The Poetical Works of John Langhorne ... To which are prefixed, Memoirs of the Author by his Son the Rev. J. T. Langhorne ... In Two Volumes |
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General Motives for Lenity.
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 | The Poetical Works of John Langhorne |  |
General Motives for Lenity.
Be this, ye rural Magistrates, your plan:
Firm be your justice, but be friends to Man.
Firm be your justice, but be friends to Man.
53
He whom the mighty master of this ball,
We fondly deem, or farcically call,
To own the Patriarch's truth however loth,
Holds but a mansion crush'd before the moth.
We fondly deem, or farcically call,
To own the Patriarch's truth however loth,
Holds but a mansion crush'd before the moth.
Frail in his genius, in his heart, too, frail,
Born but to err, and erring to bewail;
Shalt thou his faults with eye severe explore,
And give to life one human weakness more?
Born but to err, and erring to bewail;
Shalt thou his faults with eye severe explore,
And give to life one human weakness more?
Still mark if Vice or Nature prompts the deed;
Still mark the strong temptation and the need:
On pressing Want, on Famine's pow'rful call,
At least more lenient let thy justice fall,
Still mark the strong temptation and the need:
On pressing Want, on Famine's pow'rful call,
At least more lenient let thy justice fall,
| The Poetical Works of John Langhorne | |