"Does Conscience, that just Judge, confirm my sentence? / There I am clear."
— Cumberland, Richard (1732-1811)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for J. Walter
Date
1761
Metaphor
"Does Conscience, that just Judge, confirm my sentence? / There I am clear."
Metaphor in Context
CICERO.
Author of Life, behold and help thy Creature!
Is Reason giv'n us, yet its use denied?
So were thy gift our torment. Freely then,
Oh! let me ask, by what law dost thou govern?
By Justice--as becomes a gracious Father?
Or by wild will--as suits a lawless King?
Not so besure. Then let the guilty tremble;
Virtue is safe from harm. So I myself
Guilty pronounce; else wherefore thus undone?
Does Conscience, that just Judge, confirm my sentence?
There I am clear. My faults are then not mine,
But Nature's; against which no verdict lies:
Have the Gods less forbearance?
(p. 61)
Author of Life, behold and help thy Creature!
Is Reason giv'n us, yet its use denied?
So were thy gift our torment. Freely then,
Oh! let me ask, by what law dost thou govern?
By Justice--as becomes a gracious Father?
Or by wild will--as suits a lawless King?
Not so besure. Then let the guilty tremble;
Virtue is safe from harm. So I myself
Guilty pronounce; else wherefore thus undone?
Does Conscience, that just Judge, confirm my sentence?
There I am clear. My faults are then not mine,
But Nature's; against which no verdict lies:
Have the Gods less forbearance?
(p. 61)
Categories
Provenance
LION
Citation
3 entries in ESTC (1761).
The Banishment of Cicero. A Tragedy. By Richard Cumberland (London: Printed for J. Walter, 1761). <Link to ECCO>
The Banishment of Cicero. A Tragedy. By Richard Cumberland (London: Printed for J. Walter, 1761). <Link to ECCO>
Date of Entry
09/04/2013
