C H

OICE,

After the Manner of Mr. Pomfret,

By Dr. CHURCH.

IF youthful fancy might its choice purfue,

And act as natural reason prompts it to
If inclination could difpofe our fate,
And human will might govern future fate;
Remote from grandeur, I'd be humbly wife,
And all the glitter of a court despise :
Unfkill'd the proud, or vicious to commend,
To cringe to infolence, or fools attend;
Within my felf contented and fecure,
Above what mean ambition can endure :
Nor yet fo anxious to obtain a name,
To bleed for honour in the fields of fame ;
Empty parade, is all that heroes know,

Unlefs fair Virtue hovers in the show.

But in thefe walls, where Heav'n has fix'd my ftay, One half of life, I'd wish to breath away :

The fall and winter of each future

year.

I'd humbly hope to spend contented here ;

Vol. VI. 24.

A

Mid

'Mid the fierce ravage of a wintry form,

Kind friends to cheer me, moderate wine to warm ; Securely happy we'd delude the day,

And smile the seasons chearfully away.

No needlefs fhow my modeft dome should claim,
Neat and genteel without, within the fame;
Decently fúrnifh'd to content and please,
Sufficient for neceffity, and eafe ;
Vain is the pomp of prodigal expence,
Frugality denotes the man of fenfe;
My doors the needy ftranger fhould befriend,
And hofpitality my board attend;

With frugal plenty be my table spread,
Thofe, and those only whom I love be fed :
The meek and indigent my banquet share,
Who love the mafter, and approve the fare;
Thy mellow vintage Lifbon fhould abound,
Pouring a mirthful inspiration round;
While laughing Bacchus bathes within the bowl,
Love, mirth, and friendship swallow up the foul.

I'd have few friends, and those by nature true,
Sacred to friendship, and to virtue too;
Tho' but to few an intimate profeft,

I'd be no foe, nor useless to the rest:
Each friend belov'd requires a friendly care,
His griefs, dejections, and his fate to fhare;
For this my choice fhould be to bounds confin'd,
Nor with a burst of paffion flood mankind.

Above

Nor

apt

Above the reft, one dear felected friend,
Kind to advife, and cautious to offend ;
To malice, envy, and to pride unknown,
to cenfure foibles, but his own;
Firm in religion, in his morals juft,
Wife in difcerning, and advising best;
Learn'd without pedantry, in temper kind,
Soft in his manners, happy in his mind ;
Is there in whom, these focial virtues blend,
The Mufe lifps Pollio, and fhe calls him friend :
To him, when flush'd with transport I'd repair,
His faithful bofom fhould my folace fhare;
To him I'd fly when forrows prove too great,
To him difcover all the ftings of fate:
His focial foul, fhould all my pangs allay,
Tune every nerve, and charm my griefs away.
O, now I wish to join the friendly throng,
Elude the hours, and harmonize the fong;
Each generous foul ftill fedulous to pleafe,
With calmn good temper, and with mutual cafe;
Glad to receive and give, the keen reply,
Nor approbation to the jeft deny,

But at a decent hour with focial heart,

In love, and humour should my friends depart :
Then to my ftudy, eager I'd repair,

And feaft my mind with new refreshment there;

There plung'd in thought, my active mind should tread. Through all the labours of the learned dead ;

Homer, great parent of heroic ftrains,
Virgil, whofe genius was improv'd with pains
Horace, in whom the wit and courtier join'd,
Ovid, the tender, amorous, and refin❜d;
Keen Juvenal, whofe all-correcting page,
Lafh'd daring vice, and fham'd an impious age;
Expreffive Lucan who politely fung

With hum'rous Martial tickling as he stung;
Elaborate Terence, ftudious where he fmil'd,
Familiar Plautus, regularly wild;

With frequent vifit these I would furvey,
And read, and meditate the hours away.

Nor thefe alone, fhould on my fhelves recline,
But awful Pope majefically thine,
Unequal❜d Bard! Who durft thy praise engage?
Not yet grown reverend with the ruft of age;
Sure Heav'n alone thy art unrival'd taught,
To think fo well, fo well exprefs the thought;
What villain hears thee, but regrets. the smart ?
And tears the lurking demon from his heart ?
Virtue attends thee, with the best applause
Confcious defert great victor in her cause,
She faithful to thy worth, thy name fhall grace,
Beyond all period, and beyond all space :
Go, fhine a feraph and thy notes prolong

For angels only merit fuch a fong!

Hail Britain's genius, Milton! deathless name! Bleft with a full fatiety of fame!

Who

Who durft attempt impertinence of praise?
Or fap infiduous thy eternal bays?
For greater fong, or more exalted fame,
Exceeds humanity to make, or claim.
Thefe to perufe, I'd oft forget to dine,
And fuck reflection from each mighty line,
Next Addifon's great labours fhould be join’d
Prais'd by all tongues and known to all mankind;
With Lyttleton the tender, and correct,
And copious Dryden, glorious in defect;
Nor would I leave, the great and pious Young,
Divinely fired, and fublime in fong.

Next would I add the unaffected Gay,
And gentle Waller, with his flowing lay;
Eaft nature-limning Thomfon fhould appear,
Who link'd eternity within his year.

Thefe for diverfion, with the comic throng,
Should raife my fancy, and improve my fong;

Extend my

view, 'till opening vifions roll,

And all Piæria burfts upon my

foul.

But to inform the mind, and mend the heart, Great Tillotfon, and Butler, light impart; Sagacious Newton, with all fcience bleft,.

And Locke, who always thought and reafon'd beft. But lo! for real worth, and true defert,

Exhaustless science, and extensive art,.

Boerhaave fuperior flands; in whom we find..

The other faviour of difeas'd mankind';: