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GOTHAM.

BOOK I.

1 FAR off (no matter whether East or West,
2 A real Country, or one made in jest)
3 Not yet by modern MANDEVILLES disgrac'd,
4 Nor by Map-jobbers wretchedly misplac'd,
5 There lies an Island, neither great nor small,
6 Which, for distinction sake, I GOTHAM call.
7 The Man, who finds an unknown Country out,
8 By giving it a name acquires, no doubt,
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9 A Gospel title, tho' the people there
10 The pious Christian thinks not worth his care.
11 Bar this pretence, and into air is hurl'd
12 The claim of EUROPE to the Western World.
13 Cast by a tempest on the savage coast,
14 Some roving Buccaneer set up a Post;
15 A Beam, in proper form transversely laid,
16 Of his Redeemer's Cross the figure made,
17 Of that Redeemer, with whose laws his life,
18 From first to last, had been one scene of strife;
19 His royal master's name thereon engrav'd,
20 Without more process, the whole race enslav'd,
21 Cut off that Charter they from Nature drew,
22 And made them Slaves to men they never knew.
23 Search antient histories, consult records,
24 Under this title the most Christian Lords
25 Hold (thanks to Conscience) more than half the Ball;
26 O'erthrow this title, they have none at all.
27 For never yet might any Monarch dare,
28 Who liv'd to Truth, and breath'd a Christian air,
29 Pretend that Christ (who came, we all agree,
30 To bless his people, and to set them free)
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31 To make a Convert ever one law gave,
32 By which Converters made him first a slave.
33 Spite of the glosses of a canting Priest,
34 Who talks of Charity, but means a feast,
35 Who recommends it (whilst he seems to feel
36 The holy glowings of a real zeal)
37 To all his hearers, as a deed of worth,
38 To give them heav'n, whom they have robb'd of earth,
39 Never shall One, One truly honest man,
40 Who, blest with LIBERTY, reveres her plan,
41 Allow one moment, that a Savage sire
42 Could from his wretched race, for childish hire,
43 By a wild grant, their All, their Freedom pass,
44 And sell his Country for a bit of glass.
45 Or grant this barb'rous right, Let SPAIN and FRANCE,
46 In Slav'ry bred, as purchasers advance,
47 Let them, whilst Conscience is at distance hurl'd,
48 With some gay bawble buy a golden world;
49 An ENGLISHMAN, in charter'd FREEDOM born,
50 Shall spurn the slavish merchandize, shall scorn
51 To take from others, thro' base private views,
52 What He himself would rather die, than lose.
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53 Happy the Savage of those early times
54 'Ere EUROPE's sons were known, and EUROPE's crimes!
55 Gold, cursed Gold! slept in the womb of earth,
56 Unfelt its mischiefs, as unknown its worth;
57 In full Content he found the truest wealth;
58 In Toil he found Diversion, Food, and Health;
59 Strange to the ease and luxury of Courts,
60 His Sports were Labours, and his Labours Sports;
61 His Youth was hardy, and his Old Age green;
62 Life's Morn was vig'rous, and her Eve serene;
63 No rules he held, but what were made for use;
64 No Arts he learn'd, nor ills which Arts produce;
65 False Lights he follow'd, but believ'd them true;
66 He knew not much, but liv'd to what he knew.
67 Happy, thrice happy now the Savage race,
68 Since EUROPE took their Gold, and gave them Grace!
69 Pastors she sends to help them in their need,
70 Some who can't write, with others who can't read,
71 And, on sure grounds the Gospel Pile to rear,
72 Sends Missionary Felons ev'ry Year;
73 Our Vices, with more Zeal than holy pray'rs,
74 She teaches them, and in return takes theirs;
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75 Her rank Oppressions give them cause to rise,
76 Her Want of Prudence means, and Arms supplies,
77 Whilst her brave rage, not satisfied with life,
78 Rising in blood, adopts the Scalping-Knife;
79 Knowledge She gives, enough to make them know
80 How abject is their State, how deep their Woe;
81 The Worth of Freedom strongly She explains,
82 Whilst She bows down, and loads their necks with Chains;
83 Faith too She plants, for her own ends imprest,
84 To make them bear the worst, and hope the best;
85 And whilst She teaches on vile int'rest's plan,
86 As Laws of God, the wild decrees of man,
87 Like PHARISERS, of whom the Scriptures tell,
88 She makes them ten times more the Sons of Hell.
89 But whither do these grave reflexions tend?
90 Are they design'd for any, or no end?
91 Briefly but this to prove, that by no act
92 Which Nature made, that by no equal pact
93 'Twixt Man and Man, which might, if Justice heard,
94 Stand good, that by no benefits conferr'd,
95 Or purchase made, EUROPE in chains can hold
96 The Sons of INDIA, and her mines of gold.
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97 Chance led her there in an accursed hour,
98 She saw, and made the Country her's by pow'r;
99 Nor, drawn by Virtue's Love from Love of Fame,
100 Shall my rash Folly controvert the claim,
101 Or wish in thought that title overthrown,
102 Which coincides with, and involves my own.
103 EUROPE discover'd INDIA first; I found
104 My right to Gotham on the self-same ground;
105 I first discover'd it, nor shall that plea
106 To Her be granted, and denied to Me.
107 I plead Possession, and till one more bold
108 Shall drive me out, will that Possession hold.
109 With EUROPE's rights my kindred rights I twine;
110 Hers be the WESTERN WORLD, be GOTHAM Mine.
111 Rejoice, Ye happy GOTHAMITES, rejoice;
112 Lift up your voice on high, a mighty voice,
113 The voice of Gladness, and on ev'ry tongue,
114 In Strains of gratitude, be praises hung,
115 The praises of so great and good a King;
116 Shall CHURCHILL reign, and shall not GOTHAM sing?
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117 As on a Day, a high and holy Day,
118 Let ev'ry instrument of Music play,
119 Antient and Modern; Those which drew their birth
120 (Punctilios laid wide) from Pagan earth,
121 As well as those by Christian made and Jew;
122 Those known to many, and those known to few;
123 Those which in whim and frolic lightly float,
124 And those which swell the slow and solemn note;
125 Those which (whilst Reason stands in wonder by)
126 Make some complexions laugh, and others cry;
127 Those which, by some strange faculty of sound,
128 Can build walls up, and raze them to the ground;
129 Those which can tear up forests by the roots,
130 And make brutes dance like Men, and Men like brutes;
131 Those which, whilst RIDICULE leads up the dance,
132 Make Clowns of MONMOUTH ape the Fops of FRANCE;
133 Those which, where Lady DULLNESS with Lord MAYORS
134 Prefides, disdaining light and trifling airs,
135 Hallow the feast with Psalmody, and Those
136 Which, planted in our Churches to dispose
137 And lift the mind to Heaven, are disgrac'd
138 With what a foppish Organist calls Taste.
139 All, from the Fiddle (on which ev'ry Fool,
140 The pert Son of dull Sire, discharg'd from School,
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141 Serves an apprenticeship in College ease,
142 And rises thro' the Ganiut to degrees)
143 To Those which (tho' less common, not less sweet)
144 From fam'd Saint Giles's, and more fam'd Vine-street,
145 (Where Heav'n, the utmost wish of man to grant,
146 Gave me an old House, and an older Aunt)
147 THORNTON, whilst HUMOUR pointed out the road
148 To her arch cub, hath hitch'd into an ode;
149 All Instruments (attend Ye list'ning Spheres,
150 Attend Ye Sons of Men, and hear with ears)
151 All Instruments (nor shall they seek one Hand
152 Imprest from modern MUSIC's coxcomb band)
153 All Instruments, self-acted, at my name
154 Shall pour forth harmony, and loud proclaim,
155 Loud but yet sweet, to the according globe,
156 My praises, whilst gay NATURE, in a robe,
157 A Coxcomb Doctor's robe, to the full sound
158 Keeps time, like BOYCE, and the World dances round.
159 Rejoice, Ye happy GOTHAMITES, rejoice!
160 Lift up your voice on high, a mighty voice,
161 The voice of gladness, and on ev'ry tongue,
162 In strains of gratitude, be praises hung,
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163 The Praises of so great and good a King;
164 Shall CHURCHILL reign, and shall not GOTHAM sing?
165 INFANCY, straining backward from the breast,
166 Tetchy and wayward, what he loveth best
167 Refusing in his fits, whilst all the while
168 The Mother eyes the wrangler with a smile,
169 And the fond Father sits on t'other side,
170 Laughs at his moods, and views his spleen with pride,
171 Shall murmur forth my name, whilst at his hand
172 Nurse stands interpreter, thro' GOTHAM's land.
173 CHILDHOOD who, like an April morn, appears,
174 Sunshine and Rain, Hopes clouded o'er with fears,
175 Pleas'd and displeas'd by starts, in passion warm,
176 In Reason weak, who, wrought into a storm,
177 Like to the fretful bullies of the deep,
178 Soon spends his rage, and cries himself asleep,
179 Who, with a fev'rish appetite oppress'd,
180 For trifles sighs, but hates them when possess'd,
181 His trembling lash suspended in the air,
182 Half-bent, and stroking back his long, lank hair,
183 Shall to his mates look up with eager glee,
184 And let his Top go down to prate of Me.
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185 YOUTH, who fierce, fickle, insolent, and vain,
186 Impatient urges on to MANHOOD's reign,
187 Impatient urges on, yet, with a cast
188 Of dear regard, looks back on CHILDHOOD past,
189 In the mid-chase, when the hot blood runs high,
190 And the quick spirits mount into his eye,
191 When Pleasure, which he deems his greatest wealth,
192 Beats in his heart, and paints his cheeks with health,
193 When the chaf'd Steed tugs proudly at the rein,
194 And, 'ere he starts, hath run o'er half the plain,
195 When, wing'd with fear, the Stag flies full in view,
196 And in full cry the eager hounds pursue,
197 Shall shout my praise to hills which shout again,
198 And e'en the Huntsman stop to cry Amen.
199 MANHOOD, of form erect, who would not bow
200 Tho' Worlds should crack around him; on his brow
201 WISDOM serene, to Passion giving law,
202 Bespeaking Love, and yet commanding Awe;
203 DIGNITY into Grace by Mildness wrought;
204 COURAGE attemper'd and refin'd by Thought;
205 VIRTUE supreme enthron'd; within his breast
206 The Image of his Maker deep impress'd;
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207 Lord of this Earth, which trembles at his Nod,
208 With Reason bless'd, and only less than God;
209 MANHOOD, tho' weeping Beauty kneels for aid,
210 Tho' Honour calls in Danger's form array'd,
211 Tho', cloath'd with sackcloth, Justice in the gates,
212 By wicked Elders chain'd, Redemption waits,
213 MANHOOD shall steal an hour, a little hour,
214 (Is't not a little One?) to hail my pow'r.
215 OLD-AGE, a second Child, by Nature curs'd
216 With more and greater evils than the first,
217 Weak, sickly, full of pains; in ev'ry breath
218 Railing at life, and yet afraid of death;
219 Putting things off, with sage and solemn air,
220 From day to day, without one day to spare;
221 Without enjoyment, covetous of pelf,
222 Tiresome to friends, and tiresome to himself,
223 His faculties impair'd, his temper sour'd,
224 His memory of recent things devour'd
225 E'en with the acting, on his shatter'd brain
226 Tho' the stale Registers of Youth remain;
227 From morn to evening babbling forth vain praise
228 Of those rare men, who liv'd in those rare days
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229 When He, the Hero of his tale, was Young,
230 Dull Repetitions falt'ring on his tongue,
231 Praising gray hairs, sure mark of Wisdom's sway,
232 E'en whilst he curses time which made him gray,
233 Scoffing at Youth, e'en whilst he would afford
234 All, but his gold, to have his Youth restor'd,
235 Shall for a moment, from himself set free,
236 Lean on his Crutch, and pipe forth praise to Me.
237 Rejoice, Ye happy GOTHAMITES, rejoice;
238 Lift up your voice on high, a mighty voice,
239 The voice of gladness, and on ev'ry tongue,
240 In strains of gratitude, be praises hung,
241 The praises of so great and good a King;
242 Shall CHURCHILL reign, and shall not GOTHAM sing?
243 Things without life shall in this Chorus join,
244 And, dumb to others 'praise, be loud in mine.
245 The Snow-drop, who, in habit white and plain,
246 Comes on the Herald of fair FLORA's train;
247 The Coxcomb Crocus, flow'r of simple note,
248 Who by her side struts in a Herald's coat;
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249 The Tulip, idly glaring to the view,
250 Who, tho' no Clown, his birth from Holland drew,
251 Who, once full-dress'd, fears from his place to stir,
252 The Fop of flow'rs, the MORE of a Parterre;
253 The Wood-bine, who her Elm in marriage meets,
254 And brings her dowry in surrounding sweets;
255 The Lilly, silver Mistress of the vale,
256 The Rose of SHARON which perfumes the gale;
257 The Jessamine, with which the Queen of flow'rs
258 To charm her God adorns his fav'rite bow'rs,
259 Which Brides, by the plain hand of neatness drest,
260 Unenvied rival, wear upon their breast,
261 Sweet as the incense of the Morn, and chaste
262 As the pure Zone, which circles DIAN's waist;
263 All flow'rs, of various names, and various forms,
264 Which the Sun into strength and beauty warms,
265 From the dwarf Daisy, which, like infants, clings,
266 And fears to leave the earth from whence it springs,
267 To the proud Giant of the garden race,
268 Who, madly rushing to the Sun's embrace,
269 O'ertops her fellows with aspiring aim,
270 Demands his wedded Love, and bears his name;
271 All, One and All, shall in this Chorus join,
272 And, dumb to others 'praise, be loud in mine.
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273 Rejoice, Ye happy GOTHAMITES, rejoice;
274 Lift up your voice on high, a mighty voice,
275 The voice of gladness, and on ev'ry tongue,
276 In strains of gratitude, be praises hung,
277 The praises of so great and good a King;
278 Shall CHURCHILL reign, and shall not GOTHAM sing?
279 Forming a gloom, thro' which to spleen-struck minds
280 Religion, horror-stamp'd, a passage finds,
281 The Ivy crawling o'er the hallow'd cell,
282 Where some old Hermit's wont his beads to tell
283 By day, by night; the Myrtle ever-green,
284 Beneath whose shade Love holds his rites unseen;
285 The Willow weeping o'er the fatal wave,
286 Where many a Lover finds a watry grave;
287 The Cypress sacred held, when Lovers mourn
288 Their true Love snatch'd away; the Laurel worn
289 By Poets in old time, but destin'd now
290 In grief to wither on a WHITEHEAD's brow;
291 The Fig, which, large as what in India grows,
292 Itself a Grove, gave our first Parents cloaths;
293 The Vine, which, like a blushing new-made Bride,
294 Clust'ring, empurples all the Mountain's side;
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295 The Yew, which, in the place of sculptur'd stone,
296 Marks out the resting-place of men unknown;
297 The hedge-row Elm, the Pine of mountain race;
298 The Fir, the SCOTCH Fir, never out of place;
299 The Cedar, whose top mates the highest cloud,
300 Whilst his old Father LEBANON grows proud
301 Of such a child, and his vast Body laid
302 Out many a mile, enjoys the filial shade;
303 The Oak, when living, monarch of the wood;
304 The ENGLISH Oak, which, dead, commands the flood;
305 All, One and All, shall in this Chorus join,
306 And, dumb to others 'praise, be loud in mine.
307 Rejoice, Ye happy GOTHAMITES, rejoice;
308 Lift up your voice on high, a mighty voice,
309 The voice of gladness, and on ev'ry tongue,
310 In strains of gratitude, be praises hung,
311 The praises of so great and good a King;
312 Shall CHURCHILL reign, and shall not GOTHAM sing.
313 The Show'rs, which make the young hills, like young Lambs,
314 Bound and rebound, the old Hills, like old Rams,
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315 Unwieldy, jump for joy; the Streams, which glide,
316 Whilst PLENTY marches smiling by their side,
317 And from their bosom rising COMMERCE springs;
318 The Winds, which rise with healing on their wings,
319 Before whose cleansing breath Contagion flies;
320 The Sun who, travelling in Eastern skies,
321 Fresh, full of strength, just risen from his bed,
322 Tho' in JOVE's pastures they were born and bred,
323 With voice and whip, can scarce make his steeds stir,
324 Step by Step, up the perpendicular;
325 Who, at the hour of Eve, panting for rest,
326 Rolls on amain, and gallops down the West,
327 As fast as JEHU, oil'd for AHAB's sin,
328 Drove for a crown, or Post-boys for an Inn;
329 The Moon, who holds o'er night her silver reign,
330 Regent of tides, and Mistress of the Brain,
331 Who to her Sons, those Sons who own her pow'r,
332 And do her homage at the midnight hour,
333 Gives madness as a blessing, but dispenses
334 Wisdom to fools, and damns them with their Senses;
335 The Stars who, by I know not what strange right,
336 Preside o'er mortals in their own despite,
337 Who without Reason govern Those, who most
338 (How truly judge from hence!) of Reason boast,
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339 And, by some mighty Magic yet unknown,
340 Our actions guide, yet cannot guide their own;
341 All, One and All, shall in this Chorus join,
342 And, dumb to others 'praise, be loud in Mine.
343 Rejoice, Ye happy GOTHAMITES, rejoice;
344 Lift up your voice on high, a mighty voice,
345 The voice of gladness, and on ev'ry tongue
346 In strains of gratitude, be praises hung,
347 The praises of so great and good a King;
348 Shall CHURCHILL reign, and shall not GOTHAM sing?
349 The Moment, Minute, Hour, Day, Week, Month, Year,
350 Morning and Eve, as they in turn appear;
351 Moments and Minutes which, without a crime,
352 Can't be omitted in accounts of time,
353 Or, if omitted, (proof we might afford)
354 Worthy by Parliaments to be restor'd;
355 The Hours which, drest by turns in black and white,
356 Ordain'd as Handmaids, wait on Day and Night;
357 The Day, those hours I mean, when Light presides,
358 And BUSINESS in a cart with PRUDENCE rides;
359 The Night, those hours I mean with darkness hung,
360 When Sense speaks free, and Folly holds her tongue;
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361 The Morn, when Nature, rousing from her strife
362 With death-like sleep, awakes to second life;
363 The Eve, when, as unequal to the task,
364 She mercy from her foe descends to ask;
365 The Week, in which Six days are kindly given
366 To think of Earth, and One to think of Heaven;
367 The Months, twelve Sisters, all of diff'rent hue,
368 Tho' there appears in all a likeness too,
369 Not such a likeness, as, thro' HAYMAN's works,
370 Dull Mannerist, in Christians, Jews, and Turks,
371 Cloys with a sameness in each female face,
372 But a strange Something, born of Art and Grace,
373 Which speaks them All, to vary and adorn,
374 At diff'rent times of the same Parents born;
375 All, One and All, shall in this Chorus join,
376 And, dumb to others 'praise, be loud in Mine.
377 Rejoice, Ye happy GOTHAMITES, rejoice;
378 Lift up your voice on high, a mighty voice,
379 The voice of gladness, and on ev'ry tongue,
380 In strains of gratitude, be praises hung,
381 The praises of so great and good a King;
382 Shall CHURCHILL reign, and shall not GOTHAM sing?
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383 Frore JANUARY, Leader of the year,
384 Minc'd-pies in van, and Calves-heads in the rear;
385 Dull February, in whose leaden reign,
386 My Mother bore a bard without a brain;
387 MARCH various, fierce, and wild, with wind-crack'd cheeks,
388 By wilder Welchmen led, and crown'd with leeks!
389 APRIL with fools, and MAY with bastards blest;
390 JUNE with White Roses on her rebel breast;
391 JULY, to whom, the Dog-Star in her train,
392 Saint JAMES gives oysters, and Saint SWITHIN rain;
393 AUGUST, who, banish'd from her Smithfield stand,
394 To Chelsea flies, with DOGGET in her hand;
395 SEPTEMBER, when by Custom (right divine)
396 Geese are ordain'd to bleed at MICHAEL's shrine,
397 Whilst the Priest, not so full of grace as wit,
398 Falls to, unbless'd, nor gives the Saint a bit;
399 OCTOBER, who the cause of FREEDOM join'd,
400 And gave a second GEORGE to bless mankind;
401 NOVEMBER, who at once to grace our earth,
402 Saint ANDREW boasts, and our AUGUSTA's birth;
403 DECEMBER, last of Months, but best, who gave
404 A CHRIST to Man, a Saviour to the Slave,
405 Whilst, falsely grateful, Man, at the full feast,
406 To do God honour, makes himself a beast;
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407 All, One and All, shall in this Chorus join,
408 And dumb to others 'praise, be loud in Mine.
409 Rejoice, Ye happy GOTHAMITES, rejoice;
410 Lift up your voice on high, a mighty voice,
411 The voice of gladness, and on ev'ry tongue
412 In strains of gratitude, be praises hung,
413 The praises of so great and good a King;
414 Shall CHURCHILL reign, and shall not GOTHAM sing?
415 The Seasons as they roll; SPRING, by her side
416 Letch'ry and Lent, Lay-Folly, and Church-Pride,
417 By a rank Monk to Copulation led,
418 A tub of sainted Salt-Fish on her head;
419 SUMMER, in light, transparent Gawze array'd,
420 Like Maids of Honour at a Masquerade,
421 In bawdry Gawze, for which our daughters leave
422 The Fig, more modest, first brought up by EVE,
423 Panting for breath, enflam'd with lustful fires,
424 Yet wanting strength to perfect her desires,
425 Leaning on SLOTH, who, fainting with the heat,
426 Stops at each step, and slumbers on his feet;
427 AUTUMN, when NATURE, who with sorrow feels
428 Her dread foe Winter treading on her heels,
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429 Makes up in value what she wants in length,
430 Exerts her pow'rs, and puts forth all her strength,
431 Bids Corn and Fruits in full perfection rise,
432 Corn Fairly Tax'd, and Fruits without Excise;
433 WINTER, benumb'd with cold, no longer known
434 By robes of Fur, since Furs became our own,
435 A Hag who, loathing all, by all is loath'd,
436 With weekly, daily, hourly libels cloath'd,
437 Vile FACTION at her heels, who, mighty grown,
438 Would rule the Ruler, and foreclose the throne,
439 Would turn all State-affairs into a trade,
440 Make Laws one day, the next to be Unmade,
441 Beggar at home a People fear'd abroad,
442 And, force defeated, make them Slaves by Fraud;
443 All, One and All, shall in this Chorus join,
444 And, dumb to other's praise, be loud in Mine.
445 Rejoice, Ye happy GOTHAMITES, rejoice;
446 Lift up your voice on high, a mighty voice,
447 The voice of gladness, and on ev'ry tongue,
448 In strains of gratitude, be praises hung,
449 The praises of so great and good a King;
450 Shall CHURCHILL reign, and shall not GOTHAM sing?
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451 The Year, Grand Circle, in whose ample round
452 The Seasons regular and fix'd are bound,
453 (Who, in his course repeated o'er and o'er,
454 Sees the same things which he had seen before.
455 The same Stars keep their Watch, and the same Sun
456 Runs in the track where he from first hath run;
457 The same Moon rules the night, Tides ebb and flow,
458 Man is a Puppet, and this World a Show,
459 Their old dull follies old dull fools pursue,
460 And Vice in nothing, but in Mode, is new,
461 He a Lord (now fair befall that Pride,
462 He liv'd a Villain, but a Lord he died)
463 DASHWOOD is pious, BERKLEY fix'd as fate,
464 SANDWICH (THANK HEAV'N) first Minister of State,
465 And, tho' by Fools despis'd, by Saints unbless'd,
466 By Friends neglected, and by Foes oppress'd,
467 Scorning the servile arts of each Court-Elf,
468 Founded on Honour, WILKES is still himself)
469 The Year, encircled with the various train
470 Which waits, and fills the glories of his reign,
471 Shall, taking up this theme, in Chorus join,
472 And, dumb to others 'Praise, be loud in Mine.
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473 Rejoice, Ye happy GOTHAMITES, rejoice;
474 Lift up your voice on high, a mighty voice,
475 The voice of gladness, and on ev'ry tongue,
476 In strains of gratitude, be praises hung,
477 The praises of so great and good a King;
478 Shall Churchill reign, and shall not GOTHAM sing?
479 Thus far in Sport nor let our Critics hence,
480 Who sell out monthly trash, and call it Sense,
481 Too lightly of our present labours deem,
482 Or judge at random of so high a Theme;
483 High is our Theme, and worthy are the men
484 To feel the sharpest stroke of Satire's Pen;
485 But when kind Time a proper season brings,
486 In serious mood to treat of serious things,
487 Then shall they find, disdaining idle play,
488 That I can be as grave and dull as They.
489 Thus far in Sport nor let half Patriots, (those
490 Who shrink from ev'ry blast of Pow'r which blows,
491 Who, with tame Cowardice familiar grown,
492 Would hear my thoughts, but fear to speak their own,
493 Who, lest bold Truths, to do sage Prudence spite,
494 Should burst the Portals of their lips by night,
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495 Tremble to trust themselves one hour in sleep,)
496 Condemn our course, and hold our Caution cheap.
497 When brave Occasion bids, for some great end
498 When Honour calls the Poet as a Friend,
499 Then shall They find, that, e'en on danger's brink,
500 He dares to Speak, what they scarce dare to Think.
END OF THE FIRST BOOK.

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Title (in Source Edition): GOTHAM. BOOK I.
Themes: politics; monarchy (heads of state)
Genres: heroic couplet; satire

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Source edition

Churchill, Charles, 1731-1764. Gotham. A poem. Book I. By C. Churchill. London: printed for the author, and sold by W. Flexney; G. Kearsley; C. Henderson; J. Coote; J. Gardiner; and J. Almon, 1764, pp. []-24. [4],24p. ; 4⁰. (ESTC T1706; OTA K020958.000)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.