Thus one

Assures good omens, and Saint George's worth
Enkindles like desire of high exploits.
Immediate sieges, and the tire of war,
Roll in thy eager mind; thy plumy crest
Nods horrible; with more terrific port
Thou walk'st, and seem'st already in the fight.
What spoils, what conquests, then did Albion hope
From thy achievements! yet thou hast surpast
Her boldest vows, exceeded what thy foes
Could fear or fancy; they, in multitude
Superior, fed their thoughts with prospect vain
Of victory and rapine, reckoning what
From ransom'd captives would accrue.
Jovial his mate bespoke: "O friend, observe
How gay with all th' accoutrements of war
The Britons come, with gold well fraught, they come
Thus far our prey, and tempt us to subdue
Their recreant force; how will their bodies stript
Enrich the victors, while the vultures sate
Their maws with full repast!"-Another, warm'd
With high ambition, and conceit of prowess
Inherent, arrogantly thus presum'd:
"What if this sword, full often drench'd in blood
Of base antagonists, with griding edge
Should now cleave sheer the execrable head
Of Churchill, met in arms! or if this hand,
Soon as his army disarray'd 'gins swerve,
Should stay him flying, with retentive gripe,
Confounded and appall'd! no trivial price
Should set him free, nor small should be my praise
To lead him shackled, and expos'd to scorn
Of gathering crowds, the Britons' boasted chief."
Thus they, in sportive mood, their empty taunts
And menaces exprest; nor could their prince
In arms, vain Tallard, from opprobrious speech
Refrain: "Why halt ye thus, ye Britons? Why
Decline the war? Shall a morass forbid
Your easy march? Advance; we'll bridge a way,
Safe of access." Imprudent, thus t' invite
A furious lion to his folds! That boast
He ill abides; captiv'd, in other plight
He soon revisits Britany, that once
Resplendent came, with stretch'd retinue girt,
And pompous pageantry; O hapless fate,
If any arm, but Churchill's, had prevail'd!

No need such boasts, or exprobrations false
Of cowardice; the military mound
The British files transcend, in evil hour

For their proud foes, that fondly brav'd their fate.
And now on either side the trumpets blew,
Signal of onset, resolution firm
Inspiring, and pernicious love of war.
The adverse fronts in rueful conflict meet,
Collecting all their might; for on th' event
Decisive of this bloody day depends
The fate of kingdoms: with less vehemence
The great competitors for Rome engag'd,
Cæsar, and Pompey, on Pharsalian plains,

Where stern Bellona, with one final stroke,
Adjudg'd the empire of this globe to one.
Here the Bavarian duke his brigades leads,
Gallant in arms, and gaudy to behold,
Bold champion! brandishing his Noric blade,
Best-temper'd steel, successless prov'd in field!
Next Tallard, with his Celtic infautry
Presumptuous comes; here Churchill, not so prompt
To vaunt as fight, his hardy cohorts joins
With Eugene's German force. Now from each
The brazen instruments of Death discharge
Horrific flames, and turbid streaming clouds
Of smoke sulphureous; intermixt with these
Large globous irons fly, of dreadful hiss,
Singeing the air, and from long distance bring
Surprising slaughter; on each side they fly
By chains connext, and with destructive sweep
Behead whole troops at once; the hairy scalps
Are whirl'd aloof, while numerous trunks bestrew
Th' ensanguin'd field: with latent mischief stor'd
Showers of granadoes rain, by sudden burst
Disploding murderous bowels, fragments of steel,
And stones, and glass, and nitrous grain adust;
A thousand ways at once the shiver'd orbs
Fly diverse, working torment, and foul rout
With deadly bruise, and gashes furrow'd deep.
Of pain impatient, the high-prancing steeds
Disdain the curb, and, flinging to and fro,
Spurn their dismounted riders; they expire
Indignant, by unhostile wounds destroy'd.

Thus through each army Death in various shapes
Prevail'd; here mangled limbs, here brains and gore
Lie clotted; lifeless some: with anguish these
Gnashing, and loud laments invoking aid,
Unpity'd, and unheard; the louder din

Of guns, and trumpets' clang, and solemn sound
Of drums, o'ercame their groans. In equal scale
Long hung the fight; few marks of fear were seen,
None of retreat. As when two adverse winds,
Sublim'd from dewy vapours, in mid-sky
Engage with horrid shock, the ruffled brine
Roars stormy, they together dash the clouds,
Levying their equal force with utmost rage;
Long undecided lasts the airy strife:-
So they incens'd; till Churchill, viewing where
The violence of Tallard most prevail'd,
Came to oppose his slaughtering arm; with speed
Precipitant he rode, urging his way

O'er hills of gasping heroes, and fall'n steeds
Rolling in death: Destruction, grim with blood,
Attends his furious course. Him thus enrag'd,
Descrying from afar, some engineer,
Dextrous to guide th' unerring charge, design'd
By one nice shot to terminate the war.
With aim direct the levell'd bullet flew,
But miss'd her scope (for Destiny withstood
Th' approaching wound) and guiltless plough'd her
Beneath his courser; (round his sacred head [way
The glowing balls play innocent, while he
With dire impetuous sway deals fatal blows
Amongst the scatter'd Gauls. But O! beware,
Great warrior! nor, too prodigal of life,
Expose the British safety: hath not Jove
Already warn'd thee to withdraw? Reserve
Thyself for other palms. Ev'n now thy aid,
Eugene, with regiments unequal prest,
Awaits; this day of all his honours gain'd
Despoils him, if thy succour opportune
Defends not the sad hour: permit not thou
So brave a leader with the vulgar herd

To bite the ground unnoted.-Swift, and fierce
As wintry storm, he flies, to reinforce
The yielding wing; in Gallic blood again
He dews his reeking sword, and strews the ground
With headless ranks:) (so Ajax interpos'd
His sevenfold shield, and screen'd Laertes' son,
For valour much, and warlike wiles, renown'd,
When the insulting Trojans urg'd him sore
With tilted spears) unmanly dread invades
The French astony'd; straight their useless arms
They quit, and in ignoble flight confide,
Un-eemly yelling; distant hills return
The hideous noise. What can they do? or how
Withstand his wide-destroying sword?) or where
Find shelter, thus repuls'd? Behind, with wrath
Resistless, th' eager English champions press,
Chastizing tardy flight; before them rolls
His current swift, the Danube vast and deep,
Supreme of rivers! to the frightful brink,
Urg'd by compulsive arms, soon as they reach'd,
New horrour chill'd their veins: devote they saw
Themselves to wretched doom; with efforts vain,
Encourag'd by despair, or obstinate

To fall like men in arms, some dare renew
Feeble engagement, meeting glorious fate
On the firm land; the rest, discomfited,
And push'd by Marlborough's avengeful hand,
Leap plunging in the wide-extended flood.
Bands numerous as the Memphian soldiery,
That swell'd the Erythræan wave, when wall'd
The unfroze waters marvellously stood,
Observant of the great command. Upborne
By frothy billows thousands float the stream
In cumbrous mail with love of further shore;
Confiding in their hands, that sed❜lous strive
To cut th' outrageous fluent in this distress,
Ev'n in the sight of Death, some tokens show
Of fearless friendship, and their sinking mates
Sustain vain love, though laudable! absorb'd
By a fierce eddy, they together sound
The vast profundity; their horses paw
The swelling surge with fruitless toil: surcharg'd,
And in his course obstructed by large spoil,
The river flows redundant, and attacks
The lingering remnant with unusual tide;
Then rolling back, in his capacious lap
Ingulfs their whole militia, quick immers'd.
So when some sweltering travellers retire
To leafy shades, near the cool sunless verge
Of Paraba, Brazilian stream; her tail
Of vast extension from her watry den,
A grisly Hydra suddenly shoots forth,
Insidious, and with curl'd envenom'd train
Embracing horridly, at once the crew
Into the river whirls: th' unweeting prey
Entwisted roars, th' affrighted flood rebounds.

Nor did the British squadrons now surcease
To gall their foes o'erwhelm'd; full many felt
In the moist element a scorching death,
Pierc'd sinking; shrouded in a dusky cloud
The current flows, with livid missive flames
Boiling, as once Pergamean Xanthus boil'd,
Inflam'd by Vulcan, when the swift-footed son
Of Peleus to his baleful banks pursued
The straggling Trojans: nor less eager drove
Victorious Churchill his desponding foes
Into the deep immense, that many a league
Empurpled ran, with gushing gore distain'd.

Thus the experienc'd valour of one man,
Mighty in conflict, rescued harass'd powers

From ruin impendent, and th' afflicted throne
Imperial, that once lorded o'er the world,
Sustain'd. With prudent stay, he long def r'd
The rough contention, nor would deign to rout
An host disparted; when in union firm
Embody'd they advanc'd, collecting all
Their strength, and worthy seem'd to be subdued:
He the proud boasters sent, with stern assault,
Down to the rea'ms of Night. The British souls,
(A lamentable race!) that ceas'd to breathe,
On Landen-plains, this heavenly gladsome air,
Exult to see the crowding ghosts descend
Unnumber'd; well aveng'd, they quit the cares
Of mortal life, and drink th' oblivious lake.
Not so the new inhabitants: they roam
Erroneous, and disconsolate; themselves
Accusing, and their chiefs, improvident
Of military chance; when 'o! they see,
Through the dun mist, in blooming beauty fresh,
Two lovely youths, that amicably walked
O'er verdant meads, and pleas'd, perhaps, revolvð
Anna's late conquests; one 2, to empire born,
Egregious prince, whose manly childhood show'd
His mingled parents, and portended joy
Unspeakable; thou 3, his associate dear
Once in this world, nor now by Fate disjoin'd,
Had thy presiding star propitious shone,
Should'st Churchill be! but Heaven severe cut short
Their springing years, nor would this isle should boast
Gifts so important! them the Gallic shades
Surveying, read in either radiant look
Marks of excessive dignity and grace,
Delighted; till, in one, their curious eye
Discerns their great subduer's awful mien,
And corresponding features fear; to them
Confusion! straight the airy phantoms fleet,
With headlong haste, and dread a new pursuit.
The image pleas'd with joy paternal smiles.

Enough, O Muse: the sadly-pleasing theme
Leave, with these dark abodes, and reascend
To breathe the upper air, where triumphs wait
The conqueror, and sav'd nations' joint acclaim.
Hark! how the cannon, inoffensive now,
Gives signs of gratulation; struggling crowds
From every city flow; with ardent gaze
Fix'd they behold the British guide, of sight
Insatiate; whilst his great redeeming hand
Each prince affects to touch respectful. See
How Prussia's king transported entertains
His mighty guest! to him the royal pledge,
Hope of his realm, commits (with better fate,
Than to the Trojan chief Evander gave
Unhappy Pallas) and entreats to show
The skill and rudiments austere of war.
See, with what joy, him Leopold declares
His great deliverer; and courts t' accept
Of titles, with superior modesty

Better refus'd! Meanwhile the haughty king
Far humbler thoughts now learns: despair, and fear,
Now first he feels; his laurels all at once
Torn from his aged head in life's extreme,
Distract his soul! nor can great Boileau's harp
Of various sounding wire, best taught to calin
Whatever passion, and exalt the soul
With highest strains, his languid spirits cheer:
Rage, shame, and grief, alternate in his breast.

But who can tell what pangs, what sharp remorse, Torment the Boian prince? from native soil

* Duke of Gloucester. 3 Marquis of Blandford.

Exil'd by Fate, torn from the dear embrace
Of weeping consort, and depriv'd the sight
Of his young guiltless progeny, he seeks
Inglorious shelter, in an alien land;
Deplorable! but that his mind averse
To right, and insincere, would violate
His plighted faith: why did he not accept
Friendly composure offer'd? or well weigh
With whom he must contend? encountering fierce
The Solymean sultan, he o'erthrew

His moony troops, returning bravely smear'd
With Painim blood effus'd; nor did the Gaul
Not find him once a baleful foe: but when,
Of counsel rash, new measures he pursues,
Unhappy prince! (no more a prince) he sees
Too late his errour, forc'd t' implore relief
Of him, he once defy'd. O destitute

Of hope, unpity'd! thou should'st first have thought
Of persevering stedfast; now upbraid
Thy own inconstant, ill-aspiring heart.
Lo! how the Noric plains, through thy default
Rise hilly, with large piles of slaughter'd knights,
Best men, that warr'd still firmly for their prince
Though faithless, and unshaken duty show'd;
Worthy of better end. Where cities stood,
Well fenc'd and numerous, desolation reigns,
And emptiness; dismay'd, unfed, unhous'd,
The widow and the orphan strole around
The desert wide; with oft-retorted eye
They view the gaping walls, and poor remains
Of mansions, once their own, (now loathsome haunts
Of birds obscene) bewailing loud the loss
Of spouse, or sire, or son, ere manly prime,
Slain in sad conflict, and complain of Fate
As partial, and too rigorous; nor find
Where to retire themselves, or where appease
Th' afflictive keen desire of food, expos'd
To winds, and storms, and jaws of savage beasts.
Thrice happy Albion! from the world disjoin'd
By Heaven propitious, blissful seat of peace!
Learn from thy neighbours' miseries to prize
Thy welfare; crown'd with Nature's choicest gift.
Remote thou hear'st the dire effect of war,
Depopulation, void alone of fear

And peril, whilst the dismal symphony
Of drums and clarions, other realms annoys.
Th' Iberian sceptre undecided, here
Engages mighty hosts in wasteful strife:
From different climes the flower of youth descends
Down to the Lusitanian vales, resolv'd
With utmost hazard to enthrone their prince,
Gallic or Austrian; havoc dire ensues,
And wild uproar: the natives, dubious whom
They must obey, in consternation wait,
Till rigid Conquest will pronounce their liege.
Nor is the brazen voice of War tinheard
On the mild Latian shore: what sighs and tears
Hath Eugene caus'd! how many widows curse
His cleaving falchion! fertile soil in vain!
What do thy pastures, or thy vines avail,
Best boon of Heaven! or huge Taburnus, cloth'd
With olives, when the cruel battle mows
The planters, with their harvest immature?
See, with what outrage from the frosty north,
The early-valiant Swede draws forth his wings
In battailous array, while Volga's stream
Sends opposite, in shaggy armour clad,
Her borderers: on mutual slaughter bent,
They rend their countries. How is Poland vex'd
With civil broils, while two elected kings

Contend for sway? unhappy nation, left
Thus free of choice! The English, undisturb'd
With such sad privilege, submiss obey

Whom Heaven ordains supreme, with reverence due,
Not thraldom, in fit liberty secure:

From sceptred kings, in long descent deriv'd,
Thou, Anna, rulest; prudent to promote
Thy people's ease at home, nor studious less
Of Europe's good; to thee, of kingly right,
Sole arbitress, declining thrones, and powers
Sue for relief; thou bid'st thy Churchill go,
Succour the injur'd realms, defeat the hopes
Of haughty Louis, unconfin'd; he goes
Obsequious, and the dread command fulfils,
In one great day. Again thou giv'st in charge
To Rooke, that he should let that monarch know,
The empire of the ocean wide diffus'd

Is thine; behold! with winged speed he rides
Undaunted o'er the labouring main t' assert
Thy liquid kingdoms; at his near approach
The Gallic navies, impotent to bear

His volly'd thunder, torn, dissever'd, scud,
And bless the friendly interposing night.

Hail, mighty queen! reserv'd by Fate to grace
The new-born age: what hopes may we conceive
Of future years, when to thy early reign
Neptune submits his trident, and thy arms
Already have prevail'd to th' utmost bound
Hesperian, Calpe, by Alcides fix'd,
Mountain sublime, that casts a shade of length
Immeasurable, and rules the inland waves!
Let others, with insatiate thirst of rule,
Invade their neighbours lands, neglect the ties
Of leagues and oaths; this thy peculiar praise
Be still, to study right, and quell the force
Of kings perfidious; let them learn from thee,
That neither strength, nor policy refin'd,
Shall with success be crown'd, where justice fails.
Thou, with thy own content, not for thyself,
Subduest regions, generous to raise

The suppliant knee, and curb the rebel neck.
The German boasts thy conquests, and enjoys
The great advantage; nought to thee redounds
But satisfaction from thy conscious mind.

Auspicious queen! since in thy realms secure
Of peace thou reign'st, and victory attends
Thy distant ensigns, with compassion view
Europe embroil'd; still thou (for thou alone
Sufficient art) the jarring kingdoms' ire,
Reciprocally ruinous; say who

Shall wield th' Hesperian, who the Polish sword,
By thy decree? the trembling lands shall hear
Thy voice, obedient, lest thy scourge should bruise
Their stubborn necks, and Churchill, in his wrath,
Make them remember Blenheim with regret.

Thus shall the nations, aw'd to peace, extol
Thy power and justice: Jealousies and Fears,
And Hate infernal, banish'd, shall retire
To Mauritania, or the Bactrian coasts,
Or Tartary, engendering discords fell
Amongst the enemies of Truth; while arts
Pacific, and inviolable love,
Flourish in Europe. Hail, Saturnian days
Returning! in perpetual tenour run

Delectable, and shed your influence sweet
On virtuous Anna's head: ye happy days,
By her restor'd, her just designs complete,
And, mildly on her shining, bless the world!

Thus, from the noisy world exempt, with case And plenty blest, amid the mazy groves,

(Sweet solitude!) where warbling birds provoke The silent Muse, delicious rural seat

Of St. John, English Memmius, I presum'd

To sing Britannic trophies, inexpert

Of war, with mean attempt while he intent
(So Anna's will ordains) to expedite
His military charge4, no leisure finds

To string his charming shell: but when return'd
Consummate Peace shall rear her cheerful head,
Then shall his Churchill, in sublimer verse,
For ever triumph; latest times shall learn
From such a chief to fight, and bard to sing.

Quam Gratiarum cura decentium
O! O! labellis cui Venus insidet!
Tu sorte felix: me Maria
Macerat (ah miserum!) videndo:
Maria, quæ me sidereo tuens
Obliqua vultu per medium jecur

Trajecit, atque excussit omnes
Protinus ex animo puellas.
Hanc ulla mentis spe mihi mutuæ
Utcunque desit, nocte, die vigil

Suspiro; nec jam vina somnos
Nec revocant, tua dona, fumi.

ODE

AD HENRICUM ST. JOHN, ARMIG. 1706.

O qui recisa finibus Indicis
Benignus herbæ, das mihi divitem

Haurire succum, et sauveolentes
Sæpe tubis iterare fumos;
Qui solus acri respicis asperum
Siti palatum, proluis et mero,

Dulcem elaborant cui saporem
Hesperii pretiumque, soles:
Ecquid reponam muneris omnium
Exors bonorum? prome reconditum,
Pimplæa, carmen, desidésque
Ad numeros, age, tende chordas.
Ferri secundo mens avet impetu,
Quà cygniformes per liquidum æthera,
Te, diva, vim præbente, vates
Explicuit venusinus alas:

Solers modorum, seu puerum trucem,
Cum matre flavâ, seu caneret rosas
Et vina, cyrrhæis Hetruscum
Rite beans equitem sub antris.

At non Lyæi vis generosior
Affluxit illi; sæpe licet cadum
Jactet Falernum, sæpe Chiæ
Munera, lætitiamque testæ.
Patronus illi non fuit artium
Celebriorum; sed nec amantior

Nec charus æquè. O! quæ medullas
Flamma subit, tacitosque sensus!
Pertentat, ut téque et tua munera
Gratus recordor, mercurialium

Princeps virorum! et ipse Musæ Cultor, et usque colende Musis ! Sed me minantem grandia deficit Receptus ægrè spiritus, ilia

Dum pulsat ima, ac inquietum
Tussis agens sine more pectus.
Altè petito quassat anhelitu;
Funesta planè, ni mihi balsamum

Distillet in venas, tuæque
Lenis opem ferat haustus uvæ.
Hanc sumo, parcis et tibi poculis
Libo salutem; quin precor, optima
Ut usque conjux sospitetur,
Perpetuo recreans amore.
Te consulentem militiæ super
Rebus togatum. Macte! tori decus,

Formosa cui Francisca cessit,
Crine placens, niveoque collo!

♦ He was then secretary of war.

AN ODE

TO HENRY ST. JOHN, ESQ. 1706.

O THOU, from India's fruitful soil,

That dost that sovereign herb2 prepare,

In whose rich fumes I lose the toil

Of life, and every anxious care: While from the fragrant lighted bowl I suck new life into my soul.

Thou, only thou! art kind to view

The parching flames that I sustain;

Which with cool draughts thy casks subdue,
And wash away the thirsty pain

With wines, whose strength and taste we prize,
From Latian suns and nearer skies.

O! say, to bless thy pious love,

What vows, what offerings, shall I bring? Since I can spare, and thou approve,

No other gift, O hear me sing!

In numbers Phoebus does inspire,
Who strings for thee the charming lyre.
Aloft, above the liquid sky,

I stretch my wing, and fain would go
Where Rome's sweet swain did whilom fly;
And, soaring, left the clouds below;
The Muse invoking to endue
With strength his pinions, as he flew.
Whether he sings great Beauty's praise,
Love's gentle pain, or tender woes;
Or choose, the subject of his lays,

The blushing grape, or blooming rose:
Or near cool Cyrrha's rocky springs
Mæcenas listens while he sings.

Yet he no nobler draught could boast,
His Muse or music to inspire,
Though all Falernum's purple coast
Flow'd in each glass, to lend him fire;
And on his tables us'd to smile
The vintage of rich Chio's isle.
Mæcenas deign'd to hear his songs,

His Muse extoll'd, his voice approv'd:
To thee a fairer fame belongs,

At once more pleasing, more belov❜d. Oh! teach my heart to bound its flame, As I record thy love and fame.

1 This piece was translated by the reverend Thomas Newcomb, M. A. of Corpus Christi College, Oxon.

2 Tobacco.

Teach me the passion to restrain,

As I my grateful homage bring; And last in Phoebus' humble train,

The first and brightest genius sing. The Muses' favourite pleas'd to live, Paying them back the fame they give. But oh! as greatly I aspire

To tell my love, to speak thy praise, Boasting no more its sprightly fire,

My bosom heaves, my voice decays; With pain I touch the mournful string, And pant and languish as I sing.

Faint Nature now demands that breath, That feebly strives thy worth to sing! And would be hush'd, and lost in death,

Did not thy care kind succours bring! Thy pitying casks my soul sustain, And call new life in every vein.

The sober glass I now behold,

Thy health, with fair Francisca's join, Wishing her cheeks may long unfold

Such beauties, and be ever thine;
No chance the tender joy remove,
While she can please, and thou canst love.

Thus while by you the British arms
Triumphs and distant fame pursue;
The yielding fair resigns her charms,
And gives you leave to conquer too;
Her snowy neck, her breast, her eyes,
And all the nymph becomes your prize.
What comely grace, what beauty smiles!
Upon her lips what sweetness dwells!
Not Love himself so oft beguiles,

Nor Venus self so much excels.
What different fates our passions share,
While you enjoy, and I despair!

Maria's 3 form as I survey,

Her smiles a thousand wounds impart ; Each feature steals my soul away,

Each glance deprives me of my heart! And chasing thence each other fair, Leaves her own image only there.

Although my anxious breast despair,
And, sighing, hopes no kind return;
Yet, for the lov'd relentless fair,

By night I wake, by day I burn!
Nor can thy gifts, soft Sleep, supply,
Or sooth my pains, or close my eye.

CIDER,

A POEM, IN TWO BOOKS. Honos erit huic quoque Pomo? BOOK I.

Nor skill'd, nor studious: but my native soil Invites me, and the theme as yet unsung.

Ye Ariconian knights, and fairest dames,
To whom propitious Heaven these blessings grants,
Attend my lays, nor hence disdain to learn,
How Nature's gifts may be improv'd by art.
And thou, O Mostyn, whose benevolence,
And candour, oft experienc'd, me vouchsaf'd
To knit in friendship, growing still with years,
Accept this pledge of gratitude and love.
May it a lasting monument remain
Of dear respect; that, when this body frail
Is moulder'd into dust, and I become

As I had never been, late times may know

I once was bless'd in such a matchless friend!
Whoe'er expects his labouring trees should bend.
With fruitage, and a kindly harvest yield,
Be this his first concern, to find a tract
Impervious to the winds, begirt with hills
That intercept the Hyperborean blasts
Tempestuous, and cold Eurus' nipping force,
Noxious to feeble buds: but to the west
Let him free entrance grant, let Zephyrs bland
Administer their tepid genial airs;

Nought fear he from the west, whose gentle warmth
Discloses well the Earth's all-teeming womb,
Invigorating tender seeds; whose breath
Nurtures the orange, and the citron groves,
Hesperian fruits, and wafts their odours sweet
Wide through the air, and distant shores perfumes.
Nor only do the hills exclude the winds:

But when the blackening clouds in sprinkling showers
Distil, from the high summits down the rain
Runs trickling; with the fertile moisture cheer'd,
The orchats smile; joyous the farmers see
Their thriving plants, and bless the heavenly dew.
Next let the planter, with discretion meet,
The force and genius of each soil explore;
To what adapted, what it shuns averse:
Without this necessary care, in vain
He hopes an apple-vintage, and invokes
Pomona's aid in vain. The miry fields,
Rejoicing in rich mould, most ample fruit
Of beauteous form produce; pleasing to sight,
But to the tongue inelegant and flat.
So Nature has decreed: so oft we see
Men passing fair, in outward lineaments
Elaborate; less, inwardly, exact.

Nor from the sable ground expect success,
Nor from cretaceous, stubborn and jejune:
The Must, of pallid hue, declares the soil
Devoid of spirit; wretched he, that quaffs
Such wheyish liquors; oft with colic pangs,
With pungent colic pangs distress'd he'll roar,
And toss, and turn, and curse th'unwholesome draught.
But, farmer, look where full-ear'd sheaves of rye
Grow wavy on the tilth, that soil select
For apples: thence thy industry shall gain
Ten-fold reward; thy garners, thence with store
Surcharg'd, shall burst; thy press with purest juice
Shall flow, which, in revolving years, may try
Thy feeble feet, and bind thy faltering tongue.
Such is the Kentchurch, such Dantzeyan ground,
Such thine, O learned Brome, and Capel such,
Willisian Burlton, much-lov'd Geers his Marsh,
And Sutton-acres, drench'd with regal blood
Of Ethelbert, when to th' unhallow'd feast
Of Mercian Offa he invited came,
princi-To treat of spousals: long connubial joys
He promis'd to himself, allur'd by fair

Virg.