No fooner was the Frenchman's caufe embrac`d, Than the light Monfieur the grave Don outweigh'd:

XXXIV.

His latest victories ftill thickest came,
As, near the center, motion doth increase;
Till he, prefs'd down by his own weighty name,
Did, like the vestal, under spoils deceafe.

But first the ocean as a tribute fent

The giant prince of all her watery herd; And th' ifle, when her protecting genius wont, Upon his obfequies loud fighs conferr'd.

No civil broils have fince his death arofe,
But faction now by habit does obey;
And wars have that respect for his repose,
As winds for halcyons when they breed at fea.

His afhes in a peaceful urn fhall reft,

His name a great example stands, to show How ftrangely high endeavours may be bleft, Where piety and valour jointly go.

ASTRE A REDU X.

A POEM ON THE HAPPY RESTORATION

RETURN OF HIS SACRED MAJESTY CHARLES
II, 1660.

"Jam redit & virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna.”

N

The laft great age foretold by facred rhimes
Renerus it's finish'd course: Saturnian times
Roll round again.

VIRG.

|Nor could our nobles hope their bold attempt
Who ruin'd crowns would coronets exempt:
For when by their defigning leaders taught
To ftrike at power which for themselves they fought,
The vulgar, gull'd into rebellion, arm'd;
Their blood to action by the prize was warm'd.
The facred purple then and scarlet gown,
Like fanguine dye, to elephants was shewn.
Thus when the bold Typhoeus fcal'd the fky,
And forc'd great Jove from his own heaven to fly,
(What king, what crown, from treason's reach is free,
If Jove and heaven can violated be?)

The lefter gods, that fhar'd his prosperous state,
All fuffer'd in the exil'd Thunderer's fate.
The rabble now fuch freedom did enjoy,
As winds at fea, that use it to destroy:
Blind as the Cyclop, and as wild as he,
They own'd a lawless favage liberty,
Lik that our painted ancestors so priz'd,
Ere empire's arts their breasts had civiliz'd.
How great were then our Charles's woes, who thus
Was forc'd to fuffer for himfelf and us!

He, tofs'd by fate, and hurry'd up and down,
Heir to his father's forrows, with his crown,
Could tafte no fweets of youth's defir'd age;
But found his life too true a pilgrimage.
Unconquer'd yet in that forlorn eftate,
His manly courage overcame his fate.
AND His wounds he took, like Romans, on his breaft,
Which by his virtue were with laurels dreft.
As fouls reach heaven while yet in bodies pent,
So did he live above his banishment.
That fun, which we beheld with cozen'd eyes
Within the water, mov'd along the skies.
How eafy 'tis, when destiny proves kind,
With full-fpread fails to run before the wind
But thofe that 'gainst stiff gales laveering go,
Muft be at once refolv'd and skilful too.
He would not, like foft Otho, hope prevent,
But stay'd and suffer'd fortune to repent.
Thefe virtues Galba in a stranger fought,
And Pifo to adopted empire brought.
How fhall I then my doubtful thoughts exprefs,
That must his sufferings Hot! regret and bless ?
For when his early valour Heaven had croft;
And all at Worc'fter but the honour loft;
Forc'd into exile from his rightful throne,
He made all countries where he came his own;
And, viewing monarchs' secret arts of fway,
A royal factor for his kingdom lay,

OW with a general peace the world was bleit,
While our's, a world divided from the rest,
A dreadful quiet felt, and worfer far
Than arms, a fullen interval of war:

Thus when black clouds draw down the labouring
fkies,

Ere yet abroad the winged thunder flies,
An horrid ftillnefs firft invades the ear,
And in that filence we the tempest fear.

Th' ambitious Swede, like reftless billows toft,
On this hand gaining what on that he loft,
Though in his life he blood and ruin breath'd,
To his row guidelefs kingdom peace bequeath'd.
And heaven, that feem'd regardless of our fate,
For France and Spain did miracles create;
Such mortal quarrels to compofe in peace
As nature bred, and intereft did increase.
We figh'd to hear the fair Iberian bride
Muft grow a lil to the lily's fide,
While our crofs ftars deny'd us Charles's bed,
Whom our first flames and virgin love did wed.
For his long abfence church and state did groan;
Madness the pulpit, faction feiz'd the throne:
Experienc'd age in deep defpair was lost,
To fee the rebel thrive, the loyal croft:
Youth that with joys had unacquainted been,
Envy'd grey hairs that once good days had feen:
We thought our fires, not with their own content,
Had ere we came to age our portion spent.

Thus banish'd David spent abroad his time,
When to be God's anointed was his crime;

And when reftor'd, made his proud neighbours rue
Thofe choice remarks he from his travels drew.
Nor is he only by afflictions shown

To conquer other realms, but rule his own:
Recovering hardly what he lost before,

His right endears it much; his purchase more.
Inur'd to fuffer ere he came to reign,
No rafh procedure will his actions stain :
To bufinefs ripen'd by digestive thought,
His future rule is into method brought:
As they, who first proportion understand,
With eafy practice reach a master's hand.
Well might the ancient poets then confer
On night the honour'd name of Counsellor,
Since, ftruck with rays of profperous fortune blind,
We light alone in dark afflictions find.

In fuch adverfities to scepters train'd,
The name of Great his famous grandfire gain'd:
Who yet a king alone in name and right,
With hunger, cold, and angry Jove did fight;
Shock'd by a covenanting league's vaft powers,
As holy and as catholic as our s:

'Till fortune's fruitlefs fpite had made it known,
Her blows not thook but riveted h.s throne.

Some lazy aces, loft in fleep and eafe,

No action leave to bufy chronicles:

Such, whofe fupine felicity but makes

In flory chafms, in epocha miftakes;

How hard was then his task! at once to be
What in the body naturally we fee?
Man's architect diftin&tly did ordain
The charge of muscles, nerves, and of the brain,
Through viewlefs conduits fpirits to difpenfe;
The fpr.ngs of motion from the feat of fenfe.
'Twas not the hafty product of a day,
But the well ripen'd fruit of wife delay.
He, like a patient angler, ere he took,
Would let him play a while upon the hook.
Our healthful food the ftomach labours tus,
At first embracing what it straight doth cruth.

O'er whom Time gently thakes his wings of down, W.fe leaches will not vain receipts obtrude,

'Till with his filent fickle they are mown.
Such is not Charles's too too active age,

Which, govern'd by the wild diftemper'd rage
Of fome black ftar infecting all the ikies,
Made him at his own coft like Adam wife.
Tremble, ye nations, which fecure before,
Laugh'd at thofe arms that 'gainft ourselves
bore;

Rouz'd by the lafh of his own stubborn tail,
Our lion now will foreign foes affail.
With alga who the facred altar ftrews?

To all the fea gods Charles an offering owes:
A bull to thee, Portunus, fhall be flain,
A lamb to you, ye tempefts of the main:

For thofe loud ftorms that did against hum roar,

Have caft his fhipwreck'd veffel on the shore.
Yet as wife artifts mix their colours fo,
That by degrees they from each other go;

While gio ving pains pronounce the humours crude:
Deaf to complaints they wait upon the ill,

Till fome fafe cr.fis authorize their skill.
Nor could his afts tco clofe a vizard wear,

To fcape their eyes whom guilt had taught to fear,
And guard with caution that polluted nest,

we Whence Legion twice before was difpoffeft:
Once facred house; which when they enter'd in,
hey thought the place could fanctify a fin;
Like thofe that vainly hop'd kind heaven would
wink,

While to excefs on martyrs' tombs they drink.
And as devouter Turks first warn their fouls
To part, before they tafle forbidden bowls:
So thefe, when their black crimes they went about,
First timely charm'd their useless conscience out.
Religion's name against itself was made;
The fhadow ferv'd the fubftance to invade;

Flack steals unheeded from the neight ouring white, Like ze..ous m.ffons, they did care pretend

Without offending the well-cozen'd fight:

So on us ftole our bieffed change; while we
Th effect did feel, but fcarce the manner fee.
Frofts that constrain the ground, and birth deny
To flowers that in its womb expect.ng lie,
Do feldom their ufurping power withdraw,
But rag.ng floods pursue their hafty thaw.
Our thaw was mild, the cold not chas'd away,
But loft in kindly heat of lengthen'd day.
Heaven would no bargain for its blefings drive,
But what we could not pay for, freely give.
The Prince of peace would like himself confer
A gift unhop'd, without the price of war:
Yet, as he knew his bleffing's worth, took care,
That we fhould know it by repeated prayer;
Which ftorm'd the kies, and ravish'd Charles from

thence,

As heaven itself is took by violer.ce.
Pooth's forward valour only ferv'd to show,
He durft that duty pay we all did one:
Th' attempt was fair; but heaven's prefixed lour
Not come: fo, like the watchful traveller
That by the moon's miftaken light did rife,
Lay do vn again, and clos'd his weary eyes.
'Twas Monk, whom Providence defign'd to loofe
Thofe real hords faife freedom did impofe.
The bleifed fants, that watch'd this turning scene,
Did from their stars with joyful wonder lean,
To fee fmall clues draw vastest weights along,
Not in their bulk but in their order strong.
Thus pencils can by one flight touch restore
Smiles to that changed face that wept before.
With each fuch fond chimæra we pursue,
As fancy frames for fancy to fubdue;
But when ourselves to action we betake,
It fhuns the mint like gold that chemifts make.
VOL .III

O: fouls in thew, but made the gold their end.
Th'a cenfed powers beheld with fcorn from high
And heaven fo far distant from the sky,

Which durft, with horfes Loofs that beat the ground,
And martial brass, bely the thunder's found.
'Twas hence at length just vengeance thought it fit,
To fpeed their run by their imp ous wit.
Thus Sforza, curs'd with a too fertile brain,
Loft by his wiles the power his wit did gain.
Henceforth the.r fougue muft fpend at leifer rate,
Than in its flames to wrap a nation's fate.
Suffer'd to live, they are like Helots fet,
A virtuous fhame within us to beget.
For by example moft we finn'd before,
And glass-like clearness mix'd with frailty bore.
But fince reform'd by what we did amifs,
We by our fufferings learn to prize our blifs:
Like early lovers, whofe unpractis'd hearts
Were long the may-game of malicious arts,
When once they find their jealoufies were vain,
With double heat renew their fires again.
'Twas this produc'd the joy that hurry'd o'er
Such fwarms of English to the neighbouring shore,
To fetch that prize, by which Batavia made
So rich amends for our impoverish'd trade.
Oh had you feen from Schevelin's barren fhore,
(Crowded with troops, and barren now no more,)
Afflicted Holland to his farewell bring
True, forro, Holland to regret a king!
While waiting him his royal fleet did ride,
And willing winds to their lower'd fails deny`d.
The wavering ftreamers, flags, and standards out,
The merry feamen's rude but chearful fhout;
And laft the cannons voice that fhook the fkies,
And, as it fares in fudden ecftafies,
At once bereft us both of ears and eyes.

C

The Nafeby, now no longer England's fhame,
But better to be loft in Charles's name,
(Like fone unequal bride in nobier sheets)
Receives her lord: the joyful London meets
The princely York, himself alone a freight;
The Swift-fure groans beneath great Glofter's
we ght:

Secure as when the halcyon breeds, with thefe,
He that was born to drown might cross the seas.
Heaven could not own a Providence, and take
The wealth three nations ventur'd at a stake.
The fame indulgence Charles's voyage bles d,
Which in his right had miracles contefs'd.
The winds that never moderation knew,
Afraid to blow too much, too faintly blew;
Or, out of breath with joy, could not enlarge
Their ftrengthen'd lungs, or confc.ous of
charge,

The British Amphytrite, fmooth and clear,
In richer azure never did appear;
Proud her returning prince to entertain
With the fubmittted fafces of the main.

Our nation with united intereft bleft,
Not now content to poize, shall sway the reft.
Abroad your empire fhall ro limits know,

ut, like the fea, in boundless circles flow.
Your much-lov'd fleet fhall, with a wide command,
Refiege the petry monarchs of the land:
And as old Time his offspring fwallow'd down,
Our ocean in its depths all feas shall drown.
Their wealthy trade from pirates' rap.ne free,
Our merchants fhall no more adventurers be:
Nor in the fartheft Eaft thofe dancers fear,
Which humble Holland muft differnble here.
Spain to your gift alone her Indies owes;
For what the powerful takes not he beflows;
And France, that did an exile's presence fear,
May juftly apprehend you ftill too near.
their At home the hateful names of parties cease,
And factious fouls are wearied into peace.
The difcontented now are only they,
Whofe crimes before did your juft caufe betray:
Of thofe your edits fome reclaim from fin,
But most your life ard bieft example win.

AND welcome now, great monarch, to your own; Oh happy prince, whom heaven hath taught the Behold th' approaching cliffs of Alb on:

way

Soft western winds waft o'er the gaudy spring,
And open'd fcenes of flowers and bloffoms bring,
grace this happy day, while you appear,

Το

Not king of us alone, but of the year.

All eyes you draw, and with the eyes the heart:
Of your own pomp yourself the greatest part:
Loud fhouts the nation's happiness proclaim,
And heaven this day is feafted with your name.
Your cavalcade the fair fpectators view,

From their high ftandings, yet look up to you.
From your brave train each fingles out a prey,
And longs to date a conquest from your day.
Now charg'd with bleffings while you feck repofe,
Officious numbers hafte your eyes to clove;
And glorious dreams ftand ready to restore
The pleafing fhapes of all you faw before.
Next to the facred temple you are led,
Where waits a crown for your more facred head:
How juftly from the church that crown is due,
Preterv'd from ruin, and reftor'd by you!
The grateful choir their harmony employ,
Not to make greater, but more folemn joy.
Wrapt soft and warm your name is fent on high,
As flames do on the wings of incenfe fly :
Mufick herfelf is loft, in vain the rings

Her choiceft notes to praife the best of kings:
Her melting strains in you a tomb have found,
And Le like bees in their own fweetnefs drown'd.
He that brought peace, all difcord could atone,
His name is mufic of itself alone.

Now while the facred oil ano.nts your head,
And fragrant ferts, begun from you, are spread
Though the large done; the people's joyful found,
Sent back, is ftill preferv'd in hallow'd ground;
Which in one bleffing mix'd defcends on you;
As heighten'd fpirits fall in richer dew.
Not that our wifes do increase your store,
Full of yourself you can admit no more:
We add not to your glory, but employ
Our time, like angels, in expreffing joy.
Nor is it duty, or our hopes alone,
Create that joy, but full fruition:

We know those bleffings which we must poffefs,
And judge of future by paft happiness.
No promife can oblige a prince fo much
Still to be good, as long to have been fuch.

A noble emulation beats your breast,

And your own fame row robs you of your reft.
Good actions ftill must be maintain'd with good,
As bodies nourish'd with refembling food.
You have already quench'd fedition's brand;
And zeal, which burnt it, only warms the land.
The jealous fects, that dare not truft their caufe
So far from their own will as to the laws,
You for their umpire and their fynod take,
And their appeal alone to Cæfar inake.
Kind heaven fo rare a temper and provide,
That guilt repenting mig t in it confide.
Among our crimes obliv on may be fet:
But 'tis our king's perfection to forget.
Virtues unknown to thefe rough northern climes
From milder heavens you bring without their

crimes.

Your calmnefs does no after-ftorms provide,
Nor feeming patience mortal anger hide.
When empire first from families did fpring,
Then every father govern'd as a king:

But you, that are a fovereign prince, allay
Imperial power with your paternal fway.
From thofe great cares when eafe your foul unbends,
Your pleasures are defign'd to noble ends?
Born to command the miftrefs of the feas,
Your thoughts themselves in that blue empire please.
Hither in fummer evenings you repair

To tafte the fraicheur of the purer air:
Undaunted here you ride, when winter raves,
With Cæfar's heart that rofe above the waves.
More I could fing, but fear my numbers itays;
No lo al fubject dares that courage praise.
In ftately frigates most delight you find,
Where well-drawn battles fire your martial mind.
What to your cares we owe, is learnt from hence,
When ev'n your pleasures ferve for our defence.
Beyond your court flows in th' admitted tide,
Where in new dept ́s the wondering fishes glide:
Here in a royal bed the waters fleep;
When, tir'd at fea, within this bay they creep.
Here the miftruftful fowl no harm suspects,
So fafe are all things which our king protects.
From your lov'd Thames a bleffing yet is due,
Second alone to that it brought in you;

A queen, near whofe chafte womb ordain'd by
fate,

The fouls of kings unborn for Fodies wait.
It was your love before made difcord ceafe:
Your love is deftin'd to your country's peace.
Foth Ind es, rivals in your bed, provide
With soid or jewels to adorn your bride.
This to a mighty king prefents rich ore,
While that with incenfe coes a god implore.
Two kingdoms wait your coom, and, as you choose,
This must receive a crown, or that muft lofe.
Thus from your royal oak, like fove's of old,
Are anfwers fought, and deft.nies foretold:
Propitious oracles are begg'd with vows,
And crowns that grow upon the sacred boughs.
Your fubjects, while you weigh the nation's fate,
Sufpend to both their doubtful love or hate :
Chufe only, fir, that fo they may poffefs
With their own peace their children's happiness.

TO THE

LORD CHANCELLOR HYDE.

PRESENTED ON NEW-YEAR'S DAY, 1662.

MY LORD,

WHILE flattering crouds officiously appear,

To give the felves, not you, an happy year;
And by the greatness of their prefents prove
How much they hope, but not how well they love;
The Mufes, who your early courtship boast,
Though now your flames are with their beauty loft,
Yet watch their time, that, if you have forgot
(They were your miftreffes, the world may not:
Decay'd by time and wars, they only prove
Their former beauty by your former ove;
And now prefent, as ancient ladies do,
That courted long, at length are forced to woo.