77.

He said, nor needed more to say: with hafte
To their known ftations chearfully they go;
And all at once, difdaining to be laft,

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 steer their way,
But feem'd to wander in a moving wood.

79.

Our little fleet was now engag'd fo far,

That, like the fword-fifh 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 rise.

82.

Mean-time the Belgians tack upon our rear,

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

Who on their lions for the prey attend.

83.

Silent in fmoke of cannon they come on:

४.

Such vapours once did fiery & 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 Her

cules, he was by the latter attacked and totally defeated, escaping only

こ

In these the height of pleas'd revenge is shewn,
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 Ætnas on the ocean meet,

And English fires with Belgian flames contend.
85.

Now at each tack our little fleet grows less;

And like maim'd fowl, swim 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 whistled from the fift,
Some falcon ftoops at what her eye defign'd,
And with her eagerness the quarry miss'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 shelter 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 safety, 'twas his latest care,
Like falling Cæfar, decently to die.

89.

Yet pity did his manly fpirit move,

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

Refolv'd to live till he their fafety wrought.

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

90. Let

90.

Let other mufes write his profperous fate,
Of conquer'd nations tell, and kings reftor'd:
But mine fhall fing of his eclips'd eftate,

Which, like the fun's, more wonders does afford

91.

He drew his mighty frigates all before,

On which the foe his fruitlefs force employs:
His weak ones deep into his rear he bore
Remote from guns, as fick men from the noise.

92.

His fiery cannon did their paffage guide,

And following smoke obfcur'd them from the foe: Thus Ifrael fafe from the Egyptian's pride, By flaming pillars, and by clouds did go.

93.

Elsewhere the Belgian force we did defeat,
But here our courages did theirs fubdue:
So Xenophon once led that fam'd retreat,
Which firft the Afian empire overthrew.

94.

The foe approach'd; and one for his bold fin
Was funk; as he that touch'd the ark was flain:
The wild waves mafter'd him and fuck'd him in,
And fmiling eddies dimpled on the main.

95.

This feen, the reft at awful distance stood:
As if they had been there as fervants fet
To ftay, or to go on, as he thought good,
And not pursue but wait on his retreat.

96.

So Libyan huntfmen, on fome fandy plain,
From shady coverts rouz'd, the lion chace:
The kingly beaft roars out with loud disdain,
And flowly moves, unknowing to give place.

2

97. But

97.

But if fome one approach to dare his force,
He fwings his tail, and swiftly turns him round;
With one paw feizes on his trembling horfe,
And with the other tears him to the ground.

98.

Anidft thefe toils fucceeds the balmy night;
Now hiffing waters the quench'd guns restore :
And weary waves withdrawing from the fight,
Lie lull'd and panting on the filent shore.

99.

The moon fhone clear on the becalmed flood,
Where while her beams like glittering filver play,

Upon the deck our careful general stood,

And deeply mus'd on the fucceeding day.

ICO.

That happy fun, faid he, will rife again,
Who twice victorious did our navy fee:
And I alone muft view him rife in vain,
Without one ray of all his star for me.

101.

Yet like an English general will I die,

And all the ocean make my fpacious grave:
Women and cowards on the land may lie;
The sea's a tomb that's proper for the brave.

102.

Reftlefs he pass'd the remnant of the night,
Tili the fresh air proclaim'd the morning nigh:
And burning fhips, the martyrs of the fight,
With paler fires beheld the eastern sky.

103.

But now his ftores of ammunition spent,
His naked valour is his only guard :

Rare thunders are from his dumb cannon fent,
And folitary guns are fcarcely heard.

F 2

104. Thus

104.

Thus far had fortune power, he forc'd to stay,
Nor longer durft with virtue be at strife:
This as a ranfom Albemarle did pay,
For all the glories of fo great a life.

105.

For now brave Rupert from afar appears,

Whose waving streamers the glad general knows:
With full fpread fails his eager navy steers,
And every ship in fwift proportion grows.

106.

The anxious prince had heard the cannon long,
And from that length of time dire omens drew
Of English overmatch'd, and Dutch too strong,
Who never fought three days, but to pursue.
107.

Then, as an eagle, who with pious care
Was beating widely on the wing for prey,
To her now filent eiry does repair,

And finds her callow infants forc'd away:

108.

Stung with her love, fhe ftoops upon the plain,
The broken air loud whistling as fhe flies:
She ftops and liftens, and fhoots forth again,
And guides her pinions by her young ones cries,

109.

With fuch kind paffion haftes the prince to fight,
And spreads his flying canvafs to the found:
Him, whom no danger were he there could fright,
Now abfent every little noife can wound.

ILO.

As in a drought the thirsty creatures cry,
And gape upon the gather'd clouds for rain;
And firft the martlet meets it in the sky,

And with wet wings joys all the feather'd train.

111. With