To cheat or not to cheat, that is the question; Whether ’tis better in the mind to suffer The stings and gnawings of a troubled conscience, Or bravely spurn corruptions gilded baits, And, by rejecting, ’scape ’em? To cheat, to need No more; and by such gain, to say we end The thousand hardships which the poor man seems To be born heir to; ’tis a consummation Too often wished by us; to cheat unseen To cheat――perchance be caught; ay, there’s the rub; For by discovery what shame may come When we have lost the necessary mask, Must give us pause; there is the respect That makes dishonesty embitter life: For who would bear the gibes and taunts of men, The oppressed’s curse, the good man’s contumely, The pangs of unpaid fees, the laws severity In taxing bills, and the harsh reprimands That merit often to th’unworthy gives, When he in peace might his quietus make On a poor farm. Who would long parchments write, And scrawl and pause amidst a heap of nonsense? But that the dread of ghastly poverty, Whose horrid visage, like the Gorgon’s head, No mortal dares behold, startles the mind And makes us rather choose those ills we have Than suffer others that we dread far worse. Thus avarice makes rascals of us all, And thus the comely face of honesty, Is tarnished o’er by ill-designing knaves, Who toil among the labyrinths of law, In search of matter to perplex mankind And leave the paths of wisdom. ANONYMOUS. ――――:o:―――― HAMLET ON THE SITUATION. (_Perplexed Premier Ponders._)