The former line, 'Let observation,' &c. is certainly heavy and useless. But 'tis a grand poem--and _so true!_--true as the 10th of Juvenal himself. The lapse of ages _changes_ all things--time--language--the earth--the bounds of the sea--the stars of the sky, and every thing 'about, around, and underneath' man, _except man himself_, who has always been, and always will be, an unlucky rascal. The infinite variety of lives conduct but to death, and the infinity of wishes lead but to disappointment. All the discoveries which have yet been made have multiplied little but existence. An extirpated disease is succeeded by some new pestilence; and a discovered world has brought little to the old one, except the p---- first and freedom afterwards--the _latter_ a fine thing, particularly as they gave it to Europe in exchange for slavery. But it is doubtful whether 'the Sovereigns' would not think the _first_ the best present of the two to their subjects.
"At eight went out--heard some news. They say the King of Naples has declared, by couriers from Florence, to the _Powers_ (as they call now those wretches with crowns) that his Constitution was compulsive, &c. &c. and that the Austrian barbarians are placed again on _war_ pay, and will march. Let them--'they come like sacrifices in their trim,' the hounds of hell! Let it still be a hope to see their bones piled like those of the human dogs at Morat, in Switzerland, which I have seen.
"Heard some music. At nine the usual visiters--news, _war_, or rumours of war. Consulted with P.G. &c. &c. They mean to _insurrect_ here, and are to honour me with a call thereupon. I shall not fall back; though I don't think them in force or heart sufficient to make much of it. But, _onward!_--it is now the time to act, and what signifies _self_, if a single spark of that which would be worthy of the past can be bequeathed unquenchedly to the future? It is not one man, nor a million, but the _spirit_ of liberty which must be spread. The waves which dash upon the shore are, one by one, broken, but yet the _ocean_ conquers, nevertheless. It overwhelms the Armada, it wears the rock, and, if the _Neptunians_ are to be believed, it has not only destroyed, but made a world. In like manner, whatever the sacrifice of individuals, the great cause will gather strength, sweep down what is rugged, and fertilise (for _sea-weed_ is _manure_) what is cultivable. And so, the mere selfish calculation ought never to be made on such occasions; and, at present, it shall not be computed by me. I was never a good arithmetician of chances, and shall not commence now.