See! while he builds, the gaudy vaffals come,
And crowd with fudden wealth the rifing dome; .
The price of boroughs and of fouls restore;
And raise his treasures higher than before:
Now blefs'd with all the baubles of the great,
The polish'd marble, and the fhining plate,
30 Orgilio fees the golden pile afpire,
And hopes from angry heav'n another fire.
31 Could't thou refign the park and play content,
For the fair banks of Severn or of Trent;
There might'st thou find fome elegant retreat,
Some hireling fenator's deferted feat;
And ftretch thy profpects o'er the fmiling land,
For less than rent the dungeons of the Strand;
There prune thy walks, fupport thy drooping flow'rs,
Direct thy rivulets, and twine thy bow'rs;
And, while thy grounds a cheap repast afford,
Despise the dainties of a venal lord:
There ev'ry bush with nature's musick rings,
There ev'ry breeze bears health upon its wings;
On all thy hours fecurity fhall fimile,
And blefs thine evening walk and morning toil.
Meliora, ac plura reponit
Perficus orborum lautiffimus.
31 Si potes avelli Circenfibus, optima Soræ,
Aut Fabretariæ domus, aut Fufinone paratur,
Quanti nunc tenebras unum conducis in annum.
Hortulus hic.-
Vive bidentis amans, & culti villicus horti,
Unde epulum poffis centum dare Pythagoreis.
32 Prepare for death if here at night you roam,
And fign your will before you fup from home.
33 Some fiery fop, with new commiffion vain,
Who fleeps on brambles till he kills his man;
Some frolick drunkard, reeling from a feast,
Provokes a broil, and stabs you for a jest.
34 Yet ev'n these heroes, mifchievously gay,
Lords of the street, and terrors of the way;
Flush'd as they are with folly, youth, and wine,
Their prudent infults to the poor confine;
Afar they mark the flambeau's bright approach,
And fhun the shining train, and golden coach.
35 In vain thefe dangers past, your doors you
And hope the balmy bleffings of repose:
Cruel with guilt, and daring with despair,
The midnight murd'rer bursts the faithless bar;
Invades the facred hour of filent reft,
And leaves, unseen, a dagger in your breast.
36 Scarce can our fields, fuch crowds at Tyburn die, With hemp the gallows and the fleet supply.
33 Ebrius et petulans, qui nullum forte cecidit, Dat pœnas, noctem patitur lugentis amicum
Sed, quamvis improbus annis,
Atque mero fervens, cavet hunc, quem coccina læna
Vitari jubet, et comitum longiffimus ordo,
Multum præterea flammarum, atque ænea lampas.
35 Nec tamen hoc tantum metuas: nam qui fpoliet te
Non deerit claufis domibus, &c.
36 Maximus in vinclis ferri modus; ut timeas, ne Vomer deficiat, ne marræ et farcula defint.
Propose your schemes, ye fenatorian band,
Whofe * ways and means fupport the finking land;
Left ropes be wanting in the tempting spring,
To rig another convoy for the king †.
37 A fingle gaol, in ALFRED's golden reign,
Could half the nation's criminals contain;
Fair Juftice then, without conftraint ador'd,
Held high the steady scale, but fheath'd the fword;
No fpies were paid, no fpecial juries known,
Bleft age! but ah! how diff'rent from our own!
38 Much could I add,-but fee the boat at hand, The tide retiring, calls me from the land: 39 Farewell!-When youth, and health, and fortune spent,
Thou fly'ft for refuse to the wilds of Kent;
And tir'd like me with follies and with crimes,
In angry numbers warn'ft fucceeding times;
Then fhall thy friend, nor thou refufe his aid,
Still foe to vice, forfake his Cambrian shade;
In virtue's cause once more exert his rage,
Thy fatire point, and animate thy page.
37 Felices proavorum atavos, felicia dicas Secula, quæ quondam fub regibus atque tribunis Viderunt uno contentam carcere Romam.
38 His alias poteram, & pluries fubnectere caufas ; Sed jumenta vocant.
Ergo vale nostri memor : & quoties te
Roma tuo refici properantem reddet Aquino,
Me quoque ad Eleufinam Cererem, veftramque Dianam Convelle à Cumis: fatirarum ego, ni pudet illas,
Adjutor gelidos veniam caligatus in agros.
*A cant term in the houfe of commons for methods of raifing money.
+ The nation was difcontented at the vifits made by the king to Hanover.
ET obfervation with extensive view,
Survey mankind, from China to Peru;
Remark each anxious toil, each eager ftrife,
And watch the bufy fcenes of crowded life;
Then say how hope and fear, defire and hate,
O'erspread with fnares the clouded maze of fate,
Where wav'ring man, betray'd by vent'rous pride,
To tread the dreary paths without a guide;
As treach'rous phantoms in the mist delude,
Shuns fancied ills, or chafes airy good.
How rarely reason guides the ftubborn choice,
Rules the bold hand, or prompts the fuppliant voice,
How nations fink, by darling schemes opprefs'd,
When vengeance liftens to the fool's requeft.
Fate wings with ev'ry wifh th' afflictive dart,
Each gift of nature, and each grace of art,
With fatal heat impetuous courage glows,
With fatal sweetness elocution flows,
Impeachment stops the speaker's pow'rful breath,
And restless fire precipitates on death.
*But fcarce obferv'd, the knowing and the bold, Fall in the gen'ral maffacre of gold;
Wide-wafting peft! that rages unconfin'd,
And crowds with crimes the records of mankind;
For gold his fword the hireling ruffian draws,
For gold the hireling judge diftorts the laws;
Wealth heap'd on wealth, nor truth nor fafety buys,
The dangers gather as the treasures rise.
Let hift'ry tell where rival kings command,
And dubious title fhakes the madded land,
When ftatutes glean the refuse of the sword,
How much more fafe the vaffal than the lord;
Low fculks the hind beneath the rage of pow'r,
And leaves the wealthy traitor in the Tow'r,
Untouch'd his cottage, and his flumbers found,
Tho' confifcation's vultures hover round.
The needy traveller, ferene and gay,
Walks the wild heath, and fings his toil away.
Does envy feize thee? crufh th' upbraiding joy,
Increase his riches and his peace destroy,
Now fears in dire viciffitude invade,
The rustling brake alarms, and quiv'ring fhade,
Nor light nor darkness bring his pain relief,
One fhews the plunder, and one hides the thief.
Yet † ftill one gen'ral cry the fkies affails,
And gain and grandeur load the tainted gales;
Few know the toiling ftatefman's fear or care,
Th' infidious rival and the gaping heir.
Once more, Democritus, arise on earth,
With cheerful wifdom and inftructive mirth,
Ver. 12-22. + Ver. 23-27.
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