Who fcarce forbear, tho' BRITAIN's court he fing,
To pluck a titled poet's borrow'd wing ;
A statesman's logick unconvinc'd can hear,
And dare to flumber o'er the Gazetteer;
Despise a fool in half his penfion drefs'd,
And strive in vain to laugh at H— yʼs jest.
'i Others with fofter fmiles, and fubtler art,
Can fap the principles, or taint the heart;
With more address a lover's note convey,
Or bribe a virgin's innocence away.
Well may they rife, while I, whose ruftick tongue
Ne'er knew to puzzle right, or varnish wrong,
Spurn'd as a beggar, dreaded as a spy,
Live unregarded, unlamented die,
* For what but focial guilt the friend endears ?
Who shares Orgilio's crimes, his fortune shares :
1 But thou, fhould tempting villainy prefent,
All Marlb'rough hoarded, or all Villiers spent,
Turn from the glitt'ring bribe thy scornful eye,
Nor fell for gold, what gold could never buy,
1 -Fere ad nuptas, quæ mittit adulter,
Qua mandat, norint alii: me nemo miniftro
Fur erit, atque ideo nulli comes exeo.
Quis nunc diligitur, nifi confcius?
Carus erit Verri, qui Verrem tempore, quo vult,
Accufare poteft.
1 Tanti tibi non fit opaci
Omnis arena Tagi, quodque in mare volvitur aurum,
Ut fomno careas.
The peaceful flumber, felf-approving day,
Unfullied fame, and confcience ever gay.
m The cheated nation's happy fav'rites fee;
Mark whom the great carefs, who frown on me.
LONDON! the needy villain's gen'ral home,
The common fewer of Paris and of Rome,
With eager thirft, by folly or by fate,
Sucks in the dregs of each corrupted state.
Forgive my transports on a theme like this,
I cannot bear a French metropolis.
Illuftrious EDWARD! from the realms of day,
The land of heroes and of faints furvey;
Nor hope the British lineaments to trace,
The ruftick grandeur, or the furly grace,
But loft in thoughtlefs eafe, and empty show,
Behold the warrior dwindled to a beau;
Senfe, freedom, piety, refin'd away,
Of France the mimick, and of Spain the prey.
All that at home no more can beg or steal,
Or like a gibbet better than a wheel;
Hifs'd from the ftage, or hooted from the court,
Their air, their drefs, their politicks import;
Que nunc divitibus gens acceptiffima noftris,
Et quos præcipue fugiam, properabo fateri.
Non poffum ferre, Quirites,
Rufticus ille tuus fumit trechedipna, Quirine,
Et ceromatico fert niceteria collo.
• Obfequious, artful, voluble and gay, On Britain's fond credulity they prey.
No gainful trade their industry can 'scape,
9 They fing, they dance, clean fhoes, or cure a clap; All sciences a fasting Monsieur knows,
And bid him go to hell, to hell he goes.
* Ah! what avails it, that, from flav'ry far,
I drew the breath of life in English air;
Was early taught a Briton's right to prize,
And lifp the tales of HENRY's victories;
If the gull'd conqueror receives the chain,
And flattery fubdues when arms are vain ?
Studious to please, and ready to fubmit,
The supple Gaul was born a parasite :
Still to his int'reft true, where-e'er he goes,
Wit, bravery, worth, his lavish tongue bestows;
In ev'ry face a thousand graces shine,
From ev'ry tongue flows harmony divine.
? Ingenium velox, audacia perdita, fermo
Augur, fchænobates, medicus magnus: omnia novit,
Græculus efuriens, in cœlum, jusseris, ibit.
Ufque adeo nihil eft, quod noftra infantia cælum
Haufit Aventini ?
• Quid quod adulandi gens prudentissima, laudar
Sermonem indocti, faciem deformis amici ?
These arts in vain our rugged natives try,
Strain out with fault'ring diffidence a lye,
And gain a kick for aukward flattery.
Befides, with juftice this difcerning age
Admires their wond'rous talents for the stage:
"Well may they venture on the mimick's art,
Who play from morn to night a borrow'd part;
Practis'd their master's notions to embrace,
Repeat his maxims, and reflect his face;
With ev'ry wild abfurdity comply,
And view each object with another's eye;
To shake with laughter ere the jeft they hear,
Το pour at will the counterfeited tear,
And as their patron hints the cold or heat,
To shake in dog-days, in December sweat.
* How, when competitors like these contend,
Can furly virtue hope to fix a friend ?
Slaves that with ferious impudence beguile,
And lye without a blush, without a smile;
Hæc eadem licet & nobis laudare: fed illis
Creditur.
"Natio commædia eft. Rides? majore cachinno
Goncutitur, &c.
* Non fumus ergo pares: melior, qui semper & omni Nocte dieque poteft alienum fumere vultum :
A facie jactare manus: laudare paratus,
Si bene ructavit, fi rectum minxit amicus.
Exalt each trifle, ev'ry vice adore,
Your tafte in fnuff, your judgment in a whore ;
Can Balbo's eloquence applaud, and fwear
gropes his breeches with a monarch's air.
For arts like these prefer'd, admir'd, carefs'd,
They first invade your table, then your breast;
y Explore your fecrets with infidious art,
Watch the weak hour, and ranfack all the heart;
Then foon your ill-plac'd confidence repay,
Commence your lords, and govern or betray.
* By numbers here from fhame or cenfure free,
All crimes are fafe, but hated poverty.
This, only this, the rigid law pursues,
This, only this, provokes the snarling Mufe.
The fober trader at a tatter'd cloak,
Wakes from his dream, and labours for a joke;
With brisker air the filken courtiers gaze,
And turn the varied taunt a thousand ways.
• Of all the grief that harrass the diftrefs'd ;
Sure the most bitter is a scornful jeft;
Fate never wounds more deep the genʼrous heart,
Than when a blockhead's infult points the dart.
▾ Scire volunt fecreta domûs, atque inde timeri.
·Materiem præbet caufafque jocorum Omnibus hic idem? fi foeda & fcifsa lacerna, &c. • Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in fè,
Quam quod ridiculos bomines facit.
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