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,
groves, unvifited by bard or fage.
< From the Palatin bill one fees most of the remarkable antiquities.
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,
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 ;
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.
The temple of Concord, where the fenate met on Catiline's confpiracy.
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
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