Dryden. Smyth. Duke. King. Sprat. Halifax

THUS my has me down,

HUS long my grief has kept me dumb:

Tears stand congeal'd, and cannot flow: And the fad foul retires into her inmost room: Tears, for a stroke foreseen, afford relief; But, unprovided for a fudden blow, Like Niobé we marble grow;

And petrify with grief.

Our British heaven was all ferene,
No threatening cloud was nigh,

Not the least wrinkle to deform the sky;
We liv'd as unconcern'd and happily
As the first age in nature's golden fcene;
Supine amidst our flowing store,
We fept fecurely, and we dreamt of more :
When fuddenly the thunder-clap was heard,
It took us unprepar'd and out of guard,
Already loft before we fear'd.

Th' amazing news of Charles at once were spread, At once the general voice declar'd,

"Our gracious prince was dead."

No fickness known before, no flow disease,
To foften grief by just degrees,

But like an hurricane on Indian feas,
The tempeft rofe;

An unexpected burst of woes :
With scarce a breathing space betwixt,
This now becalm'd, and perishing the next.
As if great Atlas from his height
Should fink beneath his heavenly weight,
And with a mighty flaw, the flaming wall
As once it fhall,

Should gape immenfe, and rufhing down,
whelm this nether ball;

So fwift and fo furprising was our fear :
Our Atlas fell indeed; but Hercules was near.

II.

His pious brother, fure the best

Who ever bore that name,

Was newly rifen from his rest,

And, with a fervent flame,

His ufual morning vows had juft addrest

For his dear fovereign's health;

And hop'd to have them heard,
In long increase of years,

In honour, fame, and wealth:

o'er

Guiltlefs of greatnefs, thus he always pray'd,
Nor knew nor with'd those vows he made,
On his own head should be repay'd.

Soon as th' ill-omen'd rumour reach'd his ear,
Ill news is wing'd with fate, and flies apace,
Who can defcribe th' amazement of his face!
Horsor in all his pomp was there,

Mute and magnificent without a tear:
And then the hero first was seen to fear.
Half unarray'd he ran to his relief,
So hafty and fo artless was his grief:
Approaching greatness met him in her charms.
Of power and future ftate;

But look'd fo ghaftly in a brother's fate,
He shook her from his arms.
Arriv'd within the mournful room, he saw
A wild distraction, void of awe,
And arbitrary grief unbounded by a law.
God's image, God's anointed lay

Without motion, pulse, or breath,
A fenfelefs lump of facred clay,
An image now of death,
Amidft his fad attendants groans and cries,
The lines of that ador'd forgiving face,
Distorted from their native grace;
An iron flumber fat on his majestic eyes.
The pious Duke--Forbear audacious Mufe !
No terms thy feeble art can use

Are able to adorn fo vaft a woe:

The grief of all the reft like fubject-grief did show,
His like a fovereign did tranfcend :

No wife, no brother, fuch a grief could know,
Nor any name but friend.

III.

O wondrous changes of a fatal scene,

Still varying to the last!

Heaven, though its hard decree was past,
Seem'd pointing to a gracious turn again :
And death's uplifted arm arrested in its hafte.
Heaven half repented of the doom,

And almoft griev'd it had foreseen,

What by forefight it will'd eternally to come. Mercy above did hourly plead

For her refemblance here below;

And mild forgiveness intercede

To ftop the coming blow.

New miracles approach th' etherial throne,

Such as his wondrous life had oft and lately known,
And urg'd that still they might be shown.
On earth his pious brother pray'd and vow'd,
Renouncing greatnefs at fo dear a rate,
Himfelf defending what he could,

From all the glories of his future fate.
With him th' innumerable crowd,

Of armed prayers

Knock'd at the gates of heaven, and knock'd aloud;
The first well-meaning rude petitioners.
All for his life affail'd the throne,

All would have brib'd the skies by offering up their

own.

So great a throng not heaven itself could bar;
'Twas almost borne by force as in the giants' war.
The prayers at least for his reprieve were heard ;
His death like Hezekiah's, was deferr'd:
Against the fun the shadow went;

Five days, those five degrees, were lent

To form our patience and prepare th' event.
The fecond caufes took the swift command,
The medicinal head, the ready hand,

All eager to perform their part;

All but eternal doom was conquer'd by their art:

Once more the fleeting foul came back

T'infpire the mortal frame;

And in the body took a doubtful stand,

Doubtful and hovering like expiring flame,

Death never won a stake with greater toil,
Nor ere was fate so near a foil:

But like a fortrefs on a rock,

Th' impregnable disease their vain attempts did mock;

They min'd it near, they batter'd from afar

With all the cannon of the medicinal war ;

No gentle means could be effay'd,

'Twas beyond parly when the fiege was laid:
Th' extremeft ways they firft ordain,
Prefcribing fuch intolerable pain,

As none but Cæfar could fuftain:
Undaunted Cæfar underwent

The malice of their art, nor bent

Beneath whate'er their pious rigour could invent:

That mounts and falls by turns, and trembles o'er the In five fuch days he fuffer'd more brand.

IV.

The joyful fhort-liv'd news foon spread around,
Took the fame train, the fame impetuous bound:
The drooping town in fmiles again was dreft,
Gladness in every face exprest,

Their eyes before their tongues confeft.
Men met each other with erected look,
The fteps were higher that they took,

Friends to congratulate their friends made haste ;
And long-inveterate foes faluted as they past:
Above the reft heroic James appear'd
Exalted more, because he more had fear'd:
His manly heart, whofe noble pride
Was ftill above

Diffembled hate or varnish'd love,

Its more than common transport could not hide
But like an eagre rode in triumph o'er the tide.
Thus, in alternate course,

The tyrant paffions, hope and fear,

Did in extremes appear,

And flash'd upon the foul with equal force.
Thus, at half ebb, a rolling fea
Returns and wins upon the fhore;
The watery herd, affrighted at the roar,
Reft on their fins a while, and stay,

Then backward take their wondering way:
The prophet wonders more than they,
At prodigies but rarely feen before,

And cries, a king muft fall, or kingdoms
their fway.

Such were our counter-tides at land, and fo
Prefaging of the fatal blow,

In their prodigious ebb and flow.

change

The royal foul, that, like the labouring moon,
By charms of art was hurried down,

Forc'd with regret to leave her native sphere,
Came but while on liking here:

Soon weary of the painful ftrife,

And made but faint effays of life :
And evening light

Soon fhut in night:

A ftrong distemper, and a weak relief,

Short intervals of joy, and long returns of grief.

The fons of art all medicines try'd,
And every noble remedy apply'd;

With emulation each effay'd

His utmost skill, nay more, they pray'd:

Never was lofing game with better conduct play'd.

Than any fuffer'd in his reign before;
More, infinitely more, than he,

Against the worst of rebels, could decree,
A traitor or twice-pardon'd enemy.
Now art was tir'd without fuccefs,

No racks could make the stubborn malady confess.
The vain infurancers of life,

And he who moft performed and promis'd lefs,
Ev'n Short himfelf forfook th' unequal strife.
Death and defpair were in their looks,

No longer they confult their memories or books;
Like helpl fs friends who view from shore
The labouring fhip, and hear the tempeft roar ;
So ftood they with their arms across ;
Not to affift, but to deplore

Th' inevitable lofs.

Death was denounc'd; that frightful found
Which ev'n the best can hardly bear,
He took the fummons void of fear;
And unconcern'dly caft his eyes around;
As if to find and dare the griefly challenger,
What death could do he lately try'd,
When in four days he more than dy'd.
The fame affurance all his words did grace:
The fame majestic mildness held its place:
Nor loft the monarch in his dying face.
Intrepid, pious, merciful, and brave,
He look'd as when he conquer'd and forgave.

VII.

As if fome angel had been fent

To lengthen out his government,
And to foretel as many years again,

As he had number'd in his happy reign,
So chearfully he took the doom

Of his departing breath;

Nor fhrunk nor ftept afide from death:
But with unalter'd pace kept on;
Providing for events to come,

When he refign'd the throne.

Still he maintain'd his kingly ftate;

And grew familiar with his fate.

Kind, good, and gracious, to the laft,

On all he lov'd before his dying beams he caft:

Oh truly good, and truly great,

For glorious as he rose benignly fo he fet !

All that on earth he held moft dear,

He recommended to his care,

To whom both heaven,

The right had given

And his own love bequeath'd fupreme command s
He took and preft that ever-loyal hand,

Which could in peace fecure his reign,

Which could in wars his power maintain,

That peace which made thy profperous reign to shine,

That hand on which no plighted vows were ever That peace thou leav'ft to thy imperial line,

Thofe, for whom love could no excufes frame,
He graciously forgot to name.

Thus far my Mufe, though rudely, has defign'd
Some faint refemblance of his godlike mind:
But neither pen nor pencil can exprefs
The parting brothers' tenderness':
Though that's a term too mean and low;

The bleft above a kinder word may know :

But what they did, and what they said,
The monarch who triumphant went,

The militant who staid,

That peace, oh happy thade, be ever thine!

For all thofe joys thy restoration brought,
For all the miracles it wrought,

For all the healing balm thy mercy pour'd
Into the nation's bleeding wound,
And care that after kept it found,

For numerous bleffings yearly thower'd,
And property with plenty crown'd;
For freedom ftill maintain'd alive,
Freedom which in no other land will thrive,
Freedom, an English fubject's fole pre.ogative,
Without whofe charms even peace would be
But a dull quiet flavery:

For thefe and more, accept our pious praise :
Tis all the fubfidy

The prefent age can raife,

The reft is charg'd on late pofterity.
Pofterity is charg'd the more,

Because the large abounding store

To them and to their heirs, is ftill entail'd by thee.
Succeffion of a long defcent

Which chaftely in the channels ran,

Like painters, when their heightening arts are spent, And from our demi-gods began,

I caft into a fhade.

That all-forgiving king,

The type of him above,

That unexhausted spring

Of clemency and love;

Himfelf to his next felf accus'd,

And afk'd that pardon which he ne'er refus'd:

For faults not his, for guilt and crimes

Of godlefs men, and of rebellious times:

For an hard exile, kindly meant,

When his ungrateful country fent
Their beft Camillus into banishment:

Equal almost to time in its extent,

Through hazards numberiefs and great,

Thou haft deriv'd this mighty blefling down,

And fixt the fairest gem that decks th' imperial

crown;

Not faction, when it fhook thy regal feat,

Not fenates, inolently loud,

Thofe echoes of a thoughtless crowd,
Not foreign or dome flic treachery,

Could warp thy foul to their unjust decree.
So much thy focs thy manly mind mistook,
Who judg'd it by the mildness of thy look:

And forc'd their fovereign's act, they could not his Like a well-temper'd fword it bent at will;

confent.

But kept the native toughness of the ftcel.

XI.

Be true, O Clio, to thy hero's name!
But draw him ftrictly fo,

That all who view, the piece may know;
He needs no trappings of fictitious fame :
The load's too weighty: thou may'st chuse
Some parts of praife, and fome refuse:

Write, that his annals may be thought more lavik
than the Mufe.

In fcanty truth thou haft confin'd
The virtues of a royal mind,

Forgiving, bounteous, humble, just, and kind:
His converfation, wit, and parts,

His knowledge in the noblest useful arts,
Were fuch, dead authors could not give ;
But habitudes of those who live;
Who, lighting him, did greater lights receive :
He drain'd from all, and all they knew ;
His apprehenfion quick, his judgment true:
That the most learn'd, with fhame, confefs
His knowledge more, his reading only lefs.

XII.

Amidst the peaceful triumphs of his reign, What wonder if the kindly beams he shed, Reviv'd the drooping arts again,

Iffcen e rais'd her head,

And foft humanity that from rebellion fled?
Our ifle, indeed, too fruitful was before;
But all uncultivated lay

Out of the folar walk and heaven's high way;
With rank Geneva weeds run o'er,

And cockle, at the beft, amidit the corn it bore:
The royal husbandman appear'd,

And plough d, and fow'd, and till'd,

The thorns he rooted out, the rubbish clear'd,
And blefs'd th' obedient field.
When strait a double harvest rose;
Such as the fwarthy Indian mows;
Or happier climates near the line,

Or paradife manur'd and dreft by hands divine.

XIII.

As when the new-born phoenix takes his way, His rich paternal regions to survey,

Of airy chorifters a numerous train

Attend his wondrous progrefs o'er the plain;

So, rifing from his father's urn,

So glorious did our Charles return;
The officious Mufes came along,

A gay harmonious quire like ar gels ever young:
The Mufe that moums him now his happy triumph
fung,

Frn they could thrive in his aufpicious reign:
And fuch a plenteous crop they hore

Of pureft and well-winrow'd grair,

As Britain never knew before.

Though little was their hire, and light their gain,
Yet fomewhat to their fhare he threw ;
Fed from his hand, they fung and flew,

Like birds of paradife that liv'd on morning dew.
Oh never let their lays his name forget!
The pension of a prince's praife is great.
Live then, thou great encourager of arts,
Live ever in our thankful hearts;
Live bleft above, almost invok'd Lelow;
Live and receive this pious vow,
Our patron once, our guardian angel now.
Thou Fabius of a finking state,

Who didft by wife delays divert our fate,
When faction like a tempeft rofe,

In death's moft hideous form,

Then art to rage thou didst oppofe,

To weather out the storm :

Not quitting thy fupreme command,

Thou held ft the rudder with thy steady hand,

Till fafely on the shore the bark did land:

The hark that all our bleffings brought,

Charg'd with thyself and James, a doubly royal Thus by degrees he rofe to Jove's imperial feat; fraught.

XIV.

Oh frail eftate of human things,

And slippery hopes Felow!

Now to our cost your emptiness we know:
For 'tis a leffon dearly bought,
Affurance here is never to be fought.
The best, and beft-belov'd of kings,

And best deserving to be so,

When fcarce he had efcap'd the fatal blow
Of action and confpiracy,

Deata did his promis'd hopes deftroy :
He toil'd, he gain'd, but liv'd not to enjoy.
What mifts of Providence are these
Through which we cannot fee!

So faints, by fupernatural power set free,
Are left at laft in martyrdom to die;
Such is the end of oft-repeated miracles.
Forgive me, heaven, that impious thought,
'Twas griet for Charles, to madness wrought
That queft.on'd thy fupreme decree !
Thou didst his gracious reign prolong,
Ev'n in thy faints and angels wrong,

His fellow-citizens of immortality:
For twelve long years of exile borne,

Twice twelve we number'd fince his blest return:
So ftrictly wert thou just to pay,

Ev'n to the driblet of a day.

Yet ftill we murmur and complain,

The quails and manna should no longer rain;
Thofe miracles 'twas needless to renew;

The chofen flock has now the promis'd land in

view.

XV.

A warlike prince afcends the regal state, A prince long exercis'd by fate : Heroes in heaven's peculiar mould are caft, Long may he keep, though he obtains it late! They and their poets are not form'd in haste; Man was the firft in God's den, and man was made the laft.

Falfe heroes made by flattery fo,

Heaven can ftrike out, like fparkles, at a blow;
But cre a prince is to perfection brought,
He cofts Omnipotence a fecond thought.
With toil and sweat,

With hardening cold, and forming heat,
The Cyclops did their ftrokes repeat,
Before th' impenetrable shield was wrought.
It looks as if the Maker would not own
The noble work for his,

Before twas try'd and found a master-piece.

XVI.

View then a monarch ripen'd for a throne. Alcides thus his race began,

O'er infancy he swiftly ran;

The future God at firft was more than man:
Dangers and toils, and Juno's hate

Ev'n o'er his cradle lay in wait:

And there he grappled first with fate:

In his young hands the hiffing fnakes he preft.
So early was the Deity confeft;

Thus difficulties prove a foul legitimately great.
Like his our hero's infancy was try'd ;
Betimes the Furies did their fnakes provide ;
And to his infant arms oppofe

His father's rebels, and his brother's foes;
The more oppreft, the higher ftill he rofe:
Thofe were the preludes of his fate,
That form'd his manhood, to fubdue
The hydra of the many-headed hiffing crew.

XVII.

As, after Numa's peaceful reign,
The martial Ancus did the fceptre wield,
Furbish'd the rusty sword again,
Refum'd the long-forgotten fhield,
And led the Latins to the dufty field;
So James the drowsy genius wakus
Of Britain long entranc'd in charms,
Reftiff and flumbering on its arms :

VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS,

PARAPHRASED.

NREATOR fpirit, by whose aid

were laid,

Come vifit every pious mind;
Come pour thy joys on human kind;
From fin and forrow fet us free,
And make thy temples worthy thee.
O fource of uncreated light,

The Father's promifed Paraclete!

"Tis rous'd, and with a new-strung nerve, the fpear Thrice holy fount, thrice holy fire,

already shakes.

No neighing of the warrior steeds,

No drum or louder trumpet, needs

T'infpire the coward, warm the cold,

His voice, his ole appearance makes them bold.
Gaul and Batavia dread th' impending blow;
Too well the vigour of that arm they know;

Our hearts with heavenly love inspire;
Come, and thy facred unétion bring
To fanctify us, while we fing.

Plenteous of grace, defcend from high,
Rich in thy fevenfold energy!

Thou ftrength of his Almighty hand,
Whose power does heaven and earth command.

They lick the duft, and crouch beneath their fatal Proceeding fpirit, our defence,

foe.

Long may they fear this awful prince,

And not provoke his lingering sword ;
Peace is their only fure defence,
Their beft fecurity his word:

In all the changes of his doubtful state,

His truth, like heaven's, was kept inviolate,
For him to promise is to make it fate.
His valour can triumph o'er land and main
With broken oaths his fame he will not ftain;
With conqueft bafely bought, and with inglorious
gain.

XVIII.

Who doft the gifts of tongues difpenfe,
And crown'ft thy gift with eloquence!

Refine and purge our earthly parts;
But oh, inflame and fire our hearts!
Our frailties help, our vice controul,
Submit the fenfes to the foul:

And when rebellious they are grown,
Then lay thy hand, and hold them down.

Chace from our minds th' infernal foe,
And peace, the fruit of love, beftow;
And left our feet should step aftray,
Protect and guide us in the way.

Make us eternal truths receive,
And practise all that we believe:
Give us thyfelf, that we may fee

For once, O heaven, unfold thy adamantine The Father, and the Son, by thee.

book;

And let his wondering fenate fee,

If not thy firm immutable decree,

At least the fecond page of ftrong contingency;

Such as confifts with wills originally free:

Let them with glad amazement look
On what their happiness may be :

Let them not still be obftinately blind,
Still to divert the good thou haft design'd,
Or with malignant penury,

To ftarve the royal virtues of his mind,
Faith is a chriftian's and a subject's test,

Oh give them to believe, and they are furely bleft.
They do; and with a diftant view I fee
Th' amended vows of English loyalty.
And all beyond that object, there appears
The long retinue of a profperous reign,
A feries of fuccessful years,

In orderly array, a martial, manly train.
Behold even the remoter fhores,
A conquering navy proudly spread;
The British cannon formidably roars,
While, starting from his oozy bed,

Th' afferted ocean rears his reverend head;

To view and recognize his ancient lord again :
And with awilling hand restores

The fafces of the main,

Immortal honour, endless fame,
Attend th' Almighty Father's name :
The Saviour Son be glorify'd,

Who for loft man's redemption dy'd:
And equal adoration be,

Eternal Paraclete, to thee.

}

THE SOLILOQUY

A ROYAL EXILE.

NHAPPY I! who once ordain'd to bear

U God's juftice word, and his vicegerent here

Am now depos'd➡'gainst me my children rise,
My life must be their only facrifice :
Highly they me accufe, but nothing prove;
But this is out of tendernefs and love!

They feek to fpill my blood; 'tis that alone
Muft for the nation's crying fins atone.
But careful Heaven forewarn'd me in a dream,
And fhew'd me that my dangers were extreme;
The heavenly vision spoke, and bade me flee
Th' ungrateful brood that were not worthy me;
Alarm'd I fled at the appointed time;

And mere neceffity was made my crime !

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