435

False heroes, made by flattery so,
Heaven can strike out, like sparkles, at a blow;
But ere a prince is to perfection brought,
He costs Omnipotence a second thought.
With toil and sweat,
With hard'ning cold, and forming heat,
The Cyclops did their strokes repeat,
Before the impenetrable shield was wrought.
It looks as if the Maker would not own
The noble work for his,
Before 'twas tried and found a masterpiece.

445

XVI.

450

View then a monarch ripen'd for a throne. Alcides thus his race began, O'er infancy he swiftly ran; The future god at first was more than man: Dangers and toils, and Juno's hate, E'en o'er his cradle lay in wait; And there he grappled first with fate : In his young hands the hissing snakes he press il, So early was the deity confess'd; Thus by degrees he rose to Jove's imperial seat; Thus difficulties prove a soul legitimately great. Like his, our hero's infancy was tried : Betimes the furies did their snakes provide ; And to his infant arms oppose His father's rebels, and his brother's foes ; The more oppress'd, the higher still he rose; Those were the preludes of his fate, That form'd his manhood, to subdue The hydra of a many-headed hissing crew.

460 XVII.

470

the spear

475

As after Numa's peaceful reign,

465 The martial Ancus did the sceptre wield, Furbish'd the rusty sword again, Resum'd the long-forgotten shield, And led the Latins to the dusty field; So James the drowsy genius wakes Of Britain long entranc'd in charms, Restiff and slumbering on its arms: 'Tis rous’d, and with a new-strung nerve,

already shakes. No neighing of the warrior steeds, No drum, or louder trumpet, needs To inspire the coward, warm the cold, His voice, his sole appearance makes them bold. Gaul and Batavia dread the impending blow; Too well the vigour of that arm they know; They lick the dust, and crouch beneath their fatal

foe. Long may they fear this awful prince, And not provoke his lingering sword ; Peace is their only sure defence, Their best security his word: In all the changes of his doubtful state, His truth, like heaven's, was kept inviolate, For him to promise is to make it fate. His valour can triumph o'er land and main; With broken oaths his fame he will not stain; With conquest basely bought, and with inglorious

gain.

480

485

490

XVIII.

495

500

For once, O heaven, unfold thy adamantine And let his wondring senatė see, [book; If not thy firm immutable decree, At least the second page of strong contingency: Such as consists with wills originally free:

Let them with glad amazement look

On what their happiness may be: Let them not still be obstinately blind, Still to divert the good thou hast design'd, Or with malignant penury, To starve the royal virtues of his mind. Faith is a Christian's and a subject's test, Oh give them to believe, and they are surely blest.

They do; and with a distant view I see

The amended vows of English loyalty.
And all beyond that object, there appears
The long retinue of a prosperous reign,
A series of successful years,
In orderly array, a martial, manly train.
Behold e'en the remoter shores,
A conquering navy proudly spread;
The British cannon formidably roars,
While starting from his oozy bed,
The asserted ocean rears his reverend head,
To view and recognise his ancient lord again :
And, with a willing hand, restores
The fasces of the main.

505

$10

VERSES TO J. NORTHLEIGH.

TO MY FRIEND MR. J. NORTHLEIGH,

AUTHOR OF THE PARALLEL, ON HIS TRIUMPH OF THE

BRITISH MONARCHY.

So Joseph, yet a youth, expounded well
The boding dream, and did th' event foretell;
Judged by the past, and drew the parallel.
Thus early Solomon the truth explored,
The right awarded, and the babe restored.
Thus Daniel, ere to prophecy he grew,
The perjured Presbyters did first subdue,
And freed Susanna from the canting crew.
Well may our monarchy triumphant stand,
While warlike James protects both sea and land;
And, under covert of his sevenfold shield,
Thou send'st thy shafts to scour the distant field.
By law thy powerful pen has set us free ;
Thou studiest that, and that may study thee.

The nation is in too high a ferment for me to expect either fair war, or even so much as fair quarter, from a reader of the opposite party. All men are engaged either on this side or that; and though conscience is the common word, which is given by both, yet if a writer fall among enemies, and cannot give the marks of their conscience, he is knocked down before the reasons of his own are heard. A preface, therefore, which is but a bespeaking of favour, is altogether useless. What I desire the reader should know concerning me, he will find in the body of the poem, if he have but the patience to peruse it. Only this advertisement let him take beforehand, which relates to the merits of the cause. No general characters of parties (call them either sects or churches) can be so fully and exactly drawn, as to comprehend all the several members of them ; at least all such as are received under that denomination. For example : there are some of the church by law established, who envy not liberty of conscience to Dissenters; as being well satisfied that, according to their own principles, they ought not to persecute them. Yet these, by reason of their fewness, I could not distinguish from the numbers of the rest, with

VOL. II.

I