In fly contempt fome "Hear him! hear him!" cry; Some yawn, fome fneer; none fecond, none reply.
But dare fuch miscreants now rush abroad,
By blanket, cane, pump, pillory, unaw’d?
Dare they imp Falfehood thus, and plume her wings,
From prefent characters and recent things?
Yes: what untruths! or truths in what difguife!
What Boyers and what Oldmixons arife!
What facts from all but them and Slander fcreen'd?
Here meets a council, no where elfe conven'd;
There, from originals, come thick as spawn
Letters ne'er wrote, memorials never drawn;
To fecret conference ne'er held they yoke
Treaties ne'er plann'd, and speeches never spoke.
From, Oldmixon! thy brow, too well we know,
Like fin from Satan, far and wide they go.
In vain may St. John fafe in confcience fit,
In vain with truth confute, contemn with wit; 120
Confute, contemn, amid felected friends,
There finks the justice, there the fatire ends.
Here, tho' a cent'ry scarce such leaves unclofe,
From mould and duft the flander facred grows.
Now none reply where all defpife the page;
But will dumb Scorn deceive no future age?
Then fhould dull periods cloud not seeming fact,
Will no fine pen th' unanfwer'd lie extract?
Well-fet in plan, and polish'd into style,
Fair and more fair may finish'd fraud beguile; 30
By ev'ry language fnatch'd, by time receiv'd,'!
In ev'ry clime, by ev'ry age, believ'd.
How vain to virtue trust the great their name,
When fuch their lot for infamy or fame!
ON THE RECOVERY OF A
LADY OF QUALITY
LONG a lov'd fair had bless'd her confort's fight
With am'rous pride and undisturb'd delight,
Till Death, grown envious, with repugnant aim
Frown'd at their joys, and urg'd a tyrant's claim.
He fummons each difeafe-the noxious crew,
Writhing in dire distortions, ftrike his view;
From various plagues, which various natures know,
Forth rushes Beauty's fear'd and fervent foe.
Fierce to the fair the miffile mischief flies,
The fanguine ftreams in raging ferments rife : IQ
It drives ignipotent thro' ev'ry vein,
Hangs on the heart, and burns around the brain.
Now a chill damp the charmer's luftre dims;
Sad o'er her eyes the livid languor swims;
Her eyes, that with a glance could joy inspire,
Like fetting stars, fcarce fhoot a glimm'ring fire.
Here ftands her confort, fore with anguish preft,
Grief in his eye, and terror in his breast :
The Paphian Graces, fmit with anxious care,
In filent forrow weep the waining fair.
Eight funs, fucceffive, roll their fire away,
And eight flow nights fee their deep shades decay:
While thefe revolve, tho' mute each Muse appears,
Each speaking eye drops eloquence in tears.
On the ninth noon great Phœbus list'ning bends; 25
On the ninth noon each voice in pray'r afcends—
Great god of Light, of Song, and Phyfic's art!
Reftore the languid fair, new soul impart ;
Her beauty, wit, and virtue, claim thy care,
And thy own bounty 's almoft rivall'd there.
Each paus'd: the god affents. Would Death advance? Phoebus, unseen, arrests the threat'ning lance; Down from his orb a vivid influence streams, And quick'ning earth imbibes falubrious beams; Each balmy plant incrcafe of virtue knows, And Art, infpir'd with all her patron, glows; The charmer's op'ning eye kind hope reveals, Kind hope her confort's breast enliv'ning feels; Each grace revives, each Muse resumes the lyre, Each beauty brightens with relumin'd fire : As Health's aufpicious pow'rs gay life display, Death, fullen at the fight, ftalks flow away.
Occafioned by the Right Hon.
THE LADY VISCOUNTESS TYRCONNEL'S
WHERE Thames with pride beholds Augusta's
And either India pours into her arms;
Where Liberty bids honest arts abound,
And pleasures dance in one eternal round;
High-thron'd appears the laughter-loving dame, 5
Goddess of Mirth! Euphrofynè 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 submit!
She looks her fire, and speaks her mother's wit. IO
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 confess thy sway.
In the bleak wild ev'n Want by thee is bleft, 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 ease,
And Virtue, lofing rigour, learns to please.
The goddess fummons each illuftrious name,
Bids the gay talk, and forms th' amusive game.
She whofe fair throne is fix'd in human fouls,
From joy to joy her eye delighted rolls.
"But where," she cry'd," is fhe, my fav'rite! 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;
In kind low murmurs all the lofs deplore;
Tyrconnel droops, and pleasure is no more!
The goddess, filent, paus'd in mufeful air, But Mirth, like Virtue, cannot long despair; Celestial-hinted thoughts gay hope infpir'd, Smiling the rofe, and all with hope wore fir'd, Where Bath's afcending turrets meet her eyes, Straight wafted on the tepid breeze the flies, She flies, her elder fifter Health to find, She finds her on the mountain-brow reclin'd: Around her birds in earliest concert fing, Her cheek the femblance of the kindling fpring, Fresh-tinctur'd like a fummer-ev'ning fky, And a mild fun fits smiling in her eye: Loose to the wind her verdant veftments flow, Her limbs yet recent from the fprings below; There oft' fhe bathes, then peaceful fits fecure, Where ev'ry gale is fragrant, fresh, and pure'; Where flow'rs and herbs their cordial odours blend, And all their balmy virtues faft afcend.
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