'Twas now high time for Tullius to retreat,
When even his daughter hasten'd his defeat
When faith and duty vanish'd, and no more
The name of father and of king he bore:
A king, whose right his foes could ne'er dispute ;
So mild, that mercy was his attribute;
Affable, kind, and easy of access;
Swift to relieve, unwilling to oppress;
Rich without taxes, yet in payment just;
So honest, that he hardly could distrust :
His active soul from labours ne'er did cease,
Valiant in war, and vigilant in peace;
Studious with traffic to enrich the land,
Strong to protect, and skilful to command;
Liberal and splendid, yet without excess;
Prone to relieve, unwilling to distress :
In sum, how godlike must his nature be,
Whose only fault was too much piety!
This king removed, the assembled states thought fit,
That Tarquin in the vacant throne should sit;
Voted him regent in their senate-house,
And with an empty name endow'd his spouse.*
The elder Tullia, who, some authors feign,
Drove o'er her father's corse a rumbling wain :
But she, more guilty, numerous wains did drive,
To crush her father and her king alive;
And in remembrance of his hasten'd fall,
Resolved to institute a weekly ball.t
On the 8th February 1688-9, the lords resolved, that, notwithstanding the joint sovereignty of the Prince and Princess of Orange, the Prince alone should possess the regal power, and exercise it in the name of both.
+ When the Princess of Orange arrived from Holland, she displayed, in the confusion of spirits incidental to her uncommon situation, a womanish levity, for which she was much censured by the friends of the late King. DALRYMPLE'S Memoirs, Vol. II. p. 290. Edit. 1790.
The jolly glutton grew in bulk and chin,
Feasted on rapine, and enjoy'd her sin;
With luxury she did weak reason force,
Debauch'd good-nature, and cram'd down remorse';
Yet when she drank cold tea in liberal sups,
The sobbing dame was maudling in her cups.
But brutal Tarquin never did relent,
Too hard to melt, too wicked to repent;
Cruel in deeds, more merciless in will,
And blest with natural delight in ill.
From a wise guardian he received his doom
To walk the change, and not to govern Rome.
He swore his native honours to disown,
And did by perjury ascend the throne.
Oh! had that oath his swelling pride represt,
Rome had been then with peace and plenty blest.
But Tarquin, guided by destructive fate,
The country wasted, and embroil'd the state,
Transported to their foes the Roman pelf,
And by their ruin hoped to save himself.
Innumerable woes oppress the land,
When it submitted to his cursed command.
So just was heaven, that 'twas hard to tell,
Whether its guilt or losses did excel.
Men that renounced their God for dearer trade,
Were then the guardians of religion made.
Rebels were sainted, foreigners did reign,
Outlaws return'd, preferment to obtain,
With frogs, and toads, and all their croaking train.
No native knew their features nor their birth;
They seem'd the greasy offspring of the earth.
The trade was sunk, the fleet and army spent ;
Devouring taxes swallow'd lesser rent;
Taxes imposed by no authority;
Each lewd collection was a robbery.
Bold self-creating men did statutes draw,
Skill'd to establish villany by law;
Fanatic drivers, whose unjust careers Produced new ills exceeding former fears: Yet authors here except a faithful band, Which the prevailing faction did withstand; And some, who bravely stood in the defence Of baffled justice, and their exiled prince. These shine to after-times; each sacred name Stands still recorded in the rolls of fame.
THE following verses have been ascribed to Dryden upon slight authority, and contrary to internal evidence. They display a good deal of the turn of wit, and structure of verse, which may be observed in similar jeux d'esprit of Dorset, to whom I am tempted to ascribe them, though the name of Dryden may have been borrowed, to give them publicity.
They ought to have preceded, in point of time, those entitled Tarquin and Tullia," but were accidentally misplaced.
As nicknames are easily perpetuated, I observe, that these verses entailed upon the young statesmen, the names of Chit Sunderland, Chit Lory, &c. in the satires of the day. ministration came into office in the latter years of Charles II.'s reign. The satire turns on a comparison between them and their predecessors of what was called the Cabal. There is a parody on these lines in the "State Poems," in which they are applied to Stillingfleet.
CLARENDON* had law and sense,
Clifford was fierce and brave;
Bennet's + grave look was a pretence,
And Danby's § matchless impudence
Help'd to support the knave.
But Sunderland, Godolphin, Lory, ||
These will appear such chits in story,
'Twill turn all politics to jests,
To be repeated like John Dory,
When fiddlers sing at feasts.
† Lord Clifford, of Chudleigh, a member of the Cabal administration.
Bennet, Earl of Arlington, also of the Cabal.
Osborne, Earl of Danby.
Lawrence, Earl of Rochester, son of Lord Clarendon.
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