DR. GIBBS.
And thus consider still, O Lord,
The justice of my cause;
Who often hast my life [1] restor'd
From death's devouring jaws.
And from the barbarous [2] paths they tread,
No acts of Providence
Can e'er oblige them to recede,
Or stop [3] their bold offence.
DR. SWIFT.
[1] Nothing is restored, but what has been taken away; so that he has been often raised from the dead, if this be true.
[2] The author should first have premised what sort of paths were properly barbarous. I suppose they must be very deep or dirty, or very rugged and stony; both which I myself have heard travellers call barbarous roads.
[3] Which is the way to stop an offence? would you have it stopt like a bottle, or a thief?
DR. GIBBS.
And on their impious heads will pour
Of snares [4] and flames a dismal shower;
And this their bitter cup shall be
[5] To drink to all eternity.
[6] But they were all perverted grown,
Polluted all with blood;
And other impious crimes: not one
Was either just [7] or good.
DR. SWIFT.
[4] A shower of snares on a man's head would do wonderful execution. However, I errant it is a scurvy thing enough to swallow them.
[5] To taste the doctor's poetry.
[6] But they were all perverted grown,
In spite of Dr. Gibbs's blood:
Of all his impious strains not one
Was either just or good.
[7] For a man, it seems, may be good, and not just.
DR. GIBBS.
Are they so stupid [8] then, said [9] God,
Who thus my [1] saints devour!
These [2] crimes have they not understood,
Nor thought upon my power.
[3] O, that his aid we now might have
From Sion's holy hill,
That God the captive just would save,
And glad all Israel!
DR. SWIFT.
[8] The fault was not that they devoured saints, but that they were stupid. Q. Whether stupidity makes men devour saints, or devouring saints makes a man stupid? I believe the latter, because they may be apt to lie heavy on one's stomach.
[9] Clod.
[1] Strains.
[2] Chimes.
[3] And O that e'ery parish clerk,
Who hums what Brady cribs
From Hopkins, would attend this work,
And glad the heart with Gibbs.
