But let not this disturb thy tuneful head;

Thou writ'st for thy delight, and not for bread;
Thou art not cursed to write thy verse with care;
But art above what other poets fear.

What may we not expect from such a hand,

That has, with books, himself at free command?
Thou know'st in youth, what age has sought in vain;
And bring'st forth sons without a mother's pain.
So easy is thy sense, thy verse so sweet,

[fire!

Thy words so proper, and thy phrase so fit,
We read, and read again; and still admire
Whence came this youth, and whence this wondrous
Pardon this rapture, sir! but who can be

Cold, and unmoved, yet have his thoughts on thee?
Thy goodness may my several faults forgive,
And by your help these wretched lines may live.
But if, when viewed by your severer sight,
They seem unworthy to behold the light,

Let them with speed in deserved flames be thrown!
They'll send no sighs, nor murmur out a groan;
But, dying silently, your justice own.

OF HER MAJESTY, ON NEW-YEAR'S DAY, 1683.

HAT revolutions in the world have been,

WH

How are we changed since we first saw the Queen!

She, like the sun, does still the same appear,
Bright as she was at her arrival here!
Time has commission mortals to impair,
But things celestial is obliged to spare.

May every new year find her still the same
In health and beauty as she hither came!
When Lords and Commons, with united voice,
The Infanta named, approved the royal choice;*

* The royal message announcing the king's intention to marry the Infanta of Portugal was delivered in Parliament in May, 1661.

First of our queens whom not the King alone,
But the whole nation, lifted to the throne.

With like consent, and like desert, was crowned
The glorious Prince* that does the Turk confound.
Victorious both! his conduct wins the day,
And her example chases vice away;
Though louder fame attend the martial rage,
'Tis greater glory to reform the age.

OF TEA, COMMENDED BY HER MAJESTY.†

ENUS her myrtle, Phœbus has his bays;

VEN

Tea both excels, which she vouchsafes to praise. The best of queens, and best of herbs, we owe To that bold nation which the way did show To the fair region where the sun does rise, Whose rich productions we so justly prize. The Muse's friend, tea does our fancy aid, Repress those vapours which the head invade, And keeps that palace of the soul serene, Fit on her birth-day to salute the Queen.

OF THE INVASION AND DEFEAT OF THE

TURKS, IN THE YEAR 1683.‡

THE modern Nimrod, with a safe delight Pursuing beasts, that save themselves by flight, Grown proud, and weary of his wonted game, Would Christians chase, and sacrifice to fame.

* John Sobieski, king of Poland.

Tea was an article of luxury and costliness when these lines were written. It was first introduced into England about the middle of the seventeenth century.

In July, 1683, the Turks, under the command of the Grand Vizier, Cara Mustapha, laid siege to Vienna, which they carried. In September, John Sobieski, king of Poland, appeared at the head of his legions, and produced so great a panic amongst the besiegers, that they

A prince with eunuchs and the softer sex
Shut up so long, would warlike nations vex,
Provoke the German, and, neglecting heaven,
Forget the truce for which his oath was given.
His Grand Vizier, presuming to invest
The chief imperial city of the west,

With the first charge compelled in haste to rise,
His treasure, tents, and cannon, left a prize;
The standard lost, and janizaries slain,
Render the hopes he gave his master vain.
The flying Turks, that bring the tidings home,
Renew the memory of his father's doom;*
And his guard murmurs, that so often brings
Down from the throne their unsuccessful kings.
The trembling Sultan's forced to expiate
His own ill-conduct by another's fate.
The Grand Vizier, a tyrant, though a slave,
A fair example to his master gave;
He Bassa's head, to save his own, made fly,t
And now, the Sultan to preserve, must die.

The fatal bowstring was not in his thought,
When, breaking truce, he so unjustly fought;

It

fled in precipitation, leaving their standard, and nearly the whole of their ordnance on the field. The Janissaries, indignant at this discreditable retreat, demanded justice in the eastern fashion on the unfortunate commander; and the Sultan, in self-preservation, was compelled to give him up to their vengeance. The Grand Vizier was accordingly strangled at Belgrade in the following December. appears that he was the victim of other passions besides those of war and ambition. He had attained to the highest dignities a subject was capable of enjoying, through the influence of the Sultaness-Mother, with whom he had formed intimate relations. But before he had gone upon this campaign he conceived an attachment for the Sultan's sister. This flagrant infidelity was not to be forgiven; and love, suddenly converted into hate, mainly contributed to his ruin. The SultanessMother joined with the Janissaries in the demand for his execution, to which the Sultan Mahomet at last unwillingly assented.

* Ibrahim, the father of Mahomet, was deposed and strangled in 1649. †The Bassa of Buda, to whom the Sultan's sister was married. The Vizier, upon a pretence that the Bassa had neglected his duty in battle, but really to remove him out of the way of his suit to the princess, put him to death.

Made the world tremble with a numerous host,
And of undoubted victory did boast.
Strangled he lies! yet seems to cry aloud,
To warn the mighty, and instruct the proud,
That of the great, neglecting to be just,
Heaven in a moment makes an heap of dust.

The Turks so low, why should the Christians lose
Such an advantage of their barbarous foes?
Neglect their present ruin to complete,
Before another Solyman they get?

Too late they would with shame, repenting, dread
That numerous herd, by such a lion led;
He Rhodes and Buda from the Christians tore,
Which timely union might again restore.

But, sparing Turks, as if with rage possessed,
The Christians perish, by themselves oppressed;
Cities and provinces so dearly won,

That the victorious people are undone!

What angel shall descend to reconcile The Christian states, and end their guilty toil? A prince more fit from heaven we cannot ask Than Britain's king, for such a glorious task; His dreadful navy, and his lovely mind, Give him the fear and favour of mankind; His warrant does the Christian faith defend; On that relying, all their quarrels end. The peace is signed,* and Britain does obtain What Rome had sought from her fierce sons in vain. In battles won Fortune a part doth claim, And soldiers have their portion in the same; In this successful union we find

Only the triumph of a worthy mind.

'Tis all accomplished by his royal word,

Without unsheathing the destructive sword;

Without a tax upon his subjects laid,

Their peace disturbed, their plenty, or their trade.

*The peace of Nimeguen.

And what can they to such a prince deny,
With whose desires the greatest kings comply?

The arts of peace are not to him unknown;
This happy way he marched into the throne;
And we owe more to heaven than to the sword,
The wished return of so benign a lord.

Charles! by old Greece with a new freedom graced,
Above her antique heroes shall be placed.
What Theseus did, or Theban Hercules,

Holds no compare with this victorious peace,
Which on the Turks shall greater honour gain,
Than all their giants and their monsters slain :
Those are bold tales, in fabulous ages told;
This glorious act the living do behold.

A PŘESAGE OF THE RUIN OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE;

PRESENTED TO HIS MAJESTY KING JAMES II. ON HIS BIRTHDAY.

SINCE James the Second graced the British throne,
Truce, well observed, has been infringed by none;
Christians to him their present union owe,

And late success against the common foe;
While neighbouring princes, loth to urge their fate,
Court his assistance, and suspend their hate.
So angry bulls the combat do forbear,
When from the wood a lion does appear.
This happy day peace to our island sent,

As now he gives it to the continent.
A prince more fit for such a glorious task,
Than England's king, from Heaven we cannot ask;
He, great and good! proportioned to the work,
Their ill-drawn swords shall turn against the Turk.
Such kings, like stars with influence unconfined,
Shine with aspect propitious to mankind;