" Vides, quæ maxima credis
Esse mala, exiguum censum, turpemque repulsam,
Quanto devites, &c."
Which I paraphrased thus, not long ago, in my postchaise:
Survey mankind, observe what risks they run,
What fancy'd ills, thro' real dangers, shun;
Those fancy'd ills, so dreadful to the great,
A lost election, or impair'd estate.
Observe the merchant, who, intent on gain,
Affronts the terrours of the Indian main;
Tho' storms arise, and broken rocks appear,
He flies from poverty, knows no other fear.
Vain men! who might arrive, with toil far less,
By smoother paths, at greater happiness.
| For 'tis superiour bliss, not to desire | |
| That trifling good, which fondly you admire, | |
| Possess precarious, and too dear acquire. |
What hackney gladiator can you find,
By whom the Olympick crown would be declin'd?
Who, rather than that glorious palm to seize,
With safety combat, and prevail with ease,
Would choose on some inglorious stage to tread,
And, fighting, stroll from wake to wake for bread?
As to what is to happen, I am not anxious about it: on which subject I have twenty fine quotations at the end of my pen; but, I think, it is better to own frankly to you, that upon a principle (which I have long established) we are a great deal more mechanical than our vanity will give us leave to allow; I have familiarized the worst prospects to
