There walk'd Eusebius at the dawn of light, There walk'd at noon, and there he walk'd at night. In vain. At length, by Providence's care,
He found the door unclos'd, nor servants near.
He enter'd, and through sev'ral rooms of state
Pass'd gently; in the last Eulogius sat.
Old man, good morrow, the gay courtier cried;
God give you grace, my son, the sire replied:
And then, in terms as moving and as strong,
As clear, as ever fell from angel's tongue,
Resought, reprov'd, exhorted, and condemn'd:
Eulogius knew him, and, though known, contemned.
The hermit then assum'd a bolder tone;
His rage was kindled, and his patience gone.
Without respect to titles or to place,
I call thee (adds he) miscreant to thy face.
My pray'rs drew down heav'n's bounty on thy
head,
And in an evil hour my wishes sped.
Ingratitude's black curse thy steps attend,
Monster to God, and faithless to thy friend!
The hermit went
Back to Thebais full of discontent;
Saw his once-impious rashness more and more, And, victim to convinc'd contrition, bore With Christian thankfulness the marks he wore. And then on bended knees with tears and sighs He thus invok'd the Ruler of the skies: "My late request, all-gracious Power, forgive! "And that yon miscreant may repent, and live,
"Give him that poverty which suits him best,
"And leave disgrace and grief to work the rest.”
So pray'd the hermit, and with reason pray'd.—
Some plants the sunshine ask, and some the shade.
At night the nure-trees spread, but check their
bloom
At morn, and lose their verdure and perfume.
The virtues of most men will only blow,
Like coy auriculas, in Alpine snow:
Transplant them to the equinoctial line,
Their vigour sickens, and their tints decline.
Meanwhile Eulogius, unabash'd and gay,
Pursu'd his courtly track without dismay:
Remorse was hoodwink'd, conscience charm'd away.
Reason the felon of herself was made,
And nature's substance hid by nature's shade!
Our fine man, now completed, quickly found
Congenial friends in Asiatic ground.
Th' advent'rous pilot in a single year
Learn'd his state cock-boat dext'rously to steer.
By other arts he learns the knack to thrive;
The most obsequious parasite alive:
Chameleon of the court, and country too;
Pays Cæsar's tax, but gives the mob their due ;
And makes it, in his conscience, the same thing
To crown a tribune, or behead a king.
On less important days, he pass'd his time
In virtuoso-ship, and crambo-rhyme:
In gaming, jobbing, fiddling, painting, drinking,
And ev'ry art of using time, but thinking.
He gives the dinners of each upstart man,
As costly, and luxurious, as he can ;
Then weds an heiress of suburbian mold,
Ugly as apès, but well endow'd with gold;
There fortune gave him his full dose of strife,
A scolding woman, and a jealous wife!
T' increase this load, some sycophant report
Destroy'd his int'rest and good grace at court.
At this one stroke the man look'd dead in law:
His flatt'rers scamper, and his friends withdraw.
And now (to shorten my disastrous tale)
Storms of affronts pour'd in as thick as hail.
Each scheme for safety mischievously sped,
And the drawn sword hung o'er him by a thread.
Child he had none. His wife with sorrow died;
Few women can survive the loss of pride.
The Demon having tempted Eulogius to engage in rebellion against his Prince, he is cast into prison.
Here, were it not too long, I might declare
The motives and successes of the war;
The prowess of the knights, their martial deeds,
Their swords, their shields, their surcoats, and their
Till Belisarius at a single blow
Suppress'd the faction and repell'd the foe.
By a quick death the traitors he reliev'd;
Condemn'd, if taken; famish'd, if repriev'd.
Now see Eulogius (who had all betray'd
Whate'er he knew) in loathsome dungeon laid:
A pris'ner, first of war, and then of staté:
Rebel and traitor ask a double fate!
But good Justinian, whose exalted mind
(In spite of what Pirasmus urg'd) inclin'd
To mercy, soon the forfeit-life forgave,
And freed it from the shackles of a slave.
Then spoke with mild, but in majestic strain,
Repent, and haste thee to Larissa's plain,
Or wander through the world, another Cain.
Thy lands and goods shall be the poor man's lot,
Or feed the orphans, you've so long forgot.
Forsaken, helpless, recogniz'd by none,
Proscrib'd Eulogius left th' unprosp'rous town:
For succour at a thousand doors he knock'd;
Each heart was harden'd, and each door was lock'd.
A pilgrim's staff he bore, of humble thorn;
Pervious to winds his coat, and sadly torn:
Shoes he had none: a beggar gave a pair,
Who saw feet poorer than his own, and bare.
He drank the stream, on dew-berries he fed,
And wildings harsh supplied the place of bread;
Thus homeward urg'd his solitary way;
(Four years had he been absent to a day.)
Fame through Thebaïs his arrival spread, Half his old friends reproach'd him, and half fled : Of help and common countenance bereft, No creature own'd him, but a dog he left. Compunction touch'd his soul, and, wiser made By bitter suff'rings, he resum'd his trade :
Thank'd heav'n for want of pow'r and want of pelf,
That he had lost the world, and found himself.
Conscience and charity reviv'd their part,
And true humility enrich'd the heart,
While grace celestial with enliv'ning ray
Beam'd forth, to gild the ev'ning of his day.
His neighbours mark'd the change, and each man
By slow degrees t' applaud him, and to love.
So Peter, when his tim'rous guilt was o'er,
Emerg'd, and stood twice firmer than before.
CONTENTMENT, INDUSTRY, AND ACQUIESCENCE UNDER THE DIVINE WILL.
WHY dwells my unoffended eye
yon blank desert's trackless waste;
All dreary earth, or cheerless sky,
Like ocean wild, and bleak, and vast?
There Lysidor's enamour'd reed
Ne'er taught the plains Eudosia's praise:
There herds were rarely known to feed,
Or birds to sing, or flocks to graze.
Yet does my soul complacence find;
All, all from thee,
Supremely gracious Deity,
Corrector of the mind!
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