In voice, and form, beauty more beauteous fhows, And harmony ftill more harmonious grows.

THE BASTARD.

730

charms, They gaze, they glow, they fpring into my arms! Well pleas'd, high ancestors my view command; Patrons and patriots all; a glorious band! Horatio too, by well-born fate refin'd, Shone out white-rob'd with faints, a fpotlefs mind!

740

What once, below, ambition made him mifs, 735
Humility here gain'd, a life of blifs!
Though late, let finners then from fin depart!
Heaven never yet despis'd the contrite heart.
Laft fhone, with fweet, exalted luftre grac'd,
The SERAPH-BARD, in highest order plac'd!
Secrs, lovers, legislators, prelates, kings,
All raptur'd liften, as he raptur'd fings.
Sweetness and ftrength his look and lays employ,
Greet fmiles with smiles, and every joy with joy:
Charmful he rofe; his ever-charmful tongue 745
Joy to our fecond hymencals fung;
Still as we pafs d, the bright, celeftial throng
Hail'd us in focial love, and heavenly fong.

Of that no more! my deathless friendship fee!
I come an Angel to the Muse and Thee. 750
Thefe lights, that vibrate, and promifcuous fhine,
Are emanations all of forms divine.
And here the Mufe, though melted from thy gaze,
Stands among fpirits, mingling rays with rays.
If thou would't peace attain, my words attend,
The laft, fond words of thy departed friend! 756
True joy's a feraph, that to heaven aspires,
Unhurt it triumphs mid' celeftial choirs.
But fhould no cares a mortal state moleft,
Life were a state of ignorance at best.

The Mufe, exulting, thus her lay began. Bleft be the Baftard's birth! through wondrous

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Born to himself, by no poffeffion led, In freedom fofter'd, and by fortune fed; Nor guides, nor rules, his fovereign choice control, His body independent as his foul; Loos'd to the world's wide range-enjoy'd no aim, Prefcrib'd no duty, and affign'd no name: Nature's unbounded fon, he ftands alone, His heart unbiafs'd, and his mind his own. O Mother, yet no Mother! 'tis to you, My thanks for such distinguish'd claims are due. You, unenflav'd to Nature's narrow laws, Warm championefs for freedom's facred caufe, From all the dry devoirs of blood and line, From ties maternal, moral and divine, Difcharg'd my grafping foul; pufh'd me from fhore, And launch'd me into life without an oar.

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Know then, if ills oblige thee to retire, Thofe ills folemnity of thought infpire. Did not the foul abroad for objects roam, Whence could fhe learn to call ideas home? Juftly to know thyfelf, perufe mankind; To know thy God, paint nature on thy mind: Without fuch fcience of the worldly fcene, What is retirement?-Empty pride or fplen: But with it wildom. There fhall cares refinc, Render'd by contemplation half-divine. Truft not the frantic, or myfterious guide, Nor ftoop a captive to the schoolman's pride. On nature's wonders fix alone thy zeal! They dim nor reafon, when they truth reveal; So fhall religion in thy heart endure, From all traditionary falfchood pure; So life make death familiar to thy eye, So fhalt thou live, as thou may'ft learn to die; And, though thou view't thy worst oppreffor thrive,

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Far be the guilt of homefhed blood from all On whom, unfought, embroiling dangers fall! Still the pale Dead revives, and lives to me, To me! through Pity's eye condemn'd to fee. Remembrance veils his rage, but fwells his fate; Griev'd I forgive, and am grown cool too late. Young, and unthoughtful then; who knows, one day,

What ripening virtues might have made their way! 80

He might have liv'd till folly died in fhame,
Till kindling wisdom felt a thirst for fame.
He might perhaps his country's friend have
prov'd;

Both happy, generous, candid, and belov'd,
He might have fav'd fome worth, now doom'd
to fall;

85

And 1, perchance, in him, have murder'd all.
O fate of late repentance! always vain :
Thy remedies but lull undying pain.
Where fhall my hope find reft?-No Mother's

care

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Shielded my infant innocence with prayer:
No father's guardian hand my youth maintain'd,
Call'd forth my virtues, or from vice reftrain'd,
Is it not thine to fnatch fome powerful arm,
First to advance, then skreen from future harm?
Am I return'd from death, to live in pain?
Or would Imperial Pity fave in vain?
Diftruft it not-What blame can mercy find,
Which gives at once a life, and rears a mind?
Mother, miscall'd, farewell-of foul fevere,
This fad reflection yet may force one tear:
All I was wretched by to you I ow'd,
Alone from strangers every comfort flow'd!
Loft to the life you gave, your fon no more,
And now adopted, who was doom'd before,
New-born, I may a nobler Mother claim,
But dare not whisper her immortal 'name;
Supremely lovely, and ferenely great!
Majestic Mother of a kneeling State!

QUEEN of a People's heart, who ne'er before!
Agreed-yet now with one confent adore!
One contest yet remains in this defire,

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Who most shall give applaufe, where all admire.

VOL. V.

MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.

VERSES OCCASIONED BY

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LADY VISCOUNTESS TYRCONNELL'S RECOVERY AT BATH.

WH

HERE Thames with pride beholds Augufta's
charms,

And either India pours into her arms;
Where Liberty bids honeft arts abound,
And pleasures dance in one eternal round;
High-thron'd appears the laughter-loving dame, 5
Goddefs of mirth! Euphrofyne her name.
Her fmile more cheerful than a vernal morn;
All life! all bloom! of Youth and Fancy born.
Touch'd into joy, what hearts to her fubmit!
She looks her Sire, and fpeaks her Mother's wit. 10
O'er the gay world the fweet infpirer reigns;
Spleen flies, and Elegance her pomp fuftains.
Thee, goddefs! thee! the fair and young obey;
Wealth, Wit, Love, Mufic, all confefs thy fway.
In the bleak wild ev'n Want by thee is blefs'd, 15
And pamper'd Pride without thee pines for reft.
The rich grow richer, while in thee they find
The matchlefs treasure of a smiling mind.
Science by thee flows foft in focial eafe,
And virtue, lofing rigour, learns to please.

The goddefs fummons each illustrious name,
Bids the gay talk, and forms th' amufive game.
She, whofe fair throne is fix'd in human fouls,
From joy to joy her eye delighted rolls.

20

But where (he cried) is fhe, my favourite! fhe 25
Of all my race, the dearest far to me!
Whofe life's the life of each refin'd delight?
She faid-But no Tyrconnel glads her fight.
Swift funk her laughing eyes in languid fear;
Swift rofe the fwelling figh, and trembling tear. 30
In kind low murmurs all the lofs deplore!
Tyrconnel droops, and pleasure is no more.

The goddess, filent, paus'd in museful air;
But Mirth, like Virtue, cannot long despair.
Celestial-hinted thoughts gay hope infpir'd, 35
Smiling the rofe, and all with hope were fir'd.
Where Bath's afcending turrets meet her eyes;
Straight wafted on the tepid breeze the flies,
She flies, her eldest fifter Health to find;
She finds her on the mountain-brow reclin'd. 40
Around her birds in earliest concert fing;
Her cheek the femblance of the kindling spring;
Fresh-tinctur'd like a fummer-evening sky,
And a mild fun fits fmiling in her eye.

Loofe to the wind her verdant vestments flow; 45 Her limbs yet-recent from the fprings below; There oft fhe bathes, then peaceful fits secure, Where every gale is fragrant fresh and pure;

G g

Soars in the colour'd clouds, and fheds the fpring:
Now bland and sweet the floats along in air;
Air feels, and foftening own th' æthereal fair!
In ftill descent fhe melts on opening flowers,
And deep impregnates plants with genial fhowers,
The genial fhowers, new-rifing to the ray,
Exhale in rofcate clouds, and glad the day.
Now in a zephyr's borrow'd voice fhe fings,
Sweeps the fresh dews, and shakes them from her
wings,

85

Shakes them embalm'd; or, in a gentle kifs,
Breathes the fure earneft of awakening blifs.
Sapphira feels it, with a foft furprize,
Glide through her veins, and quicken in her eyes!
Inftant in her own form the goddess glows,
Where, bubbling warm, the mineral water flows;
Then, plunging, to the flood new virtue gives;
Steeps every charm; and, as the bathes, it lives !9c
As from her locks the sheds the vital fhower,
'Tis done! (fhe cries) thefe fprings poffefs my power!
Let thefe immediate to thy darling roll
Health, vigour, life, and gay-returning foul.
Thou fmil'ft Euphrofyne; and confcious fee, 95
Prompt to thy fmile, how Nature joys with thee.
All is green life! all beauty rofy-bright;
Full Harmony, young Love, and dear Delight!
See vernal Hours lead circling Joys along!
All fun, all bloom, all fragrance, and all fong! 100
Receive thy care! Now Mirth and Health

combine.

Fach heart thall gladden, and each virtue shine.
Quick to Augufta bear thy prize away;
There let her file, and bid a world be gay.

5

TILL let low wits, who fenfe nor honour prize, Sncer at all gratitude, all truth disguise; At living worth, becaufe alive, exclaim, Infult the exil'd, and the dead defame! Such paint, what pity veiis in private woes, And what we fee with grief, with mirth expofe; Studious to urge-(whom will mean authors (pare?) The child's, the parent's, and the confort's tear: Unconscious of what pangs the heart may rend, To lofe what they have ne'er deferv'd-a friend. 10 Such, ignorant of facts, invent, relate, Expos'd perfift, and answer'd still debate: Such, but by foils, the clearest lustre see, And deem afperfing others, praising thee. Far from thefe tracks my honest lays aspire, And greet a generous heart with generous fire. Truth be my guide! Truth, which thy virtue claims! This, nor the poet, nor the patron fhames! When party-minds fhall lofe contracted views, And hiftory queftion the recording Mufe; 'Tis this alone to after-times muft fhine, And ftamp the poct and his theme divine.

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Long has my Mufe, from many a mournful cause, Sung with fmall power, nor fought fublime applause; From that great point the now fhall urge her fcope; On that fair promife reft her future hope; Where policy, from ftate-illufion clear, Can through an open afpect fhine fincere; Where Science, Law, and Liberty depend, And own the patron, patriot, and the friend; 30 (That breaft to feel, that eye on worth to gaze, That fmile to cherish, and that hand to raise !) Whose best of hearts her beft of thoughts inflame, Whofe joy is bounty, and whofe gift is fame.

Where, for relief, flies Innocence diftrefs'd? 35 To you, who chace oppreffion from th' opprefs'd: Who, when complaint to you alone belongs, Forgive your own, though not a people's wrongs: Who ftill make public property your care, And thence bid private grief no more despair. 40 Afk they what ftate your fheltering care shall own?

See Learning range yon broad æthereal plain, From world to world, and god-like Science gain! Ah! what avails the curious fearch fuftain'd, The finish'd toil, the god-like Science gain'd? Sentenc'd to flames th' expanfive wifdom fell, And truth from heaven was forcery from hell.

85

See Reafon bid each myftic wile retire, Strike out new light! and mark!-the wife admire! Zeal fhall fuch herefy, like Learning, hate; The fame their glory, and the fame their fate. 90 Lo, from fought mercy, one his life receives! Life, worse than death, that cruel mercy gives: The man, perchance, who wealthand honours bore, Slaves in the mine, or ceafelefs ftrains the oar. So doom'd are thefe,and fuch perhaps, our doom, 95 Own'd we a Prince, avert it, heaven! from Rome. Nor private worth alone falfe Zeal affails; Whole nations bleed when bigotry prevails, What are (worn friendships? What are kindred ties? What's faith with herefy? (the zealot cries.) 100 See, when war finks, the thundering cannon's roar; When wounds, and death, and difcord are no more; When music bids undreading joys advance, Swell the foft hour, and turn the fwimming dance: When, to crown these, the social sparkling bowl 105 Lifts the cheer'd fenfe, and pours out all the foul; Sudden he fends red maffacre abroad; Faithless to man, to prove his faith to God. What pure perfuafive eloquence denies, [IIC All-drunk with blood, the arguing fword fupplies; The fword, which to th' affaffin's hand is given! Th'affaffin's hand!--pronounc'd the hand of heaven! Sex bleeds with fex, and infancy with age; No rank, no place, no virtue, flops his rage; Shall fword, and flame, and devastation ceafe, 115 To please with zeal, wild zeal! the God of Peace? Nor lefs abuse has feourg'd the civil state, When a King's will became a nation's fate,

Enormous power! Nor noble, nor feren;
Now fierce and cruel; now but wild and mean. 120
See titles fold, to raise th' unjust supply!
Compell'd the purchase! or be fin'd, or buy!
No public fpirit, guarded well by laws,
Uncenfur'd cenfures in his country's cause.
See from the merchant forc'd th' unwilling loan! 125
Who dares deny, or deem his wealth his own?
Denying, fee! where dungeon-damps arife,
Difeas'd he pines, and unaflifted dies.
Far more than massacre that fate accurft!
As of all deaths the lingering is the worst.

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New courts of cenfure griev'd with new offence, Tax'd without power, and fin'd without pretence, Explain'd, at will, each ftatute's wrested aim, Till marks of merit were the marks of shame; So monftrous!-Life was the feverest grief, 135 And the worft death feem'd welcome for relief.

In vain the fubje&t fought redrefs from law, No fenate liv'd the partial judge to awe: Senates were void, and fenators confin'd For the great caufe of Nature and Mankind; 140 Who kings fuperior to the people own; Yet prove the law fuperior to the throne.

145

Who can review without a generous tear, A Church, a State, so impious, fo fevere; A land uncultur'd through polemic jars, Rich!-but with carnage from intestine wars; The hand of Industry employ'd no more, And Commerce flying to fome fafer shore; All property reduc'd, to Power a prey, And Senfe and Learning chac'd by Zeal away? 150 Who honours not each dear departed ghoft, That Arove for Liberty fo won, so loft: So well regain'd when god-like William rofe, And first entail'd the bleffing George bestows? May Walpole ftill the growing triumph raise, 155 And bid thefe emulate Eliza's days; Still ferve a Prince, who, o'er his people great, As far tranfcends in virtue, as in state!

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The Mufe purfues thee to thy rural feat; Ev'n there fhall Liberty infpire retreat. When folemn cares in flowing wit are drown'd, And sportive chat and social laughs go round: Ev'n then, when paufing mirth begins to fail, The converse varies to the ferious tale. The tale pathetic fpeaks fome wretch that owes 165 To fome deficient law reliefless woes. || What infant pity warms thy generous breast! How all the legiflator flands confefs'd! Now fprings the hint! 'tis now improv'd to thought! Now ripe! and now to public welfare brought! 170 New bills, which regulating means bestow, Justice preserve, yet foftening mercy know: Juftice fhall low vexatious wiles decline, And fill thrive moft, when lawyers most repine, Juftice from jargon fhall refin'd appear, To knowledge through our native language clear. Hence we may learn, no more deceiv'd by law, Whence wealth and life their best affurance draw, The freed Infolvent, with industrious hand, Strives yet to fatisfy the juft demand:

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