To bind their rage, and stay their headlong § 59. A Friend to Freedom can never be a Traito,
'ER since reflection beam'd her light upon me, E You, Sir, have been my study. I have plac'd Before mine eyes, in every light of life, The father and the king. What weight of duty Lay on a son from such a parent sprung; What virtuous toil to shine with his renown, Has been my thought by day, my dream by night:
But first and ever nearest to my heart Was this prime duty, so to frame my conduct Tow'rd such a father, as were I a father, My soul would wish to meet with from a son, And may reproach transmit my name abhorr'd To latest time-if ever thought was mine Unjust to filial reverence, filial love!
AVE I then no tears for thee, my father? HAV Can I forget thy cares, from helpless years Thy tenderness for me? an eye still beam'd With love? A brow that never knew a frown? Nor a harsh word thy tongue! Shall I for these Repay thy stooping venerable age
With shame, disquiet, anguish, and dishonour? It must not be! -thou first of angels! come, Sweet filial pity! and firm my breast: Yes! let one daughter to her fate submit, Be nobly wretched-but her father happy.
§ 57. Bad Fortune more easily borne than good. Rowe.
WITH such unshaken temper of the soul
To bear the swelling tide of prosp'rous
He who contends for freedom, Can ne'er be justly deem'd his sore- reign's foe;
Fit, No! 'Tis the wretch who tempts him to subvert The soothing slave, the traitor in the bosom, Who best deserves that name; he is a wom That eats out all the happiness of kingdom.
§ 60. Description of a Hag. OTWAY.
a close lane, as I pursu'd my journey, I spied a wither'd hag, with age grown double, Picking dry sticks, and mumbling to herself; Her eyes with scalding rheum were gall'd and red,
Cold palsy shook her head, her hand seen'd wither'd,
And on her crooked shoulders had she wrapp't The tatter'd remnants of an old strip'd hanging, Which serv'd to keep her carcase from the cold So there was nothing of a piece about her. Her lower weeds were all o'er coarsely patch With different colour'd rags, black, red, white, yellow,
And seem'd to speak variety of wretchedness,
At every slender twig of nice distinctions. These for the unfeeling vulgar may do well; But those whose souls are by the nicer rule Of virtuous delicacy only sway'd, for-Stand at another bar than that of laws.
By the same cold, torn by the same disease, [gar. And show'rs profusely pow'r and splendour on
That scorches, freezes, racks, and kills the beg
$64. True End of Royalty. WITNESS, Heaven!
Whose eye the heart's profoundest depth explores,
That if not to perform my regal task; To be the cominon father of my people, Patron of honour, virtue and religion; If not to shelter useful worth, to guard His well-earn'd portion from the sons of rapine, And deal out justice with impartial hand; If not to spread on all good men thy bounty, The treasures trusted to me, not my own; If not to raise anew our English name, By peaceful arts, that grace the land they bless, And generous war to humble proud oppressors: Yet more, if not to build the public weal On that firm base, which can alone resist Both time and chance, fair liberty and law; If I for these great ends am not ordain'd May I ne'er poorly fill the throne of England.
$65. The real Duty of a King. Rowe. -'T 18 true, I am a king: Honour and glory too have been my
But tho' I dare face death, and all the dangers Which furious war wears in its bloody front, Yet could I choose to fix my name by peace, By justice, and by mercy; and to raise My trophies on the blessings of mankind: Nor would I buy the empire of the world With ruin of the people whom I sway, Or forfeit of my honour.
$66. Character of a good King. THOMSON. YES
TES, we have lost a father!
The greatest blessing Heaven bestows on mortals,
And seldom found amidst these wilds of time, A good, a worthy king!-Hear me, my Tancred! And I will tell thee, in a few plain words, How he deserv'd that best, that glorious title. Tis nought complex, 'tis clear as truth and
them, [they, Whate'er th' expanded heart can wish; when Accepting the reward, neglect the duty, Or, worse, pervert those gifts to deeds of ruin, Is there a wretch they rule so base as they? Guilty, at once, of sacrilege to Heaven, And of perfidious robbery to man!
Helov'd his people, deem'd them all his children, Flew fiercely on him: but Lysimachus, His prey; and with a roar that inade us pale, The good exalted, and depress'd the bad: [ed Starting aside, avoided his first stroke He spurn'd the flattering crew, with scorn reject-With a slight hurt, and, as the lion turn'd, Their smooth advice, that only means themselves, Thrust gautlet, arm and all, into his throat: Their schemes to aggrandize him into baseness, Then with Herculean force tore forth by the Well knowing that a people in their rights And industry protected; living safe Beneath the sacred shelter of the laws; Encourag'd in their genius, arts and labours; And happy each as he himself deserves, Are ne'er ungrateful. With unsparing hand They will for him provide: their filial love And confidence are his unfailing treasury, And every honest man his faithful guard.
$67. The Guilt of bad Kings. MALLET. WHEN those whom Heaven distinguishes o'er millions,
The foaming, bloody tongue; and while the sa
Faint with the loss, sunk to the blushing earth, To plow it with his teeth, your conqu'ring sol[pieces.
dier Leap'd on his back, and dash'd his skull to
$71. Character of an excellent Man. Rowe. How could my tongue
Take pleasure, and be lavish in thy praise!
́§74. A Description of the Morning. OTWAY. WISH'D morning's come; and now upon the plains,
And distant mountains, where they feed their § 78. A worthless Person can claim no Me from the Virtues of his Ancestors. Rows The happy shepherds leave their homely huts,WERE honour to be scann'd by long descen And with their pipes proclaim the new-born
The lusty swain comes with his well-fill'd scrip Of healthful viands, which, when hunger calls, With much content and appetite he eats, To follow in the field his daily toil, And dress the grateful glebe that yields him fruits:
From ancestors illustrious, I could var A lineage of the greatest; and recount, Among my fathers, names of ancient story, Heroes and godlike patriots, who subdu'd The world by arms and virtue. But that be their own praise: Nor will I borrow merit from the dead, Myself an undeserver.
The beasts, that under the warm hedges slept, And weather'd out the cold bleak night, are up; $ 79. And, looking tow'rds the neighbouring pas- tures, raise
Their voice, and bid their fellow brutes good
The cheerful birds too on the tops of trees Assemble all in choirs; and with their notes Salute and welcome up the rising sun.
§ 75. Another. LEE.
FROM amber shrouds I see the morning rise;
Her rosy hands begin to paint the skies; And now the city emmets leave their hive, And rousing hinds to cheerful labour drive; High cliffs and rocks are pleasing objects now, And nature smiles upon the mountain brow;
$81. In what Philosophy really consists. PHILOSOPHY Consists not
In airy schemes or idle speculations.
The rule and conduct of all social life Is her great province. Not in lonely cells.
And that a hapless Celtiberian prince, Her lover, and belov'd, forgot his chains, His lost dominions, and for her alone Wept out his tender soul; sudden the heart Of this young, conqu'ring, loving, godlike Ro- Felt all the great divinity of virtue. [man His wishing youth stood check'd, his tempting pow'r
Restrain'd by kind humanity-At once He for her parents and her lover call'd. The various scene immagine: how his troops Look'd dubious on, and wonder'd what he [laye Rack'd by a thousand mingling passions, fear, While stretch'd below the trembling suppliants Hope, jealousy, disdain, submission, grief; Anxiety, and love, in every shape;
To these as different sentiments succeeded, As mixt emotions; when the man divine Thus the dread silence to the lover broke: We both are young, both charm'd. The " right of war
"Live out a happy life: but know that Ro
Obscure she lurks, but holds her heavenly light. With whom I could in the most sacred ties "Has put thy beauteous mistress in my pow'r; To senates and to kings, to guide their councils, And teach them to reform and bless mankind. All policy but hers is false and rotten ; All valour not conducted by her precepts la destroying fury sent from hell, To plague unhappy man, and ruin nations.
82. Scipio restoring the captive Princess to her Royal Lover. THOMSON. WHAT with admiration
"Their hearts, as well as enemies, can conquer. "Then take her to thy soul; and with her take Thy liberty and kingdom. In return "I ask but this-when you behold these eyes, "These charms, with transport, be a friend to 66 Rome."
[ble virgin, $83. Struck every heart, was this:-A noConspicuous far o'er all the captive dames, Was mark'd the gen'ral's prize. She wept and blush'd, [eye, Young, fresh and blooming like the morn. A when the blue sky trembles through a cloud Of purest white. A secret charm combin'd Her features, and infus'd enchantment through thein;
The Blessings of Peace. THOMSON.
Sweet union of a state! what else but thou
Gives safety, strength, and glory to a people? bow, Lord Constable, beneath the snow Of many years; yet in my breast revives A youthful flame. Methinks I see again Those gentle days renew'd, that bless'd our isle Ere by this wasteful fury of division,
Her shape was harmony.But eloquence Beneath her beauty fails; which seem'd on pur-It desolated sunk. I see our plains By nature lavish'd on her, that mankind [pose Might see the virtue of a hero tried Almost beyond the stretch of human force. Soft as she pass'd along, with downcast eyes,
Worse than our Etua's most destructive fires, Unbounded waving with the gifts of harvest; Our seas with commerce throng'd, our busy
With cheerful toil. Our Enna blooms afresh ;
Afresh the sweets of thymy Hybla blow.
Our nymphs and shepherds, sporting in cach Inspire new song, and wake the pastoral reed.
Drop'd o'er her modest cheek a trickling tear, The Roman legions languish'd, and hard war vale, Felt more than pity. Ben their chief himself, As on his high tribunal rais'd he sat, Turn'd from the dang'rous sight, and chiding His officers, if by this gift they meant To cloud his virtue in its very dawn?
§ 84. Providence.
HERE is a pow'r
Unseen, that rules th' illimitable world,
She question'd of her birth, in trembling ac- That guides its motions, from the brightest star
To the least dust of this sin-tainted mould;
With tears, and blushes broken, told her tale. While man, who madly deems himself the lord
But when he found her royally descended,
Of her old captive parents the sole joy ;
Thou must have learnt when wandering all | And monumental caves of death look cold, alone, And shoot a chilness to my trembling heart. Each bird, each insect, flitting thro' the sky, Was more sufficient for itself than thou.
§ 89. Description of a Triumph. Lez comes, and with a port so proud, As if he had subdu'd the spacious world:
Act, with cool prudence, and with And all Sinope's streets are fill'd with such manly temper, A glut of people, you would think some god Had conquer'd in their cause, and them a
As well as manly firmness.
'Tis godlike magnanimity to keep, When most provok'd, our reason calm and And execute her will, from a strong sense Of what is right, without the vulgar aid Of heat and passion, which, tho' honest, bear us Often too far.
§ 86. Description of Ships appearing at a Dis- tance, and approaching the Shore. DRYDEN. Guiom. s far as I could cast my eyes A$
Upon the sea, something, me- thought, did rise Like blueish mists, which still appearing more, Took dreadful shapes, and thus mov'd tow'rds the shore :
The object I could first distinctly view, Was tall, straight trees, which on the water flew :
Wings on their sides instead of leaves did grow, Which gathered all the breath the winds could blow;
And at their roots grew floating palaces, Whose out-blow'd bellies cut the yielding seas. Montezuma. What divine monsters, O ye gods! are these,
"That float in air, and fly upon the seas? Came they alive, or dead, upon the shore?
That he might make his entrance on their be While from the scaffolds, windows, tops houses,
Are cast such gaudy show'rs of garlands down, That ev'n the crowd appear like conquerors, And the whole city seems like one vast mead Set all with flow'rs, as a clear heaven with star Nay, as I have heard, ere he the city enter', Your subjects lin'd the way for many furlers: The very trees bore men: and as our God, When from the portal of the east be dawns, Beholds a thousand birds upon the boughs, To welcome him with all their warbling three And prune their feathers in his golden beams; So did your subjects, in their gaudy trim, Upon the pendant brauches speak his praise. Mothers, who cover'd all the banks beneath, Did rob the crying infants of the breast, Pointing Ziphares out, to make them smile; [e And climbing boys stood on their fathers' sho Answering their shouting sires with ten cries,
To make the concert up of general joy.
$90. AShepherd's Life happier than a Kin
Guiom. Alas! they liv'd' too sure: I heard TH' unbusied shepherd, stretch'd beneath ta
All turn'd their sides, and to each other spoke: I saw their words break out in fire and smoke. Sure 'tis their voice that thunders from on high, And these the younger brothers of the sky: Deaf with the noise, I took my hasty flight; No mortal courage can support the fright.
His careless limbs thrown out in wanton case, With thoughtless gaze perusing the arch'd [t And idly whistling while his sheep feed res Enjoys a sweeter shade than that of canop Hemin'd in by cares, and shook by storm!
$91. Virtue its own Reward. GRLAT minds, like Heaven, are pleas'd wa doing good,
§87. Virtue preferable to Rank. Rowe. tho' no gaudy titles grace my birth; Titles, the servile courtier's lean reward! Sometimes the pay of virtue, but more oft The hire which greatness gives to slaves and sy-Tho' the ungrateful subjects of their favours [more Are barren in return. Virtue does still With scorn the mercenary world regard, Where abject souls do good, and hope rewar Above the worthless trophies man can raise,) She seeks not honour, wealth, nor airy praise, But with herself, herself the goddess pays,
Yet Heaven, that made me honest, made me Than e'er a king did when he made a lord.
§ 88. Description of an ancient Cathedral. CONGREVE.
How rev'rend is the face of this tall § 92. No Difficulties insuperable to the Prudent Whose ancient pillars rear their marble heads, To bear aloft its arch'd and ponderous roof, By its own weight made stedfast and immoveLooking tranquillity; it strikes an awe [able! And terror to iny aching sight! The tombs
TH HE wise and active conquer difficulties By daring to attempt them: sloth and fly Shiver and shrink at sight of toil and hazard, And make th' impossibility they fear. THIRD BOOK.
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