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 |  |
Ere ye begin to tread life's wider stage,
In manhood's prime, dear, interesting age!
Attend a time-taught bard, to toils inur'd,
With those bold chiefs whose blood your rights secur'd:
Ye junior patriots, listen! learn, my friends!
How much your lot on industry depends:
For God, a God of order, ne'er design'd
Equal conditions for the human kind.
Equality of rights your bliss maintains,
While law protects what honest labour gains.
Your great exertions by restraint uncheck'd,
Your gen'rous heat undamp'd by cold neglect;
The wide career for freemen open lies,
Where wealth, and pow'r, and honour yield the prize.
Yet should dark discord's clouds your land o'ercast,
Lost is your freedom and your empire past.
Be union yours! To guard your union, heav'n
The general government, in trust, has giv'n:
Then, when ere long your fathers sleep in dust,
Preserve, like vestal fire, that sacred TRUST!
In manhood's prime, dear, interesting age!
Attend a time-taught bard, to toils inur'd,
With those bold chiefs whose blood your rights secur'd:
Ye junior patriots, listen! learn, my friends!
How much your lot on industry depends:
For God, a God of order, ne'er design'd
Equal conditions for the human kind.
Equality of rights your bliss maintains,
While law protects what honest labour gains.
Your great exertions by restraint uncheck'd,
Your gen'rous heat undamp'd by cold neglect;
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Where wealth, and pow'r, and honour yield the prize.
Yet should dark discord's clouds your land o'ercast,
Lost is your freedom and your empire past.
Be union yours! To guard your union, heav'n
The general government, in trust, has giv'n:
Then, when ere long your fathers sleep in dust,
Preserve, like vestal fire, that sacred TRUST!
| The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys | |