# Herald and Husband-Man

From Fables.
* The HERALD and HUSBAND-MAN
* FABLE XII.
* — Nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus. Juvenal.
* I with friend Juvenal agree,
* Virtue's the true nobility;
* Has of herself sufficient charms,
* Altho' without a coat of arms.
* 5 HONESTUS does not know the rules,
* Concerning Or and Fez, and Gules.
* Yet sets the wond'ring eye to gaze on,
* Such deeds no herald e'er could blaze on.
* Tawdry atchievements out of place,
* 10 Do but augment a fool's disgrace;
* A coward is a double jest,
* Who has a lion for his crest;
* And things are come to such a pass,
* Two horses may support an ass;
* 15And on a Gamester or Buffoon,
* A moral motto's a lampoon.
* An honest rustic having done
* His master's work 'twixt sun and sun,
* Retir'd to dress a little spot,
* 20Adjoining to his homely cot,
* Where pleas'd, in miniature, he found
* His landlord's culinary ground,
* Some herbs that feed, and some that heal,
* The winter's medicine or meal.
* 25The sage, which in his garden seen,
* No man need ever dieI ween;
* The marjoram comely to behold,
* With thyme, and ruddiest marygold,
* And mint and penny-royal sweet,
* 30To deck the cottage windows meet;
* And baum, that yields a finer juice
* Than all that China can produce;
* With carrots red, and turnips white,
* And leeks, Cadwallader's delight;
* 35And all the savory crop that vie
* To please the palate and the eye.
* Thus, as intent, he did survey
* His plot, a Herald came that way,
* A man of great escutcheon'd knowledge,
* 40 And member of the motley college.
* Heedless the peasant pass'd he by,
* Indulging this soliloquy;
* "Ye gods! what an enormous space,
* 'Twixt man and man does nature place;
* 45While some by deeds of honour rise,
* To such a height, as far out-vies
* The visible diurnal sphere;
* While others, like this rustic here,
* Grope in the groveling ground content,
* 50Without or lineage or descent.
* Hail, Heraldry! mysterious art,
* Bright patroness of all desert,
* Mankind would on a level lie,
* And undistinguish'd live and die;
* 55 Depriv'd of thy illustrious aid,
* Such! so momentous is our trade."
* "Sir, says the clown, why sure you joke,
* (And kept on digging as he spoke)
* And prate not to extort conviction,
* 60But merrily by way of fiction.
* Say, do your manuscripts attest,
* What was old father Adam's crest;
* Did he a nobler Coat receive
* In right of marrying Mrs. Eve;
* 65Or had supporters when he kiss'd her,
* On dexter side, and side sinister;
* Or was his motto, prithee speak,
* English, French, Latin, Welch, or Greek;
* Or was he not, without a lye,
* 70 Just such a nobleman as I?
* Virtue, which great defects can stifle,
* May beam distinction on a trifle;
* And honour, with her native charms,
* May beautify a coat of arms;
* 75 Realities sometimes will thrive,
* E'en by appearance kept alive;
* But by themselves, Gules, Or, and Fez,
* Are cyphers, neither more or less:
* Keep both thy head and hands from crimes,
* 80"Be honest in the worst of times:
* Health's on my countenance impress'd,
* And sweet content's my daily guest,
* My fame alone I build on this,
* And Garter King at Arms may kiss."— 17??

## Notes

Written: 17??, published posthumously: 1791.
* ↑ "Nobility is the one and only virtue". (Or: "Nobility is the one only virtue". Or: "Virtue alone is true nobility".). Juvenal, Satires, VIII, line 20 (37).
* ↑ 6. Or and Fez, and Gules: heraldic terms. Or is gold, Fez (fesse) a horisontal band across the shield, Gules red (The note by Karina Williamson).
* ↑ 26. Note: Cur moriatur Homo, cui salvia crescit in horto? [The Latin expression, “Cur moriatur homo cui salvia crescit in horto?” (Why should a man die whilst sage grows in his garden?), is a cogent summary of sage’s reputation among ancient and medieval herbalists. Culpeper associated sage with Jupiter, the almighty god of Roman mythology, and credited the herb with a wide variety of healing powers. See hsl.virginia.edu ]
* ↑ 47. The visible diurnal sphere; John Milton, Paradise Lost vii. 22.

## Links

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This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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