But now, with sudden qualms possest, He wrings his hands, he beats his breast: By conscience stung, he wildly stares, And thus his guilty soul declares :
Had the deep earth her stores confin'd, This heart had known sweet peace of mind; But virtue's sold. Good Gods! what price Can recompense the pangs of vice? Oh, bane of good! seducing cheat! Can man, weak man, thy pow's defeat? Gold banish'd honour from the mind, And only left the name behind; Gold sow'd the world with ev'ry ill; Gold taught the murd'rer's sword to kill; 'Twas gold instructed coward hearts In treach'ry's more pernicious arts. Who can recount the mischiefs o'er? Virtue resides on earth no more!
He spoke, and sigh'd. In angry mood, Plutus, his god, before him stood. The Miser, trembling, lock'd his chest ; The vision frown'd, and thus address'd:Whence is this vile, ungrateful rant? Each sordid rascal's daily cant. Did I, base wretch, corrupt mankind? The fault's in thy rapacious mind. Because my blessings are abus'd, Must I be censur'd, curs'd, accus'd? Ev'n Virtue's self by knaves is made A cloak to carry on the trade;
And pow'r, when lodg'd in their possession, Grows tyranny and rank oppression.
Thus when the villain crams his chest,
Gold is the canker of the breast-
"Tis avarice, insolence, and pride,
And ev'ry shocking vice beside.
But when to virtuous hands 'tis giv'n,
It blesses, like the dews of heav'n :
Like Heav'n, it hears the orphan's cries,
And wipes the tears from widows' eyes.
Their crimes on gold shall misers lay,
Who pawn'd their sordid souls for pay.
Let bravoes then (when blood is spilt)
Upbraid the passive soul with guilt!
The Lion, the Fox, and the Geese. ·
A LION, tir'd with state affairs, Quite sick of pomp, and worn with cares, Resolv'd (remote from noise and strife) In peace to pass his latter life.
It was proclaim'd; the day was set:
Behold the gen'ral council met.
The Fox was viceroy nam'd. The crowd
To the new regent humbly bow'd.
Wolves, Bears, and mighty Tigers bend,
And strive who most shall condescend.
He straight assumes a solemn grace,
Collects his wisdom in his face.
The crowd admire his wit, his sense;
Each word hath weight and consequence.
The flatt'rer all his art displays:
He who hath pow'r is sure of praise.
A Fox stepp'd forth before the rest,
And thus the servile throng addrest:-
How vast his talents, born to rule.
And train'd in virtue's honest school!
What clemency his temper sways!
How uncorrupt are all his ways!
Beneath his conduct and command,
Rapine shall cease to waste the land.
His brain hath stratagem and art;
Prudence and mercy rule his heart.
What blessings must attend the nation
Under this good administration !
He said. A Goose, who distant stood,
Harangu'd apart the cackling brood:-
Whene'er I hear a knave commend,
He bids me shun his worthy friend. -
What praise! what mighty commendation!
But 'twas a Fox who spoke th' oration.
Foxes this government may prize,
As gentle, plentiful, and wise:
If they enjoy the sweets, 'tis plain
We Geese must feel a tyrant reign.
What havock now shall thin our race,
When ev'ry petty clerk in place,
To prove his taste, and seem polite,'
Will feed on Geese both noon and night!
FABLE VIII.
The Lady and the Wasp.
WHAT whispers must the Beauty bear!
What hourly nonsense haunts her ear!
Where'er her eyes dispense their charms,
Impertinence around her swarms.
Did not the tender nonsense strike,
Contempt and scorn might look dislike;
Forbidding airs might thin the place;
The slightest flap a fly can chase.
But who can drive the num'rous breed?
Chase one, another will succeed.
Who knows a fool, must know his brother;
One fop will recommend another:
And with this plague she's rightly curst,
Because she listen'd to the first.
As Doris, at her toilet's duty,
Sat meditating on her beauty,
She now was pensive, now was gay,
And loll'd the sultry hours away.
As thus in indolence she lies,
A giddy Wasp around her flies.
He now advances, now retires,
Now to her neck and cheek aspires.
Her fan in vain defends her charms:
Swift he returns, again alarms;
For by repulse he bolder grew,
Perch'd on her lip, and sipt the dew.
She frowns, she frets. Good Gods! she
cries,
Protect me from these teazing flies!
Of all the plagues that Heav'n hath sent,
A Wasp is most impertinent.
The hov'ring insect thus complain'd :-
Am I then slighted, scorn'd, disdain'd?
Can such offence your anger wake?
'Twas beauty caus'd the bold mistake.
Those cherry lips that breathe perfume,
That cheek so ripe with youthful bloom,
Made me with strong desire pursue
The fairest peach that ever grew.
Strike him not, Jenny, Doris cries,
Nor murder wasps like vulgar flies;
For though he's free (to do him right),
The creature's civil and polite.
In ecstasies away he posts;
Where'er he came, the favour boasts;
Brags how her sweetest tea he sips,
And shews the sugar on his lips.
The hint alarm'd the forward crew:
Sure of success, away they flew.
They share the dainties of the day,
Round her with airy music play;
And now they flutter, now they rest,
Now soar again, and skim her breast;
Nor were they banish'd, till she found
That Wasps have stings, and felt the
wound!
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