[To the right honourable Mr. Harley] <br /> <br /> <br />Dear Dick, how e'er it comes into his head, <br />Believes, as firmly as he does his creed, <br />That you and I, sir, are extremely great; <br />Though I plain Mat, you minister of state. <br />One word from me, without all doubt, he says, <br />Would fix his fortune in some little place. <br />Thus better than myself, it seems, he knows <br />How far my interest with my patron goes; <br />And answering all objections I can make, <br />Still plunges deeper in his dear mistake. <br /> <br />From this wild fancy, sir, there may proceed <br />One wilder yet, which I foresee, and dread; <br />That I, in fact, a real interest have, <br />Which to my own advantage I would save, <br />And, with the usual courtier's trick, intend <br />To serve myself, forgetful of my friend. <br /> <br />To shun this censure, I all shame lay by, <br />And make my reason with his will comply; <br />Hoping, for my excuse, 'twill be confest, <br />That of two evils I have chose the least. <br />So, sir, with this epistolary scroll, <br />Receive the partner of my inmost soul: <br />Him you will find in letters, and in laws <br />Not unexpert, firm to his country's cause, <br />Warm in the glorious interest you pursue, <br />And, in one word, a good man and a true.<br /><br />Matthew Prior<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/horace-lib-i-epist-ix-imitated/
