Such was the fcorn that fill'd the fage's mind,
Renew'd at ev'ry glance on human kind;

How juft that scorn ere yet thy voice declare,
Search every 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 fhine, 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 statefman's door
Pours in the morning worshipper no more;
For growing names the weekly fcribbler lies,
To growing wealth the dedicator flies;
From ev'ry room defcends the painted face,
That hung the bright Palladium of the place,
And fmok'd in kitchens, or in auctions fold,
To better features yields the frame of gold;
For now no more we trace in ev'ry line
Heroic worth, benevolence divine:
The form diftorted juftifies the fall,
And deteftation rids th' indignant wall.

But will not Britain hear the last appeal,

Sign her foes doom, or guard her fav'rites zeal?
Thro' Freedom's fons no more remonstrance rings,
Degrading nobles and controlling kings;

Ver. 56- 107.

Our

Our fupple tribes reprefs their patriot throats,
And afk no queftions but the price of votes;
With weekly libels and feptennial ale,
Their wifh is full to riot and to rail.

In full-blown dignity, fee Wolfey stand,
Law in his voice, and fortune in his hand :
To him the church, the realm, their pow'rs confign,
Thro' him the rays of regal bounty fhine,

Still to new heights his restless wishes tow'r,
Claim leads to claim, and pow'r advances pow'r;
Till conqueft unrefifted ceas'd to please,

And rights fubmitted, left him none to seize.

At length his fov'reign frowns the train of ftate

Mark the keen glance, and watch the fign to hate.
Where'er he turns he meets a stranger's eye,

His fuppliants fcorn him, and his followers fly;
At once is loft the pride of awful state,
The golden canopy, the glitt'ring plate,
The regal palace, the luxurious board,
The liv'ried army, and the menial lord.
With age, with cares, with maladies opprefs'd,
He feeks the refuge of monaftic rest.
Grief aids disease, remember'd folly ftings,
And his laft fighs reproach the faith of kings.

Speak thou, whofe thoughts at humble peace repine, Shall Wolfey's wealth, with Wolfey's end be thine? Or liv'ft thou now, with fafer pride content,

The wifeft juftice on the banks of Trent?

For

For why did Wolfey near the fteeps of fate,
On weak foundations raife th' enormous weight?
Why but to fink beneath misfortune's blow,
With louder ruin to the gulphs below?

What* gave great

Villiers to th' affaffin's knife,

And fix'd difeafe on Harley's clofing life?
What murder'd Wentworth, and what exil'd Hyde,
By kings protected, and to kings ally'd?
What but their with indulg'd in courts to shine,
And pow'r too great to keep, or to refign?

When + firft the college rolls receive his name,
The young enthufiaft quits his eafe for fame;
Through all his veins the fever of renown
Spreads from the ftrong contagion of the gown;
O'er Bodley's dome his future labours fpread,
And Bacon's mansion trembles o'er his head.
Are these thy views? proceed, illuftrious youth,
And virtue guard thee to the throne of Truth!
Yet fhould thy foul indulge the gen'rous heat,
Till captive Science yields her laft retreat;
Should Reafon guide thee with her brightest ray,
And pour on mifty Doubt refiftlefs day;"
Should no falfe Kindness lure to loose delight,
Nor Praife relax, nor Difficulty fright;

* Ver. 108 --113.

+ Ver. 114

132.

There is a tradition, that the study of Friar Bacon, built on an arch over the bridge, will fall, when a man greater than Bacon fhall pass under it.

3

Should

Should tempting Novelty thy cell refrain,
And Sloth effufe her opiate fumes in vain;
Should Beauty blunt on fops her fatal dart,
Nor claim the triumph of a letter'd heart;
Should no Disease thy torpid veins invade,
Nor Melancholy's phantoms haunt thy shade;
Yet hope not life from grief or danger free,
Nor think the doom of man revers'd for thee:
Deign on the paffing world to turn thine eyes,
And pause awhile from letters, to be wise;
There mark what ills the fcholar's life affail,
Toil, envy, want, the patron, and the jail.
See nations flowly wife, and meanly juft,
To buried merit raise the tardy buft.
If dreams yet flatter, once again attend,
Hear Lydiat's life, and Galileo's end.

Nor deem, when Learning her laft prize bestows,
The glitt'ring eminence exempt from woes;
See when the vulgar 'fcape, defpis'd or aw'd,
Rebellion's vengeful talons seize on Laud.
From meaner minds, tho' finaller fines content
The plunder'd palace or fequefter'd rent;
Mark'd out by dang'rous parts he meets the shock,
And fatal Learning leads him to the block:
Around his tomb let Art and Genius weep,

But hear his death, ye blockheads, hear and fleep.

The

*

The feftal blazes, the triumphal show,

The ravifh'd ftandard, and the captive foe,
The fenate's thanks, the gazette's pompous tale,
With force refiftlefs o'er the brave prevail.
Such bribes the rapid Greek o'er Afia whirl'd,
For fuch the fteady Romans shook the world;
For fuch in diftant lands the Britons fhine,
And ftain with blood the Danube or the Rhine;
This pow'r has praise, that virtue scarce can warm,
Till fame fupplies the universal charm.

Yet Reafon frowns on War's unequal game,
Where wasted nations raise a fingle name,

And mortgag'd states their grandfires wreaths regret,
From age to age in everlasting debt;

Wreaths which at laft the dear-bought right convey
To ruft on medals, or on ftones decay.

On + what foundation stands the warrior's pride,
How juft his hopes let Swedish Charles decide;
A frame of adamant, a foul of fire,

No dangers fright him, and no labours tire;
O'er love, o'er fear, extends his wide domain,
Unconquer'd lord of pleasure and of pain;
No joys to him pacific fceptres yield,

War founds the trump, he rushes to the field;
Behold furrounding kings their pow'rs combine,
And one capitulate, and one refign;