Secular ode in commemoration of the glorious revolution, M DC LXXXVIII. By W. Mason,

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SECULAR ODE.

NOVEMBER the Fifth, M DCC LXXXVIII.

I.

IT is not age, creative Fancy's foe,

Foe to the finer feelings of the soul,

Shall dare forbid the lyric rapture flow;

Scorning its chill controul,

He, at the vernal morn of youth,

Who breath'd, to Liberty and Truth,

Fresh incense from his votive lyre,

In life's autumnal eve, again

Shall, at their shrine, resume the strain,

And sweep the veteran chords with renovated fire.

II.

Warm to his own, and to his country's breast,

Twice fifty brilliant years the theme have borne,

And each, through all its varying seasons, blest

By that auspicious morn,

Which gilding NASSAU's patriot prow,

Gave Britain's anxious eye to know

The source whence now her blessings spring;

She saw him from that prow descend,

And, in the Hero, hail'd the Friend;

A name, when Britain speaks, that dignifies her king.

III.

In solemn state she led him to the throne

Whence bigot zeal and lawless power had fled,

Where Justice fix'd the abdicated crown

On his victorious head.

Was there an angel in the sky,

That glow'd not with celestial joy,

When Freedom, in her native charms,

Descended from her throne of light,

On eagle plumes, to bless the rite,

Recall'd by Britain's voice, restor'd by Nassau's arms!

IV.

Since then, triumphant on the car of Time,

The sister Years in gradual train have roll'd,

And seen the Goddess from her sphere sublime,

The sacred page unfold,

Inscrib'd by Her's and NASSAU's hands,

On which the hallow'd charter stands,

That bids Britannia's sons be free;

And, as they pass'd, each white-rob'd year

Has sung to her responsive sphere,

Hail to the charter'd rights of British Liberty!

V.

Still louder lift the soul-expanding strain,

Ye future years! while, from her starry throne,

Again she comes to magnify her reign,

And make the world her own.

Her fire e'en France presumes to feel,

And half unsheaths the patriot steel,

Enough the monarch to dismay,

Whoe'er, with rebel pride, withdraws

His own allegiance from the laws

That guard the people's rights, that rein the sovereign's sway.

VI.

Hark! how from either India's sultry bound,

From regions girded by the burning zone,

Her all-attentive ear, with sigh profound,

Has heard the captive moan:

Has heard, and ardent in the cause

Of all, that free by Nature's laws,

The avarice of her sons enthralls;

She comes, by Truth and Mercy led,

And, bending her benignant head,

Thus on the seraph pair in suppliant strain she calls:

VII.

"Long have I lent to my Britannia's hands

That trident which controuls the willing sea,

And bad her circulate to distant lands

Each bliss deriv'd from me.

Shall then her Commerce spread the sail,

For gain accurs'd, and court the gale,

Her throne, her sov'reign to disgrace;

Daring (what will not Commerce dare!)

Beyond the ruthless waste of war,

To deal destruction round, and thin the human race?

VIII.

"Proclaim it not before th' eternal throne

Of Him, the sire of universal love;

But wait till all my sons your influence own,

Ye envoys from above!

O wait, at this precarious hour,

When, in the pendent scale of power,

My rights and Nature's trembling lye;

Do thou, sweet Mercy! touch the beam,

Till lightly, as the feather'd dream,

Ascends the earthly dross of—selfish policy.

IX.

"Do thou, fair Truth! as did thy Master mild,

Who, fill'd with all the power of godhead, came

To purify the souls, by guilt defil'd,

With Faith's celestial flame;

Tell them, 'tis Heaven's benign decree

That all, of Christian liberty,

The peace-inspiring gale should breathe;

May then that nation hope to claim

The glory of the Christian name,

That loads fraternal tribes with bondage worse than death?

X.

"Tell them, they vainly grace, with festive joy,

The day that free'd them from Oppression's rod,

At Slavery's mart, who barter and who buy

The image of their GOD.

But peace!—their conscience feels the wrong;

From Britain's congregated tongue,

Repentant breaks the choral lay,

"Not unto us, indulgent Heav'n,

"In partial stream, be Freedom given,

"But pour her treasures wide, and guard with legal sway!"

THE END.

SECULAR ODE IN COMMEMORATION OF THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION, M DC LXXXVIII.

[PRICE ONE SHILLING.]

SECULAR ODE IN COMMEMORATION OF THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION, M DC LXXXVIII.

By W. MASON, M. A.

LONDON: Printed for J. ROBSON & W. CLARKE, Booksellers, NEW-BOND STREET. M DCC LXXXVIII.

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Title statement

Secular ode in commemoration of the glorious revolution, M DC LXXXVIII. By W. Mason,

Mason, William, 1725-1797.

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http://ota.ox.ac.uk/id/5396

ID [isbn10]

1106023951

ID [isbn13]

9781106023957

ID [TCP]

K115467.000

ID [BIBNO]

CW3312845542

ID [ECLL]

0464802600

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— Secular ode in commemoration of the glorious revolution, M DC LXXXVIII. By W. Mason,, Mason, William, 1725-1797.. 12p. ; 4⁰. London :: printed for J. Robson & W. Clarke,. 1788.. [With a half-title.] [Reproduction of original from the Harvard University Houghton Library.] [English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT150335.] [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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