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As like a Cyrus, from his throne
Th' illustrious Louis spoke,
And issuing his august decree,
To all the nations made his pleasure known,
In the most lib'ral strains,
That from an heavier than Egyptian yoke,
And worse than Babylonian chains,
Columbia should be free;
So like Zerubbabel, in ancient days,
Of Israel's captive tribes the illustrious head,
Too long oppress'd, thro' many a dubious maze
Thou hast her sons to peace and freedom led,
And on its basis firmly fix'd the frame
Of a vast empire, lasting as thy fame:
Or rather, the great Joshua of the age,
Thou hast, by thy victorious sword,
With prudent valour brav'd
A cruel tyrant's rage;
Columbia's British inmates quell'd,
With all her children that rebell'd,
And, to her native rights restor'd,
Added a privilege she never crav'd,
And giv'n her cause to sing
A right exclusive to a spacious land,
By the oppressive hand
Of a new Pharaoh an hard hearted king,
Long doom'd to be enslav'd.