1793.5
Elegiac Sonnet
Thomas Adney
The European Magazine (March 1793), pp. 232-233

Written on the Murder of the late unfortunate Monarch of France.

By Mr. Thomas Adney.

Unhappy Louis! well thy fate may claim
    The gen'rous pity that a nation shows;
Thy many wrongs shall not be told in vain,—
    Alas! who weeps not at thy many woes!

Beset by fraud—condemn'd by partial laws,
    Nought but thy BLOOD could sate a trait'rous band;
No friend hadst thou to plead thy honest cause,—
    Unheard thou died'st to please a guilty land!

Hear ye, whole pity comforts the distress'd,
    And shed a tear, for meet it is indeed;
Hear ye, who glory in a kingdom blest,
    And say, BRITANNIA blushes at the deed!

The base may thrive, to whom a pow'r is giv'n,
    But conscious virtue finds reward in Heav'n!