An ode on the death of Mr. Pelham

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- [titlepage]

AN ODE ON THE DEATH OF Mr. PELHAM.

LET others hail the rising sun,

I bow to that whose course is run,

Which sets in endless night;

Whose rays benignant bless'd this isle,

Made peaceful nature round us smile

With calm, but chearful light.

No bounty past provokes my praise,

No future prospects prompt my lays,

From real grief they flow;

I catch th'alarm from Britain's fears,

My sorrows fall with Britain's tears,

And join a nation's woe.

See—as you pass the crowded street,

Despondence clouds each face you meet,

All their lost friend deplore:

You read in ev'ry pensive eye,

You hear in ev'ry broken sigh,

That PELHAM is no more.

If thus each Briton be alarm'd,

Whom but his distant influence warm'd,

What grief their breasts must rend,

Who in his private virtues bless'd,

By nature's dearest tyes possess'd

The HUSBAND, FATHER, FRIEND.

What! mute ye bards?—no mournful verse,

No chaplets to adorn his hearse,

To crown the good and just?

Your flow'rs in warmer regions bloom,

You seek no pensions from the tomb,

No laurels from the dust.

When pow'r departed with his breath,

The sons of flatt'ry fled from death:

Such insects swarm at noon.

Not for herself my muse is griev'd,

She never ask'd, nor e'er receiv'd,

One ministerial boon.

For what peculiar strange offence,

Have we incens'd Omnipotence,

To blast our coming May?

Is it a warning to the times?

Is it a punishment for crimes?

That PELHAM'S snatch'd away?

Uncheck'd by shame, unaw'd by dread,

When vice triumphant rears her head,

Vengeance can sleep no more;

The evil angel stalks at large,

The good submits, resigns his charge,

And quits th'unhallow'd shore.

The same sad morn[*] to Church and State

(So for our sins 'twas fix'd by fate)

A double stroke was giv'n;

Black as the whirlwinds of the north,

St. J—n's fell genius issu'd forth,

And PELHAM'S fled to heav'n!

By angels watch'd in Eden's bow'rs,

Our parents pass'd their peaceful hours,

Nor guilt nor pain they knew;

But on the day which usher'd in

The hell-born train of mortal sin,

The heav'nly guard withdrew.

Look down, much honor'd Shade, below!

Still let thy pity aid our woe;

Stretch out thy healing hand;

Resume those feelings, which on earth

Proclaim'd thy patriot love and worth,

And sav'd a sinking land.

Search, with thy more than mortal eye,

The breasts of all thy friends: descry

What there has got possession.

See if thy unsuspecting heart,

In some for truth mistook not art,

For principle, profession.

From these, the pests of human kind,

Whom royal bounty cannot bind,

Protect our parent King:

Unmask their treach'ry to his sight,

Drag forth the vipers into light,

And crush them ere they sting.

If such his trust and honors share,

Again exert thy guardian care,

Each venom'd heart disclose;

On Him, on Him, our all depends,

Oh save him from his treach'rous friends,

He cannot fear his foes.

Whoe'er shall at the helm preside,

Still let thy prudence be his guide,

To stem the troubled wave;

But chiefly whisper in his ear,

"That GEORGE is open, just, sincere,

"And dares to scorn a knave."

No selfish views t'oppress mankind,

No mad ambition fir'd thy mind,

To purchase fame with blood;

Thy bosom glow'd with purer heat;

Convinc'd that to be truly great,

Is only to be good.

To hear no lawless passions call,

To serve thy King, yet feel for all,

Such was thy glorious plan!

Wisdom with gen'rous love took part,

Together work'd thy head and heart,

The Minister and Man.

Propitious heav'n extend thy care,

Accept a suppliant nation's pray'r,

A nation's loss supply;

To us another PELHAM give,

Who may like him applauded live,

Like him lamented die.

FINIS.

Notes

*
The 6th of March, 1754, was remarkable for the publication of the Works of a late Lord, and the death of Mr. PELHAM.
↵

AN ODE ON THE DEATH OF Mr. PELHAM.

An honest man's the noblest work of God!

POPE.

LONDON, Printed: And Sold by M. COOPER at the Globe in Pater-noster-Row. MDCCLIV. (Price Six Pence.)

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Title statement

An ode on the death of Mr. Pelham

Garrick, David, 1717-1779.

Publication

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University of Oxford Text Archive
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ID [ota]

http://ota.ox.ac.uk/id/4078

ID [isbn10]

1106010779

ID [isbn13]

9781106010773

ID [TCP]

K041173.000

ID [BIBNO]

CW3311594780

ID [ECLL]

0146501300

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Source

— An ode on the death of Mr. Pelham, Garrick, David, 1717-1779.. 9,[1]p. ; 2⁰. London :: printed: and sold by M. Cooper,. 1754.. [Anonymous. By David Garrick.] [Sometimes erroneously attributed to Edward Moore.] [Reproduction of original from the British Library.] [English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT41961.] [Electronic data. Farmington Hills, Mich. : Thomson Gale, 2003. Page image (PNG). Digitized image of the microfilm version produced in Woodbridge, CT by Research Publications, 1982-2002 (later known as Primary Source Microfilm, an imprint of the Gale Group).]

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