A Collection of Poems on Various Subjects :: :: University of Virginia Library

The Character of the French Nation: Their Virtues and Vices. Of the Spaniard. Of the Inhabitants of the Northern Coast of Africa stretching along the Mediterranean-Sea. Of the Italians. Of the Germans. Of the People of the United-Netherlands. Of the Britons. An Episodical Digression, in Praise of British Liberty. The Britons Vices.

Now see what Genius of distinguish'd Kind,
What Passions, Manners more or less refin'd,
What Vice, what Virtue, eminent their own,
Make Neighbour Nations from each other known.

208

Fertile of Spirit, Sense, and subtile Wit,
Gallia affords a Race of Natives fit
For high Command, for Schools and liberal Arts,
Yet not alike in all her various Parts.
The temperate Tracts view'd by the distant Sun,
With Rays more slanting, which extended run
From Bourbon's healing Waters to the Coast,
Where in the Main fair Sequana is lost,
Excel the rest, and more abundant yield
Sense for the Court, and Courage for the Field.
The brightest Stars, that Honour Gallia's Skies,
Neighbours to Britain's Southern Empire rise.
'Tis to this Soil the boastful Kingdom owes
Her fam'd Cartesius, here her Calvin rose.
The nearer they approach th' Æquator Line,
The thinner, and less beautiful they shine.

From their pure Air, and mild, delightful Seat,
Where the contending Rivals, Cold and Heat,

209

Maintain a constant Balance, while they strive
With equal Vigour, Gallia's Sons derive
That Ease and Joy, which show them free from Care,
Their active Nature, and their sprightly Air.

While Reason's brighter Beams adorn their Mind,
Of Thought acute, and Faculties refin'd,
Ready they frame Perceptions, whence the Brain
Is fill'd abundant with a busy Train
Of Images, which lively, light and gay
Range all its Walks, and thro' th' Apartments play,
Good Humour give, and cheerful Scenes display.

The Gauls with finer Spirits still abound,
More for Discernment, than for Wit renown'd,
Which yet they do not want, nor are with plenty crown'd.
And tho' their Fancy is not rich and strong,
Not vig'rous, bold, and fit for Epick Song,
Their Taste is exquisite, and Judgment right;
And hence they censure, better than they write.

210

Weak and diluted Notions they dispense,
Their Thoughts not full, nor sinewy their Sense.
Their Words not great, yet beautiful and clean,
And tho' too oft their Sentiments are lean,
We still conceive with ease, the Thing they mean.

Polite of Manners, easy of Access,
With winning Phrase, and elegant Address,
Courteous th' enquiring Stranger they Caress.
Graceful and fluent, and in speaking clear,
At once they please the Eye, and sooth the Ear.

Active, industrious, and intent on Gain,
Gallia, thy Sons incessant Toil sustain.
Frugal and temperate in their Food and Wine,
Tho' both delicious, they Excess decline.
Hence they their known Alacrity maintain,
Their Bodies healthful, and serene their Brain.

211

Splendid in Houses, Equipage, and Dress,
For Show and Pomp their Passion they express.
Fawning and servile to the Great they bow,
While scornful they insult the Mean and Low:
They thirst for Praise immod'rate, and proclaim
In fulsome Stile, a Benefactor's Name;
And when their lawless Monarch is the Theme,
To court a Tyrant, they their God blaspheme.
They boast with hasty Pride each small Success,
And as small Losses soon their Souls depress;
Still in Extreams their Passions they employ,
Abject their Grief, and insolent their Joy.

Matchless in Treaties, they the Ear amuse
With doubtful Phrase, and Words of various use,
And with unfeign'd Hypocrisy abuse.
To work their Aim they still new Methods find,
Traverse their Course, and sail against the Wind.

212

Gamesters in Politicks, they know the Way
To win, is still to bring new Frauds in play.

This mean ungenerous Race, for Thraldom fit,
Obsequious to the Yoke their Necks submit.
Their abject Minds ev'n Liberty disdain,
Pleas'd to be Slaves, they boast the Tyrant's Reign,
And servile hug their ignominious Chain.

The Gaul by Nature is not cruel made,
Nor secret in Revenge do's Life invade.
But then the Fierceness, which his Clime denies,
Plenteous his false Religion's Flame supplies.
Inverted Zeal! whose Dictates can controul
All inbred Goodness, and corrupt the Soul.
Tell, great Lutetia, how thy Sons, refin'd
From the good Passions of a generous Mind,
Devout Assassins grew, and to asswage
Their Lust of Slaughter, and Religious Rage,

213

Did all thy Streets with holy Murder stain,
And fill thy high Apartments with the Slain;
Did their feirce Hands with crimson Seas pollute,
And terrible in Arms proud Heresy confute.

The Solar Rays, to which th' Iberian Race,
Owe their lean Bodies, and their swarthy Face,
Unqualify'd by proper Cold, inspire
Their scalded Veins with too intense a Fire.
Whence from the glowing Heart the rushing Tide
Thro' the hot Channels do's impetuous ride;
And while the Streams, thinn'd by immod'rate Heat,
Break thro' the Skin, and thro' the Strainers sweat,
The boiling Floods of high fermented Juice
Too fiery Spirits in the Brain produce.
And since the Passions, which the Heart surprize,
All from the Spirits various Nature rise,
On which the Mind's high Faculties depend,
While they Ideas frame, or choose an End:

214

The Cause of Spanish Temper here we find,
Why to such Virtues, and such Faults inclin'd.

Th' Iberian makes his Honour chief his Care,
Nice in his Taste, and in his Rules severe.
In Friendship steddy, faithful to his Trust,
True to his Prince, and to his Neighbour just,
Arm'd in the Field he feels the martial Flame,
Tastful of Glory, and the Hero's Name,
He do's in Fight intrepid Courage show,
Ardent attacks, or firm sustains the Foe.
Religious he performs his solemn Vows,
And no elusive Subterfuge allows,
Unless from Rome's dispensing Pow'r it flows.

Able in Council, and for Action born,
Heroes and Statesmen once did long adorn
Iberia's Land, her Empire did defend,
And with her Frontier did her Fame extend.

215

Success her Schemes, and Vict'ry crown'd her Arms,
While distant Kingdoms shook at her Alarms.
This shews her happy Soil fit Men can yield
To rule the State, or conquer in the Field.

Her Men of Genius merit great Renown
By Wit and Sense, and Humour, all their own;
Yet, like their Beauties, they are thinly sown.
And both these Kinds that grace their Native Sphere,
Of the first Rank and Magnitude appear.

But haughty Pride and Idleness efface
Part of the Glory of the Spanish Race.
On Neighbours round they look disdainful, proud
Of their unmingled, old Castilian Blood.
They take up Honour on their Father's Grant,
While Merit, not their own, th' Usurpers vaunt;
Believe the Hero is entail'd, and claim
In a right Line Hereditary Fame.

216

Of Toil impatient, they their Hours employ
In soft Delights, and various Scenes of Joy.
Amours to them, and frequent Feasts are dear,
And all th' exalted Pleasures of the Ear.
But if too poor such costly Sweets to taste,
Their wretched Lives in sullen Sloth they waste.
Careless the Natives and unactive stand,
Mindless to plough the Ocean, or the Land.
Unthrifty they consume their gather'd Store,
Spite of th' Indies destin'd to be poor;
Indies which more industrious Neighbours drain,
Enjoy the Thing, and leave the Name to Spain.

Immortal Hatred and malicious Will,
O Spain, the Bosoms of thy Natives fill.
Too near advanc'd to Mauritania's Shore,
They feel the Passions of the cruel Moor.
Witness, ye peaceful Indian Nations, you
Who peopled Mexico and till'd Peru:

217

What Racks, what Tortures of distinguish'd Kind,
Able in Torment did your Masters find,
Frugal of Death, tho' liberal of Pain,
To sink your Stock, and plant the Growth of Spain?
To sooth the Spaniard's raging Lust of Blood,
From your exhausted Veins what Rivers flow'd?
From your unhappy Seats, what dreadful Cries,
What Groans did long uninterrupted rise,
And form infernal Noise amid'st the howling Skies?

Nor do's in Spain her self the Trav'ller see
Less odious Marks of Spanish Cruelty.
Witness the Fate of her own Native Moor,
Proscrib'd, destroy'd, and banish'd from her Shore,
Nor guarded by the Oaths Castilia's Monarch swore.

Yet their Lay-Fierceness we indignant see
Is mild compar'd with Clergy-Cruelty;
These Reverend Tyrants, absolute of Will,
With fetter'd Slaves their sacred Prisons fill.

218

And stock their heav'nly Labour-Houses, where
The curious Artists Men for Heav'n prepare
On Racks of Holy Use contriv'd with studious Care.
With Engines, form'd by Art Divine, they wrest
Pernicious Error from the stubborn Breast,
And with celestial Piety endu'd
Scourge Hereticks to Heav'n, and force them to be good.

The Tawny Race, that People Africk's Land,
Between the Northern Tropick and the Strand,
Whose Barrier-Rocks and rising Sands restrain
Th' insulting Billows of the Midland Main,
Scotcht by a near and more inclement Sun,
In Sense and Virtue is by Spain outdone;
But not in great Degree, for near the Coast
The Natives Genius and Reflection boast.
Witness the Race in ancient Carthage born,
Who bright in Virtue, Africk did adorn.
Valiant they strove with Rome's Ambitious State,
Rival in Arms, with undecided Fate

219

To which the Subject World should Homage pay,
Thy Laws, O Rome, or, Carthage, thine obey.
Till Discord, Faction, Strife too fierce to tame,
And Envy kindled by th' unrival'd Fame
Of the great Heroes, who their Armies led,
And far and wide their Praise and Terror spread,
Soon broke the Punick Pow'rs, and made them yield,
Victors till then, the long contested Field.
And had some noble Carthaginian Pen,
Wrote the brave Actions of their valiant Men,
Greater Esteem perhaps we should express
To Africk Heroes, and to Roman less.
May Britons ne'er by Envy's Pow'r misled,
A Vice by bright Heroick Virtue bred,
Madly their flowing Tide of Fortune stem,
Nor Victory forsake, e'er that abandons them.

Nor after did these Regions less abound
With Men of Wit, with Sense and Virtue crown'd
And for celestial Piety renown'd.

220

Here did the various Luminaries rise
Of the first Order in the Christian Skies.
Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine, bred
In this warm Land, did Light abundant spread,
And more than rival'd Rome's aspiring Head.
Yet lasting Hate, Resentment, Pride and Spleen,
Revenge, and Cruelty, and haughty Mien,
More than in Spain, are here conspicuous seen.

Hesperia's Soil, which turbid Adria's Waves,
And th' Hetrurian adverse Billows lave,
Whence humid Vapours still exhaling rise,
Sooth the hot Air, and qualify the Skies,
A middle Disposition do's obtain,
Not mild as Gallia, nor so hot as Spain.
Hence she affords a Race distinct from both,
From Gallick Lightness free, and Spanish Sloth.
A lofty Genius in her Natives shines,
For Empire turn'd, and apt for vast Designs.

221

Witness the Heroes, who in ancient Days,
By Actions worthy of Immortal Praise,
From Pole to Pole, Ausonia's Fame did spread,
And made high Rome the World's Imperial Head.

When mighty Storms, which in the North arose,
From Alba's Banks, and Scandinavia's Snows,
To fair Hesperia threat'ning bent their Course,
And rushing down her Hills with rapid Force,
Had with their Thunder Rome's proud Empire broke,
And made her Neck receive a Foreign Yoke,
Behold a Scheme form'd by unvulgar Sense;
Thy subtile Sons, O Rome, to recompense
Their Loss of Pow'r, did Means successful find
To found a wider Empire o'er the Mind.
Witness the mitred Monarchs, who controul
Reluctant Conscience, and command the Soul.
Who, as erroneus, Nature's Light asperse;
The Judgment, which our Senses pass, reverse;

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And by th' usurp'd Authority of Heav'n
Repeal the just Decrees by Reason giv'n:
Who Schemes of new Religion have enjoyn'd,
Impos'd Belief, enslav'd the free-born Mind,
And artful by the manag'd World to come,
Have conquer'd this, and Heav'n annex'd to Rome;
Possest of all the dreadful Strength of Hell,
Its Magazines of Pain and Death, compel
The Earth's affrighted Nations to obey
Proud Rome's Command, and own her Soveraign Sway:
To compass this, Ausonia must abound
With Genius strong and vast, and Thought profound.

Here rose the sacred Machiavellian Kind,
Of subtile Head, and Politicks refin'd,
Fruitful of Projects, and in Council great,
Fit to support, or undermine a State.
Open and free, while most reserv'd, expert
To dress Designs, and act a double Part,
Most artful, when they seem most free from Art.

223

Solemn they vow, but still their Minds suppress,
Intending Ruin while they most caress.

This happy Land in all her various Parts,
Has still been friendly to the liberal Arts;
But chief the Regions, which their Wealth display
Between the Mountains and the Midland Sea.
The Sun and Soil indulgent here conspire
To raise bright Genius and Poetick Fire.
Hence rise distinguish'd Bards of every Kind,
Fertile of Thought, and elevated Mind;
Some fit in Azure Heights to stretch the Wing,
And in superior Lays heroick Virtue sing:
And some with humble Flight to range the Plains;
The Hills and Groves, and tell in gentle Strains
The Labours, and the Loves of Rural Swains.
Of the great Pair, who yet unrivall'd shine
In Epick Song, Italia, Virgil's Thine;
And where's the Voice admir'd for Lyrick Lays,
That with thy Horace merits equal Praise?

224

In Musick too th' Ausonians, nice of Taste,
Unmatch'd in Skill their Neighbours still surpast,
Whether they strike th' extended Vocal String,
Or eloquent in Sound some tender Passion sing.
When Margarita moves us with her Song
Melodious, artful, delicate and strong;
When Nicolini we in Rapture hear,
Whose Motion charms the Sight, and Voice the Ear;
Surpriz'd Italia's Genius we admire,
None sing so sweet, as none so touch the Lyre.

Strangers amaz'd see how her stately Rooms,
Her gilded Tow'rs and elevated Domes,
Matchless Productions of the Painter boast,
Which all his fertile Energy exhaust:
Where Skill Divine great Raphael do's exert,
And Nature re-create with rival Art:
See, Plants in verdant Fields of Canvass rise,
And Birds ascend in well-imagin'd Skies.

225

The Herds and Flocks, the Pencil's Creatures, fill
Th' extended Vally, and adorn the Hill:
On Humane Limbs it Shape and Strength bestows,
While vital Fire in kindling Colours glows,
Makes the strong Lines a living Aspect wear,
And in the Eyes the whole bright Soul appear.

Here too illustrious Architects abound,
Tho' few in Buonarota's Sphere are found.
Her lofty Structures to the Skies aspire,
While to reveal their Pride the Clouds retire.
How much her Domes and Palaces delight,
Where Order, Pomp, Magnificence and Height,
Beauty and Strength conspire to please the Sight!

Yet Jealous, Proud, with quick Resentment fir'd,
Reluctant to Forgiveness, and inspir'd
By secret Fury, with clandestine Arms,
Italia's Sons revenge imagin'd Harms.

226

The pois'nous Plant of Cruelty do's here
Luxuriant spring, and Fruits full ripen'd bear.
What Seas of Blood were with unrivall'd Guilt
By Sylla's Hand, and thine, fierce Marius, spilt?
How did the dire Proscriptions of the Three,
Octavius, Lepidus, and Anthony,
Pollute high Rome with Heaps of noble Dead,
And Streets with moist Patrician Purple spread?
How did her Neroes, and their Tyrant Race,
Imperial Plagues, the Terrour and Disgrace
Of Humane Kind, regale their greedy Eyes
With Scenes of Death, their Ears with Groans and Cries?

Yet guilty Rome, thy Neroes, Maximins,
And all the Tyrants of the Pagan Lines,
Who red with Slaughter fill'd th' Imperial Throne,
Are by thy Christian Potentates out-gone.
With pure celestial Piety endu'd,
They Humane Nature from their Breasts exclude,
And fill their Hands, they lift to Heav'n, with Blood.

227

These Sons of Wrath, this unrelenting Tribe,
Condemn whole Nations, and their Kings proscribe.
Doom Crowds of guiltless Men to cruel Chains,
To Death, and after to infernal Pains;
And their immortal Cruelty extend
Beyond the Grave, where all Lay-Torments end.

Now view the Regions, which their Fields display,
From the wild Shores of Adria's boist'rous Sea,
And from the Alps, thrown up by Nature's Hand,
High Frontier Lines to guard Ausonia's Land,
To Albia's Mouth, and the rough Swevic Waves,
And from the Banks, which rapid Rhinus laves,
To the East Regions of th' Hircynian Wood,
Sarmatian Hills, and fair Odera's Flood.
These numerous Nations, where the Sun displays
His oblique Glory, and less active Rays,
Are in proportion less acute, and more
Unapt for Thought, than those describ'd before,

228

Hence finer Spirits here do less abound,
And noble Poets are unfrequent found.
Yet this Defect their Tempers recompence
With a judicious Taste, and solid Sense;
Prudent, tho' not in Conversation bright,
Not rude as Russia, nor as France polite;
And tho' they rare as Wits or Criticks shine,
Or Schemes of dark Philosophy design,
Yet useful Knowledge studious they pursue,
Improve invented Arts, or find out new.
They shew a plain Simplicity of Mind,
Honest, tho' rough; sincere, tho' not refin'd.
Faith, Friendship, and Integrity they boast,
Virtues long since in well-bred Nations lost.

Of Sloth impatient, and the downy Bed,
Not with rich Wines, nor costly Dishes fed,
Pliant they keep their Limbs, their Sinews strong,
Maintain firm Health, and active Life prolong.

229

Hence Toil immense the hardy Natives bear,
Patient of trackless Land, and rig'rous Air,
If with the Huntsman's Arms they chase the Game,
Or with the Soldier's seek heroick Fame.

Nor do's the rolling Sun a Soil survey,
In all the Stages of his annual Way,
Which yields more martial Fire, and where we find
To Strength of Body so much Courage join'd.
The Laurel, which rewards the Hero's Toil,
Luxuriant grows in all this friendly Soil.
The warlike Youth controul the haughty Race,
Who rule Byzantium, and inhabit Thrace;
And bold in Arms, with like Success, repel
The Seine's proud Waters, when they threatning swell.

Yet Cruelty and untam'd Fierceness, Crimes
The frequent Growth of Military Climes,
And haughty Nature, do too much debase
The Name and Honour of the German Race.

230

Oft with the strong Extraction of their Grain,
They cloud their Senses, and inflame their Brain,
While in their Breasts unbridled Passions reign.
Britons, their Sons, hence learn'd th' immod're use
Of Wine, and strong intoxicating Juice.

Regard Batavia, whose well peopled Plain,
By Art is wrested from th' indignant Main.
Her moist, but fruitful Glebe and temp'rate Skies,
Produce a Stock industrious, frugal, wise.
'Tis true, their humid Air and marshy Field
Do not abundant Wit and Fancy yield,
Yet while their moderate, but prevailing Flegme
Restrains the Spirits too impetuous Flame,
They reason well, and just Ideas frame.
Than Her's, few Statesmen boast a clearer Sight,
Their Views extensive, and their Judgment right:
Nor for their Country's happy State reveal
More ardent Love, or more intrepid Zeal.

231

Forc'd by the narrow Limits of their Land,
Th' industrious People leave their Native Strand,
And on the Product of the Billows live,
While what the Soil denies, the Waters give.
Nor are they only by the Ocean fed,
While Winds and Waves afford them Wine and Bread;
But more, their Sons, who ignorant of Sloth,
O'erspread the Seas, import the Arts and Growth,
The various Pride of every distant Soil;
Out-rival'd only by Britannia's Isle,
They send their numerous Colonies abroad,
And with Barbarick Wealth their Navies load:
Thus from strait Bounds their wide Dominion flows,
And from their Want their great Abundance grows.

This Region, so we learn from Cæsar's Pen,
Of all the Belgians bred the bravest Men.
Of Freedom then they shew'd a generous Taste,
And the fierce Pow'rs, that laid their Neighbours waste,

232

Valiant in Arms their Cohorts did attack,
And from their Frontiers drove th' Invaders back.
And while Iberia's Monarchs they obey'd,
Of all the Tribes o'er wide Germania spread,
None did the Sword with greater Terror weild,
Nor won more Laurels in the Martial Field.
When after free, to Commerce they apply'd,
Studious of Wealth, they were by few out-vy'd.
Swift they arose to that prodigious Growth,
That they at once reproach'd Iberia's Sloth,
And screen'd her Empire by their friendly Pow'r,
Beneath whose Yoke they servile groan'd before.

Fair Industry, what Voice can sing thy Praise,
Which could so soon with Skill successful raise
A Spot of scarcely habitable Land,
To Wealth immense, Renown, and wide Command!
Then is it strange, Batavians so revere
This Founder of their State, and so adhere

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To her instructive Precepts, who are blest
With the rich Bounty of this generous Guest?

But Avarice do's thro' their Nation reign,
Intent on Gold they all their Sinews strain,
And oft by Fraud, or Force, extort unrighteous Gain.
Of vulgar Taste, and Manners unrefin'd,
Seditious, fierce, and turbulent of Mind,
When strong Commotions vex their troubled State,
They cruel Nature shew, and deadly Hate.
Nor can they neighb'ring Northern Realms upbraid,
While lawless they intoxicate their Head
With Native Liquors, or with Foreign Wine,
From Gallia's Fields, or those that bound the Rhine.

To vertuous Deeds the Britons are inclin'd,
Their Manners not too rough, nor too refin'd;
Sincere of Heart, and generous, just and kind.
Industrious and intent on honest Gain,
Robust of Nerve, they various Toil sustain:

234

They plant the Garden, cultivate the Field,
Or bold in Arms the Spear and Fauchion wield.
Studious they send Abroad to needy Lands,
The Product of their Glebe, or Labour of their Hands.
Hardy their Annual Voyages perform,
And fearless ride familiar with the Storm.
Thro' yielding Waves they roam from Isle to Isle,
Now visit Russia's Snows, now Guinea's Soil.
Hence in Hesperia's Silks the Britons shine,
Wear India's Gems, and drink Burgundia's Wine.
Their floating Oaks of War, from Shore to Shore
Awful advance, and with loud Thunder roar,
Like what they suffer'd on the Hills before.
And by the Winds, like that, convey'd it rolls
From Sun to Sun, and shakes the distant Poles.
This Naval Pow'r the Merchant's Wealth defends,
And Albion's Empire o'er the Main extends.

Nor do we Britain's Soil unfruitful find
Of Men for Council and the Helm design'd,

235

Able, when Clouds and Winds sedious rise,
To check the Tempest, and relieve the Skies;
Or in the Storm with steddy Hand to steer
The fluctuating State, and ease her Fear.
Nor do's Britannia less abundant yield
Heroes to lead her Armies to the Field.
Both these secure their Country's happy Fate,
While One defends, and One directs the State.

From this exhaustless Soil still springs a Kind,
Blest with superior Sense, and brighter Mind:
With clear Seraphick Faculties adorn'd,
For Science some, and some for Business turn'd.
Hence, Cam and Ouze, your Lights Divine arise,
That grace Britannia's fair exempted Skies,
While on the Southern Realm thick Roman Darkness lies.
These Regions plenteous yield the noble Flame,
Which gives the Bard impulsive Thirst of Fame,
Rich Genius, Fancy delicate and strong,
And bright Ideas for the Epick Song:

236

A sprightly Thought, good Taste, and Humour fit
To sooth the Spleen, and form the Comick Wit.

Wit is a Native of this happy Isle,
It springs spontaneous from the kindly Soil;
By its own Force it perfect will become,
Fair Branches spread, and wear a noble Bloom.
Ripe Fruit adorns her Head, nor can the Frown
Of Fortune blast, or Hunger eat it down.
A British Muse from her own Instinct sings,
Ambitious soars with unassisted Wings:
Mindless of Pensions, and the Patron's Smile,
Our Poets still renew their hardy Toil.
The tuneful Genius here neglected grows,
And thrives, like Norway Pines, in Ice and Snows.

'Tis true exhausted with continu'd Pains
In singing Marlbro's Toil, and great Campaigns,
They now sit silent to recruit their Veins;

237

Nor can their tuneful Contributions pay,
But plead their Poverty, and Patience pray.
They have unsung more Triumphs on their Hand,
Than unheard Causes on the Roll did stand,
When W--- our Court of Conscience did command.
Victorious Hero! in Compassion give
The panting Muses Time to breathe, and live.
Let them to Quarters of Refreshment go,
Their Genius there reviv'd again will flow
To sing thy Actions in a lofty Strain,
And Laurels won in this last great Campaign.
Attending then the Progress of thy Sword,
Which still new Themes of Rapture will afford,
They'll tell of Vict'ries struggling in the Womb
Of pregnant Time, and Triumphs yet to come.

While Neighb'ring Realms, too course or too polite,
To lawless Will resign their Civil Right,
Britannia's brave and generous Sons restrain
Invading Might, and ancient Laws maintain.

238

When Happiness, Guest of celestial Kind,
Rang'd the wide Globe a peaceful Seat to find;
With outstretcht Wings she did her Way pursue,
Fame, to direct her Flight, before her flew.
Curious th' Enquirer did the Realms explore,
Rich with the glitt'ring Mass that Men adore,
Wide India's Silver Veins, and Guinea's golden Shore,
The lovely Stanger turn'd her scornful Face,
And left the rude inhospitable Place.

Then swift, as Heav'ns bright Envoys, did she fly
Thro' the thin Void of interjected Sky,
To visit Realms blest with Euphrates' Wave,
Which Indus' Streams, and thine, Hydaspes, lave.
Her searching Eyes the Spicy-Isles survey,
And frontier Kingdoms near the Spring of Day,
Enrich'd with various Luxury, Perfumes,
Silks, Gems, and Pearls, and odoriferous Gums.

239

But when she saw the abject Slaves endure,
The Yoke of Lawless Will, and boundless Pow'r,
She left the Soil, and, following Fame, her Guide,
Flew to the Courts, where mighty Kings abide.
Here, grac'd with Purple, and a glitt'ring Crown,
Guarded with Arms, and stretch'd on easy Down,
She hop'd she might reside; but Cares of State,
Infernal Legions, that attend the Great,
Deny'd her Entrance at the Palace Gate.

Then long she roam'd o'er fertile Europe's Soil,
And reach'd at length august Britannia's Isle;
The Native's Temper, and the gentle Air,
Rescu'd the weary Trav'ller from Despair,
And rais'd her Hope she might inhabit there.
Following the Track of Thames, on either side
Fair Towns and verdant Vales she ravish'd spy'd,
And Indian Wealth advancing on his Tide.

240

Envy'd Augusta soon she did explore,
Britannia's Glory on the Northern Shore,
Proud of her lofty Tow'rs, but of her People more.

In the West Quarter of the winding Flood,
An ancient Palace venerable stood
Between two Domes, which rise with solemn Awe,
In one Religion reigns, in one the Law.
Here on her Throne fair Liberty did shine,
Engaging was her Form, her Looks divine.
Still pleas'd, with Grace ineffable she smil'd,
Serene as Peace, and as a Seraph mild.
Celestial Odours from her Bosom spread,
While heav'nly Roses blossom'd round her Head;
Elysian Youth bloom'd lovely on her Face,
And more than human Charms assur'd her heav'nly Race.
Five Hundred chosen Freemen, her Delight,
Props of her Pow'r, and Guardians of her Right,
Check'd the proud Insults of ambitious Might.

241

Her beauteous Offspring to the Skies ally'd,
In graceful Order rang'd on either Side
Adorn her Throne; here smiling Plenty, Peace,
Health, Strength, Success, Prosperity and Ease;
There Prudence, Counsel, Sciences refin'd,
Rich Industry, and Arts of various Kind.

Soon the Seraphick Trav'ller had in view
This ancient Pile, and swiftly thither flew:
And stooping enter'd at the Palace Gate,
Where the mild Guardian of Britannia's State,
And generous Friend of Humane Nature sate;
While she survey'd the venerable Place,
And view'd fair Liberty's celestial Face,
Who, mid'st her bright Attendants, shone enthron'd,
She lowly bow'd, and her blest Parent own'd.
Determin'd soon, the charming Wand'rer cry'd,
Here, here, I fix; in Britain I'll reside:
Nor will I e'er forsake this gen'rous Soil,
While Liberty protects her Favourite Isle.

242

O Albion! more than Neighbour-Nations blest,
Thy Blessings know, and court thy heav'nly Guest:
Let Northern States by Rapine Wealth procure,
And stretch o'er injur'd Realms their lawless Pow'r:
Let Italy, with Wit, and Arts refin'd,
Invent Religions to enslave the Mind;
Let the polite, and well-bred Slaves of France,
Fine Manners shew, and teach to Dress and Dance;
With artful Shifts, and Skill in State Intrigues,
Elude their Vows, and break their solemn Leagues.
Do thou, Britannia, check encroaching Might,
Fair Liberty support, and Civil Right:
Dictate to warring Neighbours, Terms of Peace,
Just Arbiter by Land, and Soveraign of the Seas.

Yet must th' impartial Muse the Britons blame,
For various Vices, which obstruct their Fame.

243

Fickle of Mind, and changing as their Skies,
What soon they value, they as soon despise.
Long the same Way they cannot Ease possess,
Nor in one Track, with Pleasure taste Success,
Tir'd with the stale, unalter'd Happiness.

Ingratitude, of curst infernal Soil
The rank Production, thrives in Albion's Isle,
Pleas'd with the Glebe prodigious Growth acquires,
See, to the Clouds her blacker Head aspires;
Whence noxious Dews and blasting Poison drop
On Fame's swift Pinions, and her Progress stop.

Th' intemp'rate Natives oft their Spirits cheer,
With Foreign Wine, or strong Domestick Beer;
Till their hot Blood beats high in every Vein,
And fiery Fumes intoxicate the Brain;
While thro' the Pores, the Vapours Passage find,
And cloud the bright Apartments of the Mind,
Unbrace the Sinews, and the Senses bind.

244

Hence does a crude and unfermented Mass,
Strive thro' the Veins, and thro' the Strainers pass;
Which the soft Fibres load, pollute the Skin,
Obstruct the Liver, and disturb the Spleen.
Hence Dropsy, Jaundice, hence the Limbs remain
Unapt for Labour, and for Thought the Brain.

While Passions in their Breasts ungovern'd rage,
Distract the Mind, and War intestine wage,
Reason divine from her high Throne descends,
Lays by her Scepter, and her Pow'r suspends.
Mean time, transform'd, they various Shapes assume,
These rav'ning Bears, and Lyons those become,
Some odious Swine, some Goats, and Asses some.

Oft Envy, Discord, Avarice, and Pride,
With factious Heats, Britannia's Sons divide;
Where each believes his Head is fit for Sway,
And is more pleas'd to govern, than obey;

245

And while with Zeal they Pow'r and Wealth pursue;
And all would Pilots be, and none the Crew,
Strife and seditious Tumults they create,
Affront Religion, and unhinge the State.
Blest Isle! would all thy Sons reputed fit
To guide thy State, to any Chief submit;
Or had'st thou fewer wise, th' entrusted Hand
Rever'd and prais'd, might then the Helm command;
Or from a generous Taste of true Renown,
Did all thy Greatness seek, and not their own.

The End of the Second Book.