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Paint Creffy's vanquifh'd field anew,
Their fouls fhall kindle at the view;
Refolv'd to conquer or to fall,
When Liberty and Britain call.
Thus fhall they rule the crimfon plain,
Or hurl their thunders thro' the main;
Gain with their blood, nor grudge the coft,
What their degen'rate fires have lost.
The laurel thus fhall grace their brow,
As Churchill's once, or Warren's now.
One fummer's evening, as I ftray'd
Along the filent moon-light glade,
With thefe reflections in my breast,
Beneath an oak I funk to reft;
A gentle flumber intervenes,
And fancy drefs'd inftructive scene.
Methought a fpacious road I spied,
And stately trees adorn'd its fide;
Frequented by a giddy crowd

Of thoughtless mortals, vain and loud;
Who tripp'd with jocund heel along,
And bade me join their fmiling throng.
I ftraight obey 'd-perfuafion hung
Like honey on the fpeaker's tongue:
A cloudlef's fun improv'd the day,
And pinks and rofes ftrew'd our way.
Now as our journey we pursue,
A beauteous fabric rofe to view;
A ftately dome, and fweetly grac'd
With ev'ry ornament of tafte.
This ftructure was a female's claim,
And Pleature was the monarch's name.

The hall we enter'd uncontroul'd,
And faw the queen enthron'd on gold:
Arabian fweets perfum'd the ground,
And laughing Cupids flutter'd round;
A flowing velt adorn'd the fair,

And flowry chaplets wreath'd her hair.
Fraud taught the queen a thousand wiles,
A thoufand foft infidious fimiles;

Love taught her lifping tongue to speak,
And form'd the dimple in her cheek;
The lily and the damask rofe
The tincture of her face compofe;
Nor did the god of wit difdain
To mingle with the fhining train.
Her vot`ries flock from various parts,
And chiefly youth refign'd their hearts;
The old in fparing numbers prefs'd,
But aukward devotees at beft!

Now let us range at large,' we cried,
Thro' all the garden's boaited pride.'
Here jatmines fpread the filver flow'r,
To deck the wall, or weave the bow'r;
The woodbines mix in am'rous play,
And breathe their fragrant lives away.
Here rifing myrtles form a fhade;
There roles bluth, and fcent the glade;
The orange, with a vernai face,
Wears ev'ry rich autumnal grace;
While the young bloffoms here unfold,
There fhines the fruit like pendant gold.
Citrons their balmy fwects exhale,
And uiumph in the diftant gale,

Now fountains, murm'ring to the fong,
Roll their tranflucent ftreams along;
Thro' all the aromatic groves
The faithful turtles coo their loves,
The lark afcending pours his notes,
And linnets fwell their rapt'rous throats
Pleasure, imperial fair! how gay
Thy empire, and how wide thy fway!
Enchanting queen, how foft thy reign!
How man, fond man! implores thy chain
Yet thine each meretricious art,

That weakens and corrupts the heart:
The childith toys, and wanton page,
Which fink and prostitute the stage!
The masquerade, that just offence
To virtue, and reproach to fenfe!
The midnight dance, the mantling bowl
And all that diffipate the foul;
All that to ruin man combine,
Yes, fpecious harlot ! all are thine.

Whence fprung th' accurfed luft of play.
Which beggars thoufands in a day?
Speak, forc'refs, fpeak (for thou canst tell).
Who call'd the treach'rous card from hell
Now man profanes his reas'ning pow`rs,
Profanes fweet friendship's facred hours;
Abandon'd to inglorious ends,
And faithlefs to himfelf and friends;
A dupe to ev'ry artful knave,
To ev'ry abject with a flave:
But who against himfelf combines,
Abets his enemy's defigns.
When rapine meditates a blow,
He thares the guilt who aids the foe,
Is man a thief who fteals my pelf-
How great his theft who robs himself!
Is man, who gulls his friend, a cheat-
How heinous, then, is felf-deceit!
Is murder justly deem'd a crime-
How black his guilt who murders time!
Should cuftom plead, as cuftom will,
Grand precedents to palliate ill;
Shall modes and forms avail with me,
When reafon difavows the plea?
Who games is felon of his wealth,
His time, his liberty, his health:
Virtue forfakes his fordid mind,
And Honour fcorns to stay behind.
From man when thefe bright cherubs part,
Ah, what's the poor deferted heart!
A favage wild that fhocks the fight;
Or chacs, and impervious night!
Each gen'rous principle deftioy'd,
And demons crowd the frightful void
Shall Siam's elephant fupply
The bancful defolating die
Against the honeft fyivan's will,
You taught his iv'ry tusk to kill.
Heaven, fond its favours to dispense,
Gave him that weapon for defence:
That weapon, for his guard defign'd,
You render'd fatal to mankind.

He plann'd no death for thoughtless youth; You gave the venom to his tooth.

Bluf

Blush, tyrant, blush! for, oh! 'tis true,
That no fell ferpent bites like you.

The guests were order'd to depart;
Reluctance fat on ev'ry heart:
A porter fhew'd a different door,
Not the fair portal known before.

The gates, methought, were open'd wide;
The crowds defcended in a tide:
But oh! ye heavens, what vaft furprize
Struck the advent'rers frighted eyes!
A barren heath before us lay,
And gath'ring cloud obfcur'd the day;
The da knefs rofe in imoaky fpires;
The lightings flash'd their livid fires;
Loud peals of thunder reat the air,
While vengeance chill'd our hearts with fear.
Five ruthleis tyrants fway'd the plain,
And triumph'd o'er the mangled flain.
Here fat Distaste, with fickly mien,
And more than half devour'd with spleen:
There flood Remorfe with thought oppress'd,
And vipers feeding on his brealt:
Then Want, dejected, pale, and thin,
With bones juft ftarting thro' his fkin;
A ghaftiy fiend!-and clofe behind,
Difcafe his aching head reclin'd;
His everlafting tairit confefs'd
The fires which rag'd within his breaft:
Death clos'd the train! the hideous form
Smil'd, unrelenting, in the ftorm;
When ftraight a doleful thrick was heard:
I 'woke the vifion disappear'd.

Let not the unexperienc'd boy
Deny that pleasures will deftroy;
Or fay that dreams are vain and wild,
Like fairy tales to pleafe a child.
Important hints the wife may reap
From fallies of the foul in fleep:
And fince there's meaning in my dream,
The moral merits your esteem.

$115. Vifion III. Health.

ATTEND my Visions, thoughtless youths,
Ere long you'll think them weighty truths;
Prudent it were to think to now,

Ere age
has filver'd o'er your brow:

For he, who at his early years
Has fown in vice, fhall reap in tears.
If Folly has poff.fs'd his prime,
Difeafe fhall gather ftrength in time;
Pofon fhall rage ia ev'ry vein;
Nor penitence dilute the Pain:
And when each hour thall urge his fate,
Thought, like the doctor, comes too late.
The fubject of my fong is Health,

A good fuperior far to wealth.
Can the young mind diftruft its worth?
Confult the monarchs of the earth:
Imperial czars, and fultans, own

No gem fo bright that decks their throne;
Each for this pearl his crown would quit,
And turn a ruftic, or a cit.

Mark, tho' the bleffing's loft with case, 'Tis not recover'd when you please. Say not that gruels fhall avail; For falutary gruels fail: Say not, Apollo's fons fucceed; Apollo's fon is Egypt's reed. How fruitless the phyfician's skill, How vain the penitential pill, The marble monuments proclaim; The humbler turf confirms the fame! Prevention is the better cure;

So fays the proverb, and 'tis fure.

Would you extend your narrow fpan,
And make the most of life you can;
Would you, when med'cines cannot save,
Defcend with ease into the grave-
Calmly retire, like evening light,
And cheerful bid the world good night?
Let Temp'rance conftantly prefide;
Our best physician, friend, and guide!
Would you to wifdom make pretence,
Proud to be thought a man of sense?
Let Temp'rance (always friend to fame)
With fteady hand direct your aim;
Or, like an archer in the dark,
Your random fhaft will mifs the mark:
For they who fight her golden rules,
In wifdom's volume ftand for fools.

But morals, unadorn'd by art,
Are feldom known to reach the heart:
I'll therefore strive to raife my theme
With all the fcenery of a dream.

Soft were my flumbers, fweet my reft,
Such as the infant's on the breaft;
When Fancy, ever on the wing,
And fruitful as the genial fpring,
Prefented, in a blaze of light,
A new creation to my fight.

A rural landfcape I defcried, Dre'd in the robes of fummer pride; The herd's adorn'd the floping hills, That glitter'd with their tinkling rills; Below, the fleecy mothers ftray'd, And round their fportive lambkins play'd. Nigh to a murm'ring brook I faw An humble cottage, thatch'd with straw; Behind, a garden, that fupplied All things for ufe, and none for pride: Beauty prevail'd thro' ev'ry part; But more of nature than of art.

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* In allufion to 2 Kings, xviii. 21,

The

The annals fav (to prove her worth) The Graces folemniz'd her birth. Garlands of various flow'rs they wrought: The orchard's blushing pride they brought: Hence in her face the lily fpeaks,

And hence the rofe which paints her checks; The cherry gave her lips to glow; Her eyes were debtors to the floe; And, to complete the lovely fair, 'Tis faid the cheftnut ftain'd her hair. The virgin was averfe to courts, But often feen in rural sports: When in her rofy veft the morn Walks o'er the dew-befpangled lawn, The nymph is firft to form the race, Or wind the horn, and lead the chace. Sudden I heard a fhouting train; Glad acclamations fill'd the plain; Unbounded joy improv'd the fcene, For Health was loud proclaim'd a queen. Two fmiling cherubs grac'd her throne (To modern courts, I fear, unknown): One was the nymph that loves the light, Fair Innocence, array'd in white; With fifter Peace in clofe embrace, And heaven all opening in her face. The reign was long, the empire great, And Virtue minifter of state. In other kingdoms, ev'ry hour, You hear of Vice preferr'd to pow'r: Vice was a perfect stranger here; No knaves engrofs'd the royal ear ; No fools obtain'd this monarch's grace; Virtue difpos'd of ev'ry place.

What fickly appetites are ours,
Still varying with the varying hours!
And tho' from good to bad we range,
No matter,' fays the fool, 'tis change.'
Her fubjects now exprefs'd apace
Difatisfaction in their face;
Some view the state with Envy's eye;
Some were difpleas'd, they knew not why;
When Faction, ever bold and vain,
With rigour tax'd their monarch's reign.
Thus, should an angel from above,
Fraught with benevolence and love,
Defcend to earth, and here impart
Important truths to mend the heart,
Would not th' instructive guest dispense
With paffion, appetite, and fenfe,
We should his heavenly lore defpife,
And tend him to his former fkies.
A dang rous hoftile pow'r arofe

To Health, whofe household were her foes:
A harlot's loofe attire the wore,
And Luxury the name the bore.
This princefs of unbounded fway,
Whom Afia's fofter fons obey,
Made war against the queen of Health,
Afffted by the troops of Wealth.

The queen was firit to take the field,
Arm'd with her helmet and her field;
Temper'd with fuch fuperior art,
That both were proof to ev'ry dart.

Two warlike chiefs approach'd the green,
And wondrous fav'rites with the queen;
Both were of Amazonian race;
Both high in merit and in place.
Here Refolution march'd, whofe foul
No fear could thake, no pow'r controul;
The heroine wore a Roman veft;

A lion's heart inform'd her breaft.

There Prudence fhone, whofe bofom wrought
With all the various plans of Thought;
'Twas hers to bid the troops engage,
And teach the battle where to rage.

And now the Syren's armies prefs;
Their van was headed by Excefs;
The mighty wings that form'd the fide,
Commanded by that giant, Pride;
While Sicknefs, and her fifters, Pain
And Poverty, the centre gain:
Repentance, with a brow fevere,

And Death, were station'd in the rear.
Health rang'd her troops with matchlefs art,
And acted the defenfive part:

Her army, pofted on a hill,
Plainly bespoke fuperior fkill.
Hence were difcover'd, thro' the plain,
The motions of the hoftile train:
While Prudence, to prevent furprise,
Oft fallied with her trufty fpies;
Explor'd cach ambufcade below,
And reconnoitred well the foe.
Afar when Luxury defcried
Inferior force by art fupplied,
The Syrea pake- Let Fraud prevail,
Since all my num'rous hofts must fail;
Henceforth hoftilities fhall ceafe;
I'll fend to Health and offer peace.'

Straight the dispatch'd, with pow'rs complete, Pleasure, her minifter, to treat.

This wicked ftrumpet topp'd her par,
And fow'd fedition in the heart!
Thro' ev'ry troop the poifen ran;
All were infected to a man.
The wary generals were won
By Pleafure's wiles, and both undone.
Jove held the troops in high difgrace,
And bade difcafes blaft the race;
Look'd on the queen with meltirg eyes,
And fnatch'd his darling to the fkies:
Who ftill regards those wifer few,
That dare her dictates to purfue.
For where her stricter law prevails,
Tho' paffion prompts, or vice affails,
Long fhall they cloudlefs fkies behold,
And their calm fun-fet beam with gold.

§ 116. Vifion IV. Content. MAN is deceiv'd by outward fhow

'Tis a plain homefpun truth, I know;
The fraud prevails at ev'ry age,
So fays the fchool-boy, and the fage:
Yet ftill we hug the dear deceit,
And still exclaim against the cheat.
But whence this inconfiftent part ›
Say, moralifts, who know the heart:

If you'll this labyrinth pursue,
I'll go before, and find the clue.

I dream'd ('twas on a birth-day night)
A fumptuous palace rofe to fight:
The builder had, thro' ev'ry part,
Obferv'd the chafteft rules of art;
Raphael and Titian had difplay'd
All the full force of light and thade.
Around the liveried fervants wait;
An aged porter kept the gate.

As I was traverfing the hall, Where Bruffels looms adorn'd the wall (Whose tap ftry fhews, without my aid, A nun is no fuch useless maid), A graceful perfon came in view (His form, it seems, is known to few); His dress was unadorn'd with lace, But charms! a thousand in his face.

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This, Sir, your property?' I cried; Mafter and manfion coincide: Where all, indeed, is truly great, And proves that blifs may dwell with state. Pray, Sir, indulge a ftranger's claim, And grant the favour of your name.' • Content!' the lovely form replied; But think not here that I refide: Here lives a courtier, base and fly; An open, honest ruftic, I. Our taste and manners difagree; His levec boasts no charms for me: For titles, and the fmiles of kings, To me are cheap, unheeded things. ('Tis virtue can alone impart The patent of a ducal heart: Unless this herald fpeaks him great, What shall avail the glare of ftate ?) Thofe fecret charms are my delight, Which fhine remote from public fightPaffions fubdued, defires at reft: And hence his chaplain fhares my breast. There was a time (his grace can tell) I knew the duke exceeding well; Knew ev'ry fecret of his heart ; In truth, we never were apart : But when the court became his end, • He turn'd his back upon his friend. One day I call'd upon his grace, Juft as the duke had got a place : I thought (but thought amifs, 'tis clear) I fhould be welcome to the peer; Yes, welcome to a man in pow'r; And fo I was-for half an hour; But he grew weary of his guest, And foon difcarded me his breaft; • Upbraided me with want of merit, But moft for poverty of spirit.

You relish not the great man's lot! Come, haften to my humbler cot. Think me not partial to the great, I'm a fworn foe to pride and ftate; No monarch fhares my kind embrace; There scarce a monarch knows my face; Content fhuns courts, and oft'ner dwells With modeft worth inru a cells;

There's no complaint, tho' brown the bread, 'Or the rude turf fuftain the head; 'Tho' hard the couch, and coarse the meat, Still the brown loaf and fleep are sweet. Far from the city I refide, And a thatch'd cottage all my pride. True to my heart, I feldom roam,

• Because I find my joys at home : For foreign vifits then begin When the man feels a void within. But tho' from towns and crowds I fly, No humorist, nor cynic, I. 'Amidft fequefter'd fhades I prize The friendships of the good and wife. Bid Virtue and her fons attend, Virtue will tell thee, I'm her friend; Tell thee I'm faithful, conftant, kind, • And meek, and lowly, and refign'd; Will fay, there's no diftinction known 'Betwixt her household and my own.'

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The clergy fay they love me well; Whether they do, they beft can tell : They paint me modeft, friendly, wise, And always praife me to the skies; But if conviction's at the heart, Why not a correfpondent part? For fhall the learned tongue prevail, If actions preach a diff'rent tale? Who'll feck my door, and grace my walls, When neither dean nor prelate calls?

With thofe my friendships most obtain, Who prize their duty more than gain; Soft flow the hours whene'er we meet, And confcious virtue is our treat; Our harmless breafts no envy know, And hence we fear no fecret foc; Our walks Ambition ne'er attends, And hence we afk no pow'rful friends; We wish the best to church and state, But leave the fteerage to the great; Carelefs who rifes or who falls, And never dream of vacant stalls: Much lefs, by pride or int'reft drawn, Sigh for the mitre and the lawn.

Obferve the fecrets of my art, I'll fundamental truths impart:

If you'll my kind advice pursue,
I'll quit my hut and dwell with you.
The pallions are a num'rous crowd,
Imperious, pofitive, and loud;
Curb thefe licentious fons of ftrife;
Hence chiefly rife the ftorms of life :
If they grow mutinous, and rave,
They are thy mafters, thou their flave.
Regard the world with cautious eye,
Nor raife your expectation high.
See that the balanc'd fcales be fuch,
You neither fear nor hope too much :
For difappointment's not the thing;
Tis pride and paffion point the fting.
Life is a fea, where ftorms must rise;
'Tis Folly talks of cloudlefs fkies:
He who contracts his fwelling fail,
Eludes the fury of the gale.

Be ftill, nor anxious thoughts employ;
Diftruft embitters prefent joy:
On God for all events depend;

You cannot want when God's your friend.
Weigh well your part, and do your best;
Leave to your Maker all the reft.

The Hand, which form'd thee in the womb,
Guides from the cradle to the tomb.
Can the fond mother flight her boy?
Can the forget her prattling joy?
Say, then, fhall Sov'reign Love defert
The humble and the honest heart:
Heaven may not grant thee all thy mind;
Yet fay not thou that Heaven's unkind.
God is alike both good and wife
In what he grants and what denies :
Perhaps, what Goodness gives to-day,
To-morrow Goodnefs takes away.

You fay, that troubles intervene ;
That forrows darken half the scene.
True-and this confequence you fee,
The world was ne'er defign'd for thee:
You're like a paffenger below,
That stays perhaps a night or fo;
But ftill his native country lies
Beyond the bound'ries of the fkies.

Of Heaven afk virtue, wifdom, health;
But never let thy pray'r be wealth.
If food be thine (tho' little gold),
And raiment to repel the cold;
Such as may Nature's wants fuffice,
Not what from pride and folly rise;
If foft the motions of thy foul,

And a calm confcience crown the whole;
Add but a friend to all this store,
You can't in reafon with for more:
And if kind Heaven this comfort brings,
'Tis more than Heaven beftows on kings.
He fpake-the airy spectre flies,
And ftraight the fweet illufion dies.
The Vifion, at the early dawn,
Confign'd me to the thoughtful morn ;
To all the cares of waking clay,
And inconfiftent dreams of day.

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$117. Vifion V. Happiness.
YE ductile youths, whofe rifing fun
Hath many circles ftill to run;
Who wifely with the pilot's chart,
To fteer thro' life th' unfteady heart;
And, all the thoughtful voyage past,
To gain a happy port at laft:
Attend a Seer's inftructive fong;
For moral truths to dreams belong.

I faw this wondrous Vifion foon,
Long ere my fun had reach'd its noon;
Juft when the rifing beard began
To grace my chin, and call me man.

One night, when balmy flumbers shed
Their peaceful poppies o'er my head,
My fancy led me to explore

A thousand scenes unknown before.
I faw a plain extended wide,
And crowds pour'd in from ev'ry fide;
All feem'd to start a diff'rent game,
Yet all declar'd their views the fame :
The chace was Happiness, I found;
But all, alas! enchanted ground.

Indeed, I judg'd it wondrous ftrange,
To fee the giddy numbers range
Thro' roads which promis'd nought, at best,
But forrow to the human breast.
Methought, if blifs was all their view,
Why did they diff'rent paths purfue?
The waking world has long agreed,
That Bagfhot's not the road to Tweed:
And he who Berwick feeks thro' Staines,
Shall have his labour for his pains.

As Parnell fays, my bofom wrought
With travail of uncertain thought;
And, as an angel help'd the dean,
My angel chofe to intervene.

The drefs of each was much the fame;
And Virtue was my feraph's name.
When thus the angel filence broke;
Her voice was mufic as the fpoke:

Attend, O man! nor leave my fide,
And fafety fhall thy footsteps guide;
Such truths I'll teach, fuch fecrets fhow,
As none but favour'd mortals know.'

She faid and ftraight we march'd along
To join Ambition's active throng:
Crowds urg'd on crowds with eager pace,
And happy he who led the race.
Axes and daggers lay unfeen
In ambuscade along the green:
While vapours fhed delufive light,
And bubbles mock'd the diftant fight.

We faw a fhining mountain rife,
Whofe tow'ring fummit reach'd the skies;
The flopes were steep, and form'd of glass,
Painful and hazardous to pafs:
Courtiers and statesmen led the way;
The faithlefs paths their fteps betray;
This moment feen aloft to foar,
The next to fall, and rife no more.

See the Hermit, page 73.
Ga

'Twas

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