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  ... By you seduced, abandon'd, and undone! Rather in garret pent, secure from harm, My Muse with murders shall the town alarm; 200 Or plunge in politics with patriot zeal, And snarl like Guthrie[11] for the public weal, Than crawl an insect in a beldame's power, And dread the crush of caprice every hour!
FRIEND.
'Tis well; enjoy that petulance of style, And, like the envious adder, lick the file: What, though success will not attend on all? Who bravely dares must sometimes risk a fall.   Behold the bounteous board of Fortune spread; Each weakness, vice, and folly yields thee bread, 210 Would'st thou with prudent condescension strive On the long settled terms of life to thrive.
POET.
What! join the crew that pilfer one another, Betray my friend, and persecute my brother; Turn usurer, o'er cent. per cent. to brood, Or quack, to feed like fleas on human blood?
FRIEND.
Or if thy soul can brook the gilded curse, Some changeling...   Smollett, Tobias G.

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Excerpt from Poetical Works of Johnson, Parnell, Gray, and Smollett With Memoirs, Critical Dissertations, and Explanatory Notes · This quote is tagged Risk · Search on Google Books to find all references and sources for this quotation · Make a shirt with this quote on our USA or UK shop · Help your friends discover QB

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