By numbers here from shame or censure free, All crimes are safe but hated poverty.
This, only this, the rigid law pursues, This, only this, provokes the snarling Muse. The sober trader at a tatter'd cloke
Wakes from his dream, and labours for a joke; With brisker air the silken courtiers gaze, And turn the varied taunt a thousand ways. 24 Of all the griefs that harass the distress'd, Sure a most bitter is a scornful jest ; Fate never wounds more deep the gen'rous heart, Than when a blockhead's insult points the dart. 25 Has Heaven reserv'd, in pity to the poor, No pathless waste, or undiscover'd shore? No secret island in the boundless main ? No peaceful desert yet unclaim'd by SPAIN? Quick let us rise, the happy seats explore, And bear Oppression's insolence no more. This mournful truth is every where confess'd, 26 SLOW RISES WORTH, BY POVERTY DEPRESS'D:
Materiam præbet causasque jocorum Omnibus hic idem ? si fœda & scissa lacerna, &c. 24 Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in se,
Quam quod ridiculos homines facit.
Debuerant olim tenues migrasse Quirites.
26 Haud facile emergunt, quorum Virtutibus obstat Res angusta domi, sed Romæ durior illis
Cogimur, & cultis augere peculia servis.
*The Spainards at this time were said to make claim to some of our American provinces.
But here more slow, where all are slaves to gold, Where looks are merchandise, and smiles are sold; Where won by bribes, by flatteries, implor'd, The groom retails the favours of his lord.
Buthark! th' affrighted crowd's tumultuouscries Roll through the streets, and thunder to the skies: Rais'd from some pleasing dream of wealth and pow'r,
Some pompous palace, or some blissful bow'r, Aghast you start, and scarce with aching sight. Sustain th' approaching fire's tremendous light; Swift from pursuing horrors take your way, And leave your little ALL to flames a prey; 27 Then through the world a wretched vagrant roam, For where can starving merit find a home? In vain your mournful narrative disclose, While all neglect, and most insult your woes. Should Heav'n's just bolts Orgilio's wealth confound,
And spread his flaming palace on the ground, Swift o'er the land the dismal rumour flies, And public mournings pacify the skies; The laureat tribe in venal verse relate, How virtue wars with persecuting fate;
20 With well-feign'd gratitude the pension'd band Refund the plunder of the beggar'd land.
Ærumnæ cumulus, quod nudum & frustra rogantem Nemo cibo, nemo hospitio, tectoque juvabit.
28 Si magna Asturici cecidit domus, horrida mater, Pullati proceres.
Jam accurrit, qui marmora donet,
Conferat impensas: hic, &c.
Hic modium argenti.
See! while he builds, the gaudy vassals come, And crowd with sudden wealth the rising dome; The price of boroughs and of souls restore ; And raise his treasures higher than before : Now bless'd with all the baubles of the great The polish'd marble and the shining plate, 30 Orgilio sees the golden pile aspire, And hopes from angry Heav'n another fire.
31 Could'st thou resign the park and play content, For the fair banks of Severn or of Trent; There might'st thou find some elegant retreat, Some hireling senator's deserted seat;
And stretch thy prospects o'er the smiling land, For less than rent the dungeons of the Strand; There prune thy walks, support thy drooping flowers,
Direct thy rivulets, and twine thy bowers; And, while thy grounds a cheap repast afford, Despise the dainties of a venal lord:
There ev'ry bush with Nature's musick rings, There ev'ry breeze bears health upon its wings; On all thy hours security shall smile,
And bless thine evening walk and morning toil,
Meliora, ac plura reponit Persicus orborum lautissimus.
31 Si potes avelli Circensibus, optima Soræ, Aut Fabrateriæ domus, aut Fusinone paratur, Quanti nunc tenebras unum conducis in annum. Hortulus hic.
Vive bidentis amans & culti villicus horti,
Unde epulum possis centum dare Pythagoræiş.
32 Prepare for death if here at night you roam, And sign your will before you sup from home. 33 Some fiery fop, with new commission vain, Who sleeps on brambles till he kills his man; Some frolick drunkard, reeling from a feast, Provokes a broil, and stabs you for a jest. 34 Yet even these heroes, mischievously gay, Lords of the street, and terrors of the way; Flush'd as they are with folly, youth, and wine, Their prudent insults to the poor confine ; Afar they mark the flambeau's bright approach, And shun the shining train, and golden coach. 35 In vain, these dangers past, your doors you close, And hope the balmy blessings of repose; Cruel with guilt, and daring with despair, The midnight murd'rer bursts the faithless bar; Invades the sacred hour of silent rest,
And leaves, unseen, a dagger in your breast, 36 Scarce can our fields, such crowds at Tyburn die, With hemp the gallows and the fleet supply.
Possis ignavus haberi,
Et subiti casus improvidus, ad cœnam si
33 Ebrius, ac petulans, qui nullum forte cecidit, Dat pœnas, noctem patitur lugentis amicum Peleida
34 Sed, quamvis improbus annis, Atque mero fervens, cavet hunc, quem coccina læna Vitari jubet, & comitum longissimus ordo,
Multum præterea flammarum, atque ænea lampas.
35 Nec tamen hoc tantum metuas: nam qui spoliet te
Non deerit; clausis domibus, &c.
36 Maximus in vinclis ferri modus; ut timeas, ne Vomer deficiat, ne marræ & sarcula desint.
Propose your schemes, ye senatorian band, Whose* ways and means support the sinking land: Lest ropes be wanting in the tempting spring, To rig another convoy for the king t.
37 A single gaol, in ALFRED's golden regin, Could half the nation's criminals contain; Fair Justice, then, without constraint ador'd, Held high the steady scale, but sheath'd the sword; No spies were paid, no special juries known, Blest age! but ah! how diff'rent from our own!
38 Much could I add, but see the boat at hand, The tide retiring calls me from the land: 39 Farwell!-When youth, and health, and fortune spent,
Thou fly'st for refuge to the Wilds of Kent; And, tir'd like me with follies and with crimes, In angry numbers warn'st succeeding times; Then shall thy friend, nor thou refuse his aid, Still foe to vice, forsake his Cambrian shade; In virtue's cause once more exert his rage, Thy satire point, and animate thy page.
37 Felices proavorum atavos, felicia dicas Secula, quæ quondam sub regibus atque tribunis Viderunt una contentam carcere Romam.
38 His alias poteram, & pluries subnectere causas: Sed jumenta vocant.→→→
39- Ergo vale nostri memor: & quoties te Roma tuo refici properantem reddet Aquino,
Me quoque ad Elvinam Cererem, vestranique Dianam Convelle à Cumis: satirarum ego, ni pudet illas,
Adjutor gelidos veniam calligatus in agros.
A cant term in the House of Commons for methods of raising money.
The nation was discontented at the visits made by the King to Hanover.
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