TO THE

KING.

(HIS LATE GRACIOUS MAJESTY GEO. III.)

Thus far the Royal Preacher, who, misled By passion's impulse, in the devious paths Of vice and folly stray'd; at length reclaim'd, ' Hath here trac'd out the source of human woes, And points with friendly hand the road to bliss. Princes from hence may learn, what fatal snares The most exalted rank attend, when pow'r Is unrestrain'd by virtue. No less hard Will Sov'reigns find the task to govern well, Than subjects to obey; too apt are both Their duty to forget: both stand in need Of wholesome counsels.-With superior gifts Endow'd, how glorious shone the Hebrew King, How lov'd, rever'd, when he began his reign, Let sacred records tell. In those blest days,

Religion, root of solid virtue, shed

Its influence far and wide; then holiness
Appear'd in all its beauty. Pray'rs devout,
With fragrant clouds of incense, rose to Heav'n;
Each solemn rite with rev'rence due perform'd:
Anthems alternate round the hallow'd walls
Echo'd melodious: people, priest, and king,
With pious zeal and mutual ardour join'd
To praise the universal Lord. Hence flow'd
Unutter'd blessings: vice in dark retreats,
Lay pale and trembling; pow'rful sinners stood
In awe of justice, forc'd or to reform,

Or to conceal their crimes. To such a throne
Who but the wise and virtuous dar'd approach?
Now see the sad reverse! To passions vile,
The hoary sage, by female arts ensnar'd,
His reason shamefully resign'd, and fell
To brutal lust a slave. How chang'd the scene!
His heart perverted, far from court was driv'n
Religion, which at length no place could find,
Ev'n in the Temple. Altars now were rais'd
To idols vain, and senseless gods ador'd
With impious rites. Straight vice, uncurb'd by law,
Its head erected, like the pestilence,

Its baleful influence shed; no rank escap'd
The deadly taint. Such, of a court corrupt
The dire effects! Vengeance divine pursu'd
Th' ungrateful Sire in his ill-nurtur'd Son,
Who liv'd to see his realm in pieces torn,
And endless woes entail'd both on his race

And wretched people.-Hence let ev'ry Prince
Be warn'd, how much the welfare of his state
Depends on rev'rence to religion due;
That piety, to public scorn expos'd,

Or as a thing of trivial moment deem'd,
Subverts all order, gives to vice the reins,
Prompts the licentious to contemn divine
And human laws, and sure at length brings down
Such curses on the best establish'd realms,
As children yet unborn will rue th' effects.

"

That rock, on which Judea's king was lost, And grey experience should have taught to shun, The source of all his own and country's woes, Thou in the prime of life hast 'scap'd, safe steer'd Through passion's stormy sea, by watchful care Of guardian angels, to the port secure, Where solid bliss, if aught below the sun Can solid bliss afford, hath surely fix'd Its calm abode, and Eden's garden smiles. Th' uxorious Son of David sought in vain, Among a thousand of th' enchanting sex, What thou hast found in ONE. They all, of form Beauteous, indeed, but soul deprav'd and false, Betray'd, and to the verge of ruin led The doting monarch: by their blandishments, He saw his glory stain'd, abhorr'd at home, Despis'd abroad, the wrath of God provok'd: The poison'd cup they offer'd, to the taste Though sweet, prov'd bitter as the pangs of death.

Y

3

But Royal CHARLOTTE, in whose aspect mild,
Calm and serene as Heav'n's unclouded face,
Appears that inward peace of mind, which flows
From conscious virtue, form'd at once t' instruct
And charm, will render the connubial state
A source of lasting joy, domestic sweets,
And public blessings: 'midst the bloom of youth,
Mature in wisdom, hoary age may learn
Sublimest lessons from her lips: the rage
Of party ceases, calumny itself

Struck dumb at her approach: in ev'ry word,
Each look and gesture, dignity and grace
Proclaim her worthy of a throne.-Exult,
Ye Britons, in your Monarch's happy choice,
By Heav'n approv'd. O! may the genial bed
With many a smiling offspring be adorn'd,
And future GEORGES, like the present reign.

But would'st thou on the firmest basis fix
The throne, religion thy peculiar care

Demands: for though pretenders vile, too oft u
Disgrace the venerable name, yet sure,
Virtue itself, without religion's aid,

Is but an empty shadow. Would to Heav'n,
That those beneath thy sway, had learn'd from thee,
To practice what she teaches!-But, alas!
Not ev'n th' example of a pious king,
In youth undazzled with the pomp of courts,
And stranger to the luring charms of vice,
To our own happiness can move.
The God-like pattern, much admire and praise,

We see