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But everlasting dictates crowd his tongue,
Perversely grave or pofitively wrong.

The still returning tale, and ling'ring jeft,
Perplex the fawning niece and pamper'd gueft,
While growing hopes fcarce awe the gath'ring fneer,
And fcarce a legacy can bribe to hear;

The watchful guests still hint the last offence,
The daughter's petulance, the fon's expence,
Improve his heady rage with treach'rous skill,
And mould his paffions 'till they make his will.
Unnumber'd maladies his joints invade,
Lay fiege to life and press the dire blockade ;
But unextinguifh'd Av'rice ftill remains,
And dreaded loffes aggravate his pains;

He turns, with anxious heart and crippled hands,
His bonds of debt, and mortgages of lands;
Or views his coffers with fufpicious eyes,
Unlocks his gold, and counts it 'till he dies.

But grant, the virtues of a temp'rate prime
Blefs with an age exempt from fcorn or crime;
An age that melts in unperceiv'd decay,
And glides in modeft innocence away;

Whofe peaceful day Benevolence endears,

Whofe night congratulating Confcience chears;

The

The gen❜ral fav'rité, as the gen'ral friend;
Such age there is, and who could wish its end?
Yet ev'n on this her load Misfortune flings,
To prefs the weary minutes flagging wings:
New forrow rises as the day returns,
A fifter fickens, or a daughter mourns.
Now kindred Merit fills the fable bier,
Now lacerated friendship claims a tear.
Year chases year, decay pursues decay,
Still drops fome joy from with'ring life away;
New forms arife, and diff'rent views engage,
Superfluous lags the vet'ran on the stage,
'Till pitying Nature figns the last release,
And bids afflicted worth retire to peace.

But few there are whom hours like these await,
Who fet unclouded in the gulphs of Fate.
From Lydia's monarch should the fearch defcend,
By Solon caution'd to regard his end,

In life's last scene what prodigies furprise,

Fears of the brave, and follies of the wife?

From Marlb'rough's eyes the ftreams of dotage flow, And Swift expires a driv❜ler and a show.

The teeming mother, anxious for her race, Begs for each birth the fortune of a face:

D Ver. 289-345.

M 3

Yet

Yet Vane could tell what ills from beauty fpring;
And Sedley curs'd the form that pleas'd a king.
Ye nymphs of rofy lips and radiant eyes,
Whom Pleasure keeps too busy to be wife,
Whom Joys with foft varieties invite,

By day the frolic, and the dance by night,
Who frown with vanity, who smile with art,
And ask the latent fashion of the heart,

What care, what rules your heedlefs charms fhall fave,
Each nymph your rival, and each youth your flave?
Against your fame with fondness hate combines,
The rival batters, and the lover mines.
With diftant voice neglected Virtue calls,

Lefs heard and lefs, the faint remonftrance falls;
Tir'd with contempt, fhe quits the flipp'ry reign,
And Pride and Prudence take her feat in vain.
In crowd at once, where none the país defend,
The harmless Freedom, and the private Friend.
The guardians yield, by force fuperior ply'd;
By Int'reft, Prudence; and by Flatt'ry, Pride.
Now beauty falls betray'd, defpis'd, diftrefs'd,
And hiffing Infamy proclaims the rest.

Where then shall Hope and Fear their objects find? Must dull Sufpence corrupt the ftagnant mind?

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• Ver. 346-366.

Muft

Must helpless man, in ignorance fedate,
Roll darkling down the torrent of his fate?
Must no diflike alarm, no wishes rise,

No cries attempt the mercies of the skies?
Enquirer, cease, petitions yet remain,

Which heav'n may hear, nor deem religion vain.
Still raife for good the fupplicating voice,

But leave to heav'n the measure and the choice.
Safe in his pow'r, whofe eyes-difcern afar
The secret ambush of a fpecious pray'r.
Implore his aid, in his decifions rest,
Secure whate'er he gives, he gives the best.
Yet when the sense of facred prefence fires,
And strong devotion to the skies aspires,
Pour forth thy fervours for a healthful mind,
Obedient paffions, and a will refign'd;
For love, which scarce collective man can fill;
For patience, fov'reign o'er tranfmuted ill;
For faith, that panting for a happier seat,
Counts death kind Nature's signal to retreat :

These goods for man the laws of heav'n ordain,
These goods he

grants, who grants

the pow'r to gain;

With these celeftial Wisdom calms the mind,

And makes the happiness she does not find.

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THE TEARS of OLD MAY-DAY.

L

ED by the jocund train of vernal hours

And vernal airs, uprofe the gentle May; Blushing she rofe, and blushing rofe the flow'rs That sprung spontaneous in the genial ray.

Her locks with heav'n's ambrofial dews were bright,
And am'rous zephyrs flutter'd on her breast :
With every fhifting gleam of morning light
The colours fhifted of her rainbow vest,

Imperial enfigns grac'd her fmiling form,
A golden key, and golden wand the bore;
This charms to peace each fullen eastern storm,
And that unlocks the Summer's copious store,

Onward in conscious majesty she came,

The grateful honours of mankind to taste;
To gather faireft wreaths of future fame,
And blend fresh triumphs with her glories paft.

Vain

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