ty retains:
Whose texture will nor warp, nor fade,
Though moths and weather shou'd invade,
Which _Time_'s sharp tooth cannot corrode,
Proof against _Accident_ and _Mode_;
And, maugre each assailing dart,
Thrown by the hand of Force, or Art,
Remains (let Fate do what it will)
_Simple_ and _uncorrupted_ still.

_Virtue_, of constitution nice,
Quickly degen'rates into _Vice_;
Change but the _Person_, _Place_, and _Time_,
And what was _Merit_ turns to _Crime_.
_Wisdom_, which men with so much pain,
With so much weariness attain,
May in a little moment quit,
And abdicate the throne of Wit,
And leave, a vacant seat, the brain,
For Folly to usurp and reign.
Should you but discompose the tide,
On which _Ideas_ wont to ride,
_Ferment_ it with a _yeasty Storm_,
Or with high _Floods of Wine_ deform;
Altho' _Sir Oracle_ is he,
Who is as wise, as wise can be,
In one short minute we shall find
The wise man gone, a fool behind.
_Courage_, that is all nerve and heart,
That dares confront Death's brandish'd dart,
That dares to single Fight defy
The stoutest Hector of the sky,
Whose mettle ne'er was known to slack,
Nor wou'd on thunder turn his back;
How small a matter may controul,
And sooth the fury of his soul!
Shou'd this intrepid Mars, his clay
Dilute with nerve-relaxing Tea,
Thin broths, thin whey, or water-gruel,
He is no longer fierce and cruel,
But mild and gentle as a dove,
The _Hero_'s melted down to _Love_.
The _juices_ soften'd, (here we note
More on the _juices_ than the _Coat_
Depends, to make a valiant Mars
Rich in the heraldry of scars)
The _Man_ is _soften'd_ too, and shews
No fondness for a bloody nose.
When _Georgy S--k----le shunn'd the Fray_,
He'd swill'd a little too much Tea.
_Chastity_ melts like sun-kiss'd snow,
When Lust's hot wind begins to blow.
Let but that _horrid Creature, Man_,
Breathe on a lady thro' her fan,
Her _Virtue_ thaws, and by and bye
Will of the _falling Sickness_ die.
Lo! _Beauty_, still more transitory,
Fades in the mid-day of its glory!
For _Nature_ in her kindness swore,
That she who kills, shall kill no more;
And in pure mercy does erase
Each killing feature in the face;
Plucks from the cheek the damask rose,
E'en at the momen