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No Highland lad or dear pantin (With pleafing strain and verse fo witty)

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But of a lovely maid I fing, Whofe rivais own the's pretty; O my

delicate I-rifh laffe, My amorous Irish

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First man turn fingle with his partner, and cast off, left hands fingle and caft up, gallop down the middle, up again and caft off, right and left with the top couple.

Occa

Poetical ESSAYs in MAY, 1751.

Occafional Verfes on the ROYAL FAMILY.

Pro aris et focis.

Upon the KING.

Hoc Reger babent

Upon GEORGE, Prince of WALES. Flos delibatus populi.

229

CIC.

HIS flower of Britain in its bud fur

Marrificum et ingens, (mulla quod rapiat dies) THIS
Prodje miferis, fupplices fido Lare

Protegere.

Sen. Medea.

EHOLD, ye Britons, here great George's hand,

BE

Preparing future bleffings for the land; Councils he now confults, now paffes laws, Careful and anxious for the publick cause. Behold him there employ'd in private life,

Now kits the children, now carefs the wife; Alis! no wife! yet fee, the widow'd fair Has found a husband's in a father's care.

This fight a pleafing doubt in all muft [praife: ra.fe, Which most, the monarch, or the man, to But oh! a fubject's wishes cannot fave Even kings, (as 'kings are mortals) from the grave.

[fing,

Yet we this with, with grateful voice, may Late die the mortal, and long live the king.

Upon FREDERICK,
Late Prince of WALES.

Pallida mors æquo pulfat pede pauperum ta

bernas

Regumque turres.

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Hor.

S Frederick dead? or falfe are all our fears ?

Alas! thofe folded arms, thofe falling tears, Thofe rifing fighs, all, all, declare too well, What the furprize-ftruck tongues want power to tell.

Adieu! lamented prince! tho' few thy days,

[praife; This fight, that tells the tidings, tells thy A w dow's figh, a child's, a fervant's tear, O prince! are panegyricks most fincere. Thefe, there hall laft, tho' publick praise, that flies

Like wat'ry bubbles blown into the skies, (Too oft a people's pastime for a day,) Should burft its ball, and melt in air away.

Upon the Princess Dowager of Wales. Nobilitas fola eft atque unica virtus, Juv.

BENE grac'd,

ENEATH one roof, by art with beauty [plac'd; The heathen gods of antient Rome were In Britain, thus, within one royal breast, By nature grac'd, all chriftian virtues rest ; Alike in this; but 'tis a Briton's pride, To fay they're far unlike in ought befide; For, O! each virtue, which to her is given, Is more divine than all their heft of heaven.

Kneel, all ye Britons, all united pray, That health may bless the royal grandfire's days,

And length of life this tender plant to raise, That long the royal mother's watchful eye May, like thefun, its chearing power supply, To guard his youth, from the infectious breath

Of blighting fickness, or of blafting death; Till nature him in full-blown beauty fhows The glory of the garden where he grows.

Upon the DU K E. Addrefs'd to the unknown Author of the m.ft fcandalous Libel, that was burnt at Westminster. (See p. 43, 90.)

Nil bomine terra pejus ingrato creat

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230

Poetical ESSAYS in MAY, 1751.

Transport these flow'rs, which on this land

have grown!

Proud to tranfplant 'em early on their own. Then, whilst each British rofe, in blushes dreft,

Some prince hall gather to adorn his breaft, The paler rofe with them shall fear to vie, And France's jealous lilies droop and die. CONCLUSION.

To my MUS E.

1, fuge, fed poteras tutius effe demi. Martial.

10 forth, my muse! and if, by chance, you find

G

The peevish criticks are to fneer inclin'd, Tell 'em I ne'er was on Parnaffus bred, But write to fhew my heart, and not my head;

Tell 'em, that you're no fister of the Nine, But, yet, can boaft a birth that's more divine; That you, whilft they the bards with fic[tion äre, Me, me, an artless (wain, with truth inSpire.

To ber ROYAL HIGHNESS, the Princess Dowager of Wales.

Non bæc fine numine Divům Eveniunt:tantes dilecti pelle dolores Conjugis, et Prolis ferva communis amorem,

WHEN

VIRG.

HEN weeping royalty thro' clouds appears, And you, great princefs! now diffolve in [tears, 'Tis univerfal grief;-and all would show Participation in the important woe. Whilst others lenient, gentle methods ue, Accept the endeavours of an humble mufe,

1

Who fighs for you, and wifhes, in her
turn,
That stroke to foften, which whole king-
[doms mourn.
With caufe, indeed, you grieve; with
weighty cause

Lament hard fate's inexorable laws:
For now the partner of your joys and cares,
No more furvives, no more your converse

fhares ;

Exifts no more, to grace his court, and blefs Spouse, offspring, friends, with folid hap[frowns,

piness;

To heighten fortune's fimiles, t'allay her Freed from the crowds, that, cringing,

wait on crowns,

What mutual tenderness your bofoms fway'd, When both, when neither, govern'd or o[bey'd! You, royal pair! compleatly blest could prove

The exalted blifs of pure connubial love; Which long, in all, will admiration raise. O! would all imitate! as well as praife.

Enough to grief you have refign'd your breaft,

Denying nature her just claim to reft: By the lov'd object, still you forrowing fate,

All difregardful of your present state: Watch'd thro' the doleful hours ;-with streaming eyes,

And vows inceffant, importun'd the skies; When all that could from destiny be gain'd, Your unexampl'd piety obtain'd, A glimpse of hope, that even fate would (pare; Vain hope, indeed! for when does fate [forbear? He finks,- -whilft you, unterrify'd by death,

Hang on his lips, and catch his latest breath. Ye fair, who near the weeping princess wait,

Penfive attendants on funereal state;
And chiefly you! delight of

fhore!

Moenai's [plore;

Whofe abfence Mona's hills and vales de-
Use all endearing tendernefs, and find
Each gentle art to re-compofe her mind:
Sooth every heart-felt pang, and bring re-,
lief

turn,

With all the fofteft elégance of grief :
For you, with fighs, may her fad fighs re-
[mourn;
And own your mistress has full caufe to
Yet, then intreat her to regard our fears,
Spare her priz'd health, and not increase

Q

our tears.

In Wallia Principem nuper defun&tum.
UO, Frederice, fugis, noftri pars
optima, princeps,
Inter fidereos confpiciende choros ?
Lugemus triftes trifti tua funera vultu,
Afpicimus, cupimus participare rogum,
O mors! fævities fub pectore tanta lateret ?
Nos fimul (heu!) miferos, hunc feri-
endo, feris.
CORNELIUS.

To the Memory of LAURENCE COSTER,
a Native of Harlem in Holland, first
Inventor of the myflerious Art of Printing,

Anno 1420.

THOU

HOU learn'd inventor of that curious
art,
Which with true wifdom's phyfick cures
[the heart,
All hail! when thick`ning darkness threaten'd
all,
Thou fill'dft with fplendor the benighted
[ball;
Drov't far the fhades, which dulnefs would
have spread,
And mad'ft fair learning rear her laurell'd
[head:
All hail to thee! whofe quick unbounded
mind

Cou'd for a fecond chaos order find.
The Grecian mufes, but for thy kind aid,
Had flumber'd, known to few, in claffick
shade;

• The firait which feparates Anglesey (Mens) from Caernarvon fire..

Monk

Poetical Es's AYS in MAY, 1751.

Monkish fupinefs, and illiterate pride, Had wrapt in gloom the wretched world befide:

[kill, Thou fruftrate mad'ft the necromancers And open'dft knowledge to th' industrious will.

[lays,

May round thy tomb the mufes fing their And give to thy immortal merit praife! What pity Homer had for ever flept, In fome dull convent, or a casket kept, That Virgil, Horace, had by few been read, [head:

And Scholiafts broke fecure old Prifcian's Yet this had been-hadft thou ne'er feen the light,

And all been wrapp'd in one Saturnian

night;

[bright.

Thou faid'ft, Let order be-and all was Then fuperftition check'd her artful lore, Priests modeft grew, monks fabulous no

more:

[throne,

Fair truth regain'd her antient radiant And knaves and ignorance exploded mourn.

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With joyful looks of falutation fweet;
O vain demand! I read the fad reply
Too plain, alas! too certain in thine eye;
One fate, one mutual lofs, we both deplore,
O fears fulfill'd! Valefus is no more.

Valefus is no more, the swain reply'd. With him the Spring hath loft his wonted pride;

The primrose withers e'er its bloomis spread, Narciffus humbler hangs his drooping head; The fick'ning fun neglects his famifi'd flowers, [low'rs:

With fable brow the forrowing welkin
Weep on, ye fields, nor let your tears be
dry'd
[pride;

By chearing funs, nor wear your vernal
Be clad, ye fkies, till wint'ry age returns,
In mournful fable, for Valesa mourns,
Ah, Thyrfus, had you feen the widow'd
fair,

[tear,

When, as her bofom caught the filent

231

She footh'd her tender young with stifled

groan,

[own ;

And chid their forrows, and betray'd her Then fudden to fequester'd shades withdrew, Where mixing cyprefs meets the mournful

yew➡

Each blast was hufh'd, the vocal forest slept, And Philomel fat filent while the wept. "Here then at leaft fhall forrow fow its cares, [tears;

Ye dearest pledges, guiltless of your Far utter'd, far from you, the founds mall die,

Nor grief infect you with a mother's figh: Ye bowers alone be partners of my woe, Now all uncultur'd fhall your branches [combin'd,

grow;

The bramble now and pointed thorn And thistle rude will fret your tender rind ; And thistles too my budding vines may wound, [unbound, Now from their fond fupport by storms Like you of culture and of care bereft, No gard'ner with the little nurflings left. No loving cautious hand to guide their growth, [youth. And prune, and prop, the tender branch of Ye birds that lonely wander thro' the grove, Haply like me ye mourn your ravish'd

.

love;

No more fhall he Hang o'er the nest

brood;

[food,

return with ev'ning and kiss his callow

No longer footh your sleep, at fetting day, With notes love-labour'd from the neigh

b'ring spray :

[long,

In vain ye watch, and think his abfence Alas! the spoiler's hand hath quench'd his [wrench'd,

fong.

O love from my embrace thus rudely How is my blafs in one fad moment quench'd! With thee rejoic'd the sprightly morn arofe, And sweet with thee was ev'ning's gentle clofe :

Thy fong was fofter than the linnet's lay, Thy voice like Zephyr when he breathes on

May;

Thy converfe milder than the cool retreat, That wont to fhade us in the noon-tide heat : [notic'd fleer, Now morn, and eve, and noon, un A heap of time, depriv'd of ev'ry (weet. Now shall I fee the pledges of our love, A flock unfenc'd thro' pathlefs defarts rove; Their fhepherd gone, like frighted lambs they shake,

And dread the wolf in ev'ry rustling brake; Haste, my Valefus, haften to thy charge, Night cames apace and foxes roam at large; Come, house thy fhiv'ring young from midnight bleak, [weak, The (pring tardy, and thy lambkins Frightful of late the nothern blafts have howl'd,

Their infant fleeces ill defend the cold

Ab

232

Poetical ESSAYS in MAY, 1751.

Ah me! thyfelf art colder still than they,
Dark is thy lodging, and thy bed of clay."
While, all defponding, thus the figh'd her
[tears,

cares,

And mix'd her grief with ev'ning's dewy The fickly moon from yonder mountain's head,

O'er her pale cheek a paler fadness spread;
The hollow-breathing groves return'd her
fighs,
[eyes;

The wat'ry Pleiads clos'd their weeping
Lull'd by her plaints the feather'd warblers
Nept,
[wept.
And mournful in their dreams responsive
THYRSUS.

Enough, my Moeris, ceafe thy moving ftrain,

Valefa's grief is (har'd by ev'ry fwain ; Oft in thefe vales each thepherd shall record

[lord;

The looks benign, the bounties of their Could forrow fow compaffion in the tomb, And make the blafted grafs of life to bloom, Each bofom fhould with pray'rs unweary'd figh,

And tears inceffant flow from ev'ry eye: But dews fink fruitlefs in the burning fand, Clouds moiften all in vain the briny ftrand; The river-water'd rock no pasture bears, Nor yields the grave a harvest to our tears. Raife then to better hopes your languid eyes, A ray bursts on me through the fable skies! Behold Valefus' fire, in arms renown'd, Vig'rous in age, with recent trophies crown'd,

Stretching to fame beyond the narrow span That erft was deem'd to bound the reach of man;

Beneath the conduct of his arm shall rife The chief-born pledge of fair Valefa's ties; With equal ardour tread the paths of fame, And share alike his glory and his name. Behold the hero catch each kindred blaze, His grandfire's fplendor, and his uncle's rays,

From mild Valefa fhine with fofter fire,
And kindle ev'ry star that grac'd his fire.
To gild his rifing fame with early light,
The changing year revolves with fwifter
flight,

The rapid months in other order run,
And time impatient gains upon the fun.
I fee the youth begin his glorious race,
Triumphal fhows each rifing annal grace;
Lo! victory before his chariot flies,
Breathless beneath its wheels rebellion lies;
Aftræa guides it with her virgin-hand;
Peace wreaths his laurels round her olive

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Awake, or if thy forrows call for reft, Smile as thou fleep'ft, and be in vifions bleft.

MOERIS.

Prophetick be thy lips, prophetick fure, So light my bofom drinks their lenient cure; The streams of life with wonted vigour glide,

And the glad heart receives a warmer tide; But come, while gentle dreams their pinions spread

With foft refreshment o'er Valefa's head; Fond let us walk her facred mansion round, And diftant banish each unhallow'd found; Renew'd with her the fmiling hours shall [eyes. And catch their brightest omens from her

rife,

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But ceafe :-no longer think fuch tales too Lo! the like wonder in our days behold. Mark where, with looks ferene, the

prelate stands, [mands And deep attention from the crowd deSuch tuneful periods flowing from his tongue, His words fo nervous, and his sense so strong; Such eloquence, with such devotion join'd, Awes ev'ry foul, and rules o'er ev'ry mind. Swift to each breast the spark of virtue flies, And with the preacher ev'ry hearer vies; Pants with his fire, with all his ardour glows,

And glories in the rapture as it grows.
What wonder, that he melts the human
mind,
[had made kind?
And warms thofe breafts, which nature
The catching ray of pity finks fo deep,
That the ftones foften, and the pillarsweep.
THE

This actually happen'd ; for the crowd in the church was so great, that the pillars food full of watry drops.

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