When William was our king declar'd,
To ease the nation's grievance;
With this new wind about I steer'd,
And swore to him allegiance:
Old principles I did revoke,
Set conscience at a distance;
Passive obedience was a joke,
A jest was non-resistance.
And this is law-that I'll maintain,
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever king shall reign,
Still I'll be vicar of Bray, sir.
When royal Anne became our queen,
The Church of England's glory,
Another phase of things was seen,
And I became a Tory:
Occasional conformists base,
I blamed their moderation;
And thought the church in danger was,
By such prevarication.
And this is law-that I'll maintain,
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever king shall reign,
Still I'll be vicar of Bray, sir.
When George in pudding-time came o'er,
And moderate men look'd big, sir,
My principles I chang'd once more,
And soon became a Whig, sir;
And thus preferment I procur'd
From our new faith's defender;
And almost ev'ry day abjur'd
The Pope and the Pretender.
And this is law-that I'll maintain,
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever king shall reign,
Still I'll be vicar of Bray, sir.
Th' illustrious house of Hanover,
And protestant succession,
To these I do allegiance swear-
While they can keep possession:
For in my faith and loyalty,
I never more will falter,
And George my lawful king shall be--
Until the times do alter.
And this is law—that I'll maintain,
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever king shall reign,
Still I'll be vicar of Bray, sir!
As at their work two weavers sat
Beguiling time with friendly chat,
They touched upon the price of meat,
So high, a weaver scarce could eat!
"What with my babes and sickly wife,"
Quoth Dick, "I am almost tired of life;
So hard we work, so poor we fare,
"Tis more than mortal man can bear.
"How glorious is the rich man's state!
His house so fine, his wealth so great!
Heaven is unjust, you must agree:
Why all to him, and none to me?
"In spite of what the Scripture teaches,
In spite of all the pulpit preaches,
This world, indeed, I've thought so long,-
Is ruled, methinks, extremely wrong.
"Where'er I look, howe'er I range,
"Tis all confused, and hard, and strange;
The good are troubled and opprest,
And all the wicked are the blest."
Quoth John, "Our ignorance is the cause,
Why thus we blame our Maker's laws,
Parts of His ways alone we know,
"Tis all that man can see below.
"Seest thou that carpet, not half done, Which thou, dear Dick, hast well begun ? Behold the wild confusion there!
So rude the mass, it makes one stare!
"A stranger, ignorant of the trade,
Would say, no meaning 's there conveyed;
For where's the middle, where's the border?
Thy carpet now is all disorder."
Quoth Dick, "My work is yet in bits:
But still in every part it fits:
Besides, you reason like a lout;
Why, man, that carpet 's inside out."
Says, John, "Thou sayest the thing I mean, And now I hope to cure thy spleen :
This world, which clouds thy soul with doubt, Is but a carpet inside out.
"As when we view these shreds and ends,
We know not what the whole intends;
So, when on earth things look but odd,
They're working still some scheme of God.
"No plan, no pattern, can we trace; All wants proportion, truth, and grace; The motley mixture we deride,
Nor see the beauteous upper side.
"But when we reach the world of light,
And view these works of God aright;
Then shall we see the whole design,
And own, the Workman is Divine.
"What now seem random strokes, will there
All order and design appear;
Then shall we praise what here we spurned,
For then the carpet will be turned."
"Thou'rt right," quoth Dick, "no more I'll
grumble
That this world is so strange a jumble;
My impious doubts are put to flight,
For my own carpet sets me right."
THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE GLOWWORM.
A NIGHTINGALE, that all day long
Had cheer'd the village with his song,
Nor yet at eve his note suspended,
Nor yet when eventide was ended,—
Began to feel (as well as he might)
The keen demands of appetite:
When, looking eagerly around,
He spied far off, upon the ground,
A something shining in the dark,
And knew the glow-worm by his spark.
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