Corruption now too late has fhow'd,
That bribes are always ill-bestow'd;
By you your bubbled master 's taught,
Time-ferving tools, not friends, are bought." 130
To the Rev. Dr. Swift, Dean of St. Patrick's.
HOUGH courts the practice difallow,
A friend at all times I'll avow.
In politics I know 'tis wrong;
A friendship may be kept too long;
And what they call the prudent part,
Is to wear intereft next the heart.
As the times take a different face,
Old friendships should to new give place.
I know, too, you have many foes,
That owning you is sharing those;
That every knave in every station,
Of high and low denomination,
For what you speak, and what you write,
Dread you at once, and bear
'Such freedoms in your works are shown,
They can't enjoy what's not their own.
All dunces, too, in church and state,
In frothy nonfenfe fhew their hate;
With all the petty fcribbling crew
(And those pert fots are not a few),
'Gainft you and Pope their envy fpurt.
The bookfellers alone are hurt.
Good Gods! by what a powerful race
(For blockheads may have power and place)
Are fcandals rais'd, and libels writ,
To prove your honesty and wit!
Think with yourself: thofe worthy men,
You know, have fuffer'd by your pen.
From them you've nothing but your due.
From hence, 'tis plain, your friends are few.
Except myself, I know of none,
Befides the wife and good alone.
To fet the cafe in fairer light,
My Fable fhall the rest recite,
Which (though unlike our present state)
I for the moral's fake relate.
A Bee of cunning, not of parts,
Luxurious, negligent of arts,
Rapacious, arrogant, and vain,
Greedy of power, but more of gain,
Corruption fow'd throughout the hive:
By petty rogues the great ones thrive.
As power and wealth his views fupply'd, 'Twas feen in overbearing pride.
With him loud impudence had merit
The Bee of confcience wanted fpirit;
And thofe who follow'd honour's rules
Were laugh'd to scorn for squeamish fools.
Wealth claim'd distinction, favour, grace,
And poverty alone was base.
He treated industry with flight,
Unless he found his profit by 't.
Rights, laws, and liberties, give way,
To bring his felfifh fchemes in play.
The fwarm forgot the common tol,
To fhare the gleanings of his fpoil.
While vulgar fouls, of narrow parts,
Waste life in low mechanic arts,
Let us (fays he), to genius born,
The drudgery of our fathers fcorn.
The Wasp and Drone, you muft
Live with more elegance than we.
Like gentlemen they fport and play;
No bufinefs interrupts the day:
Their hours to luxury they give,
And nobly on their neighbours live.
A ftubborn Bee, among the fwarm,
With honeft indignation warm,
Thus from his cell with zeal reply'd:
"I flight thy frowns, and hate thy pride. The laws our native rights protect;
Offending thee, I those respect.
Shall luxury corrupt the hive,
And none against the torrent strive?
Exert the honour of your race;
He builds his rife on your difgrace.
'Tis industry our ftate maintains ;
'Twas honeft toil and honeft gains
M 3
That rais'd our fires to power and fame.
Be virtuous; fave yourselves from shame.
Know that, in selfish ends pursuing,
You fcramble for the public ruin.”
He fpoke; and, from his cell dismiss'd,
Was infolently scoff'd and hifs'd.
With him a friend or two refign'd,
Difdaining the degenerate kind.
"These Drones (fays he), thefe infects vile,
(I treat them in their proper ftyle)
May for a time opprefs the state:
They own our virtue by their hate;
By that our merits they reveal,
And recommend our public zeal;
Difgrac'd by this corrupted crew,
We're honour'd by the virtuous few.
THE PACK-HORSE AND THE CARRIER.
BEGIN, my Lord, in early youth,
To fuffer, nay, encourage truth;
And blame me not for disrespect,
If I the flatterer's ftyle reject;
With that, by menial tongues fupply'd,
You're daily cocker'd up in pride.
The tree's distinguish'd by the fruit.
Be virtue then your first pursuit;
Set your great ancestors in view,
Like them deferve the title too;
Like them ignoble actions fcorn ;
Let virtue prove you greatly born.
Though with lefs plate their fide-board fhone,
Their confcience always was their own;
They ne'er at levees meanly fawn'd,
Nor was their honour yearly pawn'd ;
Their hands, by no corruption stain'd,
The minifterial bribe difdain'd;
They ferv'd the crown with loyal zeal,
Yet, jealous of the public weal,
They stood the bulwark of our laws,
And wore at heart their country's cause;
By neither place or penfion bought,
They spoke and voted as they thought.
Thus did your fires adorn their feat;
And fuch alone are truly great.
If you the paths of learning flight,
You 're but a dunce in ftronger light,
In foremost rank the coward plac'd,
Is more confpicuously disgrac'd.
If you, to ferve a paltry end;
To knavifh jobbs can condefcend,
In that you have precedence too.
Whence had you this illuftrious name?
From virtue and unblemish'd fame.
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