}

"Great Sir, renown'd for conftancy, how just "Have we obey'd the crown, and serv'd our truft, "Efpous'd your cause and interest in distress, "Yourself must witness, and our foes confefs! "Permit us then ill-fortune to accufe, "That you at last unhappy councils use, "And ask the only thing we must refuse. "Our lives and fortunes freely we'll expose, "Honour alone we cannot, must not lofe; "Honour, that fpark of the celestial fire, "That above nature makes mankind afpire; "Enobles the rude paffions of our frame "With thirst of glory, and defire of fame; "The richest treafure of a generous breaft, "That gives the stamp and standard to the rest. "Wit, strength, and courage, are wild dangerous force, "Unless this softens and directs their course;

"And would you rob us of the noblest part?

Accept a facrifice without a heart?

"Tis much beneath the greatness of a throne,
"To take the casket when the jewel's gone;
" Debauch our principles, corrupt our race,
"And teach the nobles to be false and bafe;
"What confidence can you in them repose,
"Who, ere they serve you, all their value lose?
"Who once enslave their confcience to their luft,
"Have loft their reins, and can no more be juft.
"Of honour, men at first like women nice,
" Raise maiden scruples at unpractis'd vice;

"Their modeft nature curbs the struggling flame, "And stifles what they with to act, with shame: "But once this fence thrown down, when they perceive "That they may taste forbidden fruit and live; "They stop not here their course, but fafely in, "Grow strong, luxuriant, and bold in fin; "True to no principles, press forward still, "And only bound by appetite their will: "Now fawn and flatter, while this tide prevails, "But fhift with every veering blaft their fails. "Mark those that meanly truckle to your power, They deferted, and chang'd fides before, "And would to-morrow Mahomet adore. "On higher springs true men of honour move, "Free is their service, and unbought their love : "When danger calls, and honour leads the way, "With joy they follow, and with pride obey : "When the rebellious foe came rolling on, " And shook with gathering multitudes the throne, "Where were the minions then? What arm, what force, "Could they oppose to stop the torrent's course?

once

"Then Pembroke, then the nobles firmly stood,
"Free of their lives, and lavish of their blood;
"But, when your orders to mean ends decline,
"With the same constancy they all refign."

Thus spake the youth, who open'd first the way,
And was the Phosph'rus to the dawning day;
Follow'd by a more glorious splendid hoft,
Than any age, or any realm can boast:

}

So great their fame, so numerous their train,
To name were endless, and to praise in vain;
But Herbert and great Oxford merit more;
Bold is their flight, and more fublime they foar;
So high their virtue as yet wants a name,
Exceeding wonder, and furpaffing fame:
Rife, glorious church, erect thy radiant head;
The storm is past, th' impending tempeft fled;
Had Fate decreed thy ruin or disgrace,
It had not given such sons so brave a race;
When for deftruction heaven a realm designs,
The symptoms first appear in slavish minds.
These men would pròp a finking nation's weight,
Stop falling vengeance, and reverse ev'n fate.
Let other nations boaft their fruitful foil,
Their fragrant spices, their rich wine and oil;
In breathing colours, and in living paint,
Let them excel; their mastery we grant.
But to inftruct the mind, to arm the soul
With virtue which no dangers can control;
Exalt the thought, a speedy courage lend,
That horror cannot shake, or pleasure bend;
These are the English arts, these we profess,
To be the fame in misery and success;
To teach oppressors law, assist the good,
Relieve the wretched, and fubdue the proud.
Such are our fouls: but what doth worth avail
When kings commit to hungry priests the scale?
All merit 's light when they difpofe the weight,
Who either would embroil or rule the state;

Defame those heroes who their yoke refuse,
And blast that honesty they cannot use;
The strength and fafety of the crown destroy,
And the king's power against himself employ;
Affront his friends, deprive him of the brave;
Bereft of thefe, he must become their slave.
Men, like our money, come the most in play,
For being base, and of a coarse allay.
The richest medals, and the purest gold,
Of native value, and exactest mould,
By worth conceal'd, in private closets shine,
For vulgar use too precious and too fine;
Whilst tin and copper with new stamping bright,
Coin of base metal, counterfeit and light,
Do all the business of the nation's turn,
Rais'd in contempt, us'd and employ'd in scorn;
So shining virtues are for courts too bright,
Whose guilty actions fly the searching light :
Rich in themselves, disdaining to afpire,
Great without pomp, they willingly retire;
Give place to fools, whose rash misjudging sense
Increases the weak measures of their prince;
They blindly and implicitly run on,
Nor fee those dangers which the others shun:
Who, flow to act, each business duly weigh,
Advise with freedom, and with care obey;
With wisdom fatal to their interest, strive
To make their monarch lov'd, and nation thrive.
Such have no place where priests and women reign,
Who love fierce drivers, and a loofer rein.

AN AN

EPISTLE

OL

CHARLES EARL OF DORSET,

Occafioned by his Majesty's Victory in Ireland.

WHAT! shall the king the nation's genius raise,

And make us rival our great Edward's days;

Yet not one Muse, worthy a conqueror's name,
Attend his triumphs, and record his fame ?
Oh, Dorfet! you alone this fault can mend,
The Muses' darling, confident, and friend;
The poets are your charge, and, if unfit,
You should be fin'd to furnish abler wit;
Oblig'd to quit your ease, and draw again,
To paint the greatest hero, the best pen.
A hero, who thus early doth out-shine
The ancient honours of his glorious line;
And, foaring more fublimely to renown,
The memory of their pious triumphs drown;
Whose actions are deliver'd o'er to fame,
As types and figures of his greater name.
When fate fome mighty genius has design'd,
For the relief and wonder of mankind,
Nature takes time to answer the intent,
And climbs, by flow degrees, the steep afcent: