The mufe that mourns a church, a nation's fall,
Should have attended CUTHBERT's funeral;
To hew the univerfal lofs, and tell
How Zion trembled when this pillar fell:
How fons of Zion weak and feeble grew,
When death fo great a champion overthrew :
How Heav'n defign'd by fuch a mighty blow,
No private, but a common overthrow :
And fhould have plac'd him bright 'mong fhining names,
That to far diftant ages fpread their beams.
Hark! ye that knew him, won't ye all avow
Wit charming fat triumphant on his brow?
Won't ye, like echoes, when ye hear his name,
Be foon refounding trumpets of his fame;
Whofe foul, refin'd beyond the common race,
Was cultivate by nature, art, and grace.
He was by temper fuited to his ftate,
Without inheritance both rich and great:
As generous fpirits manage and command
The wealth that Heav'n beftows, with lib'ral hand;
So knew his happy mind the value juft
Of earthly things, nor was enflav'd to dust.
His converfation's aromatic smell
Did ftrongly melancholic fogs dispel;
As rushing fun-beams kindly chase away
The gloomy vapours that obfcure the day.
Such wealth of wit both grace and nature brought
To fit his mind for loftinefs of thought;
So native was his graceful eloquence,
Difplaying always fublimated fenfe.
Such pleasure did his balmy lips impart,
That every fentence conquer'd every heart,
The lovely graces in his bofom found
Diffus'd ambrofial odours all around.
His focial charms, with captivating art,
Made him of every company the heart,
The chearful agent of fo fweet a part.
Not fav'ring winds to voyagers at fea,
Nor genial fhow'rs to parched earth can be
More grateful than his pleasant company.
Still bright and chearing, like the fun at noon,
His mind, his joyful harp was fill in tune.
Hence as to weary fwains with toil oppreft,
Beneath a fylvan fhade relaxing reft;
As to the fcorched traveller when firft
He finds a chryftal fiream to quench his thirft:
Such were his virtues bright of every kind,
So fweet, fo charming to our ravifh'd mind.
Too rarely fuch conjunctions e'er take place,
As wit with wildom, join'd with learning, grace;
Yet these concent'ring in his manly breast,
Around their pow'rs benign did manifeft.
In him we faw two diftant virtues join'd,
Heroic greatnefs and a humble mind:
His lofty foul fram'd to invade the skies,
Could floop with obvious charms to vulgar eyes.
Here alfo rare disjunctions we could fee,
Great chearfulnels disjoin'd from levity,
And mirth from folly moft remote and free.
Thus feem'd he form'd into a Paradife
Of pleasant plants without a weed of vice.
When thrown 'midft dang'rous wild fociety,
He always 'fcap'd from their infection free.
His pow'rful rhetroic, like a mighty chain,
Could bind the madnefs of the frantic brain.
Of empty witlings foon he got the chase,
By ready anfwers, or of wit or grace;
Which quickly could the headless ramblers tame,
Or flush their confcious cheek with fpreading fhame.
If lewd buffoons durft e'er before him fit,
Soon were their farcafms mercilefly twit,
Or torn to fhread with happy turns of wit;
Of wit refin'd, which quickly down could throw
Their filly banter with an eafy blow.
So ftrong his inward vigour ftill remain'd,
Such ground on adverfe minds he ever gain'd,
His foul emerg'd undaunted and unftain'd.
His lofty mind that ftoop'd to humble things,
Soon to her native fkies could ftretch her wings;
From earth to heav'n could in a moment move,
From toys below to folid joys above.
And penetrate, with his interior fight,
Celestial regions and the realms of light.
The heav'ns, fo lavish of their rays refin'd,
Shed down whole floods of knowledge on his mind.
He got enobling views of heav'nly blifs;
Saw glorious wonders in that vast abyss.
And what he had divinely learn'd from thence,
Could in familiar language foon difpenfe.
From meaner things his mind without a damp,
Could inftantly fhine forth a burning lamp,
A flaming banner in Devotion's camp.
Thus heav'n and earth in him did joyful meet,
Nature and grace their lively charms unite.
His mortal lips could touch immortal themes,
And tell IMMANUEL's everlafting names.
Far could he stretch on bold advent'rous wings,
In high difcourfe and open heav'nly things.
His diction did heroic thoughts difplay,
Not in the florid nor the bombaft way;
But with fuch high, yet humble rhetoric arm'd,
Nobles were gratify'd, and commons charm'd.
Seraphic principles and graces bright,
In him confpired to difplay their might.
His language fhew'd a judgment most profound,
A depth too large for common lines to found;
Which made both wit and learning quit the field,
And blushing to his brighter talent yield.
Still regnant here found judgment, folid thought,
Truth when he spoke, and triumph when he fought:
His words gave all antagonifts a wound,
That did or foon convince, or foon confound:
Such ftrength of reafon gave his breath the found.
Heretics vanquifh'd fank beneath the load,
As Dagon fell before the ark of God.
Soon dazzl'd with the fhining beams of fense,
And drown'd as with a flood of eloquence.
Such ftrength of wit and reafon kept the field,
Each adverse mind with fhame behov'd to yield.
The force of oppofition rude was broke,
How foon our eloquent Apollo fpoke.
He never once like fierce difputers fought,
That lofe their mind in a wild maze of thought.
No lofs of thought could fhut his fluent lips,
Nor lofs of words his lucid thought eclipse.
In his most sharp encounters we could find No ebullitions of a bitter mind;
No ftormy paffion rofe, no clamorous noife
To make his fav'rites blufh, or foes rejoice:
But ftill with meeknefs like a mighty charm,
Did quickly all oppofing pow'rs difarm.
He up or down could move with bridle-hand
The paffions rude of others at command;
And yet himself fedate and moveless stand.
He fuch a difputant for truth appear'd,
'Gainft error fuch victorious trophies rear'd,
His nervous tongue that held the facred plea,
Was fteel'd with fuch a conqu❜ring energy;
One would have thought, that did the hellish crew
With heav'nly choir their old difpute renew
'Bout Mofes corpfe *; the cherubs might have chofe
His tongue the weapon to defeat the foes:
And found their caufe fuftain no detriment
By lips in arguing fo bellipotent.
For when he rofe, down (in effect) to hell
The dufky dregs precipitated fell:
As does the rifing morn with rofy light
Adorn the fkies, and put the fhades to flight.
In public work he taught with folemn awe
The peaceful gospel and the fiery law.
Moft fweetly did the cunning harper rove
Through all the labours of our Saviour's love:
While from his eloquent, mellifluous tongue
The streams of heav'nly rhetoric run along.
The holy theme was trim'd with lovely bait :
Each word was mafly, and each fentence great.
Free from each pageantry of knowing fools,
And all the loofe opinions of the schools.
His tongue feraphic did attention draw,
Below difpenfing what above he faw;
With skill divine unvail'd to human eyes
Dark oracles, and opened all the fkies.
Angels that into gospel myfteries pry, †
To's fluent lips might for instruction fly. ‡
Who could more plain the myfltic knots unfold
Than Oedipus the fabl'd riddle of old.
* Jude, ver. 9. † 1 Pet. i. 12. + Eph. iii. 1o,
Heav'n form'd his mind great gofpel-depths to trace,
His mouth to found the filver trump of grace;
To speak the grandeur of the Saviour God;
To blaze his righteoufnefs divine abroad;
And 'gainst their face the flaming fword to draw
Whofe legal ftrain affronts the royal law.
He doom'd harangues that 'gainst the light offend,
And gofpel-grace with pagan morals blend,
That make not Chrift, but felf their spring, their end.
In teaching moral duties, great or small,
He told the fhare that fhould to Jesus fall,
Was like his name, the First, the Laft, the All.
His doctrine ev'ry gloomy fhade difpell'd;
His refutations more and more excell'd:
For here we saw his lofty mind ftill higher,
Dashing black error down with holy ire,
And fencing beauteous truth around with walls of fire.
Hence anti-evangelic fchemes refin'd
Were driven like chaff before the whirle-wind.
So bright he fhone, ev'n in a private sphere,
Ere he poffeft the minifterial chair;
We've seen him with a Proc'tor's work in hand
The liftening ears of Senators command.
With fluent lips, ftrong fenfe, and decent port,
Attract the heart and eyes of all the court,
And take them captive like a rend'ring fort.
In civil laws expert, in facred more;
His head a lib'rary of learning bore;
So fill'd with foreign and domestic store:
Here feem'd amafs'd as much within one fpan,
As all the volumes of the Vatican.
Should we Pythagoras' old fancy grant,
That fouls retir'd did other bodies haunt;
We yet might fearch to find the man we want:
Who hath his great acumen ? who his brain,
His heart, his tongue? Alas! the fearch is vain;
His mantle has not dropt upon the plain.
Lo! now his death had hid the fulgent light,
And wrapt us in the fhades of gloomy night.
The running years of ecclefiaftic thrall
Make up the night portended by the fall.
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