A collection of poems in three volumes. By several hands: [pt.3]

HONOUR. A POEM.

[By the Rev. Mr. BROWN.]

Inscribed to the Right Hon. the Lord Visc. LONSDALE.

Hic Manus ob Patriam pugnando vulnera passi; Quique Sacerdotes casti dum vita manebat; Quique pii Vates, & Phoebo digna locuti, Inventas aut qui Vitam excoluere per Artes, Quique sui memores alios fecere merendo; Omnibus his nivea cinguntur Tempora vitta.VIR. En. VI.

— Who shall go about To couzen Fortune, and be honourable Without the Stamp of Merit? SHAKESPEAR.

YES: all, my Lord, usurp fair HONOUR's name, Tho' false as various be the boasted claim; Th' ambitious miser swells his boundless store, And dreads that highest scandal, to be poor; Line 5

His wiser heir derides the dotard's aim,Line 5 And bids profusion bribe him into fame. Oft' Honour, perching on the ribon'd breast, Sneers at weak justice, and defies th' arrest; She dwells exulting on the tongues of kings; She wakes the muse to flight, and plumes her wings;Line 10 The soldier views her in the shining blade; The pedant 'midst the lumber in his head. She to fell Treason the disguise can lend, And sheath her sword remorseless in a friend: Her throne's fantastick pride, we often seeLine 15 Rear'd on the tombs of Truth and Honesty: Fops, templars,—courtiers, slaves,—cheats, Patriots,—all Pretend to hear, and to obey her call.

Where fix we then?—Each boasting thus his own, Say, does true Honour dwell with all, or none?Line 20

The truth, my Lord, is clear:—Tho' impious pride Is ever self-ador'd, self-deify'd; Though fools by passion or self-love betray'd, Fall down and worship what themselves have made; Line 25

Still does the Goddess, in her form divine,Line 25 O'er each grim idol eminently shine; Array'd in lasting majesty, is known Thro' every clime and age, unchang'd, and One.

But how explor'd?—Take reason for your guide, Discard self-love; set passion's glass aside;Line 30 Nor view her with the jaundic'd eye of pride. Yet judge not rashly from a partial view Of what is wrong or right, or false or true; Objects too near deceive th' observer's eye; Examine those which at a distance lie.Line 35 Scarce is the structure's harmony descry'd 'Midst the tall column's, and gay order's pride; But tow'rds the destin'd point your sight remove, And this shall lessen still, and that improve; New beauties gain upon your wond'ring eyes,Line 40 And the fair Whole in just proportion rise. Thus Honour's true proportions best are seen, Where the due length of ages lies between: This separates pride from greatness, show from worth, Detects false beauty, real grace calls forth;Line 45

Points out what merits praise, what merits blame, Sinks in disgrace, or rises into fame.

Come then, from past examples let us prove What raifes hate, contempt, esteem, or love.

Can greatness give true Honour? can expence?Line 50 Can luxury? or can magnificence?

Wild is the purpose, mad the fruitless aim, Like a vile prostitute to bribe fair Fame; Perswasive splendor vainly tempts her ear, And e'en all-potent gold is baffled here.Line 55 Ye pyramids, that once could threat the skies, Aspiring tow'rs, and cloud-wrapt wonders, rise! To latest age your founder's pride proclaim; Record the tyrant's greatness; tell his name; No more:—The treacherous brick and mould'ring stoneLine 60 Are sunk in dust: the boasting title gone: Pride's trophies swept by Time's devouring flood, Th'inscription want, to tell where once they stood. But could they rival Nature, Time defy, Yet what record but Vice or Vanity?Line 65 His the true glory, tho' his name unknown, Who taught the arch to swell; to rise, the stone;

Not his, whose wild command fair art obey'd, Whilst folly dictated, or passion sway'd.

No: spite of greatness, pride and vice are seen,Line 70 Shameful in pomp, conspicuously mean.

In vain, O St--d--y, thy proud forests spread; In vain each gilded turret rears its head; In vain thy Lord commands the streams to fall, Extends the view, and spreads the smooth canal,Line 75 While guilt's black train each conscious walk invade, And cries of orphans haunt him in the shade. Mistaken man! by crimes to hope for fame! Thy imag'd glory leads to real shame: Is villainy self-hated? thus to raiseLine 80 Upbraiding monuments of foul disgrace? Succeeding times, and ages yet unborn, Shall view the guilty scenes with honest scorn; Disdain each beauty thy proud folly plann'd, And curse the labours of oppression's hand.Line 85

Next, view the Heroe in th' embattled field: True Honour's fruit can conquest's laurel yield?

Him only honour'd, only lov'd we find, Who fights not to destroy, but save mankind: Line 90

PELIDES' fury may our wonder move,Line 90 But god-like HECTOR is the man we love. See WILLIAM's sword a tyrant's pride disarm: See LEWIS trembling under MARLB'RO's arm: Say, which to human kind are friends or foes? And who detests not These, and loves not Those?Line 95 Conquest unjust can ne'er command applause; 'Tis not the vict'ry charms you, but the cause: Not Caesar's self can feign the patriot's part, Nor his false virtues hide his poison'd heart: But round thy brows the willing laurels twine,Line 100 Whose voice a 1.1 wak'd freedom in the savage mine! Yes: truly glorious, only great is he Who conquers, or who bleeds for liberty. "Heroes are much the same, the point's agreed, "From Macedonia's mad-man to the Swede.Line 105 Like baleful comets flaming in the skies, At destin'd times th' appointed scourges rise; A while in streaming lustre sweep along, And fix in wonder's gaze th' admiring throng; But reason's eye detects the spurious ray,Line 110 And the false blaze of glory dies away.

Now all th' aërial cells of wit explore; The mazy rounds of science travel o'er; Search all the deep recesses of the mind, And see, if there true Honour sits enshrin'd.Line 115

Alas, nor wit nor science this can boast, Oft' dash'd with error, oft' in caprice lost! Transient as bright the short-liv'd bubbles fly! And modes of wit, and modes of science die. See Rab'lais once the idol of the age;Line 120 Yet now neglected lies the smutted page! Of once renown'd Des Cartes how low the fall,— His glory with his whirlpools vanish all! See folly, wit—and weakness, wisdom stain,— And Villars witty—Bacon wise in vain!Line 125 Oft' vice corrupts what sense and parts refine, And clouds the splendor of the brightest line, Sullies what Congreve, and what Dryden writ,— This fashion's slave; as that, the slave of wit. Line 130

In vain fair Genius bids the laurel shoot,Line 130 The deadly worm thus eating at the root: Corroded thus, the greenest wreaths decay, And all the poet's honours fall away; Quick as autumnal leaves, the laurels fade, And droop on Rochester's and Otway's head.Line 135 Where then is found TRUE HONOUR, heavenly fair? Ask, LONSDALE, ask your heart—she dictates there. Yes: 'tis in VIRTUE:—That alone can give The lasting honour, and bid glory live: On virtue's basis only fame can rise,Line 140 To stand the storms of age, and reach the skies: Arts, conquest, greatness, feel the stroke of fate, Shrink sudden, and betray th' incumbent weight; Time with contempt the faithless props surveys, "And buries madmen in the heaps they raise.Line 145 'Tis virtue only can the bard inspire, And fill his raptur'd breast with lasting fire: Touch'd by th'ethereal ray each kindled line Beams strong: still virtue feeds the flame divine; Where-e'er she treads she leaves her footsteps bright, In radiant tracts of never-dying light;Line 150 These shed the lustre o'er each sacred name, Give SPENSER's clear, and SHAKESPEAR's noble flame; Blaze to the skies in MILTON's ardent song, And kindle the brisk-sallying fire of YOUNG;Line 155

These gild each humble verse in modest GAY; These give to SWIFT the keen, soul-piercing ray; Mildly thro' ADDISON's chaste page they shine, And glow and warm in POPE's immortal line. Nor less the sage must live by Virtue's aid;Line 160 Truth must support him, or his glories fade; And truth and virtue differ but in name: Like light and heat—distinguish'd yet the same. To truth and virtue the ascent is sure; The wholsome stream implies the fountain pure;Line 165 To taste the spring we oft' essay in vain: Deep lies the source, too short is reason's chain; But those the issues of pure truth we know, Which in clear strength thro' virtue's channel flow: Error in vain attempts the foul disguise,Line 170 Still tasted in the bitter wave of vice; Drawn from the springs of Falsehood all confess Each baneful drop that poisons happiness; G--rd--n's thin shallows, Tindal's muddy page, And Morgan's gall and Woolston's furious rage;Line 175

Th' envenom'd stream that flows from Toland's quill, And the rank dregs of Hobbes and Mandeville. Detested names! yet sentenc'd ne'er to die; Snatch'd from oblivion's grave by infamy! Insect-opinions, hatch'd by folly's ray,Line 180 Bask in the beam that wing'd them, for a day: Truth, phoenix-like immortal, tho' she dies, With strength renew'd shall from her ashes rise.

See, how the lustre of th' ATHENIAN † 1.2 sage Shines thro' the lengthen'd gloom of many an age!Line 185 Virtue alone so wide the beam cou'd spread, And throw the lasting glory round his head. See NEWTON chase conjecture's twilight ray, And light up nature into certain day! He wide creation's trackless mazes trod;Line 190 And in each atom found the ruling God. Unrival'd pair! with truth and virtue fraught! Whose lives confirm'd whate'er their reason taught! Whose far-stretch'd views, and bright examples join'd At once t'enlighten and perswade mankind!Line 195 Hail names rever'd! which time and truth proclaim The first as fairest in the list of fame. Kings, statesmen, patriots, thus to glory rise; On virtue grows their fame, or soon it dies; But grafted on the vigorous stock, 'tis seenLine 200 Brighten'd by age, and springs in endless green: Pride, folly, vice, may blossom for an hour, Fed by court-sun-shine, and poetick show'r;

But the pale tendrils, nurs'd by flattery's hand, Unwearied tendance, fresh supplies demand;Line 205 By heats unnatural push'd to sudden growth, They sicken at th' inclement blasts of truth; Shook by the weakest breath that passes by, Their colours fade, they wither, droop, and die. 'Tis virtue only that shall grow with time,Line 210 Live thro' each age, and spread thro' every clime. See god-like patriots, gen'rous, wise, and good, Stand in the breach, and stem corruption's flood! See martyr-bishops at the stake expire, Smile on the faggot, and defy its fire!Line 215 How great in exile HYDE and TULLY shone! How ALFRED's virtues brighten'd all his throne! From worth like this unbidden glories stream; Nor borrow'd blaze it asks, nor fortune's beam; Affliction's gloom but makes it still more bright,Line 220 As the clear lamp shines clearest in the night. Thus various honours various states adorn, As different stars with different glory burn;

Their orbs too wider, as their sphere is higher; Yet all partake the same celestial fire.Line 225 See then heav'n's endless bounty, and confess, Which gives in Virtue fame and happiness! See mankind's folly, who the boon despise, And grasp at pain and infamy in Vice! Not so the man who mov'd by virtue's laws,Line 230 Reveres himself—and gains, not seeks applause; Whose views concenter'd, all to virtue tend; Who makes true glory but his second end; Still sway'd by what is fit, and just, and true, Who gives to all whate'er to all is due;Line 235 When parties mad sedition's garb put on, Snatches the highest praise,—and is of none: Whilst round and round the veering patriots roll, Unshaken points to Truth, as to his pole; Contemns alike what factions praise or blame;Line 240 O'er rumour's narrow orbit soars to fame: Unmov'd whilst malice barks, or envy howls, Walks firm to virtue thro' the scoffs of fools; No minion flatters; gains no selfish end; His own—his king's—his country's—mankind's friend:—

Him virtue crowns with wreaths that ne'er decay; And glory circles him with endless day. Such he who deep in VIRTUE roots his fame; And such thro' ages shall be LONSDALE's name.

Verse 1, &c. The various and ridiculous pretensions of mankind to Honour and Fame enumerated.

Verse 21. Tho' they are thus inconstant and contradic|tory, yet true Honour is a thing fixed and determinate.

Verse 29. If we would form an impartial judgment of what is truly honourable, we must abstract all conside|rations which regard ourselves.

Verse 32. Not only so, but we must remove ourselves to a proper distance from the object we examine, lest some part should predominate in our eye, and occasion a false judgment of the whole.

Verse 48. Therefore the surest method is, to prove by past examples what commands our love and esteem.

Verse 50, &c. Expence and grandeur cannot give true Honour: Their most splendid monuments vanish; and even should they last for ever, could not bestow real glory, if only the records of Pride, Tyranny and Vice.

Verse 72, &c. Much less if purchas'd by Oppression and Guilt.

Verse 86, &c. True Honour is not to be reaped from un|just Conquest: It is not Victory, but a just Cause that can engage our Esteem.

Verse 116. Neither is true glory to be obtained by wit or science: They are chimerical: Sometimes attended with folly, and weakness; often stained with vice, and so render their possessors mischievous and infamous.

Verse 138. The foundation os true Honour is Virtue only.

Verse 153. It is Virtue only that gives the poet lasting glory: this proved by instances.

Verse 164. The Philosopher can only hope for true glory from the same source; because Truth is his object, and nothing can be Truth that tends to destroy Virtue and happiness.

Verse 174. Hence appears the madness, infamy, and falsehood of those destructive schemes set on foot by the sect called Free Thinkers.

Verse 180. Falsehood short-lived: Truth eternal.

Verse 184, &c. Examples of the two most illustrious phi|losophers that ever adorned the world; the one excellent in moral, the other in natural knowledge.

Verse 198, &c. Kings, statesmen, and patriots must build, their fame on virtue.

Verse 204. Flattery cannot raise folly or vice into true glory.

Verse 222. Thus it appears that every one has the power of obtaining true honour, by promoting the happiness of mankind in his proper station.

Verse 226. And thus the love of fame, tho' often per|verted to bad ends, is naturally conducive to virtue and happiness.

Verse 230, &c. True honour characteriz'd and exem|plify'd.

IMITATIONS.

Ver. 1, &c.

Oui, l'honneur, Valincour, est cheri dans lemonde— L'Ambitieux le met souvent a tout bruler, L'Avare à voir chez lui le Pactole rouler, Une faux brave à vanter sa pro•…•…sse frivole.

Un vrai fourbe, à jamais ne garder sa parole, Ce Poete à noircir d'insipides Papiers, Ce marquis à savoir frauder ces ereanciers.— Interrogeons marchands, financiers, gens du guerre, Courtisans, magistrats, chez eux, si je les croi, L'Interèt ne peut rien, l'hanneur seul fait la loi. BOILEAU, Sat. 11.

Verse 98.

Du premier des Caesars on vante les exploits; Mais dans quel tribunal, jugé suivant les loix, Eut il pû disculper son injuste manie? BOILEAU Sat. 11.

Verse 126.

Je ne puis estimer ces dangereux auteurs, Qui de l'honneur en vers infames deserteurs, Trahissant la vertu sur un papier coupable, Aux yeux de leur lecteurs re•…•…dent le vice amiable.— En vain l'esprit est plein d'un noble vigueur; Le vers se sent toujours des bassesses du coeur. BOILEAU l'Art Poet. Ch. 4.

REMARKS.

G--rd--n's thin Shallows.] The work here characterized is entitled "The independent Whig, or a defence of our ecclesiastical Establishment:" Yet it may be truly affirmed, that there is not one institution of the Church of England, but what is there misrepresented, and ridiculed with the lowest and most despicable scurrility.

Tindal's muddy Page] Alluding to the confusion of Ideas, which that dull writer labours under.

Morgan.] His Character is thus drawn by an excellent writer—

"Who by the peculiar felicity of a good choice, having learned his Morality of our Tindal, and his Phi|losophy of your [the Jews] Spinoza, calls himself, by the courtesy of England, a Moral Philosopher. WARB. div. Leg. of Moses dem. Vol. II. Ded. p. 20.

Toland] A noted advocate for that species of Atheism com|monly called Pantheism.

Hobbes,] It is confessed he was a man of Genius and Learning: Yet thro' a ridiculous affectation of being regarded as the founder of new Systems, he has advanced many things even below confutation.

Mandeville.] The Author of that monstrous heap of con|tradiction and absurdity, "The Fable of the Bees, or pri|vate Vices publick Benefits." The reader who is ac|quainted with the writings of these Gentlemen, will proba|bly observe a kind of climax in this place; ascending from those who have attempted to destroy the several fences of virtue, to the wild boars of the wood that root it up.

See martyr-bishops, &c.] The catalogue of these heroes, through the several ages of Christianity, is too large to be inserted in a work of this nature: Those of our own Country were RIDLEY, LATIMER, and the good (tho' less fortunate) CRANMER.

Notes

• a 1.1

  GUSTAVUS VASA.
• † 1.2

  Socrates.