Alike reserved to blame, or to commend,

A timorous foe, and a suspicious friend;

Dreading even fools, by flatterers besieged,

And so obliging, that he ne’er obliged;

Like Cato, give his little senate laws,

And sit attentive to his own applause;

While wits and templars every sentence raise,

And wonder with a foolish face of praise:—

Who but must laugh, if such a man there be?

Who would not weep, if Atticus were he?