King George in a fright,
Lest Gibbon should write
The story of Britain’s disgrace;
Thought no means more sure
His pen to secure,
Than to give the historian a place.
But his caution is vain,
‘Tis the curse of his reign
That his projects shall never succeed;
Though he write not a line
Yet a cause of decline
In the author’s example we read.
His book well describes
How corruption bribes
Overthrew the great empire of Rome;
And his writings declare
A degeneracy there,
Which his conduct exhibits at home!
(Charles James Fox)
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