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Offended Deity, whose power
My rebel tongue but now forfwore,
Accept my penitence fincere,

My crime forgive, and grant my prayer!
Let not thy flave, condemn'd to mourn,
With unrequited paffion burn;

With Love's foft thoughts her breast inspire,
And kindle there an equal fire!

It is not beauty's gaudy flower
(The empty triumph of an hour)
Nor practis'd wiles of female art,
That now fubdue my deftin'd heart:

O no!'Tis Heaven, whofe wond'rous hand
A tranfcript of itself hath plann'd;
And to each outward grace hath join'd
Each lovelier feature of the mind.

Thefe charms fhall laft, when others Aly,
When rofes fade, and lilies die;
When that dear eye's declining beam
Its living fire no more fhall ftream:
Bleft then, and happy in my chain,
The fong of Freedom flows in vain ;
Nor Reafon's harth reproof I fear,
For Reafon's felf is Pallion here.

O dearer far than wealth or fame,
My daily thought, my nightly dream,
If yet no youth's fuccefsful art

(Sweet Hope) hath touch'd thy gentle heart,
If yet no fwain hath bleft thy choice,
Indulgent hear thy Damon's voice;
From doubts, from fears, his bofom free,
And bid him live-for Love and Thee!

§ 157. The Country Life. CowLEY. BLEST be the man (and bleft he is) whoe'er (Plac'd far out of the roads of hope and fear) A little field and little garden, feeds: The field gives all that frugal nature needs; The wealthy garden liberally bestows All she can afk, when the luxurious grows, The fpecious inconveniences, that wait Upon a life of bufinefs and of fitate, He fees (nor does the fight disturb his rest) By fools defir'd, by wicked men polsest. Thus, thus (and this deferv'd great Virgil's praife)

The old Corycian yeomen pass'd his days; Thus his wife life Abdolonymus fpent: Th'ambaffadors, which the great emperor fent To offer him a crown, with wonder found The rev'rend gardener hocing of his ground; Unwillingly, and flow, and difcontent, From his lov'd cottage to a throne he went; And oft he stopt, in his triumphant way, And oft look'd back, and oft was heard to fay, Not without fighs,-Alas! I there forfake A happier kingdom than 1 go to take Thus Aglaus (a man unknown to men, But the gods knew, and therefore lov'd him then) Thus liv'd obfcurely then without a name, Aglaus, now confign'd t'eternal fame. For Gyges, the rich king, wicked and great, Prefum'd, at wife Apollo's Delphic feat

Prefum'd to afk, Oh thou, the whole world's
See'st thou a man that happier is than I? [cyc,
The god, who fcorns to flatter man, reply'd,
Aglaüs happier is. But Gyges cry'd,
In a proud rage, Who can that Aglaüs be?
We have heard, as yet, of no fuch king as he.
And true it was, through the whole earth around
No king of fuch a name was to be found.
Is fome old hero of that name alive,
Who his high race does from the gods derive?
Is it fome mighty general, that has done
Wonders in fight, and god-like honours won?
Is it fome man of endless wealth faid he.
None, none of these. Who can this Aglaüs be?
After long fearch, and vain enquiries past,
In an obfcure Arcadian vale at laft
(Th'Arcadian life has always fhady been)
Near Sopho's town (which he but once had feen)
This Aglaüs, who monarchs envy drew,
Whofe happinefs the gods ftood witness to,
This mighty Aglaüs, was labouring found,
With his own hands, in his own little ground.

So, gracious God! (if it may lawful be,
Among thofe foolish gods to mention thee)
So let me act, on fuch a private ftage,
The laft dull scenes of my declining age;
After long toils and voyages in vain,
This quiet port let my toit veffel gain;
Of heavenly reft, this earnest to me lend,
Let my life fleep, and learn to love her end.

§ 158. Of Justice. DENHAM.
'TIS the first fanction nature gave to man,
Each other to affift in what they can;
Juft or unjust, this law for ever stands,
All things are good by law which the commands;
The first step, man towards Christ must justly live,
Who t'us himself, and all we have, did give;
In vain doth man the name of just expect,
If his devotions he to God neglect;

So muft we reverence God, as first to know
Juftice from him, not from ourselves, doth flow;
God thofe accepts, who to mankind are friends,
Whofe juftice far as their own power extends;
In that they imitate the power divine,
The fun alike on good and bad doth fhine;
And he that doth no good, although no ill,
Does not the office of the juft fulfil.

Virtue doth man to virtuous actions steer,
'Tis not enough that he should vice forbear;
We live not only for ourselves to care,
Whilft they that want it are deny'd their share.
Wife Plato faid, the world with men was ftor'd,
That fuccour cach to other might afford;
Nor are thofe fuccours to one fort confin'd,
But feveral parts to several men confign'd;
He that of his own ftores no part can give,
May with his counfel or his hands relieve.
If fortune make thee powerful, give defence
'Gainst fraud and force, to naked innocence:
And when our juftice doth her tributes pay,
Method and order must direct the way:
First to our God we must with rev'rence bow;
The fecond honour to our prince we owe;

Next to wives, parents, children, fit refpect,
And to our friends and kindred we direct:
Then we must those who groan beneath the
weight

Of age, disease, or want, commiferate: [mend,
'Mongit thofe whom honeft lives can recom-
Our juftice more compaffion fhould extend;
To fuch, who thee in fome distress did aid,
Thy debt of thanks with interest should be paid:
As Hefiod fings, fpread waters o'er thy field,
And a most just and glad increase 'twill yield.
But yet take heed, left doing good to one,
Mifchief and wrong be to another done;
Such moderation with thy bounty join,
That thou may't nothing give that is not thine;
That liberality's but caft away

Which makes us borrow what we cannot pay:
And no access to wealth let rapine bring;
Do nothing that's unjuft to be a king.
Justice must be from violence exempt,
But Fraud's her only object of contempt.
Fraud in the fox, force in the lion dwells;
But juftice both from human hearts expells;
But he's the greatest monster (without doubt)
Who is a wolf within, a fheep without.
Nor only ill injurious actions are,
But evil words and flanders bear a share.
Truth juftice loves, and truth injustice fears,
Truth above all things a juft man reveres:
Though not by oaths we God to witness call,
He fees and hears, and ftill remembers all;
And yet our atteftations we may wrest,
Sometimes to make the truth more manifeft;
If by a lye a man preferve his faith,
He pardon, leave, and abfolution hath;
Or if I break my promife, which to thee
Would bring no good, but prejudice to me.
All things committed to thy truft conceal,
Nor what's forbid by any means reveal.
Exprefs thyfelf in plain, not doubtful words,
That ground for quarrels or difputes affords :
Unlefs thou find occafion, hold thy tongue;
Thyfelf or others carelefs talk may wrong.
When thou art called into public power,
And when a crowd of fuitors throng thy door,
Be fure no great offenders 'fcape their dooms;
Small praife from lenity and remilfnefs comes:
Crimes pardon'd, others to those crimes invite,
Whilft lookers-on fevere examples fright:
When by a pardon'd murd'rer blood is spilt,
The judge that pardon'd hath the greatest guilt;
Who accufe rigour make a grofs mistake;
One criminal pardon'd may an hundred make:
When juftice on offenders is not done,
Law, government, and commerce are o'erthrown;
As befieg'd traitors with the foe confpire,
T'unlock the gates, and fet the town on fire.
Yet left the punishment th'offence exceed,
Juftice with weight and measure muft proceed:
Yet when pronouncing fentence feem not glad,
Such fpectacles, tho' they are juft, are fad,
Tho' what thou dost thou ought'ft not to re-
Yet human bowels cannot but relent: [pent,
Rather than all muft fuffer, fome muft die;
Yet nature must condole their misery.

And yet, if many equal guilt involve,
Thou may ft not theie condemn, and those ab-
folve.

Justice, when equal scales fhe holds, is blind,
Nor cruelty nor mescy change her mind;
When fome efcape for that which others die,
Mercy to thofe, to thefe is cruelty..
A fine and flender net the fpider weaves,
| Which little and light animals receives;
And if the catch a common bee or fly,
They with a pitcous groan and murmur die;
But if a wafp or hornet fhe entrap,
They tear her cords, like Sampfon, and efcape;
So like a fly the poor offender dies;
But, like the wafp, the rich efcapes and flies.
Do not, if one but lightly thee offend,
The punishment beyond the crime extend;
Or after warning the offence forget;
So God himself our failings doth remit.
Expect not more from fervants than is just;
Reward them well if they obferve their truft;
Nor them with cruelty or pride invade,
Since God and nature them our brothers made;
If his offence be great, let that fuffice;
If light, forgive; for no man's always wife.

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My early Miftrefs, now my ancient Mufe,
That ftrong Circæan liquor ceafe t'infufe,
Wherewith thou didst int xicate my youth,
Now toop with difenchanted wings to truth;
As the dove's flight did guide Æneas, now
May thine conduct me to the golden bough;
Tell (like a tall old oak) how learning fhoots
To heaven her branches, and to hell her roots.

HEN God from earth form'd Adam in the
eaft,

He his own image on the clay impreft;
As fubjects then the whole creation ca ne,
And from their natures Adam then did name;
Not from experience (for the world was new)
He only from their cafe their natures knew.
Had memory been loft with innocence,
We had not known the fentence nor th'offence;
'Twas his chief punishment to keep in store
The fad remembrance, what he was before;
And, tho' th'offending part felt mortal pain,
Th'immortal part its knowledge. did retain,
After the flood, arts to Chaldæa fell,
The father of the faithful there did dwell,
Who both their parent and inftructor was;
From thence did learning into A gypt pafs:
Mofes in all th'Egyptian arts was kill'd,
When heav'nly power that chofen veifel fill'd;
And we to his high infpiration owe,

That what was done before the flood we know.
From Egypt arts their progrefs made to Greece.
Wrapt in the fable of the Golden Fleece.
Mufeus first, then Orpheus, civilize
Mankind, and gave the world their deities;

ΤΟ
To many gods they taught devotion,
Which were the diftinct faculties of one;*
Th'Eternal Caufe in their immortal lines
Was taught, and poets were the first divines:
God Mofes firft, then David did infpire,
To compofe anthems for his heavenly quire;
To th'one the ftyle of friend he did impart;
On th'other ftamp the likeness of his heart:
And Mofes, in the old original,

Even God the Poet of the World doth call.
Next thofe old Greeks, Pythagoras did rife,
Then Socrates, whom th'oracle call'd wife;
The divine Plato moral virtue fhews,
Then his difciple Ariftotle rofe,
Who nature's fecrets to the world did teach,
Yet that great foul our novelifts impeach;
Too much manuring fill'd that field with weeds,
While fects, like locufts, did destroy the feeds;
The tree of knowledge, blafted by difputes,
Produces faplefs leaves inftead of fruits;
Proud Greece all nations elfe barbarians held,
Boafting her learning, all the world excell'd.
Flying from thence, to Italy it came,
And to the realm of Naples gave the name,
Till both their nation and their arts did come
A welcome trophy to triumphant Rome;
Then wherefoe'er her conquering eagles fled,
Arts, learning, and civility were spread;
And as in this our microcofm, the heart
Heat, fpirit, motion, gives to every part;
So Rome's victorious influence did difperfe
All her own virtues through the univerfe.
Here fome digreffion I muft make, t'accufe
Thee, my forgetful and ungrateful Mufe:
Could't thou from Greece to Latium take thy
And not to thy great ancestor do right? [flight,
I can no more believe old Homer blind,
Than those who say the fun hath never thin'd;
The age wherein he liv'd was dark; but he
Could not want fight, who taught the world
to fee:

They who Minerva from Jove's head derive,
Might make old Homer's skull the Mufes hive;
And from his brain that Helicon diftill,
Whofe racy liquor did his offspring fill.
Nor old Anacreon, Hefiod, Theocrite,
Muft we forget, nor Pindar's lofty flight.
Old Homer's foul, at laft from Greece retir'd,
In Italy the Mantuan fivain infpir'd. [ccafe,
When great Auguftus made war's tempefts
His halcyon days brought forth the arts of
peace;

He ftill in his triumphant chariot fhines,
By Horace drawn, and Virgil's mighty lines.
Twas certainly myfterious that the *name
Of prophets and of poets is the fame !
What the Tragedian + wrote, the late fuccefs
Declares was infpiration, and not guefs:
As dark a truth that author did unfold,
As oracles or prophets e'er foretold:
"At laft the ocean fhall unlock the bound
"Of things, and a new world by Tiphys found;

*Vatcs. + Seneca.

"Then ages far remote shall understand "The isle of Thule is not the fartheft land." Sure God, by thefe difcoveries, did defign That his clear light through all the world should thine;

But the obstruction from that difcord fprings The Prince of Darknefs made 'twixt Chriftian kings;

That peaceful age with happinefs to crown, From heav'n the Prince of Peace himself came down;

Then the true Sun of Knowledge first appear'd,
And the old dark myfterious clouds were clear'd,
The heavy caufe of th'old accurfed flood
Sunk in the facred deluge of his blood:
His paffion man from his firft fall redeem'd;
Once more to Paradife reftor'd we seem'd;
Satan himself was bound, till th'iron chain
Our pride did break, and let him loose again.
Still the old fting remain'd, and man began
To tempt the ferpent as he tempted man;
Then Hell fends forth her furies, Avarice,
Pride,

Fraud, Difcord, Force, Hypocrify, their guide,
Tho' the foundation on a rock were laid,
The church was undermin'd, and then betray'd:
Tho' the apostles thefe events foretold,
Yet even the shepherd did devour the fold:
The fifher to convert the world began,
The pride convincing of vainglorious man;
But foon his followers grew a fovereign lord,
And Peter's keys exchang'd for Peter's fword,
Which still maintains for his adopted fon
Vaft patrimonies, tho' himfelf had none;
Wrefting the text to the old giant's sense,
That heav'n once more muft fuffer violence.
Then fubtle doctors fcriptures made their prize,
Cafuifts, like cocks, struck out each other's eyes;
Then dark diftinctions reafon's light difguis'd,
And into atoms truth anatomiz'd.

Then Mahomet's crefcent, by our feuds encreaft,
Blafted the learn'd remainders of the eaft:
That project, when from Greece to Rome it

came,

Made mother Ignorance Devotion's dame;
Then he whom Lucifer's own pride did fwell,
His faithful emillary, rofe from hell
To poffels Peter's chair, that Hildebrand,
Whofe foot on mitres, then on crowns did ftand;
And before that exalted idol all
[fall.
(Whom we call Gods on earth) did proftrate
Then darkness Europe's face did overfpread,
From lazy cells, where fuperftition bred,
Which, link'd with blind obedience, to encreaft,
That the whole world fome ages they oppreft;
Till through those clouds the fun of knowledge
brake,

And Europe from her lethargy did wake;
Then firft our monarchs were acknowledg'd here,
That they their churches nurfing-fathers were.
When Lucifer no longer could advance
His works on the falfe ground of ignorance,

The Prophecy.

New

New arts he tries, and new defigns he lays,
Then his well-study'd master-piece he plays;
Loyola, Luther, Calvin he infpires,
And kindles with infernal flames their fires,
Sends their forerunner (confcious of th'event)
Printing, his moft pernicious inftrument!
Wild controverfy then, which long had flept,
Into the prefs from ruin'd cloyfters leapt;
No longer by implicit faith we err,
Whilft ev'ry man's his own interpreter;
No more conducted now by Aaron's rod,
Lay elders from their ends create their God;
But feven wife men the ancient world did know,
We fcarce know feven who think themselves

not fo

When man learn'd undefil'd religion,
We were commanded to be all as one;
Fiery difputes that union have calcin'd,
Almoft as many minds as men we find;
And when that flame finds combustible earth,
Thence fatuus fires and meteors take their birth,"
Legions of fects and infects come in throngs;
To name them all would tire a hundred tongues.
So were the Centaurs of Ixion's race,
Who a bright cloud for Juno did embrace;
And such the monsters of Chimæra's kind,
Lions before, and dragons were behind.
Then from the clashes between popes and kings,
Debate, like sparks from flint's collifion fprings:
As Jove's loud thunder-bolts were forg'd by
heat,

The like our Cyclops on their anvils beat;
All the rich mines of learning ranfack'd are,
To furnish ammunition for this war:
Uncharitable zeal our reafon whets,
And double edges on our paffions fets;
'Tis the most certain fign the world's accurft,
That the best things corrupted are the worst;
'Twas the corrupted light of knowledge hurl'd
Sin, death, and ignorance, o'er all the world,
That fun like this (from which our fight we
have)

Gaz'd on too long, refumes the light he gave;
And when thick mitts of doubts obfcure his
beans,

Our guide is error, and our visions dreams;
'Twas no falfe heraldry, when madness drew
Her pedigree from those who too much knew;
Who in deep mines for hidden knowledge toils,
Like guns o'ercharg'd, breaks, miffes, or re-
coils;

When fubtle wits have fpun their thread too fine,
'Tis weak and fragile, like Arachne's line:
True piety, without ceffation toft
By theorics, the practic part is loft,
And, like a ball, bandy'd 'twixt pride and wit,
Rather than yield, both fides the prize will quit;
Then whilft his for each gladiator foils,
The atheist looking on, enjoys the fpoils.
Through feas of knowledge we our courfe ad-

vance,

Discovering ftill new worlds of ignorance;
And thefe difcoveries make us all confefs
That fublunary fcience is but gucfs;

Matters of fact to man are only known,
And what feems more is mere opinion;
The ftanders-by fee clearly this event,
All parties fay they're fure, yet all diffent!
With their new light our bold infpectors prefs,
Like Cham, to fhew their father's nakedness,
By whofe example, after-ages may
Discover we more naked are than they;
All human wisdom to divine is folly;
This truth the wifeft man made melancholy;
Hope, or belief, or guefs, gives fome relief,
But to be fure we are deceiv'd, brings grief:
Who thinks his wife is virtuous; tho' not fo,
Is pleas'd and patient till the truth he know.
Our God, when heaven and earth he did create,
Form'd man, who fhould of both participate;
If our lives motions theirs must imitate,
Our knowledge, like our blood, muft circulate.
When, like a bridegroom, from the east the fun
Sets forth, he thither, whence he came, doth run;
Into earth's fpongy veins the ocean finks,
Thofe rivers to replenish which he drinks;
So Learning, which from Reafon's fountain
fprings,

Back to the fource fome fecret channel brings.
'Tis happy when our ftreams of knowledge

flow

To fill their banks, but not to overthrow.

$160. The Converfation. A Tale.
IT always has been thought difcrect,

PRIOR.

To know the company you meet;
And fure there may be fecret danger
In talking much before a stranger.
"Agreed: What then?" Then drink your ale;
I'll pledge you, and repeat my tale:

No matter where the fcene is fixt:
The perfons were but oddly mixt;
When fober Damon thus began
(And Damon is a clever man)

"I now grow old; but ftill, from youth,
"Have held for Modefty and Truth.
"The men who by thefe fea-marks steer,
"In life's great voyage never err:
"Upon this point I dare defy
"The world. I paufe for a reply."

Sir, either is a good affiftant,'
Said one who fat a little diftant:

Truth decks our fpeeches and our books;
And Modefty adorns our looks:
But farther progrefs we must make;
Not only born to look and fpeak:
The man muft act. The Stagyrite
Says thus, and says extremely right:
Strict juftice is the fovereign guide
That o'er our actions fhould prefide:
This Queen of Virtues is confest
To regulate and bind the rest.
Thrice happy, if you once can find
Her equal balance poife your mind:
All different graces foon will enter,
Like lines concurrent to their center.'

'Twas

'Twas thus, in fhort, these two went on, With Yea and Nay, and Pro and Con. Thro' many points divinely dark, And Waterland affaulting Clarke; Till, in theology half-lost, Damon took up the Evening-Poft; Confounded Spain, compos'd the North, And, deep in politics, held forth :

"Methinks we're in the like condition, "As at the Treaty of Partition : "That ftroke, for all King William's care, "Begat another tedious war.

"Matthew, who knew the whole intrigue, "Ne'er much approv'd that myftic league: In the vile Utrecht Treaty too, "Poor Man! he found enough to do. "Sometimes to me he did apply;

But Downright Dunftable was I, And told him where they were mistaken, "And counfel'd him to fave his bacon: "But (pafs his politics and profe) "I never herded with his fors; "Nay, in his verfes, as a friend, "I ftill found fomething to commend. "Sir, I excus'd his Nut-brown Maid, "Whate'er feverer critics faid:

Too far, I own, the girl was try'd: "The women all were on my fide. "For Alma I return'd him thanks; I lik'd her with her little pranks:

"Indeed, poor Solomon in rhyme "Was much too grave to be fublime." Pindar and Damon fcorn tranfition, So on he ran a new divifion; Till, out of breath, he turn'd to fpit; (Chance often helps us more than wit.) T'other that lucky moment took, Juft nick'd the time, broke in, and spoke. Of all the gifts the gods afford

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(If we may take old Tully's word) The greatest is a friend; whofe love Knows how to praise, and when reprove: "From fuch a treasure never part,

But hang the jewel on your heart: And, pray Sir (it delights me) tell; You know this Author mighty well?' "Know him! d'ye queftion it? Ods-fifh! "Sir, does a beggar know his dish? "I lov'd him; as I told you, I "Advis'd him—" Here a ftander-by Twitch'd Damon gently by the cloke, And thus, unwilling, filence broke: Damon, 'tis time we should retire: The man you talk with is Mat. Prior.' Patron thro' life, and from my birth my friend, Dorfet! to thee, this Fable let me fend: With Damon's lightness weigh thy folid worth: The foil is known to fet the diamond forth: . Let the feign'd Tale this real moral give,

How many Damons, how few Doriets, live!

END OF THE SECOND BOOK.

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