And fee! delighted, down he drops, fecure
Offweet refreshment, eafe without annoy,
Or lufcious noon-day nap. Ah much deceiv'd,
Much fuffering pilgrim thou nor noon-day nep,
Nor fweet repofe fhall find; the falfe morals
In quivering undulations yields beneath
Thy burden, in the miry gulph enclos d!
And who would truft appearance? caft thine eye
Where 'mid machines of heterogeneous form
Ilis coat depends; alas! his only coat,
Eldeft of things! and naplefs, as an heath.
Of fmall extent by fleecy myriads graz’d.
Not different have I feen in dreary vault
Difplay'd, a coffin; on each fable fide
The texture unmolefled fems entire.
Fraudful, when touch'd it glides to dust away!
And leaves the wondering fwain to gape, or
fare,

And with expreffive fhrug, and piteous figh,
Declare the fatal force of rolling years,
Or dire extent of frail mortality

This aged vefture, fcorn of gazing beaux,
And formal cits, (themfelves too haply fcorn'd)
Both on its fleeve and on its fkirt, retains
Full many a pin wide sparkling for, if e'er
Their well-known creft met his delighted eye,
Though rapt in thought, commercing with the
fky,

He, gently ftooping, scorn'd not to upraise,
And on each fleeve, as confcious of their use,
Indenting fix them; nor when arm'd with thefe,
The cure of rents and separations dire,
And chaims enormous, did he view difmay'd
Hedge, bramble, thicket, bufh portending fate
To breeches, coat, and hofe! had any wight
Of vulgar skill, the tender texture owu'd;
But gave his mind to form a fonnet quaint
Of Silvia's fhoe-ftring, or of Chloe's fan,
Or fweetly fashion'd tip of Celia's ear.
Alas! by frequent ule decays the force
Of mortal art! the refractory robe
Eludes the taylor's art, eludes his own;
How potent once, in union quaint conjoin'd!

See near his bed his bed too falfely call'd
The place of reft, while it a Bard fuftains;
Pale, meagre, Mufe-rid wight! who reads in

vain

Narcotic volumes o'er) his candlestick,
Radiant machine, when from the plastic hand
Of Mulciber, the mayor of Birmingham,
The engine iffued; now alas difguis'd
By many a munctuous tide, that wandering down
Its fides congeal. what he perhaps, uffays
With humour forc'd, and ill-diffembled fmile,
Idly to liken to the poplar's trunk
When o'er its bark the lucid amber, wound
In many a pleafing fold, incrufts the tree.

Or fuits him more the winter's candy'd thorn,
When from each branch, anncal'd the works of

froft

Pervafive, radiant ificles depend?

How fhalling the various ill that waits The careful foneteer? or who can paint The fhifts enormous, that in vain he forms To patch his panelefs window; to cement His batter'd tca-pot, ill-retentive vafe?

To war with ruin? anxious to conceal
Want's fell appearance, of the real ill
Nor foe, nor fearful. Ruin unforeseen
Invades his chattels; ruin will invade;
Will claim his whole invention to repair,
Nor, of the gift, for tuneful ends defign'd,
Allow one part to decorate his fong.
While ridicule, with ever pointing hand
Confcious of every fhift, of every shift
Indicative, his inmost plot betrays,
Points to the nook, which he his study calls
Pompous and vain! for thus he might efteem
His cheft, a wardrobe; purfe a treasury:
And fhews, to crown her full difplay, himself.
One whom the powers above, in place of health,
And wonted vigour; of paternal cot,
Or little farm; of bag, or fcrip, or staff,
Cup, difh, fpoon, plate, or worlday utenfil,
A poet fram'd; yet fram'd not to repine,
And with the cobler's loftieft fite his own;
Nor, partial as they seem, upbraid the fates,
Who to the humbler mechan fin, join'd
Goods fo fuperior, fuch exalted blifs!

See with what feeming eafe, what labour'd peace,
He, hapless hypocrite refines his nail,
His chief amufement! then how feign'd, how
forc'd

That care-defying fonnet, which implies
His debts difcharg'd, and he of half a crown
In full poffeffion, uncontested right
And property! Yet ah! who'er this wight
Admiring view, if fuch there be, diftruft
The vain pretence; the fmiles that harbour grief
As lurks the ferpent deep in flowers unwreath'd.
Forewarn'd, be frugal; or with prudent rage
Thy pen demolish; chufe the trustier flail,
And blefs thofe labours which the choice in-
fpir'd.

But if thou view'ft a vulgar mind, a wight
Of common fenfe, who feeks no brighter name,
Him envy, him admire, him, from thy breast,
Prefcient of future dignities, falute
Sheriff, or mayor, in comfortable furs
Enwrapt, fecure: nor yet the laureat's crown
In thought exclude him! He perchance fhall rife
To nobler heights than forefight can decree
When, fir'd with wrath, for his intrigues dif-
play'd,

In many an idle fong, Saturnian Jove
Vow'd fure deftruction to the tuneful race;
Appeas'd by suppliant Phœbus, “Bards, he said,
Henceforth of plenty, wealth, and pomp debar'd.
But fed by frugal cares, might wear the bay
Secure of thunder."-Low the Delian bow'd,
Nor at th' invidious favour dar'd repine.

Happy the Bard, who, from his native hills, Soft muling on a fummer's eve, furveys His azure ftream, with penfile woods enclos'd! Or o'er the glaffy furface, with his friend, Or faithful fair, through bordering willows green Wafts his small frigates. Fearless he of fhouts, Or taunts, the rhetoric of the watery crew That ape confusion from the realms they rule! Fearless of thefe; who fhares the gentler voice Of peace and mufic; birds of sweetest song Attune from native boughs their various lay, And chear the foreft; birds of brighter plume With bufy pinion fkim the glittering wave, And tempt the fun; ambitious to display Their several merit, while the vocal flute, Or number'd verfe, by female voice endear'd, Crowns his delight, and mollifies the fcene.

If folitude his wandering steps invite To fome more deep recefs (for hours there are, When gay, when social minds to friendship's voice,

1.

Or beauty's charm, her wild abodes prefer);
How pleas'd he treads her venerable shades,
Her folemn courts! the centre of the grove!
The root-built cave, by far-extended rocks
found embosom d, how it foothes the foul!
If fcoop'd at first by fu, erftitious hands
The rugged cell receiv'd alone the thoals
Of bigot minds, religion dwells not here,
Yet virtue pleas'd, at intervals, retires:
Yet here may wifdom, as the walks the maze,
Some ferious truths collect, the rules of life,
And ferious truths of mightier weight than gold!
I afk not wealth; but let me hoard with care,
With frugal cunning, with a niggard's art,
A few fix'd principles; in early life,
Ere indolence impede the fearch, explor'd.
Then, like old Latimer, when age impaira

Too long deliberate) with timorous hand
Remove th' obftructive bough; nor yet refufe,
Though fighing, to deftroy that favourite pine,
Rais'd by thine hand, in its luxuriant prime
Of beauty fair, that screens the vast remains.
Aggriev'd but conftant as the Roman fire,
The rigid Manlius, when his conquering fon
Bled by a parent's voice; the cruel meed
Of virtuous ardour, timelessly display'd;
Nor ceafe till, through the gloomy road, the pile
Gleam unobstructed; thither oft thine eye
Shall fweetly wander; thence returning, foothe,
With penfive fcenes thy philofophic mind.

Thefe were thy haunts, thy opulent abodes,
O fuperftition! hence the dire disease,
(Balanc'd with which the fam'd Athenian peft
Were a fhort head-ach, were the trivial pain
Of tranfient indigeftion) fciz'd månkind.

Long time the rag d, and fearce a fouthern gale
Warm'd our chill air, unloaded with the threats
Of tyrant Rome; but futile all, till fhe,
Rome's abler legate, magnify'd their power,
And in a thoufa d horrid forms attir'd.

Where then was truth to sanctify the page Of British annals? if a foe expir'd, The perjur'd monk fuborn'd infernal fhrieks, And fiends to fnatch at the departing foul With hellish emulation. If a friend, High o'er his roof exultant angels tune Their golden lyres, and waft him to the skies. What then were vows, were oaths, were pligh

ted faith?

The fovereign's juft, the fubje&t's loyal pact, To cherish mutual good, annull'd and vain By Roman magic. grew an idle feroll

Ere the frail fanction of the wax was cold.

*

With thee, Plantagenet from civil broils The land a while respir'd, and all was peace.

tack

To intricate difcuffion, prone to stray.
Perhaps my reafon may but ill defend

"My fettled faith; my mind, with age impair'd,
"Too fure its own infirmities declare.
"But I am arm'd by caution, ftudious youth,
And early forefight; now the winds may rife,
"The tempeft whittle, and the billows roar;
"My pinnace rides in port, defpoil'd and worn,
"Shatter'd by time and storms, but while it fhuns
"Th' inequal conflict, and declines the deep,
"Sees the ftrong veffel fluctuate less fecure."

Thus while he ftrays, a thousand rural scenes Suggeft inftruction, and inftructing please. And fee betwixt the grove's extended arms An abbey's rude remains attract thy view, Gilt by the mid-day fun with lingering ftep Produce thine axe, (for, aiming to destroy Tree, branch, or fhade, for never shall thy breaft VOL. VII.

:

From regal courts with lawiefs fury march'd
The church's blood-ftain'd convicts, and forgave;
Bid murderous pricfts the fovereign frown con-

temi,

And with unhallow'd crofier bruis'd the crown.
Yet yielded not fupinely tame a prince
Of Henry's virtues; learn'd, courageous, wife,
Of fair ambition. Long his regal foul
Firm and erect the peevib prieit exil'd,
And brav'd the fury of revengeful Rome.
In vain let one faint malady diffufe
The penfive gloom which fuperftition loves,
And fee him, dwindled to a recreant groom,"
Rein the proud palfrey whilft the priest afcends!

Was Coeur-de-lion bleft with whiter days?...
Here the cowl'd zealots with united cries
Urg'd the crufade; and fee, of half his ftares
Defpoil'd the wretch, whofe wifer bofom chose
To blefs his friends, his race, his native land.
Of ten fair funs that roll'd their annual race,
Not one beheld him on his vacant throne;
While haughty Longchamp, 'mid his livery' -
files

Of wanton vaffais, fpoil'd his faithful realm,
Battling in foreign fields, collecting wide
A laurel harvest for a pillag'd land.

Oh dear-bought trophies when a prince de

ferts

His drooping realm, to pluck the barren fprays!
When faithlefs John ufurp'd the fully'd crown,
What ample tyranny! the groaning land
Deem'd earth, deem'd heaven its foe fix tedious
years

Our helpless fathers in defpair obey'd
The papal interdict; and who obey'd,
The fovereign plunder'd. O inglorious days!
When the French tyrant, by the futile grant
Of papal refcript, claim'd Britannia's throne,
And durft invade; be fuch inglorious days
Or hence forgot, or not recall'd in vain!

Scarce had the tortur'd ear dejected heard
Rome's loud anathema, but heartiefs, dead
To every purpose, men nor wish'd to live,
Nor dar'd to die. The poor laborious hind
Heard the dire curfe, and from his trembling
hand

Fell the neglected crook that rul'd the plain.
Thence journeying home, in every cloud he fees
A vengeful angel, in whofe waving scroll
He reads damnation; fees its fable train
Of grim attendants, penci 'd by despair!

The weary pilgrim from remoter climes

By painful fleps arriv'd; his home, his friends,
His offspring left, to lavish on the fhrine
Of fome far-honour'd faint his coftly ftores,
Inverts his footflep; fickens at the fight
Of the barr'd fane, and filent fheds his tear.
The wretch whofe hope by stern oppreffion chas'd
From every earthly blifs, ftill as it faw
Triumphant wrong, took wing, and flew to hea-

ven,

And rested there, now mourn'd his refuge loft
And wonted peace. The facred fane was barr d,
And the lone altar, where the mourners throng'd
To fupplicate remiffion, fiok'd no more;
While the green weed luxuriant round uprofe
Some from the death-hed, whofe delirious faith
Through every stage of life to Rome's decrees
Obfequious, humbly hop'd to die in peace
Now faw the ghaftly king approach begirt
In tenfold terrors; now expiring heard
The laft loud clarion found, and heaven's decree
With unremitting vengeance bar the skies.
Nor light the grief, by fuperftition weigh'd,
That their difhonour'd corfe, fhut from the verge
Of hallow d earth. or tutelary fane,
Muft fleep with brutes their vaffals, on the field;
Unneath fome path, in marle unexorcis'd!
No folemn bell extort a neighbour's tear!
No tongue of prieft pronounce their foul fecure!
Nor fondest friend affure their peace obtain❜d!

The priest alas, fo boundless was the ill!
He, like the flock he pillaged, pin'd forlorn;
The vivid vermeil fled hi fady cheek,
And his big paunch, diftended with the spoils
Of half his flock; emaciate, groan'd beneath
Superior pride, and mightier luft of power !
Twas now Rome's fondelt friend, whofe meagre
hand

Told to the midnight lamp his holy beads
With nice precifion, felt the deeper wound
As his guli'd foul rever'd the conclave more.
Whom did the ruin fpare? for wealth, for

power,

Birth, honour, virtue, enemy, and friend,
Sunk helpless in the dreary gulph involv'd;
And one capricious curfe envelop'd all!

Were kings fecure? in towering stations born,
In flattery nurs'd, inur'd to fcorn mankind,
Or view diminish'd from their site fublime;
As when a fhepherd, from, the lofty brow
Of fome proud cliff, furveys his leffening flock
In fnowy groups diffufive fcud the vale.

A while the furious menace John return'd, And breath'd defiance loud Alas! too foon Allegiance fickening faw its fovereign yield, An angry prey to fcruples not his own, The loyal foldier girt around with strength, Who lole from mirth and wine his blooming

years,

And feiz'd the faulchion, refolute to guard
His fovereign's right, impalfy'd at the news,
Finds the firm bias of his foul revers'd
For foul defertion; drops the lifted steel,
And quits fame's noblest harvest, to expire
The death of Monks, of furfeit, and of floth!

At length fatigued with wrongs, the fervile king

Drain'd from his land its fmall remaining ftores
To buy remiffion. But could these obtain?
No! refolute in wrongs the priests obdur'd;
Till crawling bafe to Rome's deputed flave,
His fame, his people and his crown, he gave.
Mean monarch: flighted, brav'd, abhorr'd be-
fore!

And now, appeas'd by delegated fway,
The wily pontiff fcorns not to recall
His interdictions. Now the facred doors
Admit repentant multitudes, prepar'd'
To buy deceit; admit obf quious tribes
Of fatraps! princes! crawling to the fhrine
Of fainted villainy! the pompous tomb
Dazzling with gems and gold, or in a cloud
Of incenfe wreath'd, amid a drooping land
That figh'd for bread! is thus the Indian clove
Difplays its verdant leaf, its crimson flower,
And fheds its odours; while the flocks around
Hungry and faint the barren fands explore
In vain! nor plant nor herb endears the foil;
Drain'd and exhaust to fwell its thirsty pores
And furnish luxury. Yet in vain
Britannia ftrove; and whether artful Rome
Carefs'd or curs'd her, fuperftition rag'd
And blinded, fetter'd, and defpoil'd the land."
At length fome murderous monk, with poifo-

For now with more extenfive havoc rag'd Relentless Gregory, with a thousand arts, And each rapacious, born to drain the world! Nor fhall the Muse repeat, how oft he blew The croife's trumpet; then for fums of gold Annull'd the vow, and bade the falfe alarm Swell the grofs hoards of Henry, or his own. Nor fhall the tell, how pontiffs dar'd repeal The best of charters! dar'd abfolve the tye Of British kings by legal oath restrain'd. Nor can fhe dwell on argofies of gold "From Albion's realm to fervile fhores convey'd, Wrung from her fons, and fpceded by her kings! Oh irkfome day! when wicked thrones combine With papal craft, to gull their native land! Such was our fate while Rome's director taught Of fubjects, born to be their monarch's To toil for monks, for gluttony to toil For vacant gluttony; extortion, raud, For avarice, envy, pride, revenge, and fhame' O doctrine breath'd from Stygian caves! exhal'd From inmoft Erebus!-Such Henry's reign! Urging his loyal ralm's reluctant hand

prey,

To wield the peaceful fword by John ere while Forc'd from his fcabbard; and with burnifa'd

lance

Effay the favage cure, domeftic war!

And now some nobler (pirits chas'd the mift Of general darknets Grofted now adorned The mit ed wreath he wore, with reafon's fword Stagfering delufion's frauds; at length beneath Rome's interdict expiring calm, refign'd No vulgar foul, that dar'd to heaven appeal! But ah this fertile glebe, this fair domain, Had well nigh ceded, to the flothful hands Of monks libidinous; ere Edward's care The lavish hand of death-bed fear reftrain'd. Yet was he clear of fuperftition's taint ? He too, mifdeemful of his wholesome law, Ev'n he, expiring gave his treasur’d gold To fatten monks on Salem's distant foil!

Yes, the third Edward's breaft, to papal fway So little prone, and fierce in honour's caufe, Could fuperftition quell! before the towers Of haggard Paris, at the thunder's voice He drops the fword, and figns ignoble peace! But till the night by Romifh art diffus'd Collects her clouds, and with flow peace recedes, When by foft Bourdeau's braver queen approv'd, Bold Wickliff rofe: anc while the bigot power Amidst her native darkness skulk'd fecure, The demon vanish'd as he spread the day. So from his bofom Cacus breath'd of old The pitchy cloud, and in a night of smoke Secure a while his recreant life sustain'd; Till fam'd Alcides, o'er his fubtleft wiles Victorious, chcar'd the ravag'd nations round.

Hail honour'd Wickl! enterprizing fage! An Epicurus in the cause of truth! For 'tis not radiant funs, the jovial hours Of youthful fpring, an æther all ferene, Nor all the verdure of Campania's vales, Can chafe religious loom! 'Tis reason, thought, The light, the radiance that pervades the foul, * Bishop of Lincoln, called Malleus Romanorum.

And sheds its beams on heav'ns mysterious sway!
As yet this light but glimmer'd, and again
Error prevail'd; while kings by force uprais'd
Let loose the rage of bigots on their foes,
And feek affection by the dreadful boon
Of licens'd murder. Ev'n the kindest prince,
The most extende breast, the royal Hal!
All unrelenting heard the Lollards cry
Burft from the centre of remo: felefe flames;
Their fhrieks endur'd Oh flain to martial praife!
When Cobham, generous as the noble peer
That wears his honours, pay'd the fatal price
Of virtue blooming ere the forms were laid!

'Twas thus, alternate, truth's precarious flame
Decay'd or flourish'd. With malignant eye
The pontiff faw Britannia's golden fleece,
Once all his own, inveft his worthier fous !
Her verdant valleys, and her fertile plains,
Yellow with grain, abjure his hateful fway!
Effay'd his utmost art, and inly own'd
No labours bore proportion to the prize.

So when the tempter view'd, with envious eye The first fair pattern of the female frame, All nature s beauties in one form difp ay'd, And centering there, in wid amaze he flood; Then only envying heaven's creative hand: Wish'd to his gloomy reign his envious ares Might win this prize and doubled every fuare.

And vain were reafon, courage, learning, all,
Till power accede: till udor's wild caprice
Smile on their caufe; Tudor, whofe tyrant reign
With mental freedom crown'd the best of kings
Might envious view, and ill prefer their own!
Then Wolley rofe, by nature form'd to seek
Ambition's trophies, by addrefs to win,
By temper to enjoy-whofe humbler birth
Taught the gay fcenes of pomp to dazzle more.
Then from its towering height with horrid
found

Rush'd the proud Abbey. Then the vaulted roofs,
Born from their walls, difclos'd the wanton scene
Of monkish chastity! Each angry friar
Crawl d from his bedded ftrumpet! muttering low
An ineffectual curfe. The pervious nooks
ihat. ages paft, convey'd the guileful priest
To play fome image on the gaping crowd,
Imbibe the novel day-light; and expose
Obvious the fraudful enginery of Rome.
As though this opening earth to nether realms
Should fiafh meridian day, the hooded race
Shudder abash'd to find their cheats difplay'd:
And, confcious of their guilt, and pleas'd to wave
its fearful need, refign'd their fair domain.

Nor yet fupine, nor void of rage, retir'd The peft gigantic; whofe revengeful ftroke ling'd the red annals of Maria's reign. When from the tendereft breaft each wayward priest

Could banish mercy and implant a fiend!
When cruelty the funeral pyre uprear'd,
And bound religion there, and fir'd the bafe!
When the fame blaze, which on each tortur'd
limb

Fed with luxuriant rage, in every face

Dd 2

Triumphant