Dedicated to the MEMORY of the Late
S when fome great and gracious monarch dies,
Soft whispers, first, and mournful murmurs
rife
Among the fad attendants; then the found
Soon gathers voice, and fpreads the news around,
Thro town and country, till the dreadful blast
Is blown to diftant colonies at last;
Who, then, perhaps, were offering vows in vain,
For his long life, and for his happy reign :
So flowly, by degrees, unwilling fame
Did matchless Eleonora's fate proclaim,
Till public as the lofs the news became.
The nation felt it in th' extremeft parts,
With eyes o'erflowing, and with bleeding hearts;
But most the poor, whom daily she supply'd,
Beginning to be fuch, but when she dy❜d.
For, while fhe liv'd, they flept in peace by night,
Secure of bread, as of returning light;
And with such firm dependence on the day,
That need grew pamper'd, and forgot to pray:
So fure the dole, so ready at their call,
They stood prepar'd to fee the manna fall.
Such multitudes fhe fed, the cloth'd, fhe nurst,
That the herself might fear her wanting first.
Of her five talents, other five she made
Heaven, that had largely given, was largely paid:
And in few lives, in wond'rous few, we find
A fortune better fitted to the mind.
Nor did her alms from oftentation fall,
Or proud defire of praise; the foul gave all:
Unbrib'd it gave; or, if a bribe appear,
No less than heaven; to heap huge treasures there.
Want pafs'd for merit at her open door :
Heaven faw, he fafely might increase his
poor, And trust their fuftenance with her fo well, As not to be at charge of miracle.
None could be needy, whom she saw, or knew;
All in the compafs of her sphere fhe drew :
He, who could touch her garment, was as fure,
As the first Chriftians of th' apoftles' curë.
The diftant heard, by fame, her pious deeds,
And laid her up for their extremeft needs
A future cordial for a fainting mind;
For, what was ne'er refus'd, all hop'd to find,
Each in his turn: the rich might freely come,
As to a friend; but to the poor, 'twas home.
As to fome holy house the afflicted came,
The hunger-ftarv'd, the naked and the lame;
Want and diseases fled before her name.
For zeal like her's her fervants were too flow;
She was the firft, where need requir'd, to go;
Herfelf the foundrefs and attendant too.
Sure she had guests fometimes to entertain, Guests in difguife, of her great Mafter's train : Her Lord himfelf might come, for ought we know; Since in a fervant's form he liv'd below: Beneath her roof he might be pleas'd to ftay; Or fome benighted angel, in his way, Might cafe his wings, and, feeing heaven appear In its beft work of mercy, think it there: Where all the deeds of charity and love Were in as conftant method, as above, All carry'd on; all of a piece with theirs ; As free her alms, as diligent her cares ; As loud her praises, and as warm her prayʼrs. Yet was the not profufe; but fear'd to waste, And wifely manag'd, that the stock might laft;
That all might be fupply'd, and she not grieve, When crowds appear'd, she had not to relieve: Which to prevent, fhe ftill increas'd her store; Laid up, and fpar'd, that she might give the
So Pharaoh, or fome greater king than he,
Provided for the feventh neceffity:
Taught from above his magazines to frame;
That famine was prevented ere it came.
Thus heaven, tho all-fufficient, shews a thrift
In his oeconomy, and bounds his gift:
Creating, for our day, one fingle light;
And his reflection too supplies the night :
Perhaps a thousand other worlds, that lie
Remote from us, and latent in the sky,
Are lighten'd by his beams, and kindly nurst;
Of which our earthly dunghil is the worst.
Now, as all virtues keep the middle line,
Yet fomewhat more to one extreme incline,
Such was her foul; abhorring avarice,
Bounteous, but almoft bounteous to a vice:
Had the given more, it had profufion been,
And turn'd th' excefs of goodness into fin.
These virtues rais'd her fabric to the sky;
For that, which is next heaven, is charity,
But, as high turrets, for their airy steep,
Require foundations, in proportion deep;
And lofty cedars as far upward shoot,
As to the nether heavens they drive the root:
So low did her fecure foundation lie,
She was not humble, but humility.
Scarcely she knew that she was great, or fair,
Or wife, beyond what other women are,
Or, which is better, knew, but never durft
compare.
For to be conscious of what all admire,
And not be vain, advances virtue higher.
But still she found, or rather thought the found,
Her own worth wanting, others to abound;
Afcrib'd above their due to ev'ry one,
Unjuft and scanty to herself alone.
Such her devotion was, as might give rules
Of speculation to difputing schools,
And teach us equally the scales to hold
Betwixt the two extremes of hot and cold;
That pious heat may moderately prevail,
And we be warm'd, but not be scorch'd with zeal.
Business might shorten, not disturb, her prayer;
Heaven had the best, if not the greater share.
An active life long oraisons forbids ;
Yet ftill the pray'd, for ftill fhe pray'd by deeds.
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