Vast artery of life, through which the stores
That feed the growth of Truth, Opinion pours;
The mighty lens through which she points the rays
That kindle Error’s records into blaze.—
Gigantic engine! power that supersedes
The long prescriptive Use that Folly pleads.—
O happy England!
Land of my fathers! may thy children keep.
E’en as they guard the empire of the deep,
The free, unshackled press, that best secures