"Sometimes we but rehearse a former play,
"The night reftores our actions done by day;
"As hounds in fleep will open for their prey.
"In fhort, the farce of dreams is of a piece,
"Chimeras all, and more abfurd or less :
"You, who believe in tales, abide alone;
"Whate'er I get this voyage is my own.'
Thus while he spoke, he heard the fhouting crew
That call'd aboard, and took his last adieu.
The veffel went before a merry gale,
And, for quick paffage, put on every fail:
But when leaft fear'd, and e'en in open day,
The mischief overtook her in the way:
Whether she sprung a leak, I cannot find,
Or whether the was overfet with wind,
Or that fome rock below her bottom rent;
But down at once, with all her crew, fhe went :
Her fellow fhips from far, her lofs defcried;
But only fhe was funk, and all were safe befide.
IN Ruffia's frozen clime, fome ages fince,
There dwelt, hiftorians fay, a worthy prince,
Who to his people's good confined his care,
And fix'd the bafis of his empire there;
Enlarged their trade, the liberal arts improved,
Made nations happy, and himself beloved;
To all the neighbouring ftates a terror grown,
The dear delight and glory of his own.
Not like thofe kings, who vainly feek renown
From countries ruined, and from battles won;
Thofe mighty Nimrods, who mean laws defpife,
Call murder but a princely exercise,
And, if one bloodless fun should steal away,
Cry out, with Titus, they have lost a day;
Who, to be more than men, themselves debase
Beneath the brute, their Maker's form deface,
Raifing their titles by their God's disgrace.
Like fame to bold Eroftratus we give,
Who fcorn'd by less than facrilege to live;
On holy ruins raised a lafting name,
And in the temple's fire diffused his fhame.
Far different praises, and a brighter fame,
The virtues of the young Porfenna claim;
For by that name the Ruffian king was known,
And fure a nobler ne'er adorn'd the throne.
In war he knew the deathful fword to wield,
And fought the thickest dangers of the field,
A bold commander; but, the ftorm o'erblown,
He feem'd as he were made for
peace alone;
Then was the golden age again restored,
Nor less his juftice honour'd, than his fword.
All needlefs pomp, and outward grandeur fpared,
The deeds that graced him were his only guard;
No private views beneath a borrow'd name;
His and the public intereft were the fame.
In wealth and pleasure let the subject live;
But virtue is the king's prerogative :
Porfenna there without a rival ftood,
And would maintain his right of doing good.
Nor did his perfon lefs attraction wear,
Such majesty and sweetness mingled there :
Heaven, with uncommon art, the clay refined,
A proper manfion for fo fair a mind;
Each look, each action, bore peculiar grace,
And love itself was painted on his face,
In peaceful time he suffer'd not his mind
To ruft in floth, though much to peace inclin'd;
Nor wanton in the lap of pleasure lay,
And, loft to glory, loiter'd life away:
But active rifing ere the prime of day,
Through woods and lonely deferts loved to stray;
With hounds and horns to wake the furious bear,
Or rouse the tawny lion from his lair ;
To rid the foreft of the favage brood,
And whet his courage for his country's good.
One day, as he pursued the dangerous sport,
Attended by the nobles of his court,
It chanced, a beast of more than common speed,
Sprang from the brake, and through the defert fled.
The ardent Prince, impetuous as the wind,
Rufb'd on, and left his lagging train behind,
Fired with the chase, and full of youthful blood,
O'er plains, and vales, and woodland wilds, he rode,
Urging his courfer's speed, nor thought the day,
How wafted, nor how intricate the way:
Nor, till the night in dufky clouds came on,
Reftrain'd his pace, or found himself alone.
Miffing his train, he ftrove to measure back
The road he came, but could not find the track;
Still turning to the place he left before,
And only lab'ring to be loft the more.
The bugle horn, which o'er his fhoulders hung,
So loud he winded, that the foreft rung;
In vain, no voice but Echo from the ground,
And vocal woods make mockery of the found.
And now the gathering clouds began to spread
O'er the dun face of night a deeper shade;
And the hoarse thunder, growling from afar,
With herald voice proclaim'd th' approaching war,
Silence awhile enfued, then by degrees
A hollow wind came muttering through the trees.
Sudden the full-fraught sky discharged its store,
Of rain and rattling hail a mingled shower;
The active lightning ran along the ground;
The fiery bolts by fits were hurl'd around,
And the wide forefts trembled at the found.
Amazement feized the Prince ;-where could he fly?
No guide to lead, no friendly cottage nigh.
Penfive and unresolved awhile he stood
Beneath the scanty covert of the wood;
But, drove from thence, foon fallied forth again,
As chance directed, on the dreary plain;
Conftrain'd his melancholy way to take
Through many a loathsome bog, and thorny brake,
Caught in the thicket, flound'ring in the lake.
Wet with the ftorm, and wearied with the way,
By hunger pinch'd, himself to beasts a prey;
|