Epigrams on Lord Castlereagh
[Page 164]
France had the man, but gave him those
Whom he had taken for her by the nose;
England had her’s, and has him still,
Who’ll cut her own throat for her, if she will
____________
Oh, CASTLEREAGH! thou art a patriot now;
Cato(2) died for his country, so did’st thou;
He perish’d rather than see Rome enslav’d,(3)
______
So CASTLEREAGH has cut his throat!—The worst
Of this is,—that his own was not the first.
______
So He has cut his throat at last!—He! Who?
The man who cut his country’s long ago.
____________
EDITORIAL NOTES
EDITORIAL NOTES
[1] Robert Stewart (1769-1822), Marquess of Londonderry. British statesman and politician known as Lord Castlereagh owing to his courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh.
[2] Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis, or Cato the Younger (95 BC-46 BC), conservative senator during the late Roman Republic.
[3] After the defeat of the forces loyal to the Roman Senate at the Battle of Thapsus (46 BCE), Cato refused to surrender to Caesar and to live under a regime he considered illegitimate; he chose death as the ultimate act of defiance and resistance. His suicide was a deliberate political statement, and turned him into a martyr.
[4] Robert Stewart, Lord Castlereagh, took his own life in 1822, exacerbated by intense political pressure.
Ultimo aggiornamento
09.03.2025