That I should in the train of those appear, Whom Honour cannot love, nor Manhood fear? That I no longer skulk from street to street, Afraid lest duns assail, and bailiffs meet; 130 That I from place to place this carcase bear; Walk forth at large, and wander free as air; That I no longer dread the awkward friend. Whose very obligations must offend; Nor, all too froward, with impatience burn At suffering favours which I can't return; That, from dependence and from pride secure, I am not placed so high to scorn the poor, Nor yet so low that I my lord should fear, Or hesitate to give him sneer for sneer; 140 That, whilst sage Prudence my pursuits confirms, I can enjoy the world on equal terms; That, kind to others, to myself most true, Feeling no want, I comfort those who do, And, with the will, have power to aid distress: These, and what other blessings I possess, From the indulgence of the public rise, All private patronage my soul defies. By candour more inclined to save, than damn, A generous Public made me what I am. 150 All that I have, they gave; just Memory bears The grateful stamp, and what I am is theirs. _L_. To feign a red-hot zeal for Freedom's cause, To mouth aloud for liberties and laws, For public good to bellow all abroad, Serves well the purposes of private fraud. Prudence, by public good intends her own; If you mean otherwise, you stand alone. What do we mean by country and by court? What is it to oppose? what to support? 160 Mere words of course; and what is more absurd Than to pay homage to an empty word? Majors and minors differ but in name; Patriots and ministers are much the same; The only difference, after all their rout, Is, that the one is in, the other out. Explore the dark recesses of the mind, In the soul's honest volume read mankind, And own, in wise and simple, great and small, The same grand leading principle in all. 170 Whate'er we talk of wisdom to the wise, Of goodness to the good, of public ties Which to our country link, of private bands Which claim most dear attention at our hands; For parent and for child, for wife and friend, Our first great mover, and our last great end Is one, and, by whatever name we call The ruling tyrant, Self is all in all. This, which unwilling Faction shall admit, Guided in different ways a Bute and Pitt; 180 Made tyrants break, made kings observe the law; And gave the world a Stuart and Nassau. Hath Nature (strange and wild conceit of pride!) Distinguished thee from all her sons beside? Doth virtue in thy bosom brighter glow, Or from a spring more pure doth action flow? Is not thy soul bound with those very chains Which shackle us? or is that Self, which reigns O'er kings and beggars, which in all we see Most strong and sovereign, only weak in thee? 190 Fond man, believe it not; experience tells