The peripatetic or, Sketches of the heart, of nature and society; In a series of politico-sentimental journals, in verse and prose, of the eccentric excursions of Sylvanus Theophrastus; Supposed to be written by himself [by John Thelwall] |
 | [I]. |
[Commerce! thou doubtful, and thou partial good!] |
| II. |
| III. |
 | The peripatetic |  |
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[Commerce! thou doubtful, and thou partial good!]
Commerce! thou doubtful, and thou partial good!
'Tis true by thee we swell to Wealth and Power;
And Britain's name, and Britain's arts by thee
Are wafted to each region of the Globe,
Bringing, in rich return, their varied tributes
Of wealth and elegance, and the rare boon
To which, o'er all, we owe the power to soar
Above the brute, toward the god-like frame
Of heaven-pervading natures—glorious science!
Man's noblest privilege! But then by thee—
(With grief the muse records it) oft by thee
War, savage War! too, lifts his brazen voice,
To bellow hideous discord through the World;
To deluge guiltless realms with native blood,
At mad Ambition's and at Avarice' call;
'Gainst human woe to steel the human breast,
Inflame the rancour of compatriot strife,
And press Oppression's foot with fiercer wrath
On the bow'd neck of Misery's fallen race.
'Tis true by thee we swell to Wealth and Power;
And Britain's name, and Britain's arts by thee
Are wafted to each region of the Globe,
Bringing, in rich return, their varied tributes
Of wealth and elegance, and the rare boon
To which, o'er all, we owe the power to soar
Above the brute, toward the god-like frame
Of heaven-pervading natures—glorious science!
Man's noblest privilege! But then by thee—
(With grief the muse records it) oft by thee
War, savage War! too, lifts his brazen voice,
To bellow hideous discord through the World;
To deluge guiltless realms with native blood,
At mad Ambition's and at Avarice' call;
'Gainst human woe to steel the human breast,
Inflame the rancour of compatriot strife,
39
On the bow'd neck of Misery's fallen race.
'Tis thine, too, Commerce, thro' thy native land
To pour, wide-wasting, like a deluge, round
The poison'd stream of Luxury, rank-poluted!
The monster breeding Nile of hideous vice,
From whose oft stagnant pools incessant spring
A loath'd mishapen swarm, which Nature's eye
Turns haggard to behold.
To pour, wide-wasting, like a deluge, round
The poison'd stream of Luxury, rank-poluted!
The monster breeding Nile of hideous vice,
From whose oft stagnant pools incessant spring
A loath'd mishapen swarm, which Nature's eye
Turns haggard to behold.
Thou, Commerce, too, monopolizing fiend!
Fatten'st a few upon the toils of all;
And while thy favour'd sons, in Parian domes,
Rival the pomp of regal splendour, lo!
In every town whose charter'd insolence
Barters to Britain's sons the Freeman's name,
If there thy throne is fix'd, what hundreds throng
Each sad retreat of Wretchedness, or fill
The public streets with wants' afflictive plaint;
Mourning thy fickle and capricious sway,
Whose endless changes, tho' the rich not feel,
(For Protean gold will ever find employ)
Oft robs the pale mechanic of his bread,
And dooms the pensioner of diurnal toil,
For half the year, perhaps, to idle want;
Perhaps in age to learn a new employ.
Fatten'st a few upon the toils of all;
And while thy favour'd sons, in Parian domes,
Rival the pomp of regal splendour, lo!
In every town whose charter'd insolence
Barters to Britain's sons the Freeman's name,
If there thy throne is fix'd, what hundreds throng
Each sad retreat of Wretchedness, or fill
The public streets with wants' afflictive plaint;
Mourning thy fickle and capricious sway,
Whose endless changes, tho' the rich not feel,
(For Protean gold will ever find employ)
Oft robs the pale mechanic of his bread,
And dooms the pensioner of diurnal toil,
For half the year, perhaps, to idle want;
Perhaps in age to learn a new employ.
| The peripatetic | |