Page:An Epistle to Curio - Akenside (1744).djvu/28

 O turn this dreadful Omen far away! On Freedom's Foes their own Attempts repay; Resume her sacred Fire fo near supprest, And fix her Shrine in every Roman Breast. Tho' bold Corruption boast around the Land, "Let Virtue, if she can, my Baits withstand!" Tho' bolder now she urge th' accursed Claim, Gay with her Trophies rais'd on Shame; Yet some there are who scorn her impious Mirth, Who know what Conscience and a Heart are worth. O Friend and Father of the Human Mind, Whose Art for noblest Ends our Frame design'd! If I, tho' fated to the studious Shade Which Party-strife nor anxious Pow'r invade, If I aspire in public Virtue's Cause, To guide the Muses by sublimer Laws, Do thou her own Authority impart, And give my Numbers Entrance to the Heart. Perhaps