And then no clown beneath the sky
Was e'er more ungallant than I;
For you alone I now think fit
To turn a poet and a wit-
For you whofe charms, I know not how,
Have power to fimooth my wrinkled brow,
And make me, though by nature stupid,
As brisk, and as alert, as Cupid.
Thefe obligations to repay,
Whene'er your happy nuptial day
Shall with the circling years return,
For you my torch fhall brighter burn
Than when you first my power ador'd,
Nor will I call myself your lord,
But am (as witnefs this my hand)
Your humble feryant at command.
Dear child let Hymen not beguile
You, who are fuch a judge of style,
To think that he these verses made,
Without an abler penman's aid;
Obferve them well, you'll plainly fee,
That every line was writ by me.
UCH were the notes that struck the wondering ear Of filent Night, when, on the verdant banks Of Siloe's hallow'd brook, celestial harps, According to feraphic voices, fung
Glory to God on high, and on the earth
Peace and good-will to men 1-Resume the lyre,
Chauntress divine, and every Briton call
Its melody to hear-fo fhall thy ftrains,
More powerful than the fong of Orpheus, tame
The favage heart of brutal Vice, and bend
At pure Religion's fhrine the ftubborn knees
Of bold Impiety.-Greece shall no more
Of Lesbian Sappho boast, whofe wanton Mufe,
Like a falfe Syren, while fhe charm'd, feduc'd
To guilt and ruin. For the facred head
Of Britain's poetefs, the Virtues twine
A nobler wreath, by them from Eden's grove
Unfading gather'd, and direct the hand
THE Gods, on thrones celeftial feated,
By Jove with bowls of nectar heated, All on Mount Edgecumbe turn'd their eyes ; "That place is mine," great Neptune cries: "Behold! how proud o'er all the main "Those stately turrets feem to reign! "No views fo grand on earth you fee! "The mafter too belongs to me : "I grant him my domain to fhare, "I bid his hand my trident bear." "The fea is yours, but mine the land,” by me were plann'd
"Those towers, that hospital, those docks,
"That fort, which crowns those island rocks:
"The lady too is of my choir,
"I taught her hand to touch the lyre ;
"With every charm her mind I grac'd,
gave her prudence, knowledge, taste." “Hold, madam," interrupted Venus, "The lady must be shar'd between us : "And furely mine is yonder grove, "So fine, fo dark, fo fit for love; "Trees, fuch as in th' Idalian glade, "Or Cyprian lawn, my palace shade.” Then Oreads, Dryads, Naiads, came; Each Nymph alledg'd her lawful claim.
But Jove, to finish the debate,
Thus fpoke, and what he fpeaks is fate :
"Nor god nor goddess, great or small,
"That dwelling his or hers may call;
"I made Mount Edgecumbe for you all."
HEN Peace fhall, on her downy wing,
To France and England Friendship bring,
Come, Aiguillon, and here receive
That homage we delight to give
To foreign talents, foreign charms,
To worth which Envy's felf difarms
Of jealous hatred: Come, and love
That nation which you now approve.
So fhail by France amends be made
(If fuch a debt can e'er be paid)
For having with feducing art
From Britain ftol'n her Hervey's heart.
RUMGOLD, whofe ancestors from Albion's
fhore
Their conquering standards to Hibernia bore,
Though now thy valour, to thy country loft,
Shines in the foremost ranks of Gallia's hoft,
Think not that France fhall borrow all thy fame-
From British fires deriv'd thy genius came:
Its force, its energy, to these it ow'd,
But the fair polish Gallia's clime bestow'd :
The Graces there each ruder thought refin'd,›
And liveliest wit with foundest sense combin'd.
They taught in sportive Fancy's gay attire
To drefs the gravest of th' Aonian choir,
And gave to fober Wifdom's wrinkled cheek
The fmile that dwells in Hebe's dimple fleek.
Pay to each realm the debt that each may afk:
Be thine, and thine alone, the pleafing task,
In pureft elegance of Gallic phrase
To cloathe the fpirit of the British lays.
Thus every flower which every Mufe's hand
Has rais'd profufe in Britain's favourite land,
By thee transplanted to the banks of Seine,
Its sweetest native odours fhall retain..
And when thy noble friend, with olive crown'd,
In Concord's golden chain has firmly bound.
The rival nations, thou for both shalt raise
The grateful fong to his immortal praise.
Albion fhall think the hears her Prior fing;;
And France, that Boileau ftrikes the tuneful ftring
Then fhalt thou tell what various talents join'd, -
Adorn, embellish, and exalt his mind;
Learning and wit, with fweet politenefs grac'd;,
Wisdom by guile or cunning undebas'd;
By pride unfullied, genuine dignity; ›
A nobler and fublime fimplicity.
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