THE

VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES,

THE

TENTH SATIRE OF JUVENAL.

L

TET (0) Obfervation with extenfive View,
Survey Mankind, from China to Peru;
Remark each anxious Toil, each eager Strife,
And watch the bufy Scenes of crowded Life;
Then fay how Hope and Fear, Defire and Hate,
O'erfpread 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 threach'rous Phantoms in the Mift delude,
Shuns fancied Ills, or chafes airy Good.
How rarely Reafon guides the ftubborn Choice,
Rules the bold Hand, or prompts the fuppliant Voice,
How Nations fink, by darling Schemes opprefs'd,
When Vengeance liftens to the Fool's Requeft.
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 Sweetnefs Elocution flows, but
Impeachment ftops the Speaker's pow'rful Breath,
And reftlefs Fire precipitates on Death.

(6) But fcarce obferv'd the Knowing and the Bold, Fall in the gen'ral Maffacre of Gold; Wide-wafting Peft! that rages unconfin'd,

And crowds with Crimes the Records of Mankind;

ce (a) Ver. 1-21. (b) Ver, 12-22,

For

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 buys, The Dangers gather as the Treasures rise.

Let Hift 'ry tell where rival Kings command, And dubious Title thakes the madded Land, When Statutes glean the Refufe of the Sword, How much more fafe the Vaffal than the Lord; Low fculks the Hind beneath the Rage of Pow'r, And leaves the wealthy Traytor in the Tow'r; Untouch'd his Cottage, and his Slumbers found, Tho' Confifcation's Vultures hover round.

The needy Traveller, ferene and gay,

Walks the wild Heath, and fings his Toil away.
Does Envy feize thee? crush th' upbraiding Joy,
Increase his Riches and his Peace deftroy,
New Fears in dire Viciffitude invade,
The ruftling Brake alarms, and quiv'ring Shade,
Nor Light nor Darkness bring his Pain Relief,
One fhews the Plunder, and one hides the Thief.
Yet (4) fill one gen'ral Cry the Skies affails,
And Gain and Grandeur load the tainted Gales;
Few know the toiling Statéfman's Fear or Care,ort
Th' infidious Rival and the gaping Heir,

Once (d) more, Democritus, arife on Earth,
With chearful Wisdom and inftructive Mirth,
See motley Life in modern Trappings dress'd,
And feed with varied Fools th' eternal Jeft: [price
Thou who couldft laugh where Want enchain'd Ca-
Toil crufh'd Conceit, and Man was of apiece;
Where Wealth unlov'd without a Mourner dy'd
And scarce a Sycophant was fed by Pride;
Where ne'er was known the Form of mock Debate,
Or feen a new-made Mayor's unwieldy State;
Where Change of Fav'rites made no Change of Laws,
And Senates heard, before they judg'dia Caufe;

1

(c) Ver. 23-27,

(d) Ver. 28-55,

How

How wouldst thou fake at Britain's modifh Tribe,
Dart the quick Taunt, and edge the piercing Gibe?
Attentive Truth and Nature to decry,

And pierce each Scene with philofophic Eye.
To thee were folemn Toys or empty Shew,
The Robes of Pleasure and the Veils of Woe:
All aid the Farce, and all thy Mirth maintain,
Whofe Joys are caufelefs, or whofe Griefs are vain.
Such was the Scorn that fill'd the Sage's Mind,
Renew'd at ev'ry Glance on human Kind;
How juft that Scorn ere yet thy Voice declare,
Search every State, and canvafs ev'ry Prayer. [Gate,
(e) Unnumber'd Suppliants crowd Preferment's
Athirft for Wealth, and burning to be Great;
Delufive Fortune bears th' inceflant Call,
They mount, they fhine, evaporate, and fail.
On ev'ry Stage the Foes of Peace attend,

Hate dogs their Flight, and Infult mocks their End.
Love ends with Hope, the finking Statefman'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 defcends the painted Face,
That hung the bright Palladium of the Place,
And fmoak'd in Kitchens, or in Auctions fold,
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 juftifies the Fall,
And Deteftation rids th' indignant Wall

But will not Britain hear the laft Appeal,
Sign her Foes doom, or guard her Favrites Zeal;
Thro' Freedom's Sons no more Remonftrance rings,
Degrading Nobles and controuling Kings;;
Our fupple Tribes reprefs their Patriot Throats,
And ask no Queftions but the Price of Votes;

With weekly Libels and feptennial Ale,
Their With is full to Riot and to Rail.

In full-blown Dignity, fee Wolfey stand, Law in his Voice, and Fortune, in his Hand: To him the Church, the Realm, their Pow'rs confign, Thro' him the Rays of regal Bounty shine, Still to new Heights his reftlefs Wishes tow'r, Claim leads to Claim, and Pow'r advances Pow'r; Till Conqueft unrefifted ceas'd to please, And Rights fubmitted left him none to feize. At length his Sov'reign frowns-the Train of State Mark the keen Glance, and watch the Sign to hate. Where-e'er he turns he meets a Stranger's Eye, His Suppliants fcorn him, and his Followers fly; At once is loft the Pride of awful State, The golden Canopy, the glitt'ring Plate, The regal Palace, the luxurious Board, The liv'ried Army, and the menjal Lord, ‹ With Age, with Cares, with Maladies opprefs'd, He feeks the Refuge of monaftic Reft. Grief aids Difeafe, remember'd Folly ftings, And his laft Sighs reproach the Faith of Kings. Speak thou, whofe Thoughts at humble Peace repine,

Shall Wolfey's Wealth, with Wolfey's End be thine?
Or liv'ft thou now, with fafer Pride content,

The wifeft Juftice on the Banks of Trent?,
For why did Wolfey near the Steeps of Fate,
On weak Foundations raife th' enormous Weight?
Why but to fink beneath Misfortune's Blow,
With louder Ruin to the Gulphs below?

What (f) gave great Villiers to th'Affaffin's Knifes
And fix'd Difeafe on Harley's clofing Life?
What murder'd Wentworth, and what exil'd Hyde?
By Kings protected, and to Kings ally'd?
What but their With indulg'd in Courts to fhine,
And Pow'r too great to keep, or to refign?

(f) Ver. 108-213.

A

When

When (g) first the College-rolls receive his Name, The young Enthufiaft quits his Eafe for Fame; Through all his Veins the Fever of Renown Spreads from the Atrong Contagion of the Gown ; C'er Bodley's Dome his future Labours fpread, And Bacon's Mansion trembles o'er his Head. Are these thy Views? proceed, illuftrious Youth, And Virtue guard thee to the Throne of Truth! Yet fhould thy Soul indulge the gen'rous Heat, Till captive Science yields her last Retreat; Should Reafon guide thee with her brightest Ray, And pour on mifty Doubt refiftlefs Day; a Should no falfe Kindness lure to loose Delight, Nor Praise relax, nor Difficulty fright; Should tempting Novelty thy Cell refrain, And Sloth effufe her opiate Fumes in vain; Should Beauty blunt on Fops her fatal Dart, Nor claim the Triumph of a letter'd Hearts 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 paffing World to turn thine Eyes, And paufe awhile from Letters, to be wife; There mark what Ills the Scholar's Life affail, Toil, Envy, Want, the Patron, and the Jail. See Nations flowly wife, and meanly juft, To buried Merit raife the tardy Buft. If Dreams yet flatter, once again attend, Hear Lydiat's Life, and Galileo's End...

Nor deem, when Learning her lat Prize bestows, The glitt'ring Eminence exempt from Woes; See when the Vulgar 'fcape, defpis'd or aw❜d, Rebellion's vengeful Talons feize on Laud. (g) Ver. 114—132.

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 pafs under it.

From