The Works of the Late Aaron Hill ... In Four Volumes. Consisting of Letters on Various Subjects, And of Original Poems, Moral and Facetious. With An Essay on the Art of Acting |
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The Impartial.
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 | The Works of the Late Aaron Hill |  |
The Impartial.
Are these the marks, then, of our promis'd shame!
Or did detraction steal the patriot's name?
Weak, if we were, how rose we, now, so strong?
Or whence, if pow'rful, were we scorn'd, so long?
Burn, sooty slander, burn thy blotted scroll:
Greatness is greatness, 'spite of faction's soul.
Or did detraction steal the patriot's name?
Weak, if we were, how rose we, now, so strong?
Or whence, if pow'rful, were we scorn'd, so long?
Burn, sooty slander, burn thy blotted scroll:
Greatness is greatness, 'spite of faction's soul.
I gaze, astonish'd kingdom, o'er thy face,
And each weigh'd wonder, to its fountain, trace.
Glory flows in, where infamy was spread:
And long-lost triumph lifts her tow'ring head.
Warm, o'er the icy north, thy influent awe
Bids hostile leagues dissolve, in friendly thaw.
Up Rhine's strong stream, Britannic thunders wind,
And Alpine mountains shake, and states, behind.
Austria's plum'd eagle, beak'd, and wing'd, once more,
Sees baffled Bourbon driv'n, from shore, to shore.
Sea-shook Ausonia, red, with warring hosts,
Starts, from her Adrian, to her Tyrrhene coasts.
Ev'n Rome's imperious mitre learns to bow,
And Spain's Thalestris is but woman, now!
And each weigh'd wonder, to its fountain, trace.
225
And long-lost triumph lifts her tow'ring head.
Warm, o'er the icy north, thy influent awe
Bids hostile leagues dissolve, in friendly thaw.
Up Rhine's strong stream, Britannic thunders wind,
And Alpine mountains shake, and states, behind.
Austria's plum'd eagle, beak'd, and wing'd, once more,
Sees baffled Bourbon driv'n, from shore, to shore.
Sea-shook Ausonia, red, with warring hosts,
Starts, from her Adrian, to her Tyrrhene coasts.
Ev'n Rome's imperious mitre learns to bow,
And Spain's Thalestris is but woman, now!
Whence this, amazing change?—'twas, late, all, fear:
No warring god, invok'd, inclin'd his ear.
Tyrants, combin'd, found freedom's rights betray'd:
Faith, fast-expiring, saw the false invade,
Commerce cajol'd, reluctance brib'd, rage tame:
Ev'n empire trod on—yet, untouch'd, by shame!
Then was the crisis; then, fate's hand appear'd:
Then, might the world be deaf, for Britain heard.
Wave-worship'd Britain! one, to all, oppos'd!
By friends, deserted, and, by foes, inclos'd,
Fills the world's eye, dispels the doubter's care;
Bids the bold tremble, and the backward dare:
High, to the nations, points their guardian's throne,
And acts, and arbitrates, and shines, alone.
No warring god, invok'd, inclin'd his ear.
Tyrants, combin'd, found freedom's rights betray'd:
Faith, fast-expiring, saw the false invade,
Commerce cajol'd, reluctance brib'd, rage tame:
Ev'n empire trod on—yet, untouch'd, by shame!
Then was the crisis; then, fate's hand appear'd:
Then, might the world be deaf, for Britain heard.
226
By friends, deserted, and, by foes, inclos'd,
Fills the world's eye, dispels the doubter's care;
Bids the bold tremble, and the backward dare:
High, to the nations, points their guardian's throne,
And acts, and arbitrates, and shines, alone.
And have such fires inflam'd a patient reign?
Immortal heav'n! and must we, still, complain?
Still, must we rail, and blacken, and suspect?
At once, curb vigilance, and goad neglect?
Deep let my soul detest th' adhesive pride,
That, changing sentiment, unchanges side:
True, to contempt of truth, repents, within,
Yet, screens conviction, and strains hard, to sin.
Immortal heav'n! and must we, still, complain?
Still, must we rail, and blacken, and suspect?
At once, curb vigilance, and goad neglect?
Deep let my soul detest th' adhesive pride,
That, changing sentiment, unchanges side:
True, to contempt of truth, repents, within,
Yet, screens conviction, and strains hard, to sin.
Shame on this craft, to scare!—this toil, to seem!
O heart, indignant, fly th' unmanly scheme;
Blush, for thy past injustice; shrink no more;
But wake, and wonder, thou wert dark, before!
Learn, from whose hand th' unlook'd-for effluence came;
And, in the teeth of insult, sound his name.
O heart, indignant, fly th' unmanly scheme;
Blush, for thy past injustice; shrink no more;
But wake, and wonder, thou wert dark, before!
Learn, from whose hand th' unlook'd-for effluence came;
And, in the teeth of insult, sound his name.
227
What, tho' some friend, thou lov'st, had narrower sight?
Truth knows no parties, and involves, like light.
Shadows, and names fright cowards—but the strong
Ne'er call that lightness, which is scorn of wrong.
Dare to be just, 'tis all that brav'ry means;
He stoops too basely, who, to flatt'ry, leans:
But, whom pale prejudice has taught his part,
Born, for a slave, wears fetters, on his heart;
Sees, undiscerning; feels, without his touch:
Judges, too little, and decides too much.
Truth knows no parties, and involves, like light.
Shadows, and names fright cowards—but the strong
Ne'er call that lightness, which is scorn of wrong.
Dare to be just, 'tis all that brav'ry means;
He stoops too basely, who, to flatt'ry, leans:
But, whom pale prejudice has taught his part,
Born, for a slave, wears fetters, on his heart;
Sees, undiscerning; feels, without his touch:
Judges, too little, and decides too much.
Poets have nobler souls: fame's paths they show;
They glow themselves, and teach the world, to glow.
Satire's whole pow'r their own—yet, praise they chuse,
Ev'n of unconscious kings, who slight the muse.
Proud of neglected force, each heav'n-touch'd mind,
Open, to reason, is, to int'rest, blind.
Self, all unthought of, can, for others, think:
Swim, 'till the state rides safe, then, smile, and sink.
Lift, ev'n the worth that hates him; love it shown;
And, for his country's joys, exclude his own,
This is to think, like muses, act, like Man:
This Princes ought to feel—and poets can.
They glow themselves, and teach the world, to glow.
Satire's whole pow'r their own—yet, praise they chuse,
Ev'n of unconscious kings, who slight the muse.
Proud of neglected force, each heav'n-touch'd mind,
Open, to reason, is, to int'rest, blind.
Self, all unthought of, can, for others, think:
Swim, 'till the state rides safe, then, smile, and sink.
228
And, for his country's joys, exclude his own,
This is to think, like muses, act, like Man:
This Princes ought to feel—and poets can.
Ye, once misguided! is retraction vain?
Trust the brave injur'd: nor persist to stain.
Why should suspicion penitence out-live?
None doubt forgiveness, but who ne'er forgive.
Heav'n has been wrong'd, yet, still, goes on, to bless;
For sins of blindness err, beneath distress.
So wrong'd, so pard'ning, Cart'ret heeds no foe;
But saves—unangry, at the rage below.
Trust the brave injur'd: nor persist to stain.
Why should suspicion penitence out-live?
None doubt forgiveness, but who ne'er forgive.
Heav'n has been wrong'd, yet, still, goes on, to bless;
For sins of blindness err, beneath distress.
So wrong'd, so pard'ning, Cart'ret heeds no foe;
But saves—unangry, at the rage below.
Off, with these shackly quoils, of twin'd intrigue;
These nets for liberty, these links of league.
Trite, venal, cant! which envy's arts can teach
To censure ev'ry pow'r, we fail to reach.
No gen'rous heart, misdrawn to devious beat,
When truth's new lustre shines, disclaims its heat.
Charm'd, and surpriz'd, I hug my country's fame;
Compar'd, O heav'n! with years of length'ning shame.
These nets for liberty, these links of league.
Trite, venal, cant! which envy's arts can teach
To censure ev'ry pow'r, we fail to reach.
No gen'rous heart, misdrawn to devious beat,
When truth's new lustre shines, disclaims its heat.
Charm'd, and surpriz'd, I hug my country's fame;
Compar'd, O heav'n! with years of length'ning shame.
229
Ye
sons, who love her, weigh the threat'ning swell,
Of Spain, France, faction, calumny, and hell!
Weigh, with what speed, repell'd, from mound to mound,
Subsiding danger, sought her bidden bound!
Hail the white cliffs of Albion, held, serene,
While round her, redd'ning, rolls the bloody scene.
I hail it, all:—and hail th' acknowledg'd cause,
Hail the mind's reach, that gives earth's uproar laws!
Safe, mid surrounding menace, guards mankind;
Guides ev'ry council! busies ev'ry wind!
Shakes the world's shakers! hears, for land and main,
And binds fell tyrants, while they bite their chain.
Of Spain, France, faction, calumny, and hell!
Weigh, with what speed, repell'd, from mound to mound,
Subsiding danger, sought her bidden bound!
Hail the white cliffs of Albion, held, serene,
While round her, redd'ning, rolls the bloody scene.
I hail it, all:—and hail th' acknowledg'd cause,
Hail the mind's reach, that gives earth's uproar laws!
Safe, mid surrounding menace, guards mankind;
Guides ev'ry council! busies ev'ry wind!
Shakes the world's shakers! hears, for land and main,
And binds fell tyrants, while they bite their chain.
Ye muse-made Mentors! rais'd, on fancy's wings,
To think, for heroes, and to reign, for kings;
When cou'd your sons of time's feign'd births, do more?
For, ne'er true story reach'd these heights, before.
To think, for heroes, and to reign, for kings;
When cou'd your sons of time's feign'd births, do more?
For, ne'er true story reach'd these heights, before.
230
Fav'rites have, oft, in many a troubled state,
Poiz'd the king's love, against the people's hate;
Oft, the firm leader, in some patriot scheme,
Has, with bold steerage, stemm'd the royal stream:
And, sometimes, too—yet rare, too rare, that praise!
The safe, at home, abroad, have gather'd bays.
But None, 'till Cart'ret rose, e'er hop'd to see
One mast'ring genius grasp th' Unwilling three!
Prince half confiding—people all unjust—
Abroad all discord, and, at home, distrust—
Propp'd, on himself, like the world's weight, he lay,
And thro' contention's impulse, shap'd his way;
Heard the clash'd elements, despis'd their brawl,
Roll'd on, self-centred—and inorb'd 'em all.
Poiz'd the king's love, against the people's hate;
Oft, the firm leader, in some patriot scheme,
Has, with bold steerage, stemm'd the royal stream:
And, sometimes, too—yet rare, too rare, that praise!
The safe, at home, abroad, have gather'd bays.
But None, 'till Cart'ret rose, e'er hop'd to see
One mast'ring genius grasp th' Unwilling three!
Prince half confiding—people all unjust—
Abroad all discord, and, at home, distrust—
Propp'd, on himself, like the world's weight, he lay,
And thro' contention's impulse, shap'd his way;
Heard the clash'd elements, despis'd their brawl,
Roll'd on, self-centred—and inorb'd 'em all.
| The Works of the Late Aaron Hill | |