THUS in a fea of folly tofs'd,
My choiceft Hours of life are lost; Yet always wishing to retreat,
Oh, could I see my Country Seat! There leaning near a gentle Brook, Sleep, or perufe some ancient Book,
And there in sweet oblivion drown
Thofe Cares that haunt the Court and Town.
O charming Noons! and Nights divine!
Or when I fup, or when I dine, My Friends above, my Folks below, Chatting and laughing all-a-row,
The Beans and Bacon fet before 'em, The Grace-cup ferv'd with all decorum: Each willing to be pleas'd, and please, And ev❜n the very Dogs at ease!
Here no man prates of idle things, How this or that Italian fings,
A Neighbour's Madness, or his Spouse's, Or what's in either of the Houses:
But fomething much more our concern,
And quite a scandal not to learn: Which is the happier, or the wifer, A man of Merit, or a Mifer?
Whether we ought to chufe our Friends, For their own Worth, or our own ends? What good, or better, we may call,
And what, the very beft of all?
Cervius haec inter vicinus garrit aniles Ex re fabellas. fi quis nam laudat Arellî Solicitas ignarus opes; fic incipit: Olim Rufticus urbanum murem mus paupere fertur Accepiffe cavo, veterem vetus hofpes amicum; Afper, et attentus quaefitis; ut tamen arctum Solveret hofpitiis animum. quid multa? neque ille Sepofiti ciceris, nec longae invidit avenae : Aridum et ore ferens acinum, femefaque lardi Frufta dedit, cupiens varia fastidia coena Vincere tangentis male fingula dente fuperbo: Cum pater ipfe domus palea porrectus in horna Effet ador loliumque, dapis meliora relinquens. Tandem urbanus ad hunc, Quid te juvat, inquit, amice,
Praerupti nemoris patientem vivere dorso?
Our Friend Dan Prior, told (you know)
Tame a Town Life, and in a trice,
He had a Story of two Mice.
Once on a time (fo runs the Fable) A Country Mouse, right hospitable, Receiv'd a Town Moufe at his Board, uft as a Farmer might a Lord. A frugal Moufe upon the whole,
et lov'd his Friend, and had a Soul,
Knew what was handfome, and would do't, On juft occafion, coute qui coute.
He brought him Bacon (nothing lean)
Pudding, that might have pleas'd a Dean; Cheefe, fuch as men in Suffolk make, But wifh'd it Stilton for his fake; Yet, to his Guest tho' no way sparing, He eat himself the rind and paring. Our Courtier fcarce could touch a bit, But fhow'd his Breeding and his Wit; He did his beft to feem to eat, And cry'd,
"I vow you're mighty neat. "But Lord, my Friend, this favage Scene!
"For God's fake, come, and live with Men:
Confider, Mice, like Men, muft die,
"Both small and great, both you and I: "Then spend your life in Joy and Sport,
"(This doctrine, Friend, I learnt at Court.) 180
Book II. Vin' tu homines urbemque feris praeponere fylvis ? Carpe viam (mihi crede) comes: terreftria quando Mortales animas vivunt fortita, neque ulla eft, Aut magno aut parvo, leti fuga. quo, bone, circa, Dam licet, in rebus jucundis vive beatus: Vive memor quam fis aevi brevis. Haec ubi dicta Agreftem pepulere, domo levis exfilit: inde
Ambo propofitum peragunt iter, urbis aventes Moenia nocturni fubrepere. jamque tenebat Nox medium coeli fpatium, cum ponit uterque In locuplete domo vestigia: rubro ubi cocco Tincta fuper lectos canderet veftis eburnos ; Multaque de magna fupereffent fercula coena, Quae procul exftructis inerant hefterna caniftris. Ergo ubi purpurea porrectum in vefte locavit Agreftem; veluti fuccinctus curfitat hofpes, Continuatque dapes : nec non verniliter ipfis Fungitur officiis, praelibans omne quod affert.
The verieft Hermit in the Nation
May yield, God knows, to ftrong temptation.
Away they come, thro' thick and thin, To a tall house near Lincoln's-Inn; ("Twas on the night of a Debate, When all their Lordships had fate late.) Behold the place, where if a Poet Shin'd in Defcription, he might show it; Tell how the Moon-beam trembling falls, And tips with Silver all the walls; Palladian walls, Venetian doors, Grotefco roofs, and Stucco floors: But let it (in a word) be faid,
The Moon was up, and Men a bed, The Napkins white, the Carpet red: The Guests withdrawn had left the Treat, And down the Mice fate, tête à tête.
Our Courtier walks from difh to dish, Taftes for his Friend of Fowl and Fish ; Tells all their names, lays down the law,
"That Jelly's rich, this Malmsey healing, "Pray, dip your Whiskers and your Was ever fuch a happy Swain? He stuffs and fwills, and stuffs again. "I'm quite afham'd—'tis mighty rude "To eat fo much-but all's fo good, VOL. VI.
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