On ev'ry stage the foes of peace attend, Hate dogs their flight, and insult mocks their end. But will not Britain hear the last appeal, Our supple tribes repress their patriot throats, Their wish is full to riot and to rail. In full-blown dignity see Wolsey stand, Law in his voice, and fortune in his hand; To him the church, the realm, their pow'rs consign, Through him the rays of regal bounty shine, Still to new heights his restless wishes tow'r, At length his sov'reign frowns-the train of state Shall Wolsey's wealth, with Wolsey's end, be thine? The wisest justice on the banks of Trent? * What gave great Villiers to the assassin's knife, And fix'd disease on Harley's closing life? What murder'd Wentworth, and what exil'd Hyde, What but their wish indulg'd in courts to shine, The When first the college rolls receive his name, young enthusiast quits his ease for fame; * Ver. 108-113. The richest landlord. † Ver. 114-132. Through all his veins the fever of renown Spreads from the strong contagion of the gown; O'er Bodley's dome his future labours spread, And Bacon's mansion trembles o'er his head. Are these thy views? Proceed, illustrious youth, And Virtue guard thee to the throne of Truth! Yet, should thy soul indulge the gen'rous heat Till captive Science yields her last retreat; Should Reason guide thee with her brightest ray, And pour on misty Doubt resistless day; Should no false kindness lure to loose delight, Nor praise relax, nor difficulty fright; Should tempting Novelty thy cell refrain, *And Sloth effuse her opiate fumes in vain ; Should Beauty blunt on fops her fatal dart, Nor claim the triumph of a letter'd heart; Should no disease thy torpid veins invade, Nor Melancholy's phantoms haunt thy shade; Yet hope nor life from grief or danger free, Nor think the doom of man revers'd for thee: Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes, And pause awhile from Letters, to be wise; There mark what ills the scholar's life assail, Toil, envy, want, the patron, and the gaol. See nations, slowly wise and meanly just, *There is a tradition, that the study of friar Bacon, built on an arch over the bridge, will fall when a man greater than Bacon shall pass under it. To prevent so shocking an accident it was pulled down many years since. f Resistless burns the fever of renown, Caught from the strong contagion of the gown. Mr. Boswell tells us that when he remarked to Dr. Johnson that there was an awkward repetition of the word spreads in this passage, he altered it to "Burns from the strong contagion of the gown ;" but this expression, it appears, was only resumed from the reading in the first edition. $ And Sloth's bland opiates shed their fumes in vain.. h the garret and the gaol. To buried merit raise the tardy bust. If dreams yet flatter, once again attend, Nor deem, when Learning her last prize bestows, The ravish'd standard, and the captive foe, And mortgag'd states their grandsires' wreaths regret, Wreaths which at last the dear-bought right convey To rust on medals, or on stones decay. * See Gent. Mag. Vol. LXVIII. p. 951. 1027. † Ver. 133-146. i This was first written "See, when the vulgar 'scaped ;" but, as the rest of the paragraph was in the present tense, he altered it to scapes; but again recollecting that the word vulgar is never used as a singular substantive, he adopted the reading of the text. *On what foundation stands the warrior's pride, How just his hopes, let Swedish Charles decide; A frame of adamant, a soul of fire, No dangers fright him, and no labours tire Peace courts his hand, but spreads her charms in vain; The march begins in military state, And nations on his eye suspended wait; And Winter barricades the realms of Frost; A petty fortress, and a dubious hand; He left the name, at which the world grew pale, * Ver. 147-167. O'er love or force. |