XLV.

He without fear a dangerous war pursues,
Which without rashness he began before:
As honour made him first the danger chufe,
So ftill he makes it good on virtue's score.
XLVI.

The doubled charge his fubjects love fupplies,
Who in that bounty to themselves are kind:
So glad Egyptians fee their Nilus rife,

And in his plenty their abundance find.
XLVII.

With equal power he does two chiefs create,
Two fuch as each feem'd worthiest when alone;
Each able to fustain a nation's fate,

Since both had found a greater in their own.

XLVIII.

Both great in courage, conduct, and in fame,
Yet neither envious of the other's praise;
Their duty, faith, and intereft too the fame,
Like mighty partners equally they raise.
XLIX.

The prince long time had courted fortune's love,
But once poffefs'd did absolutely reign:
Thus with their Amazons the heroes ftrove,

And conquer'd first those beauties they would gain.
L.

The duke beheld, like Scipio, with disdain,

That Carthage, which he ruin'd, rife once more; And shook aloft the fafces of the main,

To fright those flaves with what they felt before.

LI.

Together to the watery camp they haste,
Whom matrons paffing to their children show:
Infants first vows for them to heaven are cast,
And future people blefs them as they go.
LII.

With them no riotous pomp or Asian train,
To infect a navy with their gaudy fears;
To make flow fights, and victories but vain:
But war, feverely like itfelf appears.

LIII.

Diffufive of themfelves, where'er they pass,
They make that warmth in others they expect:
Their valour works like bodies on a glass,

And does its image on their men project.

LIV.

Our fleet divides, and straight the Dutch appear,
In number, and a fam'd commander, bold:
The narrow feas can scarce their navy bear,

Or crowded veffels can their foldiers hold.

LV.

The Duke, lefs numerous, but in courage more,
On wings of all the winds to combat flies:
His murdering guns a loud defiance roar,
And bloody croffes on his flag-ftaffs rise.
LVI.

Both furl their fails, and strip them for the fight;
Their folded fheets difmifs the useless air:
Th' Elean plains could boast no nobler fight,
When struggling champions did their bodies bare.

LVII.

Forne each by other in a distant line,

The fea-built forts in dreadful order move : So vaft the noife, as if not fleets did join,

But lands unfix'd, and floating nations strove.

LVIII.

Now pafs'd, on either fide they nimbly tack;
Both strive to intercept and guide the wind:
And, in its eye, mere closely they come back,
To finish all the deaths they left behind.
LIX.

On high-rais'd decks the haughty Belgians ride,
Beneath whofe fhade our humble frigates go:
Such port the elephant bears and fo defy'd
By the rhinoceros her unequal foe.

LX.

And as the built, fo different is the fight;
Their mounting fhot is on our fails defign'd :
Deep in their hulls our deadly bullets light,
And through the yielding planks a paffage find.
LXI.

Our dreaded admiral from far they threat,

Whose batter'd rigging their whole war receives:
All bare, like fome old oak which tempefts beat,
He stands and fees below his fcatter'd leaves.

LXII.
Heroes of old, when wounded, shelter fought;
But he who meets all danger with difdain,
Ev'n in their face his fhip to anchor brought,
And steeple-high stood propt upon the main.
LXIII.

At this excefs of courage, all amaz'd,

The foremost of his foes a while withdraw : With fuch refpect in enter'd Rome they gaz'd, Who on high-chairs the god-like fathers faw. LXIV.

And now as where Patroclus' body lay,

Here Trojan chiefs advanc'd, and there the Greek;
Ours o'er the Duke their pious wings difplay,
And theirs the nobleft fpoils of Britain seek.
LXV.
Mean-time his bufy mariners he haftes,

His fhatter'd fails with rigging to restore;
And willing pines afcend his broken masts,
Whofe lofty heads rise higher than before.
LXVI.
Straight to the Dutch he turns his dreadful prow,
More fierce th' important quarrel to decide:
Like fwans, in long array his veffels show,
Whose crefts advancing do the waves divide.
LXVII.

They charge, recharge, and all along the fea
They drive, and fquander the huge Belgian fleet.
Berkely alone, who nearest danger lay

Did a like fate with loft Creüfa meet.
LXVIII.

The night comes on, we eager to pursue

The combat ftill, and they asham'd to leave:
Till the laft ftreaks of dying day withdrew,
And doubtful moon-light did our rage deceive.
LXIX.

In th' English fleet each fhip refounds with joy,
And loud applause of their great leader's fame:
In fiery dreams the Dutch they ftill destroy,
And flumbering smile at the imagin'd flame.
LXX.

Not fo the Holland fleet, who, tir'd and done,
Stretch'd on their decks like weary oxen lie:
Faint fweats all down their mighty members run;
Vaft bulks which little fouls but ill fupply.

LXXI.

In dreams they fearful precipices tread:

Or, fhipwreck'd, labour to fome distant shore :
Or in dark churches walk among the dead:
They wake with horror and dare fleep no more.
LXXII.

The morn they look on with unwilling eyes,

Till from their main-top joyful news they hear
Of fhips, which by their mould bring new fupplies,
And in their colours Belgian Lions bear.

LXXIII.

Our watchful general had difcern'd from far
This mighty fuccour, which made glad the foe:
He figh'd, but like a father of the war,

His face fpake hope, while deep his forrows flow.
LXXIV.

His wounded men he firft fends off to shore,
Never till now unwilling to obey;
They, not their wounds, but want offtrength, deplore,
And think them happy who with him can stay.

LXXV.

Then to the reft, Rejoice, faid he, to-day;
In you the fortune of Great-Britain lies:

Among fo brave a people, you are they

Whom heaven has chofe to fight for fuch a prize.

LXXVI.

If number English courages could quell,

Have you not feen when whistled from the fift,
Some falcon stoops at what her eye defign'd,
And with her eagerness the quarry miss'd,
Straight flies at check, and clips it down the wind?
LXXXVII.

The daftard crow that to the wood made wing,
And fees the groves no fhelter can afford,
With her loud caws her craven kind does bring,
Who fafe in numbers cuff the noble bird.
LXXXVIII.

We fhould at firft have fhunn'd, not met our foes: Among the Dutch thus Albemarle did fare:

Whofe numerous fails the fearful only tell :

Courage from hearts and not from numbers grows.

LXXVII.

He faid, nor needed more to say: with hafte
To their known ftations chearfully they go;
And all at once difdaining to be last,
Solicit every gale to meet the foe.

LXXVIII.

Nor did th' encourag'd Belgians long delay,
But bold in others, not themselves, they stood:
So thick, our navy fcarce could fteer their way,
But feem'd to wander in a moving wood.
LXXIX.

Our little fleet was now engag'd so far,

That like the fword-fifh in the whale they fought:
The combat only feem'd a civil war,

Till through their bowels we our paffage wrought.
LXXX.

Never had valour, no not ours, before

Done aught like this upon the land or main,
Where not to be o'ercome was to do more
Than all the conquefts former Kings did gain.
LXXXI.

The mighty ghosts of our great Harries rose,
And armed Edwards look'd with anxious eyes,
To fee this fleet among unequal foes,

By which fate promis'd them their Charles should
rife.

LXXXII.

Mean-time the Belgians tack upon our rear,

He could not conquer, and difdain'd to fly;
Paft hope of fafety, 'twas his latest care,
Like falling Cæfar, decently to die.

LXXXIX.

Yet pity did his manly fpirit move,

To fee thofe perifh who fo well had fought : And generously with his defpair he strove, Refolv'd to live till he their fafety wrought.

XC.

Let other Mufes write his profperous fate,
Of conquer'd nations tell, and kings reftor'd:
Eut mine fhall fing of his eclips'd eftate,
Which, like the fun's, more wonders does afford.

XCI.

He drew his mighty frigates all before,
On which the foe his fruitlefs force employs :
His weak ones deep into his rear he bore
Remote from guns, as fick men from the noife.
XCII.

His fiery cannon did their paffage guide,
And following fmoke obfcur'd them from the foe:
Thus Ifrael fafe from the Egyptian's pride,
By flaming pillars and by clouds did go.

XCIII.

Elsewhere the Belgian force we did defeat,
But here our courages did theirs fubdue:
So Xenophon once led that fam'd retreat,
Which first the Afian empire overthrew.
XCIV.

And raking chafe guns through our fterns they The foe approach'd; and one for his bold fin

fend:

Clofe by their fire-fhips, like jackals, appear,

Who on their lions for the prey attend.

Was funk; as he that touch'd the ark was flain: The wild waves master'd him and fuck'd him in, And smiling eddies dimpled on the main.

Stung with her love, she stoops upon the plain, The broken air loud whistling as the flies: She ftops and liftens, and shoots forth again,

And guides her pinions by her young ones cries. CIX.

With fuch kind paffion haftes the prince to fight, And spreads his flying canvafs to the found: Him whom no danger were he there could fright, Now abfent every little noife can wound.

As in a drought the thirsty creatures cry,

And gape upon the gather'd clouds for rain; And first the martlet meets it in the sky,

And with wet wings joys all the feather'd train.
CXI.

With fuch glad hearts did our despairing men
Salute th' appearance of the prince's fleet;
And each ambitiously would claim the ken,

That with firft eyes did distant fafety meet.

CXLV.

CLVII. With glewy wax foine new foundations lay

In shipping such as this, the Irish kem, Of virgin-combs which from the roof aie hung:

And untaught Indian on the stream did glide : So.ne arm'd within doors upon duty stay,

Ere sharp-keeld roats to ftem the ficod did learn, Or tend the sick, or educate the young.

Or fin-like oars d.d spread from either fide.
CXLVI.

CLVUI,
So here some pick out bullets from the sides,

Add but a sail, and Saturn so appear'd, Some drive old okum through each seam and rist :

When from loft empire he to exile went, Their left hand does the calking iron guide,

And with the çoiden age to Tyber steerid, The rattling mallet with the right they list.

Where coin and commerce first he did invent. CXLVII.

CLIX. With boiling pitch another near at hand,

Rude as their ships was navigation then; From friendly Sweden brought, the seams inftops:

No useful compass or meridian krown; Which, well paid o'er, the salt sea waves withstand“

Coatting, they kept the land within their ken, And shakes them from the rising beak in drops.

And knew no Nortla but when the Pole-star Thone. CXLVIII.

CLX. Some the gall’d ropes with dawby marline bind,

Of all who fince have us'd the open sea, Or fear-cloth marts with strong tarpawling coats;

Than the bold English none more fame have won: To try new throuds one mounts into the wind,

Beyond the year, and out of heaven's high way, And one below their ease or stiffness notes.

They make discoveries where they see no sun. CXLIX.

CLXI. Qur careful monarch ftands in person by,

But what so long in vain, and yet unknown, His new-cast canonis firmness to explore :

By poor mankind's benighted wit is fought, The strength of big-corni'd powder loves to try,

Shall in this age to Britain first be shown,
And ball and cartridge forts for every bore.

And hence be to admiring nations taught.
CL.

CLXII.
Each day brings fresh supplies of arms and men, The ebbs of tides and their mysterious flow,
And thips which all last winter were abroad;

We, as art's elements, shall understand,
And such as fitted lince the fight had been,

And as by line ufor the ocean go,
Or new from stocks, were fall'n into the road.

Whofe paths Thail be familiar as the land.
CLI.

CLXIII.
The goodly London in her gallant trim,

Instructed ships Mall fail to quick commerce, The Phønix, daughter of the vanishid old,

By which remoteft regions are ally'd ; Like a rich bride does to the ocean swiin,

Which makes one city of the universe ; And on her Madow rides in floating gold.

Where fome may gain and all may be supply'd. CLII.

CLXIV. Her flag aloft spread ruffling to the wind,

Then we upon our globe's last verge Mall go, And fanguine streamers seem the flood to fire :

And view the ocean leaning on the sky: The weaver, charmd with what his loom design'd, From thence our rolling

neighbours we shall know, Goes on to fea, and krows not to retire.

And on the lunar world securely pry.
CLIII.

CLXV.
With roomy decks, her guns of mighty strength,

This I foretel from your auspicious care, Whose low-laid mouths each mounting billow

Who great in search of God and nature grow; laves :

Who best your wise Creator's praise declare, Despin her draught and warlike in her lengti,

Since best to praise his works is best to know. She seems a sea-wasp flying on the waves. CLIV.

CLXVI. This martial present, piouny desigrid,

O truly royal! who behold the law The loyal city gave their beat-lov'd king :

And rule of beings in your maker's mind :

And thence, like limhecs, rich ideas draw,
And with a bounty ample as the wind,

To fit the leveli'd use of human-kind.
Built, fitted, and maintain'd, to aid him bring.
CLV,

CLXVII.
By viewing nature, nature's handmaid, art

But first the toils of war we must endure, Makes mighty things from small beginnings grow. War makes the valiant of his right secure,

And from th' injurious Dutch redeem the seas. Thus fishes first to shipping did impart, Their tail the rudder, and their head the prow.

And gives up fraud to be chartis'd with ease.
CLVI.

CLXVIII.
So ne log perhaps upon the waters (wam, Already were the Belgians on our coast,

An useless drift, which rudely cut within, Whose Acet more mighty every day became And hollow'd first a floating trough became, By late success, which they did falsely boast, And cross some rivulet paffage did begin.

And now by first appearing feem'd to claim.