TO A WRITER OF PANEGYRIC[85]
Occasioned by certain fulsome Congratulatory Verses on the election of a High Constable
Be advised by a friend, who advises but rarely,
Be cautious of praising 'till praise is earned fairly:
There was a sage Ancient this truth did bequeath,
"That merit is only determined by death."
Panegyric I'm sorry to see you engage in—
Old Nero, at first, was a Titus, or Trajan:
The Indians of Siam bow down to a Log,
And Egypt is said to have worshipped a Dog.[A]
[A] Anubis.—One of the tutelar deities of ancient Egypt.—Freneau's note.
If you will be throwing your jewels to swine,
No wonder they rend you—whenever they dine—
Pray, leave it to puppies to cry up their worth,
And to dunces, to honour the day of their birth.
Whoever the road to preferment would find,
With the eyes of a Dutchman must look at mankind;
From the basest of motives, cry cowards are brave,
And laugh in his sleeve—when he flatters a knave.
[85] I can find no earlier trace of this poem than the 1795 edition. Text from the 1809 edition.