Where the fleet stag employs their ardent care,
And chases give them images of war.
To teach them vigilance by false alarms;
Inure them in feigned camps to real arms;
Practise them now to curb the turning steed,
Mocking the foe; now to his rapid speed
To give the rein, and in the full career,
To draw the certain sword, or send the pointed spear.
Let him unite his subjects' hearts,
Planting societies for peaceful arts;
Some that in nature shall true knowledge found,
And by experiment make precept sound;
Some that to morals shall recall the age,
And purge from vicious dross the sinking stage;
Some that with care true eloquence shall teach,
And to just idioms fix our doubtful speech:
That from our writers distant realms may know,
The thanks we to our monarch owe;
And schools profess our tongue through every land, 450 That has invoked his aid, or blessed his hand.
Let his high power the drooping Muses rear,
The Muses only can reward his care;
'Tis they that guard the great Atrides' spoils;
'Tis they that still renew Ulysses' toils:
To them by smiling Jove 'twas given, to save
Distinguished patriots from the common grave;
To them, great William's glory to recall,
When statues moulder, and when arches fall.
Nor let the Muses, with ungrateful pride,
The sources of their treasure hide;
The Hero's virtue does the string inspire,
When with big joy they strike the living lyre.
Above, that sun should cease his way to go,
Ere William cease to rule, and bless below;
But a relentless destiny
Urges all that e'er was born:
Snatched from her arms, Britannia once must mourn
The demi-god; the earthly half must die.
Yet if our incense can your wrath remove,
If human prayers avail on minds above;
Exert, great god, thy interest in the sky;
Gain each kind Power, each guardian Deity,
That conquered by the public vow,
They bear the dismal mischief far away.
O! long as utmost nature may allow,
Let them retard the threatened day!
Still be our master's life thy happy care;
Still let his blessings with his years increase.
To his laborious youth consumed in war,
Add lasting age, adorned and crowned with peace;
Let twisted olive bind those laurels fast,
Whose verdure must for ever last!
Long let this growing era bless his
And let our sons his present rule obey:
On his sure virtue long let earth rely,
And late let the imperial eagle fly,
To bear the hero through his father's sky;
To Leda's twins, or he whose glorious speed,
On foot prevailed, or he who tamed the steed;
To Hercules, at length absolved by Fate
From earthly toil, and above envy great;
To Virgil's theme, bright Cytherea's son,
Sire of the Latian, and the British throne.
To all the radiant names above,
Revered by men, and dear to Jove.
Late, Janus, let the Nassau star,
New-born, in rising majesty appear,
To triumph over vanquished night, And guide the prosperous mariner With everlasting beams of friendly light.
INSCRIBED TO THE MEMORY OF THE HONOURABLE COLONEL
GEORGE VILLIERS,1
DROWNED IN THE RIVER PIAVA, IN THE COUNTRY OF FRIULI, MDCCIII.
IN IMITATION OF HORACE, ODE 28, LIB. L.
Te maris et terræ numeroque carentis arenæ
Mensorem cohibent, Archyta, etc.
SAY, dearest Villiers, poor departed friend
(Since fleeting life thus suddenly must end)
Say, what did all thy busy hopes avail,
That anxious thou from pole to pole didst sail;
Ere on thy chin the springing beard began
To spread a doubtful down, and promise man!
What profited thy thoughts, and toils, and cares,
In vigour more confirmed, and riper years!
To wake ere morning dawn to loud alarms,
And march till close of night in heavy arms;
To scorn the summer's suns and winter's snows,
And search through every clime thy country's foes!
That thou mightst Fortune to thy side engage;
That gentle Peace might quell Bellona's rage;
And Anna's bounty crown her soldier's hoary age?
In vain we think that free-willed man has
To hasten or protract the appointed hour.
Our term of life depends not on our deed:
Before our birth our funeral was decreed.
Nor awed by foresight, nor misled by chance,
1 Colonel George Villiers was in the marine service. When this catastrophe happened to him he was accompanied by William Courtenay, Esq., son of Sir William Courtenay, a captain in his regiment, who shared the same fate.
From the polluting weed and common sand;
Lay the dead hero graceful in a grave,
(The only honour he can now receive)
And fragrant mould upon his body throw,
And plant the warrior-laurel o'er his brow:
Light lie the earth; and flourish green the bough.
So may just Heaven secure thy future life
From foreign dangers, and domestic strife!
And when the infernal judge's dismal power
From the dark urn shall throw thy destined hour;
When yielding to the sentence, breathless thou
And pale shalt lie, as what thou buriest now;
May some kind friend the piteous object see,'
And equal rites perform to that which once was thee.
SPOKEN AT COURT BEFORE THE QUEEN, ON HER MAJESTY'S
BIRTHDAY, MDCCIV.
SHINE forth, ye planets, with distinguished light,
As when ye hallowed first this happy night;
Again transmit your friendly beams to earth,
As when Britannia joyed for Anna's birth;
And thou, propitious star, whose sacred power
Presided o'er the monarch's natal hour,
Thy radiant voyages for ever run,
Yielding to none but Cynthia, and the Sun;
With thy fair aspect still illustrate Heaven!
Kindly preserve what thou hast greatly given;
Thy influence for thy Anna we implore;
Prolong one life, and Britain asks no more!
For Virtue can no ampler power express,
Than to be great in war, and good in peace;
For thought no higher wish of bliss can frame,
Than to enjoy that virtue still the same.
Entire and sure the monarch's rule must prove,
Who founds her greatness on her subjects' love;
Who does our homage for our good require;
And orders that which we should first desire.
Our vanquished wills that pleasing force obey,
Her goodness takes our liberty away,
And haughty Britain yields to arbitrary sway.
Let the young Austrian then her terrors bear,
Great as he is, her delegate in war;
Let him in thunder speak to both his Spains,
That in these dreadful isles a woman reigns.
While the bright queen does on her subjects shower
The gentle blessings of her softer power;
Gives sacred morals to a vicious age,
To temples zeal, and manners to the stage;
Bids the chaste Muse without a blush appear,
And wit be that which Heaven and she may
Minerva thus to Perseus lent her shield;
Secure of conquest, sent him to the field:
The hero acted what the queen ordained:
So was his fame complete, and Andromede unchained.
Meantime amidst her native temples sate
The goddess, studious of her Grecians' fate;
Taught them in laws and letters to excel,
In acting justly, and in writing well.
Thus while she did her various power dispose,
The world was freed from tyrants, wars, and woes;
Virtue was taught in verse, and Athens' glory rose.
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