O happy _Greece_ for Eloquence, that hast celebrated the fortune of thy
_Heroes_ trifling Adventures! who shall set forth and immortalize the
glory of our illustrious Prince, and advance Great _CHARLES_ to the skies?
You had Poets indeed that sung the fate of an unfortunate Lady, the theft
of a simple fleece; what wouldst thou have done, had the glorious Actions
of such a King been spread before thee, who has not robbed with Armies,
depopulated Cities, or violated the Rights of Hospitality; but restor'd a
broken Nation, repair'd a ruin'd Church, reform'd, and re-establish'd our
ancient Laws; in summe, who has at once render'd us perfectly happy? What
then have we to do with _Augustus_, or _Titus_, with _Trajan_, _Hadrian_,
_Antoninus_, _Theodosius_ or even _Constantine_ himself? There is not in
any, there is not in all these Subjects more worthy of praise, and to
which your Majesty; O best of Princes, ought at all to render.

We are told _Periculosæ rem aleæ esse, de iis scribere quibus sis
obstrictus_; because it is so difficult to observe a mediocrity, where our
affections are engaged: But your Majesty is as secure from flattery, as
your Virtues are above its reach; and to write thus of ill Princes, were
both a shame and a punishment: For this the _Senate_ condemn'd the History
of _Cremutius_ to the flames; and _Spartianus_ told _Dioclesian_ boldly,
how hard it would be to write their Commentaries, except it were to record
their Impudence, Murthers, Injustice, and the (for most part) fatal
periods of Tyrants; which if any esteem a glory, you envy not, whilst your
Majesty is resolv'd to secure your own by your virtue and your Justice; so
as no age to come shall possibly find an æmulator, or produce an equall.

----_Fuerint aliis hæc forte decora,
Nulla potest Laus esse tibi quæ crimina purget._

But I shall never have done with your obligations of the publick; and the