A PASTORAL DIALOGUE; WRITTEN AFTER THE NEWS OF THE KING'S * DEATH. [This poem was written when George II. succeeded his father, and bore the following explanatory introduction. "Richmond Lodge is a house with a small park belonging to the crown. It was usually granted by the crown for a lease of years. The duke of Ormond was the last who had it. After his exile, it was given to the Prince of Wales by the King. The Prince and Princess usually passed their summer there. It is within a mile of Richmond. "Marble Hill is a house built by Mrs Howard, then of the bedchamber, afterward Countess of Suffolk, and groom of the stole to the Queen. It is on the Middlesex side, near Twickenham, where Mr Pope lived, and about two miles from Richmond Lodge. Mr Pope was the contriver of the gardens, Lord Herbert the architect, the Dean of St Patrick's chief butler, and keeper of the Ice-house. Upon King George's death, these two houses met, and had the following dialogue." These verses were part of the flattery with which Swift and Pope were wont to assail Mrs Howard, whose influence with George II. when Prince of Wales, they deemed omnipotent. How sadly they missed their aim in paying court to the favourite, instead of the Princess of Wales, has been of late completely developed in Coxe's Life of Sir Robert Walpole, and in the works of the late Horace Earl of Orford. It is, however, but justice to the memory of these distinguished men to say, that their adulation was not used for selfish ends, but for the benefit of their friend Gay; an end which may, * George I. who died after a short sickness, by eating a melon, at Osnaburg, in his way to Hanover, June 11, 1727.-The poem was carried to court, and read to King George II. and Queen Caroline.-H. in a certain degree, excuse the means. The opportunity of serving him through Mrs Howard's influence, seemed to be now opened by the king's death, for who could have guessed that the obnoxious favourite of the deceased monarch was only obscured for a few days, to shine forth with double lustre. These verses, therefore, were written with the purpose of keeping awake the recollection of the prince, now king, and Mrs Howard, to the connections they had formed in their comparative state of privacy, with the little band of literary and poetical friends.] In spite of Pope, in spite of Gay, That walls have tongues, and hedges ears. MARBLE HILL. Quoth Marble Hill, right well I ween, RICHMOND LODGE. The kingly prophet well evinces, That we should put no trust in princes : My royal master promis'd me To raise me to a high degree; But now he's grown a king, God wot, You see, when folks have got their ends, you, Yet I may say, 'twixt me and MARBLE HILL. My house was built but for a show, Must fall because our masters rise. RICHMOND LODGE. My master, scarce a fortnight since, * Many a true word, according to an ancient proverb, is spoken in jest. Swift was not aware how nearly he described the narrowed situation of Mrs Howard's finances. Lord Orford, in a letter written shortly after her death, describes her affairs as so far from being easy, that the utmost economy could by no means prevent her exceeding her income considerably; and elsewhere informs us, in his Reminiscences, that, besides Marble Hill, which cost the king ten or twelve thousand pounds, she did not leave above 20,0001, to her family.-Lord Orford's Works, Vol. IV. p. 304. V. p. 456. And by his crown will nothing get, MARBLE HILL. No more the Dean, that grave divine, RICHMOND LODGE. Here wont the Dean, when he's to seek, No butter sticks upon his bread. * With ancient Mirmont at her side. This also proved a prophecy more true than the Dean sus, pected. + Lady Charlotte de Roussy, a French lady.-H. Marquis de Mirmont, a Frenchman of quality, who had emigrated from his country, in consequence of the revocation of the Edict of Nantz. In velvet cap his head lies warm, MARBLE HILL. Some South-Sea broker from the city To fit them to his vulgar taste; RICHMOND LODGE. In my own Thames may I be drownded, If e'er I stoop beneath a crown'd head; Except her majesty prevails To place me with the Prince of Wales; MARBLE HILL. Then let him come and take a nap |