Thro' skies, where I could count each little ftar. To make man mild, and fociable to man :
The fanning weft wind scarcely ftirs the leaves; To cultivate the wild licentious favage

The river, rufhing o'er its pebbled bed,
Impofes filence with a ftilly found.
In fuch a place as this, at fuch an hour,
If ancestry can be in aught believ'd,
Defcending spirits have convers'd with man,
And told the fecrets of the world unknown."

Eventful day! how haft thou chang'd my ftate!
Once on the cold, and winter fhaded fide
Of a bleak hill, mifchance had rooted me,
Never to thrive, child of another foil :
Tranfplanted now to the gay funny vale,
Like the green thorn of May,my fortune flowers.
Ye glorious ftars! high heaven's refplendent hoft!
To whom I oft have of my lot complain'd,
Hear, and record, my foul's unalter'd wish!
Dead or alive, let me but be renown'd!
May Heav'n infpire some fierce gigantic Dane
To give a bold defiance to our host!
Before he speaks it out, I will accept :
Like DOUGLAS conquer,or like DOUGLAS die.

$47.
Juba, Syphax. ADDISON.
Juba. CYPHAX, I joy to meet thee thus alone.
I have obferv'd of late thy looks are

fall'n,
O'ercaft with gloomy cares and difcontent;
Then tell me, Syphax, I conjure thee, tell me,
What are the thoughts that knit thy brow in
frowns,

And turn thine eye thus coldly on thy prince?
Syth. 'Tis not my talent to conceal my
thoughts,

Or carry fimiles and fun-fhine in my face,
When difcontent fits heavy at my heart:
I have not yet so much the Roman in me.

With wifdom, difcipline, and lib'ral arts;
Th' embellishments of life: virtues like thefe
Make human nature shine, reform the foul,
And break our fierce barbarians into men.

Syph. Patience, kind heav'ns! - excuse an
old man's warmth.

What are thefe wond'rous civilizing arts,
This Roman polish, and this finooth behaviour,
That render man thus tractable and tame?
Are they not only to difguife our paffions,
To fet our looks at variance with our thoughts,
To check the starts and fallies of the foul,
And break off all its commerce with the tongue,
In short, to change us into other creatures,
Than what our nature and the gods defign'd us?
Jub. To strike thee dumb, turn up thine eyes
to Cato!

There may'ft thou fee to what a godlike height
The Roman virtues lift up mortal man;
While good, and juft, and anxious for his
friends,

He's ftill feverely bent against himself;
Renouncing fleep, and reft, and food, and eafe,
He ftrives with thirft and hunger, toil and heat;
And when his fortune fets before him all
The pomps and pleasures that his foul can with,
His rigid virtue will accept of none. [cán

Syph. Believe me, prince, there's not an Afri-
That traverfes our vaft Numidian deferts
In queft of prey, and lives upon his bow,
But better practises these boasted virtues.
Coarfe are his meals, the fortune of the chace:
Amidft the running ftream he flakes his thirst,
Toils all the day, and at th' approach of night
On the first friendly bank he throws him down,
Or refts his head upon a rock till morn;
Then rifes fresh, purfues his wonted game.

Jub. Why dost thou caft out fuch ungen-And if the following day he chance to find

'rous terms

Against the lords and fov'reigns of the world?
Doft thou not fee mankind fall down before
them,

And own the force of their fuperior virtue ?
Is there a nation in the wilds of Afric,
Amidft our bairen rocks, and burning fands,
That does not tremble at the Roman name?
Syb. Gods! where's the worth that fets this
people up

Above your own Numidia's tawny fons !
Do they with tougher finews bend the bow?
Or flies the jav'lin swifter to its mark,
Launch'd from the vigour of a Roman arm?
Who like our active African inftructs

The fiery steed, and trains him to his hand?
Or guides in troops th' embattled elephant,
Loaden with war? thefe, thefe are arts, my
prince,

In which your Zama does not stoop to Rome.
Jub. Thefe all are virtues of a meaner rank,
Perfections that are plac'd in bones and nei ves.
A Roman foul is bent on higher views:
To civilize the rude unpolish'd world,
And lay it under the restraint of laws ́;

Jub. Why doft thou call my forrows up afreshTrue, fhe is fair, (Oh, how divinely fair!) My father's name brings tears into my eyes. But ftill the lovely maid improves her charms Syph. Oh! that you'd profit by your father's With inward greatnefs, unaffected wisdom, Jub. What wouldst thou have me do? [ills! And fanctity of manners. Cato's foul Syph. Abandon Cato.

Shines out in every thing she acts or speaks,

Jub. Syphax, I fhould be more than twice While winning mildness and attractive smiles By fuch a lofs. [an orphan Dwell in her looks, and with becoming grace

Syph. Ay, there's the tye that binds you! Soften the rigour of her father's virtue. You long to call him father. Marcia's charms

Work in your heart unfeen, and plead for Cato. § 48. Cato's Soliloquy on the Immortality of No wonder you are deaf to all I fay.

Jub. Syphax, your zeal becomes importunate; I've hitherto permitted it to rave

I

the Soul.

ADDISON.

T must be fo-Plata, thou reason'st well! Elfe whence this pleasing hope, this fond And talk at large; but learn to keep it in, This longing after immortality? [defire, Left it should take more freedom than I'll give it. Or whence this fecret dread, and inward horror, Syph. Sir, your great father never us'd me thus. Of falling into nought? why fhrinks the foul Alas! he's dead! but can your e`er forget Back on herself, and ftartles at deftruction? The tender forrows, and the pangs of nature,Tis the divinity that stirs within us; The fond embraces, and repeated bleflings, Which you drew from him in your last farewel? Still must I cherifh the dear, fad remembrance, At once to torture and to please my foul: The good old king at parting wrung my hand, (His eyes brimful of tears) then fighing cry'd, Pr'ythee be careful of my fon !---his grief Swell'd up fo high, he cou'd not utter more. Jub. Alas! thy ftory melts away my foul: That beft of fathers! how fhall I discharge The gratitude and duty which I owe him!

Syph. By laying up his counfels in your heart.
Jub. His counfels bid me yield to thy divec-

tions;

your fafety.

'fis Heav'n itself, that points out an hereafter,
And intimates eternity to man.
Eternity! thou pleafing, dreadful thought!
Through what variety of untry'd being, [pafs!
Through what new fcenes and changes muft we
The wide, th' unbounded prospect lies before

me:

But shadows, clouds, and darkness, rest upon it.
Here will I hold. If there's a power above us,
(And that there is, all nature cries aloud
Thro' all her works) he must delight in virtue;
And that which he delights in mult be happy.
But when, or where-this world was made for

Cæfar.

Then, Syphax, chide me in fevereft terms,
I'm weary of conjectures-this must end 'em.
Vent all thy paffion, and I'll stand its flock,
[Laying his hand on his fword.
Calm and un uffled as a funmer fea,
Thus am I doubly arm'd: my death and life,
When not a breath of wind flies o'er its furface. My bane and antidote are both before me :
Syp. Alas! my prince, I'd guide you to This in a moment brings me to an end;
[how? But this informs me I fhall never die.
Jub. I do believe thou wouldft; but tell me The foul, fecur'd in her existence, fimiles
Syph. Fly from the fate that follows Cæfar's At the drawn dagger, and defies its point.
Jub. My father fcorn'd to do it. [foes. The ftars fhall fade away, the fun himself
Syph. And therefore dy'd.
Grow dim with age, and nature fink in years,
Jub. Better to die ten thousand thoufand But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth,
Than wound my honour.
[deaths, Unhurt amidst the war of elements,
[temper. The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds.
What means this heaviness that hangs upon

Syph. Rather fay your love.

Jub. Syphax, I've promis'd to preferve my
Why wilt thou urge me to confeis a flame
1 long have ftifed, and would fain concea. ?
Syph. Believe me, prince, tho' hard to con-
quer love,

'Tis eafy to divert and break its force.
Abfence might cure it, or a fecond mistress
Light up another flame, and put out this.
The glowing dames of Zama's royal court
Have faces Aufht with more exalted charms;
The fun that rolls his chariot o'er their heads,
Works up more fire and colour in their cheeks;

me?

This lethargy that creeps through all my fenses?
Nature opprefs'd, and harrafs'd out with care,
Sinks down to reft. This once I'll favour her,
That my awaken'd foul may take her flight,
Renew'd in all her ftrength, and fresh with life,
An off'ring fit for heav'n. Let guilt or fear
Disturb man's reft: Cato knows neither of 'em,
Indiff'rent in his choice to fleep or die.

Were you with thefe, my prince, you'd foon § 49. The Happiness of a free Government. forget

The pale, unripen'd beauties of the North.

Jub. Tis not a fet of features, or complexion,
The tincture of a fkin, that I admire.
Beauty foon grows familiar to the lover,
Fades in his eye, and palls upon the fenfe.
The virtuous Marcia tow'rs above her fex:

IF

S. JOHNSON.
there be any land, as fame reports,
Where common laws reftrain the prince and
fubject,

A happy land, where circulating pow'r [state,
Flows through each member of th' embodied
Sure not unconscious of the mighty blesting,

Her

Her grateful fons fhine bright with ev'ry virtue ;|He pick'd the earliest strawberries in the woods,

Untainted with the luft of innovation,
Sure all unite to hold her league of rule
Unbroken as the facred chain of nature,
That links the jarring elements in peace.

$ 50. The killing of a Boar. OTWAY. FORTH from the thicket rush'd another boar,

So large, he feem'd the tyrant of the woods,
With all his dreadful briftles rais'd up high;
They feem'd a grove of fpears upon his back:
Foaming he came at me, where I was posted,
Whetting his huge long tusks, and gaping wide,
As he already had me for his prey;
Till brandishing my well-pois'd javelin high,
With this bold executing arm I truck
The ugly brindled monter to the heart.

§ 51. The fame. WE purfued the chate,

SMITH.

The clufter'd filberts, and the purple grapes :
He taught a prating ftare to speak my name,
And when he found a neft of nightingales,
Or callow linnets, he would fhew 'em me,
And let me take 'em out.

I fat me down, more heavily opprefs'd,
More defolate at heart, than e'er 1 felt
Before. When Philoinela o'er my head
Began to tune her melancholy train,
As piteous of my woes: till, by degrees,
Compofing fleep on wounded nature shed
A kind but short relief. At early morn,

And rocks and woods, in favage view, behind.

When from behind the wood, with Wak'd by the chaunt of birds, I look'd around ruftling found, [eyes For ufual objects: objects found I none, A monstrous boar rufh'd forth his baleful Except before me ftretch'd the toiling main, Shot glaring fire, and his stiff-pointed briftles Rofe high upon his back at me he made, Whetting his tulks, and chewing hideous foam, Then, then Hyppolitus flew in to aid me! Collecting all himself, and raising to the blow, He launch'd the whittling fpear; the wellaim'd javelin

Pierc'd his tough fide, and quiver'd in his heart;
The monfter fell, and grafhing with huge tuiks,
Plough'd up the crimson earth.

52. Defcription of a populous City. YOUNG.
[finiles
THIS ancient city,
How wanton fits fhe, amidft nature's
Nor from her higheft turret has to view
But golden landskips and luxuriant fcenes,
A waste of wealth, the store-houfe of the world;
Here fruitful vales far ftretching fly the sight,
There fails unnumber'd whiten all the ftream,
While from the banks full twenty thousand cities
Survey their pride, and fee their gilded towers
Float on the waves, and break against the flore.
-Various nations meet

As in a fea, yet not confin'd in space,
But ftreaming freely thro' the spacious ftreets,
Which fend forth millions at each brazen gate;
Whene'er the trumpet calls, high over head
On the broad walls the chariots bound along.

$55. The firf Feats of a young Eagle Rowe.
So the eagle
[fire Jove,

That bears the thunder of our grand-
With joy beholds his hardy youthful offspring
Forfake the neft, to try his tender pinions
In the wide untrack'd air, till bolder grown,
Now like a whirlwind on the fhepherd's fold
He darts precipitate, and gripes the prey;
Or fixing on fume dragon's fcaly hide,
Eager of combat, and his future feaft,
Bears him aloft, meluctant, and in vain
Wreathing his fpiry tail.

knowledge,

And wisdom early planted in thy foul,
That thou might it know to rule thy fiery
paffions;
[courfe;
To bind their rage, and ftay their headlong
To bear with accidents, and every change
of various life; to fruggle with adverfity;
Till they, in their own good appointed hour,
To wait the leifure of the righteous Gods,
A long and fhining train; till thou, well pleas'd,
Shall bid thy better days come forth at once;
Shalt Bow, and blefs thy fate, and fay the Gods
are juft.

Before mine eyes, in ev'ry light of life,
The father and the king. What weight of duty
Lay on a fon from fuch a parent sprung;
What virtuous toil to fhine with his renown;
Has been my thought by day,my dream by night.

But first and ever nearest to my heart
Was this prime duty, fo to frame my conduct
Tow'rd fuch a father, as, were I a father,
My foul would with to meet with from a fon.
And may reproach tranfmit my name abhoir'd
To lateft time-if ever thought was mine
Unjust to filial reverence, filial love.

Picking dry sticks, and mumbling to herself;
Hereyes with fcalding rheum were gall'd and red,
Cold palfy fhook her head, her hands feem'd
wither'd,

And on her crooked fhoulders had the wrapp'd
The tatter'd remnants of an old ftip'd hanging,
Which ferv'd to keep her carcafe from the cold:
So there was nothing of a piece about her.
Her lower weeds were all o'er coarsely patch'd
With different-colour'd rags, black, red, white,
yellow,

And seem'd to speak variety of wretchedness.

To be good is to be happy; angels Are happier than men, because they're better.

Guilt is the fource of forrow; 'tis the fiend,

With whips and ftings: the bless d know none

of this,

With love? A brow that never knew a frown? Th' avenging fiend, that follows us behind
Nor a harsh word thy tongue? Shall I for these
Repay thy ftooping venerable age
With fhame, difquiet, anguish, and dishonour?
It must not be!—thou first of angels! Come
Sweet filial piety! and firm my breast!
Yes, let one daughter to her fate fubmit,
Be nobly wretched-but her father happy.

But reft in everlasting peace of mind, [nefs.
And find the height of all their Heav'n is good-

§ 60. Despair never to be indulged. PHILIPS.
TH
'HO' plung'd in ills, and exercis'd in care,
Yet never let the noble mind defpair:
When preft by dangers, and beset with foes,
The Gods their timely fuccour interpole;
And when our virtue finks, o'erwhelm'd with
By unforeseen expedients bring relief. [grief,

$ 64. Honour fuferior to Juflice.
THOMSON.
JONOUR, my Lord, is much too proud to
HONO
catch

At every flender twig of nice diftinctions.
Thefe for the unfeeling vulgar may do well :
But thofe, whofe fouls are by the nicer rule
Of virtuous delicacy only fway'd,
Stand at another bar than that of laws.

Keep from their eye the harlot-form of vice, Who fpread, in every court, their filken fnares, And charm but to betray. Betimes inftruct Superior rank demands fuperior worth; [them, Pre-eminence of valour, justice, mercy : But chief, that, tho' exalted o`er mankind, They are themselves but men-frail fuffering $61. A Friend to Freedom can never be a From no one injury of human lot

Traitor.

THOMSON.

IN a clofe lane, as I pursued my journey,

[duft;

Exempt: but fever'd by the fame heat, chill'd
By the fame cold, torn by the fame disease, [gar.
That fcorches, freezes, racks, and kills the beg-

WITNESS, Heaven!

Whofe eye the heart's profoundest
depth explores,

That if not to perform my regal task ;
To be the common father of my people,
Patron of honour, virtue and religion;

I spy'd a wither'd hag, with age grown double, If not to shelter useful worth, to guard

His well-earn'd portion from the fons of rapine, Guilty, at once, of facrilege to Heav'n!
And deal out justice with impartial hand ; And of perfidious robbery to man!
If not to fpread on all good men thy bounty,
The treasures trusted to me, not my own;
If not to raise anew our English name,
By peaceful arts, that grace the land they bless,

And generous war, to humble proud oppreffurs:
Yet more; if not to build the public weal
On that firm bafe, which can alone refift
Both time and chance, fair liberty and law ;
If I for these great ends am not ordain d—
May I ne'er poorly fill the throne of England.

TIS
[ain:
Honour and glory too have been my

But tho' I dare face death, and all the dangers

§ 70. The true End of Life. THOMSON.

WHO, who would live, my Narva, just to

breathe

This idle air, and indolently run,

Day after day, the ftill returning round
Of life's mean offices, and fickly joys?
But in the fervice of mankind to be

A guardian god below-ftill to employ

The mind's brave ardour in heroic aims,

Such as may raife us o'er the groveling herd,
And make us fhine for ever, That is Life.

§ 71. The fame.

S. JOHNSON.

Which furious war wears in its bloody front,REFLECT that life and death, affecting

Yet could I chufe to fix my fame by peace,
By justice, and by mercy; and to raise
My trophies on the bleffings of mankind :
Nor would I buy the empire of the world
With ruin of the people whom I sway,
Or forfeit of my honour.

§ 68. Character of a good King. THOMSON. YES, we have loft a father! [mortals, The greatest blefling Heaven beftows on And feldom found amidst these wilds of time, A good, a worthy king!-Hear me, my Tancred,

founds,

Are only varied modes of endlefs being.
Reflect that life, like every other blefling,
Derives its value from its ufe alone;
Not for itfelf, but for a nobler end
Th' Eternal gave it, and that end is virtue.
When inconfiftent with a greater good,
Reafon commands to caft the lefs away;
Thus life, with lofs of wealth, is well preserv'd,
And virtue cheaply fav'd with lofs of life.

72. A Lion overcome by a Man. LEE. THE prince in a lone court was plac'd, Unarm'd, all but his hands, on which he A pair of gantlets. [wore

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 At laft, the door of an old lion's den [dren; 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,

virtue,

defcry'd

He lov'd his people, deem'd them all his chil.
The good exalted, and deprefs'd the bad :
He fpurn'd the flattering crew, with fcorn re- And round them caft a day of blood and death:
jected
[felves, The prince walk'd forward: the large beast
Their finooth advice, that only means them-"
Their fchemes to aggrandize him into bafenefs: His prey; and with a roar that made us pale,
Well knowing that a people in their rights
Flew fiercely on him : Eet Lylimachus
And induftry protected; living fafe
Starting afide, avoided his firft ftroke
Beneath the facred Aelter of the laws; With a flight inort; and as the lion turn'd,
Encourag'd in their genius, arts, and labours; Thruft gantlet, arm, and all into his throat:
And happy each as he himself deserves ;
Then, with Herculean force, tone forth by th
Are ne er ungrateful. With unfparing hand
They will for hin provide: their filial love
And confidence are his unfailing treafury,
And every honeft man his faithful guard.

roots

[vage,

The foaming bloody tongue; and while the fa-
Faint with the lots, funk to the blushing earth,
To plow it with his teeth, your conqu'ring
foldier
[pieces.
Leap'd on his back, and dash'd his fcull to

73. Character of an excellent Man. RowE.
[praise !
HOW could my tongue

Take pleafure, and be lavish in thy
How could I speak thy nobleness of nature!
Thy open, manly heart, thy courage, conftancy,
And inborn truth, unknowing to dissemble :
Thou art the man in whom my foul delights,
In whom, next Heav'n, I trust.