He gives the dinners of each upstart man,
As costly, and luxurious, as he can;
Then weds an heiress of suburbian mold,
Ugly as apes, but well endow'd with gold;
There fortune gave him his full dose of strife,
A scolding woman, and a jealous wife!
T' increase this load, some sycophant report
Destroy'd his int'rest and good grace at court.
At this one stroke the man look'd dead in law:
His flatt'rers scamper, and his friends withdraw.
And now (to shorten my disastrous tale)
Storms of affronts pour'd in as thick as hail.
Each scheme for safety mischievously sped,
And the drawn sword hung o'er him by a thread.
Child he had none. His wife with sorrow died;
Few women can survive the loss of pride.
The Demon having tempted Eulogius to engage in rebellion against his Prince, he is cast into prison.
Here, were it not too long, I might declare
The motives and successes of the war;
The prowess of the knights, their martial deeds,
Their swords, their shields, their surcoats, and their
Till Belisarius at a single blow
Suppress'd the faction and repell'd the foe.
By a quick death the traitors he reliev'd;
Condemn'd, if taken; famish'd, if repriev'd.
Now see Eulogius (who had all betray'd
Whate'er he knew) in loathsome dungeon laid:
A pris'ner, first of war, and then of state:
Rebel and traitor ask a double fate!
But good Justinian, whose exalted mind
(In spite of what Pirasmus urg'd) inclin'd
To mercy, soon the forfeit-life forgave,
And freed it from the shackles of a slave.
Then spoke with mild, but in majestic strain,
Repent, and haste thee to Larissa's plain,
Or wander through the world, another Cain.
Thy lands and goods shall be the poor man's lot,
Or feed the orphans, you've so long forgot.
Forsaken, helpless, recogniz'd by none,
Proscrib'd Eulogius left th' unprosp'rous town:
For succour at a thousand doors he knock'd;
Each heart was harden'd, and each door was lock'd.
A pilgrim's staff he bore, of humble thorn;
Pervious to winds his coat, and sadly torn:
Shoes he had none: a beggar gave a pair,
Who saw feet poorer than his own, and bare.
He drank the stream, on dew-berries he fed,
And wildings harsh supplied the place of bread;
Thus homeward urg'd his solitary way;
(Four years had he been absent to a day.)
Fame through Thebaïs his arrival spread,
Half his old friends reproach'd him, and half fled :
Of help and common countenance bereft,
No creature own'd him, but a dog he left.
Compunction touch'd his soul, and, wiser made
By bitter suff'rings, he resum'd his trade:
By dow dagnes aut him, and to love. So Patar, when ais sum'zous quit was d'er, kmary 4, and sand twice firmer than before.
CONTESTMENT, INDUSTRY, AND ACQUIEICENCE LSDER THE DIVISE WILL.
you blank desert's trackless waste;
All dreary earth, or cheerless sky,
Like ocean wild, and bleak, and vast?
There Lysidor's enamour'd reed
Ne'er taught the plains Eudosia's praise:
There herds were rarely known to feed,
Or birds to sing, or flocks to graze.
Yet does my soul complacence find;
All, all from thee,
Supremely gracious Deity,
Corrector of the mind!
Tremble, and yonder Alp behold,
Where half dead nature gasps below,
Victim of everlasting cold,
Entomb'd alive in endless snow.
The northern side is horror all;
Against the southern Phoebus plays;
In vain th' innoxious glimm'rings fall,
The frost outlives, outshines the rays.
Yet consolation still I find;
And all from thee,
Supremely gracious Deity,
Corrector of the mind!
For nature rarely form'd a soil
Where diligence subsistence wants:
Exert but care, nor spare the toil,
And all beyond, th' Almighty grants.
Each earth at length to culture yields,
Each earth its own manure contains:
Thus the Corycian nurst his fields,
Heav'n gave th' increase, and he the pains.
Th' industrious peace and plenty find;
All due to thee,
Supremely gracious Deity,
Composer of the mind!
Scipio sought virtue in his prime,
And, having early gain'd the prize,
Stole from th' ungrateful world in time,
Contented to be low and wise!
He serv'd the state with zeal and force,
And then with dignity retir'd;
Dismounting from th' unruly horse,
To rule himself, as sense requir'd.
Without a sigh, he pow'r resign'd.-
All, all from thee,
Supremely gracious Deity,
Corrector of the mind!
When Dioclesian sought repose,
Cloy'd and fatigu'd with nauseous pow'r,
He left his empire to his foes,
For fools t' admire, and rogues devour:
Rich in his poverty, he bought
Retirement's innocence and health,
With his own hands the monarch wrought,
And chang'd a throne for Ceres' wealth.
Toil sooth'd his cares, his blood refin'd
And all from thee,
Supremely gracious Deity,
Composer of the mind!
He, who had rul'd the world, exchang'd
His sceptre for the peasant's spade,
Postponing (as through groves he rang'd)
Court splendour to the rural shade.
Child of his hand, th' engrafted thorn
More than the victor laurel pleas'd:
Heart's-ease, and meadow-sweet, adorn
The brow, from civic garlands eas'd.
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