The Sun.
London, England, 1818-01-03 00:00:00

GUILT DE FACTO-NOT DE JURE.

I love thee FREEDOM with as warm a zeal r, •
As Patriots e'er have felt, or e'er will feel ;
Clos'e to my heart—within its utmost core
Thou haat a place—l love thee—nay, adore;
But with a fervor to the full as great •
The Monster who usurps thy Name, I hate ;
Who, whilst her cry is universal good
•Thn fienzied Nation's deluges with blood ;
And with her witching sounds of Equal Rig-las,
The germ and root of social union blights. ,
Awhile the Fiend (in France she had her birth)
Trod under foot the desolated Earth ;
And Europe's Sons, like Indian zealots, rush'd
Beneath her car, contending to be crush'd ;
Till Time and Truth the veil at last witlulrew,
And gave her dread deformity to view :
Then starting at her lineaments of hell,
Men, horror-struck, broke each deceiving spell ;
Whilst ANARCHY •(for she it was) sunk down
Ahash'd and paraliz'd by Tatritt's stern frown.
Truth soon retiring, Despotism arose,
And brought a change, nut cure, of former woes ;
Cast o'er the heedless crowds his galling chain,
And aim'd, thro' them, at universal reign.
But when all seem'd his own—Heaven's vengeful frost,
Death and discomfiture, pursued his host :
Leipzig's proud field, 'France ravag'd, Paris won,
Proclaius'd the Monster past reprieve undone ;
And now when Furope, breathing from the shock,
Has fiat the Caitiff on his Prison Rock ;
Now Anarchy begins to stir again,
And votaries finds amongst deluded men.
Her greatiHigh Priests, Rousseau, TOM PAYNE, VOLTAIRE,
Holm TooxE, hare ceas'd to breathe the vital air ;
Sir FRANCIS holds his tongue, and prates no more;,
COBBETT, -fled hence, defiles another shore ;
Yet still the gloomy Northern Prophets croak,
Rant, snarl, pervert, and sometimes strive to joke;
Still, Haberdashers aiming to he wits,
Pour forth their nonsense to admiring Cits ;
Still H.—, the Demagogue, his venom bawls ;
Still H---, the Journalist, to Faction calls;
Still silly B—st at Ministers declaims,
B—M, who then praises most, when most he blames;.
Whilst preaching mischief in blaspheming tone,
The place of CoesErr is supplied by Hose, .
Who not content with common scandal dares
To twist and parody our very prayers ;
Pervert the wisdom sent us (rims above,
That men may glow with piety and love,
To fill their hearts with jealousies and hate,
And break the bonds which now unite the State.
The Mats has dar'd—oh sacrilege abhorr'd,
To mock the Prayer bequeath'd us by our Lord ;
Poisoning instruction at the fountain-head,
Has dar'd his venom'd influence to shed
upon the Cathechism—to sow the seed •
Of Unbelief and Danger in the Creed,
To make the Litany, that supplication
Of Faith and Love, a mark for profaLation ;
The man has deed to scoff at the Divinity,
By sneer and Kanter pointed at the Trinity,
Where Athenasius shews those mysteries, clear
As heavenly mysteries can to mats appear.
Yet these effusions of his impious gall,
He names his Squibs, and thus excuses all.
" Have not too others done the same ? then say
u Why should not I blaspheme as well as they ?"
" Why should not I" vain impotent Pretence !
Alike Truth outraging and common sense !
The Thieves have rohb'd unhang'd—shall Thieves have hope-
Whene'er convicted to escape the rope ?
" True—but then HONE was not convicted,"—Nos—
" A Jury found Nat Guilty"—even
And !with reverence bow to their Decree:
'Tis Jury-trial makes and keeps us free ;
Lung may our Juries flourish! very long
Protect the weak, and keep in check the strong !
At Verdicts of not guilty, all rejoice
For Guilt gives pain, and sweet is Mercy's voice.
But eves then Not Guilty will not end
The numerous ills to which 'such Writings tend ;
Their Verdict will nut stop alas ! the spread
Of low-pric'd Poisons, tainting Heart and Head;
The lowest Orders,-to their Danger blind,
Will buy and fix Contagion on their mind.
They had been wont to seek the Church—and there
Oa bended knees repeat each holy Prayer;
But now with these vile printed nostrums fraught,
Adieu to Reverence or in Deed or Thought.
All will the Churches shun, or to them bring
Hearts tnrn'd from God, their Country, and their King ;
Or shock the pious with their Laughter loud ;
Such Laughter as in Court conruls'd the Crowd,
And, notwithstanding Judire subacto
, If not de Jore, proved the Guilt de Facto.
Facts are call'd stubborn Things—yet,' as 'tis fit
Juries can make e'en Facts and Law submit. •
Long by good use of suet' restraining Powet
May Britain stand till Nature's final hour !
Though follow'd nor by mob, and city-greetings,
Congratulation and Subscription-meetings ;
Though cause of triumph to designing men,
Though and have rous'd again;
Though prayers way now he parodied by all ;
Though WAITHMANt tot, IllaY give Dame HONE a shawl—
Shawl from his own, whilst he in other shops
For Masters HONE may purchase humming tops,
That they in party-wranglingq yet to come •
May like their tops and like their father Hum;
Though a late verdict has prepar'd the way
To all these ills and more—yetwill I say—
May Juries ever flourish in our land,
Guarding our Freedom as the rocks her strand.

a The Author must hare written his Poem before the late
Meeting on HONE'S Triumph, when the patriotic Baronet
used his tongue with as much decency and moderation as
heretofore. •

t As this very handsotne present of the humming tops and
the shawl (a reel ! !) was not noticed in the Subscrip-
tion List, it i* the more necessary to record it here, lest pos.
teriti shonld measure the nsunificence of the worthy ('hair-
man and Treasurer, by the ten pound there entered:—No,
no—give the Devil Isis due.