And say, “’tis a pity a Monarch so just Such a pack of damn’d Villainous Fellows should trust.” Nor judge in this Case my Advice is confin’d: Be it common as Air, and as free as the Wind; Obey’d in the Climes which Sol scarce can appear in, Caress’d in the Countries he passes the year in! Nor would I like him from my Friends fly away: Wherever I’m courted I constantly stay, To Spain, France, or Flanders extending my Care, And England! in spite of my Enemies there. 60 With its monarch of old I was social and free, And the Present must die—that’s some Comfort to me. Believe me, my Brethren—for when I advise I always speak Truth, tho’ the Father of Lies— ’Tis a foolish Mistake to imagine Mankind Were not for their Monarch’s good Pleasure design’d. We know and believe they’re as truly his own As the Farmer’s his Beast, or the wheat he has sown; And he’s a most stupid and scandalous Block Who would not be part of so noble a Stock, 70 To fetch and to carry, be curried and fed, As his Master has Work, or his Master has Bread. Ye Statesmen, I next to your Honours apply: Ye know the old Subject; ye ken who am I! I would give each Advice how to act in his Station; But most have without it entire Approbation. Nay, let us confess, and give Mortals their due, We borrow a great many Maxims from you! And would ne’er have you heed what your Satirists say, Who expose to the World all your pensions and pay. 80 Such Wretches, by jealous Emotions betray’d, Are as knavish as you, and yet never get paid. Sejanus politely his Compliments sends, To show he remembers his very good Friends, And tells you, with Grief which his Feelings betray, He hears ye are some of ye veering away. If this—and there’s Reason to fear it—be true, I’d have ye consider what end ye pursue; You’ll find you’ve a very bad bargain at last, Despis’d for the present and damn’d for the past. 90 Ye Commons, your Nation’s most able Protectors, Ye generous Elected, ye well-paid Electors, Your Patron here greets you, and, though but in Song, He praises the Path ye have mov’d in so long— A Path he has form’d with such exquisite Care That it leads you directly, he need not say where. At a Crisis important to Europe and us, It becomes us, my Friends, to act constantly thus: To stick to our Cause with a strong perseverance, Else Nobody knows what may happen a year hence; 100 For in Times of Disturbance ’tis frequently seen, That Virtue’s more busy than when they’re serene; And, from a good Spirit in brisk fermentation, A Clear-settled Habit may reign in each Nation; The which to prevent ’tis my serious Command You carefully lend each his Heart and his Hand. In England I’ve studied that People’s Condition, And seen the Contents of each County’s petition; By which I collect, with a Logic my own, The Seeds of Dissension are properly sown; 110