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The shatter'd battlements with dead were strew'd,
Cover'd with mangled limbs, with blood embrued
And fragments of the wall, that flew around,
As fatal as the balls themselves were found;
Slaying their own defenders as they spread,
And crimson'd with the blood that they had shed.

Th' incessant bolts that mighty cannon sent,
To soon their passage through the wall had rent;
And now the yawning breach appears to show
A fatal entrance for the ready foe,

Who rushes on, but finds his hopes betray'd,
And leaves his foremost ranks in slaughter laid.
Wherever danger call'd, the Emperor flew,
And, cheer'd by his example, thousands drew
Around the breach, like him devoid of fear,
To aid- to save him- or to perish near.
Each gap they close as if by magic hand;
And see their baffled foes astonish'd stand-
Then turn unwilling from the spoil in view,
To breathe their vengeance, and their toils renew.

And there was one, the foremost of the brave, Who strove that glorious seat of power to save; Justiniani, who from Genoa came,

Burning to conquer an immortal name;

Who there with more than man appeared to vie,
And filled with wonder each admiring eye;
As if he would eclipse the fame of all
Who ever fought to triumph or to fall.

More zeal, more valour, he could ne'er have shown,
Had that imperial city been his own;

Or had he there first drawn the vital breath,
There tomb'd his father in the sleep of death;
And never known beyond its bounds to roam,
His place of joy-his wife and children's home.
Nor did he idly from the wall behold
The foe encamp'd around, a thousand-fold-
But sallying forth, ev'n braved them on the plain,
O'erthrew their works, and left a pile of slain:
Till his heroic deeds, and martial fame,

A source of watchfulness and fear became.
And hark! what grating iron bolts rebound-
The gates fly open with a jarring sound!
Arranged within, an armed band appears,
And lightning flashes from their shining spears!
Do they invite the foe? and do they yield-
And bid him enter there from yonder field?
Forbid it glory-freedom! no-behold-
They issue forth a nearer strife to hold:

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Fierce as a deluge rushing from the hills,
That soon with wreck the ravaged valley fills;
They pour upon the enemy in wrath,

And death and desolation mark their path.
The threat'ning batteries, rear'd with patient toil,
They strew in fragments, and their labours spoil;
And smite in death the ranks that dare oppose,
And spread a panic through that host of foes-
Then victors through the gate retire again,
And leave the ruins cover'd with the slain.

And now the hostile fleet an effort tries
To force its way, and aid to win the prize;
To bring its thunder on the walls to bear,
And in the glory of the conquest share.
And lo! they spread their canvass to the breeze!
And ships and galleys roll along the seas-
But their united force is urged in vain

To pierce the haven, where the guarding chain,
And booms that stretch across, their power defy;
And entrance to the inner space deny:
From whence the thunder of the fleet within,
Bursts on their baffled ships with hideous din;
Rolling its purple smoke along the waves,
And sweeping down its victims to their graves.
Loud on their vessels' sides is heard the crash-
And o'er the decks the masts are seen to dash-
While slaughter strews their reeling planks with gore,
Until the shouts, the cries, the vollied roar,

Appal their friends on land, and shake the sounding shore.
Soon farther off they point there keels again,
With shatter'd vessels, and with seamen slain;
While from the walls exulting shouts arose,
That more inflamed the madness of their foes.

But nought could turn the Tyrant from his path,
Curb his ambition, or disarm his wrath,

He grew
the fiercer as his arms were foil'd,
Determined more--the more in vain he toil'd;
The more he witness'd of his legions slain-
The more resolved he grew the prize to gain;
Order'd new levies from each subject realm,
That envied seat of power and pomp to whelm.
And soon fresh hosts from every part appear'd,
His hopes established, and his warriors cheer'd:
Until such myriads cover'd all the plain,
As seem'd to make all further contest vain ;
While all the friends, the Emperor could boast,
Would scarce suffice to count that hostile host.
He fear'd he felt his reign too soon must close;
Nought but a miracle could chase those foes;

The interposing arm of heaven alone

Could throw protection round his tottering throne.
But there was still one blessing left-one boon
That he might make his own-it might be soon-
The last a falling emperor might claim;
The only fitting one-a death of fame!
To grasp his sceptre in the pangs of death,
And yield beneath a crown his latest breath;
Surviving not his glory nor his power,
Nor less than monarch in his dying hour.
Such great resolve was his-his throne to save—
Or win where he had reign'd, a glorious grave:
A happier doom-a lovelier place of rest-
Than life with lightest fetters round the breast.
On him thus fix'd the tyrant call'd to yield,
With leave to pass in safety from the field.
66 I conquer where I battle, or I die!"
Was his repeated and unchang'd reply.

And now with tenfold force the awful roar
Bursts forth again; the blazing cannons pour
Their wrath against the walls with deafening sound,
And all heaven's thunders seem to rage around.
No bulwarks long can brave such desperate shock;
The ramparts and the towers appear to rock;
Volcanoes seem to rush against the wall,
And many a mass-split-crush'd, is seen to fall,
And as it tumbles, buries with its weight

Its own defenders in the tomb of fate.

Till through those breaches gleam the city's towers;
And 'twixt each opening pour the deadly showers;
Sweeping away whoever dares to brave

The iron rain that makes each breach a grave.
Man might as well attempt to seize the flash
Of lightning, when the nearest thunders crash,
As think those blazing fissures to defend,
Through which the guns their ceaseless fury send.
As rocks that on the verge of ocean rise,
Hurled by volcanic impulse, pierce the skies;
Then plunge with dashing fury in the main,
Leaving their parent mountains rent in twain-
So did the sever'd fragments of that wall,
In its surrounding waters roaring fall.

While thus the breaches wider seem'd to spread,
At every shaking shot the cannons sped;
Through all the city there was wild despair,
And cries of grief and terror rent the air,
And every curse of life seem'd gather'd there.

END OF BOOK I.

364

DISCUSSION:

IS THE PROSPERITY OF GREAT BRITAIN CHIEFLY ATTRIBU. TABLE TO HER LOCAL CIRCUMSTANCES OR NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS?

On the discusssion of this subject, which engaged the members of the Society at two of their weekly meetings, it was ob served, that it was equally important and difficult to determine what were the chief causes that co-operated in producing national prosperity. To say of what elements prosperity precisely consisted, was not very easy; and, unless we could ascertain the specific subject contemplated in the question, it was idle to attempt to trace the cause which produced it. In general terms it might be said, that national prosperity consisted of wealth, of power, and of a population proportioned to territory. To these general characteristics, freedom and intelligence should be added; though, in their largest signification, wealth and power could scarcely exist without including liberty and knowledge.

Great Britain possessed these prosperous qualities to a considerable extent; but they were not all possessed in the same, or equal degree; and, in tracing the circumstances out of which they had arisen, we should distinguish the progress of

each.

The intelligence of the people, which had doubtless produced much improvement, could not strictly be referred either to the local circumstances in which Great Britain had been placed, or to the state of her institutions. The capacity of the national mind was an endowment of nature, and that capacity had been partly stimulated by physical, and partly by moral, causes. The local circumstances consisted of the insular situation of the country, its climate, and the nature and fertility of its soil. The national institutions comprised not only all those establishments by which the government performed its operations, but those also for the diffusion of learning and knowledge, of religion and charity.

However probable it might, at first sight, appear, that moral were superior to physical causes; yet, in examining into the origin of our wealth and power, it would be found that soil, climate, and situation, were the first things in the order of national progression. We should commence the investigation at a time when but few social or national institutions existed, and enquire into the circumstances out of which they arose.

It was probable that every nation, under favourable circumstances, would become distinguished for intellectual and moral

excellence. We could not reasonably presume that there existed a natural superiority in the character of one nation over another. Although there might be an existing difference, that difference had probably been the result of dissimilar cultivation. That these were the germs of excellence in every country, was obvious from the occasional instances which history presented of genius and renown in the most unfavoured situations.

It was obvious that the institutions of a nation were the result of its own intelligence and exertions. They ranked amongst the beneficial consequences of industry and enterprize. They were effects, not causes. It was true, that, after these institutions had been established, they contributed, in their turn, to the general good, and formed part of that mass of causes to which national prosperity might be referred.

We were driven back, then, to enquire into the circumstances which preceded the existence of these national establishments, and which might be supposed to have given rise to their formation. How had it happened that Great Britain possessed a greater degree of freedom than other countries? How had it happened that she possessed also greater pecuniary resources than any other nation? If we could answer these questions, the difficulty would be at an end, for liberty and wealth were the great elements of national power, and were always followed by an increasing population, and by every thing that could be aggregately denominated prosperity.

The wealth and freedom of Great Britain, (it was contended,) had originated from her peculiar local circumstances. The geographical situation of England was eminently advantageous. She was near enough to the Continent to derive every benefit of intercourse and commerce; and by emulation her energies were excited, yet sufficiently removed to secure her from attack. Thus she had been enabled to cultivate her own peculiar resources, and to avail herself of the improvements of others. The corruptions and the evils of other countries had floated round the island, but had never permanently been permitted to gain a dwelling. Whilst many of the nations of Europe had been convulsed by disorder and anarchy, she had steadily pursued her career. Her mind had "ample room and verge enough" to expand, and her prosperity had consequently increased. The disasters that had marked other states, had perpetually thrown them back to recommence their exertions, but Great Britain had for many centuries been gradually advancing. It was not, therefore, surprising, that with comparatively few interruptions, and with every inducement and means to improve, she had outstepped her less fortunate competitors.

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