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Poems on several Occasions

Viz. Munificence and Modesty. Female Dignity. To Lady Huffy Delaval. Verses from Catullus, after Dining with Mr. Murray. EPITAPHS. On the Dutchess of Cleveland. On Henry Fielding, Esq. On the Rev. James Sheeles. Epitaph from Demosthenes. By Mr. Smart

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EPITAPH On HENRY FIELDING, Esq.
 
 

EPITAPH On HENRY FIELDING, Esq.

The Master of the Greek and Roman page,
The lively scorner of a venal age,
Who made the publick laugh, at publick vice,
Or drew from sparkling eyes the pearl of price;
Student of nature, reader of mankind,
In whom the patron, and the bard were join'd;
As free to give the plaudit, as assert,
And faithful in the practice of desert.

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Hence pow'r consign'd the laws to his command,
And put the scales of Justice in his hand;
To stand protector of the Orphan race,
And find the female penitent a place.
From toils like these, too much for age to bear,
From pain, from sickness, and a world of care;
From children, and a widow in her bloom,
From shores remote, and from a foreign tomb,
Call'd by the WORD of LIFE, thou shalt appear,
To please and profit in a higher sphere,
Where endless hope, unperishable gain,
Are what the scriptures teach and entertain.