The poetical works of James Thomson ...

228 LIBERTY. PART V.
And firm tenacious valor can bestow.
Great nurse of fruits, of flocks, of commerce, she!
Great nurse of men! by thee, 0 Goddess, taught,
Her old renown I trace, disclose her source
Of wealth, of grandeur, and to Britons sing
A strain the AMuses never touch'd before.'But how shall this thy mighty kingdom stand?
On what unyielding base? how finish'd shine?'
At this her eye, collecting all its fire,
Beam'd more than human; and her awful voice,
Majestic thus she raised:' To Britons bear
This closing strain, and with intenser note
Loud let it sound in their awaken'd ear:' On virtue can alone my kingdom stand,
On public virtue, every virtue join'd.
For, lost this social cement of mankind,
The greatest empires, by scarce-felt degrees,
Will moulder soft away; till, tottering loose,
They, prone at last, to total ruin rush.
Unbless'd by virtue, government a league
Becomes, a circling junto of the great,
To rob by law; religion mild, a yoke
To tame the stooping soul, a trick of state
To mask their rapine, and to share the prey.
What are, without it, senates; save a face
Of consultation deep and reason free,
While the determined voice and heart are sold?
What boasted freedom, save a sounding name?
And what election, but a market vile
Of slaves self-barter'd? Virtue! without thee,