he pallid corse with tears--
Fly, minister of good! nor ling'ring shed
Those fruitless sorrows o'er the unconscious dead;
Ah fly--'tis innocence, 'tis virtue bleeds, 185
And heav'n will listen, when an angel pleads;
I view the sanguine flood, the wasting flame,
I hear a suff'ring world _Las Casas_ claim! 188

[A] LAS CASAS, &c. that amiable Ecclesiastic, who obtained by his
humanity the title of Protector of the Indies.

[B] --On his crest
Sat horror plum'd.
_Par. Lost_, iv. 988.

PERU.

CANTO THE FOURTH.

THE ARGUMENT.

Almagro's _expedition to Chili--his troops suffer great hardships from
cold, in crossing the Andes--they reach Chili--the Chilese make a brave
resistance--the revolt of the Peruvians in Cuzco--they are led on by_
Manco-Capac, _the successor of_ Ataliba--_his parting with_ Cora, _his
wife--the Peruvians regain half their city_--Almagro _leaves Chili--to
avoid the Andes, he crosses a vast desert--his troops can find no water
--the rest divide in two bands_--Alphonso _leads the second band, which
soon reaches a fertile valley--the Spaniards observe the natives are
employed in searching the streams for gold--they resolve to attack
them._

PERU.

CANTO THE FOURTH.

Now the stern partner of Pizarro's toils,
Almagro, lur'd by hope of golden spoils,
To distant Chili's ever-verdant meads,
Thro' paths untrod, a band of warriors leads;
O'er the high Andes' frozen steeps they go, 5
And wander mid' eternal hills of snow:
In vain the vivifying orb of day
Darts on th' impervious ice his fervent ray;
Cold, keen as chains the oceans of the Pole,
Numbs the shrunk frame, and chills the vig'rous soul-- 10
At length they reach luxuriant _Chili's_ plain,
Where ends the dreary bound of winter's reign;
Where spring sheds odours thro' th' unvaried year,
And bathes the flower of summer, with her tear.

When first the brave _Chilese_, with eager glance, 15
Behold the hostile sons of Spain advance;
Heard the loud thunder of the cannon crash,
And view'd the light'ning of the instant flash,
The threat'ning sabre red with purple streams,
The lance that quiver'd in the solar beams; 20
With pale surprise they saw the lowring storm,
Where hung dark danger, in an unknown form:
But soon their spirits, stung with gen'rous shame,
Renounce each terror, a