Potter Retirement THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES FREDERIC THOMAS BLANCHARD ENDOWMENT FUND RETIREMENT A N EPISTLE. RETIREMENT: A N EPISTLE. By Mr. P O T T E R, Inter Sylvas Academi qucerere verum. H R. L N D IV : Printed for Paul Vai _ LLANT, ovQv-^^^m{}: Southampton-Sire^^ in xhQ Strand. M.DCC.XLVIII. (Price One Sliiliing.J (5) p, PBS-r- RETIREMENT: A N EPISTLE. HEN on the Stage Bayes bids th'Eclipfe advance. Earth, Sun, and Moon confounding in the Dance j If Critics wifely a6l, who damn the Fool Outraging Nature, and tranfgreffing Rule ; How in the World's mad Dance ihall we forbear The ferious Cenfure, or contemptuous Sneer ? Where ev'ry Age, and ev'ry State is found Treading a like, abfurd, unnatural Round : B A 8704 9: i (6) A Round tliat rules not only Forms of State, But eoverns all th'Affairs of all the Great. Look o'er the military Lifts^ you'll find The fupple Coward, whofe ignoble Mind Witii flaviih SuffVance joins the Fav'rite's Side, \\^atching his Smiles, and bending to his Pride, Rife o'er the brave Man's Head, and fnatch the Place His fcorn'd, but modeft. Worth was form'd to grace. Nay, when we groan diftemper'd with our Pain, And the fierce Fever boils in ev'ry Vein, Proud to the very Confines of the Grave, By the long Wig we judge the Skill to fave. Or what avails in JVarburton to find The Power of Genius, Soul of Science join'd ? The facred Mitre dignifies his Browns, Who lowed to th'unletter'd Courtier bows. TOO ( 7) TOO juft to flatter J and too brave to lie, From fiich a V/orld the Sons of Virtue fly : Yet, bleft with Innocence, how few can find What to fnpply the mighty Void of Mind ! Becalm'd, and wanting Oars, they afl<. the Gale Of others Breath to fwell the flao-ainor Sail, Whilft the pale Villain, hearing Confcience loud. Flies the ftill Scene, and flielters in a Croud. O teach us, for you know, to be alone. And all the Pleafures of Refledlion own 5 Let us that greateft BleflTino; learn of vou. To view our felves, nor tremble at the View ; Teach us to live by your unerring Rule, In Solitude nor indolent, nor dull. B 2 And ( 8) And let me blefs you, for your friendly Care Remov'd me from the W^orld, and plac'd me here ^ And taught me, in the boiling Rage of Youth, To hear the Voice of Reafon and of Truth j Willing your Friend that Happinefs ftiou'd find, Which gilds your Shades, and calms your fpotlefs Mind* FROM the Refleftions thefe calm Scenes allow. Much of myfelf, and of the World I know ; I know that Liberty, Man's greateft Boaft, Is in the Chace of wild Ambition loft ; Enflav'd to all the Vanities of State, The Follies, and the Paffions of the Great : Nor are the Great more free ; their conftant Train Drives the fair Goddefs to the humble Plain ; Their A£lions clofely watch'd, their Words mark'd down. And e'en their very Thoughts no more their own 3 Purfu'd ■( 9 ) Purfu'd by Flatterers, Parafites, and Knaves, What are they but the verieft Slaves to^ Slaves ? And what concludes this Pageantry of Life ? — The Axe of Juftice, or the murd'ring Knife. — Bribing and brib'd to grafp the dazzling Prize, And lab'ring in their Country's Fall to rife ; Tarpeia*s juft Return their Treachery yields. No golden Bracelet, but the brazen Shields. THERE are who Free midft all their Greatnefs live. If the Name, Free, to That we rightly give. Which follows (flavifn Term !j PaiTion's ftrong Guft, The Heat of Appetite j and Rage of Luil 5 If eer the flitting Phantom meet their Arms, How faint her Air, how languid are her Charms ! Yet (hall (he hold them to her wanton Lore, With the fond Dalliance of a painted Whoi ": : Mean ( lo) Mean while pale Virtue^ groaning on the Ground, With all her ruin'd Honour, /cattcr'd round, Infulted lies, and with indignant Shame Bluilies to fee the Pageant's guilty Fame. O Liberty ! O Virtue ! If your Voice, Afiliafive yet, can fix the doubtful Choice ; Lead us, O lead us to fequeftred Shades, Where Reafon rules, and not one Luft invades ; Far from the Life of Vanity or Care, From Grandeur, Folly, Paffion, Pride, and Fear. Th' unbroken Calm of rural Scenes you love. The Nymphs that haunt the Fountain and the Grove : Oft when the Wife, by Contemplation led. The darkfome Grove, or Moon-lioht Meadow tread. You join tlie Walk, and breath into the Breaft The fweet Complacence of a Mind at Reft j Whence ( lO Whence piirer Reafon, heighten'd Wifdom flow. An Hoadly*^ Calmnefs, or a Seraph's Glow. There nor dependant, and by none confin'd. We a6l the fober Dlftates of the Mind ; There dare we give the gen'rous Smile to flow. Not barely fafliion'd from another's Brow ; Or fit, or walk, uncumber'd with the Train That fwells the little Great, and meanly vain ; Our Guard white Innocence and Wifdom brings. More folemn than the tedious Pomp of Kings. This, this is Virtue ! O'er the peaceful Plains In all her Glory bright the Goddefs reigns 5 Behold her winning and majefl:ic Air ! Before — the Laws her white-rob'd Virgins bear , Commerce and Plenty, Induftry and Wealth, Honour's fair Train, and ever-blooming Health Attend ( lO Attend her Side ; Peace (lieds her Smiles around ; Each Mufe walks honour'd, and each Science crovvn'd: Whilft pleas'd flie views her Chariot-Wheels beneath Ambition, Pride, Luft, Fortune, Fear, and Death. FORGIVE a Verfe the Love of Virtue warms. Nor think thefe only vifionary Charms j You'll find them, lill'ning to the moral Strain, More than a flatt'rins: Fiction of the Brain : Come then, with me, the Heat of Rapture quit. Hear fober Reas'ning in Exchange for Wit 5 Preach on the World, but firft the Text divide. Of Bufmefs firil, of Pleafure next decide. FIOVv^ can the Man, whofe every Thought is Pelf, Search his own Mind, and look into himfelf .^ Unheard (13 ) Unheard without all grave Reflexions wait. Like humble Suitors at the Great Man's Gate j Intent on each low Artifice to thrive. Strangers to Virtue, and themfelves they live : An honeft Man, if honeft fuch may be. Breathes many a Sigh, and wifhes to be free j But, like the Roman Parricide, is found. With Serpents, Dogs, and Apes fhut up and bound. HOW are the filken Sons of Pleafure loft. In all her wild Rotations madly toft ? The flow'ry Round unthinkingly they tread, Where Vanities to Vanities fucceed ^ Amufements ever new their Reafon blind, Hope plays before, but Mockery fteals behind. LEAD ( 14) LEAD them from thefe Purfuits, at fome grave Hour, To the cahn Garden, or fequeftred Bower j CollecSled there each fcatter'd Beam of Thought, They learn to think^ and reafon as they ought ; Fame drops the Wreath 5 the Pageantry of Pow'r, And Wealth's own Mao;ic cheats the Senfe no more. No more the Wanton aik the painted Toy, True folid Pleafures realize their Joy , They find that Happineis in Reafon lies, Reafon, that makes us, and that keeps us wife. Nor end we here , new Joys enrich the Scene, In the calm Sunfhine of a Soul ferene j On Life's wide Sea unfteddily we fail. Sport of the dafhing Tide, or driving Gale 3 Or ( IS ) Or Hope mifleads the flatter'd Senfe^ or Fear Embitters each tumultuous Hour with Care 5 Each Converfation pains ; on ev'ry Side Fancied or real Infults hurt our Pride j We pine with Envy at the profp'rous State, But tofs the Head, and mock th' Unfortunate , In Paflion's giddy Whirl we vainly ftrive, Converfe in Storms, and in a Tempeft live : But, from the World retir'd, we find that Reft Which calms the troubled Ocean of the Bread ; The diflant Images, e'erwhile fo gay. Languid and faint upon the Fancy play j And with them evVy Paffion dies away. STILL let me raife the Verfe, and point the Road That leads thro' Nature up to Nature's God 5 C z The ( i6 ) The helghten'd Theme requires a bolder Wing, *^ The God, the God, the vocal Valiies ring." On ev'ry Mountain we confefs his Pow'r, In ev'ry Bufli \hit ftill fmall Voice adore : When 'mongft yon' venerable Oaks I rove, I own the Deity that fills the Grove : If the fage Tree no Voice prophetic gives. If in its Bark no fabled Druid lives, HE gave each tow 'ring Trunk to rife, HE fpread The wavinor Foliacre of each reverend Head : Known in each Leaf unfolding to the Spring, Seen in each Infedl of the meaneft Wing, Found in each Herb, each Flow'r that decks the Field, In ev'ry Walk conversed with and beheld 5 Bleft Intercourfe ! when deigns with Man to join Th' all-gracious Prefence of the Pow'r Divine j When, ( ^7) When, great Example of primaeval Grace, Man communes with his God as Face to Face. Hence, hence, ye Vain ! with all your Pomp remove j For Kings and Courts quit all the Wife approve ; For Kings and Courts the Godhead and the Grove ! i THERE are, who feel thefe Truths, the Joy ferene. The humble Bleflings of the rural Scene ; But falfe Defires their erring Judgments cheat, And ruin all their Blifs to make them Great: Fools ! not to know that Solitude and Pride, Things inconfiftent, will not be ally'd ; That Nature, craving no luxurious Feaft, A(ks but a little, and rejects the reft : Not that this Luft of Pomp wou'd be fo ill, Cou'd we, like jfofijua^ bid the Sun ftand ftiil j Or { i8 ) Or to our Willies fet a certain Bound, Stop when we reach it, nor afpire beyond j But here no more than foohih Children wife. Who covet ev'ry Star that decks the Skies ^ The Skies appear to their unjudging Sight, As refting on yon' Hill's afpiring Height ; The little Wantons pant and glow with Joy, Eager to gather up each fparkling Toy ; Their Breads in vain a nearer Hope infpires. The moving Sky, as they advance, retires ^ Till, having gain'd the Summit, they deplore The flying Stars as diftant as before : Than thefe no wifer We our Wiihes bound, The Bound we find. Content is never found j Still we toil on, in warning Nature s Spite, Find no Horizon to our Appetite 5 Run ( 19) Run the fame Round with never-reftins: Hafte, Till Death th' enchanted Circle burfts at laft. Wou'dft thou be bleft ? Thy falfe Defires refign ; Now, now retire ; the Future is not thine ; Dare to be wife 5 for He, that here delays, * The Clown upon the River's Margin ftays, Expefting till the paffing Stream be dry*d. Still glides the paiTmg Stream, and will for ever glide. BUT how retire? Shall we, like 7;*wo^, flie From all Mankind, and in a Defert die ? In fretful Pique, or Indolence forego Life's various Duty, and its Comforts too ? Each kindly Seed or focial Joy fupprefs. No Friend to comfort, and no Child to blefs ? * Rujlicui exptBat dum defluat amn'is : at ilk Labittir iy labetur in omne volubilis avum . Hon 2Ep. L. r. A ( ao ) A Brother's Bllfs nor feel, nor Wants relieve. And Heav'n's own Gifts unthankfully receive ? Man's common Nature, common Good refign'd. The wretched Expletives of Humankind ^ OR fay, too liberal for Afcetic Hate, Shall we StatiUus^ Bounties imitate ? Think to retire but to forfake the Town, And carry all its Noife and Nonfenfe down ? Unfelt the Rapture of the filent Hour, No Shade fequeftred fovight, no thoughtful Bower j Drive fage Reflexion from her favour'd Groves, Haunt of mad Bacchanals^ and lawlefs Loves j With Riot's Voice bid ev'ry Echo rin^^, And fright the Mufes from their Wood and Spring ? OH! f ii y OH ! 'twixt the mad Extreme on either Side, Let Wifdom lead us, or let C — d guide ! Behold that Man, how glorious in Retreat ; Good without Noife, without a Title Great ; See him with all the focial Virtues bleft, Thofe Emanations of the gen'rous Bread ! From Him the Wretch unbought Advice receives, And drooping Anguiih lifts the Head and lives ; Deep his Refearches, open is his Mind, And much he knows, and knows for all Mankind j Too good for Bufmefs, and too wile for Povv'r, He fought the Shades of Spargrove\ blifsful Bow'r j There his lov'd Joys of learned Eafe He found. And all the joyful Country fmiles around. D YE Y E venerable Groves, whofe op'ning Glades In\ ite the mufeful Wand'rer to your Shades ! Ye Birds, whofe honied Notes enthrall the Ear, Wake the bright Morn, the darkfome Ev'ning chear ! Ye Fountains, murm'ring Mufic as you flow ! Ye Flow'rs, that on their purple Margins glow ! Ye Winds, that o'er thofe Flow'rs foft-breathing play. Calm the hot Sky, and mitigate the Day ! Take me, O take me to your lov'd Retreats ; All, all confpire to blefs me with your Sweets! Here in your foft Enclofure let me prove The Shade and Silence of the Life I lovt ; Not idle here ; for as I rove along I form the Verfe, and meditate the Song ; Or mend my Mind by what the Wife have taught^ Studious to be the very Thing I ought : Here ( i3 ) Here will I tafte the Bleflings of Content, No Hope fliall flatter, and no Fear torment 5 Unlike the Sea, the Sport of ev'ry Wind, And rich with Wrecks, the Ruin of Mankind, My Life an honeft, humble Praife fhall claim. As the fmall Stream, fcarce honour'd with a Name, Whofe glad'ning Waters thro' my Garden play. Give a few Flow'rs to fmile, then glide away. i^ I N I s: BOOKS lately Publtjhed hy Paul Vaillant. I. A MTNl'OR and TIIEO BORA; or the Hermit: A Poem, in three Canto's. By J\ Mr.Malkt. ^to. " ■ ' j -^ '\- •■ II. Kepdus, a Tragedy. By Mr. Havard: "Svo. III. The Lying Valct, a Comedy, in two Afts, hy Mr. Garrick, Svo. IV. Pharfalia and Philippi ■■, or the two Phf/ifpt In Virgil'% Georgics attempted to be explained and reconciled to Hiftory, and all the ancient Poets and Hiftorians vindicated from the Afperfions tiuown on them by feveral Critics, on account of their fuppofed Dilagrcemcnt with regard to thofe Battles. By Mr. Holdfujorlh. V. Three Trcatifes. Thi tirft concerning Art. The fecond concerning Mufic, Painting, and Poetry. The third concerning Ilappincfs. By J. 11. ?,vo. VI. The Natural Hiftory of Bees. Containing an Account of their Produftion, their Oeconomy, the IVlanner of their making Wax and Koncy, and the btft Methods for the Im- provement and Prcfervation of them. I)lufl:ratcd with twelve Copper- Plates, ^vo. VII. The Hiftory of Lewis XI. King of France. In which is comprehended a general View of the Affairs of Europe c\w'mo thc.XVdi Century; and a clear Account of the true Caufcs of thofe Difputes which have occafioned moft of the long and bloody Wars that have happened fince. By Mr. Ducks., of the Royal Academy of Infcriptions and Belles Lettres. 2 Vol. ivo. VIII. The Siege of Calais by Edward oi England, An Hiftorical Novel, izmo. IX. The Life of Marianne ; or the Adventures of the Countcfs of*"* *. By M. De Marivaux. 2 Vol. l^r,^^. X. The Hiftory of the L-fe and Adventures of the famous Knight Ben ^dxcte de la Mancha, and his iuimorcus Squire Sancho Pancha, continued. By Alfonfo Fernandez de Avellaneda. Now full tranilatcd from the original 6"/>«;»)&. ^y Mr. Baker. Illuftrated with Cuts. -2 Vol. luno. XI. An Effay on Maritime Power and Commerce i particularly thofe oi France. By M, Dejlandes. ^vo. XII. The Theory of the Working of Ship?, applied to Praftice. Containing the Principles and Rules for Sailing with the greateft Advantage pofflble. By M. Pilot. Svo. XIII. Of the Mechanifm of the Motions of Floating Bodies. By M. De la Croix. With the Author's Expofitions thereon. 4.10. XIV. A Method to prevent, without a Rcgifler, the Running of Wool from Ireland to France^ and to'other Foreign Parts ; in order to rc-cltablifh the Woollen Manufafture of England. By Ivlr. Loundes. S'w. "i UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. THE LIBRARY rNTVERRlTY OP CALIFORNIA TO'^^: ANGRLES PAM PHLET BINDER ^^^ Syracuse, N. Y. 1^:^ Stockton, Calif.