Or in the gallery let me walk,
Where living pictures feem to talk,
Where Beauty fmiles ferenely fair,
And Courage frowns with martial air;
Though whiskers quaint the face disguise,
And habits odd to modern eyes.
Behold what kings in Britain reign'd,
Plantagenets with blood diftain'd,
And valiant Tudor's haughty race,
And Stuarts, England's worst disgrace.
The Norman first, with cruel frown,
Proud of his new-ufurped crown,
Begins the lift; and many more,
Stern heroes form'd of roughest ore.
See victor Henry there advance,
Ev'n in his look he conquers France;
And murd❜rer Richard, justly flain
By Richmond's steel on Bosworth plain;
See the tyrant of his wives,
Prodigal of fairest lives,
And laureat Edward nurs'd in arts,
Minerva school'd his kingly parts :
But ah! the melancholy Jane,
A foul too tender for a queen!
She finks beneath imperial fway,
The dear-bought fcepter of a day!
And muft fhe mount the scaffold drear?
Hard-hearted Mary, learn to spare!
Eliza next falutes the eye;
Exalt the fong to Liberty,
The Muse repeats the facred name,
Eliza fills the voice of fame.
From thence a bafer age began,
The royal ore polluted ran,
'Till foreign. Naffau's valiant hand
Chac'd holy tyrants from the land :
Downward from hence defcend apace
To Brunswic's high, illuftrious race;
And see the canvass speaks them brave,
An injur'd nation born to fave,
Active in Freedom's righteous cause,
And conscious of a just applause.
But chiefly pleas'd, the curious eye
With nice difcernment loves to try
The labour'd wonders, paffing thought,
Which warm Italian pencils wrought;
Fables of love, and stories old,
By Greek or Latian poets told;
How Jove committed many a rape,
How young Acteon loft his shape;
Or what celestial pen-men writ,
Or what the painter's genuine wit
From Fancy's store-house could devife;
Where Raphael claims the highest prize.
Madonas here decline the head,
With fond maternal pleasure fed,
Or lift their lucid eyes above,
Where more is feen than holy love.
There temples ftand display'd within,
And pillars in long order feen,
And roofs rufh forward to the fight,
And lamps affect a living light.
Or landscapes tire the trav'ling eye,
The clouds in azure volumes fly,
The diftant trees distinguish'd rife,
And hills look little in the skies.
When day declines, and ev'ning cool
Begins her gentle, filent rule,
Again, as Fancy points the way,
Benignant leader, let me stray:
And wilt thou, Genius, bring along
(So fhall my Muse exalt her fong)
The Lord who rules this ample scene,
His Confort too with gracious mien,
Her little offspring prattling round,
While Echo lifps their infant found.
And let Good-nature, born to please,
Wait on our steps, and graceful Eafe;
Nor Mirth be wanting as we walk,
Nor Wit to season fober talk;
Let gay Description too attend,
And Fable told with moral end,
And Satire quick that comes by stealth,
And flowing Laughter, friend to Health.
Meanwhile Attention loves to mark
The deer that crop the fhaven park,'
The steep-brow'd hill, or foreft wild,
The floping lawns, and zephyrs mild,
The clouds that blufh with ev'ning red,
Or meads with filver fountains fed,
The fragrance of the new-mown hay,
And black-bird chanting on the spray;
The calm farewel of parting light,
And Ev❜ning fad❜ning into Night.
Nor wearied yet my roving feet,
Though Night comes on amain, retreat;
But ftill abroad I walk unseen
Along the star-enlighten'd green;
Superior joys my foul invite,
Lift, lift to heav'n the dazzled fight.
Lo, where the moon enthron'd on high,
Sits fteady empress of the sky,
Enticing nations to revere,
And proudly vain of pagan fear;
Or where through clouds fhe travels fast,
And seems on journey bent in haste,
While thousand hand-maid stars await,
Attendant on their queen of state.
'Tis now that in her high controul,
Ambitious of a foreign rule,
She ftirs the Ocean to rebel,
And factious waters fond to fwell
Guides to battle in her carr,
'Gainst her fifter Earth to war.
Thus let me muse on things fublime,
Above the flight of modern rhyme,
And call the foul of Newton down,
Where it fits high on starry throne,
Inventing laws for worlds to come,
Or teaching comets how to roam :
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