And as devouter Turks first warn their souls
To part, before they taste forbidden bowls;
So these, when their black crimes they went about, First timely charm'd their useless conscience out. Religion's name against itself was made;
The shadow serv'd the substance to invade;
Like zealous missions, they did care pretend
Of souls in shew, but made their gold their end.
Th' incensed Pow'rs beheld with scorn from high,
An heaven so far distant from the sky,
195 Which durst, with horses' hoofs that beat the ground, And martial brass, belie the thunder's sound, 'Twas hence at length just Vengeance thought it fit To speed their ruin by their impious wit. Thus Sforza, curs'd with a too fertile brain, Lost by his wiles the pow'r his wit did gain. Henceforth their fougue must spend at lesser rate, Than in its flames to wrap a nation's fate. Suffer'd to live, they are like Helots set, A virtuous shame within us to beget. For by example most we sinn'd before, And glass-like clearness mix'd with frailty bore. But since reform'd by what we did amiss, We by our suff'rings learnt to prize our bliss. Like early lovers, whose unpractis'd hearts Were long the May-game of malicious arts, When once they find their jealousies were vain, With double heat renew their fires again.
'Twas this produc'd the joy that hurry'd o'er
Such swarms of English to the neighb'ring shore, 215
To fetch that prize by which Batavia made
So rich amends for our impoverish'd trade.
Oh had you seen from Scheveline's barren shore,
(Crowded with troops, and barren now no more)
Afflicted Holland to his farewell bring
True sorrow, Holland to regret a king!
While waiting him his royal fleet did ride,
And willing winds to their low'r'd sails deny'd.
The wav'ring streamers, flags, and standards out,
The merry seamen's rude but cheerful shout;
And last the cannons' voice that shook the skies,"
And as it fares in sudden ecstasies,
At once bereft us both of ears and eyes.
The Naseby, now no longer England's shame,
But better to be lost in Charles' name,
(Like some unequal bride in nobler sheets)
Receives her lord: the joyful London meets
The princely York, himself alone a freight;
The Swiftsure groans beneath great Glo'ster's weight,
Secure as when the halcyon breeds, with these, 235
He that was born to drown might cross the seas.
Heav'n could not own a Providence, and take
The wealth three nations ventur'd at a stake.
The same indulgence Charles' voyage bless'd
Which in his right had miracles confess'd.
The winds, that never moderation knew,
Afraid to blow too much, too faintly blew;
Or out of breath with joy could not enlarge
Their strait'ned lungs, or conscious of their charge.
The British Amphytrite, smooth and clear,
In richer azure never did appear;
Proud her returning Prince to entertain
With the submitted fasces of the main,
AND welcome now, Great Monarch! to your own;
Behold th' approaching cliffs of Albion;
It is no longer motion cheats your view,
As you meet it the land approacheth you.
The land returns, and, in the white it wears,
The marks of penitence and sorrow bears.
But you, whose goodness your descent doth shew,255
Your heav'nly parentage and earthly too;
By that same mildness which your father's crown
Before did ravish, shall secure your own.
Not tied to rules of policy, you find
Revenge less sweet than a forgiving mind.
Thus, when th' Almighty would to Moses give
A sight of all he could behold and live,
A voice before his entry did proclaim
Long-fuffering, Goodness, Mercy, in his name.
Your pow'r to justice doth submit your cause, 265 Your goodness only is above the laws;
Whose rigid letter, while pronounc'd by you,
Is softer made: so winds that tempests brew,
When through Arabian groves they take their flight,
Made wanton with rich odours, lose their spite: 270
And as those lees, that trouble it, refine
The agitated soul of generous wine;
So tears of joy, for your returning spilt,
Work out, and expiate our former guilt.
Methinks I see those crowds on Dover's strand, 275
Who, in their haste to welcome you to land,
Chok'd up the beech with their still-growing store,
And made a wilder torrent on the shore;
́ While, spurr'd with eager thoughts of past delight,
Those who had seen you court a second sight; 280
Preventing still your steps, and making haste
To meet you often wheresoe'er you past.
How shall I speak of that triumphant day,
When you renew'd th' expiring pomp of May!
(A month that owns an int'rest in your name; 285
You and the flow'rs are its peculiar claim.)
That star that at your birth shone out so bright,
It stain'd the duller sun's meridian light,
Did once again its potent fires renew,
Guiding our eyes to find and worship you.
And now Time's whiter series is begun,
Which in soft centuries shall smoothly run:
Those clouds, that overcast your morn, shall fly,
Dispell'd to farthest corners of the sky.
Forc'd into exile from his rightful throne,
He made all countries, where he came, his own;
And viewing monarch's secret arts of sway,
A royal factor for his kingdoms lay.
Thus banish'd David spent abroad his time,
When to be God's anointed was his crime;
And when restor'd made his proud neighbours rue
Those choice remarks he from his travels drew.
Nor is he only by afflictions shown
To conquer others' realms, but rule his own;
Recov'ring hardly what he lost before,
His right endears it much, his purchase more.
Inur'd to suffer ere he came to reign,
No rash procedure will his actions stain:
To bus'ness ripen'd by digestive thought,
His future rule is into method brought:
As they who first proportion understand,
With easy practice reach a master's hand.
Well might the ancient poets then confer
On Night the honour'd name of Counsellor.
Since, struck with rays of prosp'rous fortune blind,
We light alone in dark afflictions find.
In such adversities to sceptres train'd,
The name of Great his famous grandsire gain’d :
Who yet a king alone in name and right,
With hunger, cold, and angry Jove did fight;
Shock'd by a covenanting league's vast pow'rs,
As holy and as catholic as ours;
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