William Hayley

“ To human weakness, and to earthly pride,
Friend to Distress, who canst alone controul
Each rising tumult in the mad'ning soul;
'Tis thine alone from dark despair to save,
To soothe the woes of life, and terrors of the grave:
Thro' this rough world assist me with thy power!
Calm every thought! adorn my latest hour,
Sustain my spirit, and confirm my mind,
Serene tho' feeling, chearful tho' resign'd!
And thou! my friend, while thus in artless verse
Thy mind I copy, and thy thoughts rehearse;
Let one memorial, tho' unpolish'd, stand
Rais'd to thy friendship by this grateful hand! ”

“ Every warm hearted and worthy individual who mentions Howard will glow with an honest, a generous satisfaction, in feeling himself the fellow-creature of such a man. Wherever the elegant arts are established, they will contend in raising memorials to his honour. Indeed, the globe itself may be considered as his Mausoleum; and the inhabitants of every prison it contains, as groups of living statues that commemorate his virtue. There is no class of mankind by whom his memory ought not to be cherished, because all are interested in those evils (so pernicious to society! so dangerous to life!) ”

“ He promis'd, for his mother's sake, Not to recall his exil'd snake, Nor wander to his wood; He was a boy of manly soul, And true to honour's just controul, He made his promise good. Nature, to these divided friends Now in their separate lot attends; Time decks them as he flies; The child, a graceful stripling grows, And freedom on the snake bestows, A formidable size. And now it chanc'd the Arcadian youth, Renown'd for courage, love and truth! Had sought a favourite maid; Led by her tender charms to roam, Forgetting distance from his home, Abroad too late he stay'd. ”

“ O ye! whose reas'ning pride can so mistake
The truths, He meekly spoke for mercy's sake!
More humbly grateful, learn ye to rejoice
In all the dictates of his cheering voice!
Who, to console his grief-dejected flock,
Show'd, how their faith is built upon a rock;
And, in the closing of his earthly strife,
Made manifest Himself as Lord of Life!
And tho' to death, the most disgraceful, driven,
Possessing all the powers of earth, and Heaven.
Pure source of light! and safety to the lost,
Without Thee on a sea of darkness tost! ”

“ A boat must waft thee to the dome of Spleen.
These pallid figures that around thee press,
And haunt thee with importunate distress,
On earth were beggars of each different class,
Tho' blended here in one promiscuous mass,
The poor, who spurn'd kind Industry's control,
The rich, who begg'd from penury of soul:
Both by their abject pride alike debas'd,
Blasphem'd that nature which they both disgrac'd,
And, hither by the sullen fiend convey'd,
Here still they ply their ineffectual trade;
In chase of each new passenger they run,
Condemn'd to beg from all, to gain by none. ”

“ In the noble emotions of pity for the oppressed, and of zeal for the honour and interest of civilized society, he conceived perhaps the sublimest design that ever occupied and exalted the mind of man, the design to search and to purify the polluted stream of Penal Justice, not only throughout his own country, but through the various nations of the world. How low, how little, are the grandest enterprizes of Heroic Ambition, when compared with this magnanimous pursuit! How frivolous and vain are the highest aims of Fancy and Science, when contrasted with a purpose so beneficently great! ”

“ When bringing to his simple cot A Goat of signal grace, He, to his foreign guest, display'd The ornament she wore; It was a splendid silver toy, It's folds her neck embrace, And it's rich centre, highly wrought, This grateful motto bore: Dear animal! This trinket wear, Mark of thy mental beauty! For teaching to an English fair, A mother's highest duty! "Good shepherd thou hast much to tell, Some curious tender tale, Thy kindness I with joy accept, To rest beneath thy roof; For now I see an evening storm Is sweeping o'er the vale, And here in this thy airy nest I well can sleep aloof." ”

“ But a charm that her lover refus'd to replace;
"Thy hand my dear girl, with a gem let me deck,
Of more magical force, of more luminous grace!"
"My bird and my ring, both of wonderous power!
Dear Azima! now as thy treasures receive;
For they both shall be thine, they are virtue's just dower
And thro' life may they never my Azima leave."
"For O! if they leave thee, or lost, or destroy'd,
That bliss, which our union I trust will ensure,
Must vanish, and leave in each heart such a void,
That our permanent anguish no magic can cure." ”

“ But how can earth deny, by truth unblam'd,
Divinity, that Heaven itself proclaim'd.
Reason opposes pride's degrading plan.
To sink the Saviour to a simple man:
Were He no more, could He, so born, presume
With Heaven to mediate for all nature's doom?
No! for, so born, Himself must then require
A mediator with th' eternal Sire:
Disclaim his Godhead, you at once imply
His deeds are doubtful, and his word a lie.
If not a God, most guilty of mankind,
His doctrine tends the human race to blind. ”

“ After passing many years of life in the painful investigation of human offences, it is with peculiar satisfaction that I find myself commissioned to commemorate, in this Assembly, a character of virtue without example—a character, at once so meek and so sublime, that, if a feeling spirit had been poisoned with misanthropy from too close a contemplation of mortal crimes, this character alone might serve as an antidote to the word of mental distempers, and awaken the most callous and sarcastic mind to confess the dignity of our Nature, and the beneficence of our God. ”

“ He bore a heart that answer'd to the name;
For this neat habit deck'd a generous youth,
Of gentlest manners, and sincerest truth.
Tho' on his birth propitious Fortune smil'd,
No proud parental folly spoil'd the child;
And Genius, more beneficently kind,
Blest with superior wealth his manly mind.
Of years he barely counted twenty-one;
But, like a brilliant morn, his opening life begun.
Fain would the Muse on this her votary dwell,
And fully paint the youth she loves so well;
His figure's charms, the music of his tongue,
What nymphs his lays allur'd, what lays he sung ”

“ Thou monster, at whose hated name, The nerves of kindness ake; Would I could drive thee from mankind, By telling how a grateful mind, Once dignified a snake. The tale is antient, and is sweet, To mortals, who with joy repeat, What soothes the feeling heart; The first of virtues, that may boast The power to soothe, and please it most, Sweet gratitude, thou art. The reptile, whom thy beauties raise, Has an unquestion'd claim to praise, That justice will confirm! The Muses, with a graceful pride, May turn from thankless man aside, To celebrate a worm! ”

“ In her chamber she oft her lov'd ruby would hide.
And exclaim, my Anglama, "go seek for my ring!"
However concealed the quick bird was so keen,
He never once failed to bring back the lost gem;
To his mistress he gave it with gesture serene,
Her sweet-meats repaid him; he lived upon them.
How often the sport of an innocent breast,
Is by Providence favour'd for some gracious end,
And gentle dumb creatures, with kindness carest,
That kindness repay in the shape of a friend!
But little sweet Azima dreamt, as she taught,
Her bird thus to play with a jewel so dear ”

“ No human parent know;
To Thee, O Charity, the praise
Of filial love shall flow.
II. We have no parent but our God;
Yet will we not in grief despair;
For He this vale of sorrow trod,
To make the desolate his care.
The voice of innocence and youth,
To Thee, meek Saviour! may ascend;
Thou God of Tenderness, and Truth,
Of Infancy Thou art the Friend.
Thro! tears, that fill the orphan's eye,
With humble confidence we see
Calamity, an holy tie!
That binds our helpless tribe to Thee.
For charity, angelic power!
Thy fav'rite delegate below!
Makes industry, our peaceful dower! ”

“ On the quick match the Prude's keen censures fall,
Blind to the heavenly power who guided all:
But mild Serena scorn'd the prudish play,
To wound warm love with frivolous delay;
Nature's chaste child, not Affectation's slave,
The heart she meant to give, she frankly gave.
Thro' her glad sire no gouty humours run,
Jocund he glories in his destin'd son.
Penelope herself, no longer seen
In the sour semblance of tormenting Spleen,
Buys for her niece the robes of nuptial state,
Nor scolds the mercer once thro' all the long debate. ”

“ Justly hast thou cautioned mankind not to impute thy conduct to rashness or enthusiasm. Weak and wavering in their own pursuits of felicity, thou wilt not wonder to see them so in their sense of thy merit, and their zeal for thy honour: but I am commissioned to bear thee to that All-seeing Power, who can alone truly estimate, and perfectly reward thy desert. I know that the praise of beings, inferior to thy GOD, never influenced thy life ”