6

He couch'd it firm upon his puissant thigh",
And darting through his helm an eagle's eye,
On all the wings of chivalry advanced
To where the fond Sir Airy lay entranced.

He dreamt not of a foe, or if his fear
Foretold one, dreamt not of a foe so near.
Far other dreams his feverish mind employ'd,
Of rights restored, variety enjoy'd;

Of virtue too well fenced to fear a flaw;
Vice passing current by the stamp of law;
Large population on a liberal plan,

And woman trembling at the foot of man;
How simple wedlock fornication works,
And Christians marrying may convert the Turks.
The trumpet now spoke Marmadan at hand,
A trumpet that was heard through all the land.
His high-bred steed expands his nostrils wide,
And snorts aloud to cast the mist aside;
But he, the virtues of his lance to show,
Struck thrice the point upon his saddle bow;
Three sparks ensued that chased it all away,
And set the unseemly pair in open day.

"To horse!" he cried, "or, by this good right hand
And better spear, I smite you where
you stand."
Sir Airy, not a whit dismay'd or scared,
Buckled his helm, and to his steed repair'd ;
Whose bridle, while he cropp'd the grass below,
Hung not far off upon a myrtle bough.
He mounts at once,--such confidence infused
The insidious witch that had his wits abused;
And she, regardless of her softer kind,

Seized fast the saddle and sprang up behind.

66

Oh shame to knighthood!" his assailant cried;

"Oh shame!" ten thousand echoing nymphs replied.

my almighty arms

Gird on, and sword upon thy puissant thigh.-Par. Lost, vi. 713.

He through the armed files,

Darts his experienced eye.-Par. Lost, i. 569.

This is one of the instances in which Cowper's remembrance of a passage in Milton has betrayed him into an inexact use of a word in it.

Placed with advantage at his listening ear,
She whisper'd still that he had nought to fear;
That he was cased in such enchanted steel,
So polish'd and compact from head to heel,

Come ten, come twenty, should an army call Thee to the field, thou shouldst withstand them all." By Dian's beams," Sir Marmadan exclaim'd, The guiltiest still are ever least ashamed! But guard thee well, expect no feign'd attack; And guard beside the sorceress at thy back!"

He spoke indignant, and his spurs applied,
Though little need, to his good palfrey's side;
The barb sprang forward, and his lord, whose force
Was equal to the swiftness of his horse,
Rush'd with a whirlwind's fury on the foe,
And, Phineas like, transfixed them at a blow.
Then sang the married and the maiden throng,
Love graced the theme, and harmony the song;
The Fauns and Satyrs, a lascivious race,

Shriek'd at the sight, and, conscious, fled the place :
And Hymen, trimming his dim torch anew,
His snowy mantle o'er his shoulders threw ;
He turn'd, and view'd it oft on every side,
And reddening with a just and generous pride,
Bless'd the glad beams of that propitious day,
The spot he loath'd so much for ever cleansed away.

TABLE TALK.

Si te fortè meæ gravis uret sarcina charta

Abjicito.

HOR. lib. i. epis. 13.

A. You told me, I remember, glory built
On selfish principles is shame and guilt;
The deeds that men admire as half divine,
Stark naught, because corrupt in their design.
Strange doctrine this! that without scruple tears
The laurel that the very lightning spares,
Brings down the warrior's trophy to the dust,
And eats into his bloody sword like rust.

1

B. I grant, that men continuing what they are,
Fierce, avaricious, proud, there must be war;
And never meant the rule should be applied
To him that fights with justice on his side.

Let laurels, drench'd in pure Parnassian dews,
Reward his memory, dear to every muse,
Who, with a courage of unshaken root,
In honour's field, advancing his firm foot,
Plants it upon the line that justice draws,
And will prevail or perish in her cause.
'Tis to the virtues of such men, man owes
His portion in the good that heaven bestows;
And when recording history displays
Feats of renown, though wrought in ancient days,
Tells of a few stout hearts that fought and died
Where duty placed them, at their country's side,
The man that is not moved' with what he reads,
That takes not fire at their heroic deeds,
Unworthy of the blessings of the brave,
Is base in kind, and born to be a slave.
But let eternal infamy pursue

The wretch to nought but his ambition true,
Who, for the sake of filling with one blast
The post-horns of all Europe, lays her waste.
Think yourself station'd on a towering rock,
To see a people scatter'd like a flock,
Some royal mastiff panting at their heels,
With all the savage thirst a tiger feels,
Then view him self-proclaim'd in a gazette,
Chief monster that has plagued the nations yet!
The globe and sceptre in such hands misplaced,
Those ensigns of dominion, how disgraced!
The glass that bids man mark the fleeting hour,
And death's own scythe would better speak his power.
Then grace the bony phantom in their stead
With the king's shoulder knot and gay cockade,
Clothe the twin brethren in each other's dress,

The same their occupation and success.

A. 'Tis your belief the world was made for man ;
Kings do but reason on the selfsame plan :

Perhaps this may have been suggested by Johnson's famous passage concerning Iona.

Maintaining your's, you cannot their's condemn,
Who think, or seem to think, man made for them.
B. Seldom, alas! the power of logic reigns
With much sufficiency in royal brains.
Such reasoning falls like an inverted cone,
Wanting its proper base to stand upon.
Man made for kings! those optics are but dim
That tell you so ;—say, rather, they for him.
That were indeed a king-ennobling thought,
Could they, or would they, reason as they ought.
The diadem with mighty projects lined,
To catch renown by ruining mankind,

Is worth, with all its gold and glittering store,
Just what the toy will sell for, and no more.
Oh! bright occasions of dispensing good,
How seldom used, how little understood!
То pour in virtue's lap her just reward,
Keep vice restrain'd behind a double guard,
To quell the faction that affronts the throne,
By silent magnanimity alone;

To nurse with tender care the thriving arts,
Watch every beam philosophy imparts;
To give religion her unbridled scope,
Nor judge by statute a believer's hope;
With close fidelity and love unfeign'd,
To keep the matrimonial bond unstain'd;
Covetous only of a virtuous praise,
His life a lesson to the land he sways;
To touch the sword with conscientious awe,
Nor draw it but when duty bids him draw;
To sheath it in the peace-restoring close,
With joy, beyond what victory bestows,-
Blest country! where these kingly glories shine,
Blest England! if this happiness be thine.

4. Guard what you say; the patriotic tribe Will sneer and charge you with a bribe.-B. A bribe? The worth of his three kingdoms I defy,

To lure me to the baseness of a lie.

And of all lies, (be that one poet's boast,)

The lie that flatters I abhor the most.

Those arts be their's that hate his gentle reign;

But he that loves him has no need to feign.

A. Your smooth eulogium to one crown address'd,
Seems to imply a censure on the rest.

B. Quevedo, as he tells his sober tale,
Ask'd, when in hell, to see the royal jail,

Approved their method in all other things,

'But where, good sir, do you confine your kings?"
"There," said his guide, "the groupe is full in view."
"Indeed!" replied the Don-" there are but few.”
His black interpreter the charge disdain'd ;—

66

Few, fellow? There are all that ever reign'd2.”
Wit undistinguishing is apt to strike

The guilty and not guilty, both alike.

I grant the sarcasm is too severe,
And we can readily refute it here,

While Alfred's name, the father of his age,
And the Sixth Edward's grace the historic page.
A. Kings then at last have but the lot of all;
By their own conduct they must stand or fall.

B. True. While they live, the courtly laureate pays
His quit-rent ode, his pepper-corn of praise,
And many a dunce whose fingers itch to write,
Adds, as he can, his tributary mite;

2 I know not where Cowper found this; but certainly no such "sober tale" would ever have been allowed to pass by the censors of the press in Spain. The following passage may, perhaps, be the original, upon which some imitator or licentious translator has exaggerated.

Ay Reyes en el infierno? le preguntè yo. Y satisfizo à mi duda, diziendo," Todo el infierno es figuras, y ay muchos de los Gentiles; porque el poder, libertad, y mando les haze sacar à lus Virtudes de su medio; y llegan los vicios à su extremo; y viendose en la suma reverencia de sus vasallos, y con la grandeza puestos à Dioses, quieren valer punto menos, y parecerlo, y tienen muchos caminos para condenarse, y muchos que los ayudan. Porque uno se condena por la crueldad, y matando y destruyendo, es una guadaña coronada de vicios, y una peste real de sus Reynos. Y otros se van al infierno por terceras personas, y se condenan por poderes, fiandose de infames Ministros. Y es dolor verlos penar, porque como bozales en trabajos, se los dobla el dolor con qualquier cosa. Los Reyes, como es gente honrada, nunca vienen solos: Aunque Privado y Rey, es mas penitencia que oficio, y mas cargo que gozo ; ni ay cosa tan atormentada como la oreja del Principe y del Privado, pues en ellas nunca escapan pretendientes querosos, y aduladores; y estos tormentos los califican para el descanso. Los malos Reyes se van al infierno por el camino Real, y los mercadores por el de la plata."—El Alguacil Alguacilado. Obras de Quevedo, i. 371. Brusseles, 1660. E.

8. C.-5.

H