Lines Written Extempore on Mr. Harley's Being Stabbed,mAND Addressed to His Physician, 1710-11

On Britain Europe's safety lies,
Britain is lost if Harley dies:
Harley depends upon your skill:
Think what you save, or what you kill.

[Footnote 1: For details of Guiscard's murderous attack on Harley, see
Journal to Stella, March 8, 1710-11, "Prose Works," ii.—W. E. B.]