Teach every thought within its bounds to roll,
And keep the equal measure of the soul.

205

"Soon as I enter at my country door, My mind resumes the thread it dropp'd before; Thoughts, which at Hyde-park-corner I forgot, Meet and rejoin me, in the pensive grot. There all alone, and compliments apart, I ask these sober questions of my heart.

210

If, when the more you drink, the more you

crave,

215

You tell the doctor; when the more you have,
The more you want, why not with equal ease
Confess as well your folly, as disease?
The heart resolves this matter in a trice,
"Men only feel the smart, but not the vice."
"When golden angels cease to cure the evil,
You give all royal witchcraft to the devil :
When servile chaplains cry, that birth and place
Indue a peer with honour, truth, and grace,
Look in that breast, most dirty D-! be fair,
Say, can you find out one such lodger there?
Yet still, not heeding what your heart can teach,
You go to church to hear these flatterers preach.
Indeed, could wealth bestow or wit or merit,
A grain of courage, or a spark of spirit,

NOTES.

Survey thy soul; not what thou dost appear,
But what thou art; and find the beggar there.

Dryden. Wakefield.

Ver. 220. When servile chaplains cry,] Dr. Kennet. Warburton.

Si cupidum timidumque minùs te; nempe ruberes, Viveret in terris te si quis avarior uno.

"Si proprium est, quod quis librâ mercatus et

ære est,

Quædam (si credis consultis) mancipat usus:
Qui te pascit ager, tuus est: et villicus Orbî,
Cùm segetes occat tibi mox frumenta daturas,
Te dominum sentit.

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

'Emptor Aricini quondam, Veientis et arvi, Emptum cœnat olus, quamvis aliter putat; emptis Sub noctem gelidam lignis calefactat ahenum. Sed vocat usque suum, quâ populus adsita certis Limitibus vicina refugit jurgia: tanquam *Sit proprium quidquam, puncto quod mobilis horæ,

NOTES.

Ver. 229. If D*** loved] I have searched in vain for the name to whom this blank belongs. Of all sorts of writing, personal satire is not only the most unintelligible, but the most short-lived. How many of the characters to whom La Bruyère alludes, are unknown; Theodas, is Santeuil; Menalcas, Count de Brancas.

It was a long time before it was understood that M. de la Rochefoucault, in his 71st maxim, meant to point out the Chevalier de Rohan in his 342d maxim, the D. d'Espernon; and in his 393d, M. le Tellier; and in maxim 200, the narrow conversation of Boileau and Racine, who never talked on any subject but poetry and criticism. Three parts of Hudibras are become unintelligible. Warton.

The wisest man might blush, I must agree,
If D*** loved sixpence more than he.

"If there be truth in law, and use can give 230 A property, that's yours on which you live. Delightful Abs-court, if its fields afford

Their fruits to you, confesses you its lord:

235

All Worldly's hens, nay partridge, sold to town,
His venison too, a guinea makes your own:
He bought at thousands, what with better wit
You purchase as you want, and bit by bit;
Now, or long since, what difference will be found?
You pay a penny, and he paid a pound.

'Heathcote himself, and such large-acred men,
Lords of fat E'sham, or of Lincoln fen,
Buy every stick 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 devil o'erlooks from Lincoln town.
The laws of God, as well as of the land,
Abhor, a perpetuity should stand:

Estates have wings, and hang in fortune's power
"Loose on the point of every wavering hour,
Ready, by force, or of your own accord,
By sale, at least by death, to change their lord.

NOTES.

250

Ver. 232. Delightful Abs-court,] A farm over against Hampton Court. Warburton. Ver. 248. hang in fortune's power-Loose on the point of every wavering hour.] A modern idea (the magnetic needle) here supplied the imitator with expression much superior to his original.

Warburton.

Nunc prece, nunc pretio, nunc vi, nunc sorte su

premâ,

Permutet dominos, et cedat in altera jura.

Sic, quia perpetuus nulli datur usus, et hæres Hæredem alterius, velut unda supervenit undam : Quid vici prosunt, aut horrea? quidve Calabris Saltibus adjecti Lucani; si metit Orcus Grandia cum parvis, non exorabilis auro?

"Gemmas, marmor, ebur, Tyrrhena sigilla, ta-
bellas,

Argentum, vestes Gætulo murice tinctas,
Sunt qui non habeant; est qui non curat habere.
Cur alter fratrum cessare, et ludere, et ungui
Præferat Herodis palmetis pinguibus; alter
Dives et importunus, ad umbram lucis ab ortu
Silvestrem flammis et ferro mitiget agrum:

NOTES.

Ver. 254. All vast possessions,] The next ten lines are far superior to the original, both for their poetry and philosophy; and for the artful introduction of the name of his excellent and amiable friend, Lord Bathurst. Warton.

Ver. 257. Join Cotswood hills to Saperton's fair dale,] Saperton. His seat is near the Cotswold hills: and his favourite passion is well alluded to in ver. 260.

Link towns to towns with avenues of oak:

for the avenues of oaks at Saperton are very magnificent. Bennet.

Wakefield.

Ver. 264. Gold, silver,] These four lines are fine examples of the close, energetic, comprehensive style, of which he was so perfect a master. Warton.

Ver. 273. All Townshend's turnips,] Lord Townshend, Secretary of State to George the First and Second. When this great statesman retired from business, he amused himself in husbandry; and was particularly fond of that kind of rural improvement which

arises

Man? and for ever? wretch! what would'st thou

have?

Heir urges heir, like wave impelling wave.
All vast possessions, (just the same the case
Whether you call them villa, park, or chase,) 255
Alas, my BATHURST! what will they avail?
Join Cotswood hills to Saperton's fair dale,
Let rising 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 shall level all,

260

And trees, and stones, and farms, and farmer fall.
*Gold, silver, ivory, vases sculptured high,
Paint, marble, gems, and robes of Persian dye, 265
There are who have not,—and, thank Heaven, there

are,

Who, if they have not, think not worth their care. "Talk what you will of taste, my friend, you'll find

Two of a face, as soon as of a mind.

Why, of two brothers, rich and restless one 270 Ploughs, burns, manures, and toils from sun to sun; The other slights, for women, sports, and wines, All Townshend's turnips, and all Grosvenor's mines;

NOTES.

arises from turnips; it was the favourite subject of his conversation. Warburton.

He is said to have been slow in his parts, rough in his manners, and impatient of contradiction, but generous and humane at bottom; and of strong, good judgment.

Warton.