"Desire of power, on earth a vicious weed, Yet, sprung from high, is of celestial seed; In God 'tis glory; and when men aspire, 'Tis but a spark too much of heavenly fire."

"His courage foes, his friends his truth proclaim."

"The people have a right supreme To make their kings; for kings are made for them."

"All empire is no more than power in trust."

"Better one suffer than a nation grieve."

"Nor let his love enchant your generous mind; 'Tis nature's trick to propagate her kind. Our fond begetters, who would never die, Love but themselves in their posterity."

"Your case no tame expedients will afford; Resolve on death, or conquest by the sword, Which for no less a stake than life you draw; And self-defence is nature's eldest law."

"Not only hating David, but the king."

"But far more numerous was the herd of such, Who think too little, and who talk too much."

"A man so various, that he seemed to be Not one, but all mankind's epitome; Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong, Was every thing by starts, and nothing long; But, in the course of one revolving moon, Was chemist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon."

"Railing and praising were his usual themes; And both, to shew his judgment, in extremes; So over violent, or over civil, That every man with him was God or devil."

"In squandering wealth was his peculiar art; Nothing went unrewarded but desert. Beggared by fools, whom still he found too late; He had his jest, and they had his estate."

"His tribe were God Almighty's gentlemen."

"Youth, beauty, graceful action seldom fail; But common interest always will prevail; And pity never ceases to be shown To him who makes the people's wrongs his own."

"Thus in a pageant-shew a plot is made; And peace itself is war in masquerade."

"For who can be secure of private right, If sovereign sway may be dissolved by might? Nor is the people's judgment always true: The most may err as grossly as the few."

"If they may give and take whene'er they please, Not kings alone, the Godhead's images, But government itself, at length must fall To nature's state, where all have right to all."

"Yet, grant our lords, the people, kings can make, What prudent men a settled throne would shake? For whatsoe'er their sufferings were before, That change they covet makes them suffer more. All other errors but disturb a state; But innovation is the blow of fate. If ancient fabrics nod, and threat to fall, To patch their flaws, and buttress up the wall, Thus far 'tis duty: but here fix the mark; For all beyond it is to touch the ark. To change foundations, cast the frame anew, Is work for rebels, who base ends pursue; At once divine and human laws controul, And mend the parts by ruin of the whole."

"For whatsoe'er their sufferings were before, That change they covet makes them suffer more. All other errors but disturb a state; But innovation is the blow of fate."

"The court he practised, not the courtier's art: Large was his wealth, but larger was his heart."

"Swift was the race, but short the time to run."

"Him of the western dome, whose weighty sense Flows in fit words, and heavenly eloquence."

"Of ancient race by birth, but nobler yet In his own worth."

"Gulled with a patriot's name, whose modern sense Is one that would by law supplant his prince; The people's brave, the politician's tool; Never was patriot yet, but was a fool."

"From plots and treasons heaven preserve my years, But save me most from my petitioners! Unsatiate as the barren womb or grave; God cannot grant so much as they can crave."

"Oh, that my power to saving were confined! Why am I forced, like heaven, against my mind, To make examples of another kind? Must I at length the sword of justice draw? Oh curst effects of necessary law! How ill my fear they by my mercy scan! Beware the fury of a patient man."

"For lawful power is still superior found; When long driven back, at length it stands the ground."

"What politician yet e'er 'scaped his fate, Who saving his own neck not saved the state?"

"Doeg, though without knowing how or why, Made still a blundering kind of melody; Spurred boldly on, and dashed through thick and thin, Through sense and nonsense, never out nor in; Free from all meaning, whether good or bad, And, in one word, heroically mad."

"Railing in other men may be a crime, But ought to pass for mere instinct in him; Instinct he follows and no farther knows, For to write verse with him is to transprose."

"With all this bulk there's nothing lost in Og, For every inch, that is not fool, is rogue; A monstrous mass of foul corrupted matter, As all the devils had spewed to make the batter. When wine has given him courage to blaspheme, He curses God, but God before curst him; And if man could have reason, none has more, That made his paunch so rich, and him so poor."

"Rhyme is the rock on which thou art to wreck."

"A milk-white Hind, immortal and unchanged, Fed on the lawns, and in the forest ranged; Without unspotted, innocent within, She feared no danger, for she knew no sin."

"And doomed to death, though fated not to die."

"For truth has such a face and such a mien, As to be loved needs only to be seen."

"My thoughtless youth was winged with vain desires; My manhood, long misled by wandering fires, Followed false lights; and, when their glimpse was gone, My pride struck out new sparkles of her own. Such was I, such by nature still I am; Be thine the glory, and be mine the shame! Good life be now my task; my doubts are done; What more could fright my faith, than Three in One?"

"For you may palm upon us new for old; All, as they say, that glitters, is not gold."

"Of all the tyrannies on human-kind, The worst is that which persecutes the mind."

"Reason to rule, but mercy to forgive; The first is law, the last prerogative."

"And kind as kings upon their coronation day."

"Too black for heaven, and yet too white for hell."

"As long as words a different sense will bear, And each may be his own interpreter, Our airy faith will no foundation find, The word's a weathercock for every wind."

"And leaves the private conscience for the guide."

"Eternal house, not built with mortal hands!"

"Who can believe what varies every day, Nor ever was, nor will be at a stay?"

"All have not the gift of martyrdom."

"That men may err was never yet denied."

"When the cause goes hard, the guilty man Excepts, and thins his jury all he can."

"Either be wholly slaves, or wholly free."