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 king3.

A single jail, in Alfred's golden reign,
Could half the nation's criminals contain;
Fair Justice then, without constraint adored,
Held high the steady scale,but sheath'd the sword;
No spies were paid, no special juries known;
Bless'd age! but ah! how different 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
spent,

Thou fliest for refuge to the wilds of Kent;
And, tired 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.'

THE VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES.
In Imitation of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal.

LET observation with extensive view
Survey mankind, from China to Peru;
Remark each anxious toil, each eager strife,
And watch the busy scenes of crowded life;

7 A technical term in parliament for raising money.

8 The nation was then discontented at the repeated visits made by George the Second to Hanover.

Then say how hope and fear, desire and hate
O'erspread with snares the clouded maze of fate,
Where wavering man, betray'd by venturous pride,
To tread the dreary paths without a guide;
As treacherous phantoms in the mist delude,
Shuns fancied ills, or chases airy good.

How rarely reason guides the stubborn choice, Rules the bold hand, or prompts the suppliant voice;

How nations sink, by darling schemes oppress'd,
When vengeance listens to the fool's request;
Fate wings with every wish the' afflictive dart,
Each gift of nature, and each grace of art;
With fatal heat impetuous courage glows,
With fatal sweetness elocution flows;
Impeachment stops the speaker's powerful breath,
And restless fire precipitates on death.

But, scarce observed, the knowing and the bold
Fall in the general massacre of gold;
Wide-wasting pest! that rages unconfined,
And crowds with crimes the records of mankind:
For gold his sword the hireling ruffian draws,
For gold the hireling judge distorts the laws;
Wealth heap'd on wealth, nor truth nor safety
The dangers gather as the treasures rise. [buys,

Let history tell where rival kings command, And dubious title shakes the madded land, When statutes glean the refuse of the sword, How much more safe the vassal than the lord; Low skulks the hind beneath the rage of power, And leaves the wealthy traitor in the Tower, Untouch'd his cottage, and his slumbers sound, Though confiscation's vultures hover round.

The needy traveller, serene and gay,

Walks the wild heath, and sings his toil away.

Does envy seize thee? crush the' upbraiding joy,
Increase his riches, and his peace destroy:
New fears in dire vicissitude invade,

The rustling brake alarms, and quivering shade;
Nor light nor darkness bring his pain relief,
One shows the plunder, and one hides the thief.
Yet still one general cry the skies assails,
And gain and grandeur load the tainted gales;
Few know the toiling statesman's fear or care,
The' insidious rival 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 fools the' eternal jest: [price,
Thou who couldst laugh where want enchain'd ca-
Toil crush'd conceit, and man was of a piece;
Where wealth unloved without a mourner died,
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 favourites made no change of
laws,

And senates heard before they judged 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 every glance on humankind;
How just that scorn ere yet thy voice declare,
Search every state, and canvass every prayer.