Shall look to Heaven, and laugh at all beneath ;
Own riches gather'd, trouble; fame, a breath;
And Life an ill, whose only cure is Death.
Thy even thoughts with fo much plainnefs flow,
Their fenfe untutor'd Infancy may know :
Yet to fuch height is all that plainness wrought,
Wit may admire, and letter'd pride be taught.
Easy in words thy style, in sense sublime,
On its bleft fteps each age and sex may rise;
'Tis like the ladder in the Patriarch's dream,
Its foot on earth, its height above the skies :
Diffus'd its virtue, boundless is its power;
"Tis public health, and universal cure:
Of heavenly manna 'tis a fecond feaft;
A nation's food, and all to every taste.
To its laft height mad Britain's guilt was rear'd;
And various death for various crimes fhe fear'd.
With your kind work her drooping hopes revive;
You bid her read, repent, adore, and live:
You wreft the bolt from Heaven's avenging hand;
Stop ready death, and fave a finking land.
O! fave us ftill: ftill blefs us with thy ftay:
O! want thy heaven, till we have learnt the way:
Refuse to leave thy destin'd charge too soon;
And, for the church's good, defer thy own.
O! live; and let thy works urge our belief;
Live to explain thy doctrine by thy life;
Till future Infancy, baptiz'd by thee,
Grow ripe in years, and old in piety;
Till Chriftians, yet unborn, be taught to die.
Then, in full age and hoary holiness,
Retire, great teacher! to thy promis'd blifs :
Untouch'd thy tomb, uninjur'd be thy duft,
As thy own fame among the future just ;
Till in last founds the dreadful trumpet fpeaks;
Till judgment calls, and quicken'd Nature wakes;
Till, through the utmost earth, and deepest sea,
Our scatter'd atoms find their destin'd way,
In hafte to clothe their kindred fouls again,
Perfect our state, and build immortal man :
Then fearless thou, who well fustain’dft the fight,
To paths of joy, or tracts of endless light,
Lead up
all those who heard thee, and believ'd;
'Midft thy own flock, great fhepherd! be receiv'd;
And glad all heaven with millions thou haft fav'd.
"Afpice, venturo lætentur ut omnia fæc❜lo:
“O mihi tam longæ maneat pars ultima vitæ,
Spiritus, & quantum fat erit tua dicere facta !”
'HY elder look, great Janus, caft
Into the long records of ages paft: Review the years in fairest action drest With noted white, fuperior to the reft; U 2
Æras deriv'd, and chronicles begun,
From empires founded, and from battles won ;
Shew all the spoils by valiant kings atchiev'd,
And groaning nations by their arms reliev'd ;
The wounds of patriots in their country's cause,
And happy power fuftain'd by wholesome laws;
In comely rank call every merit forth,
Imprint on every act its ftandard-worth ;
The glorious parallels then downward bring
To modern wonders, and to Britain's king;
With equal justice, and historic care,
Their laws, their toils, their arms, with his compare;
Confefs the various attributes of fame
Collected and complete in William's name ;
To all the liftening world relate
(As thou doft his story read) That nothing went before so great, And nothing greater can fucceed.
Thy native Latium was thy darling care,
Prudent in peace, and terrible in war:
The boldest virtues that have govern'd earth
From Latium's fruitful womb derive their birth.
Then turn to her fair-written page;
From dawning childhood to establish'd age
The glories of her empire trace;
Confront the heroes of thy Roman race;
And let the jufteft palm the victor's temples grace.
The fon of Mars reduc'd the trembling fwains,
And spread his empire o'er the diftant plains:
But yet the Sabins violated charms
Obfcur'd the glory of his rifing arms.
Numa the rights of strict religion knew;
On every altar laid the incenfe due;
Unfkill'd to dart the pointed fpear,
Or lead the forward youth to noble war.
Stern Brutus was with too much horror good,
Holding his fafces ftain'd with filial blood.
Fabius was wife, but with excefs of care
He fav'd his country, but prolong'd the war.
While Decius, Paulus, Curius, greatly fought,
And by their strict examples taught
How wild defires fhould be controll'd,
And how much brighter virtue was than gold;
They fcarce their swelling thirst of fame could hide;
And boasted poverty with too much pride.
Excefs in youth made Scipio lefs rever'd;
And Cato, dying, seem'd to own he fear'd.
Julius with honour tam'd Rome's foreign foes;
But patriots fell, ere the dictator rose :
And, while with clemency Auguftus reign'd,
The monarch was ador'd; the city chain'd.
With jufteft honour be their merits drest;
But be their failings too confeft:
Their virtue like their Tyber's flood
Rolling, its courfe defign'd their country's good.
But oft' the torrent's too impetuous fpeed
From the low earth tore fome polluting weed;
And with the blood of Jove there always ran
Some viler part, some tincture of the man.
Few virtues after thefe fo far prevail,
But that their vices more than turn the scale :
Valour, grown wild by pride, and power by rage,
Did the true charms of majefty impair;
Rome by degrees, advancing more in age,
Shew'd fad remains of what had once been fair;
Till Heaven a better race of men fupplies :
And glory fhoots new beams from western skies.
VI.
Turn then to Pharamond and Charlemain,
And the long heroes of the Gallic strain ;
Experienc'd chiefs, for hardy prowefs known,
And bloody wreaths in venturous battles won.
From the first William, our great Norman king,
The bold Plantagenets and Tudors bring ;
Illuftrious virtues, who by turns have rofe
In foreign fields to check Britannia's foes ;
With happy laws her empire to fuftain,
And with full power affert her ambient main.
But fometimes, too induftrious to be great,
Nor patient to expect the turns of fate,
They open'd camps, deform'd by civil fight,
And made proud conqueft trample over right:
Difparted Britain mourn'd their doubtful sway,
And dreaded both, when neither would obey.
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