And cultivate a taste for ancient song,
Catching its ardor as I mused along;
Nor seldom. as propitious Heaven might send,
What once I valued and could boast a friend,
Were witnesses how cordially I press'd
His undissembling virtue to my breast:
Receive me now, not uncorrupt as then
Nor guiltless of corrupting other men,
But versed in arts that, while they seem to stay
A falling empire, hasten its decay.
To the fair haven of my native home,
The wreck of what I was. fatigued, I come;
For once I can approve the patriot's voice,
And make the course he recommends my choice:
We meet at last in one sincere desire,
His wish and mine both prompt me to retire.
"Tis done, he steps into the welcome chaise,
Lolls at his ease behind four handsome bays,
That whirl away from business and debate
The disencumber'd Atlas of the state.
Ask not the boy, who, when the breeze of morn
First shakes the glittering drops from every thorn,
Unfolds his flock, then under bank or bush
Sits linking cherry-stones. or platting rush,
How fair is freedom!-he was always free:
To carve his rustic name upon a tree,
To snare the mole, or with ill-fashion'd hook
To draw the incautious minnow from the brook,
Are life's prime pleasures in his simple view,
His flock the chief concern he ever knew ;
She shines but little in his heedless eyes,
The good we never miss we rarely prize:
But ask the noble drudge in state affairs,
Escaped from office, and its constant cares,
What charms he sees in Freedom's smile express'd,
In freedom lost so long, now repossess'd; [mands,
The tongue whose strains were cogent as com-
Revered at home, and felt in foreign lands,
Shall own itself a stammerer in that cause,
Or plead its silence as its best applause.
He knows indeed that, whether dress'd or rude,
Wild without art, or artfully subdued,
Nature in every form inspires delight,
But never mark'd her with so just a sight.
Her hedge-row shrubs. a variegated store,
With woodbine and wild roses mantled o'er,
Green balks and furrow'd lands, the stream that
Its cooling vapor o'er the dewy meads. [spreads
Downs, that almost escape the inquiring eye,
That melt and fade into the distant sky,
Beauties he lately slighted as he pass'd,
Seem all created since he travell❜d last.
Master of all the enjoyments he design'd,
No rough annoyance rankling in his mind,
What early philosophic hours he keeps,
How regular his meals, how sound he sleeps.
Not sounder he that on the mainmast head,
While morning kindles with a windy red,
Begins a long look-out for distant land,
Nor quits till evening watch his giddy stand,
Then, swift descending with a seaman's haste,
Slips to his hammock, and forgets the blast.
He chooses company, but not the squire's,
Whose wit is rudeness, whose good breeding tires;
Nor yet the parson's. who would gladly come,
Obsequious when abroad, though proud at home;
Nor can he much affect the neighboring peer,
Whose toe of emulation treads too near;
But wisely seeks a more convenient friend,
With whom, dismissing forms, he may unbend.
A man whom marks of condescending grace,
Teach while they flatter him his proper place;

Who comes when call'd, and at a word withdraws,
Speak with reserve, and listens with applause:
Some plain mechanic, who, without pretence,
To birth or wit, nor gives nor takes offence;
On whom he rests well pleased his weary powers,
And talks and laughs away his vacant hours.
The tide of life, swift always in its course,
May run in cities with a brisker force.
But nowhere with a current so serene,
Or half so clear, as in the rural scene.
Yet how fallacious is all earthly bliss,
What obvious truths the wisest heads may miss
Some pleasures live a month, and some a year,
But short the date of all we gather here;
No happiness is felt, except the true,
That does not charm thee more for being new.
This observation, as it chanced, not made,
Or, if the thought occurr'd, not duly weigh'd,
He sighs-for after all by slow degrees
The spot he loved has lost the power to please;
To cross his ambling pony day by day
Seems at the best but dreaming life away;
The prospect, such as might enchant despair,
He views it not, or sees no beauty there;
With aching heart, and discontented looks,
Returns at noon to billiards or to books,
But feels, while grasping at his faded joys,
A secret thirst of his renounced employs.
He chides the tardiness of every post,
Pants to be told of battles won or lost,
Blames his own indolence, observes, though late,
"Tis criminal to leave a sinking state,
Flies to the levee. and, received with grace.
Kneels, kisses hands. and shines again in place.

Suburban villas, highway-side retreats. [streets, That dread the encroachment of our growing Tight boxes, neatly sash'd, and in a blaze With all a July sun's collected rays, Delight the citizen, who, gasping there, Breathes clouds of dust, and calls it country air. O sweet retirement, who would balk the thought That could afford retirement, or could not? 'Tis such an easy walk, so smooth and straight, The second milestone fronts the garden gate; A step if fair, and, if a shower approach, You find safe shelter in the next stage-coach. There, prison'd in a parlor snug and small, Like bottled wasps upon a southern wall, The man of business, and his friends compress'd Forget their labors, and yet find no rest; But still 'tis rural-trees are to be seen From every window, and the fields are green; Ducks paddle in the pond before the door, And what could a remoter scene show more? A sense of elegance we rarely find The portion of a mean or vulgar mind, And ignorance of better things makes man, Who cannot much, rejoice in what he can; And he, that deems his leisure well bestow'd In contemplation of a turnpike-road, Is occupied as well, employs his hours As wisely, and as much improves his powers, As he that slumbers in pavilions graced With all the charms of an accomplish'd taste. Yet hence, alas! insolvencies; and hence The unpitied victim of ill-judged expense, From all his wearisome engagements freed, Shakes hands with business, and retires indeed

Your prudent grandmammas, ye modern belles, Content with Bristol, Bath, and Tunbridge Wells, When health required it. would consent to roam, Else more attach'd to pleasures found at home;

But now alike, gay widow. virgin, wife,
Ingenious to diversify dull life.
In coaches, chaises, caravans and hoys
Fly to the coast for daily nightly joys,
And all impatient of dry land. agree
With one consent to rush into the sea.
Ocean exhibits, fathomless and broad,
Much of the power and majesty of God.
He swathes about the swelling of the deep,
That shines and rests. as infants smile and sleep;
Vast as it is, it answers as it flows
The breathings of the lightest air that blows;
Curling and whitening over all the waste,
The rising waves obey the increasing blast,
Abrupt and horrid as the tempest roars,
Thunder and flash upon the steadfast shores,
Till he that rides the whirlwind checks the rein,
Then all the world of waters sleeps again.
Nereids or Dryads, as the fashion leads,
Now in the floods now panting in the meads,
Votaries of pleasure still, where'er she dwells,
Near barren rocks, in palaces, or cells,
O grant a poet leave to recommend
(A poet fond of nature, and your friend)
Her slighted works to your admiring view;
Her works must needs excel, who fashion'd you.
Would ye, when rambling in your morning ride,
With some unmeaning coxcomb at your side,
Condemn the prattler for his idle pains,
To waste unheard, the music of his strains,
And deaf to all the impertinence of tongue,
That, while it courts affronts and does you wrong,
Mark well the finish'd plan without a fault,
The seas globose and huge, the o'erarching vault,
Earth's millions daily fed, a world employ'd
In gathering plenty yet to be enjoy'd,
Till gratitude grew vocal in the praise
Of God beneficent in all his ways; [shine!
Graced with such wisdom how would beauty
Ye want but that to seem indeed divine.

Anticipated rents and bills unpaid,

Force many a shining youth into the shade,
Not to redeem his time, but his estate,
And play the fool, but at a cheaper rate.
There, hid in loathed obscurity, removed
From pleasures lett but never more beloved,
He just endures, and with a sickly spleen
Sighs o'er the beauties of the charming scene.
Nature indeed looks prettily in rhyme;
Streams tinkle sweetly in poetic chime:
The warblings of the blackbird. clear and strong,
Are musical enough in Thomson's song;
And Cobham's groves, and Windsor's green re-
treats,

When Pope describes them, have a thousand sweets;

He likes the country, but in truth must own,
Most likes it when he studies it in town.

Poor Jack no matter who-for when I blame, I pity and must therefore sink the name, Lived in his saddle loved the chase. the course. And always, ere he mounted, kiss'd his horse. The estate, his sires had own'd in ancient years Was quickly distanced match'd against a peer's. Jack vanishd. was regretted, and forgot; "Tis wild good-nature's never failing lot. At length when all had long supposed him dead, By cold submersion razor rope, or lead, My lord, alighting at his usual place. The Crown took notice of an ostler's face. Jack knew his friend. but hoped in that disguise He might escape the most observing eyes,

And whistling, as if unconcern'd and gay,
Curried his nag and look'd another way;
Convinced at last. upon a nearer view.
'Twas he, the same, the very Jack he knew,
O'erwhelm'd at once with wonder, grief. and joy
He press'd him much to quit his base employ;
His countenance, his purse. his hea t. his hand,
Influence and power, were all at his comman 1:
Peers are not always generous as well bred,
But Granby was, meant truly what he said.
Jack bow'd, and was obliged-confess'd 'twa
strange.

That so retired he should not wish a change,
But knew no medium between guzzling beer.
And his old stint-three thousand pounds a-year

Thus some retire to nourish hopeless woe; Some seeking happiness not found below; Some to comply with humor, and a mind' To social scenes by nature disinclined; Some sway'd by fashion, some by deep disgust; Some self-impoverish'd, and because they must; But few, that court Retirement, are aware Of half the toils they must encounter there Lucrative offices are seldom lost

For want of powers proportion'd to the post.
Give e'en a dunce the employment he desires
And he soon finds the talents it requires;
A business with an income at its heels
Furnishes always oil for its own wheels.
But in his arduous enterprise to close
His active years with indolent repose,
He finds the labors of that state exceed
His utmost faculties, severe indeed.
"Tis easy to resign a toilsome place,
But not to manage leisure with a grace;
Absence of occupation is not rest.

A mind quite vacant is a mind distress'd.
The veteran steed, excused his task at length,
In kind compassion of his failing strength,
And turn'd into the park or mead to graze,
Exempt from future service all his days,
There feels a pleasure perfect in its kind,
Ranges at liberty and snuffs the wind:
But when his lord would quit the busy road,
To taste a joy like that he has bestow'd.
He proves, less happy than his favor'd brute,
A life of ease a difficult pursuit.
[seein
Thought to the man that never thinks, may
As natural as when asleep to dream;
But reveries (for human minds will act)
Specious in show. impossible in fact,
Those flimsy webs that break as soon as wrought,
Attain not to the dignity of thought:
Nor yet the swarms that occupy the brain,
Where dreams of dress, intrigue, and pleasure
reign;

Nor such as useless conversation breeds.
Or lust engenders and indulgence feeds. [dain'd?
Whence and what are we? to what end or-
What means the drama by the world sustain'd
Business or vain amusement. care or mirth,
Divide the frail inhabitants of earth.
Is duty a mere sport, or an employ?
Life an entrusted talent, or a toy?

Is there as reason conscience. Scripture say,
Cause to provide for a great future day,
When earth's assign'd duration at an end.
Man shall be summon'd and the dead attend?
The trumpet--will it sound? the curtain rise?
And show the august tribunal of the skies,
Where no prevarication shall avail,
Where eloquence and artifice shall fail,