Now bless'd with all the baubles of the great, 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, And stretch thy prospects o'er the smiling land, There ev'ry bush with Nature's musick rings, 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. Some fiery fop, with new commission vain, Who sleeps on brambles till he kills his man; Meliora, ac plura reponit 30 Persicus orborum lautissimus. 31 Si potes avelli Circensibus, optima Sora, Vive bidentis amans, & culti villicus horti, 32 Et subiti casus improvidus, ad cœnam si Intestatus eas. 33 Ebrius, ac petulans, qui nullum forte cecidit, Dat poenas, noctem patitur lugentis amicum Peleida. And, while thy beds. Some frolick drunkard, reeling from a feast, 'And leaves, unseen, a dagger in your breast. 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.† 34 Sed, quamvis improbus annis, Atque mero fervens, cavet hunc, quem coccina læna 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. A cant term in the House of Commons for methods of raising money. The nation was discontented at the visits made by the King to Hanover. And plants unseen. 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! 38 Much could I add,-but see the boat at hand, The tide retiring calls me from the land: 39 Farewell!-When youth, and health, and fortune spent, Thou fly'st for refuge to the Wilds of Kent; "Felices proavorum atavos, felicia dicas Secula, quæ quondam sub regibus atque tribunis Viderunt uno contentam carcere Romam. 38 His alias poteram, & pluries subnectere causas: Sed jumenta vocant. 39 Ergo vale nostri memor: & quoties te Me quoque ad Elvinam Cererem, vestramque Dianam Sustain'd the balance, but resign'd the sword. THE VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES, IN IMITATION OF THE TENTH SATIRE OF JUVENAL. LET *Observation with extensive view How rarely reason guides the stubborn choice, Ver. 1-11. * But, scarce observ'd, the knowing and the bold Fall in the gen'ral massacre of gold; Wide wasting pest! that rages unconfin'd, And crowds with crimes the records of mankind; Let Hist'ry tell where rival kings command, The needy traveller, serene and gay, Walks the wild heath, and sings his toil away. † Yet still one gen'ral cryd the skies assails, And gain and grandeur load the tainted gales: * Ver. 12-22. Ver. 23-37. a In the first edition "the bonny traitor!" an evident allusion to the Scotch Lords who suffered for the rebellion in 1745. b Clang around. a Yet still the general cry. с New fears. |