The Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris, vol. 2 - Online Library of ...

“Here you reply:
An easy task it is to blame.
And when a general’s measures fail,
The world is privileged to rail;
But would you, whilst men wound and curse you,
Present them naught but Christian mercy?
Mildness to those abandoned wretches!
The men of Paris without breeches,
With due submission to your meekness.
“Now ‘tis my turn:
I grant you that the sans culottes,
Who please themselves by cutting throats,
Might well expect, if times should alter,
To be rewarded with a halter;
But they who loved the Constitution—
“You come in here pat:
Prepared the second Revolution;
’Twas they who led their hapless nation
Out of the road of her salvation,
To follow that fantastic scheme,
The rights of man; a boyish dream
Where words of vague, ambiguous sense
Conduct to bloodiest consequence.
They pulled unhappy Louis down,
Then mock’d him with a paper crown
Which any breath might blow away
And leave him bare. In short, ’twas they
Who, with a rage perverse and blind,
Would fain have ruined all mankind.
“To this I answer:
Online Library of Liberty: The Diary and Letters of Gouverneur Morris, vol. 2
Admitting what you say were true,
Yet punishments most justly due
May be deferr’d, when hasty zeal
Would rather lead to woe than weal.
Those who contend against a foe
Of great resources strive to sow
Dissension in his state; make friends,
Who may contribute to their ends;
And, easier conquests to obtain,
Adopt the rule—divide and reign.
If Brunswick had this line pursued,
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