THE HOSPITAL AND GOVERNORS.
Christian Charity anxious to provide for future as well as present Miseries.-Hence the Hospital for the Diseased. -Description of a recovered Patient.-The Building : how erected.-The Patrons and Governors.-Eusebius. -The more active Manager of Business a moral and correct Contributor.-One of different Description.— Good, the Result, however intermixed with Imperfection.
An ardent Spirit dwells with Christian Love,
The Eagle's vigour in the pitying Dove;
"Tis not enough that we with Sorrow sigh,
That we the Wants of pleading Man supply;
That we in sympathy with Sufferers feel,
Nor hear a Grief without a wish to heal;
Not these suffice-to Sickness, Pain, and Wo,
The Christian Spirit loves with Aid to go;
Will not be sought, waits not for Want to plead,
But seeks the Duty-nay, prevents the Need;
Her utmost Aid to every Ill applies,
And plans Relief for coming Miseries.
Hence yonder Building rose: on either side
Far stretch'd the Wards, all airy, warm, and wide;
And every Ward has Beds by Comfort spread,
And smooth'd for him who suffers on the Bed:
There all have Kindness, most Relief,-for some
Is Cure complete,-it is the Sufferer's Home:
Fevers and chronic Ills, corroding Pains,
Each accidental mischief Man sustains;
Fractures and Wounds, and wither'd Limbs and lame,
With all that, slow or sudden, vex our Frame,
Have here attendance-Here the Sufferers lie,
(Where Love and Science every aid apply,)
And heal'd with Rapture live, or sooth'd by Comfort die.
See! one reliev'd from Anguish, and to-day
Allow'd to walk and look an hour away;
Two months confin'd by Fever, Frenzy, Pain,
He comes abroad and is himself again:
"Twas in the Spring, when carried to the Place,
The Snow fell down and melted in his face.
"Tis Summer now; all Objects gay and new,
Smiling alike the Viewer and the View:
He stops as one unwilling to advance,
Without another and another glance;
With what a pure and simple joy he sees
Those Sheep and Cattle browzing at their ease;
Easy himself, there's nothing breathes or moves,
But he would cherish-all that lives he loves:
Observing every Ward as round he goes,
He thinks what Pain, what Danger they enclose;
Warm in his wish for all who suffer there,
At every view he meditates a Prayer:
No evil Counsels in his Breast abide,
There Joy and Love, and Gratitude reside.
The wish that Roman Necks in one were found,
That he who form'd the wish might deal the wound,
This Man had never heard; but of the kind,
Is that desire which rises in his Mind;
He'd have all English Hands (for further he
Cannot conceive extends our Charity),
All but his own, in one right-hand to grow,
And then what hearty shake would he bestow.
"How rose the Building?"-Piety first laid
A strong Foundation, but she wanted aid;
To Wealth unwieldy was her prayer address'd,
Who largely gave, and she the Donor bless'd:
Unwieldy Wealth then to his couch withdrew,
And took the sweetest sleep he ever knew.
Then busy Vanity sustain'd her part,
"And much," she said, "it mov'd her tender Heart;
"To her all kinds of Man's Distress were known,
"And all her Heart adopted as its own."
Then Science came-his talents he display'd,
And Charity with joy the Dome survey'd ;
Skill, Wealth, and Vanity, obtain the fame,
And Piety, the joy that makes no claim.
Patrons there are, and Governors, from whom
The greater Aid and guiding Orders come;
Who voluntary Cares and Labours take,
The Sufferers' Servants for the Service' sake;
Of these a part I give you-but a part,—
Some Hearts are hidden, some have not a Heart.
First let me praise-for so I best shall paint
That pious Moralist, that reasoning Saint!.
Can I of worth like thine, Eusebius, speak?
The Man is willing, but the Muse is weak;—
"Tis thine to wait on Wo! to soothe! to heal!
With Learning social, and polite with Zeal:
In thy pure Breast, although the Passions dwell,
They 're train'd by Virtue and no more rebel;
But have so long been active on her side,
That Passion now might be itself the Guide.
Law, Conscience, Honour, all obey'd; all give
Th' approving voice, and make it bliss to live;
While Faith, when Life can nothing more supply,
Shall strengthen Hope and make it bliss to die.
He preaches, speaks and writes with manly Sense,
No weak Neglect, no labour'd Eloquence;
Goodness and Wisdom are in all his ways,
The Rude revere him and the Wicked praise.
Upon Humility his Virtues grow,
And tower so high because so fix'd below;
As wider spreads the Oak his boughs around,
When deeper with his Roots he digs the solid ground.
By him, from Ward to Ward, is every aid
The Sufferer needs, with every care convey'd :
Like the good Tree he brings his Treasure forth,
And, like the Tree, unconscious of his worth:
Meek as the poorest Publican is he,
And strict as lives the straitest Pharisee;
Of both, in him unite the better part,
The blameless Conduct and the humble Heart.
Yet he escapes not; he, with some, is wise
In carnal things, and loves to moralize:
Others can doubt, if all that Christian Care
Has not its price-there's something he may share:
But this and ill severer he sustains,
As Gold the fire, and as unhurt remains;
When most revil'd, although he feels the smart,
It wakes to nobler Deeds the wounded Heart,
As the rich Olive, beaten for its fruit,
Puts forth at every bruise a bearing shoot.
A second Friend we have, whose Care and Zeal
But few can equal-few indeed can feel;
He liv'd a Life obscure, and Profits made
In the coarse habits of a vulgar Trade.
His Brother, Master of a Hoy, he lov'd
So well, that he the calling disapprov'd:
"Alas! poor Tom!" the Landman oft would sigh,
When the Gale freshen❜d and the Waves ran high,
And when they parted, with a tear he'd say,
"No more adventure!—here in safety stay."
Nor did he feign; with more than half he had,
He would have kept the Seaman, and been glad.
Alas! how few resist, when strongly tried-
A rich Relation's nearer Kinsman died;
He sicken'd, and to him the Landman went,
And all his hours with Cousin Ephraim spent.
This Thomas heard, and car'd not: "I," quoth he,
"Have one in Port upon the watch for me."
So Ephraim died, and when the Will was shown,
Isaac the Landman, had the whole his own:
Who to his Brother sent a moderate Purse,
Which he return'd, in anger, with his Curse;
Then went to Sea, and made his Grog so strong,
He died before he could forgive the wrong.
The rich Man built a House, both large and high,
He enter❜d in and set him down to sigh;
He planted ample Woods and Gardens fair,
And walk'd with Anguish and Compunction there:
The rich Man's Pines to every Friend a treat,
He saw with pain and he refus'd to eat;
His daintiest Food, his richest Wines, were all
Turn'd by Remorse to Vinegar and Gall:
The softest Down, by living body press'd,
The rich Man bought, and tried to take his rest;
But Care had Thorns upon his Pillow spread,
And scatter'd Sand and Nettles in his Bed:
Nervous he grew,-would often sigh and groan,
He talk'd but little, and he walk'd alone;
Till by his Priest convinc'd, that from one Deed
Of genuine Love would Joy and Health proceed;
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