23. 1736.
_Beware, the Design is suspected_. Feb. 23. _The World is bad with
somebody_. Mar. 27. _Crimes not remitted_. April 10. _Cully Mully
puff appears_. May 21 _The Sword of Satan is drawn_. June 7. _The
Cat eat the Candle_. Now, Sir, Why should the Sword of Satan be
drawn to kill the Cat on the 21st Day of _May_, when it plainly
appears in Print, that the Cat did not eat the Candle till the 7th of
_June_ following? This Question no Man but an Astrologer can
possibly answer.
In the next Place, I lay it down as a certain Maxim or
Position, that _an Almanack-Writer shou'd not be a finish'd Poet, but
a Piece of one_, and qualify'd to write, what we vulgarly call
Doggerel; and that his Poetry shou'd bear a near Resemblance to his
Prose. I must beg _Horace's_ and my Lord _Roscommon's_ Pardon, if I
dissent from them in this one particular. I will give you their Rule
in my Lord's English Translation, and save myself the Trouble of
transcribing the Latin of _Horace_.
_But no Authority of Gods nor Men
Allow of any Mean in Poesy."
This might for all I know be a Rule for Poetry among the
Ancients, but the Moderns have found it troublesome, and the most of
them, have wholly neglected it for that Reason. Witness the Authors
Verses, whose Praise I am now celebrating, _December_ 1736.
_Now is my_ 12 _Months Task come to conclusion,
_Lord free us from Hatred, Envy and Confusion_.
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