'Twas here Ambition kept her court,
A phantom of gigantic port:

The fav'rite that fuftain'd her throne
Was Falfchocd, by her vizard known;
Next stood Miftruft, with frequent figh,
Disorder'd look, and fquinting eye;
While meagre Envy claim'd a place;
And Jellouly, with jaundic'd face.

But where is Happinefs?' I cried.
My guardian turn'd, and thus replied:
Mosal, by Folly ftill beguil'd,
Thou haft not yet outftripp'd the child;
Thou who haft twenty winters feen
(I hardly think thee paft fifteen)
To ask if Happiness can dwell
With ev'ry dirty imp of hell!
Go to the fchool-boy; he fhall preach
What twenty winters cannot teach ;
He'll tell thee, from his weekly theme,
That thy purfuit is all a dream;
That blifs ambitious views difowns,
And, felf-dependant, laughs at thrones;
Prefers the ades, and lowly feats,
Whither fair Innocence retreats.
So the coy lily of the vale

• Shuns eminence, and loves the dale.'
I blush'd; and now we crofs'd the plain,
To find the money-getting train;
Thofe filent, foug, commercial bands,
With bufy looks, and dirty hands.
Amidst thefe thoughtful crowds, the old
Plac'd all their happiness in gold;
And furely, if there's blifs below,
Thefe hoary heads the fecret know.
We journey'd with the plodding crew,
When foon 2 temple rofe to view;
A Gothic pile! with mots o'ergrown;
Strong were the walls, and built with ftone.
Without, a thoufand maftiffs wait;
A thoufand bolts fecure the gate.
We fought a miflion long in vain;
For here all favours fell for gain.
The greedy porter yields to gold;
His fee receiv'd, the gates unfold.
Alembled nations here we found,
And view'd the cringing herds around,
Who daily facrific'd to Wealth

Their honour, confcience, peace, and health.
I faw no, charms that could engage;
The god appear'd like fordid age,
With hocked nofe, and famifh'd jaws,
But ferpent's eyes, and harpy's claws:
Behind food Fear, that rettlefs fprite,
Which haunts the watches of the night;
And viper Care, that ftings fo deep,
Whofe deadly venom murders fleep.

We haften now to Pleafure's bow'rs,
Where the gay tribes fat crown'd with flow'rs:
Here Beauty ev'ry charm display'd,
And Love infiam'd the yielding maid;
Delicious wine our tafte empleys;
His crinifon bowl exalts our joys.
I felt its gen'rous pow'r, and thought
The pearl was found that long I fought.

Determin'd here to fix my home,

I blefs'd the change, nor wifh'd to roam:
The feraph difapprov'd my stay;
Spread her fair plumes, and wing'd away.

Alas! whene'er we talk of blifs,
How prone is man to judge amifs!
See, a long train of ills confpires
To fcourge our uncontroul'd defires;
Like fummer fwarms difcafes crowd,
Each bears a crutch, or each a shroud :
Fever, that thirty fury, came,
With inextinguishable flame;
Confumption, fworn ally of Death!
Crept flowly on with panting breath;
Gout roar'd, and thew'd his throbbing fect;
And Dropfy took the drunkard's feat;
Stone brought his tort'ring racks; and near
Sat Palfy, thaking in his chair.

A mangled youth, beneath a fhade,
A melancholy fcene difplay'd:
His nofelefs face, and loathfome ftains,
Proclaim'd the poifon in his veins;
He rais'd his eyes, he fmote his breaft,
He wept aloud, and thus addrefs'd:

Forbear the harlot's falfe embrace,
Tho' lewdnefs wear an angel's face:
Be wife, by my experience taught;
I die, alas! for want of thought!'

As he who travels Lybia's plains,
Where the fierce lion lawlefs reigns,
Is feiz'd with fear and wild difmay,
When the grim foc obftructs his way;
My foul was pierc'd with equal fright,
My tott'ring limbs oppos'd my flight:
I call'd on Virtue, but in vain;
Her abfence quicken'd ev'ry pain.
At length the flighted angel heard;
The dear refulgent form appear'd.

Prefumptuous youth!' the faid, and frown'
(My heart-ftrings flutter'd at the found);
Who turns to me reluctant ears,
Shall fhed repeated floods of tears.
Thefe rivers fhall for ever laft;
There's no retracting what is past :
Nor think avenging ills to fhun;
Play a falfe card, and you're undone.

Of Pleafure's gilded baits beware,
Nor tempt the Syren's fatal fnare:
Forego this curs'd, detefted place;
Abhor the ftrumpet, and her race.
Had you thofe fofter paths purfued,
Perdition, ftripling, had enfùed:
Yes, fly-you ftand upon its brink;
To-morrow is too late to think.

But prize, my child, oh prize my rules,
And leave Deception to her fools.
Ambition deals in tinfel toys;
Her traffic gewgaws, fleeting joys!
An errant juggler in difguife,
'Who holds falfe optics to your eyes.
But, ah! how quick the fhadows pafs!
Tho' the bright vifions thro' her glafs
Charm at a distance; yet, when near,
The bafelefs fabrics difappear.

"Nor riches boaft intrinfic worth;
Their charms, at beft, fuperior earth:
Thefe oft the heaven-born mind enflave,
• And make an honeft man a knave.'

Wealth cures my wants!" the mifer cries; 'Be not deceiv'd-the mifer lves; One want he has, with all his ftore,

That worst of wants-the want of more.' "Take Pleafure, Wealth, and Pomp away, "And where is Happinefs?" you fay.

• Tis here—and may be yours-for, know, "I'm all that's happiness below.

'To Vice I leave tumultuous joys; "Mine is the ftill and fofter voice, That whifpers peace when forms invade, And mufic through the midnight shade.

Come, then, be mine in ev'ry part,
Nor give me less than all your heart;
When troubles difcompofe your breast,
I'll enter there, a cheerful gucft:
'My converfe fhall your cares beguile,
The little world within fhall fiile;
And then it fcarce imports a jot,
Whether the great world frowns or not.

And when the closing scenes prevail,
When wealth, ftate, pleafure, all shall fail;
'All that a foolish world admires,
'Or Pathion craves, or Pride infpires:
At that important hour of need,
Virtue fhall prove a friend indeed!
My hands fhall fmooth thy dying bed,
My arms fuftain thy drooping head:
• And when the painful ftruggle's o'er,
And that vain thing, the world, no more į
I'll bear my fav'rite fon away
To rapture and eternal day.'

§ 118. Vifion VI. Friendship. RIENDSHIP! thou foft propitious pow'r! Sweet regent of the focial hour! Sublime thy joys, nor understood But by the virtuous and the good! Cabal and Riot take thy name, But is a falfe, affected claim; In heaven if love and friendship dwell, Can they affociate e'er with hell?

Thou art the fame thro' change of times, Thro' frozen zones, and burning climes; From the equator to the pole,

And, fince thy choice is always free,
I blefs thee for thy files on me.
When forrows fwell the tempeft high,
Thou, a kind port, art always nigh;
For aching hearts a fov❜reign cute,
Not foft nepenthe half fo fure!
And, when returning comforts rife,
Thou the bright fun that gilds our skies.
While thefe ideas warm'd my breast,
My weary eyelids ftole to reft;
When fancy re-affum'd the theme,
And furnish'd this inftructive dream:
I fail'd upon a stormy fca
(Thoufands embark'd alike with me);
My fkiff was finall, and weak befide,
Not built, methought, to stein the tide.
The winds along the furges fweep,
The wrecks lie fcatter'd thro' the deep;
Aloud the foaming billows roar;
Unfriendly rocks forbid the thore.

While all our various courfe pursue,
A fpacious-ifle falutes our view:
Two queens, with, tempers diff'ring wide,
This new-difcover'd world divide;
A river parts their proper claim,
And truth its celebrated name.

One fide a beauteous tract of ground
Prefents, with living verdure crown'd:
The feafons temp'rate, foft, and mild,
And a kind fun that always finil'd:
Few ftorms moleft the natives here;
Cold is the only ill they fear.
This happy cline, and grateful foil,
With plenty crowns the labourer's toil.

Here Friendthip's happy kingdom grew;
Her realms were finall, her fubjects few :
A thousand charms the palace grace;
A rock of adamant its bafe.

Tho thunders roll, and lightnings fly,
This structure braves th' inclement fky:
E'en time, which other piles devours,
And mocks the pride of human pow'rs,
Partial to Friendship's pile alone,
Cements the joints, and binds the ftone;
Ripens the beauties of the place,
And calls to life each latent grace.

Around the throne in order ftand
Four Amazons, a trufty band!
Friends ever faithful to advise,
Or to defend when dangers rife.
Here Fortitude, in coat of mail;
There Juftice lifts her golden fcale:
Two hardy chiefs, who perfevere,
With form erect, and brow fevere;
Who fimile at perils, pains, and death,
And triumph with their lateft breath.

Temp'rance, that comely matron,
Guardian of all the virtues here;
Adorn'd with ev'ry blooming grace,
Without one wrinkle in her face.

's nca

The fame kind angel thro' the whole:

But Prudence most attracts the fight, And fhines pre-eminently bright. To view her various thoughts that rife, She holds a mirror to her eyes; The mirror, faithful to its charge, Reflects the virgin's foul in large. A Virtue with a fofter air Was handmaid to the regal fair. This nymph, indulgent, conftant, kind, Derives from Heaven her spotlefs mind; When actions wear a dubious face, Puts the best meaning on the case; She fpreads her arms, and bares her breast, Takes in the naked and distress'd; Prefers the hungry orphan's cries, And from her queen obtains fupplies. The maid, who acts this lovely part, Grafp'd in her hand a bleeding heart. Fair Charity, be thou my gueft, And be thy constant couch my breast! But virtues of inferior name

Crowd round the throne with equal claim

In loyalty by none furpafs'd,

They hold allegiance to the laft.

Not ancient records e'er can fhow
That one deferted to the foc.

The river's other fide display'd Alternate plots of flow'rs and thade, Where poppies fhone with various hue, Where yielding willows plenteous grew; And humble plants, by trav'llers thought With flow but certain poifon fraught. Beyond thefe fcenes the eye defcried A pow'rful realm extended wide; Whose bound'ries from north-east begun, And ftretch'd to meet the fouth-west fun. Here Flatt'ry boafts defpotic fway, And basks in all the warmth of day.

Long practis'd in Deception's fchool,
The tyrant knew the arts to rule;
Elated with th' imperial robe,
She plans the conqueft of the globe;
And, aided by her fervile trains,
Leads kings, and fons of kings, in chains.
Her darling minifter is Pride

(Who ne'er was known to change his fide)
A friend to all her int'refts juft,
And active to discharge his truft;
Carefs'd alike by high and low,
The idol of the belle and beau :
In ev'ry fhape he fhews his fkill,
And forms her fubjects to his will;
Enters their houfes and their hearts,
And gains his point before he parts.
Sure never minifter was known
So zealous for his fov'reign's throne!
Three fifters, fimilar in mien,
Were maids of honour to the queen:
Who farther favours fhar'd befide,
As daughters of her statesman, Pride.

The first, Conceit, with tow'ring creft,
Who look'd with fcorn upon the rest;
Fond of herself, nor lefs, I deem,
Than duchefs in her own esteem.

Next Affectation, fair and young,
With half-form'd accents on her tongue;
Whose antic shapes, and various face,
Distorted ev'ry native grace.

Then Vanity, a wanton maid, Flaunting in bruffels and brocade; Fantaftic, frolicfome, and wild, With all the trinkets of a child.

The people, loyal to the queen, Wore their attachment in their mien: With cheerful heart they homage paid, And happiest he who moft obey'd; While they who fought their own applause, Promoted most their fov'reign's caufe. The minds of all were fraught with guile; Their manners diffolute and vile;

And ev'ry tribe, like Pagans, run

To kneel before the rifing fun.

But now fome clam'rous founds arife,

And all the pleafing vision flies.

Once more I clos'd my eyes to fleep,

And gain'd th' imaginary deep;

Fancy prefided at the helm,

And steer'd me back to Friendship's realm.

But, oh! with horror I relate

The revolutions of her state;

The Trojan chief could hardly more
His Afiatic tow'rs deplore.

For Flatt'ry view'd those fairer plains
With longing eyes, where Friendship reigns;
With envy heard her neighbour's fame,
And often figh'd to gain the fame.
At length, by pride and int'reft fir'd,
To Friendship's kingdom she aspir'd.

And, now commencing open foe,
She plans in thought fome mighty blow;
Draws out her forces on the green,
And marches to invade the queen.

The river Truth the hofts withstood,
And roll'd her formidable flood:
Her current strong, and deep, and clear;
No fords were found, no ferries near.
But as the troops approach'd the waves,
Their fears fuggeft a thousand graves;
They all retir'd with hafte extreme,
And shudder'd at the dang 'rous ftream.
Hypocrify the gulph explores;

She forms a bridge, and joins the shores,
Thus often art or fraud prevails,
When military prowess fails:
The troops an eafy paffage find,
And victory follows clofe behind.

Friendship with ardour charg'd her foes,
And now the fight promifcuous grows;
But Flatt'ry threw a poifon'd dart,
And pierc'd the empress to the heart.

The

The virtues all around were feen
To fall in heaps about the queen.
The tyrant ftripp'd the mangled fair;
She wore her fpoils, affum'd her air;
And mounting next the fufferer's throne,
Claim'd the queen's titles as her own.

Ah, injur'd maid!' aloud I cried;
Ah, injur'd maid!' the rocks replied.
But judge my griefs, and fhare them too,
For the fad tale pertains to you;
Judge, reader, how fevere the wound,
When Friendship's foes were mine, I found;
When the fad scene of pride and guile
Was Britain's poor degen'rate ifle!

The Amazons, who propp'd the state,
Haply furviv'd the gen'ral fate.
Juftice to Powis Houfe is fled,

And Yorke fuftains her radiant head.
The virtue, Fortitude, appears
In open day at Ligonier's;
Illuftrious heroine of the sky,
Who leads to vanquish or to die!
'Twas the our vet'rans breafts infpir'd,
When Belgia's faithlefs fons retir'd:

For Tournay's treach'rous tow'rs can tell
Britannia's children greatly fell.

No partial virtue of the plain!
She rous'd the lions of the main :
Hence Vernon's little fleet fucceeds *,
And hence the gen'rous Cornwall bleeds+.
Hence Grenville glorious !-for fhe smil'd
On the young hero from a child.

Tho' in high life fuch virtues dwell,
They'll fuit plebeian breafts as well.
Say, that the mighty and the great
Blaze, like meridian funs of ftate;
Effulgent excellence difplay,
Like Hallifax, in floods of day;
Our leffer orbs may pour their light,
Like the mild crefcent of the night.
Tho' pale our beams, and fmall our sphere,
Still we may shine ferene and clear.

Give to the judge the scarlet gown;
To martial fouls the civic crown:
What then? Is merit theirs alone?
Have we no worth to call our own?
Shall we not vindicate our part
In the firm breaft and upright heart?
Reader, these virtues may be thine,
Tho' in fuperior life they fhine.

I can't difcharge great Hardwicke's trust;
True but my foul may ftill be just :
And tho' I can't the ftate defend,
I'll draw the fword to ferve my friend.
Two golden virtues are behind,
Of equal import to the mind;
Prudence, to point out Wifdom's way,
Or to reclaim us when we stray;
Temp'rance, to guard the youthful heart,
When Vice and Folly throw the dart :

At Porto Bello.

Each virtue, let the world agree,

Daily refides with you and me.

And, when our fouls in friendfhip join,
We'll deem the focial bond divine;

Thro' ev'ry fcene maintain our trust,
Nor e'er be timid or unjust.

That breaft, where Honour builds his throne,
That breaft, which Virtue calls her own,
Nor Int'reft warps, nor Fear appals,
When Danger frowns, or Lucre calls.
No! the true friend collected ftands,
Fearless his heart, and pure his hands:
Let Int'reft plead, let ftorms arife,
He dares be honeft, tho' he dies!

§ 119. Vision VII. Marriage. Infcribed t Mifs

FAIREST, this Vifion is thy due;

I form'd th' inftructive plan for you.
Slight not the rules of thoughtful age;
Your welfare actuates ev'ry page;
But ponder well my facred theme,
And tremble while you read my dream.
Thofe awful words, till death do part,'
May well alarm the youthful heart:
No after-thought when once a wife,
The die is caft, and caft for life;
Yet thoufands venture ev'ry day,
As fome bafe paffion leads the way.
Pert Sylvia talks of wedlock scenes,
Tho' hardly enter'd on her teens ;
Smiles on her whining fpark, and hears
The fugar'd fpeech with raptur'd ears;
Impatient o fa parent's rule,

She leaves her fire, and weds a fool.
Want enters at the guardless door,
And Love is filed, to come no more.

Some few there are of fordid mould,
Who barter youth and bloom for gold,
Carclefs with what or whom they mate;
Their ruling paffion's all for ftate.
But Hymen, gen'rous, juft, and kind,
Abhors the mercenary mind:
Such rebels groan beneath his rod;
For Hymen's a vindictive god:

Be joyless ev'ry night,' he faid

And barren be their nuptial bed!'
Attend, my fair, to wildom's voice;
A better fate fhall crown thy choice.
A married life, to speak the beft,
Is all a lottery confefs'd:

Yet, if my fair one will be wife,
I will infure my girl a prize,
Tho' not a prize to match thy worth;
Perhaps thy equal's not on earth!

'Tis an important point, to know
There's no perfection here below.
Man's an odd compound, after all;
And ever has been fince the fall.

Say, that he loves you from his foul,
Still man is proud, nor brooks controul;
And, tho' a flave in love's foft school,
In wedlock claims his right to rule.
The bett, in short, has faults about him;
If few thofe faults, you must not flout him.
With fome, indeed, you can't difpenfe,
As want of temper and of fenfe:
For when the fun deferts the fkies,
And the dull winter evenings rife,
Then for a husband's focial pow'r
To form the calm, converfive hour;
The treafures of thy breaft explore,
From that rich mine to draw the ore;
Fondly cach gen'rous thought refine,
And give thy native gold to fhine;
Show thee, as really thou art,
Tho' fair, yet fairer still at heart.

Say, when life's purple bloffom's fade,
As foon they must, thou charming maid !
When in thy cheek the roses dic,
And fickness clouds that brilliant eye;
Say, when or age or pains invade,
And thofe dear limbs thall call for aid;
If thou art fetter'd to a fool,
Shall not his tranfient paffion cool ?
And, when thy health and beauty end,
Shall thy weak mate perfist a friend?
But to a man of fenfe, my dear,
E'en then thou lovely fhalt appear;
He'll share the griefs that wound thy heart,
And, weeping, claim the larger part:
Tho' age impairs that beauteous face,
He'll prize the pearl beyond its cafe.

In wedlock when the fexes meet,
Friendship is only then compleat.

< Blefs'd ftate! where fouls each other draw;
• Where love is liberty and law!'
The choiceft bleffing found below,
That man can with, or Heaven bestow!
Trust me, thefe raptures are divine,
For lovely Chloe once was mine!
Nor faith the varnish of my ftyle;
Tho' poct, I'm cftrang'd to guile.
Ah, me! my faithful lips impart
The genuine language of my heart'
When bards extol their patrons high,
Perhaps 'tis gold extorts the lye;
Perhaps the poor reward of bread-
But who burns incenfe to the dead?
He, whom a fond affection draws,
Carelets of cenfure or applaufe;
Whofe foul is upright and fincere,
With nought to with and nought to fear.
Now to my vifonary scheme
Attend, and profit by my dream.

Amidst the flumbers of the night,
A ftately temple rofe to fight:
And ancient as the human race,
If Nature's purposes you trace:
This fane, by all the wife reverd,
To wedlock's pow'rful god was rear'd.
Hard by I faw a graceful fage,
His locks were fronted o'er by age;

His garb was plain, his mind ferene,
And wifdom dignified his mien.
With curious fearch his name I fought,
And found 'twas Hymen's fav'rite, Thought.
Apace the giddy crowds advance,

And a lewd fatvr led the dance.

I griev'd to fee whole thoufands run,
For, oh what thoufands were undone !
The fage, when thefe mad troops he spied,
In pity flew to join their fide:
The difconcerted pairs began
To rail against him to a man;
Vow'd they were ftrangers to his name,
Nor knew from whence the dotard came.
But mark the fequel-for this truth
Highly concerns impetuous youth.
Long cre the honey-moon could wane,
Perdition feiz'd on ev'ry twain;
At ev'ry houfe, and all day long,
Repentance plied her scorpion thong:
Difguft was there with frowning mien,
And ev'ry wayward child of fpleen.

;

Hymen approach'd his awful fane,
Attended by a num'rous train.
Love, with each foft and nameless grace,
Was firft in favour and in place:
Then came the god, with folemn gait,
Whofe ev'ry word was big with fate
His hand a flaming taper bore,
That facred fymbol, fam'd of yore.
Virtue, adorn'd with ev'ry charm,
Suftain'd the god's incumbent arm;
Beauty improv'd the glowing fcene
With all the roles of eighteen.
Youth led the gaily fimiling fair;
His purple pinions wav'd in air;
Wealth, a clofe hunks, walk'd hobbling nigh,
With vulture-claw and eagle-eye,
Who threefcore years had feen, or more
('Tis faid his coat had feen a score);
Proud was the wretch, tho' clad in rags,
Prefuming much upon his bags.

A female next her arts difplay'd;
Pects alone can paint the maid:
Traft me, Hogarth (tho' great thy fame),
Twould pose thy skill to draw the fame;
And yet thy mimic pow'r is more
Than ever painter's was before.
Now she was fair as cygnet's down,
Now as Mat Priors Emma' brown;
And, changing as the changing flow'r,
Her drefs the varied ev'ry hour.
'Twas Fancy, child-you know the fair,
Who pins your gown, and fets your hair.
Lo! the god mounts his throne of state,
And fits the arbiter of fate :

His head, with radiant glories drefs'd,
Gently reclin'd on Virtue's breast.
Love took his ftation on the right;
His quiver beam'd with golden light:
Beauty ufuip'd the fecond place,
Ambitious of diftinguith'd grace;
She claim'd this ceremonial joy,,
Becaufe related to the boy;