Here fled the Houfhold, there did Tallard yield,
Here Marlb'rough turn'd the fortune of the field;
On those steep banks, near Danube's raging flood,
The Gauls thrice started back, and trembling ftood;
When, Churchill's arm perceiv'd, they stood not long,
But plung'd amidst the waves, a defp'rate throng;
Crowds whelm'd on crowds dafh'd wide the watry bed,
And drove the current to its diftant head.
As when by Raphael's, or by Kneller's hands,
A warlike courfer on the canvass stands,
Such as on Landen bleeding Ormond bore,
Or fet young Ammon on the Granic shore ;
If chance a gen'rous fteed the work behold,
He fnorts, he neighs, he champs the foamy gold:
So, Hocftet feen, tumultuous paffions roll,
And hints of glory fire the Briton's foul;
In fancy'd fights he fees the troops engage,
And all the tempeft of the battle rage.
Charm me, ye pow'rs, with scenes less nobly bright,
Far humbler thoughts th' inglorious Mufe delight,
Content to fee the horrors of the field
By plough-fhares levell'd, or in flow'rs conceal'd.
O'er fhatter'd walls may creeping ivy twine,
And grafs luxuriant cloath the harmless mine,
Tame flocks afcend the breach without a wound,
the bastion, now a fruitful ground;
While fhepherds fleep, along the rampart laid,
Or pipe beneath the formidable shade.
Who was the man, (Oblivion blast his name,
Torn out and blotted from the list of fame !)
Who, fond of lawless rule, and proudly brave,
Firft funk the filial fubject to a slave;
His neighbour's realms by frauds un-kingly gain'd,
In guiltless blood the facred ermine ftain'd;
Laid schemes fordeath, toflaughter turn'd his heart,
And fitted murder to the rules of art!
Ah! curs'd ambition, to thy lures we owe
All the great ills that mortals bear below.
Curs'd by the hind, when to the spoil he yields
His year's whole sweat and vainly-ripen'd fields ;
Curs'd by the maid, torn from her lover's fide,
When left a widow, though not yet a bride ;
By mothers curs'd, when floods of tears they fhed,
And scatter useless roses on the dead.
Oh facred BRISTOL! then what dangers prove
The arts, thou fmil'ft on with paternal love ?
Then, mix'd with rubbish by the brutal foes,
In vain the marble breathes, the canvass glows;
To fhades obfcure the glitt'ring fword pursues
The gentle Poet and defenceless Muse.
A voice, like thine alone, might then assuage
The warrior's fury, and controul his rage;
To hear thee speak might the fierce Vandal stand,
And fling the brandish'd fabre from his hand.
Far hence be driv'n to Scythia's ftormy fhore
The drum's harsh mufic, and the cannon's roar ;
Let grim Bellona haunt the lawless plain,
Where Tartar-clans and grilly Coffacs reign;
Let the fteel'd Turk be deaf to matrons' cries,
See virgins ravish'd with relentless eyes ;
To death grey heads and smiling infants doom,
Nor spare the promise of the pregnant womb ;
O'er wasted kingdoms fpread his wide command,
The favage lord of an unpeopled land.
Her guiltless glory juft Britannia draws
From pure religion, and impartial laws :
To Europe's wounds a mother's aid she brings,
And holds in equal scales the rival kings:
Her gen'rous fons in choicest gifts abound,
Alike in arms, alike in arts renown'd.
As when fweet Venus, (fo the fable fings)
Awak'd by Nereids, from the Ocean springs ;
With fmiles fhe fees the threat'ning billows rife,
Spreads fmooth the furge, and clears the louring skies;
Light, o'er the deep, with flutt'ring Cupids crown'd,
The pearly couch and filver turtles bound;
Her treffes fhed ambrofial odours round.
Amidft the world of waves fo ftands ferene
Britannia's ifle, the Ocean's stately queen;
In vain the nations have confpir'd her fall,
Her trench the fea, and fleets her floating wall;
Defenceless barks, her powerful navy near,
Have only waves and hurricanes to fear.
What bold invader, or what land opprefs'd,
Hath not her anger quell'd, her aid redrefs'd?
Say, where have e'er her union-croffes fail'd,
But much her arms, her justice more prevail'd ?
Her labours are to plead th' Almighty's cause,
Her pride to teach th' untam❜d barbarian laws :
Who conquers, wins by brutal strength the prize;
But 'tis a godlike work to civilize.
Have we forgot, how from great Ruffia's throne
The king, whofe pow'r half Europe's regions own,
Whose scepter waving, with one fhout rush forth
In fwarms the harness'd millions of the north;
Through realms of ice purfu'd his tedious way,
To court our friendship, and our fame furvey!
Hence the rich prize of useful arts he bore,
And round his empire fpread the learned store,
("T" adorn old realms is more than new to raise,
His country's parent is a monarch's praise.) ·
His bands now march in just array to war,
And Cafpian gulfs unusual navies bear;
With Runic lays Smolensko's forests ring,
And wond'ring Volga hears the Mufes fing.
Did not the painted kings of India greet.
Our Queen, and lay their fcepters at her feet?
Chiefs who full bowls of hoftile blood had quaff'd,
Fam'd for the javelin, and invenom'd shaft ;
Whofe haughty brows made favages adore,
Nor bow'd to less than ftars, or fun before :
Her pitying smile accepts their fuppliant claim,
And adds four monarchs to the Chriftian name.
Bleft ufe of pow'r ! O virtuous pride in kings!
And like his bounty, whence dominion springs!
Which o'er new worlds makes heaven's indulgence shine,
And ranges myriads under laws divine!
Well bought with all that those sweet regions hold
With groves of fpices, and with mines of gold.
Fearless our merchant now pursues his gain,
And roams fecurely o'er the boundless main.
Now o'er his head the polar bear he spies,
And freezing spangles of the Lapland skies;
Now fwells his canvafs to the fultry line,
With glitt'ring spoils where Indian grottoes shine;
Where fumes of incenfe glad the southern feas,
And wafted citron fcents the balmy breeze.
Here nearer funs prepare the rip'ning gem,
To grace great ANNE's imperial diadem ;
And here the ore, whofe melted mafs fhall yield
On faithful coins each memorable field;
Which, mix'd with medals of immortal Rome,
May clear difputes, and teach the time to come.
In circling beans fhall godlike ANNA glow,
And Churchill's fword hang o'er the proftrate foe
In comely wounds fhall bleeding worthies ftand,
Webb's firm platoon, and Lumly's faithful band!
Bold Mordaunt in Iberian trophies drefs'd,
And Campbell's dragon on his dauntless breast;
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