ON HIS GOING TO FRANCE, AUGUST 31, 1735.
-Finibus [Gallicis]
Reddes incolumem precor,
Et serves animæ dimidium mea!
O BLOW Serene! ye soft Etesian gales,
Curl the gay main, and fill the swelling sails!
The guardian vessel through the deep attend :
Shine every favourable planet bright,
To guide the prosp'rous navigation right,
And bear to Gallia's shore my happy friend!
Thence to Lutetia's walls, a pleasing way,
Through scenes by Nature dress'd profusely gay!
Auspicious Fortune still his passage guide;
Till safe arriv'd he views the wondrous town,
Which all agree unprejudic'd to own
At once fair Europe's envy and its pride!
There while his thoughts explore th' amazing plan Of pow'r divine-the microcosm of man;
From every danger shield his spotless youth! With manly strength his growing virtue arm, To break the force of every Siren charm,
And keep untainted all his native truth.
When views of pomp or bright processions rise,
When Louvre or Versailles enchants the eyes,
The grand assembly or the royal train!
Oh Liberty! thy faithful prospect lend,
To Britain's isle his calm reflection bend,
And say,
that Slav'ry makes the splendour mean.
When artful Beauty lays the secret snare,
Instruct him, friendly goddess, to beware,
Defend him from each captivating art!
For there fair Venus holds her sov'reign court,
There all her wanton sportive Loves resort,
And in a thousand forms surprise the heart.
Yet, goddess! let him, as intent he flies
That airy nation's native skill to please,
Shun the reflection of the mimic glass!
Of all the Britons I have ever seen,
Who ap'd the graces of the Gallic mien,
Scarce one but chronicled himself an ass.
Yet that politeness of the truest kind,
Which both adorns and cultivates the mind,
This let his careful study borrow thence!
Manners from hence new ornament receive,
To knowledge this does double lustre give,
And travel finishes the man of sense.
Sometimes from crowds retir'd if chance he strays,
Where Seine along th' Elysian meadows plays,
Let some kind Genius whisper in his car,
How many vows for his success are paid,
How many for his safe return are made,
How many think his absence tedious here.
But, oh, too harsh, my friend! these precepts flow, The specious coverings of my secret woe,
While Fortune's partial favour I accuse : Who, when my sorrows needed most a friend, Was pleas'd in thee the precious gift to send, Malicious bounty! but bestow'd to lose.
Oh, no, forgive the sacred tie I wrong!
Where Virtue binds, the mutual union strong,
Distance, misfortune, time, and fate defies;
From pole to pole, from Ganges to the Thame,
Immortal Friendship spreads th' ethereal flame,
For ages still the same, and never dies!
Edinæ, Aug. 21, 1735.
Amico opt. W. C. moestus hoc doloris et gratitudinis monumentum P.
HORACE AND LYDIA, BOOK III. ODE IX.
WHILE, Phyllis, transported I lay in your arms, And, possess'd of your fondness, was bless'd in your charms,
On wealth and ambition with scorn I look'd down | Nor envy'd great Lewis that bauble, his crown.
While faithful with me you delighted at home,
As happy was I, as the Pope is at Rome;
But now new acquaintance your fancy mislead,
And Peter's folk never are out of your head.
The charge I submit to-I own they're my friends Their agreeable converse fair Virtue commends. With their sense and good humour my woes I relieve,
And with them for an age I unweary'd could live.
Miranda's fine voice and good humour for me, My comrade she is, and my comrade shall be! In spite of all scandal, I'll live with her still, And let the world censure, or say what it will.
But what if, dear Phyllis, this diff'rence should end, Suppose, for your sake, I abandon'd my friend, And, in spite of iny judgment, too biass'd my view, Relinquish'd the world to be bury'd with you.
Though Miranda's still constantly pleasing and gay, Though her notes far exceed all the music of May, And though you, like old Ocean, look muddy and Our ancient alliance I'll gladly restore, [sour, And resolve that till death we will differ no more.
No, Phyllis, though kind, that concession won't take, I ne'er can consent our joint friends to forsake,
1 Written on a slight temporary jarring between Boyse and his wife, whom he thought too much attached to Miss Atcheson, her sister, a woman, to say no worse of her, of an equivocal character. C.
2 By Peter's folk, is meant the hospitable and agreeable family of a Mr. Stewart, a merchant in Edinburgh; who had two amiable daughters, to whom Mr. Boyse addressed some poems, particularly that to Hilaria on the death of her eldest sister Clarissa.
Who in making of treaties forget their allies,
Will never be reckon'd or honest, or wise.
Then be judg'd by the rule you've so gravely laid
down,
Nor hope that Miranda my heart shall disown.
With her, gentle Heaven, grant me freedom to rove,
While Friendship shall pay me the interest of Love.
Beware, charming Phyllis, a fatal mistake,
Where interest's the motive, there friendship is weak.
'Tis virtue alone can establish the tie,
Through life still unbroken, which holds when we die.
The taste may be modish, yet ne'er can last long,
To lose an old lover, to hear a new song.
If novelty charms you, delighted in change,
From pleasure to pleasure, oh! long may you range.
For me, from henceforth on some quieter shore,
Where Fortune and Love shall disturb me no more,
I'll seek in retirement the noblest of joys,
'Tis time must discover the truth of each choice.
EPISTLE TO HENRY BROOKE, ESQ.
THOUGH midst the cruel storm of passion tost,
I view the shore, and sigh for safety lost,
While every distant hope of good is gone,
And, left by thee! 'tis joy to be undone,
Oh! read the thought where no design has part,
The last faint purpose of my wretched heart;
Long had between us (in a moment torn)
The holy band of Friendship's faith been worn:
I claim'd the bliss, so happy once was I,
Dear to your breast, and cherish'd in your eye:
Now lost the privilege, shall one short day
Snatch all the labour of our lives away?
But oh, I err! I am not what I seem,
Friendship can ne'er subsist without esteem;
Death were my choice, if Heaven my choice ap-
More easy than to lose the friend I lov'd:
Happy in this, that to your better care
I gave a friend, will never lose his share,
Whose truth will still increase, the longer known,
Whose faith, whose goodness, are so like your own:
Forgot, I bless you,-if this wish succeeds,
Then live Gustavus, though Arvida bleeds!
But tools like thee were thought such useful things,
That sordid greatness mov'd all secret springs;
In vain the great applied, the court repriev'd,
Eternal Justice thought too long you liv'd;
Mercy grew vain; when such a crime grew slight
'Twas time the people should assert their right.
Yet let the Muse the just encomium draw,
Self-injur'd, how they kept the sight of law,
The gentleness, denied their fellows, gave,
And left thee time to arm thee for the grave:
Let none behold thy exit with regret,
You died, the noblest way, a public debt:
May the auspicious omen rise in you,
And villains (screen'd however) meet their duel
HORTI ARLINGTONIANI OF C. DRYDÈN.
NEAR to those domes the indulgent powers assign
The sacred seat of Stuart's majestic line;
(Those rising towers, that, known to ancient Fame,
Bear both the monarch's and the martyr's name);
Near those fair lawns, and intermingled groves,
Where gentle Zephyrs breathe and sporting Loves;
A frame there stands, that rears its beauteous height,
And strikes with pleasing ravishment the sight.
Full on the front the orient Sun displays
His cheerful beams; and, as his light decays,
Again adorns it with his western rays.
Here wondering crowds admire the owner's state
And view the glories of the fair and great;
Here falling statesmen Fortune's changes feel,
And prove the turns of her revolving wheel;
Then envy, mighty Arlington, thy life,
That feels no tempest, and that knows no strife.
Whence every jarring sound is banish'd far,
The restless vulgar, and the noisy bar;
But heavenly Peace, that shuns the courtier-train
And Innocence, and conscious Virtue, reign.
Here when Aurora brings the purple day,
And op'ning buds their tender leaves display;
While the fair vales afford a smiling view,
And the fields glitter with the morning dew;
No rattling wheel disturbs the peaceful ground,
Or wounds the ear with any jarring sound;
Th' unwearied eye with ceaseless rapture strays,
And still variety of charins surveys 1.
Here watch the fearful deer their tender fawns,
Stray through the wood, or browze the verdant
lawns:
Here from the marshy glade the wild-duck springs,
And slowly moves her wet encumber'd wings:
Around soft Peace and Solitude appear,
EXECUTION OF CAPT. JOHN PORTEOUS1, And golden Plenty crowns the smiling year.
-Nec lex est justior ulla,
Quam necis artifices arte perire suâ.
By their own arts, 'tis righteously dscreed,
The dire artificers of death shall bleed.
PORTEOUS! thou strong example, timely given;
How sovereigns should employ the power of Heaven!
Thy wanton hands a sanguine deluge spread,
Thy country's equal voice pronounc'd thee dead:
See his catastrophe at Edinburgh, and the cause of it, in the Gent. Mag. for that year, p. 549. D.
Thy beauteous gardens charm the ravish'd sight,
And surfeit every sense with soft delight;
Where'er we turn our still transported eyes,
New scenes of Art with Nature join'd arise;
We dwell indulgent on the lovely scene,
The lengthen'd vista or the carpet green;
A thousand graces bless th' enchanted ground,
And throw promiscuous beauties all around.
Within thy fair parterres appear to view
A thousand flowers of various form and hue.
The house and gardens were situated at the north-east corner of the Green Park, where Arlington-street stands. N.
There spotless lilies rear their sickly heads,
And purple violets creep along the beds;
Here shows the bright jonquil its gilded face,
Join'd with the pale carnation's fairer grace;
The painted tulip and the blushing rose
A blooming wilderness of sweets compose.
In such a scene great Cupid wounded lay,
To love and Psyche's charms a glorious prey;
Here felt the pleasing pain and thrilling smart,
And prov'd too well his own resistless dart.
High in the midst appears a rising ground, With greens and ballustrades enclos'd around: Here a new wonder stops the wand'ring sight, A dome whose walls and roof transmit the light; Here foreign plants and trees exotic thrive, And in the cold unfriendly climate live; For when bleak Winter chills the rolling year, The guarded strangers find their safety here; And, fene'd from storms and the inclement air, They sweetly flourish ever green and fair; Their lively buds they shoot, and blossoms show, And gaily bloom amidst surrounding snow.
But when the genial Spring all Nature cheers, And Earth renew'd her verdant honours wears; The golden plants their wonted station leave, And in the milder air with freedom breathe: Their tender branches feel th' enlivening ray, Unfold their leaves, and all their pomp display, Around their fragrant flowers the Zephyrs play, And waft the aromatic scents away.
Not far from hence a lofty wood appears, That, spite of age, its verdant honours wears, Here widely spread does ample shade display, Expel the Sun, and form a doubtful day.. Here thoughtful Solitude finds spacious room, And reigns through all the wide-extended gloom; Beneath the friendly covert lovers toy, And spend the flying hours in amorous joy; Unmindful of approaching night they sport, While circling pleasures new attention court; Or through the maze forgetfully they stray, Lost in the pleasing sweetly winding way: Or, stretch'd at ease upon the flowery grass, In tales of love the starry night they pass; While the soft nightingale through all the groves His song repeats, and sooths his tender loves; Whose strains harmonious and the silent night Increase the joy, and give complete delight.
A curious terrace stops the wand'ring eye, Where lovely jasmines fragrant shade supply; Whose tender branches, in their pride array'd, Invite the wanderer to the grateful shade: From hence afar a various prospect lies, Where artless Nature courts the ravish'd eyes; The sight at once a thousand charms surveys, And, pleas'd, o'er villages and forests strays: Here harvests grow, and lawns appear, and woods, And gently rising hills,-and distant floods.
Here, Arlington, thy mighty mind disdains Inferior Earth, and breaks its servile chains, Aloft on Comtemplation's wings you rise, Scorn all below, and mingle with the skies; Where, rais'd by great Philosophy, you soar, And worlds remote in boundless space explore; There from your height divine with pity view The various cares that busy men pursue; Where each by diff'rent ways aspires to gain Uncertain happiness with certain pain:
While you, well pleas'd, th' exalted raptures know,
That do from conscious truth and virtue flow;
And, blessing all, by all around you blest,
You take the carnest of eternal rest.
You, who have left the public cares of state,
Another Scipio in retirement great,
Have chang'd your royal master's 3 gentle smiles,
For solitude divine, and rural toils;
In vain the call of Glory sounds to arms;
In vain Ambition shows her painted charms;
While in the happy walk, or sacred shade,
No anxious cares thy soul serene invade;
Where all the heavenly train thy steps attend,
Soothe every thought, from every ill defend:
Such was the lot th' immortal Roman chose;
Great in his triumphs, greater in repose!
Thus blest with smiling Heaven's indulgent store,
Canst thou in wishes lavish ask for more?
Yet inore they give-thy good old age to bless,
And fill the sum of mortal happiness:
Thy only daughter, Britain's boasted grace,
Join'd with a hero of the royal race 4;
And that fair fabric which our wond'ring eyes
So lately saw from humble ruins rise,
And mock the rage of the devouring flame!
A nobler structure, and a fairer frame!
Whose beauties long shall charm succeeding days,
And tell posterity the founder's praise.
When from divine Olympus' towering height,
All-beauteous Venus saw the pleasing sight,
In dimpled smiles and looks enchanting drest,
Thus powerful Jove the charming queen addrest:
"Behold the lovely seat, and let thy care
Indulgent bless th' united happy pair;
Here long their place their happy race assign,
By Virtue still distinguish'd may they shine;
In the request immortal Pallas joins,
(Long has the patriot offer'd at her shrines)
With love of arts his godlike bosom glows,
And treads those paths by which the goddess rose."
The awful father gave the gracious sign,
And fix'd the fortunes of the glorious line.
YOUNG LADY ON HER RECOVERY.
WHILE, fair Selinda! to our eyes From sickness beautiful you rise; Your charins put on superior power, And shine more strongly than before.
So have I seen the heavenly fire
Awhile his radiant beams retire;
Then breaking through the veil of night,
Restore the world to warmth and light.
3 The earl had been lord chamberlain to king Charles the Second, who made him a baron in 1661, and an earl in 1672. He died in 1685. N.
4 Henry Fitzroy the first duke of Grafton married lady Isabella, the earl of Arlington's only child and heir. N.
FROM Earth's low prospects and deceitful aims,
From wealth's allurements, and ambition's dreams,
The lover's raptures, and the hero's views,
All the false joys mistaken man pursues;
The schemes of science, the delights of wine,
Or the more pleasing follies of the Nine!
Recall, fond bard, thy long-enchanted sight
Deluded with the visionary light!
A nobler theme demands thy sacred song,
A theme beyond or man's or angel's tongue!
But oh, alas! unhallow'd and profane,
How shalt thou dare to raise the heav'nly strain?
Do thou, who from the altar's living fire
Isaiah's tuneful lips didst once inspire,
Come to my aid, celestial Wisdom, come;
From my dark mind dispel the doubtful gloom:
My passions still, my purer breast inflame,
To sing that God from whom existence came;
Till Heav'n and Nature in the concert join,
And own the Author of their birth divine.
WHENCE Sprung this glorious frame? or whence arose
The various forms the universe compose?
From what Almighty Cause, what mystic springs
Shall we derive the origin of things?
Sing, heav'nly Guide! whose all-efficient light
Drew dawning planets from the womb of Night!
Since reason, by the sacred dictates taught,
Adores a pow'r beyond the reach of thought.
First Cause of causes! Sire supreme of birth! Sole light of Heav'n! acknowledg'd life of Earth! Whose Word from nothing call'd this beauteous whole,
This wide expanded all from pole to pole!
Who shall prescribe the boundary to thee,
Or fix the era of eternity?
Should we, deceived by Errour's sceptic glass,
Admit the thought absurd-that nothing was!
Thence would this wild, this false conclusion flow,
That nothing rais'd this beauteous all below!
When from disclosing darkness splendour breaks,
Associate atoms move, and matter speaks,
When non-existence bursts its close disguise,
How blind are mortals-not to own the skies!
If one vast void eternal held its place,
Whence started time? or whence expanded space?
What gave the slumb'ring mass to feel a change,
Or bid consenting worlds harmonious range?
Could nothing link the universal chain?
No, 'tis impossible, absurd, and vain!
Here reason its eternal Author finds,
The whole who regulates, unites, and binds,
Enlivens matter, and produces minds!
Inactive Chaos sleeps in dull repose,
Nor knowledge thence, nor free volition flows!
nobler source those powers ethereal show,
By which we think, design, reflect, and know;
These from a cause superior date their rise,
"Abstract in essence from material ties."
An origin immortal, as supreme,
From whose pure day, celestial rays! they came:
In whom all possible perfections shine,
Eternal, self-existent, and divine!
From this great spring of uncreated might! This all-resplendent orb of vital light; Whence all-created beings take their rise, Profusely wide the boundless blessings flow, Which beautify the Earth, or paint the skies! Which Heav'n enrich and gladden worlds below! Which are no less, when properly defin'd, Than emanations of th' Eternal Mind! Hence triumphs truth beyond objection clear, (Let unbelief attend and shrink with fear!) That what for ever was-must surely be Beyond commencement, and from period free; Drawn from himself his native excellence, His date eternal, and his space immense! And all of whom that man can comprehend, Is, that he ne'er began, nor e'er shall end.
In him from whom existence boundless flows, Let humble faith its sacred trust repose: Assur'd on his eternity depend,
"Eternal Father! and eternal Friend!"
Within that mystic circle safety seek,
No time can lessen, and no force can break;
And, lost in adoration, breathe his praise,
High Rock of ages, ancient Sire of days!
Thus recognis'd, the spring of life and thought!
Eternal, self-deriv'd, and unbegot!
Approach, celestial Muse, th' empyreal throne,
And awfully adore th' exalted One!
In nature pure, in place supremely free,
And happy in essential unity!
Bless'd in himself, had from his forming hand
No creatures sprung to hail his wide command
Bless'd, had the sacred fountain ne'er run o'er,
A boundless sea of bliss that knows no shore !
Nor sense can two prime origins conceive,
Nor reason two eternal gods believe!
Could the wild Manichæan own that guide,
The good would triumph, and the ill subside!
Again would vanquish'd Aramanius bleed,
And darkness from prevailing light recede!
In diff'rent individuals we find
An evident disparity of mind;
Hence ductile thought a thousand changes gains,
And actions vary as the will ordains;
But should two beings, equally supreme,
Divided pow'r and parted empire claim;
How soon would universal order cease!
How soon would discord harmony displace!
Eternal schemes maintain eternal fight,
Nor yield, supported by eternal might;
Where each would uncontroll'd his aim pursue,
The links dissever, or the chain renew!
Matter from motion cross impressions take,
As serv'd each pow'r his rival's pow'r to break,
While neutral Chaos, from his deep recess,
Would view the never-ending strife increase,
And bless the contest that secur'd his peace!
While new creations would opposing rise,
And elemental war deform the skies!
Around wild uproar and confusion hurl'd,
Eclipse the heav'ns, and waste the ruin'd world.
Two independant causes to admit,
Destroys religion, and debases wit;
The first by such an anarchy undone,
The last acknowledges its source but one.
As from the main the mountain rills are drawn,
That wind irriguous through the flow'ry lawn;
So, mindful of their spring, one course they keep,
Exploring, till they find their native deep!
Exalted Power, invisible, supreme,
Thou sov'reign, sole unntterable name!
As round thy throne thy flaming seraphs stand,
And touch the golden lyre with trembling hand;
Too weak thy pure effulgence to behold,
With their rich plumes their dazzled eyes infold;
Transported with the ardours of thy praise,
The holy holy! holy! anthem raise !
To them responsive, let creation sing,
Thee, indivisible eternal King!
O say, celestial Muse! whose purer birth
Disdains the low material ties of Earth;
By what bright images shall be defin'd
The mystic nature of th' eternal Mind!
Or how shall thought the dazzling height explore,
Where all that reason can-is to adore!
That God 's an immaterial essence pure,
Whom figure can't describe, nor parts immure;
Incapable of passions, impulse, fear,
In good pre-eminent, in truth severe:
Uninix'd his nature, and sublim'd his pow'rs
From all the gross aliay that tempers ours;
In whose clear eye the bright angelic train
Appear suffus'd with imperfection's stain!
Impervious to the man's or seraph's eye,
Beyond the ken of each exalted high.
Him would in vain material semblance feign,
Or figur'd shrines the boundless God contain;
Object of faith! he shuns the view of sense,
Lost in the blaze of sightless excellence!
Most perfect, most intelligent, most wise,
In whom the sanctity of pureness lies;
In whose adjusting mind the whole is wrought,
Whose form is spirit, and whose essence thought!
Are truths inscrib'd by Wisdom's brightest ray,
In characters that gild the face of day!
Reason confess'd, (howe'er we may dispute)
Fx'd boundary! discovers man from brute;
But, dim to us, exerts its fainter ray,
Depress'd in matter, and allied to clay!
In forms superior kindles less confin'd,
Whose dress is ether, and whose substance mind;
Yet all from Him, supreme of causes, flow,
To Him their pow'rs and their existence owe;
From the bright cherub of the noblest birth,
To the poor reasoning glow-worin plac'd on Earth;
From matter then to spirit still ascend,
Through spirit still refining, higher tend;
Pursue, on knowledge bent, the pathless road,
Pierce through infinitude in quest of God!
Still from thy search, the centre still shall fly,
Approaching still-tbou never shalt come nigh!
So its bright orb th' aspiring flame would join,
But the vast distance mocks the fond design.
If he, Almighty! whose decree is fate,
Could, to display his pow'r, subvert his state;
Bid from his plastic hand, a greater rise,
Produce a master, and resign his skies;
Impart his incommunicable flame,
The mystic number of th' Eternal Name;
Then might revolting reason's feeble ray
Aspire to question God's all-perfect day!
Vain task the clay in the directing hand, *
The reason of its form might so demand,
As man presume to question his dispose
From whom the power he thus abuses flows.
Here point, fair Muse! the worship God requires,
The soul inflam'd with chaste and holy fires !
Where love celestial warms the happy breast,
And from sincerity the thought 's express'd;
Where genuine piety, and truth refin'd,
Re-consecrate the temple of the mind;
With grateful flames the living altars glow,
And God descends to visit man below!
Through th' unmeasurable tracks of space
Go, Muse divine! and present Godhead trace!
See where, by place uncircumscrib'd as time,
He reigns extended; and he shines sublime!
Shouldst thou above the Heav'n of Heav'ns ascend,
Couldst thou below the depth of depths descend,
Could thy fond flight beyond the starry sphere
The radiant Morning's lucid pinions bear!
There should his brighter presence shine confest,
There his almighty arm thy course arrest!
Could'st thou the thickest veil of Night assume,
Or think to hide thee in the central gloom!
Yet there, all patent to his piercing sight,
Darkness itself would kindle into light:
Not the black mansions of the silent grave,
Nor darker Hell, from his perception save;
What pow'r, alas! thy footsteps can convey
Beyond the reach of omnipresent day?
In his wide grasp, and comprehensive eye,
Immediate worlds on worlds unnumber'd lie:
Systems enclos'd in his perception roll,
Whose all-informing mind directs the whole:
Lodg'd in his grasp, their certain ways they know;
Plac'd in that sight from whence can nothing go.
On Earth his footstool fix'd, in Heav'n his seat:
Enthron'd he dictates, and his word is fate.
Nor want his shining images below,
In streams that murmur, or in winds that blow; His spirit broods along the boundless flood, Smiles in the plain, and whispers in the wood; Warms in the genial Sun's enliv'ning ray, Breathes in the air, and beautifies the day!
Should man his great immensity deny, Man might as well usurp the vacant sky: For were he limited in date, or view, Thence were his attributes imperfect too; His knowledge, power, his goodness all confin'd, And lost th' idea of a ruling mind! Feeble the trust, and comfortless the sense Of a defective partial providence! Boldly might then his arm injustice brave, Or innocence in vain his mercy crave; Dejected virtue lift its hopeless eye : And heavy sorrow vent the heartless sigh! An absent God no abler to defend, Protect, or punish, than an absent friend; Distant alike our wants or griefs to know, To ease the anguish, or prevent the blow, If he, Supreme Director, were not near, Vain were our hope, and empty were our fear; Unpanish'd vice would o'er the world prevail, And unrewarded virtue toil-to fail! The moral world a second chaos lie, And Nature sicken to the thoughtful eye!
Even the weak embryo, ere to life it breaks, From his high pow'r its slender texture takes;
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