University of Virginia Library

Tho' vaster Riches thou cou'dst boast
Than Araby's unwasted Stores contain,
And swarthy India's wealthy Coast;
Tho' thy proud Palaces, with pompous Shade
O'er all the Tyrrhene and the Pontic Main
Their costly Columns spread:
If Fate her Adamantine Hand
Remorseless stretches to the Prey,
Nor Gold nor splendid Domes can turn away
The dire inflexible Demand,
Nor save thy destin'd Head, nor anxious Fears allay.

Better the wild-born Scythians live,
Whose loaded Wains, from Field to Field,
Where Meadows fresh, fresh Pasture yield,
Their wandring Houshold drive.
And better live the Getes by far,
Where Fruits are common, and the Grounds
No Fences mark, nor jealous Bounds;
One Year they exercise their Care,
To turn and dress the mellow Soil,
Industrious drive the sharpen'd Share,
And rest alternate one, recruiting from their Toil.
No Stepdame, by vile Motives led,
E'er practises upon the Life
Of Orphans by a former Bed;
Nor haughtily the portion'd Wife
Lords her insulted Husband there,
And while she vexes him with Strife,
Sighs for the foul Adulterer.
An honest Line, of Probity entire,
And Chastity with native Charms,
That bashful flies a Stranger's Arms,
Is all the Dowry they require.
To violate the Vow they generously disdain,
Or Death, the due Reward, pursues th'opprobrious Stain.

Whoe'er wou'd quell our Civil Rage,
Fierce Slaughter's impious Course assuage,
And have, on Public Statues rais'd,
This glorious Title to his Fame,
The Father of his Country, plac'd;
Let him with brave Heroic Soul
Leud lawless Insolence controul;
Then future Days shall crown his Name,
With full Applauses spread;
For Virtue tho' we still despise
Present, and flashing on our Eyes,
We honour it when dead.
But what avails it to complain?
Unless inflicted Punishments severe
Presumptuous Vice restrain.
And what avail well-chosen Laws?
If Manners dissolute shall dare
To pass the Bounds prescrib'd, as Lust or Lucre draws:
If neither the hot Climes, that fry
Beneath th'immediate Sun;
Nor rigid Coasts that frozen lye,
Where Snows unmelted never run,
The greedy Merchant can deter
To hunt for the forbidden Gain,
Nor all the Horrors of the Main
Prevent th'audacious Mariner:
And the false Shame of Poverty enjoyns,
All Things to suffer and to dare,
And quit th'uneasy Track of Virtue's scanty Lines.

Then either to the Capitol
Devoutly let us bear
Our Jewels, Gold and useless Store,
And while the glad Processions call
Resign them to the Thunderer;
Or safely standing on the Shore,
In the deep Billows of the Main
The Seeds of Mischief sink, and bury Wealth prophane.
If we renounce these censur'd Crimes
With Penitence sincerely true,
Let us disorder'd Appetite subdue
In Youth well-disciplin'd betimes;
And careful form their pliant Mind
To gen'rous Studies of a manly Kind.

Th'unpractis'd Boy, of noble Blood,
Knows not to sit the rapid Steed,
And dreads the boist'rous Chace to lead
Across the spacious Plain, or rolling Flood;
But with a Child's fantastic Art,
Can whip the whirling Top, or draw
The Gew-gaw Waggon and the Cart;
Or shake and throw the rattling Dye
Forbidden by the Law.
While the vile Sire, with watchful Care,
Inhuman, harden'd, perjur'd, sly,
Betrays his Friend, and cheats his Guest,
To raise for his unworthy Heir
A Heap of sordid Pelf, and large Estate unblest.
But tho' their Coffers thus they fill
With Riches, for no Use design'd,
To the low Wretches restless Mind,
This Thing or That is wanting still.