The Mufes, who your early courtship boast, 5 Though now your flames are with their beauty

loft,

10

Yet watch their time, that, if you have forgot
They were your miftreffes, the world may not:
Decay'd by time and wars, they only prove
Their former beauty by your former love;
And now prefent, as ancient ladies do,
That courted long, at length are forc'd to woo.
For ftill they look on you with fuch kind eyes,
As thofe that fee the Church's fovereign rise
From their own order chofe, in whose high

ftate,

;

15

They think themfelves the fecond choice of fate.

When our great monarch into exile went,
Wit and religion fuffer'd banishment.

Thus once, when Troy was wrap'd in fire and

fmoke,

19

The helplefs gods their burning fhrines forfook;

Ver. 20. The helpless gods &c.] I will here offer part of Merrick's obfervation on a paffage in his tranflation of Tryphiodorus, p. 102.-"We learn from Æfchylus (Enta inì Onß. v. 223.) that it was a common opinion among the ancients, that the tutelary gods of every city withdrew from it when it was going to be taken. The fcholiaft on Afchylus farther informs us, that Sophocles wrote a play called Zoarn@ópos, in which the gods of the Trojans were introduced retiring from the city, and carrying their images with them. What Tryphiodorus feigns of Apollo's quitting Troy, juft before its deftruction, is related by Virgil concerning the other deities of the Trojans, Æn. ii. 351. Exceffere omnes, adytis arifque reli&tis, Diî, quibus imperium hoc fteterat.—

They with the vanquish'd prince and party go,
And leave their temples empty to the foe.
At length the Mufes ftand, reftor'd again
To that great charge which nature did ordain;
And their lov'd Druids feem reviv'd by fate, 25
While you difpenfe the laws, and guide the state.
The nation's foul, our monarch, does dispense,
Through you, to us his vital influence;
You are the channel, where thofe fpirits flow,
And work them higher, as to us they go.

30

In open profpect nothing bounds our eye, Until the earth feems join'd unto the sky: So in this hemifphere our utmost view Is only bounded by our king and you: Our fight is limited where you are join'd, And beyond that no farther heav'n can find. So well your virtues do with his agree, That, though your orbs of different greatness be,

35

40

Yet both are for each other's use difpos'd, His to inclose, and yours to be inclos'd. Nor could another in your room have been, Except an emptinefs had come between. he then to may you his cares impart, And fhare his burden where he fhares his heart.

Well

And Petronius Arbiter fays,

Peritura Troja perdidit primùm deos. Nor is this fiction to be found in the poets only, preferved in fome of the ancient hiftorians."

note.

but is likewife See the whole

TODD.

47

In
you his fleep ftill wakes; his pleasures find
Their fhare of business in your laboring mind.
So when the weary fun his place refigns,
He leaves his light, and by reflection shines.
Justice, that fits and frowns where public laws
Exclude foft mercy from a private cause,
In your tribunal most herself does please ;
There only fmiles because the lives at ease ;
And, like young David, finds her ftrength the

more,

50

When difincumber'd from thofe arms fhe wore.
Heaven would our royal mafter should exceed
Moft in that virtue, which we moft did need; 56
And his mild father (who too late did find
All mercy vain but what with pow'r was join'd)
His fatal goodnefs left to fitter times,
Not to increase, but to abfolve, our crimes: 60
But when the heir of this vaft treasure knew
How large a legacy was left to you,

(Too great for any fubject to retain)
He wifely tyed it to the crown again:

Yet, paffing through your hands, it gathers

more,

65

As ftreams, through mines, bear tincture of

their ore.

Ver. 48. He leaves his light, and by reflection fhines.] The fame fentiment is repeated in the Annus Mirabilis, st. 253.

"His beams he to his royal brother lent,

"And fo fhone ftill in his reflective light." Todd.

Ver. 66. As ftreams, through mines, bear tincture of their ore.]

While empiric politicians use deceit,

Hide what they give, and cure but by a cheat; You boldly fhew that fkill which they pretend, And work by means as noble as your end; 70 Which should you veil, we might unwind the clue,

As men do nature, till we came to you.

And as the Indies were not found, before Thofe rich perfumes, which, from the happy

fhore,

The winds upon

their balmy wings convey'd, Whofe guilty fweetness first their world betray'd;

76

So by your counfels we are brought to view
A rich and undifcover'd world in you.
By you our monarch does that fame affure,
Which kings muft have, or cannot live fecure:
For profp'rous princes gain their fubjects' heart,
Who love that praise in which themselves have
part.

By you he fits thofe fubjects to obey,
As heaven's eternal monarch does convey
His pow'r unfeen, and man, to his defigns
By his bright ministers the stars, inclines.
So Milton of the river Tamar in Cornwall. Epitaph, Damon.
fufca metallis

Tamara.

82

$6

JOHN WARTON. Ver. 67. While empiric] Our knowledge in politics, fays Hume, is even yet imperfect; we know not to what degrees human virtue or vice may be carried. Even Machiavel is an imperfect and mistaken politician. Modern monarchies, he adds, are grown mild and improved; but this is owing to manners, and to the progrefs of fenfe and philofophy. Dr. J. WARTON.

Our fetting fun, from his declining feat, Shot beams of kindness on you, not of heat: And, when his love was bounded in a few, That were unhappy that they might be true, Made you the favorite of his laft fad times, 91 That is a fuff'rer in his fubjects' crimes: Thus thofe first favours you received, were fent, Like heav'ns rewards in earthly punishment. Yet fortune, confcious of your destiny, E'en then took care to lay you foftly by; And wrap'd your fate among her precious things,

95

Kept fresh to be unfolded with your king's.
Shewn all at once you dazzled fo our eyes,
As new-born Pallas did the gods furprize: 100
When, fpringing forth from Jove's new-clofing
wound,

She ftruck the warlike fpear into the ground;
Which sprouting leaves did fuddenly inclofe,
And peaceful olives shaded as they rose.

104

How ftrangely active are the arts of peace, Whofe reftlefs motions lefs than war's do cease! Peace is not freed from labour but from noise; And war more force, but not more pains employs :

Such is the mighty swiftness of your mind, That, like the earth, it leaves our sense behind,

Ver. 87. Our fetting fun,] Charles I. employed him in writing fome of his declarations.

Ver. 109. Such is the mighty]

Dr. J. WARTON. "In this comparison," Dr.