In times when princes canceled nature's law
And declarations (which themselves did draw),
When children used their parents to dethrone
And gnawed their way like vipers to a crown,
Tarquin, a savage, proud, ambitious prince,
Prompt to expel yet thoughtless of defense,
The envied scepter did from Tullius snatch,
The Roman king, and father by the match.
To form his party (histories report)
A sanctuary was opened in his court,
Where glad offenders safely might resort.
Great was the crowd and wondrous the success
(For those were fruitful times of wickedness),
And all that lived obnoxious to the laws
Flocked to Prince Tarquin, and embraced his cause.
'Mongst these, a pagan priest for refuge fled,
A prophet deep in godly faction read,
A sycophant that knew the modish way
To cant and plot, to flatter, and betray,
To whine and sin, to scribble, and recant,
A shameless author, and a lustful saint.
To serve all times, he could distinctions coin,
And with great ease flat contradictions join.
A traitor now, once loyal in extreme,
(And then obedience was his only theme)
He sang in temples the most passive lays
And wearied monarchs with repeated praise,
But managed awkwardly that lawful part,
For to vent lies and treason was his art,
And pointed libels at crowned heads to dart.
This priest, and others learned to defame,
First murdered injured Tullius in his name,
With blackest calumnies their sovereign load:
A poisoned brother, and dark league abroad,
A son unjustly topped upon the throne,
Which yet was proved undoubtedly his own,
Though as the law was there, 'twas his behoof
Who dispossessed the heir, to bring the proof.
This hellish charge, they backed 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 malcontent,
Forward to change, yet certain to repent.
Whilst thus the plotters needful fears create,
Tarquin with open force invades the state.
Lewd nobles join 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 heavenly bodies we admire above,
Do every day irregularly move.
Yet Tullius, 'tis decreed, must lose his crown
For faults that were his counsel's, not his own.
He now in vain commands even those he paid:
By darling troops deserted and betrayed
By creatures which his genial warmth had made.
Of these a captain of the guards was worst,
Whose memory to this day stands accursed.
This rogue, advanced to military trust
By his own whoredom and his sister's 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 borrowed dress,
She fled by night from Tullius in distress.
This wretch by letters did invite his foes
And used 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 even his daughter hastened his defeat,
When faith and duty vanished, and no more
The name of father, nor of king, he bore:
A king whose right his foes could ne'er dispute.
So mild, that mercy was his attribute,
Affable, kind, and easy 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'er from labors cease,
Valiant in war, and sedulous in peace,
Studious with traffic to enrich the land,
Strong to protect, and skillful to command,
Liberal and splendid, not without excess,
Loth to revenge, and willing to caress.
In sum, how godlike must his nature be,
Whose only fault was too much piety.
This king removed, the assembled states thought fit
That Tarquin in the vacant throne should sit,
Voted him regent in their senate house,
And with an empty name endowed his spouse,
The elder Tullia, who (some authors feign)
Drove o'er her father's corpse a trembling wain.
But she, more guilty, numerous wains did drive
To crush her father, and her king, alive;
In glad remembrance of his hastened fall
Resolved to institute a weekly ball;
She, jolly glutton, grew in bulk and chin,
Feasted on rapine and enjoyed her sin;
With luxury she did weak reason force,
Debauched good nature, and crammed down remorse.
Yet when she drunk cool tea in liberal sups
The sobbing dame was maudlin in her cups.
But brutal Tarquin never did relent,
Too hard to melt, too wicked to repent,
Cruel in deeds, more merciless in will,
And blessed with natural delight in ill.
From a wise guardian he received his doom,
To walk the 'change, and not to govern Rome;
He swore his native honors to disown,
And did by perjury ascend the throne.
Oh! had that oath his swelling pride repressed,
Rome then had been with peace and plenty blessed;
But Tarquin, guided by destructive fate,
Wasted the country, and embroiled the state,
Transported to their foes the Roman pelf,
And by their ruin hoped to save himself.
Innumerable woes oppressed the land
When it submitted to his cursed command;
So just was Heaven that 'twas hard to tell,
Whether its guilt or losses did excel.
Men who renounced their God for dearer trade
Were then the guardians of religion made;
Rebels were sainted, foreigners did reign,
Outlaws returned, preferments to obtain,
With frogs and toads and all their croaking train.
No native knew their features nor their birth;
They seemed the greasy offspring of the earth.
The trade was sunk, the fleet and army spent,
Devouring taxes swallowed lesser rent,
(Taxes imposed by no authority:
Each lewd collection was a robbery).
Bold self-creating men did statutes draw,
Skilled to establish villainy by law,
Fanatic drivers, whose unjust careers
Produced 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 defense
Of baffled justice and their injured prince.
These shine to aftertimes; each sacred name
Stands still recorded in the books of fame.
And declarations (which themselves did draw),
When children used their parents to dethrone
And gnawed their way like vipers to a crown,
Tarquin, a savage, proud, ambitious prince,
Prompt to expel yet thoughtless of defense,
The envied scepter did from Tullius snatch,
The Roman king, and father by the match.
To form his party (histories report)
A sanctuary was opened in his court,
Where glad offenders safely might resort.
Great was the crowd and wondrous the success
(For those were fruitful times of wickedness),
And all that lived obnoxious to the laws
Flocked to Prince Tarquin, and embraced his cause.
'Mongst these, a pagan priest for refuge fled,
A prophet deep in godly faction read,
A sycophant that knew the modish way
To cant and plot, to flatter, and betray,
To whine and sin, to scribble, and recant,
A shameless author, and a lustful saint.
To serve all times, he could distinctions coin,
And with great ease flat contradictions join.
A traitor now, once loyal in extreme,
(And then obedience was his only theme)
He sang in temples the most passive lays
And wearied monarchs with repeated praise,
But managed awkwardly that lawful part,
For to vent lies and treason was his art,
And pointed libels at crowned heads to dart.
This priest, and others learned to defame,
First murdered injured Tullius in his name,
With blackest calumnies their sovereign load:
A poisoned brother, and dark league abroad,
A son unjustly topped upon the throne,
Which yet was proved undoubtedly his own,
Though as the law was there, 'twas his behoof
Who dispossessed the heir, to bring the proof.
This hellish charge, they backed 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 malcontent,
Forward to change, yet certain to repent.
Whilst thus the plotters needful fears create,
Tarquin with open force invades the state.
Lewd nobles join 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 heavenly bodies we admire above,
Do every day irregularly move.
Yet Tullius, 'tis decreed, must lose his crown
For faults that were his counsel's, not his own.
He now in vain commands even those he paid:
By darling troops deserted and betrayed
By creatures which his genial warmth had made.
Of these a captain of the guards was worst,
Whose memory to this day stands accursed.
This rogue, advanced to military trust
By his own whoredom and his sister's 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 borrowed dress,
She fled by night from Tullius in distress.
This wretch by letters did invite his foes
And used 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 even his daughter hastened his defeat,
When faith and duty vanished, and no more
The name of father, nor of king, he bore:
A king whose right his foes could ne'er dispute.
So mild, that mercy was his attribute,
Affable, kind, and easy 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'er from labors cease,
Valiant in war, and sedulous in peace,
Studious with traffic to enrich the land,
Strong to protect, and skillful to command,
Liberal and splendid, not without excess,
Loth to revenge, and willing to caress.
In sum, how godlike must his nature be,
Whose only fault was too much piety.
This king removed, the assembled states thought fit
That Tarquin in the vacant throne should sit,
Voted him regent in their senate house,
And with an empty name endowed his spouse,
The elder Tullia, who (some authors feign)
Drove o'er her father's corpse a trembling wain.
But she, more guilty, numerous wains did drive
To crush her father, and her king, alive;
In glad remembrance of his hastened fall
Resolved to institute a weekly ball;
She, jolly glutton, grew in bulk and chin,
Feasted on rapine and enjoyed her sin;
With luxury she did weak reason force,
Debauched good nature, and crammed down remorse.
Yet when she drunk cool tea in liberal sups
The sobbing dame was maudlin in her cups.
But brutal Tarquin never did relent,
Too hard to melt, too wicked to repent,
Cruel in deeds, more merciless in will,
And blessed with natural delight in ill.
From a wise guardian he received his doom,
To walk the 'change, and not to govern Rome;
He swore his native honors to disown,
And did by perjury ascend the throne.
Oh! had that oath his swelling pride repressed,
Rome then had been with peace and plenty blessed;
But Tarquin, guided by destructive fate,
Wasted the country, and embroiled the state,
Transported to their foes the Roman pelf,
And by their ruin hoped to save himself.
Innumerable woes oppressed the land
When it submitted to his cursed command;
So just was Heaven that 'twas hard to tell,
Whether its guilt or losses did excel.
Men who renounced their God for dearer trade
Were then the guardians of religion made;
Rebels were sainted, foreigners did reign,
Outlaws returned, preferments to obtain,
With frogs and toads and all their croaking train.
No native knew their features nor their birth;
They seemed the greasy offspring of the earth.
The trade was sunk, the fleet and army spent,
Devouring taxes swallowed lesser rent,
(Taxes imposed by no authority:
Each lewd collection was a robbery).
Bold self-creating men did statutes draw,
Skilled to establish villainy by law,
Fanatic drivers, whose unjust careers
Produced 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 defense
Of baffled justice and their injured prince.
These shine to aftertimes; each sacred name
Stands still recorded in the books of fame.