Quanti nunc tenebras unum conducis in annum.
Hortulus hic--
Vive bidentis amans, & culti villicus horti,
Unde epulum poffis centum dare Pythagoræis.
-Poffis ignavus haberi,.
Et fubiti cafus improvidus, ad cœnam fi
Inteftatus eas,
Ebrius, ac petulans, qui nullum forte cecidit,
Dat pænas, noctem patitur lugentis amicum:
Pelidæ.
-Sed, quamvis improbus annis
Atque mero fervens, cavet hunc, quem coccina læna Vitari jubet, et comitum longiffimus ordo :
Multum præterea flammarum, atque ænea lampas.
Nec tamen hoc tantum metuas : nam qui fpoliet te Non deerit claufis domibus, &c.
There might'ft thou find fome elegant retreat,
Some hireling fenator's deferted feat ;
And ftretch thy prospects o'er the smiling land,
For less than rent the dungeons of the Strand;
There prune thy walks, fupport thy drooping flow'rs,
Direct thy rivulets, and twine thy bow'rs;
And, while thy beds a cheap repaft afford,
Defpife the dainties of a venal lord :
There ev'ry bush with nature's mufick rings,
There ev'ry breeze bears health upon its wings;
On all thy hours fecurity fhall fimile,
And bless thine evening walk and morning toil.
Prepare for death, if here at night you roam,
And fign your will before you fup from home.
Some fiery fop, with new commiffion vain,
Who fleeps on brambles till he kills his man;
Some frolick drunkard, reeling from a feast,
Provokes a broil, and ftabs you for a jeft.
Yet ev'n these heroes, mifchievously gay,
Lords of the street, and terrors of the way;
Flush'd as they are with folly, youth and wine,
Their prudent infults to the poor confine;
Afar they mark the flambeau's bright approach,
And shun the shining train, and golden coach.
In vain thefe dangers paft, your doors you close,
And hope the balmy bleffings of repose:
Cruel with guilt, and daring with despair,
The midnight murd'rer bursts the faithless bar;
Maximus in vinclis ferri modus: ut timeas ne
Vomer deficiat, ne marræ et farcula defint.
Felices proavorum atavos, felicia dicas
Secula, quæ quondam fub regibus atque tribunis
Viderunt uno contentam carcere Romam.
His alias poteram, & plures fubneftere caufas :
Sed jumenta vocant.-
-Ergo vale noftri memor: & quoties te
Roma tuo refici properantem reddet Aquino,
Me quoque ad Eleufinam Cererem, veftramque
Convelle a Cumis: fatirarum ergo, ni pudet illas
Adjutor gelidos veniam caligatus in agros,
Invades the facred hour of filent reft,
And plants, unfeen, a dagger in your breaft.
Scarce can our fields, fuch crowds at Tyburn die, With hemp the gallows and the fleet supply. Propose your schemes, ye fenatorian band, Whofe ways and means fupport the finking land; Left ropes be wanting in the tempting fpring, To rig another convoy for the k—g.
A fingle jail, in ALFRED's golden reign,
Could half the nation's criminals contain ;
Fair Juftice then, without conftraint ador'd,
Held high the fteady fcale, but deep'd the fword;
No fpies were paid, no fpecial juries known,
Bleft age! but ah! how diff'rent from our own!
Much could I add, - but fee the boat at hand,
The tide retiring calls me from the land
Farewel!
Thou fly'ft for refuge to the wilds of Kent;
And tir'd like me with follies and with crimes,
In angry numbers warn'ft fucceeding times ;
Then fhall thy friend, nor thou refuse his aid,
Still foe to vice, forfake his Cambrian fhade;
In virtue's cause once more exert his rage,
Thy fatire point, and animate thy page.
When youth, and health, and fortune
ET* obfervation with extenfive view,
Survey mankind from China to Peru;
Remark each anxious toil, each eager ftrife,
And watch the busy scenes of crowded life;
Then fay how hope and fear, defire and hate,
O'erfpread with fnares the clouded maze of fate,
Where wav'ring man, betrayed by vent'rous pride,
To tread the dreary paths without a guide;
As treach'rous phantoms in the mift delude,
Shuns fancied ills, or chases airy good.
How rarely reafon guides the ftubborn choice,
Rules the bold hand, or prompts the fuppliant voice,
How nations fink, by darling fchemes opprefs'd,
When vengeance liftens to the fool's request.
Fate wings with ev'ry wifh th' afflictive dart,
Each gift of nature, and each
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