In which I wonder thou shouldst oversee
Superior Causes, or impute to me
The Fault of Fortune, or the Fates Decree.
Or call it Heav'ns Imperial Pow'r alone,
Which moves on Springs of Justice, though un-
known;
Yet this we fee, though order'd for the best,
The Bad exalted, and the Good oppress'd;
Permitted Laurels grace the Lawless Brow,
Th' Unworthy rais'd, the Worthy cast below.
But leaving that: Search we the secret Springs,
And backward trace the Principles of Things;
There shall we find, that when the World began,
One common Mass compos'd the Mould of Man;
One Paste of Flesh on all Degrees bestow'd,
And kneaded up alike with moistning Blood.
The same Almighty Pow'r inspir'd the Frame
With kindled Life, and form'd the Souls the same:
The Faculties of Intellect, and Will,
[Skill, Dispens'd with equal Hand, dispos'd with equal Like Liberty indulg'd with Choice of Good
Thus born alike, from Virtue first began
The Diff'rence that distinguish'd Man from Man :
He claim'd no Title from Descent of Blood,
But that which made him Noble, made him Good:
Warm'd with more Particles of Heav'nly Flame,
He wing'd his upward Flight, and foar'd to Fame;
The rest remain'd below, a Tribe without aName.
This Law, though Custom now diverts the
As Nature's Institute, is yet in force;
Uncancell'd, tho' disus'd: And he whose Mind
Is Virtuous, is alone of Noble Kind.
Though poor in Fortune, of Celestial Race;
And he commits the Crime who calls him Bafe.
Now lay the Line; and measure all thy Court,
By inward Virtue, not external Port,
And find whom justly to prefer above
The Man on whom my Judgment plac'd my Love:
So shalt thou see his Parts and Person shine;
And thus compar'd, the rest a base degen'rate Line.
Nor took I, when I first survey'd thy Court,
His Valour, or his Virtues, on Report ;
But trusted what I ought to trust alone,
Relying on thy Eyes, and not my Own;
Thy Praise (and thine was then the publick Voice)
First recommended Guiscard to my Choice:
Directed thus by thee, I look'd, and found
A Man, I thought, deserving to be crown'd;
First by my Father pointed to my Sight,
Nor less confpicuous by his Native Light:
His Mind, his Meen, the Features of his Face,
Excelling all the rest of Human Race:
[aright,
These were thy Thoughts, and thou couldit judge
Till Int'rest made a Jaundice in thy Sight.
Or shou'd I grant, thou didst not rightly fee;
Then thou wert first deceiv'd, and Ideceiv'd by thee.
But if thou shalt alledge, through Pride of Mind,
Thy Blood with one of base Condition join'd,
'Tis false; for 'tis not Baseness to be Poor;
His Poverty augments thy Crime the more;
Upbraids thy Justice with the scant Regard
Of Worth: Whom Princes praise, they shou'd
Are these the Kings entrusted by the Crowd With Wealth, to be dispens'd for common Good?
The People sweat not for their King's Delight,
T'enrich a Pimp, or raise a Parasite;
Theirs is the Toil; and he who well has serv'd
His Country, has his Country's Wealth deserv'd.
Ev'n mighty Monarchs oft are meanly born,
And Kings by Birth, to lowest Rank return;
All subject to the Pow'r of giddy Chance,
For Fortune can depress, or can advance:
But true Nobility, is of the Mind,
Not giv'n by Chance, and not to Chance resign'd.
For the remaining Doubt of thy Decree,
What to resolve, and how dispose of me,
Be warn'd to cast that useless Care aside,
My felf alone will for my felf provide;
If in thy doting and decrepit Age,
Thy Soul, a Stranger in thy Youth to Rage,
Begins in cruel Deeds to take Delight,
Gorge with my Blood thy barb'rous Appetite;
For I fo little am dispos'd to pray
For Life, I would not cast a Wish away.
Such as it is, th' Offence is all my own;
And what to Guiscard is already done,
Or to be done, is doom'd by thy Decree,
That, if not executed first by thee,
Shall on my Person be perform'd by me.
Away, with Women weep, and leave me here,
Fix'd, like a Man to die, without a Tear;
Or save, or flay us both this present Hour,
'Tis all that Fate has left within thy Pow'r.
She said: Nor did her Father fail to find,
In all she spoke, the Greatness of her Mind;
Yet thought she was not obstinate to die,
Nor deem'd the Death she promis'd was so nigh:.
Secure in this Belief, he left the Dame,
Resolv'd to spare her Life, and save her Shame;
But that detested Object to remove,
To wreak his Vengeance, and to cure her Love.
Intent on this, a fecret Order sign'd,
The Death of Guiscard to his Guards enjoin'd;
Strangling was chofen, and the Night the Time,
A mute Revenge, and blind as was the Crime:
His faithful Heart, a bloody Sacrifice,
Torn from his Breast, to glut the Tyrant's Eyes,
Clos'd the severe Command: For (Slaves to Pay)
What Kings decree, the Soldier must obey:
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