When proud rebellions would unhinge a state,
And wild diforders in a land create,

T is requifite the first promoters should
Put out the flames they kindled with their blood :
But fure 't is a degree of murder all

That draw their fwords fhould undistinguish'd fall.
And fince a mercy muft to fome be shewn,
Let Charion 'mongst the happy few be one:
For as none guilty has lefs guilt than he,
So none for pardon has a fairer plea.

When David's general had won the field,
And Abfalom, the lov'd ungrateful, kill'd.
The trumpets founding made all flaughter cease,
And mifled Ifraelites return'd in peace.
The action paft, where fo much blood was fpilt,
We hear of none arraign'd for that day's guilt;
But all concludes with the defir'd event,
The monarch pardons, and the Jews repent.

As great example your great courage warms,
And to illuftrious deeds excites your arms;
So when you inftances of mercy view,
They should infpire you with compaffion too:
For he that emulates the truly brave,
Would always conquer, and thould always fave.

Here, interrupting, ftern Neronior cry'd,
(Swell'd with fuccefs, and blubber'd up with pride)
Madam, his life depends upon my will,
For every rebel I can fpare or kill.

I'll think of what you've faid: this night return
At ten, perhaps you'll have no caufe to mourn.
Go, fee your husband, bid him not defpair;
His crime is great, but you are wondrous fair.

When anxious miferies the foul amaze,
And dire confufion in the fpirits raise,
Upon the leaft appearance of relief,
Our hopes revive, and mitigate our grief;
Impatience makes our wifes earnest grow,
Which through falfe optics our deliverance fhew,
For while we fancy danger does appear
Moft at a distance, it is oft too near,
And many times, fecure from obvious foes,
We fall into an ambuscade of woes.

Pleas'd with the falfe Neronior's dark reply,
I thought the end of all my forrows nigh,
And to the main-guard haften'd, where the prey
Of this blood-thirty fiend, in durance lay.
When Charion faw me, from his turfy bed
With eagerness he rais'd his drooping head:
Oh! fly, my dear, this guilty place, he cry'd,
And in fome diftant clime thy virtue hide!
Here nothing but the fouleft dæmons dwell,
The refuge of the damn'd, and mob of hell.
The air they breathe is every atom curst:
There's no degree of ills, for all are worst.
In rapes and murders they alone delight,
And villanies of lefs importance flight:

A&t them indeed, but fcorn they should be nam'd,
For all their glory's to be more than damn'd.
Neronior's chief of this infernal crew,
And feems to merit that high station too:
Nothing but rage and luft infpire his breast,
By Afmodai and Moloc both poffeft.
When told you went to intercede for me,
It threw my foul into an agony;
VOL. II.

Not that I would not for my freedom give
What's requifite, or do not wifh to live;
But for my fafety I can ne'er be bafe,
Or buy a few short years with long difgrace;
Nor would I have your yet unspotted fame
For me expos'd to an eternal fhame.
With ignominy to preferve my breath,
Is worfe, by infinite degrees, than death. '
But if I can't my life with honour fave,
With honour I'll defcend into the grave.
For though revenge and malice both combine
(As both to fix my ruin feem to join)
Yet, maugre all their violence and skill,
I can die juft, and I'm refolv'd I will.

But what is death we fo unwifely fear?
An end of all our bufy tumults here:
The equal lot of poverty and state,
Which all partake of by a certain fate.
Whoe'er the profpect of mankind furveys,
At divers ages, and by divers ways,
Will find them from this noisy scene retire;
Some the first minute that they breathe, expire:
Others, perhaps, furvive to talk, and go;
But die, before they good or evil know.
Here one to puberty arrives; and then
Returns lamented to the dust again :'
Another there maintains a longer ftrife
With all the powerful enemies of life;
Till, with vexation tir'd, and threescore years,
He drops into the dark, and difappears.
I'm young, indeed, and might expect to fee
Times future, long and late pofterity,
'Tis what with reason I could with to do,
If to be old, were to be happy too.
But fince fubftantial grief fo foon destroys
The guft of all imaginary joys,
Who would be too importunate to live,
Or more for life, than it can merit, give?
Beyond the grave ftupendous regions lie,
The boundless realms of vaft eternity;
Where minds, remov'd from earthly bodies, dwell;
But who their government or laws can tell?
What's their employment till the final doom
And time's eternal period fhall come?
Thus much the facred oracles declare,
That all are blefs'd or miferable there;
Though, if there 's fuch variety of fate,
None good expire too foon, nor bad too late.
For my own part, with refignation, ftill
I can fubmit to my Creator's will;
Let him recall the breath from him I drew,
When he thinks fit, and when he pleafes too.
The way of dying is my leaft concern;
That will give no difturbance to my urn.
If to the feats of happiness I go,

There end all poffible returns of woe:
And when to those bleft mansions I arrive,
With pity I'll behold those that survive.
Once more I beg, you'd from these tents retreat,
And leave me to my innocence and fate.

Charion, faid I, Oh, do not urge my flight!
I'll fee th' event of this important night:
Some strange prefages in my foul forebode,
The worst of miferies, or the greatest good.
Few hours will fhew the utmost of my doom';
A joyful fafety, or a peaceful tomb.

6 [D]

If

And in the morning, fince you will not give
What I require, to let your husband live,
You shall behold him figh his latest breath,
And gently fwing into the arms of death.
His fate he merits, as to rebels due;
And yours will be as much deferv'd by you.

Oh Cælia, think! fo far as thought can shew,
What pangs of grief, what agonies of woe,
At this dire refolution, feiz'd my breast!
By all things fad and terrible poffeft.
In vain I wept, and 'twas in vain I pray'd,
For all my tears were to a tiger made?
A tiger! worfe; for, 't is beyond difpute,
No fiend 's fo cruel as a reasoning brute.
Encompafs'd thus, and hopeless of relief,
With all the fquadrons of defpair and grief,
Ruin- it was not poffible to fhun:

What could I do? Oh! what would you have done?
The hours that pass'd, till the black morn return'd,
With tears of blood fhould be for ever mourn'd.
When, to involve me with confummate grief,
Beyond expreffion, and above belief,
Madam, the monster cry'd, that you may find
I can be grateful to the fair that 's kind;
Step to the door, I'll fhew you fuch a fight,
Shall overwhelm your fpirits with delight.
Does not that wretch, who would dethrone his king,
Become the gibbet, and adorn the ftring?
You need not now an injur'd husband dread;
Living he might, he 'll not upbraid you dead.
'Twas for your fake I feiz'd upon his life;
He would perhaps have fcorn'd fo chaste a wife.
And, madam, you'll excufe the zeal I fhew,
To keep that fecret none alive fhould know.

Curs'd of all creatures! for, compar'd with thee,
The devils, faid I, are dull in cruelty.
Oh, may that tongue eternal vipers breed,
And waftelefs their eternal hunger feed;
In fires too hot for falamanders dwell,
The burning earnest of a hotter hell;
May that vile lump of execrable luft
Corrupt alive, and rot into the duft!

May't thou, defpairing at the point of death,
With oaths and blafphemies refign thy breath;
And the worst torments that the damn'd should share,
In thine own perfon all united bear!

Oh Cælia! oh my friend! what age can fhew
Sorrows like mine, fo exquifite a woe?
Indeed it does not infinite appear,
Because it can't be everlasting here:
But it 's fo vaft, that it can ne'er increase:
And fo confirm'd, it never can be lefs.

Alternate paffions various thoughts impart,
And painful joys diftend her throbbing heart:
Her fears are great, and her defires are strong;
The minutes fly too faft-yet stay too long;
Now the is ready-the next moment not;
All things are done-then fomething is forgot;
She fears yet wishes the strange work were done;
Delays yet is impatient to be gone.
Disorders thus from every thought arife;
What loves perfuades, I know not what denies.

Achates' choice does his firm judgment prove,
And fhews at once he can be wife and love;
Because it from no fpurious paffion came,
But was the product of a noble flame:

Bold, without rudeness; without blazing, bright;
Pure as fix'd ftars, and uncorrupt as light;
By juft degrees it to perfection grew J
An early ripenefs, and a lasting too.
So the bright fun afcending to his noon,
Moves not too flowly, nor is there too foon.

But, though Achates was unkindly driven
From his own land, he's banish'd into heaven:
For fure the raptures of Cofmelia's love,
Are next, if only next to thofe above.
Thus Power Divine does with his foes engage;
Rewards his virtues, and defeats their rage
For first it did to fair Cofmelia give

All that a human creature could receive;
Whate'er can raife our wonder or delight,
Transport the foul, or gratify the fight.
Then in the full perfection of her charms,
Lodg'd the bright virgin in Achates' arms.

What angels are, is in Cofmelia feen;
Their awful glories, and their godlike mien;
For, in her afpect all the graces meet;
All that is noble, beautiful, or sweet:
There every charm in lofty triumph fits,
Scorns poor defect, and to no fault fubmits;
There fymmetry, complexion, air, unite,
Sublimely noble, and amazing bright.
So newly finish'd by the hand Divine,
Before her fall, did the first woman thine.
But Eve in one great point the does excel:
Cofmelia never err'd at all; the fell.
From her temptation, in defpair withdrew ;
Nor more affaults, whom it could ne'er fubdue,

Virtue confirm'd, and regularly brought

To full maturity, by ferious thought,
Her actions with a watchful eye furveys;
Each paffion guides, and every moment sways;
Not the leaft failure in her conduct lies;
So gaily modeft, and fo freely wife.

Her judgment fure, impartial, and refin'd,
With wit, that's clear and penetrating, join'd,
O'er all the efforts of her mind prefides,
And to the nobleft end her labours guides:
She knows the best, and does the best pursue,
And treads the maze of life without a clue.
That the weak only and the wavering lack,
When they're mistaken, to conduct them back.
She does, amidst ten thousand ways, prefer
The right, as if not capable to err.

Her fancy, ftrong, vivacious, and fublime, Seldom betrays her converfe to a crime;

6 [D] 2

And

And though it moves with a luxuriant heat,
'Tis ne'er precipitous, but always great:
For each expreffion, every teeming thought,
Is to the scanning of her judgment brought;
Which wifely separates the finest gold,
And cafts the image in a beauteous mould.

No trifling words debafe her eloquence,
But all 's pathetic, all is fterling fenfe;
Refin'd from droffy chat, and idle noise,
With which the female conversation cloys.

So well she knows, what's understood by few, To time her thoughts, and to exprefs them too; That what she speaks does to the foul transmit The fair idea of delightful wit.

Illuftrious born, and as illuftrious bred, By great example to wife actions led ; Much to her fame her lineal heroes bore She owes, but to her own high genius more; And, by a noble emulation mov'd, Excell'd their virtues, and her own improv'd; Till they arriv'd at that celeftial height, Scarce angels greater be, or faints fo bright. But, if Cofmelia could yet lovelier be, Of nobler birth, or more a deity, Achates merits her, though none but he; Whofe generous foul abhors a base disguise; Refolv'd in action, and in counfel wife; Too well confirm'd and fortify'd within, For threats to force, or flattery to win. Unmov'd amidst the hurricane he stood; He dares be guiltlefs, and he will be good.

Since the first pair in paradife were join'd, Two hearts were ne'er fo happily combin'd. Achates life to fair Cofmelia gives: In fair Cofmelia great Achates lives. Each is to other the divineft blifs; He is her heaven, and the is more than his. O may the kindeft influence above Protect their perfons, and indulge their love!

Ut cui, vivens,

Obfequium, tanquam patri præftitit ;
Moriens,

Patrimonium, tanquam filio, reliquit.
Noverca cum effet,

Maternam pietatem facile fuperavit. Famulitii adeo mitem prudentemque curam gefit, Ut non tam domina familiæ præeffe, Quam anima corpori ineffe videretur. Denique,

Cum pudico, humili, forti, fanéto animo, Virginibus, conjugibus, viduis, omnibus, Exemplum confecraffet integerrimum, Terris anima major, ad fimiles evolavit fuperos.

The foregoing Infcription attempted in Engl. DIANA, Countess of OXFORD and ELGIN WHO from a race of noble heroes came And added luftre to its ancient fame; Round her the virtues of the Cecils fhone, But with inferior brightness to her own: Which the refin'd to that fublime degree, The greatest mortal could not greater be. Each stage of life peculiar fplendor had; Her tender years with innocence were clad ; Maturer grown, whate'er was brave and good, In the retinue of her virtues ftood; And at the final period of her breath, She crown'd her life with a propitious death; That no occafion might be wanting here To make her virtues fam'd, or joys fincere. Two noble lords her genial bed poffeft; A wife to both, the dearest and the best. Oxford fubmitted in one year to fate; For whom her paffion was exceeding great. To Elgin full fix Luftra were affign'd; And him the lov'd with fo intenfe a mind, That, living, like a father, the obey'd; Dying, as to a fon, left all fhe had." When a ftep-mother, the foon foar'd above The common height even of maternal love. She did her numerous family command With fuch a tender care, fo wife a hand, She feem'd no otherwife a miftrefs there, Than godlike fouls in human bodies are. But when to all she had example fhew'd, How to be great and humble, chafte and good, Her foul, for earth too excellent, too high, Flew to its peers, the princes of the sky.