s soon penetrated to the royal seat;
and PIZARRO seizing the Inca by the arm, dragged him to the ground,
and carried him a prisoner to his quarters.--_Robertson's History
of America_.

PERU.

CANTO THE THIRD.

THE ARGUMENT.

Pizarro _takes possession of Cuzco--the fanaticism of_ Valverde, _a
Spanish priest--its dreadful effects--A Peruvian priest put to the
torture--his daughter's distress--he is rescued by_ Las Casas, _an
amiable Spanish ecclesiastic, and led to a place of safety, where he
dies--his daughter's narration of her sufferings--her death._

PERU.

CANTO THE THIRD.

Now stern Pizarro seeks the distant plains,
Where beauteous Cusco lifts her golden fanes:
The meek Peruvians gaz'd in pale dismay,
Nor barr'd the dark oppressor's sanguine way:
And soon on Cusco, where the dawning light 5
Of glory shone, foretelling day more bright,
Where the young arts had shed unfolding flowers,
A scene of spreading desolation lowers;
While buried deep in everlasting shade,
Those lustres sicken, and those blossoms fade. 10
And yet, devoted land, not gold alone,
Or wild ambition wak'd thy parting groan;
For, lo! a fiercer fiend, with joy elate,
Feasts on thy suff'rings, and impels thy fate.
Fanatic fury rears her sullen shrine, 15
Where vultures prey, where venom'd adders twine;
Her savage arm with purple torrents stains
Thy rocking temples, and thy falling fanes;
Her blazing torches flash the mounting fire,
She grasps the sabre, and she lights the pyre; 20
Her voice is thunder, rending the still air,
Her glance the livid light'ning's fatal glare;
Her lips unhallow'd breathe their impious strain,
And pure religion's sacred voice profane;
Whose precepts, pity's mildest deeds approve, 25
Whose law is mercy, and whose soul is love.
Fanatic fury wakes the rising storm--
She wears the stern Valverda's hideous form;
His bosom never felt another's woes,
No shriek of anguish breaks its dark repose. 30
The temple nods--an aged form appears--
He beats his breast--he rends his silver hairs--
Valverda drags him from the blest abode
Where his meek spirit humbly sought its God:
See, to his aid his child, soft Zilia, springs, 35
And steeps in tears the robe to which she clings,
Till bursting from Peruvia's frighted throng,
Two warli