XXIX.

He made us free-men of the continent,
Whom nature did like captives treat before;
To nobler preys the English lion sent,

115

And taught him firft in Belgian walks to roar.

XXX.

That old unqueftion'd pirate of the land, Proud Rome, with dread the fate of Dunkirk heard ;

And trembling wish'd behind more Alps to stand, Although an Alexander were her guard. 120

XXXI.

By his command we boldly crofs'd the line, And bravely fought where fouthern stars arife;

We trac'd the far-fetch'd gold unto the mine, And that which brib'd our fathers made our

prize.

XXXII.

Such was our prince; yet own'd a foul above 125 The highest acts it could produce to show: poor mechanic arts in public move, Whilft the deep fecrets beyond practice go.

Thus

XXXIII.

Nor dy'd he when his ebbing fame went lefs But when fresh laurels courted him to live :

Ver. 113. He made us freemen, &c.] We may be faid to have been made freemen of the Continent by the taking of Dunkirk, which was wrefted from the Spaniards by the united forces of France and England, and delivered up to the latter in the be ginning of 1658.

DERRICK.

DERRICK.

Ver. 120. Although an Alexander, &c.] At this time Alexan. der VII. fat in the papal chair.

He feem'd but to prevent fome new fuccefs, 151 As if above what triumphs earth could give.

XXXIV.

His latest victories ftill thickest came,

As near the center motion doth increase; 134 "Till he, prefs'd down by his own weighty name, Did, like the veftal, under fpoils decease. 136

XXXV.

But firft the ocean as a tribute fent

The giant prince of all her watry herd; And the isle, when her protecting genius went, Upon his obfequies loud fighs conferr❜d. 140

XXXVI.

No civil broils have fince his death arofe,
But faction now by habit does obey;
And wars have that refpect for his repofe,
As winds for halcyons, when they breed at fea.

XXXVII.

His afhes in a peaceful urn fhall rest,

145

His name a great example stands, to show,

Ver. 135. 'Till he, prefs'd down by his own weighty_name,] Not unlike Livy, who defcribing the Progrefs of the City of Rome, fays," Quæ ab exiguis perfecta initiis, eo creverit ut jam magnitudine laboret fuâ. JOHN WARTON.

Ver. 145. His afhes in a peaceful urn fhall reft,] Our poet's prophetical capacity here failed, for we read in the accurate memoirs of the Protectorate-House of Cromwell, by Mark Noble, F.S.A." He was elected Protector, December 12, 1653, and inaugurated again with more state, June 20, 1657; and died peaceably in his bed (worn out by exceffive fatigue of mind and body, by grief in domestic misfor

How ftrangely high endeavours may

be bleft, Where piety and valour jointly go.

tunes, and his load of debts), at his palace at Whitehall, upon his aufpicious September 3, 1658; and was buried with more than regal pomp, in the fepulchre of our monarchs, from whence at the restoration, his body was dragged to, and expofed upon the gallows at Tyburn, the trunk thrown into a hole beneath it, and his head fet upon a pole at Westminster-Hall." Noble's Me moirs, vol. I. p. 145. JOHN WARTON.

ASTRÆEA REDUX.

A POEM

ON THE HAPPY RESTORATION AND RETURN OF HIS SACRED MAJESTY CHARLES II. 1660.

Jam redit & Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna. VIRG.

The last great age foretold by facred rhymes
Renews its finifh'd courfe; Saturnian times
Roll round again.

NOW with a general peace the world was bleft,

While our's, a world divided from the rest,
A dreadful quiet felt, and worfer far

Than arms, a fullen interval of war:

Thus when black clouds draw down the lab'ring fkies,

Ere yet abroad the winged thunder flies,

5

Ver. 1. Now with a general] Waller, as well as Dryden, altered his fentiments, and changed his notes, on the Restoration; and when the King hinted to him the inferiority of his fecond poem to the former, answered, "Poets, Sir, fucceed better in fiction than in truth." What notice Charles took of Dryden's Aftræa we are ignorant. Dr. J. WARTON.

10

An horrid ftillness firft invades the ear,
And in that filence we the tempeft fear.
The ambitious Swede, like reftlefs billows toft,
On this hand gaining what on that he loft,
Though in his life he blood and ruin breath'd,
To his now guidelefs kingdom peace bequeath'd.
And heaven, that feem'd regardless of our fate,
For France and Spain did miracles create ;
Such mortal quarrels to compofe in peace,
As nature bred, and intereft did increase.
We figh'd to hear the fair Iberian bride
Muft grow a lily to the lily's fide,

15

While our cross stars deny'd us Charles his bed, Whom our first flames and virgin love did wed.

Ver. 7. An horrid filence firft invades the ear,] See Thompfon's impending ftorm in Summer, v. 1116.

66

A boding filence reigns,

Dread thro' the dun expanfe; fave the dull found
That from the mountain, previous to the storm,
Rolls o'er the muttering earth, difturbs the flood,
And thakes the foreft-leaf without a breath."

Ibid. An horrid stillness firft invades the ear,

JOHN WARTON.

This diftich

And in that filence we the tempeft fear.] was laid hold of by the wits of the times, and among others by Capt. Alexander Radcliff, in his news from Hell, who ridicules it thus:

"Laureat, who was both learn'd and florid,
"Was damn'd long fince for filence horrid :
"Nor had there been fuch clutter made,
"But that this filence did invade :

"Invade! and fo't might well, --that's clear:
"But what did it invade ?an ear."

Ver. 19.

- deny'd us Charles his bed,]

DERRICK.

Original edition,

TODD.