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Some for Preferment had their Faith forgot,
And gave their Hand to carry on the Plot;
Some Braves indeed (and thefe were not a few)
Kept to their Doctrines and their Country true,
Oppos'd our Foes, and our Reftorer ferv'd,
And never yet have from his Intereft fwerv'd.
The Glory of our Faith you must retrieve,
And a new Life must to Religion give,
And make our Clergy good Examples live.
Thus by your Sway we hope for better Times,
Men fhall hate Vice, and fhall abandon Crimes;
The Shame of Sinning fhall its Use unlearn,
And Men by Vertue fhall their Worth difcern:
The Priests no longer shall be steep'd in Sloth,
And 't shall be Scandal to refuse the Oath;
Nor fhall Opinion one another blame,

The Wolf fhall flumber with the tender Lamb;
Our Tuneful Bards exalted Notes fhall raife,
And fing the Monarch's, and the Bishop's Praife.

The Earth-quake of Jamaica, defcrib'd in a Pindarick Poem, 1692.

By Mr. T UT CHIN.

I.

'Ell may our Lives bear an uncertain Date; Disturb'd with Maladies within,

WE

Without by cross Events of Fate,
The wort of Plagues on Mortals wait,
Pride, Ignorance, and Sin.

If our antient Mother Earth,
Who gave us all untimely Birth,
Y 4

Such

Such strong Hyfterick Paffion feels;
If Orbs are from their Axles torn,
And Mountains into Valleys worn,
All in a Moment's space;
Can Humane Race

Stand on their Legs when Nature reels?
Unhappy Man! in all things cross'd,
On every giddy Wave of Fortune tofs'd:
The only thing that aims at Sway,
And yet capricious Fate muft ftill obey;
Travels for Wealth to Foreign Lands, (Sands,
O'er fcorching Mountains, and o'er Defart
Laden with Gold, when homeward bound,
Is in one vaft impetuous Billow drown'd;
Or if he reaches to the Shoar,
And there unlades his Oar,

Builds Towns and Houses which may laft and ftand, Thinking no Wealth fo fure as the firm Land; Yet Fate the Animal does still purfue; (too. This flides from underneath his Feet,and leaves him II.

Environ'd with Ten thousand Fears we live, For Fate do's feldom a juft Warning give; Quicker than Thought its dire Refolves are made, And fwift as Lightning flies,

Around the vast extended Skies:

All things are by its Bolts in vaft Confufion laid. Sometimes a flaming Comet does appear, Whose very Vifage does pronounce Decay of Kingdoms, and the Fall of Crowns, Inteftine War, or Peftilential Year; Sometimes a Hurricane of Fate Does on fome Great Man's Exit wait, A murder'd Cornish, or fome Hercules, When from their Trunks Almighty Jove, Who breaks with Thunder weighty Clouds above, To honour thefe,

Large

Large Pines and Oaks does lop,

And in a Whirlwind lays 'em upon Oeta's Top.
E'er this vaft Orb fhall unto Chaos turn,
And with consuming Flames fhall burn,
An Angel Trumpeter fhall come,
Whofe Noife shall shake the Maffy Ground,
In one short Moment fhall exprefs
His Notes to the whole Universe;
The very Dead fhall hear his Sound,
And from their Grayes repair

To the Impartial Bar;

Those that have been in the deep Ocean drown'd,
Shall at his Call come to receive their Doom.

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But here, alas! no Omens fly,

No fecret Whisper of their Destiny
Was heard; none cou'd divine
When Fate wou'd fpring the Mine:
Safe and secure the Mortals go,
Not dreaming of a Hell below,
In the dark Caverns of the gloomy Earth,
Where fuffocating Sulphur has its Birth,
And sparkling Nitre's made;
Where Vulcan and his Cyclops prove
The Thunderbolts they make for Jove,
Here Aolus his Winds has laid,

Here is his Windy Palace, here 'tis said
His Race of little puffing Gods are bred,
Which ferve for Bellows to blow up the Flame.
The dire Ingredients are in order plac'd,
Which must anon lay Towns and Cities wafte,
Strait the black Engineer of Heaven came,
His Match a Sun-beam was,

He swift as Time unto the Train did pass,
It foon took Fire; the Fire and Winds contend,
But both concur the Vaulted Earth to rend;

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It upwards rofe, and then it downwards fell,
Aiming at Heaven, it funk to Hell:
The Neighb'ring Seas now own no more
The sturdy Bulwarks of the Shoar;
The gaping Earth and greedy Sea,
Are both contending for the Prey;
Those whom the rav'nous Earth had ta'ne
Into her Bowels back again,

Are wasn't from thence by the infulting Main.'
IV.

The Old and Young receive alike their Doom,
The Cowards and the Brave

Are buried in one Grave;

For Fate allows 'em all one Common Tomb,
The Aged and the Wife
Lofe all their Reafon in the great Surprife.
They know not where to go,
And yet they dare not stay,
There's Fire and Smoak below,

And the Earth gaping to receive the Prey.
If to the Houfes Top they crawl,
These tumble too, and downwards fall:
And if they fly into the Street,
There grizly Death they meet ;
All in a hurry die away,

The Wicked had not time to pray.

The Soldier once cou'd teach grim Death to kill, In vain is all his Skill,

In vain he brandifheth his Steel :

No more the Art of War muft teach,
But lies Fate's Trophy underneath the Breach:

The good Companions now no more carouse,
They share the Fate of the declining House,
Healths to their Friends their Bumpers
(crown'd:

But while they put the Glaffes round,
Death steps between the Cup and Lip,
Nor would it let 'em take one parting Sip.

V.

The Mine is fprung, and a large Breach is made,
Whereat strong Troops of Warring Seas invade;
These overflow;

Where Houses stood, and Grafs did grow,
All forts of Fish refort:

They had Dominions large enough before,
But now unbounded by the Shoar,
They o'er the Tops of Houses fport.
The watry Fry their Legions do extend,
And for the new flain Prey contend;
Within the Houfes now they roam,
Into their Foe, the very Kitchen, come.
One does the Chimney-hearth affail,
Another flaps the Kettle with his flimy Tail.'
No Image there of Death is feen,
No Cook-maid does obftruct their Sway,
They have entirely got the Day.
Those who have once devour'd been
By Mankind, now on Man do feed ;
Thus Fate decides, and steps between,
And fometimes gives the Slave the Victor's Meed.
The beauteous Virgins whom the Gods might love,
Cou'd not the Curfe of Heav'n remove;
Their Goodness might for Crimes atone,
Inexorable Death spares none.

Their tender Flesh lately fo plump and good,
Is now made Fishes and Sea-monsters Food;
In vain they cry,

Heav'n is grown deaf, and no Petition hears,
Their Sighs are answer'd like their Lovers Pray'rs,
They in the Universal Ruin lie.

VI.

Nor is inexorable Fate content
To ruine one poor Town alone;
More Mischief by the Blow is done :
Death's on a farther Meffage fent.

When

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