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OF A SPEECH OF AQUILEIO IN THE ADRIANO OF METASTASIO, BEGINNING

Tu che in Corte invechiasti.

GROWN old in courts, thou surely art not one
Who keeps the rigid rules of antient honour;
Well skill'd to soothe a foe with looks of kindness,
To sink the fatal precipice before him,
And then lainent his fall with seeming friendship:
Open to all, true only to thyself, [praise,
Thou know'st those arts which blast with envious
Which aggravate a fault with feign'd excuses,
And drive discountenanc'd virtue from the throne;
That leave the blame of rigour to the prince,
And of his ev'ry gift usurp the merit :
That hide in seeming zeal a wicked purpose
And only build upon another's ruin.

ONE AND TWENTY.

LONG-expected one-and-twenty,
Ling'ring year, at length is flown:
Pride and pleasure, pomp and plenty,
Great *** ****, are now your own.
Loosen'd from the minor's tether,
Free to mortgage or to sell.
Wild as wind, and light as feather,
Bid the sons of thrift farewell,

Call the Betsies, Kates and Jennies,

All the names that banish care;
Lavish of your grand sire's guineas,
Show the spirit of an heir.

All that prey on vice and folly
Joy to see their quarry fly:
There the gamester, light and jolly,
There the lender, grave and sly.
Wealth, my lad, was made to wander,
Let it wander as it will;

Call the jockey, call the pander,
Bid them come and take their fill.
When the bonny blade carouses,

Pockets full, and spirits high-
What are acres? what are houses?
Only dirt, or wet or dry.

Should the guardian friend or mother
Tell the woes of wilful waste:
Scorn their council, scorn their pother,
You can hang or drown at last.

cator.

POEMATA.

MESSIA'.

Ex alieno ingenio poeta, ex suo tantum versifi-
SCALIG. Poet.
TOLLITE Concentum, Solymææ tollite nymphæ
Nil mortale loquor; cœlum mihi carminis alta
Materies; poscunt gravius coelestia plectrum.
Muscosi fontes, sylvestria tecta, valete,
Aonidesque Deæ, et mendacis somnia Pindi:
Tu, mihi, qui flaminâ movisti pectora sancti
Sidereâ Isaiæ, dignos accende furores!

Immatura calens rapitur per secula vates
Sic orsus-Qualis rerum mihi nascitur ordo!
Virgo! virgo parit! felix radicibus arbor
Jessæis surgit, mulcentesque æthera flores
Cœlestes lambunt animæ, ramisque columba,
Nuncia sacra Dei, plaudentibus insidet alis.
Nectareos rores, alimentaque mitia cœlum
Huc, fœdat quos lepra, urit quos febris, adeste,
Præbeat, et tacite fœcundos irriget imbres.
Hic requies fessis; non sacra sævit in umbra -
Dia salutares spirant medicamina rami;
Vis Boreæ gelida, aut rapidi violentia solis.
Irrita vanescent prisca vestigia fraudis
Attollet reducis; bellis prætendet olivas
Justitiæque manus pretio intemerata bilancem
Compositis pax alma suas, terrasque revisens
Sedatas niveo virtus lucebit amictu:
Volvantur celeres anni! Jux purpuret ortum
Expectata diu! naturæ claustra refringens,
Nascere, magne puer! tibi primas, ecce, corollas
Deproperat tellus, fundit tibi munera, quicquid
Carpit Arabs, hortis quicquid frondescit Eois.
Altius, en! Lebanon gaudentia culmina tollit,

'This translation has been severely criticised by Dr. Warton, in his edition of Pope, vol. i. p. 105, 8vo. 1797. It certainly contains some expressions that are not classical. Let it be remembered, however, that it was a college-exercise, performed with great rapidity, and was at first praised beyond all suspicion of defect. C.

En! summo exultant nutantes vertice sylva.
Mittit aromaticas vallis Saronica nubes,
Et juga Carmeli recreant fragrantia cœlum,
Deserti lætâ mollescunt aspera voce
Auditur Deus! ecce Deus! reboantia circum
Saxa sonant, Deus; ecce Deus! deflectitur æther,
Demissumque Deum tellus capit; ardua cedrus,
Gloria sylvarum, dominum inclinata salutet.
Surgite convalles, tumidi subsidite montes !
Sternite saxa viam, rapidi discedite fluctus;
En quem turba diu eccinerunt enthea, vates
En! salvator adest; vultus agnoscite cæci
Divinos, surdos sacra vox permulceat aures.
Ille cutim spissam visus hebetare vetabit,
Reclusisque oculis infundet amabile lumen;
Obstrictasque diu linguas in carmina solvet
Ille vias vocis pandet, flexusque liquentis
Harmoniæ purgata novos mirabitur auris.
Accrescunt teneris tactu nova robora nervis:
Consuetus fulcro innixus reptare bacilli

Nunc saltu capreas, nunc cursu provocat euros.
Non planctus, non mæsta sonant suspiria; pectus
Singultans mulcet, lachrymantes tergit ocellos.
Vincla coercebunt luctantem adamantiua mortem,
Eternoque Orci dominator vulnere langueps
Invalidi raptos sceptri plorabit honores.

Ut qua dulce strepent scatebræ, qua lata vires

cunt

Pascua, qua blandum spirat purissimus aer,
Pastor agit pecudes, teneros modo suscipit agnos
Et gremio fotis selectas porrigit herbas,
Amissas modo quærit oves, revocatque vagantes;
Fidus adest custos, seu nox furat horrida nimbis,
Sive dies medius morientia torreat arva.
Postera sic pastor divinus secla beabit,
Et curas felix patrias testabitur orbis.
Non ultra infestis concurrent agmina siguis,
Hostiles oculis flammas jaculantia torvis;
Non litui accendent bellum, non campus ahenis
Triste coruscabit radiis; dabit hasta recusa
Vomerem, et in falcem rigidus curvabitur ensis.
Atria, pacis opus, surgent, finemque caduci
Natus ad optatum perducet cæpta parentis.
Qui duxit fulcos, illi teret area messem,
Et seræ texent vites umbracula proli.
Attoniti dumeta vident inculta coloni
Suave rubere ros's, sitientesque inter arenas
Garrula mirantur salientis murmura rivi.
Per saxa, ignivomi nuper spelæa draconis,
Canna viret, juncique tremit variabilis umbra.
Horruit implexo qua vallis sente, figuræ
Surgit amans abies teretis, buxique sequaces
Artificis frondent dextræ; palmisque rubeta
Aspera, odoratæ cedunt mala gramina myrto.
Per val'es sociata lupo lasciviet agna,
Cumque leone petet tutus præsepe juvencus.
Florca mansuetæ petulantes vincula tigri
Per ludum pueri injicient, et fessa colubri
Membra viatoris recreabunt frigore linguæ.
Serpentes teneris nil jam lethale micantes
Tractabit palmis infans, motusque trisculcæ
Ridebit linguæ innocuos, squamasque virentes
Aureaque admirans rutilantis fulgura cristæ.
Indue reginam, turritæ frontis honores
Toile Salema sacros, quam circum gloria pennas
Explicat, incinctam radiatæ luce tiaræ !
En formosa tibi spatiosa per atria, proles
Ordinibus surgit densis, vitamque requirit
Impatiens, lenteque fluentes increpat annos.

Ecce peregrinis fervent tua limina turbis;
Barbarus en clarum divino lumine templum
Ingreditur, cultuque tuo mansuescere gaudet.
Cinnameos cumulos, Nabathæi munera veris,
Ecce cremant genibus tritæ regalibus aræ!
Solis Ophyræis crudum tibi montibus aurum
Maturant radii; tibi balsama sudat Idume.
Ætheris en portas sacro fulgore micantes
Cœlicolæ pandunt, torrentis aurea lucis
Flumina prorompunt; non posthac sole rubescet
India nascenti, placidæve argentea noctis
Luna vices revehet; radios pater ipse diei
Proferet archetypos; cœlestis gaudia jucis
Ipso fonte bibes, quæ circumfusa beatam
Regiam inundabit, nullis cessura tenebris.
Littora deficiens arentia deseret æquor;
Sidera fumabunt, diro labefacta tremore
Saxa cadent, solidique liquescent robora montis:
Tu secura tamen confusa elementa videbis,
Lætaque Messia semper dominabere rege,
Pollicitis firmata Dei, stabilita ruinis.

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SUMME Pater, puro collustra lumine pectus,
Auxietas noceat ne tenebrosa mihi.
In me sparsa manu virtutum semina larga
Sic ale, proveniat inessis ut ampla boni.
Noctes atque dies animo spes læta recurset,
Certa mihi sancto flagret amore fides.
Certa vetat dubitare fides, spes læta timere,

Velle vetet cuiquam non bene sanctus amor. Da, ne sint permissa, pater, mihi præmia frustra, Et colere, et leges semper amare tuas.

Hæc mibi, quo gentes, quo secula, Christe,piâsti, Sanguine, precanti promereare tuo!

[Feb. 27, 1784.]

CHRISTIANUS PERFECTUS.

Abstergat mundi labem, nec gaudia carnis
Qui cupit in sanctos Christo cogente referri,
Captans, nec fastu tumidus, semperque futuro
Instet, et evellens terroris spicula corde,
Suspiciat tandem clementem in numine patrem.

Huic quoque, nec genti nec sectæ noxius ulli,
Sit sacer orbis amor, miseris qui semper adesse
Gestiat, et, nullo pietatis limite clausus,
Cunctorum ignoscat vitiis, pietate fruatur.
Ardeat huic toto sacer ignis pectore, possit
Ut vitam, poscat si res, impendere vero.

Cura placere Deo sit prima, sit ultima, sanctæ Irruptum vitæ cupiat servare tenorem ;

Et sibi, delirans quanquam et peccator in horas
Displiceat, servet tutum sub pectore rectum:
Nec natet, et nunc has partes, nunc eligat illas,
Nec dubitet quem dicat herum, sed, totus in uno,
Se fidum addicat Christo, mortalia temuens.
Sed timeat semper, caveatque ante omnia,
turbæ

Ne stolidæ similis, leges sibi segreget audax
Quas servare velit, leges quas lentus omittat,
Plenum opus effugiens, aptans juga mollia collo
Sponte sua demens; nihilum decedere summæ
Vult Deus, at qui cuncta debit tibi, cuncta re-
poscit.

Denique perpetuo contendit in ardua nisu,
Auxilioque Dei fretus, jam mente serena
Pergit, et imperiis sentit se dulcibus actum.
Paulatim mores, animum, vitamque refingit,
Effigiemque Dei, quantum servare licebit,
Induit, et, terris major, cœlestia spirat.

ÆTERNE rerum conditor,
Salutis æternæ dator;
Felicitatis sedibus
Qui nec scelestos exigis,
Quoscumque scelerum pœnitet;
Da, Christe, pœuitentiam,
Veniamque, Christe, da mihi;
Ægrum trahenti spiritum
Succurre præsens corpori,
Multo gravatam crimine
Mentem benignus alleva.

MENS mea quid quereris? veniet tibi mollior LUCE collustret mihi pectus alma,

hora,

In summo ut videas numine læta patrem; Divinam insontes iram placavit Jesus; Nunc est pro pœna pœnituisse reis.

'The night above referred to by Dr. Johnson was that in which a paralytic stroke had deprived him of his voice; and, in the anxiety he felt lest it should likewise have impaired his understanding, he composed the above lines, and said, concerning them, that he knew at the time that they were not good, but then that he deemed his discerning this to be sufficient for the quieting the anxiety before mentioned, as it showed him that his power of judging was not diminished. 4 Al. statuant. Al. precari. 7 Al. litare.

2 Al. tuæ.

6 Al. votis.

3 Al. leges.

Pellat et tristes animi tenebras,
Nec sinat semper tremere ac dolore,

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AD URBANUM. 1738.

URBANE, nullis fesse laboribus,
Urbane, nullis victe calumniis,
Cui fronte sertum in erudita
Perpetuo viret, et virebit ;
Quid moliatur gens imitantium,
Quid et minetur, sollicitus parum,
Vacare solis perge Musis,

Juxta animo studiisque fœlix.
Lingue procacis plumbea spicula,
Fidens, superbo frange silentio;

Victrix per obstantes catervas Sedulitas animosa tendet. Intende nervos fortis, inanibus Risurus olim nisibus emuli;

Intende jam nervos, habebis

Participes opera camœnas. Non ulla Musis pagina gratior, Quam quæ severis ludicra jungere Novit, fatigatamque nugis

Utilibus recreare mentem. Texente nymphis serta Lycoride, Rosa ruborem sic viola adjuvat Immista, sic Iris refulget Ethereis variata fucis.

IN RIVUM A MOLA STOANA LICH.

FELDIE DIFFLUENTEM.

ERRAT adhuc vitreus per prata virentia rivus,
Quo toties lavi membra tenella puer;
Hic delusa rudi frustrabar brachia motu,
Dum docuit blanda voce natare pater.
Fecerunt rami latebras, tenebrisque diurnis
Pendula secretas abdidit arbor aquas.
Nunc veteres duris periêre securibus umbræ,
Longinquisque oculis nuda lavacra patent.
Lympha tamen cursus agit indefessa perennis,
Tectaque qua fluxit, nunc et aperta fluit.
Quid ferat externi velox, quid deterat ætas,
Tu quoque securus res age, Nise, tuas.

ΓΝΩΘΙ ΣΕΑΥΤΟΝ.

(Post Lexicon Anglicanum auctum et emen. datum).

LEXICON ad finem longo luctamine tandem
Scaliger ut duxit, tenuis pertæsus opellæ,
Vile indignatus stadium, nugasque molestas,
Ingemit exosus, scribendaque lexica mandat
Dainnatis, pœnam pro pœnis ommibus unam.

Ille quidem recte, sublimis, doctus et acer, Quem decuit majora sequi, majoribus aptum, Qui veterum modo facto ducum, modo carmina vatum,

Gesserat et quicquid virtus, sapientia quiequid, Dixerat, imperiique vices, cœlique meatus, Ingentemque animo seclorum volveret orbem. Failimur exemplis; temere sibi turba scho

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Trigora. seu nimium longo jacuisse reterno,
Sive mihi mentem dederit natura minorem.

Te sterili functum cura, vocumque salebris
Tuto eluctatum spatiis sapientia dia
Excipit æthereis, ars omnis plaudit amico,
Linguarumque omni terra discordia concors
Multiplici reducem circum sonatore magistrum.
Me, pensi immunis cum jam mihi reddor,
inertis

Desidiæ sors dura manet, graviorque labore Tristis et atra quies, et tarde tædia vitæ. Nascuntur curis curæ, vexatque dolorum Importuna cohors, vacua mala somnia mentis. Nunc clamosa juvant nocturnæ guadia mensæ, Nunc loca sola placent; frustra te, Somne, re

cumbens

Alme voco, impatiens noctis metuensque diei.
Omnia percurro trepidus, circum omnia lustro,
Si qua usquam pateat melioris semita vitæ,
Nec quid agam invenio, meditatus grandia, cogor
Notior ipse mihi fieri, incultumque fateri
Pectus, et ingenium vano se robore jactans,
Ingenium nisi materiem doctrina ministrat.
Cessat inops rerum, ut torpet, si marmoris absit
Copia, Phidiaci fæcunda potentia cœli.
Quicquid agam, quocunque ferar, conatibus
obstat

Res angusta domi, et macræ penuria mentis.

Non rationis opes animus, nunc parta recenConspicit aggestas, et se miratur in illis, [sens Nec sibi de gaza præsens quod postulat usus Summus adesse jubet celsa dominator ab arce; Non, operum serie seriem dum computat ævi, Præteritis fruitur, lætos aut sumit honores Ipse sui judex, actæ bene munera vitæ ; Sed sua regna videns, loca nocte silentia late Horret, ubi vanæ species, umbræque fugaces, Et rerum volitant rare per inane figuræ.

Quid faciam? tenebrisne pigram damnare

senectam

Restat? an acciugar studiis gravioribus audax ? Aut, hoc si nimium est, tandem nova lexica poscam.

IMITATION OF THE ABOVE, BY MR. MURPHY, KNOW YOURSELF.

(AFTER REVISING AND EN LARGING

THE

ENGLISH LEXICON, OR DICTIONARY.) WHEN Scaliger, whole years of labour past, Beheld his Lexicon complete at last, And weary of his task, with wond'ring eyes, Saw from words pil'd on words a fabric rise, He curs'd the industry, inertly strong, In creeping toil that could persist so long, And if, enrag'd he cried, Heav'n meant to shed Its keenest vengeance on the guilty head, The drudgery of words the damn'd would know, Doom'd to write lexicons in endless woe1.

Yes, you had cause, great genius, to repent; "You lost good days, that might be better spent;" You well might grudge the hours of ling'ring pain,

And view your learned labours with disdain.

⚫ See Scaliger's Epigram on this subject, com2 municated without doubt by Dr. Johnson, Gent, Mag. 1748. p. 8.

To you were given the large expanded mind,
The flame of genius, and the taste refin'd.
'Twas yours on eagle wings aloft to soar,
And amidst rolling worlds the great First Cause
explore:

To fix the eras of recorded time,

And live in ev'ry age and ev'ry clime; [cause;
Record the chiefs, who propt their country's
Who founded empires, and establish'd laws;
To learn whate'er the sage with virtue fraught,
Whate'er the Muse of moral wisdom taught.
These were your quarry; these to you were
known,

And the world's ample volume was your own.

Yet, warn'd by me, ye pigmy wits, beware,
Nor with immortal Scaliger compare.
For me, though his example strike my view,
Oh! not for me his footsteps to pursue.
Whether first Nature, unpropitions, cold,
This clay compounded in a ruder mould;
Or the slow current, loit'ring at my heart,
No glean of wit or fancy can impart ;
Whate'er the cause, from me no numbers flow,
No visions warm me, and no raptures glow.
A mind like Scaliger's, superior still,
No grief could conquer, no misfortune chill.
Though for the maze of words his native skies
He seem'd to quit, 'twas but again to rise;
To mount once more to the bright source of day,
And view the wonders of th' etherial way.
The love of fame his gen'rous bosom fir'd:
Each Science hail'd him, and each Muse inspir'd.
For him the sons of learning trimm'd the bays,
And nations grew harmonious in his praise.

My task perform'd, and all my labours o'er,
For me what lot has Fortune now in store?
The listless will succeeds, that worst disease,
The rack of indolence, the sluggish ease.
Care grows on care, and o'er my aching brain
Black Melancholy pours her morbid train.
No kind relief, no lenitive at hand,

I seek at midnight clubs, the social band;[spires,
But midnight clubs, where wit with noise con-
Where Comus revels, and where wine inspires,
Delight no more: I seek my lonely bed,
And call on Sleep to sooth my languid head.
But Sleep from these sad lids flies far away;
I mourn all night, and dread the coming day.
Exhausted, tir'd, I throw my eyes around,
To find some vacant spot on classic ground,
And soon, vain hope I form a grand design;
Languor succeeds, and all my pow'rs decline.
If Science open not hér richest vein,
Without materials all our toil is vain.
A form to rugged stone when Phidias gives,
Beneath his touch a new creation lives.
Remove his marble, and his genius dies;
With Nature then no breathing statue vies.
Whate'er I plan, I feel my pow'rs confin'd
By Fortune's frown and penury of mind.

I boast no knowledge glean'd with toil and strife,
That bright reward of a well-acted life.
Iview myself, while reason's feeble light
Shoots a pale glimmer through the gloom of
night,

While passions, errour, phantoms of the brain,
And vain opinions, fill the dark domain;
A dreary void, where fears and grief combin'd
Waste all within, and desolate the mind.

What then remains? Must I in slow decline
To mute inglorious ease old age resign?
Or, bold ambition kindling in my breast,
Attempt some arduous task? Or, were it best
Brooding o'er lexicons to pass the day,
And in that labour drudge my life away?

AD THOMAM LAURENCE.

MEDICUM DOCTISSIMUM,

Cum filium peregre agenteni desiderio nimis
tristi prosequeretur.

FATERIS ergo, quod populus solet
Crepare væcors, nil sapientiam
Prodesse vitæ, literasque ;

In dubiis dare terga rebus.
Tu, queis laborat sors homibum, malá,
Nec vincis acer, nec pateris pius,

Te mille succorum potentem
Destituit medicina mentis.

Per cæca noctis tædia turbide,
Pigræ per horas lucis inutiles,
Torpesque, languescisque, curis

Solicitus nimis heu ! paternis.
Tandem dolori plus satis est datum,
Exurge fortis, nunc animis opus,
Te, docta, Laurenti; vetustas,

Te medici revocant labores.
Permitte summo quicquid habes pátri,
Permitte fidens, et muliebribus,
Amice, majorem querelis

Redde tuis, tibi redde, mentem.

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