One was our Labour, one was our Repose,
One frugal Supper did our Studies close.
Sure on our Birth fome friendly Planet fhone;
And, as our Souls, our Horoscope was one:
Whether the 7 mounting Twins did Heav'n adorn,
Or, with the rifing 8 Ballance, we were born;
Both have the fame Impreffions from above;
And both have 9 Saturn's Rage, repell'd by Jove
What Star I know not, but fome Star I find,
Has giv'n Thee an Afcendant o'er my Mind.
Carn. Nature is ever various in her Frame: Each has a different Will; and few the fame: The greedy, Merchants, led by Lucre, run To the parch'd Indies, and the rifing Sun; From thence hot Pepper, and rich Drugs they bear, Bart'ring for Spices, their Italian Ware; The lazy Glutton fafe at home will keep, Indulge his Sloth, and batten with his Sleep: One bribes for high Preferments in the State, A second shakes the Box, and fits up late: Another shakes the Bed, diffolving there, "Till Knots upon his Gouty Joints appear, And Chalk is in his Crippled Fingers found; Rots like a Doddard Oak, and piecemeal falls to ground Then, his lewd Follies. he wou'd late repent; And his paft Years, that in a Mift were spent.
6 Aftrologers divide the Heaven into Twelve Parts, according to the Number of the
The Sign of Libra. 9. Aftrologers have an AxTwelve Signs of the Zodiack :iom, that whatsoever Saturn The Sign or Conftellation [ties, is loos'd by Jupiter which rifes in the Eaft, at the They account Saturn to be a Birth of any Man, is call'd Planet of a Malevolent Nathe Afcendant: Perfiustherefore ture, and Jupiter of a Propi judges, that Cornutus and he had tious Influence the fame, or a like Nativity,
Perf. But thou art pale, in nightly Studies, grown,
To make the 10 Stoick Inftitutes thy own:
Thou long with ftudious Care haft till'd our Youth,
And fown our well-purg'd Ears with wholfome Truth..
From thee both old and young, with profit, learn
The Bounds of Good and Evil to difcern.
Corn. Unhappy he who does this Work adjourn,
And to To-morrow wou'd the fearch delay:
His lazy morrow will be like to-day.
Perf. But is one Day of Eafe too much to borrow? Corn. Yes, fure: For Yefterday was once To-morrow That Yesterday is gone, and nothing gain'd:
And all thy fruitless Days will thus be drain'd;
For thou haft more To-morrows yet to Ask,
And wilt be ever to begin thy Task;
Who, like the hindmoft Chariot-Wheels are curst,
Still to be near, but ne'er to reach the firft.
O Freedom! firft Delight of Human Kind!
Not that which Bondmen from their Mafters find, s.
The Privilege of Doles; nor yet t'infcribe
Their Names in 12 this or t' other Roman Tribe:
That falfe Enfranchisement with eafe is found:
Slaves are 13 made Citizens by turning round.
How, replies one, can any be more free?
Here's Dama, once a Groom of low Degree,
Not worth a Farthing, and a Sot befide;
So true a Rogue, for Lying's fake he ly'd:
But, with a turn, a Freeman he became;
Now 14 Marcus Dama is his Worship's Name.
Good Gods! who wou'd refuse to lend a Sum,
If wealthy Marcus Surety will become!
Marcus is made a Judge, and for a Proof
Of certain Truth, He faid it, is enough.
A Will is to be prov'd; put in your Claim ;
'Tis clear, if 15 Marcus has fubfcrib'd his Name.
This is 16 true Liberty, as I believe;
What can we farther from our Caps receive,
Than as we please without controul to live?
Not more to 17 Noble Brutus could belong.
Hold, fays the Stoick, your Affumption's wrong:
I grant true Freedom
you have well defin'd:
But, living as you lift, and to your Mind,
And loosely tack'd, all must be left behind.
What, fince the Prætor did my Fetters loose,
And left me freely at my own difpose,
May I not live without Controul and Awe,"
Excepting ftill the 18 Letter of the Law?
14 Slaves had only one Name before their Freedom: After it, they were admitted to a Pranomen, like our Chriftian Names: So Dama, is now call'd Marcus Dama.
15 At the Proof of a Teftament, the Magiftrates were to fubfcribe their Names, as allowing the Legality of the
16 Slaves, when they were fet free, had a Cap given them.!
in Sign of their Liberty.
17 Brutus freed the Roman People from the Tyranny of. the Tarquins, and chang'd the Form of the Government into a glorious Common-wealth..
18 The Text of the Roman Laws, was written in Red Letters, which was called the Rubrick; tranflated here, in more general Words, The Letter of the Law.
Hear me with Patience, while thy Mind I free
From thofe fond Notions of falfe Liberty:
'Tis not the Prætor's Province to bestow
True Freedom; nor to teach Mankind to know
What to our felves, or to our Friends, we owe.
He cou'd not fet thee free from Cares and Strife,
Nor give the Reins to a lewd vicious Life:
As well he for an Afs a Harp might string,
Which is against the Reafon of the thing;
For Reafon ftill is whifp'ring in your Ear,
Where you are fure to fail, th' Attempt forbear:
No need of Publick Sanctions, this to bind,
Which Nature has implanted in the Mind:
Not to pursue the work, to which we're not defign'd.
Unskill'd in Hellebore, if thou fhou'dft try
To mix it, and mistake the Quantity,
The Rules of Phyfick wou'd against thee cry.
The high-fhoo'd Ploughman, fhou'd he quit the Land,
To take the Pilot's Rudder in his hand,
Artless of Stars, and of the moving Sand,
The Gods wou'd leave him to the Waves and Wind,
And think all Shame was loft in Human Kind.
Tell me, my Friend, from whence hadft thou the skill, So nicely to diftinguifh Good from Ill?
Or by the found to judge of Gold and Brass,
What Piece is Tinkers Metal, what will pass?
And what thou art to follow, what to fly,
This to condemn, and that to ratific?
When to be bountiful, and when to spare,
But never Craving, or opprefs'd with Care?
The Baits of Gifts, and Money to despise,
And look on Wealth with undefiring Eyes?
When thou canst truly call these Virtues thine,
Be wife and free, by Heav'n's Confent, and mine.
But thou, who lately of the common ftrain,
Wer't one of us, if ftill thou do'ft retain
The fame ill Habits, the fame Follies too,
Glofs'd over only with a Saint-like Show,
Then I refume the Freedom which I
gave,
Still thou art bound to Vice, and ftill a Slave.
Thou can'ft not wag thy Finger, or begin
The leaft light Motion, but it tends to Sin.
How's this? Not wag my Finger, he replies?
No, Friend; nor fuming Gums, nor Sacrifice,
Can ever make a Madman free, or wife.
"Virtue and 19 Vice are never in one Soul:
"A Man is wholly Wife, or wholly is a Fool.
A heavy Bumkin, taught with daily Care,
Can never dance three Steps with a becoming Air.
Perf. In fpight of this, my Freedom ftill remains.
Corn. Free, what, and fetter'd with so many Chains?
Can't thou no other Mafter understand
Than 20 him that free'd thee by the Prætor's Wand?
Shou'd he, who was thy Lord, command thee now,
With a harsh Voice, and fupercilious Brow,
To fervile Duties, thou wou'dft fear no more;
The Gallows and the Whip are out of door.
But if thy Paffions lord it in thy Breast,
Art thou not ftill a Slave, and ftilt oppreft?
Whether alone, or in thy Harlot's Lap,
When thou wou'dft take a lazy Morning's Naps
Up, up, fays Avarice; thou fnor'ft again,
Stretcheft thy Limbs, and yawn'st, but all in vain;
19 The Stoicks held this Paradox, That any one Vice, or notorious Folly, which they call'd' Madness, hindred a Man from being Virtuous: That a Man was of a Piece, without a Mixture; either wholly Vicious, or Good; one Virtue
or Vice, according to them. including all the reft.
20 The Prator held a Wand in his Hand, with which he softly ftruck the Slave on the Head, when he declared him free,
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