ARGUMENT.

Æneas relates how the city of Troy was taken, after a ten years fiege, by the treachery of Sinon, and the ftratagem of a wooden horse. He declares the fixt refolution he had taken not to survive the ruins of his country, and the various adventures he met with in the defence of it: at laft, having been before advised by Hector's ghost, and now by the appearance of his mother Venus, he is prevailed upon to leave the town, and settle his houshold gods in another country. In order to this he carries off his father on his fhoulders, and leads his little fon by the hand, his wife following him behind. When he comes to the place appointed for the general rendezvous, he finds a great confluence of people, but misses his wife, whofe ghost afterwards appears to him, and tells him the land which was defigned for him.

VIRGIL's ENEID.

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BOOK II.

LL gaz'd in filence, with an eager look,
Then from the golden couch the hero fpoke.
Ah mighty queen! you urge me to disclose,
And feel, once more, unutterable woes ;
How vengeful Greece with victory was crown'd,
And Troy's fair empire humbled to the ground;
Those direful scenes I faw on Phrygia's fhore,
Those wars in which so large a part I bore,
The fierceft Argive would with tears bewail,
And stern Ulyffes tremble at the tale :
And lo! the night precipitates away;

The ftars, grown dim before the dawning day,
Call to repofe; but fince you long to know,
And curious liften to the story'd woe;

Tho' my fhock'd foul recoils, my tongue fhall tell, 15
But with a bleeding heart, how Ilion fell.

The Grecian kings, (for many a rolling year,
Repell'd by fate, and harrafs'd by the war ;)
By Pallas' aid, of feafon'd fir compofe
A fteed, that tow'ring like a mountain rofe:
This they pretend their common vow, to gain
A fafe return, and measure back the main :

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Such

Such the report; but guileful Argos hides

Her braveft heroes in the monster's fides;

Deep, deep within, they throng'd the dreadful gloom, 25 And half a host lay ambush'd in the womb.

An ifle, in ancient times renown'd by fame,
Lies full in view, and Tenedos the name;

Once bleft with wealth, while Priam held the sway,
But now a broken, rough, and dang'rous bay:
Thither their unfufpected courfe they bore,

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And hid their hofts within the winding shore.
We deem'd them fail'd for Greece; transported Troy
Forgot her woes, and gave a loose to joy;
Threw wide her gates, and pour'd forth all her train,
To view th' abandon'd camp, and empty plain.
Here the Dolopian troops their station held;
There proud Achilles' tent o'erlook'd the field;
Here rang'd the thousand veffels ftood, and there
In conflicts join'd the furious fons of war.
Some view the gift of Pallas with surprise,
The fatal monfter, and its wondrous fize.
And firft Thymoetes mov'd the crowd to lead
And lodge within the tower the lofty steed;
Or, with defign, his country to destroy,
Or fate determin'd now the fall of Troy.
But hoary Capys, and the wife, require
To plunge the treacherous gift of Greece in fire,
Or whelm the mighty monster in the tides,

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Or bore the ribs, and fearch the cavern'd fides,

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Their own wild will the noify crowds obey,
And vote, as partial fancy points the way;

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Till bold Laocoon, with a mighty train,
From the high tower rush'd furious to the plain;
And fent his voice from far, with rage infpir'd---
What madness, Trojans, has your bofoms fir'd?
Think you the Greeks are fail'd before the wind?
Think you these prefents fafe, they leave behind?
And is Ulyffes banish'd from your mind ?
Or this prodigious fabric must inclose,
Deep in its darksome womb, our ambush'd foes;
Or 'tis fome engine, rais'd to batter down
The tow'rs of Ilion, or command the town;
Ah! trust not Grecce, nor touch her gifts abhorr'd;
Her gifts are more destructive than her fword. 65
Swift as the word, his pond'rous lance he threw;
Against the fides the furious javelin flew,
Through the wide womb a spacious paffage found,
And shook with long vibrations in the wound.
The monster groans, and shakes the distant shore; 70
And,round his caverns roll'd, the deep'ning thunders roar.
Then, had not partial Fate confpir'd to blind,
With more than madnefs, ev'ry Trojan mind,

The crowd the treach'rous ambush had explor'd,
And not a Greek had 'fcap'd the vengeful fword; 75
Old Priam ftill his empire would enjoy,
And ftill thy tow'rs had ftood, majestic Troy!

Meantime, before the king, the Dardan fwains,
With fhouts triumphant, brought a youth in chains,
A willing captive to the Trojan hands,

To open Ilion to the Grecian bands;

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Bold

Bold and determin'd either fate to try;

Refolv'd to circumvent, or fix'd to die.
The troops tumultuous gather round the foe,
To fee the captive, and infult his woe.

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Now hear the falfhoods of the Grecian train;

All, all in one; a nation in a man.

For while confounded and difarm'd he stands,
And trembling views around the Phrygian bands,
Alas! what hofpitable land, (he cry'd)

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Or oh! what feas a wand'ring wretch will hide?
Not only banish'd from the Grecian state;
But Troy, avenging Troy, demands my fate.

His melting tears, and moving fighs control Our rifing rage, and foften ev'ry foul.

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We bid him tell his race, and long to know
The fate and tidings of a captive foe.

At length, encourag'd thus, the youth reply'd,
And laid his well-diffembled fears afide.

All, all, with truth, great monarch, I confefs, 100 And first I own my birth deriv'd from Greece;

Wretch as he is, yet Sinon can defy

The frowns of fortune, and difdains a lye.

You know, perchance, great Palamedes' name,
Through many a distant realm renown'd by fame; 105
Condemn'd, tho' guiltless, when he mov'd for peace,
Condemn'd for treason by the voice of Greece.
Though falfe the charge, the glorious hero bled,
But now the Greeks deplore the warrior dead.
Me, yet a youth, my father fent to share
With him, my kinsman, in the toils of war.

Long