AS the heroick poems of Blackmore are now little read, it is thought proper to infert, as a fpeci men from Prince Arthur, the fong of Mopas mentioned by Molineux.
But that which Arthur with most pleasure heard
Were noble ftrains, by Mopas fung the bard,
Who to his harp in lofty verfe began,
And through the fecret maze of Nature ran.
He the Great Spirit fung, that all things fill'd,
That the tumultuous waves of Chaos ftill'd;
Whofe nod difpos'd the jarring feeds to peace,
And made the wars of hoftile Atoms cease.
All Beings, we in fruitful Nature find,
Proceeded from the Great Eternal Mind;
Streams of his unexhausted spring of power,
And, cherish'd with his influence, endure.
He spread the pure cerulean fields on high,
And arch'd the chambers of the vaulted fky,
Which he, to fuit their glory with their height,
Adorn'd with globes, that reel, as drunk with light.
His hand directed all the tuneful spheres,
He turn'd their orbs, and polish'd all the stars.
He fill'd the Sun's vaft lamp with golden light,
And bid the filver Moon adorn the night.
He fpread the airy Ocean without fhores,
Where birds are wafted with their feather'd oars.
Then fung the bard how the light vapours rife
From the warm earth, and cloud the fmiling fkies.
He fung how fome, chill'd in their airy flight,
Fall scatter'd down in pearly dew by night;
How fome, rais'd higher, fit in fecret fteams
On the reflected points of bounding beams,
Till, chill'd with cold, they shade th' etherial plain,
Then on the thirsty earth defcend in rain;
How fome, whose parts a flight contexture show,
Sink hovering through the air, in fleecy fnow; }
How part is fpun in filken threads, and clings
Entangled in the grafs in glewy strings;
How others ftamp to ftones, with rufhing found
Fall from their cryftal quarries to the ground;
How fome are laid in trains, that kindled fly,
In harmless fires by night, about the sky;
How fome in winds blow with impetuous force,
And carry rain where they bend their course,
While fome confpire to form a gentle breeze,
To fan the air, and play among the trees;
How fome, enrag'd, grow turbulent and loud,
Pent in the bowels of a frowning cloud,
That cracks, as if the axis of the world
Was broke, and Heaven's bright towers were downwards
He fung how earth's wide ball, at Jove's command,
Did in the midst on airy columns ftand;
And how the foul of plants, in prifon held,
And bound with fluggith fetters, lies conceal'd,
Till with the fpring's warm beams, almoft releas'd
From the dull weight, with which it lay oppreft,
Its vigour spreads, and makes the teeming earth
Heave up, and labour with the fprouting birth:
The active spirit freedom feeks in vain,
It only works and twists a stronger chain;
Urging its prifon's fides to break a way,
It makes that wider, where 'tis forc'd to stay
Till, having form'd its living houfe, it rears
Its head, and in a tender plant appears.
Hence fprings the oak, the beauty of the grove,
Whofe ftately trunk fierce ftorms can fcarcely move.
Hence grows the cedar, hence the fwelling vine
Does round the elm its purple clufters twine.
Hence painted flowers the fmiling gardens blefs,
Both with their fragrant fcent and gaudy drefs.
Hence the white lily in full beauty grows,
Hence the blue violet, and blushing rose.
He fung how fun-beams brood upon the earth,
And in the glebe hatch fuch a numerous birth;
Which way the genial warmth in Summer ftorms
Turns putrid vapours to a bed of worms;
How rain, transform'd by this prolifick power,
Falls from the clouds an animated fhower.
He fung the embryo's growth within the womb,
And how the parts their various fhapes affume.
With what rare art the wonderous ftructure 's wrought,
From one crude mass to fuch perfection brought;
That no part useless, none misplac'd we fee,
None are forgot, and more would monftrous be."
HE brevity with which I am to write the account of ELIJAH FENTON, is not the effect of indifference or negligence. I have fought intelligence among his relations in his native country, but have not obtained it.
He was born near Newcastle in Staffordshire, of an ancient family, whofe eftate was very confiderable;
He was born at Shelton, near Newcastle, May 20, 1683; and was the youngest of eleven children of John Fenton, an attorney at law, and one of the coroners for the county of Stafford. His father died in 1694; and his grave, in the church-yard of Stoke upon Trent is diftinguished, by the following elegant Latin infcription from the pen of his fon;
JOANNES FENTON
de Shelton
antiquâ ftirpe generofus;
juxta reliquias conjugis
CATHARINE
formâ, moribus, pietate,
optimo viro digniffimæ:
Qui
intemeratâ in ecclefiam fide,
et virtutibus intaminatis enituit;
but he was the youngest of twelve children, and being therefore neceffarily deftined to fome lucrative employment was fent firft to fchool, and afterwards to Cambridge, but, with many other wife and other virtuous men, who at that time of difcord and debate confulted confcience, whether well or ill informed, more than intereft, he doubted the legality of the government, and refufing to qualify himfelf for publick employment by the oaths required, left the univerfity without a degree; but I never heard that the enthufiafm of oppofition impelled him to feparation from the Church.
By this perverfenefs of integrity he was driven out à commoner of Nature, excluded from the regular modes of profit and profperity, and reduced to pick up a livelihood uncertain and fortuitous; but it must be remembered that he kept his name unfullied, and never fuffered himself to be reduced, like too many of the fame fect, to mean arts and dishonourable shifts. Whoever mentioned Fenton, mentioned him with honour.
necnon ingenii lepore
bonis artibus expoliti,
ac animo erga omnes benevolo,
fibi fuifque jucundus vixit.
Decem annos uxori dilectæ fuperftes
magnum fui defiderium bonis
omnibus reliquit,
Salutis humanæ 1694,
ætatis fuæ 56.
See Gent. Mag. 1791, vol. LXI. p. 703. N.
* He was entered of Jefus College, and took a Bachelor's de gree in 1704; but it appears by the lift of Cambridge graduates that he removed in 1726 to Trinity Hall. N.
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