And war and dread of Cæfar's frown prevail'd.
Straight Lelius from amidst the rest stood forth,
An old centurion of diftinguish'd worth ;
The oaken wreath his hardy temples wore,
Mark of a citizen preserv'd he bore.
If against thee (he cry'd) I may exclaim,
Thou greatest leader of the Roman name;
If truth for injur'd honour may be bold,
What lingering patience does thy arms withhold? 650
Canft thou diftruft our faith so often try'd,
In thy long wars not fhrinking from thy fide?
While in my veins this vital torrent flows,
This heaving breath within my bofom blows
While yet these arms fufficient vigour yield
To dart the javelin, and to lift the shield;
While thefe remain, my general, wilt thou own
The vile dominion of the lazy gown?
Wilt thou the lordly fenate choose to bear,
Rather than conquer in a civil war ?
With thee the Scythian wilds we 'll wander o'er,
With thee the burning Libyan fands explore,
And tread the Syrt's inhofpitable shore.
Behold! this hand, to nobler labours train'd,
For thee the fervile oar has not disdain'd,
Nor Corus there, nor Zephyrus refort,
Nor roll rude furges in the Sacred Port;
Circius' loud blaft alone is heard to roar,
And vex the fafety of Monoechus' fhore.
The legions move from Gallia's farthest side,
Wash'd by the restless ocean's various tide;
Now o'er the land flows in the pouring main,
Now rears the land its rifing head again,
And feas and earth alternate rule maintain.
If driven by winds from the far distant pole,
This way and that, the floods revolving roll;
Or if, compell'd by Cynthia's filver beam,
Obedient Tethys heaves the fwelling stream;
Or if, by heat attracted to the sky,
Old ocean lifts his heavy waves on high,
And briny deeps the wafting fun fupply;
What cause foe'er the wondrous motion guide,
And prefs the ebb, or raise the flowing tide;
Be that your task, ye fages, to explore,
Who fearch the fecret fprings of nature's power: 745
To me, for fo the wifer gods ordain,
Untrac'd the mystery shall still remain.
From fair Nemoffus moves a warlike band,
From Atur's banks, and the Tarbellian ftrand,
Where winding round the coaft pursues its way,
And folds the fea within a gentle bay.
The Santones are now with joy releaft
From hoftile inmates, and their Roman guest,
Now the Bituriges forget their fears,
And Sueffons nimble with unwieldy spears:
Exult the Leuci, and the Remi now,
Expert in javelins, and the bending bow.
The Belge taught on cover'd wains to ride,
The Sequani the wheeling horse to guide;
The bold Averni who from Ilium come,
And boaft an ancient brotherhood with Rome;
The Nervi oft rebelling, oft fubdued,
Whofe hands in Gotta's flaughter were imbrued;
Vangiones, like loose Sarmatians drest,
Who with rough hides their brawny thighs invest; 765
Batavians fierce, whom brazen trumps delight,
And with hoarfe rattlings animate to fight;
The nations where the Cinga's waters flow,
And Pyrenæan mountains stand in fnow;
Those where flow Arar meets the rapid Rhone,
And with his stronger stream is hurry'd down;
Those o'er the mountains lofty fummit spread,
Where high Gebenna lifts her hoary head;
With thefe the Trevir, and Ligurian fhorn,
Whose brow no more long falling locks adorn;
Though chief amongst the Gauls he wont to deck,
With ringlets comely fpread, his graceful neck:
And you where Hefus' horrid altar ftands,
Where dire Teutates human blood demands;
Where Taranis by wretches is obey'd,
And vies in flaughter with the Scythian maid :
All fee with joy the war's departing rage,
Seek diftant lands, and other foes engage.
You too, ye bards! whom facred raptures fire,
To chaunt your heroes to your country's lyre;
Who confecrate, in your immortal strain,
Brave patriot fouls in righteous battle flain;
Securely now the tuneful task renew,
And nobleft themes in deathlefs fongs pursue.
The Druids now, while arms are heard no more, - 790 Old mysteries and barbarous rites restore :
A tribe who fingular religion love,
And haunt the lonely coverts of the grove.
To these, and thefe of all mankind alone,
The gods are fure reveal'd, or fure unknown.
If dying mortals dooms they fing aright,
No ghosts descend to dwell in dreadful night :
No parting fouls to grisly Pluto go,
Nor feek the dreary filent shades below:
But forth they fly immortal in their kind,
And other bodies in new worlds they find.
Thus life for ever runs its endless race,
And like a line, death but divides the space,
A ftop which can but for a moment last,
A point between the future and the past.
Thrice happy they beneath their northern skies,
Who that worst fear, the fear of death, despise;
Hence they no cares for this frail being feel,
But rufh undaunted on the pointed steel;
Provoke approaching fate, and bravely scorn
To fpare that life which muft fo foon return.
You too tow'rds Rome advance, ye warlike band,
That wont the fhaggy Cauci to withstand;
Whom once a better order did affign,
To guard the paffes of the German Rhine;
Now from the fencelefs banks you march away,
And leave the world the fierce barbarians prey.
While thus the numerous troops, from every part,
Affembling, raise their daring leader's heart;
O'er Italy he takes his warlike way,
The neighbouring towns his fummons straight obey,
And on their walls his enfigns high display..
Mean-while the bufy meffenger of ill,
Officious Fame, fupplies new terror ftill:
A thousand flaughters, and ten thousand fears,
She whispers in the trembling vulgar's ears.
Now comes a frighted meffenger, to tell
Of ruins which the country round befel ;-
The foe to fair Mevania's walls is past,
And lays Clitumnus' fruitful paftures waste;
Where Nar's white waves with Tiber mingling fall,
Range the rough German and the rapid Gaul.
But when himself, when Cæfar they would paint,
The ftronger image makes defcription faint;
No tongue can speak with what amazing dread
Wild thought presents him at his army's head;
Unlike the man familiar to their eyes,
Horrid he seems, and of gigantic fize :
Unnumber'd eagles rife amidst his train,
And millions feem to hide the crouded plain.
Around him all the various nations join,
Between the fnowy Alps and diftant Rhine.
He draws the fierce barbarians from their home,
With rage furpaffing theirs he seems to come,
And urge them on to spoil devoted Rome.
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