A Metrical History of England Or, Recollections, in Rhyme, Of some of the most prominent Features in our National Chronology, from the Landing of Julius Caesar to the Commencement of the Regency, in 1812. In Two Volumes ... By Thomas Dibdin |
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 | A Metrical History of England |  |
Eastward the Muse now points the view, to where
The son of Hyder leads his Rajah-poots,
From Ganges' banks, and arms the native tribes
Of Hindoo warriors, to poise the spear
Against Cornwallis; vain the effort, vain
The tiger hunting monarch's wrath, opposed
To British firmness.—Tippoo's hostage sons,
With store of tributary spoil, confess
The triumph of our arms; victorious flies
The banner of St. George, and low the Crescent lies.
Nor to Hindostan is the war confined,
France revolutionzed, her King bereft
Of life by felon hands; her people drunk
With anarchy's red cup,—fell discord shakes
Her venom locks, the pois'nous drops imbue
The shore, the ocean, and their influence spreads
To the Batavian coast, and hence, the Scheldt
Infecting Britain with a plea for strife,
The spirit of dissension burns, nor years
Have quench'd the flame terrific, which extends
From busy Thames to where Lutetia's towers
Reflect their lofty honors in the Seine.
On land, unmoved, do Gallia's sons maintain
The varied fate of warfare;—on the sea
The British trident still asserts it's right
Of empire.—Mark! what thundering peals announce
Howe and the glories of the first of June!
Six captured floating castles, two destroy'd,
The shatter'd remnants of invading prows
Put to disgraceful flight, proclaim what boys
Of native oak constructed hearts, can do
Against determined foes.—The British fleet
Scarce injured in the contest, proudly bore
Her prizes safely to our grateful shore.
The new philosophy essays on land
The nation to divide, but honest John,
True to himself, spurns ev'ry base attempt
To cheat him of his rights, in specious name
Of Liberty; and give, in lieu of thee
Thou lovely goddess ever “fair and free!”
A drab, whose blood-stain'd pike and bonnet rouge
Mark'd her the mother red-cap of a mob.
The son of Hyder leads his Rajah-poots,
From Ganges' banks, and arms the native tribes
Of Hindoo warriors, to poise the spear
Against Cornwallis; vain the effort, vain
The tiger hunting monarch's wrath, opposed
To British firmness.—Tippoo's hostage sons,
With store of tributary spoil, confess
The triumph of our arms; victorious flies
The banner of St. George, and low the Crescent lies.
Nor to Hindostan is the war confined,
France revolutionzed, her King bereft
Of life by felon hands; her people drunk
260
Her venom locks, the pois'nous drops imbue
The shore, the ocean, and their influence spreads
To the Batavian coast, and hence, the Scheldt
Infecting Britain with a plea for strife,
The spirit of dissension burns, nor years
Have quench'd the flame terrific, which extends
From busy Thames to where Lutetia's towers
Reflect their lofty honors in the Seine.
On land, unmoved, do Gallia's sons maintain
The varied fate of warfare;—on the sea
The British trident still asserts it's right
Of empire.—Mark! what thundering peals announce
Howe and the glories of the first of June!
Six captured floating castles, two destroy'd,
The shatter'd remnants of invading prows
Put to disgraceful flight, proclaim what boys
Of native oak constructed hearts, can do
Against determined foes.—The British fleet
Scarce injured in the contest, proudly bore
Her prizes safely to our grateful shore.
261
The nation to divide, but honest John,
True to himself, spurns ev'ry base attempt
To cheat him of his rights, in specious name
Of Liberty; and give, in lieu of thee
Thou lovely goddess ever “fair and free!”
A drab, whose blood-stain'd pike and bonnet rouge
Mark'd her the mother red-cap of a mob.
Tippoo Saib was reduced to cede one half his dominions, to pay three crores and thirty lacks of rupees, to give up all prisoners and yield his two eldest sons as hostages for the performance of the treaty.
The disciples of the new philosophy at length were noticed by the law, many convicted of sedition and some acquitted of high treason;—the mob at Birmingham taking offence at a party of philosophers who were commemmorating the “glorious” French revolution, proceeded to most dreadful outrages, and after the law had been shamefully violated in the name of church and king, many of the rioters expiated their folly with their lives.
| A Metrical History of England | |