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The genuine offspring of her lov'd embrace
(Strangers on earth!) are innocence and peace:
There, from the ways of men laid safe ashore,
We fmile to hear the diftant tempeft roar;
There, blefs'd with health, with bus'nefs unper-
This life we relish, and enfure the next; [plex'd,
There to the Mufes fport; these numbers free,
Pierian Eaftbury! I owe to thee.

§ 134- The Day of Judgment. YOUNG.

O! the wide theatre, whofe ample space

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Muft entertain the whole of human race, At Heav'n's all pow'rful edict is prepar'd, And fenc'd around with an immortal guard. Tribes, provinces, dominions, worlds, o'erflow The mighty plain, and deluge all below: And ev'ry age and nation pours along; Nimrod and Bourbon mingle in the throng: Adam falutes his youngest fon; no fign Of all thofe ages which their births disjoin.

How empty learning, and how vain is art,
But as it mends the life, and guides the heart!
What volumes have been fwell'd, what time been
To fix a hero's birth-day or descent? [fpent,
What joy muft it now yield, what rapture raife,
To fee the glorious race of ancient days!
To greet thofe worthies, who perhaps have stood

Illuftrious on record before the flood!
Alas! a nearer care your foul demands.
Cæfar un-noted in your prefence stands.

How vaft the concourfe! not in number more
The waves that break on the refounding fhore.
The leaves that tremble in the fhady grove,
The lamps that gild the fpangled vaults above;
Those overwhelming armies, whofe command
Said to one empire, Fall; another, Stand: [dawn
Whofe rear lay wrapt in night, while breaking
Rouz'd the broad front, and call'd the battle on;
Great Xerxes' world in arms, proud Canna's field,
Where Carthage taught victorious Rome to yield,
(Another blow had broke the fates decree,
And earth had wanted her fourth monarchy)
Immortal Blenheim, fam'd Ramillia's hoft,
They all are here, and here they all are loft:
Their millions fwell to be difcern'd in vain,
Loft as a billow in th'unbounded main.

This echoing voice now rends the yielding air: "For judgment, judgment, fons of men, prepare!" Earth fhakes anew; I hear her groans profound; And hell thro' all her trembling realms refound. Whoe'er thou art, thou greatest pow'r of earth; Bleft with most equal planets at thy birth; Whofe valour drew the moft fuccefsful fword, Moft realms united in one common lord; Who on the day of triumph, faidft, Be thine The fkies, Jehovah, all this world is mine; Dare not to lift thine eye-Alas! my mufe, How art thou loft! what numbers canft thou chufe? A fudden blush inflames the waving sky, And now the crimson curtains open fly; Lo! far within, and far above all height, Where heav'n's great Sov'reign reigns in worlds of light,

Whence nature He informs, and with one ray
Shot from his eye, does all her works furvey;
Creates, fupports, confounds! where time and
place,

Matter, and form, and fortune, life, and grace,
Wait humbly at the footstool of their God,
And move obedient at his awful nod;
Whence he beholds us vagrant emmets crawl
At random on this air-fufpended ball
(Speck of creation): if he pour one breath,
The bubble breaks, and 'tis eternal death.
Thence iffuing, I behold (but mortal fight
Suftains not fuch a rushing fea of light!)
I fee, on an empyreal flying throne
Sublimely rais'd, Heav'n's everlafting Son;
Crown'd with that majefty which form'd the

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world,

And the grand rebel flaming downward hurl'd.
Virtue, dominion, praise, omnipotence,
Support the train of their triumphant Prince
A zone, beyond the thought of angels bright,
Around him, like the zodiac, winds its light.
Night fhades the folemn arches of his brows,
And in his cheek the purple morning glows.
Where'er ferene he turns propitious eyes,
Or we expect, or find, a paradife :
But if refentment reddens their mild beams,
The Eden kindles, and the world's in flames.
On one hand, knowledge fhines in pureft light;
On one, the fword of justice, fiercely bright.
Now bend the knee in fport, prefent the reed;
Now tell the fcourg'd Impoftor he shall bleed!

Thus glorious thro' the courts of heav'n, the
Of life and death eternal bends the courfe; [fource
Loud thunders round him roll, and lightnings
Th'angelic hoft is rang'd in bright array: [play;
Some touch the ftring, fome ftrike the founding
And mingling voices in rich concert fwell; [fhell,
Voices feraphic; bleft with such a strain,
Could Satan hear, he were a god again.

Triumphant King of Glory! Soul of blifs! What a ftupendous turn of fate is this!

O! whither art thou rais'd above the fcorn
And indigence of him in Bethlem born;
A needlefs, helplefs, unaccounted gueft,
And but a fecond to the fodder'd beaft?
How chang'd from him who meekly proftrate laid,
Vouchfaf'd to wash the feet himfelf had made!
From him who was betray'd, forfook, deny'd,
Wept, languifh'd, pray'd, bled, thirfted, groan'd,
and dy'd;

Hung pierc'd and bare, infulted by the foe;
All heav'n in tears above, earth unconcern'd
below.

And was't enough to bid the Sun retire?
Why did not Nature at thy groan expire?
I fee, I hear, I feel, the pangs divine;
The world is vanifh'd.-I am wholly thine.

Mistaken Caiaphas! Ah! which blafphem'd; Thou or thy pris'ner which fhall be condemn'd? Well might'st thou rend thy garments, well exDeep are the horrors of eternal flame! [claim; But God is good! 'tis wond'rous all Ev'n He Thou gav'ft to death, fhame, torture, dy'd for thee.

Νοιν

Now the defcending triumph ftops its flight
From earth full twice a planetary height.
There all the clouds condens'd, two columns raife
Diftin&t with orient veins, and golden blaze :
One fix'd on earth, and one in fea; and round
Its ample foot the fwelling billows found.
Thefe an immeafurable arch fupport,
The grand tribunal of this awful court.
Sheets of bright azure, from the pureit sky,
Stream from the crystal arch, and round the co-
lumns fly.

Death, wrapt in chains, low at the bafis lies,
And on the point of his own arrow dies.

Here high enthron'd th'eternal Judge is plac'd;
With all the grandeur of his Godhead grac'd;
Stars on his robes in beauteous order meet,
And the fun burns beneath his awful feet.

Now an archangel eminently bright, From off his filver staff, of wond'rous height, Unfurls the Chriftian flag, which waving flies, And fhuts and opens more than half the skies: The Crofs fo ftrong a red, it sheds a stain Where'er it floats, on earth, on air, and main; Flufhes the hill, and fets on fire the wood, And turns the deep-dy'd ocean into blood. Oh formidable Glory! dreadful bright! Refulgent torture to the guilty fight. Ah turn, unweary mufe, nor dare reveal What horrid thoughts with the polluted dwell. Say not (to make the Sun fhrink in his beam) Dare not affirm, they with it all a dream; With, or their fouls may with their limbs decay, Or God be fpoil'd of his eternal fway. But rather, if thou know'ft the means, unfold How they with transport might the fcene behold. Ah how! but by Repentance, by a mind Quick, and fevere its on offence to find? By tears, and groans, and never-ceafing care, And all the pious violence of Pray'r? Thus then, with fervency till now unknown, I caft my heart before th'eternal throne, In this great temple, which the fkies furround, For homage to its Lord, a narrow bound. [weigh, O Thou! whofe balance does the mountains Whofe will the wild tumultuous feas obey, Whose breath can turn thofe watʼry worlds to flame,

That flame to tempeft, and that tempeft tame; Earth's meaneft fon, all trembling, proftrate falls, And on the boundlefs of thy goodness calls.

O! give the winds all paft offence to sweep, To fcatter wide, or bury in the deep: Thy pow'r, my weaknefs, may I ever fee, And wholly dedicate my foul to thee: Reign o'er my will; my paflions ebb and flow At thy command, nor human motive know! If anger boil, let anger be my praife, And fin the graceful indignation raife. My love be warm to fuccour the diftrefs'd, And lift the burden from the foul opprefs'd. O may my understanding ever read This glorious volume, which thy wifdom made! Who decks the maiden Spring with flow'ry • pride?

Who calls forth furamer, like a fparkling bride?

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Who joys the mother Autumn's bed to crown? And bids old Winter lay her honours down? 'Not the Great Ottoman, or Greater Czar, Not Europe's arbitrefs of peace and war. May fea and land, and earth and heav'n be join'd To bring th'eternal Author to my mind! When oceans roar, or awful thunders roil,[foul; May thoughts of thy dread vengeance thake my When earth's in bloom, or planets proudly shine, Adore, my heart, the Majefty divine! Thro' ev'ry feene of life, or peace, or war, Plenty, or want, Thy glory be my care! Shine we in arms? or fing beneath our vine ? Thine is the vintage, and the conqueft Thine: Thy pleafure points the thaft and bends the bow, The clufter blafts, or bids it brightly glow: Tis Thou that lead 'ft our pow'rful armies forth, And giv't great Anne thy fceptre o'er the north, Grant I may ever, at the morning-ray, 'Open with pray'r the confecrated day; Tune thy great praife, and bid my foul arife, And with the mounting fun afcend the skies; As that advances, let my zeal improve, And glow with ardour of confummate love; Nor ceafe at eve, but with the fetting fun My endless worship fhall be ftill begun.

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And, oh, permit the gloom of folemn night To facred thought may forcibly invite.

When this world's fhut, and awful planets rife, Call on our minds, and raife them to the fkics: Compofe our fouls with a lefs dazzling fight, And fhew all nature in a milder light; How ev'ry boift'rous thought in calins fubfides; How the finooth'd fpirit into goodness glides! "O how divine! to tread the milky way

To the bright palace of the Lord of day; 'His court admire, or for his favour fue, 'Or leagues of friendship with his faints renew; 'Pleas'd to look down, and fee the world afleep, While I long vigils to its Founder keep!

Canit thou not thake the centre? Oh control, Subdue by force the rebel in my foul;

‹ Thou, who can ftill the raging of the flood, 'Reftrain the various tumults of my blood; Teach me, with equal firinnefs, to fuftain Alluring pleafure and affaulting pain.

O may I pant for Thee in each defire! And with ftrong faith foment the holy fire! Stretch out any foul in hope, and grafp the prize. Which in Eternity's deep bofom lics! At the Great Day of recompence behold, 'Devoid of fear, the fatal book unfold! Then wafted upward to the blissful feat, From age to age my grateful fong repeat; My Light, my Life, my God, my Saviour fee, And rival angels in the praife of Thee!'

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;

In fummer's heat and winter's cold
He fed his flock, and penn'd the fold
His hours in cheerful labour flew ;
Nor envy nor ambition knew:
His wifdom and his honeft fame
Through all the country rais'd his name.
A deep Philofopher (whofe rules
Of moral life were drawn from schools)
The fhepherd's homely cottage fought,
And thus explor'd his reach of thought

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Whence is thy learning! Hath thy toil
O'er books confum'd the midnight oil?
Haft thou old Greece and Rome furvey'd,
And the vaft fenfe of Plato weigh'd?
Hath Socrates thy foul refin'd?
And haft thou fathom'd Tully's mind?
Or, like the wife Ulyffes, thrown
By various fates on realms unknown,
Haft thou through many cities ftray'd,
Their cuftoms, laws, and manners weigh'd?
The shepherd modeftly reply'd,
I ne'er the paths of learning try'd;
Nor have I roam'd in foreign parts
To read mankind, their laws and arts;
For man is practis'd in difguife;
He cheats the moft difcerning eyes;
Who by that fearch fhall wiser grow,
When we ourselves can never know?
The little knowledge I have gain'd
Was all from fimple nature drain'd;
Hence my life's maxims took their rife;
Hence grew my fettl'd hate to vice.
The daily labours of the bee
Awake my foul to industry.
Who can obferve the careful ant,
And not provide for future want?
My dog (the truftieft of his kind)
With gratitude inflames my mind.
I mark his truc, his faithful way,
And in my fervice copy Tray.
In conftancy and nuptial love,
I learn my duty from the dove.
The hen, who from the chilly air,
With pious wing, protects her care;
And ev'ry fowl that flies at large
Inftructs me in a parent's charge.
From nature too I take my rule,
To fhun contempt and ridicule :
I never, with important air,
In converfation overbear.
Can grave and formal pafs for wife,
When men the folemn owl defpife?
My tongue within my lips I rein;
For who talks much muft talk in vain.
We from the wordy torrent fly;
Who liftens to the chatt'ring pye?
Nor would I with felonious flight,
By ftealth invade my neighbour's right.
Rapacious animals we hate :

Kites, hawks, and wolves, deferve their fate.
Do not we just abhorrence find
Against the toad and ferpent kind?
But envy, calumny, and spite,
Bear stronger venom in their bite.

* Su The Indian Cottage of

Thus ev'ry object of creation

Can furnish hints to contemplation; And from the most minute and mean, A virtuous mind can morals glean.

Thy fame is juft, the fage replies; Thy virtue proves thee truly wife. Pride often guides the author's pen; Books as affected are as men : But he who ftudies nature's laws, From certain truth his maxims draws; And thofe, without our fchools, fuffice To make men moral, good and wife.

To his Highness William Duke of Cumberland. § 136. Fable I. The Lion, the Tyger, and the Traveller.

ACCEPT, young prince, the moral lay,

And in thefe tales mankind furvey;
With early virtues plant your breaft;
The fpecious arts of vice deteft.

Princes, like beauties, from their youth
Are ftrangers to the voice of truth;
Learn to contemn all praife betimes :
For flattery's the nurfe of crimes :
Friendship by fweet reproof is shown
(A virtue never near a throne);
In courts fuch freedom must offend;
There none prefumes to be a friend.
To thofe of your exalted station
Each courtier is a dedication.
Muft I too flatter like the reft,
And turn my morals to a jeft?
The mufe difdains to fteal from thofe
Who thrive in courts by fulfome profe,
But fhall I hide your real praife,
Or tell you what a nation fays?
They in your infant bofom trace
The virtues of your royal race;
In the fair dawning of your mind
Difcern you gen'rous, mild, and kind:
They fee you grieve to hear diftrefs,
And pant already to redress.
Go on, the height of good attain,
Nor let a nation hope in vain.
For hence we justly may prefage
The virtues of a riper age.
True courage fhall your bofom fire,
And future actions own your fire.
Cowards are cruel, but the brave
Love mercy, and delight to fave.

A tyger roaming for his prey,
Sprung on a trav'ler in the way;
The proftrate game a lion fpics,
And on the greedy tyrant flies;
With mingl'd roar refounds the wood;
Their teeth, their claws diftil with blood;
Till, vanquifh'd by the Lion's ftrength,
The fpotted foe extends his length.
The man befought the fhaggy lord,
And on his knees for life implor'd;
His life the gen'rous hero gave.-—
Together walking to his cave,

The

The lion thus bespoke his gueft:

What hardy beaft fhall dare contest
My matchlefs ftrength! you faw the fight,
And must atteft my pow'r and right.
Forc'd to forego their native home,
My ftarving flaves at distance roam;
Within these woods I reign alone;
The boundless foreft is my own.
Bears, wolves, and all the favage brood,
Have dy'd the regal den with blood.
Thefe carcafes on either hand,
Those bones that whiten all the land,
My former deeds and trumphs tell,
Beneath these jaws what numbers fell.
True, fays the man, the ftrength I saw
Might well the brutal nation awe:
But fhall a monarch, brave like you,
Place glory in fo false a view?
Robbers invade their neighbour's right.
Be lov'd let juftice bound your might.
Mean are ambitious heroes boafts
Of wafted lands and flaughter'd hosts.
Pirates their pow'r by murders gain;
Wife kings by love and mercy reign.
To me your clemency hath thown
The virtue worthy of a throne.
Heav'n gives you pow'r above the reft,
Like Heav'n to fuccour the diftreft.

The cafe is plain, the monarch faid;
Falfe glory hath my youth misled;
For beafts of prey, a fervile train,
Have been the flatt'rers of my reign.
You reafon well: Yet tell me, friend,
Did ever you in courts attend?
For all my fawning rogues agree,
That human heroes rule like me.

137. Fable II. The Spaniel and the Cameleon. SPANIEL, bred with all the care A

That waits upon a fav'rite heir,
Ne'er felt correction's rigid hand;
Indulg'd to difobey command.

In pamper'd cafe his hours were spent ;
He never knew what learning meant.
Such forward airs, fo pert, fo fmart,
Were fure to win his lady's heart:
Each little mischief gain'd him praise;
How pretty were his fawning ways!

The wind was fouth, the morning fair,
He ventures forth to take the air:
He ranges all the meadow round,
And rolls upon the fofteft ground;
When near him a Cameleon feen,
Was fcarce diftinguifh'd froin the green.
Dear emblem of the flatt'ring hoft,
What, live with clowns? a genius loft!
To cities and the court repair;
A fortune cannot fail thee there :
Preferment fhall thy talents crown,
Believe me, friend; I know the town.
Sir, fays the Sycophant, like you,
Of old, politer life I knew :

Like you, a courtier born and bred,
Kings lean'd an car to what I faid

My whisper always met fuccefs;
The ladies prais'd me for addrefs.
I knew to hit each courtier's pallion,
And flatter'd ev'ry vice in fashion.
But Jove, who hates the liar's ways,
At once cut fhort my profp'rous days;
And, fentenc'd to retain my nature,
Transforin'd me to this crawling creature.
Doom'd to a life obfcure and mean,
I wander in the fylvan fcene.
For Jove the heart alone regards;
He punishes what man rewards.
How diff'rent is thy cafe and mine!
With men at least you fup and dine;
While I, condemn'd to thinneft fare,
Like those I flatter'd, feed on air.

§ 138. Fable III. The Mother, the Nurfe, and the Fairy.

The bleffing fent,

GIVE me a fon.
Were ever parents more content?
How partial are their doating eyes!
No child is half fo fair and wife.
Wak'd to the morning's pleafing care,
The mother rofe, and fought her heir.
She faw the Nurfe, like one poffefs'd,
With wringing hands, and fobbing breast,
Sure fome difafter has befel;
Speak, nurfe; I hope the boy is well.

Dear Madam, think not me to blame;
Invifible the Fairy came :

Your precious babe is hence convey'd,
And in the place a changeling laid.
Where are the father's mouth and nofe,
The mother's eyes, as black as floes?
See here, a fhocking aukward creature,
That fpeaks a fool in ev'ry feature.

The woman's blind, the Mother cries; I fee wit fparkle in his eyes.

Lord! Madam, what a squinting leer! No doubt the Fairy hath been here.

Juft as fhe fpoke, a Pigmy Sprite Pops through the key-hole, fwift as light: Perch'd on the cradle's top he ftands, And thus her folly reprimands:

Whence fprung the vain conceited lye, That we the world with fools fupply? What! give our sprightly race away For the dull helpless fons of clay! Befides, by partial fondnefs fhown, Like you, we doat upon your own. Where yet was ever found a mother, Who'd give her booby for another' And fhould we change with human breed, Well might we pafs for fools indeed.

§ 139. Fable IV. The Eagle and the Assembly of Animals.

AS Jupiter's all-feeing eye

Survey'd the worlds beneath the fky, From this finall fpeck of earth were fent Murmurs and founds of difcontent;

For

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For ev'ry thing alive complain'd
That he the hardest life fuftain'd.
Jove calls his eagle. At the word
Before him ftands the royal bird.
The bird, obedient, from heav'n's height
Downward directs his rapid flight;
Then cited ev'ry living thing,
To hear the mandates of his king.

Ungrateful creatures, whence arise
Thefe murmurs, which offend the skies?
Why this diforder? fay the cause :
For just are Jove's eternal laws.
Let each his difcontent reveal.
To yon four Dog I first appeal.

Hard is my lot, the hound replies:
On what fleet nerves the Greyhound flies!
While I, with weary step and flow,
O'er plains and vales, and mountains go.
The morning fees my chace begun,
Nor ends it till the fetting fun.

When (fays the Greyhound) I pursue,
My game is loft, or caught in view;
Beyond my fight the prey's fecure :
The Hound is flow, but always fure :
And had I his fagacious fcent,
Jove ne'er had heard my difcontent.

The Lion crav'd the Fox's art;
The Fox the Lion's force and heart:
The Cock implor'd the Pigeon's flight,
Whose wings were rapid, ftrong, and light:
The Pigeon ftrength of wing defpis'd,
And the Cock's matchlefs valour priz❜d :
The Fishes wifh'd to graze the plain :
The Beasts to fkim beneath the inain.
Thus, envious of another's state,
Each blam'd the partial hand of Fate.

The bird of heav'n then cry'd aloud,
Jove bids difperfe the murm'ring crowd;
The God rejects your idle prayers:
Would ye, rebellious mutineers,
Entirely change your name and nature,
And be the very envy'd creature?
What, filent all, and none consent !
Be happy then, and learn content:
Nor imitate the reftlefs mind
And proud ambition of mankind.

§ 140. Fable V. The Wild Boar and the Ram. A GAINST an elm a fheep was ty'd,

The butcher's knife in blood was dy'd ;
The patient flock, in filent fright,
From far beheld the horrid fight.
A favage Boar, who near them ftood,
Thus mock'd to fcorn the fleecy brood:

All cowards fhould be ferv'd like you:
See, fee, your murd’rer is in view;
With purple hands, and reeking knife,
He ftrips the skin yet warm with life:
Your quarter'd fires, your bleeding dams,
The dying bleat of harmless lambs
Call for revenge. O ftupid race!
The heart that wants revenge is base.

I grant, an ancient ram replies,
We bear no terror in our eyes;
Yet think us not of foul fo tame,
Which no repeated wrongs inflame;
Infenfible of ev'ry ill,

Because we want thy tufks to kill.
Know, those who violence pursue,
Give to themselves the vengeance due;
For in these maffacres they find
The two chief plagues that waste mankind.
Our skin fupplies the wrangling bar ;
It wakes their flumb'ring fons to war;
And well revenge may reft contented,
Since drums and parchment were invented.

§ 141. Fable VI. The Mifer and Plutus.
THE wind was high, the window shakes;
With fudden start the Mifer wakes;
Along the filent room he stalks;
Looks back and trembles as he walks!
Each lock and ev'ry bolt he tries,
In ev'ry creek and corner pries,
Then opes the cheft with treasure stor'd,
And ftands in rapture o'er his hoard;
But now, with fudden qualms pofleft,
He wrings his hands, he beats his breast.
By confcience ftung, he wildly ftares ;
And thus his guilty foul declares :

Had the deep earth her stores confin'd,
This heart had known fweet peace of mind.
But virtue's fold! Good gods! what price
Can recompenfe the pangs of vice !
O bane of good! feducing cheat!
Can man, weak man, thy pow'r defeat?
Gold banifh'd honor from the mind,
And only left the name behind;
Gold fow'd the world with ev'ry ill;
Gold taught the murd'rer's fword to kill s
'Twas gold inftructed coward hearts
In treach❜ry's more pernicious arts.
Who can recount the mischiefs o'er?
Virtue refides on earth no more!

He fpoke, and figh'd. In angry mood,
Plutus, his god, before him ftood.
The Mifer, trembling, lock'd his cheft,
The vifion frown'd, and thus addrest:

Each fordid rafcal's daily cant?
Whence is this vile ungrateful rant,
Did I, base wretch, corrupt mankind?
The fault's in thy rapacious mind.
Because my bleffings are abus'd,
Muft I be cenfur'd, curs'd, accus'd!
Ev'n virtue's felf by knaves is made
A cloak to carry on the trade;

And pow'r (when lodg'd in their peffeffion
Grows tyranny and rank oppreffion.
Thus, when the villain crams his cheft,...
Gold is the canker of the breast!
'Tis av'rice, infolence, and pride,
And ev'ry fhocking vice befide;
But when to virtuous hands 'tis given,
It bleffes like the dews of heav'n:

79

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