Can fee each Virtue and each Grace unite,
And taste the Raptures of a pure Delight ;
You visit oft his awful Page with Care,
And view that bright Assemblage treasur’d there;
You trace the Chain that links his deep Design,
And

pour new Lustre on the glowing Line.
Yet deign to hear the efforts of a Muse,
Whose eye, not wing, his ardent flight pursues ;
Intent from this great Archetype to draw 25
SATIRE's bright Form, and fix her equal Law;
Pleas’d if from hence th’unlearn’d may comprehend,
And rev'rence His and SATIRE's gen'rous End.

In ev'ry Breast there burns an active flame, The Love of Glory, or the Dread of Shame: 30 The Passion One, tho' various it appear, As brighten’d into Hope, or dimm'd by Fear. The lisping Infant, and the hoary Sire, And Youth and Manhood feel the heart-born fire: The Charms of Praise the Coy, the Modest wooe, And only fly, that Glory may pursue : 'She, Pow'r resistless, rules the wise and great ; Bends ev’n reluctant Hermits at her feet;

36

· Haunts the proud City, and the lowly Shade, And sways alike the Scepter and the Spade. 40

Thus Heav’n in Pity wakes the friendly Flame, To urge

Mankind on Deeds that merit Fame: But Man, vain Man, in folly only wise, Rejects the Manna sent him from the Skies: With rapture hears corrupted Passion's call, 45 Still proudly prone to mingle with the stall. As each deceitful shadow tempts his view, He for the imag'd Substance quits the true; Eager to catch the visionary Prize, In quest of Glory plunges deep in Vice; 50 'Till madly zealous, impotently vain, He forfeits ev'ry Praise he pants to gain.

Thus still imperious Nature plies her part ; And still her Dictates work in ev'ry heart. Each Pow'r that sov'reign Nature bids enjoy, 55 Man may corrupt, but Man can ne'er destroy. Like mighty rivers, with resistless force The Passions rage, obstructed in their course; Swell to new heights, forbidden paths explore, And drown those Virtues which they fed before.

And sure, the deadliest Foe to Virtue's flame,
Our worst of Evils, is perverted Shame.
Beneath this load what abject numbers groan,
Th’entangled Slaves to folly not their own!
Meanly by fashionable fear oppress’d, 65
We seek our Virtues in each other's breast;
Blind to ourselves, adopt each foreign Vice,
Another's weakness, intrest, or caprice.
Each Fool to low Ambition, poorly great,
That pines in splendid wretchedness of state, 70
Tir'd in the treach'rous Chase, would nobly yield,
And but for Shame, like SYLLA, quit the field:
The Dæmon Shame paints strong the ridicule,
And whispers close, “the World will call you Fool."

Behold, yon Wretch, by impious fashion driv’n, ,
Believes and trembles while he scoffs at Heav'n.
By weakness strong, and bold thro' fear alone,
He dreads the sneer by shallow Coxcombs thrown;
Dauntless pursues the path Spinoza trod;
To Man a Coward, and a Brave to God. 80

IMIT A TIONS.
VER. 80. T. Man a Coward, etc.]

Vois tu ce Libertin en public intrepide,
Qui preche contre un Dieu que dans son Ame il croit?

Faith, Justice, Heav'n itself now quit their hold, When to false Fame the captiv'd heart is fold: Hence, blind to truth, relentless Cato dy'd ; Nought could subdue his Virtue, but his Pride. Hence chaste Lucretia’s Innocence betray'd 85 Fell by that Honour which was meant its aid. Thus Virtue finks beneath unnumber'd woes, When Passions, born ber friends, revolt her foes.

Hence Satire's pow'r: 'Tis her corrective part, To calm the wild disorders of the heart.

90 She points the arduous height where Glory lies, And teaches mad Ambition to be wise : In the dark bosom wakes the fair desire, Draws good from ill, a brighter flame from fire; Strips black Oppression of her

gay disguise,

95 And bids the Hag in native horror rise; Strikes tow'ring Pride and lawless Rapine dead, And plants the wreath on Virtue's awful head.

Nor boasts the Muse a vain imagin’d Pow'r, Tho' oft The mourn those ills she cannot cure. 100

IMITATIONS.
Il iroit embrasser la Verité, qu'il voit;
Mais de ses faux Amis il craint la Raillerie,
Et ne brave ainsi Dieu que par Polironnerie.

BOILIAU, Ep. iii.

111

The Worthy court her, and the Worthless fear;
Who shun her piercing eye, that eye revere.
Her awful voice the Vain and Vile obey,
And ev'ry foe to Wisdom feels her sway. 104
Smarts, Pedants, as she smiles, no more are vain;
Desponding Fops resign the clouded cane :
Hush'd at her voice, pert Folly's self is still,
And Dulness wonders while she drops her quill.
Like the arm’d Bee, with art most subtly true,
From poys’nous Vice lhe draws a healing dew:
Weak are the ties that civil arts can find,
To quell the ferment of the tainted mind:
Cunning evades, securely wrapt in wiles;
And force strong-sinew'd rends th’unequal toils:
The stream of vice impetuous drives along, 115
Too deep for Policy, for Pow'r too strong.
Ev'n fair Religion, Native of the skies,
Scorn'd by the Crowd, seeks refuge with the Wise;
The Crowd with laughter spurns her awful train,
And Mercy courts, and Justice frowns in vain. 120
But SATIRE's shaft can pierce the harden'd breast:
She plays a ruling Passion on the rest :

IMITATIONS. Ver. 110. From poys'nous Vice, etc.] Alluding to these Lines of Mr. Pope ;

In the nice Bee what Art fo fubtly true
From poys'nous Herbs extracts a healing Dew?