Let mean mechanics, to be fed,
By bus'ness earn ignoble bread:
Lost in excess of daily joys,

No thought, no care, my life annoys.
At noon (the lady's matin hour)
I sip the tea's delicious flower:
On cates luxuriously I dine,

And drink the fragrance of the vine.
Studious of elegance and ease,

Myself alone I seek to please.

The MAN his pert conceit derides, And thus the useless coxcomb chides:

Hence from that peach, that downy seat; No idle fool deserves to eat.

Could you have sapp'd the blushing rind,
And on that pulp ambrosial din'd,
Had not some hand, with skill and toil,
To raise the tree, prepar'd the soil?
Consider, sot, what would ensue,
Were all such worthless things as you?
You'd soon be forc'd (by hunger stung)
To make your dirty meals on dung,
On which such despicable need,
Unpity'd, is reduc'd to feed.
Besides, vain selfish insect, learn
(If you can right and wrong discern)
That he, who with industrious zeal
Contributes to the public weal,

By adding to the common good, His own hath rightly understood.

So saying, with a sudden blow He laid the noxious vagrant low. Crush'd in his luxury and pride,

The spunger on the public died.

THE JACKAL, LEOPARD, AND OTHER BEASTS.

TO A MODERN POLITICIAN.

I GRANT Corruption sways mankind;
That int'rest, too, perverts the mind;
That bribes have blinded common sense,
Foil'd reason, truth, and eloquence;
I grant you, too, our present crimes
Can equal those of former times.
Against plain facts shall I engage,
To vindicate our righteous age?
I know, that in a modern fist
Bribes in full energy subsist.
Since, then, these arguments prevail,
And itching palms are still so frail,

Hence politicians, you suggest,

Should drive the nail that goes the best ;

That it shows parts and penetration
To ply men with the right temptation.

To this I humbly must dissent, Premising no reflection's meant.

Does justice, or the client's sense,
Teach lawyers either side's defence?
The fee gives eloquence its spirit;
That only is the client's merit.
Does art, wit, wisdom, or address,
Obtain the prostitute's caress?
The guinea (as in other trades)
From ev'ry hand alike persuades.
MAN, scripture says, is prone to evil;
But does that vindicate the devil?
Besides, the more mankind are prone,
The less the devil's parts are shown.
Corruption's not of modern date:
It hath been tried in ev'ry state.
Great knaves of old their pow'r have fenc'd
By places, pensions, bribes, dispens'd;
By these they gloried in success,
And impudently dar'd oppress;
By these despotic'ly they. sway'd,
And slaves extoll'd the hand that paid:
Nor parts nor genius were employ'd,
By these alone were realms destroy'd.

Now see these wretches in disgrace,
Stript of their treasures, pow'r, and place;
View 'em abandon'd and forlorn,
Expos'd to just reproach and scorn.

What now is all your pride, your boast ?
Where are your slaves, your flatt'ring host?
What tongues now feed you with applause?
Where are the champions of your cause?
Now ev'n that very fawning train,
Which shar'd the gleanings of your gain,
Press foremost who shall first accuse
Your selfish jobs, your paltry views,
Your narrow schemes, your breach of trust,
And want of talents to be just.

What fools were these amidst their pow'r ! How thoughtless of their adverse hour! What friends were made?-A hireling herd, For temporary votes preferr'd.

Was it, these sycophants to get,

Your bounty swell'd a nation's debt?

You're bit. For these, like swiss, attend; No longer pay, no longer friend.

The LION is (beyond dispute) Allow'd the most majestic brute; His valour and his gen'rous mind Prove him superior of his kind. Yet to JACKALS (as 'tis averr'd) Some LIONS have their pow'r transferr'd: As if the parts of pimps and spies To govern forests could suffice.

Once, studious of his private good, A proud JACKAL oppress'd the wood;