Chapter_1217

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As these new cantos touch on warlike feats,

To you the unflattering Muse deigns to inscribe

Truths, that you will not read in the Gazettes,

But which ’tis time to teach the hireling tribe

Who fatten on their country’s gore, and debts,

Must be recited⁠—and without a bribe.

You did great things, but not being great in mind,

Have left undone the greatest⁠—and mankind.