How nations fink, by darling schemes opprefs'd,
When vengeance liftens to the fool's request.
Fate wings with ev'ry wish th' afflictive dart,
Each gift of nature, and each grace of art,
With fatal heat impetuous courage glows,
With fatal fweetnefs elocution flows,
Impeachment ftops the fpeaker's pow'rful breath,
And reftlefs fire precipitates on death.

+ But scarce obferv'd the knowing and the bold,
Fall in the gen'ral massacre of gold;
Wide-wafting peft! that rages unconfin'd,

And crouds with crimes the records of mankind,
For gold his fword the hireling ruffian draws,
For gold the hireling judge distorts the laws;
Wealth heap'd on wealth, nor truth nor safety buys,
The dangers gather as the treasures rise.

Let hift'ry tell where rival kings command,
And dubious title shakes the madded land,
When statutes glean the refufe of the sword,
How much more fafe the vaffal than the lord,
Low fculks the hind beneath the rage of pow'r,
And leaves the wealthy traytor in the Tow'r,
Untouch'd his cottage, and his flumbers found,
Tho' confifcation's vulturs hover round.

The needy traveller, ferene and gay,
Walks the wild heath, and fings his toil away.

Does

Does envy seize thee? crush th' upbraiding joy,
Increase his riches and his peace destroy,
New fears in dire viciffitude invade,

The rustling brake alarms, and quiv'ring fhade,
Nor light nor darkness bring his pain relief,
One fhews the plunder, and one hides the thief.
Yet ftill one gen'ral cry the fkies affails,
And gain and grandeur load the tainted gales;
Few know the toiling statefman's fear or care,
Th' infidious rival and the gaping heir.

Once more, Democritus, arife on earth,
With chearful wisdom and instructive mirth,
See motly life in modern trappings drefs'd,
And feed with varied fools th' eternal jeft:
Thou who couldst laugh where want enchain'd caprice,
Toil crush'd conceit, and man was of a piece;
Where wealth unlov'd without a mourner dy'd;
And scarce a fycophant was fed by pride;

Where ne'er was known the form of mock debate,
Or feen a new-made mayor's unwieldy state;
Where change of fav'rites made no change of laws,
And fenates heard before they judg'd a caufe;
How wouldst thou shake at Britain's modifh tribe,
Dart the quick taunt, and edge the piercing gibe?
Attentive truth and nature to decry,

And pierce each scene with philofophic eye.

‡ Ver. 23-27. § Ver. 28 -55

To

To thee were folemn toys or empty fhew,
The robes of pleasure and the veils of woe:
All aid the farce, and all thy mirth maintain,
Whofe joys are caufelefs, or whose griefs are vain.

Such was the fcorn that fill'd the fage's mind,
Renew'd at ev'ry glance on humankind;
How juft that scorn ere yet thy voice declare,
Search every ftate, and canvafs ev'ry pray'r.

* Unnumber'd fuppliants croud Preferment's gate,
Athirst for wealth, and burning to be great;
Delufive Fortune hears th' inceffant call,
They mount, they fhine, evaporate, and fall.
On ev'ry stage the foes of peace attend,

Hate dogs their flight, and infult mocks their end.
Love ends with hope, the finking statesman's door
Pours in the morning worshiper no more;
For growing names the weekly fcribbler lies,
To growing wealth the dedicator flies,
From every room descends the painted face,
That hung the bright Palladium of the place,
And fmoak'd in kitchens, or in auctions fold,
To better features yields the frame of gold;
For now no more we trace in ev'ry line
Heroic worth, benevolence divine:
The form diftorted juftifies the fall,
And deteftation rids th' indignant wall.

*Ver. 56107.

But

But will not Britain hear the laft appeal,
Sign her foes doom, or guard her fav'rites zeal;
Through Freedom's fons no more remonftrance rings,
Degrading nobles and controuling kings;

Our fupple tribes repress their patriot throats,
And ask no questions but the price of votes ;
With weekly libels and septennial ale,
Their wish is full to riot and to rail.

In full-blown dignity, fee Wolfey stand,
Law in his voice, and fortune in his hand :

To him the church, the realm, their pow'rs confign,
Thro' him the rays of regal bounty shine,

Still to new heights his reftlefs wishes tow'r,
Claim leads to claim, and pow'r advances pow'r;
Till conqueft unrefifted ceas'd to please,

And rights fubmitted, left him none to seize.
At length his fov'reign frowns--- the train of ftate
Mark the keen glance, and watch the fign to hate
Where-e'er he turns he meets a stranger's eye,
His fuppliants fcorn him, and his followers fly;
At once is loft the pride of aweful state,
The golden canopy, the glitt'ring plate,
The regal palace, the luxurious board,
The liv'ried army, and the menial lord.
With age, with cares, with maladies opprefs'd,
He feeks the refuge of monaftic rest.

Grief

Grief aids disease, remember'd folly ftings,
And his last fighs reproach the faith of kings.

Speak thou, whofe thoughts at humble peace repine,
Shall Wolfey's wealth, with Wolfey's end be thine?
Or liv'st thou now, with fafer pride content,
The wifeft justice on the banks of Trent?
For why did Wolfey near the steeps of fate,
On weak foundations raise th' enormous weight?
Why but to fink beneath misfortune's blow,
With louder ruin to the gulphs below ?

What gave great Villiers to th' affaffin's knife,
And fix'd disease on Harley's clofing life?
What murder'd Wentworth, and what exil'd Hyde,
By kings protected, and to kings ally'd?
What but their wish indulg'd in courts to shine,
And pow'r too great to keep, or to refign?

When firft the college rolls receive his name,
The young enthufiaft quits his ease for fame;
Through all his veins the fever of renown
Spreads from the ftrong contagion of the gown;
O'er Bodley's dome his future labours spread,
And Bacon's manfion trembles o'er his head.
Are these thy views? proceed, illuftrious youth,
And virtue guard thee to the throne of Truth!
VOL. IV.

L

+Ver. 108-113.

Ver. 114

132.

Yet

There is a tradition, that the ftudy of friar Bacon, built

on an arch over the bridge, will fall, when a man greater

than Bacon fhall pass under it,