The bastard: A poem, inscribed with all due reverence to Mrs. Bret, once Countess of Macclesfield. By Richard Savage, son of the late Earl Rivers.

Table of contents

- [halftitle]

- [titlepage]

- The PREFACE.

- Books, Poems and Plays, Printed for, and Sold by P. Crampton at Addison's Head opposite to the Horse-guard in Dame's-street, and T. Benson at Shakespear's Head in Castle-street.

The BASTARD. A POEM.

IN Gayer Hours, when high my Fancy run,

The Muse, exulting, thus her Lay begun.

BLEST be the Bastard's Birth! thro' wond'rous Ways,

He shines excentric like a Comet's Blaze!

No sickly Fruit of faint Compliance He!

He! stampt in Nature's Mint of Extacy!

He lives to build, not boast a generous Rac•…

No tenth Transmitter of a foolish Face.

His daring Hope, no Sire's Example bounds:

His first-born Lights no Prejudice con¦founds.

He, kindling from within, requires no Flame

He glories in a Bastard's glowing Name.

BORN to himself, by no Possession led,

In Freedom foster'd, and by Fortune fed;

Nor Guides, nor Rules, his sov'reign Choic•… controul,

His Body independent, as his Soul.

Loos'd to the World's wide Range,—en¦joyn'd no Aim;

Prescrib'd no Duty, and assign'd no Name:

Nature's unbounded Son, he stands alone,

His Heart unbyass'd, and his Mind his own

O Mother, yet no Mother!—'tis to you,

My Thanks for such distinguish'd Claims are due.

You, unenslav'd to Nature's narrow Laws,

Warm Championess for Freedom's sacred Cause,

From all the dry Devoirs of Blood and Line,

From Ties maternal, moral and divine,

Discharg'd my grasping Soul; push'd me from Shore,

And launch'd me into Life without an Oar.

WHAT had I lost, if conjugally kind,

By Nature hating, yet by Vows confin'd,

Untaught the matrimonial Bounds to slight,

And coldly conscious of a Husband's Right,

You had faint-drawn me with a Form alone,

A lawful Lump of Life by Force your own!

Then, while your backward Will retrench'd Desire,

And unconcurring Spirits lent no Fire,

I had been born your dull, domestic Heir;

Load of your Life, and Motive of your Care;

Perhaps been poorly rich, and meanly great;

The Slave of Pomp, a Cypher in the State;

Lordly neglectful of a Worth unknown,

And slumb'ring in a Seat, by chance my own.

FAR nobler Blessings wait the Bastard's Lot;

Conceiv'd in Rapture, and with Fire begot!

Strong as Necessity, he starts away,

Climbs against Wrongs and brightens into Day.

THUS unprophetic, lately misinspir'd,

I sung: Gay flatt'ring Hope, my Fancy fir'd;

Inly secure, thro' conscious Scorn of Ill,

Nor taught by Wisdom, how to ballance Will,

Rashly deceiv'd, I saw no Pits to shun;

But thought to purpose, and to act were one;

Heedless what pointed Cares pervert his Way,

Whom Caution arms not, and whom Woes betray;

But now expos'd and shrinking from distress,

I flie to Shelter, while the Tempests press;

My Muse to Grief resigns the varying Tone,

The Raptures languish, and the Numbers groan.

O Memory!—thou Soul of Joy, and Pain!

Thou Actor of our Passions o'er again!

Why dost thou aggravate the Wretches Woe?

Why add continuous Smart to ev'ry Blow?

Few are my Joys; alas! how soon forgot!

On that kind Quarter thou invad'st me not,

While sharp, and numberless my Sorrows fall;

Yet thou repeat'st, and multiply'st 'em all!

Is Chance a Guilt? that my disast'rous Heart,

For Mischief never meant, must ever smart

Can Self-defence be Sin—Ah, plead no more!

What tho' no purpos'd Malice stain'd thee o'er?

Had Heav'n befriended thy unhappy Side,

Thou had'st not been provok'd—Or Thou had'st died.

FAR be the Guilt of homeshed Blood from All,

On whom unsought, embroiling Dangers fall!

Still the pale Dead revives, and lives to me,

To me! thro' Pity's Eye condemn'd to see.

Remembrance veils his Rage, but swells his Fate;

Griev'd I forgive, and am grown cool too late.

Young, and unthoughtful then; who knows, one Day,

What ripening Vertues might have made their Way!

He might have liv'd, till Folly died in Shame,

Till kindling Wisdom felt a Thirst for Fame.

He might perhaps his Country's Friend have prov'd;

Been happy, gen'rous, candid, and belov'd.

He might have sav'd some Worth, now doom'd to fall;

And I, perchance in him, have murder'd all.

O Fate of late Repentance! always vain:

Thy Remedies but lull undying Pain.

Where shall my Hope find Rest?—No Mother's Care

Shielded my Infant Innocence with Prayer:

No Father's Guardian Hand my Youth maintain'd,

Call'd forth my Vertues, or from Vice restrain'd.

Is it not time to snatch some pow'rful Arm,

First to advance, then screen from future Harm?

Am I return'd from Death, to live in Pain?

Or wou'd Imperial Pity save in vain?

Distrust it not—What blame can Mercy find,

Which gives at once a Life, and rears a Mind?

MOTHER, miscall'd, Farewel—of Soul severe,

This sad Reflection yet may force one Tear:

All I was wretched by to you I ow'd,

Alone from Strangers ev'ry Comfort flow'd!

LOST to the Life you gave, Your Son no more,

And now adopted, who was doom'd before,

New-born, I may a nobler Mother Claim,

But dare not whisper her Immortal Name?

Supreamly Lovely and Serenely Great!

Majestick Mother of a kneeling State!

QUEEN of a People's Hearts, who ne'er before

Agreed—Yet now with one Consent adore!

One Contest yet remains in this Desire,

Who most shall give Applause, where all Admire.

FINIS.

The BASTARD. A POEM.

BY Mr. RICHARD SAVAGE.

THE BASTARD. A POEM, Inscribed with all due Reverence to Mrs. BRET, once Countess of MACCLESFIELD.

By RICHARD SAVAGE, Son of the late Earl RIVERS

Decet, haec dare dona Novercam.

OV. MET.

DUBLIN: Printed by S. POWELL, for T. BENSON, at Shakespear's Head, in Castle-street, and P. CRAMPTON, at Addison's Head, opposite to the Horse-guard in Dame's-street, 1728.

The PREFACE.

THE Reader will easily perceive these Verses were begun, when my Heart was gayer, than it has been of late; and finish'd in Hours of the deepest Melancholy.

I hope the World will do me the Justice to believe, that no part of this flows from any real Anger against the Lady, to whom it is inscrib'd. Whatever undeserv'd Severities I may have receiv'd at her Hands, wou'd she deal so candidly as to acknowledge Truth, she very well knows, by an Experience of many Years, that I have ever behaved myself towards her, like one, who thought it his Duty to support with Patience all Afflictions from that Quarter. Indeed if I had not been capable of forgiving a Mother, I must have blush'd to receive Pardon myself at the Hands of my Sovereign.

Neither to say Truth, were the manner of my Birth All, shou'd I have any Reason from complaint—when I am a little disposed to a gay turn of Thinking, I consider, as I was a De-relict from my Cradle, I have the Honour of a lawful Claim to the best Protection in Europe. For being a Spot of Earth, to which no body pretends a Title, I devolve naturally upon the KING, as one of the Rights of his Royalty.

While I presume to name his MAJESTY, I look back, with Confusion, upon the Mercy I have lately experienc'd, because it is impossible to remember it, but with something I would fain forget; for the sake of my future Peace, and Alleviation of my past Misfortune.

I owe my Life to the Royal Pity, if a Wretch can, with Propriety, be said to live, whose Days are fewer than his Sorrows; and to whom Death had been but a Redemption from Misery.

But I will suffer my Pardon, as my Punishment, till that Life, which has so graciously been given me, shall become considerable enough not to be useless in his Service, to whom it was forfeited.

Under Influence of these Sentiments, with which his MAJESTY's great Goodness has inspired me, I consider my Loss of Fortune, and Dignity, as my Happiness; to which, as I was born without Ambition, I am thrown from them without repining.—Possessing those Advantages, my Care had been, perhaps, but how to enjoy Life; by the want of them I am taught this nobler Lesson, to study how to deserve it.

R. Savage.

Books, Poems and Plays, Printed for, and Sold by P. Crampton at Addison's Head opposite to the Horse-guard in Dame's-street, and T. Benson at Shakespear's Head in Castle-street.

- THE Travels of Cyrus, in a neat Pocket Volume, Paice bound a British Half Crown.

- An Essay on the Passions and Affections, with Illustrations on the Moral Sense. By Mr. Francis Hutcheson, Author of the Enquiry into the Original of our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue. Price bound two Shillings and two Pence.

- A Select Collection of Tracts, by Walter Moyle, Esq viz. 1. An Essay upon the Roman Government. 2. Remarks upon D•. Prideaux's Connection of the Old and New Testament. 3. An Essay upon the Lacaedemo nian Government. 4. An Argument against a standing Army. Price bound a British Half Crown.

- Shadwell's Works, consisting of all his Plays and Poems. Price bound four Shillings and four Pence.

- The Orphan. Price a British Six-pence.

- Caius Marius. Price Ditto.

- Lucius Junius Brutus, Father of his Country. Price Ditto.

- The Spanish Fryar. Price Ditto.

- The Double Falshood. Price Ditto.

- The Miser turn'd Courtier. Price four Pence.

- The Art of Shooting Flying. Price two Pence.

- The Norfolk Steward. Price two Pence.

- The Bason a Poem. Price a Penny.

- A Ballad upon the Ruffs. Price a Penny.

- Just publish'd, Cyrus a Tragedy.

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Title statement

The bastard: A poem, inscribed with all due reverence to Mrs. Bret, once Countess of Macclesfield. By Richard Savage, son of the late Earl Rivers.

Savage, Richard, d. 1743.

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University of Oxford Text Archive
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ID [ota]

http://ota.ox.ac.uk/id/5416

ID [isbn10]

110602415X

ID [isbn13]

9781106024152

ID [TCP]

K118217.000

ID [BIBNO]

CW3317095272

ID [ECLL]

1224001100

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Source

— The bastard: A poem, inscribed with all due reverence to Mrs. Bret, once Countess of Macclesfield. By Richard Savage, son of the late Earl Rivers., Savage, Richard, d. 1743.. [6],9,[1]p. ; 8⁰. Dublin :: printed by S. Powell, for T. Benson, and P. Crampton,. 1728.. [With a half-title.] [Reproduction of original from the Bodleian Library (Oxford).] [Foxon, S96] [English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT164379.] [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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