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To pluck a titled poet's borrow'd wing;
A statesman's logic unconvinc'd can hear,
And dare to slumber o'er the Gazetteer;
Despise a fool in half his pension dress'd,
And strive in vain to laugh at Clodio's jest?
Others, with softer smiles and subtler art,
Can sap the principles, or taint the heart;
With more address a lover's note convey,

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Or bribe a virgin's innocence away.

Well may they rise, while I, whose rustick tongue
Ne'er knew to puzzle right, or varnish wrong,
Spurn'd as a beggar, dreaded as a spy,
Live unregarded, unlamented die.

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For what but social guilt the friend endears?
Who shares Orgilio's crimes, his fortune shares.
But thou, should tempting villany present
All Marlb'rough hoarded, or all Villiers spent,
Turn from the glitt'ring bribe thy scornful eye,
Nor sell for gold, what gold could never buy,
The peaceful slumber, self-approving day,
Unsullied fame, and conscience ever gay.

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The cheated nation's happy fav'rites see!

Mark whom the great caress, who frown on me!
London, the needy villain's gen'ral home,
The common sewer of Paris and of Rome,
With eager thirst, by folly or by fate,
Sucks in the dregs of each corrupted state.
Forgive my transports on a theme like this,
I cannot bear a French metropolis.

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Illustrious Edward! from the realms of day,
The land of heroes and of saints survey;
Nor hope the British lineaments to trace,
The rustick grandeur, or the surly grace,
But, lost in thoughtless ease and empty show,
Behold the warrior dwindled to a beau;
Sense, freedom, piety, refin'd away,

Of France the mimick, and of Spain the prey.
All that at home no more can beg or steal,
Or like a gibbet better than a wheel,
Hiss'd from the stage, or hooted from the court,
Their air, their dress, their politicks import;
Obsequious, artful, voluble, and gay,

On Britain's fond credulity they prey.

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All sciences a fasting Monsieur knows,
And bid him go to hell, to hell he goes.

Ah! what avails it, that, from slav'ry far,
I drew the breath of life in English air;
Was early taught a Briton's right to prize,
And lisp the tale of Henry's victories; V
If the gull'd conqueror receives the chain,
And flattery prevails when arms are vain?
Studious to please and ready to submit,
The supple Gaul was born a parasite:
Still to his int'rest true, where'er he goes,
Wit, brav'ry, worth, his lavish tongue bestows;
In ev'ry face a thousand graces shine,
From ev'ry tongue flows harmony divine.
These arts in vain our rugged natives try,
Strain out with fault'ring diffidence a lie,
And get a kick for awkward flattery.

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Besides, with justice this discerning age Admires their wond'rous talents for the stage: Well may they venture on the mimick's art,

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Who play from morn to night a borrow'd part;

Practis'd their master's notions to embrace,

Repeat his maxims, and reflect his face;

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With ev'ry wild absurdity comply,

And view each object with another's eye;

To shake with laughter ere the jest they hear,

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To pour at will the counterfeited tear,
And as their patron hints the cold or heat,
To shake in dog days, in December sweat.
How, when competitors like these contend,
Can surly virtue hope to fix a friend?
Slaves that with serious impudence beguile,
And lie without a blush, without a smile;
Can Balbo's eloquence applaud, and swear
He gropes his breeches with a monarch's air.
For arts like these preferr'd, admir'd, caress'd,
They first invade your table, then your breast;
Explore your secrets with insidious art,
Watch the weak hour, and ransack all the heart
Then soon your ill-plac'd confidence repay,
Commence your lords, and govern or betray.

By numbers here from shame or censure free
All crimes are safe, but hated poverty.

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This, only this, the rigid law pursues;

This, only this, provokes the snarting muse.

The sober trader at a tatter'd cloak

Wakes from his dream, and labours for a joke;

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Than when a blockhead's insult points the dart./
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 ev'ry where confess'd,
SLOW RISES WORTH, BY POVERTY DEPRESS'D:
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.

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But hark! th' affrighted crowd's tumultuous cries 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

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Sustain the approaching fire's tremendous light;
Swift from pursuing horrors take your way,
And leave your little ALL to flames a prey;
Then thro' the world a wretched vagrant roam,
For where can starving merit find a home?
In vain your mournful narrative disclose,

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While all neglect, and most insult your woes.

Should heaven's just bolts Orgilio's wealth confound,

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And spread his flaming palace on the ground,

Swift o'er the land the dismal rumour flies,

And publick mournings pacify the skies;

The laureat tribe in venal verse relate
How virtue wars with persecuting fate;
With well-feign'd gratitude the pension'd band
Refund the plunder of the beggar'd land.
See! while he builds, the gaudy vassals come,

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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,
Orgilio sees the golden pile aspire,

And hopes from angry heav'n another fire.

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,

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And stretch thy prospects o'er the smiling land,
For less than rent the dungeons of the Strand;

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There prune thy walks, support thy drooping flow'rs,

Direct thy rivulets, and twine thy bow'rs,

And, while thy grounds a cheap repast afford,

Despise the dainties of a venal lord:

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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.
Prepare for death, if here at night you roam,
And sign your will before you sup from home.
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.

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Yet ev'n 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,

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And shun the shining train and golden coach.

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;

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Invades the sacred hour of silent rest,

And leaves, unseen, a dagger in your breast.

Scarce can our fields, such crowds at Tyburn die,

With hemp the gallows and the fleet supply.
Propose your schemes, ye senatorian band,

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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 gaol in Alfred's golden reign

Could half the nation's criminals contain;

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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,

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The tide retiring, calls me from the land:

Farewell!—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.

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THE VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES.

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 :
Then say how hope and fear, desire and hate,
O'erspread with snares the clouded maze of fate,
Where wav'ring man, betray'd by vent'rous pride
To tread the dreary paths without a guide,
As treach'rous 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 ev'ry wish th' afflictive dart,
Each gift of nature and each grace of art;
With fatal heat impetuous courage glows,
With fatal sweetness elocution flows,

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