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From heav'n to earth, of lambent flame serene.

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So stood the brittle prodigy; though smooth
And slipp❜ry the materials, yet frost-bound
Firm as a rock. Nor wanted aught within,
That royal residence might well befit,
For grandeur or for use. Long wavy wreaths
Of flow'rs, that fear'd no enemy but warmth,
Blush'd on the pannels.. Mirror needed none
Where all was vitreous; but in order due
Convivial table and commodious seat

(What seem'd at least commodious seat) were there; Sofa, and couch, and high-built throne august. The same lubricity was found in all,

And all was moist to the warm touch; a scene

Of evanescent glory, once a stream,

And soon to slide into a stream again.
Alas! 'twas but a mortifying stroke

Of undesign'd severity, that glanc'd
(Made by a monarch) on her own estate,
On human grandeur and the courts of kings.

'Twas transient in its nature, as in show

'Twas durable: as worthless, as it seem'd

Intrinsically precious; to the foot

Treach'rous and false; it smil'd, and it was cold.

Great princes have great playthings. Some have play'd

At hewing mountains into men, and some
At building human wonders mountain-high.
Some have amus'd the dull, sad years of life
(Life spent in indolence, and therefore sad)
With schemes of monumental fame; and sought
By pyramids and mausolean pomp,

Short-liv'd themselves, t' immortalize their bones.
Some seek diversion in the tented field,

And make the sorrows of mankind their sport. But war's a game, which, were their subjects wise, Kings would not play at. Nations would do well T'extort their truncheons from the

puny hands

Of heroes, whose infirm and baby minds

Are gratified with mischief; and who spoil,
Because men suffer it, their toy the world.

When Babel was confounded, and the great Confed'racy of projectors wild and vain Was split into diversity of tongues, Then, as a shepherd separates his flock, These to the upland, to the valley those, God drave asunder, and assign'd their lot To all the nations. Ample was the boon He gave them, in its distribution fair

And equal; and he bade them dwell in peace. Peace was awhile their care: they plough'd, and sow'd,

And reap'd their plenty, without grudge or strife.
But violence can never longer sleep

Than human passions please. In ev'ry heart
Are sown the sparks that kindle fi'ry war;

Occasion needs but fan them, and they blaze.
Cain had already shed a brother's blood:

The deluge wash'd it out; but left unquench'd
The seeds of murder in the breast of man.

Soon, by a righteous judgment, in the line
Of his descending progeny was found

The first artificer of death; the shrewd
Contriver who first sweated at the forge,
And forc'd the blunt and yet unbloodied steel
To a keen edge, and made it bright for war.
Him, Tubal nam'd, the Vulcan of old times,
The sword and faulchion their inventor claim;
And the first smith was the first murd'rer's son.
His art surviv'd the waters; and ere long,

When man was multiplied and spread abroad
In tribes and clans, and had begun to call
These meadows and that range of hills his own,
The tasted sweets of property begat

Desire of more, and industry in some,

T'improve and cultivate their just demesne,

Made others covet what they saw so fair.

Thus war began on earth: these fought for spoil,

And those in self-defence. Savage at first,
The onset, and irregular. At length
One eminent above the rest, for strength,
For stratagem, or courage, or for all,

Was chosen leader: him they serv'd in war,
And him in peace, for sake of warlike deeds
Rev'renc'd no less. Who could with him compare?
Or who so worthy to control themselves

As he whose prowess had subdu'd their foes?
Thus war, affording field for the display

Of virtue, made one chief, whom times of peace,
Which have their exigencies too, and call

For skill in government, at length made king.
King was a name too proud for man to wear
With modesty and meekness; and the crown,
So dazzling in their eyes who set it on,
Was sure t' intoxicate the brows it bound.
It is the abject property of most,

That, being parcel of the common mass,

And destitute of means to raise themselves,

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