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VI.

On Mrs. CORBET,

Who died of a Cancer in her Breast.

HERE refts a Woman, good without pretence,
Bleft with plain Reason, and with fober Sense:
No Conquefts fhe, but o'er herself, defir'd,
No Arts effay'd, but not to be admir'd.
Paffion and Pride were to her Soul unknown,
Convinc'd that Virtue only is our own.
So unaffected, fo compos'd a mind;
So firm, yet soft; so strong, yet so refin'd;
Heav'n, as its pureft gold, by Tortures try'd ;
The Saint fuftain'd it, but the Woman dy'd.

VII.

On the Monument of the Honourable RoBERT DIGBY, and of his Sifter MARY, erected by their Father the Lord DIGBY, in the Church of Sherborne in Dorfetfhire, 1727.

GO! fair Example of untainted youth,

Of modeft wisdom, and pacific truth:
Compos'd in fuff" rings, and in joy fedate,
Good without noife, without pretenfion great.
Juft of thy word, in ev'ry thought fincere,
Who knew no wish but what the world might hear :
Of foftest manners, unaffected mind,

Lover of peace, and friend of human kind :
Go, live! for Heav'n's eternal year is thine,
Go, and exalt thy Moral to Divine.

And thou, bleft Maid! attendant on his doom,
Penfive haft follow'd to the filent tomb,
Steer'd the fame courfe to the fame quiet fhore,
Not parted long, and now to part no more!
Go then, where only blifs fincere is known!
Go, where to love and to enjoy are one !

Yet take thefe Tears, Mortality's relief,
And till we share your joys, forgive our grief:
These little rites, a Stone, a Verfe receive;
"Tis all a Father, all a Friend can give !

VIII.

On Sir GODFREY KNELLER,

In Westminster-Abbey, 1723.

KNELLER, by Heav'n and not a Mafter taught,
Whofe Art was Nature, and whofe Pictures
Thought;

Now for two ages having fnatch'd from Fate
Whate'er was beauteous, or whate'er was great,
Lies crown'd with Princes honours, Poet's lays,
Due to his Merit, and brave Thirst of praise.

Living, great Nature fear'd he might outvie
Her works; and, dying, fears herself may die.

IMITATION S.

VER. 7. Imitated from the famous Epitaph on Raphael.
Raphael, timuit, quo fofpite, vinci
Rerum magna parens, et moriente, mori.

IX.

On General HENRY WITHERS,
In Westminster-Abbey, 1729.

HERE, WITHERS, reft! thou braveft, gentleft mind,
Thy Country's friend, but more of human kind.
Oh born to Arms! O Worth in Youth approv'd!
O foft Humanity, in Age belov'd!

For thee the hardy Vet'ran drops a tear,

And the gay Courtier feels the figh fincere.
WITHERS, adieu! yet not with thee remove
Thy Martial spirit, or thy Social love!
Amidst Corruption, Luxury, and Rage,
Still leave fome ancient Virtues to our age:
Nor let us fay, (thofe English glories gone).
The laft true Briton lies beneath this ftone.

X.

'On Mr. ELIJAH FENTON,

At Eafthamfted in Berks, 1730.

THIS modeft Stone, what few vain Marbles can,
May truly fay, Here lies an honest Man :

A Poet, bleft beyond the Poet's fate,

Whom Heav'n kept facred from the Proud and Great :

Foe to loud Praise, and Friend to learned Eafe,

Content with Science in the Vale of Peace,

Calmly he look'd on either Life, and here

Saw nothing to regret, or there to fear;
From Nature's temp'rate feaft rofe fatisfy'd,

Thank'd Heav'n that he had liv'd, and that he dy'd.

XI.

On Mr. GAY.

GAY..

In Westminster-Abbey, 1732.

age:

OF Manners gentle, of Affections mild;
In Wit, a Man; Simplicity, a Child :
With native Humour temp'ring virtuous Rage,
Form'd to delight at once and lash the
Above Temptation in a low Eftate,
And uncorrupted ev'n among the Great:
A fafe Companion, and an eafy Friend,
Unblam'd thro' Life, lamented in thy End.
These are Thy Honours! not that here thy Bust
Is mix'd with Heroes, or with Kings thy duft;
But that the Worthy and the Good shall fay,
Striking their penfive bofoms-Here lies GAY.

5

VER. 12. Here lies Gay.] ie. in the hearts of the good and worthy.-Mr. Pope told me his conceit in this line was not generally underflood. For, by peculiar ill-luck, the formulary expreffion, which makes the beauty, misleads the reader into a fenfe which takes it quite away.

XII.

Intended for Sir ISAAC NEWTON, In Westminster-Abbey.

ISAACUS NEWTONUS:

Quem Immortalem

Teftantur Tempus, Natura, Cælum :
Mortalem

Hoc marmor fatetur.

Nature and Nature's Laws lay hid in. Night :
GOD faid, Let Newton be! and all was Light.

XIII.

On Dr. FRANCIS ATTERBURY, Bishop of Rochester.

Who died in Exile at Paris, 1732.

[His only Daughter having expired in his arms, immediately after the arrived in France to fee him.]

DIALOGUE..

SHE.

YES, we have liv'd-one pang, and then we part! May Heav'n, dear Father! now have all thy Heart. Yet ah! how once we lov'd, remember ftill,

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Then mix this duft with thine-O fpotless Ghost!
O more than Fortune, Friends, or Country loft!
Is there on Earth, one care, one with befide?
Yes-SAVE MY COUNTRY, HEAV'N,

-He said, and dy'd.

Save my Country, Heav'n,] Alluding to the Bishop's frequent ufe and application of the expiring words of the famous Father PAUL, in his prayer for the ftate, ESTO PERPETUA. With how good a grace the Bishop applied it at his trial, and is here made to refer to it in his last moments, they will understand who know what conformity there was in the lives of the Prelate and the Monk. The character of our countryman is well known. And that of the Father may be told in very few words. He was profoundly fkilled in all divine and human learning: He employed his whole life in the service of the State, against the unjust encroachments of the Church. He was modeft, humble, and forgiving; candid, patient, and jutt; free from all prejudices of party, and all the projects of ambition; in a word, the happiest compound of Science, Wisdom, and Virtue.

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