ODE XLV.

SUNG BY

MR. WEBB,

AT THE ANNIVERSARY DINNER

OF THE

SOCIETY FOR CONSTITUTIONAL INFORMATION, At the Shakspeare Tavern, on Tuesday, the 14th Day of May, 1782.

BY SIR WILLIAM JONES.

VERDANT myrtle's branchy pride

Shall my biting falchion wreathe :

Soon shall grace each manly side,

Tubes that speak, and points that breathe.

Thus, Harmodius, shone thy blade !

Thus, Aristogiton, thine!

Whose, when Britain sighs for aid,

Whose shall now delay to shine?

Dearest youths, in islands blest,
Not, like recreant idlers, dead,

You with fleet Pelides rest,

And with godlike Diomed.

Verdant myrtle's branchy pride
Shall my thirsty blade entwine:
Such, Harmodius, deck'd thy side!
Such, Aristogiton, thine!

They the base Hipparchus slew,

At the feast for Pallas crown'd; Gods! how swift their poniards flew ! How the monster ting'd the ground!

Then, in Athens all was peace,
Equal laws and liberty :
Nurse of arts, and eye of Greece !
People valiant, firm, and free!

Not less glorious was thy deed,* Wentworth, fix'd in Virtue's cause;

Nor less brilliant be thy meed,

Lenox, friend to equal laws!

High in Freedom's temple rais'd,

See Fitz-Maurice beaming stand,

For collected virtues prais'd;"

Wisdom's voice, and Valour's hand!

Ne'er shall Fate their eyelids close:

They, in blooming regions blest, With Harmodius shall repose, With Aristogiton rest.

Noblest chiefs, a hero's crown
Let the Athenian patriots claim:
You less fiercely won renown;

You assum'd a milder name.

They through blood for glory strove, You more blissful tidings bring; They to death a tyrant drove,

You to fame restor'd a KING.

Rise, Britannia, dauntless rise!
Cheer'd with triple Harmony,
Monarch good, and nobles wise,
People valiant, firm, and FREE!

By the Same.

Οὐ λίθοι ἐδὲ ξύλα, ἐδὲ

Τέχνη τεκτόνων αἱ ττόλεις εἰσὶν,

̓Αλλ ̓ ὅστά ποτ ̓ ἄν ὦσιν ̓ΑΝΔΡΕΣ

Αὑτὸς σώζειν εἰδότες,

Ἐναυθα τείχη και πόλεις.

ALC. quoted by ARISTIDES.

WHAT Constitutes a State?

Not high-rais'd battlements, or labour'd mound,
Thick wall, or moated gate;

Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crown'd;
Not bays and broad-arm'd ports,

Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride;
Not starr'd and spangled courts,
Where low-brow'd baseness wafts perfume to pride;
No :-MEN, high minded MEN,

With pow'rs as far above dull brutes endued

In forest, brake, or den,

As beasts excel cold rocks and brambles rude;

Men, who their duties know,

But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain; Prevent the long aim'd blow,

And crush the tyrant, while they rend the chain:

These constitute a State ;

And sov'reign LAW, that state's collected will,
O'er thrones and globes elate

Sits Empress, crowning good, repressing ill;
Smit by her sacred frown,

The fiend Discretion like a vapour sinks,

And e'en the all-dazzling Crown

Hides his faint rays, and at her bidding shrinks.
Such was this heav'n-lov'd isle,

Than Lesbos fairer and the Cretan shore!
No more shall Freedom smile?

Shall Britons languish, and be MEN no more?
Since all must life resign,

Those sweet rewards, which decorate the brave, 'Tis folly to decline,

And steal inglorious to the silent grave.