HORE LYRICÆ.

BOOK II.

SACRED TO

VIRTUE, HONOUR, AND FRIENDSHIP.

TO HER MAJESTY.

QUEEN of the Northern world, whose gentle sway
Commands our love, and charms our hearts to' obey,
Forgive the nation's groan when William died:
Lo, at thy feet in all the loyal pride

Of blooming joy, three happy realms appear,
And William's urn almost without a tear

Stands; nor complains: while from thy gracious tongue

Peace flows in silver streams amidst the throng.
Amazing balm, that on those lips was found,
To soothe the torment of that mortal wound,
And calm the wild affright! The terror dies,
The bleeding wound cements, the danger flies,
And Albion shouts thine honours as her joys arise.

I

The German eagle feels her guardian dead,
Not her own thunder can secure her head;
Her trembling eaglets hasten from afar,
And Belgia's lion dreads the Gallic war;
All hide behind thy shield. Remöter lands,
Whose lives lay trusted in Nassovian hands,
Transfer their souls, and live; secure they play
In thy mild rays, and love the growing day.
Thy beamy wing at once defends and warms
Fainting religion, whilst in various forms
Fair piety shines through the British isles:
Here at thy side, and in thy kindest smiles
Blazing in ornamental gold she stands,
To bless thy councils, and assist thy hands,
And crowds wait round her to receive commands.
There, at a humble distance from the throne2,
Beauteous she lies; her lustre all her own,
Ungarnish'd; yet not blushing, nor afraid,
Nor knows suspicion, nor affects the shade:
Cheerful and pleas'd, she not presumes to share
In thy parental gifts, but owns thy guardian care,
For thee, dear Sovereign, endless vows arise,
And zeal, with earthly wing, salutes the skies
To gain thy safety: here a solemn form'
Of ancient words keeps the devotion warm,
And guides, but bounds our wishes: there the
mind 2

Feels its own fire, and kindles, unconfin'd,
With bolder hopes: yet still beyond our vows,
Thy lovely glories rise, thy spreading terror grows.

1 The Established Church of England.

The Protestant Dissenters.

Princess! the world already owns thy name: Go, mount the chariot of immortal fame, Nor die to be renown'd; Fame's loudest breath Too dear is purchas'd by an angel's death. The vengeance of thy rod, with general joy, Shall scourge rebellion and the rival boy 3; Thy sounding arms his Gallic patron hears And speeds his flight; nor overtakes his fears, Till hard despair wring from the tyrant's soul The iron tears out. Let thy frown control Our angry jars at home, till wrath submit Her impious banners to thy sacred feet. Mad zeal and frenzy, with their murderous train, Flee these sweet realms in thine auspicious reign, Envy expire in rage, and Treason bite the chain.

Let no black scenes affright fair Albion's stage: Thy thread of life prolong our golden age, Long bless the earth, and late ascend thy throne Ethereal; (not thy deeds are there unknown, Nor there unsung; for, by thine awful hands, Heaven rules the waves, and thunders o'er the lands, Creates inferior kings 4, and gives them their comLegions attend thee at the radiant gates ; [mands), For thee thy sister-seraph, blest Maria, waits.

But oh! the parting stroke! some heavenly power Cheer thy sad Britons in the gloomy hour; Some new propitions star appear on high, The fairest glory of the western sky, And Anna be its name; with gentle sway, To check the planets of malignant ray,

3 The Pretender.

4 She made Charles, the Emperor's second sou, King Spain, who was afterwards Emperor of Germany.

Soothe the rude north-wind, and the rugged bear,
Calm rising wars, heal the contagious air,
And reign with peaceful influence to the south-
ern sphere.

Note. This poem was written in the year 1705, in that honourable part of the reign of Queen Anne, when she had broke the French power at Blenheim, asserted the right of Charles, the present Emperor, to the crown of Spain; exerted her zeal for the protestant succession; and promised, inviolably, to maintain the toleration to the protestant dissenters. Thus she appeared the chief support of the reformation, and the patroness of the liberties of Europe.

The latter part of her reign was of a different colour, and was by no means attended with the accomplishment of those glorious hopes which we had conceived. Now the Muse cannot satisfy herself to publish this new editon without acknowledging the mistake of her former presages : and while she does the world this justice, she does herself the honour of a voluntary retraction.

August 1, 1721.

J. W.

PALINODIA.

BRITONS, forgive the forward Muse,
That dar'd prophetic seals to loose,
(Unskill'd in Fate's eternal book)
And the deep characters mistook.
George is the name, that glorious star;
Ye saw his splendors beaming far;
Saw, in the East, your joys arise,

When Anna sunk in Western skies,

Streaking the heavens with crimson gloom,
Emblems of Tyranny and Rome,
Portending blood and night to come.
'Twas George diffus'd a vital ray,
And gave the dying nations day: