How each brave breaft with honeft ardors heav'd,
When SHELDON's fane the patriot band receiv'd;
While, as we loudly hail'd the chofen few,
Rome's awful fenate rush'd upon our view!
O may the day in latest annals shine,
That made a BEAUFORT, and an HARLEY mine
Then bade them leave the loftier scene awhile,
The pomp
of guiltless state, the patriot toil,
For bleeding Albion's aid the fage defign,
To hold fhort dalliance with the tuneful Nine.
Then Mufic left her golden fphere on high,
And bore each ftrain of triumph from the sky;
Swell'd the full fong, and to my chiefs around,
Pour'd the full Peans of mellifluous found.
My Naiads blythe the floating accents caught,
And lift'ning danc'd beneath their pearly grot:
In gentler eddies play'd my wanton wave,
And all my reeds their fofteft whispers gave;
Each lay with brighter green adorn'd my bow'rs,
And breath'd a fresher fragrance on my flow'rs.

But lo! at once the fwelling concerts ceafe,
And crouded theatres are hufh'd in peace.
See, on yon fage how all attentive ftand,
To catch his darting eye, and waving hand.
Hark! he begins, with all a TULLY's art
Το pour
the dictates of a CATO's heart.
Skill'd to pronounce what nobleft thoughts infpire,
He blends the fpeaker's with the patriot's fire;

Bold to conceive, nor tim'rous to conceal,
What Britons dare to think, he dares to tell.
"Tis his alike the ear and eye to charm,
To win with action, and with fenfe to warm;
Untaught in flow'ry diction to difpenfe
The lulling founds of fweet impertinence ;
In frowns or fmiles he gains an equal prize,
Nor meanly fears to fall, nor creeps to rise;
Bids happier days to ALBION be restor❜d,
Bids ancient Juftice rear her radiant fword;
From me, as from my country, wins applaufe,
And makes an OXFORD's a BRITANNIA's caufe.
While arms like these my fteadfast fages wield,
While mine is Truth's impenetrable shield;
Say, fhall the PUNY CHAMPION fondly dare
To wage
with force like this, fcholaftic war?
Still vainly fcribble on with pert pretence,
With all the rage of pedant impotence?
Say, fhall I fofter this domeftic pest,
This parricide that wounds a mother's breast?
Thus in the stately ship that long has bore
Britain's victorious cross from fhore to fhore,
By chance, beneath her close fequefter'd cells,
Some low-born worm, a lurking mischief dwells;
Eats his blind way, and faps with fecret toil
The deep foundations of the watry pile.
In vain the foreft lent its statelieft pride,
Rear'd her tall maft, and fram'd her knotty fide;

In vain the thunder's martial rage she stood,
With each fierce conflict of the stormy flood;
More fure the reptile's little arts devour,
Than waves, or wars, or Eurus' wintry pow'r.
Ye venerable bow'rs, ye feats fublime,
Clad in the moffy veft of fleeting time;
Ye ftately piles of old munificence,
At once the pride of Learning and defence,
Where ancient Piety, a matron hoar,
Still feems to keep the hospitable door;
Ye cloisters pale, that length'ning to the fight,
Still step by step to mufings mild invite;
Ye high-archt walks where oft the bard has caught
The glowing fentiment, the lofty thought;
Ye temples dim, where pious duty pays
Her holy hymns of ever-echoing praise;
Lo! your lov'd ISIS, from the bord❜ring vale,
With all a mother's fondnefs bids you hail!
Hail, OXFORD, hail! of all that's good and great,
Of all that's fair, the guardian and the feat;
Nurse of each brave purfuit, each generous aim,
By truth exalted to the throne of fame!
Like Greece in fcience and in liberty,
As Athens learn'd, as Lacedæmon free!
Ev'n now, confefs'd to my adoring eyes,
In awful ranks thy facred fons arise;
With ev'ry various flower their temples wreath'd,
That in thy gardens green its fragrance breath'd,

Tuning to knightly tale his British reeds,
Thy crouding bards immortal CHAUCER leads :
His hoary head o'crlooks the gazing choir,
And beams on all around celeftial fire:
With graceful step fee ADDISON advance,
The sweetest child of Attic Elegance:
To all, but his belov'd embrace deny'd,
See LOCKE leads reason, his majestic bride :
See facred HAMMOND, as he treads the field,
With godlike arm uprears his heav'nly shield.

All who, beneath the fhades of gentle peace,
Beft plan'd the labours of domestic ease;
Who taught with truth, or with perfuafion mov❜d;
Who footh'd with numbers, or with fenfe improv'd;
Who told the pow'rs of reason, or refin'd,
All, all that ftrengthen'd or adorn'd the mind;
Each prieft of health, who mix'd the balmy bowl,
To rear frail man, and stay the fleeting soul;
All croud around, and echoing to the fky,.
Hail, OXFORD, hail! with filial tranfport cry.

And fee yon folemn band! with virtuous aim, 'Twas theirs in thought the glorious deed to frame: With pious plans each mufing feature glows, 'And well weigh'd counfels mark their meaning brows: Lo! thefe the leaders of thy patriot line," HAMDEN, and HOOKER, HYDE, and SIDNEY fhine. Thefe from thy fource the fires of freedom caught: How well thyfons by their example taught!

While in each breast th' hereditary flame
Still blazes, unextinguish'd and the fame!
Nor all the toils of thoughtful peace engage,
'Tis thine to form the hero as the fage.
I fee the fable-fuited prince advance
With lillies crown'd, the spoils of bleeding France,
EDWARD-- the Muses in yon hallow'd fhade
Bound on his tender thigh the martial blade:
Bade him the steel for British freedom draw,
And OXFORD taught the deeds that CRESSY faw.
And fee, great father of the laureat band,
The * BRITISH KING before me feems to ftand..
He by my plenty-crowned fcenes beguil'd,
And genial influence of my feafons mild,
Hither of yore (forlorn, forgotten maid)
The Muse in prattling infancy convey'd;
From Gothic rage the helpless virgin bore,
And fix'd her cradle on my friendly fhore>
Soon grew the maid beneath his foft'ring hand,
Soon pour'd her bleffings o'er th' enlighten'd land.
Tho rude the † dome, and humble the retreat,
Where firft his pious care ordain'd her feat,
Lo! now on high she dwells in Attic bow'rs,
And proudly lifts to heav'n her hundred tow'rs.

* Alfred. Regis Romani. V. Virg. Æn. 6.