Page:The Hind and the Panther - Dryden (1687).djvu/128

A goodness that excell'd his godlike race,
And onely short of heav'ns unbounded grace:
A floud of mercy that o'erflow'd our Isle,
Calm in the rise, and fruitfull as the Nile,
Forgetting whence your Ægypt was supply'd,
You thought your Sov'reign bound to send the tide:
Nor upward look'd on that immortal spring,
But vainly deem'd, he durst not be a king:
Then conscience, unrestrain'd by fear, began
To stretch her limits, and extend the span,
Did his indulgence as her gift dispose,
And made a wise Alliance with her foes.
$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$Can conscience own th' associating name,
And raise no blushes to conceal her shame?
For sure she has been thought a bashfull Dame.
$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$But if the cause by battel shou'd be try'd,
You grant she must espouse the regal side:
O Proteus Conscience, never to be ty'd!
What Phœbus from the Tripod shall disclose,
Which are in last resort, your friends or foes?

Homer,