Quis non æquales toto fub pectore flammas
Concipit, & fimili laudis fervefcit amore!
O qualis linguæ divina potentia! quali
Arte trahis faciles animos; feu pectora flecti
Dura jubes, & pulchræ acuis virtutis honore ;
Sive intus placidos Eudocia concitet ignes;
Ah nimium, nimium infelix Eudocia! quem non
Sors tua fæva movet ? madidi vectigal ocelli
Quis neget? infauftos quis non deploret amores?
O femper damnata pati fata afpera virtus!
At tibi quis fenfus, quæ mens, Eudocia, cum jam
Extrahit infixam Phocyas tua flamma fagittam,
Securus fati, vitamque ex vulnere fundit?
Quis fatis ingenium comis miretur Abudæ ?

poken by Mr. Milward, on the revival of the Sieg: of Damafcus, at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane, 22d March, 1734-5.

HERE force and fancy, with united charms,
Mingle the fweets of love with war's alarms.
Our author fhows, in caftern pomp array'd,
The conquering hero, and the constant maid.
None better knew fuch noble heights to foar,

hoftem!

Exemplar vel Christianis imitabile, mores

Digni etiam meliore fide! O quam, nube remotâ Erroris, tanti eniteant pietatis honores!

Sed quid ego plura hîc laudare nitentia pcrgam?

Tota nitet, pulchro tota ordine fabrica furgit,
Et delectamur paffim, paffimque monemur.
L. DUNCOMBE.

E Coll. Mert. Oxon.

Amabilis Juvenis, hujus Carminis Author, Obiit 26. Decem. 1730; Anno Ætatis 19. -Nox atra caput tristi circumvolat umbrâ.”

VIRG.

fore.

While in the luftre of his glowing lines,
Th' Arabian paradife fo gaily fhines,
With winy rivers, racy fruits, fupply'd,
And beauties sparkling in immortal pride,
Gallants, you'll own that a refiftless fire
Did juftly their enamour'd breasts inspire.

At first a numerous audience crown'd this play,
And kind applauses mark'd its happy way, [view,
While he, like his own Phocyas, fnatch'd from
To fairer realms with ripen'd glory flew.
Humane, though witty; humble, though admir'd;
Wept by the great, the virtuous fage expir'd!

Still may the bard, beneath kind planets born, Whom every grace and every mufe adorn, Whose spreading fame has reach'd to foreign lands, Receive fome tribute too from British hands.

MS.

1

THE TRIUMPH OF PEACE. OCCASIONED BY THE PEACE OF RESWICK, 1697.

HEAR, Britain, hear a rough unpractis'd tongue! Though rough my voice, the mufe infeires the fong,

The heaven-born mufe; ev'n now the fprings her flight,

And bears my raptur'd foul through untrac'd realms of light.

We mount aloft, and, in our airy way,
Retiring kingdoms far beneath furvey.
Amid the relt a spacious tract appears,
Obfcure in view, and on its visage wears

2

Black hovering mitts, which, thickening by degrees,
Latend a low'ring ftorm o'er earth and feas.
But, loan caftern light, arifing high,
Drives the tempeftuous wreck along the sky!
Then thus the mufe-Look down, my fon! and fee
The bright proceffion of a deity!

She fpoke; the ftorm difpers'd; vanish'd the night;
And well-known Europe ftands difclos'd to fight.
Of various ftates, the various bounds appear;
There wide Hifpania, fruitful Gallia here;
Belgia's moilt foil, confpicuous from afar,
And Flandria, long the field of a destructive war.
Germania too, with clufter'd vines o'erfpread;
And lovely Albion from her watry bed,
Beauteous above the refl, rears her aufpicious

head.

Beneath her chalky cliff, fea-nymphs refort,
And awful Neptune keeps his reedy court;
His darling Thames, rich presents in his hand
Of bounteous Ceres, traverses the land;
And feems a mighty fnake, whofe fhining pride.
Does through the meads in finuous volumes glide.
Ah, charming ifle fairest of all the main !
Too long thou doft my willing eye detain.
For fee a hero on the adverse frand!
And, lo a blooming virgin in his hand!
All hail, celestial pair a goddess she,

Of heavenly birth confeft, a more than mortal, he!
Victorious laurels on his brows he wears;
Th' attending fair a branching olive bears;

Slender her shape, in filver bands confin'd;
Her fnowy garments loofely flow behind,
Rich with embroider'd stars, and ruffle in the
wind.

But once fuch differing beauty met before,
When warrior Mars did love's bright queen adore;
Ev'n love's bright queen might seem lefs winning
fair,

And Mars fubmit to his heroic air.
Not Jove himself, imperial Jove can show

A nobler mien, or more undaunted brow, [plains,
When his strong arm, through heav'n's æthereal
Compels the kindled bolt, and awful rule main-

tains.

And now embark'd they seek the British ifles. Pleas'd with the charge, propitious ocean fmiles. Before, old Neptune fmooths the liquid way; Obfequious Tritons on the surface play; And sportful dolphins, with a nimble glance, To the bright fun their glittering fcales advance. In oozy beds profound, the billows fleep, No clamorous winds awake the filent deep; Rebuk'd, they whifper in a gentle breeze, And all around is univerfal peace.

[clare; Proceed, my mufe! The following pomp deSay who, and what, the bright attendants were! First Ceres, in her chariot feated high, By harnefs'd dragons drawn along the sky; A cornucopia fill'd her weaker hand, Charg'd with the various offspring of the land, Fruit, flowers, and corn; her right a fickle bore; A yellow wreath of twifted wheat she wore. Next father Bacchus with his tigers grac'd The fhow, and, fqueezing clusters as he pafs'd, Quaff'd flowing goblets of rich-flavour'd wine. In order, laft fucceed the tuneful nine; Apollo too was there; behind him hung His ufelefs quiver, and his bow unftrung; He touch'd his golden lyre, and thus he fung. "Lead on, great William! in thy happy reign "Peace and the muses are reftor'd again. "War, that fierce lion, long difdaining law, "Rang'd uncontroll'd, and kept the world in

awe,

"While trembling kingdoms crouch'd beneath "his paw.

}

"

"

"

"

At last the reeling monster, drunk with gore,
Falls at thy feet fubdued, and quells his roar;
Tamely to thee he bends his fhaggy mane,
And on his neck admits the long-rejected chain.
At thy protecting court, for this blett day,
Attending nations their glad thanks fhall pay :
Not Belgia, and the rescued ifle alone,

But Europe shall her great deliverer own. Rome's mighty grandeur was not more confeft, When great Antonius travell'd through the east, And crowds of monarchs did each morning wait With early homage at his palace gate. "Hafte then, bright prince! thy Britain's tranf σε port meet;

"Hafte to her arms, and make her blifs complete! "Whate'er glad news has reach'd her liftening

"Let freaking paint in various tablets how "Paft fcenes of battle to the crowd below! "Round this triumphant pile, in ruilic dance, "The fhouting fwains hall hand in hand advance; "The wealthy farmer from his toils fhall ceafe; "The ploughman from the yoke his Imoking fters relcafe,

"And join to folemnize the festival of peace.
"No more for want of hands th' unlabour'd field,
"Chok'd with rank weeds, a fickly crop fhall yield:
"Calm peace returns; behold her fhining train !
"And fruitful plenty is reftor'd again."-
Apollo ceas'd.---The mules take the fund,
From voice to voice th' harmonious netes re-
bound,
[around!

And echoing lyres tranfmit the volant fugue
Meanwhile the steady bark, with profperous
Fills the large sheets of her expanded fails, gals,
And gains th' intended port; thick on the ftrand
Like warming bees, th'affembled Britons fland,
And prols to fee their welcome fovereign land:
At his approach, unruly traniport reigns
In every breast, and rapture fires their veins.
A general thout fucceeds, as when on high
Exploded thunder rends the vaulted ĺky.
A fhort convulfion fhakes the folid fhore,
And rocks th' adjacent deep, unmov'd before;
Loud acclamations through the valleys ring,
While to Augufta's wall the crowd attend their
king.

And now behold a * finish'd temple ife,
On lofty pillar's climbing to the fkies!
Or bulk trupendous, its proud pile it rears,
The gradual product of fucceflive years.

An inner gate, that folds with iron leaves,
The charm'd fpectator's entering steps receives,

Where curious works in twifled Rems are feen
Of branching foliage, vacuous between.
O'er this a vocal organ, mounted high
On marble columns, ftrikes the wondering eye;
And feeds at once two fenfes with delight,
Sweet to the car, and fplendid to the fight.
Marble the floor, enrich'd with native ftains
Of various dye, and ftreak'd with azure veins.
Ev'n emulous art with nature feems to strive,
And the carv'd figures almost breathe and live;
The painted altar, glorious to behold,
Shines with delightful blue, and dazzling gold.
Here first th' illuftrious three, of heavenly race,
Religion, liberty, and peace, embrace;
Here joyful crowds their pious thanks express,
For peace reftor'd, and heaven's indulgence blefs.
Aufpicious structure! born in happy days,
Whose first employment is the nobleft, praise !
So, when by juft degrees th' eternal thought
His fix days labour to perfection brought,
With laws of motion first endued the whole,
And bade the heavens in deftin'd circles roll,
The polish'd fpheres commenc'd their harmony
All nature in a chorus did agree,
And the world's birthday was a jubilee.

* 'The choir of St. Paul's was fica e pened on the day of thank/giving for the peace.

THE COURT OF NEPTUNE.

ON KING WILLIAM'S RETURN FROM HOLLAND, 1699.

Addreffed to the Kight Honourable
CHARLES MONTAGUE, Efq.

BEGIN, celestial muse a tuneful strain
Of Albion's prince conducted o'er the main;
Of courts conceal'd in waves, and Neptune's
watry reign;

Sing, from beneath, how the green deity
Role to the lovereign of the British fea;
To power contefs', the triple mace relign'd,
O'er-rui'd the floods, and charg'd the rebel wind;
Secur'a ms paitage homeward, and refor’d,
Safe to the loveleft ifle, the bett lov'd lord.

The generous name of Montague has Ing
Been fam'd in verie, and grac'd the poet's teng;
In verfe, himflf can happy wonders do,
The belt of patrons, and of poets too.
Amid the skutul choir that court his car,
If he vouchlafe thele ruder lays to hear,
His bright example, while to him I fing, [wing,
Shall raife my teable flight, and mount me on the
On Albion's caftern coaft, an ancient town
O'er locks the fea, to mariners well known;
Where the twift † Stourus ends his fnaky train,
And pays his watery tribute to the main :
Stourus, whole itrean, prolific as it glides,
Two fertile counties in its courie divides,
And rolls to leaward with a lover's pace:

1 here beauteous Orwell meets his iond embrace;

* Harwich.

†The liver Stoure, that runs between Suffolk and Essex

A fpacious bay within, for anchor'd fhips to ride.
Here, on the margin of the rc".ng flood,
Divinely fair, like fea-born Venus, food
Britannia's genius, in a robe array'd
Of broider'd arms, and heraldry display'd:
A crown of cities charg'd her graceful brows;
In waving curls her hair luxuriant flows;
Celeftial glories in her eyes are seen;
Her ftature tall, majeftic is her mied.
With fuch a prefence through th' adoring skies
Shines the great parent of the deities;
Such towery honours on her temples rife,
When, drawn by lions, the proceeds in fate;
Trains of attendant gods around her chariot wait;
The mother goddess, with fuperior grace, [race.
Surveys, and numbers o'er her bright immoital
While thus the lovely genius hovers o'er
The water's brink, and from the fandy fhore
Beholds th' alternate billows fall and rife

(By turns they link below, by turns they mount the skies):

And muft, fhe faid

"Then paus'd, and drew a figh of anxious love; "Muft my dear lord this faithlefs ocean prove;

Efcap'd the chance of war, and fraud of foes; "Wilt thou to warring waves thy facred lite expofe?

Why am I thas divided by the fea, "From all the world, and all the world in thee? "Could fighs and tears the rage of tempefts bind, "With tears I'd bribe the feas, with fighs the "wind:

• Soft fighing gales thy canvass should inspire; "But hence, ye boisterous forms: far hence retire "To inland woods; there your mad powers appeafe, [trees;

tr

"And fcour the dufty plains, or frip the forest "Or lodg'd in hollow rocks profoundly fleep, "And rest from the loud labours of the deep! "Why fhould I fear?-if heroes be the care "Of Heaven above, and Heaven inclines to prayer, "Thou fail & fecure; my fons with lifted eyes, "And pious vows, for thee have gain'd the fkies. "Come then, my much-lov'd lord! No more "th' alarmis

"Of wasteful war require thee from my arms. Thy fword gives plenteous peace; but without "thee,

"Peace has no charms, and plenty's poverty: At length enjoy, for whom you've fought, the queen

"Of iflands, bright, majeftic, and serene!

* Unveil'd from clouds, which did her form disguise,

"And hid a thousand beauties from thy eyes. "A thoufand treafures unfurvey'd invite "Their lord to various scenes of new delight. "Come fee the dower I brought: My fpacious "downś,

"My numerous counties, and my ancient towns ; Landscapes of rising mountains, fhaggy woods, * Green valleys, (miling meadows, filver floods,

peace!

She faid; th' entreated winds her accents hore, And wing'd the meffage to the Belgic fhore. The pious hero heard, nor could delay

To meet the lovely voice, that fammon'd him away;
The lovely voice, whofe fcft complaining charms
Before had call'd the fucconr of his arms,

Nor call'd in vain; when fir'd with generous rage
T'oppofe the fury of a barbarous age,
Like Jove with awful thunder in his hand,
Through ftorms and fleets at fea, and foes at land,
He urg'd his daring way; before his fight,
On filver wings, bright glory took her flight,
And left, to guide his course, long fhining tracks
of light!

And now once more embark'd, propitious gales
Blow freth from shore, and fill his hollow fails.
As when the golden god, that rules the day,
Drives down his flaming chariot to the fea,
And leaves the nations here involv`d in night,
To diftant regions he tranfports his light;
So William's rays, by turns, two nations cheer;
And when he fets to them, he rifes here.

Forfaken Belgia, ere the fhip withdrew, Shed generous tears, and breath'd this foft adieu; "Since empire calls thee, and a glorious throɗe, "Thy people's weighty interefts, and thy own; (Though struggling love would fain perfuade thy ftay)

"Gr, where thy better fortune leads the way! Meanwhile my lofs, allow me to complain, “And with—ah no! that partial with were vain. Though honour'd Crete had nurs'd the thun

dering god,

"Crete was not always bleft with his abode; "Nor was it fit, that William's godlike mind, "For nations born, fhould be to ene corân'è.

This only grant, fince I mult alk no more, "Revifit once again your native shore! "That hope my forrows fhall beguile; and thou,

My happy rival! wilt that hope allow; "'Tis all th' enjoyment, fate has left me now. "So may't thou, fair Britannia. ever be "Firm to thy fovereign's love, and his to thee! "While widow'd l''-There riùing fighs reprefs'd

Her fainting voice, and ftifled-in the reft. `

Now, while the bounding veffel drives before The guily gales, and leaves the leílening shore, Behold the parting clouds to distance fly,

And golden glories, pouring from on high
New drels the day, and cheer th' enlighten'

Lo! William's guardian angel there defcends;
To Neptune's court his heavenly message tends:
In arms celestial, how he fhines afar,
Like Pallas marching to th' awaken'd war!
His left hand grires a fpacious orb of fhield,
With thousand intercepted dangers fill'd,
And deaths of various kind; his right difplays
A temper'd blade, that spreads a formidable blaze.
He ftrikes the waves; th' obfequious waves obey,
And, opening in a gulf, disclose the downward way.
O mufe! by thee conducted down, I dare
The fecrets of the watery world declare;
For nothing fcapes thy view; to thee 'tis given,
To range the space of earth, and feas, and heaven,
Defcry a thousand forms, conccai'd from fight,
And in immortal verfe to give the vifions light.
A rock there lies, in depth of fea profound;
About its clefts, rich beds of pearl abound,
Where sportful nature, covering her retreat
With flowing waters, holds her fecret feat:
In woods of coral, intricate fhe frays,

And wreathes the fhells of fish a thoufand ways,
And animates the fawn of all her finny race.
Th' unnumber'd fpccies of the fertile tide,
In fhoals, around their mighty mother, glide.
From cut the rock's wide cavern's deep below,
The rushing ocean rifes to its flow;
And, ebbing, here retires; within its fides,
In roomy caves the god of fea refides.
Pillars unhewn, of living ftone, bear high
His vaulted courts; in ftorms the billows fly
O'er th' echoing roof, like thunder through the
skies,

And warn the ruler of the floods to rife,

And check the raving winds, and the fwoln
waves chaftife.

Rich spoils, by plundering tempefts hither borne,
An univerfe of wealth, the palace rooms adorn.
Before its entraece, broken wrecks are fecu
In heaps deform'd, a melancholy fcene.
But far within, upon a meffy throne,
With washy ooze and famphire overgrown,
The fea-green king his forky fceptre rears;
Awful his afpect, numerous are his years.
A pearly crown circles his brows divine;
His beard and dewy hair fhed trickling drops of
The river-gods, his numerous progeny,
On beds of rufhes round their parent lie.
Here Danube and the Rhine; Nile's fecret fource
Dwells here conceal'd; hence Tiber takes his

courfe;

[brine.

Hence rapid Rhodanus his current pours;
And, iffuing from his urn, majestic Padus roars;
And Alpheus feeks, with filent pace, the lov'd
Sicilian fhores.

But, chief in honour, Neptune's darling fon,
The beauteous Thames lies neareft to his throne.
Nor thou, fair Boyne! fhall pafs unmention'd by,
Already fung in ftrains that ne'er fhall die. [trains
Thefe, and a thoufand more, whofe winding
Seek various lands, the wealthy fire maintains;
Each day, the fluid portions he divides,
And fills their craving urns with fresh recruited
But not alike; for oft his partial care

Bestows on some a' difproportion'd share;

[tides.

From whence their Iwelling currents, o'er-fupply'd
Through delug'd fields in noify triumph ride.
The god was just preparing to renew
His daily task, when fudden in his view
Appear'd the guarian power, all dazzling bright;
And, entering, flath'd the caves with beamy light.
Boyne, Rhine, the Smbre, on their banks had feen
The glorious form, and knew his martial mien;
In throngs th' admiring Nereids round him prefs'd,
And Tritons crowd to view the heavenly gueft.
Then thus, advancing, he his will explains:

O mighty fovereign of the liquid plains! "Hafte, to the furface of the deep repair, "This folemn day requires thy prefence there, "To rule the ftorms, the rifing waves reftrain, "And take thy fceptre o'er the govern'd main. "By breathing gales on thy dominicas driver, "To thee three kingdoms hopes in charge are given, [heaven.

་་

"The glory of the world, and beft belov'd of
"Behold him figur'd here!"-He said, and held,
Refulget to his view, the guardian fhield.
On the rich mould, inwrought with fkill divine,
Great William's wars in fplendid sculpture fhine.
Here, how his faving power was first display'd,
And Holland rescued by his youthful aid ;
When, kindling in his foul, the martial flame
Broke fiercely out, preluding future fame,
And round the frontiers dealt avenging fire;
Swift from the hot purfuit the blafted foes retire.
Then battles, ficges, camps are grav'd afar,
And the long progrefs of the dreadful war.
Above the rest, Syneffe's immortal fight,
In larger figures offer'd to the fight,
With martial terror charmis, and gives a fierce
fierce
delight.

Here the confederate troops are forc'd to yield,
Driven by unequal numbers through the field:
With his bright fword, young Naffau there with-
[commands,

ftands

Their flight; with prayers and blows he urges his
Upbraids their fainting force, and boldly throws
Himfelf the first an idit the wondering foes.
What dare not men, by iuch a general led?
Rallying with fhouts, their hero at their head,
Fir'd with new rage, afhani'd they once did fly,'
Refolv'd t'o'ercome, or refolute to die,
Through trampled heaps of flain they rush to
victory.

Earth trembles at the charge; death, blood, and

prey,

Infatiare riot all the murderous day;
Nor night itself their fury can allay;
Till the pale moon, that fickens at the fight,
Retires behind a cloud, to blind the bloody fight.
Again, the fhield in favage profpect fhows
An ancient * abbey, which rough woods enclofe;
[defies
And precipices vaft abruptly rife,
Where, fafe encamp'd, proud Luxembourgh
All open violence, or clofe furprise.
But fee a fecond Hannibal from far,
Up the steep height, conducts th' entangled war.
Brave Offury, attended with the pride
of English valour, charges by his fide.

† St. Dennis near Mons.