When first Columbus touch'd this distant Shore,
And vainly hop'd his Fears and Dangers o'er,
One boundless Wilderness in View appear'd!
No Champain Plains or rising Cities chear'd
His wearied Eye.—
Monsters unknown travers'd the hideous Waste,
And Men more Savage than the Beasts they chac'd.
But mark! how soon these gloomy Prospects clear,
And the new World's late horrors disappear.
The soil obedient to the industrious Swains,
With happy Harvests crowns their honest Pains,
And Peace and Plenty triumph o'er the Plains.
What various Products float on every Tide?
What numerous Navys in our Harbours ride?
Tillage and Trade conjoin their Friendly Aid,
T'enrich the thriving Boy and lovely Maid.
Hispania, it's true, her precious Mines engross'd;
And bore her shining Entrails to its Coast.
Britannia more humane supplys her wants,
The Brittish Sense and Brittish Beauty plants:
The Aged Sire beholds with sweet Surprize
In foreign Climes a numerous Offspring rize.
Sense, Virtue, worth and Honour stand confest,
In each brave Male, his prosp'rous hands have blest,
While the admiring Eye improv'd may trace
The Mother's Charms in each chast Virgins Face.
Hence we presume to usher in those Arts
Which oft have warm'd the best and bravest Hearts.
Faint our endeavours, rude are our Essays;
We strive to please, but can't pretend at praise;
Forgiving Smiles o'erpay the grateful Task;
They're all we hope and all we humbly ask.