 | The works, in verse and prose, of the late Robert Treat Paine, Jun. Esq |  |
70
THE NATURE AND PROGRESS OF LIBERTY.
[_]
The following Poem was delivered on Commencement day, at Cambridge, when Mr. Paine proceeded Bachelor of Arts, July 1792.
Hail, sacred Freedom! heaven-born goddess, hail!
Friend of the pen, the sickle and the sail!
From thee the power of liberal thought we trace,
The great enlargement of the human race.
Thou hast recalled, to man's astonished sight,
Those joys, that spring from choice of doing right;
That sacred blessing, man's peculiar pride,
To follow Reason, where she ought to guide;
Nor urged by power the devious path to run,
Which Reason warps our erring feet to shun.
What Reason prompts, 'tis Freedom to fulfil;
This guides the conduct, that directs the will;
That with the “rights of man” from Heaven descends,
And this with Heaven's own shield those rights defends;
Bound by no laws, but Truth's extensive plan,
Which rules all rationals and social man;
Essential laws, which guide in wide career
The rapid motions of the boundless sphere.
There Order bids the circling planets run
Through heaven's vast suburbs round the blazing sun;
Directs an atom, as it rules the pole,
Reigns through all worlds, and shines the system's soul;
This moves the vast machine, unknown to jar,
And links an insect with the farthest star.
Thus Freedom here the civil system binds,
Cements our friendships, and illumes our minds.
She bids the varying parts of life cohere,
The sun and centre of the social sphere.
Freedom in joys of equal life delights,
Forbids encroachment on another's rights,
Contemns the tyrant's proud imperial sway,
Nor leaves the subject for the sceptre's prey.
She curbs ambition, bold incursion checks,
Nor more the palace, than the vale protects.
From her the noblest joys of mortals spring;
She makes the cot a throne, the peasant king.
Her presence smooths the rugged paths of woe,
And bids the rock with streams of pleasure flow.
No raven's notes her sacred groves annoy;
There Sickness smiles, and Want exults with joy.
There never drooped the willow of Despair,
Nor pressed the footstep of corroding Care.
Friend of the pen, the sickle and the sail!
From thee the power of liberal thought we trace,
The great enlargement of the human race.
Thou hast recalled, to man's astonished sight,
Those joys, that spring from choice of doing right;
That sacred blessing, man's peculiar pride,
To follow Reason, where she ought to guide;
Nor urged by power the devious path to run,
Which Reason warps our erring feet to shun.
What Reason prompts, 'tis Freedom to fulfil;
This guides the conduct, that directs the will;
That with the “rights of man” from Heaven descends,
And this with Heaven's own shield those rights defends;
Bound by no laws, but Truth's extensive plan,
Which rules all rationals and social man;
Essential laws, which guide in wide career
The rapid motions of the boundless sphere.
There Order bids the circling planets run
Through heaven's vast suburbs round the blazing sun;
Directs an atom, as it rules the pole,
Reigns through all worlds, and shines the system's soul;
This moves the vast machine, unknown to jar,
And links an insect with the farthest star.
71
Cements our friendships, and illumes our minds.
She bids the varying parts of life cohere,
The sun and centre of the social sphere.
Freedom in joys of equal life delights,
Forbids encroachment on another's rights,
Contemns the tyrant's proud imperial sway,
Nor leaves the subject for the sceptre's prey.
She curbs ambition, bold incursion checks,
Nor more the palace, than the vale protects.
From her the noblest joys of mortals spring;
She makes the cot a throne, the peasant king.
Her presence smooths the rugged paths of woe,
And bids the rock with streams of pleasure flow.
No raven's notes her sacred groves annoy;
There Sickness smiles, and Want exults with joy.
There never drooped the willow of Despair,
Nor pressed the footstep of corroding Care.
Hard is the task, which civil rulers bear,
To give each subject freedom's equal share;
But still more arduous to the statesmen's ken,
To check the passions of licentious men.
The licensed robber, and the knave in power,
Whose grasping avarice strips the peasant's bower,
Would glean an Andes' topmost rock for wealth,
And feed, like leeches, on their country's health.
The man, who barters influence for applause,
Libels the smile, and spurns the frown of laws.
Licentious morals breed disease of state,
And snatch the scabbard from the sword of fate.
These were the bane, which ancient ages knew;
On freedom's stalk the engrafted scion grew.
To give each subject freedom's equal share;
But still more arduous to the statesmen's ken,
To check the passions of licentious men.
The licensed robber, and the knave in power,
Whose grasping avarice strips the peasant's bower,
Would glean an Andes' topmost rock for wealth,
And feed, like leeches, on their country's health.
The man, who barters influence for applause,
Libels the smile, and spurns the frown of laws.
Licentious morals breed disease of state,
And snatch the scabbard from the sword of fate.
72
On freedom's stalk the engrafted scion grew.
Long had the clouds of ignorance gloomed mankind,
And Error held the sceptre of the mind;
Long had the tyrant kept the world in awe,
Swords turned the scale, and nods enacted law;
But where mild Freedom crowns the happy shore,
Law guides the king, and kings the law no more.
No threatening sword the forum's tongue restrains;
No monarch courts the mask, when Reason reigns.
Here glows the press with Freedom's sacred zeal,
The great Briareus of the publick weal.
And Error held the sceptre of the mind;
Long had the tyrant kept the world in awe,
Swords turned the scale, and nods enacted law;
But where mild Freedom crowns the happy shore,
Law guides the king, and kings the law no more.
No threatening sword the forum's tongue restrains;
No monarch courts the mask, when Reason reigns.
Here glows the press with Freedom's sacred zeal,
The great Briareus of the publick weal.
Dire wars, those civil earthquakes, long had raged,
Seas burst on seas, and world with world engaged;
Freedom allured the struggling hero's eye,
Of arms the laurel—of the world the sigh.
Seas burst on seas, and world with world engaged;
Freedom allured the struggling hero's eye,
Of arms the laurel—of the world the sigh.
But, ah! in vain the clarion sounds afar,
Vain the dread pomp, and vain the storm of war;
In vain dread Havock saw her millions die;
Vain the soft pearl, that melts the virgin's eye;
Vain the last groan of grey expiring age,
To move the marble of despotick rage!
In that dark realm, where science never shone,
On earth's own basis stands the tyrant's throne.
One murder marks the assassin's odious name,
But millions damn the hero into fame;
And one proud monarch from the throne was hurled,
That rival sceptres might dispute the world.
Freedom beheld new foes the old replace,
And ne'er extinct the despot's hydra race;
Still some usurper for the crown survived;
She stabbed a Cæsar, but Augustus lived.
So meanly abject was the vassaled earth,
Rome blazed a bonfire for a Nero's mirth;
While, like the insect round the taper's blaze,
The crowd beheld it with a thoughtless gaze.
No daring patriot stretched his arm to save
His country's freedom from oblivion's grave;
The slave, who once opposed the crown in vain,
Found a new rivet in his former chain.
Vain the dread pomp, and vain the storm of war;
In vain dread Havock saw her millions die;
Vain the soft pearl, that melts the virgin's eye;
Vain the last groan of grey expiring age,
To move the marble of despotick rage!
In that dark realm, where science never shone,
On earth's own basis stands the tyrant's throne.
One murder marks the assassin's odious name,
But millions damn the hero into fame;
And one proud monarch from the throne was hurled,
That rival sceptres might dispute the world.
73
And ne'er extinct the despot's hydra race;
Still some usurper for the crown survived;
She stabbed a Cæsar, but Augustus lived.
So meanly abject was the vassaled earth,
Rome blazed a bonfire for a Nero's mirth;
While, like the insect round the taper's blaze,
The crowd beheld it with a thoughtless gaze.
No daring patriot stretched his arm to save
His country's freedom from oblivion's grave;
The slave, who once opposed the crown in vain,
Found a new rivet in his former chain.
Thus raged the horrors of despotick sway,
Till Albion welcomed freedom's dawning ray;
Which, like the herald of returning light,
Beamed through the clouds of intellectual night.
But here environed was the human path,
Cramped the free mind, and chained the choice of faith.
Religious despots formed the impious plan,
To lord it o'er the consciences of man.
Till Albion welcomed freedom's dawning ray;
Which, like the herald of returning light,
Beamed through the clouds of intellectual night.
But here environed was the human path,
Cramped the free mind, and chained the choice of faith.
Religious despots formed the impious plan,
To lord it o'er the consciences of man.
This galling yoke our sires could bear no more;
They fled, for freedom, to Columbia's shore.
Truth for their object, Virtue for their guide,
They braved the dangers of an unknown tide.
The patriarch's God of old preserved the ark,
And freedom's guardian watched the patriot's bark.
The shrine of freedom and of truth to rear,
They left those scenes, which social life endear;
To Britain's courts preferred the savage den,
The free-born Indian to dependent men.
For this, the parting tear of Friendship fell;
For this, they bade their parent soil farewell!
They fled, for freedom, to Columbia's shore.
Truth for their object, Virtue for their guide,
They braved the dangers of an unknown tide.
The patriarch's God of old preserved the ark,
And freedom's guardian watched the patriot's bark.
The shrine of freedom and of truth to rear,
They left those scenes, which social life endear;
To Britain's courts preferred the savage den,
The free-born Indian to dependent men.
74
For this, they bade their parent soil farewell!
In these dark wilds they fixed the deep laid stone,
On which fair Freedom since has reared her throne.
But still a cloud their civil views confined,
And gloomed the prospect of the pious mind;
While Britain claimed with laws our rights to lead,
And faith was fettered by a bigot's creed.
On which fair Freedom since has reared her throne.
But still a cloud their civil views confined,
And gloomed the prospect of the pious mind;
While Britain claimed with laws our rights to lead,
And faith was fettered by a bigot's creed.
Then mental freedom first her power displayed,
And called a Mayhew to religion's aid.
For this dear truth, he boldly led the van,
That private judgment was the right of man.
Mayhew disdained that soul-contracting view
Of sacred truth, which zealous Frenzy drew;
He sought religion's fountain head to drink,
And preached what others only dared to think;
He loosed the mind from Superstition's awe,
And broke the sanction of Opinion's law.
Truth gave his mind the electrick's subtle spring,
A Chatham's lightning, and a Milton's wing.
Mayhew hath cleansed the bigot's filmy eye;
Mayhew explored religion's native sky,
Where ever radiant in immortal youth,
Shines the clear sun of inexhausted truth;
Where time's vast ocean, like a drop would seem,
The world a pebble, and yon sun a beam.
He struck that spark, whose genial warmth we feel
In heavenly charity's fraternal zeal.
And called a Mayhew to religion's aid.
For this dear truth, he boldly led the van,
That private judgment was the right of man.
Mayhew disdained that soul-contracting view
Of sacred truth, which zealous Frenzy drew;
He sought religion's fountain head to drink,
And preached what others only dared to think;
He loosed the mind from Superstition's awe,
And broke the sanction of Opinion's law.
Truth gave his mind the electrick's subtle spring,
A Chatham's lightning, and a Milton's wing.
Mayhew hath cleansed the bigot's filmy eye;
Mayhew explored religion's native sky,
Where ever radiant in immortal youth,
Shines the clear sun of inexhausted truth;
Where time's vast ocean, like a drop would seem,
The world a pebble, and yon sun a beam.
He struck that spark, whose genial warmth we feel
In heavenly charity's fraternal zeal.
75
Soon blazed the flame, with kindling ardour ran,
And gave new vigour to the breast of man.
Swift as loud torrents from a mountain's brow
Plunge down the sky, and whelm the world below;
Our patriots bade the vast idea roll,
And round Columbia waft a common soul.
Freedom resumed her throne; her offspring rose,
Braved the dread fury of despotick foes,
Explored the source whence all our glory ran,
Columbia's freedom and the “rights of man;”
Europa's wish, the tyrant's dread and rage,
The noblest epoch on the historick page!
And gave new vigour to the breast of man.
Swift as loud torrents from a mountain's brow
Plunge down the sky, and whelm the world below;
Our patriots bade the vast idea roll,
And round Columbia waft a common soul.
Freedom resumed her throne; her offspring rose,
Braved the dread fury of despotick foes,
Explored the source whence all our glory ran,
Columbia's freedom and the “rights of man;”
Europa's wish, the tyrant's dread and rage,
The noblest epoch on the historick page!
Hail, virtuous ancestors! seraphick minds!
Heroes in faith, and Freedom's noblest friends!
With filial fervour grateful memory calls,
To bless the founders of those sacred walls!
You gave to age a staff—a guide to youth,
Yon fount of science, and that lamp of truth.
Where Knowledge beams her soul-enlivening ray,
There Freedom spreads her heaven-descended sway.
Learning's an antidote of lawless power;
Enlighten man, and tyrants reign no more!
Heroes in faith, and Freedom's noblest friends!
With filial fervour grateful memory calls,
To bless the founders of those sacred walls!
You gave to age a staff—a guide to youth,
Yon fount of science, and that lamp of truth.
Where Knowledge beams her soul-enlivening ray,
There Freedom spreads her heaven-descended sway.
Learning's an antidote of lawless power;
Enlighten man, and tyrants reign no more!
Hail, sacred Liberty! tremendous sound!
Which strikes the despot's heart with awe profound;
Bursts with more horrour on the tyrant's ears,
Than all the thunders of the embattled spheres;
More dreadful than the fiend, whose noxious breath
Consigns whole nations to the realms of death;
Than all those tortures, which Belshazzar felt
Convulse his tottering knees, his bosom melt,
When on the wall the sacred finger drew
Jehovah's vengeance to the monarch's view;
His visage Terrour's palest veil o'ercast,
And Guilt with wildest horrour stood aghast!
Such direful tremours shake the tyrant's soul,
When Liberty unfolds her radiant scroll.
Which strikes the despot's heart with awe profound;
Bursts with more horrour on the tyrant's ears,
Than all the thunders of the embattled spheres;
More dreadful than the fiend, whose noxious breath
Consigns whole nations to the realms of death;
Than all those tortures, which Belshazzar felt
Convulse his tottering knees, his bosom melt,
76
Jehovah's vengeance to the monarch's view;
His visage Terrour's palest veil o'ercast,
And Guilt with wildest horrour stood aghast!
Such direful tremours shake the tyrant's soul,
When Liberty unfolds her radiant scroll.
Hail, sacred Liberty, divinely fair!
Columbia's great palladium, Gallia's prayer!
From heaven descend to free this fettered globe;
Unclasp the helmet, and adorn the robe.
May struggling France her ancient freedom gain;
May Europe's sword oppose her rights in vain.
The dauntless Franks once spurned the tyrant's power;
May Frenchmen live, and Gallia be no more!
Columbia's great palladium, Gallia's prayer!
From heaven descend to free this fettered globe;
Unclasp the helmet, and adorn the robe.
May struggling France her ancient freedom gain;
May Europe's sword oppose her rights in vain.
The dauntless Franks once spurned the tyrant's power;
May Frenchmen live, and Gallia be no more!
May Africk's sons no more be heard to groan,
Lament their exile nor their fate bemoan!
Torn from the pleasures of their native clime,
Each sigh rebellion—and each tear a crime,
Their only solace, but to brood on woes,
Or, on the down of rocks their limbs repose!
Weak with despair, slow tottering with toil,
Bleeding with wounds, and gasping on the soil,
No friend, no pity, cheers the hapless slave,
No sleep but death, no pillow but the grave.
Blush, despots, blush! who, fired by sordid ore,
Like pirates, plunder Africk's swarming shore;
To western worlds the shackled slave trepan,
And basely traffick in “the souls of man!”
Vile monsters, hear! Time spreads his rapid wings,
And now the fated hour in prospect brings,
When your proud turrets shall to earth be thrown,
And Freedom triumph in the torrid zone!
May tyranny from every throne be hurled,
And make no more a scaffold of the world!
Lament their exile nor their fate bemoan!
Torn from the pleasures of their native clime,
Each sigh rebellion—and each tear a crime,
Their only solace, but to brood on woes,
Or, on the down of rocks their limbs repose!
Weak with despair, slow tottering with toil,
Bleeding with wounds, and gasping on the soil,
No friend, no pity, cheers the hapless slave,
No sleep but death, no pillow but the grave.
Blush, despots, blush! who, fired by sordid ore,
Like pirates, plunder Africk's swarming shore;
To western worlds the shackled slave trepan,
And basely traffick in “the souls of man!”
Vile monsters, hear! Time spreads his rapid wings,
And now the fated hour in prospect brings,
77
And Freedom triumph in the torrid zone!
May tyranny from every throne be hurled,
And make no more a scaffold of the world!
Where'er the sunbeam gilds the rolling hour,
Wings the fleet gale, and blossoms in the flower;
May Freedom's glorious reign o'er realms prevail,
Where Cook's bright fancy never spread the sail.
Long may the laurel to the ermine yield,
The stately palace to the fertile field;
The fame of Burke in dark oblivion rust,
His pen a meteor—and his page the dust;
Faction no more the enlightened world alarm,
Nor snatch the infant from the parent's arm;
May Peace, descending like the mystick dove,
Which once announced the great Immanual's love,
On Freedom's brow her olive garland bind,
And shed her blessings round on all mankind!
Wings the fleet gale, and blossoms in the flower;
May Freedom's glorious reign o'er realms prevail,
Where Cook's bright fancy never spread the sail.
Long may the laurel to the ermine yield,
The stately palace to the fertile field;
The fame of Burke in dark oblivion rust,
His pen a meteor—and his page the dust;
Faction no more the enlightened world alarm,
Nor snatch the infant from the parent's arm;
May Peace, descending like the mystick dove,
Which once announced the great Immanual's love,
On Freedom's brow her olive garland bind,
And shed her blessings round on all mankind!
| The works, in verse and prose, of the late Robert Treat Paine, Jun. Esq | |