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February 7, 1771. No.
318. |
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A TRANSLATION in
English of the EPITAPH designed for the Tomb of J. W. in
45 Lines.
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Who
lies here?
A vile despicable Wretch;
Formerly the darling and delight of the mob;
A
satellite and slave to the Great;
A fickle tool in the hands of
others 5
Infamous in every station of
life;
A
seditious citizen;
A
base husband;
An
unnatural parent;
An
undutiful
son; 10
A
notorious prodigal;
A violator of laws human and
divine;
The
enemy of his country;
A
railer at his Sovereign;
The
Clodius of his
time; 15
For
his infamous libel,
He
was justly condemned,
Thrown
into goal,
And expelled the House of Commons;
Odious to and detested by every good
man; 20
Born for the destruction of many;
His only aim and sole study was to find out
The
materials of sedition;
Overburdened
with debts;
Descended of an ignoble
family; 25
Possessed
of no honors,
Having
never merited any;
With
a brazen front,
And
unparalleled audacity,
He paved the way to the favor of the
rabble, 30
And
gained their affections,
Which he always intended to captivate;
A
disgrace to his country abroad;
He dishonored our nobles at home;
Who tolerated his insults too
long, 35
And dismissed them with impunity;
A very dangerous counsellor;
His
zeal for Liberty
Was only a pretext for his ambition;
He
sowed the seeds of
discord 40
Among the inhabitants of this island,
Formerly
the most united;
After a life to his country too long,
And probably to himself too short,
He
died unwept and
unlamented. 45
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