National Gazette

ODE TO LIBERTY
See the original in our last
"O toi, dont l'auguste lumiere," &c.

THOU splendid light, that clouds obscur'd
So long from Gallic lands,
Goddess, in ancient days ador'd
By Gallia's conquering bands:
Thou LIBERTY! whom savage kings
Have plac'd among forbidden things,
Tho' still averse that men be free
Secret, they bow to Liberty;
O, to my accents lend an ear.
Blest objet of each tyrant's fear.
While I to modern days recall
The Lyric muse of ancient Gaul.
Ere yet my willing voice obeys
The transports of the heart,
The goddess to my view displays
A temple rear'd in ancient days,
Fit subject of the muse's art.
Now, round the world I cast my eye,
With pain, its ruins I descry.
This temple once to freedom rais'd
Thermopylae! in thy fam'd strait—
I see it to the dust debas'd,
And servile chains, its fate!
In those fair climes, where freedom reign'd,
Two thousand years degrade the Grecian name,
I see them still enslav'd, enchain'd;
But France from Rome and Athens caught the flame—
A temple now to heaven they raise
Where nations bound in ties of peace
With olive-boughs shall throng to praise
The gallant Gaul,that bade all discord cease.
Before this Pantheon. fair and tall,
The piles of darker ages fall,
And freemen here no longer trace
The monuments of man's disgrace.
Before its porch, at freedom's tree
Exalt the CAP OF LIBERTY,
The cap* that once Helvetia knew
(The terror of the tyrant crew)
And on our country's altar trace
The features of each honour'd face:
The men that strove for equal laws,
Or perish'd martyrs in their cause.
Ye gallant chiefs, above all praise,
Ye Brutus's of ancient days!
Tho' fortune long has strove to blast,
Your virtues are repaid at last.
Your heavenly feasts a while forbear
And deign to make my song your care:
My lyre a bolder note attains
And rivals old Tyrtæus' strains;
The ambient air returns the sound,
And kindles rapture all around.
With thee begins the lofty theme.
Eternal Being—power supreme,
Who planted FREEDOM in the mind,
The first great right of all mankind:
Too long presumptuous folly dar'd
To veil our race from thy regard;
Tyrants on ignorance form'd their plan,
And made their crimes, the crimes of man.
Let victory but befriend our cause
And reason deign to dictate laws;
At once mankind their rights reclaim
And honours pay to thy great name.—
But O! what cries our joys molest,
What discord drowns sweet music's feast!
What demon from perdition leads
Night, fire, aud thunder o'er our heads!
In northern realms, prepar'd for fight
A thousand savage clans unite.—
To avenge a faithless Helen's doom
All Europe's slaves, determin'd, come
Freedom's fair fabric to destroy
And wrap in flames another Troy!
These, these are they—the murdering bands.
Whose blood, of old, disstain'd our lands.
By our forefathers chas'd and slain,
The monuments of death remain.
Hungarians, wet with human blood,
Ye Saxons fierce. so oft subdu'd
By ancient Gauls on Gallic plains,
Dread, dread the race, that still remains :
Return, and seek your dark abodes,
Your dens and caves in northern woods,
Nor stay to tell each kindred ghost
What thousands from your tribes are lost.
A fiend from hell, of murderous brood,
Stain'd with a hapless husband's blood,
Unites with Danube† and the Spree,
Who arm to make the French their prey.
To check their hosts, and chill with fear,
Frenchmen, advance to your frontier.
There dig the ETERNAL TOMB of kings,
Or Poland's fate each monster brings,
Mows millions down, your cause defeats,
And Ishmael's horrid scene§ repeats.
Ye nations brave, so long rever'd,
Whom Rome, in all her glory, fear'd;
Whose stubborn mind no tyrant broke
To bow the neck to Cæsar's yoke—
Scythians! whom Romans never chain'd;
GERMANS! that unsubdued remain'd,
Ah! see your sons, a sordid race
With despots leagu'd, to their disgrace
Aid the base cause that you abhor,
And hurl on France the storm of war.
Our bold attempts shake modern Rome,
She bids her kindred despots come;
From Italy her forces draws
To waste their blood in TARQUIN's CAUSE.
A hundred hords of foes advance,
Embodying on the verge of France;
'Mongst these to guide the flame of war,
I see PORSENNA's,|| just a score,
While from the soil, by thousands spring
SEEVOLA's¶ to destroy each king.
O Rome! what glory you consign
To those who court your ancient fame!
Frenchmen, like Romans now shall shine,
And copying them, their ancient honours claim.
O France, my native clime, my country dear
While youth remains may I behold you free,
Each tyrant crush'd, no threatening despot near
To endanger Liberty!
By you unfetter'd be all human kind,
No slaves on earth be known
And man be blest, in friendship join'd,
From Tyber to the Amazon!

* Which owes its origin to William Tell, the famous deliverer of Switzerland.

† Catharine the 2d, present empress of Russia, who deposed her husband Peter the 3d, and deprived him of life in July 1762, while under confinement in prison.

‡ Two great rivers of Germany; here metaphorically designating the Austrian and Prussian powers.

§ The Turkish fortress of Ishmael, in 1789 stormed by the Russian army. After carrying it by assault, upwards of 30,000 persons, men, women, and children were slaughtered by the Russian barbarians, in less than three hours.

|| An ancient king of Etruria who took Tarquin's part against the Romans.

¶ Sævola, who attempted the life of Porsenna in his own camp, but failed.