II. THE MEMORY OF THE JUST. STRIKE a louder, loftier lyre; Who was He, for whom our tears Flow'd, and will not cease to flow? -Full of honours and of years, Yet resurgent from the dust, For the memory of the Just He was One, whose open face On his forehead, Heaven's broad seal. Kindness all his looks express'd, And the ear rejoiced that heard. Like a patriarchal sage, Holy, humble, courteous, mild, He could blend the awe of age With the sweetness of a child. As a cedar of the LORD, On the height of Lebanon, Shade and shelter doth afford, From the tempest and the sun :— While in green luxuriant prime, O'er the hills, the morning dews: Thus he flourish'd, tall and strong, Wealth, which prodigals had deem'd Worth the soul's uncounted cost; Wealth, which misers had esteem'd Cheap, though heaven itself were lost. This, with free unsparing hand In the world's great harvest day, Shall an hundred fold be found. Yet, like noon's refulgent blaze, Though he shone from east to west, Far withdrawn from public gaze, Secret goodness pleased him best. As the sun, retired from sight, Thus beneath the' horizon dim, Oft his silent spirit went, Like an angel from the throne, Then the widow's heart would sing, To the blind, the deaf, the lame, Help to all he did dispense, Gold, instruction, raiment, food, Like the gifts of Providence, Deeds of mercy, deeds unknown, Which he durst not call his own, As the Earth puts forth her flowers, Heaven-ward breathing from below; As the clouds descend in showers, When the southern breezes blow. Thus his renovated mind, Warm with pure celestial love, Shed its influence on mankind, While its hopes aspired above. Full of faith at length he died, - Not of merit, but of grace. III. A GOOD MAN'S MONUMENT. THE pyre, that burns the aged Bramin's bones In savage realms, when tyrants yield their breath, Herds, flocks, and slaves, attend their lord in death; Arms, chariots, carcasses, a horrid heap, Rust at his side, or share his mouldering sleep. When heroes fall triumphant on the plain; For millions conquer'd, and ten thousands slain; For cities levell'd, kingdoms drench'd in blood, Navies annihilated on the flood; -The pageantry of public grief requires The splendid homage of heroic lyres; And genius moulds impassion'd brass to breathe And bids it live -the proxy of the dead. Reynolds expires, a nobler chief than these; No blood of widows stains his obsequies; |