So Mofes by divine command

Forbid the leprous house to stand

When deep the fatal spot was grown. "Break down the timber, and dig up the ftone."

To Mrs. B. BENDIS H.

AGAINST TEARS.

MADAM, perfuade me tears are good

To wash our mortal cares away;

Thefe eyes fhall weep a fudden flood,
And ftream into a briny fea.

Or if thefe orbs are hard and dry,
(Thefe orbs that never ufe to rain)
Some ftar direct me where to buy
One fovereign drop for all my pain.

Were both the golden Indies mine,
I'd give both Indies for a tear:
I'd barter all but what 's divine:
Nor shall I think the bargain dear.

But tears, alas! are trifling things,
They rather feed than heal our woe;
From trickling eyes new forrow fprings,
As weeds in rainy seasons grow.

1699.

Thus weeping urges weeping on;
In vain our miferies hope relief,
For one drop calls another down,
Till we are drown'd in feas of grief.

Then let these useless streams be staid,
Wear native courage on your face:
These vulgar things were never made
For fouls of a fuperior race.

If 'tis a rugged path you go,

And thousand foes your steps surround,

Tread the thorns down, charge through the foe:
The hardest fight is highest crown'd.

Few HAPPY MATCHES.

SAY

AY, mighty Love, and teach my fong,
To whom thy sweetest joys belong,

And who the happy pairs

Whose yielding hearts, and joining hands,
Find bleffings twisted with their bands,
To foften all their cares.

Not the wild herd of nymphs and swains
That thoughtlefs fly into thy chains,
As cuftom leads the way :
If there be blifs without defign,
Ivies and oaks may grow and twine,
And be as bleft as they.

Aug. 1701.

Not

Not fordid fouls of earthy mould

Who drawn by kindred charms of gold

To dull embraces move:

So two rich mountains of Peru

May rush to wealthy marriage too,
And make a world of love.

Not the mad tribe that hell inspires
With wanton flames; thofe raging fires
The purer blifs destroy :

On Ætna's top let Furies wed,
And sheets of lightning dress the bed
T'improve the burning joy.

Nor the dull pairs whose marble forms
None of the melting paffions warms,
Can mingle hearts and hands:
Logs of green wood that quench the coals
Are marry'd juft like Stoic fouls,

With ofiers for their bands.

Not minds of melancholy ftrain,
Still filent, or that still complain,
Can the dear bondage blefs:

As well may heavenly concerts spring
From two old lutes with ne'er a ftring,
Or none befides the bafs.

Nor can the foft enchantments hold

Two jarring fouls of angry mould,

The

The rugged and the keen :

Samfon's young foxes might as well
In bonds of chearful wedlock dwell,
With firebrands ty'd between.

Nor let the cruel fetters bind
A gentle to a favage mind;

For Love abhors the fight:
Loofe the fierce tiger from the deer,
For native rage and native fear
Rife and forbid delight.

Two kindeft fouls alone must meet,

'Tis friendship makes the bondage sweet,

And feeds their mutual loves:

Bright Venus on her rolling throne

Is drawn by gentlest birds alone,
And Cupids yoke the doves.

To DAVID POLHILL, Efq;

An EPISTLE.

December 1702.

LET useless fouls to woods retreat;

Polhill should leave a country seat When virtue bids him dare be great.

Nor

Nor Kent*, nor Suffex*, fhould have charms,
While liberty, with loud alarms,

Calls you to counfels and to arms.

Lewis, by fawning flaves ador'd,
Bids you receive a † base-born lord;
Awake your cares! awake your fword!

Factions amongst the ‡ Britons rife,
And warring tongues, and wild furmife,
And burning zeal without her eyes.

A vote decides the blind debate;
Refolv'd, "'tis of diviner weight,
"To fave the fteeple, than the state."

The bold § machine is form'd and join’d
To stretch the confcience, and to bind
The native freedom of the mind.

Your grandfire shades with jealous eye
Frown down to fee their offspring lie
Careless, and let their country die.

* His country-feat and dwelling.

+ The Pretender, proclaimed King in France. The parliament.

The bill against occafional conformity, 1702.

If