John Bancks

“ Tell pleasant tales; break jests; and play
With wenches, — in no wanton way.
Ill-nature’s what he never knew:
He pities all the snarling crew,
Who never learn’d, yet dully teach,
And rail at what they cannot reach. ”

“ Yet then, and always, he prefers
His own weak reasoning — ev’n to theirs.
For state affairs; his humble station
Can little influence the nation:
But friends, who like him for his rhymes,
Will have his judgement of the times ”

“ The Bard, the Soph, the Dictionary.
His thoughts and principles religious,
Are neither intricate nor tedious:
Founded on maxims free and rational;
More universal than mere national.
In life, not scrupulous, nor vicious ”