W

* Si proprium eft, quod quis libra mercatus et aere

eft,

Quaedam (fi credis confultis) mancipat usus :
Qui te pafcit ager, tuus eft; et villicus Orbî,
Cum fegetes occat tibi mox frumenta daturas,
Te dominum fentit.

* das nummos; accipis uvam, Pullos, ova, cadum temeti: nempe modo isto Paulatim mercaris agrum, fortaffe trecentis, Aut etiam fupra nummorum millibus emtum. Quid refert, vivas numerato nuper, an olim?

y Emtor Aricini quondam, Veientis et arvi, Emtum coenat olus, quamvis aliter putat; emtis Sub noctem gelidam lignis calefactat ahenum. Sed vocat ufque fuum, qua populus adfita certis Limitibus vicina refigit jurgia: tanquam z Sit proprium quidquam, puncto quod mobilis horae, Nunc prece, nunc pretio, nunc vi, nunc morte fuprema,

Permutet dominos, et cedat in altera jura.

Sic, quia perpetuus nulli datur ufus, et haeres Haeredem alterius, velut unda fupervenit undam :

NOTES.

VER. 232. delightful Abs-court] A farm over-against Hampton-Court.

VER, 248. bang in Fortune's pow'r, Loofe on the point

If there be truth in Law, and Ufe can give 230 A Property, that's yours on which you live. Delightful Abs-court, if its fields afford Their fruits to you, confeffes you its lord : All Worldly's hens, nay partridge, fold to town, His Ven'fon too, a guinea makes your own: 235 He bought at thousands, what with better wit You purchase as you want, and bit by bit; Now, or long fince, what diff'rence will be found?

;

You pay a penny, and he paid a pound.

> Heathcote himself, and fuch large-acred men, 240 Lords of fat E'fham, or of Lincoln fen,

Buy every ftick of wood that lends them heat,
Buy every Pullet they afford to eat.

Yet these are Wights, who fondly call their own
Half that the Dev'l o'erlooks from Lincoln town. 245
The Laws of God, as well as of the land,

Abhor, a perpetuity should stand:

Eftates have wings, and hang in Fortune's pow'r
z Loose on the point of ev'ry wav'ring hour,.
Ready, by force, or of your own accord,
By fale, at least by death, to change their lord.
Man? and for ever? wretch! what wou'dft thou have?
Heir urges heir, like wave impelling wave.

250

NOTES.

of ev'ry wav'ring hour.] A modern idea (the magnetic. needle) here fupplied the Imitator with expreffion much fuperior to his Original.

*N 4

VOL. IV.

Quid vici profunt, aut horrea? quidve Calabris

Saltibus adjecti Lucani; fi metit Orcus

Grandia cum parvis, non exorabilis auro?

a Gemmas, marmor, ebur, Tyrrhena figilla, ta

bellas,

Argentum, veftes Gaetulo murice tinctas,

Sunt qui non habeant; eft qui non curat habere.

b Cur alter fratrum ceffare, et ludere, et ungi Praeferat Herodis palmetis pinguibus; alter Dives et importunus, ad umbram lucis ab ortu

Silveftrem flammis et ferro mitiget agrum:

NOTES.

VER. 273 All Townshend's Turnips.] Lord Townshend, Secretary of State to George the Firft and Second.When this great Statesman retired from business, he amused

All vaft poffeffions (just the same the case
Whether you call them Villa, Park, or Chace) 255
Alas, my BATHURST! what will they avail?
Join Cotfwood hills to Saperton's fair dale,
Let rifing Granaries and Temples here,
There mingled farms and pyramids appear,
Link towns to towns with avenues of oak,

Enclose whole downs in walls, 'tis all a joke!
Inexorable Death fhall level all,

And trees, and ftones, and farms, and farmer fall.
• Gold, Silver, Iv'ry, Vases sculptur'd high,
Paint, Marble, Gems, and robes of Perfian dye, 265
There are who have not-and thank heav'n there are,
Who, if they have not, think not worth their care.
Talk what you will of Tafte, my friend, you'll
find,

260

270

Two of a face, as foon as of a mind.
Why, of two brothers, rich and restless one
Plows, burns, manures, and toils from fun to fun;
The other flights, for women, fports, and wines,
All Townshend's Turnips, and all Grovenor's mines:
Why one like Bu-with pay and scorn content,
Bows and votes on, in Court and Parliament;

275

NOTES.

himself in Husbandry; and was particularly fond of that kind of rural improvement which arifes from Turnips; it was the favourite subject of his conversation.

Scit Genius, natale comes qui temperat aftrum:
NATURAE DEUS HUMANAE, mortalis in unum-
Quodque caput, vultu mutabilis, albus, et ater.

Utar, et ex modico, quantum res pofcet, acervo
Tollam: nec metuam, quid de me judicet haeres,
Quod non plura datis invenerit. et tamen idem
Scire volam, quantum fimplex hilarisque nepoti
Difcrepet, et quantum difcordet parcus avaro.
Diftat enim, fpargas tua prodigus, an neque fumtum
Invitus facias, nec plura parare labores;

Ac potius, puer ut feftis Quinquatribus olim,

Exiguo gratoque fruaris tempore raptim.

f Pauperies immunda procul procul abfit: ego, utrum Nave ferar magna an parva; ferar unus et idem.

NOTES.

VER. 277. fly, like Oglethorpe,] Employed in fettling the Colony of Georgia.

VER. 280. That God of Nature, etc.] Here our Poet had an opportunity of illuftrating his own Philofophy; and thereby giving a much better fenfe to his Original; and correcting both the naturalism and the fate of Horace, which are covertly conveyed in these words,