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 |  |
First let the loom each lib'ral thought engage,
Its labours growing with the growing age;
Then true utility with taste allied,
Shall make our homespun garbs our nation's pride.
See wool, the boast of Britain's proudest hour,
Is still the basis of her wealth and pow'r!
From her the nations wait their wintry robe,
Round half this idle, poor, dependant globe.
Shall we, who foil'd her sons in fields of fame,
In peace add noblest triumphs to her name?
Shall we, who dar'd assert the rights of man,
Become the vassals of her wiser plan?
Then, rous'd from lethargies—up! men! increase,
In every vale, on every hill, the fleece!
And see the fold, with thousands teeming, fills
With flocks the bleating vales and echoing hills.
Ye harmless people! man your young will tend,
While ye for him your coats superfluous lend.
Him nature form'd with curious pride, while bare,
To fence with finery from the piercing air:
This fleece shall draw its azure from the sky,
This drink the purple, that the scarlet dye;
Another, where immingling hues are giv'n,
Shall mock the bow with colours dipt in heav'n:
Not guarded Colchis gave admiring Greece
So rich a treasure in its golden fleece.
Its labours growing with the growing age;
Then true utility with taste allied,
Shall make our homespun garbs our nation's pride.
See wool, the boast of Britain's proudest hour,
Is still the basis of her wealth and pow'r!
From her the nations wait their wintry robe,
Round half this idle, poor, dependant globe.
Shall we, who foil'd her sons in fields of fame,
In peace add noblest triumphs to her name?
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Become the vassals of her wiser plan?
Then, rous'd from lethargies—up! men! increase,
In every vale, on every hill, the fleece!
And see the fold, with thousands teeming, fills
With flocks the bleating vales and echoing hills.
Ye harmless people! man your young will tend,
While ye for him your coats superfluous lend.
Him nature form'd with curious pride, while bare,
To fence with finery from the piercing air:
This fleece shall draw its azure from the sky,
This drink the purple, that the scarlet dye;
Another, where immingling hues are giv'n,
Shall mock the bow with colours dipt in heav'n:
Not guarded Colchis gave admiring Greece
So rich a treasure in its golden fleece.
| The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys | |