Page:An Epistle to the Right Honourable Richard, Lord Viscount Cobham - Pope (1733).djvu/15

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And ev'ry Child hates Shylock, tho' his Soul
Still sits at squate, and peeps not from its hole.
At half Mankind when gen'rous Manly raves,
All know 'tis Virtue, for he thinks them Knaves:
When universal homage Umbra pays,
All see 'tis Vice, and itch of vulgar praise.
Who but detests th' Endearments of Courtine?
While One there is, who charms us with his Spleen.
But these plain Characters we rarely find,
Tho' strong the Bent, yet quick the Turns of Mind.
Here puzzling Contraries confound the whole,
There Affectations quite reverse the soul:
The dull, flat Falsehood serves for Policy,
And in the Cunning, Truth itself's a Lye;
Unthought of Frailties cheat us in the Wise;
The Fool lies hid in Inconsistencies.
See the same Man, in vigour, in the gout;
Alone, in company; in place, or out;
Early at Bus'ness, and at Hazard late;
Mad at a fox-chase, wise at a debate;
Drunk at a borough; civil at a ball;
Friendly at Hackney, faithless at Whitehall.

Catius