"Nor can this right be less when national; / Reason which governs one, should govern all."
— Defoe, Daniel (1660?-1731)
Author
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Date
1701, 1703
Metaphor
"Nor can this right be less when national; / Reason which governs one, should govern all."
Metaphor in Context
Nor can this right be less when national;
Reason which governs one, should govern all.
Whate're the dialects of courts may tell,
He that his right demands can ne're rebel;
Which right, if 'tis by Governors denied,
May be procured by force, or foreign aid.
For tyranny's a nation's term of grief;
As folks cry Fire, to hasten in relief.
And when the hated word is heard about,
All men should come to help the people out.
(Part II, p. 48, ll. 834-843)
Reason which governs one, should govern all.
Whate're the dialects of courts may tell,
He that his right demands can ne're rebel;
Which right, if 'tis by Governors denied,
May be procured by force, or foreign aid.
For tyranny's a nation's term of grief;
As folks cry Fire, to hasten in relief.
And when the hated word is heard about,
All men should come to help the people out.
(Part II, p. 48, ll. 834-843)
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 56 entries in ESTC (1701, 1702, 1703, 1704, 1708, 1710, 1711, 1713, 1716, 1717, 1721, 1728, 1730, 1731, 1733, 1740, 1743, 1748, 1749, 1750, 1754, 1755, 1765, 1767, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, 1777, 1778, 1780, 1784, 1786, 1788, 1790, 1795).
See The True-Born Englishman. A Satyr. ([London?]: [s.n.], 1701). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
See also A True Collection of the Writings of the Author of the True Born English-Man. Corrected By Himself. (London: Printed, and are to be sold by most booksellers in London and Westminster, 1703). <Link to LION>
Over 20 editions in Defoe's lifetime. Also issued as part of: A Collection of the Best English Poetry, by Several Hands, London, 1717. See also 1731 printing "Corrected and enlarg'd by the author" <Link to ESTC>
Reading Daniel Defoe. The True-Born Englishman and Other Writings. Ed. P.N. Furbank and W.R. Owens (New York: Penguin Books, 1997).
See The True-Born Englishman. A Satyr. ([London?]: [s.n.], 1701). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>
See also A True Collection of the Writings of the Author of the True Born English-Man. Corrected By Himself. (London: Printed, and are to be sold by most booksellers in London and Westminster, 1703). <Link to LION>
Over 20 editions in Defoe's lifetime. Also issued as part of: A Collection of the Best English Poetry, by Several Hands, London, 1717. See also 1731 printing "Corrected and enlarg'd by the author" <Link to ESTC>
Reading Daniel Defoe. The True-Born Englishman and Other Writings. Ed. P.N. Furbank and W.R. Owens (New York: Penguin Books, 1997).
Date of Entry
06/08/2010
