 | The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley |  |
NON TALI AUXILIO, NEC DEFENSORIBUS ISTIS TEMPUS EGET.
—Virgil.
What hope of safety for our realm
From men who by destruction thrive?
By violence seize the shatter'd helm,
And madly let the vessel drive,
Till, dash'd against the rocks, it break,
And then they gather up the wreck.
From men who by destruction thrive?
By violence seize the shatter'd helm,
And madly let the vessel drive,
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And then they gather up the wreck.
Makers of wrecks, a desperate race,
Who treason and rebellion love,
Who spit in a mild monarch's face,—
Can they the public ills remove?
Or, plunged themselves in depths of vice,
Assist our sinking state to rise?
Who treason and rebellion love,
Who spit in a mild monarch's face,—
Can they the public ills remove?
Or, plunged themselves in depths of vice,
Assist our sinking state to rise?
Proud, profligate, to evil sold,
Their country's curse, reproach, and shame,
Their lust of power, and thirst of gold,
Cloaking beneath the patriot's name;
Shall these our liberties defend?
Shall these, who caused, our troubles end?
Their country's curse, reproach, and shame,
Their lust of power, and thirst of gold,
Cloaking beneath the patriot's name;
Shall these our liberties defend?
Shall these, who caused, our troubles end?
Who their own countrymen destroy'd,
Kindled and fed rebellion's fire,
And all their hellish arts employ'd
To raise the civil discord higher;
Will these restore our happiness,
Or give us back a lasting peace?
Kindled and fed rebellion's fire,
And all their hellish arts employ'd
To raise the civil discord higher;
Will these restore our happiness,
Or give us back a lasting peace?
Order and government they scorn,
Forbid the slighted laws to reign,
And while their injured king they spurn,
The rabble's majesty maintain;
Those abject instruments of ill,
Those tools of every tyrant's will!
Forbid the slighted laws to reign,
And while their injured king they spurn,
The rabble's majesty maintain;
Those abject instruments of ill,
Those tools of every tyrant's will!
First for themselves the patriots care,
And each sincerely seeks his own,
Eager the public spoils to share,
(Now they have pull'd their rivals down,)
And all into their hands to seize,
The meed of prosperous wickedness.
And each sincerely seeks his own,
Eager the public spoils to share,
(Now they have pull'd their rivals down,)
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The meed of prosperous wickedness.
Through avarice and ambition, blind,
Their schemes, bewilder'd, they pursue,
Grasping at that they cannot find,
Still undetermined what to do,
Till some superior fiend appear,
And claim the sovereign character.
Their schemes, bewilder'd, they pursue,
Grasping at that they cannot find,
Still undetermined what to do,
Till some superior fiend appear,
And claim the sovereign character.
Daring as Charles's spurious brood,
Harden'd as Wilkes in wickedness,
As dissolute as Fox, and lewd,
Worthy of the Protector's place;
Worthy the place by right his own,
Where Cromwell fills a burning throne!
Harden'd as Wilkes in wickedness,
As dissolute as Fox, and lewd,
Worthy of the Protector's place;
Worthy the place by right his own,
Where Cromwell fills a burning throne!
| The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley | |