University of Virginia Library

On the Preservation of the Library in Dublin-College.

When all was buried in one common Fate,
And made a Victim to the Popish State,
Some kinder Angel there did Centry stand,
And with his Sword did guard the Muses Land;
Land which no Tribute to her Monarch pays,
But that of Homage, Reverence and Praise.
How oft did these destructive Men conspire,
To set the Temples of the Gods on fire?
But some preventing Wonder still came in,
Which blasted the Design, but not the Sin.
Often the Jesuits did their Lords address,
They might obtain our, Wits Metropolis;
Another Party full as strong put in,
And claim'd as theirs, our Learnings Magazin;
But held by hands Divine, our Pantheon stood,
And bravely rode between two Seas of Blood
The French as often strove to steer this Ark,
Where all the Irish Science did Embark
To their own Coast, but all they did in vain,
Some Eastern Wind still drove her back again;
And having now escap'd th' intended Doom,
In pomp Sh' out-braves the Vatican of Rome.