Shall ev'ry fowl the waters skim,
Because we geese are known to swim?
Humility they soon shall learn,
And their own emptiness discern.
So saying, with extended wings,
Lightly upon the wave she springs:
Her bosom swells, she spreads her plumes,
And the swan's stately crest assumes.
Contempt and mockery ensu'd,
And bursts of laughter shook the flood.
A swan, superior to the rest,
Sprung forth, and thus the fool address'd:
Conceited thing! elate with pride,
Thy affectation all deride;
These airs thy awkwardness impart,
And shew thee plainly as thou art.
Among thy equals of the flock,
Thou had'st escap'd the public mock,
And as thy parts to good conduce,
Been deem'd an honest, hobbling goose.
Learn hence to study wisdom's rules:
Know, foppery 's the pride of fools;
And striving nature to conceal,
You only her defects reveal.
FABLE VIII.
The Lawyer and Justice.
LOVE! thou divinest good below,
Thy pure delights few mortals know!
Our rebel hearts thy sway disown,
While tyrant lust usurps thy throne.
The bounteous God of nature made
The sexes for each other's aid;
Their mutual talents to employ,
To lessen ills, and heighten joy.
To weaker woman he assign'd
That soft'ning gentleness of mind,
That can, with sympathy, impart
Its likeness to the roughest heart.
Her eyes with magic pow'r endu'd
To fire the dull, and awe the rude.
His rosy fingers on her face
She'd lavish ev'ry blooming grace,
And stamp'd (perfection to display)
His mildest image on her clay.
Man, active, resolute, and bold,
He fashion'd in a diff'rent mould.
With useful arts his mind inform'd,
His breast with nobler passions warm'd;
He gave him knowledge, taste, and sense,
And courage, for the fair's defence.
Her frame, resistless to each wrong,
Demands protection from the strong;
To man she flies, when fear alarms,
And claims the temple of his arms.
By nature's author thus declar'd
The woman's sov'reign and her guard,
Shall man by treach'rous wiles invade
The weakness he was meant to aid?
While beauty, given to inspire
Protecting love, and soft desire,
Lights up a wild-fire in the heart,
And to its own breast points the dart;
Becomes the spoiler's base pretence
To triumph over innocence ?
The wolf, that tears the tim'rous sheep, Was never set the fold to keep;
Nor was the tiger, or the pard,
Meant the benighted trav'ller's guard;
But man, the wildest beast of prey,
Wears friendship's semblance to betray;
His strength against the weak employs,
And where he should protect, destroys.
Past twelve o'clock the watchman cry'd,
His brief the studious Lawyer ply'd;
The all-prevailing fee lay nigh,
The earnest of to-morrow's lie.
Sudden the furious winds arise,
The jarring casement shatter'd flies
The doors admit a hollow sound,
And rattling from their hinges bound;
When Justice in a blaze of light,
Reveal'd her radiant form to sight.
The wretch with thrilling horror shook,
Loose every joint, and pale his look;
Not having seen her in the courts,
Or found her mention'd in reports;
He ask'd, with fault'ring tongue, her name,
Her errand there, and whence she came ?
Sternly the white-rob'd shade reply'd
(A crimson glow her visage dy'd),
Can'st thou be doubtful who I am?
Is Justice grown so strange a name?
Were not your courts for Justice rais'd?
'Twas there, of old, my altars blaz'd.
My guardian thee did I elect,
My sacred temple to protect,
That thou and all thy venal tribe
Should spurn the goddess for the bribe.
Aloud the ruin'd client cries,
Justice has neither ears, nor eyes;
In foul alliance with the bar,
'Gainst me the judge denounces war, And rarely issues his decree,
But with intent to baffle me.
She paus'd. Her breast with fury burn'd, The trembling Lawyer thus return'd:
I own the charge is justly laid,
And weak th' excuse that can be made;
Yet search the spacious globe, and see
If all mankind are not like me.
The gown-man, skill'd in Romish lies,
By faith's false glass deludes our eyes;
O'er conscience rides without control,
And robs the man to save his soul.
The doctor, with important face,
By sly design, mistakes the case;
Prescribes, and spins out the disease,
To trick the patient of his fees.
The soldier, rough with many a scar,
And red with slaughter, leads the war;
If he a nation's trust betray,
The foe has offer'd double pay.
When vice o'er all mankind prevails,
And weighty int'rest turns the scales,
Must I be better than the rest,
And harbour Justice in my breast?
On one side only take the fee,
Content with poverty and thee?
Thou blind to sense, and vile of mind,
Th' exasperated Shade rejoin'd,
If virtue from the world is flown,
Will others faults excuse thy own?
For sickly souls the priest was made;
Physicians for the body's aid;
The soldier guarded liberty;
Man woman, and the lawyer me.
If all are faithless to their trust,
They leave not thee the less unjust.
Henceforth your pleadings I disclaim,
And bar the sanction of my name;
Within your courts it shall be read,
That Justice from the law is fled.
She spoke; and hid in shades her face, 'Till Hardwick sooth'd her into grace.
The Farmer, the Spaniel, and the Cat. WHY knits my dear her angry brow? What rude offence alarms you now? 1 said, that Delia's fair, 'tis true, But did I say she equall'd you? Can't Lanother's face commend, Or to her virtues be a friend, But instantly your forehead low'rs, As if her merit lessen'd yours? From female envy never free, All must be blind because you see.
Survey the gardens, fields, and bow'rs, The buds, the blossoms, and the flow'rs; Then tell me where the woodbine grows, That vies in sweetness with the rose? Or where the lily's snowy white,. That throws Euch beauties on the sight? Yet fully is it to declare,
That these are neither sweet nor fair..
The crystal shines with fainter rays,
Before the di'mond's brighter blaze:
And fups will say, the di'mond dies
Before the lustre of your eyes:
But I, who deal in truth, deny
That neither shine when you are by.
When zephyrs o'er the blossoms stray,
And sweets along the air convey,
Shan't I the fragrant breeze inhale,
Because you breathe a sweeter gale?
Sweet are the flow'rs that deck the field;
Sweet is the smell the blossoms yield;
Sweet is the summer gale that blows;
And sweet, though sweeter you, the rose,
Shall envy then torment your breast,
If you are lovelier than the rest;
For while I give to each her due,
By praising them I flatter you;
And praising most, I still declare
You fairest, where the rest are fair.
As at his board a farmer sate,
Replenish'd by his homely treat,
His fav'rite Spaniel near him stood,
And with his master shar'd the food;
The crackling bones his jaws devour'd,
His lapping tongue the trenchers scour'd;
Till sated now, supine he lay,
And snor'd the rising fumes away.
The hungry Cat, in turn, drew near,
And humbly crav'd a servant's share;
Her modest worth the master knew,
And straight the fat'ning morsel threw ;
Enrag'd, the snarling cur awoke,
And thus with spiteful envy spoke :
They only claim a right to eat,
Who earn by services their meat;
Me, zeal and industry inflame
To scour the fields, and spring the game;
Or, plunged in the wint'ry wave,
For man the wounded bird to save.
With watchful diligence I keep,
From prowling wolves, his fleecy sheep;
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