Thee, Churchill, first the ruthless hand of death Tore from thy confort's fide, and call'd thee hence To the sublimer seats of joy and love ; Where fate again shall join her soul to thine, Who now, regardful of thy fame, erects The column to thy praise, and sooths her woe With pious honours to thy facred name Immortal. Lo! where, towering in the height Of yon aëriał pillar; proudly stands- Thy image, like a guardian god, fublime, And awes the subject plain : beneath his feet; The German eagles spread their wings; his hand Grasps Victory, its slave. Such was thy brow Majestic, such thy martial port, when Gaul Fled from thy frown, and in the Danube fought A refuge from thy sword:—There, where the field Was deepest ftain’d with gore, on Hochstet's: plain, The theatre of thy glory, once was rais'd A meaner trophy, by the Imperial hand; Extorted gratitude ! which now the rage Of malice impotent, beseeming ill A regal breast, has leveld to the ground: Mean infult! This, with better auspices; Shall stand on British earth, to tell the world How Marlborough fought, for whom, and how-repaid. His services. Nor fħall the constant love Of her who rais'd this monument be lost In dark oblivion : that shall be the theme Of-future Bards in ages yet unborn, Inspir'd with Chaucer's fire, who in these groves:
First:
First tund the British harp, and little deem'd His humble dwelling Mould the neighbour be Of Blenheim, house luperb; to which the throng Of travellers approaching shall not pass His roof unnoted, but respectful hail With reverence due. Such honour does the Muse Obtain her favourites.-But the noble pile (My theme) demands my voice.-0 shade ador’d, Marlborough! who now above the starry sphere Dwell'st in the palaces of heaven, enthron'd Among the demi-gods, deign to defend This thy abode, while present here below, And sacred still to thy immortal fame, With tutelary care. Preserve it safe From Time's destroying hand, and cruel stroke Of factious Envy's more relentless rage. Herę may, long ages hence, the British youth, When honour calls them to the field of war, Behold the trophies which thy valour rais'd; The proud reward of thy successful toils For Europe's freedom, and Britannia's fame; That, fir'd with generous envy, they may dare To emulate thy deeds. So Ihall thy name, Dear to thy country, still inspire her fons With martial virtue ; and to high attempts Excite their arms, till other battles won, And nations fav’d, new, monuments require, And other Blenheims shall adorn the land,
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To the Reverend Dr. AYSCOUGH, at OXFORD.
Written from Paris in the Year.1728.
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SAY
Y, dearest friend, how roll thy hours away?
What pleasing study cheats the tedious day?- Doft thou the sacred volumes oft explore Of wise Antiquity's immortal lore, Where virtue, by the charms of wit refin'd,, At once exalts and polishes the mind ? How different from our modern guilty art, : Which pleases only: to corrupt the heart;: Whose curft refinements odious vice adorn, And teach to honour what we ought to scorn! Dost thou in fage historians joy to see How Roman greatness rose with liberty; How the same hands that tyrants durst control Their empire stretch'd from Atlas to the Pole; Till wealth and conquest into slaves refin'd. The proud luxurious masters of mankind ? Dost thou in letter'd Greece each charm admire, Each grace, each virtue, Freedom could inspire ;. Yet in her troubled state see all the woes gamis And all the crimes, that giddy Faction knows ; ; Till, rent by parties, by corruption fold, Or weakly careless, or too rashly bold, She sunk beneath a mitigated doom, The slave and tutoress of protecting Rome ?
Docs
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Does calm Philosophy her aid impart, To guide the passions, and to mend the heart ? Taught by her precepts, hast thou learnt the end To which alone the wise their studies bend; For which alone by nature were design'd The powers of thought-to benefit mankind ? Not, like a cloyster'd drone, to read and dose, In undeserving, undeserv'd, repose; But Reason's influence to diffufe ; to clear Th’enlighten'd world of every gloomy fear; Dispel the mists of error, and unbind 'Those pedant chains that clog the freeborn mindó Happy. who thus his leisure can employ! He knows the purest hours of tranquil joy; Nor vext with pangs that busier bosoms tear,, Nor lost to social virtue's pleasing care ; Safe in the port, yet labouring to sustain. Those who still float on the tempestuous main..
So Locke the days of studious quiet fpent;, So Boyle in wisdom found divine-content;, So Cambray, worthy of a happier doom, The virtuous llave of Louis and of Rome.
Goode * Wor'fter thus supports his drooping age, Far from court-fattery, far from party-rage; He, who in youth a tyrant's frown defy'd, Firm and intrepid on his country's fide, Her boldest champion then, and now her mildest
guide!
O generous warmth! O fanctity divine ! To emulate his worth, my friend, be thine : Learn from his life the duties of the gown ; Learn, not to flatter, nor insult the crown; Nor, basely servile, court the guilty great, Nor raise the church a rival to the state : To.error mild, to vice alone severe, Seek not to spread the law of love by fear. The priest who plagues the world can never'mend: . No foe to inan was e'er to God a friend. Let reason and let virtue faith maintain ; All force but theirs is impious, weak, and vain.
Me other cares in other climes engage, Cares that become my birth, and fuit my age; In various knowledge to improve my youth, And conquer prejudice, worst foe to truth; By foreign-arts domestic faults to mend, Enlarge my notions, and my views extend; The useful science of the world to know, Which books can never teach, or pedants show..
A nation here I pity and admire, Whom noblest sentiments of glory fire, Yet taught, by custom's force and bigot fear, To serve with pride, and boast the yoke they bear : Whose nobles, born to cringe and to command, (In courts a mean, in camps a generous band;) From each low tool of power, content receive Those laws, their dreaded arms to Europe give. Whose people (vain in want, in bondage bleft; Though plunder'd, gay; induftrious, though opprest)
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