Till, settling on the current year,
I found the far-sought treasure near;
A theme for poetry divine,
A theme t' ennoble even mine,
In memorable eighty-nine.

The spring of eighty-nine shall be An era cherish'd long by me, Which joyful I will oft record, And thankful at my frugal board ; For then the clouds of eighty-eight That threaten'd England's trembling state With loss of what she least could spare, Her sovereign's tutelary care, One breath of Heaven, that cried-Restore? Chas’d, never to assemble more ; And far the richest crown on earth, If valued by its wearer's worth, The symbol of a righteous reign Sat fast on George's brows again.

Then peace and joy again possess'd
Our Queen's long agitated breast;
Such joy and peace as can be known
By suff'rers like herself alone,
Who, losing, or supposing lost,
The good on earth they valu'd most,
For that dear sorrows' sake forego
All hope of happiness below,
Then suddenly regain the prize,
And flash thanksgivings to the skies !

O Queen of Albion, queen of isles ! Since all thy tears were chang'd to smiles, The eyes that never saw thee shine With joy not unallied to thine, Transports not chargeable with art Illume the land's remotest part,

And strangers to the air of courts,
Both in their toils and at their sports,
The happiness of answer'd pray’rs,
That gilds thy features, show in theirs.

If they who on thy state attend,
Awe-struck, before thy presence bend,
'Tis but the natural effect
Of grandeur that ensures respect ;
But she is something more than queen,
Who is beloy'd where never seen.

HYMN,

For the use of the Sunday School at Olney.
HEAR, Lord, the song of praise and pray r

In heav'n thy dwelling place,
From infants made the publick care,

And taught to seek thy face.

Thanks for thy word and for thy day,

And grant us, we implore,
Never to waste, in sinful play

Thy holy sabbaths more.

Thanks that we hear—but O impart

To each desires sincere,
That we may listen with our heart,

And learn as well as hear.

For if vain thoughts the minds engage

Of older far than we,
What hope that at our heedless age,

Our minds should e'er be free?

Much hope, if thou our spirits take

Under thy gracious sway,
Who canst the wisest wiser make,

And babes as wise as they.

Wisdom and bliss thy word bestows,

A sun that ne'er declines,
And be thy mercies shower'd on those,

Who plac'd us where it shines,

STANZAS

Subjoined to the Yearly Bill of Mortality of the Parish

of All-Saints, Northampton,* Anno Domini 1787.

Pallida Mors, æquo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas, Regumque turres.

Horace. Pale Death with equal foot strikes wide the door Of royal halls, and hovels of the poor.

WHILE thirteen moons saw smoothly run,

The Nen’s barge-laden wave,
All these, life's rambling journey done,

Have found their home, the grave.

Was man, (frail always) made more frail

Than in foregoing years ?.
Did famine or did plague prevail,

That so much death appears ?

Composed for John Cox, parish clerk of Northampton.

No ; these were vig'rous as their sires,

Nor plague nor famine came; This annual tribute Death requires,

And never waves his claim.

Like crowded forest-trees we stand,

And some are mark'd to fall;
The axe will smite at God's command,

And soon shall smite us all.

Green as the bay-tree, ever green,

With its new foliage on,
The gay, the thoughtless, have I seen,

I pass'd—and they were gone.

Read, ye that run, the awful truth,

With which I charge my page ; A worm is in the bud of youth,

And at the root of age.

No present health can health ensure

For yet an hour to come ;
No med'cine, though it oft can cure,

Can always balk the tomb.

And O! that humble as my lot,

And scorn'd as is my strain, These truths, though known, too much forgot, I

may not teach in vain.

So prays your clerk with all his heart,

And ere he quits the pen,
Begs you for once to take his part,

And answer all-Amen!

ON A SIMILAR OCCASION,

FOR THE YEAR 1788.

Quod adest, memento
Componere equus. Cætera fluminis
Ritu ferunter.

Horace,
Improve the present hour, for all beside
Is a mere feather on a torrent's tide.

COULD I, from Heav'n inspir'd, as sure prosage

To whom the rising year shall prove his last, As I can number in my punctual page,

And item down the victims of the past ;

How each would trembling wait the mournful sheet

On which the press might stamp him next to die, And reading here his sentence, how replete

With anxious meaning, heav'nward turn his eye!

Time then would seem more precious than the joys

In which he sports away the treasure now; And pray'r more seasonable than the noise

Of drunkards, or the musick-drawing bow.

Then doubtloss many a trifler, on the brink

Of this world's hazardous and headlong shore, Forc'd to a pause, would feel it good to think,

Told that his setting sun must rise no more