Ecce fpectaculum dignum, ad quod refpiciat, intentus operi fuo, Deus! Ecce par Deo dignum, vir fortis cum mala fortuna compofitus! Non video, inquam, quid habeat in terris Jupiter pulchrius, fi convertere animum velit, quàm ut fpecter Catonem, jam parti bus non femel fractis, nihilominus inter ruinas publicas erectum. Sen. de Divin. Prov.

D 3

VER SES

To the AUTHOR of the

TRAGEDY of CATO.

W

HILE you the fierce divided Britons awe,
And Cato with an equal virtue draw,

While envy is itself in wonder loft,

And factions strive who shall applaud you most ;
Forgive the fond ambition of a friend,

Who hopes himself, not you, to recommend,
And join th' applause which all the learn'd bestow
On one, to whom a perfect work they owe.
To my light fcenes I once infcrib'd your name,
And impotently ftrove to borrow fame:

Soon will that die, which adds thy name to mine;
Let me then live, join'd to a work of thine.

RICHARD STEEL E.

* Tender Husband, dedicated to Mr. Addison.

D 4

Though

TH

Hough Cato fhines in Virgil's epic song,
Preferibing laws among th' Elyfian throng;
Though Lucan's verfe, exalted by his name,
O'er Gods themselves has rais'd the hero's fame;
The Roman ftage did ne'er his image fee,
Drawn at full length; a task referv'd for thee.
By thee we view the finifh'd figure rife,
And awful march before our ravish'd eyes;
We hear his voice, afferting virtue's caufe;
His fate renew'd our deep attention draws,
Excites by turns our various hopes and fears,
And all the patriot in thy fcene appears.

On Tiber's banks thy thought was first inspir'd,
'Twas there, to fome indulgent grove retir'd,
Rome's ancient fortunes rolling in thy mind,
Thy happy mufe this manly work defign'd:
Or in a dream thou faw'ft Rome's genius ftand,
And, leading Cato in his facred hand,
Point out th' immortal subject of thy lays,
And ask this labour to record his praife.

'Tis done-the hero lives, and charms our age!
While nobler morals grace the British stage!
Great Shakespear's ghoft, the folemn ftrain to hear,
(Methinks I fee the laurell'd fhade appear!)
Will hover o'er the fcene, and wond'ring view
His fav'rite Brutus rival'd thus by you.
Such Roman greatnefs in each action shines,
Such Roman eloquence adorns your lines,

That

That fure the Sibyls books this year foretold,
And in fome myftic leaf was feen inroll'd,

Rome, turn thy mournful eyes from Afric's fhore,
• Nor in her fands thy Cato's tomb explore!
• When thrice fix hundred times the circling fun
"His annual race fhall through the zodiac run,

་

An ifle remote his monument fhall rear,

And ev'ry gen'rous Briton pay a tear.'

J. HUGHES.

What do we fee! is Cato then become

A greater name in Britain than in Rome?
Does mankind now admire his virtues more,
Though Lucan, Horace, Virgil wrote before?
How will pofterity this truth explain ?
"Cato begins to live in Anna's reign:"
The world's great chiefs, in council or in arms,
Rife in your lines with more exalted charms;
Elluftrious deeds in diftant nations wrought,
And virtues by departed heroes taught,

Raise in your

foul a pure

immortal flame,

Adorn your life, and confecrate your fame;
To your renown all ages you fubdue,

And Cafar fought, and Cato bled for you.