Classic Poem

The Temper of the Breed

The breed's described: Now, Satire, if you can,
Their temper show, for manners make the man.
Fierce as the Briton, as the Roman brave,
And less inclined to conquer than to save:
Eager to fight, and lavish of their blood,
And equally of fear and forecast void.
The Pict has made 'em sour, the Dane morose,
False from the Scot, and from the Norman worse.
What honesty they have, the Saxon gave them,
And that, now they grow old, begins to leave them.
The climate makes them terrible and bold;
And English beef their courage does uphold:
No danger can their daring spirit pall,
Always provided that their belly's full.
In close intrigues their faculty's but weak,
For gen'rally whate'er they know, they speak,
And often their own counsels undermine
By their infirmity, and not design.
From whence the learned say it does proceed
That English treason never can succeed:
For they're so open-hearted you may know
Their own most secret thoughts, and others too.
The lab'ring poor, in spite of double pay,
Are saucy, mutinous, and beggarly:
So lavish of their money and their time,
That want of forecast is the nation's crime.
Good drunken company is their delight;
And what they get by day, they spend by night.
Dull thinking seldom does their heads engage,
But drink their youth away, and hurry on old age.
Empty of all good husbandry and sense;
And void of manners most, when void of pence.
Their strong aversion to behaviour's such,
They always talk too little, or too much.
So dull, they never take the pains to think;
And seldom are good-natured, but in drink.
In English ale their dear enjoyment lies,
For which they'll starve themselves and families.
An Englishman will fairly drink as much
As will maintain two families of Dutch:
Subjecting all their labours to the pots,
The greatest artists are the greatest sots.
The country poor do by example live;
The gentry lead them, and the clergy drive.
What may we not from such examples hope?
The landlord is their God, the priest their Pope.
A drunken clergy, and a swearing bench,
Has giv'n the reformation such a drench
As wise men think there is some cause to doubt,
Will purge good manners and religion out.