The Rulers of the Land.

(Not from Blackwood.)

I'm very sorry for the rich; would ne'er with envy look
Upon their lot, nor rail at them with loud prolonged rebuke;
Yet for us both, I should not say 'twas either good or kind,
To let them always govern us as if we had no mind;
For uncles, cousins, nephews, have office on demand,
Whene'er the brainless rich become the rulers of the land.

I venerate a good rich man—a gift as sent from heaven—
Dispensing without stint the wealth that Providence has given;
But alas! the good and rich are few, the bad and rich increase,
Who drive the poor to other lands to end their days in peace.
page 34 Where men were bred, now sheep are fed and roam on every hand,
To please our great aristocrats—the rulers of the and.

To hunt the fox and hare all day may meliorate the heart,
Yet the Gospel, one would think, might tend to teach a better art;
To spend the riches God them gave—to use the tongue and pen
In labours for the public good, with love for fellow-men.
The blessing of the poor and weak they always may command,
When the purse-proud rich are changed, and walk as Christians in the land!

With generals in their dotage, and captains proud of blood,
They think to meet America, and sweep the angry flood:
Vain hope! brave British men must be by braver generals led,
To fight and conquer, or to sink into their gory bed.
The greatest empire in this world much longer cannot stand,
If thoughtless men of rank remain the rulers of the land.