Pompey superb, the fpirit-ftirring form
Of Cæfar raptur'd with the charm of rule
And boundless fame; impatient for exploits,
His eager eyes upcaft, he foars in thought
Above all height: and his own Brutus fee,
Defponding Brutus, dubious of the right,
In evil days, of faith, of public weal
Solicitous and fad. Thy next regard
Be Tully's graceful attitude; uprais'd,
His out-ftretch'd arm he waves, in act to speak
Before the filent masters of the world,
And eloquence arrays him. There behold
Prepar❜d for combat in the front of war
The pious brothers; jealous Alba ftands
In fearful expectation of the strife,
And youthful Rome intent: the kindred foes
Fall on each other's neck in filent tears;
In forrowful benevolence embrace
Howe'er they foon unfheath the flashing sword,
Their country calls to arms; now all in vain
The mother clafps the knee, and ev'n the fair
Now
weeps
in vain; their country calls to arms.
Such virtue Clelia, Cocles, Manlius, rous'd;
Such were the Fabii, Decii; fo infpir'd
The Scipio's battled, and the Gracchi fpoke:
So rose the Roman ftate. Me now, of these
Deep-mufing, high ambitious thoughts inflame
Greatly to serve my country, diftant land,
And build me virtuous fame; nor fhall the duft
Of these fall'n piles with fhew of sad decay
Avert the good refolve, mean argument,
The fate alone of matter.--Now the brow
We gain enraptur'd; beauteously distinct ©
The num'rous portico's and domes upfwell,
With obelifcs and columns interpos'd,
And pine, and fir, and oak: fo fair a scene
Sees not the dervise from the spiral tomb
Of ancient Chammos, while his eye
Proud Memphis' reliques o'er th' Ægyptian plain :
Nor hoary hermit from Hymettus' brow,
Though graceful Athens, in the vale beneath.
Along the windings of the Mufe's stream,
Lucid Ilyffus, weeps her filent schools,
And groves, unvifited by bard or fage.
Amid the tow'ry ruins, huge, fupreme,
Th' enormous amphitheatre behold,
From the Palatin hill one fees most of the remarkable antiquities.
Mountainous pile! o'er whofe capacious womb
Pours the broad firmament its varied light;
While from the central floor the feats afcend
Round above round, flow-wid'ning to the verge,
A circuit vaft and high; nor lefs had held
Imperial Rome, and her attendant realms,
When drunk with rule fhe will'd the fierce delight,
And op'd the gloomy caverns, whence out-rush'd
Before th' innumerable fhouting crowd
The fiery, madded, tyrants of the wilds,
Lions and tygers, wolves and elephants,
And defp'rate men, more fell.
By frequent converse with familiar death,
To kindle brutal daring apt for war;
To lock the breast, and steel th' obdurate heart,
Amid the piercing cries of fore distress
Impenetrable. But away thine eye;
Behold yon steepy cliff; the modern pile
Perchance may now delight, while that rever'd
In ancient days, the page alone declares,
Or narrow coin through dim cærulean rust.
The fane was Jove's, its fpacious golden roof,
O'er thick-surrounding temples beaming wide,
Appear'd, as when above the morning hills
Half the round fun afcends; and tow'r'd aloft,
Sustain❜d by columns huge, innumerous
As cedars proud on Canaan's verdant heights
Dark'ning their idols, when Aftarte lur'd
Too profp'rous Ifrael from his living strength.
And next regard yon venerable dome,
Which virtuous Latium, with erroneous aim,
Rais'd to her various deities, and nam'd
Pantheon; plain and round; of this our world
Majestic emblem; with peculiar grace,
Before its ample orb, projected stands
The many-pillar'd portal; nobleft work
Of human skill: here, curious architect,
If thou affay'st, ambitious, to furpass
Palladius, Angelus, or British Jones,
On these fair walls extend the certain scale,
And turn th' inftructive compass: careful mark
How far in hidden art, the noble plain
Extends, and where the lovely forms commence
Of flowing sculpture: nor neglect to note
How range the taper columns, and what weight
Their leafy brows fuftain: fair Corinth first
Boafted their order which Callimachus
(Reclining studious on Afopus' banks
Beneath an urn of fome lamented nymph)
Haply compos'd; the urn with foliage curl'd
Thinly conceal'd, the chapiter inform'd.
See the tall obelifcs from Memphis old,
One ftone enormous each, or Thebes convey'd ;
Like Albion's fpires they rush into the skies.
And there the temple, where the fummon'd state
In deep of night conven'd: ev'n yet methinks
The veh❜ment orator in rent attire
Perfuafion pours, ambition finks her crest;
And lo the villain, like a troubled sea,
up her mire! Ever difguis'd,
Shall treason walk? fhall proud oppreffion yoke
The neck of virtue? Lo the wretch abash'd,
Self-betray'd Catiline! O Liberty,
Parent of happiness, celestial born;
When the first man became a living foul,
His facred genius thou; be Britain's care;
With her fecure, prolong thy lov'd retreat;
Thence bless mankind; while yet among her fons,
Ev'n yet there are, to fhield thine equal laws,
• The temple of Concord, where the fenate met on Catiline's confpiracy.
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