TRAGEDY.

Ecce fpectaculum dignum, ad quod respiciat, intentus operi fuo, Deus! Ecce par Deo dignum, vir fortis cum malâ fortunâ compofitus! Non video, inquam, quid habeat in terris Jupiter pulchrius, fi convertere animum velit, quàm ut fpectet Catonem, jam partibus non femel fractis, nihilominùs inter ruinas publicas erectum. Sen. de Divin. Prov.

D 3

Γ

VERSES

To the AUTHOR of the

TRAGEDY of CAT O.

WHILE you the fierce divided Britons awe,

And Cato with an equal virtue draw,

While envy is itself in wonder loft,

And factions frive who fall applaud you moff;
Forgive the fond ambition of a friend,
Who hopes himself, not you, to recommend ;
And joins th' applaufe which all the learn'd beftow
On one, to whom a perfect work they owe.

To *
my light fcenes I once infcrib'd your name,
And impotently ftrove to borrow fame:
Soon will that die, which adds thy name to mine;
Let me then live, join'd to a work of thine.

D 4

RICHARD STEELE.

Thought

* Tender husband, dedicated to Mr. Addison.

Though Cato fhines in Virgil's epic song,

Prescribing laws among th' Elyfian throng;
Tho' Lucan's verfe, exalted by his name,
O'er gods themselves has rais'd the hero's fame;
The Roman ftage did ne'er his image fee,
Drawn at full length; a task reserv'd for thee.
By thee we view the finish'd figure rife,
And awful march before our ravish'd eyes;
We hear his voice, afferting virtue's caufe ;
His fate renew'd our deep attention draws,
Excites by turns our various hopes and fears,
And all the patriot in thy scene appears.

On Tiber's banks thy thought was first inspir'd
"Twas there, to fome indulgent grove retir'd,
Rome's antient fortunes rolling in thy mind,
Thy happy mufe this manly work defign'd:
Or in a dream thou faw'ft Rome's genius stand,
And, leading Cato in his facred hand,
Point out th' immortal fubject of thy lays,
And ask this labour, to record his praise.

'Tis done, the hero lives, and charms our age!
While nobler morals grace the British stage.
Great Shakespear's ghoft, the folemn train to hear,
(Methinks I fee the laurel'd shade appear!)
Will hover o'er the scene, and wond'ring view
His fav'rite Brutus rival'd thus by you,
Such Roman greatness in each action shines,
Such Roman eloquence adorns your lines,

That