Volume IV Part 7 (2/2)
Now purple gems, the eastern skies adorn, And joyful nature hails th' opening morn; The rovers conscious of approaching day, Fly to their shelters, and forget their prey.
Laborious man, with moderate slumber blest, Springs chearful to his toil, from downy rest; Till grateful ev'ning with her silver train, Bid labour cease, and ease the weary swain!
Hail, sovereign Goodness! All productive mind!
On all thy works, thyself inscribed we find!
How various all! how variously endow'd!
How great their number! and each part how good!
How perfect then must the great parent s.h.i.+ne!
Who with one act of energy divine, Laid the vast plan, and finish'd the design.
Where e'er the pleasing search my thoughts pursue, Unbounded goodness opens to my view.
Nor does our world alone, its influence share; Exhaustless bounty, and unwearied care, Extend thro' all th' infinitude of s.p.a.ce, And circle nature with a kind embrace.
The wavy kingdoms of the deep below, Thy power, thy wisdom, and thy goodness shew, Here various beings without number stray, Croud the profound, or on the surface play.
Leviathan here, the mightiest of the train, Enormous! sails inc.u.mbent o'er the main.
All these thy watchful providence supplies; To thee alone, they turn their waiting eyes.
For them thou open'st thy exhaustless store, Till the capacious wish can grasp no more.
[Footnote A: Biograph. Brit. Art, Brady.]
GEORGE STEPNEY, Esq;
This poet was descended of the family of the Stepneys of Pindigrast in Pembrokes.h.i.+re, but born in Westminster in the year 1693. He received the rudiments of his education in Westminster school, and after making some progress in literature there, he was removed to Trinity College in Cambridge, where he was cotemporary with Charles Montague, esq; afterwards earl of Halifax; and being of the same college with him, a very strict friends.h.i.+p was contracted between them. To this lucky accident of being early known to Mr. Montague, was owing all the preferment Mr. Stepney afterwards enjoyed; for he seems not to have had parts sufficient to have risen to any distinction, without the immediate patronage of so great a man, as the lord Hallifax. When Stepney first set out in life, he was perhaps attached to the Tory interest, for one of the first poems he wrote, was an Address to king James the Second, on his Accession to the Throne. In this little piece, in which there is as little poetry, he compares that monarch to Hercules, but with what propriety let the reader judge. Soon after the accession of James II. when Monmouth's rebellion broke out, the university of Cambridge, to demonstrate their zeal for the King, thought proper to burn the picture of that rash Prince, who had formerly been their chancellor. Upon this occasion Stepney wrote some good verses, in answer to this question;
----Sed quid Turba Remi? sequitur fortunam, ut semper et odit d.a.m.natos.
Upon the revolution he embraced another interest, and procured himself to be nominated for several foreign emba.s.sies. In the year 1692 he went to the elector of Brandenburgh's court in quality of envoy, and, in the year following, to the Imperial court in the same character. In 1694 he was sent to the elector of Saxony, and two years after to the electors of Mentz, Cologn, &c. and the congress at Francfort. He was employed in several other emba.s.sies, and in the year 1706 Queen Anne sent him envoy to the States General. He was very successful in his negotiations, which occasioned his constant employment in the most weighty affairs. At his leisure hours he composed several other pieces of poetry besides those already mentioned; which are chiefly these,
An Epistle to the Earl of Hallifax, on his Majesty's Voyage to Holland.
A Translation of the Eighth Satire of Juvenal.
To the Earl of Carlisle upon the Death of his Son.
Some Imitations of Horace's Odes.
The Austrian Eagle.
The Nature of Dreams.
A Poem to the Memory of Queen Mary.
These performances are not very long, nor are the subjects upon which they are written very considerable. It seems probable that the eminence to which Stepney rose, must have been more owing to some personal kindness lord Hallifax had for him, than to his merit as a writer. In raising Stepney, his lords.h.i.+p might act as the friend of the man, but not as a patron of the poet. Friends.h.i.+p, in many respects, partic.i.p.ates of the nature of love; it begins, we know not how, it strengthens by imperceptible degrees, and grows into an established firmness. Such might be the regard lord Hallifax had for Stepney, but we may venture to a.s.sert, from his lords.h.i.+p's exquisite taste in poetry, that he never could highly admire the pretty trifles which compose the works of this author; and which are printed amongst the works of the Minor Poets, published some years ago by Mr. Tonson in two volumes 12mo.[A]
Our author died at Chelsea in the year 1707, and was buried in Westminster-Abbey, where a fine monument is erected over him, with the following inscription upon the pedestal;
H.S.E.
GEORGIUS STEPNEIUS, Armiger,
viz.
Ob Ingenii ac.u.men, Literarum Scientiam, Morum Suavitatem, Rerum Usum, Virorum Amplissimorum Consuetudinem, Linguae, Styli ac Vitae Elegantiam, Praeclara Officia c.u.m Britanniae; tum Europae Praest.i.ta, Sua aetate multum celebratus, Apud Posteros semper celebrandus; Plurimas Legationes obiit Ea Fide, Diligentia, & Felicitate, Ut Augustissimorum Principum GULIELMI & ANNae Spem in illo repositam Nunquam sesellerit, Haud raro superavit.
Post longum honorum Cursum Brevi Temporis spatio confectum, c.u.m Naturae parvae Fama satis vixerat, Animam ad altiora aspirantem placide efflavit.
On the left hand.
G.S.
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