O my poor Country!--weak, and overpower'd By thine own sons--ate to the bone--devour'd By vipers, which, in thine own entrails bred, Prey on thy life, and with thy blood are fed, With unavailing grief thy wrongs I see, And, for myself not feeling, feel for thee. 560 I grieve, but can't despair--for, lo! at hand Freedom presents a choice, but faithful band Of loyal patriots; men who greatly dare In such a noble cause; men fit to bear The weight of empires; Fortune, Rank, and Sense, Virtue and Knowledge, leagued with Eloquence, March in their ranks; Freedom from file to file Darts her delighted eye, and with a smile Approves her honest sons, whilst down her cheek, As 'twere by stealth, (her heart too full to speak) 570 One tear in silence creeps, one honest tear, And seems to say, Why is not Granby[326] here?' O ye brave few, in whom we still may find A love of virtue, freedom, and mankind! Go forth--in majesty of woe array'd, See at your feet your Country kneels for aid, And, (many of her children traitors grown) Kneels to those sons she still can call her own; Seeming to breathe her last in every breath, She kneels for freedom, or she begs for death-- 580 Fly, then, each duteous son, each English chief, And to your drooping parent bring relief. Go forth--nor let the siren voice of Ease Tempt ye to sleep, whilst tempests swell the seas; Go forth--nor let Hypocrisy, whose tongue With many a fair, false, fatal art is hung, Like Bethel's fawning prophet, cross your way, When your great errand brooks not of delay; Nor let vain Fear, who cries to all she meets, Trembling and pale, 'A lion in the streets,' 590 Damp your free spirits; let not threats affright, Nor bribes corrupt, nor flatteries delight: Be as one man--concord success ensures-- There's not an English heart but what is yours. Go forth--and Virtue, ever in your sight, Shall be your guide by day, your guard by night-- Go forth--the champions of your native land, And may the battle prosper in your hand-- It may, it must--ye cannot be withstood-- Be your hearts honest, as your cause is good! 600 * * * * * Footnotes: [310] 'B----:' Bute. [311] 'F----:' Fox. [312] 'Grafton:' see Junius, _passim_. [313] 'First:' Lyttelton. [314] 'Archibald:' Archibald Bower, the infamous author of 'Lives of the Popes,' patronised at first by Lyttelton, but detected and exposed by Dr Douglas. [315] 'Second:' Churchill himself. [316] 'Hogarth:' here satirically represented as dead, lived four weeks after this poem was published, and died nine days before Churchill. [317] 'M----:' Melcombe. [318] 'Wingate:' the purse-proud upstarts of the day are here designated by the generic name of Wingate, an eminent arithmetician, who lived early in the seventeenth century.