Rich prostitutes, and needy knaves. 
Who, then, shall glory in his post? 
How frail his pride, how vain his boast! 
The followers of his prosperous hour
Are as unstable as his power.
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Power by the breath of flattery nursed,
The more it swells, is nearer burst. 
The bubble breaks, the gewgaw ends,
And in a dirty tear descends. 
Once on a time, an ancient maid,
By wishes and by time decayed,
To cure the pangs of restless thought,
In birds and beasts amusement sought: 
Dogs, parrots, apes, her hours employed;
With these alone she talked and toyed.
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A huge baboon her fancy took,
(Almost a man in size and look,)
He fingered everything he found,
And mimicked all the servants round. 
Then, too, his parts and ready wit
Showed him for every business fit. 
With all these talents, ’twas but just
That pug should hold a place of trust: 
So to her fav’rite was assigned
The charge of all her feathered kind.
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’Twas his to tend ’em eve and morn,
And portion out their daily corn. 
Behold him now with haughty stride,
Assume a ministerial pride. 
The morning rose.  In hope of picking,
Swans, turkeys, peacocks, ducks and chicken,
Fowls of all ranks surround his hut,
To worship his important strut. 
The minister appears.  The crowd
Now here, now there, obsequious bowed.
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This praised his parts, and that his face,
T’other his dignity in place. 
From bill to bill the flattery ran: 
He hears and bears it like a man: 
For, when we flatter self-conceit,
We but his sentiments repeat. 
If we’re too scrupulously just,
What profit’s in a place of trust? 
The common practice of the great,
Is to secure a snug retreat.
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So pug began to turn his brain
(Like other folks in place) on gain. 
An apple-woman’s stall was near,
Well stocked with fruits through all the year;
Here every day he crammed his guts,
Hence were his hoards of pears and nuts;
For ’twas agreed (in way of trade)
His payments should in corn be made. 
The stock of grain was quickly spent,
And no account which way it went.
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Then, too, the poultry’s starved condition
Caused speculations of suspicion. 
The facts were proved beyond dispute;
Pug must refund his hoards of fruit: 
And, though then minister in chief,
Was branded as a public thief. 
Disgraced, despised, confined to chains,
He nothing but his pride retains. 
A goose passed by; he knew the face,
Seen every levee while in place.
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’What, no respect! no reverence shown? 
How saucy are these creatures grown! 
Not two days since,’ says he, ’you bowed
The lowest of my fawning crowd.’ 
‘Proud fool,’ replies the goose,’’tis true,
Thy corn a fluttering levee drew! 
For that I joined the hungry train,
And sold thee flattery for thy grain. 
But then, as now, conceited ape,
We saw thee in thy proper shape.’
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