In vain I view'd you with as chaste a fire,
As angels mingle, or as saints admire;
By reason prompted, passion had no part,
A virtuous ardour, that refin'd the heart.
In vain I sought a friendship free from fault,
Where sex and beauty were alike forgot:
A friendship by the noblest union join'd,
The female softness, and the manly mind.
Courage to conquer evils, or endure:
Sweetness to sooth the pain, and smiles to cure.
Scandal, a busy fiend, in Truth's disguise,
Like Fame all cover'd o'er with ears and eyes,
Learns the fond tale, and spreads it as she flies;
Nor spreads alone, but alters, adds, defames,
Affects to pity, tho' her duty blames;
Feigns not to credit all she sees or hears,
But hopes the evil only in her fears;
Pretends to weigh the fact in even scale,
And wish, at least, that justice may prevail;
Insinuates, dissembles, lyes, betrays,
Plays the whole hypocrite such various ways,
That Innocence itself must suffer wrong,
And Honour bleed the prey of Slander's tongue.