And the poor Britons, by their strength dismay'd,
Were forced at length to sue for foreign aid;
The timid Vortigern for succour sent
To Saxony, which soon its forces lent;
Hengist and Horsa soon from thence arrived,
And the weak king of all his pow'r deprived;
The Saxons, from allies, turned conquerors,
And parcell'd England into seven great shares.
Egbert by valour broke the Heptarchy,
And form'd it into one great monarchy.
Alfred, as monarch, soldier, statesman, great,
Both in an humble and exalted state.
Canute the Dane, by wearing well the crown,
Show'd himself worthy of the prize he won.
Harold usurp'd the throne, but in the strife,
At Hastings lost at once his crown and life.
William the first by conquest gain'd the crown,
But govern'd England with a tyrant's frown.
William the second, arrogant and vain,
Was unlamented in New Forest slain ;
Henry the first by cunning rose to sway,
But took an elder brother's right away;
After his death, the crown so basely gain'd,
Stephen usurp'd, and long by force maintain'd,
Till second Henry, generous and brave,
Did from domestic wars his country save;
Distinguish'd as his lion-hearted son,
Richard the first then mounted England's throne;
He was succeeded by the timid John,
Who meanly yielded to the Pope his crown;
Henry the third's long reign of fifty years
Was fill'd with frequent broils and civil wars.
When the first Edward from the east return'd,
On foreign foes his country's valour turn'd.
By a false Queen and favourites undone,
Edward the second lost his life and crown.
Poictiers and Cressy ever shall proclaim
Edward the third's and the Black Prince's fame.
Richard the second, to his rival's stain,
Was cruelly in Pomfret Castle slain ;
Henry the fourth by this means got the crown,
But ne'er enjoy'd what he so basely won.
Henry the fifth at Agincourt effac'd
The mem'ry of his youth, by vice disgrac❜d.
Henry the sixth, lord of two kingdoms born,
Beheld them both by civil factions torn,
Till his Queen's resources being spent,
Edward the fourth assum'd the government.
Edward the fifth, in sad and evil hour,
Was slain by Glocester's order in the tower.
Deform'd in mind and frame, Richard the third
Receiv'd at Bosworth field his just reward.
Henry the seventh then gain'd the important trust,
A sordid Prince, but to his people just.
Henry the eighth, that mean and worthless thing,
A tyrant husband and despotic King.
Edward the sixth lived only just to show,
What monarchs have it in their pow'r to do.
Smithfield exhibited in Mary's reign,
The bloody spectacle of martyrs slain.
Elizabeth, the glory of her age,
Weak as a woman, as a Queen most sage.
Then James the first, in useless learning great,
More fit a school to govern than the state.
Despotic notions Charles the first betray'd,
To measures fatal to his crown and head.
A cunning leader, but a statesman great,
Cromwell first sav'd, then rais'd the sinking state.
In Charles the second's wild and giddy reign,
London was burnt and stately built again.
The second James, by popery undone,
Was forc'd at length to abdicate the throne.
Ann, by great Marlborough, taught the French to
In Ramilies and Blenheim's bloody field.
William the third and Mary next obtain'd
The crown, which merit more than right had gain'd.
George the first's wisdom and his gentle sway
Confirm'd the sceptre in his family.
Then George the second, like a summer's sun,
Ended in glory what in clouds begun.
Good George the third reign'd nearly sixty years,
And o'er his grave were shed a nation's tears.
May George the fourth, our present King, remain,
And bless his subjects with a happy reign.
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