"But thou, fhould tempting villany prefent
All Marlb'rough hoarded, or all Villiers spent,
Turn from the glitt'ring bribe thy scornful eye,
Nor fell for gold, what gold could never buy,
The peaceful flumber, felf-approving day,
Unfullied fame, and confcience ever gay.
The cheated nation's happy fav'rites, fee!
Mark whom the great carefs, who frown on me!
LONDON! the needy villain's gen'ral home,
The common-fewer of Paris, and of Rome;
With eager thirft, by folly or by fate,
Sucks in the dregs of each corrupted state.
Forgive my transports on a theme like this,
13 I cannot bear a French metropolis.
14 Illuftrious EDWARD! from the realms of day,
The land of heroes and of faints furvey;
Nor hope the British lineaments to trace,
The ruftick grandeur, or the furly grace,
But loft in thoughtlefs eafe, and empty fhow,.
Behold the warrior dwindled to a beau;
Senfe, freedom, piety, refin'd away,
Of France the mimick, and of Spain the prey.
All that at home no more can beg or steal,
Or like a gibbet better than a wheel;
Omnis arena Tagi, quodque in mare volvitur aurum,
Ut fomno careas.
* Quæ nunc divitibus gens acceptiffima noftris,
Et quos præcipue fugiam, properabo fateri.
13 -Non poffum ferre, Quirites,
14 Rufticus ille tuus fumit trechedipna, Quirine, Et ceromatico fert niceteria collo.
Hifs'd from the stage, or hooted from the court,
Their air, their drefs, their politicks import;
Obfequious, artful, voluble and gay,
On Britain's fond credulity they prey.
No gainful trade their induftry can 'fcape,
They fing, they dance, clean fhoes, or cure a clap: All sciences a fasting Monfieur knows,
And bid him go to hell, to hell he goes.
17 Ah! what avails it, that, from flav'ry far,
I drew the breath of life in English air;
Was early taught a Briton's right to prize,
And lifp the tale of HENRY's victories;
If the gull'd conqueror receives the chain,
And flattery prevails when arms are vain?
1 Studious to please, and ready to fubmit, The fupple Gaul was born a parasite:
Still to his int'reft true, where'er he goes,
Wit, brav'ry, worth, his lavish tongue beftows;
In ev'ry face a thoufand graces fhine,
From ev'ry tongue flows harmony divine.
"These arts in vain our rugged natives try,
Strain out with fault'ring diffidence a lie,
And get a kick for awkward flattery.
15 Ingenium velox, audacia perdita, fermo Promptus.
16 Augur, fchænobates, medicus, magus: omnia novit, Græculus efuriens, in cœlum, jufferis, ibit.
"Ufque adeo nihil eft, quod noftra infantia cœlum Haufit Aventini?.
18 Quid? quod adulandi gens prudentiffima, laudat Sermonem indocti, faciem deformis amici ?
19 Hæc eadem licet & nobis laudare: fed illis Creditur.
Befides, with juftice, this difcerning age
Admires their wond'rous talents for the ftage:
20 Well may they venture on the mimick's art,
Who play from morn to night a borrow'd part;
Practis'd their mafter's notions to embrace,
Repeat his maxims, and reflect his face;
With ev'ry wild abfurdity comply,
And view each object with another's eye;
To shake with laughter ere the jeft they hear,
To pour at will the counterfeited tear;
And as their patron hints the cold or heat,
To shake in dog-days, in December sweat.
"How, when competitors like thefe contend,
Can furly virtue hope to fix a friend?
Slaves that with ferious impudence beguile,
And lie without a blufh, without a fimile,
Exalt each trifle, ev'ry vice adore,
Your tafte in fnuff, your judgment in a whore;
Can Balbo's eloquence applaud, and fwear
He gropes his breeches with a monarch's air.
For arts like thefe preferr'd, admir'd, carefs'd, They firft invade your table, then your breaft; Explore your fecrets with infidious art, Watch the weak hour, and ranfack all the heart; Then foon your ill-plac'd confidence repay, Commence your lords, and govern or betray.
20 Natio comoda eft. Rides? majore cachinno Concutitur, &c.
21 Non fumus ergo pares: melior, qui femper & omni Nocte dieque poteft alienum fumere vultum,
A facie jactare manus: laudare paratus,
Si bene ructavit, fi rectum minxit amicus.
22 Scire volunt fecreta domus, atque inde timeri.
23 By numbers here from fhame or cenfure free, All crimes are fafe but hated poverty.
This, only this, the rigid law pursues,
This, only this, provokes the fnarling muse.
The fober trader at a tatter'd cloak,
Wakes from his dream, and labours for a joke;
With brifker air the filken courtiers gaze,
And turn the varied taunt a thousand ways.
24 Of all the griefs that harass the distress'd;
Sure the most bitter is a fcornful jeft;
Fate never wounds more deep the gen'rous heart,
Than when a blockhead's infult points the dart.
25 Has heaven referv'd, in pity to the poor,
No pathlefs wafte, or undifcover'd fhore?
No fecret island in the boundless main ?
No peaceful defert yet unclaim'd by SPAIN?
Quick let us rife, the happy feats explore,
And bear oppreffion's infolence no more.
This mournful truth is ev'ry where confefs'd,
26 SLOW RISES WORTH, BY POVERTY DEPRESS'D:
Materiem præbet caufafque jocorum
Omnibus hic idem? fi fœda & fciffa lacerna, &c.
24 Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in fe,
Quam quod ridiculos homines facit.
Debuerant olim tenues migraffe Quirites.
26 Haud facile emergunt, quorum virtutibus obflat
Res angufta domi, fed Romæ durior illis
Conatus.
Cogimur, & cultis augere peculia fervis.
*The Spaniards at this time were faid to make claim to
fome of our American provinces.
But here more flow, where all are flaves to gold,
Where looks are merchandise, and fmiles are fold;
Where won by bribes, by flatteries implor'd,
The groom retails the favours of his lord.
But hark! th' affrighted crowd's tumultuous cries
Roll through the streets, and thunder to the skies:
Rais'd from fome pleafing dream of wealth and pow'r,
Some pompous palace, or fome blissful bow'r,
Aghaft you start, and fcarce with aching fight
Suftain the approaching fire's tremendous light;
Swift from pursuing horrors take your way,
And leave your little ALL to flames a prey;
27 Then thro' the world a wretched vagrant roam,
For where can ftarving merit find a home?
In vain your mournful narrative disclose,
While all neglect, and moft infult your woes.
25 Should heaven's juft bolts Orgilio's wealth con-
found,
And spread his flaming palace on the ground,
Swift o'er the land the difimal rumour flies,
And publick mournings pacify the skies;
The laureat tribe in venal verfe relate,
How virtue wars with perfecuting fate;
29 With well-feign'd gratitude the pension'd band Refund the plunder of the beggar'd land.
Ærumnæ cumulus, quod nudum, & fruftra rogantem
Nemo cibo, nemo hofpitio, tectoque juvabit.
28 Si magna Afturici cecidit domus, horrida mater, Pullati proceres.
29 -Jam accurrit, qui marmora donet,
Conferat impenfas : hic, &c.
Hic modium argenti.
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