 | Churchill defended, a poem |  |
In whom all private Int'rest, private Praise,
To public Notice their intrinsic Worth;
Who quite neglectful of the downy Bed,
Old Solon's Manes hovering o'er their Head,
For Britain anxious, in their lonely Hours,
Trim the pale Lamp, and wake poetic Pow'rs!
Hence the vile Herd, in whom there ne'er arose
One pure Emotion for their Country's Woes,
Who, when we conquer'd on the Land and Seas,
Were only thankful for their own dear Ease,
Think Churchill is impell'd by Self alone,
And give thy Soul a Standard like their own.
The humane Rousseau brings a heavy, but just Impeachment against these enervated and selfish Times, in the beginning of his Treatise on Education. —Ces deux Mots, Patrie et Citoyen doivent étre effacés des Langues modernes. —“These two Words, Country and Citizen, ought to be struck out of modern Languages.” Emile, tom. i. pag. 8.—Selon la Copie de Paris.—This Observation, as a general one, is indisputable; and, were it not for a few Churchills, it would be true in the strictest and most absolute Sense.
We seldom now go into Company, but we hear a few Dabblers in Politics assert, with a great deal of Self-sufficiency, that the Minority is just as corrupt as the Majority; that both are bad alike; and that Profit and Power are the main Springs that actuate each Party.
But it were well if these Gentlemen would consider, that the Principles from which they reason in this Manner, are by no Means applicable to every particular Case: For, probably, they ground their Affirmations on the Depravity of the Age, on that Indifference to the Good of the Community, which they experience in their own callous Hearts, and in their overweening Opinion of their own Judgment.
| Churchill defended, a poem | |