Thy friend, the brave, the gallant Altamont,
So call’d, so thought—and then he fled the field. 440
Less base the fear of death, than fear of life.
O Britain, infamous for suicide!
An island in thy manners! far disjoin’d
From the whole world of rationals beside!
In ambient waves plunge thy polluted head,
Wash the dire stain, nor shock the Continent.
But thou be shock’d, while I detect the cause
Of self-assault, expose the monster’s birth,