breaking the Trust repos'd by the State in those Magiftrates who were originally defign'd to be Checks upon Abfolute Power? Arulenus then had good Reason to fay," I-am Tribune of the People; I am therefore oblig'd to hinder the Se nate from deftroying an innocent Man." But what avail'd it that it was his Right, and his Duty, fince the Power of acting agreeably to AA Differtation, whether the Hebrews borrow'ď that Right and Duty was loft? The Refult of all this js, That, in fo corrupted a Government, a Man of Virtue bould not meddle at all. and Augufus, and Tiberius, who were Men of Ability, but fich Ideots as Claudius, and fuch Mad-men as Caligula, fuch Scoundrels as Tigellinusy and fuch Jades as Poppaa, were able to Rule, Infult, and Plunder a Nation proud of its -Liberties. They who confider the Magiftracies, and the Legislature itself, of their Country, not as Trufts from the Publick, but only as Steps to Power, and Wealth, may be fond of attaining them under any Conditions; nay they may like them the better when they are most defiled with Corruption, as the dirtieft Soil is the fatteft, and yields moft to the Owner:But honeft Men fhould refolve not to come into Publick Em ployments, nor accept any Trufts from the Commonwealth at a Time when it is become imprac ticable to execute them to the Ends for which" they were given:Much lefs fhould they ac- C cept them when the Ufes of them are so strangely perverted, as that, inftead of being the Checks, which they were intended to be, they are made the Inftruments, and Screens of Male- Administration. In fuch a Circumftance it is not fufficient to fay, "What would you have me do? I can only ruin myself, I cannot ferve my Country by D doing what my Duty requires:" If you cannot ferve your Country, do not ferve yourself at ber Goft If you cannot ferve your Country, at least, do not impofe upon ber. Do not call yourself a Tribune, or a Judge, or a Senator, when you are reduc'd to be nothing but the Tool of a Court: Do not make the People fancy they have a Protector in you, when you know you cannot protect them; when you know your Office itself is only kept up to opprefs them under a fairer Appearance. For it is this Outfide of Liberty which fecures and perpetuates Tyranny. If the Honefter Part of thefe who are capable of Publick Employments, would agree to tefufe them 'till they are brought back to their due Independency, and 'till they may be executed as they ought; it would go a great Way towards the Reforming and Refering of the moft Corrupted State in the World: For it would oblige Thofe who govern either to break thro' all Forms, throw off all Appearances, and change the whole Frame of the Government, which is a D.fficulty next to impoffible, as all Hiftory fhews; or the People, feeing the Abuses, would endure them no longer, and the Spirit of the Conft-tution would by that Means be revived. If no Man of Cha racter would ever come into the Senate, 'till the Voters there were Free, and the Houfe purg'd of Corruption, either it would be fo purg'd, or that Expedient of Governing by the Form of a Free Senate must be wholly thrown off And it would have very much emba.rafs'd Julius Caefar H himself, if he had been obliged to govern the Late Free People of Rome with as bare-fac'd a Defpotick Power as the Kings of Perfia did the Slaves of the Eaft. But with the fpecious Names of a Senate, Confuls, Tribunes, &c, not only He G any Cupoms from the Heathens? and whether Temples were before the Tabernacle? Addrefs'd tod Curate of Sp. (See p. 23,24.) EAL for the two most valuable Things in Life, Truth and Religion, makes an honourable Part in the Compofition of any Man's Character, and when Centure and Rebuke proceed from it (as I will now fuppofe yours, Sir, to have done) there is no great Reason to complain. But Perfons, equally affected with the fame Paflion or Virtue, may differ in Opinion without Blame. I confess therefore that I am not in the fame way of Thinking with those of the Learned, who maintain, that the Hebrews borrow'd no Cuftoms of the Heathens, and did nothing after their Example. In defence of my Notion, I hope I fhall not advance a Fact falle in itself, or injurious to reveal'd Religion: I am fure I have no Intention to do it. Now then, though we grant that the Tabernacle and Temple of the Ifraelites were both built by the pofitive Command of God, and may alfo believe that the Models of those Structures, as well as the Ufe of them," might "be" given by him: Yet, fince the Holy Scripture may not be prefum'd to inform us of all Circumftances and Defigns of Things, when not neceffary to be known; are we then abfolutely ceras tain of the whole Nature of their Original? And might they not, for any thing that can be demonftrated to the contrary, have been erected after the Example of Heathens, though by the Command of GOD? May not Customs and Manners, if innocent, laudable and useful, be deriv'd from Heathenifm, without Prejudice to Juda fin or Chrift anity? Is it any Reflection upon the Truth and Divinity of Scripture, and the Wifdem and Holiness of the Deity, to think or fay, that he might recommend and introduce among his favourite. People a good Practice, of an indifferent Nature in itself, which he obferv'd/among the Heathens? For if the Object of their Worship had been right, the Ufe of Temples, if they had any, had been good. When the Children of Ifrael were first commanded to contribute their feveral Offerings towards making Sanctuary, after the Pattern of the Tabernacle "which theLord thew'd Mafestis not clear by thofe Words, whether that Pattern was a new Draught or Model then laid before them, or fome old Tabernacle, Tent, or Temple, which ' had been made and feen fomewhere before that " Time. If it can be prov'd, that Heathens liv'd before" Ifraelites, and had the Advantage, thro' Priority of Time, of being the Inventers, &c. The ingenious Author proceeds to offenbis Proofs, subich we refer to another Opportunity, 470. GADOR the old, the wealthy and the ftrong, 10 1. Cheerful in years (nor of th' beroic mufe Unknowing, nor unknown) beld fair poffeffions Where flows the fruitful Danube: Seventy Springs Smil` & on bis feed, and seventy barveft-moons Fill'd his wide gran ries with autumnal joy : Still be refum'd the toil: And fame reports, While be broke up new ground, and tir'd his plough In graffy furrows, the torn earth difclos'd Helmets, and fwords (bright furniture of war Sleeping in ruft) and heaps of mighty bones. The fun defcending to the western deep Bid him lie down and reft; he loos'd the yoke, Yet held his wearied oxen from their food With charming numbers, and uncommon fong. Go, fellow-labourers, you may rove fecure, Or feed befide me; tafte the greens and boughs That you have long forgot; crop the fweet herb, And aze in fafety, while the victor-Pole Leans on his fpear, and breathes; yet still his eye zo Jealous and fierce. How large, old foldier, fay, How fair a harvest of the flaughter'd Turks Strew'd the Moldavian fields? What mighty piles Of vaft deftruction, and of Thracian dead Fill and amaze my eyes? Broad bucklers lie (Avain Defence) (pread o'er the pathless hills, And coats of fealed steel, and bard habergeon, Deep-bruis'd, and empty of Mahometan limbs. This the fierce Saracen wore, (for when a boy, I was their captive, and remind their drefs:) Here the Polonians dreadful march'd along In august port, and regular array, Led on to conqueft: Here the Turkish chief Prefumptuous trod, and in rude order rang'd His long battalions, while bis populous torons Pour'd out fresh troops perpetual, dreft in arms, Horrent in mail, and gay in fpangled pride. 30 O the dire image of the bloody fight Thefe eyes have feen, when the capacious plain Was throng'd with Dacian spears; when polife'd belms And convex gold blax'd thick against the fun 40 49 arms; The ftorm of miffive ftecl delay'da while By wife command; fledg'd arrows on the nerve ; And feymiter and fabre bore the fbeath Reluctant; till the hollow brazen clouds Had bellow'd from each quarter of the field Loud thunder, and difgorg'd their fulph'rous fire." Then banners way'd, and arms were mix'd Then javelins anfwer'd javelins as they fled, For both fled, biffing death: With adverse edge The crooked fauchions met; and hideous noife From clashing fhields, thro' the long ranks of war, Clang'd borrible. A thousand iron florms Roar diverfe: and in barfb cenfufion drown The trumpet's filver found, rude effort 6 graze in safety Of barmony! not all the frozen ftores Uproar, revenge, and rage, and hate appear 7༠ Shine thro' the field with more furprizing brightness And fudden wrath dies into endless fame. Long did the fate of war hang dubious. Here Stood the more num'rous Turk, the valiant Pole Fought here; more dreadful, tho' leffer wings. 100 110 But what the Dabees, or the coward foul Of a Cydonian, what the fearful crouds Of bale Cilicians fcaping from the flaughter, Or Parthian beafts, "with all their racing riders, What could they mean against th' intrepid breast Of the pursuing foe? Th' impetuous Poles Rufh here, and here the Lithuanian horse Drive down upon them like a double bolt Of kindled thunder raging thro' the sky On founding wheels; or as fome mighty flood Rolls his two torrents down a dreadful fleep Precipitant, and bears along the stream Rocks, woods, and trees, with all the grazing herd, And tumbles lofty forefts headlong to the plain. The bold Boruffian (moaking from afar Moves like a tempeft in a dusky cloud, And imitates th' artillery of heaven, The lightning and the roar. Amazing feene! What flowers of mortal Hail, what flaky fires Burft from the darkness! while their cohorts firm Meet the like thunder, and an equal form, From bofile troops, but with a braver mind. Undaunted bofoms tempt the edge of war, And rush on the sharp point; while baleful mifchiefs, Deaths, and bright dangers flew across the field Thick and continual, and a thousand fouls Fled murmuring thro' their wounds. I ftood aloof, For 'twas unfafe to come within the wind Of Ruffian banners, when with whizzing found, Eager of glory, and profufe of life, They bore down fearless on the charging foes, And drove them backward. Then the Turkifo mo Wander'd in difarray. A darkerlipfe Hhh 120 Hang on the filver evefeent, boding might, Not noife, nor number, nor the bracun limb, Of thofe fair infidels fome bumble place bis front 200 Ia difappointment, with a farly brow But whither am I borne? This thought of arms My barbarous mufe be ftill: Immortal deeds. Thro' brakes and thorns, and climb'd the craggy moun- Shines o'er the western hill; my oxen, come, 170 Thus the dire profpeft diftant fill d my foul 180 The well-known ftar invites the labourer home. An Epifle to Mrs MASTERS. By a Friend on the Death of bis Father. Truck & the cares which life is doom'd to know. To changes prone, and nothing fure but With mein difconfolate I lonely rove, woes I haunt the field and melancholy grove Were planted there, arthro' their lovely befors 190 Confefs how much of counfel you are void. Made painful asseves for crucl death, O my dear nating land, forgive the tear I dict on their var cheeks, when firong compassion Ye jarring friends, who found the hapless breach Help Thou ! whofe ftrains a father's death bewail, Thy moving forrows are not ill addreft, Yet think, my friend, there's error in excels. If then his with thou wou dit fulfil, If thou wou'dit execute his will The like defign purfue tutwor His care for thee in this he fhows,uola He recommends the life he chofe, He did from long experience find Fly then from thence, the city leave, In this retreat fafe fhalt thou be, Nor think that in this lonely fhade, Inactive thou must be; mar The bold oppreffor thou fhalt awe, Shall feel thy heavy hand Shall ever open ftand. hand A glorious kindness thou must fhow, d On them who most deferve bus 2 In fafety all preferve. If thus thy time thou do'ft employ, Be thou his faithful guide. If virtuous thoughts his foul endue, lol virk The late Earl of CE's Advice to bis Son, the What then for thee thy father's done, To my Son the Lord Mth, word ng in thefe lawns and woods thus form'd, If in thofe thady walks adorn'd, Thou takeft fome delight; Alluding to a famous Seat in the County of York. To a Friend on bis MARRIAGE. "HE men, my friend, who much in fiction Joy to my friend, and to his charming bride Thefe wishes to the man I love I fend, to do animo to mi uning aquis ha boy To Mr BRIDGES, Author of the Hymn to the naM 5'Supreme Being one? HILE Bardlings, a fantastic train, as In many a fond and light eflay, To fubjects, tranfient as their ftrain, ouk sald Adapt the fonnet of a day: odti-ro You the firm tablets of each line From adamantine quarries frame And on the rock of ftrength divine Erect your future houfe of fames Nor from Aoria's fount below, But from the fame eternal fpring With thine Ifaiab's numbers flow; With thee the Seraph learns to fing. For to thy genius mild and fage Nor yet to heav'ns exterior plan So may thy verfe, when Death, and Fame, And Time, and Form, and Matter's paft, New manfions with its author claim, And, equal with Duration, laft. Down go the gloves, and upwards to the fkies His lifted hands afcend, and whites of eyes. Groans deep, and murmurs bellow from his cheft. His holy eye-lids clos'd, his heaving breaft Out breaks---a word---and then another flies, Now recollected he improves his rage, With decent paufe between and mingled fighs. To lafh emphatical a guilty age, He farts, he bounds, on tip-toe mounts to feel What ftrength of lungs will bear and ribs of feel. Of fweat a deluge trickles from his pores, When loud as Stentor, or as Mars, he roars: The pale-fec'd audience faint with threaten'd doom, And foftly whispers thro' the rustling trees: And a fanatie tempeft fhakes the room. Rude, and more rude, forgetting accent meek, So Boreas firft aflays a gentle breeze, He puffs a ftronger blaft from either cheek; A louder tumalt thro' the groves he fpreads, And humbled forefts bow their antient heads: Frantic at laft his hideous roars refound, Ruin, and rooted trees, beftrew the ground. J. A. Mr URBAN, of a relation's watch, on the cafe of which was enAS I was lately admiring the curious workmanship graven Ulyffes going on board the Grecian Navy, and tenderly taking leave of Penelope his queen, the following Thoughts occurred, which if you please to infert in your next Magazine, you will oblige Your bumble Servant J. FH. Ulyffes's Farewell to Penelope bis Queen. On the late uncommon BALL at Tonbridge. ULL Freight Tunbridge ball without & Male. eighteen Nymphs but late (unlucky tale!) Strange incident! unequal'd in romance, Not one kind HE to joyn 'em in the dance. W By Captain at Tunbridge Wells. The e bold invaders I fuftain, But heavenly mild foft Windfor's charms, And fix for ever there. |