"Mortal!"--'twas thus she spake--"that blush of shame Proclaims thee Briton, once a noble name; 90 First of the mighty, foremost of the free, [x] Now honoured 'less' by all, and 'least' by me: Chief of thy foes shall Pallas still be found. Seek'st thou the cause of loathing!--look around. Lo! here, despite of war and wasting fire, I saw successive Tyrannies expire; 'Scaped from the ravage of the Turk and Goth, [xi] Thy country sends a spoiler worse than both. Survey this vacant, violated fane; Recount the relics torn that yet remain: 100 'These' Cecrops placed, 'this' Pericles adorned, [7] 'That' Adrian reared when drooping Science mourned. What more I owe let Gratitude attest-- Know, Alaric and Elgin did the rest. That all may learn from whence the plunderer came, The insulted wall sustains his hated name: [8] For Elgin's fame thus grateful Pallas pleads, Below, his name--above, behold his deeds! Be ever hailed with equal honour here The Gothic monarch and the Pictish peer: [xii] 110 Arms gave the first his right, the last had none, But basely stole what less barbarians won. So when the Lion quits his fell repast, Next prowls the Wolf, the filthy Jackal last: [xiii] Flesh, limbs, and blood the former make their own, The last poor brute securely gnaws the bone. Yet still the Gods are just, and crimes are crossed: See here what Elgin won, and what he lost! Another name with _his_ pollutes my shrine: Behold where Dian's beams disdain to shine! 120 Some retribution still might Pallas claim, When Venus half avenged Minerva's shame." [9]