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N° 620. Monday, November 15, 1714.

Hic vir, hic eft, tibi quem promitti fæpius audis.
VIRG. En. vi. 791.

• Behold the promis'd chief!'

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AVING lately prefented my reader with a of verfes full of the falfe fublime, I fhall here communicate to him an excellent fpecimen of the true: though it hath not been yet published, the judicious reader will readily difcern it to be the work of a master: and if he hath

read that noble poem on "The Profpect of "Peace," he will not be at a loss to guess at the author. *

The ROYAL PROGRESS.

HEN Brunswick firft appear'd, each honeft heart,

WHEN Breaffy

Intent on verfe, difdain'd the rules of art; For him the fongfters, in unmeafur'd odes, 'Debas'd Alcides, and dethron'd the gods; In golden chains the kings of India led, 'Or rent the turban from the Sultan's head. One, in old fables, and the pagan strain, With Nymphs and Tritons, wafts him o'er the main;

Another draws fierce Lucifer in arms,

And fills th' infernal region with alarms; A third awakes fome Druid, to foretel 'Each future triumph, from his dreary cell.

By Mr. TICKELL, See SPECT. N° 523. and N°. 532.

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Exploded

Exploded fancies! that in vain deceive,

While the mind naufeates what fhe can't believe.
My Mufe th' expected Hero fhall purfue
From clime to clime, and keep him ftill in view;
His fhining march defcribe in faithful lays,
Content to paint him, nor prefume to praife;
Their charms, if charms they have, the truth fup,
plies,

And from the theme unlabour'd beauties rife,

By longing nations for the throne defign'd, And call'd to guard the rights of human kind; With fecret grief his godlike foul repines, And Britain's crown with joyless luftre fhines, While pray'rs and tears his deftin'd progress stay, And crowds of mourners choak their Sov'reign's

way.

Not fo he march'd when hoftile fquadrons ftood In fcenes of death, and fir'd his generous blood; When his hot courfer paw'd th' Hungarian plain, And adverfe legions ftood the fhock in vain. His frontiers paft, the Belgian bounds he views, And crofs the level fields his march purfues. Here, pleas'd the land of freedom to furvey, 'He greatly scorns the thirst of boundless fway. O'er the thin foil, with filent joy, he fpies

Tranfplanted woods, and borrow'd verdure rife; 'Where ev'ry meadow won with toil and blood, From haughty tyrants, and the raging flood, With fruits and flowers the careful hind fupplies, And clothes the marshes in a rich disguise. Such wealth for frugal hands doth Heaven decree, And fuch thy gifts, celeftial Liberty!

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Through ftately towns, and many a fertile plain, The pomp advances to the neighbouring main. Whole nations crowd around with joyful cries, ‹ And view the hero with infatiate eyes,

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In Haga's towers he waits, till eastern gales
Propitious rife to fwell the British fails.

Hither the fame of England's monarch brings
The vows and friendships of the neighb'ring kings;
Mature in wifdom, his extenfive mind

Takes in the blended interests of mankind,

The world's great patriot. Calm thy anxious breast,
Secure in him, O Europe, take thy reft;

Henceforth thy kingdoms fhall remain confin'd
By rocks or ftreams, the mounds which Heav'n
• defign'd;

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The Alps their new-made monarch fhall restrain,
Nor fhall thy hills, Pirene, rife in vain.

But fee, to Britain's ifle the fquadron ftand,
And leave the finking towers and lefs'ning land.
• The royal bark bounds o'er the floating plain,
Breaks through the billows, and divides the main.
O'er the vaft deep, great monarch, dart thine eyes,
A watery profpect bounded by the skies:

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Ten thousand veffels, from ten thousand shores,
Bring gums and gold, and either India's ftores,
Behold the tributes haft'ning to thy throne,
And fee the wide horizon all thy own,

Still is it thine; tho' now the cheerful crew • Hail Albion's clifts juft whitening to the view. Before the wind with fwelling fails they ride,

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Till Thames receives them in his opening tide.
The monarch hears the thund'ring peals around
• From trembling woods and echoing hills rebound.
Nor miffes yet, amid the deaf'ning train,
The roarings of the hoarfe refounding main,

As in the flood he fails, from either fide,
He views his kingdom in its rural pride;

A various

A various scene the wide-fpread landskip yields, O'er rich inclofures and luxuriant fields: A lowing herd each fertile pasture fills, And diftant flocks ftray o'er a thousand hills. Fair Greenwich hid in woods with new delight, (Shade above fhade) now rifes to the fight: • His woods ordain'd to vifit every shore, And guard the island which they grac'd before.

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The fun, now rolling down the western way, A blaze of fires, renews the fading day; Unnumber'd barks the regal barge enfold, Bright'ning the twilight with its beamy gold; Lefs thick the finny fhoals, a countless fry, • Before the whale or kingly dolphin fly; In one vaft fhout he feeks the crowded ftrand, And in a peal of thunder gains the land.

Welcome, great ftranger, to our longing eyes, Oh! king defir'd, adopted Albion cries,

For thee the Eaft breath'd out a profp'rous breeze,
Bright were the funs, and gently fwell'd the feas.
Thy prefence did each doubtful heart compofe,
And factions wonder'd that they once were foes;
That joyful day they loft each hoftile name,
The fame their afpect, and their voice the fame.

So two fair twins, whofe features were defign'd
At one foft moment in the mother's mind,
Show each the other with reflected grace,
And the fame beauties bloom in either face;
The puzzled strangers which is which inquire;
Delufion grateful to the fmiling fire.

*

From that fair hill, where hoary fages boaft To name the ftars, and count the heavenly hoft,

*Flamstead houfe.

By

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By the next dawn doth great Augufta rife, 'Proud town! the nobleft fcene beneath the fkies. 'O'er Thames her thousand fpires their luftre shed, And a vast navy hides his ample bed

peers

A floating foreft! From the diftant ftrand
A line of golden cars ftrikes o'er the land:
"Britannia's
in pomp
and rich array,
Before their king, triumphant led the way.
Far as the eye can reach, the gaudy train,
A bright proceffion, fhines along the plain.

So haply thro' the heav'n's wide pathlefs ways
A comet draws a long-extended blaze;
From east to weft burns through th' etherial frame,
'And half heav'n's convex glitters with the flame.

Now to the regal towers fecurely brought,
'He plans Britannia's glories in his thought,
Refumes the delegated power he gave,
'Rewards the faithful, and restores the brave.
• Whom shall the Mufe from out the fhining throng
Select, to heighten and adorn her fong?

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Thee, Halifax. To thy capacious mind,

O man approv'd, is Britain's wealth confign'd. 'Her coin (while Naffau fought) debas'd and rude, By thee in beauty and in truth renew'd,

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An arduous work! again thy charge we fee,
And thy own care once more returns to thee.
O! form'd in every fcene to awe and please,
Mix wit with pomp, and dignity with eafe;
'Tho' call'd to fhine aloft, thou wilt not fcorn
To smile on hearts thyfelf did once adorn:
For this thy name fucceeding time fhall praife,
And envy lefs thy garter than thy bays.

The Mufe, if fir'd with thy enliv'ning beams,
Perhaps fhall aim at more exalted themes;
• Record

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