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And danger with the watchful foe withdrawn.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,

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.

An ancient Sage,

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

66

If force prevail, or fraud."

Strait at this boast,

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

3.

Proceeded

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."

1

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

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

Deprefs'd,