Not quitting thy fupreme command, Thou held'ft the rudder with a steady hand, Till fafely on the shore the bark did land: Charg'd with thyfelf and James, a doubly royal fraught. XIV. Oh frail eftate of human things, And flippery hopes below! Now to our coft your emptiness we know : For 'tis a leffon dearly bought, Affurance here is never to be fought. The beft, and beft-belov'd of kings, And beft deferving to be fo, When scarce he had efcap'd the fatal blow Death did his promis'd hopes deftroy : He toil'd, he gain'd, but liv'd not to enjoy. So faints, by fupernatural power fet free, Such is the end of oft-repeated miracles. That queftion'd thy fupreme decree! Thou didst his gracious reign prolong, Twice twelve we number'd fince his bleft return: So So ftrictly wert thou just to pay, Ev'n to the driblet of a day. Yet ftill we murmur and complain, The quails and manna should no longer rain ; The chofen flock has now the promis'd land in view. A warlike prince afcends the regal state, Long may he keep, though he obtains it late! They and their poets are not form'd in haste ; Falfe heroes, made by flattery fo, Heaven can strike out, like sparkles, at a blow; But ere a prince is to perfection brought, He cofts Omnipotence a fecond thought. With hardening cold, and forming heat, Before 'twas try'd and found a mafter-piece. XVI. View then a monarch ripen'd for a throne. Alcides thus his race began, O'er infancy he swiftly ran; The future God at first was more than man: Dangers and toils, and Juno's hate Ev'n o'er his cradle lay in wait; And there he grappled first with fate: In his young hands the hiffing fnakes he preft, Thus by degrees he rofe to Jove's imperial feat; His father's rebels, and his brother's foes; XVII. As, after Numa's peaceful reign, 'Tis rous'd, and with a new-ftrung nerve, the fpear already fhakes. No neighing of the warrior steeds, No drum, or louder trumpet, needs T'infpire the coward, warm the cold, His voice, his fole appearance makes them bold. Gaul Gaul and Batavia dread th' impending blow; Too well the vigour of that arm they know; They lick the duft, and crouch beneath their fatal foe, And not provoke his lingering fword; Their best security his word : In all the changes of his doubtful state, His valour can triumph o'er land and main; With conqueft bafely bought, and with inglorious gain. XVIII. For once, O heaven, unfold thy adamantine book; And let his wondering fenate fee, If not thy firm immutable decree, At least the second page of strong contingency; To ftarve the royal virtues of his mind. Faith is a chriftian's and a fubject's teft, Oh give them to believe, and they are furely bleft. They do; and with a distant view I fee Th' amended vows of English loyalty. An And all beyond that object, there appears In orderly array, a martial, manly train. A conquering navy proudly spread; Th' afferted ocean rears his reverend head; The fafces of the main. VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS, PARAPHRASED. CREATOR fpirit, by whose aid The world's foundations firft were laid, Come vifit every pious mind; Come pour thy joys on human kind; From fin and forrow fet us free, And make thy temples worthy thee. Thou |