VIII

EPIGRAM

The sting of this epigram was for Cibber, then Poet Laureate.

GREAT G[eorge] such servants since thou well caust lack,

Oh! save the salary, and drink the sack.

IX

EPIGRAM

BEHOLD! ambitious of the British bays,
Cibber and Duck contend in rival lays,
But, gentle Colley, should thy verse pre-
vail,

Thou hast no fence, alas! against his flail:
Therefore thy claim resign, allow his right:
For Duck can thresh, you know, as well as
write.

EPITAPHS

His saltem accumulem donis, et fungar inani Munere! VIRG. [En. vii. 885.] ON CHARLES EARL OF DORSET

IN THE CHURCH OF WITHYAM, SUSSEX

DORSET, the Grace of Courts, the Muses' Pride,

Patron of Arts, and Judge of Nature, died. The scourge of Pride, tho' sanctified or great,

Of Fops in Learning, and of Knaves in State:

Yet soft his Nature, tho' severe his Lay,

His Anger moral, and his Wisdom gay. Bless'd Satirist! who touch'd the mean so

true,

As show'd, Vice had his hate and pity

too.

Bless'd Courtier! who could King and Country please,

Yet sacred keep his Friendships and his Ease.

Bless'd Peer! his great Forefathers' ev'ry grace

Reflecting, and reflected in his race;

Where other Buckhursts, other Dorsets shine,

And Patriots still, or Poets, deck the line.

ON SIR WILLIAM TRUMBULL

ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL SECRETARIES OF STATE TO KING WILLIAM III

Who, having resigned his Place, died in his retirement at Easthamsted, in Berkshire, 1716.

A PLEASING Form, a firm, yet cautious Mind;

Sincere, tho' prudent; constant, yet resign'd:

Honour unchanged, a Principle profest, Fix'd to one side, but mod'rate to the rest:

An honest Courtier, yet a Patriot too,
Just to his Prince, and to his Country true:
Fill'd with the Sense of age, the Fire of
youth,

A scorn of Wrangling, yet a zeal for
Truth;

A gen'rous Faith, from superstition free,
A love to Peace, and hate of Tyranny;
Such this Man was, who now, from earth
remov'd,

At length enjoys that Liberty he lov'd.

ON JAMES CRAGGS, ESQ.

IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY

JACOBUS CRAGGS

REGI MAGNE BRITANNIÆ A SECRETIS, ET CONSILIIS SANCTIORIBUS: PRINCIPIS PARITER AC POPULI AMOR ET DELICIA: VIXIT TITULIS ET INVIDIA MAJOR ANNOS, HEU PAUCOS, XXXV. OB. FEB. XIV. MDCCXX.

STATESMAN, yet Friend to Truth! of Soul sincere,

In Action faithful, and in Honour clear! Who broke no Promise, served no private end,

Who gain'd no Title, and who lost no Friend;

Ennobled by himself, by all approv'd, Prais'd, wept, and honour'd, by the Muse he lov'd.

No Conquests she but o'er herself desired,
No Arts essay'd but not to be admired.
Passion and Pride were to her soul un-
known,

Convinc'd that Virtue only is our own.
So unaffected, so composed, a mind,
So firm, yet soft, so strong, yet so refin'd,
Heav'n, as its purest gold, by Tortures
tried:

The Saint sustain'd it, but the Woman died.

ON THE MONUMENT OF THE HON. R. DIGBY AND OF HIS SISTER MARY

ERECTED BY THEIR FATHER, LORD DIGBY, IN THE CHURCH OF SHERBORNE, IN DORSETSHIRE, 1727.

ON MR. GAY

IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY, 1730

Or Manners gentle, of Affections mild;
In Wit a man; Simplicity a child:
With native Humour temp'ring virtuous
Rage,

Form'd to delight at once and lash the age:

Above temptation, in a low estate,

And uncorrupted ev'n among the Great:
A safe Companion, and an easy Friend,
Unblamed thro' life, lamented in thy
End.

These are thy Honours! not that here thy bust

Is mix'd with Heroes, or with Kings thy dust:

But that the Worthy and the Good shall say,

Striking their pensive bosoms
GAY!'

-'Here lies

INTENDED FOR SIR ISAAC NEWTON

IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY

ISAACUS NEWTONUS

QUEM IMMORTALEM TESTANTUR TEMPUS, NATURA, CŒLUM: MORTALEM HOC MARMOR FATETUR

NATURE and Nature's laws lay hid in Night:

God said, Let NEWTON be! and all was Light.

ON DR. FRANCIS ATTERBURY

BISHOP OF ROCHESTER, WHO DIED IN EXILE AT PARIS, 1732

His only daughter having expired in his arms immediately after she arrived in France to see him.

DIALOGUE

She. YES, we have liv'd-One pang, and then we part!

May Heav'n, dear Father! now have all thy heart.

WHO DIED IN THE NINETEENTH YEAR OF HIS AGE, 1735

IF modest Youth, with cool Reflection crown'd,

And ev'ry opening Virtue blooming round, Could save a Parent's justest Pride from fate,

Or add one Patriot to a sinking state, This weeping marble had not ask'd thy tear,

Or sadly told, how many hopes lie here! The living Virtue now had shone approv'd; The Senate heard him, and his country lov'd.

Yet softer honours and less noisy fame Attend the shade of gentle BUCKINGHAM: In whom a race, for Courage famed and Art,

Ends in the milder merit of the Heart; And, Chiefs or Sages long to Britain giv'n, Pays the last tribute of a Saint to Heav'n.

FOR ONE WHO WOULD NOT BE BURIED IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY

HEROES and KINGS! your distance keep;
In peace let one poor Poet sleep,
Who never flatter'd folks like you:
Let Horace blush, and Virgil too.

ANOTHER ON THE SAME

UNDER this Marble, or under this Sill,
Or under this Turf, or ev'n what they will,

Whatever an Heir, or a Friend in his stead, Or any good creature shall lay o'er my head,

Lies one who ne'er cared, and still cares not, a pin

What they said, or may say, of the mortal within;

But who, living and dying, serene, still and free,

Trusts in God that as well as he was he shall be.

ON TWO LOVERS STRUCK DEAD BY LIGHTNING

John Hughes and Sarah Drew. See Pope's letter to Lady Mary written in September, 1718.

I