Spele e cila, the guildy "ussais "ome.
And owed with widen venith he sing tome:
The orce of wroughs and fons estore.

And raise is reasures her han jeture.
New bless 1 wih u the ables of he great,
The nahi marble and the shining pate,
Grgilio wees the gouden we aspire.
Aut ces from angry Hear 1 mother ire.

Condat hon regn he park and play content,
For the fair as of Severnor of Trent,
There might at hon ind some elegant retreat.
Some urring senators leserted seat:

And stretch the prospects 'er the smiling and.
For less han rent he tungeons of the Strand.
There prine thy wain, soport the drooping
:lowers,

VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES

MITATION 1 THE TENTH SATIRE # UVERAL

Lat observation, with extensive "ew,
Survey nata.nd from China to Porn.
Remark each inxious 'oli, each enger trije.
And watch the sy scenes of crowded ne:
Then my bow bone and tear, desire and ate,
O'erscread with mares he cionded maze of fate.
Where way ng man, betray irents ande
To chase the treary aths without 1 ride,
As reach rous phantoms in the mist deinde,
Shuns fancied ils, or chases are good.
How arely reason gudes the stupcorn endice,
Rules the old land, or wompts the suppliant vice;
How canons and v farting schemes oppress 1,
When vengeance istens to be fool's request.
Fate wings with every wish thatffieuve dart,
Each git nature and each grace of art:
With fatal eat mpetuous courage glows.
With fatal sweetness eloention lows,
Impeachment stops the speakers yw'rni reath.
And restless tire precipitates on death.

But, scarce observ 1. the snowing and the boid
Ful n the gen'rai massacre of goid:
Wide-wasting pest' that rages incontin d.
And was with crimes the records of mankind.
For goid is sword the reling rathian irawa,
For mid the aureling udge distorts the laws;
Wealth heard on wealth, nor Tuth nor saiety MIVS
The tangers gather as the treasures rise.

And less thine evening waik and morning toil
Prepare for death of here at night you mam.
And nga your will before you sup from home.
Some fery sop, with new commission vain,
Who steens on brambles all he kills his man:
Some froue trinkard, reeling from a feast.
Povokes a bril, and stabs on for a jest.
Yet ev's these hemes, mischievously gay:
Lords of the street and errors of the way:
Flush i as they are with foly, youth, and wine,
Their prident nsuits to the poor contine;
Afar they mark the flambeau's bright approach,
And shun the shining train, and golden coach.
In vain, these dangers past, your doors you close.
And hope the balmy blessings of repose:
Crel with guilt, and daring with despair.
The midnight murdrer bursts the faithless bar;
Invades the sacred hour of silent rest,
And leaves, unseen, a dagger in your breast.
Scarce can our feids, such crowds at Tyburn die. Though confiscation's voitures hover round.
With hemp the gallows and the fleet supply.
Propose your schemes, ye senatorian hand,
Whose ways and means support the sinking land.
Lest ropes be wanting in the tempting spring,
To rig another convoy for the king.

A single jail, in ALFRED's golden reign,
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!

Much could I add—but see the boat at hand,
The tide retiring calls me from the land:
Farewell! When youth, and health, and fortune

Let hist' tell where nval kings command, And dubious aude shakes the madded land. When stanites glean the refuse of the sword. How much more safe the vissa than the lord; Low skuika the hind beneath the mage of power. And leaves the wealthy traitor in the Tower. Untouch'd his cottage, and his slumbers sound,

The needy traveler, serene and gay.
Walks the wild benth and sings his oil away.

Does envy seize thee? crush th upbraiding joy,
Increase his mehes, and his pence destroy;
Now fears in dire vicissitude invade.
The ristling brake alarms, and quiv ning shade,
Nor light nor darkness bring his pain relief
One shows the plunder, and one hides the thief.
Yet still one genral cry the skies assalis.
And gain and grandeur load the tainted gaies:
Few know the tolling statesman's fear or care.
Th' insidious val and the gaping heir
Once more, Democritus, arise on Earth,
with cheerful wisdom and instructive mirth.
See motley life in modern trappings dress d.
And feed with varied focls theternal jest:
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 ded:
And scarce a sycophant was fed by pride:
Where ne'er was known the form of mock debate.
Or seen a new-made mayor's unwieldy state:
Where change of fav'rites made no change of laws
And senates heard before they judg ́d a cause;
How wouldst thou shake at Britain's modish tribe
Dart the quick taunt, and edge the piercing gibe!

Attentive truth and nature to descry,

And pierce each scene with philosophic eye,
To thee were solemn toys, or empty show,
The robes of pleasure, and the veils of woe:
All aid the farce, and all thy mirth maintain,
Whose joys are causeless, or whose griefs are vain.
Such was the scorn that fill'd the sage's mind,
Renew'd at ev'ry glance on human-kind;
How just that scorn ere yet thy voice declare,
Search ev'ry state, and canvass ev'ry pray'r.
Unnumber'd suppliants crowd Preferment's gate,
Athirst for wealth, and burning to be great;
Delusive Fortune hears th' incessant call,
They mount, they shine, evaporate, and fall.
On ev'ry stage the foes of peace attend,
Hate dogs their flight, and insult mocks their end.
Love ends with hope, the sinking statesman's door
Pours in the morning worshipper no more;
For growing names the weekly scribbler lies,
To growing wealth the dedicator flies;
From ev'ry room descends the painted face,
That hung the bright palladium of the place;
And, smok'd in kitchens, or in auctions sold,
To better features yields the frame of gold;
For now no more we trace in ev'ry line
Heroic worth, benevolence divine:
The form distorted justifies the fall,
And detestation rids th' indignant wall.

But will not Britain hear the last appeal,
Sign her foes' doom, or guard her fav'rites' zeal?
Through Freedom's sons no more remonstrance
rings,

Degrading nobles and controlling kings;

Our supple 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, see Wolsey stand,

Law in his voice, and fortune in his hand :

What murder'd Wentworth, and what exil'd Hyde
By kings protected, and to kings allied?
What but their wish indulg'd in courts to shine,
And pow'r too great to keep, or to resign.

When first the college rolls receive his name,
The young enthusiast quits his ease for fame;
Resistless burns the fever of renown,
Caught from the strong contagion of the gown:
O'er Bodley's dome his future labors spread,
And Bacon's mansion* trembles o'er his head.
Are these thy views? Proceed, illustrious youth,
And Virtue guard thee to the throne of Truth!
Yet should thy soul indulge the gen'rous heat
Till captive Science yields her last retreat;
Should reason guide thee with her brightest ray,
And pour on misty doubt resistless day;
Should no false kindness lure to loose delight,
Nor praise relax, nor difficulty fright;
Should tempting Novelty thy cell refrain,
And Sloth effuse her opiate fumes in vain;
Should Beauty blunt on fops her fatal dart,
Nor claim the triumph of a letter'd heart;
Should no disease thy torpid veins invade,
Nor Melancholy's phantoms haunt thy shade;
Yet hope not life from grief or danger free,
Nor think the doom of man revers'd for thee:
Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes,
And pause awhile from letters to be wise;
There mark what ills the scholar's life assail,
Toil, envy, want, the patron, and the jail.
See nations, slowly wise and meanly just,
To buried merit raise the tardy bust.
If dreams yet flatter, once again attend,
Hear Lydiat's life, and Galileo's end.

Nor deem, when Learning her last prize bestows,
The glittering eminence exempt from foes;
See, when the vulgar 'scapes, despis'd or aw'd,
Rebellion's vengeful talons seize on Laud.

From meaner minds, though smaller fines content,

To him the church, the realm, their pow'rs con- The plunder'd palace, or sequester'd rent:

sign,

Through him the rays of regal bounty shine;
Turn'd by his nod the stream of honor flows,
His smile alone security bestows:

Still to new heights his restless wishes tow'r,
Claim leads to claim, and pow'r advances pow'r;
Till conquest unresisted ceas'd to please,
And rights submitted left him none to seize :
At length his sov'reign frowns-the train of state
Mark the keen glance, and watch the sign to hate.
Where'er he turns, he meets a stranger's eye,
His suppliants scorn him, and his followers fly;
Now drops at once the pride of awful 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 oppress'd,
He seeks the refuge of monastic rest.
Grief aids disease, remember'd folly stings,
And his last sighs reproach the faith of kings.
Speak thou whose thoughts at humble peace repine,
Shall Wolsey's wealth with Wolsey's end be thine?
Or liv'st thou now, with safer pride content,
The wisest justice on the banks of Trent?
For, why did Wolsey, near the steeps of fate,
On weak foundations raise th' enormous weight?
Why but to sink beneath misfortune's blow,
With louder ruin to the gulfs below.

What gave great Villiers to th' assassin's knife,
And fix'd disease on Harley's closing life?

Mark'd out by dang'rous parts, he meets the shock,
And fatal Learning leads him to the block:
Around his tomb let Art and Genius weep,
But hear his death, ye blockheads, hear and sleep.
The festal blazes, the triumphal show,

The ravish'd standard, and the captive foe,
The senate's thanks, the gazette's pompous tale,
With force resistless o'er the brave prevail.
Such bribes the rapid Greek o'er Asia whirl'd,
For such the steady Roman shook the world;
For such in distant lands the Britons shine,
And stain with blood the Danube or the Rhine;
This pow'r has praise, that virtue scarce can warm
Till fame supplies the universal charm.
Yet Reason frowns on War's unequal game,
Where wasted nations raise a single name;
And mortgag'd states their grandsires' wreaths regret
From age to age in everlasting debt;
Wreaths which at last the dear-bought right convey
To rust on medals, or on stones decay.

On what foundation stands the warrior's pride,
How just his hopes, let Swedish Charles decide;
A frame of adamant, a soul of fire,
No dangers fright him, and no labors tire,

*There is a tradition, that the study of Friar Bacon, built on an arch over the bridge, will fall when a man greater than Bacon shall pass under it. To prevent so shocking an accident, it was pulled down many years

since.

O'er love, o ar fear, extends us wide domain,
Enconquer i ord of pleasure and of pain;
No joys ‘o um pacific sceptres vieid,
Wir sounds the rump, ne rushes to the field;
Behold surrounding wings their pow's combine.
And one canitulate, and one resign:

Peace courts his hand, but spreads her charms in vain:
"Think nothing gain, he cries, uil nought

remain.

On Moscow wails all Gothic standards dy,
And all be mine beneath the polar sky."
The march begins in military state,
And nations on his eve manended wait;
Stern Fimine guards the solitary coast,

And Winter barncades the realms of Frost:
He comes, nor want nor cold his course delay-
Hide, blushing Glory, hide Pultowa's day:
The vanquish & hem leaves his broken bands,
And shows his miseries in distant 'ands;
Condemn't a needy supplicant to wait,
While ladies interpose, and slaves debate.
But did not Chance at length her error mend!
Did no subverted empire mark his end!
Did rival monarchs give the fatal wound?
Or hostile millions press him to the ground!

His fall was destined to a barren strand,

A petty fortress, and a dubious hand;

In vain their pits the bounteous seasons pour,
The fruit autumnal, and the vernal dow'r:
With listless eyes the totard views the store.
He views, and wonders that they please no more
Now pail the tasteless meats, and joviess wines.
And Luxury with signs her slave resigns.
Approach, ye minstreis, try the soothing strain,
Diffuse the tuneful lenitives of pain:

No sounds, as would touch th' impervious ear
Though dancing mountains witness'd Orphens

near:

Nor lute nor tyre his feeble pow'rs attend.
Nor sweeter music of a virtuous friend;
But everlasting dictates crowd his tongue,
Perversely grave, or positively wrong
The still returning mie, and ling ang jest,
Perniex the fawning niece, and pamper d guest.
While growing hopes scarce awe the gath ning seer.
And scarce a legacy can bribe to hear

The watchful guests still hint the last offence;
The daughter's petulance, the son's expense,
Improve his heady rage with treach rous skill.
And mould his passions all they make his will.
Conumber'd maladies his joints invade.
Lay siege to life, and press the dire blockade;
But unextinguish'd av rice still remains,
And dreaded losses aggravate his pains:

He left the name, at which the world grew pale, He turns, with anxious heart and crippled hands,
To point a moral, or adorn a tale.

All times their scenes of pompous woes afford,
From Persia's tyrant to Bavaria's lord.
In gay hostility and barb'mous pride,
With half mank.nd embattled at his side,
Great Xerxes comes to seize the certain prey,
And starves exhausted regions in his way;
Attendant Flatt'ry counts his myriads o'er,
Till counted myriads soothe his pride no more;
Fresh praise is tried till madness fires his mind,
The waves he lashes, and enchains the wind;
New pow rs are claim'd, new pow'rs are still be-
stow d.

Till rude resistance lops the spreading god;
The daring Greeks deride the martial show,
And heap their valleys with the gaudy foe;
Th' insulted sea with humbler thought he gains,
A single skiff to speed his flight remains;
Th' encumber'd oar scarce leaves the dreaded coast
Through purple billows and a floating host.

The bold Bavarian, in a luckless hour,
Tries the dread summits of Cesarean pow'r,
With unexpected legions bursts away,
And sees defenceless realms receive his sway:
Short sway! fair Austria spreads her mournful
charms,

The queen, the beauty, sets the world in arms;
From hill to hill the beacon's rousing blaze
Spreads wide the hope of plunder and of praise;
The fierce Croatian, and the wild Hussar,
With all the sons of ravage crowd the war;
The baffled prince, in honor's flatt'ring bloom
Of hasty greatness, finds the fatal doom;
His foes' derision, and his subjects' blame,
And steals to death from anguish and from shanie.
"Enlarge my life with multitude of days!”
in health, in sickness, thus the suppliant prays:
Hides from himself its state, and shuns to know,
That life protracted is protracted woe.
Time hovers o'er, impatient to destroy,
And shuts up all the passages of joy:

His bonds of debt, and mortgages of lands;
Or views his coffers with suspicious eyes.
Unlocks his gold, and counts it till he dies.

But grant, the virtues of a temp'rate prime
Bless with an age exempt from scorn or crime;
An age that meits with unperceiv'd decay,
And glides in modest innocence away:
Whose peaceful day benevolence endears.
Whose night congratulating conscience cheers.
The gen'ral fav rite as the gen'ral friend:
Such age there is, and who shall wish its endi ?

Yet ev'n on this her load Misfortune flings,
To press the weary minutes' flagging wings;
New sorrow rises as the day returns,
A sister sickens, or a daughter mourns.
Now kindred Merit fills the sable bier.
Now lacerated Friendship claims a tear;
Year chases year, decay pursues decay,
Sull drops some joy from with ring life away;
New forms arise, and diffrent views engage,
Superfluous lags the vet'ran on the stage,
Till pitying Nature signs the last release,
And bids afflicted worth retire to peace.

But few there are whom hours like these await
Who set unclouded in the gulfs of Fate.
From Lydia's monarch should the search descend.
By Solon caution'd to regard his end.
In life's last scene what prodigies surprise.
Fears of the brave, and follies of the wise!
From Marib'rough's eyes the streams of dotage flow
And Swift expires a driv'ler and a show.

The teeming mother, antions for her race.
Begs for each birth the fortune of a face;
Yet Vane could tell what ills from beauty spring:
And Sedley curs'd the form that pleas'd a king.
Ye nymphs of rosy lips and radiant eyes,
Whom pleasure keeps too busy to be wise;
Whom joys with soft varieties invite,
By day the frolic, and the dance by night;
Who frown with vanity, who smile with art,
And ask the latest fashion of the heart;

What care, what rules, your heedless charms shall Vice always found a sympathetic friend;

save,

Each nymph your rival, and each youth your slave?
Against your fame with fondness hate combines,
The rival batters, and the lover mines.
With distant voice neglected Virtue calls,
Less heard and less, the faint remonstrance falls;
Tir'd with contempt, she quits the slipp'ry rein,
And Pride and Prudence take her seat in vain.
In crowd at once, where none the pass defend,
The harmless freedom, and the private friend.
The guardians yield, by force superior plied:
To Int'rest, Prudence; and to Flatt'ry, Pride.
Here Beauty falls betray'd, despis'd, distress'd,
And hissing Infamy proclaims the rest.

Where then shall Hope and Fear their objects find?
Must dull Suspense corrupt the stagnant mind?
Must helpless man, in ignorance sedate,
Roll darkling down the torrent of his fate?
Must no dislike alarm, no wishes rise,
No cries invoke the mercies of the skies?.
Inquirer, cease; petitions yet remain

They pleas'd their age, and did not aim to mend.
Yet bards like these aspir'd to lasting praise,
And proudly hop'd to pimp in future days.
Their cause was gen'ral, their supports were strong
Their slaves were willing, and their reign was long:
Till Shame regain'd the post that Sense betray'd,
And Virtue call'd Oblivion to her aid.

Then, crush'd by rules, and weaken'd as refin'd.
For years the pow'r of Tragedy declin'd;
From bard to bard the frigid caution crept,
Till Declamation roar'd whilst Passion slept;
Yet still did Virtue deign the stage to tread,
Philosophy remain'd, though Nature fled.
But forc'd, at length, her ancient reign to quit,
She saw great Faustus lay the ghost of Wit;
Exulting Folly hail'd the joyful day,
And Pantomime and Song confirm'd her sway.

But who the coming changes can presage,
And mark the future periods of the stage?
Perhaps, if skill could distant times explore,
New Behns, new Durfeys, yet remain in store;

Which Heav'n may hear, nor deem religion vain. Perhaps where Lear has rav'd, and Hamlet died,
Still raise for good the supplicating voice,
But leave to Heav'n the measure and the choice:
Safe in his pow'r, whose eyes discern afar
The secret ambush of a specious pray'r;
Implore his aid, in his decisions rest,
Secure, whate'er he gives, he gives the best.
Yet, when the sense of sacred presence fires,
And strong devotion to the skies aspires,
Pour forth thy fervors for a healthful mind,
Obedient passions, and a will resign'd;
For love, which scarce collective man can fill;
For patience, sov'reign o'er transmuted ill;
For faith, that, panting for a happier seat,
Counts death kind Nature's signal of retreat:
These goods for man the laws of Heav'n ordain,
These goods he grants, who grants the pow'r to

On flying cars new sorcerers may ride:
Perhaps (for who can guess th' effects of chance ?)
Here Hunt may box, or Mahomet* may dance.

gain;

With these celestial Wisdom calms the mind,
And makes the happiness she does not find.

Hard is his lot that, here by Fortune plac'd,
Must watch the wild vicissitudes of taste;
With every meteor of caprice must play,
And chase the new-blown bubbles of the day.
Ah! let not Censure term our fate our choice,
The stage but echoes back the public voice;
The drama's laws, the drama's patrons give,
For we that live to please, must please to live.
Then prompt no more the follies you decry,
As tyrants doom their tools of guilt to die;
"Tis

yours, this night, to bid the reign commence
Of rescued Nature and reviving Sense;
To chase the charms of sound, the pomp of show
For useful mirth and salutary woe;

Bid scenic Virtue form the rising age,

And Truth diffuse her radiance from the stage

PROLOGUE,

SPOKEN BY MR. GARRICK, AT THE OPENING OF THE
THEATRE-ROYAL, DRURY-LANE, 1747.

WHEN Learning's triumph o'er her barb'rous foes
First rear'd the stage, immortal Shakspeare rose ;
Each change of many-color'd life he drew,
Exhausted worlds, and then imagin'd new:
Existence saw him spurn her bounded reign,
And panting Time toil'd after him in vain.
His pow'rful strokes presiding Truth impress'd,
And unresisted Passion storm'd the breast.

Then Jonson came, instructed from the school,
To please in method, and invent by rule;
His studious patience and laborious art,
By regular approach assail'd the heart:
Cold Approbation gave the ling'ring bays,

For those who durst not censure, scarce could

praise.

A mortal born, he met the gen'ral doom,
But left, like Egypt's kings, a lasting tomb.

The wits of Charles found easier ways to fame,
Nor wish'd for Jonson's art, or Shakspeare's flame.
Themselves they studied, as they felt they writ;
Intrigue was plot, obscenity was wit.

ON THE

DEATH OF MR. ROBERT LEVET,

A PRACTISER IN PHYSIC.

CONDEMN'D to Hope's delusive mine,
As on we toil from day to day,
By sudden blasts, or slow decline,
Our social comforts drop away

Well tried through many a varying year,
See Levet to the grave descend
Officious, innocent, sincere,

Of ev'ry friendless name the friend.

Yet still he fills affection's eye,
Obscurely wise, and coarsely kind;
Nor, letter'd Arrogance, deny

Thy praise to merit unrefin'd.

*Hunt, a famous boxer on the stage; Mahomet, a rope. dancer, who had exhibited at Covent Garden theatre the winter before, said to be a Turk