And at a peer, or peeress, shall I fret,
Who starves a sister, or forswears a debt?[212]
Virtue, I grant you, is an empty boast;
But shall the dignity of vice be lost?
Ye gods! shall Gibber's son, without rebuke,
Swear like a lord, or Rich out-whore a duke?
A favourite's porter with his master vie,
Be bribed as often, and as often lie?
Shall Ward draw contracts with a statesman's skill?
Or Japhet pocket, like his grace, a will?