Tarquin and Tullia.
IN Times when Princes cancel'd Nature's Law,
And Declarations, which themselves did draw;
When Children us'd their Parents to dethrone,
And gnaw'd their way like Vipers to a Crown;
Tarquin, a Savage, Proud, Ambitious Prince,
Prompt to Expell, yet thoughtless of Defence,
The envi'd Sceptre did from Tullius snatch,
The Roman King, and Father by the Match.
To form his Party, Histories report,
A Sanctuary was open'd in his Court,
Where glad Offenders safely might resort.
Great was the Crowd, and Wond'rous the Success;
(For those were fruitful times of Wickedness)
And all that liv'd obnoxious to the Laws
Flock'd to Prince Tarquin, and embrac'd his Cause.
'Mongst these a Pagan Priest for refuge fled,
A Prophet deep in godly Faction read;
A Sicophant that knew the Modish way,
To Cant and Plot, to Flatter and Betray;
To Whine and Sin, to Scrible and Recant;
A shameless Author, and a lustful Saint:
To serve all times he could distinctions Coin,
And with great ease flat Contradictions joyn;
A Traytor now, once Loyal in extreme,
And then Obedience was his only Theme;
He sang in Temples the most Passive Lays,
And weari'd Monarchs with repeated Praise;
But manag'd auk'ardly that lawful part:
For to vent Lies and Treason was his Art,
And pointed Libels at Crown'd Heads to dart.
This Priest and others, learned to defame,
First murder'd injur'd Tullius in his Name,
With blackest Calumnies their Sov'raign load;
A Poyson'd Brother, and dark League abroad,
A Son unjustly topt upon the Throne;
Which yet was prov'd undoubtedly his own:
Though, as the Law was there, 'twas his behoof
Who disposest the Heir, to bring the proof.
This Hellish charge they back'd with dismal frights,
The loss of Property and Sacred Rights,
And Freedom: Words which all false Patriots use,
The surest Names the Romans to abuse:
Jealous of Kings, and always Malecontent,
Forward to Change, yet certain to repent.
Whilst thus the Plotters needful fears create,
Tarquin with open force invades the State,
Lewd Nobles joyn him with their feeble Might,
And Atheist Fools for dear Religion Fight:
The Priests their boasted Principles disown,
And level their harangues against the Throne:
Vain Promises the People's Minds allure,
Slight were their Ills, but desperate the Cure.
'Tis hard for Kings to steer an equal course;
And they who banish one, oft get a worse.
Those Heav'nly Bodies we admire above,
Do every day irregularly move.
Yet Tullius, 'tis decreed, must lose his Crown,
For Faults that were his Councils, not his own;
He now in vain Commands even those he paid;
By darling Troops deserted and betray'd;
By Creatures which his Genial warmth had made.
Of these a Captain of the Guards was worst,
Whose Memory to this Day stands accurst:
This Rogue advanc'd to Military trust,
By his own Whoredom, and his Sisters Lust,
Forsook his Master, after dreadful Vows,
And plotted to betray him to his Foes:
The kindest Master to the vilest Slave,
As free to give, as he was sure to crave.
His haughty Female, who, as Books declare,
Did always toss wide Nostrils in the Air,
Was to the younger Tullia Governess,
And did attend her when in borrow'd dress
She fled by Night from Tullius in distress:
This wretch by Letters did invite his Foes,
And us'd all Arts her Father to depose;
A Father always generously bent,
So kind, that he her wishes did prevent.
'Twas now high time for Tullius to retreat,
When ev'n his Daughter hast'ned his defeat;
When Faith and Duty vanish'd, and no more
The Name of Father nor of King he bore:
A King! whose Right his Foes could ne'r dispute,
So mild! that Mercy was his attribute;
Affable, kind, and easie 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 did ne'r from labours cease;
Valiant in War, and sedulous in Peace;
Studious with Traffick to enrich the Land;
Strong to Protect, and skilful to Command;
Lib'ral and Splendid, not without excess;
Loth to revenge, and willing to caress:
In summ, How Godlike must his Nature be,
Whose only fault was too much Piety!
This King remov'd, th'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're her Father's Corps a trembling Wane:
But she! more guilty! numerous wanes did drive,
To crush her Father and her King alive;
In glad remembrance of his hast'ned fall,
Resolv'd to institute a weekly Ball:
She! jolly Glutton! grew in Dulk and Chin,
Feasted on Rapine, and enjoy'd her Sin;
With Luxury she did weak reason force;
Debauch'd good Nature, and cramm'd down remorse:
Yet when she drunk cool Tea in lib'ral Sups,
The sobbing Dame was Maudlin in her Cups.
[Page] 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 receiv'd 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 then had been with Peace and Plenty blest.
But Tarquin, guided by destructive Fate,
Wasted the Country, and embloyl'd the State;
Transported to their Foes the Roman pelf,
And by their ruine hop'd to save himself.
Innumerable woes opprest the Land,
When it submitted to his curst Command.
So just was Heav'n that 'twas hard to tell,
Whether its guilt or losses did excell.
Men who renounc'd their God, for dearer Trade,
Were then the Guardians of Religion made:
Rebels were Sainted; Foreigners did Reign;
Outlaws return'd preferments to obtain,
With Frogs and Toads, and all their croaking train;
No Native knew their Features, nor their Birth,
They seem'd the greasie Offspring of the Earth;
The Trade was sunk; the Fleet and Army spent;
Devouring Taxes swallow'd lesser Rent;
Taxes impos'd by no Authority;
Each lewd Collection was a Robbery.
Bold self-creating Men did Statutes draw,
Skil'd to establish Villany by Law;
Fanatick Drivers, whose unjust Carreers
Produc'd new Ills, exceeding former Fears.
Yet Authors here except that Faithful Band,
Which the prevailing Faction did withstand;
And some who bravely stood in the defence
Of baffled Justice, and their Injur'd Prince:
These shine to after Times, each Sacred Name
Stands still recorded in the Books of Fame.
FINIS.