Margaret Chalmers Poems >>
Congratulatory Lines on the Jubilee :Humbly addressed to His Majesty

 HAPPY Britannia, favour'd Isle!
      Fate on thee delights to smile;
      Even amid the woes of war,
      Thund'ring dreadful from afar;
      Let no discordant voice complain,
  For, lo! we hail the Jubilee of George's reign.
Let each religion, every sect attend,
And, in their several temples, lowly bend,
Imploring blessings on the sacred head
Of him, who virtue's cause doth ever aid,
For he to all indulgent leave hath given
To seek, thro' various paths, the way to heaven.
Be Julius' towers exulting heard around,
And join'd throughout Britannia's circling bound,
Till royal Charlotte's* cannon echo back the sound.
Let every trophy grace this joyful day,
The hero's laurel and the poet's bay;
Each art, each science, each profession bring
Forward their emblems to salute their King.
Mysterious Masonry in social band,
In honour of the day "join hand in hand;"
The Royal Anthem every voice repeat,
With loyal ardour every bosom beat;
And when declining Sol withdraws his ray
Let blazing tapers shed an artificial day.
How blest the land to which indulgent heaven
Hath, in the monarch , an example given;
Ye, who with due delight his merits scan,
While ye revere the Prince , O imitate the Man .
The thought, perhaps, too daring may appear,
Yet, should these lines e'er reach the royal ear,
A Thulian muse, rude nursling of the blast,
Herself, doth thus, on thy indulgence cast:
In offering thee the tribute of a heart
Loyal, though simple in poetic art;
Reject not, royal Sire, the artless lay,
Although, unequal far, thy merits to display.
Those, who in mimicry of being great,
Themselves of Sabbath privileges cheat,
To soar above the vulgar vainly think;
But, 'stead of higher rising, lower sink:
All, who to join in public worship shun,
Must never plead example from the Throne.
When urg'd, alas, by baneful love of gold,
Man, tyrant man, his fellow-creature sold;
While Afric's injur'd sons bore slavery's load,
And liv'd and died beneath oppression's rod;
'Twas through the course of thy auspicious reign
Relief for them was sought--nor sought in vain:
This act which with humanity will ever shine,
Sweet Mercy's brightest trophy, was reserv'd for thine.
We hail the royal partner of thy state,
Kindly selected by indulgent fate;
Whose virtues even assist to line with down
The envied, weighty pressure of a crown.
Whether shall we our Sovereign most admire,
Or as the Public, or the Private Sire;
O may each prince of thy illustrious race
Imbibe thy virtues, and thy footsteps trace,
And may th' admiring world with pleasure see
Each son a mirror of his father be.
Full oft imagination's airy wand
Brings to my view the royal sister band,
Uniting gentle efforts to dispel
(While in the duteous struggle all excel)
Thy cares; for cares in every various state
Are wisely scatter'd by the hand of fate;
Nor, as I deem, most sparingly are sown
Around the splendid circle of a throne.
I leave it to the parent's heart to tell,
Whilst it with glowing tenderness doth swell,
The power of filial duty to assuage
The ills of life, and cheer declining age.
Deign to accept, ye royal, beauteous train,
My humble greeting, though in untaught strain,
On you may heaven its choicest gifts bestow,
And may that power, from whom all blessings flow,
Bid health on fair Amelia's cheek diffuse its glow.
To crown the annals of this joyful year,
Might white-rob'd Peace adorn'd in smiles appear,
And o'er contending nations wave her wand;
In concord lulling every warring land:
Would fate to this fond wish propitious be,
Extended wide would be the Jubilee.
May Hearts of Oak still guard fair Albion's coast,
Be Freedom still our charter and our boast;
And guardian angels sing their ancient strain,
"Britannia, rule, Britannia rule the main."