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tion of their hearts, so in this nation, the affection | of their hearts is far above all they can express by words. Deign then, sir, from the highest of majesty to look down on their lowness, and embrace it; accept the homage of their humble minds, accept their grateful zeal; and, for deeds, accept that great good-will which they have ever carried to the high deserts of your ancestors, and shall ever, to your own, and your royal race, whilst these rocks shall be overshadowed with buildings, these buildings inhabited by men, and while men shall be endued either with counsel or courage, or enjoy any piece of reason, sense, or life.

THE SPEECH OF CALEDONIA.

REPRESENTING THE KINGDOM.

THE Heavens have heard our vows, our just desires
Obtained are; no higher now aspires
Our wishing thought, since to his native clime,
The flower of princes, honour of his time,
Encheering all our dales, hills, forests, streams,
(As Phoebus doth the summer with his beams)
Is come, and radiant to us, in his train,
The golden age and virtues brings again!
Prince so much longed for! how thou becalm'st
Minds easeless anguish, every care einbalm'st
With the sweet odours of thy presence! Now,
In swelling tides, joys every where do flow
By thine approach; and that the world may see
That unthought wonders do attend on thee,
This kingdom's angel I, who since that day
That ruthless fate thy parent reft away,
And made a star, appear'd not any where
To gratulate thy coming, come am here.

Hail! princes' phenix, monarch of all hearts,
Sovereign of love and justice, who imparts
More than thou canst receive! To thee this crown
Is due by birth: but more, it is thine own
By just desert; and ere another brow [flow
Than thine should reach the same, my floods should
With hot vermilion gore, and every plain
Level the hills with carcases of slain,
This isle become a Red Sea. Now how sweet
Is it to me, when love and laws thus meet
To girt thy temples with this diadem,
My nurselings' sacred fear, and dearest gem,
Nor Roman, Saxon, Pict, by sad alarms
Could thus acquire and keep; the Heavens in arms
From us repel all perils; nor by wars

Aught here was won, save gaping wounds and scars:
Our lion's climacteric now is past,
And crown'd with bays he rampeth free at last.
Here are no Serean fleeces, Peru gold,
Aurora's gems, nor wares by Tyrians sold;
Towns swell not here with Babylonian walls,
Nor Nero's sky-resembling gold-ceil'd halls;
Nor Memphis' spires, nor Quinzaye's arched frames,
Captiving seas, and giving lands their names:
Faith, milk-white Faith! of old belov'd so well,
Yet in this corner of the world doth dwell
With her pure sisters, Truth, Simplicity;
Here banish'd Honour bears them company:
A Mars-adoring brood is here, their wealth,
Sound minds, and bodies of as sound a health;
Walls here are men, who fence their cities more
Than Neptune, when he doth in mountains roar,

Doth guard this isle, or all those forts and tow'rs
Amphion's harp rais'd about Thebes' bow'rs.
Heaven's arch is oft their roof, the pleasant shed
Of oak and plain oft serves them for a bed.
To suffer want, soft pleasure to despise,
Run over panting mountains crown'd with ice,
Rivers o'ercome, the wastest lakes appal,
(Being to themselves, oars, steerers, ship and all)
Is their renown: a brave all-daring race,
Courageous, prudent, doth this climate grace;
Yet the firm base on which their glory stands,
In peace, true hearts; in wars, is valiant hands,
Which here, great king! they offer up to thee,
Thy worth respecting as thy pedigree:
Though it be much to come of princely stem,
More is it to deserve a diadem.

Vouchsafe, blest people, ravish'd here with me,
To think my thoughts, and see what I do see.
A prince all-gracious, affable, divine,
Meek, wise, just, valiant, whose radiant shine
Of virtues, like the stars about the Pole
Gilding the night, enlight'neth every soul,
Your sceptre sways; a prince, born in this age
To guard the innocent from tyrants' rage;
To make peace prosper, justice to reflow'r,
In desert hamlet, as in lordly bow'r;

A prince that, though of none he stands in awe,
Yet first subjects himself to his own law;
Who joys in good, and still, as right directs,
His greatness measures by his good effects;
His people's pedestal, who rising high,
To grace this throne, makes Scotland's name to fly
On halcyon's wings (her glory which restores)
Beyond the ocean to Columbus' shores:
God's sacred picture in this man adore,
Honour his valour, zeal, his piety more;
High value what you hold, him deep engrave
In your heart's heart, from whom all good ye have;
For as Moon's splendour from her brother springs,
The people's welfare streameth from their kings.
Since your love's object doth immortal prove,
O! love this prince with an eternal love.

Pray that those crowns his ancestors did wear,
His temples long, more orient, may bear;
That good he reach by sweetness of his sway,
That ev'n his shadow may the bad affray;
That Heaven on him what he desires bestow,
That still the glory of his greatness grow;
That your begun felicities may last,
That no Orion do with storms them blast;
That victory his brave exploits attend,
East, west, or south, where he his force shall bend,
Till his great deeds all former deeds surmount,
And quell the Nimrod of the Hellespont;
That when his well-spent care all care becalms,
He may in peace sleep in a shade of palms;
And rearing up fair trophies, that Heaven may
Extend his life to world's extremest day.

THE

SONG OF THE MUSES AT PARNASSUS.

Ar length we see those eyes,

Which cheer both Earth and skies;
Now, ancient Caledon,

Thy beauties heighten, richer robes put on,
And let young joys to all thy parts arise.

Here, could thy prince still stay, Each month should turn to May; We need nor star, nor sun,

Save him, to lengthen days, and joys begun : Sorrow and night to far climes haste away.

Now majesty and love
Combin'd are from above;

Prince never sceptre sway'd,

Lov'd subjects more, of subjects more obey'd, Which may endure whilst Heaven's great orbs do

move.

Joys, did you always last,

Life's spark you soon would waste;
Grief follows sweet delight,

As day is shadowed by sable night,

Yet shall remembrance keep you still, when past.

THE SPEECHES

AT THE HOROSCOPAL PAGEANT,

BY THE PLANETS.

ENDYMION.

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And many lustres at a perfect height
Shall keep thy sceptre's majesty as bright,
And strong in power and glory, every way,
As when thy peerless parent did it sway;
Ne'er turning wrinkled in time's endless length,
But one in her first beauty, youthful strength,
Like thy rare mind, which stedfast as the Pole
Still fixed stands, however spheres do roil.
More to enchance with favours this thy reign,
His age of gold he shall restore again;
Love, justice, honour, innocence renew,
Men's sprights with white simplicity indue;
Make all to leave in plenty's ceaseless store
With equal shares, none wishing fo have more.
No more shall cold the ploughmen's hopes be-

guile,

Skies shall on Earth with lovely glances smile; Which shall, untill'd, each flower and herb bring

forth,

And lands to gardens turn, of equal worth;
Life (long) shall not be thrall'd to mortal dates:

JOVE.

Rous'D from the Latmian cave, where many years Thus Heavens decree, so have ordain'd the Fates.
That empress of the lowest of the spheres,
Who cheers the night, did keep me hi, apart
From mortal wights, to case her love-sick heart,
As young as when she did me first enclose,
As fresh in beauty as the morning rose,
Endymion, that whilom kept my flocks
Upon lonia's flow'ry hills and rocks,

And sweet lays warbling to my Cynthia's beams,
Out-sang the cygnets of Meander's streams:
To whom, for guerdon, she Heaven's secret bars
Made open, taught the paths and pow'rs of stars:
By this dear lady's strict commandement
To celebrate this day I here am sent.
But whether is this Heaven, which stars do crown,
Or are Heaven's flaming splendours here come
down

To beautify this nether world with me?
Such state and glory did e'er shepherd see?
My wits my sense mistrust, and stay amaz'd;
No eye on fairer objects ever gaz'd.

Sure this is Heaven; for ev'ry wand'ring star,
Forsaking those great orbs where whirl'd they are,
All dismal, sad aspects abandoning,

Are here met to salute some gracious king.
Nor is it strange if they Heaven's height neglect;
It of undoubted worth is the effect:
Then this it is, thy presence, royal youth,
Hath brought them here within an azimuth,
To tell by me, their herald, coming things,
And what each fate to her stern distaff sings:
Heaven's volume to unclasp, vast pages spread,
Mysterious golden cyphers clear to read.
Hear then the augur of thy future days,
And what the starry senate of thee says;
For, what is firm decreed in Heaven above,
In vain on Earth strive mortals to improve.

DELIGHT of Heaven! sole honour of the earth!
Jove (courting thine ascendant) at thy birth
Proclaimed thee a king, aud made it true,
That to thy worth great monarchies are due:
He gave thee what was good, and what was great,
What did belong to love, and what to state;
Rare gifts, whose ardours burn the hearts of all;
Like tinder, when flint's atoms on it fall.
The Tramontane, which thy fair course directs,
Thy counsels shall approve by their effects;
Justice, kept low by giants, wrongs, and jars,
Thou shalt relieve, and crown with glistering stars;
Whom nought, save law of force, could keep in

awe,

Thou shalt turn clients to the force of law;
Thou arms shalt brandish for thine own defence,
Wrongs to repel, and guard weak innocence,
Which to thy last effort thou shalt uphold,
As oak the ivy which it doth enfold.

All overcome, at last thyself o'ercome,
Thou shalt make passion yield to reason's doom:
For smiles of Fortune shall not raise thy mind,
Nor shall disasters make it e'er declin'd:
True Honour shall reside within thy court,
Sobriety and Truth there still resort;
Keep promis'd faith, thou shalt all treacheries
Detest, and fawning parasites despise ;
Thou, others to make rich, shalt not make poor
Thyself, but give, that thou may'st still give more;
Thou shalt no paranymph raise to high place,
For frizzled locks, quaint pace, or painted face:
On gorgeous raiments, womanizing toys,
The works of worms, and what a moth destroys,

The maze of fools, thou shalt no treasure spend,

Thy charge to immortality shall tend;
Raise palaces, and temples vaulted high;
Rivers o'erarch; of hospitality

And sciences the ruin'd inns restore;

With walls and ports encircle Neptune's shore;
To new-found worlds thy fleets make hold their

course,

And find of Canada the unknown source;
People those lands which pass Arabian fields
In fragrant woods, and musk which zephyr yields.
Thou, fear'd of none, shalt not thy people fear,
Thy people's love thy greatness shall up-rear:
Still rigour shall not shine, and mercy lower ;
What love can do, thou shalt not do by power;
New and vast taxes thou shalt not extort,
Load heavy those thy bounty should support;
Thou shalt not strike the hinge nor master-beam
Of thine estate, but errours in the same,
By harmless justice, graciously reform;
Delighting more in calm than roaring storm,
Thou shalt govern in peace, as did thy sire;
Keep safe thine own, and kingdoms new acquire
Beyond Alcides' pillars, and those bounds
Where Alexander gain'd the eastern crowns,
Till thou the greatest be among the greats:
Thus Heavens ordain, so have decreed the Fates.

MARS.

SON of the lion! thou of loathsome bands

VENUS.

THE Acidalian queen amidst thy bays

Shall twine her myrtles, grant thee pleasant days;
She did make clear thy house, and, with her light,
Of churlish stars put back the dismal spight;
The Hymenean bed fair brood shall grace,
Which on the Earth continue shall their race;
While Flora's treasure shall the meads endear;
While sweet Pomona rose-cheek'd fruits shall bear;
While Phoebus' beams her brother's emulates:
Thus Heavens decree, so have ordain'd the Fates.

MERCURY.

GREAT Atlas' nephew shall the works of peace,
The springs of plenty, tillage, trade, increase;
And arts, in time's gulphs lost, again restore
To their perfection; nay, find many more,
More perfect artists; Cyclops in their forge
Shall mould those brazen Typhons, which disgorge
From their hard bowels metal, flame, and smoke,
Muffling the air up in a sable cloke.

Geryons, harpies, dragons, sphinges strange,
Wheel, where in spacious gires the fume doth range;
The sea shrinks at the blow, shake doth the ground,
The world's vast chambers doth the sound rebound;
The Stygian porter leaveth off to bark,
Black Jove, appall'd, doth shroud him in the dark;

Shalt free the Earth, and whate'er thee with- Many a Typhis, in adventures toss'd,

stands

Thy noble paws shall tear; the god of Thrace
Shall be thy second; and before thy face,
To Truth and Justice whilst thou trophies rears,
Armies shall fall dismay'd with panic fears.
As when Aurora in sky's azure lists
Makes shadows vanish, doth disperse the mists,
And in a twinkling with her opal light
Night's horrours checketh, putting stars to flight:
More to inflame thee to this noble task,

To thee he here resigns his sword and casque.
A wall of flying castles, armed pines,

Shall bridge thy sea; like Heaven with steel that

shines

To aid Earth's tenants by foul yokes opprest,
And fill with fears the great king of the west:
To thee already Victory displays

Her garlands twin'd with olive, oak, and bays;
Thy triumphs finish shall all old debates:
Thus Heavens decree, so have ordain'd the Fates.

SUN.

WEALTH, wisdom, glory, pleasure, stoutest hearts,
Religion, laws, Hyperion imparts

To thy just reign, which shall far, far surpass
Of emperors, kings, the best that ever was:
Look how he dims the stars; thy glories' rays
So darken shall the lustre of these days:
For in fair Virtue's zodiac thou shalt run,
And in the Heaven of worthies be the Sun.
No more contemu'd shall hapless Learning lie;
The maids of Pindus shall be raised high;
For bay and ivy which their brows enroll'd,
Thou shalt 'em deck with gems and shining gold;
Thou open shalt Parnassus' crystal gates;
Thus Heavens ordain, so do decree the fates.

By new-found skill shall many a maiden coast
With thy sail-winged Argoses find out,
Which, like the Sun, shall run the Earth about;
And far beyond his paths score wavy ways,
To Cathay's lands by Hyperborean seas;
He shall endue thee, both in peace and war,
With wisdom, which than strength is better far;
Wealth, honour, arms, and arts shall gracethy states:
Thus Heavens ordain, so do decree the Fates.

THE MOON.

O How the fair queen with the golden maids,
The sun of night, thy happy fortunes aids!
Though turban'd princes for a badge her wear,
To them she wains, to thee would fall appear;
Her hand-maid Thetis daily walks the round
About thy Delos, that no force it wound;
Then when thou left'st it, and abroad didst stray,
Dear pilgrim, she did strew with flowers thy way;
And, turning foreign force and counsel vain,
Thy guard and guide return'd thee home again;
To thee she kingdoms, years, bliss did divine,
Quailing Medusa's grim snakes with her shine.
Beneath thy reign Discord (fell mischief's forge,
The bane of people, state and kingdom's scourge,)
Pale Envy (with the cockatrice's eye,

Which seeing kills, but seen doth forthwith die,)
Malice, Deceit, Rebellion, Impudence,
Beyond the Garamants shall pack them hence,
With every monster that thy glory hates:
Thus Heavens decree, so have ordain'd the Fates.

ENDYMION.

THAT heretofore to thy heroic mind
Hopes did not answer as they were design'd,

O do not think it strange: times were not come,
And these fair stars had not pronounc'd their doom.
The Destinies did on that day attend,

When on this northern region thou shouldst lend
Thy cheerful presence, and, charg'd with renown,
Set on thy brows the Caledonian crown.
Thy virtues now thy just desire shall grace,
Stern chance shall change, and to desert give place.
Let this be known to all the Fates adinit
To their grave counsel, and to every wit
That courts Heaven's inside: this let Sybils know,
And those mad Corybants who dance and glow
On Dindimus' high tops with frantic fire:
Let this be known to all Apollo's choir,
And people: let it not be h'd from you,
What mountains noise, and floods proclaim as true.
Wherever fame abroad his praise shall ring,
All shall observe, and serve this blessed king.

The end of king Charles's entertainment
at Edinburgh, 1633.

A

PASTORAL ELEGY

ON THE DEATH OF SIR WILLIAM ALEXANDER.

IN sweetest prime and blooming of his age,
Dear Alcon, ravish'd from this mortal stage,
The shepherds mourn'd, as they him lov'd before.
Among the rout, him Idmon did deplore;
Idmon, who, whether Sun in east did rise,
Or dive in west, pour'd torrents from his eyes
Of liquid crystal; under hawthorn shade,
At last to trees and flocks this plaint he made:
"Alcon! delight of Heaven, desire of Earth,
Off-spring of Phoebus, and the Muses' birth,
The Graces' darling, Adon of our plains,
Flame of the fairest nymphs the Earth sustains!
What pow'r of thee hath us bereft? what fate,
By thy untimely fall, would ruinate

Our hopes? O Death! what treasure in one hour
Hast thou d'spersed! how dost thou devour
What we on Earth hold dearest! All things good,
Too envious Heavens, how blast ye in the bud !
The corn the greedy reapers cut not down
Before the fields with golden ears it crown;
Nor doth the verdant fruits the gardener pull;
But thou art cropt before thy years were full.
With thee, sweet youth! the glories of our fields
Vanish away, and what contentments yields.
The lakes their silver look, the woods their shades,
The springs their crystal want, their verdure meads,
The years their early seasons, cheerful days;
Hills gloomy stand, now desolate of rays:
Their amorous whispers zephyrs not us bring,
Nor do air's choristers salute the spring;
The freezing winds our gardens do deflow'r.
Ah Destinies, and you whom skies embow'r,
To his fair spoils his spright again yet give,
And, like another phenix, make him live! [stems,
The herbs, though cut, sprout fragrant from their
And make with crimson blush our anadems :
The Sun, when in the west he doth decline,
Heaven's brightest tapers at his funerals shine;
His face, when wash'd in the Atlantic seas,
Revives, and cheers the welkin with new rays:

Why should not he, since of more pure a frame,
Return to us again, and be the same?
But, wretch! what wish I? to the winds I send
These plaints and pray'rs: Destinies cannot lend
Thee more of time, nor Heavens consent will thus
Thou leave their starry world to dwell with us;
Yet shall they not thee keep amidst their spheres
Without these lamentations and tears.

Thou wast all virtue, courtesy, and worth;
And, as Sun's light is in the Moon set forth,
World's supreme excellence in thee did shine:
Nor, though eclipsed now, shalt thou decline,
But in our memories live, while dolphins streams
Shall haunt, while eaglets stare on Titan's beams,
Whilst swans upon their crystal tombs shall sing,
Whilst violets with purple paint the spring.
A gentler shepherd flocks did never feed
On Albion's hills, nor sing to oaten reed.
While what she found in thee my Muse would blaze,
Grief doth distract her, and cut short thy praise.
How oft have we, environ'd by the throng
Of tedious swains, the cooler shades among,
Contemn'd Earth's glow-worm greatness, and the
Of Fortune scorned, deeming it disgrace
To court inconstancy! How oft have we
Some Chloris' name grav'n in each virgin tree;
And, finding favours fading, the next day
What we had carv'd we did deface away.
Woful remembrance! Nor time nor place
Of thy abodement shadows any trace;
But there to me thou shin'st: late glad desires,
And ye once roses, how are ye turn'd briars!
Contentments passed, and of pleasures chief,
Now are ye frightful horrours, hells of grief!

[chace

When from thy native soil love had thee driven, (Thy safe return prefigurating) a Heaven Of flattering hopes did in my fancy move; Then little dreaming it should atoms prove. These groves preserve will I, these loved woods, These orchards rich with fruits, with fish these floods,

My Alcon will return, and once again

His chosen exiles he will entertain;

The populous city holds him, amongst harms
Of some fierce Cyclops, Circe's stronger charms.
"These banks," said I, "he visit will, and streams;
These silent shades, ne'er kiss'd by courting beams.
Far, far, off I will meet him, and I first
Shall him approaching know, and first be blest
With his aspect; I first shall bear his voice,
Him find the same he parted, and rejoice
To learn his passed perils; know the sports
Of foreign shepherds, fawns, and fairy courts.
No pleasure like the fields, an happy state
The swains enjoy, secure from what they hate:
Free of proud cares they innocently spend
The day, nor do black thoughts their ease offend;
Wise Nature's darlings, they live in the world
Perplexing not themselves how it is hurl'd.
These hillocks Phoebus loves, Ceres these plains,
These shades the Sylvans; and here Pales strains
Milk in the pails; the maids which haunt the springs
Dance on these pastures; here Amintas sings:
Hesperian gardens, Tempe's shades, are here,
Or what the eastern Inde and west hold dear.
Come then, dear youth! the wood-nymphs twine
thee boughs

With rose and lily to impale thy brows."
Thus ignorant I mus'd, not conscious yet
Of what by Death was done, and ruthless Fate:

Amidst these trances Fame thy loss doth sound,
And through my ears gives to my heart a wound.
With stretch'd-out arms I sought thee to embrace,
But clasp'd, amaz'd, a coffin in thy place;
A coffin, of our joys which had the trust, [dust!
Which told that thou wert come, but chang'd to
Scarce, ev'n when felt, could I believe this wrack,
Nor that thy time and glory Heavens would break.
Now, since I cannot see my Alcon's face,
And find nor vows nor prayers to have place
With guilty stars, this mountain shall become
To me a sacred altar, and a tomb

To famous Alcon. Here, as days, months, years
Do circling glide, I sacrifice will tears;
Here spend my remnant time, exil'd from mirth,
Till Death at last turn monarch of my earth.

Shepherds on Forth, and you by Doven rocks,
Which use to sing and sport, and keep your flocks,
Pay tribute here of tears! ye never had
To aggravate your moans a cause more sad:
And to their sorrows hither bring your mands,
Charged with sweetest flow'rs, and with pure hands;
Fair nymphs, the blushing hyacinth and rose
Spread on the place his relics doth enclose;
Weave garlands to his inemory, and put
Over his hearse a verse in cypress cut:
Virtue did die, goodness but harm did give,
After the noble Alcon ceas'd to live:
Friendship an earthquake suffer'd; losing him
Love's brightest constellation turned dim.

MISCELLANIES.

A PASTORAL SONG.

PHILLIS AND DAMON.

PHIL. SHEPHERD, dost thou love me well?
DAM. Better than weak words can tell.
PHIL. Like to what, good shepherd, say?
DAM. Like to thee, fair cruel May.
PHIL. O how strange these words I find!
Yet to satisfy my mind,
Shepherd, without mocking me,
Have I any love from thee?
Like to what, good shepherd, say?
DAM. Like to thee, fair cruel May.
PHIL Better answer had it been,

To say thou lov'st, me as thine eyne.
DAM. Wo is me! these I love not,
For by them love entrance got.
At that time they did behold,
Thy sweet face and locks of gold.
PHIL. Like to what, dear shepherd, say?
DAM. Like to thee, fair cruel May.

PHIL. Once, dear shepherd, speak more plain,

And I shall not ask again;
Say, to end this gentle strife,
Dost thou love me as thy life?
DAM. No, for it is turn'd a slave

To sad annoys, and what I have
Of life by love's stronger force

Is 'reft, and I'm but a dead corse.
PHIL. Like to what, good shepherd, say?
DAM. Like to thee, fair cruel May.

PHIL. Learn I pray this, like to thee,
And say, I love as I do me.

DAM. Alas! I do not love myself,

For I'm split on beauty's shelf. PHIL. Like to what, good shepherd, say? DAM. Like to thee, fair cruel May.

ALL good hath left this age, all tracks of shame :
Mercy is banished, and pity dead;
Justice, from whence it came, to Heav'n is fled;
Religion, maim'd, is thought an idle name.
Faith to distrust and malice hath giv'n place;
Envy, with poison'd teeth, hath friendship torn;
Renowned knowledge is a despis'd scorn;
Now evil 't is, all evil not t' embrace.
There is no life, save under servile bands;
To make desert a vassal to their crimes,
Ambition with avarice joins hands:
O ever shameful, O most shameless times!
Save that Sun's light we see, of good here tell,
This Earth we court so much were very Hell.

DOTH then the world go thus, doth all thus move?
Is this the justice which on Earth we find?
Is this that firm decree which all doth bind?
Are these your influences, pow'rs above?
Those souls which vice's moody mists most blind,
Blind Fortune, blindly, most their friend doth prove;
And they who thee, poor idol virtue! love,
Ply like a feather toss'd by storm and wind.
Ah! if a providence doth sway this all,

Why should best minds groan under most distress?
Or why should pride humility make thrall,
And injuries the innocent oppress?

Heav'ns! hinder, stop this fate; or grant a time
When good may have, as well as bad, their prime.

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