Page:Trivia (John Gay) to which is added London (Samuel Johnson) (1809).djvu/76

---

---

Let such raise palaces, and manors buy,
Collect a tax, or farm a lottery;
With warbling eunuchs fill a licens'd stage,
And lull to servitude a thoughtless age.
Heroes, proceed! what bounds your pride shall hold?
What check restrain your thirst of power and gold?
Behold rebellious virtue quite o’erthrown;
Behold our fame, our wealth, our lives, your own.
'To such a groaning nation’s spoils are given,
When public crimes inflame the wrath of Heaven:
But what, my friend, what hope remains for me,
Who start at theft, and blush at perjury?
Who scarce forbear, though Britain’s Court he sing,
To pluck a titled poet’s borrow'd wing;
A statesman’s logic unconvinc'd can hear,
And dare to slumber o’er the Gazetteer;
Despise a fool in half his pension dress'd,
And strive in vain to laugh at H—y’s jest?
'Others, with softer smiles, and subtler art,
Can sap the principles, or taint the heart;
With more address a lover’s note convey,
Or bribe a virgin’s innocence away.