The fort of Greece! without one giddy hour, In whom each virtue wore a smiling air,
One shock of faction, or of party-rage.

Each science shed o'er life a friendly light,
For, drain’d the springs of wealth, corruption there Each art was nature. Spartan valour hence,
Lay wither'd at the root. Thrice happy land ! At the fam'd pass *, firm as an isthmus stood;
Had not neglected art, with weedy vice

And the whole eastern ocean, waving far
Confounded, sunk. But if Athenian arts

As eye could dart its vision, nobly check’d,
Lov'd not the soil; yet there the calm abode While in extended battle, at the field
Of wisdom, virtue, philosophic ease,

Of Marathon, my keen Athenians drove
Of manly sense and wit, in frugal phrase

Before their ardent band, an host of slaves Confin’d, and press'd into laconic force.

“ Hence through the continent ten thousand There, ton, by rooting thence still treacherous self,

Greeks The public and the private grew the same.

Urg'd a retreat, whose glory not the prime The children of the nursing public hall,

Of victories can reach. Deserts, in vain, And at its table fed, for that they toil'd,

Oppos’d their course ; and hostile lands, unknown; For that they liv'd entire, and ev'n for that And deep rapacious floods, dire-bank'd with death; The tender mother urg'd her son to die.

And mountains, in whose jaws destruction grinn'd “ Of softer genius, but not less intent

Hunger, and toil ; , Armenian snows, and storms; To seize the palm of empire, Athens rose :

And circling myriads still of barbarous foes. Where, with bright marbles big and future pomp, Greece in their view, and glory yet untouch'd, Hymettus * spread, amid the scented sky,

Their steady column pierc'd the scattering herds, His thymy treasures to the labouring bee,

Which a whole empire pour'd; and held its way And to botanic hand the stores of health :

Triumphant, by the sage-exalted chief+ Wrapt in a soul-attenuating clime,

Fir'd and sustain'd. Oh, light and force of inind, Between Ilissus and Cephissus + glow'd

Almost almighty in severe extremes ! This hive of science, shedding sweets divine, The sea at last from Colchian mountains seen, Of active arts, and animated arms.

Kind-hearted transport round their captains threw There, passionate for me, an easy-mov'd,

The soldiers' fond embrace ; o'erflow'd their eyes A quick, refin'd, a delicate, humane,

With tender floods, and loos'd the general voice Enlighten’d people reign'd. Oft on the brink To cries resounding loud — The sea! the sea!' Of ruin, hurry'd by the charm of speech,

“ In Attic bounds hence heroes, sages, wits, Inforcing hasty counsel immature,

Shone thick as stars, the milky way of Greece! Totter'd the rash democracy; unpois'd,

And though gay wit, and pleasing grace was theirs, And by the rage devour'd, that ever tears

All the soft modes of elegance and ease;
A populace unequal ; part too rich,

Yet was not courage less, the patient touch
And part or fierce with want, or abject grown. Of toiling art, and disquisition deep.
Solon, at last, their mild restorer, rose :

My spirit pours a vigour through the soul, Allay'd the tempest ; to the calm of laws

Th' unfetter'd thought with energy inspires,
Reduc'd the settling whole ; and, with the weight Invincible in arts, in the bright field
Which the two senates | to the public lent, Of nobler science, as in that of arms.
As with an anchor fix'd the driving state.

Athenians thus not less intrepid burst “ Nor was my forming care to these confin'd. The bonds of tyrant darkness, than they spurn'd For emulation through the whole I pour'd,

The Persian chains : while through the city, full Noble contention! who should most excel

Of mirthful quarrel, and of witty war,
In government well-pois'd, adjusted best

Incessant struggled taste refining taste,
To public weal: in countries cultur'd high : And friendly free discussion, calling forth
In ornamented towns, where order reigns,

From the fair jewel truth its latent ray.
Free social life, and polish'd manners fair :

O'er all shone out the great Athenian sage, In exercise, and arms; arms only drawn

And father of philosophy: the sun, For common Greece, to quell the Persian pride : From whose white blaze emerg'd each various sect In moral science, and in graceful arts.

Took various tints, but with diminish'd beam. Hence, as for glory peacefully they strove,

Tutor of Athens ! he, in every street, The prize grew greater, and the prize of all. Dealt priceless treasure ! goodness his delight, By contest brighten'd, hence the radiant youth Wisdom his wealth, and glory his reward. Pour'd every beam ; by generous pride inflam'd, Deep through the human heart, with playful art, Felt every ardour burn : their great reward His simple question stole : as into truth, The verdant wreath, which sounding Pisa S gave. And serious deeds, he smil'd the laughing race; “ Hence flourish'd Greece ; and hence a race of Taught moral happy life, whate'er can bless, men,

Or grace mankind; and what he taught he was. As gods by conscious future times ador'd : Compounded high, though plain, his doctrine broke

In different schools. The bold poetic phrase • A mountain near Athens.

Of figur'd Plato; Xenophon's pure strain, + Two rivers betwixt which Athens was situated. Like the clear brook that steals along the vale;

# The Areopagus, or supreme court of judica- Dissecting truth, the Stagyrite's keen eye; ture, which Solon reformed and improved ; and the Th' exalted Stoic pride; the Cynic sneer ; council of four hundred, by him instituted. In this The slow-consenting Academic doubt ; council all affairs of state were deliberated, before And, joining bliss to virtue the glad ease they came to be voted in the assembly of the people.

Ś Or Olympia, the city where the Olympic • The straits of Thermopylæ. games were celebrated.

+ Xenophon.
| Socrates.

Of Epicurus, seldom understood.

In tresses, braided gay, the marble wav'd; They, ever candid, reason still oppos'd

Flow'd in loose robes, or thin transparent veils; To reason; and, since virtue was their aim, Sprung into motion ; soften'd into flesh; Each by sure practice try'd to prove his way Was fir'd to passion, or refin'd lo soul. The best. Then stood untouch'd the solid base “ Nor less thy pencil, with creative touch, Of Liberty, the liberty of mind :

Shed mimic life, when all thy brightest dames, For systems yet, and soul-enslaving creeds, Assembled, Zeuxis in his Helen mix'd. Slept with the monsters of succeeding times. And when Apelles, who peculiar knew From priestly darkness sprung th' enlightening arts To give a grace that more than mortal smild, Of fire, and sword, and rage, and horrid names.

The soul of beauty! call'd the queen of Love, “ 0, Greece! thou sapient nurse of finer arts ! Fresh from the billows, blushing orient charms. Which to bright science blooming fancy bore,

Ev'n such enchantment then thy pencil pour'd, Be this thy praise, that thou, and thou alone, That cruel-thoughted War th' impatient torch In these. hast led the way, in these excell'd, Dash'd to the ground; and, rather than destroy Crown'd with the laurel of assenting time.

The patriot picture, let the city 'scape. + “ In thy full language, speaking mighty things ; “ First elder Sculpture taught her sister Art Like a clear torrent close, or else diffus'd

Correct design ; where great ideas shone, A broad majestic stream, and rolling on

And in the secret trace expression spoke : Through all the winding harmony of sound : Taught her the graceful attitude ; the turn, In it the power of eloquence, at large,

And beauteous airs of head; the native act, Breath'd the persuasive or pathetic soul ;

Or bold, or easy; and, cast free behind, Stillid by degrees the democratic storm,

The swelling mantle's well-adjusted flow. Or bade it threatening rise, and tyrants shook,

Then the bright Muse, their elder sister, came; Flush'd at the head of their victorious troops.

And bade her follow where she led the way:
In it the Muse, her fury never quench’d,

Bade earth, and sea, and air, in colours rise ;
By mean unyielding phrase, or jarring sound, And copious action on the canvass glow :
Iler unconfin'd divinity display'd ;

Gave her gay fable ; spread invention's store ;
And, still harmonious, form'd it to her will : Enlarg'd her view ; taught composition high,
Or soft depress'd it to the shepherd's moan, And just arrangement, circling round one point,
Or rais’d it swelling to the tongue of gods. That starts to sight, binds and commands the whole.

“ Heroic song was thine ; the fountain-bard, Caught from the heavenly Muse a nobler aim, Whence each poetic stream derives its course. And, scorning the soft trade of mere delight, Thine the dread moral scene, thy chief delight! O'er all thy temples, porticoes, and schools, Where idle Fancy durst not mix her voice,

Heroic deeds she trac'd, and warm display'd
When Reason spoke august; the fervent heart

Each moral beauty to the ravish'd eye.
Or plain'd, or storm'd; and in th' impassion'd man, There, as th' imagin’d presence of the god
Concealing art with art, the poet sunk.

Arous'd the mind, or vacant hours induc'd
This potent school of manners, (but when left Calm contemplation, or assembled youth
To loose neglect, a land-corrupting plague,)

Burn'd in ambitious circle round the sage, Was not unworthy deem'd of public care,

The living lesson stole into the heart, And boundless cost, by thee; whose every son,

With more prevailing force than dwells in words. Er'n last mechanic, the true taste possess'd These rouse to glory; while, to rural life, Of what had flavour to the nourish'd soul.

The softer canvass oft repos'd the soul. “ The sweet enforce of the poet's strain, There gaily broke the sun-illumin’d cloud; Thine was the meaning music of the heart. The lessening prospect, and the mountain blue, Not the vain trill, that, void of passion, runs

Vanish'd in air ; the precipice frown'd, dire; Io giddy mazes, tickling idle ears;

White, down the rock the rushing torrent dash'd; But that deep-searching voice, and artful hand, The Sun shone, trembling, o'er the distant main; To which respondent shakes the varied soul. The tempest foam'd, immense; the driving storm " Thy fair ideas, thy delightful forms,

Sadden'd the skies, and, from the doubling gloom, By Love imagin'd, by the Graces touch'd,

On the scath'd oak the ragged lightning fell ; The boast of well-pleas'd Nature ! Sculpture seiz'd, In closing shades, and where the current strays, And bade them ever smile in Parian stone.

With peace, and love, and innocence around, Selecting beauty's choice, and that again

Pip'd the lone shepherd to his feeding flock : Exalting, blending in a perfect whole,

Round happy parents smil'd their younger selves; Thy workmen left er'n Nature's self behind. And friends convers’d, by death divided long. From those far different, whose prolific hand

“ To public Virtue thus the smiling Arts, Peoples a nation; they, for years on years,

Unblemish'd handmaids, serv'd! the Graces they By the cool touches of judicious toil,

To dress this fairest Venus. Thus rever'd, Their rapid genius curbing, pour'd it all

And plac'd beyond the reach of sordid care,
Through the live features of one breathing stone. The high awarders of immortal fame,

There, beaming full, it shone, expressing gods : Alone for glory thy great masters strove ;
Jove's aweful brow, Apollo's air divine,
The fierce atrocious frown of sinew'd Mars,

+ When Demetrius besieged Rhodes, and could Or the sly graces of the Cyprian queen.

have reduced the city, by setting fire to that quarter Minutely perfect all! Each dimple sunk, of it, where stood the house of the celebrated ProAnd every muscle swell’d, as Nature taught togenes, he chose rather to raise the siege, than

hazard the burning of a famous picture called • Homer.

Jalysus, the master-piece of that painter.

Courted by kings, and by contending states Sparta, by turns, and Athens, vilely sued;
Assum'd the boasted honour of their birth.

Sued to be venal parricides, to spill “ In Architecture, too, thy rank supreme ! Their country's bravest blood, and on themselves That art where most magnificent appears

To turn their matchless mercenary arms. The little builder man; by thee refin'd,

Peaceful in Susa, then, sate the great king *; And, smiling high, to full perfection brought. And by the trick of treaties, the still waste Such thy sure rules, that Goths of every age, Of sly corruption, and barbaric gold, Who scorn'd their aid, have only loaded Earth Effected what his steel could ne'er perform. With labour'd heavy monuments of shame. Profuse he gave them the luxurious draught, Not those gay domes that o'er thy splendid shore Inflaming all the land : unbalanc'd wide Shot, all proportion, up. First unadorn'd, Their tottering states; their wild assemblies rul'd, And nobly plain, the manly Doric rose ;

As the winds turn at every blast the seas : Th' Ionic then, with decent matron grace,

And by their listed orators, whose breath Her airy pillar heav'd; luxuriant last,

Still with a factious storm infested Greece, The rich Corinthian spread her wanton wreath. Rous'd them to civil war, or dash'd them down The whole so measur'd true, so lessen'd off To sordid peace. t - Peace! that, when Sparta By fine proportion, that the marble pile,

shook Form'd to repel the still or stormy waste

Astonish'd Artaxerxes on his throne, Of rolling ages, light as fabrics look'd

Gave up, fair-spread o'er Asia's sunny shore, That from the magic wand aerial rise.

Their kindred cities, to perpetual chains. “ These were the wonders that illumin’d Greece, What could so base, so infamous a thought, From end to end.".

Here interrupting warm, In Spartan hearts inspire ? Jealous, they saw “ Where are they now?” I cry'd, “ say, goddess, Respiring Athens rear again her walls t; where?

And the pale fury fir'd them, once again And what the land thy darling thus of old ?" To crush this rival city to the dust. “ Sunk!” she resum'd: “ deep in the kindred For now no more the noble social soul gloom

Of Liberty my families combin'd;
Of superstition, and of slavery sunk!

But by short views, and selfish passions, broke,
No glory now can touch their hearts, benumb'd Dire as when friends are rankled into foes,
By loose dejected sloth and servile fear;

They mix'd severe, and wag'd eternal war;
No science pierce the darkness of their minds ; Nor felt they, furious, their exhausted force;
No nobler art the quick ambitious soul

Nor, with false glory, discord, madness blind, Of imitation in their breast awake.

Saw how the blackening storm from Thracia came. Ev'n, to supply the needful arts of life,

Long years rollid on, by many a battle stain'd , Mechanic toil denies the hopeless hand.

The blush and boast of Fame! where courage, art, Scarce any trace remaining, vestige grey,

And military glory, shone supreme : Or nodding column on the desert shore,

But let detesting ages, from the scene To point where Corinth, or where Athens stood. Of Greece self-mangled, turn the sickening eye. A faithless land of violence, and death!

At last, when bleeding from a thousand wounds, Where Commerce parleys, dubious, on the shore ; She felt her spirits fail; and in the dust And his wild impulse curious search restrains, Her latest heroes, Nicias, Conon, lay, Afraid to trust th' inhospitable clime.

Agesilaus, and the Theban Friends 1 : Neglected Nature fails; in sordid want

The Macedonian vulture mark'd his time, Sunk, and debas'd, their beauty beams no more. By the dire scent of Chæronea lur'dę, The Sun himself seems angry, to regard,

And, fierce-descending, seiz'd his hapless prey. Of light unworthy, the degenerate race ;

“ Thus tame submitted to the victor's yoke And fires them oft with pestilential rays :

Greece, once the gay, the turbulent, the bold; While Earth, blue poison steaming on the skies, For every Grace, and Muse, and Science born; Indignant, shakes them from her troubled sides. With arts of war, of government, elate ; But as from man to man, Fate's first decree, To tyrants dreadful, dreadful to the best ; Impartial Death the tide of riches rolls,

Whom I myself could scarcely rule: and thus So states must die, and Liberty go round.

The Persian fetters, that inthrall'd the mind, “ Fierce was the stand, ere virtue, valour, arts, Were turn'd to formal and apparent chains. And the soul fir'd by me (that often, stung

“ Unless Corruption first deject the pride, With thoughts of better times and old renown, From hydra-tyrants try'd to clear the land)

* So the kings of Persia were called by the Lay quite extinct in Greece, their works effac'd Greeks, And gross o'er all unfeeling bondage spread. + The peace made by Antalcidas, the LaceSooner I mov'd my much reluctant flight,

dæmonian admiral, with the Persians; by which the Pois'd on the doubtful wing: when Greece with Lacedæmonians abandoned all the Greeks established Greece

in the Lesser Asia to the dominion of the king of Embroil'd in foul contention fought no more Persia. For common glory, and for common weal :

Athens had been dismantled by the Lace But, false to freedom, sought to quell the free; dæmonians, at the end of the first Peloponnesian Broke the firm band of peace, and sacred love, war, and was at this time restored by Conon to its That lent the whole irrefragable force ;

former splendour. And, as around the partial trophy blush'd,

$ The Peloponnesian war. Prepar'd the way for total overthrow.

i Pelopidas and Epaminondas. Then to the Persian power, whose pride they scorn'd, The battle of Chæronea, in which Philip of When Xerxes pour'd his inillions o'er the land, Macedon utterly defeated the Greeks

BEING THE THIRD PART OP

A POEM.

And guardian vigour of the free-born soul, And the Ceraunian hills behind me thrown,
All crude attempts of violence are vain;

All Latium stood arous'd. Ages before,
For, firm within, and while at heart untouch'd, Great mother of republics! Greece had pour'd,
Ne'er yet by force was Freedom overcome. Swarm after swarm, her ardent youth around.
But soon as Independence stoops the head, On Asia, Afric, Sicily, they stoop'd,
To vice enslav'd, and vice-created wants;

But chief on fair Hesperia's winding shore; Then to some foul corrupting hand, whose waste Where, from Lacinium * to Etrurian vales, These heighten'd wants with fatal bounty feeds : They roll'd increasing colonies along, From man to man the slackening ruin runs, And lent materials for my Roman reign. Till the whole state unnerv'd in slavery sinks." With them my spirit spread ; and numerous states

And cities rose, on Grecian models form'd;

As its parental policy, and arts,
ROME:

Each had imbib'd. Besides, to each assign'd
A guardian genius, o'er the public weal,
Kept an unclosing eye; try'd to sustain,

Or more sublime, the soul infus'd by me ;
LIBERTY,

And strong the battle rose, with various wave,
Against the tyrant demons of the land.
Thus they their little wars and triumphs knew;
Their flows of fortune, and receding times,

But almost all below the proud regard
The Contents of Part III.

Of story vow'd to Rome, on deeds intent As this part contains a description of the establish-That truth beyond the flight of fable bore. ment of Liberty in Rome, it begins with a view

“ Not so the Samian sage t; to him belongs of the Grecian colonies settled in the southern The brightest witness of recording fame. parts of Italy, which with Sicily constituted the For these free states his native isle forsook, Great Greece of the ancients. With these colo- And a vain tyrant's transitory smile; nies the spirit of Liberty, and of republics, He sought Crotona's pure salubrious air, (taught ; spreads over Italy. Transition to Pythagoras and And through Great Greece & his gentle wisdom his philosophy, which he taught through those Wisdom that calm’d for listening years the mind |l, free states and cities. Amidst the many small Nor ever heard amid the storm of zeal. republics in Italy, Rome the destined seat of His mental eye first lanch'd into the deeps Liberty. Her establishment there dated from Of boundless ether ; where unnumber'd orbs, the expulsion of the Tarquins. How differing Myriads on myriads, through the pathless sky from that in Greece. Reference to a view of the Unerring roll, and wind their steady way. Roman republic given in the first part of this There he the full consenting choir beheld; poem: to mark its rise and fall, the peculiar There first discern’d the secret band of love, parport of this. During its first ages, the greatest The kind attraction, that to central suns force of Liberty and virtue exerted. The source Binds circling earths, and world with world unites. whence derived the heroic virtues of the Ros Instructed thence, he great ideas form'd mans. Enumeration of these virtues. Thence of the whole-moving, all-informing God, their security at home: their glory, success, The Sun of beings! beaming unconfin'd and empire, abroad. Bounds of the Roman Light, life, and love, and ever-active power : empire, geographically described. The states Whom nought can image, and who best approves of Greece restored to Liberty by Titus Quintus The silent worship of the moral heart, Flaminius, the highest instance of public gene- That joys in bounteous Heaven, and spreads the joy. rosity and beneficence. The loss of Liberty in Nor scorn'd the soaring sage to stoop to life, Rome. Its causes, progress, and completion in And bound his reason to the sphere of man. the death of Brutus. Rome under the em- He gave the four yet reigning virtues ( name; perors. From Rome, the goddess of Liberty Inspir'd the study of the finer arts, goes among the Northern nations; where, by That civilize mankind, and laws devis'd infusing into them her spirit and general

' prin- Where with enlighten'd justice mercy mix'd. ciples, she lays the ground-work of her future He ev'n, into his tender system, took establishments: sends them in vengeance on the Whatever shares the brotherhood of life : Roman empire, now totally enslaved ; and then, He taught, that life's indissoluble flame, with arts and sciences in her train, quits Earth From brute to man, and man to brute again, during the dark ages. The celestial regions, For ever shifting, runs th' eternal round; to which Liberty retired, not proper to be opened Thence try'd against the blood-polluted meal, to the view of mortals.

And limbs yet quivering with some kindred soul,

To turn the human heart. Delightful truth!
Herz melting mix'd with air th’ ideal forms,
That painted still whate'er the goddess sung.

• A promontory in Calabria.
Then I, impatient : “ From extinguish'd Greece, † Pythagoras.
To what new region stream'd the human day?" | Samos, over which then reigned the tyrant
She softly sighing, as when Zephyr leaves,

Polycrates. Resign'd to Boreas, the declining year,

§ The southern parts of Italy, and Sicily, so Resum'd : “ Indignant, these last scenes I Aled *; called because of the Grecian colonies there settled. And long ere then, Leucadia's cloudy cliff,

|| His scholars were enjoined silence for five

years. • The last struggles of liberty in Greece.

The four cardinal virtues.

Had he beheld the líving chain ascenů,

While he his honest roots to gold preferr'd ; And not a circling form, but rising whole. While truly rich, and by his Sabine field, “ Amid these small republics one arose,

The man maintain'd, the Roman's splendour all On yellow Tyber'e bank, almighty Rome,

Was in the public wealth and glory plac'd : Fated for me. A nobler spirit warm'd

Or ready, a rough swain, to guide the plough; Her sons; and, rous'd by tyrants, nobler still Or else, the purple o'er his shoulder thrown, It burn'd in Brutus : the proud Tarquins clias'd, In long majestic flow, to rule the state, With all their crimes; bade radiant eras rise, With Wisdom's purest eye; or, clad in steel, And the long honours of the consul-line.

To drive the steady battle on the foe. “ Here, from the fairer, not the greater, plan Hence every passion, ev’n the proudest, stoop'd Of Greece I vary'd ; whose unmixing states, To common good : Camillus, thy revenge ; By the keen soul of emulation pierc'd,

Thy glory, Fabius. All submissive hence, Long wag'd alone the bloodless war of arts, Consuls, dictators, still resign'd their rule, And their best empire gain’d. But to diffuse The very moment that the laws ordain'd. O'er men an empire was my purpose now :

Though Conquest o'er them clapp'd her eagle-wings, To let my martial majesty abroad;

Her laurels wreath'd, and yok'd her snowy steeds Into the vortex of one state to draw

To the triumphal car; soon as expir’d The whole mix'd force, and liberty, on Earth ; The latest hour of sway, taught to submit, To conquer tyrants, and set nations free.

(A harder lesson that than to command,) “ Already have I given, with flying touch, Înto the private Roman sunk the chief. A broken view of this my amplest reign.

If Rome was serv'd, and glorious, careless they Now, while its first, last, periods you survey, By whom. Their country's fame they deem'd their Mark how it labouring rose, and rapid fell. [world,

own; “When Rome in noon-tide empire grasp'd the And, above envy, in a rival's train, And, soon as her resistless legions shone,

Sung the loud lös by theroselves deserv’d. The nations stoop'd around: though then appear'd Hence matchless courage. On Cremera's bank, Her grandeur most, yet in her dawn of power, Hence fell the Fabii ; hence the Decii dy'd; By many a jealous equal people press'd,

And Curtius plung'd into the flaming gulph. Then was the toil, the mighty struggle then ; Hence Regulus the wavering fathers firm'd, Then for each Roman I an hero told;

By dreadful counsel never given before, And every passing sun, and Latian scene,

For Roman honour sued, and his own doom. Saw patriot virtues then, and aweful deeds,

Hence he sustain'd to dare a death prepar'd That or surpass the faith of modern times,

By Punic rage:

On earth his manly look Or, if believ'd, with sacred horrour strike.

Relentless fix'd, he from a last embrace, “ For then, to prove my most exalted power, By chains polluted, put his wife aside, I to the point of full perfection push'd,

His little children climbing for a kiss; (friends, To fondness or enthusiastic zeal,

Then dumb through rows of weeping wondering The great, the reigning passion of the free. A new illustrious exile ! press'd along. That godlike passion! which, the bounds of self Nor less impatient did he pierce the crowds Divinely bursting, the whole public takes

Opposing his return, than if, escap'd
Into the heart, enlarg'd, and burning high

From long litigious suits, he glad forsook
With the mix'd ardour of unnumber'd selves; The noisy town awhile, and city cloud,
Of all who safe beneath the voted laws

To breathe Venafrian, or Tarentine air.
Of the same parent state, fraternal, live.

Need I these high particulars recount? From this kind sun of moral nature flow'd

The meanest bosom felt a thirst for fame;
Virtues, that shine the light of human kind, Flight their worst death, and shame their only fear,
And, ray'd through story, warm remotest time. Life had no charms, nor any terrours fate,
These virtues, too, reflected to their source, When Rome and glory calld. But, in one view,
Increas'd its flame. The social charm went round, Mark the rare boast of these unequallid times.
The fair idea, more attractive still,

Ages revolv'd unsully'd by a crime:
As more by virtue mark'd: till Romans, all Astrea reign’d, and scarcely needed laws
One band of friends, unconquerable grew. (voice, To bind a race elated with the pride

“ Hence, when their country rais'd her plaintive Of virtue, and disdaining to descend
The voice of pleading Nature was not heard ; To meanness, mutual violence, and wrongs
And in their hearts the fathers throbb'd no more: While war around them rag'd, in happy Rome
Stern to themselves, but gentle to the whole. All peaceful smil'd, all save the passing clouds
Hence sweeten'd pain, the luxury of toil ;

That often hang on Freedom's jealous brow! Patience, that baffled Fortune's utmost rage ; And fair unblemish'd centuries elaps'd, High-minded Hope, which at the lowest ebb, When not a Roman bled but in the field. When Brennus conquer'd, and when Cannæ bled, Their virtue such, that an unbalanc'd state, The bravest impulse felt, and scorn'd despair. Still between noble and plebeian tost, Hence, Moderation a new conquest gain'd;

As flow'd the wave of fluctuating power, As on the vanquish’d, like descending Heaven, Was thence kept firm, and with triumphant prow Their dewy mercy dropp'd, their bounty beam'd, Rode out the storms. Oft though the native feud And by the labouring hand were crowns bestow'd. That from the first their constitution shook, Fruitful of men, hence hard laborious life,

(A latent ruin, growing as it grew,) Which no fatigue can quell, no season pierce. Stood on the threatening point of civil war Hence, Independence, with his little pleas'd, Ready to rush : yet could the lenient voice Serene, and self-sufficient, like a god;

Of wisdom, soothing the tumultuous soul, In whom Corruption could not lodge one charm, Those sons of virtue calm. Their generous hearts,