ON JAMES CRAGGS, ESQ.
In Westminster-Abbey.
JACOBUS CRAGGS.
Regis magnæ Britanniæ a secretis
et consiliis sanctioribus,
Principis pariter ac populi amor et delicia:
Vixit titulis et invidia major
Annos, heu paucos, xxxv.
OB. FEB. XVI. M.DCC.XX.
Statesman, yet friend to truth! of soul sincere, In action faithful, and in honor clear !
Who broke no promise, serv'd no private end, Who gain'd no title, and who lost no friend; Ennobled by himself, by all approv❜d,
Prais'd, wept, and honor'd, by the Muse he lov❜d.
THY reliques, Rowe ! to this fair urn we trust,
And sacred, place by Dryden's awful dust:
Beneath a rude and nameless stone he lies,
To which thy tomb shall guide inquiring eyes.
Peace to thy gentle shade, and endless rest!
Bless'd in thy genius, in thy love too, blest!
One grateful woman to thy fame supplies,
What a whole thankless land to his denies.
It is as follows, on the monument in the Abbey, erected to Rowe and his daughter.
Thy reliques, Rowe! to this sad shrine we trust,
And near thy Shakespeare place thy honor'd bust,
Oh, next him, skill'd to draw the tender tear,
For never heart felt passion more sincere;
To nobler sentiment to fire the brave,
For never Briton more disdain'd a slave.
Peace to thy gentle shade, and endless rest;
Blest in thy genius, in thy love, too, blest!
And, blest, that, timely from our scene remov'd,
Thy soul enjoys the liberty it lov'd.
To these so mourn'd in death, so lov'd in life;
The childless parent and the widow'd wife,
With tears inscribes this monumental stone,
That holds their ashes and expects her own.
who died of a cancer in her breast.
HERE rests a woman, good without pretence,
Bless'd with plain reason and with sober sense:
No conquest she but o'er herself desir'd,
No arts essay'd but not to be admir'd.
Passion and pride were to her soul unknown,
Convinc'd that virtue only is our own.
So unaffected, so compos'd a mind;
So firm, yet soft, so strong, yet so refin'd;
Heaven, as its purest gold, by tortures try'd ;
The saint sustain'd it, but the woman dy'd.
ON THE MONUMENT OF THE HON.
DIGBY, AND OF HIS SISTER
Erected by their father the Lord Digby, in the church of Sherborne, in Dorsetshire, 1727.
Go! fair example of untainted youth,
Of modest wisdom, and pacific truth ;
Compos'd in suff'rings, and in joy sedate,
Good without noise, without pretension great:
Just of thy word, in ev'ry thought sincere,
Who knew no wish but what the world might hear:
Of softest manners, unaffected mind,
Lover of peace, and friend of human kind!
Go, live! for Heav'n's eternal year is thine;
Go, and exalt thy moral to divine.
And thou, bless'd maid! attendant on his doom,
Pensive hast follow'd to the silent tomb,
Steer'd the same course to the same quiet shore,
Not parted long, and now to part no more!
Go then, where only bliss sincere is known!
Go, where to love and to enjoy are one!
Yet take these tears, mortality's relief, And till we share your joys, forgive our These little rites, a stone, a verse, receive; 'Tis all a father, all a friend, can give !
VIII. ON SIR GODFREY KNELLER,
In Westminster Abbey, 1723.
KNELLER, by Heav'n, and not a master taught,
Whose art was Nature, and whose pictures Thought;
Now for two ages having snatch'd from Fate
Whate'er was beauteous, or whate'er was great,
Lies crown'd with princes' honors, poet's lays,
Due to his merit, and brave thirst of praise.
Living, great Nature fear'd he might outvie
Her works; and, dying, fears herself may die.
IX. ON GENERAL HENRY WITHERS,
In Westminster-Abbey, 1729.
HERE, Withers! rest; thou bravest, gentlest
Thy country's friend, but more of human kind.
Oh, born to arms! O worth in youth approv'd!
O soft humanity, in age belov'd!
For thee the hardy vet'ran drops a tear,
And the gay courtier feels the sigh sincere.
Withers! adieu; yet not with thee remove
Thy martial spirit, or thy social love!
Amidst corruption, luxury and rage,
Still leave some antient virtues to our age;
Nor let us say (those English glories gone)
The last true Briton lies beneath this stone.
At Easthamstead, in Berks. 1730.
THIS modest stone, what few vain marbles can, May truly say, Here lies an honest man ;
A poet bless'd beyond the poet's fate,
Whom Heav'n kept sacred from the proud and great;
Foe to loud praise, and friend to learned ease,
Content with science in the vale of peace.
Calmly he look'd on either life, and here
Saw nothing to regret, or there to fear;
From Nature's temp'rate feast rose satisfy'd,
Thank'd Heav'n that he had liv'd, and that he dy'd.
In Westminster-Abbey, 1732.
Or manners gentle, of affections mild;
In wit, a man ; simplicity, a child :
With native humour temp❜ring virtuous rage,
Form'd to delight at once, and lash the age:
Above temptation in a low estate,
And uncorrupted ev'n among the great:
A safe companion, and an easy friend,
Unblam'd through life, lamented in thy end.
These are thy honours ! not that here thy bust
Is mix'd with heroes, or with kings thy dust;
|