No malice, wrapt in truth's difguife, offend,
Nor flattery taint the freedom of the friend.

When first a generous mind furveys the great,
And views the crowds that on their fortune wait;
Pleas'd with the fhow (though little understood)
He only feeks the power, to do the good;
Thinks, till he tries, 'tis godlike to dispose,
And gratitude still springs, where bounty fows
That every grant fincere affection wins,
And where our wants have end, our love begins:
But those who long the paths of state have trod,
Learn from the clamours of the murmuring crowd,
Which cramm'd, yet craving ftill, their gates befiege,
'Tis easier far to give, than to oblige.

This of thy conduct feems the nicest part, The chief perfection of the statesman's art, To give to fair afsent a fairer face,

Or foften a refusal into grace :

But few there are that can be truly kind,
Or know to fix their favours on the mind;
Hence, fome, whene'er they would oblige, offend,
And while they make the fortune, lofe the friend;
Still give, unthank'd; still squander, not bestow;
For great men want not, what to give, but how.

The race of men that follow courts, 'tis true,
Think all they get, and more than all, their due;
Still afk, but ne'er confult their own deferts,
And measure by their intereft, not their parts:
From this mistake so many men we see,
But ill become the thing they wish'd to be;

Hence

'Hence difcontent, and fresh demands arife,

More power, more favour in the great man's eyes;
All feel a want, though none the cause suspects,
But hate their patron, for their own defects;

Such none can pleafe, but who reforms their hearts,
And, when he gives them places, gives them parts.
As these o'erprize their worth, so sure the great
May fell their favour at too dear a rate;
When merit pines, while clamour is preferr'd,
And long attachment waits among the herd;
When no diftinction, where diftinction 's due,
Marks from the many the fuperior few;
When ftrong cabal constrains them to be just,
And makes them give at laft-because they must;
What hopes that men of real worth fhould prize,
What neither friendship gives, nor merit buys?
The man who justly o'er the whole prefides,
His well-weigh'd choice with wife affection guides;
Knows when to ftop with grace, and when advance,
Nor gives through importunity or chance;
But thinks how little gratitude is ow'd,

When favours are extorted, not beftow'd.

When, fafe on shore ourselves, we fee the crowd

Surround the great, importunate, and loud;
Through fuch a tumult, 'tis no easy task
To drive the man of real worth to ask:
Surrounded thus, and giddy with the show,
'Tis hard for great men, rightly to bestow;
From hence fo few are fkill'd, in either cafe,
To afk with dignity, or give with grace.

Sometimes the great, feduc'd by love of parts,
Confult our genius, and neglect our hearts;
Pleas'd with the glittering sparks that genius flings,
They lift us, towering on their eagle's wings,
Mark out the flights by which themselves begun,
And teach our dazzled eyes to bear the fun;
Till we forget the hand that made us great,
And grow to envy, not to emulate :

To emulate, a generous warmth implies,
To reach the virtues, that make great men rise;
But envy wears a mean malignant face,

And aims not at their virtues—but their place.
Such to oblige, how vain is the pretence !
When every favour is a fresh offence,

By which fuperior power is still imply'd,

And, while it helps their fortune, hurts their pride.
Slight is the hate, neglect or hardships breed;
But those who hate from envy, hate indeed.
"Since fo perplex'd the choice, whom fhall we truft?"
Methinks I hear thee cry-The brave and just;
The man by no mean fears or hopes control'd,
Who ferves thee from affection, not for gold.

We love the honest, and esteem the brave,
Defpife the coxcomb, but deteft the knave;
No fhew of parts the truly wife feduce,
To think that knaves can be of real use.
The man,
who contradicts the public voice,
And ftrives to dignify a worthless choice,
Attempts a task that on that choice reflects,
And lends us light to point out new defects.

One

One worthless man, that gains what he pretends,
Difgufts a thousand unpretending friends:
And fince no art can make a counterpass,
Or add the weight of gold to mimic brass,
When princes to bad ore their image join,
They more debase the stamp, than raise the coin.
Be thine, the care, true merit to reward,
And gain the good-nor will that task be hard;
Souls form'd alike fo quick by nature blend,
An honest man is more than half thy friend.
Him, no mean views, or hafte to rise, shall sway,
Thy choice to fully, or thy truft betray :
Ambition, here, shall at due distance stand;
Nor is wit dangerous in an honeft hand :
Befides, if failings at the bottom lie,

We view those failings with a lover's eye;
Though small his genius, let him do his best,
Our wishes and belief supply the rest.

Let others barter fervile faith for gold,
His friendship is not to be bought or fold:
Fierce oppofition he, unmov'd, shall face,
Modeft in favour, daring in difgrace,
To share thy adverse fate alone, pretend;
In power, a fervant; out of power, a friend.
Here pour thy favours in an ample flood,
Indulge thy boundless thirst of doing good :
Nor think that good to him alone confin'd;
Such to oblige, is to oblige mankind.

If thus thy mighty master's steps thou trace,
The brave to cherish, and the good to grace;
P 3

Long

Long fhalt thou stand from rage and faction free, And teach us long to love the king, through thee: Or fall a victim dangerous to the foe,

And make him tremble when he strikes the blow;
While honour, gratitude, affection join

To deck thy close, and brighten thy decline;
(Illuftrious doom!) the great, when thus difplac'd,
With friendship guarded, and with virtue grac'd,
In aweful ruin, like Rome's fenate, fall,
The prey and worship of the wondering Gaul.
No doubt, to genius fome reward is due,
(Excluding that, were fatirizing you ;)
But yet, believe thy undefigning friend,
When truth and genius for thy choice contend,
Though both have weight when in the balance caft,
Let probity be firft, and parts the last.

On these foundations if thou dar'st be great,
And check the growth of folly and deceit ;

When party rage fhall droop through length of days, And calumny be ripen'd into praise,

Then future times fhall to thy worth allow

That fame, which envy would call flattery now.
Thus far my zeal, though for the task unfit,
Has pointed out the rocks where others split;
By that infpir'd, though ftranger to the Nine,
And negligent of any fame-but thine,
I take the friendly, but fuperfluous part;
You act from nature what I teach from art.

THE