University of Virginia Library

A Valiant Man at Arms.

He is the Magazine of Mental treasure,
A man that wants not Tincture, Weight, or Measure;
Whose Vertues are an everlasting story,
With every Act, shewing the Makers glory.
He is the darling of a noble Nation,
And on the Liberal Arts frames his foundation.
(The Pedestal of Honour) for he knowes,
We meet as well with wise, as fighting Foes:
And that his judgement who leads Troops of Men,
Must be well vers'd in the Why, How, and When
Great Actions may be entertain'd; and be
Exactly skil'd in Counter-policie:
If in the Volume of his Ancestry,
He reade no publique Acts of Chivalry,
He thinks his task the greater; and is fitted,
In all things, to perform what they omitted:
But if he finde it fill'd with loyal glory,
He well continues, and augments the Story:
Thus arm'd, his Princes Crown, & Countries Right
Gives him Commission, to go forth and fight.
Rashness he understands not, but is sure,
It is no Vertue; and doth well inure,
His care-devoted Minde with Patience,
The ready Road to free Intelligence:
Now Arts, (and a Just cause) give him the power
Of a prevailing, Martiall Oratour;
Where with sincerity, void of Invention,
His Language doth so meet the Apprehension
Of vulgar Auditory, that the Skie
Is fil'd with the Free Votes of Live and Die
With our renown'd Commander, who inspires
Their hearts, as one spark lights a thousand fires:
This Pleaseth, but not makes him Proud, or grace
His new found Fate, with an Affected pace,
Or Garb ostentative, as if he were
Something, he knows not how to make appear:
His speech is Affable, his VVords are weight,
His Commands Gentle, his Directions streight,
His Memory mature, his danger such
It well expresseth that he is as much
In Storms, as State; so Provident of's Men
That he would not lose One, to purchase Ten;
Yet his heroick Resolution
Gives Twenty Quarter, rather then kil One:
And all his Cruelty is, he will give
Life to some Desp'rate men, that would not Live.
His Souldiers Poverty finds such regard,
From him, they'r never Paid, but with Reward,
Conceiving it an interest as due
Unto their Merits, as the Cause is true:
Onely a Coward wants his Love, for he,
Thinks better of a valiant Enemy:
And sooner will preserve a fierce Foes breath
Then save a Coward from deserved Death:
His Army sticks as close unto a Town,
As Ivie to their Wals, and 'tis the Crown
Of his Ambition, that he dares to be
So near a Neigbour to his Enemie:
He parley's, Summons, takes their Propositions,
Signes them, & proves more firm to his Conditions
Than Persians to their Laws, entring the City,
His Garb declares rather a noble Pity
Than an insulting Pride, and nothing more
Invites him to become a Courtier
Than do the trembling Women, to whom he
Uows himself Guardian, not an Enemie:
No Bells rung, Bonfires made, but all is done
With such a solid Celebration,
As if the Conquerour well understood
Triumphs are Terrours that be dy'd in Bloud:
This is the Man whose Acts give life to Fame,
And doth nobilitate his Countries Name:
Whose memory (sweet as the pious prize
The Gods accept in a pleas'd sacrifice)
Should be preserved from the ravenous fists
Of wasting Time, by our best Annalists:
Death is the Life of Good men, and since he
Must, at the last, shew his Mortality,
Let all great hearts attempt with active power
To practise what the Grave can not devour.