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XXVIII.

Let Europe fav'd the column high erect,
Than Trajan's higher, or than Antonine's;
Where fembling art may carve the fair effect
And full atchievement of thy great defigns.
In a calm heaven, and a ferener air,

Sublime the Queen fhall on the fummit 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 fink beneath her feet, and fpread their rage

XXIX.

below.

Their fleets shall strive, by winds and waters toft,
Till the young Auftrian on Iberia's strand,
Great as Æneas on the Latian coaft,

Shall fix his foot: and this, be this the land,
Great Jove, where I for ever will remain,
(The empire's other hope fhall fay) 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 ;

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

There, in eternal characters engrav'd,

Vigo, and Gibraltar, and Barcelone.

Their force deftroy'd, their privileges fav'd,

Shall Anna's terrors and her mercies own:

Spain, from th' ufurper Bourbon's arms retriev'd,
Shall with new life and grateful joy appear,
Numbering the wonders which that youth atchiev'd,
Whom Anna clad in arms, and fent to war;
S 2

Whom

V.

As the ftrong eagle in the filent wood,
Mindlefs of warlike rage and hoftile care,
Plays round the rocky cliff or cryftal flood,
Till by Jove's high behefts call'd out to war,
And charg'd with thunder of his angry king,
His bofom with the vengeful message glows;
Upward the noble bird directs his wing,

And, towering round his master's earth-born foes,
Swift he collects his fatal stock of ire,

Lifts his fierce talon high, and darts the forked fire s

VI.

Sedate and calm thus victor Marlborough fate,

Shaded with laurels, in his native land,

Till Anna calls him from his foft retreat,

t

And gives her fecond thunder to his hand.
Then, leaving fweet repose and gentle ease,
With ardent speed he feeks the distant foe ;
Marching o'er hills and vales, o'er rocks and feas,
He meditates, and ftrikes the wondrous blow.
Our thought flies flower than our General's fame
Grafps he the bolt? we afk-when he has hurl'd the
flame.

VII.

When fierce Bavar on Judoign's fpacious plain
Did from afar the British chief behold,
Betwixt defpair, and rage, and hope, and pain,
Something within his warring bofom roll'd :

:

He

He views that favourite of indulgent Fame,
Whom whilom he had met on Ifter's shore;
Too well, alas! the man he knows the fame,
Whofe prowefs there repell'd the Boyan power,
And fent them trembling through the frighted lands,
Swift as the whirlwind drives Arabia's fcatter'd fands.
VIII.

His former loffes he forgets to grieve;
Abfolves his fate, if with a kinder ray

It now would fhine, and only give him leave
To balance the account of Blenheim's day.
So the fell lion in the lonely glade,

His fide still fmarting with the hunter's fpear,
Though deeply wounded, no-way yet dismay'd,
Roars terrible, and meditates new war;

In fullen fury traverfes the plain,

To find the venturous foe, and battle him again..
IX.

Mifguided prince, no longer urge thy fate,.
Nor tempt the hero to unequal war;
Fam'd in misfortune, and in ruin great,
Confefs the force of Marlborough's ftronger ftar.
Thofe laurel groves (the merits of thy youth),
Which thou from Mahomet didft greatly gain,,
While, bold affertor of refiftless truth,
Thy fword did godlike liberty maintain,
Muft from thy brow their falling honours fhed,

And their tranfplanted wreaths muft deck a worthier

head.

X.

Yet cease the ways of Providence to blame, And human faults with human grief confefs,

.1.

'Tis thou art chang'd, while heaven is still the fame;
From thy ill councils date thy ill fuccefs.
Impartial Juftice holds her equal fcales,

Till stronger Virtue does the weight incline:
If over thee thy glorious foe prevails,

e;

He now defends the cause that once was thine.
Righteous the war, the champion fhall fubdue
For Jove's great handmaid Power must Jove's decrees
purfue.

XI

Hark! the dire trumpets found their fhrill alarms! Auverquerque, branch'd from the renown'd Naffaus, Hoary in war, and bent beneath his arms,

His glorious fword with dauntlefs courage draws.
When anxious Britain mourn'd her parting lord,
And all of William that was mortal died;
The faithful hero had receiv'd this sword
From his expiring master's much-lov'd fide.

Oft' from its fatal ire has Louis flown,

Where'er great William led, or Maefe and Sambre run.
XII.

But brandifh'd high, in an ill-omen'd hour
To thee, proud Gaul, behold thy justeft fear,
The mafter-fword, difpofer of thy power:
'Tis that which Cæfar gave the British peer.

He took the gift: Nor ever will I fheathe
This fteel (fo Anna's high behests ordain'),
The General said, unless by glorious death
Abfolv'd, till conqueft has confirm'd your reign.
Returns like these our mistress bids us make,
When from a foreign prince a gift her Britons take.
XIII.

And now fierce Gallia rushes on her foes,
Her force augmented by the Boyan bands;
So Volga's ftream, increas'd by mountain fnows,
Rolls with new fury down through Ruffia's lands.
Like two great rocks against the raging tide
(If Virtue's force with Nature's we compare),
Unmov'd the two united chiefs abide,

Sustain the impulse, and receive the war.

Round their firm fides in vain the tempest beats;
And still the foaming wave with leffen'd power retreats

XIV.

The rage difpers'd, the glorious pair advance,
With mingled anger and collected might,
To tarn the war, and tell-aggreffing France,
How Britain's fons and Britain's friends can fight.
On conquest fix'd, and covetous of fame,
Behold them rufshing through the Gallic host:
Through ftanding corn fo runs the fudden flame,
Or eastern winds along Sicilia's coast.

They deal their terrors to the adverfe nation :

Pale death attends their arms, and ghastly desolation.'

XV. But

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