See Hume's "History of England," vol. i,
p. 380.--_W. E. B._]
[Footnote 6: There are no snakes, vipers, or toads in Ireland; and even
frogs were not known here till about the year 1700. The magpies came a
short time before; and the Norway rats since.--_Dublin Edition_. These
plagues are all alluded to in this and the subsequent stanzas.--_Scott_.]
[Footnote 7: The University of Dublin, called Trinity College, was
founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1591.--_Dublin Edition_.]
[Footnote 8: Wood's ruinous project against the people of Ireland was
supported by Sir Robert Walpole in 1724.--_Dublin Edition_.]
[Footnote 9: The absentees, who spent the income of their Irish estates,
places, and pensions, in England.--_Dublin Edition_.]
ON READING DR. YOUNG'S SATIRE,
CALLED THE UNIVERSAL PASSION
1726
If there be truth in what you sing,
Such godlike virtues in the king;
A minister[1] so fill'd with zeal
And wisdom for the commonweal;
If he[2] who in the chair presides,
So steadily the senate guides;
If others, whom you make your theme,
Are seconds in the glorious scheme;
If every peer whom you commend,
To worth and learning be a friend;
If this be truth, as you attest,
What land was ever half so blest!
No falsehood now among the great,
And tradesmen now no longer cheat:
Now on the bench fair Justice shines;
Her scale to neither side inclines:
Now Pride and Cruelty are flown,
And Mercy here exalts her throne;
For such is good example's power,
It does its office every hour,
Where governors are good and wise;
Or else the truest maxim lies:
For so we find all ancient sages
Decree, that, _ad exemplum regis_,
Through all the realm his virtues run,
Ripening and kindling like the sun.
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