IN MEMORIAM VIRI CLARISSIMI

JOHANNIS HUGHE S.
OCCIDIT heu nimium fato fublatus acerbo,
Occidit Aonidûm decus ille dolorque fororum!
Quæ te, magne, tuis rapuit fors afpera, vates?
Quo fugis, ah! noftras nunquam rediturus in oras!
En! tibi ferali crinem cinxêre cupreffo,

Et circum cineres Parnaffia numina lugent.
Ipfa tuam flet adhuc, flebitque Britannia mortem :
Te patria expofcit, fœcundaque criminis ætas.
Non tua te pietas, non candida vita, nec artes
Ingenua, duro juvenem eripuêre fepulchro !

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Sed tibi mors longos nequicquam inviderit annos, Dum maneant claræ monumenta perennia famæ, Dirceufque volet fuperas fuus ales in auras. * Spernis trita fonans plectrum, tenuifque camoenæ Haud petis auxilium: terris te plena relictis Mens rapit impavidum, cœlique per ardua ducit. Jam procul ex oculis gentes & regna recedunt ; Jam tellus perit, & punctum vix cernitur orbis. At vos, immenfi placidiffima lumina mundi, Sol, Luna, æterno meritas O! pangite laudes Auctori dominoque; fuis concuffa tremiscat Sedibus, & magnum agnofcat Natura Parentem, Dum vates arcana, parum fententia vulgi Ut ftet follicitus, fublimi carmine pandit ! Qualis verborum pompa ! ut ruit ore profundo

Fervidus, ingenii caleat cum Spiritus ingens!

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Nec

Hæc, & proxima alludunt ad fublimia illa authoris noftri Poemata, quibus Tituli, HYMNUS AD CREATOREM MUNDI, & ECSTASIS.

Nec minor incedis, tragico indignufive cothurno. Dum tuus Arabicos Phocyas ruit acer in hoftes, Quis non æqualis toto fub pectore flammas Concipit, & fimili laudis fervefcit amore! O qualis linguæ divina potentia! quali Arte trahis faciles animos; feu pectora flecti Dura jubes, & pulchræ acuis virtutis honore; Sive intus placidos Eudocia concitet ignes; Ah nimium, nimium infelix Eudocia! quem non Sors tua fæva movet ? madidi vectigal ocelli Quis neget? infauftos quis non deploret amores? O femper damnata pati fata afpera virtus ! At tibi quis fenfus, quæ mens, Eudocia, cum jam Extrahit infixam Phocyas tua flamma sagittam, Securus fati, vitamque ex vulnere fundit ? Quis fatis ingenium comis miretur Abudæ ?

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Quam piger ad poenas, miferumque benignus in hof

tem !

Exemplar vel Christiadis imitabile, mores

Digni etiam meliore fide! O quam, nube remotâ 45
Erroris, tanti eniteant pietatis honores!

Sed quid ego plura hîc laudare nitentia pergam?
Tota nitet, pulchro tota ordine fabrica furgit,
Et delectamur paffim, paffimque monemur.

E Coll. Mert.
Oxon.

L. DUNCOMBE.

Amabilis Juvenis, hujus Carminis Author, Obiit 26 Decem. 1730; Anno tatis 19. "-Nox atra caput trifti circumvolat umbrâ." VIRG.

PRO

PROLOGUE

TO THE MEMORY OF

MR.

HUGHES.

Spoken by Mr. MILWARD, on the Revival of The SIEGE of DAMASCUS, at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane, 22 March, 1734-5•

HERE force and fancy, with united charms,

Mingle the fweets of love with war's alarms. Our author fhows, in Eastern pomp array'd, The conquering hero and the constant maid. None better knew, fuch noble heights to foar, Though Phædra, and though Cato charm'd before. While in the luftre of his glowing lines, Th' Arabian paradise fo gaily fhines, With winy rivers, racy fruits fupply'd, And beauties sparkling in immortal pride, Gallants, you'll own that a refiftless fire Did juftly their enamour'd breasts inspire.

At first, a numerous audience crown'd this play, And kind applauses mark'd its happy way,

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ΤΟ

While He,like his own Phocyas, fnatch'd from view,15
To fairer realms with ripen'd glory flew.
Humane, though witty; humble, though admir'd ;
Wept by the great, the virtuous fage expir'd!

Still may the bard, beneath kind planets born,
Whom every Grace and every Muse adorn,
Whose spreading fame has reach'd to foreign lands,
Receive fome tribute too from British hands.

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THE

Though rough my voice, the Mufe infpires the fong, The heaven-born Mufe; ev'n now the fprings her

flight,

And bears my raptur❜d foul through untrac'd realms,

of light.

We mount aloft, and, in our airy way,
Retiring kingdoms far beneath furvey,
Amid the reft a fpacious tract appears,
Obfcure in view, and on its vifage wears

Black hovering mifts, which, thickening by degrees,
Extend a louring ftorm o'er earth and feas.
But, lo! an Eastern light, arifing high,
Drives the tempestuous wreck along the sky!

Then thus the Muse-Look down, my fon! and fee
The bright procession of a deity!

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She spoke; the ftorm difpers'd; vanish'd the night; 15
And well-known Europe stands disclos'd to fight,
Of various ftates, the various bounds appear;
There wide Hifpania, fruitful Gallia here;
Belgia's moist foil, confpicuous from afar,

And Flandria, long the field of a destructive war. 20

Germania too, with cluster'd vines o'erspread;
And lovely Albion from her watery bed,
Beauteous above the reft, rears her aufpicious head.
Beneath her chalky cliffs, fea-nymphs refort,

And awful Neptune keeps his reedy court ;
His darling Thames, rich prefents in his hand
Of bounteous Ceres, traverfes the land;
And feems a mighty fnake, whose shining pride
Does through the meads in finuous volumes glide.
Ah, charming ifle! faireft of all the main !
Too long thou doft my willing eye detain.
For fee a hero on the adverse strand!
And, lo! a blooming virgin in his hand!

All hail, celeftial pair! —a goddess she,

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Of heavenly birth confeft, a more than mortal, He! 35-
Victorious laurels on his brows he wears;

Th' attending fair a branching Olive bears;
Slender her fhape, in filver bands confin'd;

Her fnowy garments loosely flow behind,

Rich with embroider'd ftars, and ruffle in the wind. 40
But once fuch differing beauty met before,
When warrior Mars did Love's bright queen adore ;~
Ev'n Love's bright queen might feem lefs winning fair,
And Mars fubmit to his heroic air.

Not Jove himself, imperial Jove can show

A nobler Mien, or more undaunted brow,

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When his ftrong arm, through heav'n's ætherial plains, Compels the kindled bolt, and awful rule maintains. And now embark'd they feek the British Isles. Pleas'd with the charge, propitious Ocean finiles. 50

Before