So the ſun ſcorches and revives by turns,
Requiting with rich metals where he burns.
Taught by this great example to be juſt,
Succeeding kings ſhall well fulfil their truſt;35
Diſcord, and war, and tyranny, ſhall ceaſe,
And jarring nations be compell’d to peace;
Princes and ſtates, like ſubjects, ſhall agree
To truſt her pow’r, ſafe in her piety.39
ODE
ON THE PRESENT CORRUPTION OF MANKIND.
Inſcribed to the Lord Falkland.
I.
O Falkland! offspring of a gen’rous race,
Renown’d for arms and arts in war and peace:
My kinſman, and my friend! from whence this curſe
Entail’d on man, ſtill to grow worſe and worſe?
II.
Each age, induſtrious to invent new crimes,5
Strives to outdo in guilt preceding times;
But now we ’re ſo improv’d in all that ’s bad,
We ſhall leave nothing for our ſons to add.
III.
That idol, gold, poſſeſſes ev’ry heart;
To cheat, defraud, and undermine, is art:10
Virtue is folly; conſcience is a jeſt;
Religion gain, or prieſtcraft at the beſt.
