SMIT with the love of Honour, — or the Pence,
O'er-run with wit, and destitute of sense,
If any novice in the rhiming trade,
With lawless pen the realms of verse invade;
Forth from the court, where scepter'd sages sit,
Abus'd with praise, and flatter'd into wit;
Where in lethargic majesty they reign,
And what they won by dullness still maintain;
Legions of factious authors throng at once;
Fool beckons fool, and dunce awakens dunce.
To H—M—LT—N's the Ready Lies repair; —
Ne'er was Lie made which was not welcome there. —
Thence, on maturer judgment's anvil wrought,
The polish'd falshood's into public brought.
Quick circulating slanders mirth afford,
And reputation bleeds in ev'ry word.