Britannia: A Poem. With Historical Notes. Inscribed to the King, Queen, and Royal Family. The Lords and Commons of Great-Britain and Ireland. The Governors and Members of British Colonies
- James Gough (author)
- Jack P. Greene (collection editor)
This pamphlet is a patriotic verse survey of British history from the Danish invasions and King Alfred through the Tudor monarchs and the Hanoverian succession, celebrating the nation’s gradual triumph over tyranny, religious persecution, and foreign threat. Dedicated to the Lords and Commons, the Royal Family, and the governors of British colonies, the poem praises Britain’s roads, canals, trade, and above all its liberty — arguing that “what far excels / Here Liberty, Britannia’s Glory, dwells.”
It concludes with a moral and political exhortation: urging legislators, clergy, and citizens alike to embrace virtue and reject the corrupting influence of French luxury, warning that Britain’s true greatness depends not on military conquest but on righteousness at home.
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The text of these 18th century pamphlets has been converted by machine from scanned PDFs of the original microfilm copies. While the text has been machine-proofed, transcription errors may still remain. For example, the 18th-century long S, ſ , may be rendered as “f,” some words may be incorrectly transcribed, and there may be repeated words or phrases.