As well to prove, as to reward the good?

Whence are these torrents then, these billowy feas Of vice, in which, as in his proper flood,

The fell leviathan licentious plays,

And upon fhip-wreck'd faith, and finking virtue preys
LXXIX.

To you, ye Noble, Opulent and Great!
With friendly voice I call, and honest zeal!
Upon your vital influences wait

The health and sickness of the common-weal;
The maladies you caufe, yourselves must heal.
In vain to the unthinking harden'd crowd
Will Truth and Reafon make their just appeal;
In vain will facred Wisdom cry aloud;

And Justice drench in vain her vengeful fword in blood,
LXXX.

With You must reformation first take place:

You are the head, the intellectual mind Of this vaft body politic; whofe base, And vulgar limbs, to drudgery confign'd, All the rich stores of Science have refign'd To You, that by the craftsman's various toil, The fea-worn mariner, and sweating hind, and affluence maintain'd, the while You, for yourselves and them, may drefs the mental foil.

In

peace

?

LXXXI. Be

LXXXI.

Bethink you then, my children, of the truft
In you repos'd; ne let your heav'n-born mind
Confume in pleasure, or unactive ruft;

But nobly roufe you to the task affign'd,
The godlike task to teach and mend mankind:
Learn that ye may inftruct: to virtue lead
Yourselves the way: the herd will crowd behind,
And gather precepts from each worthy deed:

Example is a leffon, that all men can read."
LXXXII.

But if (to All or Moft I do not fpeak)
In vain and fenfual habits now grown old,
The ftrong Circaan charm you cannot break,
Nor re-affume at will your native mould,
Yet envy not the state, you could not hold :
And take compaffion on the rifing age:
In them redeem your errours manifold;
And, by due discipline and nurture fage,
In Virtue's lore betimes your docile fons engage.
LXXXIII.

You chiefly, who like me in fecret mourn

The prevalence of CUSTOM lewd and vain ;

And you, who, though by the rude torrent borne Unwillingly along you yield with pain

& Mould, shape, form.

D 2

Το

To his behefts, and act what you difdain,
Yet nourish in your hearts the gen'rous love
Of piety and truth, no more reftrain

The manly zeal; but all your finews move

The present to reclaim, the future race improve!
LXXXIV.

Eftfoons by your joint efforts shall be quell'd
Yon haughty GIANT, who fo proudly sways
A fceptre by repute alone upheld;

Who where he cannot dictate strait obeys.
Accustom❜d to conform his flattering phrase
To numbers and high-plac'd authority,
Your party he will join, your maxims praise,
And drawing after all his menial fry,
Soon teach the general voice your act to ratify.
LXXXV.

Ne for th' atchievement of this great emprize
The want of means or counsel may ye dread;
From my TWIN-DAUGHTERS' fruitful wombs fhall rife
A race of letter'd fages, deeply read

In Learning's various writ: by whom y-led

Thro' each well-cultur'd plot, each beauteous grove, Where antique Wisdom whilom wont to tread,

With mingled glee and profit may ye rove, [prove. And cull each virtuous plant, each tree of knowledge LXXXVI. Your

LXXXVI.

Yourselves with virtue thus and knowledge fraught Of what, in ancient days of good or great Historians, bards, philosophers have taught; Join'd with whatever elfe of modern date Maturer judgment, search more accurate Discover'd have of Nature, Man, and God, May by new laws reform the time-worn state Of cell-bred discipline, and smoothe the road That leads thro' Learning's vale to Wifdam's bright abode. LXXXVII.

By you invited to her fecret bow'rs,

Then fhall PÆDÎA reascend her throne
With vivid laurels girt, and fragrant flow'rs;
While from their forked mount defcending down
Yon fupercilious pedant train fhall own
Her empire paramount, ere long by Her
Y-taught a leffon in their schools unknown,

"To Learning's richest treasures to prefer

"The knowledge of the world, and man's great business

LXXXVIII.

On this prime science, as the final end

Of all her difcipline, and nurturing care,
Her eye PÆDIA fixing aye fhall bend

Her every thought and effort to prepare

[there."

Her tender pupils for the various war, Which Vice and Folly fhall upon them wage, As on the perilous march of life they fare, With prudent lore fore-arming every age 'Gainft Pleafure's treacherous joys, and Pain's embattled LXXXIX.

Then shall my youthful fons, to Wisdom led

By fair example and ingenuous praise,
With willing feet the paths of Duty tread;
Through the world's intricate or rugged ways
Conducted by Religion's facred rays;
Whofe foul-invigorating influence

Shall purge their minds from all impure allays
Of fordid selfishness and brutal fenfe,

[rage.

And fwell th' ennobled heart with bleft benevolence.

XC.

Then alfo fhall this emblematic pile,

By magic whilom fram'd to fympathize

With all the fortunes of this changeful ifle,

Still, as my fons in fame and virtue rise,

Grow with their growth, and to th' applauding skies
Its radiant crofs up-lift; the while, to grace
The multiplying niches, fresh fupplies

Of worthies fhall fucceed, with equal pace

Aye following their fires in virtue's glorious race.

XCI. Fir'd