breast
“Soon in the shelt’ring earth shall find its rest. 
“Hope not the victim of despair to save,
“I ask but death—­I only seek a grave—­ 160
“Witness thou mangled form that earth retains,
“Witness a murder’d lover’s cold remains. 
“I liv’d my father’s pangs to sooth, to share;
“I bore to live, tho’ life was all despair—­
“In vain my lover, urg’d by fond desire 165
“To shield from torture, and from death my sire,
“Flew to the fane where stern Valverda rag’d,
“And fearless, with unequal force engag’d;
“I saw him bleeding, dying press the ground,
“I drew the poison from each fatal wound; 170
“I bath’d those wounds with tears—­he pour’d a sigh—­
“A drop hung trembling in his closing eye—­
“Ah, still his mournful sign I shiv’ring hear,
“In every pulse I feel his parting tear—­
“I faint—­an icy coldness chills each vein, 175
“No more these feeble limbs their load sustain: 
“Spirit of pity! catch my fleeting breath,
“A moment stay—­and close my eyes in death—­
“Las Casas, thee, thy God in mercy gave
“To sooth my pangs—­to find the wretch a grave.”—­ 180
She ceas’d—­her spirit fled to purer spheres—­
Las Casas bathes the 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.