The thought seems altogether new, and the imitative harmony in the structure of the verse is admirable.
After bewailing the ruin of ancient liberty, the poet considers the influence it has retained, or still retains, among the moderns; and here the free republics of Italy naturally engage his attention.––Florence, indeed, only to be lamented on account of losing its liberty under those patrons of letters, the Medicean family; the jealous Pisa, justly so called, in respect to its long impatience and regret under the same yoke; and the small Marino, which, however unrespectable with regard to power or extent of territory, has, at least, this distinction to boast, that it has preserved its liberty longer than any other state, ancient or modern, having, without any revolution, retained its present mode of government near fourteen hundred years. Moreover the patron saint who founded it, and from whom it takes its name, deserves this poetical record, as he is, perhaps, the only saint that ever contributed to the establishment of freedom.
| “Nor e’er her former pride relate To sad Liguria’s bleeding state.” |
In these lines the poet alludes to those ravages in the state of Genoa, occasioned by the unhappy divisions of the Guelphs and Gibelines.
| “–––When the favour’d of thy choice, The daring archer heard thy voice.” |
For an account of the celebrated event referred to in these verses, see Voltaire’s Epistle to the King of Prussia.
| “Those whom the rod of Alva bruised, Whose crown a British queen refused!” |
The Flemings were so dreadfully oppressed by this sanguinary general of Philip the Second, that they offered their sovereignty to Elizabeth; but, happily for her subjects, she had policy and magnanimity enough to refuse it. Desormeaux, in his Abrégé Chronologique de l’Histoire d’Espagne, thus describes the sufferings of the Flemings: “Le duc d’Albe achevoit de réduire les Flamands au désespoir. Après avoir inondé les échafauds du sang le plus noble et le plus précieux, il faisoit construire des citadelles en divers endroits, et vouloit établir l’Alcavala, ce tribute onéreux qui avoit été longtems en usage parmi les Espagnols.”––Abrég. Chron. tom. iv.