LONDON;

A POEM:

IN IMITATION OF THE

THIRD SATIRE OF JUVENAL

WRITTEN IN 1738.

Quis ineptæ

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

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

JUV. SAT. III.

1 Quamvis digressu veteris confusus amici; Laudo, tamen, vacuis quod sedem figere Cumis Destinet, atque unum civem donare Sibyllæ.

* Sir John Hawkins says, that by Thales we are here to understand Savage. Mr. Boswell asserts that this is entirely groundless, and adds, "I have been assured that Dr. Johnson said, he was not so much as acquainted with Savage when he wrote his London." This, added to the circumstance of the date, for Savage did not set out for Wales till July, 1739, might be decisive, if

7

On Thames's banks, in silent thought we stood
Where Greenwich smiles upon the silver flood;
Struck with the seat that gave ELIZA* birth,
We kneel, and kiss the consecrated earth;
In pleasing dreams the blissful 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 standing jest.

A transient calm the happy scenes bestow,
And for a moment lull the sense of wo.
At length awaking, with contemptuous frown,
Indignant THALES eyes the neighb'ring town.

4 Since worth, he cries, in these degenerate days
Wants e'en the cheap reward of empty praise;
In those curs❜d walls, devote to vice and gain,
Since unrewarded science toils in vain ;
Since hope but sooths to double my distress,
And every moment leaves my little less;
While yet my steady steps no 5 staff sustains,
And life still vig'rous revels in my veins ;

4 Hic tunc Umbritius; Quando artibus, inquit, honestis Nullus in urbe locus, nulla emolumenta laborum,

Res hodie minor est, heri quam fuit, atque eadem cras
Deteret exiguis aliquid; proponimus illuc

Ire, fatigatis ubi Dædalus exuit alas;

Dum nova canities.

5- et pedibus me

Porto meis, nullo dextram subeunte bacillo.

* Queen Elizabeth, born at Greenwich.

L

Grant me, kind Heaven, to find some happier place,
Where honesty and sense are no disgrace;
Some pleasing bank where verdant qsiers play,
Some peaceful vale with nature's paintings gay;
Where once the harass'd Briton found repose,
And, safe in poverty, defy'd his foes;
Some secret cell, ye Pow'rs, indulgent give,
• Let
live here, for has learn'd to live.
Here let those reign, whom pensions can incite
To vote a patriot black, a courtier white;

Explain their country's dear bought rights away,

*

And plead for pirates in the face of day;

With slavish tenets taint our poison'd youth,
And lend a lie the confidence of truth.

7 Let such raise palaces, and manors buy,
Collect a tax, or farm a lottery ;

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

Heroes, proceed! What bounds your pride shall hold ?
What check restrain your thirst of power and gold?

Behold rebellious virtue quite o'erthrown,

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

When public crimes inflame the wrath of Heaven;

6 Cedamus patriâ; vivant Arturius istic

Et Catullus; maneant qui nigra in candida vertunt.
7 Queis facile est ædem conducere, flumina, portus,
Siccandam eluviem, portandum ad busta cadaver.-
Munera nunc edunt.

* The invasions of the Spaniards were defended in the houses

of parliament.

The licensing act was then lately made.