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LONDON:

A POEM:

IN IMITATION OF THE

THIRD SATIRE OF JUVENAL.

Written in 1738.

-Quis ineptæ

Tam patiens urbis, tam ferreus ut teneat se?

1THO' grief and fondness in my breast rebel,
When injur'd THALES* bids the town farewell,
Yet still my calmer thoughts his choice commend,
I praise the hermit, but regret the friend,
Resolv'd at length, from vice and LONDON far,
To breathe in distant fields a purer air,
And, fix'd on Cambria's solitary shore,

Give to St. David one true Briton more.

? For who would leave, unbrib'd, Hibernia's land, Or change the rocks of Scotland for the Strand? There none are swept by sudden fate away, But all, whom hunger spares, with age decay: Here malice, rapine, accident, conspire, And now a rabble rages, now a fire; Their ambush here relentless ruffians lay, And here the fell attorney prowls for prey;

JUV. Sat. III.

1 Quamvis digressu veteris confusis amici; Laudo, tamen, vacuis quod sedem figere Cumis Destinet, atque unum civem donare Sibyllæ.

2- Ego vel Prochytam præpono Suburræ, Nam quid tam miserum, tam solum vidimus, ut non Deterius credas horrere incendia, lapsus

Tectorum assiduos, & mille pericula sæva

Urbis, & Augusto recitantes mense poetas ?

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*Sir John Hawkins says, that by Thales we are here to understand Savage.

VOL. I.

B

Here falling houses thunder on your head,
And here a female Atheist talks you dead.

3 While THALES waits the wherry that contains
Of dissipated wealth the small remains,
On Thames's banks, in silent thought we stood
Where Greenwich smiles upon the silver flood;
Struck with the seat that gave ELIZA* birth,
We kneel, and kiss the consecrated earth;
In pleasing dreams the blissful age renew,
And call Britannia's glories back to view;
Behold her cross triumphant on the main,
The guard of commerce, and the dread of Spain,
Ere masquerades debauch'd, excise oppress'd,
Or English honour grew a standing jest.

A transient calm the happy scenes bestow, And for a moment lull the sense of woe. At length awaking, with contemptuous frown, Indignant THALES eyes the neighbouring town. 4 Since worth, he cries, in these degenerate days Wants ev'n the cheap reward of empty praise; In those curs'd walls, devote to vice and gain, Since unrewarded science toils in vain ; Since hope but sooths to double my distress, And every moment leaves my little less; While yet my steady steps no 5 staff sustains, And life still vig'rous revels in

my veins; Grant me, kind Heaven, to find some happier place, Where honesty and sense are no disgrace;

Some pleasing bank where verdant osiers play,
Some peaceful vale with Nature's paintings gay;

3 Sed, dum tota domus rheda componitur una, Substitit ad veteris arcus.

4 Hic tune Umbritius; Quando artibus, inquit, honestis Nullus in urbe locus, nulla emolumenta laborum,

Res hodie minor est, heri quam fuit, atque eadem cras
Deteret exiguis aliquid: proponimus illuc

Ire, fatigatis ubi Dædalus exuit alas;

Dum nova canities.

5 ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ et pedibus me

Porto meis, nullo dextram subeunte bacillo.

* Queen Elizabeth, born at Greenwich.

ecret cell, ye Powr's, indulgent give,
--- live here, for has learn'd to live.
et those reign, whom pensions can incite
e a patriot black, a courtier white;

their country's dear-bought rights away,
ead for pirates in the face of day;
lavish tenets taint our poison'd youth,
end a lie the confidence of truth.

t such raise palaces, and manors buy, t a tax, or farm a lottery;

warbling eunuchs fill our † silenc'd stage, all to servitude a thoughtless age.

oes, proceed! what bounds your pride shall hold ? check restrain your thirst of pow'r and gold? d rebellious virtue quite o'erthrown,

d our fame, our wealth, our lives, your own. such, the plunder of a land is giv'n,

public crimes inflame the wrath of Heav'n: what, my friend, what hope remains for me, start at theft, and blush at perjury? scarce forbear, tho' BRITAIN'S court he sing, luck a titled poet's borrow'd wing; tesman's logic unconvinc'd can hear, dare to slumber o'er the Gazetteer; ise a fool in half his pension dress'd, strive in vain to laugh at Clodio's jest. Others with softer smiles, and subtler art, sap the principles, or taint the heart;

edamus patria: vivant Arturius istic

tullus: maneant qui nigra in candida vertunt. Queis facile est ædem conducere, flumina, portus, ndem eluviem, portandum ad busta cadaver.era nunc edunt.

Quid Romæ faciam? mentiri nescio: librum, alus est, nequeo laudare & poscere.

- Ferre ad nuptam quæ mittit adulter,

mandat norint alii; me nemo ministro

erit, atque ideo nulli comes exeo.

The invasions of the Spaniards were defended in the houses of Sament.

The licensing act was then lately made.

The paper which at that time contained apologies for the court.

B 2

With more address a lover's note convey,
Or bribe a virgin's innocence away.

Well may they rise, while I, whose rustic tongue
Ne'er knew to puzzle right, or varnish wrong,
Spurn'd as a beggar, dreaded as a spy,

Live unregarded, unlamented die.

10 For what but social guilt the friend endears? Who shares Orgilio's crimes, his fortune shares.

11 But thou, should tempting villainy present All Marlb'rough hoarded, or all Villiers spent, Turn from the glitt'ring bribe thy scornful eye, Nor sell for gold, what gold could never buy, The peaceful slumber, self-approving day, Unsullied fame, and conscience ever gay.

12 The cheated nation's happy fav'rites, see! Mark whom the great caress, who frown on me! LONDON! the needy villain's gen'ral home, The common-sewer of Paris and of Rome! With eager thirst, by folly or by fate, Sucks in the dregs of each corrupted state. Forgive my transports on a theme like this, 131 cannot bear a French metropolis.

14 Illustrious EDWARD! from the realms of day,
The land of heroes and of saints survey;
Nor hope the British lineaments to trace,
The rustick grandeur, or the surly grace;
But, lost in thoughtless ease and empty show,
Behold the warrior dwindled to a beau;
Sense, 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;

10 Quis nunc diligitur nisi conscius ?

Carus erit Verri, qui Verrem tempore, quo vult,
Accusare potest.

11

Tanti tibi non sit opaci

Omnis arena Tagi, quodque in mare volvitur aurum,
Ut somno careas.

12 Quæ nunc divitibus gens acceptissima nostris, Et quos præcipue fugiam properabo fateri.

13

-Non possum ferre, Quirites,

Græcam urbem.

14 Rusticus ille tuus sumit trechedipna, Quirine, Et ceromatico fert nicetaria collo.

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