ANALYSIS OF PART II. Compass.Improvement of navigation.Change in the form and size of ships.A ship of war.Shipwreck.Loss of the Halsewell.Falconer.Gama's voyage to India. Camoëns.Mickle.Columbus.Reflections on the discovery of America.South Sea.Magellan.English discoveries their superiorityEmpire in India.Drake.Armada. Holland.Naval wars between England and Holland. French marine.La Hogue.A sea fight.Succession of naval wars.Seven years' war.Pitt.Saunders, Howe, Boscawen.Hawke.American war.Success of the enemy.Efforts of the British navy.Gibraltar.Victories of Rodney.Peace.
As from night's murky fogs, and loaded skies,
With keener ray the beams of morning rise;
So mid the ignorance of barbaric foes,
With light superior, Navigation rose.
All that experience learn'd with curious eye,
From fires that gild the clear nocturnal sky,
Still to the art a straiten'd empire gave,
Still bound it to the shore's contiguous wave.
For when dun mists obscur'd the leading ray,
No star to guide him through the watery way,
Through pathless seas the trembling pilot stray'd,
By shoals unknown, and hidden rocks dimay'd;
Till chance the magnet's mighty aid reveal'd,
Wondrous its virtue, though the cause conceal'd,
Which, as it vibrates in suspended course,
Points to the pole with unremitting force.
Now, safely steer'd by this unerring guide,
The skilful seaman boldly stems the tide,
Hears Ocean's mountain waves regardless roar,
And feels no fear but from the neighbouring shore.
Seas unexplor'd, and stranger lands descries,
Where in the zenith of the glowing skies
His beams intense bright Sol incessant sheds,
Prone on the sable natives' throbbing heads;
Or where oblique his pale beams faintly cheer
The gloomy horrors of the polar year;
Passing the bounds which ancient sages trace,
A fiery barrier to the human race,
Beyond the limits of the burning zone,
Wondering he views a hemisphere unknown,
And sees new stars and constellations roll
In stated orbits round another pole.
The agile galley long and low, whose side
Swept with light dashing oar the placid tide,
Useless where, foaming to the angry skies,
By tempests lash'd, the billowy Alps arise;
Tempests, that with accumulating force
O'er boundless oceans speed their furious course:
Vessels of firmer frame the surge must brave,
Vessels that, proudly rising o'er the wave,
Spread to the howling blast the spacious sail,
And only trust the guidance of the gale.
See yon vast fabric o'er the stormy tide
In warlike pomp majestically ride!
Her roomy decks, throng'd by the young and brave,
Look down defiance on the threatening wave;
Her towering masts ascend in giddy height,
Whose lessening summits mock the aching sight;
Aloft, where Britain's mingled crosses fly,
The holy labarum of liberty.
Her swelling sails, wide spread in ample sweep,
Loom a vast castle floating on the deep;
Dread the long batteries on her side appear,
Denouncing slaughter from their triple tier.
Secure in giant strength, her frame defies
Alike the warring waves, and angry skies.
Vain confidence!when loos'd, the tempest's force
Drives o'er the watery waste its darkling course;
Not swifter from the corn-van's whirling sail
Flies the light chaff before the winnowing gale,
Than the rude winds the mighty fabric urge
Through the dire thunders of the foaming surge.
Now o'er the heaving billow's mountain brow
Tremendous borne, now plung'd in gulfs below,
Where high the briny steeps, in death array'd,
Hang o'er the bending masts, a dreadful shade!
What now avail, the mass with strength combin'd,
The ponderous ribs that mock'd the waves and wind?
The solid weight, and firm compacted form,
But aid the inroad of the furious storm;
And while the weaker bark light bounding glides
Safe o'er the surface of the boiling tides,
The unwieldy mountain labouring in the wave,
From its own strength receives a watery grave.
Yet midst the scene of dread, when certain fate
Rides on the tempest in terrific state,
Bold in the face of death the naval train
Exert their force, and brave the insulting main;
Though rising horrors on their efforts lower,
And the deaf whirlwind mock their useless power.
And shall the warrior meet his timeless doom,
No requiem chanted o'er his watery tomb,
Who Britain's conquering flag has oft unfurl'd
To every region of the peopled world,
And with bold prow the hostile coast explor'd,
When, louder than the surge, the battle roar'd?
Ah no!to him the weeping Muse shall pay
The votive tribute of a mournful lay;
Watch o'er his azure hearse with sorrowing care,
Hang her fresh wreaths, and bid them flourish there.
Yet, while she pours the unavailing tear,
Some transient gleams the night of horror cheer;
For scenes that frequent views of death impart,
Nerve the bold arm, and steel the manly heart;
And he who oft has seen his ghastly form
Glare in the fight, or thunder in the storm,
Will with firm breast his dreadful power engage;
And while he combats, mitigates his rage.
But dire the horrors of his awful doom,
When youth and beauty meet the briny tomb!
Where the mild graces partial nature gave
To soothe the toils and dangers of the brave,
Soften'd by all the fond assiduous care
Man's anxious bosom gives the young and fair,
Each kind attention warm affection pays,
The parent's fondness, and the lover's praise,
Teach sensibility's endearing glow
To swell each fear, and double every woe:
Say, how shall they whose eye's averted sight
Shrinks from the air-born phantoms of affright,
While care preventive shields each lovely form
From May's mild beam, or April's genial storm;
Say, how shall they with trembling bosom brave
The delug'd torrent of the rushing wave;
Or face the tempest, whose terrific breath
Howls the prophetic dirge of instant death?
Behold yon gallant ship, with swelling sails,
By beauty freighted, court the eastern gales:
From Vecta's chalky heights she feels the breeze,
And fears no danger from domestic seas;
Seas, where full oft in summer's laughing hours,
When halcyon slumbers lull'd stern Ocean's powers,
The sportive bark has plough'd his azure realm,
"Youth at the prow, and Pleasure at the helm."
Though with auspicious breath at evening's close,
Steady and full insidious Eurus blows,
Yet the skill'd seaman, with experienc'd eye,
Can read portentous omens in the sky.
Like some malignant meteor, dim and red,
Sol dyes with purple streams his western bed;
The floating rack, by winds uncertain driven,
Spreads in thin vapour o'er the face of heaven;
Through the dark haze the wan stars faintly gleam,
And sickly Luna sheds a blunted beam:
Now clouds on clouds in wreathing column rise,
And wrap in deeper night the threatening skies.
Down pours the cataract with horrid crash,
Borne on the deluge vivid lightnings flash;
While, with tremendous peal, from pole to pole
Instant and loud incessant thunders roll!
O'er the expanse of water, wide and far,
The wild winds urge the elemental war;
From Ocean's deepest bed the billows tear,
And hurl the enormous mountains high in air.
Steep Purbeck's chalky cliffs, whose welcome sight
So oft has fill'd the bosom with delight;
When, as from hostile coasts and distant skies,
The wave-worn mariner, returning, spies
Their well known heights in misty prospect rise,
Renews each scene with thoughts congenial dear,
And wets the cheek with joy's o'er-raptur'd tear;
Now in the threatening garb of horror dress'd,
Freeze life's warm tide, and chill the shuddering breast,
And the lov'd shore that life, that nurture gave,
Now sinks its offspring in the whelming wave!
So Jason's infant race, a suppliant train,
Around their frantic mother cling in vain,
Hang on the parent bosom, that supplied
Their earliest wants with nature's milky tide;
On all their pangs she smiles with savage joy,
And her own hands her bleeding babes destroy!
Now on the rolling surge, whose whitening brow
Frowns dreadful on the groaning rocks below,
Borne with terrific force,while loud behind
The black wave roars, urg'd by the impetuous wind,
With fatal shock the giddy vessel drives
The horrid crash her shatter'd timbers rives!
In pours the victor sea.As o'er the wreck
The high-swoll'n billow rising, sweeps the deck,
What language can describe, what colours show,
Each varied form of terror and of woe!
With pallid feature, and dishevell'd hair,
In all the agony of dumb despair,
Here, on the parting boards the victim lies,
And views approaching death with haggard eyes!
Here, piercing cries, mock'd by the ruthless main,
Invoke an absent mother's aid in vain!
Here, stony fear arrests the struggling breath,
And dread anticipates the stroke of death!
This on the crew her eye attentive throws,
To try if hope one glimmering ray bestows.
And see, supreme in horror and distress,
The wretched sire his trembling daughters press!
Now down his cheeks the streaming torrents roll,
And speak the bitter anguish of his soul;
And now parental love his face beguiles,
And veils his heartfelt woe in joyless smiles;
Throws a short sunshine o'er the brow of care,
And gilds with hope the horrors of despair.
Heavens! that soul-piercing shriek!the conflict's o'er!
Hush'd are their criestheir bosoms beat no more.
Sad, silent all, save where the wild winds urge
The sullen fury of the labouring surge;
And floating lifeless, see each beauteous form
Drive a pale corse before the howling storm!
Even the rough mariner, whose doubtful hand
Just grasps the summit of the long'd for land,
While scarce his thoughts the sense of safety know,
Escap'd from rocks above, and waves below;
Amid the conflict dire of hope and fear,
Hears their last cries still vibrate on his ear,
Feels their keen anguish midst the uncertain strife,
And mourns their sufferings, while he toils for life.
Ill fated victims! could my feebler wire
Mate the bold descant of Arion's lyre,
On your sad doom congenial streams of woe
With those that bath'd Palemon's corpse should flow.
Arion! naval bard, the Muse in vain
Snatch'd her lov'd votary from the Athenian main,
Foredoom'd, alas! on distant regions thrown,
By nameless coasts to sink, and seas unknown:
Yet to thy fame her votive voice shall raise
The hallow'd guerdon of perennial praise;
While Mars and Phbus, o'er thy watery bier,
With mutual zeal their mingled laurels rear.
Turn from the scene of sorrow; and again
Pursue the progress of the historic strain.
Now Gama steers from Lusitania's shore,
The course revers'd that Egypt led of yore;
Round Afric's southern point, with dæmon rage,
Where constant war opposing oceans wage,
His vessels plough the dangerous flood, and keep
Their steady course through India's stormy deep,
And to Europa's sons new stores unfold
Of Oriental adamant and gold.
Hail, happy chief!Oblivion's sable wing
Ne'er o'er thy deeds its gloomy shade shall fling.
As to the heroes of the Colchian wave,
Wreaths of eternal fame an Orpheus gave;
So ceaseless glories to thy fame belong,
Recorded in the lays of Camoëns' song;
Lays given to Britain's ear, with native fire,
In the sweet warblings of her Mickle's lyre.
Then rose the chief, whose comprehensive mind
Conjecture bold to deep discernment join'd:
Wrapt in prophetic vision, to his eye
Rose promis'd lands o'er western waves that lie;
Atlantic isles before his fancy gleam,
And realize immortal Plato's dream.
In vain the terrors of the boundless deep
Their drear abode where brooding tempests keep,
Leading through regions never cross'd before,
O'er pathless oceans to a doubtful shore;
Danger, in vain, and disobedience join
To form a barrier 'gainst his bold design;
With persevering courage, that defied
Alike the murmuring crew, and adverse tide,
Onward he press'd, till full before his eyes,
In azure tint, the long-sought mountains rise,
And Spain astonish'd saw her flag unfurl'd
First, on the confines of another world.
Here must we pausefor as the Muse surveys
The scenes this wondrous theatre displays,
And careful weighs with contemplative mind
Their vast and varied influence o'er mankind;
She doubts, if to applaud or curse the hour
That gave it up to European power.
Now rush upon her thoughts, in crimson flood
Horrid and deep, the seas of guiltless blood
Through which Iberia's sons remorseless wade
To reap the fruits of avaricious trade.
Fell Persecution with infernal aim,
Arm'd with destructive steel and torturing flame,
Wild o'er the fields in frantic mood who trod,
Hell's work performing in the name of God.
Oppression pale, whose iron chain confines
The wretched native to the noisome mines,
Till (wasted or destroy'd, the feeble train)
By shameless traffic wafted o'er the main,
A hardier race from Afric's burning skies
The failing mart of slavery supplies,
Doom'd to explore the silver's ductile vein,
Or, faint and breathless, on the sultry plain
For luxury's pall'd taste fresh banquets rear,
Manur'd by blood, and wet with Misery's tear.
And now, in fairer prospect on her sight
Beam brighter scenes, and visions of delight;
She sees through every wild uncultur'd grove,
Her kindred arts and sister graces rove;
Sees the barbarian's rude and stubborn mind
By seraph Mercy's gentler sway refin'd;
Sees pure Religion's mild persuasive power
Wide o'er the Western world its influence shower,
Sees Law and Reason's empire to the skies,
On the firm base of British freedom, rise.
Columbus' eye, in transport of amaze,
The spacious region of delight surveys,
Charming with real scenes the raptur'd view,
Fairer than all his warmest wishes drew;
Isles in fair spring's eternal livery dight,
The vast savannah's space, the mountain's height;
Forests of growth gigantic, that display'd
O'er spacious continents impervious shade;
Fields that, uncultur'd, harvests rich produce,
Spontaneous fruits that yield ambrosial juice;
And rivers that their sea broad currents roll'd
Through groves of perfume, and o'er sands of gold.
But while extended regions far and wide
Stretch beyond human ken on either side,
O'er Darien's narrow isthmus they descry
Another ocean, bounded by the sky;
Half petrified with doubt, they gaze to find
A fresh expanse of waves untried behind.
For yet they deem'd their shatter'd barks had cross'd
To the west verge of India's ancient coast.
Anxious the new dominions to explore,
They skirt the borders of the dreary shore,
To seas that Hyperborean winter chains,
To climes where frost Antarctic bleaker reigns;
Till Magellán along the turbid strait,
On which eternal storms and whirlwinds wait,
Where rocks whose craggy base the surge defied,
Tremendous frown'd upon the howling tide,
His daring bark with skilful courage steers,
Till full in sight the expanding deep appears,
Then leads with happy sail his shouting train
O'er the smooth bosom of the southern main.
As thus Iberia's sister nations share
The fairest spoils earth's richest regions bear,
Grasp all that ornaments their genial lands,
Blooms in their groves, and glitters on their sands;
Britannia's sons more precious mines explore
Than Indian diamonds or Peruvian ore;
For while unmeasur'd wealth with torpid charm
Congeals the bosom and unnerves the arm,
They, in the scaly myriads that surround
The barren shoals, their happier vessels found,
Treasure attain, nor gold, nor gems can buy,
A hardy school of naval industry;
Which to the daring race in future gave
Decided empire o'er the subject wave;
Taught their bold arms each rival state to awe,
Ride the proud surge, and give the nations law;
Or spreading wide fair Commerce' peaceful sail,
Waft wealth, waft plenty home on every gale;
Rich in the spoils of either India shine,
Nor envy slaves the drudgery of the mine.
For them Columbus, o'er the watery waste,
New paths to glory and to empire trac'd;
For them bold Gama led his naval host
To Indian climes, and Ganges' peopled coast;
There over spacious realms their banners fly,
Which Philip's son beheld with envious eye;
Powers that defied the Macedonian lord,
Bow to the juster edge of George's sword;
And Britain's Monarch sees a vast domain,
Which Eastern tyrants rul'd with iron rein,
Bend to his sceptre's delegated sway,
A willing conquest, zealous to obey.
In fields where once Oppression stood supreme,
The native basks in Freedom's genial beam;
And Asian plains enfranchis'd send their stores
To heap fresh plenty on Augusta's shores.
With stars less adverse, see our Drake pursue
The track where Magellán first led his crew;
Not doom'd, like him, to fall by savage hands,
Where distant billows break on barbarous lands.
The placid seas by Spain's brave seaman found,
His vessel ploughs, by happier omens crown'd;
On Chili's hostile coast the oppressors feel
Aveng'd, Pizarro's flame and Cortes' steel.
The vessels trim impell'd by prosperous gales
Shade unknown oceans with their swelling sails;
Now on the sickly shores of Java ride,
Now cut the billows of the Indian tide;
Afric's impervious continent surround,
Coast her high Cape, nor dread the stormy mound;
Till, earth encircled, lo! on Thames' smooth breast
His shatter'd barks in peaceful triumph rest;
And shouting Britons greet the venturous train,
Who add new lustre to Eliza's reign.
But, like the Persian despot, Spain's proud lord
Deems Ocean's waves subjected to his sword
Scorning the haughty islanders who dare
Wage on his confines predatory war,
He gives the rein to vengeancesoon the gales
Swell with their breath the vast Armada's sails,
Exulting proudly o'er the humble tide,
In dreadful pomp the floating castles ride,
Whose brazen engines with tremendous breath
Shower forth the vollied storm of blood and death.
Revenge, exulting, from the realms of night
Pours in loud yell the pæan of affright;
Profane her blessings Superstition flings,
And Persecution claps his iron wings.
Again stern Neptune saw his free command
Snatch'd by the fury of a tyrant's hand;
Rising infuriate from his coral caves,
He rears his trident o'er the yielding waves;
Awake! awake! my tardy sons, he cries,
Lo! I and vengeance lead the bold emprize.
Another Salamis, with foul defeat,
Shall plunge in ruin rash invasion's fleet:
Another Greece, by glory fir'd, shall claim
Immortal wreaths of freedom and of fame.
Britannia's Genius heard.Her virgin Queen,
Active in toil, in danger's face serene,
Calls to her generous subjectsat her word
Art spread the sail, and Valour grasp'd the sword.
The gallant merchant quits the search of gain,
And launches arm'd his carracks on the main.
Not the bold race alone, on ocean's shores
Who constant brave the tempest as it roars,
The patriot ardour feelthe kindling blaze
Through Britain's fertile fields its flame displays,
And from her inland vales the rustic race
Who tend the fold, or urge the sylvan chase,
Whose eye the expanse of ocean ne'er descried,
Whose ear ne'er listen'd to the roaring tide,
Rush forth vindictive on the threatening wave,
And elements untried for freedom brave.
Though light and weak the barks, unfit to dare
The open fight, and front the shock of war;
Yet with their well trimm'd sails they skim the seas,
The current mark, and catch the flitting breeze;
The enormous mass of war at will surround,
As o'er the surge their buoyant vessels bound.
Now in the flaming van of fight appear,
Now coast their sides, or hang upon their rear:
Now from the culverin and sacker throw
Their burning vengeance 'mid the thronging foe;
Or with the bow they bring Iberian crowds
In headlong slaughter from the empurpled shrouds;
Till harass'd and dismay'd, the scatter'd fleet
Quits useless contest for secure retreat.
In vain they flyfor swarming to the war,
Their eastward course increasing myriads bar.
Through northern seas they steer, untried before,
Where rough the wave, and steep the rugged shore;
Dash'd on the rock, or stranded on the shoal,
High o'er their falling masts the billows roll;
And Fate confirms the immutable decree,
No force shall bow the race who will be free.
Stung by Ambition's rage, her harpy eye
Iberia throws on Belgic liberty.
Long was the contest, till in many a field
By numbers press'd, the richer regions yield.
But a bold race by her pure flame inspir'd,
Of danger reckless, and by toil untir'd,
In the morass by mightier foes impell'd,
The marshy fastness 'gainst the oppressor held;
Their labour learn'd the stagnate deep to drain,
And snatch an empire from the lessening main.
Fenc'd by the sandy dyke, their cities brave
The rude invasion of the stormy wave;
From the tall ship the astonish'd eye looks down
On the green meadow and the peopled town;
And, curb'd by human art, loud Ocean roars
With harmless fury 'gainst the new-form'd shores.
Born mid the waves, a naval instinct runs
With kindred vigour through Batavia's sons;
Far with commercial industry they roam,
Or drain the peopled seas that wash their home;
While, mindful of oppression's former rage,
In distant climes a happier war they wage.
Astonish'd Spain beheld an exil'd race,
Whom from their ancient seats her armies chase,
On foreign shores avenge their former toils,
And shine exulting in their victor's spoils.
For when, in Lusitania's luckless hour,
She fell a victim to Iberian power,
Impartial justice to Batavia gave
Her better empire o'er the Indian wave.
Yet though in Britain's and Batavia's race
Shades of congenial character we trace,
Oft were they foes on Ocean's briny flood,
His azure billows often stain'd with blood.
Fierce were the foes and brave on either side,
Each skilful seamen, each in combat tried;
Nor did the tug of naval contest cease
Till William gave the rival nations peace;
And the twin fleets in friendly league combin'd
To guard the rights of freedom and mankind.
To crush those rights, that freedom to oppose,
In hostile strength imperious Gallia rose.
A prince, by lust of boundless empire fir'd,
To sole domain o'er earth and sea aspir'd.
But though in flattery's fairy vision shown,
His naval sway submissive nations own,
His pride, nor industry nor commerce tries,
Sole base whence naval power can firmly rise;
But to the seas he sends a novice train,
Unused to danger, strangers to the main;
Hence, though awhile his streaming flags unfurl'd
Like baleful meteors awe the astonish'd world,
Strength unsustain'd by native power and wealth,
Death's wild convulsion, not the nerve of health,
Spend in a wild infuriate fit their force,
And leave the exhausted frame a lifeless corse.
On that triumphant day, by Gallia's shores
Where loud the awful storm of battle roars,
And Britain's and Batavia's mingled line
Their thunders in the cause of Freedom join,
Dejected Louis saw his shadowy power
Fade like the phantom of the midnight hour.
Swift o'er the waves the floating bulwarks ran
Where victory and Russel led the van.
From either fleet a thousand thunders spoke,
A thousand deaths from brazen engines broke.
See, Gallia fliesher shatter'd barks in vain
The unequal combat on the deep sustain,
The wrecks wide floating on the billows lie,
Or to the hidden rocks and eddies fly;
For aid, to sands and shoals inglorious run,
"And danger grasp, a mightier fate to shun."
In vain they fly, in vain the neighbouring land
Protects their ruins with its circling sand;
In vain, by monarchs led, a mighty host
In dread array defends the insulted coast.
Dauntless the British seaman fate defies;
Lo, from the decks the smoky columns rise,
Sav'd from the watery battle's furious roar,
To meet more sure destruction on the shore.
Fir'd at the glorious sight, from exil'd James
Burst with quick flash the naval warriors flames,
The tyrant's pride, and bigot's zeal subdued,
The heroes with a patriot eye he view'd,
Then loudly, with a seaman's honest pride,
None but my British tars could dare like this, he cried.
Of old, ere Neptune heard the tempest's sound
In louder peals of naval thunder drown'd;
Ere the deep roar from brazen engines driven
Rivall'd the dread artillery of heaven,
The oar-finn'd galley 'gainst the adverse side
To force its steely beak impetuous tried,
And the rude shock which force and fury urge
Whelm'd the torn bark beneath the swelling surge:
Or from their bows the skilful archers pour,
With sure and fatal aim, the arrowy shower;
Or by the grapple's crooked grasp confin'd,
In closer fight the furious warriors join'd.
But the dread tubes from whose infernal womb
Burst forth the fiery harbingers of doom,
Hurling in vollied lightning from afar
Wide o'er the deep the thunderbolts of war,
To the dire conflict on the heaving wave
New forms of fight, new scenes of slaughter gave.
The order now revers'd, the threat'ning side
Whence the loud battery pours its fiery tide,
The wary seaman brings with skilful care
Or on the hostile head or stern to bear,
Then rakes with fatal force the deck along,
And sweeps to certain death the adverse throng.
While Britain's less intrepid rivals throw
Cautious, with distant aim, the uncertain blow;
Or, flight securing ere the barks engage,
Spend on the shrouds and sails the battle's rage;
Her seamen, train'd with firm and steady rein
Intemperate valour's fury to restrain,
Though o'er their heads the bolts of slaughter fly,
Though round them unreveng'd their comrades die,
In dreadful silence, o'er the burning deep
Onward their progress unremitting keep,
Till, closing on the foe, the mark secure,
Makes the impending blow of vengeance sure.
Now from the broadside bursts with certain aim
The flash tremendous of vindictive flame;
The ponderous globes which powers resistless drive,
Pierce the strong ribs, the solid timbers rive.
Hush'd are th'affrighted windswith sulphurous cloud
Volumes of smoke the scene of horror shroud,
Save that the frequent flash, in livid stream,
Shoots through the dun expanse a transient gleam.
The tottering masts torn by the close link'd ball
Low on the deck in fatal ruin fall;
The folds of canvas blaze, and down the side
The stream of slaughter rolls a purple tide.
The batter'd planks give waythrough the riv'n wood
Rushes with dreadful force the impetuous flood.
She heelsshe sinks, and o'er her buried head
The yawning seas in circling eddy spread!
Where's now the victor's rage?pass'd with the fight
Mercy's soft feelings reassume their right,
And the brave seaman stems the surge to save
The struggling victims from the whelming wave.
Full many a year saw Britain's naval fame
Alternate mark'd by glory, and by shame;
Glory, by arms attain'd on every coast,
Shame, from those arms by selfish faction cross'd.
Here her bold sons undaunted, to the breeze
Spread her red cross triumphant o'er the seas,
There left the victims of a sultry sky,
Struck by disease, her languid seamen die;
Eye with faint glance the foe's insulting bands,
And curse the coward plea that chains their hands.
Hence Vernon's flag in conquering folds display'd,
Where Valour wept o'er injur'd Hosier's shade.
At length, disdaining foul corruption's art,
Superior to intrigue, with patriot heart,
Thundering defiance on her treacherous foes,
Britannia's better genius, Pitt arose;
His energy the seaman's nerve new strung,
And senates caught decision from his tongue.
With him no partial favour interven'd,
Check'd rising worth, or sloth and treachery skreen'd;
True courage only, honour's meed could claim,
And real merit led to certain fame.
On every ocean, and by every shore,
Where the wild winds and angry billows roar,
From frozen seas that chill and sluggish roll,
Beneath the torpid influence of the pole,
To southern tides that genial climates lave,
Plata's broad flood, and Ganges' Bramin wave;
Where'er Britannia's ensign meets the gale,
Fame guides the helm, and conquest fills the sail.
Saunders for her the battle's tempest braves,
For her Boscawen awes the Atlantic waves;
Her Howe, her Rodney, with victorious prow
Warm in her cause, th'ensanguin'd billows plough:
And see brave Hawke, in fortune's happiest hour,
Crush the vain hope of Gallia's waning power.
Nor the loud roar of a tempestuous main,
Nor coasts unknown the hero's course restrain;
In vain the pilot marks with wary eye
The various forms of fate that round him lie;
The rocky point conceal'd, the steep cliff near,
The driving whirlwinds of the wintry year,
The short and hazy day, the lengthen'd night,
Waves lash'd to fury by the tempest's spite.
To point the danger, cries the chief, was thine;
To execute what duty claims, be mine;
Be in this conflict every effort shewn
To sink yon squadron, not to save our own.
I do not ask a bloodless wreath to wear
Inglorious snatch'd from terror's flying rear,
Proud of an empty triumph, while again
The foe, refitted, rides the insulted main.
No!be it mine, by one decisive blow,
To lay the aspiring crest of Gallia low;
And, at whatever hazard, boldly sweep
Her ruin'd navy from the enfranchis'd deep.
He spoke.Aloft the flag of battle flies,
Ardent and loud the shouts of combat rise;
And Britain's heroes o'er the labouring surge,
Through tempest, night, and flame, the conflict urge;
Proudly they ride victorious o'er the flood,
And Gallia's tarnish'd glory sets in blood.
Deeds of far different aspectthough between,
Long years of peace and commerce intervene,
Mar the next page of England's naval reign.
O from her annals tear the inglorious stain!
From the sham'd records of her senate tear
The base decree that faction planted there;
Blasting each wreath a grateful people gave,
To grace the hard-earn'd trophies of the brave;
By gilding with true valour's proudest claim
A shadowy triumph, and a doubtful fame.
Now Britain saw the lowering brow of fate
Frown with malignant aspect on her state;
With sable plume while faction's wing display'd,
Threw o'er her drooping head funereal shade;
Her western sons by jealous anger stung,
And rous'd to madness by sedition's tongue,
In the tempestuous zeal for freedom warm,
Lift 'gainst her breast the parricidal arm.
By the fond hope of power reviving pleas'd,
The ripe occasion Gallia saw, and seiz'd.
Again her fleets, with renovated pride,
The swelling wave in martial triumph ride.
Iberia, reckless of the recent storms
That shook her realms, again the alliance forms.
And Belgium, mindless of each ancient claim,
That join'd her own to Britain's naval fame;
Forgetting many a glorious day of old,
Whenas o'er Europe's regions Gallia roll'd
Fell despotism's delugeto the flood
Their mingled arms a glorious barrier stood,
Aids with malignant industry the blow,
And arms against herself, her deadliest foe.
Britannia view'd, with firm though anxious eyes,
The awful tempest threatening round her rise
Dreadful it burstand round her chalky shores
The raging surge of desolation roars.
O'er the Atlantic waves her baffled fleet
Rides, a sad witness of her troops' defeat.
On Calpé's rock, by land and sea assail'd,
Not naval power, but native strength prevail'd;
From the high steep the fiery torrent came,
That whelm'd the foe in cataracts of flame;
And by her coasts abash'd she wondering saw
Her circling seas a new armada awe.
The constant bosom shrinks not from defeat,
Increasing danger stronger efforts meet,
Rising superior to each threatening blow,
Untam'd by loss, and great in overthrow,
Britannia's sons in kindling vengeance warm,
Stand with firm breasts a bulwark 'gainst the storm.
Chiefs by renown in former conflicts crown'd,
Rous'd by her wrongs, her sea-girt throne surround,
From Calpé's rock the foe astonish'd flies,
And 'neath the burning cope of tropic skies
Gallia once more laments her naval pride
Won by the foe, or sunk beneath the tide;
Her proud allies, dismay'd and humbled, mourn,
Obscur'd their glory, and their laurels torn.
Three separate leaders of each hostile race,
Indignant captives, Rodney's triumph grace:
As many spoils as crown'd Rome's vaunted reign
Britannia sees one gallant chief attain,
Sees by one warrior's hand three garlands wove,
To deck the altars of Feretrian Jove.
Enough, the vanquish'd Gaul exclaims, our prows
Have rashly follow'd our superior foes,
A hardy race by fortune unsubdued,
Whom 'tis our proudest triumph to elude.
Firm as the texture of their stubborn oak,
Mocking the winds, and from the woodman's stroke
Rising with force superior, on the main
To guard and vindicate their native reign.
