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There prune thy walks, support thy drooping flowers,
Direct thy rivulets, and twine thy bowers;
And, while thy grounds a cheap repast afford,
Defpife the dainties of a venal lord :

There ev'ry blush with Nature's musick rings,
There ev'ry breeze bears health upon its wings;
On all thy hours fecurity fhall fmile,

And bless thine evening walk and morning toil.

32

Prepare for death if here at night you roam,
And fign your will before you fup from home.
35 Some fiery fop, with new commiffion vain,
Who fleeps on brambles till he kills his man;
Some frolick drunkard, reeling from a feaft,
Provokes a broil, and ftabs you for a jeft.
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 fhining train, and golden coach.

35 In vain, thefe dangers paft, your doors you close,
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 rest,

And leaves, unfeen, a dagger in your breast.

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33 Ebrius, ac petulans, qui nullum forte cedidit, Dat pœnas, noctem patitur lugentis amicum Peleidæ.

34 Sed, quamvis improbus annis,
Atque mero fervens, cavet hunc, quem coccina læna
Vitari jubet, & comitum longiffimus ordo,
Multum præterea flammarum, atque ænea lampas.

5 Nec tamen hoc tantum metuas: nam qui spoliet te Non deerit; claufis domibus, &c.

Scarce

36 Scarce can our fields, fuch crowds at Tyburn die, With hemp the gallows and the fleet fupply. 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 sheath'd the sword; 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:

[fpent, 39 Farewell!-When youth, and health, and fortune Thou fly'ft for refuge 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 refuse his aid, Still foe to vice, forfake his Cambrian shade ; In virtue's caufe once more exert his rage, Thy fatire point, and animate thy page.

36 Maximus in vinclis ferri modus; ut timeas, ne Vomer deficiat, ne marræ & farcula defint.

37 Felices proavorum atavos, felicia dicas Secula, quæ quondam fub regibus atque tribunis Viderunt una contentam carcere Romam.

" His alias poteram, & pluries subnectere causas : Sed jumenta vocant.

39

Ergo vale nostri memor: & quoties te

Roma tuo refici properantem reddet Aquino,

Me quoque ad Elvinam Cererem, veftramque Dianam
Convelle à Cumis: fatirarum ego, ni pudet illas,
Adjutor gelidos veniam calligatus in agros.

* A cant term in the House of Commons for methods of raising money. The nation was discontented at the vifits made by the King to Hanover.

THE

VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES,

IN IMITATION OF THE

TENTH SATIRE OF JUVENAL.

LET * Observation, with extenfive view,
Survey mankind from China to Peru;
Remark each anxious toil, each eager ftrife,
And watch the bufy scenes of crowded life;
Then say how hope and fear, defire and hate,
O'erfpread with fnares the clouded maze of fate,
Where wav'ring man, betray'd by vent'rous pride
To chase 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 stubborn 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 request.
Fate wings with ev'ry wish th' afflictive dart,
Each gift of nature and each grace of art;
With fatal heat impetuous courage glows,
With fatal sweetness elocution flows,
Impeachment ftops the speaker's pow'rful breath,
And restless fire precipitates on death.

* Ver. 1-11.

But,

* 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 safety buys,
The dangers gather as the treasures rise.

Let Hift'ry tell where rival kings command,
And dubious title shakes the madded land,

When ftatutes glean the refufe of the fword,

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How much more fafe the vaffal than the lord;
Low fculks the hind beneath the rage of power,
And leaves the wealthy traitor in the Tower,
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 ruftling 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 skies affails,
And gain and grandeur load the tainted gales;
Few know the toiling statesman's fear or care,
Th' infidious rival and the gaping heir.
Once more, Democritus, arife on earth,
With cheerful wisdom and inftructive mirth,

* Ver. 12-22.

+ Ver. 23-27.

+ Ver. 28-55.

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See motley life in modern trappings drefs'd,
And feed with varied fools th' eternal jeft:
Thou who could't laugh where want enchain'd ca-
price, t

Toil crush'd conceit, and man was of a piece;
Where wealth unlov'd without a mourner dy'd;
And scarce a fycophant was fed by pride;

Where ne'er was known the form of mock debate,
Or feen a new-made mayor's unwieldy state;
Where change of fav'rites made no change of laws,
And fenates heard before they judg'd a caufe ;
How would'ft thou hake at Briton's modifh tribe,
Dart the quick taunt, and edge the piercing gibe?
Attentive truth and nature to defcry,
And pierce each fcene with philofophick eye,
To thee were folemn toys, or empty show,
The robes of pleasure and the veils of woe:
All aid the farce, and all thy mirth maintain,
Whofe joys are caufelefs, or whofe griefs are vain.
Such was the scorn that fill'd the fage's mind,
Renew'd at ev'ry glance on human kind;
How juft that fcorn ere yet thy voice declare,
Search ev'ry state, and canvafs ev'ry pray'r.
*Unnumber'd fuppliants crowd Preferment's gate,
Athirst for wealth, and burning to be great,
Delufive Fortune hears th' inceffant call,
They mount, they shine, evaporate, and fall.
On ev'ry stage the foes of peace attend,
Hate dogs their flight, and infult mocks their end.
Love ends with hope, the finking ftatefman's door
Pours in the morning worshipper no more;

* Ver, 56-107.

VOL. I.

P

For

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