Classic Poem

I.

Is there, or do the Schoolmen dream?
Is there on Earth a Pow'r supreme,
The Delegate of Heav'n?
To whom an uncontroul'd Command,
In every Realm o'er Sea and Land,
By special Grace is given?

II.

Then say, what Signs this God proclaim?
Dwells he amidit the Diamond's Flame,
A Throne his hallowed Shrine?
The borrow'd Pomp, the arm'd Array,
Want, Fear, and Impotence, betray:
Strange Proofs of Pow'r divine!

III.

If Service due from Human Kind,
To Men in slothful Ease reclin'd,
Can form a Sovereign's Claim:
Hail Monarchs! ye, whom Heav'n ordains,
Our Toils unshar'd, to share our Gains,
Ye Ideots, blind and lame!

IV.

Superior Virtue, Wisdom, Might,
Create and mark the Ruler's Right;
So Reason must conclude:
Then thine it is, to whom belong
The Wise, the Virtuous, and the Strong,
Thrice sacred Multitude!

V.

In Thee, great All ! are these contain'd,
For Thee are these, thy Parts, ordain'd,
So Nature's Systems roll:
The Scepter's Thine, if such there be;
If none there is, then Thou art free,
And Master of the Whole.

VI.

Let the proud Tyrant rest his Cause
On Faith, Prescription, Force, or Laws,
An Host's or Senate's Voice!
His Voice affirms thy stronger Due,
Who for the Many made the Few,
And gave the Species Choice .

VII.

Unsanctify'd by thy Command,
Unown'd by Thee, the Scepter'd Hand
Impells, but cannot bind.
Oaths but confirm where Nature ties,
The forc'd or erring Tongue belies
The unaftenting Mind.

VIII.

Thy Will's thy Rule, thy Good its End;
You punish only to defend
What Parent Nature gave:
And he who dares her Gifts invade,
By Nature's oldest Law is made
Thy Victim or thy Slave.

IX.

Thus Reason founds the just Decree
On universal Liberty,
Not private Rights resign'd:
Thro' various Nature's wide Extent,
No private Beings e'er were meant
To hurt the gen'ral Kind.

X.

Thee Justice guides, Thee Right maintains;
Th' Oppressor's Wrongs, the Pilf'rer's Gains,
Thy injur'd Weal impair.
Thy warmest Passions soon subside,
Nor partial Envy, Hate, nor Pride,
Thy temper'd Counsels share.

XI.

Each Instance of thy vengeful Rage,
Collected from each Clime and Age,
Tho' Malice swell the Sum,
Would seem aspotless scanty Roll,
Compar'd with Marius ' bloody Scroll,
Or Sylla 's Hyppodrome.

XII.

But thine has been imputed Blame,
Th' unworthy Few assume thy Name,
The Rabble weak and loud;
Or those who on thy Ruins feast,
The Lord, the Lawyer, and the Priest;
A more ignoble Crowd.

XIII.

Avails it Thee, if one devours,
Or lesser Spoilers share his Pow'rs,
While both Thy Claim oppose?
Monsters who wore thy fully'd Crown,
Tyrants who pull'd those Monsters down,
Alike to Thee were Foes.

XIV.

Far other shone fair Freedom's Band,
Far other was th' immortal Stand,
When Hambden fought for Thee:
Thou snatch'd from Rapine's Gripe thy Spoils,
The Fruits and Prize of glorious Toils,
Of Arts and Industry.

XV.

'Gainst Thee yet foams the Preacher's Rage,
'Gainst Thee is plann'd th' Historian's Page,
A false apostate Train:
Tears stream adown the Martyr's Tomb;
Unpity'd in their harder Doom,
Thy Thousands strow the Plain.

XVI.

These had no Charms to please the Sense,
No graceful Port, no Eloquence,
To win the Muse's Throng:
Unknown, unsung, unmark'd they lie;
But Caesar 's Fate oe'ercasts the Sky,
And Nature mourns his Wrong.

XVII.

Thy Foes, a frontless Band, invade;
Thy Friends afford a timid Aid,
And yield up half thy Right.
Ev'n Locke beams forth a mingl'd Ray,
Afraid to pour the Floods of Day
On Man's too feeble Sight.

XVIII.

Hence are the motley Systems fram'd,
Of Right transferr'd, of Pow'r reclaim'd;
Distinctions weak and vain.
Wise Nature mocks the wrangling Herd;
For unreclaim'd, and untransfer'd,
Her Pow'rs and Rights remain.

XIX.

While Law the royal Agent moves,
The Instrument thy Choice approves,
We bow thro' him to you.
But change, or cease th' inspiring Choice,
The Sov'reign sinks a private Voice,
Alike in One, or Few!

XX.

Shall then the Man whose dastard Heart
Shrinks at a Tyrant's bolder Part,
And only dares betray;
With reptile Wiles, alas! prevail,
Where Force, and Rage, and Priest-craft fail,
To pilfer Pow'r away?

XXI.

O! shall the bought, and buying Tribe,
The Slaves who take, and deal the Bribe,
A People's Claims enjoy?
So Indian Murd'rers hope to gain
The Pow'rs and Virtues of the Slain,
Of Wretches they destroy.

XXII.

" Avert it, Heav'n! you love the Brave,
" You hate the treach'rous willing Slave,
" The self-devoted Head.
" Nor shall an Hireling's Voice convey
" That sacred Prize to lawless Sway,
" For which a Nation bled.

XXIII.

Vain Pray'r! the Coward's weak Resource,
Directing Reason, active Force,
Propitious Heav'n bestows;
But ne'er shall flame the thund'ring Sky,
To aid the trembling Herd that fly
Before their weaker Foes.

XXIV.

In Names there are no magic Charms,
The British Virtues, British Arms
Unloos'd our Father's Band:
Say, Greece and Rome! if these shou'd fail,
What Names, what Ancestors avail,
To save a sinking Land?

XXV.

Far, far from us such Ills shall be,
Mankind shall boast one Nation free,
One Monarch truly great;
Whose Title is a People's Choice,
Whose Mandare is a People's Voice,
Whose Strength a prosp'rous State.