By sudden sickness, at his master's feet
Begs not that aid his services might claim,
But is his own physician, knows the case,
And from th' emetic herbage works his cure.
Hark, from afar the feather'd matron'screams,
And all her brood alarms, the docile crew
Accept the signal one and all, expert
In the art of nature and unlearn'd deceit :
Along the sod, in counterfeited death,
Mute, motionless they lie; full well appriz'd,
That the rapacious adversary's near.
But who inform'd her of the approaching danger,
Who taught the cautious mother that the hawk
Was hatcht her foe, and liv'd by her destruction?
Her own prophetic soul is active in her,
And more than human providence her guard.
When Philomela, e'er the cold domain
Of crippled winter 'gins t' advance, prepares
Her annual flight, and in some poplar shade
Takes her melodious leave, who then's her pilot?
Who points her passage thro' the pathless void
To realms from us remote, to us unknown?
Her science is the science of her God.
Not the magnetic index to the north
E'er ascertains her course, nor buoy, nor beacon,
She Heav'n-taught voyager, that sails in air,
Courts nor coy west nor east, but iustant knows
What Newton, or not sought, or sought in
vain2.
Illustrious name, irrefragable proof
Of man's vast genius, and the soaring soul!
Yet what wert thou to him, who knew his works,
Before creation form'd them, long before
He measur'd in the hollow of his hand
Th' exulting ocean, and the highest Heav'ns
He comprehended with a span, and weigh'd
The mighty mountains in his golden scales:
Who shone supreme, who was himself the light,
Ere yet Refraction learn'd her skill to paint,
And bend athwart the clouds her beauteous bow.
When Knowledge at her father's dread com-
mand
Resign'd to Israel's king her golden key,
Oh to have join'd the frequent auditors
In wonder and delight, that whilom heard
Great Solomon descanting on the brutes!
Oh how sublimely glorious to apply
To God's own honour, and good will to man,
That wisdom he alone of men possess'd
In plenitude so rich, and scope so rare!
How did he rouse the pamper'd silken sons
Of bloated ease, by placing to their view
The sage industrious ant, the wisest insect,
And best economist of all the field!
Tho' she presumes not by the solar orb
To measure time and seasons, nor consults
Chaldean calculations, for a guide;
Yet conscious that December's on the march
Pointing with icy hand to want and woe,
She waits his dire approach, and undismay'd
Receives him as a welcome guest, prepar'd
Against the churlish winter's fiercest blow.
For when, as yet the favourable Sun
Gives to the genial earth th' enlivening ray,
Not the poor suffering slave, that hourly toils
The hen turkey. 2 The longitude.
To rive the groaning earth for ill-sought gold,
Endures such trouble, such fatigue, as she;
While all her subterraneous avenues,
And storm-proof cells, with management most
And unexampled housewifry, she forms,
Then to the field she hies, and on her back,
Burden immense! sbe bears the cumbrous corn.
Then many a weary step, and many a strain,
And many a grievous groan subdued, at length
Up the huge hill she hardly heaves it home:
Nor rests she here her providence, but nips
With subtle tooth the grain, lest from her garner
In mischievous fertility it steal,
And back to day-light vegetate its way.
Go to the aut, thou sluggard, learn to live,
And by her wary ways reform thine own.
But, if thy deaden'd sense, and listless thought
More glaring evidence demand; behold,
Where yon pellucid populous hive presents
A yet uncopied model to the world!
There Machiavel in the reflecting glass
May read himself a fool. The chymist there
May with astonishment invidious view
His toils outdone by each plebeian bee,
Who, at the royal mandate, on the wing
From various herbs, and from discordant flow'rs
A perfect harmony of sweets compounds.
Avaunt Conceit, Ambition take thy flight
Back to the prince of vanity and air!
Oh! tis a thought of energy most piercing,
Form'd to make pride grow humble; form'd to
force
Its weight on the reluctant mind, and give her
A true but irksome image of herself.
Woful vicissitude! when man, fall'n man,
Who first from Heav'n, from gracious God him-
[brutes
Learn'd knowledge of the brutes, must know by
Instructed and reproach'd, the scale of being;
By slow degrees from lowly steps ascend,
And trace Omniscience upwards to its spring!
Yet murmur not, but praise-for tho' we stand
Of many a Godlike privilege amerc'd
By Adam's dire transgression, tho' no more
Is Paradise our home, but o'er the portal
Hangs in terrific pomp the burning blade;
Still with ten thousand beauties blooms the
With pleasures populous,and with riches crown'd,
Still is there scope for wonder and for love
Ev'n to their last exertion-show'rs of blessings
Far more than human virtue can deserve,
Or hope expect, or gratitude return.
Then, O ye people, O ye sons of men,
Whatever be the colour of your lives,
Whatever portion of itself his wisdom
Shall deign t' allow, still patiently abide,
And praise him more and more; nor cease to
chant
All glory to the Omniscient, and praise,
And pow'r, and domination in the height!
Aud thou, cherubic Gratitude, whose voice
To pious ears sounds silverly so sweet.
Come with thy precious incense, bring thy gifts,
And with the choicest stores the altar crown.
Fall headlong in one horrible cascade,
'Twere but the echo of the parting breeze,
POWER OF THE SUPREME BEING, When Zephyr faints upon the lily's breast,
A CLAUSE OF
MR. SEATON'S WILL,
Dated Oct. 8, 1758.
IGIVE my Kislingbury estate to the university of Cambridge for ever: the rents of which shall be disposed of yearly by the vice-chancellor for the time being, as he the vice-chancellor, the master of Clare-hall, and the Greek professor for the time being, or any two of them, shall agree. Which three persons aforesaid shall give out a subject, which subject shall for the first year be one or other of the perfections or attributes of the Supreme Being, and so the succeeding years, till the subject is exhausted; and afterwards the subject shall be either Death, Judgment, Heaven, Heil, Purity of Heart, &c. or whatever else may be judged by the viccchancellor, master of Clare-Hall, and Greek professor to be most conducive to the honour of the Supreme Being and recommendation of virtue. And they shall yearly dispose of the rent of the above estate to that master of arts, whose poem on the subject given shall be best approved by them. Which poem I ordain to be always in English, and to be printed; the expense of which shall be deducted out of the product of the estate, and the residue given as a reward for the composer of the poem,or ode, or copy of verses. WE the underwritten do assign Mr. Scafor his ton's reward to C. Smart, M. A. poem on The Power of the Supreme Being, and direct the said poem to be printed; according to the tenor of the will.
![[merged small][ocr errors]](https://books.google.ee/books/content?id=5OEUAAAAYAAJ&hl=et&output=html_text&pg=PA33&img=1&zoom=3&q=Earth&cds=1&sig=ACfU3U0ZuJ6h_Tu6xFDcy9SWXh2BHovE-w&edge=0&edge=stretch&ci=72,1028,114,74)
P, YONGE, vice-chancellor,
J. WILCOX, master of Clare-Hall,
THO. FRANKLIN, Greek professor.
TREMBLE, thou Earth!" th' anointed poet said, "At God's bright presence, tremble, all ye moun
And all ye hillocks on the surface bound.",
Then once again, ye glorious thunders, roll,
The Muse with transport hears ye, once again
Convulse the solid continent, and shake,
Grand music of Omnipotence, the isles.
'Tis thy terrific voice; thou God of power,
"Tis thy terrific voice; all Nature hears it
Awaken'd and alarm'd; she feels its force,
In every spring she feels it, every wheel,
And every movement of her vast machine.
Behold! quakes Apennine, behold! recoils
Athos, and all the hoary-headed Alps
Leap from their bases at the godlike sound,
But what is this, celestial though the note,
And proclamation of the reign supreme,
Compar'd with such as, for a mortal ear
Too great, amaze the incorporeal worlds?
Shou'd Ocean to his congretated waves
Call in each river, cataract, and lake,
And with the watery world down a huge rock
VOL. XVI.
"Twere but the ceasing of some instrument,
When the last ling'ring undulation
Dies on the doubting ear, if nam'd with sounds
So mighty! so stupendous! so divine!
But not alone in the aërial vault
Does he the dread theocracy maintain;
For oft, enrag'd with his intestine thunders,
He harrows up the bowels of the Earth,
And shocks the central magnet---Cities then
Totter on their foundations, stately columus,
Maguific walls, and heav'n-assaulting spires.
What tho' in haughty eminence erect
Stands the strong citadel, and frowns defiance
On adverse hosts, though many a bastion jut
Forth from the ramparts elevated mound,
Vain the poor providence of human art,
And mortal strength how vain! while underneath
Triumphs his mining vengeance in th' uproar
Of shatter'd towers, riven rocks, and mountains,
With clamour inconceivable uptorn,
And hurl'd adown th' abyss. Sulphureous pyrites
Bursting abrupt from darkness into day,
With din outrageous and destructive ire
Augment the hideous tumult, while it wounds
Th' afflicted ear, and terrifies the eye
And rends the heart in twain. Twice have we felt,
Within Angusta's walls twice have we felt
Thy threaten'd indignation, but ev'n thou,
Incens'd Omnipotent, art gracious ever:
Thy goodness infinite but mildly warn'd us
With mercy-blended wrath: O spare us still,
Nor send more dire conviction: we confess
That thou art he, th' Almighty: we believe:
For at thy righteous power whole systems quake,
For at thy nod tremble ten thousand worlds.
Hark! on the winged whirlwind's rapid rage,
Which is and is not ip a moment-hark!
On the hurricane's tempestuous sweep he rides
Invincible, and oaks and pines and cedars
For conflict dreadful!
And forests are no more.
The West encounters East, and Notus meets
In his career the Hyperborean blast.
The lordly lions shudd'ring seek their dens,
And fly like tim'rous deer; the king of birds,
Who dar'd the solar ray, is weak of wing,
And faints and falls and dies;-while he supreme
Stands stedfast if in the centre of the storm.
Wherefore, ye objects terrible and great,
Ye thunders, carthquakes, and ye fire-fraught
wombs
Of feil volcanoes, whirlwinds, hurricanes,
And boiling billows hail! in chorus join
To celebrate and magnify your Maker,
Who yet in works of a minuter mould
Is not less manifest, is not less mighty.
Survey the magnet's sympathetic love,
That wooes the yielding needle; contemplate
Th' attractive amber's power, invisible
Ev'n to the mental eye; or when the blow
Sent from th' electric sphere assaults thy frame,
Show me the hand, that dealt it!-baffled here
By his omnipotence, Philosophy
Slowly her thoughts inadequate revolves, [her,
And stands, with all his circling wonders round
Like heavy Saturn in th' etherial space
Begirt with an inexplicable ring.
If such the operations of his power,
Which at all seasons and in ev'ry place
(Rul'd by establish'd laws and current nature)
Arrest th' attention! Who? O who shall tell
His acts miraculous, when by his own decrees
Repeals he, or suspends, when by the hand
Of Moses or of Joshua, or the mouths
Of his prophetic seers, such deeds he wrought,
Before th' astonish'd Sun's all-seeing eye,
That faith was scarce a virtue. Need I sing
The fate of Pharaoh and his numerous band
Lost in the reflux of the watry walls,
That melted to their fluid state again?
Need I recount how Sampson's warlike arm
With more than mortal nerves was strung t' o'er-
throw
Being, is inscribed, by his, lordship's most obliged, and obedient servant,
MR. SEATON'S WILL,
Dated Oct. 8, 1738.
GIVE my Kislingbury estate to the university of Cambridge for ever: the rents of which shall be disposed of yearly by the vice-chancellor for the time being, as he the vice-chancellor, the master of Clare-hall, and the Greek professor for the time being, or any two of them, shall agree. Which three persons aforesaid shall give out a subject, which subject shall for the first year be one or other of the perfections or attri[tion butes of the Supreme Being, and so the sucredemp-ceeding years, till the subject is exhausted; and afterwards the subject shall be either Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell, Purity of Heart, &c. or whatever else may be judged by the vice-chancellor, master of Clare-hall, and Greek professor to be most conducive to the honour of the Su
Idolatrous Philistia? Shall I tell
How David triumph'd, and what Job sustain'd?
-But, O supreme, unutterable mercy!
O love unequal'd, mystery immense,
Which angels long t'unfold! 'tis man's
That crowns thy glory, and thy pow'r confirms,
Confirms the great, th' uncontroverted claim.
When from the Virgin's unpolluted womb,
Shone forth the Sun of Righteousness reveal'd
And on benighted reason pour'd the day;
"Let there be peace" (he said) and all was calm
Amongst the warring world-calm as the sea,
When" Peace, be still, ye boisterous winds,"
he cry'd,
And not a breath was blown, nor murmur heard.
His was a life of miracles and might,
And charity and love, ere yet he taste
The bitter draught of death, ere yet he rise
Victorious o'er the universal foe,
And Death, and Sin and Hell in triumph lead.
His by the right of conquest is mankind,
And in sweet servitude and golden bonds
Were ty'd to him for ever.-O how easy
Is his ungalling yoke, and all his burdens
'Tis ecstacy to bear! Him, blessed Shepherd,
His flocks shall follow through the maze of life,
And shades that tend to day-spring from on high;
And as the radiant roses, after fading,
In fuller foliage and more fragrant breath
Revive in smiling spring, so shall it fare
With those that love him-for sweet is their sa-
And all eternity shall be their spring.
Then shall the gates and everlasting doors,
At which the King of Glory enters in,
Be to the saints unbarr'd: and there, where
pleasure
Boasts an undying bloom, where dubious hope
Is certainty, and grief-attended love
Is freed from passion-there we'll celebrate
With worthier numbers, him, who is, and was,
And in immortal prowess King of Kings
Shall be the Monarch of all worlds for ever.
ORPHEUS, for so the Gentiles call'd thy name',
Israel's sweet psalmist, who alone could wake
Th' inanimate to motion; who alone
The joyful hillocks, the applauding rocks,
Aud floods with musical persuasion drew;
Thou, who to hail and snow gav'st voice and sound,
And mad'st the mute melodious !-greater yet
Was thy divinest skill, and rul'd o'er more
Than art or nature; for thy tuneful touch
Drove trembling Satan from the heart of Saul,
And quell'd the evil angel :-in this breast
Some portion of thy genuine spirit breathe,
And lift me from myself; each thought impure
Banish; each low idea raise, refine,
Enlarge, and sanctify;-so shall the Muse
GOODNESS OF THE SUPREME BEING, Above the stars aspire, and aim to praise
To the right honourable the earl of Darlington this essay on the Goodness of the Supreme
Her God on Earth, as he is prais'd in Heaven.
Immense Creator! whose all-powerful hand
'See this conjecture strongly supported by De-
lany in his Life of David.
Fram'd universal being, and whose eye
Saw like thyself, that all things form'd were good;
Where shall the tim'rous bard thy praise begin, Where end the purest sacrifice of song,
And just thanksgiving ?-The thought-kindling light,
Thy prime production, darts upon iny mind
Its vivifying beams, my heart illumines,
And fills my soul with gratitude and thee.
Hail to the cheerful rays of ruddy morn,
That paint the streaky east, and blithsome
The birds, the cattle, and mankind from rest!
Hail to the freshness of the early breeze,
And Iris dancing on the new-fall'n dew!
Without the aid of yonder golden globe
Lost were the garnet's lustre, lost the lily,
The tulip and auricula's spotted pride;
Lost were the peacock's plumage, to the sight
So pleasing in its pomp and glossy glow.
O thrice-illustrious! were it not for thee
Those pansies, that reclining from the bank,
View through th' immaculate, pellucid stream
Their portraiture in the inverted Heaven,
Might as well change their triple boast, the
white,
The purple, and the gold, that far outvie
The eastern monarch's garb, ev'n with the dock,
Ev'n with the baneful hemlock's irksome green.
Without thy aid, without thy gladsome beams
The tribes of woodland warblers would remain
Mute on the bending branches, nor recite
The praise of him, who, e'er he form'd their
lord,
Their voices tun'd to transport, wing'd their flight,
And bade them call for nurture, and receive;
And lo! they call; the blackbird and the thrush,
The woodlark, and the redbreast jointly call;
He hears and feeds their feather'd families,
He feeds his sweet musicians,-nor neglects
Th' invoking ravens in the greenwood wide;
And though their throats coarse ruttling hurt the
They mean it all for music, thanks and praise
They mean, and leave ingratitude to man ;-
But not to all,-for hark! the organs blow
Their swelling notes round the cathedral's dome,
And grace th' harmonious choir, celestial feast
To pious ears, and med'cine of the mind;
The thrilling trebles and the manly base
Join in accordance meet, and with one voice
All to the sacred subject suit their song:
While in each breast sweet melancholy reigns
Angelically pensive, till the joy
Improves and purifies; the solemn scene
The Sun through storied panes surveys with awe,
And bashfully with-holds each bolder beain.
Here, as her home, from morn to eve frequents
The cherub Gratitude ;-behold her eyes!
With love and gladness weepingly they shed
Ecstatic smiles; the incense, that her hands
Uprear, is sweeter than the breath of May
Caught from the nectarine's blossom, and her
voice
Is more than voice can tell; to him she sings,
To him who feeds, who clothes and who adorns,
Who made and who preserves, whatever dwells
In air, in steadfast earth, or fickle sea.
O he is good, he is immensely good!
Who all things form'd, and form'd them all for
Who mark'd the climates, varied every zone,
Dispensing all his blessings for the best
In order and in beauty :-raise, attend,
Attest, and praise, ye quarters of the world!
Bow down, ye elephants, submissive bow
To him, who made the mite; though Asia's pride,
Ye carry armies on your tow'r-crown'd backs,
And grace the turban'd tyrants, bow to him
Who is as great, as perfect and as good
In his less striking wonders, till at length
The eye's at fault and seeks the assisting glass.
Approach and bring from Araby the blest
The fragrant cassia, frankincense and myrrh,
And meekly kneeling at the altar's foot
Lay all the tributary incense down.
Stoop, sable Africa, with rev'rence stoop,
And from thy brow take off the painted plume;
With golden ingots all thy camels load
Tadorn his temples, hasten with thy spear
Reverted, and thy trusty bow unstrung,
While unpursu'd the lions roam and roar,
And ruin'd tow'rs, rude rocks and caverns wide
Remurmur to the glorious, surly sound.
And thou, fair India, whose immense domain
To counterpoise the hemisphere extends,
Haste from the west, and with thy fruits and
Thy mines and med'cines, wealthy maid, attend.
More than the plenteousness so fam'd to flow
By fabling bards from Amalthea's horn
Is thine; thine therefore be a portion due
Of thanks and praise: come with thy brilliant
And vest of fur; and from thy fragrant lap
Pomegranates and the rich ananas pour.
But chiefly thou, Europa, seat of grace
And christian excellence, his goodness own,
Forth from ten thousand temples pour his
praise;
Clad in the armour of the living God
Approach, unsheath the Spirit's flaming sword;
Faith's shield, salvation's glory,—compass'd
helm
With fortitude assume, and o'er your heart
Fair truth's invulnerable breast-plate spread!
Then join the general chorus of all worlds,
And let the song of charity begin
In strains seraphic, and melodious pray'r.
"O all-sufficient, all beneficent,
Thou God of goodness and of glory, hear!
Thou, who to lowliest minds dost condescend,
Assuming passions to enforce thy laws,
Adopting jealousy to prove thy love:
Thou, who resign'd humility uphold,
Ev'n as the florist props the drooping rose,
But quell tyrannic pride with peerless pow'r,
Ev'n as the tempest rives the stubborn oak,
O all-sufficient, all-beneficent,
Thou God of goodness and of glory, hear!
Bless all mankind, and bring them in the end
To Heav'n, to immortality, and thee !"
Me quoque Parnassi per lubicra culmina
raptat
Landis amor: studium sequor insanabile vatis,
Ausus non operam, non formidare poetæ
Nomen, adoratum quondam, nunc pæne procaci
Monstratum digito.-
VAN. PRED. RUST.
THE land that answers best the farmer's care,
And silvers to maturity the hop:
When to inhume the plants; to turn the glebe;
And wed the tendrils to th' aspiring poles :
Under what sign to pluck the crop, and how
To cure, and in capacious sacks infold,
I teach in verse Miltonian. Smile the Muse,
And meditate an honour to that land
Where first I breath'd, and struggled into life,
Impatient, Cantium, to be call'd thy son.
Oh! cou'd I emulate skilled Sydney's Muse,
Thy Sydney, Cantium-He, from court retir'd,
In Penshurst's sweet Elysium sung delight,
Sung transport to the soft-responding streams
Of Medway, and enliven'd all her groves:
While ever near him, goddess of the green,
Fair Pembroke sat and smil'd immense
plause.
With vocal fascination charm'd the hours',
Unguarded left Heav'n's adamantine gate,
And to his lyre, swift as the winged sounds
That skim the air, danc'd unperceiv'd away.
Had I such pow'r, no peasants humble toil
Shou'd e'er debase my lay: far nobler themes,
The high achievements of thy warrior kings
Shou'd raise my thoughts, and dignify my song.
But I, young rustic, dare not leave my cot,
For so enlarg'd a sphere-ah! Muse beware,
Lest the loud larums of the braying trump,
Lest the deep drum shou'd drown thy tender
reed,
Imparadis'd, blest denizons, ye dwell;
Or Dorovernia's awful tow'rs ye love:
Or plough Tunbridgia's salutiferous hills
Industrious, and with draughts chalybiate heal'd,
Confess divine Hygeia's blissful seat;
The Muse demands your presence, ere she tune
Her monitory voice; observe her well,
And catch the wholesome dictates as they fall.
'Midst thy paternal acres, farmer, say
Has gracious Heav'n bestow'd one field, that.
Its loamy bosom in the mid-day Sun,
Emerging gently from the abject vale,
Nor yet obnoxious to the wind, secure
There shalt thou plant thy hop. This soil, per-
[haps,
Thou'lt say, will fill my garners. Be it so.
But Ceres, rural goddess, at the best
Meanly supports her vot'ry', enough for her,
If ill-persuading hunger she repell,
And keep the soul from fainting: to enlarge,
To glad the heart, to sublimate the mind,
And wing the flagging spirits to the sky,
Require th' united influence and aid
Of Bacchus, god of hops, with Ceres join'd.
Tis he shall generate the buxom beer.
Theu on one pedestal, and hand in hand,
Sculptur'd in Parian stone (so gratitude
Indites) let the divine co-partners rise.
Stands eastward in thy field a wood? tis well.
Esteem it as a bulwark of thy wealth,
And cherish all its branches; tho' we'll grant,
Its leaves umbrageous may intercept
The morning rays, and envy some small share
Of Sol's beneficence to th' infant germ.
ap- Yet grudge not that: when whistling Eurus comes,
With all his worlds of insects in thy lands
To hyemate, and monarchize o'er all
Thy vegetable riches, then thy wood
Shall ope it's arms expansive, and embrace
The storm reluctant, and divert its rage.
Armies of animalcules urge their way
In vain: the ventilating trees oppose
Their airy march. They blacken distant plains.
This site for thy young nursery obtain'd,
Thou hast begun auspicious, if the soil
(As sung before) be loamy; this the hop
Loves above others, this is rich, is deep,
Is viscous, and tenacious of the pole.
Yet maugre all its native worth, it may
Be meliorated with warm compost. See!
Yon craggy mountain7, whose fastidious head
Divides the star-set hemisphere above,
And Cantium's plains beneath; the Apennine
Of a free Italy, whose chalky sides
With verdant shrubs dissimilarly gay,
Still captivate the eye, while at his feet
The silver Medway glides, and in her breast
Views the reflected landscape, charm'd she views
And murmurs louder ecstasy below.
Here let us rest a while, pleas'd to behold
Th' all beautiful horizon's wide expanse,
Far as the eagle's ken. Here tow'ring spires
First catch the eye, and turn the thoughts to
Heav'n.
And mar its puny joints: me, lowly swain,
Every unshaven arboret, me the lawns,
Me the voluminous Medway's silver wave,
Content inglorious3, and the hopland shades!
Yeomen and countrymen, attend my song:
Whether you shiver in the marshy Weald,
Egregious shepherds of unnumber'd flocks,
Whose fleeces, poison'd into purple, deck
All Europe's kings: or in fair Madum's 5 vale
'Sister to sir Philip Sydney.
2.Πυλαι μικον ερανε ἃς εχον Ωραι. Hom. E. 3 Rure mihi, & rigui placeant in vallibus
Flumina amem, sylvasque in glorius !
VIRG. GEORG. 2.
4 Commonly, but improperly called, the Wild.
• Maidstone,
7 Boxley-Hill, which extends through great part of Kent.
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