

By which thou shalt be known to fame; "Vaneffa, by the gods inroll'd: "Her name on earth shall not be told."

But ftill the work was not complete:
When Venus thought on a deceit;
Drawn by her doves, away the flies,
And finds out Pallas in the skies.
Dear Pallas, I have been this morn
To fee a lovely infant born;
A boy in yonder ifle below,
So like my own without his bow,
By beauty could your heart be won,
You'd fwear it is Apollo's fon:
But it fhall ne'er be faid, a child
So hopeful has by me been spoil'd;
I have enough befides to spare,
And give him wholly to your care.

Wildom's above fufpecting wiles:
The queen of Learning gravely fmiles,
Down from Olympus comes with joy,
Mistakes Vanessa for a boy;
Then fows within her tender mind
Seeds long unknown to womankind;
For manly bofoms chiefly fit,

The feeds of knowledge, judgment, wit.
Her foul was fuddenly endued
With juftice, truth, and fortitude;
With honour, which no breath can stain,
Which malice must attack in vain;
With open heart and bounteous hand.
But Pallas here was at a ftand;
She knew, in our degenerate days,
Bare virtue could not live on praise;

That meat must be with money bought:
She therefore, upon fecond thought,
Infus'd, yet as it were by ftealth,
Some small regard for state and wealth;
Of which, as he grew up, there ftaid
A tincture in the prudent maid:
She manag'd her eftate with care,
Yet lik'd three footmen to her chair.
But, left he should neglect his studies
Like a young heir, the thrifty goddess
(For fear young master should be spoil'd)
Would ufe him like a younger child;
And, after long computing, found
'Twould come to just five thousand pound.

The Queen of Love was pleas'd, and proud, To fee Vaneffa thus endow'd :

She doubted not but fuch a dame
Through every breast would dart a flame:
That every rich and lordly fwain
With pride would drag about her chain;
That fcholars would forfake their books,
To ftudy bright Vaneffa's looks;
As the advanc'd, that womankind
Would by her model form their mind,
And all their conduct would be try'd
By her, as an unerring guide;
Offending daughters oft would hear
Vaneffa's praife rung in their ear:
Mifs Betty, when she does a fault,
Lets fall her knife, or fpills the falt,
Will thus be by her mother chid,
"'Tis what Vanessa never did !"
Thus by the nymphs and fwains ador'd,
My power shall be again restor'd,
And happy lovers blefs my reign-
So Venus hop'd, but hop'd in vain.

For when in time the Martial Maid
Found out the trick that Venus play'd,
She shakes her helm, she knits her brows,
And, fir'd with indignation, vows,
To-morrow, ere the setting fun,
She'd all undo that she had done.

But in the poets we may find

A wholesome law, time out of mind,
Had been confirm'd by Fate's decree,
That gods, of whatfoe'er degree,
Refume not what themselves have given,
Or any brother-god in heaven;
Which keeps the peace among the gods,
Or they must always be at odds:
And Pallas, if the broke the laws,
Muft yield her foe the ftronger caufe;
A shame to one so much ador'd
For wifdom at Jove's council-board.
Befides, fhe fear'd the Queen of Love
Would meet with better friends above.
And though the must with grief reflect,
To fee a mortal virgin deck'd
With graces hitherto unknown
To female breafts, except her own;
Yet fhe would act as beft became
A goddefs of unfpotted fame.
She knew, by augury divine,
Venus would fail in her defign:
She study'd well the point, and found
Her foe's conclufions were not found,
From premises erroneous brought;
And therefore the deductions 's nought,

And muft have contrary effects
To what her treacherous foe expects.
In proper feafon Pallas meets

The Queen of Love, whom thus fhe greets
(For gods, we are by Homer told,
Can in celeftial language fcold):
Perations goddess! but in vain

You form'd this project in your brain;
A project for thy talents fit,
With much deceit and little wit.
Theu haft, as thou shalt quickly fee,
Deceiv'd thyself, instead of me :
For how can heavenly wisdom prove
An inftrument to earthly love?

Know'st thou not yet, that men commence
Thy votaries, for want of sense?
Nor thall Vaneffa be the theme
To manage thy abortive scheme :
She'll prove the greatest of thy foes!
And yet I fcorn to interpose,
But, ufing neither fkill nor force,
Leave all things to their natural course.
The goddess thus pronounc'd her doom:
When lo! Vaneffa in her bloom
Advanc'd, like Atalanta's star,
But rarely feen, and feen from far:
in a new world with caution stept,
Watch'd all the company she kept,
Well knowing, from the books the read,
What dangerous paths young virgins tread:
Would feldom at the park appear,
Ner faw the play-house twice a year; ·
Yet, not incurious, was inclin'd
To know the converse of mankind.
Firft iffued from perfumers' shops,
A crowd of fashionable fops;

་

They aik'd her, how the lik'd the play; Then told the tattle of the day; A duel fought last night at two, About a lady--you know who: Mention'd a new Italian come Either from Muscovy or Rome; Gave hints of who and who's together; Then fell a talking of the weather; Laft night was fo extremely fine, The ladies walk'd till after nine; Then, in foft voice and speech abfurd, With nonfenfe every second word, With fuftain from exploded plays, They celebrate her beauty's praise; Run o'er their cant of stupid lies, And tell the murders of her eyes. With filent fcorn Vanessa fat, Scarce liftening to their idle chat; Further than fometimes by a frown, When they grew pert, to pull them down. At laft the fpitefully was bent To try their wisdom's full extent; And said she valued nothing lefs Than titles, figure, shape and dress; That merit fhould be chiefly plac'd In judgment, knowledge, wit, and tafte; And these the, offer'd to difpute, Alone distinguish'd man from brute: That prefent times have no pretence To virtue, in the noble sense By Greeks and Romans understood, To perish for our country's good.

She nam'd the ancient heroes round,
Explain'd for what they were renown'd,
Then fpoke with cenfure or applause
Of foreign customs, rites, and laws;
Through nature and through art the rang'd
And gracefully her subject chang'd;
In vain her hearers had no share
In all the spoke, except to ftare.
Their judgment was upon the whole,
-That lady is the dullest soul !---
Then tipt their forehead in a jeer,
As who should fay---she wants it here!
She may be handfome, young, and rich,
But none will burn her for a witch!

A party next of glittering dames,
From round the purlieus of St. James,
Came early, out of pure good-will,
To fee the girl in dishabille.

Their clamour, 'lightning from their chairs,
Grew louder all the way up stairs;
At entrance loudeft, where they found
The room with volumes litter'd round.
Vaneffa held Montaigne, and read,
Whilft Mrs. Sufan comb'd her head.
They call'd for tea and chocolate,
And fell into their ufual chat,
Difcourfing, with important face,
On ribbons, fans, and gloves, and lace;
Show'd patterns juft from India brought,
And gravely afk'd her what she thought,
Whether the red or green were beft,
And what they coft? Vanessa guess'd,
As came into her fancy first;

Nam'd half the rates, and lik'd the worst.
To fcandal next---What awkward thing
Was that last Sunday in the ring?
I'm forry Mopfa breaks fo faft;
I faid, her face would never laft.
Corinna, with that youthful air,
Is thirty, and a bit to spare:
Her fondness for a certain Earl
Began when I was but a girl!
Phillis, who but a month ago
Was marry'd to the Tunbridge beau,
I faw coquetting t'other night
In public with that odious knight!

They railly'd next Vaneffa's dress:
That gown was made for old Queen Bels.
Dear Madam, let me fee your head:
Don't you intend to put on red?
A petticoat without a hoop!
Sure, you are not asham'd to stoop!
With handsome garters at your knees,
No matter what a fellow fees.

Fill'd with difdain, with rage inflam'd,
Both of herself and sex afham'd,
The nymph stood filent out of spight,
Nor would vouchfafe to set them right.
Away the fair detractors went,
And gave by turns their cenfures vent.
She's not fo handfome in my eyes:

For wit, I wonder where it lies!

She's fair and clean, and that's the most:

But why proclaim her for a toaft?
A baby face; no life, no airs,

But what the learn'd at country-fairs;
Scarce knows what difference is between
Rich Flanders lace and Colberteen.

I'll undertake, my little Nancy
In flounces hath a better fancy!
With all her wit, I would not ask
Her judgment, how to buy a mask.
We begg'd her but to patch her face.
She never hit one proper place;
Which every girl at five years old
Can do as foon as the is told.
I own, that out-of-fashion stuff
Becomes the creature well enough.
The girl might pafs, if we could get her
To know the world a little better.
(To know the world! a modern phrase
For vifits, ombre, balls, and plays.)

Thus, to the world's perpetual shame,
The Queen of Beauty loft her aim;
Too late with grief the understood,
Pallas had done more harm than good:
For great examples are but vain,
Where ignorance begets difdain.
Both fexes, arm'd with guilt and spite,
Against Vaneffa's power unite:
To copy her, few nymphs afpir'd;
Her virtues fewer fwains admir'd.
So stars beyond a certain height
Give mortals neither heat nor light.
Yet fome of either fex, endow'd
With gifts fuperior to the crowd,
With virtue, knowledge, tafte, and wit,
She condefcended to admit;
With pleafing arts fhe could reduce
Men's talent's to their proper ufe;
And with address each genius held
To that wherein it most excell'd;
Thus, making others' wisdom known,
Could please them, and improve her own.
A modeft youth faid fomething new;
She plac'd it in the strongest view.
All humble worth the ftrove to raise;
Would not be prais'd, yet lov'd to praise.
The learned met with free approach,
Although they came not in a coach:
Some clergy too fhe would allow,
Nor quarrel'd at their awkward bow;
But this was for Cadenus' fake,
A gownman of a different make;
Whom Pallas, once Vaneffa's tutor,
Had fix'd on for her coadjutor.

But Cupid, full of mifchief, longs
To vindicate his mother's wrongs.
"On Pallas all attempts are vain:
One way he knows to give her pain;
Vows on Vaneffa's heart to take
Due vengeance, for her patron's fake.
Thofe early feeds by Venus sown,
In fpite of Pallas, now were grown;
And Cupid hop'd they would improve
By time, and ripen into love.
The boy made ufe of all his craft,
In vain discharging many a shaft,
Pointed at colonels, lords, and beaux :
Cadenus warded off the blows;
For, placing ftill some book betwixt,
The darts were in the cover fix'd,
Qr, often blunted and recoil'd,

On Plutarch's Morals ftruck, were fpoil'd.
The queen of Wisdom could forefee,
But not prevent the Fates' decree:

And human caution tries in vain
To break that adamantine chain.
Vaneffa, though by Pallas taught,
By love invulnerable thought,
Searching in books for wifdom's aid,
Was, in the very fearch, betray'd.

Cupid, though all his darts were loft
Yet ftill refolv'd to ipare no coft:
He could not anfwer to his fame
The triumphs of that stubborn dame,
A nymph fo hard to be fubdued,
Who neither was conquette nor prude.
I find, faid he, fhe wants a Doctor,
Both to adore her, and instruct her :
I'll give her what fhe moft admires,
Among thofe venerable fires.
Cadenus is a fubject fit,

Grown old in politics and wit,
Carefs'd by minifters of ftate,

Of half mankind the dread and hate.
Whate'er vexations love attend,
She need no rivals apprehend.
Her fex, with univerfal voice,
Muft laugh at her capricious choice,
Cadenus many things had writ:
Vaneffa much efteem'd his wit,
And call'd for his poetic works:
Meantime the boy in fecret lurks;
And, while the book was in her hand,
The urchin from his private ftand
Took aim, and shot with all his strength
A dart of fuch prodigious length,
It pierc'd the feeble volume through,
And deep transfix'd her bofom too.
Some lines, more moving than the reft,
Stuck to the point that pierc'd her breast,
And, borne directly to the heart,
With pains unknown, increas'd her smart.
Vaneffa, not in years a fcore,
Dreams of a gown of forty-four;
Imaginary charms can find

In eyes with reading almost blind:
Cadenus now no more appears
Declin'd in health, advanc'd in years.
She fancies mufic in his tongue;
No farther looks, but thinks him young.
What mariner is not afraid
To venture in a ship decay'd?
What planter will attempt to yoke
A fapling with a falling oak?
As years increafe, the brighter fhines;
Cadenus with each day declines:
And he must fall a prey to time,
While the continues in her prime.
Cadenus, common forms a part,
In every scene had kept his heart;
Had figh'd and languish'd, vow'd and writ,
For paftime, or to how his wit.

But books, and time, and state affairs,
Had fpoil'd his fashionable airs:

He now could praise, esteem, approve,
But understood not what was love.
His conduct might have made him ftyl'd
A father, and the nymph his child.
That innocent delight he took
To fee the virgin mind her book,
Was but the mafter's fecret joy
In fchool to hear the finest boy.

Her knowledge with her fancy grew;
She bourly prefs'd for fomething new;
Lear came into her mind

So faft, his leffons lagg'd behind;
She reafon'd, without plodding long,
Not ever gave her judgment wrong.
Bat tow a fudden change was wrought:
She minds no longer what he taught.
Cadenas was amaa'd, to find
Such marks of a diftracted mind:
For, though the feem'd to liften more

To all he ipoke, than e'er before,

Heisand her thoughts would abfent range,

Yet gueis'd not whence could spring the change. Aad irit he modeftly conjectures

Ha pupil might be tir'd with lectures;

Which help'd to mortify his pride,

Yet gave him not the heart to chide:
But, in a mild dejected strain,

At laft he ventur'd to complain;
Said, the should be no longer teas'd,

Might have her freedom when the pleas'd;
Was now convinc'd he acted wrong,
To hide her from the world fo long,
And in dull ftudies to engage
One of her tender fex and age;
That every nymph with envy own'd,

How the might thine in the grand monde ;
And every thepherd was undone

To fee her cloifter'd like a nun.

This was a vifionary fcheme:

He wak'd, and found it but a dream;
Arect far above his skill;
Future must be nature ftill.
he were bolder than became
Afholar to a courtly dame,
She might excufe a man of letters;
Thus tutors often treat their betters:
And, fince his talk offenfive grew,
He came to take his laft adieu.
Vaneffa, fill'd with just disdain,
Wald til her dignity maintain,
Intructed from her early years
To korn the art of female tears.
Had he employed his time so long
To teach her what was right and wrong;
Yet could fach notions entertain
That all his lectures were in vain?

She own'd the wandering of her thoughts;
But he must answer for her faults.
She well remember'd, to her cost,
That all his letions were not loft.
Two maxims he could still produce,
And ad experience taught their ufe;
That virtue, pleas'd by being shown,
Knows not ing which it dares not own;
Can make us without fear disclofe
Our inmott fecrets to our foes:
That common forms were not defign'd
Directors to a noble mind.
Now, faid the nymph, to let you fee
My actions with your rules agree;
That I can vulgar forms despise,
And bave no fecrets to disguife:
Iknew, by what you faid and writ,
How dangerous things were men of wit;
I caution'd me against their charms,
never gave me equal arms;

Your leffons found the weakest part,
Aim'd at the head, but reach'd the heart.
Cadenus felt within him rife
Shame, difappointment, guilt, furprise.
He knew not how to reconcile
Such language with her ufual ftyle:
And yet her words were fo expreft,
He could not hope the fpoke in jest.
His thoughts had wholly been confin'd
To form and cultivate her mind.
He hardly knew, till he was told,
Whether the nymph were young or old;
Had met her in a public place.
Without diftinguishing her face:
Much less could his declining age
Vaneffa's earliest thoughts engage;
And, if her youth indifference met,
His perfon must contempt beget:
Or, grant her paffion be fincere,
How fhall his innocence be clear?
Appearances were all fo ftrong,
The world muft think him in the wrong;
Would fay, he made a treacherous use
Of wit, to flatter and feduce:

The town would fwear, he had betray'd
By magic spells the harmless maid:
And every beau would have his jokes,
That scholars were like other folks;
And, when Platonic flights were over,
The tutor turn'd a mortal lover!
So tender of the young and fair!
It show'd a true paternal care---
Five thousand guineas in her purfe'
The doctor might have fancy'd worse.-
Hardly at length he filence broke,
And faulter'd every word he spoke;
Interpreting her complaifance,
Juft as a man fans conféquence.
She rallied well, he always knew:
Her manner now was fomething new;
And what the spoke was in an air
As ferious as a tragic player.
But those who aim at ridicule
Should fix upon fome certain rule,
Which fairly hints they are in jest,
Elfe he must enter his protest:
For, let a man be ne'er so wise,
He may be caught with fober lies;
A fcience which he never taught,
And, to be free, was dearly bought;
For, take it in its proper light,
"Tis juft what coxcombs call a bite.

But, not to dwell on things minute,
Vaneffa finish'd the difpute,
Brought weighty arguments to prove
That reafon was her guide in love.
She thought he had himself defcrib'd,
His doctrines when the first imbib'd:
What he had planted now was grown;
His virtues the might call her own;
As he approves, as he dislikes,
Love or contempt her fancy ftrikes.
Self-love, in nature rooted fast,
Attends us first, and leaves us last :
Why the likes him, admire not at her;
She loves herself, and that's the matter.
How was her tutor wont to praise
The geniuses of ancient days!

(Thofe authors he so oft' had nam'd,
For learning, wit, and wisdom, fam'd)
Was ftruck with love, esteem, and awe,
For perfons whom he never faw.
Suppofe Cadenus flourish'd then,
He must adore fuch godlike men.
If one fhort volume could comprise
All that was witty, learn'd, and wife,
How would it be esteem'd and read,
Although the writer long were dead!
If fuch an author were alive,

How all would for his friendship ftrive,
And come in crowds to fee his face!
And this fhe takes to be her cafe.
Cadenus answers every end,

The book, the author, and the friend;
The utmost her defires will reach,
Is but to learn what he can teach:
His converse is a system fit
Alone to fill up all her wit;
While every paffion of her mind
In him is center'd and confin'd.

Love can with speech infpire a mute,
And taught Vanessa to dispute.
This topic, never touch'd before,
Difplay'd her eloquence the more :
Her knowledge, with fuch pains acquir'd,
By this new paffion grew infpir'd;
Through this the made all objects pass,
Which gave a tincture o'er the mafs;
As rivers though they bend and twine,
Still to their fea their course incline;
Or, as philofophers, who find
Some favourite fyftem to their mind,
In every point to make it fit,
Will force all nature to fubmit.
Cadenus, who could ne'er fufpect
His leffons would have fuch effect,
Or be fo artfully apply'd,
Infenfibly came on her fide.
It was an unforeseen event;

Things took a turn he never meant.
Whoe'er excels in what we prize,
Appears a hero in our eyes:

Each girl, when pleas'd with what is taught,
Will have the teacher in her thought,
When Mifs delights in her spinnet,

A fiddler may a fortune get;

A blockhead, with melodious voice,
In boarding-fchools may have his choice;
And oft' the dancing-mafter's art
Climbs from the toe to touch the heart.
In learning let a nymph delight,
The pedent gets a miftrefs by 't.
Cadenus, to his grief and shame,
Could fcarce oppofe Vaneffa's flame;
And, though her arguments were strong,
At least could hardly with them wrong.
Howe'er it came, he could not tell,
But fure she never talk'd fo well.
His pride began to interpofe;
Preferr'd before a crowd of beaux!
So bright a nymph to come unfought!
Such wonder by his merit wrought!
'Tis merit muft with her prevail !
He never knew her judgment fail!
She noted all fhe ever read!
And had a most difcerning head!

'Tis an old maxim in the schools, That flattery's the food of fools; Yet now and then your men of wit Will condefcend to take a bit.

So, when Cadenus could not hide,
He chose to justify, his pride;
Conftruing the paffion the had shown,
Much to her praise, more to his own.
Nature in him had merit plac'd,
In her a most judicious taste.
Love, hitherto a tranfient guest,
Ne'er held poffeffion of his breast;
So long attending at the gate,
Difdain'd to enter in fo late.
Love why do we one paffion call,
When 'tis a compound of them all?
Where hot and cold, where fharp and sweet,
In all their equipages meet;

Where pleafures mix'd with pains appear,
Sorrow with joy, and hope with fear;
Wherein his dignity and age
Forbid Cadenus to engage.

But friendship, in its greatest height,
A conftant, rational delight,
Or virtue's bafis fix'd to laft,
When love allurements long are past,
Which gently warms, but cannot burn,
He gladly offers in return;
His want of paffion will redeem
With gratitude, respect, esteem;
With that devotion we beftow,
When goddeffes appear below.

While thus Cadenus entertains
Vaneffa in exalted strains,

The nymphs in fober words entreats
A truce with all fublime conceits:

For why fuch raptures, flights, and fancies,
To her who durft not read romances?
In lofty ftyle to make replies,
Which he had taught her to despise?
But when her tutor will affect
Devotion, duty, and respect,
He fairly abdicates the throne ;
The government is now her own;
He has a forfeiture incur'd;
She vows to take him at his word,
And hopes he will not think it strange,
If both should now their stations change.
The nymph will have her turn to be
The tutor; and the pupil, he :
Though the already can difcern
Her feholar is not apt to learn;
Or wants capacity to reach
The science she defigus to teach:
Wherein his genius was below
The skill of every common beau,
Who, though he cannot fpell, is wife
Enough to read a lady's eyes,
And will each accidental glance
Interpret for a kind advance.

But what fuccefs Vaneffa met,
Is to the world a fecret yet.
Whether the nymph, to please her (wain,
Talks in a high romantic strain;
Or whether he at laft defcends
To act with less feraphic ends;
Or, to compound the bufinefs, whether
They temper love and books together;