Now may we fafely use the northern gales,
And in the polar circle spread our fails:
Or, deep in fouthern climes, fecure from wars,
New lands explore, and fail by other stars :
Fetch uncontrol'd each labour of the fun,
And make the product of the world our own.
At length, proud prince, ambitious Lewis, ceafe To plague mankind, and trouble Europe's peace; Think on the structures which thy pride has ras'd, On towns unpeopled, and on fields laid waste; Think on the heaps of corps and streams of blood, On every guilty plain and purple flood,
Thy arms have made; and cease an impious war,
Nor waste the lives intrufted to thy care.
Or, if no milder thought can calm thy mind,
Behold the great avenger of mankind,
See mighty Naflau through the battle ride,
And fee thy fubjects gasping by his side:
Fain would the pious prince refuse th' alarm,
Fain would he check the fury of his arm;
But, when thy cruelties his thoughts engage,
The hero kindles with becoming rage,
Then countries ftol'n, and captives unreftor'd,
Give strength to every blow, and edge his sword.
Behold with what refiftlefs force he falls
On towns befieg'd, and thunders at thy walls!
Afk Villeroy, (for Villeroy beheld
The town furrender'd, and the treaty feal'd)
With what amazing strength the forts were won, Whilft the whole power of France stood looking on.
But stop not here: behold where Berkeley stands, And executes his injur'd King's commands;
Around thy coaft his bursting bombs he
On flaming citadels, and falling towers;
With hiffing streams of fire the air they streak,
And hurl deftruction round them where they break,
The skies with long afcending flames are bright,
And all the fea reflects a quivering light.
Thus Ætna, when in fierce eruptions broke,
Fills heaven with ashes, and the earth with smoke:
Here crags of broken rocks are twirl'd on high,
Here molten ftones and scatter'd cinders fly :
Its fury reaches the remotest coast,
And ftrows the Afiatic fhore with duft.
Now does the failor from the neighbouring main
Look after Gallic towns and forts in vain ;
No more his wonted marks he can descry,
But fees a long unmeafur'd ruin lie;
Whilft, pointing to the naked coast, he shows
His wondering mates where towns and steeples rofe,
Where crowded citizens he lately view'd,
And fingles out the place where once St. Maloes ftood.
Here Ruffel's actions should my Muse require;
And, would my ftrength but fecond my defire,
I'd all his boundless bravery rehearse,
And draw his cannons thundering in my verfe;
High on the deck should the great leader stand,
Wrath in his look, and lightning in his hand;
Like Homer's Hector when he flung his fire
Amidst a thousand ships, and made all Greece retire.'
But who can run the British triumphs o'er,
And count the flames difperft on every fhore?
Who can describe the scatter'd victory,
And draw the reader on from fea to fea?
Elfe who could Ormond's God-like acts refuse,
Ormond the theme of every Oxford Muse ?
Fain would I here his mighty worth proclaim,
Attend him in the noble chace of fame,
Through all the noise and hurry of the fight.
Obferve each blow, and keep him still in sight.
Oh, did our British peers thus court renown,
And grace the coats their great fore-fathers won!
Our arms would then triumphantly advance,
Nor Henry be the last that conquer'd France.
What might not England hope, if fuch abroad
Purchas'd their country's honour with their blood:
When fuch, detain'd at home, fupport our ftate
In William's ftead, and bear a kingdom's weight,
The schemes of Gallic policy o'erthrow,
And blaft the counfels of the common foe;
Direct our armies, and distribute right,
And render our Maria's loss more light.
But stop, my Muse, th' ungrateful found forbear,
Maria's name ftill wounds each British ear:
Each British heart Maria ftill does wound,
And tears burft out unbidden at the found;
Maria ftill our rifing mirth deftroys,
Darkens our triumphs, and forbids our joys.
But fee, at length, the British ships appear!
Our Naffau comes! and as his fleet draws near,
The rifing mafts advance, the fails grow white,
And all his pompous navy floats in fight.
Come, mighty Prince, defir'd of Britain, come!
May Heaven's propitious gales attend thee home!
Come, and let longing crowds behold that look,
Which fuch confufion and amazement ftruck
Through Gallic hosts: but, oh! let us defcry
Mirth in thy brow, and pleasure in thine eye;
Let nothing dreadful in thy face be found,
But for a while forget the trumpet's found:
Well-pleas'd, thy people's loyalty approve,
Accept their duty, and enjoy their love.
For as, when lately mov'd with fierce delight,
You plung'd amidst the tumult of the fight,
Whole heaps of death encompafs'd you around,
And steeds o'er-turn'd lay foaming on the ground;
So crown'd with laurels now, where-e'er you go,
Around you blooming joys and peaceful bleffings flow.
EXCEPT THE STORY OF ARISTÆUS.D.LA
Thereal fweets shall next my Mufe
And this, Mecenas, claims your patronage.
Of little creatures wondrous acts I treat,
The ranks and mighty leaders of their state,
Their laws, employments, and their wars relate.
A trifling theme provokes my humble lays :
Trifling the theme, not fo the poet's praise,
If great Apollo and the tuneful Nine
Join in the piece, and make the work divine.
First, for your bees a proper station find,
That's fenc'd about and shelter'd from the wind;
For winds divert them in their flight, and drive
The fwarms, when loaden homeward, from their hive.
Nor fheep, nor goats, must pasture near their stores,
To trample under foot the springing flowers;
Nor frisking heifers bound about the place,
To fpurn the dew-drops off, and bruife the rifing grafs :.
Nor muft the lizard's painted brood appear,
Nor wood-pecks, nor the swallow harbour near.
They waste the swarms, and as they fly along
Convey the tender morfels to their young.
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