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The MONUMENT:

A POEM Sacred to the IMMORTAL MEMORY OF William the Third.

1 WHAT sudden Damp has seiz'd upon my Soul?
2 Why are my Spirits chill'd, my Nerves unbent?
3 Why am I sad, as is the mournful Grave?
4 As if I never should know Comfort more.
5 Sure conscious Nature gives Presage that Death.
6 The Tyrant whom she most abhors, draws near.
7 Ah woe! 'tis now too plain; for a worse Death
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8 Has happen'd than alas thou fondly thought'st,
9 A Death in which the ruin'd World's concern'd,
10 A Death attended with the Fate of Nations.
11 Too plain, alas, I hear the doleful Sound,
12 The Good, the Great, the Godlike WILLIAM's dead.
13 Gone is his mighty Mind, for ever flown,
14 And nought but his Immortal Name remains:
15 Gone is Great Providence's Watchful Viceroy,
16 Gone the Great Soul that watch'd the Christian World,
17 As the good faithful Shepherd does his Sheep
18 Against the Prowlings of the nightly Wolf.
19 Who shall now guard us from the bloody Foe?
20 Mourn then, my Soul, th' irreparable Loss,
21 And with thee summon Human Kind to mourn,
22 With them too summon even th' Immortal Powers.
23 Thou first and chief, forlorn Britannia, mourn,
24 And with thee let thy faithful Sons keep time;
25 For thou and they, and all have lost in him
26 A Champion, Benefactor, Father, Friend.
27 THOU next, Batavia, faln Batavia, mourn,
28 O let thy Eyes dissolve into a Stream,
29 For thou hast lost (O what hast thou not lost?)
30 Thy Bulwark, thy Defence, thy lofty Mound
31 That kept out lawless Arbitrary Pow'r,
32 Which, like the Ocean, now surrounds thy Tow'rs,
33 With dreadful Inundation threatn'ng all.
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34 EVROP A Beautiful, in sadness mourn!
35 Thy Father, thy Defender's from thee torn,
36 And now the Lustful Bestial God once more
37 Has loudly threaten'd thee with shameful Rape.
38 With thee let all thy Royal Sons lament,
39 Those martial Sons that were with WILLIAM join'd
40 In the Great Cause of Godlike Liberty:
41 Who shall your several Interests now unite?
42 AND thou, Celestial Charmer, LIBERTY,
43 Daughter of Wisdom, and of Supreme Jove!
44 Sister of Reason, and of Sovereign Law;
45 Now Goddess beat thy beauteous Breasts, and rend
46 The flowing Ringlets of thy golden Hair,
47 To mourn thy Mighty Benefactor's Fate;
48 For WILLIAM's Fate, O Liberty, was thine:
49 Thou and Religion here have room no more.
50 AND thou the darling Daughter of the Skies,
51 Divine RELIGION, thou whose melting Eyes
52 Have always like perpetual Fountains stream'd
53 To mourn th' Offences of a sinful World,
54 O let them pour a Deluge now of Tears
55 To wail the dismal Consequence of Sin,
56 To mourn Great WILLIAM's and thy Flight to Heav'n.
57 He was thy Lover, and thy best belov'd,
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58 He was thy Champion, and thy sole Defence
59 Against the Tyrants both of Earth and Hell.
60 His flaming Zeal, O Goddess, rouz'd thy Friends,
61 His charming Accents gain'd thy very Foes
62 To fight, O Goddess, and to die for thee,
63 AND ye, O ANGELS and ARCHANGELS all,
64 Guardians of mighty Kingdoms, and of Kings,
65 Who could your Cares on WILLIAM's Breast repose,
66 Who could your several Charges all to him
67 Resign, while happily aloft ye tower'd,
68 And cut with golden Wings your blissful Heav'n;
69 Now mourn his Flight to the pure Realms of Day,
70 And mourn your own Return to a bad World;
71 For he is to your upper Regions flown,
72 Who equal to your selves your Cares below supply'd.
73 THEN mourn, O EARTH, and mourn, ye HEAVENS your Spheres
74 To Melting Airs y' Intelligences tune;
75 His Godlike Soul's for ever from us flown,
76 Whose Zeal could the divided Earth unite,
77 Whose wond'rous Zeal united Earth and Heav'n,
78 BUT let there be such Lamentation here
79 As ne'er was known for any Fate before,
80 And let the Grief be general, as the Loss;
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81 For Human Kind has lost by WILLIAM's Death,
82 His People most, his first and chiefest Care.
83 He was the tender Father to his People,
84 A Friend and Brother to the rest of Kings;
85 (Alas, few Kings are Friends, or meet with Friends)
86 A Benefactor to the Race of Men.
87 Sure 'twas some Angel who forsook the Skies,
88 And out of wondrous Love to wretched Men
89 Vouchsaf'd to dwell in Human Shape below.
90 For all his Life-time, he from Place to Place
91 Remov'd, dispensing Benefits to all;
92 And from their Gates the grand Destroyer drove.
93 For that alone he mov'd, he spoke, he thought.
94 As if th' important Business of his Life
95 Had been to sacrifice his own Felicity
96 To that of wretched Men, his Great Design
97 Extended to his most inveterate Foes:
98 He blest ev'n them, and would have done them good,
99 Because his Foes were still his Fellow Creatures,
100 From one Divine Original deriv'd.
101 His Foes his Justice and his Mercy knew;
102 And his inviolable Faith as firm
103 As are th' unchangeable Decrees of Fate.
104 For tho the wondrous Goodness of his Soul
105 Made him still sympathize in all our Joys,
106 And mourn and suffer in the Woes we feel;
107 Tho' He found something in his godlike Mind,
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108 That answer'd to the Cries of the Distress'd,
109 And gave him Anguish, till they found Relief,
110 Which was the Source of all his wondrous Deeds,
111 And which distinguish'd his Heroick Life,
112 And set him far above all vulgar Heroes;
113 Yet was his Word so sacred and so sure,
114 He would not break it to preserve a World.
115 BUT when your vulgar Heroes we survey,
116 We find them the abhor'd Reverse of this.
117 They, by the Fever of Ambition fir'd,
118 Run frantickly about the frighted World,
119 And think to grow by mighty Mischiefs great,
120 While Horror marches in their dreadful Van,
121 And Death and Slaughter in their bloody Rear.
122 Whole Towns they plunder, lay whole Countries waste,
123 With grinding Want they make vast Kingdoms pine,
124 But their own Kingdoms into Deserts turn,
125 Where Famine lords it in its wild Domain:
126 For their own Kingdoms loudest cry to Heav'n,
127 And loudest under their Oppression groan.
128 If they make doubtful Peace or hollow Truce,
129 'Tis but for time to wage more dangerous War,
130 To weaken and divide their thoughtless Foes,
131 And lull them by Security to Fate.
132 To Friends deceitful, faithless to Allies,
133 Perfidious, perjur'd to their in-born Slaves;
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134 Revengeful, cruel, bloody to Mankind:
135 A Sea of guiltless Blood they spill, a Sea
136 Of helpless Widows and of Orphans Tears,
137 Destroy their Enemies, their Subjects more:
138 Their Subjects chiefly feel their barbarous Hands;
139 For mad with Rage, their Enemies they tear,
140 But their poor Subjects coolly they destroy.
141 O fruitless Labour of fantastick Pride!
142 For while they thus would more than Men appear,
143 Their Breach of Faith, the Wrongs they do each Hour,
144 Their hateful Violences make them less;
145 Only by Fools and Impious Men admir'd,
146 Abhor'd by God, by all good Men despis'd.
147 Too faithful Copies of their proud Original,
148 The great Destroyer, and the Foe of Men,
149 The first and grand Artificer of Fraud;
150 The pow'rful Prince of all th' infernal Pow'rs;
151 Mighty to act, sagacious to contrive,
152 Who with capacious comprehensive thought
153 Sits brooding o'er his dark and damn'd Design
154 Of captivating all the Race of Men,
155 And fixing Universal Monarchy,
156 Which he sometimes with Violence and Rage,
157 Sometimes with Lies and Hell-born Arts pursues:
158 His Foes sometimes with open Force invades,
159 But most with secret Practice undermines,
160 And sows Dissensions to divide their Strength.
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161 A dreadful and a dangerous Foe to all;
162 But sure Perdition to his fastest Friends:
163 And his Allies are lost, as are his Slaves;
164 Who in Infernal Pains for ever howl.
165 THUS earthly Heroes copy him of Hell,
166 Those Tyrants whom the thoughtless World calls Heroes:
167 Such was not happy WILLIAM, but a Friend
168 To Men, and Servant of the most Supreme.
169 The chief and godlike Purpose of his Soul,
170 Was the restoring Quiet, Order, Peace,
171 And Universal Happiness to Men;
172 And like a faithful Servant to advance
173 His Master's universal great Design.
174 His Master would have all his Creatures blest,
175 He loves the miserable Sons of Men;
176 And with a Love so ardent and so high,
177 As never can be thought be finite Man.
178 Next his was WILLIAM's Love to all his Kind,
179 For Fiends and Tyrants only were his Foes;
180 And Tyrants he esteem'd no longer Men,
181 As cursed Fiends are Angels now no more,
182 Fal'n from their Natures and their Names by Pride.
183 He hated both, to both a mortal Foe,
184 Because they dar'd t' impeach his godlike Purpose.
185 For they make wretched all whom they make Slaves;
186 For what can be so dismal as to see.
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187 Our Lives, our Fortunes, nay our ev'ry Action,
188 Nay ev'n our Virtue and Divine Religion,
189 All in a feverish frantick Tyrant's pow'r,
190 And to his boundless Passions all expos'd.
191 He look'd with Indignation and Disdain
192 Upon th' aspiring, vain, presumptuous Wretch,
193 Who thought it great t'enslave his Fellow-Creatures:
194 Dogs were not made to be control'd by Dogs.
195 Nor Horses over Horses to insult,
196 They rule not one another; nor ought Man
197 To controul Man; but God is to command,
198 Who governs still by Reason and by Law.
199 He loves the Sons of Men, and leaves them free,
200 As free as is his own Almighty Power.
201 For he himself makes Reason still his Guide,
202 And swerves not from his own Eternal Laws.
203 Since our Great Maker then has left us free,
204 On whom we so immediately depend,
205 In whom we live, and move, and ev'n exist,
206 Kings who are God's Vice-gerents too must leave
207 Those who are under their Subjection, free;
208 And govern them by Reason and by Law.
209 For tho like Gods they'r honour'd, they are Men,
210 And they must die like Men: So WILLIAM rul'd,
211 And look'd with Anger and with just Disdain
212 Upon the vain, the mortal, dying Wretch,
213 Who dares to make them Slaves whom God makes free;
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214 Who by his lawless boundless Passions sways,
215 And sacrifices to his Lust of Power
216 A thousand greater worthier than Himself.
217 (For such are all the Good and truly Wise)
218 Which is renouncing Reason's sacred Rule,
219 Subverting th' Awful Government of God,
220 Deposing ev'n the World's Perpetual King,
221 As far as lies within a Mortal's Power,
222 T' assert the direful Government of Hell.
223 For if good Kings are God's Vicegerents, sure.
224 A Tyrant is Hell's Viceroy, and as such
225 A Christian's bound by his Baptismal Vow
226 Against him to denounce perpetual War.
227 So WILLIAM did, and seem'd design'd by Fate
228 T' assert the awful Government of God,
229 And Liberty of Man; and ne're did Heav'n
230 Nor Fate do more for mortal Man than Him,
231 In giving him the Will to undertake,
232 And Power to execute the vast Design.
233 AND never was it known that mortal Man
234 More Noble, more Heroick Deeds perform'd,
235 Than WILLIAM in the Cause of God and Liberty.
236 The glaring Actions which the World calls Great,
237 From Passion chiefly, not from Virtue flow;
238 And of all Passions from Ambition most.
239 Pride which such dangerous Ravage wrought in Heaven
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240 Among th' Immortal Spirits of the Blest,
241 May well destroy our frail Felicity,
242 May well cause dreadful Revolutions here.
243 To Pride th' Illustrious Romans ow'd their Fame,
244 Their Quarrels still were specious, seldom just;
245 Yet not the greatest, first of Romans, Caesar,
246 Darling of Story, Paramour of Fame,
247 Of whom she doting talks and ne're is tir'd,
248 To satisfy Ambition e're perform'd
249 Deeds which display'd such Greatness in the Man,
250 As what Great WILLIAM did for Liberty.
251 METHINKS, ye Friends to Arbitrary Sway,
252 At this great Paradox I see you smile;
253 But hear, ye wretched Slaves t' Opinion, hear,
254 And then determine this important Cause.
255 CAESAR acquir'd his greatest Share of Fame
256 Against the Gauls, who were our WILLIAM's Foes:
257 But Caesar fought with them divided, weak,
258 Doubtful in Counsel, and in Action slow,
259 False to each other, Traitors to themselves,
260 And the great Cause of dying Liberty.
261 No Captain at their Head like mighty Coesar,
262 Vers'd in the Noble Science of the Field,
263 The dexterous Art of Fortifying Camps,
264 Or Ranging numerous Armies in Array;
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265 No brave experienc'd Officers to form
266 Their Troops, undisciplin'd and rude to War;
267 Their Soldiers and Commanders all grown faint,
268 Dejected, spiritless with frequent Routs;
269 All dead and senseless to that Noble Fire
270 That to Illustrious Acts inflames the Brave.
271 UNDER these Disadvantages lay France,
272 In what Condition was great Caesar then?
273 Mature in Years, by long Experience Wise,
274 Awful for Eloquence and Martial Deeds;
275 Leading the Flow'r of Rome's Victorious Legions,
276 Back'd and supported by the Conquer'd World;
277 Valiant his Soldiers, Skilful, Disciplin'd;
278 Experienc'd their Commanders, Wise and Brave;
279 And Soldiers and Commanders, Romans all:
280 Inur'd to Dangers, made by Custom bold,
281 Exalted, spirited with long Success,
282 All eager in the burning Chase of Fame,
283 All faithful and united under Caesar,
284 And He Supreme and Absolute o're all.
285 Yet with all these Advantages Great Caesar
286 Ten tedious Years consum'd in Conquering France;
287 And now the Glory of his Conquest shares,
288 If the Distributors of Fame are just,
289 With his Wise, Valiant, his Victorious Friends,
290 Nay and with Fortune, with his very Foes.
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291 For False and Traitors to the Common Cause,
292 Their Country basely they betray'd and sold.
293 WE 've shewn what Caesar did for Pride, behold
294 What WILLIAM for Fair Liberty perform'd,
295 And th' Actions in an equal Balance lay.
296 'TWAS in the fatal and recorded Year,
297 In which Batavia, the Defence and Mound,
298 Of Faith, of Right, of sinking Liberty;
299 Batavia like the native Land of Jove,
300 Proud of a hundred Formidable Towns,
301 Whose Lofty Bulwarks, and whose Stately Tow'rs
302 Are to the Storms of Arbitrary Pow'r,
303 What its Digues are to the Tempestuous Main:
304 For the wild roaring Torrent they restrain,
305 Which else would deluge all the Christian World,
306 And leave the Earth depopulate and bare:
307 'Twas in the Year in which forlorn Batavia
308 Invaded was, defenceless and surpriz'd,
309 And by two potent Enemies attack'd,
310 Britannia thundring on them from the Main,
311 And faithless Gallia lightning on the Shore;
312 While at the Horror of the Noise and Sight,
313 The Belgick Lion trembling and aghast,
314 Faint in his Roar, and with unsinew'd Paws,
315 Flew for Protection to the stormy Main,
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316 Whose unrelenting Rage he most abhors:
317 'Twas in that fatal Year in which the States
318 (Their Country lost to the insulting French,
319 Their strongest Bulwarks forc'd, or else betray'd)
320 Were turn'd irresolute, distracted, wild;
321 The Croud desponding all, divided, faint,
322 Astonish'd and amaz'd, and stupid grown,
323 In dreadful expectation of their Fate.
324 'Twas at this fatal Juncture that the Prince,
325 Like th' Offspring of the Gods, a Hero born,
326 Without th' advantage of a long Experience,
327 Without the influence of an awful Fame,
328 Without courageous or instructed Troops;
329 With nought on which he could depend but Heav'n;
330 His vast Capacity and dauntless Soul,
331 Magnanimously undertook to save
332 His sinking Country and expiring Liberty.
333 HERE I'm in Rapture and Amazement lost!
334 What shall I first admire, his dauntless Soul
335 In that amazing Hurricane of Fate,
336 E'er scarce the Bloom of Youth proclaim'd him Man,
337 When all the Heav'ns look'd black, and all the Main
338 Look'd dismal, when the frantick Billows rag'd,
339 The Tempest roar'd, the forky Thunder roll'd,
340 And loudly bellow'd o'er the dreadful Deep;
341 The skilful'st Mariners confounded, foil'd,
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342 The boldest trembling, dying with the Fright;
343 The sinking Vessel motionless and dead,
344 Those at the Helm desponding, desperate,
345 Abandoning to Winds and Waves their Care;
346 He who had never plough'd the Deep before
347 Alone unterrify'd, and undismay'd,
348 And dauntless in that dangerous Extreme,
349 As is a God by destiny secur'd;
350 As is the God of the tempestuous Deep,
351 When in some Storm that threatens general Wrack;
352 He lifts above the Waves his sacred Head
353 To calm his troubled Empire of the Main,
354 And give the lab'ring Universe Repose?
355 OR his great Conduct shall I first admire,
356 Without th' advantage of Experience, wise,
357 Exact, profound, unfathomably deep,
358 Design'd him by Foreknowledg, giv'n by Fate
359 To countermine the dark Designs of Hell?
360 CAN ye behold Him, ye ungenerous Foes
361 To his Great Memory, his Deathless Name,
362 Without extolling to the Stars his Fame,
363 When ye discern him in that dreadful Hour,
364 Appearing at the Head of shameful Troops,
365 A wretched Handful, antiquated most,
366 Rusty with Peace, and listless with Disuse,
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367 The rest a vile tumultuous Crowd, in haste,
368 By sad Necessity, not Choice, enroll'd,
369 Rude and untaught, and barbarous to War,
370 Unfit by Nature, and untrain'd by Art;
371 By num'rous ill Successes abject made,
372 Dejected, drooping, infamously base,
373 The mere Reverse of all that's Great and Brave:
374 Their Leaders the base Scum of all the rest,
375 And for that only reason uppermost;
376 Rais'd by the boiling Ferment of the State,
377 Only for factious Discontent advanc'd,
378 And inbred Hatred to their Great Defender?
379 Can you behold him at the Head of these,
380 Informing, moving, animating all,
381 Changing their very Natures like a God;
382 His Bravery kindling thousands with its Fire,
383 His Spirit working like the World's Great Soul,
384 And spreading beauteous Order thro them, where
385 Trouble, Confusion, Chaos reign'd before?
386 Can you see this, and not be wrapt with Wonder?
387 Can you behold the conqu'ring Gauls at Bay
388 Already on his first Appearance stopt
389 In their precipitated wild Career,
390 Already meditating their Retreat?
391 Can ev'n his most inveterate Foes see this,
392 And not exalt such wond'rous Worth to Heav'n?
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393 WHAT a Man is to hearten fainting Hounds,
394 To rouze their Vigour on the lifeless Chase,
395 And guide them through the Mazes of the Field,
396 That to his drooping Countrymen was He;
397 Something between Divinity and them;
398 A more Exalted, a Superiour Being;
399 Their Guardian Genius, and their God of War.
400 His vast Capacity supply'd their Heads,
401 His martial Bravery inflam'd their Hearts,
402 And rais'd their abject and their grov'ling Souls
403 To Noble Thoughts, and to Immortal Deeds,
404 Above the Fear of Death, or foul Retreat.
405 So Pallas to the fainting Greeks appear'd,
406 Shook her invincible, her dreadful Shield,
407 And spread Celestial Vigour thro the Field.
408 BEHOLD him by a Conduct, which surpriz'd
409 The most Illustrious and the Oldest Chiefs,
410 The most experienc'd in the Art of War;
411 Like the young Roman Hero so renown'd,
412 Forsaking his poor Country to preserve it,
413 And save the sinking Freedom of the World.
414 Behold upon fair Bona's lofty Tow'rs
415 The Guardian Angels of a hundred Forts,
416 A hundred Towns, sit gazing to receive,
417 And with loud Welcomes hail their Great Defender:
418 For Bona taken set Batavia free,
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419 And rent in twain th' opprobrious Bonds, prepar'd
420 To bind the Christian World; yet, under Heav'n,
421 That favour'd him with such peculiar Grace,
422 He ows th' Immortal Glory to Himself,
423 Not to the Valour of his fainting Troops,
424 Nor to the Skill of their unwarlike Leaders.
425 Their Bravery was his, for he inspir'd it,
426 And his their Conduct, which from him they drew:
427 Nor ows his Fame to Weakness of his Foes,
428 Or their Divisions, or their Want of Skill;
429 But the Profoundness of his vast Designs,
430 And his High Courage rais'd above Compare.
431 THE Gauls had all th' advantage o'er Nassau
432 That Cesar manifestly had o'er Gaul.
433 Behold them strong, united, numberless;
434 Their warlike Chiefs experienc'd and renown'd;
435 Their well-provided Squadrons, skilful, brave,
436 All flush'd and spirited with long Success,
437 All eager in the burning Chase of Glory.
438 Yet WILLIAM at the Head of wretched Troops,
439 Wretched at least, till rais'd and fir'd by Him,
440 In little more than one revolving Year
441 Forc'd his dread Foes to leave his Country free:
442 When Caesar with the Flow'r of Roman Legions,
443 In the large Compass of Ten rolling Years,
444 Scarce conquer'd barbarous divided Gaul.
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445 EV'N Fortune claims no share in his Renown,
446 Fortune that bears so visible a part
447 In Human Actions, ruling all below,
448 Which Providence has wisely order'd, lest
449 Frail Dust should grow intolerably vain,
450 And cry, upon Success, 'Tis due to me.
451 But he so highly favour'd was of Heav'n,
452 That still He brought about his vast Designs,
453 While she was known t' assist his mortal Foes.
454 The great Discerner of all Human Hearts
455 Knew that his Noble Soul was truly Great,
456 As far above presumptuous Pride as Fear;
457 So conscious of its Origin Divine,
458 It ne'er could ought but its Great Maker fear,
459 Ne'er own a Man superior to it self.
460 But then so mindful of its frail Condition,
461 And its Creator's high Omnipotence,
462 That its Dependance it could ne'er forget,
463 That him it would with trembling still approach,
464 And with profound Humility adore,
465 And by that Lowliness and aweful Fear
466 Confirm its Greatness, and its dauntless Courage.
467 THUS Fortune and the Gauls were WILLIAM's Foes,
468 Both He resisted, and He conquer'd both,
469 And brought about his great and just Designs;
470 But cruel was the Conflict first, and long,
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471 And oft the Goddess seemingly prevail'd,
472 And oft at once collecting her whole Might,
473 Took all Advantages of Time and Place,
474 Prepar'd to crush him at a blow, when He
475 With wondrous Art eludes that dreadful Blow,
476 And with fresh Force disputes the doubtful Day:
477 While Heav'n serene look'd down with all its Eyes,
478 Charm'd with the greatest, noblest Sight that Earth
479 Can offer to the Skies; and that's a Man,
480 A mortal Man, a Match for Fortune's Pow'r.
481 Her Pow'r, great Arbitress of all below,
482 Till his Invincible, unshaken Soul,
483 With Wisdom, Patience, Resignation arm'd,
484 And with a thousand Virtues that have Force
485 To conquer Gods, compell'd her to submit,
486 And own her glorious Conqueror at the last.
487 NOR were her Smiles more pow'rful o'er his Soul:
488 For upon him the faithless Goddess smil'd
489 Ev'n in the worst of Times, that dreadful Hour,
490 When raving as a Bacchanal, and wild,
491 She to new Slaughter lash'd on limping Fate,
492 And led the Gauls t' extirpate lost Batavia.
493 She offer'd him a Kingdom for a Bribe,
494 A Kingdom with a hundred pow'rful Towns,
495 In Wealth exhaustless, numberless in Men;
496 Which he rejected with a Brave Disdain,
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497 And chose to perish with his Country free,
498 Rather than found an Empire on its Bonds.
499 O Greatness, to be found on Earth no more!
500 Exalted far above all Royalty,
501 And far above the Rule of Fortune's Pow'r.
502 For when long after he embrac'd a Crown,
503 Justly confer'd by free Consent of those
504 O'er whom He was to reign; th' Acceptance them
505 Was necessary for the World, not Him,
506 And for the World H' embrac'd it, not himself.
507 To him 'twas all Increase of Toil and Care:
508 He wanted not a Crown to make him Great;
509 His Soul possess'd a Greatness of its own,
510 Not like the short-liv'd Pomp of Fortunes Pow'r,
511 But durable, Immortal as it self;
512 Plac'd like it self above the Force of Fate.
513 His Towring Soul it self was Greatness all,
514 All vast Intelligence and solid Virtue,
515 The things which make ev'n God and Angels Great.
516 A FALSE and borrow'd Lustre He despis'd,
517 Deriv'd from Scepters and Imperial Crowns,
518 His Soul with native Lustre, native Flame
519 Shone out, as glorious as th' Eternal Fire,
520 Which rolls his Sovereign Globe along the Sphere,
521 Rapid, yet firm in the Refulgent Course,
522 That the Great Mover taught him at the first,
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523 And whose Excess of Glory darkens all
524 The rest of God's Vicegerents in the Skies.
525 Thus while vain Pomp and tinsel Glory serve
526 T' amuse the gazing and inconstant Crowd,
527 He charm'd the bravest, wisest Men on Earth;
528 Angels look'd wondring on his Virtue down,
529 And the Great Maker pleas'd, his Master-Piece survey'd.
530 THUS He, despising Royalty, acquir'd
531 A more extended and a Nobler Power.
532 Imperial Crowns, who saw to what a Height
533 Above all Human Greatness He was rais'd,
534 How far above all little selfish Thoughts,
535 Acting as if he thought he had been born
536 For all the World except himself alone;
537 Anxious about the Safety of the World,
538 But utterly regardless of his own;
539 And hazarding his own for that of all.
540 Imperial Crowns convinc'd of this, confest
541 An Excellence superior to their own;
542 And Kings themselves grew subject to his Sway.
543 Him with Esteem and Wonder they beheld,
544 Champion of God and his most Sacred Truth,
545 Defender of the Liberties of Men,
546 And Great Protector of the Rights of Kings:
547 And they who gave to mighty Nations Laws,
548 Receiv'd them first from him, and justly thought
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549 That only He who of Mankind took care,
550 By Nature was design'd the Lord of All.
551 What but the Head takes care of every Part?
552 What but the Soul? What but th' informing Soul,
553 What runs thro all, that animates them all,
554 And in continuous Union all maintains;
555 Union, their Cause of Spirit, Health, and Force,
556 And which dissolv'd, to all brings Fate or Woe?
557 NOW He the Councils of those Kings collects,
558 And all their different Interests reconciles;
559 Of all their thwarting, selfish, low Designs,
560 One Common, Noble, Vast Design he makes,
561 That seem'd impossible to all but Him.
562 But his rare Genius sure Expedients finds
563 To calm their Jealousies, and sooth their Pride;
564 And all at least are satisfied in him,
565 The Tie and Bond of Union to them all.
566 And now behold him marching at the Head
567 Of all their Squadrons, German, Spanish, Dutch;
568 Now see them filing thro thy narrow Ways,
569 Till then inglorious and obscure Seneffe,
570 Now shining in the bright Records of Fame,
571 Among the Glories of th' Eternal Roll:
572 And lo the Germans and the Dutch have pass'd,
573 And the Proud Spaniard now prepares to pass,
574 When lo Great Conde with his headlong Troops
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575 Comes pouring on them like a sounding Flood,
576 That by Destruction makes its noisy Way.
577 Upon the Wings of Fear the Spaniards fly,
578 And many a Furlong leave their Pride behind;
579 For Conde's Image haunts them in their Flight,
580 His awful Form still urging on their Speed,
581 More dreadful to them than his Numerous Host;
582 His awful Form presented to their View,
583 To their Remembrance calls his glorious Acts,
584 Their Friends defeated, and Themselves o'rethrown.
585 When e're Great Conde's Image they behold,
586 The bloody Plains of Lens are in their View;
587 And thou, O Friburg, with thy dismal Cliffs,
588 And the dire Fields of Norlingue and Rocroy,
589 A thousand Victories and High Exploits
590 Encompass him with dreadful Glory round;
591 About him like a Guard of Terrors march,
592 And arm him with Eternal Majesty.
593 These Fantoms goad the Spaniards in their Flight,
594 And now the Fury of that shameful Flight
595 Proves fatal to the Forces of their Friends,
596 And the Battalions breaks and overwhelms.
597 That WILLIAM swiftly sends to their Relief,
598 The French drive on and no Resistance find,
599 Or else Triumphant force their way through all:
600 Outragious as a Flame that's driv'n by Winds,
601 And fiercer, stronger by Obstruction grown.
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602 But now Heroick WILLIAM thund'ring comes
603 To turn the Fortune of the bloody Day;
604 Behold with what a Noble-Rage h' attempts
605 T' arrest his Squadrons in their headlong Flight:
606 For his own Squadrons first He's sorc'd t' attack.
607 With what a matchless Bravery he meets
608 Routed Battalions panting or'e the Plain!
609 Then with his flaming Sword in their Career
610 He stands, his Person to them all expos'd,
611 His Thundring Arm opposing to them all.
612 Now by the Torrent overborn, o'erwhelm'd,
613 Now stemming with a dauntless Breast the Tide,
614 And now with desperate Vehemence turning all,
615 The Base with Blows corrects, with Words the Brave;
616 And some the sparkling Glories of his Eye,
617 And some his Looks, and some his Voice inflames;
618 O whither run ye? O return, return!
619 O ye who had the Looks of Soldiers once,
620 I see ye always had the Hearts of Slaves,
621 The worst of Slaves, from Slaves themselves ye run;
622 You Cowards in defending Liberty,
623 They in augmenting their own Thraldom Brave.
624 For me my own right Hand, or else my Foes,
625 My Freedom and my Glory shall secure;
626 For Death or Victory bring both alike.
627 Ye few Great Souls, who Liberty and Fame
628 Prefer to wretched, shameful, slavish Life.
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629 Come on, be Death or Victory the Word.
630 THIS said, he breathing an Heroick Air,
631 As great as if Eternal Fame appear'd,
632 And to High Actions call'd her darling Sons.
633 And now their Shame prevails upon their Fear,
634 And now he leads them furious to the Charge,
635 Firmly resolv'd to die a thousand Deaths,
636 And to forsake the World e'er such a Leader.
637 Now at their Head with a resistless Rage
638 He thro the firmest French Battalions breaks,
639 And charging thro and thro their Squadrons mows,
640 Their Squadrons now conceal'd in smoaky Clouds,
641 And now reveal'd in blazing Sheets of Fire,
642 And now the French grow fiercer by Despair:
643 And with redoubled Voice Bellona raves,
644 With shriller Notes the Cornets vex the Air,
645 Death's Bugles in the dismal Chase of Blood,
646 The Trumpets kindle Mars with fiercer Sounds,
647 And the tempestuous Drums with thicker Stroaks
648 Alarm the Foe of Nature. All the Heavens,
649 And all the Air appears conflicting Fire,
650 And now the joining Squadrons rend the Skies,
651 And riding at full Stretch upon the Plain,
652 With hideous Outcries on each other rush,
653 And make one ghastful Charnel of the Field;
654 The ratling Plain with murdring Vollies rings,
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655 And to the thundring Cannons mortal roar,
656 The Hills rebellow with a dreadful Sound,
657 That the dire Consort seems to deaf the World.
658 WILLIAM, the glorious Spirit of the War,
659 Is every where where Danger most prevails,
660 Correcting Fortune, and confronting Fate.
661 Like Mars himself, Fierce, Valiant, Raging, Young,
662 Among the thickest Foes his thundring Steed
663 He spurs, then brandishes his fatal Sword;
664 Terror severely sparkling in his Eyes,
665 Death like a Faulcon perch'd upon his Arm,
666 Watching the certain Signal of his Blow,
667 And then like Lightning darting at his Prey.
668 WILLIAM the desperat'st Champion of the Field,
669 In Feats of Arms and mortal Rage excels,
670 Surpassing in amazing Actions all
671 Whom Glory urges, or whom dire Despair,
672 The meanest Sentry less expos'd than he.
673 Frequent amidst the hottest of the Fire,
674 And oft surrounded, cover'd o're with Flames;
675 And yet in Conduct oldest Chiefs excels,
676 To best Advantage ev'ry Motion makes,
677 Always exactly present to himself,
678 Spite of his furious executing Arm,
679 Spite of the Smoak, the Tumult, and the Noise:
680 The raging Trumpet and the storming Drum,
681 The Musquets Din, and thundring Cannons Roar;
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682 Nay spite of Death, whom all his dreadful Guard
683 Of purple Terrors through the Field attends,
684 Who painting hideously his ghastful Face
685 With Dust and Blood, and leaping his pale Steed
686 O're slaughter'd Heaps, rides dismal thro the Plain.
687 THUS all the Day the God of Battel rag'd;
688 And the Sun sat in Horror and in Blood;
689 And then the lab'ring Moon beheld a Sight
690 That troubled her above Thessalian Charms,
691 And made old Night look hideous to her View.
692 NOW in their turns the mangled French recoil,
693 And doubt the Fortune of the dreadful Day;
694 And well they may recoil, and well may doubt;
695 When their Great Chief th' Heroick Conde doubts.
696 Now Rage, Disdain, and Grief to Madness wrought,
697 And the tormenting Conscience of his Worth,
698 Disturb his Generous Breast, and wrack his Soul:
699 He raves, He cannot bear the stabbing Thought
700 Of yielding to a beardless Chief the Field.
701 But this is what torments and stings him most,
702 That He, who now for thirty Glorious Years
703 Has with successive Victories been crown'd,
704 Been us'd to all the Wonders of the Field;
705 Himself the Noblest Wonder of them all,
706 Should see this Godlike Youth perform such things;
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707 As force ev'n him t' admire; O mortal Shame!
708 He crys aloud, O Death to my Renown!
709 'Twas He, 'tis manifest, 'twas none but He
710 That turn'd the Fortune of the Wondrous Day.
711 Thou my Divinity, Eternal Fame,
712 And Victory, thou Darling of my Soul:
713 My Mistress, that for Thirty Glorious Years
714 Hast still been constant to my Noble Fire!
715 Will ye desert me for a Boy at last?
716 Is not my Deathless Passion still the same?
717 Is not my Great Aspiring Soul the same?
718 The same my Conduct, and my Nervous Arm?
719 Have I for Nassau courted you thus long?
720 For him were all the desperate Fields I fought,
721 For him my accumulated Triumphs all;
722 Which with my Loss of Quiet, and of Blood,
723 With Restless Days, and Sleepless Nights I won?
724 O never, never let it be pronounc'd!
725 First let me perish, let me perish all!
726 The very Name of Conde be forgot;
727 Be the curst Syllables ne're mention'd more;
728 And ye vain Monuments of my Renown,
729 Lens, Norlingue, Friburg, St. Antoine, Rocroy!
730 O let Seneffe compleat th' Illustrious List;
731 Or may ye all neglected be by Fame,
732 And never shine in her Eternal Roll!
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733 THIS said, He leads the French to certain Fate,
734 For now th' Allies Invincible are grown,
735 Dauntless their Minds, Impregnable their Posts,
736 Such is their Hero's Conduct and his Fire:
737 And now they pour a Storm of Iron Hail,
738 Whose Fury makes whole Squadrons fall, while they
739 Cover'd with Dust, and horrid all with Blood;
740 The slaughter'd French in Ghastful Heaps behold,
741 And take new Spirit from that dismal Sight.
742 Conde resolves his Men shall perish all,
743 Resolves himself to perish at their Head;
744 And all had fal'n a Victim to Despair,
745 If the descending Goddess of the Night
746 Had not just then withdrawn her Sickly Beams,
747 And Night her blackest Mantle o're them thrown.
748 And now the Rage and Din of Battel cease,
749 Nor Noise nor Silence in the Field prevails,
750 But a low, hoarse and undistinguish'd Sound,
751 A sullen hollow grumbling strikes their Ears;
752 The dreadful Murmurs of declining Rage,
753 And the last doleful Accents of Despair.
754 And now the French conceal'd in Night retire,
755 And to Victorious WILLIAM leave the Field;
756 And in the Height of Anguish and Despair
757 Praise his great Conduct and his matchless Fire.
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758 HERE meanly his ungenerous Foes enquire,
759 Were all his Battels thus with Conquest crown'd?
760 What if they were not? they deserv'd it all,
761 And that was more than Victory to him:
762 He nobly chose to merit Victory,
763 Rather than have it poorly undeserv'd:
764 And from the Height of his exalted Soul.
765 Descend to Triumph by inglorious Ways:
766 Greater and more exalted in Distress
767 Than the great Monarch in his happier Hours,
768 Looking with Scorn on Fortune and his Foes,
769 And all who prosper'd by ignoble Arts.
770 His Conquests all were Glorious, all were Just,
771 All fairly gain'd in the broad Eye of Heav'n,
772 And gain'd while Heav'n and Earth look'd wondring on.
773 Conquests indeed, not Robberies nor Fraud,
774 Nor Purchases nor Thefts, a Conqueror he!
775 No Trafficker for Countries and for Towns,
776 Nor double Dealer in the Trade of War,
777 Nor sordid Turner of his Gold for Gain.
778 He conquer'd at Seneffe, had 'ere his Foes
779 A braver Army, or a nobler Chief?
780 A Chief with such Experience, such Renown,
781 And so much Conduct join'd with so much Fire;
782 So wondrous when the God of Battel rag'd?
783 He who against great Conde found Success,
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784 Could ne're have miss'd it against meaner Chiefs;
785 Had he not by their Numbers been opprest,
786 Or by the Falseness of his own betray'd;
787 For to himself he always ow'd Success,
788 To his high Conduct, and his great Example,
789 His Losses to the Falshood, or the Sloth,
790 Or Impotence, or Factions of his Friends.
791 But yet whene're he lost th' incertain Day,
792 He lost but what was Fortune's, not his own.
793 The towring Greatness of his Soul was His,
794 And that he never lost, that was Himself;
795 His very self; his Troops have been subdu'd,
796 But never He, He gain'd by their Defeat.
797 Since adverse Fortune shew'd him more himself
798 Of deeper Conduct, and more towring Mind,
799 More watchful Care, and more unwearied Toil;
800 Of Resolution never to be broke,
801 Of Constancy that triumph'd over Fate,
802 And kept Proud Fortune in severest Awe.
803 'Twas this that terrify'd his happier Foes,
804 Made Lewis in the Fields of Valenciennes
805 Poorly the Glorious proffer'd Fight refuse,
806 Afraid to trust his far more numerous Troops,
807 More Skilful, more Victorious, more Renown'd;
808 Doubting if they with Fortune's stronger Power
809 Could guard him all from WILLIAM's great Revenge.
810 This made the Proud and Haughty Monarch stoop,
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811 And after all th' Advantages he gain'd,
812 With Prudence doubt the last Event of War,
813 And in our Hero's Country sue for Peace.
814 AND now the World in faithless Peace lies lul'd,
815 Which more than War advances boundless Sway;
816 Fair Liberty sleeps on, and never dreams
817 That to her Heart her Murderer's Hand's so near,
818 Till 'tis too late to fear, too late to dream:
819 For now they seize and bind Her strongest Friend,
820 That they may surely give the fatal Blow.
821 Now the Crowns totter on a hundred Heads,
822 And Europe's nodding Powers expect to fall;
823 For lo where bound forlorn Britannia lies,
824 Pinion'd her Arms that once the Balance held,
825 And in due Poise sustain'd the pond'rous World.
826 Bound to her Rocks like Andromede she lies;
827 Fair Liberty shreeks out aloud for Aid;
828 When WILLIAM on the Wings of all the Winds,
829 Like Perseus, nobly to their Rescue flies;
830 While the admiring World attentive stands,
831 Trembling in Expectation of th' Event,
832 For WILLIAM's Fate the General Fate decides:
833 When with Success above what Caesar found,
834 (But Caesar came t' enslave, and He to free)
835 The Happy Hero came, and conquer'd e're he saw.
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836 O CONQUEST worthy Men and Angels praise!
837 How poor's the Triumph for extended Sway,
838 Compar'd to this? This Conquest over Hearts,
839 This Triumph over Souls, which leaves them free,
840 And makes the Vanquish'd happier than the Victors.
841 The Britons who were wretched Slaves before,
842 Who 'ad lost ev'n Hope, and who expected nought
843 But Life in Miseries, or Death in Flames,
844 When he approach'd grew Happy, Free, Secure:
845 So Happy that their Raptures knew no Bounds!
846 For hark how their tumultuous Joy grows loud!
847 Hark how their stormy Shouts ascend the Skies
848 To unknown Worlds, transporting WILLIAM's Fame!
849 Still, still the Sounds are in my ravish'd Ears,
850 And still methinks I hear the Nation's cry,
851 Hail thou Defender of unspotted Faith!
852 Renown'd Restorer of lost Freedom, hail!
853 Great Patron of the Christian World, all hail!
854 At thy Approach fierce Arbitrary Power,
855 And bloody Superstition disappear.
856 At thy Approach fair Liberty returns,
857 And smiling darts a lovely Glance so sweet,
858 As charms at once the Hearts of Gods and Men:
859 While Piety looks modestly assur'd,
860 And lifts its moving melting Eyes to Heaven;
861 O Happy, Happy above Millions, Thou,
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862 Who hast made Millions blest; Thee Times to come,
863 Thee Nations yet unborn shall Happy call:
864 For the diffusive Good which flows from Thee
865 To ev'ry Age and Nation must extend.
866 But we th' ungrateful'st and the worst of Men,
867 Should we e'er cease to celebrate thy Praise,
868 Should we forget the boundless Debt we owe.
869 Then raise thy Voice, O Happy Island, raise,
870 Let thy tempestuous Raptures tow'r to Heaven,
871 Till Angels catch our Great Deliverer's Praise;
872 Tune it, ye Angels, to your deathless Lyres,
873 And let all Heaven attend th' enchanting Song,
874 For ye have Voices for the lofty Theme.
875 Ye Angels, an Immortal Glorious Crown
876 To recompense th' Immortal Act, prepare!
877 But may he wear it late, and long be ours,
878 May ye impatiently expect him long,
879 Long may he deign to wear this earthly Crown,
880 Which now we place upon his Sacred Head,
881 A poor and mean Return for what we owe.
882 THIS was th' assembled Nation's general Sense,
883 In these warm Sounds they 'xpress'd their Gratitude,
884 And pleas'd the Godlike Hero with their Joy.
885 Yet scarce the inconstant Moon renew'd her Orb
886 (O may it never mention'd be by Fame,
887 Or never be believ'd by Times to come!)
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888 Before they chang'd their more inconstant Minds,
889 And murmur'd at their Great Deliverer.
890 Some envied ev'n the Crown they had bestow'd,
891 And some, regretting their old Thraldom, cry'd
892 For Egypt and its Vegetable Gods.
893 Others would be preserv'd, but not by Him;
894 Alas unfortunate, mistaken Men!
895 Who could preserve you possibly but He?
896 Hark how Hibernia rends with Shreeks the Air,
897 And to Britannia cries aloud for Help.
898 In vain Great Schomberg marches to her Aid,
899 With his Brave Officers, his dauntless Troops,
900 With his own wondrous Skill in Feats of Arms;
901 For Superstition and wild lawless Power,
902 Stood both insulting by, and saw those Troops
903 Consum'd insensibly without a Blow.
904 But WILLIAM's Presence on the wondring Boyn,
905 Made his Foes tremble, cheer'd his fainting Friends,
906 Reviv'd them like their Universal Soul,
907 And quickly chang'd that hapless Island's Fate;
908 As when the Sun above th' Horizon mounts,
909 And with his Blaze of Glory fills the World:
910 Goblins, and Ghosts obscene, and Spirits damn'd,
911 That revel'd by the Stars uncertain Light;
912 Or the pale Glimpses of the Silver Moon,
913 Revere th' Effulgence of the Lord of Day,
914 And disappearing take their Flight to Hell,
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915 So when the Light of all the Christian World
916 Mounted in Glory o'er the Banks of Boyn,
917 Unbounded Pow'r soon took its headlong Flight,
918 And frighted Superstition quickly shrunk
919 Its hated Head within its gloomy Cell.
920 Hibernia rescued by her Martial King,
921 Made thee, Britannia, more securely free.
922 Why dost thou murmur then, ungrateful Isle?
923 What, dost thou envy to the Best of Kings
924 That Happiness which waits upon a Crown
925 That thou thy self so freely hast bestow'd,
926 So justly fix'd upon his Sacred Head?
927 Is that thy Cause of envious Discontent?
928 Alas, the Happiness is all for Thee,
929 And all the Toil and Misery for him!
930 For thee, and not Himself He wears that Crown.
931 The very best of Fathers and of Kings
932 Contentedly supports a wretched Life,
933 That He may make his much-lov'd Children blest:
934 For William in his Kingdoms is Himself
935 The only Man whom his Auspicious Reign
936 Constrains to bear intolerable Care.
937 Not all the Rolls of Fame can shew a King
938 Who labour'd under such a Weight before.
939 Abroad behold a formidable Foe!
940 Surpassing in his Numbers and his Strength
941 The whole Alliance which our Hero form'd;
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942 Then that Alliance difficult to form,
943 And wondrous difficult to be maintain'd;
944 Some Weak, some Slow, some Jealous, Factious all,
945 And thwarting in their contrary Designs.
946 He was the only Man upon the Globe
947 Who could at once resist the Common Foe,
948 And could enforce the Weakness of his Friends,
949 Quicken their Sloth, enrich their Poverty,
950 Cool their Mistrusts, their Factions reconcile.
951 At the same time at home, amongst his own
952 Lurk'd his most mortal and most dangerous Foes,
953 Those Sons of Darkness, who conceal'd in Night,
954 Sat brooding o'er their damnable Design
955 To take away the very Life of Liberty.
956 In the mean while his faithful'st Friends at home,
957 His loyal'st Subjects too divided were,
958 Too factious grown to take just care of Him,
959 More eager most each other to destroy,
960 Than Him their common Safety to defend.
961 How few, alas, he found entirely true!
962 How few in whom he could entirely trust,
963 Upon whose faithful Breasts he could discharge
964 Some part of his intolerable Load!
965 For some had groundless Jealousies conceiv'd,
966 And others of themselves had too much care
967 To be sollicitous about their King.
968 Never had Prince such Hardships to surpass;
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969 For in eternal Toil He past his Hours,
970 Wasted with Action, or consum'd with Thought,
971 And twenty times He past the Stormy Main,
972 While We in Peace securely slept at home;
973 Past it against his Health, against his Life,
974 Past it for Us against his very Self:
975 'Tis what his tender Body ne'r could bear;
976 In ev'ry Passage he almost expir'd,
977 Profuse of his inestimable Life,
978 To save and to defend ungrateful Men.
979 And when the wearying Toils of hard Campagns
980 Were overcome, alas He came not home,
981 Like other Conqu'rors, t' indulge Himself
982 In soft repose, or to enjoy the Fame,
983 Or the fair Conscience of his Noble Acts.
984 For always He return'd to endure new Toils,
985 And bear almost insufferable Pains;
986 Contending with the envious Rage of some,
987 The causeless, groundless Jealousies of more,
988 And with the fierce Divisions of us all.
989 And when with Godlike Patience he had born,
990 Beyond what Nature suffer'd him to bear,
991 The weary Marches, and the hard Fatigues
992 Of a laborious and a long Campagn,
993 At his return he always something found
994 More difficult and grievous to be born,
995 Unjust Reproaches, undeserv'd Affronts
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996 From those whom with the hazard of his Life,
997 Whom with the loss of Rest and Health he serv'd;
998 And yet with Patience He supported all,
999 Because He knew his Just Resentment shewn
1000 Would have confounded all his Great Designs.
1001 Therefore that just Resentment pent within,
1002 Like a devouring Flame that wants a Vent,
1003 Consum'd and prey'd upon his Noble Heart,
1004 Exhausting the best Spirits of his Blood,
1005 And richest Purple of the Royal Flood.
1006 BEHOLD Him (and then murmur, if thou canst
1007 O thou Repining and Ungrateful Tribe!)
1008 Lab'ring beneath this Weight, this World of Care,
1009 Which his frail Body could endure no more:
1010 He knew it, yet undauntedly went on,
1011 Devoting his Inestimable Life,
1012 And off'ring his Hearts-blood a Sacrifice
1013 For the Felicity of wretched Men;
1014 Firmly resolv'd, as far as fleeting Life
1015 Would give him leave, in spite of e'en our selves
1016 And all our foolish and our factious Rage,
1017 To finish the great Work He had begun.
1018 IN this the Roman Decii He surpass'd;
1019 They for their Country too themselves devov'd,
1020 But what they did was probably th' effect
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1021 Of wild Enthusiasm and of frantick Rage,
1022 And sudden the Resolve, and short the Pain.
1023 But WILLIAM's Action was th' effect of Thought,
1024 Of a deliberate and long Design;
1025 For sensibly his Life consum'd away,
1026 And sunk beneath the Pressure of Affairs;
1027 Yet He with indefatigable Soul,
1028 And with almost Divine Resolve, went on,
1029 And knowing He or Liberty must die,
1030 By his eternal Care, eternal Toil,
1031 To support that exhausted his Best Blood,
1032 And sav'd it at th' expence of ev'n his Life.
1033 AND if Success (O fond mistaken Men,
1034 That judg of Human Actions by Success!)
1035 Was sometimes wanting to his Great Designs;
1036 Yet he deserv'd it still, and that's enough,
1037 And greatest, when he miss'd it, still was found;
1038 For then his firm and comprehensive Soul
1039 In all the Lustre of its Virtue shone.
1040 Yet he's unjustly said to want Success,
1041 Who by his matchless Conduct, in despite
1042 Of Fortune's Favour, ruin'd his great Foe,
1043 And near Perfection brought his own Designs;
1044 In spite of Losses made his Kingdom thrive,
1045 While France with all its Fortune was undone:
1046 For by Himself, and not by Fortune Great,
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1047 Great WILLIAM found us wretched, left us blest
1048 In spite of all her Malice, all her Rage:
1049 But ill that King deserves the Name of Great,
1050 Who found his Subjects wealthy, easy, blest,
1051 And will be sure to leave them poor, starv'd, curst,
1052 In spite of false Success and false Renown.
1053 AND thus to bless Mankind our Hero liv'd,
1054 'Twas the sole Business of his Godlike Life,
1055 And great Employment of his dying Hours.
1056 He knew he ne'er could better die imploy'd
1057 Than He had liv'd; he knew the very Best,
1058 The Greatest, Holiest of Mankind were they
1059 Who of their Maker most resemblance bear;
1060 And that they best resemble the most High,
1061 Who to Mankind do most diffusive good,
1062 And who for future Ages best provide.
1063 Nor could the King of Terror's awful Face
1064 Turn his Attention from his Grand Design:
1065 The grizly King no Terrors had for Him;
1066 Calmly they met, and kindly they embrac'd,
1067 As friendly Monarchs on their Frontiers meet.
1068 His mighty Soul was so remote from Fear,
1069 That He shew'd nothing like what's falsely Brave,
1070 And nothing like what's falsely Good He show'd,
1071 No earnest vehement Devotion paid,
1072 Th' effect of Terror and Astonishment;
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1073 But calm, resign'd, and charitably meek,
1074 Briefly and mildly offer'd up that Soul
1075 To the Great Judg of Kings who knew his Heart,
1076 And the main Spring of all his Actions saw.
1077 That done, again he of the World took care;
1078 For his Religion in his Actions lay,
1079 And not in fruitless Words and empty Sounds:
1080 He look'd upon himself as sent by God
1081 T' advance the Happiness of Human Kind;
1082 And as He past his whole Heroick Life,
1083 He dy'd performing his Great Master's Will;
1084 And as He knew no Fear, so Pain it self
1085 Could not divert him from his Great Design.
1086 If we give Credit to the Sons of Art,
1087 His latest Hours in sharpest Pains were spent,
1088 And yet he shew'd no smallest Sign of Pain,
1089 Utter'd no loud Complaint, nor piercing Groan;
1090 No Mark of Torment on his Face appear'd,
1091 Only a more compassionating Look
1092 For his lov'd People whom he left behind,
1093 The best of Fathers for his Children felt,
1094 But for himself appear'd insensible.
1095 Yet his no fruitless vain Compassion was,
1096 But made him eager to compleat those Acts
1097 That dire impending Mischiefs might prevent,
1098 And might our future Happiness secure.
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1099 O GREATNESS, never known to Man before!
1100 Too great to be conceiv'd by Human Thought!
1101 Behold a Man, who dies in sharpest Pain,
1102 In his own Height of Misery intent
1103 Upon providing Happiness for all,
1104 Which makes the sole Imployment of a God,
1105 In perfect Ease and full Felicity:
1106 As much concern'd for the World's Liberty,
1107 As if his Business ceas'd not with his Life,
1108 As if our Guardian Angel had assum'd
1109 That Royal Shape, and would not leave his Charge,
1110 But only disappear to Mortal Eyes.
1111 NOT the least Trouble or Concern He shew'd,
1112 That his Great Maker call'd him at a Time,
1113 When the expecting World had all its Eyes
1114 Intent on Him, the Darling Theme of Fame;
1115 When all his vast Designs were just reduc'd
1116 Within a certain Prospect of Success;
1117 When humbled Gaul, and the deliver'd World
1118 Had all advanc'd his Fame to such a height,
1119 As never Human Glory rose before.
1120 Not in the least concern'd at being snatch'd
1121 From the transporting Joy, the vast Applause,
1122 Of all the Nations happy made by Him.
1123 The Hero meekly bore it, tho He knew
1124 That the World judges by the last Event;
1125 But the World's Praise was what he could contemn.
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1126 He like a faithful Servant had perform'd
1127 What his Great Master destin'd him to do;
1128 And so dy'd, pleas'd with this Heroick Thought,
1129 That had that Master's absolute Decree
1130 Allotted him a thousand times as much,
1131 He would with Cheerfulness have done it all.
1132 OF all about him in that dreadful Hour
1133 He was alone serene, the mournful rest
1134 Felt all the fiercest Pangs of Grief and Fear,
1135 Of ghastful Horror, and of wild Despair;
1136 Their bloodshot Eyes, and their distracted Looks
1137 Declar'd the inward Torments of their Souls;
1138 They all like Wretches on the Rack appear'd,
1139 Like the compassionate Spectator He.
1140 At last one hearty Sigh he gives for all,
1141 A Sigh that ended his Heroick Toils,
1142 And brought that Rest which Virtue could not bring.
1143 And now in loud and lamentable Wails
1144 They vent their lawless Grief that knows no Bounds:
1145 Some for their Royal Patron wring their Hands,
1146 Their Benefactor some aloud deplore;
1147 Some their Wise, Brave, Undaunted General;
1148 Their Great Deliverer and Defender some;
1149 Their Father, like poor helpless Orphans, all.
1150 But turn thy View, my Soul, from that vast Grief,
1151 Whose mortal Prospect is enough to blast
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1152 Thy strongest and thy noblest Faculties.
1153 Yet whither must I fly t' avoid that Grief?
1154 All Europe catches the contagious Woe:
1155 The Greatest Men on Earth his Fate deplore,
1156 Those dauntless Souls who always scorn'd their own
1157 Kings for that Loss not only grieve, but die.
1158 But cease your Lamentations, O ye Kings;
1159 Your loud Laments, y' afflicted Nations cease;
1160 'Tis for your selves this vast Excess of Woe,
1161 And not for Him, for He is surely blest.
1162 Never a greater Subject was of Woe;
1163 But still excessive Grief some Weakness shews,
1164 But lofty Praise declares a Noble Mind,
1165 The best Return for mighty Benefits,
1166 And worthy to be offer'd up to Gods,
1167 And to good Kings, who most resemble Gods.
1168 Then change your Voices all with one accord,
1169 Y' afflicted Nations, change your mournful Notes,
1170 And praise your mighty Benefactor's Name;
1171 Lift up your Voices all with one accord,
1172 For the Great Theme requires your noblest Flights.
1173 WILLIAM the Great, the Good, the Just is gone;
1174 Yet never, never shall He die entire,
1175 But his Immortal Memory shall last
1176 As long as Gratitude remains in Men,
1177 As long as lovely Liberty remains.
1178 For WILLIAM was the Greatest, Best of Kings,
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1179 That e'er was sent from Heaven to rule the Earth,
1180 Or will be sent when Golden Times return:
1181 Who, persecuted and opprest by Fate,
1182 Outpower'd, outnumber'd by the common Foe,
1183 Deserted by some Friends, betray'd by some,
1184 Ill seconded by more, almost alone,
1185 Did by a Conduct Matchless and Divine
1186 Deliver lost Batavia, Belgia save,
1187 New imp'd the Roman Eagles soaring Wings,
1188 To take a stronger and a nobler Flight;
1189 Britannia he restor'd, Hibernia He reduc'd;
1190 He Superstition's bloody Progress stopt,
1191 And check'd the Rage of Arbitrary Sway;
1192 Religion re-establish'd, Right maintain'd,
1193 Supported Freedom, Property secur'd,
1194 And made Oppression tremble when he frown'd;
1195 Was born and liv'd for the World's Happiness:
1196 In ev'ry Part of his unequal'd Life
1197 A Hero still confest to all the World,
1198 And died at last as greatly as he liv'd;
1199 Whose dying Arm for Liberty did more
1200 Than if the noblest Conquest he had gain'd:
1201 And who, to sum all Praises up in one,
1202 Maintains ev'n dead the Freedom of the World,
1203 Both by his Conduct, which Confederate Powers,
1204 By Him combin'd in mutual League, persue;
1205 And by the Wisdom of that Mighty Queen,
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1206 Who now adds Lustre to th' Imperial Crown:
1207 Her Wisdom and her Virtues are the Gifts,
1208 Which He upon these Happy Realms bestow'd.
1209 Had it not been for his Heroick Toils,
1210 The Golden Scepter She so mildly sways,
1211 Had been in bloody Hands an Iron Rod.
1212 And can we owe this Happiness to Him,
1213 And yet refuse our Benefactor's Praise?
1214 Where is our Honour? Where our Gratitude?
1215 And where our boasted Loyalty to Her?
1216 Can we be Foes to his Immortal Name,
1217 Who gave us Her, who all his wondrous Steps
1218 Persues, and seconds all his vast Designs?
1219 And may she second all, till she attains
1220 The Happy Glorious End which He propos'd.
FINIS.

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Title (in Source Edition): The MONUMENT: A POEM Sacred to the IMMORTAL MEMORY OF William the Third.
Author: John Dennis
Themes: politics; monarchy (heads of state); war; glory of the British nation
Genres: blank verse

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Dennis, John, 1657-1734. The monument: a poem sacred to the immortal memory of the best and greatest of kings, William the Third. ... By Mr. Dennis. London: printed for D. Brown, and A. Bell, 1702, pp. 1-48. xii,48p.; 4⁰. (ESTC T135780; Foxon D224; OTA K107395.000) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [Pamph. 241 (31)].)

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