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The sweet enthusiast, from her sacred store,
Enlarged the former narrow bounds,

And added length to solemn sounds,

With Nature's mother-wit, and arts unknown
Let old Timotheus yield the prize, [before.
Or both divide the crown;

He raised a mortal to the skies,
She drew an angel down.

VENI CREATOR SPIRITUS.

PARAPHRASED.

CREATOR Spirit! by whose aid
The world's foundations first were laid,
Come visit every pious mind;
Come pour thy joys on human kind;
From sin and sorrow set us free,
And make thy temples worthy thee.
O source of uncreated light,
The Father's promised Paraclete!
Thrice Holy Fount, thrice Holy Fire,
Our hearts with heavenly love inspire ;
Come, and thy sacred unction bring
To sanctify us, while we sing.

Plenteous of grace, descend from high,
Rich in thy sevenfold energy

!

Thou strength of his Almighty hand,

Whose power does Heaven and earth command. Proceeding Spirit, our defence,

Who dost the gift of tongues dispense,

And crown'st thy gift with eloquence!

Refine and purge our earthly parts; But, oh, inflame and fire our hearts! Our frailties help, our vice control, Submit the senses to the soul; And when rebellious they are grown, Then lay thy hand, and hold them down. Chase from our minds the' infernal foe, And peace, the fruit of love bestow; And, lest our feet should step astray, Protect, and guide us in the way. Make us eternal truths receive, And practise all that we believe: Give us thyself, that we may see The Father, and the Son, by thee. Immortal honour, endless fame, Attend the' Almighty Father's name: The Saviour Son be glorified, Who for lost man's redemption died: And equal adoration be,

Eternal Paraclete, to thee.

FABLES,

FROM BOCCACIO AND CHAUCER.

BY JOHN DRYDEN.

TO HIS GRACE

THE DUKE OF ORMOND.

1699.

MY LORD, SOME estates are held in England, by paying a fine at the change of every Lord: I have enjoyed the patronage of your Family, from the time of your excellent Grandfather to this present day. I have dedicated the Translation of the Lives of Plutarch to the first Duke; and have celebrated the Memory of your heroic Father. Though I am very short of the age of Nestor, yet I have lived to a third generation of your House; and by your Grace's favour am admitted still to hold from you by the same tenure.

I am not vain enough to boast that I have deserved the value of so illustrious a Line; but my fortune is the greater, that for three descents they have been pleased to distinguish my Poems from those of other men; and have accordingly made me their peculiar care. May it be permitted me to say, that as your Grandfather and Father were cherished and adorned with honours by two successive Monarchs; so I have been esteemed, and

patronized by the Grandfather, the Father, and the Son, descended from one of the most ancient, most conspicuous, and most deserving Families in Europe?

It is true, that by delaying the payment of my last Fine, when it was due by your Grace's accession to the titles and patrimonies of your House, I may seem, in rigour of law, to have made a forfeiture of my claim; yet my heart has always been devoted to your service and since you have been graciously pleased, by your permission of this address, to accept the tender of my duty, 'tis not yet too late to lay these volumes at your feet.

The world is sensible that you worthily succeed, not only to the honours of your ancestors, but also to their virtues. The long chain of magnanimity, courage, easiness of access, and desire of doing good, even to the prejudice of your fortune, is so far from being broken in your Grace, that the precious metal yet runs pure to the newest link of it; which I will not call the last, because I hope and pray, it may descend to late posterity and your flourishing Youth, and that of your excellent Duchess, are happy omens of my wish.

It is observed by Livy, and by others, that some of the noblest Roman families retained a resemblance of their ancestry, not only in their shapes and features, but also in their manners, their qualities, and the distinguishing characters of their minds: some lines were noted for a stern, rigid virtue, savage, haughty, parsimonious, and unpopular; others were more sweet and affable;

made of a more pliant paste, humble, courteous, and obliging; studious of doing charitable offices, and diffusive of the goods which they enjoyed. The last of these is the proper and indelible character of your Grace's Family. God Almighty has endued you with a softness, a beneficence, an attractive behaviour, winning on the hearts of others; and so sensible of their misery, that the wounds of fortune seem not inflicted on them, but on yourself. You are so ready to redress, that you almost prevent their wishes, and always exceed their expectations: as if what was yours, was not your own, and not given you to possess, but to bestow on wanting merit. But this is a topic which I must cast in shades, lest I offend your modesty; which is so far from being ostentatious of the good you do, that it blushes even to have it known: and therefore I must leave you to the satisfaction and testimony of your own conscience, which, though it be a silent panegyric, is yet the best.

You are so easy of access, that Poplicola was not more, whose doors were opened on the outside, to save the people even the common civility of asking entrance; where all were equally admitted; where nothing that was reasonable was denied; where misfortune was a powerful recommendation, and where (I can scarce forbear saying) that want itself was a powerful mediator, and was next to merit.

The history of Peru assures us, that their Incas, above all their titles, esteemed that the highest which called them lovers of the poor: a name more glorious than the Felix, Pius, and Augustus

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