University of Virginia Library

On the Rebellion in the Year 1746.

What fond deluding hopes our foes beguile
To dream in cells of conquest o'er this isle;
Because her sons unite in freedom's cause,
And watch, like guardians, o'er their country's laws;
In earnest zeal with ministers debate,
In senates, to preserve our happy state;
To fix the pow'r of kings in proper bounds,
Left arbitrary rule the realm confounds:
Such are the tenets of each British soul,
Whose arms the tyrants of the world controul.
Let Fontenoy declare! whose troops beheld
Our army reap the glory of the field,
When all the slaves of France united fought,
How dear that conquest with their blood was bought:
There more renown in war did England gain,
Than all the trophies of a French campaign.
Let Gallia practise her delusive arts,
With specious wiles to win the people's hearts!
And send a vain pretender to the crown,
To rouze the spirit of each free-born son,
Whose force shall shake her tyrant on his throne:
Revenge this insult on the nation's sense,
Who love their country, liberty, and prince,
More than they fear the pow'rs of France and Spain,
Combin'd against the masters of the main.
See Britain's youth , unus'd to war's alarms,
Forsake their downy rest, and beauty's charms;
All the soft sweets of luxury decline,
With firm united hearts in battle join;
And, under Oglethorpe's auspicious care,
Endure the toils of a rough winter's war;
Whose great example will their bosom fire
To conquer, or in freedom's cause expire.
Such actions claim from princes no regard,
Who think their country's thanks a just reward.
How vain each effort of an honest mind,
To purchase fame by glorious deeds inclin'd?
If Sterling merit is the sole pretence,
That noble plea will prove a weak defence
Against the foul reproach of calumny,
Or gilded tale of specious flattery,
Which with a smooth insinuating tongue,
That character it fears, can meanly wrong:
But merit, like the sun eclips'd, will shine
With double splendor, as the shades decline.
How swift the rebels ravage o'er the land,
To fly from Cumberland's avenging hand?
To dark rebellion's native seat repair,
There brood o'er treason in that tainted air,
Curse their vain hopes, and perish in despair?
Then let these rash invaders learn from hence,
(Who rise in arms against the nation's sense)
To conquer George in vain their armies move,
Whose throne is guarded by the people's love.