The Age Reviewed A Satire: In two parts: Second edition, revised and corrected [by Robert Montgomery] |
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| II. |
 | The Age Reviewed |  |
Quenched now the olden spirits' dauntless fire
No fear extinguished, and no gain could hire;
Refining meanness gilds the manlier part,
And Gallic treach'ries find an English heart!
Now, slipp'ry tongues can prostitute their praise,
And whine, and wheedle, though the rancour blaze;
Now Interest fetters Passion's free-born right,
Smothers the malice and conceals the spite,
Beams in the eye, and whimpers in the tone,
Lies at the court, and flatters at the throne,
Life, feeling, conscience—every trait divine,
Is basely offer'd at her selfish shrine!
The heart devotes that mast'ry Nature gave,
And barters Freedom, to be Fortune's slave:
This lost, though shadowy liberty remains,
The soul is sunk in adamantine chains;
What chains more hideous could a despot find
Than those which shackle thought, and slave the mind?
No fear extinguished, and no gain could hire;
Refining meanness gilds the manlier part,
And Gallic treach'ries find an English heart!
Now, slipp'ry tongues can prostitute their praise,
And whine, and wheedle, though the rancour blaze;
Now Interest fetters Passion's free-born right,
Smothers the malice and conceals the spite,
Beams in the eye, and whimpers in the tone,
Lies at the court, and flatters at the throne,
Life, feeling, conscience—every trait divine,
Is basely offer'd at her selfish shrine!
The heart devotes that mast'ry Nature gave,
And barters Freedom, to be Fortune's slave:
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The soul is sunk in adamantine chains;
What chains more hideous could a despot find
Than those which shackle thought, and slave the mind?
When first the Uncreate created man,
And living beauty through the image ran,
While pressed his naked grace the breathing earth,
What god-like energies proclaimed his birth?
Glorious and grand, he walked sublimely free,
As God's own miniature was made to be;—
Survey the world! there crawl a reptile race,
Who pawn their conscience to secure a place;
And crouch idolatrous to pampered pride,
And lick the spawn of patronage beside.
And living beauty through the image ran,
While pressed his naked grace the breathing earth,
What god-like energies proclaimed his birth?
Glorious and grand, he walked sublimely free,
As God's own miniature was made to be;—
Survey the world! there crawl a reptile race,
Who pawn their conscience to secure a place;
And crouch idolatrous to pampered pride,
And lick the spawn of patronage beside.
To creep the minion of tyrannic whim,
Abhor the villain—and yet smile on him;
To grasp a faithless hand with Friendship's touch,
List to the perjur'd lips, nor dare them such;
Through Hate's cold cloud to dart the minion glance,
And damn sincerity to seize a chance—
Can all the yellow slaves of Condar's mine
Repay such sacrifice at Falsehood's shrine?
Abhor the villain—and yet smile on him;
To grasp a faithless hand with Friendship's touch,
List to the perjur'd lips, nor dare them such;
Through Hate's cold cloud to dart the minion glance,
And damn sincerity to seize a chance—
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Repay such sacrifice at Falsehood's shrine?
| The Age Reviewed | |