Such is the fate of talents misapplied;

So liv'd your prototype; and so he died.

Th' abandon'd manners of our writing train

May tempt mankind to think religion vain;

But in their fate, their habit, and their mien,

That gods there are is eminently seen:

Heaven stands absolv'd by vengeance on their pen,

And marks the murderers of fame from men:

Through meagre jaws they draw their venal breath,

As ghastly as their brothers in Macbeth: