Page:Poems of Anne Countess of Winchilsea 1903.djvu/124

 cxx INTRODUCTION ���similitudes expressive of his detestation of the mob. They are asses, and asses they will be, no matter who rides them ; they are " mungril curs" that bawl, snarl, and snap; they are " hares that wish to secure universal parity by leveling all beasts to their own state of weakness," and so on. With less boldness and less contempt, Lady Winchilsea is entirely in accord with Sir Roger's views. �" Pocket- Arguments " likewise quickly irritated Ardelia. The man who grants �no worth in anything But so much money as 'twill bring, �the man whose interests are in the price of corn and stand- ing market laws, are outside the pale of her sympathies. Marriage based on considerations of dowry or jointure is offensive to her. In her judgment an impecunious scholar always outranks the successful business man or even the successful professional man. The best illustration of this attitude is the poem to Dr. Waldron, who had given up a fellowship at Oxford that he might make a better income through the practice of medicine. Ardelia admits that money, that sordid plant, does not flourish near the odor of the bays, but she cannot understand how any hope of gain could induce a wit to leave Oxford, " that Eden to the Fruit- ful Mind." Dr. Waldron's accomplishments did not extend apparently beyond gay discourse, witty extempore effusions in verse or prose for table-books, and an occasional poem in some Miscellany, but even this dilettante consorting with the muses was superior to "druggery," even though druggery led to "glittering profit." Ardelia's satiric list is really a long one and comprises "rallying wits," " greedy parasites," flatterers when they " fawn and leer," knavish lawyers, travel- ing foj5s, and such social bores as buffoons, "mimmicks," " quoters of old saws," and retailers of second-hand jokes. Her antipathies were lively and her insight acute, yet her satire ��� �