Hiss'd from the stage, or hooted from the court,
Their air, their dress, their politicks, import;
15 Obsequious, artful, voluble, and gay,
On Britain's fond credulity they prey.
No gainful trade their industry can 'scape,
16 They sing, they dance, clean shoes, or cure a clap;
All sciences a fasting Monsieur knows,
And, bid him go to hell, to hell he goes.
17 Ah! what avails it, that, from slav'ry far,
I drew the breath of life in English air;
Was early taught a Briton's right to prize,
And lisp the tale of HENRY'S victories;
If the gull'd conqueror receives the chain,
And flattery prevails when arms are vain?
18 Studious to please, and ready to submit,
The supple Gaul was born a parasite.
Still to his int'rest true, where'er he goes;
Wit, brav'ry, worth, his lavish tongue bestows;
In ev'ry face a thousand graces shine,
From ev'ry tongue flows harmony divine.
19 These arts in vain our rugged natives try,
Strain out with fault'ring diffidence a lie,
And get a kick for aukward flattery.
Besides, with justice, this discerning age
Admires their wond'rous talents for the stage:
20 Well may they venture on the mimick's art,
Who play from morn to night a borrow'd part;
Practis'd their master's notions to embrace,
Repeat his maxims, and reflect his face;
With ev'ry wild absurdity comply,
And view each object with another's eye;
15 Ingenium velox, audacia perdita, fermo
16 Augur, schoenobates, medicus, magus: omnia novit, Græculus esuriens, in cœlum, jusseris, ibit.
17 Usque adeo nihil est, quod nostra infantia cœlum
18 Quid? quod adulandi gens prudentissima, laudat.
Sermonem indocti faciem deformis amici ?
19 Hæc eadem licet & nobis laudare: sed illis.
20 Natio comoda est. Rides? majore cachinno Concutitur, &C.
To pour at will the counterfeited tear;
And, as their patron hints the cold or heat,
To shake in dog-days, in December sweat.
21 How, when competitors like these contend,
Can surly virtue hope to fix a friend?
Slaves that with serious impudence beguile,
And lie without a blush, without a smile;
Exalt each trifle, ev'ry vice adore,
Your taste in snuff, your judgment in a whore ;
Can Balbo's eloquence applaud, and swear
He gropes his breeches with a Monarch's air.
For arts like these preferr'd, admir'd, caress'd,
They first invade your table, then your breast;
22 Explore your secrets with insidious art,
Watch the weak hour, and ransack all the heart;
Then soon your ill-plac'd confidence repay,
Commence your lords, and govern or betray.
23 By numbers here from shame or censure free,
All crimes are safe but hated poverty.
This, only this, the rigid law pursues,
This, only this, provokes the snarling Muse.
The sober trader at a tatter'd cloak
Wakes from his dream, and labours for a joke;
With brisker air the silken courtiers gaze,
And turn the varied taunt a thousand ways.
24 Of all the griefs that harass the distress'd,
Sure a most bitter is a scornful jest;
Fate never wounds more deep the gen'rous heart,
Than when a blockhead's insult points the dart.
25 Has Heaven reserv'd, in pity to the poor,
No pathless waste, or undiscover'd shore?
21 Non sumus ergo pares: melior, qui semper & omni Nocte dieque potest alienum sumere vultum.
A facie jactare manus: laudare paratus,
Si bene ructavit, si rectum minxit amicus.
22 Scire volunt secreta domus, atque inde timeri Materiam præbet causaque jocorum Omnibus hic idem? si foeda & scissa lacerna, &c. 24 Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in se, Quam quod ridiculos homines facit.
No secret island in the boundless main ?
No peaceful desert yet unclaim'd by Spain?
Quick let us rise, the happy seats explore,
And bear Oppression's insolence no more.
This mournful truth is ev'ry where confess'd,
26 SLOW RISES WORTH, BY POVERTY DEPRESS'D:
But here more slow, where all are slaves to gold,
Where looks are merchandise and smiles are sold:
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 some pleasing dream of wealth and pow'r,
Some pompous palace, or some blissful bow'r,
Aghast you start, and scarce with aching sight
Sustain th' approaching fire's tremendous light;
Swift from pursuing horrors take your way,
And leave your little ALL to flames a prey;
27 The thro' the world a wretched vagrant roam,
For where can starving merit find a home?
In vain your mournful narrrative disclose,
While all neglect, and most insult your woes.
28 Should Heav'n's just bolts Orgilio's wealth confound,
And spread his flaming palace on the ground,
Swift o'er the land the dismal rumour flies,
And public mournings pacify the skies;
The laureat tribe in venal verse relate,
How virtue wars with persecuting fate;
26 Haud facile emergunt, quorum Virtutibus obstat Res angusta domi, sed Romæ durior illis Conatus.
Erumnæ cumulus, quod nudum & frustra rogantem
Nemo cibo, nemo hospitio, tectoque juvabit.
28 Si magna Asturici cecidit domus, horrida mater,
*The Spaniards at this time were said to make claim to some of our American provinces.
Refund the plunder of the beggar'd land.
See! while he builds, the gaudy vassals come,
And crowd with sudden wealth the rising dome;
The price of Boroughs and of souls restore;
And raise his treasures higher than before:
Now bless'd with all the baubles of the great,
The polish'd marble and the shining plate,
30 Orgilio sees the golden pile aspire,
And hopes from angry Heav'n another fire.
31 Could'st thou resign the park and play content,
For the fair banks of Severn or of Trent;
There might'st thou find some elegant retreat,
Some hireling Senator's deserted seat;
And stretch thy prospects o'er the smiling land,
For less than rent the dungeons of the strand:
There prune thy walks, support thy drooping flowers,
Direct thy rivulets, and twine thy bowers;
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 security shall smile,
And bless thine evening walk and morning toil.
32 Prepare for death if here at night you roam, And sign your will before you sup from home. 33 Some fiery fop, with new commission vain, Who sleeps on brambles till he kills his man ;
29 -Jam accurrit, qui marmora donet, Conferat impensas: hic, &c..
Meliora, ac plura reponit Persicus orborum lautissimus..
31 Si potes avelli Circensibus, optima Soræ, Aut Fabrateriæ domus, aut Fusinone paratur, Quanti nunc tenebras unum conducis in annum. Hortulus hic.
Vive bidentis amans & culti, villicus horti, Unde epulum possis centum dare Pythagoræis. 32 -Possis ignavus haberi,
Et subiti casus improvidus, ad cœnam si
33. Ehrius, ac petulars, qui nullum forte cedidit,
Some frolick drunkard, reeling from a feast,
Provokes a broil, and stabs you for a jest.
34 Yet ev❜n these heroes, mischievously gay,
Lords of the street, and terrors of the way;
Flush'd as they are, with folly, youth, and wine,
Their prudent insults to the poor confine:
Afar they mark the flambeau's bright approach,
And shun the shining train, and golden coach.
35 In vain these dangers past, your doors you close,
And hope the balmy blessings of repose;
Cruel with guilt, and daring with despair,
The midnight murd'rer bursts the faithless bar;
Invades the sacred hour of silent rest,
And leaves, unseen, a dagger in your breast.
36 Scarce can our fields, such crowds at Tyburn die, With hemp the gallows and the fleet supply. Propose your schemes, ye senatorian band, Whose * ways and means support the sinking land; Lest ropes be wanting in the tempting spring, To rig another convoy for the king+.
37 A single gaol, in ALFRED's golden reign,
Could half the nation's criminals contain;
Fair Justice, then, without constraint ador'd,
Held high the steady scale, but sheath'd the sword;
No spies were paid, no special juries known;
Blest age! but ah! how diff'rent from our own!
Dat pœnas, noctem patitur lugentis amicum
34-Sed, quamvis improbus annis,
Atque mero fervens, cavet hunc, quem coccina læna
Vitari jubet, & comitum longissimus ordo,
Multum præterea flammarum, atque ænea lampas.
35 Nec tamen hoc tantum metuas: nam qui spoliet te
Non deerit; clausis domibus, &c.
36 Maximus in vinclis ferri modus; ut timeas, ne Vomer deficiat, ne marræ & sarcula desint.
37 Felices proavorum atavos, felicia dicas
Secula, quæ quondam sub regibus atque tribunis
Viderunt una contentam carcere Romam.
* A cant term in the House of Commons for methods of raising
+ The nation was discontented at the visits made by the King to Hanover.
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