 | Columbia's glory |  |
Alas! how little meritorious here,
Nay despicably mean,
The Macedonian hero's deeds,
A Cæsar's and an Hannibal's appear,
Th' exploits of Marlborough and Eugene
And those of the bold Monarch of the Swedes!
All with diminish'd lustre shine,
And ev'n Fred'rick's when compar'd to thine.
What tho' those Chieftains, who so greatly sped
In ancient or in modern times,
More brilliant vict'ries gain'd?
By av'rice or ambition led,
T'enslave their country or distress mankind,
They oft from virtue's sacred ways declin'd,
Disgrac'd their conquests by their crimes,
And all their laurels stain'd:
Not such thy objects, motives such as these,
On thy pure bosom influence never gain'd;
But, fir'd by zeal the good man only knows,
Thou hast the int'rests of mankind maintain'd.
With an unblemish'd virtue, unarraign'd
Or by thy own or by thy country's foes.
Nay despicably mean,
The Macedonian hero's deeds,
A Cæsar's and an Hannibal's appear,
Th' exploits of Marlborough and Eugene
And those of the bold Monarch of the Swedes!
All with diminish'd lustre shine,
And ev'n Fred'rick's when compar'd to thine.
What tho' those Chieftains, who so greatly sped
In ancient or in modern times,
More brilliant vict'ries gain'd?
By av'rice or ambition led,
T'enslave their country or distress mankind,
They oft from virtue's sacred ways declin'd,
Disgrac'd their conquests by their crimes,
And all their laurels stain'd:
Not such thy objects, motives such as these,
On thy pure bosom influence never gain'd;
15
Thou hast the int'rests of mankind maintain'd.
With an unblemish'd virtue, unarraign'd
Or by thy own or by thy country's foes.
| Columbia's glory | |