TO lift the low, the proud depress,
And succour weakness in distress;
A foe forgive, and yet contend
With generous ardour for a friend:
Are virtues, tho' but thinly sown,
Not circumscrib'd to you alone;
Since hourly observation finds
They spring in some inferior minds;
Which, tho' we justly pass our praise on,
Are not the sound effects of reason;
But often flow from whim or fashion,
From pride, or some impurer passion.