 | The Poetical Works of the Ingenious and Learned William Meston |  |
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Britons, be just, nor sell your honesty,
Nor look on grandeur with a dazzl'd eye.
Cæsar had all the winning courtly ways,
Cæsar had balls, and Cæsar went to plays;
Cæsar could whore and rant, and drink and sight,
Cæsar had gold, but Cæsar had no right.
This was the cause of Rome; consider well,
If Britain be not just a parallel.
But will you wanton in your misery,
And for diversion sell your liberty?
You see the man in a false glaring light,
Which empire shades on him; but, view him right,
You'll find him black with crimes of deepest dye,
Murder, Usurpation, and tyranny.
 | The Poetical Works of the Ingenious and Learned William Meston |  |
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