The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys Late Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America to the Court of Madrid |
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 | The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys |  |
Not thus enervate nations tempt the seas,
By luxury lull'd in soft voluptuous ease;
Thence sloth begets servility of soul,
Degrades each part, contaminates the whole;
And taints in torpid veins the thickening blood,
Like the green mantle on a mire of mud.
Where convents deal the poor their daily broth,
See charity herself encourage sloth!
Though helpless some, more lazy join the troop,
And healthful beggars swell the shameless groupe.
Will heav'n benignant on those nations smile,
Where sloth and vice are less disgrace than toil?
With opiates drunk, in indolence reclin'd,
Unbrac'd their sinews, and debauch'd their mind,
Can crowds, turn'd cowards, self-esteem retain,
Or long unspoil'd of freedom's gifts remain?
'Tis by the lofty purpose, desperate deed,
Of men who dare for liberty to bleed,
By long endurance, fields with crimson stain'd,
That independence won, must be maintain'd.
By luxury lull'd in soft voluptuous ease;
Thence sloth begets servility of soul,
Degrades each part, contaminates the whole;
And taints in torpid veins the thickening blood,
Like the green mantle on a mire of mud.
Where convents deal the poor their daily broth,
See charity herself encourage sloth!
Though helpless some, more lazy join the troop,
And healthful beggars swell the shameless groupe.
Will heav'n benignant on those nations smile,
Where sloth and vice are less disgrace than toil?
With opiates drunk, in indolence reclin'd,
Unbrac'd their sinews, and debauch'd their mind,
Can crowds, turn'd cowards, self-esteem retain,
Or long unspoil'd of freedom's gifts remain?
'Tis by the lofty purpose, desperate deed,
Of men who dare for liberty to bleed,
By long endurance, fields with crimson stain'd,
That independence won, must be maintain'd.
| The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys | |