So thou, defcended from a line

Of Patriots no less divine,

Didit quench the brutal rage of thofe,
Who durft thy dawning worth oppofe.

270

The viper Spite, crufh'd by thy virtue, fhe
Its yellow junce, and at thy feet lay dead.
Thus, like the fun, did thy great Genius rife,
With clouds around his facred head,

Yet foon difpell'd the dropping mifts, and gilded all the fkies.

XVII.

Great Julius, who with generous envy view'd
The ftatue of brave Philip's braver fon,

And wept to think, what such a youth fubdued,
While, more in age, himself had yet to little
done,

Had wept much more, if he had liv'd to fee
The glorious deeds atchiev'd by thee;
To see thee, at a beardless age,

Stand arm'd against th' invader's rage, 285
And bravely fighting for thy country's liberty;
While he inglorious laurels fought,
And not to fave his country fought;
While he-O ftain upon the greatest name,

That e'er before was known to Fame! 290

When Rome, his awful mother, did demand
The fword from his unruly hand,

The sword she gave before,

Enrag'd, he fpurn'd at her command, 295

Hurl'd at her breast the impious fteel, and bath'd it

in her gore.

E

XVIII. For

XVIII.

Far other battles thou haft won,
Thy standard still the public good:
Lavish of thine, to fave thy people's blood:
And when the hardy task of war was done,
With what a mild well-temper'd mind, 300
(A mind unknown to Rome's ambitious fon,)
Thy powerful armies were refign'd;
This victory o'er thyself was more,
Than all thy conquefts gain'd before :
'Twas more than Philip's fon could do, 305
When for new worlds the madman cry'd ;
Nor in his own wild breaft had spy'd
Towers of ambition, hills of boundless pride,
Too great for armies to fubdue.

XIX.

O favage luft of arbitrary sway!

Infatiate fury, which in man we find,

In barbarous man, to prey upon his kind,

310

And make the world, enflav'd, his vicious will obey!
How has this fiend Ambition long defac'd

Heaven's works, and laid the fair creation wafte!
Afk filver Rhine, with fpringing rushes crown'd,
As to the fea his waters flow,

Where are the numerous cities now,

That once he faw, his honour'd banks around?
Scarce are their filent ruins found;

But, in th' enfuing age,

Trampled into common ground,

320

Will hide the horrid monuments of Gaul's deftroying

rage.

All

All Europe too had shar'd this wretched fate,
And mourn'd her heavy woes too late,
Had not Britannia's chief withstood

The threaten'd deluge, and repell'd,
To its forfaken banks, th' unwilling flood,

325

And in his hand the scales of balanc'd kingdoms held. Well was this mighty trust repos'd in thee, 330 Whofe faithful foul, from private interest free (Interefts which vulgar princes know),

O'er all its paffions fat exalted high,. As Teneriff's top enjoys a purer sky, And fees the moving clouds at distance fly below. 335 XX.

Whoe'er thy warlike annals reads,
Beholds reviv'd our valiant Edward's deeds.
* Great Edward and his glorious fon
Will own themselves in thee outdone,
Though Crecy's defperate fight eternal honours won.
Though the fifth Henry too does claim
A fhining place among Britannia's kings,
And Agincourt has rais'd his lofty name;
Yet the loud voice of ever-living Fame,
Of thee more numerous triumphs fings.
But, though no chief contends with thee,
In all the long records of hiftory,

Thy own great deeds together strive,
Which shall the fairest light derive,
On thy immortal memory ;

E 2

* Edward III. and the Black Prince.

345

350

Whether

Whether Seneff's amazing field

To celebrated Mons fhall yield;

Or both give place to more amazing Boyne; Of if Namur's well-cover'd fiege must all the rest

outshine!

XXI.

While in Hibernia's fields the labouring fwain 355
Shall pass the plough o'er ikulls of warriors flain,
And turn up bones, and broken spears,
Amaz'd, he'll fhew his fellows of the plain,
The relicks of victorious years;

And tell, how swift thy arms that kingdom did regain.
Flandria, a longer witnefs to thy glory,

With wonder too repeats thy ftory;

How oft the foes thy lifted fword have seen
In the hot battle, when it bled

At all its open veins, and oft have fled,

As if their evil genius thou had been:

365

How, when the blooming fpring began t' appear, And with new life reftor'd the year, Confederate princes us'd to cry;

"Call Britain's king-the fprightly trumpet found, 370
"And spread the joyful fummons round!
"Call Britain's king, and victory!"

So when the flower of Greece, to battle led
In Beauty's caufe, juft vengeance fwore,
Upon the foul adulterer's head,

That from her royal lord the ravish'd Helen bore,

375

The

The Grecian chiefs, of mighty fame,
Impatient for the fon of Thetis wait;
At last the fon of Thetis came;

Troy fhook her nodding towers, and mourn'd th' im

pending fate.

XXII.

O facred Peace! Goddefs ferene!

Adorn'd with robes of fpotlefs white,
Fairer than filver floods of light!

380

How fhort has thy mild empire been ! When pregnant Time brought forth this new-born

age,

At first we faw thee gently smile

On the young birth, and thy fweet voice awhile

Sung a foft charm to martial rage:

But foon the lion wak'd again,

385

And stretch'd his opening claws, and fhook his grifly

mane.

Soon was the year of triumphs paft;

And Janus, ushering in a new,

390

With backward look did pompous fcenes review ;

But his fore-face with frowns was overcaft;

He faw the gathering ftorms of war,

And bid his priests aloud, his iron gates unbar.

XXIII.

But heaven its hero can no longer fpare,

To mix in our tumultuous broils below;

Yet fuffer'd his foreseeing care,
Thofe bolts of vengeance to prepare,
Which other hands fhall throw;

E 3

395

400

That