A PROSPECT OF THE NAVY ROYAL: OR, A Panegyrique upon the Fleet. Humbly Addrest to the Most Illustrious PRINCE RUPERT, Upon the Occasion of his going as ADMIRAL TO THE SEA, the 23 day of April, 1673.
With a Description of the FLEET.
London, Printed in the Year 1673.
A PROSPECT OF THE NAVY ROYAL.
WHile I, in pleasing Melancholly sat,
Reflecting on this Islands happy state;
When, from the top of an aspiring Tower,
I view'd at once, it's Beauty and it's Power;
Pleas'd to behold how safe we are from harm,
Embrac'd by Thetis kind, and Clasping arm:
Blest Isle said I, and full of Natures Pride,
So Beautiful and so well Fortifi'd;
At last my Unrestrained Senses strove
Farther, than Nature gave them strength, to rove:
My eyes a lavish freedom I allow'd,
Which nothing cou'd confine, but Sea, or Cloud,
Until, at length, where Skies, and VVaters met,
Where these did seem to Rise, and those to Set;
At first a Leafeless VVood began to appear,
But strait it Ʋndeceiv'd me, and drew near;
So that my wonder Ceas't, as it Begun,
And my Slow Thoughts were, by my Sight, Out-run;
Which soon presented to me such a Fleet,
Few Nations ever Saw, and None dare Meet.
A hundred Moving Castles floating came,
That seem'd the Winds to Calm, and Seas to Tame;
Each Swelling Sail the baffled storm Out-braves,
And makes the Ships look Prouder than the VVaves:
Now the Enlarged Oak, whose Fettered Foot,
Had many years, been Prisoner to it's Root,
Gratefully brings new Tributes, to that Earth,
Which gave it both it's Liberty, and Birth;
Ioyful in storms, remembring that it knew
More Danger, in Less Tempests, while it Grew:
And thanks the Axe, that did commit that Rape,
To Cut it Down, and Give't a Nobler shape.
These are the Arks, that save us from the Flood,
Which else might Overwhelm our Land with Blood:
These Guard our Prince from Villanies Fatal Stroke,
And every Man of VVar's a ROYAL OAKE.
The Grecian Horse, although it's womb contain'd
Heroick souls, whose courage was unstain'd,
Might long before the Trojan Walls have stay'd,
Had not the Enemy Themselves betray'd:
They first their own destruction did begin,
And Made a way, to Let their Ruine in:
But these Sea-Horses, by the English backt,
Do Truths, beyond those Grecian Fables act:
Our Moving Forts, with ease, themselves Transplant:
Proving the Castle, and the Elephant.
We make a way to be Victorious, where
Base Fraud did never in our glory share:
And fairly Conquer all we do oppose,
So we not only Beat, but VVin our Foes.
Mark now these Monarchs of the spacious Main,
Each seems Attended with a glorious Train:
The streaming Pendants dally with the Galis,
They in like manner court the prouder Sails:
Below, the steady Keels the Waves divide:
Aloft, the Masts display their wanton Pride:
Aboard, the Jocund Seamen pleasant are:
Yet, in the Midst of Mirth, Prepar'd for War.
They are not Tyr'd with a long tedious March,
Nor does the scorching Sun, their bodies Parch:
No Luggage, there, is to new quarters sent,
Their Tent do's Carry them, not they their Tent:
They weary not their Limbs by carrying Arms,
Nor in their Sleeps, disturb'd by Strange Alarms:
They're always Fit, always Prepar'd to fight,
And never See the Foe, but with delight.
Now Veiw the Royal Charles, before the rest,
Proud that they are with such a Leader blest,
Her Virgin-self she freely has resign'd,
To him that's grown the Terrour of Man-Kind;
The Matchless Prince, who, midst the powerful Foe,
Dares Doe, whatever she dares Ʋndergo:
Before his Own, Her Safety he'l Prefer,
And rather chuse to lose Himself than Her.
Have you observ'd at some great Monarchs Court,
Where People of All Qualities resort,
How they pay Homage, in their Several Sphears?
Knights do give place to Lords, and Lords to Peers:
But when they come before the Regal Throne,
No man is Honour'd but the King alone:
So here, we see all the well order'd Fleet,
With humble Flag, their Admiral do greet:
And seem with joyful shouts, and smiles to say,
"This is the Charles and Princes wedding day.
Old Poets feign, when Jason went from Greece,
Hoping to steal, not win, the Golden Fleece,
That the small ship, wherein he safely went,
As a gay Present, to the gods was sent:
But had the Actions of our Prince been told,
What Prizes he has w [...]n more rich than Gold:
How many VVaking Dragons he has slain,
He might be thought to merit what they Feign:
And having Finish'd the successful VVar,
His Charles might well deserve to be a Star:
So a new constelation should we gain,
If Rupert's Ship were joyn'd to Charles his VVain.
But see, amidst that Vast and Royal Town,
Others, that bears Alliance to the Crown:
The Soveraign and the Prince, two Sisters are,
Who've Lost their Maidenheads alreay there;
Ravish'd by Boors, whom they resisted so,
As in the strife, t' affectt their Overthrow:
And the Redoubled Honour, they brought thence,
Became at once their Praise and Recompence.
To reckon all your Hero's, that do fight
For the true Neptunes (Mighty Charles's) right:
To sing of all the Battails they have won,
Of what they have Endur'd and what they've Done,
Alas! what Pen, what Volumes would Suffice,
To write, what written, needs must pass for Lyes?
My Quill would undergo Cassandra's grief,
To utter Truths, and yet not gain belief:
I should all Poets Fictions farr out-doe,
Which, with my truths compar'd, would all seem true.
But stay—Methinks the Caverns of the Oak,
Send forth (like Aetna) Sulpher, Fire, and Smoak:
Which, follow'd by a harmony of noys,
Seem to express the Seamen's doubled joys:
'Tis even so, the Mighty Prince appears,
And chases thence (already banish'd) fears:
So, when the Ever youthful Prince of Light,
'Has well disclos'd, the Eyelids of the Night,
The Drooping Flowers erect their pensive-heads,
Shaking their Dew, upon their Earthly-beds:
And while he courts them all in Amorous Rays,
Each, greedy of a Kiss, her leaves displays:
Until they see th' espoused Heliotrope,
To whom they all resign their Widdow'd Hope:
Thus fares it with our Prince, each Frigate runs
To meet, and welcome him with Peals of Guns:
Cowards whose pond'rous Soul so low was sunk,
That they durst scarce exchange a cuff, though drunk;
Do neither fear the Dutch, the Rocks, nor Shelves,
For they are petty Princes, now themselves.
Toutcht with Magnetick vertue, every soul
Turns to the Prince, as to their Northern Pole:
Who Shines on all the Ships with equal light,
And none can Guess which is his Favourite:
Till caught at last by Charles's Nuptial Charms,
Briskly he runs into her Loyal Arms:
So that no hostile Stratagems, or Force,
Shall him from her, or her from him Divorce.
Thus did I please my Fancy, and my Sight,
The One with Wonder, th' Other with Delight;
Passing, in solitude, the short liv'd Hours,
While ev'ry Lust the Latter still Devours:
When Ten were Past, I scarcely thought'em One,
As if Old Time had for a Wager Run.
Till by, and by, the Sun Declin'd apace,
Seeming in Hast to Wash his Ruddy Face.
But, as he passes by our Navy, see
He bows his Head, and Once more Courts a Tree.
Go glorious Fleet, go on, and though black Night
Ha's Ravish'd thee from my unhappy Sight:
Yet, shall my eyes send forth a Briny Flood,
Whence I will Launch out Prayers for thy good:
A Gust of powerful sighs shall drive them on,
Their Haven shall be the Eternal Throne.
Where, if they e'r arrive, they'l humbly crave,
That in Just Wars thou Good Success may'st have.
May our Prince Finish what he do's begin,
May he Survive, the Battails he do's win:
Our Nations farther Safeguard may he be,
And may we Conquer both by Land and Sea:
May CHARLES our King his enemies defeat:
And ever be as Happy as he's Great.
FINIS.