The Sun.
London, England, 1804-04-13 00:00:00

AN ADDRESS

TO THE FRIENDS OF THE LITERARY FUND, ON THE AN-
NIVERSARY OP THE INSTITUTION, Attu', 12, 1804, AT
TUE CROWN AND ANCHOR TAVERN,

W :ITTEN AND RECITED BY

WILLIAM THOMAS F ITZGERALD, ESQ.

BLEssin be the hour when first your gen'rous care
Bade Learning hope, and Genius not despair !
As Spricg's soft .show'rs. refresh the winteed earth,
And ;lye to Nature renovated birth ;
So you at happy iwervals appear,
The pledge and promise of a fruitful year.

When warm with hope, in Life's aspiring
The tints of Fancy ev'ry scene adorn - morn,
'
The glowing Landscape charms the Scholar's view,
And Ynuth believes the fairy prospect true !
But soon liNperienc.: proves his eye betray'd,
And all the piclure darkens into shade.
The noble fervour of his early clays,
His thirst of fame, his love or honest praise :
All that could make his ardent mind aspire-,
And kindle fair Ambition's sacred tire ! .
Like fleeting visions of the heated brain,
Dissolve in Poverty, and end in Pain.
Timid—abash'd—lie seeks a Patron's eve—
His modest voice, halt stifled with a sigh,
Can ill his complicated sorrows spew,
Or tell the flist'ry of an Author's woe :
The gift of L loquence in vain he tries,
G Her in his heart,, and Want before his eyes !
Accents on whieh the charin'd attention hung,
Then lose their pow'r, and falter on 'the tongue :
Check'd by cold locks, he hopeless turns away,
And like the Valley's Lily shuns the day
But you snail seek him in his lonely shade,
And, when by all deserted, bring him aid;
Raise to br,ght hopes, and stimulate to fame.
The Bard woo else had died without a name.
Unseen you bless—and what you nobly give,
Assists the press,' and bids its vot'ries live :
Let naeold policy your aid withhold,
Because some prostitute that press for gold;
Some Proteus Writers, varying with the hour,
The tools of Fattion, or the slaves of Po,,d'r !
Whose venal pens Corruption still may buy,
To hide the truth, and propagate the lie
For, though the letter.ci garden may disclose,
The nightshade-mingled with the fragrant rose ;
Shall we the rich and free parterre destroy,
13e'cause some poison grows, some weeds annoy ?
And while ‘ke thus a rude reform pursue,
Root up the evil, and the blessing too !

No! 'thouglithg press its liberty abuse,
The Patriot never will his hand refuse,
To guard it as lair Freedom's firmest base,
His country's boast, security, and grace!
Unfetter'd'tis beneficent to uteri,
For those who mock the swrird still fear the pen:
And though the pencil faith! oily may trace
The hideous outlines of a Tyrant's face ;
In stronger lines, the Muse more uncdnfin'd,
Can draw the blacker features of his n►ind.
Despotic, cruel, insolent, and vain,
With 'boundless pow'r, he livos the Slave of Pain;
Behold his sword o'er half the world extend,
Dtiliions of slaves he has, but not one friend !
Though Nations groan beneath his iron sway,
Doom'd in his turn to suffer and obey,
He feels th' Usurper's fate within his breast,
And, while oppressing, is himself opprest ;
No sweet domestic joys his heart can feel,
Who dreads in ev'ry hand th' .-Issassin's steel;
Who.c ever. jealous, and tormented soul,
Fears secret Poison in the friendly bowl
And turns the cup of joy to bitt'rest
Deceiv'd, deceiving, and mistrusting ALL !
On Beauty's breast his head never found repose,
That charm celestial for all human woes !
Bless'd pillow ! where the wretched find relief,
From Fortune's frowns, and er'ry.worldly grief.
No balmy sleep att.nads, his bed of Care—
But dreams of Ueath, and Visions ot
Keep nightly watch, and dreadful vigils there !
For 'tis decreed, by Heav'n's eternal laws;
That Tyrants shall endure the woes they cause;
And in the tortures of a guilty mind
Partake the curse they bring upon mankind
Th' historic Sa,,e, describing Europe's groan,
Oppress'd with fads, will pause, and sighing own,
'I`I►AT SYLLA% CEUELTIESy.A rSD NE/teS CRIMES,
BUT INTLY PAINT THE MONSTER or OUR TIMES !
Then will he turn to calm his harass'd mind
From those who curs'd, to those who hless'd mankind;
From Power usurp% to that which fir ally stood
On the broad basis of the Public Good ;
And Britain's Soveteigo, in his faithful page,
Shall shine the bright example of the age!
In Virtue'scause he shall resume his pen,
To paint the best of Monarchs and ot Men,
1n one strong line, all other praise above,
A PRINCE INTIIKON'D or'or4 Psozer's Lova !*

Thus shall the Press co-operate with Law,
The Good to vindicate, the Bad to awe t
AND NATIONS YLT UNBORN SHALL RltAll AND OWN
THAT FREILDOM'S BULWARK IS THE BRITISH "VIIRONL !

• This line is taken from the Author's Prologue to The
Widow of Malabar, written in 1790.