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Howe'er they soon unsheath the flashing sword,
Their country calls to arms, now all in vain
The mother clasps the knee, and ev'n the fair
Now weeps
in vain; their country calls to arms.
Such virtue Clelia, Cocles, Manlius, rous'd;
Such were the Fabii, Decii; so inspir'd
The Scipio's battled, and the Gracchi spoke :
So rofe the Roman ftate. Me now, of these
Deep-mufing, high ambitious thoughts inflame-
Greatly to ferve my country, diftant land,
And build me virtuous fame; nor fhall the duft
Of these fall'n piles with fhew of fad decay
Avert the good refolve, mean argument,
The fate alone of matter. Now the brow
We gain enraptur'd; beauteously distinct c
The num❜rous portico's and domes upfwell,
With obelifcs and columns interpos'd,

And pine, and fir, and oak: so fair a scene
Sees not the dervise from the spiral tomb
Of ancient Chammos, while his eye beholds
Proud Memphis' reliques o'er th' Ægyptian plain :
Nor hoary hermit from Hymettus' brow,
Though graceful Athens, in the vale beneath.
Along the windings of the Mufe's stream,
Lucid Ilyffus, weeps her filent schools,

And

groves, unvifited by bard or fage.

< From the Palatin bill one fees most of the remarkable antiquities.

VOL. I.

P

Amid

Amid the tow'ry ruins, huge, fupreme,
Th' enormous amphitheatre behold,
Mountainous pile! o'er whose capacious womb
Pours the broad firmament its varied light ;
While from the central floor the feats afcend
Round above round, flow-wid'ning to the verge,
A circuit vast and high; nor less had held
Imperial Rome, and her attendant realms,
When drunk with rule fhe will'd the fierce delight,
And op'd the gloomy caverns, whence out-rush'd
Before th' innumerable fhouting crowd

The fiery, madded, tyrants of the wilds,
Lions and tygers, wolves and elephants,
And defp❜rate men, more fell. Abhorr'd intent !
By frequent converse with familiar death,
To kindle brutal daring apt for war;

To lock the breaft, and fteel th' obdurate heart,
Amid the piercing cries of fore distress
Impenetrable. But away thine eye;
Behold yon steepy cliff; the modern pile
Perchance may now delight, while that rever'd &
In ancient days, the page alone declares,
Or narrow coin through dim cærulean ruft.
The fane was Jove's, its fpacious golden roof,
O'er thick-furrounding temples beaming wide,
Appear'd, as when above the morning hills
Half the round fun afcends; and tow'r'd aloft,

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Suftain'd by columns huge, innumerous
As cedars proud on Canaan's verdant heights
Dark'ning their idols, when Aftarte lur'd
Too profp❜rous Ifrael from his living ftrength.
And next regard yon venerable dome,
Which virtuous Latium, with erroneous aim,
Rais'd to her various deities, and nam'd
Pantheon; plain and round; of this our world
Majestick emblem; with peculiar grace,
Before its ample orb, projected ftands
The many-pillar'd portal; nobleft work
Of human skill, here, curious architect,
If thou affay'ft, ambitious, to surpass
Palladius, Angelus, or British Jones,
On these fair walls extend the certain scale,
And turn th' inftructive compass: careful mark
How far in hidden art, the noble plain
Extends, and where the lovely forms commence
Of flowing sculpture: nor neglect to note
How range the taper columns, and what weight
Their leafy brows fuftain: fair Corinth first
Boafted their order which Callimachus
(Reclining ftudious on Afopus' banks
Beneath an urn of fome lamented nymph)
Haply compos'd; the urn with foliage curl'd
Thinly conceal'd, the chapiter inform'd.
See the tall obelifcs from Memphis old,
One ftone enormous each, or Thebes convey'd ;

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Like Albion's fpires they rush into the skies.
And there the temple, where the fummon'd ftate e
In deep of night conven'd: ev'n yet methinks
The veh❜ment orator in rent attire

Perfuafion pours, ambition finks her crest;
And lo the villain, like a troubled sea,
That toffes up her mire! Ever difguis'd,
Shall treafon walk fhall proud oppreffion yoke
The neck of virtue ? Lo the wretch abash'd,
Self-betray'd Catiline! O Liberty,

Parent of happiness, celestial born;
When the first man became a living foul,
His facred genius thou; be Britain's care ;
With her fecure, prolong thy lov'd retreat ;
Thence blefs mankind; while yet among her fons,
Ev'n yet there are, to shield thine equal laws,
Whofe bofoms kindle at the facred names
Of Cecil, Raleigh, Walfingham, and Drake.
May others more delight in tuneful airs;
In mafque and dance excell; to sculptur'd stone
Give with fuperior skill the living look;
More pompous piles erect, or pencil foft
With warmer touch the vifionary board:
Be thou, thy nobler Britons teach to rule;
To check the ravage of tyrannick sway;

To quell the proud; to spread the joys of peace

And various bleffings of ingenious trade.

e

The temple of Concord, where the fenate met on Catiline's confpiracy.

Be

Be these our arts; and ever may we guard,
Ever defend thee with undaunted heart,
Inestimable good! who giv't us Truth,
Whose hand upleads to light, divinest Truth,
Array'd in ev'ry charm: whofe hand benign
Teaches unwearied toil to cloath the fields,
And on his various fruits inscribes the name
Of Property: O nobly hail'd of old
By thy majestick daughters, Judah fair,
And Tyrus and Sidonia, lovely nymphs,
And Libya bright, and all-enchanting Greece,
Whofe num'rous towns and ifles, and peopled feas,
Rejoic'd around her lyre; th' heroic note
(Smit with fublime delight) Aufonia caught,
And plan'd imperial Rome. Thy hand benign
Rear'd up her tow'ry battlements in ftrength;
Bent her wide bridges o'er the fwelling stream
Of Tuscan Tiber; thine thofe folemn domes
Devoted to the voice of humble pray'r;
And thine thofe piles undeck'd, capacious, vast f
In days of dearth, where tender Charity
Difpens'd her timely fuccours to the poor.
Thine too those mufically-falling founts
To flake the clammy lip; adown they fall,
Musical ever; while from yon blue hills
Dim in the clouds, the radiant aqueducts
Turn their innumerable arches o'er

* The publick granaries.
P 3

The

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