ABSTRACT
Another Horatian poem from Lord Morpeth, the ‘Ode to the Director Merlin’ draws attention to the perfidy of France, her briberies, opportunism, inconsistencies and untrustworthiness in foreign policy. The ode from Horace on which Morpeth leans is called To a Flirt. In effect, Morpeth versifies a paragraph from the Morning Chronicle of the same date, 28 May:
It is a curious fact, and not unworthy of observation, that the professions of the French, which were to destroy Monarchies, and to respect and protect Republics, have been totally reversed by their real conduct. They have entered into treaties of peace with the Emperor of Germany, the Kings of Spain, Prussia, Sardinia, and Naples. A treaty was also entered into with the Pope, though afterwards broken. They have triumphed over, or dissolved the Republics of Holland, Genoa, Venice, and Switzerland, and now threaten war and annihilation to their first and only voluntary Ally, the Republic of America!
