LONDON; a PoE M:

IN IMITATION OF THE

THIRD SATIRE OF JUVENAL.

Written in 1788.

-Quis ineptæ

Tam patiens urbis, tam ferreus ut teneat fe? Juv.

"THO' grief and fondness in my breast rebel,
When injur'd THALES* bids the town farewel,
Yet ftill my calmer thoughts his choice commend,
I praise the hermit, but regret the friend,
Refolv'd at length, from vice and LONDON far
To breathe in distant fields a purer air,

JUV. SAT. III.

'Quamvis digreffu veteris confusus amici; Laudo, tamen, vacuis quod fedem figere Cumis Deftinet, atque unum civem donare Sibyllæ

And,

* Sir John Hawkins fays, that by Thales we are here to understand Savage. Mr. Bofwell afferts that this is entirely groundless, and adds, "I have been affured that Dr. Johnson said, he was not fo much as acquainted with Savage when he wrote his LONDON." This, added to the circumftance of the date (for Savage did not fet out for Wales till July 1739) might be decifive, if unfortunately for Mr. Bofwell he had not a few pages after, given us some highly complimentary lines which," he was affured were written by Dr. Johnson." Ad Ricardum Savage, in April 1738, about a month before LONDON was published. This furely implies previous acquaintance with Savage, for Dr. Johnson would not have praised a stranger in fuch terms, and gives a very strong probability to Sir John Hawkins's conjecture. That Savage did not set out for Wales until the following year, is a matter of little confequence, as the intention of fuch a journey would justify the lines alluding to it. See Boswell's Life of Johnson, vol. i. p. 100 and p. 139. 8vo. edit. 1804.

C.

And, fix'd on Cambria's folitary shore,

Give to St. David one true Briton more.

2

For who would leave, unbrib'd, Hibernia's land,
Or change the rocks of Scotland for the Strand?
There none are swept by fudden fate away,
But all, whom hunger fpares, with age decay:
Here malice, rapine, accident, conspire,
And now a rabble rages, now a fire;

Their ambush here relentless ruffians lay,
And here the fell attorney prowls for prey;
Here falling houses thunder on your head,
And here a female Atheist talks you dead.

3 While THALES waits the wherry that contains Of diffipated wealth the fmall remains,

On Thames's banks, in filent thought we stood
Where Greenwich fmiles upon the filver flood;
Struck with the feat that gave ELIZA * birth,
We kneel, and kifs the confecrated earth;
In pleafing dreams the blifsful age renew,
And call Britannia's glories back to view;
Behold her cross triumphant on the main,
The guard of commerce, and the dread of Spain,
Ere masquerades debauch'd, excise oppress'd,
Or English honour grew a ftanding jeft.

-Ego vel Prochytam præpono Suburræ,
Nam quid tam miferum, tam folum vidimus, ut non
Deterius credas horrere incendia, lapfus

Tectorum affiduos, & mille pericula fæva
Urbis, & Augufto recitantes menfe poetas?

* Sed, dum tota domus rhedâ componitur unâ, Subftitit ad veteres arcus.

* Queen Elizabeth, born at Greenwich.

A tran

A tranfient calm the happy fcenes bestow,
And for a moment lull the fenfe of woe.
At length awaking, with contemptuous frown,
Indignant THALES eyes the neighb'ring town.

4 Since worth, he cries, in these degenerate days
Wants ev'n the cheap reward of empty praise;
In thofe curs'd walls, devote to vice and gain,
Since unrewarded fcience toils in vain;
Since hope but fooths to double my diftrefs,
And every moment leaves my little lefs;
While yet my steady steps no' staff fuftains,
And life ftill vig'rous revels in my veins;
Grant me, kind Heaven, to find fome happier place,
Where honesty and fense are no difgrace;
Some pleafing bank where verdant ofiers play,
Some peaceful vale with Nature's paintings gay;
Where once the harafs'd Briton found repofe,
And safe in poverty defy'd his foes;

Some fecret cell, ye Pow'rs, indulgent give,
"Let live here, for has learn'd to live.
Here let thofe reign, whom penfions can incite
To vote a patriot black, a courtier white;

Explain

*Hic tunc Umbritius: Quando artibus, inquit, honestis
Nullus in urbe locus, nulla emolumenta laborum,
Res hodie minor eft, heri quam fuit, atque eadem cras
Deteret exiguis aliquid: proponimus illuc

Ire, fatigatas ubi Dædalus exuit alas;

Dum nova canities.

Porto meis, nullo dextram fubeunte bacillo. "Cedamus patriâ: vivant Arturius iftic

Et Catullus: maneant qui nigra in candida vertunt.

Explain their country's dear-bought rights away,
And plead for * pirates in the face of day;
With flavifli tenets taint our poifon'd youth,
And lend a lie the confidence of truth.

7 Let fuch raife palaces, and manors buy, Collect a tax, or farm a lottery;

With warbling eunuchs fill our † filenc'd stage,
And lull to fervitude a thoughtless age.

Heroes, proceed! what bounds your pride shall hold? What check restrain your thirst of pow'r and gold? Behold rebellious virtue quite o'erthrown,

Behold our fame, our wealth, our lives, your own. To fuch, the plunder of a land is giv'n,

8

When publick crimes inflame the wrath of Heaven : But what, my friend, what hope remains for me, Who start at theft, and blush at perjury?

Who fcarce forbear, tho' BRITAIN'S court he fing,
To pluck a titled poet's borrow'd wing;

A statesman's logick unconvinc'd can hear,
And dare to flumber o'er the

Gazetteer;
Defpife a fool in half his penfion dress'd,
And strive in vain to laugh at Clodio's jeft.
9 Others with fofter smiles, and subtler art,
Can fap the principles, or taint the heart;

7 Queis facile eft ædem conducere, flumina, portus, Siccandam eluviem, portandum ad bufta cadaver.Munera nunc edunt.

$ Quid Romæ faciam ? mentiri nefcio: librum, Si malus eft, nequeo laudare & pofcere.

Ferre ad nuptam quæ mittit adulter,

Quæ mandat norint alii; me nemo ministro

Fur erit, atque ideo nulli comes exeo.

With

*The invafions of the Spaniards were defended in the houses of parliament.

+ The licenfing act was then lately made.

The paper which at that time contained apologies for the court.

With more addrefs a lover's note convey,
Or bribe a virgin's innocence away

Well may they rife, while I, whose ruftick tongue
Ne'er knew to puzzle right, or varnish wrong,
Spurn'd as a beggar, dreaded as a spy,
Live unregarded, unlamented die.

10 For what but focial guilt the friend endears?
Who fhares Orgilio's crimes, his fortune fhares.
"But thou, fhould tempting villainy prefent
All Marlb'rough hoarded, or all Villiers spent,
Turn from the glitt'ring bribe thy fcornful eye,
Nor fell for gold, what gold could never buy,
The peaceful flumber, felf-approving day,
Unfullied fame, and confcience ever gay.

12 The cheated nation's happy fav'rites, fee!
Mark whom the great carefs, who frown on me!
LONDON! the needy villain's genʼral home,
The common-fewer of Paris and of Rome;
With eager thirst, by folly or by fate,
Sucks-in the dregs of each corrupted state.
Forgive my tranfports on a theme like this,
13 I cannot bear a French metropolis.

1° Quis nunc diligitur nifi confcius ?

Carus erit Verri, qui Verrem tempore, quo vult,
Accufare poteft.-

11

Tanti tibi non fit opaci

Omnis arena Tagi, quodque in mare volvitur aurum,

Ut fomno careas.

12 Quæ nunc divitibus gens acceptiffima noftris, Et quos præcipue fugiam, properabo fateri.

Illuftrious