Live and receive this pious vow,
Our patron once, our guardian angel now!
Thou Fabius of a sinking state,

Who didst by wise delays divert our fate,
When faction like a tempest rose,
In death's most hideous form,
Then art to rage thou didst oppose,
To weather-out the storm:

Not quitting thy supreme command,
Thou held'st the rudder with a steady hand,

Till safely on the shore the bark did land :

The bark that all our blessings brought,

Charged with thyself and James, a doubly royal fraught.

XIV.

Oh, frail estate of human things,

And slippery hopes below!

Now to our cost your emptiness we know,

For 'tis a lesson dearly bought,

Assurance here is never to be sought.

The best, and best beloved of kings,

And best deserving to be so,

When scarce he had escaped the fatal blow
Of faction and conspiracy,

Death did his promised hopes destroy:
He toil'd, he gain'd, but lived not to enjoy.
What mists of Providence are these,
Through which we cannot see!

So saints, by supernatural power set free,
Are left at last in martyrdom to die;
Such is the end of oft-repeated miracles.
Forgive me, Heaven, that impious thought!
"Twas grief for Charles, to madness wrought,
That question'd thy supreme decree.

Thou didst his gracious reign prolong,
Even in thy saints' and angels' wrong,
His fellow-citizens of immortality:
For twelve long years of exile borne,

Twice twelve we number'd since his blest return:
So strictly wert thou just to pay,

Even to the driblet of a day.

Yet still we murmur and complain,

The quails and manna should no longer rain;
Those miracles 'twas needless to renew ;

The chosen stock has now the promised land in view.

XV.

A warlike prince ascends the regal state,
A prince long exercised by fate:

Long may he keep, though he obtains it late!
Heroes in Heaven's peculiar mould are cast,
They and their poets are not form'd in haste;

Man was the first in God's design, and man was made the last.

False heroes, made by flattery so,

Heaven can strike out, like sparkles, at a blow;

But ere a prince is to perfection brought,

He costs Omnipotence a second thought.

With toil and sweat,

With hardening cold, and forming heat,
The Cyclops did their strokes repeat,
Before the impenetrable shield was wrought.
It looks as if the Maker would not own
The noble work for His,

Before 'twas tried and found a masterpiece.

XVI.

View, then, a monarch ripen'd for a throne! Alcides thus his race began,

VOL. I.

O'er infancy he swiftly ran ;

The future god at first was more than man:
Dangers and toils, and Juno's hate,

Even o'er his cradle lay in wait;

And there he grappled first with fate:

In his young hands the hissing snakes he press'd,
So early was the deity confess'd.

Thus by degrees he rose to Jove's imperial seat;
Thus difficulties prove a soul legitimately great.
Like his, our hero's infancy was tried ;
Betimes the Furies did their snakes provide;
And to his infant arms oppose

His father's rebels, and his brother's foes;
The more oppress'd, the higher still he rose :
Those were the preludes of his fate,

That form'd his manhood, to subdue
The Hydra of the many-headed hissing crew.

XVII.

As after Numa's peaceful reign,
The martial Ancus did the sceptre wield,
Furbish'd the rusty sword again,
Resumed the long-forgotten shield,
And led the Latins to the dusty field;
So James the drowsy genius wakes
Of Britain, long entranced in charms,
Restive and slumbering on its arms:

"Tis roused, and with a new-strung nerve, the spear

already shakes,

No neighing of the warrior steeds,

No drum, or louder trumpet, needs

To inspire the coward, warm the cold

His voice, his sole appearance makes them bold.

Gaul and Batavia dread the impending blow;
Too well the vigour of that arm they know;

They lick the dust, and crouch beneath their fatal foe.
Long may they fear this awful prince,

And not provoke his lingering sword;
Peace is their only sure defence,

Their best security his word:

In all the changes of his doubtful state,
His truth, like Heaven's, was kept inviolate,
For him to promise is to make it fate.
His valour can triumph o'er land and main ;
With broken oaths his fame he will not stain;

With conquest basely bought, and with inglorious gain.

XVIII.

For once, O Heaven! unfold thy adamantine book; And let his wondering senate see,

If not thy firm immutable decree,

At least the second page of strong contingency;
Such as consists with wills originally free:

Let them with glad amazement look
On what their happiness may be :

Let them not still be obstinately blind,
Still to divert the good thou hast design'd,
Or with malignant penury,

To starve the royal virtues of his mind.
Faith is a Christian's and a subject's test,

O give them to believe, and they are surely blest!
They do; and with a distant view I see
The amended vows of English loyalty.
And all beyond that object, there appears
The long retinue of a prosperous reign,
A series of successful years,

In orderly array, a martial, manly train.
Behold even the remoter shores,

A conquering navy proudly spread ;
The British cannon formidably roars,
While starting from his oozy bed,

The asserted Ocean rears his reverend head;
To view and recognise his ancient lord again :
And with a willing hand, restores

The fasces of the main.

VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS, PARAPHRASED.

CREATOR SPIRIT, by whose aid

The world's foundations first were laid,

Come, visit every pious mind;
Come, pour thy joys on human kind;

From sin and sorrow set us free,
And make thy temples worthy thee.

O source of uncreated light,
The Father's promised Paraclete!
Thrice holy fount, thrice holy fire,
Our hearts with heavenly love inspire;
Come, and thy sacred unction bring
To sanctify us, while we sing!

Plenteous of grace, descend from high,

Rich in thy sevenfold energy!

Thou strength of his Almighty hand,

Whose power does heaven and earth command:

Proceeding Spirit, our defence,

Who dost the gifts of tongues dispense,

And crown'st thy gift with eloquence!

Refine and purge our earthly parts;
But, oh, inflame and fire our hearts!