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Envied Britannia, sturdy as the oak,

Which on her mountain-top she proudly bears,
Eludes the axe, and sprouts against the stroke;
Strong from her wounds, and greater by her wars.
And as those teeth, which Cadmus sow'd in earth,
Produc'd new youth, and furnish'd fresh supplies :
So with young vigour, and succeeding birth,
Her losses more than recompens'd arise;
And ev'ry age she with a race is crown'd,
For letters more polite, in battles more renown'd.

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Obstinate power, whom nothing can repel; 241 Not the fierce Saxon, nor the cruel Dane, Nor deep impression of the Norman steel, Nor Europe's force amass'd by envious Spain, Nor France on universal sway intent, Oft breaking leagues, and oft renewing wars ; Nor (frequent bane of weaken'd government) Their own intestine feuds and mutual jars : Those feuds and jars, in which I trusted more, Than in my troops, and fleets, and all the Gallic power.

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To fruitful Rheims, or fair Lutetia's gate, What tidings shall the messenger convey? Shall the loud herald our success relate, Or mitred priest appoint the solemn day? Alas! my praises they no more must sing; They to my statue now must bow no more: Broken, repuls'd is their immortal king: Fallen, fallen for ever, is the Gallic powerThe woman chief is master of the war: Earth she has freed by arms, and vanquish'd Heaven by prayer.

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While thus the ruin'd foe's despair commends
Thy council and thy deed, victorious queen,
What shall thy subjects say, and what thy friends?
How shall thy triumphs in our joy be seen?

Oh! deign to let the eldest of the nine
Recite Britannia great, and Gallia free:
Oh! with her sister sculpture let her join
To raise, great Anne, the monument to thee;
To thee, of all our good the sacred spring;

To thee, our dearest dread; to thee, our softer king.

Let Europe sav'd the column high erect,
Than Trajan's higher, or than Antonine's;
Where sembling art may carve the fair effect
And full achievement of thy great designs.
In a calm Heaven, and a serener air,

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Sublime the queen shall on the summit stand,
From danger far, as far remov'd from fear,
And pointing down to earth her dread command,
All winds, all storms, that threaten human woe,
Shall sink beneath her feet, and spread their rage
below.

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There fleets shall strive, by winds and waters

toss'd,

Till the young Austrian on Iberia's strand,

Great as Æneas on the Latian coast,

Shall fix his foot: and this, be this the land, Great Jove, where I for ever will remain, (The empire's other hope shall say) and here Vanquish'd, intomb'd I'll lie; or, crown'd, I'll reign!

O virtue, to thy British mother dear!

Like the fam'd Trojan suffer and abide;

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For Anne is thine, I ween, as Venus was his guide.

There, in eternal characters engrav'd,
Vigo, and Gibraltar, and Barcelone,
Their force destroy'd, their privileges sav'd,
Shall Anna's terrors and her mercies own:

• Spain, from th' usurper Bourbon's arms retriev'd,
Shall with new life and grateful joy appear,
Numbering the wonders which that youth achiev'd,
Whom Anna clad in arms and sent to war;
Whom Anna sent to claim Iberia's throne;
And made him more than king, in calling him her

son.

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There Ister, pleas'd by Blenheim's glorious field,
Rolling shall bid his eastern waves declare
Germania sav'd by Britain's ample shield,
And bleeding Gaul afflicted by her spear;
Shall bid them mention Marlborough on that shore,
Leading his islanders, renown'd in arms,

Through climes, where never British chief before
Or pitch'd his camp, or sounded his alarms;
Shall bid them bless the queen, who made his

streams

Glorious as those of Boyne, and safe as those of Thames.

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Vigo was surprised by the Duke of Ormond and Sir George Rooke, and the galleons taken and destroyed in the year 1702; Gibraltar by Sir George Rooke in 1704; and Barcelona by the Prince of Hesse and the Earl of Peterorough in 1705.

Brabantia, clad with fields, and crown'd with

towers,

With decent joy shall her deliverer meet;

Shall own thy arms, great queen, and bless thy powers,

Laying the keys beneath thy subject's feet.
Flandria, by plenty made the home of war,
Shall weep her crime, and bow to Charles restor❜d;
With double vows shall bless thy happy care,
In having drawn, and having sheath'd the sword;
From these their sister provinces shall know,
How Anne supports a friend, and how forgives a foe.

Bright swords, and crested helms, and pointed

spears,

In artful piles around the work shall lie ;
And shields indented deep in ancient wars,
Blazon'd with signs of Gallic heraldry;

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And standards with distinguish'd honours bright,
Marks of high power and national command,
Which Valois' sons, and Bourbon's bore in fight,
Or gave to Foix' or Montmorency's hand:
Great spoils, which Gallia must to Britain yield,
From Cressy's battle sav'd, to grace Ramilia's field.

And, as fine art the spaces may dispose, The knowing thought and curious eye shall see Thy emblem, gracious queen, the British rose, Type of sweet rule and gentle majesty: The northern thistle, whom no hostile hand Unhurt too rudely may provoke, I ween; Hibernia's harp, device of her command, And parent of her mirth, shall there be seen:

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Thy vanquish'd lilies, France, decay'd and torn, Shall with disorder'd pomp the lasting work adorn.

Beneath, great queen, oh! very far beneath,
Near to the ground, and on the humble base, 342
To save herself from darkness and from death,
That Muse desires the last, the lowest place;
Who, though unmeet, yet touch'd the trembling
string,

For the fair fame of Anne and Albion's land,
Who durst of war and martial fury sing;
And when thy will, and when thy subject's hand,
Had quell'd those wars, and bid that fury cease,
Hangs up her grateful harp to conquest, and to peace.

CANTATA.

SET BY MONSIEUR GALLIARD.

RECIT.

ENEATH a verdant laurel's ample shade
His lyre to mournful numbers strung
Horace, immortal bard, supinely laid,
To Venus thus address'd the song:
Ten thousand little loves around,
Listening, dwelt on every sound.

ARIET.

Potent Venus, bid thy son

Sound no more his dire alarms

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