From meaner Minds, tho' fmaller Fines content
The plunder'd Palace, or fequefter'd Rent;
Mark'd out by dangerous 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 (i) feftal Blazes, the triumphal Show,
The ravish'd Standard, and the captive Foe,
The Senate'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 fhook the World;
For fuch in diftant Lands the Britons fhine,
And ftain with Blood the Danube or the Rhine;
This Pow'r has Praife, that Virtue. scarce can warm,
Till Fame fupplies the univerfal Charm.
Yet Reafon frowns on War's unequal Game,
Where wafted Nations raise a single Name,
And mortgag'd States their Grandfires Wreaths re-
gret,
From Age to Age in everlafling Debt,
Wreaths which at laft the dear-bought Right convey
To ruft on Medals, or on Stones decay.
On (k) what Foundation stands the Warrior's
Pride,
How juft his Hopes let Swedish Charles decide;
A Frame of Adamant, a Soul 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 Scepters yield,
War founds the Trump, he rushes to the Field;
Behold furrounding Kings their Pow'r combine,
And one capitulate, and one refign;
Peace courts his Hand, but (preads her Charms in vain ;
Think nothing gain'd, he cries, till Nought remain,
'On Mofcow's Walls till Gothick Standards fly,
And all be mine beneath the polar Sky.'
The March begins in military State,
And Nations on his Eye fufpended wait;
Stern Famine guards the folitary Coast,
And Winter barricades the Realm of Froft;
He comes, not Want and Cold his Courfe delay
Hide, bluthing Glory, hide Pultowa's Day:
The vanquish'd Hero, leaves his broken Bands,
And fhews his Miseries in diftant Lands;
Condemn'd a needy Supplicant to wait,
While Ladies interpofe, and Slaves debate.
But did not Chance at length her Error mend?
Did no fubverted Empire mark his End?
Did rival Monarchs give the fatal Wound?
Or hoftile Millions prefs him to the Ground?
His Fall was deftin'd to a barren Strand,
A petty Fortress, and a dubious Hand;
He left the Name, at which the World grew pale,
To point a Moral, or adorn a Tale.
All (1) Times their Scenes of pompous Woes afford,
From Perfia's Tyrant, to Bavaria's Lord.
In gay Hoftility, and barb'rous Pride,
With half Mankind embattled at his Side,
Great Xerxes comes to feize the certain Prey,
And ftarves exhaufted Regions in his Way;
Attendant Flatt'ry counts his Myriads o'er,
Till counted Myriads footh his Pride no more;
Fresh Praise is try'd till Madness fires his Mind,
The Waves he lashes, and enchains the Wind;
New Pow'rs are claim'd, new Pow'rs are still bestow'd,
Till rude Refiftance lops the fpreading God;
The daring Greek derides the martial Show,
And heaps their Vallies with the gaudy Foe;
Th' infulted Sea with humbler Thoughts he gains,
A fingle Skiff to fpeed his Flight remains ;
Th'incumber'd Oar fcarce leaves the dreaded Coast
Through purple Billows and a floating Hoft.
The bold Bavarian, in a luckless Hour,
Tries the dread Summits of Cefarean Pow'r,
With unexpected Legions burfts away,
And fees defenceless Realms receive his Sway;
Short Sway fair Auftria fpreads her mournful
Charms,
The Queen, the Beauty, fets the World in Arms;
From Hill to Hill the Beacons roufing blaze,
Spreads wide the Hope of Plunder and of Praise:
The fierce Croatian, and the wild Huffar,
And all the Sons of Ravage crowd the War;
The baffled Prince in Honour's fatt'ring Bloom
Of hafty Greatness finds the fatal Doom,
His Foes Derifion, and his Subjects blame,
And steals to Death from Anguifh and from Shame,
Enlarge (m) my Life with Multitude of Days,
In Health, and Sicknefs, thus the Suppliant prays;
Hides from himself his State, and fhuns to know,
That Life protracted, is protracted Woe.
Time hovers o'er, impatient to destroy,
And fhuts up all the Paffages of Joy:
In vain their Gifts the bounteous Seafons 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 taftelefs Meats, and joyless Wines,
And Luxury with Sighs her Slave refigns.
Approach, ye Minstrels, try the foothing Strain,
And yield the tuneful Lenitives of Pain:
No Sounds, alas, would touch th' impervious Ear,
Tho' dancing Mountains witnefs Orpheus near,
Nor Lute nor Lyre his feeble Pow'r attend,
Nor fweeter Mufick of a virtuous Friend,
But everlasting 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 Sneer,
And scarce a Legacy can bribe to hear;
The watchful Guefts ftill hint the last Offence,
The Daughter's Petulance, the Son's Expence,
Improve his heady Rage with treach'rous Skill,
And mould his Paffions till they make his Will.
Unnumber'd Maladies his Joints invade,
Lay Siege to Life, and prefs the dire Blockade ;
But unextinguish'd Avʼrice still remains,
And dreaded Loffes aggravate his Pains ;
He turns, with anxious Heart and crippled Hands,
His Bonds of Debts, 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 Scorn or Crime;
An Age that melts in unperceiv'd Decay,
And glides in modeft Innocence away ;
Whose peaceful Day Benevolence endears,
Whofe Night congratulating Confcience chears;
The gen'ral Fav'rite as the gen'ral Friend;
Such Age there is, and who could wish its End?
Yet ev'n on this her Load Misfortune flings,
To prefs the weary Minutes flagging Wings:
New Sorrow rifes as the Day returns,
A Sifter 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 different Views engage,
Superfluous lags the Vet'ran on the Stage,
Till pitying Nature figns the laft 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 Search defcend,
By Solon caution'd to regard his End,
In Life's last Scene what Prodigies surprise,
Fears of the Brave, and Follies of the Wife?
From Marlb'rough's Eyes the Streams of Dotage flow,
And Swift expires a Driv❜ler and a Show.
The (n) teeming Mother, anxious for her Race,
Begs for each Birth the Fortune of a Face:
Yet Vane could tell what Ills from Beauty spring;
And Sedley curs'd the Form that pleas'd a King.
Ye Nymphs of rofy Lips and radiant Eyes,
Whom Pleasure keeps too bufy to be wise,
Whom Joys with foft Varieties invite,
By Day the Frolick, and the Dance by Night,
Who frown with Vanity, who fmile with Art,
And afk the latest Fafhion of the Heart,
What Care, what Rules your heedless Charms fhall
Each Nymph your Rival, and each Youth your Slave?
Against your Fame with Fondness Hate combines,
The Rival batters, and the Lover mines.
With diftant Voice neglected Virtue calls,
Lefs heard and less, the faint Remonftrance falls;
Tir'd with Contempt, fhe quits the flip'ry Reign,
And Pride and Prudence take her Seat 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;
By Int'reft, Prudence; and by Flattery, Pride.
Now Beauty falls betray'd, defpis'd, distress'd,
And hiffing Infamy proclaims the rest.
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