Some view the ftate with Envy's eye,

Some were difpleas'd, they knew not why;
When Faction, ever bold and vain,
With rigour tax'd their monarch's reign.
Thus, fhould an angel from above,
Fraught with benevolence and love,
Defcend to earth, and here impart
Important truths to mend the heart,
Would not th' inftructive gueft difpenfe
With paffion, appetite, and fenfe;
We should his heav'nly lore despise,
And fend him to his former skies.
A dang'rous hoftile power arose
To Health, whose houfhold were her foes:
A harlot's loose attire fhe wore,

And Luxury the name fhe bore.
This princess of unbounded sway,
Whom Afia's fofter fons obey,
Made war against the queen of Health,
Affifted by the troops of Wealth.

The queen was firft to take the field,
Arm'd with her helmet and her shield;
Temper'd with fuch fuperior art,

That both were proof to ev'ry dart.
Two warlike chiefs approach'd the green,
And wond'rous fav'rites with the queen:
Both were of Amazonian race,

Both high in merit, and in place.

Here Refolution march'd, whose foul

No fear could fhake, no pow'r controul;

The heroine wore a Roman vest,

A lion's heart inform'd her breast.

There Prudence fhone, whofe bofom wrought
With all the various plans of Thought;

'Twas her's to bid the troops engage,

And teach the battle where to rage..

2 Q

And

And now the Syren's armies prefs,
Their van was headed by Excefs;

The mighty wings, that form'd the fide,
Commanded by that giant, Pride;
While Sickness, and her fifters, Pain
And Poverty, the centre gain;
Repentance, with a brow fevere,

And Death, were flation'd in the rear.

Health rang'd her troops with matchlefs art,

And acted the defensive part;

Her army, pofted on a hill,

Plainly bespoke superior skill,

Hence were difcover'd, thro' the plain,

The motions of the hostile train:
While Prudence, to prevent furprize,
Oft fally'd with her trufty fpies;
Explor'd each ambuscade below,
And reconnoiter'd well the foe,
Afar, when Luxury defcry'd
Inferior force by art fupply'd,

The Syren fpake- Let Fraud prevail,
Since all my numerous hofts must fail;

• Henceforth hoftilities fhall cease,

I'll fend to Health and offer peace.'
Straight she dispatch'd, with pow'rs compleat,
Pleasure, her minister, to treat.

This wicked ftrumpet topp'd her part,

And fow'd fedition in the heart!

Thro' ev'ry troop the poifon ran,
All were infected to a man:
The wary generals were won

By Pleasure's wiles, and both undone.
Jove held the troops in high difgrace,
And bade difeafes blaft their race;
Look'd on the queen with melting eyes,
And fnatch'd his darling to the skies;

A

Whe

Who ftill regards those wiser few,

That dares her dictates to purfue.
For where her ftricter law prevails,
Tho' paffion prompts, or vice affails;
Long shall the cloudlefs fkies behold,
And their talm fun-fet beam with gold:

CONTEN t.

VISION IV..

MAN is deceiv'd by outward show

'Tis a plain, homespun truth, I know;

The fraud prevails at ev'ry age,

So fays the school-boy, and the fage:
Yet ftill we hug the dear deceit,
And ftill exclaim against the cheat.
But whence this inconfiftent part?
Say, moralifts, who know the heart:
If you'll this labyrinth pursue,
I'll go before, and find the clue.

I dream'd ('twas on a birth-day night)
A fumptuous palace rofe to fight:
The builder had, thro' ev'ry part,
Obferv'd the chafteft rules of art;
Raphael and Titian had difplay'd
All the full force of light and shade.
Around the livery'd fervants wait;
An aged porter kept the gate.

As I was traverfing the hall,

Where Bruffels looms adorn'd the wall,
(Whose tap'ftry fhews, without my aid,
A nun is no fuch useless maid)

A graceful perfon came in view,
(His form, it seems, is known to few ;)
2 Q2

His

His dress was unadorn'd with lace,

But charms! a thousand in his face.

This, Sir, your property?' I cry'd.

• Master and manfion coincide:

Where all, indeed, is truly great,

And proves, that blifs may dwell with state.
Pray, Sir, indulge a ftranger's claim,
And grant the favour of your name.'
Content!' the lovely form reply'd ;

• But think not here that I refide :
• Here lives a courtier, base and fly;
An open, honest rustick, I.

• Our taste and manners disagree;

His levee boafts no charms for me:
For titles, and the fmiles of kings,
To me are cheap, unheeded things.
('Tis virtue can alone impart

The patent of a ducal heart:
Unless this herald fpeaks him great,
• What fhall avail the glare of state?)
• Thofe fecret charms are my delight,
Which shine remote from publick fight:
• Paffions fubdu'd, defires at rest-

• And hence his chaplain shares my breast. • There was a time (his grace can tell) I knew the duke exceeding well;

• Knew ev'ry fecret of his heart;

In truth, we never were apart:

• But when the court became his end,
He turn'd his back
upon his friend.

• One day I call'd upon his grace,

Juft as the duke had got a place :

• I thought (but thought amifs, 'tis clear)
I fhould be welcome to the peer;
• Yes, welcome to a man in pow'r;
And fo I was--for half an hour,

• Bat

You relish not the great man's lot! • Come, haften to my humbler cot.

Think me not partial to the great, • I'm a fworn foę to pride and state; No monarch fhares my kind embrace, There's scarce a monarch knows my face: • Content fhuns courts, and oft'ner dwells With modeft worth in rural cells;

There's no complaint, tho' brown the bread, • Or the rude turf fuftain the head;

Tho' hard the couch, and coarse the meat, • Still the brown loaf and fleep are sweet. Far from the city I refide,

• And a thatch'd cottage all my pride.
True to my heart, I feldom roam,
• Because I find my joys at home:
For foreign vifits then begin,
When the man feels a void within.

But tho' from towns and crowds I fly,
No humorist, nor cynick, I.
Amidst fequefter'd fhades I prize
The friendships of the good and wife,
• Bid Virtue and her fons attend :

• Virtue will tell thee, I'm her friend;

• Tell thee, I'm faithful, conftant, kind,

And meek, and lowly, and refign'd;

• Will fay, there's no diftin&tion known Betwixt her houshold and my own.'

AUTHOR..

If these the friendships you pursue, Your friends, I fear, are very few,

So