Yet silence reign'd. Each on another scowl'd
Rueful amazement, pressing down his rage;
As, mustering vengeance, the deep thunder frowns,
Awfully still, waiting the high command

To spring. Straight from his country, Europe sav'd,
To save Britannia, lo! my darling son,

1

Than hero more, the patriot of mankind,
Immortal Nassau, came. I hush'd the deep
By Demons rous'd, and bade the listed winds,1
Still shifting as behov'd, with various breath,
Waft the Deliverer to the longing shore.
See, wide alive, the foaming Channel bright
With swelling sails and all the pride of war;
Delightful view, when Justice draws the sword!
And mark, diffusing ardent soul around,
And sweet contempt of death, my streaming flag.
Ev'n adverse navies2 bless'd the binding gale,
Kept down the glad acclaim, and silent joy'd.
Arriv'd, the pomp, and not the waste, of arms,
His progress mark'd. The faint-opposing host
For once, in yielding, their best victory found,
And by desertion prov'd exalted faith ;
While his the bloodless conquest of the heart,
Shouts without groan, and triumph without war.
"Then dawn'd the period destin'd to confine
The surge of wild Prerogative, to raise
A mound restraining its imperious rage,
And bid the raving deep no farther flow.
Nor were, without that fence, the swallow'd state
Better than Belgian plains without their dykes,
Sustaining weighty seas. This often say'd

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1130

1140

1 'Listed winds:' the Prince of Orange, in his passage to England, though his fleet had been at first dispersed by a storm, was afterwards extremely favoured by several changes of wind.-2 Adverse navies: the English fleet.

1142:

Pleas'd to yield

By more than human hand, the Public saw,
And seiz'd the white-wing'd moment.
Destructive pow'r,1 a wise heroic prince 2
Ev'n lent his aid.-Thrice happy, did they know
Their happiness, Britannia's bounded kings!
What though not theirs the boast, in dungeon-glooms
To plunge bold Freedom; or to cheerless wilds
To drive him from the cordial face of friend;
Or fierce to strike him at the midnight hour,
By mandate blind, not Justice, that delights
To dare the keenest eye of open day?
What though no glory to control the laws,
And make injurious Will their only rule,

1150

1160

They deem it? What though, tools of wanton Pow'r,
Pestiferous armies swarm not at their call?
What though they give not a relentless crew
Of civil furies-proud Oppression's fangs!-
To tear at pleasure the dejected land,
With starving Labour pamp'ring idle Waste?
To clothe the naked, feed the hungry, wipe
The guiltless tear from lone Affliction's eye;
To raise hid Merit, set th' alluring light
Of Virtue high to view; to nourish Arts,
Direct the thunder of an injur'd state,
Make a whole glorious people sing for joy,
Bless human-kind, and through the downward depth
Of future times to spread that better Sun

Which lights up British soul;-for deeds like these,
The dazzling fair career unbounded lies;

While (still superior bliss!) the dark abrupt
Is kindly barr'd, the precipice of Ill.

Oh, luxury divine! Oh, poor to this,

เ

1170

1 'Destructive power:' by the Bill of Rights and the Act of Succession.

2 Heroic prince: ' William III.

Ye giddy glories of despotic thrones !
By this, by this indeed, is imaged Heav'n,
By boundless Good, without the pow'r of Ill.
"And now, behold! exalted as the cope
That swells immense o'er many-peopled earth,
And like it, free, my fabric stands complete,
The Palace of the Laws. To the four heav'ns
Four gates impartial thrown, unceasing crowds,
With kings themselves the hearty peasant mix'd,
Pour urgent in. And though to different ranks
Responsive place belongs, yet equal spreads
The shelt'ring roof o'er all; while plenty flows,
And glad Contentment echoes round the whole.
Ye floods, descend! Ye winds, confirming, blow!
Nor outward tempest, nor corrosive Time,
Naught but the felon undermining hand
Of dark Corruption, can its frame dissolve,
And lay the toil of ages in the dust."

1174

1180

1160

"The Author addresses the Goddess of Liberty, marking the happiness and
grandeur of Great Britain, as arising from her influence. She resumes
her discourse, and points out the chief Virtues which are necessary to
maintain her establishment there. Recommends, as its last ornament
and finishing, Sciences, Fine Arts, and Public Works. The encourage-
ment of these urged from the example of France, though under a despotic
government. The whole concludes with a Prospect of Future Times, given
by the Goddess of Liberty: this described by the Author, as it passes in
vision before him.

HERE interposing, as the Goddess paus'd,-

"O blest Britannia! in thy presence blest,

Thou Guardian of Mankind! whence spring, alone,

All human grandeur, happiness, and fame:

For Toil, by thee protected, feels no pain;

The poor man's lot with milk and honey flows;

And, gilded with thy rays, ev'n Death looks gay.

Let other lands the potent blessings boast

Of more exalting suns. Let Asia's woods,

Untended, yield the vegetable fleece :

And let the little insect-artist form,

On higher life intent, its silken tomb.

Let wondering rocks, in radiant birth, disclose

The various-tinctur'd children of the Sun.

From the prone beam let more delicious fruits

A flavour drink, that in one piercing taste

Bids each combine. Let Gallic vineyards burst

With floods of joy; with mild balsamic juice

The Tuscan olive. Let Arabia breathe

Her spicy gales, her vital gums distil;

10

Turbid with gold, let southern rivers flow;

And orient floods draw soft o'er pearls their maze;
Let Afric vaunt her treasures; let Peru
Deep in her bowels her own ruin breed,
The yellow traitor that her bliss betray'd,—
Unequall'd bliss!—and to unequall'd rage!
Yet nor the gorgeous East, nor golden South,
Nor, in full prime, that new-discover'd world,
Where flames the falling day, in wealth and praise
Shall with Britannia vie, while, Goddess, she
Derives her praise from thee, her matchless charms.
Her hearty fruits the hand of Freedom own ;
And, warm with culture, her thick-clust 'ring fields
Prolific teem. Eternal verdure crowns
Her meads; her gardens smile eternal spring.
She gives the hunter-horse, unquell'd by toil,
Ardent, to rush into the rapid chase ;

She, whitening o'er her downs, diffusive pours
Unnumber'd flocks; she weaves the fleecy robe
That wraps the nations; she to lusty droves
The richest pasture spreads; and, hers, deep-wave
Autumnal seas of pleasing plenty round.
These her delights; and by no baneful herb,
No darting tiger, no grim lion's glare,
No fierce-descending wolf, no serpent roll'd
In spires immense progressive o'er the land,
Disturb'd. Enlivening these, add cities, full
Of wealth, of trade, of cheerful-toiling crowds;
Add thriving towns; add villages and farms,
Innumerous sow'd along the lively vale,
Where bold unrivall'd peasants happy dwell;
Add ancient seats, with venerable oaks
Embosom'd high, while kindred floods below
Wind through the mead; and those of modern hand,

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