Ah, no!—to more than Rome’s ambition true,
The Nurse of Freedom gave it not to you!
She the bold route of Europe’s guilt began,
And, in the march of nations, led the van!
Rich in the gems of India’s gaudy zone,
And plunder piled from kingdoms not their own,
Degenerate trade! thy minions could despise
The heart-born anguish of a thousand cries;
Could lock, with impious hands, their teeming store,
While famished nations died along the shore:[17]