But we their sons, a pamper'd race of men, Are dwindled down to threescore years and

ten.

Better to hunt in fields for health unbought,
Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught.
The wise for cure on exercise depend;

God never made his work for man to mend.
The tree of knowledge, once in Eden plac'd,
Was easy found, but was forbid the taste:
O, had our grandsire walk'd without his wife,
He first had sought the better plant of life!
Now both are lost: yet, wandering in the
dark,

Physicians, for the tree, have found the bark;
They, laboring for relief of human kind,
With sharpen'd sight some remedies may find;
Th' apothecary train is wholly blind.
From files a random recipe they take,
And many deaths of one prescription make.
Garth, generous as his Muse, prescribes and
gives;

The shopman sells; and by destruction lives:
Ungrateful tribe! who, like the viper's brood,
From medicine issuing, suck their mother's
blood!

Let these obey; and let the learn'd prescribe; That men may die, without a double bribe: Let them, but under their superiors, kill : When doctors first have sign'd the bloody bill. He scapes the best, who nature to repair, Draws physic from the fields in draughts of vi[use,

tal air.

You hoard not health, for your own private But on the public spend the rich produce. When, often urg'd, unwilling to be great, Your country calls you from your lov'd retreat, [care, And sends to senates, charg'd with common Which none more shuns, and none can better bear;

Where could they find another form'd so fit,
To poise, with solid sense, a sprightly wit!
Were these both wanting, as they both
abound,

Where could so firm integrity be found?
Well born, and wealthy, wanting no support,
You steer betwixt the country and the court:
Nor gratify whate'er the great desire;
Nor grudging give what public needs require.
Part must be left, a fund when foes invade;
And part employ'd to roll the watery trade:
E en Canaan's happy land, when worn with
toil,
[soil.
Requir'd a sabbath-year to mend the meagre
Good senators (and such as you) so give,
That kings may be supply'd, the people thrive.
And he, when want requires, is truly wise,
Who slights not foreign aids, nor over-buys;
But on our native strength, in time of need,
relies.

Munster was bought, we boast not the success;
Who fights for gain, for greater makes his
peace.
[brac'd:
Our foes, compell'd by need, have peace em-
The peace both parties want, is like to last:

In wars renew'd, uncertain of success;
Sure of a share as umpires of the peace.

A patriot both the king and country serves :
Prerogative, and privilege, preserves:
Of each our laws the certain limits show;
One must not ebb, nor t'other overflow:
Betwixt the prince and parliament we stand;
The barriers of the state on either hand :
May neither overflow, for then they drown the
land.
[abode;

When both are full, they feed our bless'd
Like those that water'd once the Paradise of
God.
[share;

Some overpoise of sway, by turns, they In peace the people, and the prince in war: Consuls of moderate power in calms were made: [sway'd. When the Gauls came, one sole dictator Patriots in peace assert the people's right; With noble stubbornness resisting might : No lawless mandates from the court receive, Nor lend by force, but in a body give. Such was your generous grandsire; free to grant

In parliaments, that weigh'd their prince's

want:

But so tenacious of the common cause,
As not to lend the king against his laws.
And, in a loathsome dungeon doom'd to lie,
In bonds retain'd his birthright liberty.
And sham'd oppression till it set him free.
O true descendant of the patriot line,
Who, while thou shar'st their lustre, lend'st
them thine.

Vouchsafe this picture of thy soul to see;
"Tis so far good, as it resembles thee.
The beauties to th' original I owe ;
Which when I miss, my own defects I show;
Nor think the kindred Muses thy disgrace:
A poet is not born in every race.
Two of a house few ages can afford;
One to perform, another to record.
Praise-worthy actions are by thee embrac'd;
And 'tis my praise to make thy praises last.
For ev'n when death dissolves our human
frame,
[came;
The soul returns to Heaven from whence it
Earth keeps the body, verse preserves the
fame.

23. Baucis and Philemon. DRYDEN. THUS Achelous ends: his audience hear With admiration, and admiring fear The powers of Heaven; except Ixion's son, Who laugh'd at all the Gods, believ'd in none: He shook his impious head, and thus replies, These legends are no more than pious lies: You attribute too much to heavenly sway, To think they give us forms, and take away. The rest, of better minds, their sense declar'd

Against this doctrine, and with horror heard. Then Lelix rose, an old experienc'd man, And thus with sober gravity began: Heaven's power is infinite: earth, air, and sea, The manufacture mass, the making power obey: [ground By proof to clear your doubt; in Phrygian Tvo neighboring trees, with walls encompass'd round,

Stand on a moderate rise, with wonder shown, One a hard oak, a softer linden one :

I saw the place and them, by Pittheus sent To Phrygian realms, my grandsire's govern

ment.

Net far from thence is seen a lake, the haunt
Of coots, and of the fishing cormorant :
Here Jove with Hermes came; but in disguise
Of mortal men conceal'd their Deities:
One laid aside his thunder, one his rod;
And many toilsome steps together trod;
For harbor at a thousand doors they knock'd,
Not one of all the thousand but was lock'd.
At last an hospitable house they found,
A homely shed; the roof, not far from ground,
Was thatch'd with reeds and straw together
bound.

There Baucis and Philemon liv'd, and there
Had liv'd long married, and a happy pair:
Now old in love; though little was their store,
Inur'd to want, their poverty they bore,
Nor aim'd at wealth, professing to be poor.
For master or for servant here to call,
Was all alike, where only two were all.
Command was none where equal love was paid,
Or rather both commanded, both obey'd.

From lofty roofs the ods repuls'd before, Now stooping, enter'd through the little door;

The man (their hearty welcome first express'd)
A common settle drew for either guest,
Inviting each his weary limbs to rest.
But ere they sat, officious Baucis lays
Two cushions stuff'd with straw, the seat to
raise ;

Coarse, but the best she had; then takes the load
Of ashes from the hearth, and spreads abroad
The living coals, and lest they should expire,
With leaves and barks she feeds her infant fire:
It smokes, and then with trembling breath
she blows,

Till in a cheerful blaze the flames arose. With brushwood and with chips she strengthens these,

And adds at last the boughs of rotten trees.
The fire thus form'd, she sets the kettle on,
(Like burnish'd gold the little seether shone)
Next took the coleworts which her husband
got
[spot);

From his own ground (a small well-water'd
She stripp'd the stalks of all their leaves; the
best
[dress'd.
She cull'd, and then with handy care she
High o'er the hearth a chine of bacon hung;
Good old Philemon seiz'd it with a prong,
And from the sooty rafter drew it down,
Then cut a slice, but scarce enough for one :
Yet a large portion of a little store,
Which for their sakes alone he wish'd were

more.

This in the pot he plung'd without delay,
To tame the flesh, and drain the salt away
The time between, before the fire they sat,
And shorten'd the delay by pleasing chat.

A beam there was, on which a beechen pail
Hung by the handle, on a driven nail:
This fill'd with water, gently warm'd, they set
Before their guests; in this they bath'd their
feet,

And after with clean towels dry'd their sweat:
This done, the host produc'd the genial bed,
Sallow the foot, the borders, and the sted,
Which with no costly coverlet they spread;
But coarse old garments, yet such robes as
these

They laid alone, at feasts, on holydays.
The good old housewife, tucking up her gown,
The tables set; th' invited Gods lie down.
The trivet-table of a foot was lame,
A blot which prudent Baucis overcame,
Who thrust, beneath the limping leg, a sherd,
So was the mended board exactly rear'd:
Then rubb'd it o'er with newly-gather'd mint,
A wholesome herb, that breath'd a grateful

All these in earthen ware were serv'd to board; And next in place an earthen pitcher stor'd, With liquor of the best the cottage could afford.

This was the table's ornament and pride,
With figures wrought: like pages at his side
Stood beechen bowls; and these were shining
clean,

Varnish'd with wax without, and lin'd within.
By this the boiling kettle had prepard,
And to the table sent the smoking lard;
On which with eager appetite they dine,
A savory bit, that serv'd to relish wine:
The wine itself was suiting to the rest,
Still working in the must, and lately press'd.
The second course succeeds like that before,
Plums, apples, nuts, and, of their wintery
store,
[set
Dry figs and grapes, and wrinkled dates, were
In canisters, t' enlarge the little treat:
All these a milk-white honey-comb surround,
Which in the midst the country banquet
crown'd.

But the kind hosts their entertainment grace
With hearty welcome, and an open face:
In all they did, you might discern with ease
A willing mind, and a desire to please.

Meantime the beechen bowls went round,

and still,

Though often empty'd, were observ'd to fill;
Fill'd without hands; and of their own accord
Ran without feet, and danc'd about the board.
Devotion seiz'd the pair, to see the feast
With wine, and of no common grape, increas'd:
And up they held their hands, and fell to
prayer,

Excusing, as they could, their country fare. One goose they had ('twas all they could allow)

A wakeful sentry, and on duty now,
Whom to the Gods for sacrifice they vow:
Her, with malicious zeal, the couple view'd;
She ran for life, and limping they pursu'd:
Full well the fowl perceiv'd their bad intent,
And would not make her master's compliment;
But persecuted, to the powers she flies,
And close between the legs of Jove she lies.
He with a gracious ear the suppliant heard,
And sav'd her life; then what he was declar'd,
And own'd the God. The neighborhood,
Shall justly perish for impiety: [said he,
You stand alone exempted; but obey

With speed, and follow where we lead the way: Leave these accurs'd; and to the mountain's height

Wondering with peeping eyes, while they deplore

[more, Their neighbors' fate, and country now no Their little shed, scarce large enough for two, Seems from the ground increas'd in height and bulk to grow.

A stately temple shoots within the skies: The crotchets of their cot in columns rise: The pavement polish'd marble they behold, The gates with sculpture grac'd, the spires and tiles of gold. [rene,

Then thus the sire of Gods, with looks se-
Speak thy desire, thou only just of men;
And thou, O woman, only worthy found
To be with such a man in marriage bound.
A while they whisper; then to Jove ad-
dress'd,

Philemon thus prefers their joint request.
We crave to serve before your sacred shrine,
And offer at your altars rites divine:
And since not any action of our life
Has been polluted with domestic strife,
We beg one hour of death; that neither she
With widow's tears may live to bury me,
Nor weeping I, with wither'd arms, may bear
My breathless Baucis to the sepulchre.

The Godheads sign their suit. They run

their race

In the same tenor all th' appointed space. Then, when their hour was come, while they relate

These past adventures at the temple-gate,
Old Baucis is by old Philemon seen
Sprouting with sudden leaves of sprightly

green:

Old Baucis look'd where old Philemon stood,
And saw his lengthen'd arms a sprouting wood:
New roots their fasten'd feet begin to bind,
Their bodies stiffen in a rising rind :
Then, ere the bark above their shoulders grew,
They give and take at once their last adieu;
At once, farewell, O faithful spouse, they said;
At once th' encroaching rinds their closing
lips invade.

Ev'n yet, an ancient Tyanæan shows
A spreading oak, that near a linden grows;
The neighbourhood confirm the prodigy,
Grave men, not vain of tongue, or like to lie.
I saw myself the garlands on their boughs,
And tablets hung for gifts of granted vows;
And offering fresher up, with pious prayer,
The good, said I, are God's peculiar care,
And such as honor Heaven, shall heavenly ho-

nor share.

ny'd,

A VISION.

Love;