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 |  |
Fraught with the germe of wealth, our seamen roam
To foreign marts, and bring new treasures home;
From either Ind' and Europe's happier shore,
Th' assembled produce crowds the merchant's store:
From east to west the fruits and spices sweet,
On our full boards in rich profusion meet;
Canary isles their luscious vintage join;
In crystal goblets flows the amber wine;
European artists send their midnight toil
For crude materials of our virgin soil;
For us, in tissue of the silken loom,
The lilacs blush, the damask roses bloom;
For us in distant mines the metals grow,
Prolific source of pleasure, care, and woe!
Ne'er may our sons for heaps of useless wealth,
Exchange the joys of freedom, peace, or health,
But make e'en riches to their weal conduce,
And prize their splendour by their public use!
To foreign marts, and bring new treasures home;
From either Ind' and Europe's happier shore,
Th' assembled produce crowds the merchant's store:
From east to west the fruits and spices sweet,
On our full boards in rich profusion meet;
Canary isles their luscious vintage join;
In crystal goblets flows the amber wine;
European artists send their midnight toil
For crude materials of our virgin soil;
For us, in tissue of the silken loom,
The lilacs blush, the damask roses bloom;
For us in distant mines the metals grow,
Prolific source of pleasure, care, and woe!
Ne'er may our sons for heaps of useless wealth,
Exchange the joys of freedom, peace, or health,
But make e'en riches to their weal conduce,
And prize their splendour by their public use!
| The miscellaneous works of David Humphreys | |