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§ 67. Character of a good King. THOMSON. YES, we have loft a father!

The greatest blefling Heaven beftows on
mortals,

And feldom found amidst these wilds of time,
A good, a worthy king!-Hear me, my Tancred,
And I will tell thee, in a few plain words,
How he deferv'd that beft, that glorious title.
"Tis nought complex, 'tis clear as truth and virtue
He lov'd his people, deem'd them all his children;
The good exalted, and deprefs'd the bad :
He fpurn'd the flattering crew, with fcorn rejected
Their fmooth advice, that only means themfelves,
Their schemes to aggrandize him into bafenefs:
Well knowing that a people in their rights
And industry protected; living fafe
Beneath the facred fhelter of the laws;
Encourag'd in their genius, arts, and labours;
And happy each as he himfelf deferves;
Are ne'er ungrateful. With unsparing hand
They will for him provide: their filial love
And confidence are his unfailing treasury,
And every honeft man his faithful guard.

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§ 71. THE prince in a lone court was plac'd,

A Lion overcome by a Man.

LEE.

Unarm'd, all but his hands, on which he wore A pair of gantlets,

At laft, the door of an old lion's den
Being drawn up, the horrid beast appear'd :
The flames, which from his eye thot glaring red,
Made the fun start, as the fpectators thought,
And round them caft a day of blood and death:
The prince walk'd forward: the large beast de-
fcried

His prey; and, with a roar that made us pale,
Flew fiercely on him: but Lyfimachus,
Starting afide, avoided his first stroke
With a flight hurt; and, as the lion turn'd,
Thruft gantiet, arm and all, into his throat:
Then with Herculean force tore forth by th' roots
The foaming bloody tongue; and while the fa-

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$73. Virtue the only true Source of Nobility. THOMSON.

TELL thee, then, whoe'er amidst the fons

Of reafon, valour, liberty, and virtue, Difplays diftinguifh'd merit, is a noble

Of Nature's own creating. Such have risen, Sprung from the duft, or where had been our ho

nours?

And fuch, in radiant bands, will rife again
In yon immortal city; that, when moft
Depreft by fate, and near apparent ruin,
Returns, as with an energy divine,

On her attonish'd roes, and shakes them from her. 874

13

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And diftant mountains where they feed their flocks,
The happy fhepherds leave their homely huts,
And with their pipes proclaim the new-born day:
The lufty fwain comes with his well-fill'd fcrip
Of healthful viands, which, when hunger calls,
With much content and appetite he eats,
To follow in the field his daily toil,
And drefs the grateful glebe that yields him fruits:
The beafts, that under the warm hedges flept,

Where no rude fwains her fhady cell may know,
No ferpents climb, nor blafting winds may blow:
Fond of the chofen place, the views it o'er,
Sits there, and wanders thro' the grove no more;
Warbling the charms it each returning night,
And loves it with a mother's dear delight.

$79. A worthless Perfon can claim no Merit
from the Virtues of bis Ancestors. Row E.
WERE honour to be scann'd by long defcent
From ancestors illuftrious, I could vaunt
A lineage of the greatcft; and recount,
Among my fathers, names of ancient story,
Heroes and godlike patriots, who fubdued
The world by arms and virtue:
But that be their own praise :
Nor will I borrow merit from the dead,
Myfelf an undeferver.

And weather'd out the cold bleak night, are up, So. The Love of our Country the greatft of And, looking tow'rds the neighbouring paftures,

raife

Their voice, and bid their fellow brutes good

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ROM amber fhrouds I fee the morning rife;
Her rofy hands begin to paint the skies:
And now the city emmets leave their hive,
And roufing binds to cheerful labour drive;
High cliffs and rocks are pleafing objects now,
And nature fmiles upon the mountain brow;
The joyful birds falute the fun's approach:
The fun too laughs, and mounts his gaudy coach;
While from his car the dropping gems diftil,
And all the carth, and all the heavens, do finile.

877. The charming Notes of the Nightingale.

LEE.

THUS, in fome poplar fhade, the nightingale

Virtues.

THOMSON.

HIS only blot was this; that, much provokˇd,
He rais'd his vengeful arm againft his country.
And lo! the righteous gods have now chaftis'd him,
Ev'n by the hands of thofe for whom he fought.
Whatever private views and paffions plead,
No caufe can justify fo black a deed:

Thefe, when the angry tempeft clouds the foul,
May darken reafon, and her courfe controul;
But, when the proípect clears, her startled eve
Muft from the treach'rous gulph with horror fly,
On whofe wild wave, by formy paflions toft,
So many helplefs wretches have been loft.
Then be this truth the ftar by which we fteur:
Above ourselves our country fhall be dear.

bafe

W. WHITEHEAD.

$81. The fame.
LEARN hence, ye Romans, on how fure a
The patriot builds his happiness; noftroke.
No keeneft, deadlieft, fhaft of adverfe fate,
Can make his generous bofom quite defper,
But that alone by which his country falis.

With piercing moans does her loft young be-Grief may to grief in endless round fucced,

wail:

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And nature fuffer when our children bleed:
Yet ftill fuperior must that hero prove,
Whofe firft, beft paffion, is his country's love.

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And teach them to reform and blefs mankind.
All policy but hers are falfe and rotten;
All valour, not conducted by her precepts,
Is a destroying fury feat f om hell,

To plague unhappy man, and ruin nations.

$83. Scipio reftoring the captive Princefs to be Royal Lover.

THOMSON.

WHAT with admiration [virgin,
Struck every heart was this:-A noble
Confpicuous far o'er all the captive dames,
Was mark'd the gen'ral prize. She wept and
blufh'd,

Young, fresh, and blooming like the morn. Aneye,
As when the blue fky trembles through a cloud
Of pureft white. A fecret charm combin'd
Her features, and infus d enchantment thro' them;
Her fhape was harmony.-But cloquence
Beneath her beauty fails; which feem'd on purpofe
By nature lavish'd on her, that mankind
Might fee the virtue of a hero tried
Almoft beyond the ftretch of human force.
Soft as the pafs'd along, with down-caft eyes,
Where gentle forrows fwell'd, and now and then
Dropt o'er her modeft check a trickling tear,
The Roman legions languith'd, and hard war
Felt more than pity. Ev'n their chief himself,
As on his high tribunal rais'd he fat,
Turn'dirom the dangerous fight, and chiding afk'd
His officers, if by this gift they meant
To cloud his virtue in its very dawn.

She, queftion'd of her birth, in trembling accents,

With tears and blushes broken, told her tale.
But when he found her royally defcended,
Of her old captive parents the fole joy;
And that a hapless Celtiberian prince,
Her lover and belov'd, forgot his chains,
His loft dominions, and for her alone
Wept out his tender foul; fudden the heart
Of this young conq'ring, loving, godlike Roman
Felt all the great divinity of virtue.

His wishing youth stood check'd, his tempting

powr

Reftrain'd by kind humanity.—At once
He for her parents and her lover call'd.
The various fcene imagine: how his troops
Look'd dubious on, and wonder'd what he meant;
While ftretch'd below the trembling fuppliants lay,
Rack'd by a thousand mingling pailions, fear,
Hope, jealoufy, dildain, fubminion, grief,
Anxiety, and love, in every thape;
To thefe as different fentiments fucceeded,
As mixt emotions; when the man divine
Thus the dread filence to the lover broke:
"We both are young, both charm'd. The right

"of war

"Has put thy beauteous miftrefs in my pow'r; "With whom I could in the most facred ties "Live out a happy life: but know that Romans "Their hearts, as well as enemies, can conquer. "Then take her to thy foul; and with her take "Thy liberty and kingdom. In return

"I afk but this :-when you behold thefe eyes, "Thefe charms, with tranfport, be a friend to "Rome."

$ 84. The Blefings of Peace. Beauteous peace!

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THOMSON.

Sweet union of a state! what elfe but thou Gives fafety, ftrength, and glory to a people! I bow, Lord Conftable, beneath the fnow Of many years; yet in my breaft revives A youthful flame. Methinks, I fee again Thofe gentle days renew'd, that blefs'd our ifle, Ere by this wafteful fury of divifion, Worfe than our Etna's most deftructive fires, It defolated funk. I fee our plains Unbounded waving with the gifts of harveft; Our feas with commerce throng'd, our bufy ports With cheerful toil. Our Enna blooms afresh; Afresh the fweets of thymy Hybla blow. Our nymphs and fhepherds, fporting in each vale, Infpire new fong, and wake the paftoral reed.

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Monte

Montezuma. What divine monfters, Oye Gods! | And the whole city feems like one vaft meadow

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Set all with flow'rs, as a clear heaven with stars.
Nay, as I've heard, ere he the city enter'd,
Your fubjects lin'd the way for many furlongs;
The very trees bore men: and as our God,
When from the portal of the east he dawns,
Beholds a thousand birds upon the boughs;
To welcome him with all their warbling throats,
And prune their feathers in his golden beams;
So did your fubjects, in their gaudy trim,
Upon the pendant branches fpeak his praise.
Mothers, who cover'd all the banks beneath,
Did rob the crying infants of the breast,
Pointing Ziphares out, to make them fmile;
And climbing boys ftood on their fathers shoulders,
Anfwering their fhouting fires with tender cries,
To make the concert up of general joy.

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END OF THE THIRD BOOK.

ELEGANT

ELEGANT EXTRACTS,

IN VERSE.

BOOK THE FOURT H.

EPIC AND MISCELLANEOUS:

CONSISTING OF

EXTRACTS from Tranflations of HOMER and TASSO; from SPENSER, MILTON, &c. together with Extracts from MILTON'S fmaller Works, Odes, Sonnets, &c,

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AND now arriv'd, where, on the fandy bay

The Myrmidonian tents and veffels lay; Amus'd at eafe the godlike man they found Pleas'd with the folemn[harp's harmonious found (The well-wrought harp from conquer'd Thæbe Of polish'd filver was its coftly frame); [came, With this he foothes his angry foul, and fings Th'immortal de ds of heroes and of kings. Patroclus only of the royal train, Plac'd in his tent, attends the lofty ftrain; Full oppofite he fate, and listen'd long, In filence waiting till he ceas'd the fong. Unfeen the Grecian embaffy proceeds To his high tent; the great Ulyffes leads. Achilles ftarting, as the chiefs he-fpied, Leap'd from his feat, and laid the harp afide. With like furprife arofe Menetius' fon; Pelides grafp'd their hands, and thus begun : Princes all, hail! whatever brought you here, Or ftrong neceflity, or urgent fear; Welcome, tho' Greeks! for not as foes ye came; To me more dear than all that bear the name.

With that, the chiefs beneath his roof he led, And plac'd in feats with purple carpets spread. Then thus-Patroclus, crown a larger bowl, Mix purer wine, and open ev'ry foul,

Of all the warriors yonder hoft can fend, Thy friend moft honours these, and these thy friend,

He faid. Patroclus o'er the blazing fire Heaps in a brazen vafe three chines entire: The brazen vafe Automedon fuftains, Which flesh of porket, fheep, and goat contains Achilles at the genial featt prefides, The parts transfixes, and with fkill divides. Meanwhile Patroclus fweats the fire to raise; The tent is brighten'd with the rifing blaze: Then, when the languid flames at length fubfide, He ftrows a bed of glowing embers wide; Above the coals the fioking fragments turns, And fprinkles facred falt from lifted urns; With bread the glitt'ring canisters they load, Which round the board Menetius' fon bestow'd; Himself, oppos'd t' Ulyffes full in fight, Each portion parts, and orders ev'ry rite. The first fat off rings, to th' immortals due, Amidst the greedy flames Patroclus threw ; Then each, indulging in the focial feast, His thirst and hunger foberly reprefs'd. That done, to Phoenix Ajax gave the fign, Not unperceiv'd; Ulyffes crown'd with wine The foaming bowl, and inftant thus began, His fpeech addreffing to the godlike man:

Health to Achilles! happy are thy guests! Not thofe more honour'd whom Atrides feafts: Tho' gen'rous plenty crown thy loaded boards, That Agamemnon's regal tent affords:

But

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