ille

With Mind ferene; and cou'd not wish to see

His Vile Accufer drink as deep as He:
Exalted Socrates! Divinely brave!
Injur'd He fell, and dying he Forgave,
Too Noble for Revenge; which still we find
The weakest Frailty of a feeble Mind;
Degenerous Paffion, and for Man too base,
It feats its Empire in the Female Race,
There rages; and, to make its Blow fecure,
Puts Flatt'ry on, until the Aim be fure,

XVIII.

But why muft those be thought to 'scape, that feel
Thofe Rods of Scorpions, and thofe Whips of Steel
Which Conscience shakes, when the with Rage controuls,
And spreads amazing Terrors through their Souls?
Not fharp Revenge, not Hell it felf can find

A fiercer Torment than a Guilty Mind,
Which Day and Night doth dreadfully accufe,
Condemns the Wretch, and ftill the Charge renews.
XIX.

A trufted Spartan was inclin'd to Cheat,
(The Coin look'd lovely, and the Bag was great,
Secret the Truft) and with an Oath defend
The Prize, and baffle his deluded Friend:
But weak in Sin, and of the Gods afraid,
And not well vers'd in the forfwearing Trade,
He goes to Delphos; humbly begs Advice,
And thus the Priestess by Command replies:
Expect fure Vengeance by the Gods decreed,
To punish Thoughts, not yet improv'd to Deed.
At this he started, and forbore to swear,
Not out of Confcience of the Sin, but Fear.
Yet Plagues enfu'd, and the contagious Sin
Destroy'd himself, and ruin'd all his Kin.
Thus fuffer'd He for the imperfect Will
To fin, and bare Defign of doing Ill:

For he that but conceives a Crime in Thought,
Contracts the Danger of an Adual Fault:
Then what muft he expect that still proceeds
To finish Sin, and work up Thoughts to Deeds?
XX.

Perpetual Anguish fills his anxious Breast,
Not stopt by Business, nor compos'd by Reft:
No Mufick chears him, and no Feast can please,
He fits like difcontented 14 Damocles,

When by the sportive Tyrant wifely shown
The dangerous Pleasures of a flatter'd Throne.
Sleep flies the Wretch; or when his Care's oppreft,
And his tofs'd Limbs are weary'd into Rest,
Then Dreams invade, the injur'd Gods appear,
All arm'd with Thunder, and awake his Fear.
What frights him moft, in a Gigantick fize,
Thy facred Image flashes in his Eyes:
These shake his Soul, and, as they boldly prefs,
Bring out his Crimes; and force him to confefs,
This Wretch will start at ev'ry Flash that flies,
Grow pale at the firft murmur of the Skies,
Ere Clouds are form'd, and Thunder roars, afraid;
And Epicurus can afford no Aid,

His Notions fail: And the deftructive Flame
Commiffion'd falls, not thrown by Chance, but Aim:
One Clap is paft, and now the Skies are clear,
A fhort Reprieve, but to increase his Fear:
Whilft Arms Divine, revenging Crimes below,
Are gathering up to give the greater Blow.

14 Damocles having very
much extoll'd the Happiness of
Kings, in the prefence of Dio-
nyfius King of Syracufe; Dio
nyfius invited him to Dinner,
plac'd him in a rich Throne,
and
gave him a very fplendid

Entertainment; his Head hung Hair, with the ward.

but juft over a Sword by a Point down

14 A Philofopher who thought all things were by Chance.

But

But if a Fever fires his Sulphurous Blood,

In ev'ry Fit he feels the Hand of God,

And Heav'n-born Flame: Then drown'd in deep Despair,
He dares not offer one repenting Prayer;

Nor vow one Victim to preserve his Breath;
Amaz'd he lies, and fadly looks for Death:
For how can Hope with desperate Guilt agree?
And the worft Beast is worthier Life than he.

XXI:

He that once Sins, like him that flides on Ice,
Goes swiftly down the flippery ways of Vice;
Tho' Confcience checks him, yet, thofe Rubs
gone
He flides on smoothly, and looks back no more.
What Sinners finifh where they first begin?
And with one Crime content their Luft to Sin P
Nature, that rude, and in her first Effay,
Stood boggling at the roughness of the way;
Us'd to the Road, unknowing to return,
Goes boldly on, and loves the Path when worn.
XXII.

o'er,

Fear not, but pleas'd with this fuccessful Bait,
Thy Perjur'd Friend will quickly tempt his Fate;
He will go on, until his Crimes provoke
The Arm Divine to ftrike the fatal Stroke;
Then thou shalt fee him plung'd, when leaft he fears,
At once accounting for his deep Arrears;

Sent to those narrow Ifles, which throng'd we see
With mighty Exiles, once fecure as He;

Drawn to the Gallows, or condemn'd to Chains:
Then thou shalt triumph in the Villain's Pains,
Enjoy his Groans; and with a grateful Mind
Confefs, that Heav'n is neither Deaf nor Blind,

JUVENAL

THE

FOURTEENTH SATYR.

By Mr. 70 HN DRYDEN, Jun.

The ARGUMENT.

Since domeftick Examples eafily corrupt our Youth, the Poet prudently exhorts all Parents, that they themselves fhould abstain from evil Practices: Ámongst which, he chiefly points at Dice and Gaming, Taverns, Drunkenness, and Cruelty, which they exercis'd upon their Slaves: Left after their pernicious Example, their Sons fhould copy them in their Vices, and become Gamefters, Drunkards, and Tyrants, Liftrigons, and Cannibals to their Servants. For, if the Father, Jays Juvenal, love the Box and Dice, the Boy will be given to an itching Elbow: Neither is it to be expected, that the Daughter of Larga the Adulterefs, fon'd

be more continent than her Mother: Since we are all by Nature more apt to receive ill Impreffions than good; and are befides more pliant in our In

fancy