Which erst a Tully and a Maro knew,
To which Æmilius, Marius service paid,
Which Regulus and the Scipios obey’d.
Long would it be and idle to recall
The triumphs, with their blazonries unfurl’d,
Matchless of her, that once of Europe all
Was greater part, metropolis of the world.
I only ask of you, as you may read,
How in Avernus, destined to succeed,
Anchises show’d Æneas, in long line,
The illustrious shades of those, who were to shine
One day the glory of the Italian shore,
Now you, more favour’d than the Trojan chief,
Not in vain prophecy, but tried belief,
From what you see, by aid of history’s lore,
To admire the lofty state which Rome possess’d,
The which her ruins and remains attest.
From our Hispanian clime I cannot scan
With you the column of the Antonine,
The fane or obelisk of the Vatican,
Or the Capitol, and Mount Palatine;
I cannot see the churches, or the walls,
The bridges, arches, mausoleums, gates,
The aqueducts, palaces, and waterfalls,
The baths, the plazas, porticos, and halls,
The Coliseum’s, or the Circus’ fates;
But still the immortal writings ’tis for me,
Of Livy, Tacitus, Cicero, to see;
I see Lucretius, Pliny, Juvenal,
Augustus, Maro and Mæcenas all;
With their names is the soul exalted high,
Heroic worth and honour to descry;
And so much more that model imitates
A nation now, so much more to be gain’d,
Is seen it but to approach the lofty heights
Of splendour, wealth, fame, power, that Rome attain’d.
From the benignant lands that richly gleam
Beneath the Tiber’s fertilizing stream,
You next will pass, where borne as he arose,
Through colder realms the mighty Danube flows.
Girded in pleasant borders ’tis for you
The Austrian Vienna there to view;
To admire the monarch, warlike, good and wise,
With the magnanimous Prussian king who vies
An army brave and numerous to sway;
Chosen and hardy, forward to obey,
Whom as companions honour’d he rewards,
And not as slaves abased a lord regards.
There agriculture flourish you will see;
Public instruction is promoted free;
The arts extended rapidly and wide;
And these among, in culture and esteem,
That with which Orpheus tamed the furious pride
Of forest beasts, and cross’d the Lethe’s stream:
There all the tales of wonderful effect,
Of music’s art divine, with which are deck’d
The ancient Greek and Latin histories,
No longer will seem fables in your eyes,
When near you may applaud the loftiness,
The harmony, and the consonance sublime,
All that in varied symphonies to express
Has power the greatest master of our time;
Haydn the great, and merited his fame,
Whom to embrace I beg you in my name.
But now the confines of the German land
I see you leaving, for the distant strand
Of Britain’s isle your rapid course to take,
And tour political around to make.
There in the populous court, whose walls’ long side
Bathes the deep Thames in current vast and wide,
A nation’s image will before your eyes
In all things most extraordinary rise.
Not rich of old, but happy now we see
By totally unshackled industry.
A nation liberal, but ambitious too;
Phlegmatic, and yet active in its course;
Ingenuous, but its interests to pursue
Intent; humane, but haughty; and perforce
Whate’er it be, the cause it undertakes,
Just or unjust, defends without remorse,
And of all fear and danger scorn it makes.
There with inevitably great surprise,
What in no other country we may see,
You will behold to exert their energies
Men act and speak with perfect liberty.
The
