Sustain'd by this thro' all the scenes of strife,

Whose dark succession form'd his chequer'd life,

[Pg 12]

He ne'er the soul's sublimer courage felt,

That warms the heart, and teaches it to melt;

That nurses liberty's expanding seeds,

And teems prolific with the noblest deeds.

To guide the storm of battle o'er the plain,

Condense its force, expand it, or restrain;

To turn the tide of conquest to defeat

By stratagems too fatally complete,

Or freeze it by delay; to aim at will

The well-timed stroke that mars all adverse skill;

To range, in order firm, th'embattled line;

Or shape, as regular, the bold design;

All these were his—yet not all these could claim

Exemptions from the lot of penal shame,

Or snatch from glory's plant one servile wreath,

To deck the waste of crimes, that frown'd beneath.

Harden'd in villany, with fate unfeign'd

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