LONDON: OR, THE PROGRESS OF COMMERCE.

BY MR. GLOVER.

YEnorthernblasts,andbb The east wind.
Eurus,wonttosweep
With rudest pinions o'er the furrow'd waves,
Awhile suspend your violence, and waft
Fromsandycc Bremen is situated on the Weser, and Hamburg on the Elb.
Weserandthebroad-mouth'dElb
My freighted vessels to the destin'd shore,
Safe o'er th' unruffled main; let every thought,
Which may disquiet, and alarm my breast,
Be absent now; that, dispossess'd of care,
And free from every tumult of the mind,
With each disturbing passion hush'd to peace,
I may pour all my spirit on the theme,
Which opens now before me, and demands
The loftiest strain. The eagle, when he tow'rs
Beyond the clouds, the fleecy robes of heaven,
[Page 65]15  Disdains all objects but the golden sun,
Full on th' effulgent orb directs his eye,
And sails exulting through the blaze of day;
So, while her wing attempts the boldest flight,
Rejecting each inferior theme of praise,
Thee, ornament of Europe, Albion's pride,
Fair seat of wealth and freedom, thee my Muse
Shall celebrate, O London: thee she hails. 
Thou lov'd abode of Commerce, last retreat,
Whence she contemplates with a tranquil mind
Her various wanderings from the fated hour
That she abandon'd her maternal clime;
Neptunian Commerce, whom Phoenice bore,
Illustrious nymph, that nam'd the fertile plains
Along the sounding main extended far,
Which flowery Carmel with its sweet perfumes,
And with its cedars Libanus o'ershades:
Her from the bottom of the watry world,
As once she stood, in radiant beauties grac'd,
To mark the heaving tide, the piercing eye
Of Neptune view'd enamour'd: from the deep
The God ascending rushes to the beach,
And clasps th' affrighted virgin. From that day,
Soon as the paly regent of the night
Nine times her monthly progress had renew'd
Thro' heaven's illumin'd vault, Phoenice, led
By shame, once more the sea-worn margin sought:
There pac'd with painful steps the barren sands,
[Page 66]43  A solitary mourner, and the surge,
Which gently roll'd beside her, now no more
With placid eyes beholding, thus exclaim'd. 

Ye fragrant shrubs and cedars, lofty shade,
Which crown my native hills, ye spreading palms,
That rise majestic on these fruitful meads,
With you, who gave the lost Phoenice birth,
And you, who bear th' endearing name of friends,
Once faithful partners of my chaster hours,
Farewell! To thee, perfidious God, I come,
Bent down with pain and anguish on thy sands,
I come thy suppliant: death is all I crave;
Bid thy devouring waves inwrap my head,
And to the bottom whelm my cares and shame! 

She ceas'd, when sudden from th' inclosing deep
A crystal car emerg'd, with glitt'ring shells,
Cull'd from their oozy beds by Tethys' train,
And blushing coral deck'd, whose ruddy glow
Mix'd with the watry lustre of the pearl. 
A smiling band of sea-born nymphs attend,
Who from the shore with gentle hands convey
The fear-subdu'd Phoenice, and along
The lucid chariot place. As there with dread
All mute, and struggling with her painful throes
She lay, the winds by Neptune's high command
Were silent round her; not a zephyr dar'd
To wanton o'er the cedar's branching top,
Nor on the plain the stately palm was seen
[Page 67]71  To wave its graceful verdure; o'er the main
No undulation broke the smooth expanse,
But all was hush'd and motionless around,
All but the lightly-sliding ear, impell'd
Along the level azure by the strength
Of active Tritons, rivalling in speed
The rapid meteor, whose sulphureous train
Glides o'er the brow of darkness, and appears
The livid ruins of a falling star. 

Beneath the Lybian skies, a blissful isle,
Byee Triton, a river and lake of antient Lybia.
Triton'sfloodsencircled,Nysalay.
Here youthful Nature wanton'd in delights,
And here the guardians of the bounteous horn,
While it was now the infancy of time,
Nor yet th' uncultivated globe had learn'd
Tosmile,ff Fruitfulness.
Eucarpé,gg Plenty.
Dapsiléadwelt,
With all the nymphs, whose secret care had nurs'd
The eldest Bacchus. From the flow'ry shore
A turf-clad valley opens, and along
Its verdure mild the willing feet allures;
While on its sloping sides ascends the pride
Of hoary groves, high-arching o'er the vale
With day-rejecting gloom. The solemn shade
Half round a spacious lawn at length expands,
[Page 68]95 hh This whole description of the rock and grotto is taken from Diod. Siculus, lib. 3. pag. 202.
Clos'dbyatow'ringcliff,whoseforeheadglows
With azure, purple, and ten thousand dyes,
From its resplendent fragments beaming round;
Nor less irradiate colours from beneath
On every side an ample grot reflects,
As down the perforated rock the sun
Pours his meridian blaze! rever'd abode
Of Nysa's nymphs, with every plant attir'd,
That wears undying green, refresh'd with rills
From ever-living fountains, and enrich'd
With all Pomona's bloom: unfading flowers
Glow on the mead, and spicy shrubs perfume
With inexhausted sweets the cooling gale,
Which breathes incessant there; while every bird
Of tuneful note his gay or plaintive song
Blends with the warble of meandring streams,
Which o'er their pebbled channels murm'ring lave
The fruit-invested hills, that rise around. 
The gentle Nereids to this calm recess
Phoenice bear; nor Dapsiléa bland,
Nor good Eucarpé, studious to obey
Great Neptune's will, their hospitable care
Refuse; nor long Lucina is invok'd. 
Soon as the wondrous infant sprung to day,
Earth rock'd around; with all their nodding woods,
[Page 69]120  And streams reverting to their troubled source,
The mountain shook, while Lybia's neighb'ring god,
Mysterious Ammon, from his hollow cell
With deep-resounding accent thus to heaven,
To earth, and sea, the mighty birth proclaim'd. 

A new-born power behold! whom Fate hath call'd
The Gods' imperfect labour to complete
This wide creation. She in lonely sands
Shall bid the tower-encircled city rise,
The barren sea shall people, and the wilds
Of dreary nature shall with plenty cloath;
She shall enlighten man's unletter'd race,
And with endearing intercourse unite
Remotest nations, scorch'd by sultry suns,
Or freezing near the snow-encrusted pole:
Where'er the joyous vine disdains to grow,
The fruitful olive, or the golden ear;
Her hand divine, with interposing aid
To every climate shall the gifts supply
OfCeres,Bacchus,andii Minerva, the tutelary goddess of the Athenians, to whom she gave the olive.
theAthenianmaid:
The graces, joys, emoluments of life
From her exhaustless bounty all shall flow. 

The heavenly prophet ceas'd. Olympus heard. 
Streight from their star-bespangled thrones descend
On blooming Nysa a celestial band
[Page 70]145  The ocean's lord to honour in his child;
When o'er his offspring smiling thus began
The trident-ruler. Commerce be thy name:
To thee I give the empire of the main. 
From where the morning breathes its eastern gale,
To th' undiscover'd limits of the West,
From chilling Boreas to extremest South
Thy sire's obsequious billows shall extend
Thy universal reign. Minerva next
With wisdom bless'd her, Mercury with art,
kk Vulcan, the tutelary deity of Lemnos.
TheLemniangodwithindustry,andlast
Majestic Phoebus, o'er the infant long
In contemplation pausing, thus declar'd
From his enraptur'd lip his matchless boon. 

Thee with divine invention I endow,
That secret wonder, Goddess, to disclose,
By which the wise, the virtuous, and the brave,
The heaven-taught Poet and exploring Sage
Shall pass recorded to the verge of time. 

Her years of childhood now were number'd o'er,
When to her mother's natal soil repair'd
The new divinity, whose parting step
Her sacred nurses follow'd, ever now
To her alone inseparably join'd;
Then first deserting their Nyseian shore
To spread their hoarded blessings round the world;
[Page 71]171  Who with them bore the inexhausted horn
Of ever-smiling Plenty. Thus adorn'd,
Attended thus, great Goddess, thou beganst
Thy all enlivening progress o'er the globe,
Then rude and joyless, destin'd to repair
The various ills, which earliest ages ru'd
From one, like thee, distinguish'd bu the gifts
Of heaven, Pandora, whose pernicious hand
From the dire vase releas'd th' imprison'd woes. 

Thou, gracious Commerce, from his cheerless caves
In horrid rocks, and solitary woods,
The helpless wand'rer man forlorn and wild
Didst charm to sweet society; didst cast
The deep foundations, where the future pride
Of mightiest cities rose, and o'er the main
Before the wond'ring Nereids didst present
The surge-dividing keel, and stately mast,
Whose canvas wings, distending with the gale,
The bold Phoenician through Alcides' straits
To northern Albion's tin-embowel'd fields,
And oft beneath the sea-obscuring brow
Of cloud-envelop'd Teneriff convey'd. 
Next in sagacious thought th' ethereal plains
Thou trodst, exploring each propitious star
The danger-braving mariner to guide;
Then all the latent and mysterious powers
Of number didst unravel; last to crown
Thy bounties, Goddess, thy unrival'd toils
[Page 72]199  For man, still urging thy inventive mind,
Thougav'sthimll Here the opinion of Sir Isaac Newton is followed, that letters were first invented amongst the trading parts of the world.
letters;thereimpartingall,
Which lifts th' ennobled spirit near to heaven,
Laws, learning, wisdom, nature's works reveal'd
By god-like Sages, all Minerva's arts,
Apollo's music, and th' eternal voice
Of Virtue sounding from the historic roll,
The philosophic page, and poet's song. 

Now solitude and silence from the shores
Retreat on pathless mountains to reside,
Barbarity is polish'd, infant arts
Bloom in the desart, and benignant peace
With hospitality begin to sooth
Unsocial rapine, and the thirst of blood;
As from his tumid urn when Nilus spreads
His genial tides abroad, the favour'd soil
That joins his fruitful border, first imbibes
The kindly stream; anon the bounteous God
His waves extends, embracing Egypt round,
Dwells on the teeming champain, and endows
The sleeping grain with vigour to attire
In one bright harvest all the Pharian plains:
Thus, when Pygmalion from Phoenician Tyre
Had banish'd freedom, with disdainful steps
Indignant Commerce, turning from the walls
[Page 73]224  Herself had rais'd, her welcome sway enlarg'd
Among the nations, spreading round the globe
Thefruitsofallitsclimes;mm Athenian. Athens was call'd Cecropia from Cecrops its first king.
Cecropianoil,
The Thracian vintage, and Panchaian gums,
Arabia's spices, and the golden grain,
Which old Osiris to his Aegypt gave,
AndCerestonn Sicily.
Sicania.Thoudidstraise
Th' Ionian name, O Commerce, thou the domes
Of sumptuous Corinth, and the ample round
Of Syracuse didst people. — All the wealth
Now thou assemblest from Iberia's mines,
And golden-channel'd Tagus, all the spoils
Fromfairoo Another name of Sicily, which was frequently ravag'd by the Carthaginians.
Trinacriawasted,allthepowers
Of conquer'd Afric's tributary realms
To fix thy empire on the Lybian verge,
Thy native tract; the nymphs of Nysa hail
Thy glad return, and echoing joy resounds
O'er Triton's sacred waters, but in vain:
The irreversible decrees of heaven
To far more northern regions had ordain'd
Thy lasting seat; in vain th' imperial port
Receives the gather'd riches of the world;
In vain whole climates bow beneath its rule;
[Page 74]247  Behold the toil of centuries to Rome
Its glories yields, and mould'ring leaves no trace
Of its deep-rooted greatness; thou with tears
From thy extinguish'd Carthage didst retire,
And these thy perish'd honours long deplore. 
Whatthoughrichpp Cadiz.
Gades,whatthoughpolish'dRhodes,
With Alexandria, Aegypt's splendid mart,
Thelearn'dqq Marfeilles, a Grecian colony, the most civilized, as well as the greatest trading city of antient Gaul.
Massylians,andrr Genoa.
Liguriantowers,
What though the potent Hanseatic league,
And Venice, mistress of the Grecian isles,
With all th' Aegean floods, awhile might sooth
The sad remembrance; what though, led through climes
And seas unknown, with thee th' advent'rous sons
Ofss The Portuguese discover'd the Cape of Good Hope in 1487.
Taguspass'dthestormycape,whichbraves
The huge Atlanic; what though Antwerp grew
Beneath thy smiles, and thou propitious there
Didst shower thy blessings with unsparing hands:
Still on thy grief-indented heart impress'd
The great Amilcar's valour, still the deeds
Of Asdrubal and Mago, still the loss
Of thy unequal Annibal remain'd:
Till from the sandy mouths of echoing Rhine,
[Page 75]269  And sounding margin of the Scheld and Maese,
With sudden roar the angry voice of war
Alarm'd thy languor; wonder turn'd thy eye. 
Lo! in bright arms a bold militia stood,
Arrang'd for battle: from afar thou saw'st
The snowy ridge of Apennine, the fields
Of wild Calabria, and Pyrene's hills,
The Guadiana, and the Duro's banks,
And rapid Ebro gath'ring all their powers
To crush this daring populace. The pride
Of fiercest kings with more inflam'd revenge
Ne'er menac'd freedom; nor since dauntless Greece,
And Rome's stern offspring none hath e'er surpass'd
Theboldtt The Dutch.
Batavianinhisglorioustoil
For liberty, or death. At once the thought
Of long-lamented Carthage flies thy breast,
And ardent, Goddess, thou dost speed to save
The generous people. Not the vernal showers,
Distilling copious from the morning clouds,
Descend more kindly on the tender flower,
New-born and opening on the lap of Spring,
Than on this rising state thy cheering smile,
And animating presence; while on Spain,
Prophetic thus, thy indignation broke. 

Insatiate race! the shame of polish'd lands! 
Disgrace of Europe! for inhuman deeds
[Page 76]295  And insolence renown'd! what demon led
Thee first to plough the undiscover'd surge,
Which lav'd an hidden world? whose malice taught
Thee first to taint with rapine, and with rage,
With more than savage thirst of blood the arts,
By me for gentlest intercourse ordain'd,
For mutual aids, and hospitable ties
From shore to shore? Or, that pernicious hour,
Was heaven disgusted with its wondrous works,
That to thy fell exterminating hand
Th' immense Peruvian empire it resign'd,
Andall,whichlordlyuu Montezuma, emperor of Mexico.
Montezumasway'd?
And com'st thou, strengthen'd with the shining stores
Of that gold-teeming hemisphere, to waste
The smiling fields of Europe, and extend
Thy bloody shackles o'er these happy seats
Of liberty? Presumptuous nation, learn,
From this dire period shall thy glories fade,
Thy slaughter'd youth shall fatten Belgium's sands,
And Victory against her Albion's cliffs
Shall see the blood-empurpled ocean dash
Thy weltering hosts, and stain the chalky shore:
Ev'n those, whom now thy impious pride would bind
In servile chains, hereafter shall support
Thy weaken'd throne; when heaven's afflicting hand
Of all thy power despoils thee, when alone
[Page 77]321  Of all, which e'er hath signaliz'd thy name,
Thy insolence and cruelty remain. 

Thus with her clouded visage, wrapt in frowns,
The Goddess threaten'd, and the daring train
Of her untam'd militia, torn with wounds,
Despising fortune, from repeated foils
More fierce, and braving Famine's keenest rage,
At length through deluges of blood she led
To envied greatness; ev'n while clamorous Mars
With loudest clangor bade his trumpet shake
The Belgian champain, she their standard rear'd
On tributary Java, and the shores
Of huge Borneo; thou; Sumatra, heard'st
Her naval thunder, Ceylon's trembling sons
Their fragrant stores of cinnamon resign'd,
And odour-breathing Ternate and Tidore
Their spicy groves. And O whatever coast
The Belgians trace, where'er their power is spread,
To hoary Zembla, or to Indian suns,
Still thither be extended thy renown,
O William, pride of Orange, and ador'd
Thy virtues, which disdaining life, or wealth,
Or empire, whether in thy dawn of youth,
Thy glorious noon of manhood, or the night,
xx He was assassinated at Delf. His dying words were, Lord have mercy upon this people. See Grot. de Bell. Belg.
Thefatalnightofdeath,noothercare
[Page 78]346  Besides the public own'd. And dear to fame
Bethou,harmoniousyy Janus Douza, a famous poet, and the most learned man of his time. He commanded in Leyden when it was so obstinately besieged by the Spaniards in 1570. See Meursii Athen. Bat.
Douza;everyMuse,
Your laurel strow around this hero's urn,
Whom fond Minerva grac'd with all her arts,
Alike in letters and in arms to shine,
A dauntless warrior, and a learned bard. 
Him Spain's surrounding host for slaughter mark'd,
With massacre yet reeking from the streets
Of blood-stain'd Harlem: he on Leyden's to w'rs,
With Famine his companion, wan, subdu'd
In outward form, with patient virtue stood
Superior to despair; the heavenly Nine
His suffering soul with great examples cheer'd
Of memorable bards, by Mars adorn'd
Withwreathsoffame;zz Orpheus, one of the Argonauts, who set sail from Iölcos, a town in Thessalia.
Oeagrustunefulson,
Who with melodious praise to noblest deeds
Charm'd the Iölchian heroes, and himself
Theirdangershar'd;aa When the Spartans were greatly distressed in the Messen an war, they applied to the Athenians for a general, who sent them the poet Tyrtaeua.
Tyrtaeus,whoreviv'd
With animating verse the Spartan hopes;
[Page 79]365 Bravebb Aeschylus, one of the most ancient tragic poets, who signalized himself in the battles of Marathon and Salamis.
Aeschylusandcc Sophocles commanded his countrymen the Athenians, in several expeditions.
Sophocles,around
Whose sacred brows the tragic ivy twin'd,
Mix'd with the warrior's laurel; all surpass'd
By Douza's valour: and the generous toil,
His and his country's labours soon receiv'd
Their high reward, when favouring Commerce rais'd
Th' invincible Batavians, till, rever'd
Among the mightiest on the brightest roll
Of fame they shone, by splendid wealth and power
Grac'd and supported; thus a genial soil
Diffusing vigour though the infant oak,
Affords it strength to flourish, till at last
Its lofty head, in verdant honours clad,
It rears amidst the proudest of the grove. 

Yet here th' eternal sates thy last retreat
Deny, a mightier nation they prepare
For thy reception, sufferers alike
By th' unremitted insolence of power
From reign to reign, nor less than Belgium known
For bold contention oft on crimson fields,
In free tongu'd senates oft with nervous laws
To circumscribe, or conquering to depose
Their sceptred tyrants: Albion sea-embrac'd,
[Page 80]388  The joy of freedom, dread of treacherous kings,
The destin'd mistress of the subject main,
And arbitress of Europe, now demands
Thy presence, Goddess. It was now the time,
Ere yet perfidious Cromwel dar'd profane
The sacred senate, and with impious feet
Tread on the powers of magistrates and laws,
While every arm was chill'd with cold amaze,
Nor one in all that dauntless train was found
To pierce the ruffian's heart; and now thy name
Was heard in thunder through th' affrighted shores
Of pale Iberia, of submissive Gaul,
And Tagus, trembling to his utmost source. 
O ever faithful, vigilant, and brave,
Thou bold assertor of Britannia's fame,
Unconquerable Blake: propitious heaven
Atthisgreataera,anddd The act of navigation.
thesagedecree
Of Albion's senate, perfecting at once,
Whatbyee Queen Elizabeth was the first of our princes, who gave any considerable encouragement to trade.
Elizawassowellbegun,
So deeply founded, to this favour'd shore
The Goddess drew, where grateful she bestow'd
Th' unbounded empire of her father's floods,
And chose thee, London, for her chief abode,
Pleas'd with the silver Thames, its gentle stream,
[Page 65]412  And smiling banks, its joy-diffusing hills,
Which clad with splendour, and with beauty grac'd,
O'erlook his lucid bosom; pleas'd with thee,
Thou nurse of arts, and thy industrious race;
Pleas'd with their candid manners, with their free
Sagacious converse, to enquiry led,
And zeal for knowledge; hence the opening mind
Resigns its errors, and unseals the eye
Of blind Opinion; Merit hence is heard
Amidst its blushes, dawning arts arise,
The gloomy clouds, which ignorance or fear
Spread o'er the paths of Virtue, are dispell'd,
Servility retires, and every heart
With public cares is warm'd; thy merchants hence,
Illustrious city, thou dost raise to fame:
How many names of glory may'st thou trace
Fromearliestannalsdowntoee Sir John Barnard.
Barnard'stimes!
And, O! if like that eloquence divine,
Which forth for Commerce, for Britannia's rights,
And her insulted majesty he pour'd,
These humble measures flow'd, then too thy walls
Might undisgrac'd resound thy poet's name,
Who now all-fearful to thy praise attunes
His lyre, and pays his grateful song to thee,
Thy votary, O Commerce! Gracious Power,
Continue still to hear my vows, and bless
My honourable industry, which courts
[Page 66]439  No other smile but thine; for thou alone
Can'st wealth bestow with independance crown'd:
Nor yet exclude contemplative repose,
But to my dwelling grant the solemn calm
Of learned leisure, never to reject
The visitation of the tuneful Maids,
Who seldom deign to leave their sacred haunts,
And grace a mortal mansion; thou divide
With them my labours; pleasure I resign,
And, all devoted to my midnight lamp,
Ev'n now, when Albion o'er the foaming breast
Of groaning Tethys spreads its threat'ning fleets,
I grasp the sounding shell, prepar'd to sing
That hero's valour, who shall best confound
His injur'd country's foes: ev'n now I feel
Celestial fires descending on my breast,
Which prompt thy daring suppliant to explore,
Why, though deriv'd from Neptune, though rever'd
Among the nations, by the Gods endow'd,
Thou never yet from eldest times hast found
One permanent abode; why oft expell'd
Thy favour'd seats, from clime to clime hast borne
Thy wandering steps; why London late hath seen
(Thy lov'd, thy last retreat) desponding Care
O'ercloud thy brow: O listen, while the Muse,
Th' immortal progeny of Jove, unfolds
The fatal cause. What time in Nysa's cave
Th' Ethereal Train, in honour to thy sire,
Shower'd on thy birth their blended gifts, the Power
[Page 67]468  Of War was absent; hence, unbless'd by Mars,
Thy sons relinquish'd arms, on other arts
Intent, and still to mercenary hands
The sword entrusting, vainly deem'd, that wealth
Could purchase lasting safety, and protect
Unwarlike Freedom; hence the Alps in vain
Were pass'd, their long impenetrable snows
And dreary torrents; swoln with Roman dead,
Astonish'dff Trebia, Trasimenus lacus, and Cannae, famous for the victories gained by Annibal over the Romans.
Trebiaoverflow'ditsbanks
In vain, and deep-dy'd Trasimenus roll'd
Its crimson waters; Cannae's signal day
The rame alone of great Amilcar's son
Enlarg'd, while still undisciplin'd, dismay'd,
Her head commercial Carthage bow'd at last
To military Rome: th' unalter'd will
Of heaven in every climate hath ordain'd,
And every age, that empire shall attend
The sword, and steel shall ever conquer gold. 
Then from thy sufferings learn; th' auspicious hour
Now smiles; our wary magistrates have arm'd
Our hands; thou, Goddess, animate our breasts
To cast inglorious indolence aside,
That once again, in bright battalions rang'd,
Our thousands and ten thousands may be seen
Their country's only rampart, and the dread
Of wild Ambition. Mark the Swedish hind;
He, on his native soil should danger lour,
[Page 68]495  Soon from the entrails of the dusky mine
Would rise to arms; and other fields and chiefs
WithHelsingburggg Helsingburg, a small town in Schonen, celebrated for the victory, which Count Steinboch gain'd over the Danes with an army, for the most part composed of Swedish peasants, who had never seen an enemy before: it is remarkable, that the deseated troops were as compleat a body of regular forces as any in all Europe.
andSteinbochsoonwouldshare
The admiration of the northern world:
Helvetia's hills behold, th' aërial seat
Of long-supported Liberty, who thence,
Securely resting on her faithful shield,
The warrior's corselet flaming on her breast,
Looks down with scorn on spacious realms, which groan
In servitude around her, and, her sword
With dauntless skill high brandishing, defies
The Austrian eagle, and imperious Gaul:
And O could those ill-fated shades arise
Whose valiant ranks along th' ensanguin'd dust
Ofhh The London train'd-bands, and auxiliary regiments. (of whose inexperience of danger. or any kind of service, beyond the easy practice of their postures in the Artillery-Ground, had till then too cheap an estimation) behaved themselves to wonder; and were, in truth, the preservation of that army that day. For they stood as a bulwark and rampire to defend the rest; and when their wings of horse were scattered and dispersed, kept their ground so steadily, that though Prince Rupert himself led up the choice horse to charge them, and endured the storm of small-shot, he could make no impression on their stand of pikes; but was forced to wheel about. Clarend. book 7. pag. 347.
Newburylaycrouded,theycouldtell,
[Page 69]510  How their long-matchless cavalry, so oft
O'er hills of slain by ardent Rupert led,
Whose dreaded standard Victory had wav'd,
Till then triumphant, there with noblest blood
From their gor'd squadrons dy'd the restive spear
Of London's firm militia, and resign'd
The well-disputed field; then, Goddess, say,
Shall we be now more timid, when behold,
The blackning storm now gathers round our heads,
And England's angry Genius sounds to arms? 
For thee, remember, is the banner spread;
The naval tower to vindicate thy rights
Will sweep the curling foam; the thundring bomb
Will roar, and startle in the deepest grots
Old Nereus' daughters; with combustion stor'd
For thee our dire volcano's of the main,
Impregnated with horror, soon will pour
Their flaming ruin round each hostile fleet:
Thou then, great Goddess, summon all thy powers,
Arm all thy sons, thy vassals, every heart
Inflame: and you, ye fear-disclaiming race,
Ye mariners of Britain, chosen train
Of Liberty and Commerce, now no more
Secrete your generous valour; hear the call
Of injur'd Albion; to her foes present
Those daring bosoms, which alike disdain
The death-disploding cannon, and the rage
Of warring tempests, mingling in their strife
[Page 70]538  The seas and clouds: though long in silence hush'd
Hath slept the British thunder; though the pride
Of weak Iberia hath forgot the roar;
Soon shall her ancient terrors be recall'd,
When your victorious shouts affright her shores:
None now ignobly will your warmth restrain,
Nor hazard more indignant Valour's curse,
Their country's wrath, and Time's eternal scorn;
Then bid the Furies of Bellona wake,
And silver-mantled Peace with welcome steps
Anon shall visit your triumphant isle. 
And that perpetual safety may possess
Our joyous fields, thou, Genius, who presid'st
O'er this illustrious city, teach her sons
To wield the noble instruments of war;
And let the great example soon extend
Through every province, till Britannia sees
Her docile millions fill the martial plain. 
Then, whatsoe'er our terrors now suggest
Of desolation and th' invading sword;
Though with his massy trident Neptune heav'd
A new-born isthmus from the British deep,
And to its parent continent rejoin'd
Our chalky shore; though Mahomet could league
His powerful crescent with the hostile Gaul,
And that new Cyrus of the conquer'd East,
Who now in trembling vassalage unites
The Ganges and Euphrates, could advance
With his auxiliar host; our warlike youth
[Page 71]567 Withii If the computation, which allots near two millions of fighting men to this kingdom may be relied on; it is not easy to conceive, how the united force of the whole world could assemble together, and subsist in an enemy's country greater numbers, than they would find opposed to them here.
equalnumbers,andwithkeenerzeal
For children, parents, friends, for England fir'd,
Her fertile glebe, her wealthy towns, her laws,
Her liberty, her honour, should sustain
The dreadful onset, and resistless break
Th' immense array; thus ev'n the lightest thought
E'er to invade Britannia's calm repose
Must die the moment, that auspicious Mars
Her sons shall bless with discipline and arms;
That exil'd race, in superstition nurs'd,
The servile pupils of tyrannic Rome,
With distant gaze despairing shall behold
The guarded splendors of Britannia's crown;
Still from their abdicated sway estrang'd,
With all th' attendance on despotic thrones,
Priests, ignorance, and bonds; with watchful step
Gigantic Terror, striding round our coast,
Shall shake his gorgon aegis, and the hearts
Of proudest kings appal; to other shores
Our angry fleets, when insolence and wrongs
To arms awaken our vindictive power,
Shall bear the hideous waste of ruthless war;
But liberty, security, and fame
Shall dwell for ever on our chosen plains. 

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Title (in Source Edition): LONDON: OR, THE PROGRESS OF COMMERCE.

Author: Richard Glover

Themes: city; trades; labour; commerce

Genres: blank verse; georgic

References: DMI 32499

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Source edition

Pearch, G. A collection of poems in four volumes. By several hands. Vol. II. [The second edition]. London: printed for G. Pearch, 1770, pp. 48-71. 4v. ; 8⁰. (ESTC T116245; DMI 1135; OTA K093079.002) (Page images digitized from a copy in the Bodleian Library [(OC) 280 o.789].)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.

Other works by Richard Glover

ADMIRAL HOSIER's GHOST. ()

LONDON: OR, THE PROGRESS OF COMMERCE.

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