 | Three Hundred Sonnets |  |
69
TRUE SENATORS.
Beware of mere delusive eloquence,—Your hackney'd clever talkers, who can make
Evil seem good for place and party sake,
Well skill'd in dialectic thrust and fence;
Let common honesty and common sense
Come to Thy council board; no longer take
For statesmen some few scornful consulars
The scions of great families,—for such
Less love the People's friendship than the Czar's,
Doting on courts and dynasties too much
For England's honour in these latter wars:
Extinguish all those wranglers of debate
Corrupt with family feuds and party jars,
And choose the Good and Wise to serve the State.
| Three Hundred Sonnets | |