58.

Now pafs'd, on either fide they nimbly tack;
Both ftrive to intercept and guide the wind:
And, in its eye, more clofely they come back,
To finish all the deaths they left behind.

59.

On high-rais'd decks the haughty Belgians ride,
Beneath whofe fhade our humble frigates go:
Such port the elephant bears, and fo defy'd
By the rhinoceros her unequal foe.

60.

And as the built, fo diff'rent is the fight;
Their mounting fhot is on our fails defign'd:
Deep in their hulls our deadly bullets light,
And through the yielding planks a passage find.
61.

Our dreaded admiral from far they threat,

Whose batter'd rigging their whole war receives: All bare, like fome old oak which tempefts beat; He ftands, and fees below his fcatter'd leaves.

62.

Heroes of old, when wounded, shelter fought;
But he who meets all danger with disdain,
E'en in their face his fhip to anchor brought,
And fteeple-high stood propt upon the main.
63.

At this excess of courage, all amaz'd,

The foremost of his foes awhile withdraw: With fuch refpect in enter'd Rome they gaz'd, Who on high chairs the god-like fathers faw.

64.

And now, as where Patroclus' body lay,

Here Trojan chiefs advanc'd, and there the Greek; Ours o'er the Duke their pious wings display,

And theirs the nobleft fpoils of Britain feek.

65. Mean

65.

Mean-time his busy mariners he haftes,
His fhatter'd fails with rigging to restore;
And willing pines afcend his broken mafts,
Whofe lofty heads rife higher than before.
66.

Straight to the Dutch he turns his dreadful prowy
More fierce th' important quarrel to decide :
Like fwans, in long array his veffels show,
Whose crefts advancing do the waves divide.

67.

They charge, recharge, and all along the fea
They drive, and fquander the huge Belgian fleet,
Berkley 6 alone, who neareft danger lay,

Did a like fate with loft 7 Creufa meet.

68.

The night comes on, we eager to pursue
The combat ftill, and they afham'd to leave:
Till the last streaks of dying day withdrew,
And doubtful moon-light did our rage deceive.

69.

In th' English fleet each ship resounds with joy,
And loud applause of their great leader's fame:
In fiery dreams the Dutch they still destroy,

And flumbering fmile at the imagin'd flame.

6 Among other remarkable paffages in this engagement, the undaunted refolution of vice-admiral Berkley was particularly admired. He had many men killed on board him, and tho' no longer able to make refiftance, yet would obftinately continue the fight, refufing quarter to the laft. Being at length fhot in the throat with a mufketball, he retired to his cabbin, where, ftretching himself on a great table, he expired; and in that pofture did the enemy, who afterwards took the fhip, find the body covered with blood.

7 Did a like fate with loft Creufa meet. Æneas, while Troy was in a flame, bore off his father Anchifes on his back, and his fon Iulus in his hand his wife Creufa following, was divided from him in the confufion as he was near the city gate, nor did ever after fee her, as he tells queen Dido in the second book of the Eneid, ver. 736, &c.

70. Not

1

70.

Not fo the Holland fleet, who tired and done,
Stretch'd on their decks like weary oxen lie:
Faint fweats all down their mighty members run;
Vaft bulks which little fouls but ill fupply.

71.

In dreams they fearful precipices tread:

Or fhipwreck'd, labour to fome diftant fhore:
Or in dark churches walk among the dead;
They wake with horror, and dare fleep no more.

72.

The morn they look on with unwilling eyes,

Till from their main-top joyful news they hear Of fhips, which by their mould bring new fupplies, And in their colours Belgian lions bear.

73.

Our watchful general had difcern'd from far

This mighty fuccour, which made glad the foe:

He figh'd, but like a father of the war,

His face fpake hope, while deep his forrows flow.

74.

His wounded men he firfts fends off to fhore,

Never till now unwilling to obey:

They, not their wounds, but want of ftrength deplore, And think them happy who with him can stay.

75.

Then to the reft, Rejoice, faid he, to-day;

In

you the fortune of Great-Britain lies:

Among fo brave a people, you are they

Whom heaven has chofe to fight for fuch a prize. 76.

If number English courages could quell,

We fhould at first have fhun'd, not met our foes: Whose numerous fails the fearful only tell:

Courage from hearts and not from numbers grows.

77.

He faid, nor needed more to fay: with hafte
To their known ftations chearfully they go;
And all at once, disdaining to be last,

Solicit every gale to meet the foe.

78.

Nor did the encourag'd Belgians long delay,
But bold in others, not themselves, they stood:
So thick, our navy scarce could fteer their way,
But feem'd to wander in a moving wood.

79.

Our little fleet was now engag'd so far,

That, like the fword-fish in the whale they fought: The combat only feem'd a civil war,

Till through their bowels we our paffage wrought.

80.

Never had valour, no not ours, before

Done ought like this upon the land or main, Where not to be o'ercome was to do more

Than all the conquefts former kings did gain.

81.

The mighty ghofts of our great Harries rofe,
And armed Edwards look'd with anxious eyes,

To fee this fleet among unequal foes,

By which fate promis'd them their Charles fhould rife.

82.

Mean-time the Belgians tack upon our rear,

And raking chase-guns through our fterns they fend: Close by their fire-fhips, like jackals, appear,

Who on their lions for the prey attend.

83.

Silent in fmoke of cannon they come on:
Such vapours once did fiery 8 Cacus hide:

In

8 Cacus, the fon of Vulcan, is fabled to have reigned king of a province in Spain, where his tyranny roufing the refentment of Hercules, he was by the latter attacked and totally defeated, efcaping

only

In these the height of pleas'd revenge is fhewn,
Who burn contented by another's fide.
84.

Sometimes from fighting fquadrons of each fleet,
Deceiv'd themselves, or to preferve fome friend,
Two grapling Etnas on the ocean meet,

And English fires with Belgian flames contend.
85.

Now at each tack our little fleet grows lefs;

And like maim'd fowl, fwim lagging on the main : Their greater lofs their numbers fcarce confefs, While they lofe cheaper than the English gain.

86.

Have you not feen, when whiftled from the fift,
Some falcon stoops at what her eye defign'd,
And with her eagerness the quarry mifs'd,

Straight flies at check, and clips it down the wind? 87.

The daftard crow that to the wood made wing,
And fees the groves no fhelter can afford,
With her loud kaws her craven kind does bring,
Who fafe in numbers cuff the noble bird.

88.

Among the Dutch thus Albemarle did fare:
He could not conquer, and disdain'd to fly;
Paft hope of fafety, 'twas his latest care,
Like falling Cæfar, decently to die.

89.

Yet pity did his manly fpirit move,

To fee thofe perifh who fo well had fought; And generously with his defpair he strove,

Refolv'd to live till he their fafety wrought.

only with fifty followers to a cave in the fide of a steep mountain. Here being closely rent up, and in want of provifions, Cacus, by his art, taught his people to vomit fire and fmoak, under cover of which they retreated thro' the midft of their enemies.

VOL. I.

F

90. Let