BOOK II.

SATIRE II.

To Mr. BETHEL.

WHAT, and how great, the Virtue and the Art
To live on little with a cheerful heart;

b(A doctrine fage, but truly none of mine)
Let's talk, my friends, but talk before we dine.
Not when a gilt Buffet's reflected pride

Turns you from found Philofophy afide;

Not when from plate to plate your eye-balls roll,
And the brain dances to the mantling bowl.

Hear Bethel's Sermon, one not vers'd in schools,
d But ftrong in fenfe, and wife without the rules.
h Go work, hunt, exercife! (he thus began)
Then fcorn a homely dinner, if you can.

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UAE virtus & quanta, boni, fit vivere parvo,
(Nee meus hic fermo ; fed qua praecepit ofellus,
Rufticus, dabnormis Sapiens, crassaque Minerva)
Discite, e non inter lances menfasque nitentes ;
Cum ftupet infanis acies fulgoribus, et cum
Acclinis falfis animus meliora recufat:

c Verum hic impranfi mecum difquirite. Cur hoc?
Dicam, fi potero, male verum examinat omnis
Corruptus judex. h Leporum fectatus, equove
Laffus ab indomito; vel (fi Romana fatigat

i Your wine lock'd up, your Butler stroll'd abroad,
Or fish deny'd (the river yet unthaw'd)
If then plain bread and milk will do the feat,
The pleasure lies in you, and not the meat.

k Preach as I pleafe, I doubt our curious men
Will chufe a pheasant still before a hen;
Yet hens of Guinea full as good I hold,
Except you eat the feathers green and gold.

Militia affuetum graecari) feu pila velox,
Molliter aufterum ftudio fallente laborem ;
Seu te difcus agit, pete cedentem aëra difco:
Cum labor extulerit faftidia; ficcus, inanis,
Sperne cibum vilem: nifi Hymettia mella Falerno,
Ne biberis, diluta. i foris eft promus, et atrum
Defendens pifces hiemat mare: cum fale panis
Latrantem ftomachum bene leniet. unde putas, aut
Qui partum? non in caro nidore voluptas
Summa, fed in teipfo eft. tu pulmentaria quaere
Sudando. pinguem vitiis albumque neque oftrea,
Nec fcarus, aut poterit peregrina juvare lagoïs.

k Vix tamen eripiam, pofito pavone, velis quin
Hoc potius quam gallina tergere palatum ?
Corruptus vanis rerum : quia veneat auro
Rara avis, et picta pandat spectacula cauda :

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Tamquam ad rem attineat quidquam. Num vefceris ista, Quam laudas, pluma? coctove num adeft honor idem ? Carne tamen quamvis distat nihil hac, magis illa; Imparibus formis deceptum te patet, esto.

Unde datum fentis, lupus hic, Tiberinus an alto

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carps and mullets why prefer the great, (Though cut in pieces ere my Lord can eat) Yet for fmall Turbots such esteem profess? Because God made thefe large, the other lefs. m Oldfield, with more than Harpy throat endued, Cries, "Send me, Gods! a whole Hog barbecued!"

Oh blaft it, n South-winds! till a french exhale
Rank as the ripeness of a rabbit's tail.

By what Criterion do you eat, d'ye think,
If this is priz'd for sweetness, that for stink?
When the tir'd glutton labours through a treat,
He finds no relifh in the fweetest meat,
He calls for fomething bitter, fomething four,
And the rich feaft concludes extremely poor:

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• Cheap eggs, and herbs, and olives, still we see; Thus much is left of old Simplicity!

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Captus hiet? pontefne inter jactatus, an amnis
Ostia sub Tusci? laudas, infane, trilibrem

Mullum; in fingula quem minuas pulmenta necesse est.
Ducit te fpecies, video. quo pertinet ergo

Proceros odiffe lupos ? quia fcilicet illis

Majorem natura modum dedit, his breve pondus.

Jejunus raro ftomachus vulgaria temnit.

m Porrectum magno magnum spectare catino Vellem, ait Harpyiis gula digna rapacibus. At vos, n Praefentes Auftri, coquite horum opfonia; quamquam Putet aper rhombusque recens, mala copia quando Aegrum follicitat ftomachum; cum rapula plenus Atque acidas mavult inulas necdum omnis abacta

P The Robin-red-breaft till of late had reft,
And children facred held a Martin's neft,

Till Baccaficos fold fo dev'lish dear

To one that was, or would have been, a Peer.
9 Let me extol a Cat, on oifters fed,
I'll have a Party at the Bedford-head;
Or ev❜n to crack live Crawfish recommend;
I'd never doubt at Court to make a friend.

r 'Tis yet in vain, I own, to keep a pother
About one vice, and fall into the other:
Between Excefs and Famine lies a mean;
Plain, but not fordid; though not fplendid, clean.
Avidien, or his Wife (no matter which,
For him you'll call a t dog, and her a bitch)
Sell their prefented partridges, and fruits,

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And humbly live on rabbits and on roots:

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Pauperies epulis regum : nam vilibus ovis

Nigrifque eft oleis hodie locus. Haud ita pridem
Galloni praeconis erat accipenfere menfa

Infamis. quid? tum rhombos minus aequora alebant?
› Tutus erat rhombus, tutoque ciconia nido,
Donec vos auctor docuit praetorius. ergo
4 Si quis nunc mergos fuaves edixerit affos,
Parebit parvi docilis Romana juventus.

r Sordidus a tenui victus diftabit, Ofello Judice: nam fruftra vitium vitaveris iftud, Si te alio pravus detorferis. s Avidienus,

t Cui Canis ex vero ductum cognomen adhaeret, Quinquennes oleas eft, et fylveftria corna;

"One half-pint bottle ferves them both to dine, And is at once their vinegar and wine.

But on fome w lucky day (as when they found

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A loft Bank bill, or heard their fon was drown'd)
At fuch a feaft, * old vinegar to fpare,

Is what two fouls fo generous cannot bear :
Oil, though it ftink, they drop by drop impart,
But fowie the cabbage with a bounteous heart.

y He knows to live, who keeps the middle state,
And neither leans on this fide, nor on that;
Nor z ftops, for one bad cork, his butler's pay,
Swears, like Albutius, a good cook away;
Nor lets, like a Nævius, every error pass,
The mufty wine, foul cloth, or greasy glass.

b Now hear what bleffings Temperance can bring: (Thus faid our friend, and what he said I fing)

u Ac, nifi mutatum, parcit defundere vinum; et
Cujus odorem olei nequeas perferre (licebit
Ille repotia, natales, aliofque dierum

w Feftos albatus celebret) cornu ipse bilibri
Caulibus inftillat veteris non parcus aceti.

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Quali igitur victu fapiens utetur, et horum Utrum imitabitur! hac urget lupus, hac canis, aiunt, y Mundus erit, qua non offendat fordibus, atque In neutram partem cultus mifer. z Hic neque fervis Albuti fenis exemplo, dum munia didit,

Saevus erit: nec fic ut fimplex a Naevius, unctam Convivis præbebit aquam: vitium hoc quoque magnum. b Accipe nunc, victus tenuis quae quantaque fecum