Thee, Hallifax. To thy capacious mind,

O man approv'd, is Britain's wealth confign'd! Her coin, while Naffau fought, debas'd and rude, By thee in beauty and in truth renew'd,

A

ว

An arduous work! again thy charge we fee,
And thy own care once more returns to thee.
O! form'd in every scene to awe and please,
Mix wit with pomp, and dignity with ease:
Tho' call'd to shine aloft, thou wilt not scorn
To smile on arts thyself did once adorn :
For this thy name fucceeding time shall praise,
And envy lefs thy garter, than thy bays.
The mufe, if fir'd with thy enlivening beams,
Perhaps fhall aim at more exalted themes,
Record our monarch in a nobler ftrain,
And fing the opening wonders of his reign
Bright Carolina's heavenly beauties trace,
Her valiant confort, and his blooming race.
A train of kings their fruitful love supplies,
A glorious scene to Albion's ravish'd eyes;
Who fees by Brunswick's hand her scepter fway'd,
And through his line from age to age convey'd.

AN

A N

O D E,

OCCASIONED BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE EARL

OF STANHOPE'S VOYAGE TO FRANCE.

.BY THE SAME.

FA

AIR daughter once of Windfor's woods!
In fafety o'er the rowling floods
Britannia's boast and darling care,
Big with the fate of Europe, bear.
May winds propitious on his way
The minister of peace convey;
Nor rebel wave, nor rifing ftorm
Great George's liquid realms deform.

Our vows are heard. Thy crowded fails
Already fwell with western gales;
Already Albion's coaft retires,
And Calais multiplies her fpires:

At length has royal Orleans preft,
With open arms, the well-known guest ;
Before in facred friendship join'd,

And now in counfels for mankind:

Whilft his clear schemes our patriot shows,
And plans the threaten'd world's repofe,

They

They fix each haughty monarch's doom,
And blefs whole ages yet to come.
Henceforth great Brunfwick fhall decree
What flag muft awe the Tyrrhene sea;
For whom the Tuscan grape fhall glow;
And fruitful Arethufa flow.

See in firm league with Thames combine,
The Seine, the Maese, and diftant Rhine!
Nor, Ebro, let thy fingle rage

With half the warring world engage.
Oh! call to mind thy thousands flain,
And Almanara's fatal plain;
While yet the Gallic terrors fleep,
Nor Britain thunders from the deep.

PROLOGUE,

TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.

WH

BY THE SAME.

Hat kings henceforth fhall reign, what states
be free,

Is fix'd at length by Anna's just decree :
Whose brows the mufe's facred wreath fhall fit
Is left to you, the arbiters of wit.
With beating hearts the rival poets wait,

Till you, Athenians, fhall decide their fate;
Secure, when to these learned feats they come,
Of equal judgment, and impartial doom.
Poor is the player's fame, whofe whole renown
Is but the praise of a capricious town;
While with mock-majefty, and fancied power,
He ftruts in robes, the monarch of an hour.
Oft wide of nature must he act a part,
Make love in tropes, in bombast break his heart;
In turn and fimile refign his breath,

And rhyme and quibble in the pangs of death.
We blush, when plays like these receive applause;
And laugh, in fecret, at the tears we cause;
With honest scorn our own fuccefs difdain,
A worthless honour, and inglorious gain.

No

No trifling scenes at Oxford fhall appear;
Well, what we blush to act, may you to hear.
To you our fam'd, our standard plays we bring,
The work of poets, whom you taught to fing:
Tho' crown'd with fame, they dare not think it due,
Nor take the laurel till bestow'd by you.

Great Cato's felf the glory of the stage,
Who charms, corrects, exalts, and fires the age,
Begs here he may be tried by Roman laws;
To you, O fathers, he submits his caufe;
He refts not in the people's general voice,
Till you, the fenate, have confirm'd his choice.
Fine is the secret, delicate the art,

To wind the paffions, and command the heart,
For fancied ills to force our tears to flow;
And make the generous foul in love with woe;
To raise the fhades of heroes to our view;
Rebuild fallen empires, and old time renew.
How hard the task! how rare the godlike rage!
None should prefume to dictate for the stage,
But fuch as boast a great extensive mind,
Enrich'd by nature, and by art refin'd;
Who from the antient ftores their knowledge bring,
And tafted early of the mufe's spring.

May none pretend upon her throne to fit,

But fuch, as fprung from you, are born to wit: Chofe by the mob, their lawless claim we flight: Your's is the old hereditary right.