The daring Greeks deride the martial show,
And heap their valleys with the gaudy foe;
Th' infulted fea with humbler thought he gains,
A single skiff to speed his flight remains;
Th' incumber'd oar fcarce leaves the dreaded coaft
Through purple billows and a floating hoft.
The bold Bavarian, in a luckless hour,
Tries the dread fummits of Cæfarean pow'r,
With unexpected legions burfts away,

And fees defenceless realms receive his fway;
Short fway! fair Auftria fpreads her mournful charms,
The queen, the beauty, fets the world in arms;
From hill to hill the beacon's roufing blaze
Spreads wide the hope of plunder and of praise ;
The fierce Croatian, and the wild Huffar,
With all the fons of ravage crowd the war;
The baffled prince, in honour's flatt'ring bloom
Of hafty greatnefs, finds the fatal doom;
His foes derifion, and his fubjects blame,
And steals to death from anguish and from shame.
* Enlarge my life with multitude of days!
In health, in fickness, thus the fuppliant prays;
Hides from himself his ftate, and fhuns to know,
That life protracted is protracted woe.
Time hovers o'er, impatient to destroy,
And shuts up all the paffages of joy:
In vain their gifts the bounteous seasons pour,
The fruit autumnal, and the vernal flow'r;
With liftless eyes the dotard views the store,
He views, and wonders that they please no more;

Now pall the tasteless meats, and joyless wines,
And Luxury with fighs her flave refigns.
Approach, ye minstrels, try the foothing strain,
Diffuse the tuneful lenitives of pain:

No founds, alas! would touch th' impervious ear,
Though dancing mountains witness'd Orpheus near.
Nor lute nor lyre his feeble pow'rs attend,
Nor fweeter mufick of a virtuous friend;
But everlafting dictates crowd his tongue,
Perversely grave, or pofitively wrong.

The ftill returning tale, and ling'ring jeft,
Perplex the fawning niece and pamper'd gueft,
While growing hopes fcarce awe the gath'ring fneer,
And scarce a legacy can bribe to hear;

The watchful guests still hint the last offence;
The daughter's petulance, the fon's expence,
Improve his heady rage with treach'rous fkill,
And mould his paffions till they make his will.
Unnumber'd maladies his joints invade,
Lay fiege to life, and prefs the dire blockade;
But unextinguish'd Av'rice ftill remains,
And dreaded loffes aggravate his pains;
He turns, with anxious heart and crippled hands,
His bonds of debt, and mortgages of lands;
Or views his coffers with fufpicious eyes,
Unlocks his gold, and counts it till he dies.

But grant, the virtues of a temp'rate prime
Bless with an age exempt from fcorn or crime;
An age that melts with unperceiv'd decay,
And glides in modeft innocence away;
Whose peaceful day Benevolence endears,
Whofe night congratulating Confcience cheers;

The

The gen'ral fav'rite as the gen'ral friend :
Such age there is, and who fhall with its end?
Yet ev'n on this her load Misfortune flings,
To prefs the weary minutes' flagging wings;
New forrow rifes as the day returns,
A fifter fickens, or a daughter mourns.
Now kindred Merit fills the fable bier,
Now lacerated Friendship claims a tear ;
Year chafes year, decay pursues decay,
Still drops fome joy from with'ring life away;
New forms arife, and diff'rent views engage,
Superfluous lags the vet'ran on the stage,
Till pitying Nature figns the last release,
And bids afflicted worth retire to peace.

But few there are whom hours like thefe await,
Who fet unclouded in the gulphs of Fate.
From Lydia's monarch fhould the fearch defcend,
By Solon caution'd to regard his end,

In life's laft fcene what prodigies furprize,
Fears of the brave, and follies of the wife !

From Marlb'rough's eyes the ftreams of dotage flow,
And Swift expires a driv❜ler and a show.

*The teeming mother, anxious for her race,

Begs for each birth the fortune of a face;
Yet Vane could tell what ills from beauty fpring;
And Sedley curs'd the form that pleas'd a king.
Ye nymphs of rofy lips and radiant eyes,
Whom Pleasure keeps too busy to be wise;
Whom joys with foft varieties invite,

By day the frolick, and the dance by night;

* Ver. 289-345.

Who

Who frown with vanity, who fmile with art,
And afk the latest fashion of the heart;

What care,

what rules, your heedlefs charms shall save,
Each nymph your rival, and each youth your flave?
Against your fame with fondness hate combines,
The rival batters, and the lover mines.
With diftant voice neglected Virtue calls,

Lefs heard and lefs, the faint remonftrance falls;
Tir'd with contempt, fhe quits the flipp'ry reign,
And Pride and Prudence take her feat in vain.
In crowd at once, where none the pass defend,
The harmless freedom, and the private friend.
The guardians yield, by force fuperior ply'd ;
To Int'reft, Prudence; and to Flatt'ry, Pride.
Here Beauty falls betray'd, defpis'd, distress'd,
And hiffing Infamy proclaims the reft.

*Where then shall Hope and Fear their objects find?
Muft dull fufpence corrupt the ftagnant mind?
Muft helpless man, in ignorance sedate,
Roll darkling down the torrent of his fate?

Muft no diflike alarm, no wishes rife,
No cries invoke the mercies of the skies?
Enquirer, ceafe; petitions yet remain

Which Heav'n may hear, nor deem Religion vain.
Still raise for good the fupplicating voice,

But leave to Heav'n the measure and the choice.
Safe in his pow'r, whofe eyes difcern afar
The fecret ambush of a fpecious pray'r;
Implore his aid, in his decifions reft,
Secure, whate'er he gives, he gives the best,

* Ver. 346–366.

Yet,

Yet, when the sense of facred prefence fires,
And ftrong devotion to the skies aspires,
Pour forth thy fervours for a healthful mind,
Obedient paffions, and a will refign'd;
For love, which scarce collective man can fill
For patience, fov'reign o'er tranfmuted ill;
For faith, that, panting for a happier seat,
Counts death kind Nature's fignal of retreat :
Thefe goods for man the laws of Heav'n ordain,
Thefe goods he grants, who grants the pow'r to gain;
With these celestial Wisdom calms the mind,
And makes the happiness fhe does not find,

PRO