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Epistle to a Friend
l^a
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
'Sil
EPISTLE
T O
A FRIEND,
ONTHEDEATHOF
JOHNTHORNTON, Esq.
BY THE AUTHOR OF
'< AN EPJS7-LE TO JN EMINENT PAINTER."
CUJUS EGO INTERITU TOTA DE MENTE FUGAVI
njEC STUDIA, AT(iUE OMNES DELICIAS ANIMI.
NOTESCATQUE MAGIS MORTUUS ATQUE MAGIS.
Catullus.
LONDON:
Printed for J. D O D S L E Y, in Pall-Mall.
M.DCC.LXXX.
35"ofc
EPISTLE, ^c.
tN vain, dear Monitor, thy kind defire
To wake the embers of poetic fire !
To clear the mind, where Grief's dark fhadows lower.
And Fancy dies by Sorrow's freezing power !
In vain would Friendlhip's chearing voice fuggeft ^
Her flattering vifions to the Poet's breaft j
That public favor calls, with juft demand,
Th' expelled volume from his lingering hand :
Loft are thofe anxious hopes, that eager pride,
With thee, ray Thornton, they declin'd, they died. lo
B Friend
960935
[ 6 ]
Friend of my opening loul! whoie love began
To hail tliy Poet, ere he rank'd as man !
Whofe praife, like dew-drops, which the early morn
Sheds with mild virtue on the vernal thorn,
Taught his young mind each Iwell of thought to (hew, i c
And gave the germs of fancy ftrength to blow !
Dear, firm aiTociate of his ftudious hour,
Who led his idler ftep to Learning's bower !
Tho' young, imparting to his giddier youth
Thy thirft of fclence, and thy zeal for truth I 20
Ye towers of Granta, where our friendfhip grew,,
And that pure mitid expanded to my view,,
Our love fraternal let thy walls atteft.
Where Attic joys our letter d evening bleft ;
Where midnight, from the chains of deep reliev'd, 25
Stole on our focial ftudles unperceiv'd I
o But
[ 7 ]
But not, my Thornton ! in that calm alone
Was thy mild genius, thy warm virtue known ;
When manhood mark'd the hour for bufy ftrife,
And led us to the crowded maze of life, jo
From whence to fweet retirement's fbothing Ihade,
Love and the Muie thy willing friend convey 'd ;
Thy foul, more firm to join the ftruggling crowd,
To nobler Themis toilfbme homage vow'd,
With zeal, devoting to her lacred throne 5r
A heart as uncorrupted as her own.
Still as thy mind, with manly powers endued,
The opening path of active life purlued.
And round the ripening field of bufinefs rang'd.
Thy heart, unwarp'd, unharden'd, uneftrang'd, 40
To early friendihip ftill retain'd its truth,
With all the warm integrity of youth.
B 2 Whene'er
[ 8 3
Whene'er affli£llon*s force thy friend oppreft',
Thou wer't the rock on which his cares might reft j
From thy kind words his rifing hopes would own 45
The charm of realbn in affection's tone.
Where is the {bothing voice of equal power.
To take it's anguifh from the prefent hour ?
Beneath the preflure of a grief (b juft,,
The lenient aid of books in vain I trufr: 5,0
They, that could once the war of thought controul,
And baniOi difcord fro!:n the jarring foul,
Now irritate the mind, they uied to heal,
They ipeak too loudly of the lofs I feel.
Thou faithful cenfbr of the Poet's ft rain, 55
No more fhalt thou his fmking hope fuftain^
No more, with ardent zeal's enlivening fire,
Call from inglorious Oiades his filent lyre :
No
[ 9 ]
No more, as in our days of pleaiure paft,
The eye of judgment o'er his labors caft j 60
Keen to difcern the blemilhes, that lurk
In the loofe texture of his growing work ;
Eager to praile, yet refblute to blame,
Kind to his verfe, but kinder to his fame.
How may the Muie, who profper'd by thy care,, 61^
Now meet the public eye without defpair?
Now,, if harlli cenfures on her failings pour.
Her warmeft advocate can fpeak no more :.
Cold are thofe lips, which breath'd the kind defence,.
If fpleen's proud cavil ftrain'd her tortur'd lenfe ; 70
Which bade her long to public praiie alpire,
And call'd attention to her trembling lyre.
Ah ! could fhe now, thus petrified with grief.
Find in Ibme lighter lay a vain relief,
5 S^^
[ lO ]
Still muft fhe deem fuch verfe, if fuch could be, 75
A wound to friendiliip, and a crime to thee ;
Profanely utter'd at this facred time,
When thy pale corfe demands her plaintive rhime,
And Virtue, weeping whom Oie could not fave,
Calls the juft mourner to thy recent grave. 80
Hail hallowed vault ! whofe darlcibme caverns hold
A frame, though mortal, of no common mould ;
A heart (carce fuUied with a human flaw,
Which iliun'd no duty, and tranlgrcfs'd no law ;
In joy ft ill guarded, in diftrefs ferene, 85
Thro' life a model of the golden mean.
Which fiiendfliip only led him to tranfgrefs,
Whofe purer fpirit fandlifies cxcefs.
Pure mind ! whofe meeknefs, in thy mortal days,
Purfuing virtue, ftill retir'd from praiie; f)o
Nor
l: " ]
Nor wifh'd that friendflilp iliould on marble give
That perfect image of thy worth to live,
Which 'twas thy aim alone to leave impreft
On the clofe tablet of her faithful breaft.
If now her verie againft thy wifh rebel, 95.
And ftrive to blazon, what flie lov'd fo well.
Forgive the tender thought, the moral fong,
Which would thy virtues to the world prolong ;
That, refcued from the grave's oblivious iliade,
Their ufeful luftre may be ftill furvey'd^ 10©
Dear to the penfive eye of fond regret,
As light ftill beaming from a fun that's let.
Oft to our giddy Mufe thy voice has taughc
Thejuft ambition of poetic thought;
Bid her bold view to lateft time extend, to^
And ftrive to make futurity her friend.
If
[ I^ ]
If any verfe, her little art can frame,
May win the partial voice of diftant fame,
Be it the verfe, whofe fond ambition tries
To paint thy mind in truth's unfading dyes, no
Tho' firm, yet tender, ardent, yet refin'd ;
With Roman ftrength and Attic grace combin'd.
What tho' undeck'd with titles, power, and wealth,
Great were thy generous deeds, and done by ftealth ;
For thy pure bounty from obfervance ftole, 115
Nor wiih'd applaufe, but from thy confeious fouL
Tho' thy plain tomb no feulptur'd form may fhew.
No boaftful witnels of fufpe£led woe j
Yet heavenly fhapes, that fhun the glare of day.
To that dear fpot fhall nightly vifits pay : 120
Pale Science there fliall o'er her votary ftrew
Her flow'rs, yet mbift with ferrow's recent dew.
There
[ '3 J
There Charity, Companion's lovely childj
In ruftic notes pathetically wild,
With grateful ble/Tings bid thy name endure, 125
And mourn the patron of her village-poor.
E'en from the midnight fhew with mufic gay,.
The foul of Beauty to thy tomb fliall ftray.
In l\veet diftra<Si:ion fteal from prefent mirth,.
To figh unnotic'd o'er the hallow'd earth, rjo
Which hides thofe lips, that glow'd with tender fire^
And {ung her pralles to no common lyre :
But Fricndlliip, wrapt in fbrrow's deepeft gloom.
Shall keep the longeft vigils at thy tomb ;
Her wounded breaft, difdainful of relief, 135
There claims a fond prascminence in grief.
Short was thy life, but ah ! its thread how fine I
How pure the texture of the finifh'd line !
C What
[ '+ ]
What tho' thy opening manhood could not gain
Thofe late rewards, maturer tolls attain ; 1 40
Hope's firmeft promiles 'twas thine to raiie,
That merit's brightefl meed would grace thy lengthen'd days ;
For thine were Judgment's patient powers, to draw
Entangled juftlce from the nets of law ;
Thine firm Integrity, whofe language clear 1 45
Ne'er fwell'd with arrogance, or iliook with fear.
Realon's mild power, unvex'd by mental ftrife,
Sway'd the calm current of thy ufcful life ;
Whole even coiirfe was in no feafbn loft,
Nor rough with ftorms, nor ftagnated by froft. 150
In {cenes of public toil, or focial eale,
Twas thine by firm fincerity to pleale ;
Sweet as the breath of Ipring thy converle flow'd,
As iummer's noon- tide warmth thy friendlliip glow'd.
O'er
[ '5 ]
O'er thy mild manners, by no art conftrain'd, 155
A penfive, pleafing melancholy reign'd,
Which won regard, and charm'd th' attentive eye,
Like the fbft luftre of an evening fky :
Yet if perchance excited to defend
The injur'd merit of an ablent friend, 160
That gentle fpirit, rous'd to virtuous ire,
Indignant flalh'd refentment's noble fire.
Tho' juft oblervance in thy life may trace
A lovely model of each moral grace,
Thy laft of days the nobleft leflbn taught : i (5 c
Severe infl:ru£lion ! and too dearly bought I
Whofe force from memory never can depart,
But while it mends, muft agonize the heart.
Tho' thy fhrunk nerves were deftin'd to fijftain
Th' increafing horrors of flow-wailing pain ; ijo
C 2 Thofe
[ i5 ]
Thole ^fpliit- quenching pangs, whofe bafe controiil
Cloud the clear temper, and exhauft the foul ;
Yet in that hour, when Death afferts his claim,
And his ftrong fummons fhakes the confoious frame;
When weaker minds, by frantic fear o'erthrown, 175
Shrink in wild horror from the dread Unknown,
Thy firmer foul, with Chriiiian ftrength renew'd.
Nor loft in languor, nor by pain lubdued,
(While thy cold gra(p the hand of 1^ ricndlliip preft,
And her vain aid in fault ring accents bleft) 1 8 o
With awe, but not as Superfdtion's flave,
Survey'd the gathering ihadows of the grave ;
And to thy God, in death, devoutly paid
That calm obedience which thy life difplay'd.
Thou friend ! yet left me of the choicer few, i S^
Whom grief's fond eyes with growing love review;
O thou !
[ 17 ]
O thou ! whom mutual forrow will incline
To mix thy fympathetic fighs with mine ;
Still be it ours to pay, with jufl regret,
At Friendihip's facred ihrine our common debt ! 1 90
Tho' doom'd (fb Heaven ordains) to fee no more
The gentle Being, whom we both deplore ;
Painting fhall ftill, fweet fbothing art ! iupply
A form fb precious in affe^lion's eye.
Ah ! litde thought we, in that happier hour, 195
When our gay Mufe rehears'd the Pencil's power ;
To mourn that form in cold obflru^lion laid,
And lee him only by the pencil's aid I
Blefl: be that pencil, every art be bleft.
That (lamps his image deeper on our breaft ! 200
Oft let us loiter on his favourite hill,
Whole ihades the ladly-pleafing thought inftill ;
2 Recount
Recount his klndnefs, as we fondly rove,
And meet his fpirit in the lonely grove.
At evening's penfive hour, or opening day, 205
He yet fhal! leem the partner of our way.
Bleft Spirit ! dill thro' fancy's ear impart
The calm of virtue, to the troubled heart !
Correal each fordid view, each vain defire.
And touch the mortal, with celeftial fire 1 210
So may we ftill, in this dark fcene of earth,
Hold fweet communion with thy living worth ;
And, while our purer thoughts thy merit fcan.
Revere the Angel, as we lov'd the Man.
F I N J S,
mil.
D boo 001 043