Page:Poetical Works of the Right Hon. Geo. Granville.djvu/155

Nor in dominion nor extent of land;
He ’s only great who can himſelf command;
Whoſe guard is peaceful Innocence, whoſe guide
Is faithful Reaſon; who is void of pride,
Checking ambition, nor is idly vain15
Of the falſe incenſe of a popular train;
Who without ſtrife or envy can behold
His neighbour’s plenty and his heaps of gold,
Nor covets other wealth but what we find
In the poſſeſſions of a virtuous mind.20
Fearleſs he ſees, who is with virtue crown’d,
The tempeſt rage, and hears the thunder ſound;
Ever the ſame, let Fortune ſmile or frown,
On the red ſcaffold or the blazing throne;
Serenely as he liv’d reſigns his breath,25
Meets Deſtiny halfway, nor ſhrinks at death.
Ye ſov’reign Lords! who ſit like gods in ſtate,
Awing the world, and buſtling to be great;
Lords but in title, vaſſals in effect,
Whom luſt controls, and wild deſires direct,30
The reins of empire but ſuch hands diſgrace,
Where Paſſion, a blind driver, guides the race.
What is this fame, thus crowded round with ſlaves?
The breath of fools, the bait of flatt’ring knaves.
An honeſt heart, a conſcience free from blame,35
Not of great acts, but good, give me the name.
In vain we plant, we build, our ſtores increaſe,
Is conſcience roots up all our inward peace.