The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys :: :: University of Virginia Library

“Farewell to public care, to public life:
“Now peace invites me from the deathful strife.
“And oh my country, may'st thou ne'er forget
“Thy bands victorious, and thy honest debt!
“If aught which proves to me thy freedom dear,
“Gives me a claim to speak, thy sons shall hear:
“On them I call—Compatriots dear and brave,
“Deep in your breasts these warning truths engrave:

“To guard your sacred rights—be just! be wise!
“Thence flow your blessings, there your glory lies.
“Beware the feuds whence civil war proceeds;
“Fly mean suspicions; spurn inglorious deeds;
“Shun fell corruption's pestilential breath,
“To states the cause, and harbinger of death.
“Fly dissipation, in whose vortex whirl'd,
“Sink the proud nations of the elder world.
“Avoid the hidden snares that pleasure spreads,
“To seize and chain you, in her silken threads;
“Let not the lust of gold nor pow'r enthral;
“Nor list the wild ambition's frantic call.
“Stop, stop your ears to discord's curst alarms,
“Which, rousing, drive a mad'ning world to arms:
“But learn, from others' woes, sweet peace to prize,
“To know your bliss, and where your treasure lies—
“Within the compass of your little farms,
“Lodg'd in your breasts, or folded in your arms:
“Blest in your clime, beyond all nations blest,
“Whom oceans guard, and boundless wilds invest.