[Page 121]

To the QUEEN's most Excellent MAJESTY.

1 WHen Heav'n designs some wondrous Prince to raise,
2 Deserving Empire and eternal Praise;
3 It chuses one of an illustrious Line,
4 In whom Hereditary Graces shine:
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5 Who good and great by his Descent is made,
6 And by the Rules of native Honour sway'd:
7 Him it exposes to th' Insults of Fate,
8 To all the Blows of Malice and of Hate,
9 Before it raises him to an exalted State.
10 The pious Trojan, its peculiar Care,
11 Did num'rous Hardships, num'rous Trials bear;
12 Ten thousand Toils with Patience he sustain'd,
13 Before he undisturb'd in Latium reign'd:
14 To Pains inur'd, with Disappointments crost,
15 Wan'dring thro' Flames, on mounting Surges tost:
16 Suff'rings and War to Grandeur led the Way,
17 And fitted him for independent Sway.
18 Happy that People whose blest Monarch owes
19 Unto himself the Wisdom which he shows,
20 Whose Prudence from his own Experience flows.
21 Who has in Shades seen dark'ning Vapors rise,
22 And gloomy Horrors over-cast the Skies:
23 Neglected liv'd in some obscure Retreat,
24 And learnt in secret to be truly great;
25 To rule within, his Passions to subdue,
26 And all his Souls most hidden Movements view:
27 Those Springs of Thought, which when they are refin'd
28 Bestow a dazling Brightness on the Mind:
29 Who disengag'd from Bus'ness and from Noise,
30 To noblest Purposes his Hours employs:
31 Searches past Records, and with vast Delight
32 Presents fam'd Heroes to his ravish'd Sight:
33 Sees them the shining Paths of Honour tread,
34 By Praise push'd on, and daring Courage led:
35 With eag'rest Hast to lofty Heights ascend,
36 And their Renown beyond the Grave extend:
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37 Sees pious Kings with Joy and Zeal obey'd,
38 And cheerful Homage to wise Princes paid:
39 Who're still the Objects of a filial Love,
40 Whom all admire, whose Actions all approve.
41 Such was that Virgin Glory of our Isle,
42 On whom Apollo long was pleas'd to smile:
43 Who was with Wisdom, and with Science bless'd,
44 By ev'ry Muse, and ev'ry Grace caress'd:
45 She knew Afflictions, felt a Sister's Hate,
46 And learnt to reign, while in a private State;
47 By adverse Fortune taught her self to know,
48 That Knowledge chiefly requisite below.
49 And such the Queen who now the Throne does grace,
50 The brightest Glory of her Royal Race:
51 In whose rich Veins the noblest Blood does flow
52 That God-like Kings, and Heroes could bestow:
53 Like her she bravely stood the Shock of Fate,
54 And liv'd serene in a dependent State:
55 Bore unconcern'd the Calumnies of those
56 Whom their Ill-nature only made her Foes:
57 Who thought her Merit too divinely bright,
58 And strove t'eclipse the overflowing Light:
59 Merit, in narrow Minds does Envy raise,
60 Large gen'rous Souls are most inclin'd to Praise.
61 Like her she stem'd the dang'rous swelling Tide,
62 And soar'd aloft with a becoming Pride:
63 Like her a gen'ral Approbation found,
64 And was with joyful Acclamations crown'd:
65 Ev'n Heav'n it self her Unction did approve,
66 And by auspicious Omens shew'd its Love:
67 Refreshing Breezes fan'd the balmy Air,
68 The fertile Earth a florid Green did wear:
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69 No Clouds obscur'd the Sun's refulgent Light,
70 He never shone more eminently bright:
71 All things conspir'd her Welcom to proclaim,
72 Who the Protectress of her People came,
73 By Heav'n design'd, and her propitious Fate,
74 To be the Bulwark of a tott'ring State.
75 Britannia now all glorious does arise,
76 And shoots her Head above the starry Skies:
77 Her sacred Guardian, all the Sons of Light,
78 With Shouts of Joy behold the pleasing Sight:
79 The list'ning Goddess hears the cheerful Sound,
80 From Hill to Hill, from Vale to Vale rebound:
81 On all her Plumes at once, sublime she flies,
82 At once employs her num'rous Tongues and Eyes:
83 To distant Lands our Happiness makes known;
84 Tells them a Heroin fills the British Throne:
85 A Heroin greater than Romance can frame,
86 And worthy of the Line from whence she came;
87 In whom the Great and Brave, the Soft and Kind,
88 In One are by the firmest Ties combin'd:
89 Where nothing's wanting that we can desire,
90 And where we see each Minute something to admire.
91 The trembling Nations aw'd by Gallick Arms,
92 Imploring come, drawn by resistless Charms:
93 To her they sue, and beg from her Relief;
94 She looks with God-like Pity on their Grief:
95 Exerts her Pow'r, and makes th' Iberian Shore;
96 The Spaniards hear her murth'ring Canon roar?
97 Her Fleet dilates a panick Terror round,
98 And British Valor's once more dreadful found:
99 Her Troops descend with noble Ardor fir'd,
100 By Heav'n, and their Heroick Queen inspir'd:
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101 In vain they strive their darling Gold to save,
102 What can resist the Daring and the Brave?
103 Those Sons of War thro' Dangers force their Way,
104 And from the Dragons snatch the shining Prey:
105 Fame spreads the News thro' all th' incircling Air;
106 Aloud proclaims the Triumphs of the Fair:
107 The drooping Eagles prune their Wings and rise,
108 With joyful Haste they cut the sounding Skies;
109 Secure once more of that auspicious Fate
110 Which on them did so many Ages wait:
111 The Belgick Lion casts his Fear away,
112 And with new Strength pursues the destin'd Prey:
113 All the Distrest with Raptures of Delight,
114 In sweetest Songs of grateful Praise unite:
115 Blest Albion's Queen their only Theme does prove;
116 Like Pallas sprung from all-commanding Jove,
117 She comes, they sing, to give us timely Aid,
118 Is kind, and wise, as that celestial Maid:
119 As able to advise, and to defend,
120 And does her Care to ev'ry Part extend:
121 Like Phœbus darts reviving Beams of Light,
122 And dissipates the Horrors of the Night.
123 O that I cou'd the best of Queens attend;
124 Cou'd at your Feet my coming Moments end:
125 I past Misfortunes shou'd not then deplore,
126 And present Evils wou'd afflict no more:
127 But fill'd with Joy, with Transport, and with Love,
128 My Hours wou'd in a blissful Circle move:
129 And I the noblest Bus'ness still wou'd chuse,
130 Both for my self, and my ambitious Muse,
131 Be still employ'd in Service, and in Praise,
132 In glad Attendance, and in grateful Lays,

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Title (in Source Edition): To the QUEEN's most Excellent MAJESTY.
Author: Lady Mary Chudleigh
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Chudleigh, Mary Lee, 1656-1710. Poems on several occasions. Together with the Song of the three children paraphras'd. By the Lady Chudleigh. London: Printed by W.B. for Bernard Lintott at the Middle Temple Gate in Fleetstreet, 1703, pp. 121-125. [16],125,[17],73,[1]p.; 8⁰. (ESTC T97275) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 j.452].)

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Typography, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation have been cautiously modernized. The source of the text is given and all significant editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. This ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.