474]

Sun, moon, and thou, vain world, adieu,
That Kings and priests are plotting in;
Here doomed to starve on water gru-
-el, never shall I see the U-
-niversity of Goettingen,
-niversity of Goettingen.

A Prime Minister who can throw off squibs, and a nation that can enjoy
them, will not succumb even in the worst crisis.

In truth, all patriots were now straining their utmost to repel an
aggressive and insolent enemy. The Volunteer Movement more than ever
called forth the manly exertions of the people; and one of the most
popular caricatures of the time (May 1798) shows Pitt as a Volunteer
standing rigidly at attention. Sermons, caricatures, pamphlets, and
songs, especially those of Dibdin, served to stimulate martial ardour.
Singular to relate, Hannah More (now in her fifty-third year) figured
among the patriotic pamphleteers, her "Cheap Repository" of political
tracts being an effective antidote to the Jacobinical leaflets which
once had a hold on the poorer classes. Space will not admit of an
account of all the agencies which heralded the dawn of a more resolute
patriotism. Though the methods were varied, the soul of them all was
Pitt.[475]

The tone of public opinion astonished that experienced writer, Mallet du
Pan, who, on coming from the Continent to England, described the change
of spirit as astounding. There the monarchical States, utterly devoid of
dignity and patriotism, were squabbling over the details of a shameful
peace. "Here," he writes in May 1798, "we are in the full tide of war,
crushed by taxation, and exposed to the fury of the most desperate of
enemies, but nevertheless security, abundance, and energy reign supreme,
alike in cottage and palace. I have not met with a single instance of
nervousness or apprehension. The spectacle presented by public opinion
has far surpassed my expectation. The nation had not yet learnt to know
its own strength or its resources. The Government has taught it the
secret, and inspired it with an unbounded confidence almost amounting to
presumption." No more striking tribute has been paid by a foreigner to
the dauntless spirit of Britons. Rarely have they begun a war well; for
the careless ways of the race tell against the methodical preparation to
which continental States must perforce submit. England, therefore,
always loses in the first rounds of a fight. But, if she finds a good
leader, she slowly and wastefully repairs the