To give the rein, and in the full career,

To draw the certain sword, or send the pointed spear.

Let him unite his subjects' hearts,

Planting societies for peaceful arts;

Some that in nature shall true knowledge found;
And by experiment make precept sound;
Some that to morals shall recall the age,

And purge from vicious dross the sinking stage;
Some that with care true eloquence shall teach,
And to just idioms fix our doubtful speech:
That from our writers distant realms may know,
The thanks we to our monarch owe;
And schools profess our tongue through every land,
That has invok'd his aid, or blest his hand.

Let his high power the drooping Muses rear,
The Muses only can reward his care:
'Tis they that guard the great Atrides' spoils;
'Tis they that still renew Ulysses' toils:
To them by smiling Jove 'twas given, to save
Distinguish'd patriots from the common grave;
To them, great William's glory to recall,
When statues moulder, and when arches fall.
Nor let the Muses, with ungrateful pride,
The sources of their treasure hide:
The Hero's virtue does the string inspire,
When with big joy they strike the living lyre:
On William's fame their fate depends:
With him the song begins: with him it ends.

From this bright effluence of his deed
They borrow that reflected light,

With which the lasting lamp they feed,

Whose beams dispel the damps of envious night.

Through various climes, and to each distant pole,
In happy tides let active commerce roll:

Let Britain's ships export an annual fleece,
Richer than Argos brought to ancient Greece:
Returning loaden with the shining stores,
Which lie profuse on either India's shores.
As our high vessels pass their watery way,
Let all the naval world due homage pay;
With hasty reverence their top-honours lower,
Confessing the asserted power,

To whom by fate 'twas given, with happy sway
To calm the earth, and vindicate the sea.

Our

prayers are heard, our masters' fleets shall go As far as winds can bear, or waters flow, New lands to make, new Indies to explore, In worlds unknown to plant Britannia's power; Nations yet wild by precept to reclaim,

And teach them arms, and arts, in William's name.

With humble joy, and with respectful fear
The listening people shall his story hear,
The wounds he bore, the dangers he sustain'd,
How far he conquer'd, and how well he reign'd;
Shall own his mercy equal to his fame,

And form their children's accents to his name,
Inquiring how, and when from Heaven he came.
Their regal tyrants shall with blushes hide
Their little lusts of arbitrary pride,

Nor bear to see their vassals tied;

When William's virtues raise their opening thought, His forty years for public freedom fought, Europe by his hand sustain'd,

His conquest by his piety restrain'd,

And o'er himself the last great triumph gain'd.

No longer shall their wretched zeal adore
Ideas of destructive power,

Spirits that hurt, and godheads that devour:
New incense they shall bring, new altars raise,
And fill their temples with a stranger's praise;
When the great father's character they find
Visibly stamp'd upon the hero's mind;
And own a present Deity confest,

In valour that preserv'd, and power that blest.

Through the large convex of the azure sky
(For thither nature casts our common eye)
Fierce meteors shoot their arbitrary light:
And comets march with lawless horror bright:
These hear no rule, no righteous order own;
Their influence dreaded as their ways unknown:
Through threaten'd lands they wild destruction

throw,

Till ardent prayer averts the public woe:

But the bright orb that blesses all above,
The sacred fire, the real son of Jove,
Rules not his actions by capricious will;
Nor by ungovern'd power declines to ill :
Fix'd by just laws he goes for ever right:
Man knows his course, and thence adores his light.

O Janus! would entreated Fate conspire
To grant what Britain's wishes could require;
Above, that sun should cease his way to go,
Ere William cease to rule, and bless below:
But a relentless destiny

Urges all that e'er was born:

Snatch'd from her arms, Britannia once must mourn
The demi-god the earthly half must die.
Yet if our incense can your wrath remove;
If human prayers avail on minds above;
Exert, great God, thy interest in the sky;
Gain each kind Power, each guardian Deity;
That conquer'd by the public vow,
They bear the dismal mischief far away :
O! long as utmost nature may allow,
Let them retard the threaten'd day!

Still be our master's life thy happy care:
Still let his blessings with his years increase:
To his laborious youth consum'd in war,

Add lasting age, adorn'd and crown'd with peace;
Let twisted olive bind those laurels fast,

Whose verdue must for ever last!

Long let this growing era bless his sway:
And let our sons his present rule obey:
On his sure virtue long let earth rely:
And late let the imperial eagle fly,

To bear the hero through his father's sky,
To Leda's twins, or he whose glorious speed,
On foot prevail'd, or he who tam'd the steed;
To Hercules, at length absolv'd by Fate
From earthly toil, and above envy great:
To Virgil's theme, bright Cytherea's son,
Sire of the Latian, and the British throne:
To all the radiant names above,
Rever'd by men, and dear to Jove.
Late, Janus, let the Nassau-star,
New-born, in rising majesty appear,

To triumph over vanquish'd night,
And guide the prosperous mariner
With everlasting beams of friendly light.