The Poetical Works of the Ingenious and Learned William Meston ::

In times when Princes cancell'd nature's law,
And declarations which themselves did draw;
When children us'd their parents to dethrone,
And gnaw their way, like vipers, to a crown,
Tarquin, a savage, proud, ambitious prince,
Prompt to expel, yet thoughtless of defence,

The envy'd sceptre did from Tullus snatch,
The Roman King, and father by the match.

To form his party, histories report,
A sanctuary was open'd in his court,
Where glad offenders safely might resort,
Great was the crowd, and wondrous the success,
(For these were fruitful times of wickedness),
And all that liv'd obnoxious to the laws
Fled to Prince Tarquin, and embrac'd his cause.
'Mongst these a pagan priest for refuge fled,
A prophet deep in holy faction bred;
A suppliant, who knew the modish way
To cant and plot, to flatter and betray,
To whin and sin, to scribble and recant,
A shameless author, and a lustful saint;
To serve all times he could distinctions coin,
And with great ease flat contradictions join;
A traitor now, once loyal in extreme,
And then obedience was his only theme;
He sung in temples the most passive lays,
And wearied Monarchs with repeated praise,
But manag'd aukwardly that lawful part,
For to vent lies and treason was his art,
And pointed libels at crown'd heads to dart.

This priest, with others learned to defame,
First murder'd injur'd Tullus in his name;
With blackest calumnies their sovereign load,
A poison'd brother, and dark league abroad;
A son unjustly top'd upon the throne,
Who since has prov'd undoubtedly his own,
Tho', as the law was then, 'twas his behoof,
Who dispossess'd the heir, to bring the proof.
This hellish charge they back'd with dismal frights,
The use of property and sacred rites,

And freedom, words which all false patriots use
The surest way the Romans to abuse,
Jealous of Kings, and always malcontent,
Forward to change, and certain to repent.

Whilst thus the plotters needless fears create,
Tarquin with open force invades the state;
Lewd nobles join him with their feeble might,
And atheists (fools) for dear religion fight;
The priests their boasted principles disown,
And level their harangues against the throne,
Vain promises the people's minds allure;
Slight were the Ills, but desperate the cure.
'Tis hard for Kings to steer an equal course;
But they who banish one oft get a worse.
These heav'nly bodies we admire above,
Do every day irregularly move;
Yet Tullus is decreed to lose his crown.
For faults that were his council's, not his own.
In vain he now commands ev'n those he paid,
By darling troops deserted and betray'd,
And creatures which his genial warmth had made.

'Mongst these a Captain of his guards was worst
Whose memory to this day stands accurst;
This rogue, advanc'd to military trust
By his own whoredom and his sister's lust,
Forsook his master, after dreadful vows,
And plotted to betray him to his foes;
The kindest master to the vilest slave,
Ready to give, as he was sure to crave.

His haughty female, who, as books declare,
Did always toss wide nostrils in the air,
Was to the younger Tullia governess,
And did assist her, when, in borrow'd dress,
She fled, by night, from Tullus in distress.

This wretch, by letters, did invite his foes,
And us'd all means her father to despose;
A father always generously bent,
So kind that he her wishes did prevent.

'Twas now high time for Tullus to retreat,
When his own daughters hasten'd his defeat,
When faith and duty vanish'd, and no more
The power of father, nor of King he bore;
A King whose right his foes could ne'er dispute,
So good, that mercy was his attribute;
Affable and kind, and easy of access,
Swift to relieve, unwilling to oppress;
Rich without taxes, yet in payment just,
So honest that he hardly could distrust;
His active soul did ne'er from labour cease,
Valiant in war, and sedulous in peace;
Studious with traffick to enrich the land,
Stout to protect, and skilful to command;
Lib'ral and splendid, yet without excess;
Loath to vevenge, and willing to caress:
In fine, how god-like must his nature be,
Whose only fault was too much piety?

This King remov'd, th'assembled states thought fit,
That Tarquin in the vacant throne should sit,
Voted him regent in the senate house,
And with an empty name endow'd his spouse,
The elder Tullia, who, some authors feign,
Drove o'er her father's corps a trembling wain:
But she, more guilty, numerous wains did drive,
To crush her father and her King alive;
In glad remembrance of his hasten'd fall,
Did institute a solemn weekly ball;
The jolly glutton grew in bulk in chin,
Feasted in rapine, and enjoy'd her sin;

With luxury she did weak reason force,
Debauch'd good nature, and cramm'd down remorse;
Yet when she drank cold tea in lib'ral sups,
The sobbing dame was Magd'len in her cups.

But brutal Tarquin never did relent,
Too hard to melt, too wicked to repent;
Cruel in deeds, more merciless in will,
Blest with a natural delight in ill.
From a wise guardian he receiv'd his doom,
To walk th'exchange, and not to govern Rome.
His native honours he did once disown,
And did by perjury ascend the throne.
Ah! had these oaths his swelling pride represt,
Rome then had been with peace and plenty blest;
But Tarquin, guided by destructive fate,
Wasted the country, and embroll'd the state;
To Roman foes transported Roman pelf,
That by their ruin he might save himself.
Innumerable woes possest the land,
Flowing in rivers from th'usurper's hand!
So just was heav'n, that it was hard to tell,
Whether their guilt or losses did excell.

They who renounc'd their God for dearer trade,
Are now the guardians of religion made;
Rebels were sainted, foreigners did reign,
Outlaws return'd preferment to attain,
With frogs, and toads, and all the croaking train.
No native knew their features or their birth,
They seem'd the greasy offspring of the earth.
The trade was sunk, the fleet and army spent,
Devouring taxes swallow'd lesser rent;

Taxes imposed by no authority,
Each lewd collection was a robbery.
Bold, self-creating men did statutes draw,
Skill'd to establish villainy by law,
Fanatick drivers, whose unjust careers
Produc'd new ills, exceeding former fears:
But authors here except that faithful band,
Which the prevailing faction did withstand,
And some who bravely stood in the defence
Of baffl'd justice, and their injur'd Prince;
These shine to after times; each sacred name
Stands deep recorded in the books of fame.

University of Virginia Library

TALE II.

Tarquin and Tullia. A ROMAN TALE.