Say then, to him whofe levity or luft
Laid all a people's gen'rous hopes in duft;
Who taught Ambition firmer heights of pow'r,
And fav'd Corruption at her hopeless hour;
Does not each tongue its execrations owe?
Shall not each Mufe a wreath of fhame bestow?
And public juftice fanctify th' award?

And Freedom's hand protect th' impartial bard?
Yet long reluctant I forbore thy name,

Long watch'd thy virtue like a dying flame,
Hung o'er each glimm'ring fpark with anxious eyes,
And wish'd and hop'd the light again would rife.
But fince thy guilt ftill more intire appears,
Since no art hides, no fuppofition clears;
Since vengeful Slander now too finks her blast,
And the first rage of party-hate is past;
Calm as the Judge of Truth, at length I come
To weigh thy merits, and pronounce thy doom:
So may my truft from all reproach be free,
And Earth and Time confirm the fair decree.

There are who say they view'd without amaze
Thy fad reverfe of all thy former praife;
That thro' the pageants of a patriot's name,
They pierc'd the foulness of thy fecret aim;
Or deem'd thy arm exalted but to throw
The public thunder on a private foe.
But I, whofe foul confented to thy caufe,
Who felt thy genius ftamp its own applause,

Who faw the fpirits of each glorious age
Move in thy bofom and direct thy rage;
I fcorn'd th' ungen'rous gloss of flavish minds,
The owl-ey'd race, whom Virtue's luftre blinds.
Spite of the learned in the ways of Vice,

And all who prove that each man has his price,
I still believ'd thy end was just and free;

And yet, ev'n yet believe it

fpite of thee.
Ev'n tho' thy mouth impure has dar'd disclaim,
Urg'd by the wretched impotence of fhame,
Whatever filial cares thy zeal had paid
To laws infirm and liberty decay'd;
Has begg'd Ambition to forgive the show;
Has told Corruption thou wert ne'er her foe;
Has boafted in thy country's awful ear,
Her grofs delufion when she held thee dear;
How tame fhe follow'd thy tempeftuous call,
And heard thy pompous tales and trusted all—
Rife from your fad abodes, ye curst of old
For laws fubverted and for cities fold!
Paint all the nobleft trophies of your guilt,
The oaths you perjur'd and the blood you fpilt;
Yet muft you one untempted vileness own,
One dreadful palm referv'd for him alone:
With ftudied arts his country's praise to spurn,
To beg the infamy he did not earn,

To challenge hate when honour was his due,
And plead his crimes where all his virtue knew.

Do.

Do robes of state the guarded heart inclofe
From each fair feeling human nature knows?
Can pompous
titles ftun th' inchanted ear
To all that reafon, all that fenfe would hear?
Elfe could't thou e'er defert thy facred poft,
In fuch unthankful bafenefs to be loft?
Elfe could't thou wed the emptiness of vice,
And yield thy glories at an idiot's price?

When they who loud for liberty and laws,
In doubtful times had fought their country's caufe,
When now of conqueft and dominion fure,
They fought alone to hold their fruits fecure;
When taught by thefe, Oppreffion hid the face
To leave Corruption ftronger in her place,
By filent spells to work the public fate,
And taint the vitals of the paffive state,
Till healing wisdom should avail no more,
And Freedom lathe to tread the poifon'd fhore;
Then, like føme guardian god that flies to save
The weary pilgrim from an inftant grave,
Whom fleeping and fecure, the guileful fnake
Steals near and nearer thro' the peaceful brake;
Then CURIO rofe to ward the public woe,
To wake the heedlefs and incite the flow,
Against corruption liberty to arm,
And quell th' enchantrefs by a mightier charm.

Swift o'er the land the fair contagion flew,
And with thy country's hopes thy honours grew.

Thee, Patriot, the patrician roof confefs'd;
Thy pow'rful voice the refcu'd merchant blefs'd;
Of thee with awe the rural hearth refounds;
The bowl to thee the grateful failor crowns;
Touch'd in the fighing shade with manlier fires,
To trace thy fteps the love-fick youth afpires;
The learn'd reclufe, who oft amaz'd had read
Of Græcian heroes, Roman Patriots dead,
With new amazement hears a living name
Pretend to share in fuch forgotten fame;
And he who, fcorning courts and courtly ways,
Left the tame track of these dejected days,
The life of nobler ages to renew

In virtues facred from a monarch's view,
Rouz'd by thy labours from the bleft retreat,
Where focial ease and public paffions meet,
Again afcending treads the civil fcene,
To act and be a man, as thou had'st been.
Thus by degrees thy caufe fuperior grew,
And the great end appear'd at last in view;
We heard the people in thy hopes rejoice;
We faw the fenate bending to thy voice;

The friends of freedom hail'd th' approaching reign
Of laws for which our fathers bled in vain ;
While venal Faction, ftruck with new dismay,
Shrunk at their frown, and self-abandon'd lay.
Wak'd in the fhock, the PUBLIC GENIUS rofe,
Abafh'd and keener from his long repofe;

Sublime

Sublime in ancient pride, he rais'd the spear
Which flaves and tyrants long were wont to fear;
The city felt his call: from man to man,

From ftreet to ftreet the glorious horror ran;
Each crouded haunt was stirr'd beneath his pow'r,
And murmuring, challeng'd the deciding hour.
Lo! the deciding hour at last appears;
The hour of every freeman's hopes and fears!
Thou, Genius! guardian of the Roman name,
O ever prompt tyrannic rage to tame!
Inftruct the mighty moments as they roll,
And guide each movement steady to the goal.
Ye fpirits, by whofe providential art
Succeeding motives turn the changeful heart,
Keep, keep the best in view to CURIO's mind,
And watch his fancy, and his passions bind!
Ye fhades immortal, who, by Freedom led,
Or in the field, or on the fcaffold bled,
Bend from your radiant feats a joyful eye,
And view the crown of all your labours nigh.
See Freedom mounting her eternal throne !
The sword fubmitted, and the laws her own:
See! public Pow'r chaftis'd beneath her ftands,
With eyes intent, and uncorrupted hands!
See private life by wifeft arts reclaim'd!
See ardent youth to nobleft manners fram'd!
See us acquire whate'er was fought by you,
If CURIO, only CURIO will be true.

'Twas