Had long forgot to meditate the foe, And heard unwarm'd the martial trumpet blow; Would clear the ramparts, and repel their course; His toils for no ignoble ends design'd, 1 Namure's late terrors, &c. The town of Namur had been taken by Louis XIV. in person, June, 1692, in eight days, and the citadel in twentytwo. William retook them in 1695-the town after thirty-five days' siege, the citadel sixty-eight.-G. VOL. I.--7* 1 Thus when the forming muse would copy forth A perfect pattern of heroick worth, She sets a man triumphant in the field, O'er giants cloven down, and monsters kill'd, Reeking with blood, and smeer'd with dust and sweat, Thy navy rides on seas before unprest, Deny'd the common use of sea and wind, 1 Nor dare again 1 the British strength engage; Still they remember that destructive rage Which lately made their trembling host retire, Stunn'd with the noise, and wrapt in smoke and fire; Spain's numerous fleet that perisht on our coast, Could scarce a larger line of battel boast, The winds could hardly drive 'em to their fate, And all the ocean labour'd with the weight. Nor dare again. The battle of la Hogue, 28th May, 1692, one of the most brilliant pages in the history of the French navy. Admiral Tourville, with only 44 ships, attacked the English and Dutch fleet of 85, and fought them till night, without losing a ship or breaking his line. After this spir ited answer to an unjust sarcasm of the Minister of War, he retreated, and his fleet, becoming scattered, was blockaded and destroyed in different ports. A literal verification, though hardly a justification, of our Poet's boastful lines.-G. Where-e'er the waves in restless errors rowle, The sea lies open now to either pole: Now may we safely use the northern gales, At length, proud prince, ambitious Lewis, cease On towns besieg'd, and thunders at thy walls! Ask Villeroy,' for Villeroy beheld The town surrender'd, and the treaty seal'd; 1Ask Villeroy. When, a few years after the publication of this piece, With what amazing strength the forts were won, 1 But stop not here: behold where Berkley stands, Thus Etna, when in fierce eruptions broke, Addison met Boileau, he may have recalled, perhaps, a celebrated ode of the French poet, and particularly the following lines: Accourez, Nassau, Bavière, De ces murs l'unique espoir ! Et dans les eaux, dans la flamme Marcher, courir avec eux. Racine, who, as royal historiographer, was present at the first siege of Namur, has given many interesting details of it in his letters to Boileau. -G. 1 Berkley. Lord Berkley's bombardment of Havre, Dieppe, &c., and his repulse before Brest, would hardly seem to be a fit subject of panegyric for a gentle nature like Addison's. The English endeavored to throw the blame of this mode of warfare upon the French and struck a medal, alluding to the use of bombs as a French invention by the inscription, Suis perit ignibus auctor; upon which a philosophic historian justly remarks, "L'exemple du crime ne justifie point celui qui l'imite.”—G. 1 Its fury reaches the remotest coast, And strews the Asiatick shore with dust. Now does the sailor from the neighbouring main Look after Gallick towns and forts in vain ; No more his wonted marks he can descry, But sees a long unmeasur'd ruine lie; His wond'ring mates where towns and steeples rose, And singles out the place where once St. Maloes stood. And would my strength but second my desire, And draw his cannons thund'ring in my verse: Through all the noise and hurry of the fight, Observe each blow, and keep him still in sight. 1 Here Russel's actions, &c. Russel commanded at the battle of the Hogue, though he was at the time, like Marlborough and several other leading men, engaged in a secret, and therefore, traitorous correspondence with James.-G. |