Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

Goodness ftill draws its own reward,
While those who wicked ends regard
Purfue and purchase pain.

III.

For, high in justice and in might,
God always unto men doth right;
Doth life unto the good fupply,
And lets the guilty sinner die.

The late Earl of C--L--LE's Advice to his Son, the prefent Earl of C--L-LE. Written a few Hours before his Death.

I

To my Son the Lord M--p--th.

F in thefe + lawns and woods thus form'd,
If in these fhady walks adorn'd,
Thou takest some delight ;

Let him who did perform the fame,
Who peace of mind preferr'd to fame,
Stand present to thy fight.

To the long labours, to the care
And thoughts of thee, who art his heir,
Some thanks perchance are due :

If then his wifh thou wou'dit fulfil,
If thou wou'dft execute his will,
The like defign pursue.

His care for thee in this he shows,
He recommends the life he chofe,

Where health and peace abound
He did from long experience find
That true content, a quiet mind,
Seldom in courts are found.
Fly then from thence, the city leave;
Thy very friends will thee deceive;
Virtue does there offend:

In this retreat safe fhalt thou be,
From all those certain mischiefs free

That do on courts attend.
$

† Alluding to a famous feat in the county of York.

Nor

Nor think that in this lonely fhade,
For eafe, for quiet chiefly made,
Inactive thou-muft be:
Occafions often will present,

Whereby vile deeds thou may'st prevent ;
Juftice will call on thee.

The bold oppreffor thou shalt awe,
The violator of the law

Shall feel thy heavy hand:

To the distress'd and needy poor,
Thy ready charitable door
Shall ever open stand.

A glorious kindness thou must show,
Favours and bounties ftill bestow
On them who most deserve :
The innocent thou shalt protect,
The needieft thou shalt not neglect ;
In fafety all preserve.

If thus thy time thou do'ft employ,
True peace of mind thou shalt enjoy,
The acts are good and juft;
The poor man's pray'r will thee attend,
The rich will much thy worth commend,
In thee they'll put their trust.
Then think on those who are to come,
Think on thy darling blooming fon,
Thus for his good provide ;
Shew him the life that thou haft led,
Instruct him in those paths to tread ;
Be thou his faithful guide.

If virt'ous thoughts his foul endue,
If this advice he will pursue,
Sure happiness he'll find;

Nor can't thou, if great wealth thou leave,
Which often does the world deceive,
To him be half fo kind.

Thus for thy own, and for his fake,
That his abode he there may make,
New works for him prepare ;

What then for thee thy father's done,
Do thou the like for thy dear fon,
For him fhew equal care.

The

The times will come, nought can prevent,
From these green fhades thou fhalt be fent,
To darker far below ;

On yon green hill a dome does ftand;
Erected by thy father's hand,

Where thou and I must go.

To thee what comfort then 'twill be!
The like alfo 'twill be to me,

When our last breath we yield,
That fome good deeds we here have done,
A fruitless courfe we have not run,

When thus we quit the field.

A Pindaric Ode on the Paffion of our SAVIOUR.

By Mr. Norris.

I.

AY bold, licentious muse,

thou chufe?

Of what great hero, of what mighty thing,
Wilt thou in boundlefs numbers fing?
Sing th' unfathom'd depths of love;
For who the wonders done by love can tell,
By love, which is itself all miracle?
Here in vaft endless circles may'ft thou rove,.
And like the trav'ling planet of the day,
In an orb unbounded stray..
Sing the great miracle of love divine,
Great be thy genius, fparkling ev'ry line;
Love's greatest myfteries rehearfe,
Greater than that

Which on the teeming chaos brooding fat,.
And hatch'd with kindly heat the universe.
How God in mercy chose to die,

To refcue man from mifery;

Man, not his creature only, but his enemy.

II.

}

Lo in Gethsemane I fee him proftrate lye,
Prefs'd with the weight of his great agony.;
S 2

The

The common fluices of his eyes
To vent his mighty paffion won't fuffice;
His tortur'd body weeps all o'er,
And out of every pore

Buds forth a precious gem of purple gore.
How ftrange the power of affliction's rod,
When in the hand of an incenfed God!
Like the commanding wand,
In Mofes' hand,

It works a miracle, and turns the flood
Of tears into a fea of blood.

}

See with what pomp forrow does now appear,
How proud fhe is of being feated here;
She never wore

So rich a dye before.
Long was he willing to decline
Th' encounter of the wrath divine;
Thrice he fent, for his release,
Pathetic embaffies of peace ;

At length his courage overcame his doubt,
Refolv'd he was, and fo the bloody flag hung out.
III.

And now the tragic fcene's difplay'd,
Where drawn in full battalia are laid

Before his eyes

That numerous hoft of miferies
He muft withstand, that map of woe
Which he must undergo.

That heavy wine-prefs muft by him be trod,
The whole artillery of God.
He faw that face, whofe very fight
Chears angels with its beatific light,
Contracted now into a dreadful frown,
All cloth'd with thunder, big with death,
And showers-of hot burning wrath,
Which fhortly muft be poured down;
He faw a black and difmal fcroul
Offins past, prefent, and to come,
With their intolerable doom,

Which would the more oppress his spotless foul,
As th' elements are weighty prov'd,
When from their native station they're remov'd.

He

He faw the foul ingratitude of those
Who would the labours of his love oppofe,
And reap no benefit by all his agonies :-
He faw all this,

And as he faw, to waver he began,

And almost to repent of his great love to man:

IV.

When lo! a heav'nly form, all bright and fair,
Swifter, than thought fhot thro' th' enlighten'd air;
He who fits next th' imperial throne,

And reads the counfels of the great Three-one,
Who in eternity's myfterious glafs

Saw both what is, what was, and what must come to pass;
He came with reverence profound,

And rais'd his proftrate Maker from the ground,
Wip'd off the bloody fweat,

With which his face and garments too were wet,
And comforted his dark benighted mind

With fov'reign cordials of light refin'd.
This done, with soft addresses he began
To fortify his kind designs for man,
Unfeal'd to him the book of God's decree,,
And fhew'd him what must be :
Alledg'd the truth of prophecies,
Of figures, types and mysteries:
How needful 'twas thus to fupply
With human race the ruins of the sky :
How this would new acceffion bring
To the celeftial quire,

And how withal it would infpire

New matter for the praife of the great King:
How he should fee the travel of his foul, and blefs

Thofe fufferings which had fo good fuccefs:

How great the triumph of his victory:
How glorious his afcent would be:

What weighty blifs in heav'n he shou'd obtain
By a few hours of pain,

Where to eternal ages he should reign.

He fpake-confirm'd in mind the champion ftood,. - A fp'rit divine

Thro' the thick veil of flesh did shine;

All over powerful he was, all over good.

S 3

Pleas'd

« AnteriorContinuar »