 | An Ode to Mankind |  |
3
INTRODUCTION. To His Royal Highness.
Nor me the Glories of thy Birth engage,
With Royal Names to swell my pompous Page;
Nor meaner Views allure, in soothing Lays
To court thy Favour with officious Praise.
Yet Praise it is, thus to address thine Ear
In Strains no Slave dares sing, no Tyrant hear;
While warm for Britain's Rights and Nature's Laws,
I call forth Britain's Hope in Freedom's Cause;
Assert an Empire which to All belongs,
And vindicate a World's long-suffer'd Wrongs.
With Royal Names to swell my pompous Page;
Nor meaner Views allure, in soothing Lays
To court thy Favour with officious Praise.
Yet Praise it is, thus to address thine Ear
In Strains no Slave dares sing, no Tyrant hear;
While warm for Britain's Rights and Nature's Laws,
I call forth Britain's Hope in Freedom's Cause;
Assert an Empire which to All belongs,
And vindicate a World's long-suffer'd Wrongs.
These saving Truths import Thee most to know,
The Links that tie the Mighty to the Low;
What now, our Fellow-Subject, is your Due,
And, when our Prince, shall be a Debt on You.
O! may'st Thou to the Throne such Maxims bring!
And feel the Free-man, whilst Thou reign'st the King!
The Links that tie the Mighty to the Low;
What now, our Fellow-Subject, is your Due,
And, when our Prince, shall be a Debt on You.
O! may'st Thou to the Throne such Maxims bring!
And feel the Free-man, whilst Thou reign'st the King!
Far hence the Tribe, whose servile Arts delude,
And teach the Great to spurn the Multitude!
Are Those unworthy of the Royal Heir,
Who claim the future Monarch's duteous Care?
Still may thy Thoughts the Godlike Task pursue,
And to the Many ne'er prefer the Few!
Still may'st thou fly thy Fortune's specious Friends,
Who deal forth sov'reign Grace to private Ends;
In narrow Streams divert the copious Tide,
Exalt one Sect, and damn the World beside;
While with false Lights directing partial Rule,
The Lord of Nations falls a Party's Tool.
Such there have been—and such, in Truth's Despite,
Disgrac'd the Cause of Liberty and Right;
But Thou shalt rise superior to their Arts,
And fix Thy Empire in a People's Hearts.
And teach the Great to spurn the Multitude!
4
Who claim the future Monarch's duteous Care?
Still may thy Thoughts the Godlike Task pursue,
And to the Many ne'er prefer the Few!
Still may'st thou fly thy Fortune's specious Friends,
Who deal forth sov'reign Grace to private Ends;
In narrow Streams divert the copious Tide,
Exalt one Sect, and damn the World beside;
While with false Lights directing partial Rule,
The Lord of Nations falls a Party's Tool.
Such there have been—and such, in Truth's Despite,
Disgrac'd the Cause of Liberty and Right;
But Thou shalt rise superior to their Arts,
And fix Thy Empire in a People's Hearts.
Nor hence may Faction boast her favour'd Claim,
Where selfish Passion borrows Virtue's Name:
Free Government alone preserves the Free,
And righteous Rule is Gen'ral Liberty;
There guiding Law is Freedom's native Voice,
The Publick Good defin'd by Publick Choice;
And justly should the bold Offenders fall,
Who dare invade the sov'reign Rights of All:
A King who proudly makes these Claims his own,
Or They whose Rage would shake a lawful Throne.
From Truths like these proceeds a Right Divine,
And may the Pow'r that rais'd, preserve Thy scepter'd Line!
Where selfish Passion borrows Virtue's Name:
Free Government alone preserves the Free,
And righteous Rule is Gen'ral Liberty;
There guiding Law is Freedom's native Voice,
The Publick Good defin'd by Publick Choice;
And justly should the bold Offenders fall,
Who dare invade the sov'reign Rights of All:
A King who proudly makes these Claims his own,
Or They whose Rage would shake a lawful Throne.
From Truths like these proceeds a Right Divine,
And may the Pow'r that rais'd, preserve Thy scepter'd Line!
5
TO MANKIND:
An ODE.
I
Is there, or do the Schoolmen dream?Is there on Earth a Pow'r supreme,
The Delegate of Heav'n?
To whom an uncontroul'd Command,
In ev'ry Realm o'er Sea and Land,
By special Grace is giv'n?
6
II
Then say, what Signs this God proclaim?Dwells he amidst the Diamond's Flame,
A Throne his hallow'd Shrine?
The borrow'd Pomp, the arm'd Array,
Want, Fear, and Impotence, betray:
Strange Proofs of Pow'r Divine!
III
If Service due from Human Kind,To Men in slothful Ease reclin'd,
Can form a Sov'reign's Claim:
Hail Monarchs! ye, whom Heav'n ordains,
Our Toils unshar'd, to share our Gains,
Ye Ideots, blind and lame!
IV
Superior Virtue, Wisdom, Might,Create and mark the Ruler's Right;
So Reason must conclude:
Then thine it is, to whom belong
The Wise, the Virtuous, and the Strong,
Thrice sacred Multitude!
7
V
In Thee, great All! are these contain'd,For Thee are these, thy Parts, ordain'd,
So Nature's Systems roll:
The Scepter's Thine, if such there be;
If none there is, then Thou art free,
And Master of the Whole.
VI
Let the proud Tyrant rest his CauseOn Faith, Prescription, Force, or Laws,
An Host's or Senate's Voice!
His Voice affirms thy stronger Due,
Who for the Many made the Few,
And gave the Species Choice.
VII
Unsanctify'd by thy Command,Unown'd by Thee, the Scepter'd Hand
Impells, but cannot bind.
Oaths but confirm where Nature ties,
The forc'd or erring Tongue belies
The unassenting Mind.
8
VIII
Thy Will's thy Rule, thy Good its End;You punish only to defend
What Parent Nature gave:
And he who dares her Gifts invade,
By Nature's oldest Law is made
Thy Victim or thy Slave.
IX
Thus Reason founds the just DecreeOn universal Liberty,
Not private Rights resign'd:
Through various Nature's wide Extent,
No private Beings e'er were meant
To hurt the gen'ral Kind.
X
Thee Justice guides, Thee Right maintains;Th'Oppressor's Wrongs, the Pilf'rer's Gains,
Thy injur'd Weal impair.
Thy warmest Passions soon subside,
Nor partial Envy, Hate, nor Pride,
Thy temper'd Counsels share.
9
XI
Each Instance of thy vengeful Rage,Collected from each Clime and Age,
Tho' Malice swell the Sum,
Would seem a spotless scanty Roll,
Compar'd with Marius' bloody Scroll,
Or Sylla's Hippodrome.
XII
But thine has been imputed Blame,Th'unworthy Few assume thy Name,
The Rabble weak and loud;
Or those who on thy Ruines feast,
The Lord, the Lawyer, and the Priest;
A more ignoble Crowd.
XIII
Avails it Thee, if one devours,Or lesser Spoilers share his Pow'rs,
While both Thy Claim oppose?
Monsters who wore thy sully'd Crown,
Tyrants who pull'd those Monsters down,
Alike to Thee were Foes.
10
XIV
Far other shone fair Freedom's Band,Far other was th'immortal Stand,
When Hambden fought for Thee:
Thou snatch'd from Rapine's Gripe thy Spoils,
The Fruits and Prize of glorious Toils,
Of Arts and Industry.
XV
'Gainst Thee yet foams the Preacher's Rage,'Gainst Thee is plann'd th'Historian's Page,
A false apostate Train:
Tears stream adown the Martyr's Tomb;
Unpity'd in their harder Doom,
Thy Thousands strow the Plain.
XVI
These had no Charms to please the Sense,No graceful Port, no Eloquence,
To win the Muse's Throng:
Unknown, unsung, unmark'd they lie;
But Cæsar's Fate o'ercasts the Sky,
And Nature mourns his Wrong.
11
XVII
Thy Foes, a frontless Band, invade;Thy Friends afford a timid Aid,
And yield up half thy Right.
Ev'n Locke beams forth a mingl'd Ray,
Afraid to pour the Floods of Day
On Man's too feeble Sight.
XVIII
Hence are the motley Systems fram'd,Of Right transfer'd, of Pow'r reclaim'd;
Distinctions weak and vain.
Wise Nature mocks the wrangling Herd;
For unreclaim'd, and untransfer'd,
Her Pow'rs and Rights remain.
XIX
While Law the royal Agent moves,The Instrument thy Choice approves,
We bow thro' him to you.
But change, or cease th'inspiring Choice,
The sov'reign sinks a private Voice,
Alike in One, or Few!
12
XX
Shall then the Man, whose dastard HeartShrinks at a Tyrant's bolder Part,
And only dares betray;
With reptile Wiles, alas! prevail,
Where Force, and Rage, and Priest-craft fail,
To pilfer Pow'r away?
XXI
O! shall the bought, and buying Tribe,The Slaves who take, and deal the Bribe,
A People's Claims enjoy?
So Indian Murd'rers hope to gain
The Pow'rs and Virtues of the Slain,
Of Wretches they destroy.
XXII
“Avert it, Heaven! you love the Brave,“You hate the treach'rous willing Slave,
“The self-devoted Head.
“Nor shall an Hireling's Voice convey
“That sacred Prize to lawless Sway,
“For which a Nation bled.
13
XXIII
Vain Pray'r! the Coward's weak Resource,Directing Reason, active Force,
Propitious Heaven bestows;
But ne'er shall flame the thund'ring Sky,
To aid the trembling Herd that flie
Before their weaker Foes.
XXIV
In Names there are no magick Charms,The British Virtues, British Arms
Unloos'd our Father's Band:
Say, Greece and Rome! if these shou'd fail,
What Names, what Ancestors avail,
To save a sinking Land?
XXV
Far, far from us such Ills shall be,Mankind shall boast one Nation free,
One Monarch truly Great;
Whose Title is a People's Choice,
Whose Mandate is a People's Voice,
Whose Strength a prosp'rous State.
FINIS.
| An Ode to Mankind | |