NASSAU: A POEM Occasion'd by the PEACE.
By THOMAS BARKER, A. M. Cantab.
—Vocabitur Hic quóque votis,
Aspera cùm positis mitescent Secula bellis.
Virg.
LONDON: Printed for Will. Rogers. And F. Hicks, Bookseller in Cambridge. 1698.
NASSAU:
A POEM Occasion'd by the PEACE.
WHAT can exceed Man's
Goodness, Power, and
Skill?
Faith, Sage Experience, with a
zealous Will?
What e're
Conceit may promise,
Strength fulfil?
Heav'n and the
Conduct can, which
NASSAƲ shows:
Whose
boundless Force so wholly rules his
Foes,
That we conclude their
Stars in his Dispose.
So to his Bent their Steely
Hearts are brought;
As if their
Movements were by
NASSAƲ wrought▪
The Vassals still of his
directing Thought.
Come,
Muse, and
This surpassing HERO view;
Who, after all th'
Old Demi-Gods cou'd do,
Acts what is
Greater still, and more
Surprizing New.
We'll sing of
Victors on a sudden charm'd,
Despoil'd among their
Spoils, amidst their
Arms disarm'd:
Of
Wars Invisibly restrain'd we'll sing,
And, without Conquest, a
Triumphant King.
A Theme sublime! provoking Tragick Rage!
Light are the Lamps, and we've prepar'd the Stage.
Soft, soft, my Muse; while slow the Curtains rise:
But—Lo the Scenes! what
Figures strike our Eyes?
Folded her
Arms, and unadorn'd her
Head!
Castles and Towns,
her Victories, resign'd!
And
Power, and
Strength, and
Tribute, left behind!
Though no
Superior's seen; no stronger Hand,
These Dues, such Resignations to command.
'Tis wond'rous strange! who can the Cause explore?
What
Muse can tell, what
Muse ne're knew before!
Go, Thou; enquire of Those that yonder sit,
To
[...] for
Gallia's Cause their subtile Wit;
Ask 'em what Influence did their Arts elude,
And sl
[...]rr'd the Interest they so long pursu'd?
Follow Those Warriors that retreat so fast;
And ask the reason of th' unusual Haste:
What
Magick's
This so mocks their prosperous Toil?
And sends them Home,
divested of their Spoil.
Will they not speak?—yet, see they point Within
And
NASSAƲ glitters from
behind the Scene.
NASSAƲ Alone, this Mystery can unfold:
Consider
Him— th' Important Secret's told.
NASSAƲ has
Spells to bind the wildest things,
Revengeful Captains and Successful Kings.
No sooner do the
Wars impetuous grow,
And bear down All in their destructive Flow;
But
NASSAƲ rises, and He checks the Tide
With unseen Force, and makes the Waves subside;
They feel his Charms, retire, and leave the Shore
Strow'd with the Wealth they swept away before.
Ponder the matter,
Muse; contemplate well;
And give thy Sense, if 't been't too deep to tell.
Thou seest the
Gallick Host in haste withdraw;
How bends their Mien, under an Inward Awe?
Seems not some
Greater Genius to be there,
That on the
Less imprest This secret Fear.
While
NASSAƲ's
Conduct doth the
Gauls controul,
They like
Hot Passions, seems not He the
Soul:
So
without Touching 'em He makes 'em yield,
Tempers their Outrage, and serenes the Field.
Thus have I seen, where
Rusticks do resort,
(For
Rusticks can best speak of Rural Sport),
Accomplish'd Gamesters of the Grassy Rings,
Command mean Wrestlers Joints, and Nervous Strings:
Th'
Antagonists may boast the
Brutal Part;
But
Ʋnawares they sink, and bow to nicer
Art.
Yet, say,—What
Influence This that
NASSAƲ has?
Which
Gallia's Strength and Glory can surpass.
Which siezes Courage, wild to overcome;
And chains the Madness, and confines it home?
Which blasts ev'n
Lawrels on
Victorious Heads:
That no Resistance can restrain its Darts,
From melting Swords, and from dissolving Hearts.
In vain is
Armour in their Passage plac'd;
And falls it self, unpropt, when all within's laid waste.
Lightning, like This, the Ancient Giants slew;
And This Ambition slays, a Giant too.
The
Mightiest Force, that on Earth's Face is seen,
And doubl'd with
Success and
Discipline,
Neglect their
Triumphs? and their
Trophies throw
At the weak Feet of
an Insulted Foe?
Comes This, from
Gallia's Goodness, or
Remorse?
Regard to
NASSAƲ's
Friendship, or
his Force?
O my astonish'd
Muse! what can we say,
But that we know, upon mature Survey,
That the
Whole World does
Ʋnseen Powers obey?
Those
Ʋnseen Powers, that act what e're they please,
And
Hidden, rule
Heav'n, Earth, and
Air, and
Seas;
Which trembling Human Race in Prayer adores,
And
NASSAƲ only imitates in
Secret Powers.
NASSAƲ, who equall'd not the
Numerous Foes,
Nor with
their Ʋnion did their Might oppose;
Yet, with
Command divided, Numbers short,
Was not content the
Ballance to support,
But drew their
Boasted Acquisitions down,
And took
Their Palms his own Allies to crown.
NASSAƲ, my
Muse, exceeds the
Poet's Jove,
Who Wars decided, sitting
Safe above:
But
NASSAƲ mingling in the dangerous Broil,
Humbles the
Conqueror, and enjoys his Toil.
O
NASSAƲ! vers'd i'th' Menagement of Men,
Who knows their Springs, and
how to Move, and
when!
Plays with their
Threats! on
Terror sports his
Skill?
And bends the Haughty to his Pious Will!
He,
Sovereign Lord of Love, Hate, Hope, Despair,
Can make a REVOLUTION Every where;
Not only there, where
Favouring Passions tend
To ease his Work, and to procure his End:
(As once when to
BRITANNIA's Aid he came,
And
ORANGE was the since-fam'd
WILLIAM's Name:)
But where such Prospect no Conjunctures bring:
So well's the PRINCE succeeded by the KING.
Hail, Mighty KING! to whom All Courts apply,
The Potent sue, and the Oppressed fly!
Well with thy Judgment does the World advise,
Seeking, from Springs that never fail, Supplies.
[Page 4] Th'
Ocean of Knowledge has indeed no Bound;
But in
thy Breast a Caspian Sea is found.
Well were Concerns of
Intricate Affairs,
Plac'd in Thy Hands, submitted to Thy Cares:
For Best
Confederate Powers wou'd interfere,
No less than
Circles i'th'
Celestial Sphere:
No otherwise wou'd
Star entangle
Star,
Than
Commonwealths ally'd perplex the War;
Did not some Vast
Intelligence preside,
An ANGEL, or a
NASSAƲ for their
Guide.
Well was committed to thy
Prudent Might,
The only
Reigning Sword that's us'd to
Fight.
For Thou canst wield it well, and scorn'st to use
The desp'rate Rage, such
Last Reserves excuse.
Yet claims It
Homage, 'midst the rude Alarms;
And
Instinct hears It in the Clash of Arms.
Bright in thy Hand, and,
Naked, it confounds,
Blunts ev'ry other Sword; and heals their Wounds.
Not much unlike to what in Writ is told,
Of
Venom'd Snakes made Innocent of old:
When the
Brass Serpent overaw'd the Beast;
His Bite recover'd, and the
Anguish ceas'd.
Nor doth thy dext'rous Skill less bravely wield
Scepters at Home, than
Weapons in the Field:
Scots, English, Dutch, Ireland, and
Orange tell,
How Thou canst
Rule; as
France thy Power to
Quell.
And as the
Gaul shrinks to thy
Closed Hand,
Five Happy States its Gracious Joints expand.
O, well did Heav'n so much enlarge thy Throne!
Republicks, Realms, all Government Thine own!
Her
Tree of Life! her sickning
Safety's
Cure!
Thou canst from
Danger with such Ease insure.
Wise
NASSAƲ! dear Completion of our Joy!
Thou perfect
Master of thy great Employ!
Made by thy God
Vicegerent at a Straight;
The
sole Dictator on a
Pinch of Fate.
Thee no
Precarious Politicks have wrought;
O Genuine Product of th' Almighty Thought!
How hast Thou evidenc'd thy
High Extract?
And by the same
Inimitable Act,
Ennobled Those Thou sav'st? How does the Check
Thou gav'st thy Haughty Foes, distort the Neck
Of Envy, their Ally? How does it strike
With the same Note, Hearts that are strung alike?
Just as those
Shocks that
Aetna's Entrails tear,
Urge her Convulsion through the trembling Air;
And far at distance, where unmov'd's the Ground,
Affect
Weak Heads, and turn their Brains around.
[Page 5] Yet
Scenes to come shall Greater things declare,
And teach
Invidious Monarchs to despair.
Thy Divine Sabre th' Adverse Squadrons feel,
And thy
Drawn Reason's sharper than thy Steel;
But still Thou hast more
Glories to reveal:
Such as shall dazzle
Kings with vivid Light,
And force 'em to
Contract, to help their Sight.
In
Hurry, Noise, Confusion vastly great,
How'll
NASSAƲ shine, when round Him all's
sedate?
If such Accomplishments
his Way attend,
What Prodigies await his
Journey's End?
When He shall labour, not
for Ʋs alone;
But with strange Miracles, as yet unknown,
Reflect upon
Himself the
Splendors of his Crown.
Take,
Muse, this Noble Hint; indulge the Task:
Sing of
One Action more, 'tis all I ask.
She hears my Invocation, loves the
Deed,
And ventures Thus of
NASSAƲ to proceed.
Remoter Lands had
NASSAƲ long rever'd,
Extremely Lov'd him, or extremely Fear'd;
(Rich sure the Soil, for choicest Products fit,
Which had so long imbib'd
the Nitre of his Wit.)
When hither come, He did Our Griefs expel,
And free'd th'
Oppress'd, that knew not to REBEL:
He came an Instrument of wondrous Use,
That made Our
Knot, Our
Difficulties loose:
O
NASSAƲ, Then Thou show'dst what Thou cou'dst do!
When before Thee Our Mists and Tempests flew.
When That
Important Knot thy Hands unty'd,
Which was to All, but only Thee, deny'd.
Thus the
Pelloean, from the
Gordian Twine,
Receiv'd
His Fortune, and
prefigur'd Thine.
Now round the Globe does
NASSAƲ's
Wisdom run,
Enliv'ning and enlight'ning like the
Sun.
His Aspect like the Sun's, all
under't sees,
And
Verdure waits upon the Sun's and His.
Where e're He comes, his
Beams extirpate
Night;
The
Soul his Fire, the
Sense receives
his Light;
He calls
each Nature in his Progress forth,
Digests their Humours, and improves their Worth.
He sees 'em, as he moves, exert their Force;
And then does
He rejoice in his
Industrious Course.
Call we
those Provinces his Hands defend,
And
Those t'attest, to whom his Arms extend.
This speaks the Frozen
North, and soultry
Spain;
The
straightned Billows, and the
outstretch'd Main.
Nor shall
Muscovian Empires want a Place,
Which moan their Distance from his
Glorious Face.
Does the bright Sun withhold his plenteous Ray!
And is th' Assistance stinted
Heroes give?
Are
Provinces enough for
NASSAƲ to relieve?
NASSAƲ! who's born th'
Asylum for Distress,
The
Publick Refuge when the Stars oppress.
Thy Faculties, GREAT KING! so
Vast, so
Large,
Oblige thy Heart to take the
World in Charge.
Thy
Conscience rising from thy
Sense to know,
And
Strength t' accomplish all Affairs below;
With
Charity, proportion'd to the
Great,
Dilates thy Care through the
Terrestrial State,
And makes
Thee GƲARANTEE between the
Earth and
Fate.
How Wisely
Nature acts! how well conspire
The
wants of Human Race with
Thy Desire!
Men,
dreading to be Slaves, with Fear dismay'd,
Requir'd no less than thy sufficient
Aid;
And thy prodigious
Talent asks no less
Than such
Employment, for it's own excess.
Thou sav'dst
Three Kingdoms, so as no Record
Can parallel; no Times the like afford,
No Man can do. But still
that Action's small,
For
NASSAƲ's
Spirit must embrace the
Ball.
What
Pride it self wou'd count the
greatest Height,
Prov'd but
one step t' advance Thy generous
Flight.
The
LOCAL LAWS of Nations to restore,
Is an
Exploit for Those can do no more;
The
LAW OF NATIONS Parts like Thine sustain;
And Thy known
Worth stops
ƲNIVERSAL REIGN.
O, what Success had That
VAST PROJECT gain'd;
But for
Thy Parts, Thy Worth, from Heaven obtain'd?
How
Proud, how
Bold, how
Pressing was't e're while?
Till
They compell'd the
MISCHIEF to recoil.
But now, how falls it
shiver'd with the stroke?
How's the
GRAND MONARCHY to it's
first Pieces broke!
O
happy Worth of Thine! O blessed
Parts!
How
many Nations, SIR, are your
Deserts!
Numberless Monarchies has
NASSAƲ won,
To leave 'em
Separate as Heaven has done.
While
greedy GALLIA quite mistook the thing;
For who does all
PROTECT is
ƲNIVERSAL KING.
Thus NASSAƲ's
Empire boundlesly extends.
Of Time and Place has no Extreams, no Ends:
But as the
Orbs of
Time and
Place do rise,
Rowling with Them
it self, it self supplies.
For
All We stand Indebted to his Deeds;
And
all Futurity to
Ʋs succeeds:
[Page 7] So far, so wide, their sacred
Virtue saves,
And manumits a
World of destin'd Slaves.
Hail,
NASSAƲ once again! Hail,
Mightier Prince!
Wondrous before, more
Admirable since!
Thou didst compel the Raging
Foe's Retreat,
And with thy
bloodless Skill their
Arms defeat;
Thou clear'dst
the Field: Now
the whole Earth's the Field,
And
th' very Globe the
Trophy that They yield.
Prosp'rous in Thee their Foe, they well resign,
To
share in thy Magnificent Design.
Blest Finisher of the
Huge Work begun!
Now, Lo,
the Work! the Mighty Work is done!
Now
NASSAƲ too has his own Freedom gain'd,
From the HARD TASKS in which He long was train'd.
For where's the People that He rules, but shows
In
Lesser Draughts what Now he
ampler does?
There is not One, whose Welfare doth not stand,
A Lucky
Instance of his
Practising Hand.
And Each, in Proper Liberty secure,
Is the
whole Rescu'd World in
Miniature.
So a small Speck, that in th' enclosing Shell,
But keeps the White and Yolk distinct and well;
Becomes the Heart, informs the Foot, the Wing,
All of the Bird, and teaches him to sing.
Each Place franchis'd His
Model was design'd;
But the exactest
Model's All Conjoin'd.
Their diverse Laws, their various Liberty,
Differ, though join'd; though differing, yet agree,
So like—But, O how
Godlike the Intent!
To
Preserve Every where All Forms of
Government.
Now shou'd we see again
One Hinge design'd,
On which to turn
the Forms of every kind;
What
Diffidence, what
Weakness would it show,
Compar'd with
NASSAƲ, who's as
Providence below.
O
Excellence!—How far dost Thou excell?
What Thou canst not accomplish, who can tell?
For cou'd not
Want, that overspread thy Land,
Join'd with thy Foreign Foes,
Thy Powers withstand?
Cou'dst Thou avert with a
New Golden Age,
What
Numerous Hosts and
Want of Coin presage?
In the Afflicted Cause of CIVIL RIGHT,
Cou'dst Thou make
Mars, without his
Sinews, fight?
And, at one time, our Blessings to advance,
Disband Three Armies of Aspiring
France?
When Resolv'd
NASSAƲ prest the
Publick Good,
Necessity had Law, nor
Treble Monsters stood.
When
Two fam'd Heroes op'd th'
Elysian Plain,
The
Furies grinn'd, and
Cerberus howl'd in vain:
Alcides t'other, with his
Hands of Mail:
But, wondrous Brave, and of Victorious Charms,
Thou join'st the
Orpheus with
Herculean Arms.
STUPENDIOUS KING! who can enough admire?
Yet who can speak, though
NASSAƲ does inspire?
O Virtues, evident by such wondrous Proof!
Who can forbear? yet who can praise enough?
Who can
Encomiums worthy
NASSAƲ make?
Thy
Deeds speak more than what our
Tongues can speak▪
Such
Deeds by such
defective Means essay'd:
And even
those Means Thy self before hadst made:
For were not
We, Impotent We, the Means?
The
Pencils us'd on thy (now perfect) Scenes?
We the
first Matter that thy Goodness chose,
E're thy
Creation to its
Splendor rose:
Was't not sufficient to have
rescued us?
But,
in thy Hands, cou'd
We such things produce!
Learn'd
Archimedes wou'd the
Earth remove,
But found
no footing whence his
Art to prove:
But
WILLIAM's
Virtue doth both fix his
Stile,
And turns that
Earth, from th'
Center of an Isle.
O KING! who dost our
Words, our
Thoughts exceed▪
How much must They have
fail'd in time of need?
But
Potent Kings, in a more
proper way,
Make thy
Encomiums and thy Fate obey:
To use the
Pen, they throw the
Weapon down,
Confess
thy Glory, and
thy Rightful Crown.
But of
Thy self Thou too Thy self dost write,
In all the
Laws for which thy Hands did fight;
The GREAT RESTORER's read in every place,
I th' Characters of Gesture, Garb, and Face:
Publish'd at
Paris, and in
London seen,
And eccho'd on the
Danube and the
Rhine;
These Panegyricks only suit
thy Name;
The Royal Eulogies shou'd govern Fame.
Yet must not
They whose
Freedom thou hast won,
Must not
We sing a
Part of what thou'st done?
Because our
Meanness, Impotence is such;
Because our
King's too Great, our
Theme too Much.
Must we not ease the Fulness of our Breast?
Will
WILLIAM let us be, though 't be with
Joy, oppress'd?
Cannot thy
Actions bear with
hearty Rhimes?
Nor recommend 'em to the future Times?
When they'll perhaps be read with better Gust,
And shew more
Likeness than is seen at first:
When the
Original no more appears;
And
the present Face of things is chang'd by
distant Years.
And to th'
Abyss of endless Ages go,
Though they're above the Accents of our Tongue,
Fancy outsoar, yet ought they to be sung;
That our
Posterity at least may know,
When they are
happy born, who caus'd 'em to be so.
Yes, We must sing 'em, howsoe're unfit;
Lest the
great Truths be lost in
future Wit.
Songs much deserv'd,
our Benefits require,
And all the
World shou'd be a
grateful Lyre:
None unoblig'd, there's none but must rejoice,
And add to th'
common Song, at least
their Voice.
So when this
Natural Order that we see,
Was first compos'd to perfect Harmony;
No
feeble Bird but strain'd its new-made Throat;
And every Creature did the
Tune promote.
Thus then we'll sing:—But,
NASSAƲ, first forbear
To augment our
Obligations, and Thy Care;
For thine own sake, now
Peace and
Leisure give,
And to
contemplate rightly, let us live:
Lest we depress the
Honour we wou'd raise,
And taint
thy Name with Scandals of rash Praise:
For to digest
thy Acts, and sound
thy Sense,
Requires an
Age of Ease and
Affluence.
'Tis done; and thy SURE PEACE the
Living see,
And find the
Good Effects of Prayers for thee.
Come then; Return, GREAT MAN, from
Travel cease,
And be the
blest First-fruits, First-born of Peace.
'Tis
PEACE, next
Thee's the greatest Blessing known;
Which brings
Thee home, restores
Thee All our own.
Invidious
War gives not so quick a Sense,
In
All its Harms, as taking
WILLIAM hence.
Though the known
Contrary to Peace be
War,
Thy
Absence is more
opposite by far.
Oh!—Wish'd for
PEACE does make Thee
Ours entire,
And our
whole Hearts with
suited Love inspire.
PEACE, that All
Hate, All
Rancor shall destroy,
Refines our Love, and teaches to
enjoy.
With what
Intenseness will our
Passions burn,
When they're
collected home, and
all t' Affection turn.
PEACE! which thy watchful
Nights, and
Toilsome Days,
Th' Effusion of thy
Veins and
Purse repays:
Which to
Astonishment converts our Fears,
The
Apprehensions of these
thrice three Years.
Comes, the Reward of Trials, bravely past,
Which has
Celestial Sweetness in its Taste,
And takes from
Heaven Capacity to last.
Who under Thee a
PEACE in War possest.
Who, when no means cou'd
Raging Mars withstand,
Saw Thee
divert him to a Foreign Land;
Who
greater Plenty in Distress receive,
Than all our
Neighbours when They
Richly live;
What mayn't We
Hope what
Danger can we fear,
When
PEACE Indulges and our
GƲARDIAN ANGEL's here.
And
NASSAƲ Thou—
Whose
Solid Life in War finds no Decrease,
Grow Thou
Immortal in the Arms of
PEACE.
Oft hast Thou shown
new Vigour 'mong the
Dead;
While whistling
Calls of Fate play'd round thy Head:
And how is
PEACE more prevalent to Kill?
O
Live in PEACE, and be Thou
Deathless still!
Outlive
Revengeful Spleen, and Plotting Wit:
And, though Thou'rt not
Invulnerable yet,
May'st Thou whilst strong
Restraints on
Vice are laid,
Enjoy the
Paradise which thou hast made.
For ever Live! Thou
high exalted Good!
Hard to be
Learn'd! Sweet to be
Ʋnderstood!
Thou Wise
Assertor of Religion's Cause!
Transcript of
Faith! Transcriber of
its Laws!
Of Nature
Pious! of Religion
Pure!
Fearless of Dying, and of Life
Secure!
Still in th'
Immortal Road! Had'st Thou but Trod
The
Roman way, Thou had'st been made a
God.
FINIS.