A POEM TO THE KING, UPON The Conclusion of the PEACE.  

Janum Quirini clausit, & ordinem  
Rectum, & regnanti fraena licentiae  
Injecit, amovitque culpas  
Et veteres revocavit arts.   

Hic dies vere mihi festus atras  
Eximet curas, ego nec tumultum  
Nec mori per vim metuam, tenente caesare terras.   Hor. 
By Matt. Morgan, L. L. D.  
LONDON, Printed for E. Whitlock near Stationers-Hall. 1698.   

TO Sr. Joseph Tiley, K t.  
A Member of the Honourable House of Commons.  
SIR,  
THIS Poem upon the Conclusion of a Peace, which I am sure, You, with all great Patriots and true Englishmen, do hearty Congratulate, doth now solicit Your Acceptance as an Acknowledgement of the Friendship You have honoured me with, and to express a grateful Sense of those Obligations which have so particularly engaged me to be  
Your most Humble, and Very Affectionate Servant, Matt. Morgan.   

A POEM ON The Conclusion of the PEACE.  
WElcome, Great Sir, unto your Albion's Shore,  
And now the Rocks are whiter than before.  
An Artist once an Eagle did contrive,  
Moved by such subtle Springs he seemed alive:  
This to salute an Emperor he brings,  
And it did soar aloft on wooden Wings.  
Architas now his second skill should prove,  
And meet our peaceful Conqueror with a Dove.  
So when Germanicus from his Conquests came,  
Of which the swift forerunner was his Fame:  
The Seven Hills had an auspicious Day;  
Rome was poured out to meet him on the way:  
Of Romulus the whole Progeny of Sons,  
Unto the cheerful Sight the Cripple runs;  
In his Deliverer a Support doth find,  
Of all, the most unhappy were the blind.  
War doth, like Proteus, assume different Shapes,  
In conflagrations, Murders, and in Rapes:  
With a whole Family doth kill the Sire,  
Destroys the young ones, and the Nest doth fire;  
The spoil of Cities, and the Country's growth  
They sacrifice to their inhuman sloth.  
In subterranean Vaults by fury led,  
They like Jackals are Pirates on the dead:  
As Mezzo-tinto doth appear more bright,  
'Cause mingled in it are the Shades of Night;  
So Joy more vivid is that doth succeed  
Those mournful Scenes from which we now are freed:  
Afflicted Europe from the Earth doth rise,  
Where she so long had sat with blubbered Eyes:  
Her with a Face neglected you might see,  
And Sorrow dressed in lose Deshabilee;  
In Streams of Grief did bitterly lament,  
So many Worthies from her Bosom rend,  
By Death's unerring hand profusely slain,  
Who with their purple Wounds the Field did slain.  
Nassau her primitive Complexion clears,  
With beauteous Sunshine hath dried up her Tears.  
Brutes do by instinct love their nearest kin;  
Leopards won't tear another spotted Skin:  
The Tyrant of the Woods, the savage Boar,  
Doth not pollute his Tusks with mutual Gore;  
But fierce Mankind each other doth devour;  
Their Reason's Will, and Equity is Power:  
In hating one another they accord,  
And Right is measured by the longest Sword:  
They make Ragousts of every captive part,  
They broil the Limbs, and roast the panting Heart.  
The Soldier now chews on the last Campaign,  
In Rumination fights it over again,  
Boasts of his Wounds the Trophies of the War,  
Not quite healed up he bleeds from every Scar:  
Here the bold Horse a cannonading stood,  
And filled the deepest Trenches with their Blood:  
There closely pressed the reeling Troops did bend,  
And there Nassau did timely Succours send:  
Where Death the thickest flew he did appear,  
Was multiplied and charged ev'ry where.  
So an old withered Mariner we hear,  
Whose Locks are all turned white with Age and Fear,  
Number the Rocks on which he oft was cast,  
And count the dangers of his Shipwrecks past.  
Exalted high, a most prodigious Spout,  
On trembling Vessels pours a Deluge out:  
Just as some Rivers so impetuous are,  
They don't bring Tribute to the Sea but War:  
Now the vexed Ocean shall be at ease,  
Your Trident mitigates the angry Seas.  
The Merchant whom experience doth refine,  
Scorched with the Calentures of the Torrid Line,  
Unto the sooty, distant Indies rolls,  
And doth with mutual Commerce join the Poles.  
But now no skulking Privateers do wait  
In treacherous Ambuscade to sink his Freight:  
The Winds impregnating his Canvas Wings,  
He brings home Riches which would ransom Kings.  
The English Spirits once were almost sunk,  
And with mistaken Loyalty were drunk:  
Some were corrupted with a Golden Shower  
To introduce an arbitrary Power;  
They would not with the Fruit contented be,  
But as a Present they tore up the Tree:  
Ashamed we can't refel this just Reproach,  
That Jesuits all our Morals did debauch;  
The Principles of our Religion gone,  
That we might theirs receive, that's next to none:  
These spiritual Buccaneers did proselyte  
Some silly Creatures with their daring Light;  
Within their Pale the Rascal Deer did bring,  
Into the Tiber we our Offals fling.  
That was the time when glorious Russel fell,  
Mothers his Fate shall to their Children tell;  
From future People shall extort a Tear,  
When they his dismal Tragedy shall hear.  
Russel! in all Accomplishments improved,  
Not Alcibiades was more beloved;  
Blest with a better Man no Land could be,  
He had his Valour from his Vices free:  
His Character was complaisant and brave,  
Polite as Athens, and like Sparta, grave;  
As most enormous Murders they shall quote,  
Great Russel's Head, and pious Essex Throat:  
The Hellhounds did a double Scent pursue,  
His reeking Blood did spill the others too;  
Their generous Virtue as a Crime did tax,  
The Razor was a Prelude to the Axe:  
Our enterprizing Fierceness was curbed down,  
By him who wore a soft luxurious Crown:  
By Heaven's broad Commission you were sent,  
Our palled and languid Courage to ferment.  
You from our Swords scoured th' inglorious Rust,  
And did in equal hands those Weapons trust:  
Which crops of Slaughter from the Field did reap,  
Pelion of Bodies did on Ossa heap:  
Ranged under such a wise and brave Command,  
Sea was our own before, and now the Land;  
Like a rich Heiress Flanders was beset,  
The Rival her Consent by force would get:  
As some anticipate the Nuptial Bed,  
The Mistress first debauched they after wed:  
She of another is the fruitful Bride,  
You did assert her to the lawful side.  
Lucretia to Nassau herself applies,  
Her Tears You did espouse, and vindicate her cries:  
You likewise do instruct our British Race,  
They Lines of Virtue by your Model trace:  
The Shafts of reasoning in vain are spent,  
Mankind is hardened against argument:  
But great example sweetly doth entice,  
And with Attraction draws You from the Vice.  
A practised goodness no one can withstand,  
It is a sharp, tho' silent Reprimand.  
The Malcontented Wretches now are crossed,  
And curse their rashness in their Wagers lost;  
Against their Country's safety they did lay,  
Which they of foreign Power would make a Prey:  
But now they whisper in an humble Tone,  
And let them in the Galleys row alone:  
Tied down in servile Chains there let them be,  
Whilst great Flaminius hath proclaimed us free:  
They all are soured with a malicious Leaven,  
As Giants once, now Pigmies do brave Heaven:  
For this is such a strange, anomolous Race,  
afric itself these Monsters would disgrace.  
So Titus did Jerusalem besiege,  
The Enemies he conquered did oblige.  
He, like Great William, was Mankind's Delight,  
And equally their Terror in a Fight:  
The Temple of its Ornaments bereft,  
His Pity moved, the tender Hero wept:  
When the rude Soldiers he could not withhold,  
His Eyes did flow like to the melted Gold,  
Which in a glittering Inundation pours  
From Cedar-roofs, and the rich massy Doors.  
In vain, the Romans battering Rams did use,  
So obstinate was the Courage of the Jews.  
They gnawed their Bowels out, the City falls  
By the Seditions within the Walls.  
You Sir, the genuine Antidote have found,  
And crushed the mutinous Viper on the Wound:  
What Foes are left, impartially are blest,  
Involved in common safety with the rest.  
The Seasons of the Year your Peace adorn,  
Pomona brings you Fruit, and Ceres' Corn,  
And Amalthea pours a liberal Horn;  
Chlio doth tune her long-neglected Strings,  
And every Muse a grateful Offering brings.  
War but from them removed was very loud,  
Like Thunder roaring in a foreign Cloud:  
Whilst the thick Volleys dark the Heavens made,  
They lived secure, protected by the shade:  
Fatigues of War did rest to them afford,  
Their Paradise was guarded by your Sword:  
So of Bermudaes' the delicious Isle,  
Where Heaven with intimate regards doth smile,  
An healthful and unclouded Air doth boast,  
With dreadful Lightning all about the Coast:  
In Gardens polite Italy doth delight,  
Where there are Labyrinths which amuse the Sight;  
All the Parterres with curious Statues full,  
A well wrought Hercules and Farnese's Bull:  
There they the flowing Element constrain,  
And forcing puts the Water-Nymphs to pain:  
The arched Jettaus do there transversly play,  
And through the middle there's a verdant way.  
To quench the Sun they a moist refuge get,  
And in a Crystal Arbor are not wet.  
So though with You despotic Death did rule,  
Under those Showers of Blood we still were cool.  
Who, Sir, can justly celebrate Your Worth,  
Who brought us Peace, not Tempests from the North?  
The learned Rudbeck now the more we prise,  
Who affirmed Sweden to be Paradise.  
The Lots are cast out of a Funeral Urn,  
The Mediator for his King doth mourn.  
Just so the wat'ry Rainbow doth appear,  
It Sunshine is refracted in a Tear.  
Gustavus Raze made his Extraction great,  
As did his Mother's Holstien Goodness sweet:  
This posthumous Work the Monarch doth survive,  
Archives of time shall keep his Fame alive.  
Some barbarous Subjects do their Prince engage,  
That he'll ensure them from a Tempest's rage;  
In morose Showers that Heaven shall never frown,  
Fair Wether is the tenure of his Crown:  
Some on the contrary their words perform,  
And their whole Reign is a perpetual Storm.  
You all our future days shall make serene,  
And not a Cloud shall interpose between.  
Some Princes do from humane sight withdraw,  
That being seldom seen may strike an awe.  
There they're confined unto a close retreat,  
And call Obscurity the being great.  
Tho' Nature some hath so augustly made,  
They cannot be concealed in Masquerade:  
For the imperial Lustre of their Eyes  
Darts strictures through the best contrived Disguise.  
The oftener we our Monarch do enjoy,  
The pleasure is not trite, nor doth it cloy.  
In Your appearance there is fresh delight,  
And still our Love increaseth with the sight.  
The Russian Duke did travel from afar,  
Led by the influence of his Northern Star;  
That he great Britain's Genius might view,  
And pay an Homage to his Courage due:  
The presence of Nassau when near he came,  
Did not diminish but augment his Fame:  
You made his manners warlike and polite,  
He learned from you how to converse and fight.  
Great Spirits are by close engagements tied,  
And by a secret Sympathy allied.  
To a magnetic Centre union tends,  
And mighty Princes at first sight are Friends.  
The Czar by Proxy carries on a War,  
And in his absence is a Conqueror:  
So that two different Joys we mingled see,  
Of healing Peace, and bloody Victory.  
And this young Tamerlain with his martial rage  
Shall put the Ottoman Empire in a cage:  
As Tomyris who was in Scythia bred,  
Drenched in deep Blood the Persian Tyrant's head.  
Aspirers in their own Intrigues are caught,  
Lost in the Wilderness of boundless Thought:  
On the Meridian-line, like wild fire run,  
They cross the Hellespont and Rubicon:  
Then they wind up, and they will act no more,  
And this they might as well have done before:  
Who can Ambition in true Colours paint?  
To follow all its turns the Pen would faint:  
Like a fierce Horse with a licentious Rein;  
No Airs of manage can his speed restrain;  
Begotten by the Wind away he flies,  
And throws his Rider down the Precipice;  
The Quarry struck upon the ground doth lie,  
The fall as vile as once its flight was high;  
Like a sharp Jilt that a young Heir would catch,  
She stoops at last to an ignoble Match:  
Projects like Eastern Locusts still abound,  
These Infects cover and destroy the ground,  
Like those who dance in a convulsive round.  
The Nerves, where the pernicious Venom's spread,  
Do twist them in a circle till they're dead.  
Your Pique of Honour doth with temper beat  
'Tis regular health and not a feverish heat;  
Of other's safety the bright Guardian made,  
You always did preserve and not invade.  
You by propitious Heaven were designed,  
Both to deliver and oblige Mankind,  
To take off Fetters, and in softer bind.  
When led by you even timorous Men would dare,  
For you with them do equal danger share.  
So Julius from pleading at the Bar,  
Was an Adeptus in the art of War:  
At Munda 'twas a peremptory strife,  
He fought not for his Honour but his Life:  
He did his Romans Fellow-Soldiers call,  
Then they afresh on Pompey's Sons did fall:  
The rallied Eagles gorged upon their Prey,  
And the tenth Legion showed the rest the way.  
Augustus, Sir, was a faint type of You,  
For you Octavius did far outdo:  
You by Your Merit did to Empire come,  
Your Boyne exceeded far his Actium.  
Mark Anthony was by Amour betrayed,  
And Cleopatra him a Coward made:  
His Mistress to his Honour did prefer,  
And left the world behind to follow her.  
They err, who think the Globe was overrun,  
By the Pellean Youth of Macedon:  
He was the Darling of capricious Fate,  
And rashness only made him fortunate.  
Darius' furnished out a pompous Sight,  
It was a Pageantry and not a Fight.  
That War no Triumph merited to slay,  
All those effeminate Troops at Arbela;  
People so weak, they could not stand a blow,  
The Phalanx then broke in and spoiled the show.  
But when great William entered in the List,  
He found an Enemy that could resist;  
Acquired and native Courage made them bold,  
Under their Shells, like Tortoises grown old.  
Nassau with Stratagem did countermine,  
The fineness of each politic Design:  
With Personal Valour on his Foes he runs,  
And scorns the modern Cowardice of Guns:  
This an ex tempore Destruction brings,  
'Tis the last reason of contending Kings.  
Aratus daring only was by night,  
Your genuine Conquests can endure the Light:  
He like the Ghosts he made, did glide away,  
At the first pointing of approaching day.  
You did with Rays as bright confront the Sun;  
He, when You fought, took pleasure to look on:  
Dangers betimes upon Your Life did seize,  
It scarce had the variety of ease.  
Troubles, like Waves, pushed one another on,  
Without a Gap of Intermission.  
The Indian Figtree thus doth largely spread,  
From a small root obtains a mighty head:  
Branches from thence hang down upon the earth,  
And there are quickened with a second Birth:  
So it immensely multiplied they see,  
And a whole Wood springs from a single Tree.  
What you intent no Augury can divine,  
Nothing grows lose, the Cement is so fine:  
Only weak Spirits their designs expose,  
The Folds of Yours are intricate and close.  
Symptoms of Maladies attack the Man,  
These avaunt Couriers do lead the Van:  
With velitary Arms they first begin,  
Pickere and skirmish in the outward Skin.  
These previous warnings do engage our care,  
That we against Hostilities may prepare;  
In Ambuscade but some distempers lie,  
'Tis Death, there is no room for Victory.  
The fatal Indications than appear,  
When You're past hopes, and no relief is near:  
So wise concerted measures are displayed,  
When you are destitute of humane aid:  
In lose Harangue and voluble Discourse,  
There is no Energy of Nerves nor Force:  
Tho' You the tympanum with attention strain,  
And sift the Sand, there's not one tempting Grain.  
So ductile Gold drawn out into a length,  
Preserves its Colour but doth lose its Strength.  
The precious Oar Your accurate Art refines,  
And in a weighty, solid mass it shines:  
There's nothing to be lost, Your Say are  
Maxims of Conduct both in Peace and War.  
So a rich Country mountainous appears,  
And rough unto the first Discoverers;  
But in the progress of their search they find  
All that can gratify the Sense or Mind.  
Fancy doth only on the Surface play,  
But Judgement pierceth with a deeper Ray:  
With genial warmth descends unto the root,  
Dilates the Branches, and matures the Fruit.  
Upon a train of observations built,  
Experience is Prudence double gilt.  
Then Passion is a Stranger to Your Breast,  
Is never there, or prudently suppressed:  
Of Spirits that are mean, the puny Wrath  
Is a light Bubble, or a thicker Froth:  
But justly roused, the Anger of the Great  
Is not so turbulent as it is sweet.  
So when fierce Neptune in the Sea doth rave,  
The Ambergrease comes floating on the Wave.  
Although resentment sometimes should take place,  
You do suppress it all with Acts of Grace:  
Your Clemency doth let bold Rebels live,  
As You can conquer, so You can forgive.  
Kingdoms do rise to an imperial Sway,  
And then fall back by gradual decay:  
Force without Counsel brings them to the brink,  
They with their own unwieldy burden sink:  
But Your Dominion shall continue long,  
So wisely laid, the Basis is so strong.  
All Sciences their ripe Perfection gain,  
Are calculated nicely for Your Reign.  
New Stars are in the upper Regions found,  
And Archimedes can the Earth turn round.  
Your Judges are the Oracles of Law,  
They are all Lustre without any Flaw;  
Are the bright Jewels in Your Radiant Crown,  
And Arms must yield unto the learned Gown.  
Physic doth all its Nostrums now impart,  
It can't stretch farther than Lysander's Art;  
Who doth his skilful Lenitives apply,  
And his good humour's half the Remedy:  
The vegetable Kingdom now is known,  
Art's immature before are fully blown.  
Music unto the highest pitch is strained,  
And all the classic Authors are explained.  
The Pulpit is no longer hung with Chains,  
From passive Texts the servile Wretch abstains:  
Nor ties us down with Conscience to be Slaves,  
But Secure when himself's distressed he craves.  
To a non ultra Valour You pursue,  
And rules of Conduct owing are to You:  
The roughest Obstacles You overcame,  
By steep Ascents have reached the top of Fame.  
Mankind that now is in reversion,  
Will scarce believe the acts that You have done;  
Like those who at portentous Comets gaze,  
Your History will instruct them, and amaze.  
Great William's Siege, and Vaudemont's Retreat  
Shall fire their Spirits with an emulous heat.  
Fortune who others makes her savage sport,  
Applauds His Courage, doth His Beauty court:  
When they shall read Nassau in every Page,  
They'll wish that they had lived in such an Age;  
Complain of Nature to them so unkind,  
To cast them in Posterity behind.  
The joyful Senate doth Augustus meet,  
Which of consummate Wisdom is the seat.  
About their Planet they concentric move,  
And are the bright Satellites to Jove.  
London with Jubilee her King receives,  
His Triumphs should be cut in Bass-Relieves.  
Let Gibbons his Corinthian Image cast,  
Which time's corroding Venom may outlast.  
The Hero mounted on a flaming Steed  
Breathing forth Slaughter, with impatient Speed:  
Raised to divert and terrify the Sight,  
Who with his Paws anticipates the Fight:  
Finished by such a Master of his Trade,  
He's honoured more than when a Consul made.  
Your great Metropolis doth never want  
Men, like their Buildings, very elegant:  
In Porticoes of Commerce when they walk,  
The old Lycaeum could not finer talk.  
In foreign Lands they first try how to thrive,  
And then return full loaded to the Hive.  
The Thames like Tagus in a wealthy Flood  
Mixeth Alliances with noble Blood:  
And great Nassau with his Balsamic Peace,  
Their Rights will not detract from, but increase.  
With the Britannic, now the Bourbon Stars  
Combine in Amity to extinguish Wars.  
The Roses with the Lilies now shall spread,  
Make a Complexion with their White and Red:  
And their Perfumes united now shall yield,  
A Fragrancy to the delicious Field.  
Let now the sharp Antagonists be mute,  
And silence every harsh, morose Dispute.  
They squeamishly at first refused the Test,  
But did at last comply for interest.  
This hath their dull, affected Scruples cleared,  
The heavy Creatures cut and interfered:  
But now that gilded Harness them doth brace,  
They all are brought unto an ambling pace.  
From Pompey's unto Caesar's side did turn,  
When that Ucalegon so near did burn:  
Let now the Oath which they so coily took,  
With an obliqne and a regretting look,  
Their Sowrness with soft Anodynes allay,  
And all the bilious humour purge away.  
Let now some adequate and happy Pen,  
Record the bravest and the best of Men.  
All Authors joined should his Encomiums write,  
Not lash with Scorpions, nor with Satyrs by't:  
Thus in a Chorus of Seraphic Love,  
Our Heaven below shall rival that above.  
To Mecha Pilgrims bigoted repair,  
To see a Tomb suspended in the Air:  
Where lies enclosed the Forger of their Law,  
Which powerful Loadstones to the middle draw:  
Thus blest to wilful darkness they're confined,  
Tho' they with Superstition first were blind:  
So I great Britain only wished to see  
From foreign as from civil Discords free.  
Let Damon now, who on my Bosom lies,  
With Janus Temple shut my longing Eyes.  
All other Objects after will annoy,  
Let me expire in the Olympic Joy.  
But first with Incense I will Heaven invoke,  
Thick as the Clouds it meets with, let it smoke:  
Let these, when I shall feel the Pangs of Death,  
Be the last Accents of my dying Breath;  
May long and very prosperous be the Days  
Of Great Nassau, whom all the World doth praise;  
To make the Nation happy he did save,  
Before his Laurels bend him to the Grave.  
Let florid health keep in Your vital Fire,  
That of Three Kingdoms with it must expire:  
Like Atlas, You sustain the weighty Ball,  
With its Protector Christendom must fall.  
Myriad of Lives with Yours enfolded lie,  
Their Threads are twisted with Your Destiny;  
Let all Conspiracies abortive die.  
When You must yield unto impartial Fate,  
(But let it be deferred and very late)  
You shall in Heaven enjoy a lasting Calm,  
With Robes of Light, and a Triumphant Palm.  
FINIS.