Beaten and bruis'd, that goodness to adore,
Which, at their humble prayer, suspends its ire,
And sends them home, with yet a bone entire !

Nor this the worst ; for when deep midnight reigns,
And bolts secure our doors, and massy chains,
When noisy inns a transient silence keep,
And harass'd nature woos the balm of sleep,
Then, thieves and murderers ply their dreadful trade ;
With stealthy steps our secret couch invade :—
Roused from the treacherous calm, aghast we start,
And the flesh'd sword-is buried in our heart!
Hither from bogs, from rocks, and caves pursued,
(The Pontine marsh, and Gallinarian wood,)
The dark assassins flock, as to their home,
And fill with dire alarms the streets of Rome.
Such countless multitudes our peace annoy,
That bolts and shackles every forge employ
And cause so wide a waste, the country fears
A want of ore for mattocks, rakes, and shares.
O! happy were our sires, estranged from crimes ;
And happy, happy, were the good old times,
Which saw, beneath their kings, their tribunes' reign,
One cell the nation's criminals contain!

Much could I add, more reasons could I cite,
If time were ours, to justify my flight;
But see! the impatient team is moving on,
The sun declining and I must be gone:
Long since, the driver murmur'd at my stay,
And jerk'd his whip, to beckon me away.
Farewell, my friend! with this embrace we part:
Cherish my memory ever in your heart;

And when, from crowds and business, you repair,

Me quoque ad Helvinam Cererem vestramque Dianam

Convelle a Cumis. Satirarum ego, ni pudet illas,

321

Adjutor gelidos veniam caligatus in agros.

To breathe at your Aquinum, freer air,
Fail not to draw me from my loved retreat,
To Elvine Ceres, and Diana's seat :—
For your bleak hills my Cumae I'll resign,
And (if you blush not at such aid as mine)
Come well equipp'd, to wage, in angry rhymes,
Fierce war, with you, on follies and on crimes.

ARGUMENT OF THE FOURTH SATIRE

FROM an attack upon Crispinus, Juvenal passes to a description of the other members of Domitian's privy council, and of a meeting summoned by Domitian himself; the occasion is the catch by a poor fisherman of an enormous turbot, which is presented to the Emperor: how shall it be cooked and served? The council assembles promptly, and the great question is discussed. The satire ends with a few serious and weighty lines; but it is written for the most part in a mock-epic style, in which the sounding language of heroic legend is applied to the mean persons and incidents of Domitian's court. This deliberate and effective use of epic phrase and diction is one of Juvenal's most constant and most striking characteristics, of which this satire gives the most sustained and the most obvious example.