LXXIV.

Heaven, and his friends, knew that a private life Had ever been his sole and whole ambition; But could he quit his King in times of strife, Which threatened the whole country with perdition? When demagogues would with a butcher's knife Cut through and through (oh! damnable incision!) The Gordian or the G_e_ordi-an knot, whose strings Have tied together Commons, Lords, and Kings.