The Works, In Verse and Prose, of Leonard Welsted ... Now First Collected. With Historical Notes, And Biographical Memoirs of the Author, by John Nichols |
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An EPISTLE to MR. STEELE, on the KING's
Accession to the Crown, 1714. |
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 | The Works, In Verse and Prose, of Leonard Welsted |  |
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An EPISTLE to MR. STEELE, on the KING's Accession to the Crown, 1714.
“Hic Vir, hic est, tibi quem promitti sæpius audis,
“Augustus ..... Divûm genus: aurea condet
“Secula qui rursus Latio.”
Virg. Æn. vi. 791.
“Augustus ..... Divûm genus: aurea condet
“Secula qui rursus Latio.”
Virg. Æn. vi. 791.
This, this is he! the Chief so long foretold
To bless the land, where Saturn rul'd of old,
And give the Lernean realms a second age of gold.
The promis'd Prince, Augustus the divine,
Of Cæsar's race, and Jove's immortal line.
Pitt.
To bless the land, where Saturn rul'd of old,
And give the Lernean realms a second age of gold.
The promis'd Prince, Augustus the divine,
Of Cæsar's race, and Jove's immortal line.
Pitt.
O generous Varus, happy and admir'd!
With love of truth and public spirit fir'd,
Esteem'd by Virtue, and by Envy prais'd!
Fill'd with new joys, the sounding string I rais'd:
The Muse's friend, in numbers you delight;
O! be my genius, and inspire the flight!
With love of truth and public spirit fir'd,
Esteem'd by Virtue, and by Envy prais'd!
Fill'd with new joys, the sounding string I rais'd:
The Muse's friend, in numbers you delight;
O! be my genius, and inspire the flight!
Britain at length asserts her antient name,
And rises glorious with reviving Fame:
A finish'd Prince, a Hero fills the throne,
Grac'd with a genius martial like her own;
Expert to train to arms her valiant bands,
And lead successful wars in foreign lands;
Of sinews equal to the regal weight,
The chosen prop of her declining state;
Proclaim, ye Muses, through these happy plains,
Proclaim aloud, another Nassau reigns.
And rises glorious with reviving Fame:
A finish'd Prince, a Hero fills the throne,
Grac'd with a genius martial like her own;
Expert to train to arms her valiant bands,
And lead successful wars in foreign lands;
Of sinews equal to the regal weight,
The chosen prop of her declining state;
Proclaim, ye Muses, through these happy plains,
Proclaim aloud, another Nassau reigns.
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His skilful choice shall give preferment grace,
And with peculiar beauty honours place;
Distinguish Britain's worthier friends from those
Who sacrific'd her faith, or sav'd her foes:
Establish'd Law, unmov'd, he shall maintain,
And by that certain standard form his reign.
No smooth seducer shall by flattering art
Tempt his ambition, or misguide his heart;
No favourite, to unequal greatness grown,
Usurp his bounty, or direct his frown.
And with peculiar beauty honours place;
Distinguish Britain's worthier friends from those
Who sacrific'd her faith, or sav'd her foes:
Establish'd Law, unmov'd, he shall maintain,
And by that certain standard form his reign.
No smooth seducer shall by flattering art
Tempt his ambition, or misguide his heart;
No favourite, to unequal greatness grown,
Usurp his bounty, or direct his frown.
Princes, who our Deliverer's friendship prov'd,
Admir'd his wisdom, and his virtues lov'd,
Shall now rest fearless of th' invading sword,
And trust their safety to his valued word;
Wise States shall wait observant on his Throne,
And by his happier conduct rule their own.
Admir'd his wisdom, and his virtues lov'd,
Shall now rest fearless of th' invading sword,
And trust their safety to his valued word;
Wise States shall wait observant on his Throne,
And by his happier conduct rule their own.
His influence shall extend to farthest shores,
Unite th' Allies, and bind their weaken'd powers:
The pure Religion, the Reform'd, shall share,
Amidst oppression, his protecting care;
By him and Heaven assisted, spread at length,
Insensibly prevail, and rise in strength:
Refulgent Rome from her proud height shall stoop,
And see her long-supported honours droop:
The worship'd image shall neglected stand,
And boast in vain the work of Raphael's hand;
Mankind, to freedom wak'd, her pride shall tame,
Restrain her Pontiff, and his laws disclaim.
Unite th' Allies, and bind their weaken'd powers:
The pure Religion, the Reform'd, shall share,
Amidst oppression, his protecting care;
By him and Heaven assisted, spread at length,
Insensibly prevail, and rise in strength:
Refulgent Rome from her proud height shall stoop,
And see her long-supported honours droop:
The worship'd image shall neglected stand,
And boast in vain the work of Raphael's hand;
Mankind, to freedom wak'd, her pride shall tame,
Restrain her Pontiff, and his laws disclaim.
Brave Confessors, illustrious in your grief!
Look up to Liberty, and hope relief:
Forget the threat'ned flame and servile oar,
Forget the altar stain'd with kindred gore:
Not long shall Innocence unsuccour'd stand,
And wait the stroke from the fierce zealot's hand;
Not long Religious Rage mankind shall tear,
Nor wasting Zeal her bloody standard rear.
Commerce again prepares to lift its head,
Again to flourish, and its bounds to spread;
The Merchant shall transplant in British air
Whatever growths remotest regions bear,
Whatever Art in various lands improves,
Or the sun ripens, or its climate loves;
All parts he shall explore, where trade is known,
And with each country's spoils enrich his own.
I see disclos'd Augusta's future state:
Lo! her proud fleets admire their costly freight:
Her busy mart th' adventuring world employs:
Confusion greatly splendid! welcome noise!
Thames, swell'd with wealth, his envious banks o'erflows,
Seeks other shores, and a new empire knows.
Look up to Liberty, and hope relief:
Forget the threat'ned flame and servile oar,
Forget the altar stain'd with kindred gore:
Not long shall Innocence unsuccour'd stand,
And wait the stroke from the fierce zealot's hand;
Not long Religious Rage mankind shall tear,
Nor wasting Zeal her bloody standard rear.
Commerce again prepares to lift its head,
Again to flourish, and its bounds to spread;
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Whatever growths remotest regions bear,
Whatever Art in various lands improves,
Or the sun ripens, or its climate loves;
All parts he shall explore, where trade is known,
And with each country's spoils enrich his own.
I see disclos'd Augusta's future state:
Lo! her proud fleets admire their costly freight:
Her busy mart th' adventuring world employs:
Confusion greatly splendid! welcome noise!
Thames, swell'd with wealth, his envious banks o'erflows,
Seeks other shores, and a new empire knows.
Th' approaching scenes of bliss attract my eyes,
And shining images in order rise.
Here smiling Plenty waves her fruitful horn,
Wheatsheafs and clusters her wreath'd head adorn;
Sweetest complacence guilds her chearful face,
And all her motions flow with conscious grace.
Here Credit rises with lost fame regain'd;
Guarded by Honour, and by Truth sustain'd:
Her powerful art discloses glittering mines,
And when she bids, a new creation shines.
And shining images in order rise.
Here smiling Plenty waves her fruitful horn,
Wheatsheafs and clusters her wreath'd head adorn;
Sweetest complacence guilds her chearful face,
And all her motions flow with conscious grace.
Here Credit rises with lost fame regain'd;
Guarded by Honour, and by Truth sustain'd:
Her powerful art discloses glittering mines,
And when she bids, a new creation shines.
These are the glories from this reign shall flow:
This triumph to our Brunswick line we owe.
For this, the patriot stemm'd prevailing rage;
And oft, O Varus, thy applauded page
With just resentments thy wrong'd country fir'd;
Greatly, for this, the British youth expir'd,
Blanamian fields were strow'd with heaps of slain,
And virtue won on Almenara's plain.
O Liberty! O Goddess! hail. Thy charms
Politeness give to Peace, and fame to Arms:
Great Patroness of arts! thy ripening fire
Instructs each waking genius to aspire:
Thou mak'st the Poet's heighten'd fancy glow
With richest veins of thought; the numbers flow,
Like happy streams untroubled in their course,
With clearer beauty and with greater force.
This triumph to our Brunswick line we owe.
For this, the patriot stemm'd prevailing rage;
And oft, O Varus, thy applauded page
With just resentments thy wrong'd country fir'd;
Greatly, for this, the British youth expir'd,
Blanamian fields were strow'd with heaps of slain,
And virtue won on Almenara's plain.
O Liberty! O Goddess! hail. Thy charms
Politeness give to Peace, and fame to Arms:
Great Patroness of arts! thy ripening fire
Instructs each waking genius to aspire:
Thou mak'st the Poet's heighten'd fancy glow
With richest veins of thought; the numbers flow,
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With clearer beauty and with greater force.
Let wanton tyrants sport in power's abuse,
And barbarous nations to their yoke reduce;
Let them their conquer'd vassals proudly tame:
Our Hero cherishes a nobler flame;
O'er freeborn subjects he aspires to reign,
To govern Citizens, not Slaves to chain;
With scorn he looks on mean despotic arts,
And seeks no Empire but in English hearts,
Accepts a Kingdom with a Patriot's sense,
And in the People's Father hides the Prince.
And barbarous nations to their yoke reduce;
Let them their conquer'd vassals proudly tame:
Our Hero cherishes a nobler flame;
O'er freeborn subjects he aspires to reign,
To govern Citizens, not Slaves to chain;
With scorn he looks on mean despotic arts,
And seeks no Empire but in English hearts,
Accepts a Kingdom with a Patriot's sense,
And in the People's Father hides the Prince.
By these great arts, eternal Reason's law,
Alcides, Pollux, Numa, and Nassau,
Envy subdued, their native sky attain'd;
Hence rising Polities were first ordain'd,
And the best schemes their origin did claim
FromKings like George and men of Lincoln's frame.
Before the world was ripe for social ties,
Or docile crouds inclin'd in states to rise;
While men, promiscuous, were to rapine led,
Nor knew the good which just restriction bred;
One rose superior, so approv'd by Fate,
He saw and pity'd Nature's savage state;
Pallas and every Muse his thought inspir'd;
With love of knowledge human breasts he fir'd;
Explain'd, how vice and virtue were defin'd,
What moral good and moral ill design'd,
What man to man in each relation ow'd,
And Reason's use, and whence Religion flow'd.
His strains, ye Gods! th'admiring throng engage;
Their strifes he reconciles, and calms their rage:
To him, as wisest, each submits his cause;
His wisdom, not his will, distributes laws:
Thus he becomes their head, the general choice,
A Prince appointed by the People's voice:
To him the power did, by consent, belong
To compensate desert, and obviate wrong:
'Twas theirs, that power to limit or oppose,
When hurtful to themselves, from whom it rose.
Alcides, Pollux, Numa, and Nassau,
Envy subdued, their native sky attain'd;
Hence rising Polities were first ordain'd,
And the best schemes their origin did claim
FromKings like George and men of Lincoln's frame.
Before the world was ripe for social ties,
Or docile crouds inclin'd in states to rise;
While men, promiscuous, were to rapine led,
Nor knew the good which just restriction bred;
One rose superior, so approv'd by Fate,
He saw and pity'd Nature's savage state;
Pallas and every Muse his thought inspir'd;
With love of knowledge human breasts he fir'd;
Explain'd, how vice and virtue were defin'd,
What moral good and moral ill design'd,
What man to man in each relation ow'd,
And Reason's use, and whence Religion flow'd.
His strains, ye Gods! th'admiring throng engage;
Their strifes he reconciles, and calms their rage:
To him, as wisest, each submits his cause;
His wisdom, not his will, distributes laws:
Thus he becomes their head, the general choice,
A Prince appointed by the People's voice:
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To compensate desert, and obviate wrong:
'Twas theirs, that power to limit or oppose,
When hurtful to themselves, from whom it rose.
Succeeding Worthies, with like happy arts,
Polish'd rough men, and harmoniz'd their hearts.
Reported hence the stupid rocks to move,
To make the cedars rise, to lead the grove,
Or sooth with magic sound a tiger's breast:
Amphion, Orpheus, Linus, and the rest,
Illustrious names in Poets' works enroll'd,
Were pious Rulers and just Kings of old:
They first to life did beauteous numbers suit;
Each had a city, which he call'd his lute,
And, when to charm descending gods he strove,
The string he play'd on was his People's love.
Polish'd rough men, and harmoniz'd their hearts.
Reported hence the stupid rocks to move,
To make the cedars rise, to lead the grove,
Or sooth with magic sound a tiger's breast:
Amphion, Orpheus, Linus, and the rest,
Illustrious names in Poets' works enroll'd,
Were pious Rulers and just Kings of old:
They first to life did beauteous numbers suit;
Each had a city, which he call'd his lute,
And, when to charm descending gods he strove,
The string he play'd on was his People's love.
Thus shall it fare, erewhile, with Britain's King;
As in his reign the future glories spring,
Some Bard in sweetly fabling verse may tell,
How, when our Orpheus touch'd his sounding shell,
The oaks obey'd, the pines forsook the plain,
And rose a floating forest on the main;
Or how the marble, ravish'd as he sung,
Ran into order, and a palace sprung.
As in his reign the future glories spring,
Some Bard in sweetly fabling verse may tell,
How, when our Orpheus touch'd his sounding shell,
The oaks obey'd, the pines forsook the plain,
And rose a floating forest on the main;
Or how the marble, ravish'd as he sung,
Ran into order, and a palace sprung.
We have attempted, in a feebler strain,
To sing the dawning honours of his reign:
But, when its riper greatness strikes our sight,
Clio shall tune the harp, or Garth shall write.
So, on the breaking of a cloudless day,
The little larks their slender notes assay:
But when the Sun his genial warmth has shed,
And a delightful glow o'er Nature spread;
The tuneful nightingales their voices raise,
And charm the woods with more melodious lays.
To sing the dawning honours of his reign:
But, when its riper greatness strikes our sight,
Clio shall tune the harp, or Garth shall write.
So, on the breaking of a cloudless day,
The little larks their slender notes assay:
But when the Sun his genial warmth has shed,
And a delightful glow o'er Nature spread;
The tuneful nightingales their voices raise,
And charm the woods with more melodious lays.
| The Works, In Verse and Prose, of Leonard Welsted | |