Yet could not by these prodigies be broke
The plotted charm, or stay'd the fatal stroke;
Their swords the' assassins in the temple draw;
Their murdering hands nor gods nor temples awe;
This sacred place their bloody weapons stain,
And virtue falls, before the altar slain.

"Twas now fair Cypria, with her woes oppress'd,
In raging anguish smote her heavenly breast;
Wild with distracting fears, the goddess tried
Her hero in the' ethereal cloud to hide;
The cloud which youthful Paris did conceal,
When Menelaus urg'd the threatening steel;
The cloud, which once deceiv'd Tydides' sight,
And sav'd Eneas in the' unequal fight.

When Jove-In vain, fair daughter, you essay
To o'er-rule destiny's unconquer'd sway:
Your doubts to banish, enter Fate's abode,
A privilege to heavenly powers allow'd;

There shall you see the records grav'd, in length,
On iron and solid brass, with mighty strength;
Which heaven's and earth's concussion shall endure,
Maugre all shocks, eternal and secure :
There, on perennial adamant design'd,
The various fortunes of your race you'll find:
Well I have mark'd 'em, and will now relate
To thee the settled laws of future fate.

He, goddess, for whose death the fates you blame,
Has finish'd his determin'd course with fame:
To thee 'tis given, at length, that he shall shine
Among the gods, and grace the worship'd shrine;
His son to all his greatness shall be heir,
And worthily succeed to empire's care:
Ourself will lead his wars, resolv'd to aid
The brave avenger of his father's shade.

To him its freedom Mutina shall owe,

And Decius his auspicious conduct know;
His dreadful powers shall shake Pharsalia's plain,
And drench in gore Philippi's fields again :
A mighty leader, in Sicilia's flood,

Great Pompey's warlike son, shall be subdued:
Egypt's soft queen, adorn'd with fatal charms,
Shall mourn her soldiers' unsuccessful arms:
Too late shall find her swelling hopes were vain,
And know, that Rome o'er Memphis still must reign!
What name I Afric, or Nile's hidden head?
For as both oceans roll his power shall spread :
All the known earth to him shall homage pay,
And the seas own his universal sway.
When cruel war no more disturbs mankind,
To civil studies shall he bend his mind,
With equal justice guardian laws ordain,
And by his great example vice restrain :
Where will his bounty or his goodness end?
To times unborn his generous views extend;
The virtues of his heir our praise engage,
And promise blessings to the coming age:
Late shall he in his kindred orbs be plac'd,
-With Pylian years and crowded honours grac'd.
Meantime, your hero's fleeting spirit bear,
Fresh from his wounds, and change it to a star:
So shall great Julius rites divine assume,
And from the skies eternal smile on Rome.'

This spoke; the goddess to the senate flew;
Where, her fair form conceal'd from mortal view,
Her Cæsar's heavenly part she made her care,
Nor left the recent soul to waste to air;
But bore it upwards to its native skies:
Glowing with new-born fires she saw it rise;

Forth springing from her bosom up it flew,
And, kindling as it soar'd, a comet grew:
Above the lunar sphere it took its flight,
And shot behind it a long trail of light.

THE REIGN OF AUGUSTUS, IN WHICH OVID
FLOURISHED.

Thus rais'd, his glorious offspring Julius view'd,
Beneficently great, and scattering good;
Deeds, that his own surpass'd, with joy beheld,
And his large heart dilates to be excell❜d.
What though this prince refuses to receive
The preference which his juster subjects give;
Fame uncontroll'd, that no restraint obeys,
The homage, shun'd by modest virtue, pays;
And proves disloyal only in his praise.
Though great his sire, him greater we proclaim;
So Atreus yields to Agamemnon's fame:
Achilles so superior honours won,

And Peleus must submit to Peleus' son.
Examples yet more noble to disclose,

So Saturn was eclips'd, when Jove to empire rose;
Jove rules the heavens, the earth Augustus sways.;
Each claims a monarch's and a father's praise.

Celestials! who for Rome your cares employ!
Ye gods! who guarded the remains of Troy;
Ye native gods! here born, and fix'd by Fate;
Quirinus, founder of the Roman state;

O parent Mars! from whom Quirinus sprung;
Chaste Vesta! Cæsar's household gods among
Most sacred held; domestic Phoebus! thou,
To whom with Vesta chaste alike we bow;
Great guardian of the high Tarpeian rock;
And all ye powers, whom poets may invoke;

O grant, that day may claim our sorrows late,
When lov'd Augustus shall submit to fate,
Visit those seats where gods and heroes dwell;
And leave in tears the world he rul'd so well!

THE POET CONCLUDEs.

The work is finish'd, which nor dreads the rage
Of tempests, fire, or war, or wasting age;
Come, soon or late, death's undetermin'd day,
This mortal being only can decay;

My nobler part, my fame, shall reach the skies,
And to late times with blooming honours rise.
Whate'er the' unbounded Roman power obeys,
All climes and nations shall record my praise;
If 'tis allow'd to poets to divine,

One half of round eternity is mine.

Whittingham and Rowland, Printers, Goswell Street, London.

R