The Cambrians form'd, and bade their fiery breasts Burst into fudden flame-that men would deem Their fouls were with their fingers fulphur-ting'd. It is decreed-Rage prompts them to revenge Unfated but with blood-Yet by what means, What art the cautious felon to enfnare,
They doubt: for, Cambria, thy Grimalkin race Nor to the house defence, nor in distress So imminent, cou'd aught of fuccour bring. Oft had the Cat plac'd at the cavern's mouth The various ambufcade; as oft with paw Soft-filent creeping, near the hollow cell Kept wary watch-In vain-The little Moufe In little bulk fecure, (advantage great Over a Giant Foe!) if chance he spy Her watching at his door intent on prey, Inward he flies, his ferpentine recess Purfues, and caves impervious to Cat: Nor dares again thruft out his head in air, Nor form new fallies, till the fiege be rais'd,
And danger with the watchful foe withdrawn.
The Cambrians thus, (if Cambrians with the Mouse We may compare,) when Roman JULIUS fought To join the Britons to the world fubdu'd, Eluded his vain toil. To their retreat At once a nation vanish'd; in their rocks, Rampires impregnable, lay fafe obfcur'd 'Mid circling ruin; and of conqueft though
Defpairing, to be conquerable scorn'd. Their long, unbroken lineage hence they boaft, Their country unsubdued, and ancient tongue.
Thus did the Mouse, by cuftom tutor❜d, oft Evade the hoftile paw; nor Cambria's fons Had hope from their confederate of the war : When ftrait, on th' utmost frontiers of their Land, Where now Menevia the fhrunk honours mourn's Of her divided mitre, of whose walls Half-buried but an empty name remains, Behold a Council fummons'd. From each fide See Nobles, Fathers, and the vulgar throng Of stench fulphureous, mix.
Whofe length of beard oft from his native hills The goat with envy ey'd; his hands, his face With fcurf of ancient growth encrusted o'er; Broken with years, against a poft reclin'd, (By Cambrian backs still shaken) in the midst Stood vifible to all, and with deep tone These words precipitating, gutt'ral spake. "Of open war we treat not, but fly theft- "No foreign foe, but a too inmate guest "(That heavier evil) fummons us to meet. "Still fhall the bold infulter lord it thús,
"The tyrant Moufe? Roufe, aweful Fathers, roufe ;
Ye, to whose breafts your country's good is dear,
By counsel end these horrors; and if aught
Of hope remain, now lend propitious aid:
So fhall your glory grow, your names be known "Immortal as CADWALADER'S in fame."
He fpake, and ftrait the fragments, mouldy fcraps, Reliques of rapine, monuments of theft,
High in their fight uprearing, rous'd their rage. Now thirft of dire revenge, now luft of fame Burns emulous, and fires each Patriot breaft; Each meditates to Moufe unheard-of fate, And ev'ry brain is hammʼring on a TRAP. But one 'bove all by th' honour-added name Of TAFFY fam'd, far more for wit renown'd: Cambria ne'er bred his peer, whether at forge, Or council; Senator and Blacksmith He.
Thus 'gan the Sage-" Should Cheefe, our Nation's boaft, "In Cambria be extinct, I fear our hinds
"Wou'd mourn their whole meals funk, and Nobles grieve
"The honours loft, that crown'd the fecond course.
"Since then nor Cambria's courage, nor her Cats
Against the monsters can prevail, we'll try
"If this mechanic hand, if craft, deceit,
"Can aught advantage: in a foe none afks
If force prevail, or fraud."
All fix on TAFFY their expecting eyes,
All in glad murmurs fpeak their promis'd joy, Wait whence the bliss; question, and burn to know. Scratching his head, (as British heads demand,)
He ghaftly fmil'd, and strait with freer air
Proceeded thus-" When wearied, at the clofe "Of yefter fun I gave my limbs to rest,
"And slumber deep my eyes had quench'd; a Moufe "Bold and pursuing, as I guess, the trail,
"Which unconnected Cheese recent exhal'd "From out my vifcous jaws, ftole down my mouth "Then difcontinuous; and reaching now
"My very entrails, ftrait their crude contents "'Gan' gnaw, and through my throat ill-fortified "My yefter's meal, alas! triumphant drags. "When fudden rous'd from fleep, in his retreat "I'twixt my teeth the felon snap'd, and bound Vainly rebellious in the biting chain.
"Inftructed thus that Moufe might be enthrall'd, "New vifionary prifon-houfes rife
"In my revolving mind, and fuch restraints, "As the late captive of my jaws fuggefts.
By what mysterious laws the hand of Jove "Moves fublunary things! By what hid rules "The chain of causes acts! the Moufe himself "To us involuntary fuccour brings, "And for the wounds he gave himself prefcribes. "Blush not by fuch a master to improve ;
"From foes to learn, bonour nor right forbids."
Thefe faid, homeward he his. Th' applauding throng Accompany his route, and to his toil
Propitious omens beg. Bends his fwift courfe;
Each to his house each to his Lares flies, R 4
Glad harbinger of this expected birth
From TAFFY's brain: and whilft they tell the tale, Whilft to the Gods for glad event they bend. Of the great enterprize, the Moufing Kind (Prophetic inflinct!) shew unwonted joy Gamefome; and (if we credit Fame) beneath The matron's hand dances the embryo cheese. TAFFY mean while with head, and hand, and heart, Plies his great work, with PALLAS' aid divine The MOUSE-TRAP builds. A wonderful machine Now flood confefs'd; and form 'till then unknown The Tragi-comic edifice indu'd.
Now fmile, fweet Mufe, and to our fight disclose The infant fabric; each particular
Dilate, and join them in the finish'd pile.
Of oblong form twin planks of wood compofe The bafe and roof; a wiry palifade
Fences each fide, on whose small columns rais'd The fabric stands: th' infidious gate invites With friendly-feeming welcome; but on high, Depending from a flender thread, the vast Portcullis threats, to thoughtless Mice fure death. (Such is the thread of life, fpun by the FATES To Moufe and Man---All on a thread depend.) Amidst the level roof fhoots up a maft D Erect, in whofe cleft head a flender beam Tranfverfe inferted plays, and on each fide Extends its, poised arms; whofe one extrenie
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