CLYPEOQUE INSIGNE PATERNUM
CENTUM ANGUES, CINCTAMQUE GERIT SERPENTIBUS HYDRAM.
"Tis the first time," quoth Codrus, with a sneer, "That crests have been of use for many a year; Arms are a toy, a feather, idly priz'd
In days of yore; by reason now despis'd.
See, how in France reform's indignant hand
Hath swept at once such follies from the land."
Peace, Jacobin,-these toys are virtue's meed,
The bright records of many a noble deed;
These feathers are a wing, on which men rise
From earth to glory's temple in the skies;
Arms are a toy!-Uncensur'd would they pass,
Were they indeed but wood, or painted glass;
ye must hate, whate'er can prompt the mind
To soar on high, and leave the crowd behind;
Such flights derange your equalizing plan;
T'excel is treason in the " Rights of Man."-
But since so fond of Romans ye are grown,
And speak of them in such familiar tone,
That we almost with Brutus seem to talk,
Or in the forum with old Cato walk,
How comes it ye are ignorant, that they
Made of their houses honours grand display?
That in the long procession us'd to shine
The painted glories of each ancient line;
The noble offspring, privileg'd on high
To bear the statues of their ancestry,
a The Jus Imaginis, or privilege of using pictures or statues, among the Romans, in some respects resembled the right to bear arms, with us.—One, whose ancestors had gone through any of the offices called curule offices, was allowed to use their pictures or statues, and was stiled "Nobilis" or Noble.-A man whose ancestors had never filled an office of that description, but who had himself executed such an office, might use his own effigy, and was called " Novus," or a New Man.-The rest of the citizens were "Ignobiles," or Ignoble. See Ken. Antiq. part 2.
Survey'd with decent awe th' embroider'd gown,
The iv'ry seat, bright car, and golden crown,
Rever'd th' illustrious dead, and copied their renown.
Yet think I not your hatred to assuage,
By proving arms of Roman parentage;
For France hath shewn, what 'tis, your sect admire
In ages past; for what alone inquire;
Ye search among the annals of old times,
For splendid names to patronise your crimes;
With Cato lend your wives, with Brutus kill,
But only follow them in what is ill:
And where their code a precedent denies,
Philosophy herself a leaf supplies;
For though it prov'd man's right to kill a king,
To rob the priesthood was another thing;
Of that from Rome no instance could ye bring.
Well didst thou, Burke, as if inspir'd, presage,
The course of guilt in this destroying age;
That those, whose innovating hand defac'd
Each ornament, which birth or virtue grac'd,
book 3. Their statues were mostly made of wax, and coloured. They were brought out at festivals and funerals.
The noble's arms and title torn away,
Next on his more substantial wealth would prey;
Then in the march of vice take one step more,
And stain at last the scaffold with his gore.
Long since to thee had France's troubled sky
Foretold the earthquake, ere the shock was nigh;
Thou saw'st, how impious sophists had combin'd,
To shake with horrid doubts the Christian mind;
Religion's influence gone, thou knew'st, if fame
They should reject, and honour's voice disclaim,
The passions, unrestrain'd, with dreadful force
Must rage, and spread destruction in their course}
As, from their prison in the north, (the door
Once open'd wide) the furious winds would pour,
And earth, air, seas, and heav'n, confound with wild
Champion of truth, how griev'd we at the doom,
Which bade thy son precede thee to the tomb!
Nor one descendant left upon the stage,
To bear thy honours to another age;
Who, while thy blazon glitter'd in his eyes,
Had felt thy spirit in his bosom rise,
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